Part 2 — Chapter III. (These four articles abrogated by the four articles following them, 118-122.) Article 118. The Federal Constitution may at any time be amended. (continued 88)

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.

With the death of Lorenzo de Medici, which occurred at Florence in the spring of 1492, "the power vanished which had hitherto kept Naples and Milan quiet, and which, with subtle diplomatic skill, had postponed the breach of the peace in Italy. We find the comparison used, that Florence with Lorenzo at her head stood like a rocky dam between two stormy seas. Italy was at that time a free land and independent of foreign policy. Venice, with her well-established nobles at her head; Naples under the Aragonese, a branch of the family ruling in Spain; Milan, with Genoa, under Sforza—all three able powers by land and sea—counterbalanced each other. Lorenzo ruled central Italy; the small lords of the Romagna were in his pay, and the pope was on the best terms of relationship with him. But in Milan the mischief lay hidden. Ludovico Sforza, the guardian of his nephew Gian Galeazzo, had completely usurped the power. He allowed his ward to pine away mentally and bodily; he was bringing the young prince slowly to death. But his consort, a Neapolitan princess, saw through the treachery, and urged her father to change by force their insufferable position. Sforza could not alone have resisted Naples. No dependence was to be placed on the friendship of Venice; Lorenzo mediated as long as he lived, but now, on his death, Naples was no longer to be restrained. The first thing that happened was [Piero de Medici's] alliance with this power, and at the same time Ludovico's appeal for help to France, where a young and ambitious king had ascended the throne. The death of Innocent VIII., and the election of Alexander Borgia to the papacy, completed the confusion which was impending. Long diplomatic campaigns took place before war actually broke out. The matter in question was not the interests of nations—of this there was no thought—nor even the caprices of princes alone. The nobles of Italy took a passionate concern in these disputes. The contests of corresponding intrigues were fought out at the French court. France had been robbed of Naples by the Aragonese. The exiled Neapolitan barons, French in their interests, whose possessions the Arngonese had given to their own adherents, ardently seized the idea of returning victoriously to their country; the cardinals, hostile to Borgia—foremost among these stood the Cardinal of San Piero in Vincula, a nephew of the old Sixtus, and the Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, Ludovico's brother—urged for war against Alexander VI.; the Florentine nobles, anticipating Piero's violent measures, hoped for deliverance through the French, and advocated the matter at Lyons, where the court was stationed, and a whole colony of Florentine families had in time settled. Sforza held out the bait of glory and his just claims to the old legitimate possession. The Aragonese, on the other hand, proposed an accommodation. Spain, who would not forsake her belongings, stood at their side; the pope and Piero dei Medici adhered to Naples, and the French nobility were not in favour of an expedition to Italy. Venice remained neutral; still she might gain by the war, and she did not dissuade from it; and this opinion, that something was to be gained, gradually took possession of all parties, even of those who had at first wished to preserve peace. Spain was a direct gainer from the first. France ceded to King Ferdinand a disputed province, on the condition that he would afford no support to his Neapolitan cousins. Sforza, as lord of Genoa, wished to have Lucca and Pisa again, with all that belonged to them; the Visconti had possessed them of old, and he raised their claims afresh. We have said what were the hopes of Piero dei Medici [that he should be able to make himself Duke of Florence]. Pisa hoped to become free. The pope hoped by his alliance with Naples to make the first step towards the attainment of the great plans which he cherished for himself and his sons; he thought one day of dividing Italy among them. The French hoped to conquer Naples, and then to drive away the Turks in a vast crusade. As if for a crusade, the king raised the loan in his own country, which he required for the campaign. The Venetians hoped to bring the coast cities of the Adriatic Sea as much as possible under their authority. In the autumn of 1494, Charles of France placed himself at the head of his knights and mercenary troops, and crossed the Alps; whilst his fleet and artillery, the most fearful weapon of the French, went by sea from Marseilles to Genoa."

H. Grimm, Life of Michael Angelo, chapter 3, section 2 (volume 1).

ALSO IN: T. A. Trollope, History of the Commonwealth of Florence, book 8, chapter 5.

ITALY: A. D. 1492-1503. The Papacy in the hands of the Borgias.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1471-1513.

ITALY: A. D. 1494-1496. The invasion by Charles VIII. His triumphant march, his easy conquest of Naples, and the speedy retreat. Effects of the expedition on France and Europe.

"On the 1st of March [1494] Charles VIII. made his state entry into Lyons, to assume the command of the expedition; an advanced guard under the Scotchman d'Aubigny was already pushing towards the Neapolitan frontier, and the Duke of Orleans was at Genoa. The Neapolitans on their side sent the Prince of Altamura with 30 galleys towards Genoa, while the Duke of Calabria, an inexperienced youth, entered the Pontifical States, under the guidance of tried generals. … The Pope seemed to have lost his head, and no longer knew what course to adopt. … Charles the VIII., having passed the Monginevra, entered Asti in the first days of September. He soon received intelligence that Don Federico and the Neapolitan fleet had been repulsed with heavy losses before Porto Venere, and that the Duke of Orleans and his Swiss had entered Rapallo, sacked the place, and put all the inhabitants, even the sick in the hospital, to the sword, thereby striking terror into the Italians, who were unaccustomed to carry on war in so sanguinary a fashion. On reaching Piacenza, the king learnt that Gio. Galeazzo, whom he had recently seen at Pavia, had just died there, poisoned, as all men said, by the Moor [Lodovico, the usurping uncle of Gio. Galeazzo the young Duke of Milan, was so called], who, after celebrating his obsequies at Milan, had entered St. Ambrogio, at the hour indicated by his astrologer, to consecrate the investiture already granted to him by Maximilian, King of the Romans. All this filled the minds of the French with suspicion, almost with terror; they were beginning to understand the nature of their closest ally's good faith. {1832} In fact, while Ludovico with one hand collected men and money for their cause, with the other he wove the threads of a league intended to drive them from Italy, when the moment should arrive. … Nevertheless the fortunes of the French prospered rapidly. The Duke of Calabria, having entered Romagna, withdrew across the Neapolitan frontier at the first glimpse of D'Aubigny's forces; and the bulk of the French army, commanded by the King in person, marched through the Lunigiana without encountering obstacles of any kind. After taking Fivizanno, sacking it, and putting to the sword the hundred soldiers who defended it, and part of the inhabitants, they pushed on towards Sarzana, through a barren district, between the mountains and the sea, where the slightest resistance might have proved fatal to them. But the small castles, intended for the defence of these valleys, yielded one after the other, without any attempt to resist the invaders; and hardly had the siege of Sarzana commenced than Piero dei Medici arrived, frightened out of his senses, surrendered at discretion, and even promised to pay 200,000 ducats. But on Piero's return to Florence, on the 8th of November, he found that the city had risen in revolt, and sent ambassadors to the French King on its own account to offer him an honourable reception; but that at the same time it was making preparations for defence in case of need [see FLORENCE: A. D. 1490-1498]. So great was the public indignation that Piero took flight to Venice, where his own ambassador, Soderini, hardly deigned to look at him, having meanwhile declared for the republican government just proclaimed in Florence, where everything had been rapidly changed. The houses of the Medici and their garden at St. Mark had been pillaged, exiles had been recalled and acquitted; a price put on Piero's head and that of his brother, the Cardinal. … The fabric, so long and so carefully built up by the Medici, was now suddenly crumbling into dust. On the 17th November Charles VIII., at the head of his formidable army, rode into Florence with his lance in rest, believing that that fact sufficed to make him master of the city. But the Florentines were armed, they had collected 6,000 soldiers within the walls, and they knew perfectly well that, from the vantage posts of towers and houses, they could easily worst an army scattered through the streets. They therefore repulsed the King's insolent proposals, and when he threatened to sound his trumpets, Piero Capponi, tearing up the offered treaty, replied that the Florentines were more ready to ring their bells. Through this firmness equitable terms were arranged. The Republic was to pay 120,000 florins in three quotas; the fortresses, however, were to be speedily restored to her. On the 28th November the French left the city, but not without stealing all that remained of the collection of antiquities in the Medici Palace. … Nevertheless the citizens were thankful to be finally delivered alike from old tyrants and new invaders. Having reached Rome, Charles VIII., in order to have done with the Pope, who now seemed inclined for resistance, pointed his guns against the Castle of St. Angelo, and thus matters were soon settled. … Scarcely encountering any obstacles, Charles led his army on to Naples." Ferdinand I., or Ferrante, had died on the 25th of January, 1494, and had been succeeded by his son Alfonso II, a prince more cruel and more hated than himself. The latter now renounced the throne in favor of his son, Ferdinand II., and fled to Sicily. "Ferdinand II., or Ferrandino, as he was called, after vainly seeking aid from all, even from the Turk, made a fruitless stand at Monte San Giovanni, which was taken, destroyed, and all its population put to the sword. … Naples rebelled in favour of the French, who marched in on the 22d of February [1495]. The following day Ferrandino fled to Ischia, then to Messina. And shortly the ambassadors of the Italian States appeared to offer congratulations to the conqueror. Now at last the Venetians were aroused, and having sent their envoys to Milan to know if Ludovico were disposed to take up arms to drive out the French, they found him not only ready to do so, but full of indignation. … He advised that money should be sent to Spain and to Maximilian, to induce them to attack France; but added that care must be taken not to call them into Italy; 'since having already one fever here, we should then have two.' A league was in fact concluded between the Venetians, Ludovico, the Pope, Spain and Maximilian. … The Neapolitans, soon wearied of bad government, had risen in revolt, and Charles VIII. after a stay of only 50 days in Naples had to make his departure with excessive haste, before every avenue of retreat should be cut off, leaving hardly more than 6,000 men in the kingdom, and taking with him a numerous army, which however only numbered 10,000 real combatants. On the 6th of July a pitched battle took place at Fornuovo near the river Taro. The allies had assembled about 30,000 men, three-fourths of whom were Venetians, the rest composed of Ludovico's soldiers and a few Germans sent by Maximilian. … The battle was bloody, and it was a disputed question which side obtained the victory; but although the Italians were not repulsed, remaining indeed masters of the field, the French succeeded in cutting their way through, which was the chief object they had in view. … Ludovico, taking advantage of the situation, soon made an agreement with the French on his own account, without concerning himself about the Venetians. … The fortunes of the French now declined rapidly in Italy, and all the more speedily owing to their bad government in the Neapolitan kingdom, and their abominable behaviour towards the few friends who had remained faithful to them. … Ferdinand II., with the aid of the Spaniards under Consalvo di Cordova, advanced triumphantly through Calabria and entered Naples on the 7th of July, 1496. In a short time all the Neapolitan fortresses capitulated, and the French who had held them returned to their own country, more than decimated and in an altogether deplorable condition. On the 6th of October Ferdinand II. breathed his last, worn out by the agitation and fatigues of the war, and was succeeded by his uncle Don Federico, the fifth King [counting Charles VIII. of France] who had ascended the Neapolitan throne within the last five years. … Naples was now in the absolute power of the Spaniards, who were already maturing their iniquitous designs upon the kingdom; these, however, were only discovered at a later period."

P. Villari, Machiavelli and his Times, volume 1, chapter 4, section 2.

{1833}

"In spite of its transitory character the invasion of Charles VIII. … was a great fact in the history of the Renaissance. It was, to use the pregnant phrase of Michelet, no less than the revelation of Italy to the nations of the North. Like a gale sweeping across a forest of trees in blossom, and bearing their fertilizing pollen, after it has broken and deflowered their branches, to far distant trees that hitherto have bloomed in barrenness, the storm of Charles's army carried far and wide through Europe thought-dust, imperceptible, but potent to enrich the nations. The French, alone, says Michelet, understood Italy. … From the Italians the French communicated to the rest of Europe what we call the movement of the Renaissance. There is some truth in this panegyric of Michelet's. The passage of the army of Charles VIII. marks a turning point in modern history, and from this epoch dates the diffusion of a spirit of culture over Europe."

J. A. Symonds, Renaissance in Italy: The Age of the Despots, chapter 9.

ALSO IN: P. Villari, History of Savonarola and his Times, book 2, chapters 1-3 (volume 1).

J. Dennistoun, Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, chapters 14-15 (volume 1).

P. de Commines, Memoirs, books 7-8.

L. von Ranke, History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations from 1494 to 1514, book 1, chapter 1.

See, also, FRANCE: A. D. 1492-1515.

ITALY: A. D. 1494-1503. The growing power of Venice and the jealousies excited by it. See

VENICE: A. D. 1494-1503.

ITALY: A. D. 1424-1509. The French deliverance of Pisa. The long struggle and the Florentine reconquest.

See PISA: A. D. 1494-1509.

ITALY: A. D. 1499-1500. Invasion and conquest of the Milanese by Louis XII. of France. His claim in right of Valentine Visconti.

Charles VIII. died in April, 1498, and was succeeded by Louis of Orleans, who ascended the throne as Louis XII. On his coronation, Louis XII. "assumed, besides his title of King of France, the titles of King of Naples and of Jerusalem, and Duke of Milan. This was as much as to say that he would pursue … a warlike and adventurous policy abroad. … By his policy at home Louis XII. deserved and obtained the name of 'Father of the People;' by his enterprises and wars abroad he involved France still more deeply than Charles VIII. had in that mad course of distant, reckless, and incoherent conquests for which his successor, Francis I., was destined to pay by capture at Pavia and by the lamentable treaty of Madrid, in 1526, as the price of his release. … Outside of France, Milaness (the Milanese district) was Louis XII.'s first thought, at his accession, and the first object of his desire. He looked upon it as his patrimony: His grandmother, Valentine Visconti, widow of that Duke of Orleans who had been assassinated at Paris in 1407 by order of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, had been the last to inherit the duchy of Milan, which the Sforzas, in 1450, had seized. When Charles VIII. invaded Italy in 1494, 'Now is the time,' said Louis, 'to enforce the rights of Valentine Visconti, my grandmother, to Milaness.' And he, in fact, asserted them openly, and proclaimed his intention of vindicating them so soon as he found the moment propitious. When he became king, his chance of success was great. The Duke of Milan, Ludovic, the Moor, had by his sagacity and fertile mind, by his taste for arts and sciences and the intelligent patronage he bestowed upon them, by his ability in speaking, and by his facile character, obtained in Italy a position far beyond his real power. … Ludovic was, nevertheless, a turbulent rascal and a greedy tyrant. … He had, moreover, embroiled himself with his neighbours, the Venetians, who were watching for an opportunity of aggrandizing themselves at his expense." Louis XII. promptly concluded a treaty with Venice, which provided for the making of war in common upon the Duke of Milan, to recover the patrimony of the king—the Venetians to receive Cremona and certain forts and territory adjacent as their share of the expected spoils. "In the month of August, 1499, the French army, with a strength of from 20,000 to 25,000 men, of whom 5,000 were Swiss, invaded Milaness. Duke Ludovic Sforza opposed to it a force pretty near equal in number, but far less full of confidence and of far less valour. In less than three weeks the duchy was conquered; in only two cases was any assault necessary; all the other places were given up by traitors or surrendered without a show of resistance. The Venetians had the same success on the eastern frontier of the duchy. … Louis was at Lyons when he heard of his army's victory in Milaness and of Ludovic Sforza's flight. He was eager to go and take possession of his conquest, and, on the 6th of October, 1499, he made his triumphal entry into Milan amidst cries of 'Hurrah! for France.' He reduced the heavy imposts established by the Sforzas, revoked the vexatious game-laws, instituted at Milan a court of justice analogous to the French parliaments, loaded with favours the scholars and artists who were the honour of Lombardy, and recrossed the Alps at the end of some weeks, leaving as governor of Milaness John James Trivulzio, the valiant Condottiere, who, four years before, had quitted the service of Ferdinand II., King of Naples, for that of Charles VIII. Unfortunately Trivulzio was himself a Milanese and of the faction of the Guelphs. He had the passions of a partisan and the habits of a man of war; and he soon became as tyrannical and as much detested in Milaness as Ludovic the Moor had but lately been. A plot was formed in favour of the fallen tyrant, who was in Germany expecting it, and was recruiting, during expectancy, amongst the Germans and Swiss, in order to take advantage of it. On the 25th of January, 1500, the insurrection broke out; and two months later Ludovic Sforza had once more became master of Milaness, where the French possessed nothing but the castle of Milan. … Louis XII., so soon as he heard of the Milanese insurrection, sent into Italy Louis de la Trémoille, the best of his captains, and the Cardinal d' Amboise, his privy councillor and his friend. … The campaign did not last long. The Swiss who had been recruited by Ludovic and those who were in Louis XII.'s service had no mind to fight one another; and the former capitulated, surrendered the strong place of Novara, and promised to evacuate the country on condition of a safe-conduct for themselves and their booty." Ludovic attempted flight in disguise, but fell into the hands of the French and remained in captivity, at the castle of Loches, in Touraine, during the remainder of his life,—eight years. "And 'thus was the duchy of Milan, within seven months and a half, twice conquered by the French,' says John d' Auton in his 'Chronique,' 'and for the nonce was ended the war in Lombardy, and the authors thereof were captives and exiles.'"

F. P. Guizot, Popular History of France, chapter 27.

ALSO IN: A. M. F. Robinson, The End of the Middle Ages: Valentine Visconti; The French claim to Milan.

E. Walford, Story of the Chevalier Bayard, chapters 3-4.

{1834}

ITALY: 15-16th Centuries. Renaissance. Intellectual advance and moral decline.

"At the end of the fifteenth century, Italy was the centre of European civilization: while the other nations were still plunged in a feudal barbarism which seems almost as far removed from all our sympathies as is the condition of some American or Polynesian savages, the Italians appear to us as possessing habits of thought, a mode of life, political, social, and literary institutions, not unlike those of to-day; as men whom we can thoroughly understand, whose ideas and aims, whose general views, resemble our own in that main, indefinable characteristic of being modern. They had shaken off the morbid monastic ways of feeling, they had thrown aside the crooked scholastic modes of thinking, they had trampled under foot the feudal institutions of the Middle Ages; no symbolical mists made them see things vague, strange, and distorted; their intellectual atmosphere was as clear as our own, and, if they saw less than we do, what they did see appeared to them in its true shape and proportions. Almost for the first time since the ruin of antique civilization; they could show well-organized, well-defined States; artistically disciplined armies; rationally devised laws; scientifically conducted agriculture; and widely extended, intelligently undertaken commerce. For the first time, also, they showed regularly built, healthy, and commodious towns; well-drained fields; and, more important than all, hundreds of miles of country owned not by feudal lords, but by citizens; cultivated not by serfs, but by free peasants. While in the rest of Europe men were floundering among the stagnant ideas and crumbling institutions of the effete Middle Ages, with but vague half-consciousness of their own nature, the Italians walked calmly through a life as well arranged as their great towns, bold, inquisitive, and sceptical; modern administrators, modern soldiers, modern politicians, modern financiers, scholars, and thinkers. Towards the end of the fifteenth century, Italy seemed to have obtained the philosophic, literary, and artistic inheritance of Greece; the administrative, legal, and military inheritance of Rome, increased threefold by her own strong, original, essentially modern activities. Yet, at that very time, and almost in proportion as all these advantages developed, the moral vitality of the Italians was rapidly decreasing, and a horrible moral gangrene beginning to spread: liberty was extinguished; public good faith seemed to be dying out; even private morality flickered ominously; every free State became subject to a despot, always unscrupulous and often infamous; warfare became a mere pretext for the rapine and extortions of mercenaries; diplomacy grew to be a mere swindle; the humanists inoculated literature with the filthiest refuse cast up by antiquity; nay, even civic and family ties were loosened; assassinations and fratricides began to abound, and all law, human and divine, to be set at defiance. … The men of the Renaissance had to pay a heavy price for … intellectual freedom and self-cognizance, which they not only enjoyed themselves, but transmitted to the rest of the world; the price was the loss of all moral standard, of all fixed public feeling. They had thrown aside all accepted rules and criteria, they had cast away all faith in traditional institutions, they had destroyed and could not yet rebuild. In their instinctive and universal disbelief in all that had been taught them, they lost all respect for opinion, for rule, for what had been called right and wrong. Could it be otherwise? Had they not discovered that what had been called right had often been unnatural, and what had been called wrong often natural? Moral teachings, remonstrances, and judgments belonged to that dogmatism from which they had broken loose; to those schools and churches where the foolish and the unnatural had been taught and worshiped; to those priests and monks who themselves most shamefully violated their teachings. To profess morality was to be a hypocrite; to reprobate others was to be narrow-minded. There was so much error mixed up with truth that truth had to share the discredit of error."

Vernon Lee, Euphorion, volume 1, pages 27-29, 47-48.

"The conditions under which the Italians performed their task in the Renaissance were such as seem at first sight unfavourable to any great achievement. Yet it is probable that, the end in view being the stimulation of mental activity; no better circumstances than they enjoyed could have been provided. Owing to a series of adverse accidents, and owing also to their own instinctive preference for local institutions, they failed to attain the coherence and the centralised organisation which are necessary to a nation as we understand that word. Their dismemberment among rival communities proved a fatal source of political and military weakness, but it developed all their intellectual energies by competition to the utmost. At the middle of the fifteenth century their communes had lost political liberty, and were ruled by despots. Martial spirit declined. Wars were carried on by mercenaries; and the people found itself in a state of practical disarmament, when the neighboring nations quarrelled for the prize of those rich provinces. At the same time society underwent a rapid moral deterioration. When Machiavelli called Italy 'the corruption of the world,' he did not speak rhetorically. An impure and worldly clergy; an irreligious, though superstitious, laity; a self-indulgent and materialistic middle class; an idle aristocracy, excluded from politics and unused to arms; a public given up to pleasure and money-getting; a multitude of scholars, devoted to trifles, and vitiated by studies which clashed with the ideals of Christianity—from such elements in the nation proceeded a widely-spread and ever-increasing degeneracy. Public energy, exhausted by the civil wars and debilitated by the arts of the tyrants, sank deep and deeper into the lassitude of acquiescent lethargy. Religion expired in laughter, irony and licence. Domestic simplicity yielded to vice, whereof the records are precise and unmistakable. The virile virtues disappeared. What survived of courage assumed the forms of ruffianism, ferocity and treasonable daring. Still, simultaneously with this decline in all the moral qualities which constitute a powerful people, the Italians brought their arts and some departments of their literature to a perfection that can only be paralleled by ancient Greece. The anomaly implied in this statement is striking; but it is revealed to us by evidence too overwhelming to be rejected. … It was through art that the creative instincts of the people found their true and adequate channel of expression. {1835} Paramount over all other manifestations of the epoch, fundamental beneath all, penetrative to the core of all, is the artistic impulse. The slowly self-consolidating life of a great kingdom, concentrating all elements of national existence by the centripetal force of organic unity, was wanting. Commonwealths and despotisms, representing a more imperfect stage of political growth, achieved completion and decayed. But art survived this disintegration of the medieval fabric; and in art the Italians found the cohesion denied them as a nation. While speaking thus of art, it is necessary to give a wide extension to that word. It must be understood to include literature. … We are justified in regarding the literary masterpieces of the sixteenth century as the fullest and most representative expression of the Italian temperament at the climax of its growth. The literature of the golden age implies humanism, implies painting. … It is not only possible but right to speak of Italy collectively when we review her work in the Renaissance. Yet it should not be forgotten that Italy at this time was a federation, presenting upon a miniature scale the same diversities in her component parts as the nations of Europe do now. … At the beginning of such a review, we cannot fail to be struck with the predominance of Florence. The superiority of the Tuscans was threefold. In the first place, they determined the development of art in all its branches. In the second place, they gave a language to Italy, which, without obliterating the local dialects, superseded them in literature when the right moment for intellectual community arrived. That moment, in the third place, was rendered possible by the humanistic movement, which began at Florence. … What the Lombards and Venetians produced in fine art and literature was of a later birth. Yet the novelists of Lombardy, the Latin lyrists of Garda, the school of romantic and dramatic poets at Ferrara, the group of sculptors and painters assembled in Milan by the Sforza dynasty, the maccaronic Muse of Mantua, the unrivalled magnificence of painting at Venice, the transient splendour of the Parmese masters, the wit of Modena, the learning of the princes of Mirandola and Carpi, must be catalogued among the most brilliant and characteristic manifestations of Italian genius. In pure literature Venice contributed but little. … Her place, as the home of Aldo's Greek press, and as the refuge for adventurers like Aretino and Folengo, when the rest of Italy was yielding to reactionary despotism, has to be commemorated. … The Romans who advanced Italian culture, were singularly few. The work of Rome was done almost exclusively by aliens, drawn for the most part from Tuscany and Lombardy. After Frederick II.'s brilliant reign, the Sicilians shared but little in the intellectual activity of the nation."

J. A. Symonds, Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature, chapter 17.

ITALY: A. D. 1501-1504. Perfidious treaty for the partition of Naples between Louis XII. of France and Ferdinand of Aragon. Their joint conquest. Their quarrel and war. The French expelled. The Spaniards in possession.

"In the spring of 1501, the French army was ready to pursue its march to Naples. King Frederick, alarmed at the storm which was gathering round his head, had some months before renewed the propositions formerly made by his father Ferdinand to Charles VIII.; namely, to acknowledge himself a feudatory of France, to pay an annual tribute, and to pledge several maritime towns as security for the fulfilment of these conditions. Louis, however, would not hear of these liberal offers, although Ferdinand the Catholic [of Aragon] undertook to guarantee the payment of the tribute proffered by Frederick, and strongly remonstrated against the contemplated expedition of the French King. Ferdinand finding that he could not divert Louis from his project, proposed to him to divide Naples between them, and a partition was arranged by a treaty concluded between the two monarchs at Granada, November 11th, 1500. Naples, the Terra di Lavoro, and the Abruzzi were assigned to Louis, with the title of King of Naples and Jerusalem; while Ferdinand was to have Calabria and Apulia with the title of Duke." This perfidious arrangement was kept secret, of course, from Frederick. "Meanwhile the forces of Ferdinand, under Gonsalvo of Cordova [the 'Great Captain,' as he was styled after his Italian campaign], were admitted as friends into the Neapolitan fortresses, which they afterwards held as enemies. Frederick opened to them without suspicion his ports and towns, and thus became the instrument of his own ruin. The unhappy Frederick had in vain looked around for assistance. He had paid the Emperor Maximilian 40,000 ducats to make a diversion in his favour by attacking Milan, but Maximilian was detached from the Neapolitan alliance by a counter bribe, and consented to prolong the truce with France. Frederick had then had recourse to Sultan Bajazet II., with as little effect; and this application only served to throw an odium on his cause. … The French army, which did not exceed 13,000 men, began its march towards Naples about the end of May, 1501, under the command of Stuart d'Aubigny, with Cæsar Borgia [son of Pope Alexander VI.] for his lieutenant. When it arrived before Rome, June 25th, the French and Spanish ambassadors acquainted the Pope with the treaty of Granada, and the contemplated partition of Naples, in which the suzerainty of this kingdom was guaranteed to the Holy See; a communication which Alexander received with more surprise than displeasure, and he proceeded at once to invest the Kings of France and Aragon with the provinces which they respectively claimed. Attacked in front by the French, in the rear by Gonsalvo, Frederick did not venture to take the field. He cantoned his troops in Naples, Averso, and Capua, of which the last alone made any attempt at defence. It was surprised by the French while in the act of treating for a capitulation (July 24th), and was subjected to the most revolting cruelty; 7,000 of the male inhabitants were massacred in the streets; the women were outraged; and forty of the handsomest reserved for Borgia's harem at Rome; where they were in readiness to amuse the Court at the extraordinary and disgusting fete given at the fourth marriage of Lucretia. Rather than expose his subjects to the horrors of a useless war, Frederick entered into negociations with d'Aubigny, with the view of surrendering himself to Louis XII. … In October, 1501, he sailed for France with a small squadron, which remained to him. {1836} In return for his abandonment of the provinces assigned to the French King, he was invested with the county of Maine, and a life pension of 30,000 ducats, on condition that he should not attempt to quit France; a guard was set over him to enforce the latter proviso, and this excellent prince died in captivity in 1504. Meanwhile Gonsalvo of Cordova was proceeding with the reduction of Calabria and Apulia. … The Spaniards entered Taranto March 1st, 1502; the other towns of southern Italy were soon reduced, and the Neapolitan branch of the House of Aragon fell for ever, after reigning 65 years. In the autumn of 1501, Louis had entered into negociations with the Emperor, in order to obtain formal investiture of the Duchy of Milan. With this view, Louis's daughter Claude, then only two years of age, was affianced to Charles [afterwards the Emperor, Charles V.], grandson of Maximilian, the infant child of the Archduke Philip and Joanna of Aragon. A treaty was subsequently signed at Trent, October 13th, 1501, by Maximilian and the Cardinal d'Amboise, to which the Spanish sovereigns find the Archduke Philip were also parties. By this instrument Louis engaged, in return for the investiture of Milan, to recognise the pretensions of the House of Austria to Hungary and Bohemia, and to second Maximilian in an expedition which he contemplated against the Turks. It was at this conference that those schemes against Venice began to be agitated, which ultimately produced the League of Cambray. The treaty between Louis and Ferdinand for the partition of Naples was so loosely drawn, that it seemed purposely intended to produce the quarrels which occurred." Disputes arose as to the possession of a couple of provinces, and the Spaniards were driven out. "In the course of 1502 the Spaniards were deprived of everything, except Barletta and a few towns on the coast of Bari. It was in the combats round this place that Bayard, by his deeds of courage and generosity, won his reputation as the model of chivalry, and became the idol of the French soldiery." The crafty and unscrupulous king of Aragon now amused Louis with the negotiation of a treaty for the relinquishment of the whole Neapolitan domain to the lately affianced infants, Charles of Austria and Claude of France, while he diligently reinforced the "Great Captain." Then "Gonsalvo suddenly resumed the offensive with extraordinary vigour and rapidity, and within a week two decisive battles were fought"—at Seminara, in Calabria, April 21, 1503, and at Cerignola, near Barletta, April 28. In the last named battle the French army was dispersed and almost destroyed. On the 14th of May, Gonsalvo entered Naples, and by the end of July the French had completely evacuated the Neapolitan territory. The king of France made prompt preparations for vigorous war, not only in Naples but in Spain itself, sending two armies to the Pyrenees and one across the Alps. The campaign of the latter was ruined by Cardinal d'Amboise, who stopped its march near Rome, to support his candidacy for the papal chair, just vacated by the death of Alexander VI. Malaria made havoc in the ranks of the French, and they were badly commanded. They advanced to the seat of war in October, and forced the passage of the Garigliano, November 9. "Here their progress was arrested. … The seasons themselves were hostile to the French; heavy rains set in with a constancy quite unusual in that climate; and the French soldiers perished by hundreds in the mud and swamps of the Garigliano. The Spanish army, encamped near Sessa, was better supplied and better disciplined; and at length, after two months of inaction, Gonsalvo, having received some reinforcements, assumed the offensive, and in his turn crossed the river. The French, whose quarters were widely dispersed, were not prepared for this attack, and attempted to fall back upon Gaeta; but their retreat soon became a disorderly flight; many threw down their arms without striking a blow; and hence the affair has sometimes been called the rout of the Garigliano [December 29, 1503]. Peter de' Medici, who was following the French army, perished in this retreat. … Very few of the French army found their way back to France. Gaeta surrendered at the first summons, January 1st, 1504. This was the most important of all Gonsalvo's victories, as it completed the conquest of Naples. The two attacks on Spain had also miscarried. … A truce of five months was concluded, November 15th, which was subsequently converted into a peace of three years."

T. H. Dyer, History of Modern Europe, book 1, chapters 5-6 (volume 1).

ALSO IN: L. von Ranke, History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations, 1494-1514, book 1, chapter 4, and book 2, chapter 1.

T. A. Trollope, History of the Commonwealth of Florence, book 9, chapters 8-9 (volume 4).

M. J. Quintana, The Great Captain (Lives of Celebrated Spaniards)

G. P. R. James, Memoirs of Great Commanders, volume 1: Gonzalvez de Cordoba.

L. Larchey, History of Bayard, book 2.

ITALY: A. D. 1504-1506. The Treaties of Blois. Tortuous diplomacy of Louis XII. His double renunciation of Naples.

"There was danger [to Louis XII. of France] that the loss of the Milanese should follow that of the kingdom of Naples. Maximilian was already preparing to assert his imperial rights beyond the Alps, and Gonsalvo de Cordova was marching toward the northern part of the peninsula. Louis XII. divided and disarmed his enemies by three treaties, signed at Blois on the same day (1504). By the first Louis and Maximilian agreed to attack Venice, and to divide the spoil; by the second Louis promised the king of the Romans 200,000 francs in return for the investiture of the Milanese; by the third he renounced the kingdom of Naples in favor of Maximilian's grandson Charles, who was to marry Claude,' daughter of Louis XII., and receive as her dowry three French provinces,—Burgundy, Brittany, and Blois. A more disastrous agreement could not have been made. Charles was to obtain by inheritance from his father, Philip the Handsome, the Netherlands; from his mother, Castile; from his paternal grandfather, Austria; from his maternal grandfather, Aragon. And now he was assured of Italy, and France was to be dismembered for him. This was virtually giving him the empire of Europe. France protested, and Louis XII. seized the first occasion to respond to her wishes. He found it in 1505, when Ferdinand the Catholic married Germaine de Foix, niece of Louis XII. Louis by treaty made a second cession of his rights over the kingdom of Naples to his niece, thus breaking one of the principal conditions of his treaty with Maximilian. He convoked the States-General at Tours in order openly to break the others (1506). {1837} The Assembly declared that the fundamental law of the state did not permit alienations of the domains of the crown, and besought the king to give his daughter in marriage to his heir presumptive, Francis, Duke of Angoulême, in order to insure the integrity of the territory and the independence of France. Louis XII. found little difficulty in acceding to their request. Maximilian and Ferdinand were at the time unable to protest."

V. Duruy, History of France, chapter 38.

ITALY: A. D. 1508-1509. The League of Cambrai against Venice. The continental provinces of the Republic torn away.

See VENICE: A. D. 1508-1509.

ITALY: A. D. 1510-1513. Dissolution of the League of Cambrai and formation of the Holy League against France. The French expelled from Milan and all Italy. Restoration of the Medici. Recovery of Venetian territories.

As the League of Cambrai began to weaken and fall in pieces, the vigorous republic of Venice "came forth again, retook Padua, and kept it through a long and terrible siege, at last forcing the Emperor to withdraw and send back his French allies. The Venetians recovered Vicenza, and threatened Verona; Maximilian, once more powerless, appealed to France to defend his conquests. Thus things stood [1510] when Julius II. made peace with Venice and began to look round him for allies against Louis XII. He negotiated with the foreign kings; but that was only in order thereby to neutralise their influence, sowing discord among them; it was on the Swiss mercenaries that he really leant. Now that he had gained all he wanted on the northern frontier of the States of the Church, he thought that he might safely undertake the high duty of protecting Italy against the foreigner: he would accomplish what Cæsar Borgia had but dreamed of doing, he would chase the Barbarian from the sacred soil of culture. … He 'thanked God,' when he heard of the death of the Cardinal of Amboise, 'that now he was Pope alone!' … He at once set himself to secure the Swiss, and found a ready and capable agent in Matthew Schynner, Bishop of Sion in the Valais. … Bishop Schynner was rewarded for this traffic with a cardinal's hat. And now, deprived by death of the guiding hand [of Cardinal d'Amboise], Louis XII. began to follow a difficult and dangerous line of policy: he called a National Council at Tours, and laid before it, as a case of conscience, the question whether he might make war on the Pope. The Council at once declared for the King, distinguishing, as well they might under Julius II., between the temporal and the spiritual in the Papacy, and declaring that any papal censure that might be launched would be null and void. Above all, an appeal was made to a General Council. … Meanwhile war went on in Italy. A broadly-planned attack on the Milanese, on Genoa, and Ferrara, concerted by Julius II. with the Venetians and Swiss, had come to nothing. Now the warlike pontiff—one knows his grim face from Raphael's picture, and his nervous grasp of the arms of his chair, as though he were about to spring forward into action—took the field in person. At Bologna he fell ill; they thought he would die; and Chaumont of Amboise was marching up with the French at his heels to surround and take him there. But by skilful treating with the French general Julius gained time, till a strong force of Venetians had entered Bologna. Then the Pope rose from his sick-bed, in the dead of winter, 1511, and marched out to besiege Mirandola," which capitulated. "Bayard soon after attacked him, and all but took him prisoner. A congress at Mantua followed: but the Pope sternly refused to make terms with the French: the war must go on. Then Louis took a dangerous step. He convoked an ecclesiastical council at Pisa, and struck a medal to express his contempt and hatred for Julius II. … The Pope had gone back to Rome, and Bologna had opened her gates to the French; the coming council, which should depose Julius, was proclaimed through Northern Italy. But, though the moment seemed favourable, nothing but a real agreement of the European powers could give success to such a step. And how far men were from such an agreement Louis was soon to learn; for Julius, finding that the French did not invade the States of the Church, resumed negociations with such success that in October 1511 a 'Holy League' was formed between the Pope, Venice, Ferdinand of Aragon, and Henry VIII. of England. Maximilian wavered and doubted; the Swiss were to be had—on payment. At first Louis showed a bold front; in spite of this strange whirl of the wheel of politics from the League of Cambrai to the Holy League, he persevered, giving the command of Milan to his nephew, Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours, a man of 23 years, the most promising of his younger captains. He relieved Bologna, seized Brescia, and pillaged it [1512]; and then pushed on to attack Ravenna; it is said that the booty of Brescia was so great that the French soldiers, having made their fortunes, deserted in crowds, and left the army much weakened. With this diminished force Gaston found himself caught between the hostile walls of Ravenna, and a relieving force of Spaniards, separated from him only by a canal. The Spaniards, after their usual way of warfare, made an entrenched camp round their position. The French first tried to take the city by assault; but being driven back, determined to attack the Spanish camp." They made the assault [on Easter Day, 1512] and took the camp, with great slaughter; but in his reckless pursuit of the retreating enemy Gaston de Foix was slain. "The death of the young Prince more than balanced the great victory of the day: for with Gaston, as Guicciardini says, perished all the vigour of the French army. … Though Ravenna was taken, the French could no longer support themselves. Their communications with Milan were threatened by the Swiss: they left garrisons in the strong places and fell back. The council of Pisa also had to take refuge at Milan. When the Swiss came down from their mountain-passes to restore the Sforza dynasty, the harassed council broke up from Milan, and fled to Lyons; there it lingered a while, but it had become contemptible; anon it vanished into thin air. The Pope retook Bologna, Parma, Piacenza; the Medici returned to Florence [see FLORENCE: A. D. 1502-1569]; Maximilian Sforza was re-established [see MILAN: A. D. 1512], while the Grisons Leagues received the Valteline as their reward: the English annoyed the coast without any decisive result. … Ferdinand seized Navarre, which henceforward became Spanish to the Pyrenees. {1838} Before winter, not one foot of Italian soil remained to the French. Julius II., the formidable centre of the Alliance, died at this moment (1513). … The allies secured the election of a Medicean Pope, Leo X., a pontiff hostile to France, and certain not to reverse that side of his predecessor's policy. … Louis, finding himself menaced on every side, suddenly turned about and offered his friendship to Venice. … Natural tendencies overbore all resentments on both sides, and a treaty between them both guaranteed the Milanese to Louis and gave him a strong force of Venetian soldiers. Meanwhile, Ferdinand had come to terms with Maximilian and boyish Henry VIII., who … had framed a scheme for the overthrow of France. The French king, instead of staying at home to defend his frontiers, was eager to retake Milan, and to join hands with the Venetians. … But the Swiss round Maximilian Sforza defended him without fear or treachery; and catching the French troops under La Trémoille in a wretched position not far from Novara, attacked and utterly defeated them (1513). The French withdrew beyond the Alps; the Venetians were driven off with great loss by the Spaniards, who ravaged their mainland territories down to the water's edge. For the short remainder of his life Louis XII. had no leisure again to try his fortunes in Italy: he was too busy elsewhere."

G. W. Kitchin, History of France, volume 2, book 2, chapter 3.

ALSO IN: P. Villari, Life and Times of Machiavelli, book 1, chapters 12-14 (volume 3).

M. Creighton, History of the Papacy, book 5, chapters 15-16 (volume 4).

L. von Ranke, History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations from 1494 to 1514, book 2, chapter 3.

Sir R. Comyn, History of the Western Empire, chapters 37-38 (volume 2).

L. Larchey, History of Bayard, book 2, chapters 21-44.

H. E. Napier, Florentine History, book 2, chapter 9 (volume 4).

ITALY: A. D. 1515-1516. Invasion and reconquest of Milan by Francis I. His treaty with the Pope.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1515; and 1515-1518.

ITALY: A. D. 1516-1517. Abortive attempt against Milan by the Emperor, Maximilian. His peace with Venice and surrender of Verona.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1516-1517.

ITALY: A. D. 1520-1542. Early Reformation movements and their want of popular support. The Council of Trent.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1537-1563.

ITALY: A. D. 1521-1522. Re-expulsion of the French from Milan. The treason of the Constable Bourbon. His appointment to the command of the Imperial army.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1520-1523.

ITALY: A. D. 1523-1527. The double dealings of Pope Clement VII. Invasion of Milanese by Francis I. and his defeat and capture at Pavia. The Holy League against Charles V. The attack on Rome by Constable Bourbon.

Giulio de' Medici, natural son of Guiliano de' Medici, and cousin of Leo X., had succeeded Adrian VI. in the Papacy in 1523, under the name of Clement VII. "Nothing could have been more unfortunate than the new Pope's first steps on the zig-zag path which he proposed to follow. Becoming alarmed at the preponderating power of Charles [the Fifth, Emperor, King of Spain and Naples; Duke of Burgundy, and ruler of all the Netherlands, in 1524 be entered into a league with Francis [the First, king of France];

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1496-1526; and GERMANY: A. D. 1519.

but scarcely had this been concluded when the memorable battle of Pavia resulting in the entire defeat of the French, on the 24th of February, 1525, and the captivity of the French king, frightened him back again into seeking anew the friendship of Charles, in April of that year.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1523-1525

Each of these successive treaties was of course duly sworn to and declared inviolable; but it could hardly be expected that he who exercised the power of annulling other men's oaths would submit to be bound by his own, when the observance of them became inconvenient. Clement accordingly was not prevented by the solemn treaty of April, 1525, from conspiring against his new ally in the July following. The object of this conspiracy was to induce Ferdinando Francesco d'Avalos, Marquis of Pescara, who commanded the army of Charles V. before Milan, to revolt against his sovereign, and join the Italians in an attempt to put an end for ever to Spanish sway in Italy. … But the Spanish general had no sooner secured clear evidence of the plans of the conspirators, by pretending to listen to their proposals, than he reported the whole to Charles. The miscarriage of this scheme, and the exposure consequent upon it, necessarily threw the vacillating and terrified Pontiff once more into the arms of Francis. 'The Most Christian'—as the old Italian historians often elliptically call the Kings of France—obtained his release from his Madrid prison by promising on oath, on the 17th of January, 1526, all that Charles, driving a hard bargain, chose to demand of him.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1525-1526.

And Clement hastened to prove the sincerity of his renewed friendship by a professional contribution to the success of their new alliance, in the welcome shape of a plenary absolution from all observance of the oaths so sworn. … On the 22nd of May following [at Cognac], the Pope entered into a formal league with Francis [called 'Holy' for the reason that the Pope was a party to it]. Venice joined her troops to those of the Ecclesiastical States, and they marched together to the support of the Milanese, who had risen in revolt against the Emperor. Assistance had also been promised by Henry of England, who had stipulated, however, that he should not be named as a party to the alliance, but only considered as its protector. This was the most strenuous and most united attempt Italy had yet made to rid herself of the domination of the stranger, and patriotic hopes beat high in several Italian hearts. … It may be easily imagined that the 'Most Catholic' monarch [Charles V.] felt towards Clement at this time in a manner which led him to distinguish very nicely between the infallible head of the universal Church and the sovereign of the Ecclesiastical States. … Though he retained the utmost respect and reverence for the vicegerent of heaven, he thought that a little correction administered to the sovereign of Rome would not be amiss, and nothing could be easier than to find means ready to his hand for the infliction of it. The Colonnas were of course ready for a rebellion on the slightest encouragement. … So when Don Ugo di Moncada, Charles's general at Naples, proposed to the Colonnas to join him in a little frolic at Clement's expense, the noble and most reverend members of that powerful family jumped at the proposal. … The united forces of the Viceroy and the Colonnas accordingly one morning entered Rome, altogether without opposition, and marched at once to the Vatican. {1839} They completely sacked, not only the Pope's palace, and the residences of many gentlemen and prelates, but also, says the historian [Varchi], 'with unheard-of avarice and impiety,' robbed the sacristy of St. Peter of everything it contained. Clement had barely time to escape into the castle of St. Angelo; but as he found there neither soldiers nor ammunition, nor even food for above three days, … he consented to a treaty by which the Pope agreed to pardon the Colonnas freely for all they had done against him; to take no steps to revenge himself on them; to withdraw his troops from Lombardy; and to undertake nothing in any way, or under any pretext, against the Emperor." As a hostage for the fulfilment of this treaty, Pope Clement gave his dear friend Filippo Strozzi; but no sooner was he delivered from his captors than he hired seven "black companies" of adventurers and 2,000 Swiss, and began a furious war of extermination upon the Colonnas and all their dependents. At the same time he wrote private letters to the heads of his "Holy League," "warning them to pay no heed to any statement respecting a treaty made by him with the Emperor, and assuring them of his intention to carry on the war with the utmost energy." A little later, however, this remarkable Holy Father found it convenient to make another treaty with the Viceroy of Naples, for the release of his friend Strozzi, which bound him still more to friendly relations with the Emperor. This latter treaty, of March, 1527, "would seem in some sort to imply the reconciliation once again of the Pope and the Emperor." But Charles had already set forces in motion for the chastisement of the faithless Pope and his allies, which either he could not or did not care to arrest. "The Constable Bourbon, whom the gross injustice of Francis I., and the intolerable persecution of his infamous mother, Louise de Savoie, had driven to abandon his country and allegiance [see FRANCE: A. D. 1520-1523], … was now … marching southwards, with the imperial troops, to chastise the different members of the League against the Emperor, which Clement, as has been seen, had formed. George Frundsberg, a German leader of reputation, had also crossed the Alps with 15,000 men,—'all Lutherans and Lanzknechts,' as the Italians write with horror and dismay,—and had joined these forces to the Spaniards under Bourbon. … The combined force was in all respects more like a rabble rout of brigands and bandits than an army; and was assuredly such as must, even in those days, have been felt to be a disgrace to any sovereign permitting them to call themselves his soldiers. Their pay was, as was often the case with the troops of Charles V., hopelessly in arrear, and discipline was of course proportionably weak among them. … The progress southward of this bandit army … filled the cities exposed to their inroad with terror and dismay. They had passed like a destroying locust swarm over Bologna and Imola, and crossing the Apennines, which separate Umbria from Tuscany, had descended into the valley of the Arno not far from Arezzo. Florence and Rome both trembled. On which would the storm burst? That was the all-absorbing question. Pope Clement, with his usual avarice-blinded imbecility, had, immediately on concluding the above-mentioned treaty with the Neapolitan viceroy, discharged all his troops except a body-guard of about 600 men. Florence was nearly in as defenceless a position"; but a small army of the League, under the Duke of Urbino, was at Incisa, and it was "probably the presence of this army, little as it had hitherto done to impede the progress of the enemy, which decided Bourbon eventually to determine on marching towards Rome. It seems doubtful how far they were in so doing, executing the orders, or carrying out the wishes, of the Emperor. … Upon the whole we are warranted in supposing that Bourbon and Frundsberg would hardly have ventured on the course they took, if they had not had reason to believe that it would not much displease their master. … On the 5th of May [1527] Bourbon arrived beneath the walls of Rome. … On the evening of the 6th of May the city was stormed and given over to the unbridled cupidity and brutality of the soldiers. … Bourbon himself had fallen in the first moments of the attack."

T. A. Trollope, History of the Commonwealth of Florence, book 10, chapter 3 (volume 4).

ALSO IN: T. A. Trollope, Filippo Strozzi, chapter 7.

W. Robertson, History of the Reign of Charles V., book 4 (volume 2).

L. von Ranke, History of the Reformation in Germany, book 4, chapters 1-3.

ITALY: A. D. 1527. The Sack of Rome by the Spanish and German Imperialists.

"Bourbon fell at the first assault; but by evening the Vatican suburb was in the hands of the enemy. Clement, who was even best informed of the state of things, had not anticipated such an issue. He scarcely saved himself by flight from the Vatican to the castle of St. Angelo, whither the fugitive population hurried, as the shipwrecked crew of an entire fleet hastens to a single boat which cannot receive them. In the midst of the thronging stream of men, the portcullis was lowered. Whoever remained without was lost. Benvenuto Cellini was at that time in Rome, and was among the defenders of the walls. He boasted that his ball had destroyed Bourbon. He stole fortunately into the citadel, before it was closed, and entered the Pope's service as bombardier. Even at this last moment, Clement might have saved Rome itself, which, situated on the opposite shore of the river, had not yet been entered by the enemy. They offered to spare it for a ransom; but finding this too high, and awaiting hourly Urbino's army, to which, though nothing was yet to be seen of it, he looked as a deliverer in the time of need, he would hear nothing of it. And thus the undefended city fell into the hands of the imperialists. Almost without resistance they entered Trastevere, a small quarter of the city lying to the west of the Tiber; and then crossing the bridges, which no one had demolished, they pressed forwards into the heart of Rome. It was the depth of the night. Benvenuto Cellini was stationed on the tower of the castle of St. Angelo, at the foot of the colossal angel, and saw the flames bursting forth in the darkness, and heard the sorrowful cry all around. For it was late before the soldiers began to cast off all restraint. They had entered quietly. The Germans stood in battalions. But when they saw the Spaniards broken up and plundering, the desire was aroused in them also; and now a spirit of emulation appeared, as to which nation could outdo the other in cruelty. The Spaniards, it is asserted by impartial Italians, carried the day. {1840} There had been no siege, no bombardment, no flight of any great extent; but as if the earth had opened, and had disgorged a legion of devils, so suddenly came these hosts. Everything was in a moment abandoned to them. We must endeavour to conceive what kind of men these German soldiers were. They formed an intermediate class between the prime and the refuse of the people. Gathered together by the hope of booty, indifferent what end was assigned them, rendered wild by hunger and tardy pay, left without a master after the death of their commander, they found themselves unrestrained in the most luxurious city of the world—a city abounding with gold and riches, and at the same time decried for centuries in Germany, as the infernal nest of the popes, who lived there as incarnate devils, in the midst of their Babylonian doings. The opinion that the pope of Rome, and Clement VII. in particular, was the devil, prevailed not only in Germany, but in Italy and in Rome the people called him so. In the midst of plague and famine he had doubled the taxes and raised the price of bread. What with the Romans, however, was an invective arising from indignation, was an article of faith among the Germans. They believed they had to do with the real antichrist, whose destruction would be a benefit to Christendom. We must remember, if we would understand this fury of the German soldiery, in whose minds, as in those of all Germans, Lutheran ideas at that time prevailed, how Rome had been preached and written upon in the north. The city was represented to people as a vast abyss of sin; the men as villains, from the lowest up to the cardinals; the women as courtesans; the business of all as deceit, theft, and murder; and the robbing and deluding of men that had for centuries been emanating from Rome, was regarded as the universal disease from which the world was languishing. Thither for centuries the gold of Germany had flowed; there had emperors been humbled or poisoned; from Rome every evil had sprung. And thus, while satiating themselves with rapine and murder, they believed a good work was being done for the welfare of Christendom, and for the avenge of Germany. Never, however—this we know—does the nature of man exhibit itself more beast-like, than when it becomes furious for the sake of ideas of the highest character. Before the castle of St. Angelo, which, carefully fortified with walls and fosses, alone afforded resistance, the German soldiers proclaimed Martin Luther as pope. Luther's name was at that time a war-cry against pope and priestcraft. The rude multitude surmised not what Luther desired when he attacked the papacy. In front of St. Peter's church, they represented an imitation of the papal election with the sacred garments and utensils. They compelled one priest to give extreme unction to a dying mule. One protested that he would not rest until he had consumed a piece of the pope's flesh. It is true, Italians for the most part relate this, but the German reports themselves do not deny the excessive barbarity which was permitted. Ten millions of precious metal was carried away. How much blood did this money involve, and what was done to those from whom it was taken? Fewer were put to death than were plundered, says one of the records, but what does that imply? It is true, the Germans often quarrelled with the Spaniards, because the horrors which they saw them practise were too terrible for them. Otherwise the sparing of human life was less an act of clemency than of covetousness. Prisoners of war were at that time regarded as slaves; they were carried away as personal property, or a ransom was extorted. … This system was carried to a great pitch in Rome. The possessors of palaces were obliged to purchase their ransom, the Spanish cardinals as well as the Italian—no difference was made. Thus at least escape was possible. … And as the people were treated, so were the things. Upon the inlaid marble floor of the Vatican, where the Prince of Orange took up his abode—the command of the army devolving upon him after Bourbon's death—the soldiers lighted their fire. The splendid stained glass windows, executed by William of Marseilles, were broken for the sake of the lead. Raphael's tapestries were pronounced excellent booty; in the paintings on the walls the eyes were put out; and valuable documents were given as straw to the horses which stood in the Sistine Chapel. The statues in the streets were thrown down; the images of the Mother of God in the churches were broken to pieces. For six months the city thus remained in the power of the soldiery, who had lost all discipline, Pestilence and famine appeared. Rome had more than 90,000 inhabitants under Leo X.; when Clement VII. returned a year after the conquest, scarcely a third of that number then existed—poor, famished people, who had remained behind, because they knew not whither to turn. All this lay on the conscience of the man who now for months had been condemned to look down upon this misery from the castle of St. Angelo, in which the Spaniards held him completely blockaded, and where pestilence and want of provisions appeared just as much as down below in Rome. At last, after waiting day after day, he saw Urbino's army approaching from afar: their watch-fires were to be perceived; and every moment he expected that the duke would attack and deliver the city. But he moved not. It is thought he intended now to avenge the rapine which the Medici under Leo. X. had carried on against him. … After having rested for some time in sight of the city, in which the imperialists had opened their intrenchments round the castle of St. Angelo for a regular siege, he withdrew back again to the north, and left the pope to his fate."

H. Grimm, Life of Michael Angelo, chapter 10, section 3 (volume 2).

ALSO IN: Benvenuto Cellini, Life, translated by J. A. Symonds, book 1, sections 34-38 (volume 1).

Benvenuto Cellini, Life, translated by T. Roscoe, chapter 7.

J. S. Brewer, The Reign of Henry VIII., chapter 25 (volume 2).

ITALY: A. D. 1527-1529. Siege and captivity of the Pope. New league against the Emperor. French invasion and disastrous siege of Naples. Genoese independence recovered. Treaties of Barcelona and Cambrai. Francis renounces all pretensions beyond the Alps. Charles V. supreme.

Shut up in Castle St. Angelo, the Pope, Clement VII., "deprived of every resource, and reduced to such extremity of famine as to feed on asses' flesh, was obliged to capitulate on such conditions as the conquerors were pleased to prescribe. He agreed to pay 400,000 ducats to the army; to surrender to the emperor all the places of strength belonging to the Church; and, besides giving hostages, to remain a prisoner himself until the chief articles were performed. … The account of this extraordinary and unexpected event was no less surprising than agreeable to the emperor. {1841} But in order to conceal his joy from his subjects, who were filled with horror at the success and crimes of their countrymen, and to lessen the indignation of the rest of Europe, he declared that Rome had been assaulted without any order from him. He wrote to all the princes with whom he was in alliance, disclaiming his having had any knowledge of Bourbon's intention. He put himself and court into mourning; commanded the rejoicings which had been ordered for the birth of his son Philip to be stopped; and, employing an artifice no less hypocritical than gross, he appointed prayers and processions throughout all Spain for the recovery of the pope's liberty, which, by an order to his generals, he could have immediately granted him. … Francis and Henry [of France and England], alarmed at the progress of the imperial arms in Italy, had, even before the taking of Rome, entered into a closer alliance; and, in order to give some check to the emperor's ambition, had agreed to make a vigorous diversion in the Low Countries. The force of every motive which had influenced them at that time was now increased; and to these was added the desire of rescuing the pope out of the emperor's hands, a measure no less politic than it appeared to be pious. This, however, rendered it necessary to abandon their hostile intentions against the Low Countries, and to make Italy the seat of war. … Besides all … public considerations, Henry was influenced by one of a more private nature: having begun, about this time, to form his great scheme of divorcing Catharine of Aragon, towards the execution of which he knew that the sanction of papal authority would be necessary, he was desirous to acquire as much merit as possible with Clement, by appearing to be the chief instrument of his deliverance. … Henry … entered so eagerly into this new alliance, that, in order to give Francis the strongest proof of his friendship and respect, he formally renounced the ancient claim of the English monarchs to the crown of France, which had long been the pride and ruin of the nation; as a full compensation for which he accepted a pension of 50,000 crowns, to be paid annually to himself and his successors. The pope, being unable to fulfil the conditions of his capitulation, still remained a prisoner. … The Florentines no sooner heard of what had happened at Rome, than they ran to arms … and, declaring themselves a free state, reëstablished their ancient popular government.

See FLORENCE: A. D.1502-1569.

The Venetians, taking advantage of the calamity of their ally, the pope, seized Ravenna, and other places belonging to the church, under pretext of keeping them in deposite." On the other hand, Lannoy, Charles' viceroy at Naples, "marched to Rome, together with Moncada and the Marquis del Guasto, at the head of all the troops which they could assemble in the kingdom of Naples. The arrival of this reinforcement brought new calamities on the unhappy citizens of Rome; for the soldiers, envying the wealth of their companions, imitated their license, and with the utmost rapacity gathered the gleanings which had escaped the avarice of the Spaniards and Germans. There was not now any army in Italy capable of making head against the imperialists." But the troops who had enjoyed months of license and riotous pillage in Rome could not be brought back to discipline, and refused to quit the perishing city. They had chosen for their general the Prince of Orange, who "was obliged to pay more attention to their humours than they did to his commands. … This gave the king of France and the Venetians leisure to form new schemes, and to enter into new arrangements for delivering the pope, and preserving the liberties of Italy. The newly-restored republic of Florence very imprudently joined with them, and Lautrec … was … appointed generalissimo of the league. … The best troops in France marched under his command; and the king of England, though he had not yet declared war against the emperor, advanced a considerable sum towards carrying on the expedition. Lautrec's first operations [1527] were prudent, vigorous and successful. By the assistance of Andrew Doria, the ablest sea-officer of that age, he rendered himself master of Genoa, and reëstablished in that republic the faction of the Fregosi, together with the dominion of France. He obliged Alexandria to surrender after a short siege, and reduced all the country on that side of the Tessino. He took Pavia, which had so long resisted the arms of his sovereign, by assault, and plundered it with … cruelty. … But Lautrec durst not complete a conquest which would have been so honourable to himself and of such advantage to the league. Francis … was afraid that, if Sforza were once reëstablished in Milan, they [his confederates] would second but coldly the attack which he intended to make on the kingdom of Naples. … Happily the importunities of the pope and the solicitations of the Florentines, the one for relief, and the other for protection, were so urgent as to furnish him with a decent pretext for marching forward. … While Lautrec advanced slowly towards Rome, the emperor" came to terms with the pope, and Clement obtained his liberty at the cost of 350,000 crowns, a tenth of the ecclesiastical revenues of Spain, and an agreement to take no part in the war against Charles. The latter next made overtures to the French king, offering some relaxation of the treaty of Madrid; but they were received in a manner that irritated even his cold temper. He, in turn, provoked his antagonist, until a ridiculous exchange of defiances to personal combat passed between them. Meantime "Lautrec continued his operations, which promised to be more decisive. His army, which was now increased to 35,000 men, advanced by great marches towards Naples." The remains of the imperial army retreated, as he advanced, from Rome, where it had held riot for ten months, and took shelter behind the fortifications of the Neapolitan capital. Lautrec undertook (April, 1528) the siege of Naples, with the co-operation of the Genoese admiral, Doria, who blockaded its port. But he was neglected by his own frivolous king, and received little aid from the Pope, the king of England, or other confederates of the league. Moreover, Doria and the Genoese suffered treatment so insolent, oppressive and threatening, from the French court that the former opened negotiations with the emperor for a transfer of his services. "Charles, fully sensible of the importance of such an acquisition, granted him whatever terms he required. {1842} Doria sent back his commission, together with the collar of St. Michael, to Francis, and, hoisting the imperial colours, sailed with all his galleys towards Naples, not to block up the harbour of that unhappy city, as he had formerly engaged, but to bring them protection and deliverance. His arrival opened the communication with the sea, and restored plenty in Naples, which was now reduced to the last extremity; and the French … were soon reduced to great straits for want of provisions." With the heat of summer came pestilence; Lautrec died, and the wasted French army, attempting to retreat, was forced to lay down its arms and march under guard to the frontiers of France. "The loss of Genoa followed immediately upon the ruin of the army in Naples." Doria took possession of the town; the French garrison in the citadel capitulated (September 12, 1528), and the citadel was destroyed. "It was now in Doria's power to have rendered himself the sovereign of his country, which he had so happily delivered from oppression." But he magnanimously refused any preeminence among his fellow citizens. "Twelve persons were elected to new-model the constitution of the republic. The influence of Doria's virtue and example communicated itself to his countrymen; the factions which had long torn and ruined the state seemed to be forgotten; prudent precautions were taken to prevent their reviving; and the same form of government which hath subsisted with little variation since that time in Genoa, was established with universal applause." In Lombardy, the French army, under St. Pol, was surprised, defeated and ruined at Landriano (June, 1529), as completely as the army in Naples had been a few months before. All parties were now desirous of peace, but feared to seem too eager in making overtures. Two women took the negotiations in hand and carried them to a conclusion. "These were Margaret of Austria, dutchess dowager of Savoy, the emperor's aunt, and Louise, Francis's mother. They agreed on an interview at Cambray, and, being lodged in two adjoining houses, between which a communication was opened, met together without ceremony or observation, and held daily conferences, to which no person whatever was admitted." The result was a treaty signed August 5, 1529, known as the Peace of Cambray, or "the Ladies' Peace," or "Peace of the Dames." By its terms, Francis was to pay 2,000,000 crowns for the ransom of his sons; restore such towns as he still held in the Milanese; resign and renounce his pretensions to Naples, Milan, Genoa, and every other place beyond the Alps, as well as to Flanders and Artois; and consummate his marriage with the emperor's sister, Eleanora. On the other hand, the emperor only agreed not to press his claims on Burgundy, for the present, but reserved them, in full force. Another treaty, that of Barcelona, had already, in 1529, been concluded between the emperor and the pope. The former gave up the papal states which he occupied, and agreed to reëstablish the dominion of the Medici in Florence; besides giving his natural daughter in marriage to Alexander, the head of that family. In return he received the investiture of Naples, absolution for all concerned in the plundering of Rome, and the grant to himself and his brother of a fourth of the ecclesiastical revenues throughout their dominions.

W. Robertson, History of the Reign of Charles V., books 4-5.

ALSO IN: F. P. Guizot, Popular History of France, chapter 28.

C. Coignat, Francis I. and his Times, chapter 9.

G. B. Malleson, Studies from Genoese History, chapter 1.

ITALY: (Southern): A. D. 1528-1570. Naples under the Spanish Viceroys. Ravages of the Turks along the coast. Successful revolt against the Inquisition. Unsuccessful French invasion under Guise.

"After the memorable and unfortunate expedition of Lautrec, in 1528, Philibert of Chalons, Prince of Orange, who commanded the Imperial army, exercised the severest vengeance [in Naples] on the persons and estates of all those nobles who had joined the French, or who appeared to demonstrate any attachment towards that nation. … These multiplied … acts of oppression received no effectual redress during the short administration [1529-1532] of Cardinal Colonna, who succeeded to the Prince of Orange. … In the place of Cardinal Colonna was substituted Don Pedro de Toledo, who governed Naples with almost unlimited powers, during the space of near 21 years. His viceroyalty, which forms a memorable Epocha in the annals of the country, demands and fixes attention. We are impressed with horror at finding, by his own confession, … that during the progress of his administration, he put to death near 18,000 persons, by the hand of the executioner. Yet a fact still more extraordinary is that Giannoné, himself a Neapolitan, and one of the ablest as well as most impartial historians whom the 18th century has produced, not only acquits, but even commends Toledo's severity, as equally wholesome and necessary," on account of the terrible lawlessness and disorder which he found in the country. "The inflexible and stern character of the viceroy speedily redressed these grievances, and finally restored order in the capital. … All the provinces experienced equal attention, and became the objects of his personal inspection. The unprotected coasts of Calabria and of Apulia, subject to the continual devastation of the Turks, who landed from their gallies, were fortified with towers and beacons to announce the enemy's approach. … Repeated attempts were made by Solyman II., Emperor of the Turks, either alone or in conjunction with the fleets of France, to effect the conquest of Naples, during this period: but the exertions of Toledo were happily attended with success in repulsing the Turkish invaders. … In no part of the middle ages … were the coasts of Naples and Sicily so frequently plundered, ravaged, and desolated, as at this period. Thousands of persons of both sexes, and of all conditions, were carried off by Barbarossa, Dragut, Sinan, and the other Bashaws, or admirals of the Porte. Not content with landing on the shores and ravaging the provinces, their squadrons perpetually appeared in sight of Naples; laid waste the islands of Ischia and Procida, situate in its immediate vicinity; attacked the towns of Pouzzoli and Baiæ; and committed every outrage of wanton barbarity. … The invasion of 1552, when Dragut blocked up the harbour of Naples, with 150 large gallies, during near four weeks, spread still greater consternation; and if the fleet of France had arrived, as had been concerted, it is more than probable that the city must have fallen into their hands. But the delays of Henry II., Solyman's ally, proved its preservation. The Turkish admiral, corrupted by a present of 200,000 ducats, which the Viceroy found means of conveying to him, retired and made sail for Constantinople. … {1843} The administration of Toledo … was … completely subverted from the moment that he attempted [1546] to introduce the Inquisition. … The Neapolitans, patient under every other species of oppression, instantly revolted. … They even forgot, in the general terror, the distinction of ranks; and the Barons united with their fellow-citizens to oppose that formidable tribunal. The Viceroy, returning to the capital, reinforced by 3,000 veteran Spaniards, determined nevertheless, to support the measure. Hostilities took place, and the city, during near three months, was abandoned to anarchy, while the inhabitants, having invested the castle, besieged their governor. … The Emperor, convinced by experience of the impracticability of success in his attempt, at length desisted." Toledo died in 1553, and "was succeeded by the Cardinal Pacheco, as Viceroy; and the abdication of Charles V., in the following year, devolved on his son Philip II. the sovereignty of Naples. Alarmed at the preparations made by Henry II., King of France, in conjunction with Paul IV., who had newly ascended the papal throne, Philip dispatched Ferdinand, Duke of Alva, to the aid of his Neapolitan subjects; and to the vigorous measures embraced by him on his arrival was due the safety of the kingdom.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1547-1559.

… The administration of the Duke of Alcala, to whom Philip delegated the supreme power soon after the recall of Alva [1558], lasted near 12 years, and was marked by almost every species of calamity."

Sir N. W. Wraxall, History of France, 1574-1610, chapter 9 (volume 2).

"The march of the Mareschal of Lautrec was the last important attempt of the French to reconquer Naples. … Spain remained in possession of this beautiful country for two centuries. … Their [the Spaniards'] ascendancy was owing as well to an iron discipline as to that inveterate character of their race, the firmness of purpose which had gradually developed itself in the long struggle for the country which they wrenched inch by inch from their tenacious enemies. The Neapolitans found that they had in the Spaniards different rulers from the French."

A. de Reumont, The Carafas of Maddaloni: Naples under Spanish Dominion, book 1.

ITALY: A. D. 1529. Siege of Florence by the Imperial forces. Reinstatement of the Medici.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1502-1569.

ITALY: A. D. 1530-1600. Under the Spanish domination, and the Papacy of the Counter-Reformation. The Inquisition. The Jesuits. The Vice-regal rule. Deplorable state of the country.

"It will be useful, at this point, to recapitulate the net results of Charles's administration of Italian affairs in 1530. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with the island of Sardinia and the Duchy of Milan, became Spanish provinces, and were ruled henceforth by viceroys. The House of Este was confirmed in the Duchy of Ferrara, including Modena and Reggio. The Duchies of Savoy and Mantua and the Marquisate of Montferrat, which had espoused the Spanish cause, were undisturbed. Genoa and Siena, both of them avowed allies of Spain, the former under Spanish protection, the latter subject to Spanish coercion, remained with the name and empty privileges of republics. Venice had made her peace with Spain, and though she was still strong enough to pursue an independent policy, she showed as yet no inclination, and had, indeed, no power, to stir up enemies against the Spanish autocrat. The Duchy of Urbino, recognised by Rome and subservient to Spanish influence, was permitted to exist. The Papacy once more assumed a haughty tone, relying on the firm alliance struck with Spain. This league, as years went by, was destined to grow still closer, still more fruitful of results. Florence alone had been excepted from the articles of peace. It was still enduring the horrors of the memorable siege when Clement left Bologna at the end of May. … Finally, on August 12, the town capitulated. Alessandro de' Medici, who had received the title of Duke of Florence from Charles at Bologna, took up his residence there in July 1531, and held the State by help of Spanish mercenaries under the command of Alessandro Vitelli. … Though the people endured far less misery from foreign armies in the period between 1530 and 1600 than they had done in the period from 1494 to 1527, yet the state of the country grew ever more and more deplorable. This was due in the first instance to the insane methods of taxation adopted by the Spanish viceroys, who held monopolies of corn and other necessary commodities in their hands, and who invented imposts for the meanest articles of consumption. Their example was followed by the Pope and petty princes. … The settlement made by Charles V. in 1530, and the various changes which took place in the duchies between that date and the end of the century, had then the effect of rendering the Papacy and Spain omnipotent in Italy. … What they only partially effected in Europe at large, by means of S. Bartholomew massacres, exterminations of Jews in Toledo and of Mussulmans in Granada, holocausts of victims in the Low Countries, wars against French Huguenots and German Lutherans, naval expeditions and plots against the state of England, assassinations of heretic princes, and occasional burning of free thinkers, they achieved with plenary success in Italy. … It is the tragic history of the eldest and most beautiful, the noblest and most venerable, the freest and most gifted of Europe's daughters, delivered over to the devilry that issued from the most incompetent and arrogantly stupid of the European sisterhood, and to the cruelty, inspired by panic, of an impious theocracy. When we use these terms to designate the Papacy of the Counter-Reformation, it is not that we forget how many of those Popes were men of blameless private life and serious views for Catholic Christendom. When we use these terms to designate the Spanish race in the sixteenth century, it is not that we are ignorant of Spanish chivalry and colonising enterprise, of Spanish romance, or of the fact that Spain produced great painters, great dramatists, and one great novelist in the brief period of her glory. We use them deliberately, however, in both cases; because the Papacy at this period committed itself to a policy of immoral, retrograde, and cowardly repression of the most generous of human impulses under the pressure of selfish terror; because the Spaniards abandoned themselves to a dark fiend of religious fanaticism; because they were merciless in their conquests and unintelligent in their administration of subjugated provinces; because they glutted their lusts of avarice and hatred on industrious folk of other creeds within their borders; because they cultivated barren pride and self-conceit in social life; because at the great epoch of Europe's reawakening they chose the wrong side and adhered to it with fatal obstinacy. … {1844} After the year 1530 seven Spanish devils entered Italy. These were the devil of the Inquisition, with stake and torture-room, and war declared against the will and soul and heart and intellect of man; the devil of Jesuitry, with its sham learning, shameless lying, and casuistical economy of sins; the devil of vice-royal rule, with its life-draining monopolies and gross incapacity for government; the devil of an insolent soldiery, quartered on the people, clamorous for pay, outrageous in their lusts and violences; the devil of fantastical taxation, levying tolls upon the bare necessities of life, and drying up the founts of national well-being at their sources; the devil of petty-princedom, wallowing in sloth and cruelty upon a pinchbeck throne; the devil of effeminate hidalgoism, ruinous in expenditure, mean and grasping, corrupt in private life, in public ostentatious, vain of titles, cringing to its masters, arrogant to its inferiors. In their train these brought with them seven other devils, their pernicious offspring: idleness, disease, brigandage, destitution, ignorance, superstition, hypocritically sanctioned vice. These fourteen devils were welcomed, entertained, and voluptuously lodged in all the fairest provinces of Italy. The Popes opened wide for them the gates of outraged and depopulated Rome. … After a tranquil sojourn of some years in Italy, these devils had every where spread desolation and corruption. Broad regions, like the Patrimony of S. Peter and Calabria, were given over to marauding bandits; wide tracts of fertile country, like the Sienese Maremma, were abandoned to malaria; wolves prowled through empty villages round Milan; in every city the pestilence swept off its hundreds daily; manufactures, commerce, agriculture, the industries of town and rural district, ceased; the Courts swarmed with petty nobles, who vaunted paltry titles, and resigned their wives to cicisbei and their sons to sloth; art and learning languished; there was not a man who ventured to speak out his thought or write the truth; and over the Dead Sea of social putrefaction floated the sickening oil of Jesuitical hypocrisy."

J. A. Symonds, Renaissance in Italy: The Catholic Reaction, part 1, chapter 1.

ITALY: A. D. 1536-1544. French invasion of Piedmont. French and Turkish siege of Nice. Turkish ravages on the coast. The Treaty of Crespy.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1532-1547.

ITALY: A. D. 1545-1556. Creation of the duchy of Parma and Placentia, under the rule of the House of Farnese.

See PARMA: A. D. 1545-1592.

ITALY: A. D. 1559-1580. End of the French occupation of Savoy and Piedmont. The notable reign of Emanuel Philibert.

See SAVOY AND PIEDMONT: A. D. 1559-1580; and FRANCE: A. D. 1547-1559.

ITALY: A. D. 1559-1600. Peace without Prosperity. Foreign and domestic Despotism. Exhaustion and helplessness of the country.

"From the epoch of the treaty of Château Cambresis [1559] to the close of the 16th century, Italy remained, in one sense, in profound and uninterrupted peace. During this long period of 41 years, her provinces were neither troubled by a single invasion of foreign armies, nor by any hostilities of importance between her own feeble and nerveless powers. But this half century presented, nevertheless, anything rather than the aspect of public happiness and prosperity. Her wretched people enjoyed none of the real blessings of peace. Subject either to the oppressive yoke of their native despots, or to the more general influence of the arch-tyrant of Spain, they were abandoned to all the exactions of arbitrary government, and compelled to lavish their blood in foreign wars and in quarrels not their own. While France, torn by religious and civil dissensions, sank for a time from her political station among the powers of the continent, and was no longer capable of affording protection or exciting jealousy, Philip II. was left free to indulge in the peninsula all the obdurate tyranny of his nature. … The popes were interested in supporting his career of bigotry and religious persecution; the other powers of Italy crouched before him in abject submission. To feed the religious wars, in which he embarked as a principal or an accessory, in the endeavour to crush the protestant cause in France, in the Low Countries, and in Germany, he drained Italy of her resources in money and in men. … While the Italian soldiery fought with the courage of freemen, they continued the slaves of a despot, and while the Italian youth were consumed in transalpine warfare, their suffering country groaned under an iron yoke, and was abandoned a prey to the unresisted assaults of the infidels. Her coasts, left without troops, or defences in fortifications and shipping, were insulted and ravaged by the constant descents of the corsairs of Turkey and Barbary. Her maritime villages were burnt, her maritime population dragged off into slavery; and her tyrants, while they denied the people the power of defending themselves, were unable or careless also to afford them protection and safety."

G. Procter, History of Italy, chapter 9.

ITALY: A. D. 1569. Creation of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1502-1569.

ITALY: A. D. 1597. Annexation of Ferrara to the States of the Church.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1597.

ITALY: A. D. 1605-1607. Venice under the guidance of Fra Paolo Sarpi. Successful contest of the Republic with the Papacy.

See VENICE: A. D. 1606-1607; and PAPACY: A. D. 1605-1700.

ITALY: A. D. 1620-1626. The Valtelline War.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1624-1626.

ITALY: A. D. 1627-1631. Disputed succession to the Duchy of Mantua. War of France with Spain, Savoy and the Emperor.

"About Christmas in the year 1627, Vincenzo II., Duke of Mantua, of the house of Gonzaga, died without issue. His next of kin, beyond all controversy, was Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, whose family had settled in France some fifty years before, and acquired by marriage the dukedoms of Nevers and Rethel. Although there was a jealousy on the part both of Austria and Spain that French influences should be introduced into Upper Italy, there seems to have been no intention, in the first instance, of depriving Charles of his Italian inheritance. … But … when the old Duke Vincenzo's days were evidently numbered, Charles's son, the young Duke of Rethel, by collusion with the citizens, arrived at Mantua to seize the throne which in a little while death would make vacant." {1845} At the same time, he took from a convent in the city a young girl who represented whatever claims might exist in the direct native line, and married her, the pope granting a dispensation. "Both the King of Spain and the Emperor … were incensed by conduct which both must needs have regarded as indicative of hostility, and the latter as an invasion of his feudal rights. Spain flew to arms at once. The emperor summoned the young duke before his tribunal, to answer the charges of having seized the succession without his investiture, and married his ward without his consent. … Charles, supported by the promises of Richelieu, refused to acknowledge the emperor's rights of superiority, or to submit to his jurisdiction."