Chapter IV: , VII (132)

"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.

"The death of Charles III. involved the kingdom of Naples in
the most ruinous anarchy; and delivered it for many years a
prey to all the disorders of a long minority and a disputed
throne. Charles had left two children, Ladislaus, a boy of ten
years old, and a daughter, Joanna; and his widow Margaret
acted as regent for her son. On the other hand, the
Sanseverini and other baronial families, rallying the Angevin
party, proclaimed the young son of the late duke of Anjou
king,—also under the guardianship of his mother, Maria,—by
the title of Louis II. Thus Naples was disturbed by the rival
pretensions of two boys, placed beneath the guidance of
ambitious and intriguing mothers, and severally protected by
two popes, who excommunicated each other, and laboured to
crush the minors whom they respectively opposed, only that
they might establish their own authority over the party which
they supported. … For several years the Angevin party seemed
to maintain the ascendancy. Louis II. was withheld in Provence
from the scene of danger by his mother; but the barons who had
raised his standard, forcing Margaret of Durazzo and the
adherents of her son to retire to Greta, possessed themselves
of the capital and great part of the kingdom. When Louis II.,
therefore, was at length suffered by his mother to appear at
Naples, attended by a powerful fleet and a numerous train of
the warlike nobles of France (A. D. 1390), he disembarked at
the capital amidst the acclamations of his people, and would
probably have overpowered the party of Durazzo with ease, if,
as he advanced towards manhood, he had displayed any energy of
character. But he proved very unequal, by his indolence and
love of pleasure, to contend with the son of Charles III.
Educated in the midst of alarms and danger, and surrounded
from his infancy by civil wars and conspiracies, Ladislaus had
early been exercised in courageous enterprise, and trained to
intrigue and dissimulation.
{1827}
At the age of 16, his mother Margaret committed him to the
barons of her party to make his first essay in arms; and from
this period he was ever at the head of his troops. … A
fortunate marriage, which his mother had effected for him with
Constance di Clermont, the heiress of the most opulent noble
of Sicily, increased his resources by an immense dowry; and
while he made an able use of these riches [meanly and
heartlessly divorcing the wife who brought them to him, when
they had been spent], the new Italian pope, Boniface IX., the
successor of Urban VI., recognized him for the legitimate son
and vassal of the church, because Louis was supported by the
Avignon pontiff. This decision gained him many partizans; …
his talents and valour hourly advanced his success; and at
last the Sanseverini and all the barons of the Angevin party,
following the tide of fortune, went over to his standards, and
opened to him the gates of Naples (A. D. 1399). Louis …
retired by sea to his Provençal dominions, and finally
abandoned the kingdom of Naples. Ladislaus, having thus
triumphed over his sluggish antagonist, had leisure to
consolidate his stern authority over the licentious and
turbulent feudal aristocracy of his kingdom. … He …
crushed the Sanseverini and other great families, whose power
might make them dangerous; and having rooted out the seeds of
all resistance to his sway in his own dominions, he prepared
to direct his vigorous ambition to schemes of foreign
conquest."

_G. Procter,
History of Italy,
chapter 5, part 3._

Until the death of Pope Boniface IX., Ladislas supported that
pontiff through the hard struggle in which he crushed the
rebellious Colonna and made himself master of the city of
Rome. But when Boniface died, in 1404, the Neapolitan king
began to scheme for bringing the ancient capital and the
possessions of the Church under his own control. "His plan was
to set the Pope [the newly elected Innocent, VII.] and the
Roman people against one another, and by helping now one and
now the other to get them both into his power. … He trusted
that the rebellious Romans would drive the Pope from the city,
and would then be compelled to submit to himself." He had
entered Rome, four days after the papal election, ostensibly
as a mediator between the rival factions, and between the Pope
and the Roman people; and he was easily able to bring about an
arrangement which gave him every opportunity for interference
and for turning circumstances to his own advantage. Events
soon followed as he had expected them, and as he helped,
through his agents, to guide them. The turbulence of the
people increased, until, in 1405, the Pope was driven to
flight. "No sooner had the Pope left Rome than Giovanni
Colonna, at the head of his troops, burst into the Vatican,
where he took up his quarters. … The Vatican was sacked;
even the Papal archives were pillaged, and Bulls, letters and
registers were scattered about the streets. Many of these were
afterwards restored, but the loss of historic documents must
have been great." Ladislas now thought his time for seizing
Rome was come; but when he sent 5,000 horse to join the
Colonna, the Romans took alarm, repelled the Neapolitan
troops, and called back the Pope, who returned in January,
1406, but who died in the following November. Under the next
Pope, Gregory XII., there were negotiations with Avignon for
the ending of the great schism; and all the craft of Ladislas
was exerted to defeat that purpose; because a reunion of
western Christendom would not be favorable to his designs. At
last, a conference of the rival popes was arranged, to take
place at Savona, near Genoa, and in August, 1407, Gregory XII.
left Rome, moving slowly northwards, but finding reasons,
equally with his competitor, for never presenting himself at
the appointed meeting-place. In his absence the disorders of
Rome increased, and when Ladislas, in April, 1408; appeared
before the city with an army of 12,000 horse and as many foot,
it was surrendered to him without resistance. "The craft of
Ladislas had gained its end, and the temporal power of the
Papacy had passed into his hands. … So utterly had the
prestige of Rome, the memories of her glories, passed away
from men's minds, that her sister republic of Florence could
send and congratulate Ladislas on the triumphal victory which
God and his own manhood had given him in the city of Rome."
When, in 1408, the disgusted cardinals of both papal courts
joined in calling a general Council of the Church, to meet at
Pisa the following year, Ladislas threatened to prevent it. By
this time "Gregory had sank to the lowest pitch of
degradation: he sold to Ladislas for the small sum of 25,000
florins the entire States of the Church, and even Rome itself.
After this bargain Ladislas set out for Rome, intending to
proceed into Tuscany and break up the Council." Early in
April, 1409, he marched northwards and threatened Siena. But
Florence had now undertaken the defense of the Council, and
resisted him so effectually that the meeting at Pisa was
undisturbed. The immediate result of the Council was the
election of a third claimant of the Papacy, Alexander V. (see
PAPACY: A. D. 1377-1417). Around the new Pope a league was now
formed which embraced Florence, Siena, and Louis of Anjou,
whose claim upon Naples was revived. The league made an
attempt on Rome in the autumn of 1409, and failed; but the
following January the Neapolitans were expelled and the city
was occupied by the papal forces. In May, 1410, Alexander V.
died, and was succeeded by Baldassare Cossa, who took the name
of John XXIII. The new Pope hastened to identify his cause
with Louis of Anjou, and succeeded, by his energy, in putting
into the field an army which comprised the four chief
"condottieri" in Italy, with their veteran followers. Ladislas
was attacked and routed completely at Rocca Secca, on the 19th
of May, 1411. But the worthlessness of Louis and the mercenary
character of his generals made the victory of no effect.
Ladislas bought over the best of the troops and their leaders,
and before the end of summer Louis was back in Provence, again
abandoning his Neapolitan claims. Ladislas made peace, first,
with Florence, by selling Cortona to that city, and then with
the Pope, who recognized him as king, not only of Naples, but
of Sicily as well. But Ladislas was only gaining time by these
treaties. In June, 1413, he drove the Pope from Rome, and his
troops again occupied the city. He seemed to be now well
prepared for realizing his ambition to found an extended
Italian kingdom; but his career was cut short by a mortal
disease, which ended his life on the 6th of August, 1414.

_M. Creighton,
History of the Papacy during the Period of the Reformation,
book 1, chapters 3-8 (volume 1)._

{1828}

ITALY: A. D. 1390-1402.
Resistance of Florence to the spreading tyranny of the Duke of
Milan.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1390-1402.

ITALY: A. D. 1391-1451.
Extension of the Italian dominions of the House of Savoy.

See SAVOY: 11TH-15TH CENTURIES.

ITALY: A. D. 1396-1409.
The sovereignty of Genoa yielded to the King of France.

See GENOA: A. D. 1381-1422.

ITALY: A. D. 1402-1406.
The crumbling of the Visconti dominion.
Aggrandizement of Venice.
Florentine purchase and conquest of Pisa.
Decline of that city.

"The little states of Romagna, which had for the most part
been conquered by Gian-Galeazzo [Visconti, Duke of Milan],
were at his death [1402] overrun by the Count of Barbiano, who
with his famous company entered the service of Pope Boniface
IX. … The Count of Savoy, the Marquess of Montferrat, and
the lords of Padua, Ferrara, and Mantua, were the only
independent Sovereigns in North Italy in 1402. Of these
Francesco, lord of Padua, was soon to fall. On the death of
Gian-Galeazzo he seized on Verona. Venice would not allow her
old enemy to gain this advantage, and made alliance with
Francesco di Gonzaga, lord of Mantua, and with his help took
Verona, and closely besieged Padua. After a gallant resistance
Francesco da Carrara was forced to yield, and he and his two
sons were taken prisoners to Venice, and were there strangled
by order of the Council of Ten. This war gave the Venetians
great power on the mainland. They reconquered Treviso, and
gained Feltro, Verona [1405], Vicenza, and Padua [1405], and
from this time Venice became an Italian power. In Tuscany, the
death of her great enemy delivered Florence from her distress,
and Siena, which now regained her liberty, placed herself
under her protection. Pisa [which had been betrayed to
Gian-Galeazzo in 1399] had been left to Gabriello Visconti, a
bastard son of the late Duke. He put himself under the
protection of Jean Boucicault, who governed Genoa for Charles
VI., King of France, and with his consent he sold Pisa to the
Florentines. The Pisans resisted this sacrifice of their
freedom, and the war lasted a year, but in 1406 the city was
forced to surrender. Many of the people left their homes; for,
though Florence acted fairly towards her old enemy and new
subject, yet the Pisans could not bear the yoke, and the
greatness of the city, its trade and its wealth, vanished
away."

_W. Hunt,
History of Italy,
chapter 6._

"From that day to this it [Pisa] has never recovered,—not its
former greatness, wealth, and energy,—but even sufficient
vitality to arrest it on the downward course. … Of the two
great political tendencies which were then disputing the world
between them it made itself the champion and the symbol of the
losing one. Pisa went down in the world together with the
feudalism and Ghibellinism with which it was identified."

_T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
book 4, chapter 6 (volume 2)._

_The City in the Sea,
chapter 16._

ALSO IN:
_W. C. Hazlitt,
History of the Venetian Republic,
chapter 21 (volume 3)._

_A. M. F. Robinson,
The End of the Middle Ages,
pages 340-367._

ITALY: A. D. 1409.
The Council of Pisa.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1377-1417.

ITALY: A. D. 1412-1447.
Renewed civil war in Naples.
Defeat of the Angevins by Alfonso of Aragon and Sicily.
Reconquest of Lombardy by Filippo Maria Visconti, and his
wars with Florence, Venice and Naples.

On the death of Ladislaus, king of Naples (1414), "his sister,
Joan II., widow of the son of the duke of Austria, succeeded
him. She was 40 years of age; and, like her brother, abandoned
to the most unrestrained libertinism. She left the government
of her kingdom to her lovers, who disputed power by arms: they
called into her service, or into that of her second husband,
or of the rival princes whom she in turn adopted, the two
armies of Sforza and Braccio [the two great mercenary captains
of that time]. The consequence was the ruin of the kingdom of
Naples, which ceased to menace the rest of Italy. The moment
Ladislaus disappeared, a new enemy arose to disturb the
Florentines—Filippo Maria Visconti [duke of Milan, second son
of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and successor to his elder brother
Gian Maria, on the assassination of the latter, in 1412]. …
Filippo … married the widow of Facino Cane, the powerful
condottiere who had retained Gian Maria in 'his dependence,
and who died the same day that Gian Maria was assassinated. By
this sudden marriage he secured the army of Facino Cane,—
which was, in fact, master of the greater part of the
Milanese: with its aid he undertook, without delay, to recover
the rest of his states from the hands of those tyrants who had
divided amongst them the dominions of his father. … During
the first year of his reign, which was to decide his existence
as prince or subject, he fought with determined courage; but
from that time, though he continually made war, he never
showed himself to his armies. … In the battle of Monza, by
which he acquired his brother's inheritance, and the only
battle in which he was ever present, he remarked the brilliant
courage of Francesco Carmagnola, a Piedmontese soldier of
fortune, and immediately gave him a command. Carmagnola soon
justified the duke's choice by the most distinguished talents
for war, the most brilliant victories, and the most noble
character. Francesco Carmagnola was, after a few years, placed
at the head of the duke's armies; and, from the year 1412 to
that of 1422, successively attacked all the tyrants who had
divided the heritage of Gian Galeazzo, and brought those small
states again under the dominion of the duke of Milan. Even the
republic of Genoa submitted to him, in 1421, on the same
conditions as those on which it had before submitted to the
king of France,—reserving all its liberties; and granting the
duke's lieutenant, who was Carmagnola himself, only those
prerogatives which the constitution yielded to the doge. As
soon as Filippo Maria had accomplished the conquest of
Lombardy, he resumed the projects of his father against
Romagna and Tuscany. He … renewed his intrigues against the
republic of Florence, and combined them with those which he at
the same time carried on in the kingdom of Naples. Joan, who
had sent back to France her second husband, Jaques, count de
la Marche, and who had no children, was persuaded, in 1420, by
one of her lovers, to adopt Alphonso the Magnanimous, king of
Aragon and Sicily, to whom she intrusted some of the
fortresses of Naples. She revoked this adoption in 1423; and
substituted in his place Louis III. of Anjou, son of Louis II.
The former put himself at the head of the ancient party of
Durazzo; the latter, of that of Anjou.
{1829}
The consequence was a civil war, in which the two great
captains, Sforza and Braccio, were opposed to each other, and
acquired new titles to glory. The duke of Milan made alliance
with Joan II. and Louis III. of Anjou: Sforza, named great
constable of the kingdom, was their general. The Florentines
remained constant to Braccio, whom Alphonso had made governor
of the Abruzzi; and who had seized, at the same time, the
signoria of Perugia, his native city. … But Sforza and
Braccio both perished, as Italy awaited with anxiety the
result of the struggle about to be commenced. Sforza was
drowned at the passage of the Pescara, on the 4th of January,
1424; Braccio was mortally wounded at the battle of Aquila, on
the 2d of June of the same year. Francesco, son of the former,
succeeded to his father's name and the command of his army,
both of which he was destined to render still more
illustrious. The son of Braccio, on the contrary, lost the
sovereignty of Perugia, which resumed its freedom on the 29th
of July of the same year; and the remnant of the army formed
by this great captain elected for his chief his most able
lieutenant, Nicolo Piccinino. This was the moment which
Filippo Maria chose to push on his army to Romagna, and
vigorously attack the Florentines. … The Florentines, having
no tried general at the heart of their troops, experienced,
from the 6th of September, 1423, to the 17th of October, 1425,
no less than six successive defeats, either in Liguria or
Romagna [at Forli, 1423, Zagonara, 1424, Lamone, Rapallo,
Anghiari and Faggiola, 1425]. Undismayed by defeat, they
reassembled their army for the seventh time: the patriotism of
their rich merchants made up for the penury of their exhausted
treasury. They, at the same time, sent their most
distinguished statesmen as ambassadors to Venice, to represent
to that republic that, if it did not join them while they
still stood, the liberty of Italy was lost forever. … An
illustrious fugitive, Francesco Carmagnola, who arrived about
this time at Venice, accomplished what Florence had nearly
failed in, by discovering to the Venetians the project of the
duke of Milan to subjugate them." Carmagnola had been
disgraced and discharged from employment by Filippo Maria,
whose jealousy was alarmed by his great reputation, and he now
took service against his late patron. "A league, formed
between Florence and Venice, was successively joined by the
marquis of Ferrara, the lord of Mantua, the Siennese, the duke
Amadeus VIII. of Savoy, and the king Alphonso of Naples, who
jointly declared war against Filippo Maria Visconti, on the
27th of January, 1426. … The good fortune of Carmagnola in
war still attended him in the campaign of 1426. He was as
successful against the duke of Milan as he had been for him:
he took from him the city and whole province of Brescia. The
duke ceded this conquest to the Venetians by treaty on the
30th of December; but he employed the winter in assembling his
forces; and in the beginning of spring renewed the war." An
indecisive engagement occurred at Casalsecco, July 12, 1427,
and on the 11th of October following, in a marsh near Macalo,
Carmagnola completely defeated the Milanese army commanded by
Carlo Malatesta. A new peace was signed on the 18th of April,
1428; but war recommenced in the latter part of 1430. Fortune
now abandoned Carmagnola. He suffered a surprise and defeat at
Soncino, May 17, 1431, and the suspicious senate of Venice
caused him to be arrested, tortured and put to death. "During
the remainder of the reign of Filippo Maria he was habitually
at war with the two republics of Venice and Florence. He …
almost always lost ground by his distrust of his own generals,
his versatility, his taste for contradictory intrigues, his
eagerness to sign peace every year, and to recommence
hostilities a few weeks afterwards." In 1441, on making peace
with the two republics, he granted his daughter Bianca in
marriage to their general, Francesco Sforza, with two
lordships for her dowry. But he was soon intriguing against
his son-in-law, soon at war again with Florence and Venice,
and Sforza was again in the service of the latter. But in 1447
he made offers of reconciliation which were accepted, and
Sforza was on his way to Milan when news came to him of the
death of the duke, which occurred August 13. "The war of
Lombardy was complicated by its connexion with another war
which at the same time ravaged the kingdom of Naples. The
queen, Joan II., had died there, on the 2d of February, 1435;
three months after the death of her adopted son, Louis III. of
Anjou: by her will she had substituted for that prince his
brother René, duke of Lorraine. But Alphonso, king of Aragon
and Sicily, whom she had primarily adopted, … claimed the
succession, on the ground of this first adoption, as well as
of the ancient rights of Manfred, to whom he had succeeded in
the female line. The kingdom of Naples was divided between the
parties of Aragon and Anjou. The Genoese, who had voluntarily
ranged themselves under the protection of the duke of Milan,
offered their assistance to the duke of Anjou. … On the 5th
of August, 1435, their fleet met that of Alphonso, before the
island of Ponza. They defeated it in a great battle, in which
Alphonso had been made prisoner." Delivered to the duke of
Milan, Alphonso soon convinced the latter that his alliance
with the French interest at Naples was a mistake and a danger
to him, and was set at liberty, with promises of aid. The
Genoese were indignant at this and drove the Milanese garrison
from their city, in December, 1435, recovering their freedom.
"Alphonso, seconded by the duke of Milan, recommenced the war
against René of Anjou with greater advantage. On the 2d of
June, 1442, he took from him the city of Naples; from that
time peace was re-established in that kingdom, and Alphonso
… established himself amidst a people which he had
conquered, but whose hearts he gained; and returned no more
either to Sicily or Aragon. He died at Naples, on the 27th of
June, 1458."

_J. C. L. de Sismondi,
History of the Italian Republics,
chapters 9-10._

ALSO IN:
_W. P. Urquhart,
Life and Times of Francesco Sforza,
books 3-4 (volume 1)._

_Mrs. Jameson,
Memoirs of Celebrated Female Sovereigns,
volume 1, chapter 5._

_M. A. Hookham,
Life and Times of Margaret of Anjou,
volume 1, introduction and chapter 1._

ITALY: A. D. 1433-1464.
The ascendancy of Cosimo de' Medici at Florence.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1433-1464.

{1830}

ITALY: A. D. 1447-1454.
End of the Visconti in the duchy of Milan.
Disputed succession.
Francesco Sforza in possession.
War of Venice, Naples and other states
against Milan and Florence.

See MILAN: A. D. 1447-1454.

ITALY: A. D. 1447-1480.
The Pontificate of Nicolas V.
Regeneration of the Papacy.
Revival of letters and art.
Threatening advance of the Turks.
Fresh troubles in Naples.
Expulsion of the French from Genoa.

"The failure of the Council of Basel [see PAPACY: A. D.
1431-1448] restored the position of the Papacy, and set it
free from control. The character and ability of Pope Nicolas
[V., 1447-1455] made him respected, and the part which he took
in politics made him rank amongst the great temporal powers in
Italy. From this time onwards to the end of our history we
shall see the Popes the undisputed Princes of Rome, and the
lords of all that part of Italy which they claimed from the
gift of Kings and Emperors, and not least from the will of the
Countess Matilda. Pope Nicolas used this power better than any
of those who came after him, for he used it in the cause of
peace, and to forward learning and artistic taste. He applied
himself to the general pacification of Italy, and brought
about the Peace of Lodi in 1454, which was signed by Venice
and Milan and by King Alfonso. Christendom had great need of
peace, for, in 1453, Constantinople had been taken by the
Infidels and Mahomet the Second was spreading his conquest
over the East of Europe. Before the fall of the city a great
many Greeks had come to Italy, on different missions, and
especially to attend a Council at Florence, where terms of
union were made between the Greek and Latin Churches. Their
coming revived the taste for Greek learning, which had been so
powerfully felt by Petrarca and Boccaccio. Pope Nicolas made
Rome the centre of this literature, and others followed his
example. Theodore of Gaza, George of Trebizond, and many more,
found enlightened patrons in the Pope, the King of Naples,
Cosmo de'Medici, and Federigo, Count of Urbino. The Pope was a
lover and patron of art as well as of literature. He rebuilt
the churches, palaces, and fortifications of Rome and the
Roman States, and formed the scheme of raising a church worthy
of the memory of St. Peter, and left behind him the Vatican
Palace as a worthy residence for the Apostle's successors. The
Papal Library had been scattered during the Captivity and the
Schism, but Pope Nicolas made a large collection of
manuscripts, and thus founded the Library of the Vatican. The
introduction of printing into Italy about this time gave great
strength to the revival of learning. In 1452 the Pope crowned
Frederic the Third Emperor at Rome with great magnificence.
But he was not without danger in his city, for the next year a
wild plot was made against him. A large number of Romans were
displeased at the great power of the Pope. They were headed by
Stefano Porcaro, who declared that he would free the city
which had once been mistress of the world from the yoke of
priests. The rising was to be ushered in by the slaughter of
the Papal Court and the plunder of its treasures. The plot was
discovered, and was punished with great severity. This was the
last and most unworthy of the various attempts of the Romans
to set up self-government. The advance of the Ottoman Turks
during the latter part of the 15th century [see TURKS: A. D.
1451-1481] caused the greatest alarm in Italy. Venice, from
her possessions and her trade in the Levant, was most exposed
to the attacks of the Infidels, and she became the great
champion against them. The learned Æneas Sylvius was chosen
Pope, in 1458, and took the title of Pius the Second. He
caused a crusade to be preached against the Turks, but he died
in 1464, while the forces were gathering. The Venetians were
constantly defeated in the Archipelago, and lost Eubœa,
Lesbos, and other islands [see GREECE: A. D. 1454-1479]. In
1477 a large Turkish army entered Italy by Friuli, defeated
the Venetians, and crossed the Tagliamento. They laid waste
the country as far as the Piave, and their destroying fires
could be seen from the Campanile of St. Mark's. In 1480
Mahomet's great general, Ahmed Keduk, took the strong city of
Otranto, and massacred its inhabitants. This expedition was
secretly favoured by the Venetians to spite the King of
Naples. The danger to all Italy was very great, for the Sultan
eagerly longed to conquer the older Rome, but the death of
Mahomet the Second, and a disputed succession to his throne,
fortunately checked the further advance of the invaders. When
Alfonso, King of Aragon, Naples, and Sicily, died in 1458, he
left Aragon and Sicily, which he had inherited, to his
legitimate son John; but the crown of Naples, which he had won
for himself, he left to Ferdinand, his illegitimate son.
Ferdinand was a cruel and suspicious man, and the barons
invited John of Calabria to come and help them against him.
John of Calabria was the son of Réné, who had been adopted by
Queen Joanna, and who called himself King. He was the French
Governor of Genoa, and so already had a footing in Italy. He
applied to Sforza to help him, but the Duke of Milan was
firmly attached to the Peace of Lodi, and was too justly
fearful of the French power to do so. Lewis the Eleventh, King
of France, was too wise to meddle in Italian politics.
Florence, which was usually on the French side, was now under
the influence of Cosmo de' Medici, and Cosmo was under the
influence of Francesco Sforza, so that the Duke of Calabria
found no allies. The Archbishop of Genoa, Paola Fregoso,
excited the people to drive out the French [see GENOA: A. D.
1458-1464] and the Doge Prospero Adorno, who belonged to their
party. He then defeated King Réné, and the Duke of Calabria
was forced to give up his attempt on Naples [1464]. The new
government of Genoa was so oppressive that the Genoese put
themselves under the protection of Francesco; Lewis the
Eleventh ceded all his rights to him, and the city thus became
part of the Duchy of Milan. The hopes of the French party in
Italy were thus for the present entirely crushed."

_W. Hunt,
History of Italy,
chapter 6._

ALSO IN:
_M. Creighton,
History of the Papacy,
book 4, chapters 3-4 (volume 2)._

_W. P. Urquhart,
Life and Times of Francesco Sforza,
book 7 (volume 2)._

_L. Pastor,
History of the Popes,
volume 2._

ITALY: A. D. 1466-1469.
Florence under the five agents of Piero de' Medici.

See FLORENCE: 1458-1469.

ITALY: A. D. 1469-1492.
The government of Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent, at
Florence.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1469-1492.

ITALY: A. D. 1490-1498.
Savonarola at Florence.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1490-1498.

{1831}

ITALY: A. D. 1492-1494.
Charles VIII. of France invited across the Alps to possess
Naples.
The hostile disunion of the Italian states.