Chapter IV: , VII (135)

Fabert and Turenne were now sent from France to the assistance
of La Valette, "and soon changed the aspect of affairs.
Turenne aided powerfully in driving back Leganez and Prince
Thomas from Turin, in seizing Chivasso and in organizing a
decisive success." In November, 1639, the French, through want
of provisions, were forced to retreat to Carignano, repelling
an attack made upon them in the course of the retreat. The
command was now handed over to Turenne, "with instructions to
revictual the citadel of Turin, which was defended by French
troops against Prince Thomas, who had gained most of the town.
Turenne succeeded … in conveying food and munitions into the
citadel. In the following spring d'Harcourt [resuming command]
undertook to relieve Casale, which belonged to the Duke of
Mantua. … The place was besieged by Leganez." The attempt
succeeded, the besieging army was beaten, and the siege
raised. "After the relief of Casale d'Harcourt resolved, on
the advice of Turenne, to besiege Turin. The investment was
made on the 10th May, 1640. This siege offered a curious
spectacle; the citadel which the French held was besieged by
Prince Thomas, who held the town. He himself was besieged by
the French army, which in its turn was besieged in its lines
of circumvallation by the Spanish army of Leganez. The place
capitulated on the 17th September. … Prince Thomas
surrendered; Leganez recrossed the Po; Marie Christine [the
Dowager-Duchess] re-entered Turin; and d'Harcourt, being
recalled to France by the cardinal, left the command of the
army to Turenne."

_H. M. Hozier,
Turenne,
chapter 2._

"The fall of Turin did not put an end to the civil war, but
its main exploits were limited to the taking of Cuneo by
Harcourt (September 15th, 1641), … and of Revel, which was
reduced by the Piedmontese troops who fought on the French
side. … In the meantime the Regent, no less than her
opponents, began to grow weary of the burdensome protection of
their respective allies. … Under such circumstances, a
reconciliation between the hostile parties became practicable,
and was indeed effected on the 24th of July, 1642. The Princes
were admitted to a share of the Regent's power, and from that
time they joined the French standard, and took from the
Spaniards most of the places they had themselves placed in
their hands. … In the meanwhile the great agitator of
Europe, Richelieu, had died (1642), and had been followed by
the King, Louis XIII., five months later. … The struggle
between the two great rival powers, France and Spain, scarcely
interrupted by the celebrated peace of Westphalia, which put
an end to the Thirty Years' War in the North, in 1648,
continued throughout the greatest part of this period; but the
rapid decline of Spain, the factions of Alessio in Sicily and
of Massaniello in Naples, as much paralysed the efforts of the
Court of Madrid as the disorders of the Fronde weakened that
of Paris. The warlike operations in North Italy were languid
and dull. The taking of Valenza by the French (September 3rd,
1656) is the greatest event on record, and even that [was]
void of results. By the treaty of the Pyrenees (November 17th,
1059) Savoy was restored to her possessions, and Vercelli was
evacuated by the Spaniards. The citadel of Turin had been
given up by the French two years before, owing to the
influence of Mazarin, who married on that occasion his niece
Olimpia Mancini to Eugene Maurice, son of Thomas, Prince of
Carignano, and first cousin to Charles Emanuel II. From that
union, it is well known, was born in Paris, in 1663, Prince
Eugene of Savoy.
{1847}
The French nation were highly displeased at the loss of the
Turin citadel, and never forgave the Cardinal this mere act of
just and tardy restitution. Pinerola and Perosa, however,
still remained in their hands, and placed the Court of Turin
entirely at their discretion. During all this lapse of years,
and until the latter end of the century, the history of
Piedmont presents but a melancholy blank."

_A. Gallenga,
History of Piedmont,
volume 3, chapter 2._

ITALY: A. D. 1646-1654.
French hostility to the Pope.
Siege of Orbitello.
Masaniello's revolt at Naples.
French intrigue and failures.

"The war [of France and Spain] in Italy had for some years
languished, but hostility to the Pope [on the election of
Innocent X., which Cardinal Mazarin, then supreme in France,
had opposed] stirred it again into life. New vessels were
fitted out for the navy, and large preparations were made for
the invasion of Italy. … On April 26, 1646, the expedition
set sail, and on the 9th of May it cast anchor off the
important city of Orbitello. The fleet consisted of 156 sail,
and was expected to land 10,000 men, and Mazarin wrote that
all Italy was in terror. The ships were commanded by the Duke
of Brézé, and no more skilful or gallant leader could have
been found. … The command of the land forces was, however,
entrusted to a leader whose deficiencies more than
counterbalanced Brézé's skill. Mazarin desired an Italian
prince to lead his expedition, and Prince Thomas of Savoy had
been chosen for the command. … Fearing that disease would
come with the hot weather, Mazarin urged Prince Thomas to
press forward with the siege. But the most simple advances
seemed beyond his skill. … A severe misfortune to the navy
made the situation worse. In a sharp and successful engagement
with the Spanish fleet, a cannon ball struck and killed the
Duke of Brézé. His death was more disastrous than would have
been the loss of 20 sail. The French fleet retired to Provence
and left the sea open to the Spanish. Sickness was fast
reducing the army on land, and on July 18th Prince Thomas
raised the siege, which was no further advanced than when it
was begun, and led back the remains of his command to
Piedmont. … So mortifying an end to this expensive venture
only strengthened Mazarin's resolution to make his power felt
in Italy. The battered ships and fever-wasted soldiers were
scarcely back in Provence, when the minister began to prepare
a second expedition for the same end. … By September a fleet
of 200 sail, with an army of 8,000 men commanded by the
Marshals of La Meilleraie and Du Plessis, was under way. The
expedition was conducted with skill and success. Orbitello was
not again attacked, but Porto Longone, on the island of Elba,
and Piombino, on the mainland, both places of much strategic
importance, were captured after brief sieges. With this result
came at once the change in the feelings of Innocent X. for
which Mazarin had hoped," and certain objects of the latter's
desire—including a cardinal's hat for his brother
Michael—were brought within his reach. His attention was now
turned to the more southerly portion of the peninsula. "During
the expedition to Orbitello in 1646, Mazarin had closely
watched Naples, whose coming revolution he foresaw. The
ill-suppressed discontents of the city now showed themselves
in disturbances, sudden and erratic as the eruptions of
Vesuvius, and they offered to France an opportunity for
seizing the richest of the remaining possessions of Spain.
After the vicissitudes of centuries, Naples and Sicily were
now subject to the Spanish crown. They were governed by a
viceroy, and were subjected to the drain of men and money
which was the result of Spain's necessities and the
characteristic of her rule. Burdened with taxation, they
complained that their viceroy, the Duke of Arcos, was sending
to Spain money raised solely for their own defence. The
imposition of a duty on fruits, in a country where fruit
formed a cheap article of diet for the poor, and where almost
all were poor, kindled the long smouldering discontent. Under
the leadership of a fisherman [Tommaso Aniello], nicknamed
Masaniello, the people of Naples in 1647 rose in revolt.
Springing from utter obscurity, this young man of
twenty-seven, poor and illiterate, became powerful almost in a
day. While the Duke of Arcos hid himself away from the revolt,
Masaniello was made Captain-General of Naples. So sudden a
change turned his head. At first he had been bold, popular,
and judicious. He sought only, he said, to deliver the people
from their taxes, and when that was done, he would return
again to selling soles and red mullets. But political delirium
seized him when he reached an elevation which, for him, was as
dizzy as the throne of the Roman emperors, and like some who
reached that terrible eminence, his brain was crazed by the
bewilderment and ecstasy of power. He made wild and incoherent
speeches. He tore his garments, crying out against popular
ingratitude, attacking groups of passers-by, riding his horse
wildly through the multitude, and striking with his lance to
the right and left. The populace wearied of its darling.
Exalted to power on July 7th, he was murdered on the 16th,
with the approval of those who had worshipped him a week
before. But the revolution did not perish with him. Successive
chiefs were chosen and deposed by a fickle people. When the
insurrection was active, the representatives of Spain promised
untaxed fruits and the privileges allowed by Charles V., and
they revoked their promises when it appeared to subside. In
the meantime, Mazarin watched the movement, uncertain as to
the course he should pursue. … While the minister hesitated,
the chance was seized by one who was never accused of too
great caution." This was the Duke of Guise—the fifth Henry of
that Dukedom—a wild, madcap young nobleman, who accepted an
invitation from the Neapolitan insurgents to become their
chief. Guise landed at Naples on the 15th of November, 1647,
with half a dozen attendants, and a month later he was
followed by a French fleet. But the latter did nothing, and
Guise was helplessly without means. "The truth was that
Mazarin, even if desirous of crippling the Spaniards, was very
averse to assisting Guise. He believed that the duke either
desired to form a republic, of which he should be chief, or a
monarchy, of which he should be king, and neither plan was
agreeable to the cardinal." At the end of a fortnight the
fleet sailed away. Guise held his ground as the leader of the
revolt until the following April, when certain of the
Neapolitan patriots, corrupted by the enemy, betrayed the city
into the hands of the Spaniards.
{1848}
"Guise endeavored, with a handful of followers, to escape
towards Capua, but they were captured by a detachment of
Spaniards. … By the petition of powerful friends, and by the
avowal of France, Guise was saved from the public execution
which some of his enemies demanded, but he was presently taken
to Spain, and there was kept a prisoner during four years."
Meantime, Mazarin had prepared another expedition, which
appeared before Naples in the summer of 1648, but only to
discover that the opportunity for deriving any advantage from
the popular discontent in that city was past. "Receiving no
popular aid, the expedition, after some ineffective endeavors,
was abandoned." Six years afterwards, in 1654, Mazarin sent a
third expedition to Naples, and entrusted it to the command of
the Duke of Guise, who had lately been released from his
captivity in Spain. "Guise hoped that the Neapolitans would
rise in revolt when it was known that their former leader was
so near, but not a person in the city showed any desire to
start a movement in behalf of the Duke of Guise. The Spanish
met him with superior forces." After some slight encounters
the expedition sailed back to France.

_J. B. Perkins,
France under Mazarin,
chapter 8 (volume 1),
and chapter 16 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:
_A. De Reumont,
The Carafas of Maddaloni:
Naples under Spanish Dominion,
book 3._

_F. Midon,
Rise and Fall of Masaniello._

_Mrs. H. R. St. John,
Masaniello of Naples._

_H. G. Smith,
Romance of History,
chapter 1._

ITALY: A. D. 1648.
The Peace of Westphalia.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1648.

ITALY: A. D. 1701-1713.
Savoy and Piedmont.
The War of the Spanish Succession.
The Peace of Utrecht.

"Compelled to take part, with one of the contending parties
[in the War of the Spanish Succession—see SPAIN: A. D.
1698-1700, and 1701-1702], Victor [Duke of Savoy] would have
been prompted by his interest to an alliance with Austria; but
he was beset on all sides by the combined forces of France and
Spain, and was all the more at their mercy as Louis XIV. had
(April 5th, 1701) obtained from Ferdinand Gonzaga of Mantua
permission to garrison his capital, in those days already one
of the strongest places in Italy. The Duke of Savoy had
already, in 1697, married his daughter, Adelaide, to one of
Louis's grandsons, the Duke of Burgundy; he now gave his
younger daughter, Mary Louise, to Burgundy's brother, the new
King of Spain (September 11th, 1701), and took the field as
French commander-in-chief. He was opposed by his own cousin,
Prince Eugene, at the head of the Imperial armies. The war in
Lombardy was carried on with some remissness, partly owing to
the natural repugnance or irresolution of the Duke of Savoy,
partly to the suspicion with which, on that very account, he
was looked upon by Catinat and Vaudemont, the French and
Spanish commanders under him. The King, in an evil hour,
removed his able marshal, Catinat, and substituted for him
Villeroi, a carpet knight and court warrior, who committed one
fault after another, allowed himself to be beaten by Eugene at
Chiari (September 1st), and to be surprised and taken prisoner
at Cremona (1702, January 21st), to the infinite relief of his
troops. Vendôme restored the fortunes of the French, and a
very brilliant but undecisive action was fought at Luzzara
(August 15th), after which Prince Eugene was driven from the
neighbourhood of Mantua, and fell back towards the mountains
of Tyrol. With the success of the French their arrogance
increased, and with their arrogance the disgust and ill-will
of Victor Amadeus." The Duke withdrew from the camp and began
to listen to overtures from the Powers in the Grand Alliance.
"Report of the secret intercourse of the Duke with Austrian
agents reached Louis XIV., who sent immediate orders to
Vendôme to secure and disarm the Piedmontese soldiers (3,800
to 6,000 in number) who were fighting under French standards
at Mantua. This was achieved by treachery, at San Benedetto,
on the 29th of September, 1703. An attempt to seize the Duke
himself, whilst hunting near Turin, miscarried. Savoy
retaliated by the arrest of the French and Spanish
ambassadors, and war was declared (October 5th). The moment
was ill·chosen. Victor had barely 4,000 men under his orders.
The whole of Savoy was instantly overrun; and in Piedmont
Vercelli, Ivrea, Verrua, as well as Susa, Bard, and Pinerolo,
and even Chivasso, fell into the enemy's hands during the
campaigns of 1704 and 1705. In the ensuing year the tide of
invasion reached Nice and Villafranca; nothing was left to
Victor Amadeus but Cuneo and Turin, and the victorious French
armies appeared at last under the very walls of the capital
(March, 1706). The war had, however, been waged with different
results beyond the Alps, where the allies had crushed the
French at Blenheim (1704) and at Ramillies (1705). One of the
heroes of those great achievements, Prince Eugene, now
hastened to the rescue of his cousin. He met with a severe
check at Cassano (August 16th, 1705), and again at Calcinato
(April 19th, 1706); but his skilful antagonist, Vendôme, was
called away to Flanders, and Prince Eugene so out-manœuvred
his successors as to be able to join Victor at Turin. The
French had begun the siege of this place on the 13th of May,
1706. They had between 50,000 and 60,000 men, and 170 pieces
of artillery with them." When Prince Eugene, early in
September, reached the neighborhood of Turin, he concerted
with Victor Amadeus an attack on the investing army which
destroyed it completely. "Its relics withdrew in awful
disorder towards Pinerolo, pursued not only by the victorious
troops but also by the peasantry, who, besides attachment to
their princes, obeyed in this instance an instinct of revenge
against the French, who had barbarously used them. Out of
50,000 or 60,000 men who had sat down before Turin in March,
hardly 20,000 recrossed the Alps in September. Three of the
French generals lay dead on the field; … 6,000 prisoners
were marched through the streets of the liberated town, and 55
French banners graced the main altar of the cathedral. In the
following year, Victor and Eugene, greatly against their
inclination, were induced by the allies to undertake an
expedition against Toulon, which, like all previous invasions
of Provence, led to utter discomfiture, and the loss of 10,000
combatants (1707, July 1st to September 1st). An attack upon
Briançon, equally undertaken against the sound judgment of the
Duke of Savoy, in 1708, led to no better results; but Savoy
won back Exilles, Perosa, Fenestrelles, and, one by one, all
the redoubts with which during those wars the Alps were
bristling.
{1849}
The war slackened in Italy, and the fates of Europe were
decided in the Netherlands. … By the Peace of Utrecht [A. D.
1713] France renounced to Savoy all the invaded territories,
and, besides, the valleys of Oulx, Cesanne, Bardonneche, and
Castel Delfino, ancient possessions of Dauphiny, east of the
Alps, from the 12th century, whilst, for her own part, Savoy
gave up the western valley of Barcellonette; thus the limits
between the two nations (with the exception of Savoy and Nice)
were at last fixed on the mountain-crest, at 'the parting of
the waters.' By virtue of an agreement signed with Austria,
November 8th, 1703, the whole of Montferrat, as well as
Alessandria, Valenza, Lomellina, and Val Sesia, dependencies
of the duchy of Milan, and the imperial fiefs in the Langhe
(province of Alba), were ceded to Savoy."

_A. Gallenga,
History of Piedmont,
volume 3, chapter 2._

ALSO IN:
_Colonel G. B. Malleson,
Prince Eugene of Savoy,
chapters 5, and 7-9._

_H. Martin,
History of France: Age of Louis XIV.,
volume 2, chapters 5-6._

_W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapters 68, 69, 73-75, 77 (volume 2-3)._

See, also,
UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.

ITALY: A. D. 1713-1714.
Milan, Naples and Sardinia ceded to the House of Austria and
Sicily to the Duke of Savoy.

See UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.

ITALY: A. D. 1715-1735.
Ambitions of Elizabeth Farnese, the Spanish queen.
The Austro-Spanish conflict.
The Quadruple Alliance.
Acquisition of Naples by the Spanish Bourbons.

By the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht, Philip V. of Spain
was left with no dominions in Italy, the Italian possessions
of the Spanish monarchy having been transferred to Austria.
Philip might have accepted this arrangement without demur. Not
so his wife—"Elizabeth Farnese, a lady of the Italian family
for whom the Duchy of Parma had been created by the Pope. The
crown of Spain was settled on her step-son. For her own child
the ambitious queen desired the honours of a crown. Cardinal
Alberoni, a reckless and ambitious ecclesiastic, was the
minister of the Spanish court. Under his advice and instigated
by the queen, Philip claimed the possessions in Italy, which
in the days of his grandfather had belonged to the Spanish
crown. When his title to that crown was admitted, he denied
the right of the other powers of Europe to alienate from it
its possessions. This was not all: in right of his queen he
claimed the duchies of Parma and of Tuscany. She determined to
recover for him all the Italian possessions of the Spanish
crown, and to add to them the duchies of Parma and Tuscany.
The Duke of Parma was old and childless. The extinction of the
reigning line of the Medici was near. Cosmo di Medici, the
reigning sovereign, was old. His only son, Jean Gaston, was
not likely to leave heirs. To Parma Elizabeth advanced her
claims as heiress of the family of Farnese; to Tuscany she
asserted a more questionable title in right of a descent from
the family of Medici. These duchies she demanded for her son,
Don Carlos, in whose behalf she was ready to waive her own
claims. The success of these demands would have given to the
Spanish monarchy even greater power than it had before
enjoyed. To Naples, Sicily, and Milan, would have been added
the territories of Parma and Tuscany. All Europe denounced the
ambitious projects of Alberoni as entirely inconsistent with
that balance of power which it had then become a political
superstition to uphold. Philip's French relatives were
determined in opposition to his claims; and to resist them the
quadruple alliance was formed between Holland, England, France
and the emperor. The parties to this alliance offered to the
Spanish Bourbons that the emperor should settle on Don Carlos
the reversion to the duchies of Parma and Tuscany on their
lapsing to him by the failure of the reigning families without
heirs. These proposals were rejected, and it was not until the
Spanish court found the combination of four powerful monarchs
too strong for them, that they reluctantly acceded to the
terms of the Quadruple Alliance, and accepted for Don Carlos
the promised reversion of Parma and Tuscany. To induce the
emperor to accede to this arrangement the Duke of Savoy was
compelled to surrender to him his newly-acquired kingdom of
Sicily, receiving instead the island of Sardinia with its
kingly title. It is as kings of Sardinia that the princes of
Savoy have since been known in European history. The treaty of
the quadruple alliance was thus the second by which at this
period the European powers attempted to arrange the affairs of
Italy. This treaty left the house of Austria in possession of
Sicily and Naples. It was assented to by Spain in 1720.
European complications unconnected with Italy produced new
wars and a new treaty; and the treaty of Seville in 1724,
followed by one entered into at Vienna two years later,
confirmed Don Carlos in the duchy of Parma, of which, on the
death of the last of the Farnese in 1734, he entered into
possession. A dispute as to the election of a king of Poland
gave the Spanish court an opportunity of once more attempting
the resumption of the Neapolitan dominions. Don Carlos, the
second son of Philip and Elizabeth, was now just grown to
man's estate. His father placed in his hand the sword which he
himself had received from Louis XIV. Don Carlos was but
seventeen years old when he took possession of his sovereignty
of Parma. In the same year [1734] he was called from it to
invade the Sicilian dominions of Austria. He conquered in
succession the continental territories, and the island of
Sicily; and on the 15th of June, 1734, he was proclaimed as
King of the Two Sicilies. The war of the Polish Succession was
ended in the following year by a peace, the preliminaries of
which were signed at Vienna. In this treaty an entirely new
arrangement of Italian affairs was introduced. The rights of
Don Carlos to the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily were
recognised. Parma was surrendered to the emperor; and, lastly,
the duchy of Tuscany was disposed of to a new claimant
[Francis of Lorraine] for the honours of an Italian prince."

_I. Butt,
History of Italy,
volume 1, chapter 5._

ALSO IN:
_E. Armstrong,
Elisabeth Farnese,
chapters 2-10._

_P. Colletta,
History of the Kingdom of Naples, 1734-1856,
book 1, chapter 1-2._

See, also,
SPAIN: A. D. 1713-1725;
and FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.

ITALY: A. D. 1719.
The Emperor and the Duke of Savoy exchange Sardinia for
Sicily.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1713-1725.

ITALY: A. D. 1733-1735.
Franco-Austrian War.
Invasion of the Milanese by the French.
Naples and Sicily occupied by the Spaniards and erected into a
kingdom for Don Carlos.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.

{1850}

ITALY: A. D. 1741-1743.
The War of the Austrian Succession:
Ambitious undertakings of Spain.

"The struggle between England and Spain had altogether merged
in the great European war, and the chief efforts of the
Spaniards were directed against the Austrian dominions in
Italy.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1739-1741.

The kingdom of Naples, which had passed under Austrian rule
during the war of the [Spanish] Succession, had, as we have
seen, been restored to the Spanish line in the war which ended
in 1740, and Don Carlos, who ruled it, was altogether
subservient to Spanish policy. The Duke of Lorraine, the
husband of Maria Theresa, was sovereign of Tuscany; and the
Austrian possessions consisted of the Duchy of Milan, and the
provinces of Mantua and Placentia. They were garrisoned at the
opening of the war by only 15,000 men, and their most
dangerous enemy was the King of Sardinia, who had gradually
extended his dominions into Lombardy, and whose army was,
probably, the largest and most efficient in Italy. 'The
Milanese,' his father is reported to have said, 'is like an
artichoke, to be eaten leaf by leaf,' and the skill and
perseverance with which for many generations the House of
Savoy pursued that policy, have in our own day had their
reward. Spanish troops had landed at Naples as early as
November 1741. The King of Sardinia, the Prince of Modena, and
the Republic of Genoa were on the same side. Venice was
completely neutral, Tuscany was compelled to declare herself
so, and a French army was soon to cross the Alps. The King of
Sardinia, however, at this critical moment, was alarmed by the
ambitious projects openly avowed by the Spaniards, and he was
induced by English influence to change sides. He obtained the
promise of certain territorial concessions from Austria, and
of an annual subsidy of £200,000 from England; and on these
conditions he suddenly marched with an army of 30,000 men to
the support of the Austrians. An the plans of the confederates
were disconcerted by this defection. The Spaniards went into
winter quarters near Bologna in October, fought an
unsuccessful battle at Campo Santo in the following February
[1743], and then retired to Rimini, leaving Lombardy in
complete tranquillity. The British fleet in the Mediterranean
had been largely strengthened by Carteret, and it did good
service to the cause. It burnt a Spanish squadron in the
French port of St. Tropez, compelled the King of Naples, by
the threat of bombardment, to withdraw his troops from the
Spanish army, and sign an engagement of neutrality, destroyed
large provisions of corn collected by the Genoese for the
Spanish army, and cut off that army from all communications by
sea."

_W. E. H. Lecky,
History of England, 18th Century,
chapter 3 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapter 102 (volume 3)._

ITALY: A. D. 1743.
The War of the Austrian Succession: Treaty of Worms.

"By a treaty between Great Britain, the Queen of Hungary, and
the King of Sardinia, signed at Worms September 23rd, 1743,
Charles Emanuel renounced his pretensions to Milan; the Queen
of Hungary ceding to him the Vigevanesco, that part of the
duchy of Pavia between the Po and the Tessino, the town and
part of the duchy of Piacenza, and a portion of the district
of Anghiera. Also whatever rights she might have to the
marquisate of Finale hoping that the Republic of Genoa would
facilitate this agreement, in order that the King of Sardinia
might have a communication with the sea. The Queen of Hungary
promised to increase her army in Italy to 30,000 men as soon
as the affairs of Germany would permit; while the King of
Great Britain engaged to keep a strong fleet in the
Mediterranean, and to pay Charles Emanuel annually £200,000,
so long as the war lasted, he keeping in the field an army of
45,000 men."

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 6, chapter 4 (volume 3)._

ITALY: A. D. 1743.
The Bourbon Family Compact (France and Spain) for establishing
Spanish claims.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1743 (OCTOBER).

ITALY: A. D. 1744.
The War of the Austrian Succession:
Indecisive campaigns.

"In Italy, the discordant views and mutual jealousies of Maria
Theresa and the king of Sardinia prevented the good effects
which might have been derived from their recent union. The
king was anxious to secure his own dominions on the side of
France, and to conquer the marquisate of Finale; while Maria
Theresa was desirous to direct her principal force against
Naples, and recover possession of the two Sicilies. Hence,
instead of co-operating for one great object, their forces
were divided; and, after an arduous and active campaign, the
Austrians were nearly in the same situation as at the
commencement of the year. Prince Lobcowitz being reinforced,
compelled the Spaniards to retreat successively from Pesara
and Senegallia, attacked them at Loretto and Reconati, and
drove them beyond the Fronto, the boundary of the kingdom of
Naples. Alarmed by the advance of the Austrians, the king of
Naples broke his neutrality, quitted his capital at the head
of 15,000 men, and hastened to join the Spaniards. But Prince
Lobcowitz … turned towards Rome, with the hope of
penetrating into Naples on that side; and, in the commencement
of June, reached the neighbourhood of Albano. His views were
anticipated by the king of Naples, who, dividing the Spanish
and Neapolitan troops into three columns, which were led by
himself, the duke of Modena, and the count de Gages, passed
through Anagm, Valmonte, and Monte Tortino, and reunited his
forces at Veletri, in the Campagna di Roma. In this situation,
the two hostile armies, separated only by a deep valley,
harassed each other with continual skirmishes. At length
prince Lobcowitz, in imitation of prince Eugene at Cremona,
formed the project of surprising the head-quarters of the king
of Naples. In the night of August 10th, a corps of Austrians,
led by count Brown, penetrated into the town of Veletri,
killed all who resisted, and would have surprised the king and
the duke of Modena in their beds, had they not been alarmed by
the French ambassador, and escaped to the camp. The Austrian
troops, giving way to pillage, were vigorously attacked by a
corps of Spaniards and Neapolitans, despatched from the camp,
and driven from the town with great slaughter, and the capture
of the second in command, the marquis de Novati. In this
contest, however, the Spanish army lost no less than 3,000
men. This daring exploit was the last offensive attempt of the
Austrian forces. Prince Lobcowitz perceiving his troops
rapidly decrease by the effects of the climate, and the
unwholesome air of the Pontine marshes, began his retreat in
the beginning of November, and though followed by an army
superior in number, returned without loss to Rimini, Pesaro,
Cesano, and Immola; while the combined Spaniards and
Neapolitans took up their quarters between Viterbo and Civita
Vecchia.
{1851}
In consequence of the expedition against Naples, the king of
Sardinia was left with 30,000 men, many of them new levies,
and 6,000 Austrians, to oppose the combined army of French and
Spaniards, who advanced on the side of Nice. After occupying
that place, the united army forced the intrenched camp of the
Sardinians, though defended by the king himself, made
themselves masters of Montalbano and Villafranca, and prepared
to penetrate into Piedmont along the sea coast. The Genoese,
irritated by the transfer of Finale, were inclined to
facilitate their operations; but were intimidated by the
presence of an English squadron which threatened to bombard
their capital. The prince of Conti, who commanded under the
infant Don Philip, did not, however, relinquish the invasion
of Piedmont, but formed the spirited project of leading his
army over the passes of the Alps, although almost every rock
was a fortress, and the obstacles of nature were assisted by
all the resources of art. He led his army, with a large train
of artillery, and numerous squadrons of cavalry, over
precipices and along beds of torrents, carried the fort of
Chateau Dauphin, forced the celebrated Barricades which were
deemed impregnable, descended the valley of the Stura, took
Demont after a slight resistance, and laid siege to Coni. The
king of Sardinia, having in vain attempted to stop the
progress of this torrent which burst the barriers of his
country, indignantly retired to Saluzzo, to cover his capital.
Being reinforced by 6,000 Austrians, he attempted to relieve
Coni, but was repulsed after a severe engagement, though he
succeeded in throwing succours into the town. This victory,
however, did not produce any permanent advantage to the
confederate forces; Coni continuing to hold out, the approach
of winter and the losses they had sustained, amounting to
10,000 men, compelled them to raise the siege and repass the
Alps, which they did not effect without extreme difficulty."

_W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapter 105 (volume 3)._

ALSO IN:
_W. Russell,
History of Modern Europe,
part 2, chapter 28._

ITALY: A. D. 1745.
The War of he Austrian Succession:
Successes of the Spaniards, French and Genoese.

"The Italian campaign of 1745, in boldness of design and
rapidity of execution, scarcely finds a parallel in military
history, and was most unpropitious to the Queen of Hungary and
King of Sardinia. The experience of preceding years had taught
the Bourbon Courts that all attempts to carry their arms
across the Alps would be fruitless, unless they could secure a
stable footing in the dominions of some Italian state on the
other side, to counteract the power of their adversary, who
had the entire command of the passes between Germany and
Italy, by means of which reinforcements could be continually
drafted to the scene of action. Accordingly they availed
themselves of the jealousy and alarm excited at Genoa, by the
transfer of Finale to the King of Sardinia, to engage that
republic on their side. The plan was to unite the two armies
which had wintered on the distant frontiers of Naples and
Provence, in the vicinity of Genoa, where they were to be
joined by 10,000 auxiliaries on the part of the republic.
Charles Emanuel was sensible of the terrible consequences to
himself, should the Genoese declare openly for the house of
Bourbon, and sent General Pallavicini, a man of address and
abilities, to renounce his pretensions to Finale, while
Admiral Rowley, with a British fleet, hovered on their coasts.
In spite of all this, nevertheless, the treaty of Aranjuez was
concluded between France, Spain, and Genoa. After surmounting
amazing difficulties, and making the most arduous and
astonishing marches, the army commanded by Don Philip, who was
accompanied by the French General Maillebois, and that
commanded by Count de Gages, effected their junction on the
14th of June, near Genoa, when their united forces, now under
Don Philip, amounted to 78,000 men. All that the King of
Sardinia could do under these circumstances, was to make the
best dispositions to defend the Milanese, the Parmesan, and
the Plaisantine; but the whole disposable force under the King
and Count Schulenburg, the successor of Lobkowitz, did not
amount to above 45,000 men. Count Gages with 30,000 men was to
be opposed to Schulenburg, and took possession of Serravalle,
on the Scrivia; then advancing towards Alessandria he obliged
the Austrians to retire under the cannon of Tortona. Don
Philip made himself master of Acqui, so that the King of
Sardinia, with the Austrian General, Count Schulenburg, had to
retreat behind the Tanaro. On the 24th of July the strong
citadel of Tortona was taken by the Spaniards, which opened
the way to the occupation of Parma and Placentia. The combined
army of French, Spanish, Neapolitans, and Genoese being now
masters of an extensive tract with all the principal towns
south of the Po, they readily effected a passage near the
confluence of the Ticino, and with a detachment surprised
Pavia. The Austrians, fearful for the Milanese, separated
accordingly from the Sardinian troops. The Bourbon force
seeing this, suddenly reunited, gained the Tanaro by a rapid
movement on the night of the 27th of September, forded it in
three columns, although the water reached to the very necks of
the soldiers, fell upon the unsuspecting and unprepared
Sardinians, broke their cavalry in the first charge, and drove
the enemy in dismay and confusion to Valenza. Charles Emanuel
fled to Casale, where he reassembled his broken army, in order
to save it from utter ruin. The confederate armies still
advanced, drove the King back and took Trino and Verua, which
last place lay but twenty miles from his capital: fearful now
that this might be bombarded he hastened thither, withdrew his
forces under its cannon, and ordered the pavement of the city
to be taken up. Maillebois, on his side, penetrated into the
Milanese, and by the month of October the territories of the
house of Austria in Italy were wholly subdued. The whole of
Lombardy being thus open, Don Philip made a triumphant entry
into Milan on the 20th of December, fondly hoping that he had
secured for himself an Italian kingdom, as his brother, Don
Carlos, had done at Naples. The Austrian garrison, however,
still maintained the citadel of Milan and the fortress of
Mantua."

_Sir E. Cust,
Annals of the Wars of the 18th Century,
volume 2, pages 75-76._

ALSO IN:
_A. Gallenga,
History of Piedmont,
volume 3, chapter 4._

{1852}

ITALY: A. D. 1746-1747.
The War of the Austrian Succession: A turn of fortune.
The Spaniards and French abandon North Italy.
The Austrians in Genoa, and their expulsion from the city.

"Of all the Austrian possessions in Lombardy, little remained
except the fortress of Mantua and the citadel of Milan; while
the citadels of Asti and Alessandria, the keys of Piedmont,
were expected to fall before the commencement of the ensuing
campaign. On the return of the season for action, the struggle
for the mastery of Italy was renewed, and the queen of Spain
already saw in imagination the crown of Lombardy gracing the
brow of her second son. On the east, the French and Spanish
armies had extended themselves as far as Reggio, Placentia,
and Guastalla; on the north they were masters of the whole
country between the Adda and Tesino; they blockaded the
passages by the lake of Como and the Lago Maggiore, and were
preparing to reduce the citadel of Milan; on the west their
posts extended as far as Casale and Asti, though of the last
the citadel was still held by the Sardinians. The main body of
the French secured the communication with Genoa and the
country south of the Po; a strong body at Reggio, Parma, and
Placentia, covered their conquests on the east; and the
Spaniards commanded the district between the Po and the
mountains of Tyrol. The Sardinians were collected into the
neighbourhood of Trino; while the Austrians fell back into the
Novarrese to effect a junction with the reinforcements which
were daily expected from Germany. In this situation, a sudden
revolution took place in the fortune of the war. The empress
queen [Maria Theresa], by the conclusion of a peace with
Prussia, was at liberty to reinforce her army in Italy, and
before the end of February 30,000 men had already descended
from the Trentine Alps, and spread themselves as far as the
Po." This change of situation caused the French court to make
overtures to the king of Sardinia, which gave great offense to
Spain. The wily Sardinian gained time by his negotiations with
the French, until he found an opportunity, by suddenly ending
the armistice, to capture the French garrison in Asti, to
relieve the citadel of Alessandria and to lay siege to
Valenza. "These disasters compelled Maillebois [the French
general] to abandon his distant posts and concentrate his
forces between Novi and Voghera, in order to maintain the
communication with Genoa. Nor were the Spaniards beyond the Po
in a less critical situation. A column of 10,000 Austrians
under Berenclau having captured Codogno, and advanced to Lodi,
the Spanish general was compelled to withdraw his troops from
the passes towards the lakes, to send his artillery to Pavia
and draw towards the Po. The infant had scarcely quitted Milan
before a party of Austrian hussars entered the place."
Meantime, the Spanish general Castelar, blockaded in Parma by
the Austrians, broke through their lines and gained the
eastern Riviera, with the loss of half his force. In June, the
Spaniards and French, concentrated at Placentia, made a
powerful attack on the Austrians, to arrest their progress,
but were repulsed with heavy loss. The Sardinians soon
afterwards formed a junction with the Austrians, which
compelled the Spaniards and French to evacuate Placentia and
retreat to Genoa, abandoning stores and artillery and losing
many men. In the midst of these disasters, the Spanish king,
Philip V., died, and his widowed queen, Elizabeth Farnese
—the "Spanish termagant," Carlyle calls her—who had been
the moving spirit of the struggle for Italy, lost the reins of
government. His son (by his first wife, Maria Louisa of Savoy)
who succeeded him, had no ambitions and no passions to
interest him in the war, and resolved to escape from it. The
marquis Las Minas, whom he sent to take command of the
retreating army, speedily announced his intention to abandon
Italy. "Thus deserted, the situation of the French and Genoese
became desperate. … Maillebois, after exhorting the Genoese
to defend their territory to the last extremity, was obliged
to follow the example of Las Minas in withdrawing towards
Provence. Abandoned to their fate, the Genoese could not
withstand the combined attacks of the Austro-Sardinians,
assisted by the British fleet. The city surrendered almost at
discretion; the garrison were made prisoners of war; the
stores, arms and artillery were to be delivered; the doge and
six senators to repair to Vienna and implore forgiveness. The
marquis of Botta, who had replaced Lichtenstein in the
command, took possession of the place with 15,000 men, while
the king of Sardinia occupied Finale and reduced Savona. In
consequence of this success the Austrian court meditated the
re-conquest of Naples and Sicily, which had been drained of
troops to support the war in Lombardy." But this project was
overruled by the British government, and the allied army
crossed the Var, to carry the war into the southeastern
provinces of France. "Their progress was, however, instantly
arrested by an insurrection at Genoa, occasioned by the
exactions and oppressions of the Austrian commanders. The
garrison was expelled by the tumultuary efforts of the
populace; and the army, to obviate the mischiefs of this
unexpected reverse, hastily measured back its steps. Instead
of completing the disasters of the Bourbon troops, the
Austro-Sardinians employed the whole winter in the investment
of Genoa." The siege was protracted but unsuccessful, and the
allies were forced to abandon it the following summer, on the
approach of the Bourbon forces, which resumed the offensive
under Marshal Belleisle. After delivering Genoa, the latter
sent a detachment of his army into Piedmont, where it met with
disaster. No further operations of importance were undertaken
before the conclusion of the peace, which was then being
negotiated at Aix-la-Chapelle.

_W. Coxe,
Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain,
chapters 46-48 (volumes 3-4)._

ALSO IN:
_J. T. Bent,
Genoa,
chapter 16._

ITALY: A. D. 1749-1792.
Peace in the Peninsula.

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle "left nothing to Austria in
Italy except the duchies of Milan and Mantua. Although the
grand-duchy of Tuscany was settled on the family of
Hapsburg-Lorraine, every precaution was taken to prevent that
province from being united with the German possessions of
their house. The arrangements of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
continued up to the period of the French revolution
undisturbed. Those arrangements, although the result of a
compromise of the interests and ambitions of rival statesmen,
were not, considering the previous state of Italy,
unfavourable to the cause of Italian independence.
{1853}
Piedmont, already recognised as the protector of Italian
nationality, gained not only in rank, but in substantial
territory, by the acquisition of the island of Sardinia, still
more by that of the High Novarese, and by extending her
frontier to the Ticino. Naples and Sicily were released from
the tyranny of viceroys, and placed under a resident king,
with a stipulation to secure their future independence, that
they should never be united to the Spanish crown. … In the
45 [?] years which elapsed between the treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle and the French revolution, Italy enjoyed a
perfect and uninterrupted peace. In some, at least, of its
principalities, its progress in prosperity and in legislation
was rapid. Naples and Sicily, under the government of Charles
III., and subsequently under the regency of his minister,
Tanucci, were ruled with energy and prudence. Tuscany
prospered under the sway of the princes of Lorraine, Milan and
Mantua were mildly governed by the Austrian court; and
Lombardy rose from the misery to which the exactions of
Spanish viceroys had reduced even the great resources of that
rich and fertile province. In the other Italian States at
least no change had taken place for the worse. Industry
everywhere flourished under the presence of the most essential
of all blessings,—peace."

_I. Butt,
History of Italy,
volume 1, chapter 5._

ITALY: A. D. 1792-1793.
Annexation of Savoy and Nice to the French Republic.
Sardinia and the Two Sicilies in the coalition against France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1792 (SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER);
and 1793 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).

ITALY: A. D. 1794-1795.
Passes of the Maritime Alps secured by the French.
The coalition abandoned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
French successes at Loano.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1794-1795 (OCTOBER-MAY);
and 1795 (JUNE-DECEMBER).

ITALY: A. D. 1796-1797.
French invasion.
Bonaparte's first campaigns.
His victories and his pillage.
Expulsion of the Austrians.
French treaties with Genoa and Naples.
The Cispadane and Cisalpine Republics.
Surrender of Papal territories.
Peace preliminaries of Leoben.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1796 (APRIL-OCTOBER), and (OCTOBER);
and 1796-1797 (OCTOBER-APRIL).

ITALY: A. D. 1797 (MAY-OCTOBER).
Creation of the Ligurian and Cisalpine Republics.
The Peace of Campo-Formio.
Lombardy relinquished by Austria.
Venice and Venetian territory made over to her.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1797 (MAY-OCTOBER).

ITALY: A. D. 1797-1798 (December-May).
French occupation of Rome.
Formation of the Roman Republic.
Removal of the Pope.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1797-1798 (DECEMBER-MAY).

ITALY: A. D. 1798-1799.
Overthrow of the Neapolitan Kingdom.
Creation of the Parthenopeian Republic.
Relinquishment of Piedmont by the king of Sardinia.
French reverses.

See FRANCE: A. D.1798-1799 (AUGUST-APRIL).

ITALY: A. D. 1799 (APRIL-AUGUST).
Successful Austro-Russian campaign.
Suwarrow's victories.
French evacuation of Lombardy, Piedmont and Naples.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1799 (APRIL-SEPTEMBER).

ITALY: A. D. 1799 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).
Austrian successes.
Expulsion of the French.
Fall of the Parthenopeian and Roman Republics.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1799 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).

ITALY: A. D. 1800.
Bonaparte's Marengo campaign.
Northern Italy recovered by the French.
Siege and capture of Genoa by the Austrians.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1800-1801 (MAY-FEBRUARY).

ITALY: A. D. 1800-1801 (JUNE-FEBRUARY).
The king of Naples spared by Napoleon.
Restoration of Papal authority at Rome.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1800-1801 (JUNE-FEBRUARY).

ITALY: A. D. 1802.
Name of the Cisalpine Republic changed to Italian Republic.
Bonaparte president.
Annexation of part of Piedmont, with Parma and Elba, to
France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1803,
and 1802 (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER).

ITALY: A. D. 1805.
Transformation of the Italian Republic into the Kingdom of
Italy.
Election and coronation of Napoleon.
Annexation of Genoa to France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1804-1805.

ITALY: A. D. 1805.
Cession of Venetian territory by Austria to the Kingdom of
Italy.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1805-1806.

ITALY: A. D. 1805-1806.
Napoleon's dethronement of the dynasty of Naples.
Joseph Bonaparte made king of the Two Sicilies.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1805-1806 (DECEMBER-SEPTEMBER).

ITALY: A. D. 1807-1808.
Napoleon's visit.
His arbitrary changes in the constitution.
His public works.
His despotism.
His annexation of Tuscany to France, and seizure of the Papal
States.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1807-1808 (NOVEMBER-FEBRUARY).

ITALY: A. D. 1808 (JULY).
The crown of Naples resigned by Joseph Bonaparte (now king of
Spain) and conferred on Joachim Murat.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1808 (MAY-SEPTEMBER).

ITALY: (Southern): A. D. 1808-1809.
Beginning of the reign of Murat at Naples.
Expulsion of the English from Capri.
Insolence of Murat's soldiery.
Popular discontent and hatred.
Rise of the Carbonari.
Civil war in Calabria.

"Joachim Murat, the new King of Naples, announced his
accession to the nation [July, 1808]. 'The august Napoleon,'
he said, 'had given him the kingdom of the two Sicilies.
Gratitude to the donor, and a desire to benefit his subjects,
would divide his heart.' … The commencement of Murat's reign
was felicitous; the English, however, occupied the island of
Capri, which, being placed at the opening of the gulf, is the
key of the bay of Naples. Their presence stimulated all who
were averse to the new government, intimidated its adherents,
and impeded the freedom of navigation, to the manifest injury
of commerce; besides, it was considered disgraceful, that one
of the Napoleonides should suffer an enemy so near, and that
enemy the English, who were at once so hated and so despised.
The indolence of Joseph had patiently suffered the disgrace;
but Joachim, a spirited soldier, was indignant at it, and he
thought it necessary to commence his reign by some important
enterprise. He armed therefore against Capri: Sir Hudson Lowe
was there in garrison with two regiments collected from all
the nations of Europe, and which were called the Royal
Corsican and the Royal Maltese. … A body of French and
Neapolitans were sent from Naples and Salerno, under the
command of General Lamarque, to reduce the island; and they
effected a landing, by means of ladders hung to the rocks by
iron hooks, and thus possessed themselves of Anacarpi, though
not without great difficulty, as the English resolutely
defended themselves. …
{1854}
The siege proceeded but slowly—succours of men and
ammunition reached the besieged from Sicily; but fortune
favoured the enemy, as an adverse wind drove the English out
to sea. The King, who superintended the operations from the
shore of Massa, having waited at the point of Campanella,
seizing the propitious moment, sent fresh squadrons in aid of
Lamarque, and the English, being already broken, and the forts
dismantled, now yielded to the conqueror. The Neapolitans were
highly gratified by the acquisition of Capri, and from that
event augured well of the new government. The kingdom of
Naples contained three classes of people—barons, republicans,
and populace. The barons willingly joined the party of the new
king, because they were pleased by the honours granted to
them, and they were not without hopes of recovering their
ancient privileges, or at least of acquiring new ones. … The
republicans were, on the contrary, inimical to Joachim, not
because he was a king, for they easily accommodated themselves
to royalty; but because his conduct in Tuscany, where he had
driven them forth or bound them in chains like malefactors,
had rendered him personally obnoxious to them. They were
moreover disgusted by his incredible vanity, which led him to
court and caress with the most zealous adulation every bearer
of a feudal title. … The populace, who cared no more for
Joachim than they had done for Joseph, would easily have
contented themselves with the new government, if it had
protected them from the oppressions of the barons, and had
procured for them quiet and abundance. But Joachim, wholly
intent on courting the nobles, neglected the people, who,
oppressed by the barons and soldiery, became alienated from
him. … The spirit of discontent was further increased by his
introduction of the conscription laws of France. … Joachim,
a soldier himself, permitted every thing to his soldiery; and
an insupportable military license was the result. Hence, also,
they became the sole support of his power, and it took no root
in the affections of the people. The insolence of the troops
continually augmented not only every desire, but every caprice
of the head of a regiment, nay, even of the inferior officers,
was to be complied with, as if they were the laws of the
realm; and whosoever even lamented his subjection to their
will was ill-treated and incurred some risk of being declared
an enemy to the King. … The discontents produced by the
enormities committed by the troops of Murat gave hopes to the
court of Palermo that its fortunes might be re-established in
the kingdom beyond the Faro. Meanwhile, the civil war raged in
Calabria; nor were the Abruzzi tranquil. In these disturbances
there were various factions in arms, and various objects were
pursued: some of those who fought against Joachim, and had
fought against Joseph, were adherents of Ferdinand,—others
were the partisans of a republican constitution. … The sect
of the Carbonari arose at this period."

_C. Botta,
Italy during the Consulate and Empire of Napoleon,
chapter 5._