St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century (1799) is eighteenth-century British philosopher William Godwin's fourth novel.
Following the success of Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794), Godwin searched for a topic that would capture his imagination as much as his earlier work. St. Leon is the tale of a French aristocrat, Count Reginald de St. Leon, who loses his wealth gambling and experiences guilt that drives him almost to madness. He accepts the secret of the elixir of life and of the power of multiplying wealth from a dying stranger, ultimately causing him to wander separated from humankind.
Plot
Count Reginald narrates the story of his life, beginning with the death of his father when he was an infant. He was brought up by his mother, "a woman of rather a masculine understanding, and full of the prejudices of nobility and magnificence."William Godwin. St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century, ed. William D. Brewer (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview, 2006), 55.
Reginald has grand notions of aristocratic honour, and, inspired by his uncle, the Marquis de Villeroy, he joins the Italian war of 1521–6, hoping to achieve military renown in the battle of Pavia. Reginald is knighted by King Francis I, while fighting for the French against the Spanish Imperial army, but the King is captured and imprisoned by Charles V. The King's exile changes the climate in France from one in which "the activity of the field" is exchanged "for the indulgences of the table."Godwin, 75.
On his return home, Reginald, now twenty years old is forced by the death of his mother to take charge of his own affairs. He is quickly led astray by a life of spending too much, keeping mistresses, and gambling. He lives like this for two years and quickly depletes his fortune. He meets the beautiful and accomplished nineteen-year-old Marguerite Louise Isabeau de Damville, whose education has benefited from the society of Clement Marot, Rabelais, Erasmus, and Scaliger, and whose drawing has been encouraged by Leonardo da Vinci. Reginald courts Marguerite, who is the daughter of the Marquis de Damville, but Reginald's reputation as a gambler causes the Marquis to warn him that he should be careful not to ruin himself and his daughter. The Marquis allows them to marry, but by the time he is in his thirties, Reginald is living beyond his means and has returned to gambling. The Marquis does not live to see this development.
Marguerite moves their family to Switzerland and pays off her husband's debts by selling their possessions. She tries to convince him that the simpler life of a peasant will make the whole family happier and more virtuous. However, while they are beginning their farming life, their crops and animals are unexpectedly destroyed in a fierce storm. Disturbed by the sight of a dead woman and child, Reginald realizes he is fortunate when he returns home to find his family is safe. He dismisses his former love of money and rank. Seeing the casualties of a fierce storm reveals to him that his new life as a subsistence farmer is more valuable than he imagined, but that it is a life subject to the precarious whims of fortune. This development gives Godwin scope to expatiate on the Swiss system of storing corn in public reserves in case of natural disasters.
Reginald applies for national relief and a disbursement from the public treasury to enable him to restock his farm. But relief is refused on the grounds that he is not Swiss. Government officials are sent to remove the family from the country altogether without giving them time to sell their cottage. A compassionate neighbour lends them money against the house and they leave for Lake Constance. The neighbour dies, and his estate passes to a relative, Monsieur Grimseld, who steals their house. Reginald risks imprisonment to return to Switzerland to reclaim his cottage as his family are beginning to starve. Grimseld is fined for fraud, and Reginald is given the money for his farm.
Volume 2 begins in the year 1544. An old man arrives at the family's house at Lake Constance, claiming to be a Venetian called Francesco Zampieri, but his true identity remains a mystery. He is being pursued by the Inquisition. Zampieri reveals to Reginald the secret of immortality and the art of multiplying gold. Only one person is permitted to know these secrets at any one time. The secret of immortality is an elixir made from herbs that when consumed bring youth and vigour. It cures sickness, but cannot save anyone from injury. Reluctant to keep a secret from his wife, Reginald is forced to remain silent about the gift and Zampieri dies shortly afterwards.
Francis I returns to France from his imprisonment in Spain, finding the country in a great upheaval, with Charles V and Henry VIII in the process of invading northern France. Unwilling to return to his simple domestic life, Reginald plans to repurchase the estate that he lost, but in order to make it seem like he has regained his wealth gradually and not in suspicious circumstances, he moves to the city of Constance and pretends that Zampieri had given him 3,000 crowns. Constance is in the process of becoming Protestant.
Reginald is quickly seduced into spending a great deal of money and arouses the suspicion of his countryman, Gaspard de Coligny. Reginald's son, Charles, becomes aware of the shame that wealth with an inexplicable origin has brought and disowns his father and leaves. Marguerite is also suspicious and guesses that he has found the philosopher's stone. Reginald tells her not to reveal this and not to enquire further about it. She is ill, but as the elixir can only be drunk by an "adept", he cannot give it to her.
The suspicions about Reginald's wealth grow to such a height that the magistrate has him arrested and questioned. He is asked about the disappearance of the stranger and about his new wealth, but refuses to cooperate. Monsieur Monluc, a Frenchman, arrives, and Reginald appeals to him for help. Monluc investigates the case, interviews Marguerite. Reginald tells him the honorable name of St. Leon which removes the necessity for an explanation and he does not provide a reason. Monluc refuses to help him further.
Marguerite advises Reginald to escape from the prison. He attempts to bribe a turnkey, Hector, but he refuses to help because he is loyal to the keeper and he reveals this to the keeper. The keeper asks for a bribe. Reginald hands over a large sum but is led to a dungeon instead and chained to a wall. Hector is imprisoned because he is the only person who knows about the bribe. The keeper asks for more money, and Reginald is forced to trust him, and this time he is released provided he takes Hector with him in order to make the latter appear to be an accomplice.
In volume 3, Reginald, his family, and Hector set out for Italy. One evening, while Hector and Reginald are taking an evening walk while the family are at an inn in the Alps, Reginald hears a man shrieking and is attacked by a large black dog. The dog takes him to a man who is wounded and dying. Reginald and Hector dress his wounds, and Hector runs back to the inn to get help.
The man's name is Andrea Filosanto. He had been taking his mother's dower to her and was robbed. He dies, and the dog grieves for him. Reginald takes the dog, Charon, into his family. A few months later, the dog finds the assailant, who is apprehended, confesses to being one of the robbers, is tried, convicted, and executed.
Reginald settles in Pisa, and is protected by the Filosanto family and the family of the woman Andrea was about to marry, the Carracciuoli, who are powerful in the Pisan territory. Reginald spends some time practicing alchemy in a grotto, employing Hector as an assistant. Hector tells his girlfriend about the experiments, and Reginald quickly gains the reputation of being a sorcerer. His girlfriend's other lover, Agostino, is jealous and seeks revenge.
Reginald is shunned, and someone shoots at their house at night. The dog is killed, and Hector is attacked. The attack is motivated by the suspicions about magic and by Hector's being of African origin. Reginald addresses the mob in an attempt to vindicate himself, but they throw mud at him and accuse him of witchcraft.
He leaves to consult with the Marchese Filosanto, and the rest of the family leave for Lucca, heading for Spain. They leave Hector in charge of their house in Pisa. When Reginald goes back to Pisa, he finds that the mob have burned his house down, that Hector has gone mad and has escaped his carers and has died defending the house. Hector was tortured by the mob, and it is clear that the crime is racially motivated.
Marguerite has a miscarriage in Lucca. The family continue to Spain, and Marguerite dies in Barcelona. Distraught, the family continues to Madrid. Here, the daughters are looked after by Mariana, a former companion of their mother's. Reginald repurchases his family's French estate, and he gradually separates himself from his children, considering this to be a virtuous action. They are told to think and speak of him as if he were dead. The family still do not know the whereabouts of Charles.
Reginald moves to Madrid and spends time studying natural philosophy and ethics. He is followed by two men, who are eventually revealed to be informers for the Inquisition. He is arrested and imprisoned for sorcery. Philip II returns to Spain after his marriage to Queen Mary, and he oversees an auto da Fé in Seville. Philip then travels to Valladolid for another auto da Fé, at which Reginald is to be burned alive. The elixir of life cannot protect him from this punishment.
While processing to Valladolid from Madrid, a horse is frightened and kicks, and in the confusion, Reginald escapes and breaks into the house of a Jewish convert to Christianity, Mordecai. Just as he had appealed to the turnkey as a member of an oppressed minority, so Reginald appeals to Mordecai to help him escape the Inquisition. Mordecai helps him change his clothes and fetches the herbs needed for the elixir of immortality. Reginald now has visibly aged such that he looks like a man of eighty. He drinks the elixir and becomes as young and healthy as he was on his wedding day. He leaves without Mordecai's knowledge. During his escape, Reginald accidentally witnesses the auto da fé and is horrified.
At the beginning of volume 4, Reginald visits his daughters disguised as an Armenian merchant. He has now been away from them for twelve years. Louisa is 28, Marguerite (named after her mother) is 24, and Julia died four years previously after her fiancé had been imprisoned by his father for intending to marry her. Reginald pretends to have known their father and informs them of his own death. He hopes that the death certificate that he gives them will remove the dishonour from his family.
Reginald leaves for Hungary and takes a house in Buda, intending to use his money to revitalize the economy after the devastation of a long war. He gives charity to poor people, becomes a corn dealer and an architect, and takes a new name: "the sieur de Chatillon" (p. 366). Problems occur, however, when demand for corn becomes too great and the people suspect him of manipulating the market for personal gain.
Reginald presents himself to the Turkish Pasha of Buda, Muzaffer Bey. But Bey blames him for causing civil unrest and investigates the unknown origins of Reginald's wealth. Reginald is forced to bribe him. He then meets Bethlem Gabor, a misanthropic arms dealer, and a native of Hungary, whose wife and children have been murdered. Like Reginald, Bethlem spends a great deal of time wandering, and they share their sorrows and become friends.