Or godlike Numa, with their gentle reign
Shall bring on earth the golden age again.
Hence to fulfil what Heaven has long decreed,
For which 'tis doom'd thou shalt Rogero wed,
Boldly pursue the ardor of thy soul,

Nor think that aught can thy desires control;
For he who keeps thy knight in captive bands,
Shall sink opprest beneath thy conquering hands.
Here ceas'd the voice; the matron now prepares
To show to Bradamant her destin'd heirs.
A crew of spirits, summon'd by the dame,
Appear'd, (but well I know not whence they came)
Together now assembled in the place,

But differing each in habit, and in face.

Then, in the temple, by her side she plac'd 'The warlike fair, but first a circle trac'd ;

And, to defend her from the spirits, spread
A magic covering o'er the virgin's head;
She bade her silent stand, then op❜d a book
In which she read, and with the demons spoke.
Lo! from the outward cave they rush'd to view,
And thickening, round the sacred circle drew;
But all attempts to enter fruitless found,

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135

140

145

150

As if a fosse or rampart stretch'd around.

Then in the cavern, where the shining tomb
Contain'd the holy relics in its womb,

The demons enter'd, when, in order due,
They thrice had past around in fair review.

155

Should I (th' enchantress thus bespoke the dame)

Attempt to tell the deeds, and every name
Of these, who by their shadowy phantoms rise
Before their birth, to pass before your eyes,

The hours were short the story to repeat,
Nor could one night the mighty task compleat;
And hence, as time may serve, my lips shall tell
Those chiefs alone whose virtues most excel.

Behold the first, thy likeness form'd to bear
In comely countenance and graceful air;
In Italy the leader of thy race,

Sprung from Rogero's, and from thy embrace.
I deem to see by his victorious hand

Maganza's treacherous blood distain the land;
To see his justice claim the

vengeance due

From those, whose guilt his noble father slew.

By him shall Desiderius be repell'd,

Who last in Lombardy the sceptre held.

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165

170

The emp'ror shall his valiant deeds repay
With Calaon and Estè's lordly sway.

175

Ver. 164. Behold the first,---] It is to be observed, that this account of the descent of Rogero is fictitious; since Rizieri of Risa, (or as he is here called Rogero) left no son; and this Rizieri, the first Paladin, lived a considerable time before Charlemain.

Dolce.

Ver. 168.--by his victorious hand] The father of this Rogero was said to have been traiterously murdered by the tribe of Maganza, when his son, growing up, was made general in the service of Charlemain, and revenged the death of his father. At this time Desiderius XXII. and last king of Lombardy, rebelled against the church; when pope Adrian, calling in the assistance of Charlemain, Desiderius was constrained to shut himself up in Pavia, and was afterwards driven into Lyons in France. In this service Rogero is said to have distinguished himself, and to have been rewarded by the emperor with the government of Estè and Calaon, two castles in the jurisdiction of Padua.

Eugenico.

Behold thy grandson next, Uberto near,
The glory of Hesperia's land in war!

He shall his arms against the Moors extend,
And from their rage the holy church defend.
Survey Alberto, fam'd for warlike toils,

Who decks the temples with unnumber'd spoils.
Hugo appears with him, his valiant son,

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Who plants his conquering snakes in Milan's town.
The next is Azo, who, his brother dead,
Shall o'er th' Insubrians his dominions spread.

185

Ver. 176.---Uberto near,] Uberto was count of Este and Comacchio: he is said to have treated his subjects as his children, and to have preserved their obedience rather by the affection which his indulgence excited in them, than by any severe exertion of his authority.

Ver 180. Survey Alberto,--] Berengarius I. having besieged and taken Milan, Alberto headed an army and defeated him: Hugo, son of Alberto, afterwards acquired the dominion of Milan, and planted his standard there, in which was painted a dragon or serpent. Otho, a valiant leader of that family, in the holy war of Jerusalem, under Godfrey, slew Volucius, a Saracen captain, who wore on his crest a serpent devouring a child; hence his descendants took a serpent for their arms.

Eugenico.

Tasso, in his catalogue of warriors, mentions this Otho:

...Otho fierce, whose valour won the shield
That bears a child and serpent on its field.

B. i. ver. 417.

Ver. 184. The next is Azo, who, Azo I. who succeeded his brother Uberto in the government of Milan, till, to avoid the snares laid for him by Berengarius, he fled to Otho I. duke of Saxony, Anno, 938, taking with him his wife big with child.

See! Albertazo, who with counsel sage
Shall Berengarius and his son engage;

Well worthy to receive from Otho's hands

His daughter Alda, pledg'd in nuptial bands.
Another Hugo see! O virtue known,

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When the sire's courage dies not with the son!

'Tis he, who shall with justice on his side

Abate the rancour of the Roman pride:
To Otho and the Pope assistance give,
(Otho the third) and from their foes relieve.

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Ver. 186. Sec! Albertazo, who---] Of three Berengarius's, who deriving their origin from the kings of Lombardy, had the title of emperor, this, who was the third, coming into Italy with his son, at the head of a great army, seized the government, after the death of Lotharius, and reigned eleven years, stiling himself emperor, and his son king of Italy. He made war against Atone, lord of Cannossa, and besieged him three successive years, till the latter being ready to surrender himself, was, through the advice of Albertazo, succoured by Otho, king of the Germans; when Berengarius and his son were vanquished and confined, one in Austria, and the other in Constantinople, where they died miserably. Albertazo, for his virtue and good counsel, espoused Alda, Otho's daughter: others say, that he obtained her for his gallant behaviour at a tournament, which the emperor gave in Transilvania.

Ver. 190. Another Hugo see !---] Gregory V. who had been made pope through the interposition of Otho III. being insulted by the Romans at the instigation of Crescentius, fled to the emperor; whereupon Crescentius elected another pope, who hearing that Otho had made Hugo general of his army, retired with Crescentius into the castle of St. Angelo: they were both taken and put to death by Hugo, who, having replaced Gregory in the papal chair, that pontiff made a decree, that the emperor should in future be elected from the barons of Germany. Hugo having lived with great honour, died at Pistoia: to him Otho, as a reward of his merit, gave the government of all Tuscany; though some authors afirm to tha contrary.

See Fulco, who forsakes th' Italian fields
And to his brother each possession yields;

While thence he goes, with better fate to gain
A mighty dukedom on the German plain..
He props the honours of the Saxon race
Which shall at length himself and offspring grace.
Azo the second is the next in sight,

More fam'd for gentle peace than rugged fight.
On either hand see where his sons appear;
There Albertazo, and Bertoldo here.

By this shall second Henry be subdu'd,

And Parma's meadows stream with Belgian blood:
By that the glorious countess shall be led,

(The chaste Matilda) to his bridal bed;

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203

From mighty Henry sprung, who brings in dower 210 With her one half Italia to his power.

Ver. 196. See Fulco, who forsakes-] Of Albertazo and Alda were born Hugo and Fulco: after the death of the emperor Otho, who, before he came to the empire, was duke of Saxony, his daughter Alda succeeded to that dutchy: whereupon Fulco resigned to his brother all his patrimony in Italy, and went into Saxony to succeed to his mother's inheritance, where he made himself duke of Saxony.

Ver. 202. Azo the second-] Bertoldo and Albertazo, sons of Azo II. opposed the emperor Henry II. who being a cruel enemy to the church, compelled pope Gregory VII. to sell the benefices: at that time the countess Matilda, widow of Godfrey, a powerful lord, and grand-daughter of Henry I. and governess of many places, took the part of the church. Rodolpho, duke of Saxony, was made emperor in opposition to Henry, and a battle fought near Parma with great slaughter of the Belgians, when Henry was driven out of Italy. Rodolpho fell in the battle; with him was Bertoldo of Esté, a very valiant captain: Matilda married Albertazo; but a few years after, discovering that he was related to her first husband, the marriage was annulled, by the consent of the pope, and she led a holy life, leaving, at her death, her possessions to the church.