Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-08-17
IoMRs IN ST. PETERS.
Some of Them Have Beon Violated an
the Bones Scattered abroad.

Some of Them Have Beon Violated and
the Bones Scattered abroad.
One of the best tombs in the ba-
silica is that of Sixtus ", the first
pope of the Revere family, in the
Chapel of the Sacrament The bronze
figure, lying low on a sarcophagus
placed out upon the floor, has a
quiet, manly dignity about it which
one cannot forget. But in the same
tomb lies a greater man of the same
raoe-Julius II-for whom Michael
Angelo made his great "Moses" in
the church of San Pietro in Vincoli,
man who did more than any other,
perhaps, to make the great basilica
what it is, and who, by a chain OF
mistakes, got no tomb of his own.
He who solemnly laid the founda-
tions of the present church and lived
to see the four main piers completed,
with their arches, has only a slab
in the pavement to recall his men,
DRY. The protector and friend of
Bramante, of Michael Angelo and OF
Raphael-and of the great architect,
the great sculptor and the great
painter-has not so much as the
least work of any of the three to
mark his place of rest Perhaps he
needed nothing but his name, which
must always stand among the great
est.
After all, his bones have been al
lowed to rest in peace. which is
more than can be said of all that
have been buried within the area of
the church. Urban VI had no such
good fortune. He so much surprised
the cardinals, as soon as they had
elected him, by his vigorous moral
reforms, that they hastily retired to
Anagni and elected an antipope OF
milder manners and less sensitive
conscience. He lived to triumph over
his enemies. In Piacenza he was be-
sieged by King Charles of Naples.
He communicated him, tortured
seven cardinals whom he caught il
conspiracy and put five OF them to
death, overcame and slew Charles,
refused him burial and had his body
exposed to the derision of the crowd.
The chronicler says that Italy, Ger
many, England, Hungary, Bohemia,
Poland, Sicily and Portugal were
obedient to the Lord Pope Urban
VI" He died peacefully and was
buried in st. Peters in marble sar-
cophagus.
But when Sixtus V, who also sur
prised the cardinals greatly, was in
a fit of haste to finish the dome, the
masons, wanting a receptacle for
water, laid hands on Urban's stone
coffin, pitched his bones into COR
ner and used the sarcophagus as
they pleased, leaving it to serve as
water tank for many years after
ward.
In extending the foundations of
the church Paul III came upon the
bodies of Maria and HerDantia, tho
two wives of Honorius, the emperor
who "disestablished" paganism i'll
favor of Christianity. They were
sisters, daughters of Stilicho, and
had been buried in their imperial
robes, with many rich objects and
feminine trinkets, and they were
found intact, as they had been bur-
led, in the month of February, 154S.
Forty pounds of fine gold were taken
from their robes alone, says Barac.
conf, without counting all the jew
els and trinkets, among which was
a very beautiful lamp, besides a
great number of precious stones.
The pope melted down the gold for
the expenses of the building aud set
the gems in tiara, where, il they
could be identified. they certainly
exist today-the very stones worn
by expresses of ancient Rome
Marion Crawford in Century.