Romola · Chapter
XLII: Romola in Her Place explained
In October 1496, Florence faces famine and external threats.
What happens
In October 1496, Florence faces famine and external threats. The government, influenced by Savonarola, opens gates to the starving, but murmurs grow. Savonarola preaches a bold sermon, promising divine help. Romola, in simple black serge, tends to the sick and hungry. She encounters a bier carrying a man who may not be dead, and offers wine. She leaves him with a kind stranger, Cecco, and continues to the hospital of San Matteo.
Themes in this chapter
Redemption and Moral Choice
Romola's selfless acts of charity amidst famine and despair highlight her moral commitment, while Savonarola's bold sermon offers a choice of faith and steadfastness.
Political and Religious Corruption
The Holy League is described as wolves agreeing to drive away other wolves, and the Papal mandate against Savonarola reflects religious-political tensions.
Historical Change and Continuity
The chapter depicts Florence's historical crisis, with the government's actions and the people's reliance on religious processions reflecting continuity in times of change.
Characters to notice
- Romola de' Bardi
Dressed in simple black serge, she moves through the streets tending to the sick and hungry, embodying selfless charity.
- Baldassarre Calvo
Found collapsed on the street, possibly alive, and is cared for by Romola and a stranger.
- Girolamo Savonarola
Defies the Papal mandate to preach, delivering a bold sermon urging steadfastness and promising divine rescue.
- Cecco d'Ascoli
A kind stranger who offers to watch over Baldassarre while Romola continues her errand.
Key passages
“But the Florentines just then thought very little about the land breezes: they were thinking of the gales at sea, which seemed to be uniting with all other powers to disprove the Frate’s declaration that Heaven took special care of Florence.”
The Florentines were preoccupied with the sea storms that had driven away supply ships, undermining Savonarola's claim of divine protection.
Highlights the immediate crisis and doubt against Savonarola's prophecies.
“Florence, therefore, of all the chief Italian States, had alone declined to join the League, adhering still to the French alliance. She had declined at her peril.”
Florence was the only major Italian state that refused to join the Holy League, sticking with France, which put it in danger.
Explains Florence's precarious political position.
“And already, the evening before, the tabernacle containing the miraculous hidden image had been brought with high and reverend escort from L’Impruneta, the privileged spot six miles beyond the gate of San Piero that looks towards Rome, and had been deposited in the church of San Gaggio, outside the gate, whence it was to be fetched in solemn procession by all the fraternities, trades, and authorities of Florence.”
The previous evening, the sacred image of the Madonna dell' Impruneta had been brought from its shrine and placed at San Gaggio, ready for a grand procession into the city.
Shows the people's reliance on religious rituals for deliverance.
“One of these forms was easily distinguishable as Romola de’ Bardi. Clad in the simplest garment of black serge, with a plain piece of black drapery drawn over her head, so as to hide all her hair, except the bands of gold that rippled apart on her brow, she was advancing from the Ponte Vecchio towards the Por’ Santa Maria—the street in a direct line with the bridge—when she found her way obstructed by the pausing of a bier, which was being carried by members of the company of San Jacopo del Popolo, in search for the unburied dead.”
Romola, dressed plainly in black, was walking from the Ponte Vecchio when she came upon a bier from the company of San Jacopo del Popolo, which had stopped to pick up a body.
Introduces Romola's charitable work and the grim scene of death in the streets.
