Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
14
RAFAŁBORYSŁAWSKI
cummagnohonoreRomamperrexit,praefatumquefliumsuumAelfre-
dumiterumineandemviamsecumducens,eoquodillumplusceteris
fliisdiligebat,ibiqueannointegroremoratusest.6łuHe[i.e.Æthelwulf]
travelledtoRomeinthatyearingreatstate,takinghissonAlfredwith
him,forasecondtimeonthesamejourney,becausehelovedhimmore
thanhisothersons;thereheremainedforawholeyear.”7Imaginably,it
wasduetothisroyalsojournthatthesuccessorofPopeLeo,Benedict
III,decidedtorestoretheScholaSaxorum,alsoknownasScholaAn-
glorum,afoundationforEnglish-speakingpilgrimstoRomewithinthe
BorgoandnotfarfromSt.Peter)s,thatwasburneddownbySaracens
adecadebeforeAlfred)sallegedsecondvisit.8Tracesofthepresenceof
Anglo-SaxonpilgrimstothecityofSt.Petercanstillbefoundtoday:
theScholaSaxorumwaslocatedintheplacewherestandsthepresent-
dayChurchoftheSantoSpiritoinSassia,theuHolySpiritintheSaxon
district,”whereastheverynameoftheBorgohasassociationswith
Germaniclanguages,asitiscognatewiththeOldEnglishburh.Mari-
anoBorgatti,oneofRome)sprominenthistoriansoftheearlytwentieth
century,claimedthatthenameofthedistrictwasanItalianisedversion
ofthewordforacityusedbypilgrimsfromGermanic-speakingparts
ofEurope.9
InasmuchasyoungAlfred)sjourneysandsojournsinRomearein-
triguing,asidefromthementionsintheVitaAelfredi,aswellasthepapal
andFrankishdocuments,wehavenopersonalaccountofAlfred)sstay
inthecitywhatsoever,letaloneanyofhisownimpressionsofitandof
theimpactthecitymadeonhim.Wemay,ofcourse,rathersafelyas-
sumethatitmusthavebeenconsiderable.ItisdifcultforRomenotto
makealastingimpressiononanyone,leastofallonafive-year-oldprince
fromadistantkingdom,beleaguered,liketherestofChristianEurope
then,bybarbariansfromtheNorth.Onecannothelpbutimaginelit-
tleAlfred,soverymuchloved,asAsserclaims,byhisroyalparentsfor
6Asser,VitaAelfredi,11.
7Asser,LifeofKingAlfred,70.
8RogerCollins,EarlyMedievalEurope,300-1000(London:Macmillan,1991),
337-38.
9MarianoBogatti,BorgoeS.Pietronel1300,nel1600enel1925(Roma:
FedericoPustet,1926),13.
