FRONTIER CITIES OF ITALY 



541 



to the extent of Romanizing the Teu- 

 tonic Langobardi, who swept up into it 

 from the plains of the Po. But Latin 

 south and Teuton north, all Tyrol passed, 

 with its neighbors, under the rule of the 

 Carolingians, and thence to the rule of 

 the tributary bishops of Bavaria. In the 

 thirteenth century arose the House of 

 Tyrol, which through inheritance, im- 

 perial grant, force, and persuasion, was 

 destined to unify the land under a secu- 

 lar lord and give it its name. For fifteen 

 centuries the northern, early Teutonized, 

 portion of the province has been loyal to 

 a Germanic house. Bavarian or Austrian. 



TRENTINO'S ITALIAN ASPE;CT 



But the southern part, like Italy itself, 

 conquered its Teuton conquerors, impos- 

 ing upon them its language, its customs, 

 its life and thought, even while submit- 

 ting to their laws. In part at least this 

 much-disputed, Italian-speaking, Italian- 

 looking district was long ruled by Verona 

 and by A^enice ; a hundred years of Aus- 

 trian rule have not made of Trent, the 

 most prosperous little city of south Tyrol, 

 or Riva, the picturesque port upon Lake 

 Garda,' anything but Italian towns. (See 

 article and photographs ofthis region by 

 Mr. and Mrs. Albrecht ' in the Geo- 

 graphic Magazine for April, 191 5.) 

 Natural sympathies and geographical 

 boundaries combine to make the Tren- 

 tino most desirable to Italy ; yet no one 

 may wonder that Austria is reluctant to 

 yield it. If Bavaria should claim her 

 ancient inheritance, what then would be 

 left to her? 



But we have, come far from Genoa 

 without pausing to look by the way. Let 

 us go back and take the slowest train, that 

 we may stop as often as we will. Per- 

 haps the first time should be at Pavia, 

 but I am not sure. Aluch of history has 

 been made there ; it should be interesting. 

 For two hundred years, until Charle- 

 magne overthrew them, it was the capital 

 of the Lombard kings, the kings of that 

 one-time Teuton tribe of Langobardi, 

 who conquered Italy, only to be them- 

 selves slowly conquered and become Ital- 

 ian or, more accurately, Romanized. It 

 is they who ruled over this great fertile 

 plain between the Alps and the Apen- 



nines, the plain watered by the Po and 

 its tributaries, adorned by a chain of 

 wonderful lakes that hang like sapphire 

 pendants dripping from the glacier-clad 

 Alps into the rich green meadows — the 

 plain that has been the coveted possession 

 of every European tribe and nation, the 

 prize of battle, the field of war, since 

 history began. 



A CROWNING PEACE OE KINGS 



Here, in the church of San Michele, 

 kings of Italy were crowned a thousand 

 years ago ; here two Germans, at least, 

 Henry II (1004) and Frederick Barba- 

 rossa (1155), received upon their brow 

 that "iron crown of the Lombards" 

 which conveyed the sovereignty of Italy. 

 In the castle garden, Francis I was de- 

 feated by the forces of Charles V; in the 

 palace, Petrarch was an honored guest 

 and perhaps wrote sonnets (see pictures, 

 pages 538-539) . Yet all this cannot make 

 of Pavia an alluring town to me ; let us 

 go on rather to the Certosa, a short five 

 miles away. 



If a few hours suffice for Pavia, how 

 many should be given here? Who shall 

 say ? Not I ; but only that it deserves more 

 time than it usually receives, sandwiched 

 in between a morning at Pavia and an 

 afternoon at Milan, or the casual objec- 

 tive of a pleasant motor tour. Yet am I 

 fair? Superficially, casually, attentively 

 as the perfunctory guide will allow, one 

 may "look it over" in a morning; to 

 really see it would be to scrutinize it foot 

 by foot, almost inch by inch, especially 

 its great church, which is a jewel without 

 and within. That St. Bruno w.ould quite 

 approve its magnificence I much doubt. 

 Coming to it directly from the mother- 

 house across the Alps near Grenoble, the 

 dift'erences are marked indeed. 



FEATURES OE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERIES 



The salient features of the Carthusian 

 monasteries, the small houses or cells 

 made necessary by the rule of the order 

 as to solitary life, are, of course, here 

 grouped about the usual court or clois- 

 ter, and they are no larger, no more lux- 

 urious, than those across the mountains ; 

 but the cloisters themselves — above all, 

 the church — bear little resemblance to the 



