The Marquis Azo was not exempt
from the contagion of the times; his devotion was animated
and inflamed by the frequent miracles that were performed in
his presence; and the monks of Vangadizza, who yielded to
his request the arm of a dead saint, were not ignorant of
the value of that inestimable jewel. After satisfying the
demands of war and superstition he might appropriate the
rest of his revenue to use and pleasure. But the Italians of
the eleventh century were imperfectly skilled in the liberal
and mechanical arts; the objects of foreign luxury were
furnished at an exorbitant price by the merchants of Pisa
and Venice; and the superfluous wealth which could not
purchase the real comforts of life, were idly wasted on some
rare occasions of vanity and pomp. Such were the nuptials of
Boniface, Duke or Marquis of Tuscany, whose family was long
after united with that of Azo by the marriage of their
children. These nuptials were celebrated on the banks of the
Mincius, which the fancy of Virgil has decorated with a more
beautiful picture.
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