 Although the political character of Florence had now become principally Guelph, the spirit of faction was far from being appeased. As in other Italian towns, political parties gradually lost their original meaning and degenerated into mere personal quarrels, being inherited by generation after generation like a Corsican vendetta. The Guelphs, when left to themselves as the Masters of Florence, split up into two parties, the Bianchi and Neri, the Whites and the Blacks. This division, besides its intrinsic importance in the history of the city, claims a special interest from its connection with the fortunes of the poet Dante. The evil of party faction was not indigenous to Florence. It was caught like a plague from the neighboring city of Pistoia, always celebrated for the violence of its revolutions. Here two families were at constant war with each other like the Montagues and Capulets in the Verona of Shakespeare. The Cancellieri were at the head of the Guelphs, and the Panchatiki of the Givolines. In the general preponderance of the Guelph party throughout the Valley of the Arno, the Cancellieri had driven out their rivals and taken possession of the town. This family excluded it is true from office, but very rich and powerful, became divided owing to domestic quarrel into two factions, the Bianchi and the Neri. The safety of the whole town was endangered by their reckless strife. A fear arose lest the exiled Givolines might seize their opportunity of returning. So the signoria of the city was entrusted to the Florentines, and the heads of the two parties were ordered to leave Pistoia and to take up their abode in the sovereign city. This measure was followed by the most disastrous consequences. Florence was just beginning to prosper under its new constitution. The magnificent Palazzo Pubblico was rising in the great square, and a larger circuit than before was being enclosed by a coronet of walls. But under this appearance of peace, the quarrel between the Grandi and the Populani was ready to break out. The two principal rival families in Florence were the Donati and the Cherchi, one representing the old nobility, the other the new families enriched by commerce. Corso Donati was at the head of one, Vieri de Cherchi at the head of the other. On the arrival of the exiles from Pistoia the whites received the favor of the Cherchi, the blacks of the Donati, and their names were quickly transferred to the factions at Florence. The Bianchi rather favored the side of the Ghiblians, the Neri, that of the Guelphs. The Bianchi contained at this time probably the most distinguished men in Florence, Dante, Guido Cavalcanti, and Dino Compañi. As has been before remarked, they embraced the Ghiblian cause not because they were indifferent to Italian liberties or because they thought lightly of the danger of German domination, but because they saw the need of a strong hand to control the factions of their distracted country. They felt keenly the mischief of the temporal power of the church, and they had no faith in any salvation which was to be effected by the intervention of France. The struggle between these two parties lasted just two years, as the Pistoians were received into Florence in the spring of 1300, and the whites were finally expelled from the city in April 1302. Pope Boniface VIII attempted to make peace. In June 1300 he sent Cardinal Acqua Sparta to Florence to reconcile the two factions and to draw up a scheme for dividing the government between them. The whites who had the upper hand refused to accede to the arrangement, and the Cardinal went away in a rage, having placed the city under an interdict. The priors, left to themselves, ordered the chiefs of the two parties to quit the town. The blacks were sent to Castel della Pieve in the neighborhood of Purugia, the whites de Sarzana, a town in the northern Apennines on the road to Parma. The rivals were thus divided by the whole extent of the territory of the republic. Guido Cavalcanti was one of the exiled whites, and it is probable that Dante, his devoted friend, was one of the priors who pronounced sentence against him. Sarzana was found to be unhealthy. Guido Cavalcanti fell ill. The whites were allowed to return, but Guido died almost immediately afterwards at the beginning of 1301. Corso Donati, the head of the black party, now went to Rome, and persuaded the pope to take more rigorous measures to reduce Florence to obedience. The eyes of Boniface were naturally turned toward France, and especially to Charles of Valois, the son of Philippe de Arte, and the brother of Philippe de Bell, who had several reasons to draw him toward Italy. He had, as we have seen, been invested by Pope Martin IV with the kingdom of Arajon, and had attempted to obtain this possession by force of arms. Also his cousin, Charles II of Naples, the son and successor of Charles of Anjou, was struggling with Frederick of Arajon for the possession of Sicily. Charles of Valois was not disposed to reject the overtures of the pope, not only for family reasons, but because Charles II had been promised the crown of Sicily as part of his treaty with James of Arajon. Boniface offered him the hand of Catherine, princess of Constantinople, which had been refused by Frederick of Arajon, and even held out hopes of advancement to the imperial crown of Germany. It would have perhaps been wise to have opposed his advance in the passes of the Apennines, but the whites shrank from declaring themselves so decidedly in the Ghiblien cause. Charles I marched southward to Siena, then in the autumn retraced his steps toward the north and entered Florence on November 1, 1301. But on the one side there was weakness, and on the other, breach of faith. The Cherokee were either too timid or too trusting. Charles under a show of impartiality could not avoid a feeling of tenderness toward the blacks. Corso Donati was admitted into the town. The priors were driven from power. For five days the city was given up to pillage and fire. Charles remained indifferent to the disorders which were taking place and affected to observe nothing. On November 11, new priors and a new gontfalonieri were elected, all of the black party. Cante de Gabrieli da Gubio was invested with the office of Podesta. In five months he condemned six hundred persons to exile. One of the most famous these was the poet Dante, who was then absent from Florence, perhaps on an embassy to Pope Boniface at Rome. The whole city was now completely in the hands of the blacks. On April 4, 1302, Charles of Valois, gorged with the plunder of the city which he had come to pacify, left for his Sicilian expedition of which an account has been given in the previous chapter. The condition of Florence was no better than before. The struggle was now between the Grandi of the Parthenera, under Corso Donati, and the Populani of the same party. In March 1304 Cardinal da Prato attempted to make peace but with little effect. On June 10 of the same year there was a battle between the Grandi and the Populani in the streets. In July the whites under Vieri di Cierchi made a vigorous effort to return to their native city. They forced their way into the town as far as the Piazza di San Marco but were there repulsed. In 1306 the office of Esecutore was instituted to keep down the Grandi. Finally, on September 15, 1308, Corso Donati was expelled from the city and was killed in his flight. In this year the election of Henry of Luxembourg to the imperial crown gave new hopes for the peace of Florence and Italy. Events now entered upon a new phase by the outbreak of a violent dispute between Boniface VIII and the King of France. Under the pretense of a personal quarrel lay the desire of the French people to found a Gallican, that is, a national church. The Pope had attempted to exercise over Philippe Lebel a kind of tourlage, which, since the days of Innocent III, had been frequently irrigated by popes who possessed any unusual strength of character. Boniface had ordered Philip to release Guy Count of Flanders from prison and to make peace with England. He had created a new bishopric at Pamier and had made the bishop whom he consecrated to the sea, apostolico legate in France. He had also claimed the right of deciding whether the French clergy should or should not pay taxes to the king. On the other hand, the king had intercepted the revenue which the pope received from France and had thrown the bishop of Pamier into prison. The king hoped that he would be supported by his state's general in asserting the royal authority against that of the pope. Before this quarrel broke out, Boniface had persecuted the noble family of Colonna, and some members of this family had taken refuge at Paris to demand vengeance. The French clergy responded to the summons of their king. They sent letters to the pope in 1302, in which they denied his right to regulate the taxes imposed by the crown, to forbid the king to imprison a bishop, or to assume an authority over the king's conscience. The French nobles took a stronger line than the clergy. On March 12, 1301, William of Nogaré accused Boniface of simony, heresy, magic, and other crimes, and called for a general council to depose him from the papal sea. Boniface in his turn summoned the French clergy to meet at Rome to discuss the reformation of the kingdom of France. Philip ordered them not to obey the summons, and Boniface replied by excommunicating Philip by the bull The bill was publicly burned in Paris, and the three estates of the realm assembled in Notre-Dame assured the king of the support of his people. William of Nogaré now took the quarrel into his own hands. Accompanied by Chiara Colonna and other enemies of Boniface, he set out for Rome. On September 7, 1303 he arrived at Anagné, the native town of Boniface, where he held his court. No resistance was made. The knights spread themselves over the palace and plundered as they pleased. The old man, now eighty years of age, like another becket, dressed himself in his pontifical robes and knelt before the altar. The knights did not dare lay hands on the vicar of Christ. For three days the pope remained a prisoner, until at last the populace of Anagné rose in indignation, drove away the foreign knights, and released the Holy Father. Boniface did not long survive this insult. He proceeded to Rome and took refuge with the Ortissini, the ancestral enemies of the Colonna. Believing himself to be again a prisoner, he attempted to remove from the Vatican to the Lateran Palace, but the Ortissini refused to let him go. He locked himself up in his chamber, and was found dead by his attendant, his hair clotted with blood as if he had dashed his head against the wall. Then on October 12, 1303, was the persecution of Celestine the Fifth Avenged. Immediately after the death of Boniface VIII the cardinals made choice of an excellent pope who took the name of Benedict XI. He attempted to set himself free from the tyranny of the cardinals and of the Ortissini and the Colonna who were supreme at Rome. Notwithstanding their resistance he succeeded in removing his court to Perugia. He had, however, immediately to deal with the difficulty of reconciling his duty to the memory of Boniface with the friendship of the Court of France. On the one hand he could not leave the insults inflicted on his predecessor Unavenged. On the other hand he did not wish to involve himself in a serious quarrel with Philip. He tried to pursue a middle course by summoning William of Nogae and fourteen other nobles, chiefly Italians, by name to appear before him at Rome. He added to these without special mention those who had contributed to the crime. Philip believed that he was included in this denunciation and therefore took care that Benedict should be poisoned in a dish of figs. He died on July 4th, 1304. The events which followed this murder led to the transference of the papal sea to Avignon in France, the so-called Babylonian captivity, which did not finally come to an end until the return of Pope Gregory XI to Italy in the year 1377. For ten months the cardinals shut up in Perugia could not agree on the choice of a pope. They were divided into two evenly balanced factions, the Guelphs, headed by the Orsini, and the Ghibliens, headed by the Colonna. At last the citizens of Perugia starved them into a settlement by diminishing their rations, and the two parties came to a strange agreement. They had first determined that no Italian should be elected. It was next arranged that the Orsini should nominate three candidates of whom one should be finally chosen by the Colonna. The Orsini took care to nominate only such men as should be hostile to Philippe Lebel. Among them was Bertrand de Gutt, Archbishop of Bordeaux, who was believed to be a deadly enemy both of Philip and of Charles of Allois. Philip was immediately informed of what had happened and his action has passed into the following legend. He traveled rapidly into Gascany, met the Archbishop, and proposed terms of reconciliation. They heard mass together and the king said, Archbishop, I have it in my power to make you pope. And if you will promise six things, I will raise you to that dignity. Bertrand assented, and the king proceeded to declare his six conditions. One, that when made pope he should readmit him into the church and pardon his conduct to Pope Boniface. Two, that he would admit the king and his friends to communion with the church. Three, that he would grant him the tithes of the clergy for five years to cover the expenses of the war with Flanders. Four, that he would destroy and blot out the memory of Pope Boniface. Five, that he would restore the dignity of Cardinal to James and Peter Colonna. Six, that he would grant him another great favor of which he would tell him in due time and place. The Archbishop swore upon the book that he would perform what he was asked, and gave his brother and two of his nephews to the king as hostages. The king then promised to make him pope. This story, originally related by Giovanni Vellani, has been shown by recent criticism to be untrue. It can easily be understood why Clement V, for that was the title of the new pope, had no desire to visit Italy. He was afraid of the vengeance of those whom he had deceived, and he was too valuable to the king of France to be readily parted with. He was indeed a considerable source of income to the French monarch. He allowed the king to tax his clergy. He gave permission to the court of Flanders to do the same in order to pay tribute to the Crown of France, and he gave Philip authority to expel all Jews from his dominions and to confiscate their property. Clement was crowned at Lyon on the day of Saint Martin November 11, 1305, in the presence of Philippe Lebel, Charles of Valois, and a number of Italian princes. He shortly afterwards created twelve cardinals, the two colonas, and ten Frenchmen devoted to the interests of the French crown. He fixed the papalcy at Avignon on the Rhône, where the pope presented a small territory acquired by confiscations from the Albigensi and heretics. Of the six promises which Clement is said to have made to the king, he had already performed the first, second, third, and fifth. There remained the condemnation of Pope Boniface and the granting of the secret request, the terms of which had not as yet been made known. Although strongly pressed by the king, Clement could not bring himself to condemn his predecessor or to declare him guilty of heresy. To do this would be to nullify the appointment of the very cardinals by which Benedict XI and Clement himself had been elected. He therefore remitted the question to a general counsel. On the other hand, on June 1, 1307, he issued a bull which gave the most complete absolution to the king, together with his agents and all those who were in any way compromised by ecclesiastical censures. William of Nogaré, who was said to have struck the aged pontiff with his hand, and Reginald Coupino were alone exempted and were ordered to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. An ecumenical counsel was summoned to meet at Vienne on October 1, 1310. There is no doubt that the secret request which Philip reserved in Petot was the suppression of the order of the Templars. This order had been founded in 1126 by nine French knights who accompanied Godfraud de Boulan to the Holy Land. Just at this time the Templars, with their grand master Jacques de Molay, had retired to Cyprus on being driven out of Palestine by the Turks. De Molay was recalled from the east, the Templars were imprisoned, and many of them were put to death with the greatest torture. The Council of Vienne abolished the order in 1311 and transferred its property to the knights' hospitalers of St. John. There is little doubt that the principal motive of Philip in these acts of violence was to enrich himself by confiscating the property of the order. Jacques de Molay was burned on March 12, 1314, and with his dying breath summoned both Pope and King to appear before the Tribunal of Heaven within a year and a day. By the removal of the Pope to Avignon the condition of the states of the Church was greatly altered. Bologna became a republic. Ravenna fell under the power of the family of Polenta. Urimini submitted itself to the Malatesta, Urbino to the Monte Feltri. Rome underwent various fortunes, among which was the establishment of a republic by Rienzi, while to the south of Rome the Principality of Beneventum dared to raise its head. During the immediate course of this history it will be necessary to remember that these cities owe much of their importance in the varying fortunes of the peninsula to the absence of that power which formerly kept them in subjection to a common authority. CHAPTER VI ADOLPH OF NAZAU Henry of Luxembourg, Venice Rudolph of Habsburg, Emperor of Germany, died on July 15, 1291. He was succeeded by Adolf of Nassau, a prince of comparatively poor house in the neighborhood of the Rhine. Adolf was crowned at Ex-La-Chapelle on June 24, 1292, but exactly six years afterwards was deposed. The electors called the people together and proclaimed that the king had rejected the councils of the wise and aqueoused in those of the young men, and had never fulfilled the duties of a ruler, also that he had no wealth of his own or friends who could help him faithfully. Seeing these defects, and more than twenty others, they had asked, and so they said, obtained the people permission to absolve him from the dignity of reigning. Each elector gave his own reason. One said, King Adolf is poor in money and friends, he is a fool, the kingdom under him will soon fail in wealth and honor. Another said, it is necessary that he should be deposed. Another proposed to choose the Duke of Austria. Another said, the council is sound, let it be done at once. Among the more circumstantial charges were the following. He had been useless and faithless to the interests of the empire. He had neglected Italy and the outlying provinces. He had failed to maintain the peace and had allowed and encouraged private war. He had neglected good council, despised the clergy, condemned the nobles and preferred mere knights in their place, and had served as a mercenary in the armies of Edward I of England. His successor was Albert, Duke of Austria, son of the Emperor Rudolf. He was nominated concurrently with the deposition of his predecessor and was crowned at Ex-La Chapelle on August 24th, 1294. Adolf did not give way without a struggle, but was killed in the Battle of Goldheim near Wumes. Albert did not pay any greater attention to the affairs of Italy than his predecessor had done. The gibbalines of the type of Dante, who sought in the power of the emperor the best means of appeasing the factions of their country, looked to him in vain. They cries out indignantly in the purgatory, 697. O Albert of Germany, thou who abandoned her, who has turned untameable and savage, whereas it was thy duty to fault into the saddle, may a righteous judgment fall upon thy race from heaven, and may it be new and clear to all men, so that thy successor may dread it for himself. For thou and thy father, drawn aside to the north of the Alps by your cupidity, have allowed the garden of the empire to become a desert. Albert was occupied in increasing the possessions of his house, and in trying to extend his authority over the free cantons of Switzerland, in the north of which lies the old castle of Hapsburg, the cradle of the house of Austria. In his reign took place the patriotic struggle of the forest cantons for freedom, which are known to us by the oath of the Rootley and the mythical exploits of Tell and Gessler. Albert was murdered in 1308, just after crossing the Ford of the Royce, close by the castle of Hapsburg, by his nephew John, whom he had deprived of his possessions. Philip of France, who had already intimated to Pope Clement that his secret and concealed request had been to fix the seat of the papacy in France and to destroy the Templars, now declared that it was to secure the crown of the empire for his brother Charles of Allois. Clement however was by this time weary of compliance, and whilst feigning to agree with the king's request, wrote to the electors to hasten their proceedings, and pointed out to them a desirable candidate, Henry Count of Luxembourg, a prince of little importance and comparatively poor, but well known to be of chivalrous and noble character. Henry was elected in November 1308, and was recognized by the Pope. He is known in history as Henry VII of Luxembourg. His son John married Elizabeth of Bohemia, and thus became King of Bohemia. Under this title he fought against Edward III and the Black Prince at the Battle of Crécy, and was there killed. The three white feathers which formed his emblem, with the motto Ichdine, still serve as the badge of the princes of Wales. Henry, anxious to repair the neglect of his predecessors, determined that an expedition to Italy should form the first business of his reign. In 1310 he received the representatives of the Italian powers at Lausanne on the Lake of Geneva. About the end of September he crossed the Grian Alps and entered Piedmont by the pass of Monsenny. He reached the town of Asti on October 10. Like many others who had set their hands to the pacification of Italy, he resolved to make no distinction of parties, but to bring about an understanding between Guelphs and Ghibliens. But it was impossible that he should be regarded by all parties alike. The Ghiblien despots of the cities of the Lombard plain welcomed him with joy, but they were not gratified by the intention which he expressed of recalling the Guelph exiles. On the other hand the cities of Florence, Siena, Luka, and Bologna stood aloof from him, and Robert, king of Naples, grandson and successor of Charles II, sent an ambassador to greet him. Pisa welcomed him gladly, the city in which he afterwards found a tomb. With reference to Robert of Naples it should be mentioned that his grandfather Charles II had died on May 5, 1309. Charles Martel, the eldest son of Charles II, had previously succeeded to the throne of his mother Maria, Queen of Hungary, or at least bore the title from 1290 to 1295 when he died. His son, Charles Robert, was recognized as his father's heir in 1308, and he was, of course, the legitimate sovereign of Sicily. He had, however, been educated entirely abroad, and Charles II at his death in the succeeding year left the crown to his second son, Robert. His title was acknowledged by the Pope, and he reigned as king of Naples with claims upon Sicily until 1343. Henry arrived at Milan at the end of December 1310. The city was at this time divided between the two factions of the della Torre and the Visconti, Guido della Torre, having for the moment the upper hand. The emperor pursued the same policy of peace which he had before adopted in his own. He ordered that all the exiles should be allowed to return, and that their property should be restored. On January 6, 1311, Henry was crowned with the iron crown of Lombardy in the Church of Sant'Ambrogio. The appearance of peace was, unfortunately, of short duration. The emperor asked the town council for money. Guglielmo da Pasterla proposed a grant of fifty thousand gold ducats. Matteo de Visconti suggested that an additional sum of ten thousand ducats should be added for the emperor. Guido della Torre went beyond this second sum and said that nothing short of one hundred thousand ducats was worthy of the wealth and magnificence of the capital of Lombardy. Henry refused to abate any portion of this large contribution and proceeded to lay the districts around Milan in a similar proportion. This unfortunate want of money always made the German emperors unpopular in Italy, yet it was not unreasonable that their Italian subjects should contribute to their support. This demand produced a change of government in Milan. The two parties of the della Torre and the Visconti united to expel the Germans from the city. Henry, fortunately heard of the conspiracy before it could be put into execution, and sent to apprehend those who would contrive the treachery. Matteo Visconti, warned in time, received the emperor's messengers with expressions of courteous friendship. But della Torre had unluckily gone too far to dissimulate. Matteo joined Henry in taking arms against the rebels. The Torreggianni were driven from the town, but not without much resistance and a murderous struggle. For a moment the cities of the Guelphic League were inspired by della Torre to throw off their allegiance to the emperor. Lodi, Crema, and Cromona were soon subdued. Russia held out a little longer but was also reduced. When Henry left Lombardy for Genoa, he instituted Matteo Visconti as imperial vicar in the city and district of Milan. The city remained subject to his family until they were succeeded by the Sforzas in the middle of the 15th century. The city of Genoa had been torn asunder by the two rival families of Doria and Spinole, the first Guelph, and the second Gibriline. The Doria had at this time just succeeded in getting the upper hand and peace had been made between the two parties. Henry was received in the proud city as Genoa loved to call herself, with every kind of honour, and was made lord paramount of the town for twenty years. In return he confirmed the peace which had been auspiciously begun and on his departure left Ugucione della Fadula as imperial vicar. Ugucione governed his charge wisely until the death of the emperor when he removed to Pisa and the troubles, as we shall see, broke out anew. Henry had received at Genoa, ambassadors sent somewhat tardily by King Robert of Naples, and there was at this time a faint hope that peace might be secured between the two potentates. Henry had carefully refrained from interfering with those districts of Piedmont which had submitted themselves to the sovereignty of Robert. But the interests of the two sovereigns were completely and radically opposed. As Henry proceeded further in his enterprise he found the hope with which he had commenced it impossible to realise. The chasm between the two parties of Guelph and Gibrilines was too wide to bridge over, and it became more and more necessary for the emperor to identify himself with that party which had always supported the imperial supremacy and to crush his adversaries by force. King Robert, on returning from Avignon, where he had gone to be invested with the Crown of Naples, stopped for a time at Florence. Here he took counsel as to the best means of opposing the progress of their common enemy. Robert was the nominal head of the Guelphic League, but Florence was the heart and soul of the Confederation. It was not without reason that Dante, who was passionately eager for Henry's success, urged the emperor, again and again with passionate vehemence, to neglect all smaller matters and to establish his authority by force in that nest of anarchy. The signs of enmity soon became apparent. Henry's ambassadors were refused a passage through Florence and the Florentine merchants were expelled from Genoa. Henry set sail from Genoa on February 16, 1312. He was detained for eighteen days at Porto Venere, a picturesque old town situated at the entrance of the Gulf of Spatia. He arrived at Pisa on March 6 and stayed there for six weeks. The peasants followed the example of the Genoese by investing him with the lordship of their city. They had already presented him with sixty thousand gold duckets, and they now gave him as much again. They hoped that by his assistance Pisa might regain her former position as mistress of Tuscany. Leaving Pisa on April 23, he marched to Siena and Orvieto to Rome. Rome was at this time divided by the Tiber into two hostile camps. The Vatican, the Castle of St. Angelo, and the Leonine City were held by the Orsini and Guelphs. The Colosseum and the Vatican by the Colonna and the Ghibliens. The emperor's advance was opposed at once. He was not permitted to cross the Ponte Mole without a battle. At length the goal of his long pilgrimage was reached, and he was crowned emperor in the Church of St. John Lateran on June 29, 1312, the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. After the coronation the emperor retired to Tivoli, and many of his German followers returned home. From Tivoli he removed to the strong town of Todi, which he intended to make the base of his operations against Tuscany. Florence had strained every nerve to oppose him. She was in communication with all the Guelphic cities of Italy. She endeavored to shake the allegiance of Padua and Parma. She negotiated with the courts of Avignon and France. It must be remembered that these vigorous and delicate negotiations were conducted by a government of traders unskilled in the higher politics, and represented by a ministry which was changed every two months. In August the emperor marched northwards through the territory of Perugia and Arezzo, burning and plundering as he advanced. In Arezzo he was received with joy. In September he marched on Florence, took the towns of Montevarchi and Castel San Giovanni, eluded the Florentine army which was posted at Incizza, and arrived before the gates of the city of flowers on September 19. He did not dare to attack because he was greatly inferior in force. He allowed the terror inspired by his approach to disappear, and the Florentines received reinforcements from Tuscany and the Romagna. They indeed paid little attention to him, and fortified none of the gates, accepting the one before which he was encamped. He laid waste the territory of Florence till the end of October, and then marched to San Casciano, where he stayed till January 6th. Finding that pestilence had broken out amongst his troops, he retired to the castle of Puggibonzo on the road to Vienna, and on March 6th returned to Pisa. The historian Volani says of Henry that he was never cast down by adversity nor unduly eladed by prosperity. At Pisa he adopted the best means he could devise for securing the ends he had in view. He held an imperial court, at which he solemnly condemned the Florentines, and took away from them the right of coining money. He deposed Robert King of Naples and absolved his subjects from their allegiance. He made an alliance with Frederick of Atahon, King of Sicily, and sent pressing messages to Germany for a new army. At last, in the beginning of August 1313, after receiving large reinforcements both from Germany and Italy, he felt himself strong enough to take the field against the King of Naples. The Florentines on their side conferred the sinuria or lordship of their city on King Robert for five years. The gathering storm was suddenly dispelled by the unexpected death of the emperor at the monastery of Buona Convento in the neighborhood of Siena. The story was long current that he died by receiving the sacrament from a Dominican monk in a poisoned chalice, but he had long been in bad health and there is nothing strange in his dying of fever in Italy at the end of August. He was buried in the Campo Santo at Pisa. His death closes one of the most romantic episodes to be found in the whole history of medieval Italy. It also wrought a complete revolution in the affairs of Tuscany. Pisa, with the help of Ugucione de la Fadula, who had removed to that city from Genoa on the death of his mother, attempted to place himself at the head of the Gibrilin cause at first with some prospect of success. The first exploit of Ugucione was to capture Luca. He then laid siege to the castle of Monte Cattini on the road to Florence and here, on August 29, 1315, the Florentines were completely defeated. With the help of Tarentum, the eldest son of King Robert of Naples had been sent to their assistance, his brother Peter and his son Charles were slain in the battle. In April 1361, Ugucione, whose government had become tyrannical, was turned out both of Luca and Pisa, and his place was taken by Castrucio Castracani, whose fortunes we shall follow in another place. The Republic of Venice had remained only an interested spectator of the events which have just been related. She sent an ambassador to welcome the emperor, Henry VII, on his arrival in Italy, but defended by her lagoons she was secure against the rivalry of Guelphs and Gibrilines and devoted her energies to the extension of her empire in the East. She underwent, however, important revolutions of her own. During these years, Venice experienced changes in her internal constitution, which gradually made her one of the strongest oligarchies the world has ever seen. It is the essence of aristocratic oligarchies that they have to be continually on their guard against two opposite dangers, the degeneration into a democracy, and the concentration into a monarchy, the similarity between the constitutional histories of Sparta and Venice to states so diverse in origin and in situation show that these tendencies are inherent in the character of the state itself independent of surrounding circumstances. We have seen in a previous chapter how the power of the Great Council was increased step by step, how it encroached upon the authority of the doge on the one hand and of the people on the other, and how its power came gradually to be confined to the representatives of certain favored families. In February 1297, under the doge Pere Gradenigo, who held the office from 1289 to 1311, and who was a strong supporter of the aristocratic party, a law was passed by which the Quarantia, a judicial board of 40 members, were to ballot with respect to all those who had been members of the Great Council within the last four years, and everyone who received at least 12 votes out of 30 was to be a member for the ensuing year. This provision, as far as it went, confined admission to the Great Council exclusively to those families who had been already elected to it, but the opportunity of infusing new blood into the council was secured by a second provision. Three electors were to be appointed, who should choose out of those who had not sat in the council within four years, as many names as the doge and his smaller council of advisers should determine upon, and the names so chosen were to be submitted to the Quarantia in the same way as the others. This second provision was so worked as to be favorable to the advancement of certain chosen families. In 1300, the admission of new men was expressly forbidden. In 1315, the names of those who were eligible were inscribed in a book for the inspection of the Quarantia as soon as they reached the age of 18 years. Finally, in 1319, the three annual electors were abolished. The periodical renewal of the Great Council at Michael Moss was given up, and it was provided that anyone who had the right to be inscribed in the Librodoro, the golden book as it was called, became as a matter of course a member of the Great Council at the age of twenty-five years. Thus at Venice a nobleman was said to prove his right to a seat in the council per suos et vigenti quinqueanos, that is to say, by showing that he belonged to a certain privileged family and that he was five and twenty years old. In this manner the revolution was accomplished which was called il serrar del gran concilio, the bolting or locking up of Great Council. It was a gradual movement and not as is sometimes declared a single act. This change did not take place without considerable opposition. In 1310 there was formed a powerful conspiracy of the popular party headed by Bajamonte Tiepolo, a member of a family well known for its devotion to the popular cause. This conspiracy was put down with bloodshed and the heads of it were executed or banished, but it had extended its ramifications through all classes of society. Ten inquisitors of state were nominated at first for two months with full powers over persons of every rank to discover any traces that might exist of the conspiracy. Their power was prolonged from one period of two months to another till at last in 1335 it was permanently established by the Great Council and the people as a regular part of the Venetian Constitution. It was this council of ten which discovered the conspiracy of the doge Marino Faliero in 1355 and caused him to be executed. It was this council which in 1432 summoned the great condotieri leader Francesco Carmaniola to Venice, subjected him to a secret trial and caused him to be beheaded with a gag in his mouth between the two columns of the piazzera. The members of this council who were chosen every year were not allowed to have any family connection with the doge and not more than one might belong to any single house. The council of ten gradually came to interfere with every department of state and got the direction of foreign diplomacy into its hands. In 1559, after the close of this present history, a committee of three were elected from the council of ten and were known as the three inquisitors of state. With this, the organization of secrecy in the administration of home and foreign affairs reached its height. End of Section 6 Section 7 of Guelphs and Ghibliens by Oscar Browning. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 7 Castruccio The period of Italian history which succeeds the death of Frederick II is, in the greater part of the north of Italy, the period of the domination of tyrants. Dante says of the Italy of this epoch, La Terre d'Italia tutte pieni son di tirani Ed un marcel di venta ognhi vilan che parteggiando viene. The land of Italy, far and wide, was full of tyrants, and the various peasant lad becomes Marcellus in the strife of parties, Purgatorio, Canto VI, line 122. The communes had lost their liberties, and the princely families who swayed their fortunes exercised over them a nearly hereditary domination. Milan was governed by Matteo Visconti. Its territory extended over the plain which surrounds the city, and in 1322 was extended as far as Cremona. Montua was subject to the family of the Buona Arcorsi, who gave place in 1358 to the Gonzagi, with whom the duchy of Montua remained till the present century. Passing eastwards, the lordship of Verona was held by the great family de la Scala, or Scaligeri. The head of this house at the time to which we have now arrived was Congurande de la Scala, the most powerful prince in Lombardy. He became master of the neighboring city of Verona, having rested it from the domination of Padua. Ravenna was in the hands of Guido Novello de Polenta, who held it without the disturbance of damaging revolutions. The house of Camino had established itself at Treviso, Feltre, and Beluno on the ruins of the house of Ezzalino. Verara, which had belonged to the house of Este, and had then been a subject of dispute between Venice and the pope, was now restored again to the house of Este. The characteristics of most of these signore or tyrants were the same. They lived for the most part in luxury and splendor, built magnificent churches and palaces, entertained poets, painters, and musicians. The court of Congurande was especially remarkable in these respects. We are told by a contemporary historian that the numerous distinguished men to whom he offered hospitality had apartments assigned to them according to their condition, and that each had his own servant and his own table. The different suites of chambers were indicated by various devices, triumph for warriors, muses for poets, mercury for artists, paradise for preachers. In dinner musicians, buffoons, and conjurers traversed the rooms. The walls were adorned with pictures representing the vicissitudes of fortune, and the prince invited some more favorite among his guests to his own table, especially Guido di Costello di Reggio, who is known by the name of Semplicci Lombardo, and the poet Dante Allagieri. Among the most distinguished of those who sought refuge at Verona was Ugucione della Faggula, who, as already related, had been lord of Pisa and Luca, and who had now despaired of the imperial cause. It was to him that Dante dedicated the first canto of his poem. Even under these conditions Italy was not permitted to work out its own salvation, but was largely dependent on the party stripes which agitated Germany. To the death of Henry VII, the succession to the imperial crown was hotly disputed by two claimants. One was Frederick of Austria, second son of the Emperor Albert, grandson of Rudolf of Habsburg. The other was Ludwig Duke of Upper Bavaria. He was supported by John King of Bohemia, the son of Henry of Luxembourg, and by Henry's brother Baldwin, Archbishop and Elector of Trev. To make matters worse the kingdom of Bohemia was also in dispute. King Odochar II, who died in 1278, was also Duke of Austria, Styria, and Corinthia. His son and successor, Vensel, or Vensislaus II, died in 1305, leaving a son, Vensislaus III, and two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth. Anne married Henry of Corinthia who was king of Bohemia from 1307 to 1310. His sister Elizabeth was wife of Albert I of Austria and mother of Albert II, who by his relationship laid claims to the kingdom of Bohemia. Elizabeth, the second daughter of Vensislaus II, married John, the son of Henry of Luxembourg, who was recognized as king of Bohemia from 1310 to 1346. Thus in supporting the Bavarian claimant to the Empire, he was preventing the crown of Bohemia from passing to the House of Austria. Of the claimants, Albert represented the House of Hapsburg, Ludwig the House of Hohenstaufen. Two diets were held for the election of an emperor, one at Rensan the Rhine, which was the regular place of meeting for this purpose, and the other at Sachsenhausen in the neighborhood of Frankfurt. The diet at Rensa was attended by five electors, the Archbishops of Treves and Mainz, John, who was king and elector of Bohemia, Waldemar, elector of Brandenburg, and John, Duke of Sachsalauenburg, who claimed to be elector of Saxony. The other diet was attended by Rudolf, elector Palatine, brother of Ludwig of Bavaria. He held the proxy of the Archbishop-elector of Cologne, who was unable to attend in person. There were also present Rudolf, elector of Saxony, and Henry of Corinthia, who claimed to be king of Bohemia. The diet of Rensa elected Ludwig of Bavaria, the diet of Sachsenhausen, Frederick of Austria. The Austrian party found a claimant to dispute the right of Waldemar to the electorate of Brandenburg. Thus on either side there were five electors, two undisputed, three with doubtful claims to the title. Ludwig was proclaimed at Frankfurt and crowned at Exla Chapelle, but not by the Archbishop of Cologne, who was the regular celebrant of the ceremony. Frederick was crowned at Bunn by the Archbishop of Cologne. This double election caused great confusion in Italy. The two rivals each sought for recognition of their authority in that country. The Guelphs and Givolines, the partisans of the Popes and of the Tyrants, were each able to make tempting offers to one side or the other. At length the battle of Muldorf, fought on September 28, 1321, gave a decisive victory to Ludwig. Frederick was taken prisoner, and the Emperor had leisure to turn his attention to Italy. The results of this interference will occupy our attention at a later period. After the death of Henry VII, the strife of parties seemed for the moment to have found its strongest expression in Genoa. The Civil War again broke out in 1314. The families of Doria and Spinola, although both Givolines were again rivals. And of the two Guelphs families, the Grimaldi and Fieschi, the Grimaldi attached themselves to the Doria, the Fieschi to the Spinola. Eventually the Spinola were driven out of town and the Doria remained behind as masters. In 1307 the Grimaldi and Fieschi made an arrangement to admit the Spinola into the town if they came without arms. The Doria seeing this became frightened and left the city. Upon this the old Guelph party came together and made Carlo de Fieschi and Carpano de Grimaldi captains of the town. When the Spinola knew of this they were afraid of falling into the hands of the Guelphs and also departed. The two Givoline families, finding themselves expatriated, made peace with each other and established their headquarters at Savona. They laid siege to Genoa and invited Marico de Visconti, the son of Matteo, to command their army. The level side was completely invested and most of the suburbs were taken. The inhabitants turned for assistance to King Robert of Naples who had many possessions in Provence and Piedmont. The king arrived in person on July 20 and the signoria of Genoa was shortly afterwards made over to him for ten years, conjointly with Pope John the 22nd who had succeeded Clement V at Avignon in 1316. The war was carried on by sea and land, not only in the immediate territory of Genoa itself but in every portion of their wide dominions. King Frederick of Sicily was dragged into it during its continuance as also Castruccio Dei'li Interminelli, the Lord of Luca. After many vicissitudes of fortune, the struggle ended by the election of Simon Bocanegra as doge. An interesting picture of the time is also afforded by the career of Castruccio, whose earlier fortunes have already been related. Tuscany was at this time the chief stronghold of the Guelph Party in Italy. The four towns of Florence, Siena, Perugia and Bologna united together in a compact league strong enough to make head against their surrounding enemies. Bologna, although situated on the other side of the Apennines, was always included in this arrangement for mutual defense. On the other hand, Pisa and Arezzo, situated on either side of Florence, were devoted to the Ghiblien cause. Pisa was at this time free, Arezzo was governed by its bishop. The towns of the Romagna were for the most ruled by petty tyrants and were devoted to Ghiblien interests. Rimini was governed by the Malatesta, Forlì by the Orda Lafi, Fajenza by the Manfredi, Ravenna as has been before mentioned by Guido da Polenta, Pistoia, Prato, San Miniatto and Volterra were all Guelph, so that the Guelph Party was able to hold its own, although surrounded by a fringe of powerful Ghibliens. This latter party was now to receive a strong and unexpected accession in the person of Castruccio Dei'li Interminelli. Castruccio, after he had commanded the army of Luca for three years, was invested with the Signoria in 1320. He had already got together a powerful army from all sources, and he soon found an opportunity to make use of it. In 1320, Philippe of Valois, son of Charles of Valois, cousin to the King of France, and himself destined to ascend the French throne under the title of Philip VI, was urged by Pope John the 22nd to march into Italy to assist the Guelphs and to reduce the Ghibliens. At Novara he was met by the ambassadors of the Visconti, who partly by presence and partly by cajolery persuaded him to return without affecting anything. Castruccio, taking advantage of this attack on the Ghibliens, invaded the territory of Florence and captured their forts. He advanced toward Genoa, which was at that time being besieged by the Ghibliens, and took several fortresses belonging to the Guelphs. In the next year the Florentine secured the assistance of the Marquis Malaspina, lord of the Lunagiana, a territory at the head of the Gulf of Spatia. By his cooperation Castruccio was attacked on both sides. In 1322 Castruccio turned his attention to Pistoria, a city lying between Florence and Luca, and exposed to dangers from both sides. With the assistance of the Abbata de Paciana, the bishop and all the friends of the Florentines were driven out. The scenery was given to Paciana, and Castruccio received a yearly tribute of four thousand gold ducats. At this time Castruccio was so much alarmed at the sudden attack against Count Neeri, the tyrant of Pisi, and the murderer of Count Frederick of Urbino, that he built himself a strong palace furnished with twenty-nine towers to keep the town in order. In the following year Castruccio advanced against Prato, situated between Pistoria and Florence, which he desired to make tributary in the same manner as Pistoria. The Florentines, however, came to its assistance with a large force, and Castruccio was compelled to retire. The Popolani in the Florentine army were eager to march straight upon Luca, and to put an end to the authority of the tyrant, but the Grandi were unwilling to take so strong a step. At this juncture Florence was considerably weakened by the treachery and desertion of a condotiere or captain of mercenary troops, Giacomo di Fontana Buona, who passed over to the side of Castruccio. This is perhaps the first instance of the untrustworthiness of hired soldiers which will meet us again and again in the course of this history. In other respects the condition of Florence at this time was not a very happy one. The Signoria of King Robert of Naples came to an end in 1321 and it was not renewed. The city was governed by the gonfollanieri and the priors as before. The ordinances of justice were again put into force, and in 1323 a method was instituted of electing to office by lot. This was a democratic measure and it admitted many to the government who would not have obtained the position in the ordinary way. The year 1324 was uneventful. In 1325 on May 5th Castruccio obtained possession of Pistoia sold to him by Filippo de Tedici for 10,000 gold florins. The Florentines were driven to engage another mercenary leader in the person of Varimondo di Cardona. He took the field with a considerable army and with great energy, and in the months of July and August contrived to get possession of the castles of Copiano and Montefalcone and especially of Alto Pascio, a strong place of great importance. After this first success Cardona wasted valuable time in which he might have crushed Castruccio and made money by selling letters of leave to rich soldiers serving under him. Castruccio had during this interval of neglect received large reinforcements from the Visconti of Milan. On September 23rd was fought the disastrous battle of Alto Pascio in which the Florentines were entirely defeated. The captured castles were retaken and Castruccio's headquarters were advanced to Sinha. On October 2nd he established himself in Peratola only two miles from the walls of Florence. The whole of the fertile plain covered by the luxurious villas of the Florentines was entirely devastated and turned into a desert. The pictures and statues with which they had been filled were sent to adorn the palaces of Luca. At last the remorseless enemy retired. Sinha was fortified to be a permanent source of annoyance and attack and on the day of St. Martin Castruccio made a triumphant entry into Luca. The Caroccio of Florence was drawn along the streets by oxen, its martinella or bell tolling dollfully as the carriage moved on. Behind the car marched Raimundo da Cardona and the Florentine captains with candles in their hands. The money which Castruccio received for the ransom of the captives supplied the Sinhas for a continuance of the war. The battle of Alto Pascio was not the only blow leveled at the Guelph cause. On November 15th, 1325, the citizens of Bologna, already hard pressed by the surrounding gibbalines, were entirely defeated at the battle of Montevelio. The Florentines in their time of need turned to their old protector, King Robert of Naples, who had lately returned from the papal court at Avignon and had accepted for another period the Signoria of Genoa. They sent ambassadors to him at Naples. He showed no great readiness to yield to their request and demanded as a condition that either he or his son should be made masters of the town. They concluded by preferring his son to himself, and on January 13th, 1326, Charles Duke of Calabria was made lord of Florence for ten years. Charles sent before him as his lieutenant Walter de Brienne, Duke of Athens, a man who played an important part in the history of Florence. The Signoria of Athens had come into existence in the beginning of the thirteenth century in the person of Otto de Laroche sur l'ognon. The same family possessed fiefs at Argos, Nauplia, and Thebes. The fief was raised to adductum by Louis IX in 1260 and passed through an heiress to Hugo de Brienne, Count of Lecce. In 1311, the territory of Athens was overrun by a band of wandering mercenaries known at this time by the general name of Catalan's. Walter II of Brienne was defeated at the battle of Cephesus and deposed. These so-called Catalan's have a curious history. They had been collected together from different countries, but principally from Aruhon to defencelessly against the attack of the Avignon kings. In 1302, an alarm at being disbanded at the approach of peace, they offered themselves to Andranicus Palaiologus, emperor of Constantinople, to assist him in recovering Asia from the Turks. At this time Pope Clement V was organizing a great Latin campaign against the Greek emperor. He had hopes of establishing Charles of Valois at Constantinople and right of his wife, Catherine Courtney. Frederick of Sicily engaged to contribute assistance, and he thought that he could rely on the fidelity of his Catalan's. This made them an object of suspicion to Andranicus. Just at this juncture a very serious war was raging between Genoa and Venice, and in this domestic quarrel Genoa took the side of the emperor and Venice the side of the Catalan's. By the help of Venice the Catalan's were enabled to establish themselves in Greece. Having conquered Athens they bestowed the dukedom on Frederick of Sicily who passed on the title to his heirs. The Duke of Calabria made his entrance into Florence on August 29th, 1326, having passed by Siena and having accepted the scenery of that city for five years. The Florentine army, reinforced from the sources we have enumerated, was now of considerable size. The gibbalines sought to oppose their preparations by still greater efforts. Ludwig of Bavaria, whose career up to the battle of Muldorf has been narrated above, had made an arrangement with his rival Albert in 1325 by which the imperial dignity should be shared between them, the real power, however remaining with Ludwig. In February 1327 he was met at Trent by all the most powerful gibbalines of Italy, Marco Visconti, Obizodeste, and Cane della Scala, as well as the ambassadors of Frederick of Sicily and Castruccio. Ludwig promised that he would come to Italy to receive the imperial crown, and the gibbalines engaged in return that they would pay his expenses. On May 20th the emperor was crowned with the iron crown of Italy in the church of Sant'Ambrogio at Milan. As he advanced further south one of the first duties which fell upon him was to conquer the loyal city of Pisa. Pisa which had always been devoted to the gibbaline cause, which had been the first to welcome Henry of Luxembourg, which had provided him with a refuge in his difficulties and given him a tomb, was now unwilling to submit herself to Ludwig, for submission to him meant submission to Castruccio in terminelli. It preferred independence to consistency. Pisa, however, on this occasion made but a feeble resistance, as it did not like to embrace the Guelph cause with too much vigor, and on October 10th Ludwig with the help of Castruccio was able to enter it as a conqueror. In return for this victory the emperor made Castruccio Duke of Lucca, Pistoa, Volterra, and the Lunigiana, and allowed him to quarter the arms of Bavaria with his own. There was no outbreak of hostility between the emperor and Charles of Calabria. Ludwig marched on toward Rome and reached Viterbo on January 2nd, 1328. The Duke on his part retired to Aquila. On January 17th the great ceremony of the coronation took place. The emperor and the people went in procession from Santa Maria Maggiore to St. Peter's. Castruccio, as Count Palatine of the Lateran, carried the imperial sword. The coronation was performed by the bishops of Venice and Alleria, who had both been excommunicated by Pope John XXII, a bitter enemy of Ludwig, and by Shara Colonna, the captain of the people. The citizens of Rome conferred upon Ludwig the dignity of senator, who transferred it to his faithful friend Castruccio. In the midst of these triumphs Castruccio was suddenly recalled to Tuscany by the news of serious disasters. On January 28th, Philip of Sanguinetto, lieutenant of the Duke of Calabria in Florence, had taken Pistoa by Escalade. Castruccio's first act after his return was to seize Pisa by force, and to make himself master of his resources, when on August 3rd he recovered possession of Pistoa. He now stood at the summit of his power. He was Lord Volani tells us of Luca, Pisa, Pistoa, the Lundigiana, of a great part of the Eastern Riviera of Genoa, and of more than three hundred castles. But his end was near. He was worn out by continued fatigue and unresting service and war. He was always covered by his armor, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, to superintend the guards, to excite the laborers, to raise redoubts, to open trenches, to begin everything with his own hands, so that everyone might work in the hottest weather, notwithstanding the violence of the sun. He now fell grievously ill of a continuous fever, and the same disease appeared in his army. He died on September 3rd, 1328, leaving his son Henry heir to the Duchy of Luca. End of Section 7 Section 8 of Guelphs and Ghibolines by Oscar Browning. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 8, King John of Bohemia, Mastino de la Scala, Part 1 By the death of Castruccio, Florence was liberated from a great danger. His death was followed by another not less advantageous to the Republic. Charles Duke of Calabria, Lord of Florence, died on November 9th, 1328. He left only two daughters, the eldest of whom Joanna has bequeathed an infamous name to posterity. The Florentines were now completely their own masters, and they took the opportunity of constructing a new constitution of a very elaborate character, the nature of which is somewhat difficult to explain. They introduced what was called the Scuitinio, or Scrutinium, the Scrutini, the object of which was that no one should hold office, except approved Guelphs of popular extraction over thirty years of age. Lists of citizens endowed with these qualifications and thus eligible for the office of prior were made by the following bodies. First, the six priors and twelve chosen citizens, two from each Sestiere or Ward. Next, the nineteen gonfalonieri della Arte, or standard bearers of the guilds, with two chosen citizens from each Arte or guild. Next, the capitani di parte Guelpha, or captains of the Guelph party, and their Anziani or ancients, in the old English sense of lieutenants. Lastly, the five heads of the merchants and the officers of the seven higher arts. The names of eligible citizens, drawn up by these several bodies, were submitted to a board composed in an equally elaborate manner. It consisted of the gonfalonieri della giustizia, or standard bearer of justice, who was also called the captain of the people, one, together with six priori, one plus six equals seven. The twelve Anziani, twelve plus seven equals nineteen, the nineteen gonfalonieri della Arte, nineteen plus nineteen equals thirty-eight, two consuls from each of the twelve higher guilds, twenty-four plus thirty-eight equals sixty-two, and six men chosen from each of the six Sestiere by the priori and the Anziani, thirty-six plus sixty-two equals ninety-eight. This board of ninety-eight was to vote on the list of names supplied by the bodies we have first enumerated. They voted with black and white beans, the black being favorable, the white unfavorable. Anyone who obtained sixty-eight favorable votes had his name written down on a list, the name also being written on a piece of paper which was immediately placed into one of the six bags, one for each Sestiere. These bags were kept under three keys in the convent of the Franciscans, and from them the priori and the capitano del populo were chosen by lot. The bags were filled every two years. The twelve Anziani and the consuls of the higher guilds were chosen in the same manner. When reread of these elaborate arrangements, whether in Florence or in Venice or in other Italian towns, we cannot resist the impression that Italian citizens were led quite as much by a sense of quaintness or artistic propriety in making their constitutional arrangements as by a desire to avert impending dangers or a sense of political expediency. At the same time all the existing assemblies were abolished and two new ones established in their place. First, a concilio del populo, or council of the people of three hundred members, chosen from Guelphs of popular extraction, and secondly, a concilio del comune, or communal council, consisting of two hundred and fifty members, half chosen from the nobles and half from the people. The officers above mentioned held office for four months, with the exception of the priors who only held office for two months. The epoch we have now reached is the culminating point of the Florentine art of the earlier period. Its most distinguished representative is Giotto, sculptor, architect, painter, and friend of Dante. Dante had died at Ravenna in thirteen twenty-one. In thirteen thirty-four, Giotto was appointed architect of the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore and of the walls and fortifications of the city. His greatest creation was the Campanile or bell tower of the Cathedral, the headstone of beauty, one of the most perfect works of art ever executed, although it still lacks the golden crown which was intended to complete it. Giotto, who was immortalized in the Divine Comedy, not less than in the numerous paintings and frescoes which he has left us, died in thirteen thirty-six before he was able to finish it. Very different was the fate of Luca, which had been the capital of Castruccio's sovereignty and of Pisa, so long the rival of Florence. The scenery of Pisa had been conferred by Ludwig on his wife the Empress, but it was seized by Castruccio. On his deathbed, Castruccio bathed his son Francesco to occupy the town immediately. He obeyed this but was forced to retire on the return of the Emperor from the south, who entered Pisa on September twenty-first, eighteen days after Castruccio's death. Ludwig then conferred the office on Tarletino de Tarletini Avarezzo. The widow and son of Castruccio, dreading the vengeance of the Emperor for their seizure of Pisa, attempted to establish themselves in Luca by entering into negotiations with their ancestral enemies, the Florentines. Ludwig, on hearing of this, abolished the Duchy of Luca, which he had created for Castruccio, and restored to the town its freedom on the payment of a large subsidy. The family of Castruccio went into exile at Pontremoli, and the Emperor returned to Pisa. After this, Luca was destined to undergo the most humiliating vicissitudes. A number of Ludwig's Netherlandish troops, who could not obtain their arrears of pay from the Emperor, rose in mutiny against him, and encamped on a mountain called Cerulio di Vicinagia, situated about halfway between Pisa and Luca. Marco Visconti was sent to treat with them, but they detained him as a hostage for the 60,000 gold florents which they declared were owing to them by the Emperor. Ludwig, in his turn, made them extort the money from the Visconti, whose representative they had in Pledge. In the spring of 1329, a rising took place in Luca in favor of the Ducchini, or little Ducs, as Castruccio's children were called. Ludwig, hearing of this, marched upon the town, and appointed as imperial vicar over it Francesco De li interminelli, the uncle of the Ducchini, for the consideration of 22,000 florents. On April 11th, the Emperor left Pisa and returned to Lombardy. No sooner was his back turned than the Netherlandish mercenaries under the leadership of their captain, Marco Visconti, marched from the Cevulio, and obtained possession of Luca, with the help of some Genoese mercenaries who had been in Castruccio's pay, and had now passed over to Francesco De li interminelli. Francesco, under compulsion, made over the scenery of Luca to Marco Visconti, and the mercenaries were ready to sell the town to anyone who would pay them for it the arrears of pay which they demanded. They first offered the city to the florentines, but the negotiations fell through. Florents, had in the meantime made a treaty with Pistoia on May 24th, 1329, which was a subject of great rejoicing in both towns. In June, Count Fazzo Donoratico, with the help of German mercenaries, drove the imperial vicar, Tarlatino de Tarlati, out of Pisa, and proclaimed its independence. He next tried to get possession of Luca, being very much afraid lest it fall into the hands of the florentines. Marco Visconti, being sent to Florence to negotiate for the sale of Luca, contrived to escape to his native Milan, where he shortly afterwards died. The peasants were so anxious to get possession of Luca that they paid the 60,000 gold florens before they had secured the town. Consequently, the wily mercenaries kept the money and refused to open the gates. Pisa was so much impoverished by this loss that she was obliged to make peace with Florence in August. Eventually, a purchaser was found for Luca in the person of Gerardo Spinola of Genoa. He paid the 60,000 gold florens and received the title of Pachy Ficator Eddominus Generales Chivitatis Lucani. He governed the city well and won the affection of its inhabitants. At the same time the florentines did not desist from their attempts to gain possession of the city which they had so long coveted. They captured a number of the surrounding castles and brought Gerardo Spinola into such difficulties that he would have been glad to have sold the town to the florentines for the sum he had already paid for it. But the florentines were again unable to agree among themselves and the opportunity was allowed to slip. At last Spinola made over the scenery to John King of Bohemia, a new actor who had appeared upon the scene to whose fortunes we must now address ourselves. As has been stated above, John King of Bohemia was the son of the Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg. He claimed the crown of Bohemia in right of his wife, Elizabeth of Bohemia, sister of Venceslaus III, daughter of Venceslaus II, and granddaughter of Odokar II. He found the rough Bohemians difficult to govern and was obliged to put down rebellions which were not unfrequently headed by his wife. He was devoted to all chivalrous pleasures and pursuits and preferred to live in his hereditary state of Luxembourg and to leave the government of Bohemia to the count of Lipa. John had always been a strong supporter of the Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria. We have seen the ill success which attended this Emperor in Tuscany. He did not fare any better in Lombardy. He was strongly opposed by the Visconti, the Lords of Milan, and when on the death of the rival Emperor Frederick, his brothers Albert and Otto of Austria prepared to invade Bavaria, Ludwig determined to leave Italy to herself and cross the Alps to defend his hereditary states. At the close of the year 1330 John of Bohemia found himself at Trent in the Tyrol. Here he was approached by ambassadors from Brescia, a Guelphic town which had done its best to maintain its independence in the midst of powerful Ghibli neighbors. These envoys offered the scenery of their city to John as to a prince of noble and chivalrous character who had nothing to gain for himself and was likely of anybody to establish a firm and equitable government strong enough to keep both parties in order and sufficiently just to favor neither. Such a deliverer had Dante longed for in vain. John accepted the invitation. He told Mastino de la Scala who had been attacking Brescia to keep his hand off from a town which was now under his protection. On the last day of the year 1330 John made his public entry into Brescia. He recalled the Ghibli in exiles and made peace in the city. The rest of the Lombard cities were now eager to claim a share in these benefits and to follow the example of Brescia. Bergamo submitted herself on January 12, 1331. Luca, on January 26th, Pavia, Vercelli, and Novara followed the same course during the month of February. In March, John made a solemn entry into Parma and was invested with the Signoria. In April, Reggio and Madonna, also cities of the Emelian road, followed the example of Parma. In August, Cromona did the same and as we have already seen, Luca sought in the name of King John a protection against the designs of Florence. Perhaps the strangest event of all was when Ansoni Visconti, in February 1331, recognized the Bohemian King as Lord of Milan or was content to consider himself as his vicar. He thought it better to bow like a reed before the storm with the knowledge that John's success could not be of long duration. Hitherto, everything had gone well. In every town the exiles had been recalled and ancient feuds reconciled. But in such a storm of conflicting interests it became necessary for John to declare himself. No one could believe in a disinterestedness of which they had no previous experience. Everyone was waiting to discover what the king's real design might be and what self-seeking end was concealed under the specious appearance of self-denying and chivalrous devotion. Some light seemed to be thrown on his intentions by a secret interview which he held with Bertrand de Poillet, the pope's legate, the ostensible head of the Guelphic Party in Italy, who had attempted to form a principality for himself in Bologna, even before this the citizens had distrusted John because he had appeared to favor the nobles. The Ghibli nobles were now afraid lest he might be engaged in a conspiracy with the pope to crush their power. Florence had never given the king her confidence. Even his old friend the Emperor Ludwig now became afraid of him, and King Robert of Sicily naturally became his enemy. John finally threw away all chance of success by summoning his son Charles to Parma and leaving him as vicar in Lombardy whilst he himself crossed the Alps to hold a conference with Pope John the 22nd at Avignon. At the news of his departure, the great Ghibli nobles of Lombardy seized the opportunity to shake off the Bohemian influence. The heads of the families of Visconti, de la Scala, Gonzaga, and Este, the lords respectively of Milan, Verona, Mantua, and Ferrara met at Castelfranco on August 6, 1332, and formed a league for mutual protection. This league received the adherents of Florence and the King of Naples. It was agreed that the towns which had conferred their scenery on John should be divided as spoil among the contracting parties. CHAPTER VIII. At the beginning of 1333 King John reappeared at Turin, supported with the authority of the Pope and the King of France. He vainly attempted to recover the revolted towns, and at length, after making a truce with the party of the league, left Italy with his son, Charles, in October 1333. The country was again given up to anarchy and disorder. The history which we have just traversed is very remarkable. We see from the readiness with which the towns of Italy surrendered themselves to a prince who was not their sovereign, who had no claim over them, who was in a certain sense a mere adventurer, who had nothing to recommend him, but the chivalry and honesty of his character, how eager they were to embrace any expedient which promised them for the moment peace and repose. We know how passionately Dante desired the advent of a deliverer from beyond the Alps. We have seen how monarch after monarch, French and Tutin, Charles of Anjou, Charles of Valois, Henry of Luxembourg, Ludwig of Bavaria, John of Bohemia were misled in turn by the exhausted communities of Italy as the coming saviors. A letter is extant from Napoleon I to Murat, ostensibly written at the moment when he was undertaking the command in Spain, in which he wrote, You will have to do with the new people. It has all the courage and will have all the enthusiasm which is found in men who have not been exhausted by political passions. The words, if written before the event, were prophetic. The French domination in Spain was assisted by a national rising, which was the beginning of that movement of national liberation which eventually threw off the Napoleonic yoke. But as it was the exhaustion produced by political passions which threw France and other parts of Europe into the arms of Napoleon, so it was this same exhaustion which made Italy grasp with the energy of despair at the hope of any deliverance, however illusory. Dante compares Florence to a man in a bed of sickness who tosses about restlessly from one side to the other in the hope that each new posture may give repose to his exhausted frame. For Italy there was no repose. The fever had to run its course until the weakened body yielded its broken will to the bidding of an irresponsible master. King John before leaving Italy had taken the opportunities of selling a number of his towns to certain of the smaller lords. Thus Parma and Luca were sold to the Rossi, Reggio to the house of Foliano, Madonna to the P.E., Cremona to the Ponsoni. These petty lords attached themselves after the departure of King John to Bertrand du Poiré, the papal legate, who, as we have already seen, had made himself master of Bologna. The government of Florence had not supported the league because they had hoped to get some advantage by the spoil of these petty princes, and so when du Poiré was driven out of Bologna by Obizodeste, on March 19, all of Thursday, which preceded Palm Sunday, 1334, they received him kindly into their city. Embarking at Porto Pisano, the legate returned to Avignon with a sense of entire failure. He had not succeeded in putting down the visconti, nor in preventing the invasion of Ludwig, nor in consolidating the power of the pope in the states of the Church. On the contrary, the Guelph party was more divided than before. John the 22nd was now too old to avenge his servant, and died on December 4th. The great families of the Lombard Plain were now free to extend their conquests on every side. The visconti of Milan acquired Como, Bellinzona, Vercelli, Cromona, Lodi, Crema, and Piacenza. The traveler in the north of Italy still discerns the wriggling bicia or serpent, with a child issuing from its mouth, the cognizance of that house, on many an isolated wall of moldering masonry. The Gonzagi of Mantua added Reggio to their dominions, while Madonna fell to the house of Este, the lords of Ferrara. It was natural that this powerful confederacy should alarm the jealousy of Venice, and the Florentines were obliged to take the same side by the force of events. To understand the war which now broke out, we must realize the enormous power of the house of the Scaligeri, lords of Verona. Mastino de la Scala was at this time sovereign over nine cities, which had at one time been capitals of independent states, Verona, Padua, Piacenza, Treviso, Brescia, Feltre, Belluna, Panama, and especially Luca, of which we have heard so much and will hear still more. Then he enclosed the territory of Venice on either side. His revenue amounted to 700,000 Florence a year, so that he was wealthier than any monarch accepting the King of France. It is said that 23 deposed princes found a refuge in his court, and it might be supposed with some reason that he aimed in making himself King of Italy. The quarrel with Venice which had long been preparing broke out eventually from disputes about the traffic and salt. The Venetians had a monopoly of this commodity, but Mastino built fortresses in the mountains and drew a chain across the Po in order to bar the passage of the Venetian traders. The cause of this quarrel with Florence was his possession of the town of Luca. This town had been sold by King John of Bohemia to the family of the Rossi, and by them both towns were again sold to Mastino. The Florentines were naturally reluctant to see the authority of the Veronese potentate interposed between them and Pisa, between their valley and the sea. Luca had long been the prize which they had hoped to obtain for themselves, for this they had joined the great lords of Lombardy and their wars against the minor princes. Mastino had promised to surrender the town to them, but he was too fully sensible of its value to give it up. When the Florentines offered to buy it he doubled his price, and when they agreed to pay this higher sum he replied that he did not require the money. Then they had no alternative but to join the Venetians in making war against him. The Venetians committed their force to Pietro di Rossi, one of the ablest generals of the time, and Achilles in Valor, a gala had impurity of character. As this war went on, this league was joined by all the natural rivals and enemies of the Scallagers, the Visconti of Milan, the Esti of Ferrara, the Gonzagi of Mantua, as well as by Charles and John, sons of John King of Bohemia. These came together on March 10th, 1336, a desolationum at Ruinam Domino Romalberte at Mastini, Fratram de la Scala, for the desolation and ruin of the two brothers, Albert and Mastino de la Scala. The treaty between Florence and Venice dates from the previous year. The fortunes of the war turned eventually against Mastino. Padua fell by treachery into the hands of Marcilio da Carrara, who established there a scenery for his family. Albert de la Scala, the brother of Mastino, who resided at Padua, devoted rather to pleasure than to business, who was taken prisoner. Charles of Bohemia obtained possession of Feltre and the Luno. Atzo de Visconti captured Brescia. Rolando de Rossi, the elder brother of Pietro, was pressing Luca. Treviso was besieged, Verona threatened. At length in December 1338, Mastino was forced to yield and he made a separate peace with Venice to which the Florentines were compelled to exceed. The Florentines did not succeed in obtaining Luca, which had been their whole object in going to war, but had to content themselves with a few castles in the neighborhood. The Venetians acquired Treviso and its surrounding districts, Bassano and Castelbaldo. This was the beginning of the land empire of the Venetians, the possession of which exercised such an important influence on their policy and changed to a great extent the character of their government. The House of Carana was confirmed in the possession of Padua. Charles and John of Bohemia, in that of Beluno and Feltre, while the rest of those who had taken part in the war received their several compensations. The navigation of the Po was thrown open and Albert de la Scala was released from captivity in Venice. The wide dominions of the Scalegers were now reduced to the territory of Verona and Vicenza. However favorable the results of the war might have been to Venice, it was disastrous to the Florentines. It had cost them six hundred thousand Florence, and they had contracted a debt of four hundred and fifty thousand Florence more for which they pledged their taxes. Besides this they were in the midst of a commercial crisis. Their great merchants who had lent large sums to Philippe of Valois and to Edward III found themselves cheated of their money. The Bardi and the Peruzzi became bankrupt. Still they had not given up hopes of obtaining possession of Luca, and the struggle for its possession led to the events which will now occupy our attention. End of Section 9 Section 10 of Guelphs and Givolines by Oscar Browning. This Librivox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 9 The Duke of Athens, Joanna of Naples, Rienzi, Part 1 Although Mass Dino de la Scala had made peace with Florence and Venice, yet a number of his enemies still remained in arms against him, and especially the lords of Milan and Mantua. Opportunity was taken to deprive him of the town of Parma, which was of a special value to him as forming a link between his southern and his northern possessions. It seemed strange at first to find the fortunes of two towns so distant as Parma and Luca so closely linked together. But we must remember that in the present century, although separated by the chain of the Apennines, they formed a joint duchy for Marie Louisa, the widow of Napoleon. Parma was seized by one of the family of Correggio, who were deadly enemies of the Rossi, to whom, together with Luca, the town had been sold by John of Bohemia. The loss of Parma made the possession of Luca valueless or even burdensome to Mass Dino, who was therefore glad to sell it to the Florentines for 250,000 florins. This was a very large sum for them to pay, considering the ruinous expense of the war they had just concluded, and the debt which they had contracted in consequence of it. But they were not allowed to take possession of it without opposition. The peasants could not bear to see the Florentines established in a city which would give them the command of the whole valley of the Arno and would seriously threaten their own independence. They obtained the assistance of the Gonzago, the Carraras, the Correggio, and other Gibriline nobles and advanced against Luca on August 22, 1341. The Florentines collected an army on their side, and occupied the town with a small number of troops. The two hosts were now arrayed face to face. The peasants and their allies besieged each of the three gates in the manner of the Seven Against Thebes. At last, after the chivalrous custom of those days, a battle was arranged between the two armies which resembled a huge tournament. The palisades which had been planted for defense were pulled up so that neither side might have an advantage, and on October 2 the fight took place. It resulted in the entire defeat of the Florentines. Notwithstanding this disaster they determined to continue the struggle. They were able to place another army in the field toward the end of March 1342 under the command of Malatesta of Rimini. But they were hampered in their operations by violent floods of the Arno which prevented the evolutions of cavalry. They were forced to retire, and on July 6th, Luca, the object of so much labor and the cause of such terrible losses, yielded herself to the peasants. The Florentines were overwhelmed by discontent and dismay. There was serving as lieutenant in the army of the Florentines Walter of Brienne, Duke of Athens, who had on a previous occasion acted in Florence as the representative of the Duke of Calabria. He was at this time on his way from Avignon to Naples, and he had been recommended to the Florentines, by King Robert of Sicily, as a man in whom he had entire confidence. With a fickleness not unusual in Italian governments of this epoch, they deposed Malatesta from his command and transferred it to the Duke of Athens, making him at the same time Capitano della Guardia and Conservatore del Populo, and invested him with the Capitaneria Generale della Guerra for one year. At this time there were three parties struggling for the mastery in Florence, the Populo Grasso, or rich merchants who held the chief power in their hands, the Grandi, or nobles, who were kept down by the ordinances of justice, and the Populo Minuto, or common people, who came at a later time to be called the Champi, a corruption of Compari or Comperi, a French term of good fellowship applied strictly to persons who stand as godfather to the same child. Walter held out hope to the Grandi that he would restore their power and abolish the ordinances of justice. He executed a Medici in an Altoviti, two of the most important of the rich merchant families. He found a Rossi and a Ruccelli. By this conduct he won the nobles to his side. The people were already his supporters, regarding him as likely to rid them of the tyranny of the Populo Grasso, and wherever he went they saluted him with cries of viva il signore. When Walter thought that the proper time had come, he summoned a general meeting of all the citizens in the great square of Santa Croce to deliberate on the condition of the Republic. The priors, being afraid that the people would invest him with the scenery by general acclamation, made an arrangement by which he should continue the office he then held for another year, that is, to August 1, 1343, on the same conditions as those on which the Duke of Calabria had held the scenery of the city. The next day, September 8, the people met in the great square before the Palazzo Publico, seized the priors and imprisoned them, proclaimed Walter's senior order Florence for life, drew down the banner of Florence from the tower of the palace, and hoisted the banner of the Duke to fly there in its place. The revolution had been effected by the common people, but the grandi illuminated and lighted bonfires to celebrate their triumph. The Duke of Athens lost no time in consolidating his power. He received, one after the other, the signoria of Arezzo, of Pistoia, of Cole di Validelsa, of San Gimignano, and of Volterra. He got together a bodyguard of eight hundred soldiers from the French and Burgundian troops which were scattered throughout Italy, and summoned his family to Italy to share his fortunes. The Florentines had hoped that the Duke of Athens would at least be able to secure to them the possession of Luca, but in this they were disappointed. On October 14th he made a treaty with Pisa, by which Luca was secured to them for five years, on the condition that the appointment of the Podesta was left in the hands of the Duke, and that the Pisons would pay a yearly tribute to the Duke of eight hundred Florence in a silver cup. After the expiration of this time, Luca was to be independent, and the exiles were to be recalled. But now a spirit of discontent with the Duke's domination began to spread through each class of the population. The Grandi found that notwithstanding that the ordinance of justice had not been honored by order of the Duke, they were not permitted to any larger share in the government of the state. The Priori were re-established, and representatives of the lowest gills were admitted to their college. The morals of the Duke and his followers were so dissolute as to form a most severe grievance to all the citizens. It was seen that his principal object was to obtain money for himself, and during the ten months that his domination lasted, he extracted four hundred thousand Florence from the city, two hundred thousand of which he deposited safely in France and Apulia. He made an offensive and defensive alliance with his brother Tyrants of northern Italy, with Maschino della Scala, with the House of Este, and with the Lords of Bologna. Florence had never been nearer to losing her liberty and undergoing the fate of the great cities of the Lombard Plain. The machinations of despotism called into existence many conspiracies to overthrow it, but the Ducal police was so vigilant that the different knots of conspirators knew nothing about each other's operations and were unable to act in concert. At last, in the summer of 1343, three serious conspiracies were formed. One was headed by the Archbishop of Florence, another by two of the Donati family, a third by Antonio de Liadinati. The Duke, when he was informed of these plots against him, summoned assistance from Bologna, and on July 25th, invited three hundred of the more important citizens of Florence to the palace, intending to make them prisoners. They knew that if they obeyed the summons death awaited them, so they refused to go and fortified their houses. The following day the old banners of the gills were displayed once more. Every class in the town rose simultaneously against the Duke, and cries of death to the Duke and his followers long lived the people, the state and liberty, sounded in every part of the city. Help was obtained from Siena and Pisa, and all animosities were forgotten in resistance to the common danger. The Duke made a faint resistance, but before evening he was made a prisoner in his palace. Here he was besieged till August 3rd, when he surrendered on the condition of safety for himself and his followers. On August 6th he left the city, escorted by the Sienese troops and by a number of citizens. He retired to the castle of Popi in the Cosentino or upper valley of the Arno, where with great reluctance he delivered up the Signoria which he had so shamefully abused. July 26th, the day of St. Anne, the anniversary of the delivery of the city, was ever afterwards celebrated as a solemn holiday. The expulsion of the Duke of Athens was naturally followed by a change in the constitution of the city. The nobles had taken such a patriotic share in this beneficent revolution that it was felt unjust to exclude them any longer from office. The town was now divided into four quartieri or quarters, instead of six cestieri, as the cestieri had become unequal in wealth and importance. They were named after the four great churches, Santo Spirito, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, and San Giovanni. Three priors were chosen from each quarter, two from the Popolo Grasso and one from the nobles making an all twelve. The Anciani were raised to the number of eight, one Popolano and one Grande from each quarter. The arrangements of the Squitino were altered in the same direction. At the same time the Popolo Minuto were only admitted to the lower offices. Probably on this account this arrangement only lasted a very short time. On September 3rd, less than two months after the expulsion of the Duke of Athens, the people rose once more against the power of the nobles. There was fighting in all the streets, and the bridges between the Old City and the Ultrarno were a special objects of contention. At last the nobles were vanquished and the Popolome Minuto were admitted to their full share in the offices of the state. A balia or assembly was formed in the following manner, consisting of the Falonieri della Giustizia, the eight priors, one plus eight equals nine. Twelve Anciani, nine plus twelve equals twenty-one. The standard bearers of the sixteen higher guilds, twenty-one plus sixteen equals thirty-seven. Five standard bearers of the Mercantia, or lower guilds, thirty-seven plus five equals forty-two. Two representatives from each of the twenty-one guilds, forty-two plus forty-two equals eighty-four, and twenty-eight artisans from each of the four quarters of the city, twenty-eight plus four equals one hundred and twelve, making a total number of one hundred and ninety-six. There were eight priors, three from the Popolo Grasso, three from the Popolo Minuto, and two from the Mediani or Middle Class. The gon Falonieri was to be chosen from each of these classes in turn. The Grandi were excluded from office, but, as a special favor, thirty-five noble families were struck out of the list of nobles and included in the ranks of the ordinary citizens. This constitution remained unaltered for about fifteen years.