Chapter XXXIV: Part 34

"From the death of Frederick the Second [A. D. 1250] … all
practical power of an imperial kingdom in Italy may be said to
have passed away. Presently begins the gradual change of the
commonwealths into tyrannies, and the grouping together of
many of them into larger states. We also see the beginning of
more definite claims of temporal dominion on behalf of the
Popes. In the course of the 300 years between Frederick the
Second and Charles the Fifth, these processes gradually
changed the face of the Italian kingdom. It became in the end
a collection of principalities, broken only by the survival of
a few oligarchic commonwealths and by the anomalous dominion
of Venice on the mainland. Between Frederick the Second and
Charles the Fifth, we may look on the Empire as practically in
abeyance in Italy. The coming of an Emperor always caused a
great stir for the time, but it was only for the time. After
the grant of Rudolf of Habsburg to the Popes, a distinction
was drawn between Imperial and papal territory in Italy. While
certain princes and commonwealths still acknowledged at least
the nominal superiority of the Emperor, others were now held
to stand in the same relation of vassalage to the Pope."

_E. A. Freeman,
Historical Geography of Europe,
chapter 8, section 3._

"During the 14th and 15th centuries we find, roughly speaking,
six sorts of despots in Italian cities. Of these the First
class, which is a very small one, had a dynastic or hereditary
right accruing from long seignorial possession, of their
several districts. The most eminent are the houses of
Montferrat and Savoy, the Marquises of Ferrara, the Princes of
Urbino. … The Second class comprise those nobles who
obtained the title of Vicars of the Empire, and built an
illegal power upon the basis of imperial right in Lombardy. Of
these, the Della Scala and Visconti families are illustrious
instances. … The Third class is important. Nobles charged
with military or judicial power, as Capitani or Podestas, by
the free burghs, used their authority to enslave the cities
they were chosen to administer. It was thus that almost all
the numerous tyrants of Lombardy, Carraresi at Padua, Gonzaghi
at Mantua, Rossi and Correggi at Parma, Torrensi and Visconti
at Milan, Scotti at Piacenza, and so forth, erected their
despotic dynasties. … In the Fourth class we find the
principle of force still more openly at work. To it may be
assigned those Condottieri who made a prey of cities at their
pleasure. The illustrious Uguccione della Faggiuola, who
neglected to follow up his victory over the Guelfs at Monte
Catini, in order that he might cement his power in Lucca and
Pisa, is an early instance of this kind of tyrant. His
successor, Castruccio Castracane, the hero of Machiavelli's
romance, is another. But it was not until the first half of
the 15th century that professional Condottieri became powerful
enough to found such kingdoms as that, for example, of
Francesco Sforza at Milan. The Fifth class includes the
nephews or sons of Popes. The Riario principality of Forli,
the Della Rovere of Urbino, the Borgia of Romagna, the Farnese
of Parma, form a distinct species of despotisms; but all these
are of a comparatively late origin. Until the papacy of Sixtus
IV. and Innocent VIII. the Popes had not bethought them of
providing in this way for their relatives. … There remains
the Sixth and last class of despots to be mentioned. This
again is large and of the first importance. Citizens of
eminence, like the Medici at Florence, the Bentivogli at
Bologna, the Baglioni of Perugia, the Gambacorti of Pisa, like
Pandolfo Petrucci in Siena (1502), Romeo Pepoli, the usurer of
Bologna (1323), the plebeian Alticlinio and Agolanti of Padua
(1313), acquired more than their due weight in the conduct of
affairs, and gradually tended to tyranny. In most of these
cases great wealth was the original source of despotic
ascendancy. It was not uncommon to buy cities together with
their Signory. … But personal qualities and nobility of
blood might also produce despots of the Sixth class."

_J. A. Symonds,
Renaissance in Italy: The Age of the Despots,
chapter 2._

ITALY: A. D. 1261-1264.
The supplanting of the Venetians by the Genoese at
Constantinople and in the Black Sea.
War between the Republics.

See GENOA: A. D. 1261-1299.

ITALY: A. D. 1273-1291.
Indifference of Rodolph of Hapsburg to his Italian dominions.
His neglect to claim the imperial crown.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1273-1308.

ITALY: A. D. 1277-1447.
Tyranny of the Visconti at Milan.
Their domination in Lombardy and their fall.

See MILAN: A. D. 1277-1447.

ITALY: A. D. 1282-1293.
War between Genoa and Pisa.
Battle of Meloria.
War of Florence and Lucca against Pisa.

See PISA: A. D. 1063-1293.

ITALY: (Southern): A. D. 1282-1300.
The Sicilian Vespers.
Severance of the Two Sicilies.
End of the House of Anjou in the insular kingdom.

"Peter, King of Aragon, had married Constance, the daughter of
Manfred, and laid claim to the kingdom of Sicily in her right.
He sent for help to Michael Palaiologos, the restorer of the
Eastern Empire. The Emperor agreed to his proposals, for his
Empire was threatened by Charles of Anjou. These negotiations
were, it is said, carried on through Giovanni di Procida, a
Sicilian exile, who, as the story goes, had suffered cruel
wrongs from the French. Charles knew something of the plans of
the allies, and both parties were preparing for war, but
affairs were brought to a crisis by a chance occurrence.
{1820}
On March 30, 1282, a brutal insult was offered by a French
soldier to a bride in the presence of her friends and
neighbours outside the walls of Palermo, and the smothered
hatred of the people broke out into open violence. The cry
'Death to the French' was raised, and all who belonged to that
nation in Palermo were slain without mercy. This massacre,
which is called 'The Sicilian Vespers,' spread through the
whole island; the yoke of the oppressor was broken and the
land was delivered. Charles laid siege to Messina, but he was
forced to retire by Peter of Aragon, who landed and was
received as King. Pope Martin in vain excommunicated the
rebels and their allies, and, in 1284, Charles received a
great blow, for his son was defeated and taken prisoner by
Roger of Loria, the Admiral of the Catalan fleet. Charles of
Anjou died in 1286, and two years later his son, also called
Charles, ransomed himself from prison."

_W. Hunt,
History of Italy,
chapter 4._

Charles of Anjou "died of grief, leaving his son, the prince
of Salerno, a prisoner, and Martin followed him, before he
could proclaim a general crusade against the invader of the
apostolic fief. Pedro, having enjoyed his two crowns to the
day of his death, left them to his sons, Alphonso and James
respectively, and both were excommunicated by Honorius IV. for
their accession. The prince of Salerno, obtaining his release
by the mediation of Edward of England, was absolved by
Nicholas IV. from the conditions to which he had sworn, and
crowned at Rome king of Apulia (i. e., Naples) and Sicily, A.
D. 1289. His hopes of regaining the island were constantly
disappointed. James, having succeeded to the crown of Arragon
by the death of Alphonso, was persuaded to resign Sicily to
Charles on condition of receiving his daughter in marriage,
with an ample dowry. Boniface VIII. also graciously gave him
leave to conquer the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, from the
republics of Pisa and Genoa. The Sicilians, however, declining
to be so bartered, bestowed their crown on James's brother
Frederic [1295]; and though James contributed his fleet to
reduce him, he retained the island throne [1300], while
Charles and the pope were obliged to rest content with the
continental kingdom. Their only satisfaction was to persist in
calling Naples by the name of Sicily, and to stigmatise their
rival as king of 'Trinacria.'"

_G. Trevor,
Rome: from the Fall of the Western Empire,
page 240._

ALSO IN:
_S. A. Dunham,
History of Spain and Portugal,
book 3, section 2, chapter 4._

ITALY: A. D. 1294-1299.
War between Venice and Genoa.

See GENOA: A. D. 1261-1299.

ITALY: A. D. 1297-1319.
The perfected aristocratic Constitution of Venice.

See VENICE: A. D. 1032-1319.

ITALY: A. D. 1300-1313.
New factions of Florence and Tuscany.
Bianchi and Neri.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1295-1300, and 1301-1313.

ITALY: 14th Century.
The Renaissance in its beginning.

"It was not the revival of antiquity alone, but its union with
the genius of the Italian people, which achieved the conquest
of the Western world. … The civilisation of Greece and Rome,
which, ever since the fourteenth century, obtained so powerful
a hold on Italian life, as the source and basis of culture, as
the object and ideal of existence, partly also as an avowed
reaction against preceding tendencies—this civilisation had
long been exerting a partial influence on mediæval Europe,
even beyond the boundaries of Italy. The culture of which
Charles the Great was a representative was, in face of the
barbarism of the seventh and eighth centuries, essentially a
Renaissance, and could appear under no other form. … But the
resuscitation of antiquity took a different form in Italy from
that which it assumed in the North. The wave of barbarism had
scarcely gone by before the people, in whom the former life
was but half effaced, showed a consciousness of its past and a
wish to reproduce it. Elsewhere in Europe men deliberately and
with reflection borrowed this or the other element of
classical civilisation; in Italy the sympathies both of the
learned and of the people were naturally engaged on the side
of antiquity as a whole, which stood to them as a symbol of
past greatness. The Latin language, too, was easy to an
Italian, and the numerous monuments and documents in which the
country abounded facilitated a return to the past. With this
tendency other elements—the popular character which time had
now greatly modified, the political institutions imported by
the Lombards from Germany, chivalry and other northern forms
of civilisation, and the influence of religion and the
Church—combined to produce the modern Italian spirit, which
was destined to serve as a model and ideal for the whole
western world. How antiquity began to work in plastic art, as
soon as the flood of barbarism had subsided, is clearly shown
in the Tuscan buildings of the twelfth and in the sculptures
of the thirteenth centuries. … But the great and general
enthusiasm of the Italians for classical antiquity did not
display itself before the fourteenth century. For this a
development of civic life was required, which took place only
in Italy, and there not till then. It was needful that noble
and burgher should first learn to dwell together on equal
terms, and that a social world should arise which felt the
want of culture, and had the leisure and the means to obtain
it. But culture, as soon as it freed itself from the fantastic
bonds of the Middle Ages, could not at once and without help
find its way to the understanding of the physical and
intellectual world. It needed a guide, and found one in the
ancient civilisation, with its wealth of truth and knowledge
in every spiritual interest. Both the form and the substance
of this civilisation were adopted with admiring gratitude; it
became the chief part of the culture of the age."

_J. Burckhardt,
The Renaissance in Italy,
part 3, chapter 1 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_J. A. Symonds,
Renaissance in Italy: Age of the Despots,
chapter 1._

See RENAISSANCE.

ITALY: A. D. 1305-1309.
Removal of the Papal Court to Lyons and then to Avignon.
The "Babylonish Captivity."

See PAPACY: A. D. 1294-1348.

ITALY: A. D. 1310-1313.
Visitation of the Emperor Henry VII.
Hostility of Florence and siege of the city.
Repulse from Rome.
The Emperor's death.

"No Emperor had come into Italy since the death of Frederic
II. [1250]. Neither Rudolf nor his two successors [see
GERMANY: A. D. 1273-1308] had been crowned Emperor, but on the
death of Albert of Austria, the King of the Romans, in 1308,
the electors chose Henry, Count of Luxemburg [Henry VII.]. In
1310 he entered Italy with a small German army. Unlike most of
these Imperial expeditions, this was approved of by the Pope.
{1821}
The French King Philip IV. was really master of Pope Clement
V., who did not live in Italy, but sometimes within the French
kingdom, or in the English territory of Bordeaux, or in
Avignon, a city of the Empire. But Clement did not like
bearing the French yoke, and was fearful lest some one of
greater talents than Charles of Valois should make an attempt
on Italy, and make it impossible for the Pope to get free from
the power of the French. He therefore favoured the expedition
of King Henry, and hoped that it would revive the Ghibelin
party and counteract the influence of the Guelfs, who were on
the side of France. Dante tells us the feelings which were
roused by the coming of the King. He seemed to come as God's
vicegerent, to change the fortunes of men and bring the exiled
home; by the majesty of his presence to bring the peace for
which the banished poet longed, and to administer to all men
justice; judgment and equity. Henry was worthy of these high
hopes; for he was wise, just, and gracious, courageous in
fight and honourable in council: but the task was too hard for
him. At first all seemed to go well with him. The Ghibelins
were ready to receive him as their natural lord; the Guelfs
were inclined towards him by the Pope. In Milan the chief
power was in the hands of Guido della Torre, the descendant of
Pagano della Torre, who had done good service to the city
after the battle of Corte Nuova. He was a strong Guelf, and
was at the head of a large number of troops; for he was very
rich. His great enemy was the Ghibelin Matteo Visconti, who
continually struggled with Guido for the mastery. The king was
willingly received by the Milanese, and Guido was not
behindhand in bidding him welcome. While he was at Milan, on
Christmas Day, 1310, he was crowned with the iron crown of the
Italian kingdom, which was made of steel in the shape of
laurel leaves, and studded with gems. He made both parties
enter into an outward reconciliation, and the chiefs of both
vied with one another in making him large presents. The King's
need of money soon tired out the Milanese, and an insurrection
was made in which both Matteo and Guido joined; but Matteo
betrayed his rival, and Guido and all the Guelfs were driven
out of Milan, which henceforth remained in the power of the
Ghibelin Visconti [see MILAN: A. D. 1277-1447]. The King's
demands for money made him unpopular, and each city, as he
left it, rose against him. Pisa, and the other Tuscan enemies
of Florence, received him with joy. But the great Guelfic city
shut her gates against him, and made alliance with Robert, the
Angevin King of Naples, the grandson of Charles of Anjou, and
afterwards gave him [Robert] the signoria. Rome received a
garrison from Naples, and the Imperial coronation had to be
performed in the Church of St. John Lateran,"—Henry being
repulsed in an attempt to force his entrance to the quarter of
the Vatican.

_W. Hunt,
History of Italy,
chapter 4._

"The city [of Rome] was divided in feeling, and the emperor's
position so precarious that he retired to Tivoli at the end of
August, and moved towards Tuscany, ravaging the Perugian
territory on his way, being determined to bring Florence and
all her allies to submission." By rapid movements he reached
Florence and invested the city before his intentions were
understood. "A sudden assault would probably have carried the
city, for the inhabitants were taken by surprise, were in a
state of consternation, and could scarcely believe that the
emperor was there in person: their natural energy soon
returned, the Gonfaloniers assembled their companies, the
whole population armed themselves, even to the bishop and
clergy; a camp was formed within the walls, the outer ditch
palisaded, the gates closed, and thus for two days they
remained hourly expecting an assault. At last their cavalry
[which had been cut off by the emperor's movement] were seen
returning by various ways and in small detachments; succours
also poured in from Lucca, Prato, Pistoia, Volterra, Colle,
and San Gimignano; and even Bologna, Rimini, Ravenna, Faenza,
Cesina, Agobbio, Città di Castello with several other places
rendered their assistance: indeed so great and extensive was
Florentine influence and so rapid the communication, that
within eight days after the investment 4,000 men at arms and
innumerable infantry were assembled at Florence! As this was
about double the imperial cavalry and four times its infantry,
the city gates were thrown open and business proceeded as
usual, except through that entrance immediately opposite to
the enemy. For two and forty days did the emperor remain
within a mile of Florence, ravaging all the country, but
making no impression on the town; after which he raised the
siege and moved to San Casciano, eight miles south." Later,
the Imperialist army was withdrawn to Poggibonzi, and in
March, 1313, it was moved to Pisa, to prepare for a new
campaign. "The Florentines had thus from the first, without
much military skill or enterprise, proved themselves the
boldest and bitterest enemies of Henry; their opposition had
never ceased; by letters, promises, and money, they corrupted
all Lombardy. … Yet party quarrels did not cease. … The
emperor now turned all his energies to the conquest of Naples,
as the first step towards that of Italy itself. For this he
formed a league with Sicily and Genoa; assembled troops from
Germany and Lombardy; filled his treasury in various ways, and
soon found himself at the head of 2,500 German cavalry and
1,500 Italian men-at-arms, besides a Genoese fleet of 70
galleys under Lamba Doria and 50 more supplied by the King of
Sicily, who with 1,000 men-at-arms had already invaded
Calabria by capturing Reggio and other places." On the 5th of
August, the emperor left Pisa upon his expedition against
Naples; on the 24th of the same month he died at Buonconvento
—not without suspicions of poison, although his illness began
before his departure from Pisa. "The intelligence of this
event spread joy and consternation amongst his friends and
enemies; the army soon separated, and his own immediate
followers with the Pisan auxiliaries carried his body back to
Pisa where it was magnificently interred."

_H. E. Napier,
Florentine History,
book 1, chapter 15 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
book 2, chapter 7 (volume 1)._

ITALY: A. D. 1312-1338.
The rising power and the reverses of the Scaligeri of Verona.
Mastino's war with Florence and Venice.

See VERONA: A. D. 1260-1338:

{1822}

ITALY: A. D. 1313-1330.
Guelf leadership of King Robert of Naples.
Wars of Pisa and Florence.
The rise and threatening power of Castruccio Castracani.
Siege of Genoa.
Visit of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria.
Subjection and deliverance of Pisa.

"While the unexpected death of Henry VII. deprived the
Ghibelin party of its leader, and long wars between rival
candidates for the succession to the German throne placed the
imperial authority over Italy in abeyance [see GERMANY: A. D.
1314-1347], Robert, king of Naples, the chief of the Guelf
party, the possessor of Provence, and the favourite of the
church, began to aspire to the general sovereignty of Italy.
He had succeeded to the crowns of Naples and Provence on the
death of his father, Charles II., in opposition to the
recognized laws of inheritance (A. D. 1309). His elder
brother, Charles Martel, by his marriage with the heiress of
Hungary, had been called to the throne of that kingdom, and
had died before his father. His son, Carobert, the reigning
king of Hungary, on the death of his grandfather, Charles II.,
asserted his just rights to all the dominions of that monarch;
but Robert, hastening to Avignon, whither Clement V. had now
removed his court, obtained from the pope, as feudal superior
of the royal fief of Naples, a sentence which set aside the
claims of his nephew in his own favour. The king of Hungary
did not seriously attempt to oppose this decision, and Robert,
a prince of wisdom and address, though devoid of military
talents, soon extended his ambitious views beyond the kingdom
over which he reigned undisturbed." The death of Henry VII.
"left him every opportunity both to attempt the subjugation of
the Ghibelin states, and to convert his alliance with the
Guelfs into the relation of sovereign and subject. … It was
in Tuscany that the storm first broke over the Ghibelins after
the loss of their imperial chief, and that the first ray of
success unexpectedly beamed on their cause. Florence and the
other Guelf cities of the province were no sooner delivered
from the fear of Henry VII. than they prepared to wreak their
vengeance against Pisa for the succours which she had
furnished to the emperor. But that republic, in consternation
at her danger, had taken into pay 1,000 German cavalry, the
only part of the imperial army which could be prevailed upon
to remain in Italy, and had chosen for her general Uguccione
della Faggiuola, a celebrated Ghibelin captain. The ability of
this commander, and the confidence with which he inspired the
Pisans, turned the tide of fortune. … The vigour of his arms
reduced the Guelf people of Lucca to sue for peace; they were
compelled to restore their Ghibelin exiles; and then
Uguccione, fomenting the dissensions which were thus created
within the walls, easily subjected one of the most wealthy and
flourishing cities of Tuscany to his sword (A. D. 1314). The
loss of so valuable an ally as Lucca alarmed the Florentines,
and the whole Guelf party. … King Robert sent two of his
brothers into Tuscany with a body of gens-d'armerie; the
Florentines and all the Tuscan Guelfs uniting their forces to
this succour formed a large army; and the confederates
advanced to relieve the castle of Montecatini which Uguccione
was besieging." The Ghibelin commander had a much smaller
force to resist them with; but he gained, notwithstanding, "a
memorable victory, near Montecatini, in which both a brother
and a nephew of the king of Naples were numbered with the
slain (A. D. 1315). This triumph rendered Uguccione more
formidable than ever; but his tyranny became insupportable
both to the Pisans and Lucchese, and a conspiracy was formed
in concert in both cities. … Excluded from both places and
deserted by his troops, he retired to the court of the Scala
at Verona (A. D. 1316). So Pisa recovered her liberty, but
Lucca was less fortunate or wise, for her citizens only
transferred the power which Uguccione had usurped to the chief
of the Ghibelins. Castruccio Castracani degl' Interminelli,
one of the most celebrated names in Italian history. This
extraordinary man … had early in life shared the common fate
of exile with the White Guelfs or Ghibelins of Lucca. Passing
ten years of banishment in England, France, and the Ghibelin
cities of Lombardy, he had served a long apprenticeship to
arms under the best generals of the age. … He had no sooner
returned to Lucca with the Ghibelin exiles, who were restored
by the terms of the peace with Pisa, than he became the first
citizen of the state. His skill and courage mainly contributed
to the subsequent victory of Montecatini, and endeared him to
the Lucchese; his influence and intrigues excited the
jealousy of Uguccione, and caused his imprisonment; and the
insurrection which delivered Lucca from that chief, liberated
Castruccio from chains and impending death to sovereign
command. Chosen annual captain of the people at three
successive, elections, he at length demanded and obtained the
suffrages of the senate and citizens for his elevation to the
dignity of signor (A. D. 1320): … Under his government Lucca
enjoyed repose for some years. … During these transactions
in Tuscany, the Lombard plains were still desolated by
incessant and unsparing warfare. The efforts of the Neapolitan
king were mainly directed to crush Matteo Visconti [see MILAN:
A. D. 1277-1447] and the Ghibelins in this part of Italy;" but
the power of the latter was continually spreading. "In this
prosperous state of the Ghibelin interests the domestic feuds
of Genoa attracted the tide of war to her gates. The ambitious
rivalry of her four great families, of the Grimaldi, the
Fieschi, the Spinola, and the Doria, had long agitated the
bosom of the republic; and at the period before us the two
former, who headed the Guelf party, had, after various
convulsions, gained possession of the government. The Spinola
and Doria, retiring from the city, fortified themselves in the
smaller towns of the Genoese territory, and immediately
invited the Ghibelin chiefs of Lombardy to their aid. The
lords of Milan and Verona promptly complied with the demand,
… and laid siege to the capital. The rulers of Genoa could
then resort in their terror to no other protection than that
of the Neapolitan king. Robert, conscious of the importance of
preserving the republic from subjection to his enemies,
hastened by sea to its defence, and obtained the absolute
cession of the Genoese liberties into his hands for ten years
as the price of his services. … After the possession of the
suburbs and outworks of Genoa had been obstinately contested
during ten months, the Ghibelins were compelled to raise the
siege. But Robert had scarcely quitted the city to pass into
Provence, when the exiles with aid from Lombardy again
approached Genoa, and during four years continued a war of
posts in its vicinity.
{1823}
But neither the Lombard signors nor Robert engaged in this
fruitless contest, and Lombardy again became the great theatre
of warfare." But the power which Matteo Visconti was steadily
building at Milan, for his family, could not be shaken, even
though an invasion from France (1320), and a second from
Germany (1322), was brought about through papal influence. At
the same time Castruccio Castracani, having consolidated his
despotism at Lucca, was making war upon the Florentines. When,
in 1325, he succeeded in gaining possession of the Guelf city
of Pistoia, "this acquisition, which was highly dangerous to
Florence, produced such alarm in that republic that she called
out her whole native force for the more vigorous prosecution
of the war." Castruccio was heavily outnumbered in the
campaign, but he gained, nevertheless, a great victory over
the Florentines near the castle of Altopascio (November 23,
1325). "The whole Florentine territory was ravaged and
plundered, and the conqueror carried his insults to the gates
of the capital. … In the ruin which threatened the Guelf
party in Tuscany, the Florentines had recourse to King Robert
of Naples, with entreaties for aid," which he brought to them
in 1326, but only on the condition "that his absolute command
over the republic, which had expired in 1321, should be
renewed for ten years in favour of his son Charles, duke of
Calabria." But now a new danger to the Guelf interests
appeared, in the approach of the emperor, Louis IV. of
Bavaria. "After a long contest for the crown of Henry VII.,
Louis of Bavaria had triumphed over his rival, Frederic of
Austria, and taken him prisoner at the sanguinary battle of
Muhldorf, in 1322. Having since passed five years in
confirming his authority in Germany, Louis was now tempted by
ambition and cupidity to undertake an expedition into Italy
(A. D. 1327)." Halting for some time at Milan, where he
received the iron crown of Lombardy, and where he deposed and
imprisoned Galeazzo Visconti, he proceeded into Tuscany "on
his march to Rome, where he intended to receive the imperial
crown. He was welcomed with joy by the signor of Lucca, and
the superior genius of Castruccio at once acquired the entire
ascendant over the weaker mind of Louis. Against the united
forces of the emperor and of Castruccio, the duke of Calabria
and his Guelf army cautiously maintained themselves on the
defensive; but the passage of Louis through Tuscany was
attended with disastrous consequences to the most famous
Ghibelin city of that province." Pisa, notwithstanding the
long fidelity of that republic to the Ghibelin cause, was
sacrificed by the emperor to the covetous ambition of
Castruccio. The forces of the two were joined in a siege to
which the unfortunate city submitted after a month. "She thus
fell in reality into the hands of Castruccio, who shortly
established his absolute authority over her capital and
territory. After extorting a heavy contribution from the
Pisans, and rewarding the services of Castruccio by erecting
the state of Lucca into an imperial duchy in his favour, the
rapacious emperor pursued his march to Rome. There he consumed
in the frivolous ceremony of his coronation [January 17,
1328], and in the vain endeavour to establish an antipope, the
time which he might have employed, with the forces at his
command, and in conjunction with Frederic, king of Sicily, in
crushing for ever the power of Robert of Naples and of all the
Guelfs of Italy who depended on that monarch." In August of
the same year Castruccio, who "had now attained an elevation
which seemed to threaten … the total subjugation of all
Italy," died suddenly of a fever. "Florence breathed again
from impending oppression, Pisa recovered her freedom, and
Lucca sank from ephemeral splendour into lasting obscurity. By
the death of Castruccio the emperor had lost his best
counsellor and firmest support, and he soon ceased to be
formidable to the Guelfs. … Hastily returning into Tuscany,
he plundered the infant orphans of Castruccio of their
inheritance to sell Lucca to a new signor, and to impose
ruinous contributions upon the Pisans, before his return into
Lombardy delivered them from tyranny. … The first proceeding
of Louis in Lombardy had been to ruin the Visconti, and to
drain their states of money: almost his last act in the
province was to make the restoration of this family to power a
new source of profit." In 1330 the emperor returned to
Germany, recalled by troubles in that part of his dominions.

_G. Procter,
History of Italy,
chapter 4, part 2._

ALSO IN:
_N. Machiavelli,
The Florentine Histories,
book 2._

_H. E. Napier,
Florentine History,
book 1, chapters 15-18 (volume 1)._

ITALY: A. D. 1314-1327.
The election and contest of rival emperors, Louis of Bavaria
and Frederick of Austria.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1314-1347.

ITALY: A. D. 1341-1343.
Defeat of the Florentines by the Pisans, before Lucca.
Brief tyranny of the Duke of Athens at Florence.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1341-1343.

ITALY: (Southern): A. D. 1343-1389.
Troubled reign of Joanna I. in Naples.
Murder of her husband, Andrew of Hungary.
Political effects of the great Schism in the Church.
The war of Charles of Durazzo and Louis of Anjou.
Violent course of Pope Urban VI.

"In Naples itself the house of Anjou fell into disunion.
Charles II. of Naples gained by marriage the dowry of Hungary
[see HUNGARY: A. D. 1301-1342], which passed to his eldest son
Charles Martel, while his second son, Robert, ruled in Naples.
But Robert survived his only son, and left as heiress of the
kingdom [1343] his grand-daughter Giovanna [better known as
Joan, or Joanna]. The attempt to give stability to the rule of
a female by marriage with her cousin, Andrew of Hungary, only
aroused the jealousy of the Neapolitan nobles and raised up a
strong party in opposition to Hungarian influence. Charles II.
of Naples, Giovanna's great-grand-father, had left many sons
and daughters, whose descendants of the great houses of
Durazzo and Tarento, like those of the sons of Edward III. in
England, hoped to exercise the royal power. When, in 1845,
Pope Clement VI. was on the point of recognising Andrew as
King of Naples, a conspiracy was formed against him, and he
was murdered, with the connivance, as it was currently
believed, of the Queen. Hereon the feuds in the kingdom blazed
forth more violently than before; the party of Durazzo ranged
itself against that of Tarento, and demanded punishment of the
murderers; Giovanna I., to protect herself, married Lewis of
Tarento in 1347. King Lewis of Hungary, aided by the party of
Durazzo, entered Naples to avenge his brother's death, and for
a while all was confusion. On the death of Lewis of Tarento
(1362), Giovanna I. married James, King of Majorca, and on his
death (1374), Otto, Duke of Brunswick.
{1824}
Giovanna I. was childless, and the slight lull which in the
last years had come over the war of factions in Naples was
only owing to the fact that all were preparing for the
inevitable conflict which her death would bring." Neapolitan
affairs were at this stage when the great schism occurred (see
PAPACY; A. D. 1377-1417), which enthroned two rival popes, one
(Urban VI.) at Rome, and one (Clement VII.) at Avignon. Queen
Giovanna had inclined first to Urban, but was repelled, and
gave her adhesion to Clement. Thereupon, Urban, on the 21st of
April, 1380, "declared her deposed from her throne as a
heretic, schismatic, and traitor to the Pope. He looked for
help in carrying out his decree to King Lewis of Hungary, who
had for a time laid aside his desire for vengeance against
Giovanna, but was ready to resume his plans of aggrandisement
when a favourable opportunity offered. … Lewis was not
himself disposed to leave his kingdom; but he had at his court
the son of his relative, Lewis of Durazzo, whom he had put to
death in his Neapolitan campaign for complicity in Andrew's
murder. Yet he felt compassion for his young son Charles,
brought him to Hungary, and educated him at his court. As
Giovanna was childless, Charles of Durazzo, or Carlo della
Pace, as he was called in Italy, had a strong claim to the
Neapolitan throne at her death." Charles of Durazzo was
accordingly furnished with Hungarian troops for an expedition
against Naples, and reached Rome in November, 1380. "Clement
VII. on his side bestirred himself in behalf of his ally
Giovanna, and for this purpose could count on the help of
France. Failing the house of Durazzo, the house of Valois
could put forward a claim to the Neapolitan throne, as being
descended from the daughter of Charles II. The helpless
Giovanna I. in her need adopted as her heir and successor
Louis, Duke of Anjou, brother of the French king, and called
him to her aid. Clement VII. hastened to confer on Louis
everything that he could; he even formed the States of the
Church into a kingdom of Adria, and bestowed them on Louis;
only Rome itself, and the adjacent lands in Tuscany, Campania
Maritima, and Sabina were reserved for the Pope. The
Avignonese pretender was resolved to show how little he cared
for Italy or for the old traditions of the Italian greatness
of his office. Charles of Durazzo was first in the field, for
Louis of Anjou was detained in France by the death of Charles
V. in September, 1380. The accession of Charles VI. at the age
of twelve threw the government of the kingdom upon the Council
of Regency, of which Louis of Anjou was the chief member. He
used his position to gratify his chief failing, avarice, and
gathered large sums of money for his Neapolitan campaign.
Meanwhile Charles of Durazzo was in Rome, where Urban VI.
equipped him for his undertaking." In June, 1381, Charles
marched against Naples, defeated Otto, the husband of
Giovanna, at San Germano, and had the gates of Naples opened
to him by a rising within the city on the 16th of July.
Giovanna took refuge in the Castel Nuovo, but surrendered it
on the 26th of August. After nine months of captivity, the
unfortunate queen was "strangled in her prison on May 12,
1382, and her corpse was exposed for six days before burial
that the certainty of her death might be known to all.
Thenceforth the question between Charles III. and Louis was
not complicated by any considerations of Giovanna's rights. It
was a struggle of two dynasties for the Neapolitan crown, a
struggle which was to continue for the next century. Crowned
King of Naples by Clement VII., Louis of Anjou quitted Avignon
at the end of May, accompanied by a brilliant array of French
barons and knights. He hastened through North Italy, and
disappointed the hopes of the fervent partisans of Clement
VII. by pursuing his course over Aquila, through the Abruzzi,
and refusing to turn aside to Rome, which, they said, he might
have occupied, seized Urban VI., and so ended the Schism. When
he entered the territory of Naples he soon received large
accessions to his forces from discontented barons, while 22
galleys from Provence occupied Ischia and threatened Naples."
Charles, having inferior forces, could not meet his adversary
in the field, but showed great tactical skill, acting on the
defensive, "cutting off supplies, and harassing his enemy by
unexpected sallies. The French troops perished miserably from
the effects of the climate; … Louis saw his splendid army
rapidly dwindling away." But quarrels now arose between
Charles and Pope Urban; the latter went to Naples to interfere
in affairs; the King made him practically a prisoner and
extorted from him agreements which were not to his liking. But
Urban, on the 1st of January, 1384, "proclaimed a crusade
against Louis as a heretic and schismatic, and Charles
unfurled the banner of the Cross." In May the Pope withdrew
from Naples to Nocera, and there began a series of
interferences which convinced Charles "that Urban was a more
serious adversary than Louis." With the summer came attacks of
the plague upon both armies; but that of Louis suffered most,
and Louis himself died, in September, bequeathing his claims
on Naples to his eldest son. "On the death of Louis the
remnant of his army dispersed, and Charles was free from one
antagonist. … War was now declared between the Pope and the
King. … Charles found adherents amongst Urban's Cardinals."
Urban discovered the plots of the latter and threw six of them
into a dungeon, where he tortured them with brutality. Charles
attacked Nocera and took the town, but the castle in which the
Pope had fortified himself resisted a long siege. "Three or
four times a day the dauntless Pope appeared at a window, and
with bell and torch cursed and excommunicated the besieging
army." In August, 1385, Urban was rescued by some of his
partisans, who broke through the camp of the besiegers and
carried him off, still clinging to his captive cardinals, all
but one of whom he subsequently put to death. He made his way
to Trani and was there met by Genoese galleys which conveyed
him and his party to Genoa. He resided in Genoa rather more
than a year, very much to the discomfort and expense of the
Genoese, and then, after much difficulty, found shelter at
Lucca until September, 1387. Meantime Charles III. had left
Naples, returning to Hungary to head a revolt against the
widowed queen and young daughter of Lewis, who died in 1382.
There he was assassinated in February, 1386. "The death of
Charles III. again plunged the kingdom of Naples into
confusion. The Angevin party, which had been powerless against
Charles, raised against his son Ladislas, a boy of twelve
years old, the claims of Louis II. of Anjou.
{1825}
The exactions of the Queen Regent Margaret awoke
dissatisfaction, and led to the appointment in Naples of a new
civic magistracy, called the Otto di Buono Stato, who were at
variance with Margaret. The Angevins rallied under Tommaso of
Sanseverino, and were reinforced by the arrival of Otto of
Brunswick. The cause of Louis was still identified with that
of Clement VII., who, in May 1385, had solemnly invested him
with the kingdom of Naples. Urban VI., however, refused to
recognise the claims of the son of Charles, though Margaret
tried to propitiate him … and though Florence warmly
supported her prayers for help." The Pope continued obstinate
in this refusal until his death. He declared that the kingdom
of Naples had lapsed to the Holy See, and he tried to gather
money and troops for an expedition to secure it. As a means to
that end, he ordered that the year 1390 should be a year of
jubilee—a decade before the end of the century. It was his
last desperate measure to obtain money. On the 15th of October
1389 he died and one of the most disastrous pontificates in
the history of the Papacy came to an end.

_M. Creighton,
History of the Papacy during the Period of the Reformation,
book 1, chapter 1 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_Historical Life of Joanna of Sicily._

_Mrs. Jameson,
Memoirs of Celebrated Female Sovereigns,
volume 1, chapter 4._

_St. C. Baddeley,
Charles III. of Naples and Urban VI._

ITALY: A. D. 1343-1393.
The "Free Companies."
Their depredations and the wars employing them.
The Great Company.
The Company of Sir John Hawkwood.

"The practice of hiring troops to fight the battles of the
Commonwealth [of Florence—but in other Italian states no
less] had for some time past been continually on the increase.
… The demand for these mercenary troops,—a demand which …
preferred strangers from beyond the Alps,—had filled Italy
with bands of free lances, ready to take service with any
tyrant, or any free city that was willing to pay them. They
passed from one service to another, and from one side of a
quarrel to the other, with the utmost indifference and
impartiality. But from this manner of life to setting up for
themselves and warring for their own behoof there was but one
step. And no prudent man could have doubted that this step
would ere long be taken. Every circumstance of the age and
country combined to invite and facilitate it. … Already,
immediately after the fall of the Duke of Athens [at Florence,
1343], a German adventurer, one Werner, known in Italian
history as the Duke Guarnieri, had induced a large number of
the hired troops, who were then 'unattached' in Italy, mainly
those dismissed at that time from the service of Pisa, to form
themselves into an independent company and recognize him as
their leader. With equal effrontery and accuracy this ruffian
styled himself 'The enemy of God, of Pity, and of Mercy.' …
This gang of bandits numbered more than 2,000 horsemen. Their
first exploit was to threaten the city of Siena. Advancing
through the Sienese territory towards the city, plundering,
killing, and burning indiscriminately as they went, they
inspired so sudden and universal a terror that the city was
glad to buy them off with a sum of 12,000 florins. From the
Sienese territory they passed to that of Arezzo, and thence to
the district around Perugia; and then turning towards the
Adriatic, overran Romagna, and the Rimini country, then
governed by the Malatesat family. It is difficult adequately
to describe, or even to conceive the sufferings, the
destruction, the panic, the horror, which marked the track of
such a body of miscreants." Finally, by the skilful management
of the Lord of Bologna, the company was bought up and sent
across the Alps, out of Italy, in detachments. "The relief was
obtained in a manner which was sure to operate as an
encouragement to the formation of other similar bands. And
now, after the proclamation of the peace between Florence and
the Visconti, on the 1st of April, 1353, … the experiment
which had answered so well in the hands of the German 'Enemy
to God and to Mercy,' was repeated on a larger scale by a
French Knight Hospitaller of the name of Montreal, known in
Italian history as Frà Moriale. … Being out of place, it
occurred to him to collect all the fighting men in Italy who
were similarly circumstanced, and form an independent company
after the example of Guarnieri, with the avowed purpose of
living by plunder and brigandage. He was so successful that he
collected in a very short time 1,500 men-at-arms and 2,000
foot soldiers; who were subsequently increased to 5,000
cavaliers and 7,000 infantry; and this band was known as 'the
Great Company.'" There was an attempt made, at first, to
combine Florence, Siena and Perugia, with the Romagna, in
resistance to the marauders; but it failed. "The result was
that the Florentines were obliged to buy off the terrible Frà
Moriale with a bribe of 28,000 florins, and Pisa with one of
16,000. … The chief … after Frà Moriale himself, was one
Conrad, Count of Lando; and under him the Company marched
towards Lombardy in search of fresh booty, while Moriale
himself, remaining temporarily behind, went to Rome to confer
privately, as it was believed, with the Colonna chiefs,
respecting a project of employing his band against Rienzi, the
tribune. But whether such was the object of his journey to
Rome or not, it was fatal to the brigand chief. For Rienzi no
sooner knew that the notorious Frà Moriale was within his
jurisdiction than he arrested him, and summarily ordered him
to execution as a common malefactor. The death of the chief,
however, did not put an end to 'the Great Company'; for Conrad
of Lando remained, and succeeded to the command of it." From
1356 to 1359, Italy in different parts was preyed upon by 'the
Great Company,' sometimes in the service of the league of the
lesser Lombard princes against the Visconti of Milan, and once
in the employ of Siena against Perugia; but generally
marauding on their own account, independently. Florence,
alone, stood out in resistance to their exactions, and finally
sent into the field against them 2,000 men-at-arms, all tried
troops, 500 Hungarians: and 2,500 cross-bowmen, besides the
native troops of the city. Subsequently the Florentine forces
were joined by others from Milan, Padua, and elsewhere. The
bandits marched all around the Florentine frontier, with much
bluster, making great threats, but constantly evading an
engagement. At length, on the 20th of July, 1359, the two
armies were in such a position that "it was thought in the
Florentine camp that a decisive battle would be fought on the
morrow. But when that July morning dawned, Lando and his
bandit host were already in full march northwards towards
Genoa, with a precipitation that had all the appearance of
flight. … 'The Great Company never again dared to show its
face in Tuscany.'"

_T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
book 3, chapter 6 (volume 2)._

{1826}

"Another company, consisting principally of Englishmen [lately
turned loose in France by the Peace of Bretigny, 1360, which
terminated the invasion of Edward III.], was brought into
Italy at a somewhat later period by the Marquis of Montferrat.
… About the same time another, composed principally of
Germans, and commanded by Amichino Baumgarten, was raised by
Galeazzo Visconti, and afterwards employed by the Pisans.
Another, entitled that of St. George, was formed by Ambrose,
the natural son of Bernabos Visconti, and let loose by him on
the territories of Perugia and Sienna. Thus, at the end of the
14th century, Italy was devastated at one and the same time by
these four companies of adventurers, or, as they might more
justly be called, professional robbers. … Of all these
companies, the military reputation of the English was
undoubtedly the greatest—a circumstance which may be
ascribed, in some degree, to the physical superiority of the
men, but still more to the talents of Sir John Hawkwood, by
whom they were commanded."

_W. P. Urquhart,
Life and Times of Francesco Sforza,
book 2, chapter 1 (volume 1)._

One of the marauding companies left in France after the Peace
of Bretigny, and which afflicted that wretched country so
sorely (see FRANCE: A. D. 1360-1380), was called the White
Company, and Sir John Hawkwood was one of its commanders. "The
White Company crossed into Lombardy, under the command of one
Albaret, and took service under the Marquis of Montferrat,
then at war with the Duke of Milan. Hawkwood [called Giovanni
Aguto by the Italians] entered the Pisan service, and next
year, when the marquis, being unable to maintain his English
troops, disbanded them, the Pisans engaged them, and gave
Hawkwood the command." Hawkwood and his company served Pisa,
in war with Florence, until 1364, when they experienced a
great defeat, which led to peace and their discharge. During
the next three years they lived as independent freebooters,
the territories of Siena suffering most from their
depredations. Then they took service with Bernabo Visconti,
Lord of Milan, making war for him on Florence and its allies;
but very soon their arms were turned against Milan, and they
were fighting in the pay of Florence and the Pope. "Within the
next five years he changed sides twice. He served Galeazzo
Visconti against the Papal States; and then, brought back to
fight for Holy Church, defeated his late employer in two
pitched battles." After this, when the league against an
aggressive and ambitious pontiff extended, and Florence,
Bologna and other cities joined Milan, Hawkwood took money
from both at the same time, and cheated both, preliminarily to
fighting each in turn. While serving the Pope his ruffians
wantonly destroyed the captured town of Casena, massacring
between 4,000 and 5,000 people, women and children included.
In 1378, when Gregory XI. died, peace followed, and Hawkwood's
company resumed its old freebooting. In 1381 he was engaged in
the Neapolitan civil war. In 1387 he seems to have become
permanently engaged in the service of Florence against the
Duke of Milan. "In 1391, Florence concluded a general peace
with all her enemies. Her foreign auxiliaries were dismissed,
with the exception or Sir John Hawkwood and 1,000 men.
Hawkwood henceforth remained in her service till his death,
which took place on the 6th of March, 1393. He was buried at
the public expense, as a valiant servant of the State."

_Sir John Hawkwood
(Bentley's Miscellany,
volume 54, pages 284-291)._

ALSO IN:
_O. Browning,
Guelphs and Ghibellines,
chapter 12. _

ITALY: A. D. 1347-1354.
Rienzi's Revolution at Rome.

See ROME: A. D. 1347-1354.

ITALY: A. D. 1348-1355.
War of Genoa against Venice, the Greeks and Aragonese.

See CONSTANTINOPLE: A. D. 1348-1355.

ITALY: A. D. 1352-1378.
Subjugation and revolt of the States of the Church.
War of the Pope with Florence.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1352-1378.

ITALY: A. D. 1378-1427.
The democratizing of Florence.
Tumult of the Ciompi.
First appearance of the Medici.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1378-1427.

ITALY: A. D. 1379-1381.
Final triumph of Venice over Genoa in the War of Chioggia.

See VENICE: A. D. 1379-1381.

ITALY: (Southern): A. D. 1386-1414.
Renewed Civil War in Naples.
Defeat of the Angevins and triumph of Ladislas.
His ambitious career.
His capture and recapture of Rome.