Cola di Rienzo

Cola di Rienzo

 orig. Nicola di Lorenzo

(born 1313, Rome—died Oct. 8, 1354, Rome) Italian revolutionary leader. The son of a tavern keeper, he became a minor Roman official. He plotted a revolution to restore the glory of ancient Rome, declared himself tribune in 1347, and began to rule Rome as a dictator. Cola made judicial and political reforms and prepared for the election of a Roman emperor of Italy. The nobles rose against him, however, and the pope declared him a heretic. He fled to the mountains, then traveled to Prague to ask Charles IV for help. He was arrested (1352) but was absolved of heresy by the Inquisition. Given the title of senator, he was sent back to Rome in 1354 to help restore papal authority there. He ruled arbitrarily and was soon killed by a mob. A novel of his life by Edward Bulwer-Lytton was made into an opera by Richard Wagner.