The Notaio rescues the Nuns

The Lord be Praised!

Cola di Rienzo has this day rescued the six nuns kidnapped from the Santa Bibita convent. He discovered that their captors were the notorious Fratelli Bardoni, whose gangs terrorise the Suburra. They were working in collusion with the sorceror Aristophane Caltagirone - the author of the Scimioni Volanti who terrorised Rome last year.

It seems that the Notaio of the Aventine brokered an alliance between the Conti and the Frangipani to storm their palazzo in the Suburra. It is great testament to his silver tongue that he prevailed upon those two mortal enemies to co-operate - even to do God's work.

However, it is rumoured that Cola had already contrived to take the palazzo by stealth from the inside so that the arriving nobles had naught to do but clear the rabble that congregated in the streets outside. It was there that the brutish Carlo Bardone was slain. Justice was meted out to the older brother Gepetto the following day as he was hung from his own battlements after being taken - again by the Notaio's men - at the house of his mistress.

Bravo Cola di Rienzo! Bravo il Notaio d'Aventino!

The Anarchy Continues

The city has gone mad. Everywhere there is fighting and disorder. Old scores are settled and rapine and looting widespread. There was nearly two days of fighting around the Colisseo as the Frangipani tried once more to assert their rights to their old fortress while the bands of rogues that occupy the place made common cause to see them off. At the half finished Colonna Palazzo a riot, as looters tried to make off with valuable building materials, turned into something more akin to a pitched battle. It was only ended when a troop of Colonna cavalry arrived and began to lay about them indiscriminately with sword and lance. One of the most shocking tales comes from the Convent of Santa Bibita. Armed ruffians broke in there and are said to have abducted a dozen nuns and dragged them off to the brothels in the Suburra.

Anarchy on the Streets of Rome

Rome has ever been a lawless place since the Holy Father abandoned the See of St. Peter for the brothels of Avignon. However, this summer of 1341 the whole city seems to have gone mad. Armed men roam the streets and do as they will. Otherwise law-abiding citizens arm themselves to resist their depredations but often seem unable to agree themselves with their neighbours and so every rione seems rife with strife.

Those who seek the reasons behind all this conflict point the finger at rivalries of the baroni, especially the Colonna and the Orsini. While they are not in open arms against one another, many believe that each is moving against the other's interests in the city while secretly fanning the flames of this anarchy.