VIGNA, Pietro de la, or Petrus de Vinea ( c . 1190- 1249), the emperor Frederick Ii.’s minister, was born at Capua probably about 1190. From his own letters he would seem to have been of obscure parentage, though one of his correspondents refers to his nobilitas. He was perhaps educated at Bologna; but he certainly studied in a strange city and not at his own expense, though it is not till after his death that we find the story which makes him beg his bread in the streets. His name does not appear affixed to any judicial act before July 1225, at which time he was judex magnae cumae ; and this continued to be his official title till April 1247, when his style was changed for that of protonotary and logothete. In 1232 he was at Rome on a mission to Gregory IX., and in 1234-35 he was in England negotiating the marriage of his master with Henry Iii.’s sister Isabella, after which time he seems to have kept up a friendly communication with the king, and on one occasion even begs to be reckoned “as a son and citizen of the realm.” In March 1239 he was with Frederick II. at Padua when the news came of the emperor’s excommunication, with reference to which he was ordered to address the people. In 1247 he was at the very height of his power and regarded as the emperor’s alter ego. But from this height of prosperity Peter suddenly fell very early in 1249, and all kinds of stories have been invented to explain an event that puzzled his contemporaries as well as succeeding ages. He was thrown into prison and blinded, after which he was led about from place to place as a public example, “the master-councillor of the emperor, who was lord of his law and betrayed him to the pope.” His death must have taken place about April 1249. There seems to be some truth in the ...