Transcription
Hello, I am Patrick Seri. Today we will see the summary of chapter 22 of The Betrothed. Before continuing, I inform you that my guide to The Betrothed has been released, thanks to which you have a clear and complete analysis of all the chapters, characters, and themes of the novel. You will thus be able to easily face tests and interrogations, as well as have valid support for preparing assignments and reports on the subject. You will find the links in the description and in the first comment.
The bravo sent by the Illuminato to find out what was happening in the country has returned and informs his master that all those people gathered to see Cardinal Federico Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, who has arrived in the town on a pastoral visit. The bells are therefore a manifestation of collective joy, and all the people flock from all the towns to see the Cardinal. The Unnamed is surprised that so many people are flocking to see just one man. He is sure, in his opinion, that these people are not going to the Cardinal to receive money, but because this man truly brings them joy. And so, he also thinks of going to speak with Cardinal Borromeo, as he hopes the Cardinal can put an end to that torment that has tortured him during the night.
Thus, the Unnamed puts on a military-style jacket, picks up the pistol with which he attempted suicide from the ground, and puts it on his belt on the right side. He takes another pistol from the wall and puts it on the left side. He even takes a dagger and puts it in his belt. Finally, he takes a rifle, famous as much as he is, and wears it on his shoulder. After that, he heads to Lucia's room. Before entering, however, he places the rifle on the ground. After that, he knocks and enters.
The old woman immediately opened the door for him. The Unnamed, upon seeing Lucia sleeping on the floor, shouts at the old woman, who, as usual, defends herself by saying that there was no way to convince the girl to eat and sleep on the bed. The Unnamed, after scolding her severely, orders her to let Lucia sleep peacefully and, when she wakes up, the old woman must give her whatever she desires. The old woman hears these orders and, astonished, begins to think that Lucia is a princess.
The Unnamed leaves and calls Marta, the girl who had brought dinner to Lucia and the old woman the previous evening, and orders her to stand guard, that is, to stay near the room where Lucia is, so that if necessary, she can go and bring whatever Lucia desires. Then he orders another bravo to guard Lucia's room and not to allow anyone to enter that room. After that, the Unnamed leaves the castle and, walking down the path that leads from the castle to the valley, meets various bravos, who look at him expecting the Unnamed to invite them to join him in some enterprise. But the Unnamed limits himself to giving them certain glances, leaving the bravos full of astonishment.
On the public road, the people he meets are surprised that the Unnamed is alone without an entourage, but they move aside and leave him space as if behind the Unnamed there was a real entourage of bravos, and they all greet him with gestures of deference. Upon reaching the town, the crowd that had come to see the Cardinal, hearing from mouth to mouth that the Unnamed had arrived, parts and lets him pass. The Unnamed asks a passerby where the Cardinal is, and the passerby replies that he is in the curate's house.
So the Unnamed enters the courtyard of the curate's house, which is full of priests, all of whom look at him with great astonishment. In front of this courtyard, he notices a small sitting room where there are just as many priests. Before entering, he places his rifle in a corner of the courtyard and enters the sitting room. Here too, all the priests feel great astonishment at the presence of the Unnamed, who questions one of them, asking where the Cardinal is. But this priest says he is a foreigner, and so he calls the chaplain Crocifero. The chaplain approaches the Unnamed with fear and timidity, to whom he asks where the Cardinal is. And after some timid objections, the chaplain goes to inform the Cardinal.
At this point, a narrator makes a digression and says that the narrative has reached a historical figure, dwelling on whom is equivalent to a pleasant stop for a tired and sad traveler. Cardinal Federico Borromeo is indeed a figure of incredible moral value, capable of inspiring extraordinary reverence. Interrupting the story to talk about his life will therefore be a pleasant digression, especially after encountering so many images of suffering and so many perverse examples of wickedness. The narrator, however, invites the reader who is only interested in the story to go directly to the next chapter.
Federico Borromeo was born in 1564 and employed all his intellect, all his fortune, all his will to pursue the best purposes. His existence is compared by the narrator to that of a stream that is born clear and pure from the spring and flows into the river, remaining still clear and pure. Federico Borromeo belongs to a wealthy aristocratic family, and from childhood, he embraced the teachings of the Christian religion: humility, the nullity of pride, and the search for true values. And these teachings earned him authentic maxims incompatible with the maxims of noble decorum, and from childhood, he thought of making his life holy and useful for his neighbor.
In 1580, he expressed the intention of becoming a priest. He received the tonsure from his cousin Carlo Borromeo, who already at that time had a reputation for holiness. Shortly after, he entered the Borromeo College, founded precisely by Carlo Borromeo. Here, in addition to fulfilling the duties to which he was bound, he set himself two purposes: to teach Christian doctrine to the common people of humble origin, and to assist the needy and the sick. Thanks to the prestige of his family, he managed to involve some of his companions in the college in the project.
Federico lived a humble life, wore simple clothes, ate frugal meals, and refused all the comforts and privileges he could have benefited from thanks to his social standing. His relatives were angry about this behavior of his, as they considered his behavior and his wearing of simple and worn-out clothes to be a degradation for their family. Even the teachers sometimes tried to make Federico wear more sumptuous, more elegant clothes so that he could stand out, and they did so both because they wanted to make a good impression and out of simple servility. But Federico refused all these attentions and scolded those who were the protagonists of them.
Carlo Borromeo, who was 26 years older than Federico, represented another model of behavior for Federico, also by virtue of the immediate aura of holiness that Carlo was able to inspire around him. When Carlo died, Federico was 20 years old, and no one, however, noticed that Federico had lost a master, a role model. This is because, even at twenty, Federico's maturity and character were commendable. The fame of having extraordinary intellect, the prestige of the family name, the support of some powerful cardinals, and also the memory of Carlo Borromeo are all elements that would soon lead Federico to a high ecclesiastical office.
Indeed, in 1595, Pope Clement VIII assigned Federico the Archbishopric of Milan. Federico initially refused, but then accepted. The narrator warns the reader that this refusal was not a hypocritical gesture, as Federico truly did not want any ecclesiastical dignity. Having become archbishop, Federico believed that ecclesiastical revenues were the patrimony of the poor. Thus, he had the sum necessary for his maintenance and that of his servants calculated, and this sum amounted to 600 scudi. Federico decided that these 600 scudi would be taken from his private funds.
Federico, moreover, led a modest life. He stopped wearing a garment only when it was truly worn out. He also took great care of his personal hygiene, an extraordinary fact in the 17th century, as the narrator tells us it was a century in which splendor was accompanied by filth. Finally, he gave the leftovers of his meals to the poor, allowing a poor person to enter his house every day to collect the leftovers to take to the refectory.
At this point, the narrator warns the reader that, having heard these things, he must absolutely not think that Federico had a greedy disposition, as he is the founder of the Ambrosian Library. To found the library, Federico commissioned eight men to travel around Europe in search of books. Thus, to the books he personally sought were added 30,000 printed volumes and 14,000 manuscripts. He founded a college of scholars composed of nine scholars, eight of whom were young men taken from the seminary, as Federico did not have a high opinion of the scholars of his time. These scholars were to dedicate themselves to the study of their disciplines and publish a book on their research activities. Furthermore, Federico founded a trilingual college where Greek, Latin, and Italian were studied. Other foundations by Federico worthy of remembrance are the college of pupils, the oriental languages printing press, a picture gallery, and an art gallery.
But above all, the provisions he gave to the librarian of the Ambrosian Library are truly extraordinary, as the librarian of the Ambrosian Library was to maintain relations with the scholars of Europe, purchase the most interesting books that would be printed, and above all, maintain free access to the library and allow anyone who wished to consult the books. This last aspect is truly extraordinary in the 17th century, as libraries did not allow everyone to consult books; books were not displayed to the public but were locked away in cabinets.
The foundation of the Ambrosian Library is certainly worthy of praise for the narrator, as it had a positive influence against the pettiness and ignorance of the 17th century. However, not everyone was in favor of this project; indeed, Federico encountered various detractors of his work. The main objections raised against him were generally two: the first was that there were more important things to think about, and the second was that that money could have been spent better. The cost of the library amounted to 105,000 scudi, money that for the most part was taken from Federico's private patrimony.
Federico considered almsgiving to the poor a duty of every man, and he himself more than once assisted the needy, even during the famine of 1628-1629, as the narrator will tell later. To better understand Federico's character, the narrator tells two anecdotes. The first concerns Federico learning that a nobleman wants to force his daughter into a convent. So Federico goes to speak with this nobleman, who explains to him that he wants to force his daughter into a convent because he does not have the money to marry her off worthily. So Federico, learning that the sum the father needs to marry off his daughter corresponds to 4,000 scudi, gives him this money. The narrator observes that this money could have been spent better on something else, but he appreciates and says it is commendable that Federico did not want a girl to be forced into a convent.
The second anecdote concerns Federico's cordial joviality towards the humblest. Once, Federico was talking to poor children who were around him, and while he was talking, he caressed or hugged them. A member of his entourage told him that he should not be so close to them, as these children were dirty. But Federico replies that he cannot help but hug them. The narrator observes with bitter irony that, unfortunately, it is very rare for a powerful man to be reprimanded for his faults, while it is easy for him to be prevented from doing good.
Federico is therefore humble and benevolent, but he sometimes addresses some priests brusquely. This is because he wants to scold the priests for their laziness or avarice. Regarding his personal glory, Federico harbored no ambition. Indeed, during the conclaves, he never regretted not being elected Pope; in fact, once he refused the support of a cardinal and his faction to be elected Pope. This is because Federico does not like to command, and his entire life is characterized by extreme discretion.
The author at this point tells us that continuing to list Federico's merits would be an extremely long undertaking, but he also says that this man has flaws, as he is guilty of having embraced some beliefs that later proved to be completely false. The narrator does not want to excuse him by saying that these beliefs were very common in the 17th century, but the narrator does not dwell on his errors and limits himself to saying that Federico was not perfect. He emphasizes this because, he says, he did not want to write a funeral oration for Federico.
Finally, the narrator recalls Federico's activity as a scholar, who left about a hundred books preserved in the Ambrosian Library. However, no memory of any of these books has been preserved. The narrator says that the reader will surely be wondering the reason for Federico's literary oblivion, but he says he cannot answer, as the answer would be too long and prolix. He says it is better to return to the narration of the novel's events.
With this, the explanation of this chapter is concluded. For a specific video, subscribe to the channel, and we will see you in chapter 23. Good luck!