 19 We have seen in the last chapter that Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377. His first object was to make peace with the principal powers that were in rebellion against him. St. Catherine of Siena labored to effect a peace between the Pope and the Florentines, but was unable to effect anything. The Pope placed the city of Florence under an interdict, but the senior reordered the churches to be reopened. The Pope was more fortunate in making terms with Bologna and with Francesco, prefect of Vico, son of the famous Giovanni. At last Bernabó Visconti was chosen to mediate between Florence and the Pope, and determined to get a share of the profits for himself. A Congress was summoned to Sarzana at the beginning of 1378, in which the Florentines, the Pope, and the King of France were represented. Bernabó, for his own interests, tried to impose harsh terms on the Florentines. But the business of the Congress was interrupted by the sudden death of the Pope on March 27, 1378. The Congress was broken up, and a new era opened for the church. The Babylonian captivity had just come to an end, but the church was disturbed for another fifty years by the great schism, during which two rival popes stood opposed to each other and divided the allegiance of the Christian world. On the death of Gregory XI, the church possessed twenty-three cardinals of whom six were in Avignon, one was Cardinal Leggette in Tuscany. Sixteen came together in conclave at Rome, of these eleven were French, four Italian, and one Spanish. The French cardinals were also divided into two parties, the Limousin cardinals, created by Popes Clement and Gregory, and the rest. The Limousin cardinals were in favor of electing a pope outside the Sacred College, in the person of Bartolomeo Pignani, Archbishop of Barri. He was a Neapolitan by birth, was devoted to Queen Joanna, had lived long in Avignon, and seemed to unite the conflicting claims of Italy and France. This few was generally supported by the other cardinals, notably by Pietro Talluna of Arajon, who afterwards became Benedict XIII. The cardinals went into conclave on the evening of April 7th. As they entered, the people crowded round them with cries of Papa Romano Volemo, we wish, for a Roman pope. The magistrates of the city made the same demand. That night there was a tumult in the city which frightened the cardinals very much. The election took place the next morning. The cardinal of Florence voted for the cardinal of San Pietro. All the rest gave their suffrage to the Archbishop of Barri, but they were afraid to publish what they had done. They first recited the hours, and then they had dinner while the crowd was bawling outside. We want a pope. We want a Roman pope. After dinner they proceeded to a new election, when the Archbishop of Barri was unanimously chosen. Still they were afraid to make it known. The mobs surged around the palaces and the cardinals were afraid that they would be treated with personal violence. Cardinal Orsini now looked out of a window and cried, Ondate San Pietro, go to St. Peter's. The mob thinking that the cardinal of St. Peter had been elected, according to ancient customs, pillaged his house, and consumed all the provisions collected for the consumption of the conclave. The cardinals fled for safety in all directions. The newly elected pope cowered in fear in the recesses of the Vatican. However, on the following day the election of the Bishop of Barri was formally declared. He was crowned in the Church of St. John Lateran and the cardinals returned to Rome. There can be no doubt that he was legally and properly consecrated pope. Urban VI began his reign by making some necessary reforms, but in so hasty and impetuous a manner that he alienated all his friends. He limited the cardinals to one dish at dinner. He had communicated those guilty of simony. He declared that he would not leave Rome, and that he would fill the sacred college with Italian and Roman cardinals. He was also regarded as a terrible man, capable of anything. The Italian cardinals were with the pope at Tivoli, the French cardinals were at Anani, and they refused to attend a consistory at Tivoli to consider the legitimacy of the pope's title. At last the French cardinals were brought to regret that they had consented to the election of an Italian pope. They removed from Anani to Fondi, and on August 9 declared that Urban VI had been improperly elected under the constraint of popular tumult. On December 20, 1378, they elected as pope Robert, son of Amadeo III, Bishop of Cambrai, who took the name of Clement VII. In the meantime, Urban had appointed 29 new Italian cardinals. The Catholic world was divided between the two pontiffs. France, Spain, and Naples recognized Clement VII. The rest of Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, England, Hungary, Poland, and Portugal gave their allegiance to Urban VI. In one of the consistories held at Tivoli, Urban VI had made peace with Florence in terms more advantageous than those which had been proposed at Sarazana. But the same year witnessed the outbreak of a revolution at Florence more violent than any which has been already mentioned. In order to make it intelligible, it will be necessary to go back to the period of the peace between Florence and Pisa in 1364. The power of the Amonire, by which any citizens who were displeasing to the ruling faction could be excluded from power, established in 1351, had been used in a most unsparing manner by the rich commercial nobles, at the head of whom stood the family of the Albizzi. They were opposed, as has been stated above by the family of the Ricci, who, of lower rank themselves, now joined by some of the Grandi and by the Popolo Minuto and especially by the Ciampi, the lower artisans who were not organized in guilds. The strife between the Albizzi and the Ricci had been so violent that in 1372 measures were taken for excluding the heads of both parties from power for five years. The Otto di Ghedra, established in 1376, united themselves with the Ricci party, and being at war with the Pope and in alliance with the Visconti, may be regarded as to some extent penetrated with gibelene sentiments. They stood therefore in sharp contrast to the Capitani di parte Guelfa and the family of the Albizzi, and those were supported by the Popolo Minuto. In 1378 the bags containing the names of candidates for office were nearly empty. The few names that remained in them belonged to the Ricci party. The Albizzi knew that in the next palia, which was held to fill them, their adversaries would probably have the upper hand, and that they would be excluded from office for a number of years, just as they in their turn had excluded their enemies. They were particularly afraid l'est salvestro de Medici should become gonfaloniere of justice. The lot however fell in his favor and he became gonfaloniere for the months of May and June. In the Florentine constitution the rule about the initiation of new measures was peculiar. The gonfaloniere and each of the eight priors held in turn the office of proposto, and this officer alone had the power of submitting any measure to the vote, whoever might have suggested the measure in the first instance. On June 18th, salvestro de Medici, being proposto, proposed to the collegio, that is to the priori, the 16 gonfalonieri di compagno, and the 12 buoniomini, that the ordinances of justice should be enforced strictly against the grande, that the powers of the capitani di parti guelpa should be cut down, and that certain amuniti should again be admitted to office. When the collegio hesitated to pass these propositions, salvestro broke into the concilio del popolo, who were sitting in the lower floor, and complained that what he suggested was for the advantage of the state, and that he had not been allowed to carry his measures. There was a general uproar, the square below was full of soldiers who owed allegiance to the Oto di Ghedra, the collegio being intimidated gave way, and the ordinances of justice were re-established for one year. There was a second disturbance on June 22, in consequence of which a balia or committee of eighty persons, including the collegio and the Oto di Ghedra, was appointed to reform the constitution. Many attempts were made to effect this, but they were all inadequate. Salvestro de Medici saw that stronger measures were necessary. He united himself with the Ciampi, who determined to gain by violence what they could not get by milder means. Their plans were hastened by fear of discovery. On July 20, 1378, the whole city was in arms. The insurgents burnt the house of Luigi Giucciardini, who had succeeded Salvestro de Medici as gonfolloniere. They seized the sacred banner itself and carried it through the streets, destroying and pillaging as they went. The Ciampi presented a petition demanding to be included in the government. This was approved of by the collegio, but had not yet been submitted to the Council of the People. The mob now attacked the Palace of Justice, crying out, Come down, all of you, and be off with you. We will not have any more, Signori. The priors and the rest of the government yielded to the cry, and the palace was in the possession of the people. It happened that the gonfolloniere of justice was carried up the great staircase by a poor wool-carter with ragged clothes and bare feet, called Michele Lando. By a spontaneous impulse he was summoned to the post of gonfolloniere. He might have used his power to increase the anarchy for his private ends, but he really employed it to give tranquility to the city. He deposed all the existing magistrates, including the bags which contained the names of future officers, and formed a Signoria from the Arte Majori, the Arte Minori, and the Popolo Minuto. He made the people lay down their arms, attack the Ciampi, and put them to flight. On August 31st he laid down his office, having restored peace and quiet to the city. The Ciampi gained nothing by this outbreak. The people, when they had recovered from their excitement, refused to admit the Popolo Minuto to power. The Signoria was to be drawn in future from the Seven Greater Arte and the Sixteen Lesser in the proportion of four to five. The result of this revolution was to place the power in the hands of Salvestro de Medici and his friends. The heads of the old Guelph party were exiled and the leaders of the Ciampi as well, with the exception of Lando, who was treated as a hero. Florence remained quiet for some years without further disturbance. Chapter 14 Queen Joanna of Naples, the War of Keogia, the Peace of Turin This chapter will be occupied by two subjects which are connected with each other in point of time, although they have reference to the fortunes of different portions of the peninsula, the closing years of Joanna, Queen of Naples, and the war between Venice and Genoa, generally called the War of Keogia. Queen Joanna married four husbands in succession. The first was Andrew of Hungary, whose tragical end was the cause of all her troubles. He was murdered on September 20th, 1345, after less than two years' marriage. Just a year after his death she married Louis of Tarentum, her cousin, who died on May 25th, 1362. On January 12th, 1363, she married James III of the House of Atahon, King of the Island of Mallorca. After his death she again remained a widow for a year when she married Otto Duke of Brunswick, who was guardian to the sons of the Marquis of Montferrat. She had a child by her first husband who was taken to Hungary and died there shortly afterwards. She was now old and childless, and her heir was a distant cousin. His genealogy cannot be made intelligible without some attention. The Houses of Anjou, the conqueror of Naples, had four sons, Charles Martel, Robert, Louis, and John, founders respectively of the Houses of Hungary, Naples, Tarentum, and Dorotso. The House of Dorotso split up into two parts, the younger of which was called the House of Gravina, and the representative of this house and heir to the Crown of Naples was Charles of Gravina, great-grandson of Charles of Anjou, second cousin of Joanna. He was married to the only other claimant to the Neapolitan throne, his cousin Margaret, daughter of Charles Duke of Dorotso. Charles of Gravina was educated at the Hungarian court and served in the Hungarian army. Joanna had incurred the hatred and vengeance of Pope Urban VI by the support which she had given to his rival Clement VII. He therefore declared her incapable of reigning, and offered the Crown of Naples to Charles of Gravina. Charles was at this time engaged as the general of the King of Hungary in the War of Chioja against the Venetians, of which we shall presently give an account. Joanna looked around for some assistance in her difficulties, and naturally turned her eyes to that same House of France from which she was herself sprung, in which we find throughout the course of our history constantly interfering with Italian affairs. She chose as her heir Louis of Anjou, who was connected with the royal family of France in the following manner. Louis VIII of France, who died in 1226, had three sons, Louis IX, commonly called Saint-Louis, Robert of Arctois, and Charles of Anjou. Charles was the founder of the first House of Anjou, which we have seen seated on the throne of Naples. Saint-Louis, his elder brother, had four sons, Philippe de Arctis, Robert of Bourbon, John of Valois, and Peter of Alonçon. The crown passed to Charles of Valois, son of Philippe de Arctis, and brother of Philippe de Bell. He married as his first wife, Margaret, Princess of Naples in Anjou, and took the title of Count of Anjou. His two successors, Philip VI and John II, were both Counts of Anjou. After the death of John, the county of Anjou became again separated from the crown and passed to his son Louis, who was the founder of the second House of Anjou. The other sons of John were Charles V, who became king, John of Berri, and Philip the Bold, founder of the second and greater House of Burgundy, who married Margaret, Countess of Flanders, Duchess of Brabant, and thus obtained the Low Countries for the House of Austria. Joanna and her extremity determined to make this Louis Anjou her heir. Charles of Dorotso marched southward from the Venetian territory to claim his dominions. He received little encouragement from the Florentines, who had always been well-disposed to Joanna as the daughter of their former lord, King Robert of Naples. And they were afraid of the consequence of uniting the crowns of Naples and Hungary on the same head. In Rome, Charles received the crown of Naples from the Pope on conditions similar to those on which it had been given to his ancestor Charles of Anjou. It was provided that the Pope's nephew should receive fiefs in the Neapolitan territory. Charles entered his kingdom in the spring of 1381. Ottawa Brunswick prepared to oppose him, but was forced to retire, and Charles occupied the capital without opposition. Queen Joanna was shut up in the Castello Nuovo. She had not enough provision for herself and her suite, and her husband was unable to sucker her. In an attempt to relieve the castle, he was taken prisoner, and his ward, the young Duke of Montferrat, was killed. Joanna was forced to surrender herself, and on May 22nd, 1382, she was murdered. Smothered, it is said, under a featherbed. Louis of Hungary was still alive to enjoy the tardy punishment of the murderer of his brother. Louis of Anjou hastened to avenge the death of his benefactress. After the death of his brother, Charles V, he had become guardian of the infant, King Charles VI, and regent of France. Accompanied by the counts of Savoy and Geneva, and by a number of French nobles, he entered the Abruzzi in July 1382. The Neapolitan barons who had remained faithful to the party of Joanna joined his standard. From this time forth, we find in Naples a civil strife between the factions of Anjou and Hungary, which reduced the kingdom of Naples to a worse condition of misery than before. It is scarcely worthwhile to recount the events of the war in detail. The count of Anjou died of fever at Basilia on October 10th, 1384, and his army was dispersed. His death did not bring peace to the kingdom for the barons of the Anjou party continued to struggle, and strange to say, they were joined by the Pope, who had invited Charles of Dorazzo into Italy. Charles could not put up with the fiery and arrogant temper of urban VI. He went so far as to besiege him in the castle of Noceta, and the Pope was forced to take refuge in Genoa. In the meantime, King Louis of Hungary had died in 1382, after a reign of forty years. His daughter Maria was married to Sigismund, Margrave of Brandenburg, second son of Charles VI, and afterwards emperor. Maria laid claim to the throne of Hungary, but a large party were in favor of Charles of Dorazzo, and he was recalled from Italy in September 1396. On his arrival he was recognized as king and placed on the throne, but was shortly afterwards treacherously murdered by the queen in February 1296. Thus the kingdom of Hungary, like that of Naples, became the scene of hopeless anarchy. Margaret, the widow of Charles of Dorazzo, reigned in Naples as guardian of her young son Ladislav. Mary of Ploy, the widow of Louis of Anjou, retired with her young son, Louis II, into Provence, to wait for a season of revenge. At a later period these elements of discord broke out again into open war. The war of Chioja, as it is called, between Venice and Genoa, is the fourth war which took place between these two rival maritime powers. The Greek Empire was at this time tottering under the assaults of the Turks, but the scepter of Constantinople was still feebly held by John Palaeologus. Sunk in apathy and abodge, he had imprisoned and attempted to blind his son and grandson, Andronicus and John. They were released by the Genoese, and their eyesight was in some measure recovered. The Genoese now attempted to place Andronicus on the throne, while the Venetians took the side of his father John. The island of Tenedos, which had been ceded by Andronicus to his friends, became the bone of contention, being attacked by the Genoese and defended by the Venetians. The island of Cyprus belonged at this time to the family of Lucigno. In 1372 a new king was to be crowned in the Cathedral of Nicosia. The Venetians and Genoese strove for precedence at the ceremony, and it was given to the Venetians. The Genoese attempted force, a rising took place, and all the Genoese in the island were massacred. This naturally formed a second cause of quarrel. Each side had powerful allies. Genoa was joined by the King of Hungary, the Patriarch of Aquileia, and Francesco Carara, Lord of Pagua, the King of Cyprus, and Bernabovis Conti took the side of Venice. Space does not permit us to give a full account of the events of the war. It raged most furiously around the island of Chioja in the autumn of 1378, and the spring of 1380. Venice is built on a number of islands lying amongst shallow lagoons and defended from the Outer Sea by a natural belt of sand called the Lido and a strong sea wall. At one of the entrances of this defense lies the town of Chioja, which still possesses for the eye of the traveler some of the characteristics of Venice in the Middle Ages. Pietro Doria, assisted by Francesco of Carara, attacked this town and took it, and the Venetians heard with alarm that their enemies were established at twenty-five miles distance from themselves. This was the greatest danger which had befallen the Republic since its foundation. The inhabitants crowded round the doge Andreo Contarini and compelled him to sue for peace. A piece of white paper was offered to Francis of Carara on which he might write his own terms, but Doria hotly answered that he would grant no peace until with his own hands he had bridled the bronze horses which from the porch of the cathedral dominate the square of St. Mark. This answer roused the people to new exertions. At the news of the capture of Chioja, an Hungarian army invaded the territory of Treviso while the Paduans made several conquests on the Venetian Terraferma. Duit of Hungary refused to trust his allies unless he was allowed to fly his own banner at the side of the winged lion of St. Mark, and unless the Venetians agreed to pay him tribute and to accept his consent as necessary for the confirmation of a doge. The Genoese fleet, now advanced, still nearer. It came as far as San Nicolo del Lido, and even threatened to attack Venice itself. The people turned in their distress to the only man who could save them. That daughter Pisani, who had been imprisoned after his defeat at Pola, was now set at liberty and placed in command. He fortified all the canals and passages from the open sea. The richest families of Venice contributed their wealth and their children to the defense of their country. It was made known that thirty of the Populani, who had shown themselves most deserving, should be enrolled in the Great Council at the close of the war. In the meantime, Cardo Lozzano, a Venetian admiral who had run the blockade of the Genoese fleet, had attacked the seaboard of Genoa, burnt Porto Venere, and, picking up some reinforcements on his way, had sailed the Constantinople and restored John Palaeologus to the throne. He was in the waters of Cyprus when he heard of the loss of Chioja and of his recall. That daughter Pisani, having carefully trained his fleet, now thought that Geno could not be far off, and that the moment for the attack had come. On the evening of December 23rd, 1379, he set sail with more than thirty galleys. The aged doge Andrea Contarini, now more than seventy years old and weak in health, went in person on board the galleys, having taken a note that he would not return unless he was victorious. With great difficulty, the Venetians succeeded in closing the channels on either side of the island of Chioja. But their situation was most precarious. Provisions were beginning to fail, and their galleys were fully exposed to the Genoese fire. The doge was obliged to say that unless Tsenno made his appearance before the first of January 1380, he would be obliged to raise the siege. In that case it had been determined that Venice should be deserted and that the seat of government should be transferred to Candia. On the very day fixed as the term of their exertions, the expected help arrived. On the morning of January 1st, Cartel Tsenno appeared with munitions and supplies. The Venetians were now able to attack Chioja by land. Pietro Doria, the Genoese admiral, was killed at Brondelo on February 3rd, and his place was occupied by Gaspar Espinola. The Genoese were driven within the walls of Chioja and anxiously expected assistance. Vettor Pisani contrived to prevent any aid from approaching, and in the middle of June, the Genoese sued for peace. Five thousand prisoners and thirty-two galleys fell into the hands of the conquerors. But although Chioja was recovered, the war was not at an end. The treasury of St. Mark was exhausted and the Venetians had to contend on all sides with their enemies. Vettor Pisani, the idol of the sailors, died at Manfredonia, and Cartel Tsenno was appointed to succeed him. Treviso had to be surrendered, the last important possession of Venice on the terra firma. Trieste had already rebelled and placed itself under the protection of the patriarch of Aquileia. At last, by the intervention of Amadeus VI of Savoy, the peace of Turin was concluded on August 6th, 1381. It consisted of four separate treaties. By the treaty between Venice and Hungary, it was agreed that the Venetians should pay to the crown of Hungary seven thousand ducats every year, that the Hungarians on their side should not sail on any river which disembarked into the Adriatic between Cape Palmentaria and Rimini, also that Dalmatian merchants should not buy goods in Venice to a greater value than thirty-five thousand ducats. It was arranged between Venice and Genoa that the island of Tenedos was to be delivered to the count of Savoy and made uninhabitable all buildings being razed to the ground. The Venetians on their side promised not to support the king of Cyprus. They remained Padua and Trieste. With the first, however, it was agreed that conquests should be surrendered on both sides, and with the second that Trieste should be free, paying a yearly tribute to the doge. The general results of the war had been to deprive the Venetians of their possessions on the mainland and to destroy the fleet and the resources of Genoa. The promise was kept of admitting thirty families into the great council as a reward for their patriotism. End of Section 20. Section 21 of Guelphs and Gibrilines by Oscar Browning. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Negami. Chapter 15, John Galliazzo Visconti, Ladislav, the Council of Pisa, Part 1. The history of Venice in the decade which followed the peace of Turin is closely united with the future of the great cities of the Lombard Plain, Padua, Verona, and Milan. Padua was governed from 1355 to 1382 by Francesco of Carrara, the seventh of his family, who had been lords of that city. We have already heard of him as a bitter and successful enemy of Venice. He had already attained possession of Treviso and was anxious to extend his dominions westward toward the frontiers of Verona. This town was ruled by Antonio de la Scala, an illegitimate scion of that famous house. His descent from the line of the Scali Gers was as follows. Mastino II, who had been lord of Verona from 1329 to 1357, left three sons, Can Grande, Alboyne, and Consignorio. The eldest was murdered by his brother after a reign of seven years, and Alboyne and Consignorio ruled together. In 1365, Alboyne was detected in a conspiracy and was put to death by his brother, Consignorio, who reigned alone. Dying in 1375, he left his dominions to his two illegitimate sons, Bartolomeo and Antonio, who divided his dominions between them. But this arrangement only led to another fratricide, and from 1381 to 1387, Antonio reigned alone. He had been alarmed at the progress of Francesco da Carrera and had joined the Venetians in making war against him. His generals were defeated, and his rival was quite willing to offer him terms of peace which he rejected. He had now to make head against a new enemy in the person of Gian Galliazzo Visconti, to a description of whose career this chapter will be devoted. We have already heard how the territory of Milan came to be divided between Galliazzo and Bernabbo Visconti. Galliazzo died in 1378 and was succeeded by his son, John Galliazzo, Count of Vier II, husband of Isabella France. Bernabbo, in his old age, divided his territory amongst his five sons, retaining the general superintendence of it for himself. This naturally aroused the jealousy of John Galliazzo, who on the other hand, excited that of his uncle, by being appointed Imperial Vicar by the Emperor Venceslaus, son of Charles IV. John Galliazzo adopted an ingenious and characteristic way of disarming his uncle's suspicion. As his wife had died leaving no children, he married Catherine, daughter of Bernabbo, and gave his sister Violante in marriage to Bernabbo's son. He took care that his government should be a striking contrast to that of his uncle. He reformed the criminal justice, lightened taxation, paid honor to the clergy, and deserted the traditional methods of severity and harshness on which the power of an Italian tyrant was supposed to rest. Bernabbo, on the other hand, became more savage in his old age and more enslaved by disgraceful vices. He thought his nephew no better than a coward and a fool and may possibly have conceived the design of removing him and succeeding to his inheritance. If this was the case, John Galliazzo contrived to be beforehand with him. He put on more and more the air of harmless simplicity. He lived at Pavia and devoted himself to science and to the company of learned men. He spent incredible sums and almsgiving, saying hymns with the monks and remained for hours in prayer until Bernabbo thought him positively mad. At last in 1385 he wrote to his uncle that he wished to make a pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Mountain at Varese, that he should pass by Milan, but was afraid to enter the town. Would his uncle meet him and allow him to embrace him? He set out with a guard of five hundred lances. Bernabbo had been warned against him, but would believe nothing. On the road to Milan he met two of his uncle's sons, whom he made, prisoners. At a little distance from the city he was met by Bernabbo himself. John Galliazzo gave an order to his attendants in German. Jacopo del Verme, the famous condottiere who accompanied John Galliazzo, said to Bernabbo, You are a prisoner, and the nephew made his entry into Milan amidst the acclamations and applause of the people. In three weeks he became undisputed master of all Bernabbo's possessions. Bernabbo was imprisoned in the magnificent castle of Trezzo, which he had built, circled by the folds of the green and rushing atta, and was poisoned, on December 19th, 1385. He died repeating the words, A humble and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. He was sixty-six years old. The first act of John Galliazzo's rule was to form a league with the Este Carata and Gonzagi for the extermination of the mercenaries who were devastating Italy. The banner of the confederation was the blue ensign with the inscription, Pax. This dream lasted but a short time, for personal selfishness and ambition soon scattered it to the winds. John Galliazzo could not resist the bait of Verona which was offered him, and he accepted the offer of Francesco di Carata to join with him against Antonio de la Scala. It was agreed that in case of success he should receive the town of Verona, Carara was to have Vicenza. Antonio was entirely defeated and Visconti with characteristic cunning managed to get possession of both towns. This was the end of the House of la Scala, which had been lords of Verona for a hundred and twenty-eight years. John Galliazzo, having mortally offended Carara by taking possession of Vicenza, had now the incredible baseness to join Venice in a league against him. He had previously strengthened his position by marrying his only daughter Valentina to Louis Duccavoleon, the brother of Charles VI of France, giving her as a dowry, asti, and the other possessions of the Visconti in Piedmont. From this marriage was descended Louis XII, king of France, who claimed the Duchy of Milan in the beginning of the 16th century. A treaty was signed between John Galliazzo and Venice in February 1388. It provided that Padua should belong to the Visconti, but that the fortifications should be raised. He was also to conquer Treviso and handed over to the Republic. Further he was to pay a large sum for the support of the war. Carara, believing that the Venetians were chiefly actuated by personal hatred against himself, abdicated his sovereignty and retired to Treviso. He was succeeded by his son Francesco Novello, but father and son were forced to submit. They surrendered themselves under a safe conduct which was treacherously broken, and the dragon of the Visconti floated over the walls of Padua and Treviso, within sight of the canals of Venice. Visconti had, as we have seen, already reduced to vassalage the Marquis of Montferrat, the Gonzagi of Montua, and the Este of Ferrara. Intuscany alone could be found a counterpoise to this overgrown and monstrous power founded on fraud and violence. Francesco Novello had been sent by John Galliazzo to a castle in the territory of Asti with the intention of putting him to death. He contrived to escape, and passing with his wife and child through incredible dangers and difficulties, he scoured Europe to wreak revenge against the enemy of his race. Repulsed and threatened everywhere, he was well received at Florence, and was charged to collect an army in Germany. He was welcomed by the Duke of Bavaria, and then passed into Croatia and Bosnia, where he received the promise of powerful assistance. It is possible that the Florentines might after all have hesitated before attacking so powerful a foe as the Lord of Milan, but John Galliazzo removed all possibility of this by being himself the first to attack. In the spring of 1390 he declared war against Bologna and Florence. The Republic took John Hockwood into their pay, but unfortunately they were not seconded by their old allies of the Guelphic quadrilateral. Siena and Perugia were on the side of Visconti, as also were the lords of Rubino, Fienza, Urimini, Fort Lee, and Tivoli. The Melanese army was too much scattered to be of any use. Francesco of Carrara, advancing from the north, entered his native city of Padua by the dry bed of the Brinta, as Cyrus, in pastimes, had entered Babylon. Here he received the reinforcements of the Duke of Bavaria. The Florentines found a powerful auxiliary in John Count of Armagnac, whose sister had married an uncle of Bernavo Visconti. Whilst he attacked on the side of Piedmont, John Hockwood had crossed the Mincio and the Olio and was encamped on the banks of the Arra. The Count of Armagnac, a young man of eight and twenty, was defeated by Jacopo del Verme, Visconti's general at Alessandria, and Hockwood was exposed to the full fury of the victor's attack. There was nothing left for him but to retreat. He was reduced to terrible straits, at one time he was surrounded by a waste of floods, which del Verme had caused, by cutting the dykes of the pole. He escaped by marching a day and part of the night with the floods up to the horse's bellies. At last, when both parties were tired of war, the peace of Genoa was concluded on January 20, 1392. Padua was restored to the house of Carrara, but Novello was compelled to pay a tribute of ten thousand florins to Milan. The Florentines were to abstain from interference in Lombardy, and John Galliazzo equally from interference in Tuscany. With so restless his spirit as John Galliazzo peace could not last long. In 1393 he conceived the idea of ruining Manchua by turning the course of the Mincio and draining the lakes, which are the principal defense of that city. Gonzaga applied to Florence and Bologna for assistance. The possession of Ferrara supplied a cause of further quarrel. At this juncture the Emperor of Vencesloss entered upon the scene. His chief object was to obtain money and he thought that he might gain what he wished by heading a league against John Galliazzo. Finding this to be impracticable, he sold to the Lord of Milan the title of Duke. On May 1, 1395, by a decree signed at Prague, he erected the town and diocese of Milan into an imperial fief or duchy. The investiture was celebrated with great pomp and splendor. The new duchy included Brescia, Bergamo, Vercelli, Como, Novara, Alessandria, Tortona, Babio, Piacenza, Reggio, Parma, Crimona, Lodi, Crema, Soncino, Bormio, Borgo, Sandonino, Pontremoli, Verona, Vicenza, Feltre, Belluno, Bassano, and Sarzana. Pavia was formed into a separate county. This diploma, which cost John Galliazzo a hundred thousand Florence, gave an entirely new position to the Visconti. They were no longer tyrants of a city, but the hereditary sovereigns of a considerable territory. The first use, which John Galliazzo made of the new power which he had acquired, was to attach himself to the league which had been made for the purpose of his overthrow. In May 1396 a Congress of the League was held in Florence. Not only were the members willing to receive the duke as an ally, but the people of Siena, of Luca, and of Rimini joined the new confederation, which thus entirely lost the original character which it had received from Francesco da Gonzaga. This unnatural state of things could not last long. Jealousy of the duke's power was too deep-seated and too well founded, that his enemies should not combine to crush it. The Visconti had in former days held the scenery of Genoa, and John Galliazzo saw in the distractions of that city an opportunity of gaining the authority which they had once possessed. But Charles VI, king of France, who was as yet untouched by the malady which at a later period destroyed his intellect, had his eyes fixed on the same prize. Adorno doge of Genoa preferred the alliance of France to that of Milan, and Charles finding that his interests clashed with those of the Visconti stirred up a conspiracy against him. In September 1396 a league was concluded at Paris by which Florence, Bologna, Ferrara, Mantua, and Pagua were to default themselves to the destruction of their common foe. John Galliazzo was not slow to meet the danger. He dispatched the famous Candotiere al barico da Barbiano to attack the town of San Miniatto, even before the Florentines had formally declared war. But the duke recognized that his most formidable and determined enemy was Francesco of Gonzaga, and against him he sent two armies. As he was defended by no one except the Marquis of Este, his destruction appeared certain, but his very weakness proved his strength. Venice and the League could not notice the unbounded development of the power of Milan within difference. They took the part of Mantua, and Visconti was defeated at the Battle of Governolo. This at first only increased the obstinacy of the duke and aroused him to new efforts. He wrenched still larger taxes from his oppressed people, and took new Candotiere into his service. But the power of the Venetians was too great for him. By their influence a peace of ten years was concluded in May 1398. Gian Galliazzo had now leisure to turn his attention to Tuscany. Pisa was in the hands of Giacobo Appiano, an old man of seventy-five. The duke thought that he would be able to gajole him into surrendering the city into his hands, but the spirit of resistance was too strong and his envoys were repulsed. Appiano unfortunately died on September 5th, and his successor was of a different stamp. The Florentines refused to assist him in the tyranny which he contemplated to establish, and he therefore sold the town of Pisa to Gian Galliazzo for two hundred thousand florins. The Pizzans in vain protesting against being sold like a flock of sheep. The duke took possession of the city, and the house of Appiano had to contend itself with Piambino and Elba, where it long continued to reign. Gian Galliazzo only considered these possessions as the point of departure for new conquests. The lords of the castle of Papi and the whole Cassentino declared in his favor, so that the sources of the Arno, as well as its mouth, were hostile to the city which claimed the title of its queen. Hatred against the Florentines drove the people of Siena to commit their seniority to the duke. Perugia felt herself hard-pressed by the pope and expected to find a milder ruler in Gian Galliazzo. Assisi followed the fate of Perugia. The power of the duke of Milan extended itself over Spoleto and Nocera, and he had also obtained the dominions of the Malaspina in the territory of the Lundigiana. He might well aspire to be king of Italy. At the close of the fourteenth century, the outlook of freedom in Italy was indeed gloomy enough. Genoa, Perugia, and Siena had given themselves masters. Pisa had been sold. Luca and Bologna, with the appearance of freedom, were distracted by party corals which were the forerunners of servitude. Venice, defended by her lagoons, seemed willing to abandon Italy to her fate. Rome languished in slavery. Naples and Lombardy had forgotten the name of liberty. A cowardly and faithless tyrant had risen to the height of power by trading on the vice and weakness of his enemies. Florence alone upheld the standard of the good cause, and her eventual success is an encouragement to all true-hearted lovers of liberty, not to despair even in the deepest abandonment and desolation. CHAPTER XV In the season of her lowest abasement Florence had again reason to hope for the advent of a deliverer from beyond the Alps. The Emperor Vensel, or Wenceslaus, was the son of the Emperor Charles IV. He had been nominated King of Bohemia at the age of two, and when he was crowned King of Germany at Ex-La Chapelle in 1376 he was only fifteen years of age and already married. In character he was nothing better than a drunken sot, a sad falling off from the chivalrous virtues of his grandfather John and his great-grandfather Henry. He was sunk in idleness and debauchery and was quite unfit to attend to the most necessary business. The princes of Germany had long been discontented. One of their most serious grievances was the creation of an independent duchy of Milan and the apparent surrender of one of the brightest jewels of the imperial crown. They resolved to depose the unworthy Emperor, but the princes of the Rhine first summoned Wenceslaus to appear at the castle of Oberlandsbein on August 11th, 1400. As might have been anticipated he did not obey the summons. He was therefore formally deposed nine days later at the solemn place of election Rensa. The reasons assigned were that he had not appeased the schism in the churches as he ought to have done, that he had dismembered the empire by erecting Milan and Pavia into independent fiefs, that he failed to secure the peace of his dominions, that he took no pains to secure justice, and that he allowed prelates and priests to be tortured and killed. On the following day Rupert III, the Paul's grave, or Count Palatine, was raised to the vacant throne. He had already promised to put an end to the papal schism and to recover the territory of Milan for the empire. Rupert was poor and weak, and his authority was disputed. He was therefore all the more anxious to begin his expedition to Italy as soon as possible, in order that the Pope might crown him at Rome, and thus give his power a stability which it did not now possess. Rupert sent envoys to the Florentines, describing himself as the deadly enemy of John Galliazzo, who had surpassed the enormity of his other crimes by bribing Rupert's physician to poison him at Vienna, the Imperial Army mustered at Augsburg in September 1401. The Florentines promised the sum of two hundred thousand florins on the condition that the independence of their town should be respected. From Innsbruck on September 25, 1401, the emperor sent an order to John Galliazzo that he should surrender the imperial prisoners. At Trent on October 14th, Francesco of Carrara joined the advancing host with a reinforcement of two thousand cavalry. The whole number of German and Italian troops amounted to thirty two thousand foot and horse, but these half disciplined German levies were ill-suited to contend against the scientifically trained armies which fought under the banner of the Visconti led by veteran Condottieri. The decisive battle was fought at Brescia on October 24th and resulted in the complete defeat of the emperor. The day was won by the excellence of the Italian cavalry, an arm in which Rupert was deficient as he had been obliged to send away five thousand cavalry from Innsbruck because he had not enough money to pay them. One onslaught was sufficient. Leopold of Austria was taken prisoner, the horse of Carrara alone held their ground, but Francesco their commander was so disgusted at the emperor's cowardice that he left him. Rupert returned, disheartened and discredited to Trent. Rupert did not dare to go to Germany with the disgrace of this failure upon him. He made his way through difficult mountain passes to Padua where he was received by his old ally Francesco da Carrara. But the winter was at hand and Carrara was soon tired of so troublesome and expensive a guest. The Florentines were unwilling to incur further risks, the Visconti were openly contemptuous, the pope made it a condition of the coronation that the emperor should not interfere with the matter of the schism. Supplies of money from Italy were failing, the debts contracted in Germany could not be paid. Rupert, pressed on all sides, was at last forced to retire to Germany. He returned there in April 1402, without an army, without money, and without honour. John Galliazzo took advantage of the retreat of the emperor to attack Bologna which he regarded as a stepping-stone to the possession of Florence. He sent an army against the Bolognese, supported by the taxes which he had wrung out of the oppression of his subjects, under the command of Alberico da Barbiano. Giovanni di Bentivoli, the lord of Bologna, allied himself with the houses of Padua and Florence, who knew that their own independence would be lost if Bologna should be enslaved. The two armies met at Casal Vecchio Andorreno, a torrent which flows northward from the Abonines to the Po on St. John's Day, June 24th, 1402. The Bolognese were entirely defeated. This city opened its gates to Alberico. The people received the representative of the fisconte with craze of Viva il Ducca, morte al Bentivolio, and thus, on July 10th, 1402, John Galliazzo became lord of Bologna. He proceeded immediately to lay siege to Florence. He offered the towns of Feltere and Cividale to Venice as the price of his recognition as king of Italy. He went so far as to prepare his crown and royal robes, and settled the details of his triumphant entry into Florence where he was to be crowned. But just as the prize was in his grasp, it was dashed away by a more powerful hand. He fled from Pavia to avoid the plague, which was then raging in Italy, and took refuge at Malignano, but the scourge seized him in the midst of his strongholds, and he died at the age of 55 on September 3rd, 1402. The death of the Duke, the great viper, as he was called from the cognizance of his coat of arms, gave joy to nearly the whole of Italy. John Galliazzo left four sons, two legitimate, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria, and two illegitimate, Gabriele Maria and Giacomo. To the first, he left with the title of Duke of Milan, Como Bergamo Brescia, Lodi, Cremona, Piacenza, Parma, Reggio, Bologna, Siena, Perugia, Assisi. To Filippo Maria, with the title of Count of Pavia, and the possession of that city, Tortona, Alissandria, Navarra, Vercelli, Casale, Valenza, Verona, Piacenza, Filtre, Civirale and Belluno, Bassano, and the Riviere di Trento. To Gabriele Maria, Pisa, Crema, and perhaps the Luniniana. As these children were all under age, a council of regency was appointed, of which the Countess Carolina was the head, and the members of which were the principal commanders of the Duke's army, Albertico, Giacomo del Verme, and others. To these were added Pietro da Candia, the learned archbishop of Milan, who in 1409 was recognized as Pope by the name of Alexander V, and Francesco Barbarossa, the Duke's chamberlain and confidant. The Duke had not considered what discontent and trouble would be caused by associating a domestic servant in his intimate connection with counselors of higher rank. The death of the Duke was the signal for his enemies to attack. Pope Boniface IX, the Florentines and the Marquess of Este formed a league against the Visconti, and succeeded in attaching Albertico to their side. The elevation of Barbarossa estranged the friends of the Visconti, and alienated the people. Hugo Calvo Cabo became master of Cromona, Benzone of Crema, Rusca of Como, Suaredi of Bergamo, Vignoli of Lodi. Brescia, Piacenza, and Babio were distracted with civil war. Peace with the Pope was bought by the sacrifice of Bologna, Perugia, and Assisi. In the midst of their distress, the Duchess determined upon a coup d'état. In January 1404 she enticed the officers of the Regency into the castle in which she lived, threw them into prison, and beheaded some of them. She then recalled Barbarossa, who had been driven from power in the previous June. This government did not last long. Before the end of the year, the Duchess and her favorite were compelled to fly, and she died of hunger on October 14, 1404. In the general breakup of the Visconti dominions, the lords of the Lombard plain did not neglect their opportunity. Francesco da Carrara, with whom the Duchess had at first intended to make peace, being irritated on account of a breach of faith, laid siege to Verona. Guglielmo de la Scala offered to give Vicenza to Carrara if he would assist him in recovering the city of his ancestors. Verona was captured, and Guglielmo was restored, but he died on the following day, and Carrara did not escape the suspicion of having poisoned him. These events happened in the spring of 1404, while the Duchess was still in possession of Milan. The only way of safety open to her was to offer those towns to Venice as the price of her assistance. The Republic declared war against Francesco. Vicenza of herself invited the Venetians to her aid, and raised the standard of St. Mark. The Venetian armies marched into the territory of Padua. The flight and death of the Duchess made no difference in their operations. Francesco was besieged in his capital. Verona was forced to surrender. The war did not end till November 1405, when Carrara and his sons were compelled to deliver themselves into the hands of Venice. They were received at first with a certain degree of respect, were placed at the right and left hand of the doge, who temperately chided them for their ingratitude. But they were too powerful and too much beloved by their subjects to be allowed to live. On January 6th, 1406, Francesco was strangled in prison after bravely defending himself against his murderers, and his two sons, not long afterwards, suffered the same fate. In this way the two great houses of Carrara and de la Scala came to an end. Their possessions fell into the hands of Venice, and the banner of St. Mark floated over the walls of Treviso, Feltre, Belluno, Verona, Vicenza and Pagua. It is very doubtful whether this large extension of power on the mainland was of any lasting value to the Republic. From about the first decade of the 15th century, the history of Italy takes a new departure. From being a history of separate towns, it becomes a history of small states. Venice laid the foundation of a state upon the mainland. The Duchy of Visconti, temporarily overthrown, was afterwards consolidated and new by the conquest of Pisa in 1406. Florence extinguished the liberty of that Republic, and made the modern Tuscany possible. A king of Naples arose who quelled the dissensions of his realms and made Naples once more an important factor in the fortunes of the peninsula. His career is so intimately bound up with the history of the papal schism that it will be better now to give an account of both. We shall then have reached a point from which we may conveniently look back upon the past and forward to the future. Pope Urban VI of the German obedience died on October 15th, 1389. He was succeeded by Pietro Tomacelli, a Neapolitan, who assumed the title of Boniface the Ninth, a young man 30 years of age. He relieved the house of Durazzo from the ban which lay upon it, and Ladislav, son of Charles Durazzo, was crowned by his vicar, King of Naples, being at that time a boy of 15. Clement VII, the pope of the French obedience, died on September 16th, 1394. The University of Paris and the King of France did what they could to hinder the election of a successor, but the French cardinals were obstinate. It was for their advantage that the schism should continue, and their choice fell on Pietro da Luna, a Spaniard, who took the name of Benedict the Thirteenth. He pretended to be jealous for the unity of the Church and made preparations for a conference with Boniface and his supporters, but it is doubtful whether he really wished for anything of the kind. Boniface was supported by Ladislav, and through his assistance he acquired in 1398 the Dominium or Sovereignty of Rome, being the first pope who had ever been recognized as Temporal Lord of the Eternal City. This was another step toward the substitution of small states for independent towns in Italy which has been already mentioned. The last act of Boniface was the war with the Visconti, by which he gained possession of Bologna and Perugia. He died, lord of the states of the Church, on October 1st, 1404. He was a strong man and a born ruler, the second founder of the Temporal Power of the Popes. After the death of Boniface the people of Rome rose in tumult. The cardinals came together in conclave, paralyzed with fear. They signed an undertaking that if any of them were elected pope he would abdicate when the interests of the Church seemed to require it, and then chose as pope another Neapolitan, Cosimo de Miliorati, who took the title of Innocent the Seventh. His pontificate, which lasted two years, was very stormy. Ladislav would have been to Zara to receive the crown of Hungary, hurried to Rome, as soon as he heard of the death of Boniface, and reached it on October 19th. He made a kind of agreement between the Roman people and the New Pontif, which restored to them something of the self-government which they had lost. But this concord only lasted a short time. The impetuous nephews of the pope massacred the representatives of the people as they sought to approach the Holy Father. The town rose in tumult, the pope was obliged to fly, and took refuge at Perugia. The Romans were not more contented with the government of Ladislav than they had been with that of Boniface. They willingly resigned their independence to the pope's vicar. Innocent the Seventh consented reluctantly to receive their overtures, and returned to his palace where, after making peace with Ladislav, he died quietly on November 6th, 1406. The fourteen Roman cardinals hesitated at first as to whether they should nominate a successor to Innocent. Self-interest, however, prevailed, and they chose a Venetian, Angelo Correr, having first impressed upon him that he was to do all in his power to put an end to the schism. He took the name of Gregory XII. He was an old man over seventy years of age. He agreed to resign his dignity if the Spanish pope, Pietro de Luna, would do the same. The condition of the church was indeed most disastrous. All good men desired that the schism should come to an end. The rector of the University of Paris took the lead in urging a reconciliation and a meeting of the two popes was arranged at Savona. Ladislav naturally wished to prevent the possible victory of a pope attached to the interests of France, but Correr set out for the rendezvous. Ladislav took advantage of his absence to lay siege to Rome, and soon becoming master of it made his triumphal entry on April 25th, 1408. He was now an incarnation of hope to the weary Italians. He received ambassadors from various parts of the peninsula and already began to look forward to becoming king of Italy and perhaps emperor. If Ladislav had not succeeded in conquering Rome, it is possible that Benedict XIII might have seized it by a coup d'etat and ceded himself on the vacant pontifical throne. As it was, the occupation of Rome by a foreign power gave an excuse to both powers to decline the union. Benedict remained at Porte Venere, Gregory at Siena and Lucca. At last the patience of the church was exhausted. The cardinals on both sides left their masters and determined to hold a council at Pisa, which met on March 25th, 1409. Ladislav in vain trying to hinder it. On June 5th the Council of Pisa deposed both popes as heretics and schismatics and elected Pietro Fialargo, an old man of 70, native of Candia as pope. He took the name of Alexander V. He was a Venetian by origin and a Greek by birth. There having been no Greek pope since John the Seventh in the year 705. The Catholic world now possessed three popes. Benedict XII, recognized by Atahon and Scotland, Gregory XII, obeyed by Naples, Hungary, Bavaria and the Emperor, and Alexander V, the pope of the Council. But Alexander soon received powerful support. Louis of Anjou, the pretender to the crown of Naples, hastened to Pisa. The Florentines and the Viennese joined in the League which was formed against Ladislav. Baltazar Kosa, the papal legate, more powerful than the pope himself, put himself at the head of the enterprise and the military command was entrusted to Malatesta, who had as lieutenant under him Sforza da Tendolo and Braccio de Mentone, two famous condottieri who were soon to fill Italy with their quarrels. The enterprise was successful, town after town surrendered, and in January 1410 Rome did homage to her new master. We now stand on the verge of a new era. The Council of Pisa had opened the eyes of the church and shown that the power it possessed was not concentrated in the papal office. The Council of Constance was the immediate successor of the Council of Pisa, and the Council of Constance points significantly to the German Reformation. End of Section 22, recording by Pamela Nagami M.D. in Encino, California, March 2020. End of Guelphs and Gibbalines, a short history of medieval Italy from 1250 to 1409 by Oscar Browning.