Chiara – Revenge and Triumph (67 page)

"Your Honor," Messer Chiamora objected again, "I do not see the relevance of this silly talk about a treasure. This seems to be pure invention to confound the issue and confuse the tribunal."

"Messer Chiamora, the tribunal is not that easily confused." The judge turned back to Chiara. "And does that treasure exist?"

"Yes, your Honor. I managed to recover the book and successfully deciphered the key. Contrary to expectations, the treasure was hidden on land owned by my father near Cetona. It consisted of Etruscan funerary objects — eight amphoras, a sarcophagus, several smaller vessels, some silver and gold utensils, and a few gemstones."

"Ah, the famous da Narni Etruscan exhibition at Palazzo Benincasa," exclaimed the Siena judge.

A murmur rose in the hall. The senior judge’s stern face brought it quickly to a stop.

"You may continue your questioning, Messer Chiamora."

"Is it not true that your claims of having been violated by the honorable Signor Sanguanero and of overhearing a conversation between him and my client about their intention to let you drown are nothing but lies to cover your horrible crime of having deprived the late Signor Sanguanero of his eye sight, when in fact he offered you food and drink after your ordeal in the open sea?"

"What Professor Barbarigo reported is the truth. When I confronted Signor Sanguanero in the presence of an illustrious assembly of the foremost Sienese families —"

"I did not ask you anything about a celebration —"

"— nor did I use the word celebration. To know whether my answer is relevant to your question, it seems to me that you have little choice but to hear me out first, Messer Chiamora." Her voice was laced with irony.

"Lady Chiara, continue with your answer," encouraged the judge.

"At that meeting I accused Signor Sanguanero of having violated me. I reminded him of his owns words." She switched to the vernacular. "It would be a shame to drown her before tasting her young flesh." After a short pause, she reverted back to Latin: "He did not —"

Her statement was met by gasps and the rising murmur drowned her last words.

"Quiet, quiet," shouted the clerk.

It took a while for quiet to be restored and she could continue: "He did not deny my accusation, even after his own daughter pleaded with him to say that it was not true. All he shouted was ‘Niccolo, kill her!’ Nor did Casa Sanguanero deny it later on." This was a guess, but she had heard nothing to the contrary.

"Your Honor, lack of denial can hardly be equated with admission of guilt, particularly in the unusual circumstances where it occurred."

Niccolo drew the attention of Chiamora to him and spoke into his ear.

"Furthermore, my client informs me that by that time his father’s brain was already burned and he was often possessed, another reason why the lack of denial has little meaning, your Honor."

The judge spoke. "Unless the claimant is able to produce a witness… Lady Chiara, can you name a witness who can confirm the conversation you said you overheard and to what happened in the captain’s cabin."

"No, your Honor. I was locked into the cabin when I overheard the conversation through the open window, and Signor Sanguanero locked the door from the inside before he violated me. It is my word, then an innocent young girl of seventeen from the country, against the eternal silence of the late Signor Sanguanero. This man over there," she pointed at Niccolo, "is the only one who I know was part of the conversation, but even for that it is my word against his."

The judge nodded. "Messer Chiamora, please proceed."

"Your Honor, the facts speak for themselves. The claimant admits running away from a binding marriage contract. She can provide no witnesses for her claims of crucial events on the Santa Caterina, all of which are strenuously denied by my honorable client, while the conduct of the claimant over the last three years can hardly be viewed as that of a self-respecting and honorable, noble young maiden. Rather than seek refuge in a convent, as any pious young woman would have done, she joined up with a group of traveling players and mountebanks who present vulgar and lewd plays, dress immodestly, blaspheme and are engaged in other activities I would be ashamed to mention in mixed company. In fact, if the claimant ever sets foot in Siena or any of its dominions, my client will denounce her to the authorities for defrauding him of ten thousand florins and causing damages of several thousand more. I submit to the tribunal that the claimant is not an honorable person and that her claims must therefore be seen as the lies and false fabrications that they are. Your Honor, I submit to the tribunal that the case be dismissed as malicious and that the claimant be made to pay for the heavy expenses my client incurred to defend himself and the honor of Casa Sanguanero. I have spoken."

A slow murmur rose among the spectators and persisted in spite of the senior judge’s stern gaze.

"Professor Barbarigo, do you wish to question the claimant?"

"Yes, your Honor." He came over to her, standing to her left, halfway between her and the dais. "Lady Chiara, did you ever participate in any lewd or blasphemous plays?"

"No, a few of the short skits I Magnifici presented, contain, what the French call ‘double entendres’, harmless fun that some people may disapprove of, but we never spoke lewd words or performed lewd acts. I have played in a religious play presented to monks in a Benedictine monastery."

"Is it not true that I Magnifici are mainly known for their performances of
commedia erudita
?"

"Yes, I Magnifici have been invited to perform comedies by the Latin playwrights Plautus and Terrence, as well as a classical Greek tragedy, by many illustrious noble and merchant families in all major cities in Tuscany and beyond — Casa Medici, Buondelmonti, Albizzi, Giandonati in Florence, Casa Tolomei, Salimbeni, Piccolomini in Siena, Benincasa in Monte Pulciano, Lord Baglione in Perugia, Casa Farnese in Rome, Casa d’Este of Ferrara, to name just a few."

"And were you in fact the person who translated these plays from Latin into the Tuscan vernacular?"

"Yes, esteemed Professor."

"Your Honor, I submit that none of these illustrious houses would have invited a troupe of ill-repute." He briefly paused, taking a deep breath, before turning back to her. "Lady Chiara, is it true that you extracted ten thousand florins from Signor Niccolo Sanguanero under false pretenses?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Tell the tribunal why you did this."

"I feared that no tribunal would believe me if I accused Signor Sanguanero of violating me, nor of having stolen all my mother’s jewels. It would be the word of a young girl, who ran away from a marriage contract, against the word of a respected Sienese citizen. If I wanted justice and redress, I had to get it myself. So I set out to destroy Casa Sanguanero as a merchant house in punishment for what Signor Sanguanero had done to me. I do not see myself as the owner of the money I extracted from them, but only as its guardian. It will be used for good causes, to help people in need."

A renewed murmur rose in the hall.

"But did you not already take revenge on Signor Sanguanero by blinding him?" questioned the Sienese judge.

"That was not revenge, that was simply a question of survival. From the conversation I had overheard, they were going to let me drown once both father and son Sanguanero had raped me. I used the first weapon that came to hand, a sharp chicken bone, and the first opportunity, when Signor Sanguanero was distracted by what he was doing, to blind him so that I could escape from the Santa Caterina and disappear in the night."

"You must have been close to shore to be able to swim to safety."

"No, I swam for a whole night and a day. Fortunately, I found a big piece of cork bark to keep afloat."

"One last question, Lady Chiara. Where have you lived since that affair that has destroyed Casa Sanguanero?"

"With the exception of a three-months trip to Rome last summer, I lived in Chiusi, Chianciano, and Monte Pulciano. I Magnifici gave public and private performances in all these cities. There are people in Piombino who can testify to that."

"Thank you, Lady Chiara, that is all." Barbarigo turned to the judges. "Your Honor, as you just heard, she has lived for most of that time in lands under Sienese stewardship. Not secretly, but openly. I personally have heard reports of people who attended the baths in Chianciano and saw these performances. I have also heard of the performance at Palazzo Benincasa of her latest translation,
Amphitruo
, which I am told was attended by the abbot and many of the monks of the Franciscan Monastery. Lady Chiara visited me in Siena. What then of the vaunted threat to prosecute her that my learned colleague so proudly proclaimed? … Why did it not happen? … Because Casa Sanguanero never lodged a complaint of fraud against Lady Chiara. Why? For the simple reason that after Lady Chiara confronted the late Signor Sanguanero and he did not deny her claim, few people doubted that he had done what she accused him off. Which father who is innocent would not answer the anguished plea of his daughter to say it was a lie? … He did not deny it, not because he was already possessed, but because even he at that fatal moment could not bring himself to lie to his own daughter.

"In fact," Barbarigo continued, "Lord Baglione of Perugia, a close blood relation of Casa Sanguanero, has sided with Lady Chiara and has refused to heed the call for vendetta that Signor Sanguanero had issued. Not even his own blood relations believe in the innocence of the late Signor Sanguanero."

A forceful line of argumentation, Chiara mused. Niccolo’s call for a vendetta rather than having recourse to the courts by filing a complaint against her strengthened her case.

Professor Barbarigo caught his breath, letting his gaze sweep over the people in the hall. "Everybody here has witnessed how my claimant has answered all questions without ever hesitating, even if the answers were not in her favor. Our learned judge from Pisa will certainly have checked the records of the Podestà of Pisa of his interrogation of Lady Chiara in June 1347." The judge nodded briefly. "He will therefore be able to tell whether or not the statements made then by Lady Chiara confirm my depositions. Liars tend to be inconsistent. They change their story over time to strengthen I make it seem more believable, more acceptable. You have not witnessed anything of this sort from Lady Chiara. She has been true to herself, even to her own detriment.

"I also know that the rental of a piece of land, Lady Chiara owns near Cetona, is donated in total each year to the orphanage of the Sisters of Santa Maria in Chiusi.

"Lady Chiara is not the liar and the woman of ill repute that my learned colleague tried to paint. She is a woman with a strong sense of justice, a woman, who in spite of all the odds stacked against her, seventeen, penniless, turned away from the gates of Pisa as a vagrant, has come out on top … a fearless woman, a woman of an exceptional intellect and poise … a rare artist who has regaled thousands of people with her
commedia erudita
… a woman who does not hide behind lies. If she says that the late Signor Sanguanero violated her, then it is the truth. Your Honor, I rest my case."

Almost instantly, the hall was filled with excited voices.
I guess it is a rare spectacle for them, better than any comedy,
Chiara mused.

"Lady Chiara, you may return to your place," said the senior judge, his voice drowned out by the noise.

Barbarigo smiled at her and then followed behind. She felt all eyes on her and returned Lady Maria’s nod and smile. While she had talked and listened, she had watched to judges carefully. She was convinced that they were sympathetic toward her, but she also felt that, in spite of their initial statement about natural justice, it would take a very strong case for them to go against tradition. The lack of a witness would sink her. Had this not been the reason why she had taken justice into her own hands already once? She doubted that she would be spared from playing her last card, a card she would rather have kept.

As she sat down, the three judges put their heads together. They talked for several minutes. She studied the wall hangings and paintings in the hall, ignoring the hateful looks that Niccolo sent to her every few seconds. After an agonizing wait, the judges resumed their seats and the clerk called for quiet. An expectant hush fell over the people.

 "In the case of Lady Chiara, the claimant, against Signor Sanguanero, the defendant," the senior judge began in a clipped Latin, "the tribunal has been forced into a difficult decision. We do not doubt the sincerity of the claimant. There is significant corroborative and hearsay evidence to support her case. However, finding in her favor would set a far-reaching precedent and can and should only be made if the evidence is overwhelming and beyond doubt. A witness to either the conversation the claimant says to have overheard or the violation of her person would provide such irrefutable evidence. In its absence, all three judges are of the opinion that it would be imprudent to find in favor of the claimant. We therefore have no choice but to dismiss the claim and to reconfirm that Signor Sanguanero remains the rightful owner of the property in dispute."

The words were met by a stunned silence. Chiara saw Niccolo’s triumphant sneer and turned to look to Lady Maria, who had opened her mouth in dismay, only to quickly raise her hand to cover it. She looked to Chiara who lightly shrugged her shoulders, which seemed to disconcert the countess even more. She could sense Barbarigo’s deep disappointment and guessed that the judges’ eagerness to hear him out had raised his hopes.

A murmur went through the crowd, as some got up to leave.

Chiamora was on his feet too, trying to attract the attention of the judges.

"Your Honor," he repeated several times before the senior judge turned to him. "Since you have found in favor of my client, I wish to lodge a claim for costs against Lady Chiara." He began to cite a list of expenses.

A new hush fell over the hall. Most people returned to their seats. While he spoke, Chiara retrieved two scrolls from her bag and opened one on top of the other. Barbarigo looked at her puzzled.