 Section 1 of Guelphs and Ghibliens, A Short History of Medieval Italy, from 1250 to 1409. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Pamela Nagami M.D. Guelphs and Ghibliens, A Short History of Medieval Italy, from 1250 to 1409 by Oscar Browning. Chapter 1 Introduction Frederick Barbarossa, Innocent III Frederick II By those who divide the whole of history into three great periods, medieval history is held to begin with the year 476 A.D., the year which witnessed the fall of the Empire of the West. Whatever may have been the effect of this event upon the world at large, it was certainly a great crisis in the history of Italy. Romulus Augustulus, a Roman or a Panonian by birth, whose name recalled by a curious coincidence the mythical origin and the constitutional establishment of the Roman Empire, was deposed from the imperial throne and the Syrian Odoakir assumed the title of King of Italy. He reigned from 476 to 493. The year 489 marks the descent into the Italian plains of the Ostrogoths, the eastern division of the great Gothic nation whose western brethren conquered Spain and part of Africa. Their first king was the mighty Theodoric whose palace still exists at Ravenna and whose reign, immortalized in the earliest epics of the Teutonic race, extended over the first quarter of the sixth century from 489 to 526. For twenty-five years longer his successors feebly maintained the glory of the Gothic name. Until in 553 they were unable to withstand the power of the Emperor Justinian. This famous lawgiver was by origin a Slav as his name Uprata shows, so that the Ostrogoths were barbarians conquered by a barbarian. In 568 a more powerful race descended into the Valley of the Po, the Lombards or Longobardi under their king Albuen. Their dominion lasted for more than two centuries until the year 774. Italy was under them divided into thirty-six duchies. There was a Lombardy of the south around Beneventum as there was a Lombardy of the north around Milan. The latter district has retained its name until our own day. We find in these changes conditions which have been repeated through successive ages until our own time. A German race subjugates the rich territory of the south. The Popes, the bishops of Rome, preserve their independence and become in a certain sense the asserters of Italian freedom. Too weak to stand by their own power the Popes apply for assistance to France. The arms of Pepin and of Charlemagne supported the temporal power as it was afterwards supported by Charles of Anjou, by Charles of Alois, by Charles VIII and Napoleon III. In 800 Charles the Great became Emperor of the West. Lombardy was held by his family from its conquest in 774 till the expulsion of Charles the Fat in 888. The anarchy which succeeded opened up Italy as a prey to new invaders. The Hungarians poured down in a torrent from the north. The Saracens who had conquered Sicily in the second quarter of the century pressed upwards from the south while other swarms of the same race settled on the shores of the Mediterranean between Genoa and Nice. These horrors had one good result. The towns fortified themselves in self-defense and with the help of their local trained vans laid the germs of future liberty. In 960 the Saxon Otto assumed the imperial crown of Charles the Great. It is no part of the object of this book to describe and detail the early history of medieval Italy. The period with which we are concerned begins in 1250 after the death of the Emperor Frederick II, the last great monarch who founded a kingdom of Italy which was able to hold its own against the power of the Popes. At the same time it is necessary to trace in their previous development the forces which are found in full operation at the time when our narrative begins. We shall see in the first place a continual struggle going on between the power of the Emperor and the freedom of the towns. This has its origin from the establishment of a feudal hierarchy in Italy by Otto the Saxon which was weak in power and short in duration. It scarcely lasted till the death of Otto III in 1002. Conrad the Salion was not able to revive it and we find in his death in 1039 that the best protection for the security of the feudal princes lay in recommending themselves to the growing power of the towns. Another condition which affects the whole course of medieval Italian history is the constant contensions between the Emperors and the Popes. The relations between them began in the exchange of mutual benefits. The Popes gave a divine sanction to the claim of the princes of the House of Charles the Great to bear the title of Emperor and received in return the recognition of their temporal sovereignty. A succession of weak and vicious Popes failed to assert their power against the rival efforts of good and judicious Emperors. The quarrel between them burst into flame when the boy Henry IV was left to wield the scepter of his grandfather Conrad and when the mighty Hildebrand swayed the councils of the Roman Courier. Hildebrand who governed each succeeding Pope long before he assumed the tiara for himself may be regarded as the founder of the papal power as it now exists. He insisted on the celibacy of the clergy the first condition necessary for a devoted and obedient hierarchy and at the Council of the Lateran held in 1075 forbade all priests to receive investiture at the hands of laymen. This branded with illegality a feudal custom which had been regarded as usual in the confirmation of a prelate and began a dispute which lasted throughout the Middle Ages and can hardly even now be considered as extinct. Also by insisting on the importance of the doctrine of the real presence in the Eucharist he tightened the band of intellectual submission to the authority of Rome. Having thus laid down a firm basis for his spiritual power he obtained by his allegiance with the Countess Matilda of Tuscany a better right than the Pope had yet acquired to large material possessions. The seal was set to the efforts of a long career when the Emperor Henry IV clad in the shirt of penitence stood with bare feet throughout three winter days in the courtyard of the castle of Canossa and sued in vain for pardon. The rivalry between Pope and Emperor eventually took the form of civil war between Guelphs and Gibleens. The 11th century witnessed the introduction of a new element into the quarrels of the peninsula. The Normans, a Scandinavian race who had brought a new language and a new civilization into one of the fairest parts of France began to found an empire in Italy about 50 years before they accomplished the conquest of England. They overran Apulia and Calabria notwithstanding the resistance of the Popes and proceeded to rest Sicily from the hands of the Saracens. They destroyed three centers of independence which shone conspicuously on that part of the Mediterranean coast which has too often been the seat of tyranny and oppression the republics of Naples, Gaeta and Amalfi the last of which demands our special reverence. The traveler who visits the little fishing town squeezed in between the mountains and the sea affording a mere niche of vantage on the ironbound coast between the great harbors of Palermo and Naples finds it difficult to imagine that he sees the site of a republic which probably invented the Mariner's compass which was among the first to give laws to the commerce of the sea and which preserved with superstitious reverence the sacred copy of the pandex from which the knowledge of the Roman law in the Middle Ages is said to have been derived. These southern republics disappeared forever their sisters of the north were more fortunate in their destiny Venice founded by fugitives who sought refuge among the lagoons of the Adriatic from the invasion of Attila and his Huns and established its capital on the Rialto in 809 its beginnings were humble and obscure we shall find that at the close of the Middle Ages after a career of irregular prosperity and glory it still holds rank among the chief powers of Europe the republics of Pisa and Genoa came earlier to maturity and suffered an earlier fate they wore out their strength in perpetual and barren rivalry Pisa still attests by its marble cathedral its leaning bell tower and its burial ground furnished with the holy earth of Gethsemane and glowing with frescoes of Orcania the place it once held among the cities of the Mediterranean but the port is silted up grass grows in the streets and the walls enclose a space far too large for its inhabitants it first fell before the maritime rivalry of Genoa and then became part of the land empire of Florence Genoa still flourishes as part of a united Italy and extends its commerce at the cost of Marseille but it's spent in selfish money making the strength which Venice used in the creation of an eastern empire and in resistance to the advancing Turk the beginning of the 12th century witnessed the rise of Milan to a position of supremacy over the towns in the valley of the Po under the later Roman Empire this town had been the rival of Rome as the sea of Saint Ambrose and at a later period of San Carlo Borromeo it twice took the lead in ecclesiastical reform sometimes the assertor of liberty sometimes the home of despotism at one time enslaved and destroyed at another wealthy and triumphant it represented in its own vicissitudes the varying fortunes of the Lombard plain the death of Henry V in 1125 gave prominence to two factions whose names are intimately associated with the internal wars of Italy the Salian or Franconian emperors the descendants of Conrad were also known by the name of Viblingen from a castle which they occupied in the diocese of Augsburg the house of Bavaria having had many princes of the name of Vöööf came to be generally known by this appellation the two words were Italianized into Gibellino and Guelfo and as the later Salic emperors had been enemies of the church the two parties ranged themselves respectively on the sides of the empire and the papacy also as a general rule the Gibellines supported the principles of strong governance and the Guelphs, those of freedom and self-rule these differences did not break out into open flame until the expedition of Frederick Barbarossa into Italy elected emperor in 1152 he passed into Italy in 1154 he came there on the invitation of the pope, of the prince of Capua and of the towns which had been subjected to the ambition of Milan he marched at the head of his German feudatories a splendid and imposing array his first object was to crush the power of Milan and to exalt that of Pavia, the head of a rival league nothing could stand against him at Viterbo he was compelled to hold the stirrup of the pope and in return for this submission he received the crown from the Pontiffs hands in the Basilica of St. Peter he returned northwards by the valley of the Tiber dismissed his army at Ancona and with difficulty escaped safely into Bavaria his passage left little that was solid and durable behind it he had effected nothing against the king of Naples his friendship with the pope was illusory and short-lived the dissensions of the north which had been hushed for a moment by his presence broke out again as soon as his back was turned he had however received the crown of Charles the Great from the hands of the successor of St. Peter but Frederick was not a man to brook easily the miscarriage of his designs in 1158 he collected another army at Ulma Brescia was quickly subdued Lodi which had been destroyed by the Melanesi was rebuilt and Milan itself was reduced to terms this piece lasted but for a short time Milan revolted and was placed under the ban of the empire the fate of Cremona taught the Melanesi what they had to expect from the clemency of the emperor after a desultory warfare regular siege was laid to the town on March 1st 1162 Milan reduced by famine surrendered at discretion and a fortnight later all the inhabitants were ordered to leave the town the circuit of the walls was partitioned out among the most pitiless enemies of its former greatness and the inhabitants of Lodi, Cremona, of Pavia, of Novara and of Como were encouraged to wreck their vengeance on their defeated rival for six days the imperial army labored to overturn the walls and public buildings and when the emperor left for Pavia on Palm Sunday 1162 not a 50th part of the city was standing this terrible vengeance produced a violent reaction the homeless fugitives were received by their ancient enemies and local jealousies were merged in common hatred of the common foe Frederick had already been excommunicated by Pope Alexander III as supporter of his rival Victor Verona undertook to be the public vindicator of discontent five years after the destruction of Milan the Lombard League numbered 15 towns amongst its members Venice, Verona, Vicenza, Treviso, Ferrara, Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, Milan Lodi, Piacenza, Parma, Madina and Bologna the confederations solemnly engaged to expel the emperor from Italy the towns on the frontier of Piedmont asked and obtained admission to the league and to mark the dawn of freedom a new town was founded on the Lo Marchi ground which is drained by the Boromida and the Tanaro and which afterwards witnessed the victory of Marengo it was named by its founders Alessandria in honor of the Pope who had vindicated their independence of the empire it was named by the gibbalines in derision of its filthy squalor Alessandria della Paglia Alessandria, the town of straw the Lombard League had unfortunately a very imperfect constitution it had no common treasure no uniform rules for the apportionment of contributions it existed solely for the purposes of defense against the external foe the time was not yet come when self-sacrifice and self-abnegation could lay the foundations of a united Italy Frederick spent six years in preparing vengeance in 1174 he laid siege to the new Alexandria but did not succeed in taking it a severe struggle took place two years later in 1176 a new army arrived from Germany and on May 29th Frederick Barbarossa was entirely defeated at Legnano in 1876 the seventh hundredth anniversary of the battle was celebrated on the spot where it was gained and it is still regarded as the birthday of Italian freedom the last years of Frederick do not concern us in his old age he assumed the badge of a crusader and was drowned in 1190 in the river Calicadnos in Armenia two great personalities now claim our attention on the scene of history Pope Innocent III and the Emperor Frederick II their career fills up the period between the death of Frederick Barbarossa and the date chosen for the commencement of our detailed history Innocent III was elected pope in the year 1199 at the age of 37 he completed the fabric of the papal power the foundations of which had been laid by Hildebrand the dissensions of the empire gave opportunity for the assertion of the pope's authority Frederick II infant son of the last emperor Henry VI was left as the ward of Innocent having been created king of the Romans during his father's lifetime his succession to the imperial crown was disputed by Philip Duke of Schwabia and by Otto of the Bavarian and Saxon line Innocent warmly supported the cause of his ward with the object of increasing and extending the power of the tiara he placed the city of Rome under the government of a senator who was able to curb the excesses of the turbulent nobles he established three Guelphic leagues against the power of the emperor one in the march or seaboard of the Adriatic another in the valley of the Tiber and the third in Tuscany he held the language of imperious command to every court in Europe he ordered Andrew, king of Hungary to undertake a crusade the kings of Denmark and Sweden to depose the king of Norway Philip Augustus of France to take back the wife whom he had repudiated he forced the proudest sovereign to receive their crowns from his hands the king of Portugal, the king of Atahon the king of Poland and the king of England at last he found himself face to face with Otto IV emperor of Germany Otto received the imperial crown from the pope's hands and there was a transient gleam of peace and amity but their short-lived friendship was soon broken by the strain of divergent interests open war broke out between Otto and Frederick Innocent succeeded in all his enterprises the power of Otto was broken at the battle of Bouvine in 1214 a victory which gave the first impulse to the aggrandizement of France at the expense of Germany Frederick was amused and deluded by the hope of the imperial crown in his last years the pope had leisure to turn his arms against the Manichean heretics who starting from the mountains of Bulgaria carried their pure but stern religion westwards in a constant stream which never lost touch with its fountain head and under the names of Paterini, Ketzer and Albigenzis earned the execration of their contemporaries and the respect of posterity Innocent III died in 1211 and Otto lived only two years longer Frederick II is one of the most picturesque and fascinating characters in history King of Sicily at four years old he grew up to manhood under the protection of the pope he was one of the most cultivated men of a cultivated age he spoke Latin, French, German, Greek and Arabic he was one of the first to give importance to the Italian tongue his court was crowded with literary men he was himself an author of repute he was the paragon of nightly virtues and accomplishments free and secular in his opinions and habits the great valley of central Italy which is shut off by two parallel chains of apennines from the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea is full of his towers, his churches and his castles when he received the imperial crown from Pope Honorius III in 1220 there seemed a fair hope that the quarrel between church and state might be forever appeased and that they might reign with similar but unequal power like the sun and the moon in heaven but the thirty years which followed were full of misery and disaster Frederick was excommunicated because he did not go to the crusade he was excommunicated because he went Gregory succeeded Honorius, an innocent Gregory at each vacancy of the Holy See Frederick sued for peace San Louis of France interceded for a king who had saved an army of crusaders at Cyprus but each succeeding Pope excommunicated and deposed the emperor and absolved his subjects from their allegiance three forces were especially arrayed against him the principle of which was that of the Popes as heads of the Guelphic party the rival interests of Guelphs and Giebelines were too real to slumber or to be concealed the success of a Giebeline emperor meant the subjection of Italy to Germany the binding of north and south together in an unnatural union the establishment of a great power in Europe fatal to the freedom of the nations innocent III had made use of Frederick whilst he was too weak to repel a more formidable foe his successors broke with this hollow and impossible alliance Frederick was also opposed by the resistance of the Lombard League he was, it is true, very different to Barbarossa he was an Italian to the backbone and had he been accepted as sovereign his power in Germany might have slipped away from him but he was emperor and a Hohenstaufen and the towns of Italy loved liberty with the danger of anarchy rather than unity with the possibility of subjection in the third place he was at variance with the spiritual powers which were at work in Italy during this period innocent III had established the two great orders of Franciscans and Dominicans as a support to the papacy it is difficult to exaggerate the influence which these friars have had on the development of the Italian people but there is a striking contrast between the poverty, chastity and obedience of the Franciscan brotherhood and the gay, light-hearted, dissolute and free-thinking court of the brilliant emperor never were the church and the world brought into sharper antagonism Frederick died at Valentino on December 13th, 1250 with his death a new era begins for Italy one in which purely Italian forces reach their highest activity and development this period will form the subject of the present work end of section 1 section 2 of Guelphs and Ghibelines by Oscar Browning this Librovox recording is in the public domain recording by Pamela Nagami chapter 2 Guelphs and Ghibelines at Solino d'Audalmano, early Venice after the death of Frederick II an interval of 23 years passed without the appointment of a king of the Romans from 1250 to 1273 and an interval of 60 years without the recognition of an emperor in Italy 1250 to 1309 the country therefore was left to govern itself but it was not at all the less divided by discords and distracted by dissensions the parties of Guelph and Ghibelines raged as fiercely as if the lances of the German hosts were ever glimmering on the crest of the Alps or as if the Lombard leagues were in constant watchfulness against an impending foe these two party names occur again and again in history until the time when both factions were crushed beneath the heel of a common enemy they represented divergent principles although in the heat of conflict all question of principle was too often disregarded the origin of these two parties has already been mentioned we will now attempt to define the ideas which they embodied speaking generally the Ghibelines were the party of the emperor and the Guelphs the party of the pope the Ghibelines were on the side of authority or sometimes of oppression the Guelphs were on the side of liberty and self-government again the Ghibelines were the supporters of a universal empire of which Italy was to be the head the Guelphs were on the side of national life and national individuality the refrain of the Garibaldian war song which bids the stranger to leave the plains of Italy might have been the battle cry of the Guelph if these definitions could be considered as exhaustive there would be little doubt as to the side to which our sympathy should be given Frederick II although he was an early life supported by a pope was in heart a Ghibeline the later measures of his government especially after the year 1232 were directed to the entire destruction of the feudal state and the reduction of his subjects to the condition of a multitude destitute of will but profitable to the exchequer he was penetrated with Saracenic views of organization he cared little for liberty or for constitutional government on the other hand Thomas Aquinas the great philosopher of the Roman church sketched out a perfect constitution in which the prince was supported by an upper house while a lower house of representatives was chosen by the people and they were secured against oppression by the right of revolution we should thus expect all patriots to be Guelphs and the Ghibeline party to be composed of men who were too spiritless to resist despotic power or too selfish to surrender it but on the other hand we must never forget that Dante was a Ghibeline no man ever yearned more passionately for the advent of a savior from beyond the Alps no man ever more persistently endeavored to restrain the papacy within the limits of its spiritual power therefore we see that the question is not a simple one the party of the Guelphs was subject to many weaknesses it had an ecclesiastic at its head the national party was exposed to all the stormy dissensions and complicated intrigues which afflicted the papal court first among the causes of these troubles was the natural confusion between religious and civil sanctions under the papal government every crime was a sin every offender against the state was liable to be punished by excommunication again the Pope though he represented the unity of Italy did not scruple to call in the assistance of the foreigner three times did three several Charles's of the House of France crossed the Alps and devastate the plains of Italy to fight the battles of the Pontiff the church was more anxious for the accomplishment of its private ends than for the liberation of Italian territory Machiavelli describes the views of the best political thinkers of his age when he argues that the truest hope of regeneration for Italy lies in the exclusion of the clergy from civil offices it was a constant weakness to the Guelph party that it had the Pope as its leader but in the course of a minute and fretful struggle the objects of both parties had been confused and half forgotten they had become mere party cries mixed with a hundred associations of ancestral hatreds and inherited feuds in some cities the parties had received new names in others one or other of them had split into sections as divergent and as bitter as the dissensions of the parent stocks in the 14th century there was scarcely a city in Italy which was not distracted by the bloodthirsty quarrels of a traditional vendetta it might well be urged who should still this raging sea but the commanding voice of Caesar what force should weld these chaotic elements into a living organism except the strong hand of imperial power this was the view of Dante he who had seen nothing but order and harmony in the spheres of paradise preferred even tyranny to the confusion which reminded him of the turmoil of the circles of hell the history of Florence at this time offers a good example of the struggles of the two parties the city, although its sympathies were mainly Guelph was divided into two factions Frederick had driven out the Guelph and established the Ghibeline in its place immediately after his death the Guelph exiles were recalled this was the time as the historian Vellani tells us of great simplicity of manners a simplicity which Dante is constantly regretting on October 20th, 1250 even before the death of the emperor the people rose in rebellion against the power of the nobles they met in the square before the church of Santa Croce the Westminster Abbey of Florence the burial place of its illustrious dead deposed the Podesta established a government consisting of a senioria of twelve members two chosen from each of the six wards of the town renewable every two months they then formed a national militia to defend their independence they pulled down the fortresses of the nobles and built out of the materials a public palace for their magistrates the present Botticello the chapel in which contains what is believed to be the portrait of Dante painted by Giotto after the return of the Guelph exiles steps were taken to gain over the neighboring cities to the Guelph cause Luca was the only town which had given its adherence to that party Pistoia, Siena, Pisa, Volterra were Ghibeline the success of this movement was extremely rapid Pistoia soon submitted the peasants were driven within their walls and the territory of Siena was overrun in memory of these events the Florentines coined for the first time their golden floren stamped with the emblem of Vigilio or Lily though changed in weight and fineness the floren existed until within the memory of men now living the year 1254 which the Florentines call the year of victories witnessed the final triumph over Siena, Pisa and Volterra ten years later the epoch of vengeance arrived in 1258 the Ghibeline nobles who had lived peaceably under the popular government were driven out because they were suspected of conspiracy they had recourse to Manfred king of Sicily the natural son of Frederick II who had assumed the crown as the representative of his nephew, Condradine the Ghibeline exiles the chief of whom was Farinata Deili Uberte had taken refuge in Siena a city always true to the Ghibeline cause Florence declared war against the town Manfred sent a small company of a hundred men to its assistance by the machinations of Farinata this puny force was cut to pieces and the banner of the king of Sicily was trailed in the dust the honor of Manfred was engaged and he dispatched a large contingent to avenge the insult Farinata again displayed his adroitness by stirring up the Florentines to a premature attack on October 4th 1260 was fought the battle of Montaperti sometimes called the battle of the Arvia the first great shock of arms between Guelphs and Ghibelines on the Florentine side were collected soldiers from all the Guelph cities Pistoia, Prato, San Miniatto, San Geminiano and Cole di Valdelza this party was superior in numbers to their enemies but they were surprised and surrounded by the Germans of Manfred and the Ghibeline exiles whom they had expelled the hand which bore the standard of Florence was cleft in two by the sword of a traitor the Guelph army was utterly defeated Florence alone lost 2,500 men there was fiercely a family which had not to lament the loss of one of its members of the Guelph army 10,000 were killed and many more were taken prisoners the condition of Florence after this defeat was terrible indeed it was sunk in hopeless apathy and despair the citizens were equally afraid of treachery from within and vengeance from without nine days after the battle the chiefs of the Guelph party left the city with their wives and children and were scattered amongst the neighboring cities similar scenes took place within the walls of their allied towns Luca still remained unconquered and received the fragments of the defeated party the Ghibeline exiles re-entered Florence and the city took the oath of allegiance to Manfred in the meantime a diet of representatives from Ghibeline cities came together at Empoli and deliberated on the best means of consolidating their interests the envoys of Pisa and Venice urged that there was only one way of securing a lasting peace to destroy the city which had made itself the nursing mother of the Guelphs and to raise Florence to the ground then Farinata dei li uberti to whom the victory was due rose proud and disdainful as Dante saw him afterwards in the pit of hell and cried no that if I remained alone amongst all the men of Florence I would not suffer my country to be destroyed and that if it were necessary to die a thousand deaths for her a thousand deaths would I willingly die he then left the assembly the Ghibelines rejected the base proposal of their allies and confined themselves to establishing in Florence a militia of a thousand men under the command of Guido Novello whom they had made Podesta of Florence whilst the towns of Tuscany were thus falling under the power of the Ghibelines the northern plains of Lombardy and of the Valley of the Po were forgetting the noble traditions of the Lombard League the most prominent figure in this part of Italy at this time was Etzelino d'Aromano lord of Padua in 1250 he was 56 years of age and had reigned for 25 years he had married the daughter of Frederick II the world has probably never seen so barbarous a monster he had no regular system of government or administration but attempted to found an empire by wholesale murder one of the first acts of the new Pope Alexander IV in 1255 was to proclaim a crusade against him and to call upon all good Christians to hunt him down like a wild beast the cause was indeed a worthy one after the death of Frederick Etzelino had thrown aside what shreds of decency that hitherto veiled his actions Padua had become a charnel house when his victims had died in his prisons Etzelino sent their corpses to their native towns to be beheaded in the marketplace nobles were slain by his satellites in crowds their bodies cut in pieces and burnt the whole town resounded with the groans of the tortured and the dying every kind of excellence fell a victim to his fury birth, wealth, learning, piety, beauty and promise were held to be sufficient cause to justify a disgraceful death the war against Etzelino began in 1256 Venice placed herself at the head of the crusade Etzelino had made himself master of Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Feltre and Beluno Padua was captured by Acuda Ma Etzelino repaid himself for this insult by a terrible revenge a third of his army consisted of soldiers levied either in Padua itself or in the surrounding districts by a cruel stratagem he persuaded these men to surrender themselves threw them into prison and put them all to death the war continued for several years Etzelino depended on the assistance of the Lombard nobles but they were gradually estranged by his cruelty and faithlessness after taking the castle of Priola situated between Bassano and Vicenza he condemned all the inhabitants men, women and children lay and cleric to the same punishment he put out their eyes, cut off their noses and their legs and sent them to crawl mutilated about the country and beg for alms at length in 1259 Etzelino was taken prisoner at Cassano after being wounded and died by his own hands all the towns which had been subjected to his tyranny submitted to the Pope and to the Guelphic League although this danger had been got rid of, no town in the northern plains of Italy except Venice was able to establish a durable republic the poet tells us that liberty has two voices one of the sea and the other of the mountains freedom dwells upon the heights and not upon the plains the plains of Lombardy were peculiarly suited to the evolutions of cavalry and cavalry was especially the arm of the nobles as infantry was of the citizens in the towns hence the great towns Milan, Verona and Padua were no sooner free from one master than they fell under the dominion of another this encroachment was also assisted by the fact that the towns were obliged to allow themselves to be defended by some nobles of their choice against the attack of a robber chieftain who might swoop down upon them from the mountains they were obliged to oppose cavalry of their own to the cavalry of their enemies we find the power of more than one of these houses raised upon the ruins of the authority of Etzelino the house of della Torre was established at Milan to be succeeded in its turn by the houses of Visconti and Sforza Verona now committed itself to the family of della Scala who reigned with unsullied glory for more than two centuries who offered an asylum to the exiled Dante and gave a scaliger to scholarship Ferrara entrusted itself to the house of Este that illustrious line linked with the fortunes of the poet Tasso and through Brunswick with the throne of England on the whole the Guelph party gained but little by the overthrow of Etzelino the Pope found himself encompassed by gibbalines on the south and on the north and our succeeding narrative will show what steps he took to recover his power and to rescue himself from his enemies it will now be convenient to give a sketch of the early history of Venice which had in existence apart from the other towns of northern Italy it knew of no struggles between gibbalines and Guelphs as its attention was mainly directed to the commerce of the east founded as an offshoot from Aquilea amongst the islands and lagoons at the head of the Adriatic Gulf it was at first governed as a part of the eastern empire the power of the Exarchate of Ravenna now became too weak to control it and the isolated community elected rulers or doges of its own at first these elections showed a strong tendency to be continued in the same family and precautions were taken to prevent the office from becoming hereditary in 1032 two counselors were placed on the side of the doge whose consent should be necessary to any determination which he might take their number was afterwards increased to six one for each ward of the city and they were added to the government the three heads of the Quarantia or Great Court of Justice the doge was from the first elected for life this body of ten formed the chief executive and administrative power of the republic the great council the Grand Concilio representing the people consisted in its earliest form of 480 members it was chosen by a method of double election the people chose two electors from each Cestiere or Ward each of these 12 chose 40 counselors from his own part of the city not more than four members might be taken from the same family it has already been stated that the administration of justice was committed to a Quarantia or a council of 40 established for the first time in 1179 besides the said cabinet of 12 and the popular body nearly as large as our house of commons there was an intermediate senate or council of Pregadi there as their name implies had been at first persons prayed or invited by the doge to assist him with their council and advice in 1229 they became a regular part of the constitution their number was then fixed at 60 and they were nominated by the great council their business was to prepare measures for the great council and to watch over commercial and foreign affairs such were the features of the ordinary constitution on grave and important occasions an appeal was made to the people as a whole the popular assembly was called Arengo at Venice and Parliamento at Florence by gradual steps the power of the Arengo was abolished that of the grand concilio confirmed and that of the doge limited in every direction until the state was eventually governed by a close oligarchy of prosperous merchants we may anticipate chronologists by completing the sketch of the development of the Venetian constitution in 1229 two new sets of officers were appointed the Cinque corretori della promissione ducale whose duty it was to revise the oath taken by the doge at his election and the three inquisitore del doge del Funto whose business was to inquire into the conduct of the late doge and if necessary to condemn his memory and to find his heirs the duty of laying these matters before the high court was committed to public prosecutors the avogadori of the republic the promise of the doge was a species of national charter which might be amended at each avoidance of the office in 1172 the election of the doge had been transferred from the people to grand concilio the council delegated for this purpose first 24 and then 40 members reduced by lot to 11 in the middle of the 13th century the method of the election of the doge became more complicated the members of the grand council who were over 30 years of age drew from a bag balls partly guilt and partly silvered the 30 who drew the gilded balls again cast lots for nine of their number whose business it was to appoint 40 men of different families 7 out of the 9 voices being necessary for a choice these 40 drew lots for 12 of their number the 12 chose 25 each of whom required to have 9 votes for his election the 5 and 20 cast lots for 9 the 9 chose 45 each of whom needed 7 voices for his election this body of 5 and 40 after taking an oath to make a choice according to their consciences through the names of the persons whom they wished to appoint doge into a vessel if the votes were found to be scattering they repeated the process until 25 were given for one person who was then declared elected such was the jealous nature of this close oligarchy the Venetians took but a moderate interest in the affairs of Italy in the 12th century Dondolo had established himself at Constantinople and in 1225 it was debated whether the capital of the republic should not be transferred to the shores of the Bosporus this was not carried but many islands of the Aegean sea were partitioned as fiefs amongst noble families and Crete especially was formed into an image of the mother state with a doge of its own and a hierarchy of privileged nobles in 1661 when Crete was captured by the Turks the Condian nobles were transferred to the Libro d'Ordre the golden book the register of the Venetian nobility a war broke out between Venice and Genoa which had the effect of detaching Venice from the Guelph cause and allying her with the Ghibeline Pisa this new alliance was an additional reason why the pope should strain every nerve to preserve his party and should employ the somewhat questionable methods which will be treated of in the ensuing chapter End of Section 2 Section 3 of Guelph's and Ghibeline's by Oscar Browning this Librovox recording is in the public domain recording by Pamela Nagami Section 3 Charles of Anjou, Manfred, Conradine, Sicilian Vespers whilst the Ghibeline party was pushing its advance in the north of Italy it was not less successful in the south here its cause was maintained by Manfred, king of Sicily the natural son of Frederick II in 1261 Pope Alexander IV died and was succeeded by Urban IV of Frenchmen of humble birth immediately after his election he directed his efforts to the revival of the Guelphic party he turned against Manfred with savage zeal he attempted, but in vain, to prevent the marriage of Constance the daughter of Manfred with the son of James, king of Atahon an alliance which gave the house of Atahon a claim to the throne of Sicily in his weakness and despair he naturally turned for assistance to Louis IX, king of France it was natural that as a Frenchman he should seek help from his own sovereign and that as Pope he should approach with confidence the most pious monarch in Christendom the Pope offered the crown of Naples to Charles of Anjou brother of San Louis Charles was at this time 45 years of age he held the country of Anjou as a thief of the crown of France and the country of Provence which he held in right of his wife placed him almost on inequality with the reigning sovereigns of Europe his stern and cold but energetic character stands out in strange contrast to that of Charles VIII who followed him in a similar expedition 200 years afterwards just as Charles of Anjou was on the point of marching into Italy and Manfred was marshalling his Saracens to oppose him Urban IV died the sacred college however consisted mainly of cardinals of his nomination and they chose as his successor Clement IV who was if possible more closely devoted than Urban to the interests of the French he invested the army of Charles with the character of Crusaders and treated the war against Manfred as a sacred war Charles took the command of a fleet he escaped the cruisers of Manfred and with a thousand chosen soldiers sailed up the Tiber to Rome in the meantime his wife led an army of 30,000 men across the passes of the Alps as the Pope was at Perugia Charles was crowned king of the two Sicilies by commission he accepted the following conditions first that in the case of failure of heirs the crown should revert to the church secondly that it should be tenable with the diadem of the empire as lordship of Lombardy or Tuscany and thirdly that he would cede to the Pope the Duchy of Beneventum and pay a subsidy to the Roman sea the two armies of Manfred and Charles met in the plain of Beneventum not far from the place where the power of Rome was for a time destroyed by Hannibal in the battle of Cannae Manfred desired to negotiate but Charles replied to him go and tell the Sultan of Noceira that I wish for nothing but a battle and that today I will either send him to hell or he shall send me to paradise Manfred was utterly defeated and lost his life and his crown his naked body was brought to Charles thrown across a donkey's back and was denied Christian burial it was first thrown into a pit at the end of the bridge of Beneventum and each soldier of the army as he passed by cast a stone upon the body at a later period the bones of the heretic monarch were cast out of the kingdom by the order of the Archbishop of Cusenza and exposed upon the banks of the Rio Verde the battle was fought on Friday February 26th 1266 Manfred's wife and children were thrown into prison and afterwards put to death the city of Beneventum was ravaged and destroyed the victory of Charles had the effect of reviving the Guelph party at Florence Guido Novello, Count of Batifole who since the battle of Montaperte had been the head of the Ghiblien party in that city saw the necessity of coming to terms with his adversaries 12 guilds or corporations were formed 7 of them of the higher occupations the Arti Maggiore such as the juror's consults, the bankers the Calimala or makers of fine Italian cloth and 5 of the Arti Minori the tanners, butchers and cobblers then was formed the nucleus of a commercial aristocracy which was to play an important part in the future history of the city but in the spring of 1269 Charles established the Guelph party in power with the help of 800 cavalry under the command of Guido Molfor son of the famous Earl of Leicester the father of the English Parliament Charles was not allowed to hold the crown of the two Sicilies without a struggle a young lad was preparing in the heart of Germany an expedition to recover the possessions of his father the legitimate son of Frederick II was the emperor Conrad IV Conrad had at his death left a young son also named Conrad but better known as Conradine Manfred did not deny his claim and affected to hold the kingdom of Naples in his name Conradine was now at the threshold of early manhood he had just been married and had been educated by his mother Elizabeth at the court of Bavaria in full knowledge of the rights to which he was heir he had always refused to fight against Manfred for the recovery of his interests but he was now assailed by the entreaties of the different sections of the Ghibeline party that he would set himself to attack the usurper Charles the old comrades of Manfred urged the youth to avenge his father the Ghibelines of Tuscan he promised their assistance the great nobles of the Valley of the Po assured him that they were holding their armies at his disposition the French were represented as out raging every right of God and man Conradine it was said would be received as a deliverer by the population of Italy he could not resist the urgency of these offers supported by the instincts of his own chivalrous nature and the keen remembrance of his private wrong his cousin Frederick of Austria only a few years older than himself whose estates were at this time occupied by Odochar King of Bohemia offered to share his danger after taking an affecting leave of his mother and wife at Hohen Schwangau that romantic nest of lakes in which the ill-fated Ludwig of Bavaria found a congenial home Conrad crossed the Brenner and arrived at Barona toward the end of the year 1267 with an army of 3,500 men he traversed Lombardy without difficulty and was soon encouraged by two unexpected advantages Rome and Sicily declared for his cause the post of senator of Rome was at this time held by Henry of Castile cousin of Charles of Anjou and Frederick of Castile his brother had roused Sicily to support the Schwabian cause at the same time the Saracen soldiers of Manfred raised the standard of revolt in Apulia Conradine was received with enthusiasm by the Ghiblien cities of Pisa and Siena on Easter day 1268 the Pope who was then at Viterbo who had repeatedly summoned the lad to lay down his arms solemnly excommunicated him the young prince by way of reply paraded his army before the walls of the city Clement as he saw Conradine and Frederick of Austria right past at the head of their troops exclaimed to his cardinals behold the victims who are being led to the sacrifice Conradine left Rome where he had been well received on August 18 to march into the kingdom of Naples the most natural road for him to take would have led through the great Latin plain which stretching far to the south beyond the Albed Mount unites itself with the rich expanse of Campania Felix but the banks of the Guerrilliano and the fortresses which defend the kingdom on this side were well manned and Conradine's army was not large he determined therefore to turn aside to Tivoli and by rough mountain roads to reach that central heart of Italy where his grandfather had reigned supreme and which he had covered with castles and cities of a unique and beautiful architecture after his passage across the hills Conradine reached the town of Taliacozo and descended by its steep streets into the plain which was at that time enclosed at its further end by the waters of the Fuccine Lakes of him it might be said as of the priest Umbo Te nemus anguitiae, vitriae te fukinus unda, te liquidy flayware lakus the plain is of large extent on its eastern side rise low and gently sloping hills crowned by the old Roman garrison town of Alba Fucantia whose massive walls are still nearly entire and by the medieval castle of Scurgola at a little distance lies the castle and city of Cilano the castle, one of the finest works of Frederick II the town, the birthplace of Thomas of Cilano the author of that noble requiem hymn, the D.S.E. Ray Charles had reached the plain by crossing the steep mountain range over which runs the road from Aquila such was the field on which was to be fought what is perhaps the most important battle of the Middle Ages known to us by the name of Taliacozo but it might more fitly bear the name of Scurgola the numbers were unequal Conradin had 5,000 horsemen Charles had only 3,000 in the issue of the battle might have been different had not a stratagem been suggested to Charles by an old French knight who had just arrived on his way from the Holy Land like D.S.E. at the battle of Marengo by his advice Charles divided his army into 3 portions 2 of which he set to guard the bridge over the river which traverses the plain for the third he chose the flower of his host and placing himself at their head hid them in a small valley where they could not be seen by Conradin the charge of the Germans was impetuous the French army was entirely put to rout Henry of Cossenza was killed Saint Valérie could scarcely restrain the impatience of the king at length the fitting moment arrived the German troops were scattered over the plain and small bodies reaping the fruits of their victory then the horsemen placed in ambush were let loose upon them and the army of Conradin was entirely defeated Henry of Castile appeared in the field with his Spanish troops too late to give assistance and was soon made prisoner Conradin and Frederick galloped from the scene of disaster and did not draw rain until they reached the sea as they were attempting to escape to Sicily they were captured by one of the Francipani and imprisoned in the castle of Astura their end may be told in a few words Francipani was forced to give up his prisoners and they were confined at Naples Charles went through the mockery of trying Conradin as a rebel against himself his legitimate sovereign the arguments of justice were on one side those of force on the other the sentence of death was announced to Conradin he sat playing chess with his cousin Frederick he was executed in the public square of Naples just before his death he exclaimed how will my mother grieve when she hears of this and threw his glove into the midst of the crowd to be taken up by anyone who would avenge his death Frederick of Austria and Conradin's chief supporters met with the same fate Henry of Castile was spared Conradin was the last of the line of Hohenstaufen and this was the last serious attempt to establish the authority of Germany over the whole of Italy and to make the peninsula dependent on an imperial crown it was strange that the deliverance of Italy should have been affected by a French army against the wishes of the Italian people we have seen in our own time the first impulse to Italian unity and to the expulsion of the Austrians from the country given by a French army at the Battle of Solferino on the other hand it has been remarked that the death of Conradin at Naples was avenged by the surrender of Napoleon III at Sidon the battle of Caliacozzo took place on August 23 the death of Conradin on October 29th, 1268 Charles reigned for 17 years after the defeat of Conradin and died in January 1285 the most important event during this portion of his reign was the massacre of the French in Sicily commonly called the Sicilian Vespers in order to understand this event we must remember first that there was a claimant to the throne of Sicily in the person of Peter of Arujon, son of James who had married Constance, the daughter of Manfred and generally that the position of Charles depended upon the character and sympathies of the Pope for the time being and that these were liable to constant change Pope Clement IV died just one month after the execution of Conradin after which there was a vacancy of the Holy See for 33 months this was favorable to the growth of Charles' power and during this period he took part in the crusade of his brother San Louis in 1271 an Italian Tebaldo Viscount of Piacenza was elected Pope taking the name of Gregory X the chief object of his life was the recovery of the Holy Land from the Infidels and for this purpose he did his best to reconcile the two parties of Guelph and Ghibeline he succeeded in making peace between the two factions at Florence he appeased the differences between the Genoese and Charles of Anjou he put an end to the war which had broken out between Venice and Bologna but he saw that one of the most fruitful causes of disunion and anarchy was the interregnum of the imperial crown and he did not hesitate to secure the election of a strong emperor and to establish a formidable rival to the papal power after the death of Frederick II the imperial throne remained vacant or disputed for many years Conrad IV was recognized as king of Germany by the Ghibelines and William of Holland by the Guelphs in 1257 Richard Earl of Cornwall and Alfonso king of Castile had been elected kings of the Romans by rival factions Richard died in 1271 Alfonso still desired to preserve his title but it was not recognized by the pope at length in 1273 the German electors yielding to the entreaties of the supreme pontiff elected Rudolph of Habsburg emperor he was received by the German princes by the pope and by the church although he was never crowned at Rome he was the founder of a long line of emperors who gradually converted an elective into an hereditary monarchy and his descendants sit on the throne of Austria at the present day the last exploit of Gregory X was to receive the submission of the Greek emperor Michael Palaiologos and to draw up at the council of Lyon rules which were to secure the speedy election of future popes they are in force at the present time and are a safeguard against the occurrence of future regnum such as that which preceded his own election Gregory was preparing to terminate his reign by a great crusade against the infidels in the Holy Land in which the kings of France, England, Ottawa and Sicily should take part under the command of the emperor in person but before this could be accomplished he died suddenly in January 1276 it will be seen that the pontificate of Gregory X however conducive to the peace of Europe was not calculated to develop the power of Charles of Anjou after the death of Gregory three popes succeeded each other in rapid succession in the space of a single year innocent the 5th, Adrian the 5th and John the 20th in 1277, Nicholas III of the House of Orsini was raised to the tiara and reigned for three years he showed plainly that he intended to follow in the footsteps of Gregory X he persuaded Charles to resign his protectorate over Tuscany and attempted to confine him within the limits of the two Sicilies by encouraging the emperor Rudolph to expect a solemn coronation at Rome he obtained from him a recognition of the papal claims over Romagna and the marches he maneuvered to bring about a pacification between the Guelphs and Gibrilines both at Bologna and at Florence unhappily the shortness of his reign prevented him from completing his policy and witnessing his results after his death Charles determined to secure himself against the recurrence of a similar risk he took the election into his own hands won over the friends and adherents of the last pope and obtained the elevation to the papal throne of a Frenchman devoted to his interests Simon de Brie who took the name of Martin IV this election consolidated the predominance of Charles over the whole of Italy the Italian towns were filled with French troops Charles resided with the pope at Viterbo and never let him out of his sight at this moment when at the height of his power he was preparing to conquer Constantinople his authority received a blow from an obscure hand the throne of Sicily as has been already mentioned he was claimed by Peter of Arajon who had married Constanza the daughter of Manfred a certain John of Procida a noble of Salerno who had been the physician, confidant and friend of Frederick II and Manfred and had supported the enterprise of Conradin had retired to the court of Arajon after the battle of Taliocozzo from the year 1279 onwards he devoted himself to the double task of vengeance upon Charles and of establishing the daughter of Manfred in her rights he first went to Sicily where he found everything prepared to favor his enterprise the island which had taken the side of Manfred against Charles was kept down by French soldiers with every species of brutality John advised them to wait for the fitting moment of revenge he then passed on to Constantinople where he warned the Greek emperor of the danger which awaited him and engaged him to assist the king of Arajon with money in order that he might make a diversion in his favor as however Pallaiologus refused to do anything without the consent of Pope Nicholas III John of Procida contrived to obtain this and had just carried back to Bartholona the news of the success of his mission when he was informed of the sudden death of the pope although as might have been expected an embassy from Arajon was coldly received by Martin IV John of Procida did not lose hope he obtained money from Pallaiologus and persuaded Peter to prepare an expedition to be used ostensibly against Africa from which it might at any time be ready to cross over to Sicily while he himself went to that island to foment the general discontent the massacre of the Sicilian Vespers which was the result of these long efforts took place on Easter Monday, March 30th, 1282 the whole population of Palermo was on that day on the road to Moriale to hear Vespers in the magnificent church of the monastery a French soldier had the rashness to insult a beautiful girl under pretense of searching for arms the cry of muoia noi francesi death to the French was raised on all sides and every Frenchman on the ground was killed 4,000 persons were put to death on this night men, women and children were indiscriminately murdered the whole of Sicily was in revolt and Peter of Arajon was invited to assume the crown he disembarked at Trapani on August 30th just four months after the massacre the fleet of Charles was destroyed before his eyes by one of Peter's admirals the two rivals determined to settle their quarrel by an appeal to the fortune of arms a curious sign of the times they agreed to meet at Bordeaux on May 15th, 1283 and to fight against each other each at the head of a hundred knights Sicily was to remain the prize of the conqueror the wishes of the population were regarded as immaterial the king of England was to guarantee the security of the place of conflict Edward refused to give the guarantee demanded Charles appeared at Bordeaux at the time appointed it is uncertain whether Peter ever came there or not but at any rate he declined to fight two months before he had been deposed by the authority of the Pope not only from the kingdom of Sicily but also from the throne of Arajon which was given to Charles of Valois second son of Philippe de Arty the last years of the life of Charles of Anjou were clouded with misfortune during his absence from Naples his eldest son was taken prisoner by Roger de Loria grand admiral of Sicily and the fickle people of Naples proposed to transfer their allegiance to the king of Arajon Charles returned in time to prevent this from taking effect but the shock of ingratitude embittered his last moments the year 1285 witnessed the death of the principal potentates who had been engaged in the struggle which has been narrated Charles of Anjou died on January 7th Philippe de Arty who was engaged in conquering Arajon for his son Charles died after an unfortunate campaign at Perpignan on October 6th Peter of Arajon succumbed on October 6th to wounds received in the same expedition and in the meantime Pope Martin IV the creature of Charles had expired at Perugia on March 25th End of Section 3 Section 4 of Guelphs and Gibbalines by Oscar Browning this Librivox recording is in the public domain recording by Pamela Nagami Chapter 4 Pisa and Genoa Constitution of Florence Pope Celestine V whilst the events which have been described in the previous chapter taking place in the south of Italy the maritime city of Pisa was reaching the culmination of power which preceded its rapid fall the town is a well-known place of pilgrimage to Italian travelers and preserves at the same time memories both of its greatness and of its decline the city is shrunken into a very small space compared with the limits which it once occupied but it offers to our admiration four of the most perfect monuments of early Gothic art the cathedral built of black and white marble large and admirably proportioned a gem and perfect preservation is raised on its marble platform open and visible to all at a little distance rises the baptistry containing the large marble basin used for the blessing of holy water and the baptism of all the children of the surrounding districts as well as the pulpit of Nicholas of Pisa the earliest master of Tuscan sculpture who founded a school which produced Donatello Luca della Robbia Ghiberti and Michelangelo on the other side of the cathedral is seen the circular Campanile or bell tower surrounded by its light arcades tier above tier exquisite in lightness and symmetry made more strange but not more beautiful by the slope which it has taken from the sinking of the soil at the side of these marvels of design lies the Campos Santo or burial ground a quiet cloister enclosed with Gothic arches the center filled with sacred earth from Gethsemane the wall covered with frescoes by the Nozzo, Gozolo and Orcania here are buried the illustrious dead of Pisa here is deposited in an old Roman sarcophagus the body of Henry of Luxembourg whose career will claim our attention further on the town is still watered by the Arnull a mightier stream than when it flows through Venice deep and navigable by sea worthy galleys but the old port is silted up and grass grows in the deserted streets the curse of Dante who prayed that the island of Gorgona might dam up the mouth of the river has been fulfilled even the delicate invalids who a hundred years ago found in Pisa and agreeable embracing air now go to Cannes, Monton and San Remo the town exists on memories alone in 1280 Pisa was the sovereign city of a wide domain her territory along the coast extended from the marches of the Marema on the south to the gulf of Spezia on the north where it met with the hostile power of Genoa Pisa possessed nearly the whole of Sardinia, Corsica and Elba the position of Corsica was peculiar that island is divided into two parts by a very high range of mountains whose summits rival the loftiest peaks of the Apennines at a time when all communication was affected by sea the two sides of the island knew very little about each other they stood as it were back to back one half owning allegiance to Ayacho the other to Bastia the western half dependent on Genoa the eastern to Pisa besides these possessions Pisa had factories at Saint-Jean d'Arc and at Constantinople the weakness of Pisa consisted in the plain which lay behind it that was occupied by a number of hostile towns Luca, Florence, Arezzo always ready to take advantage of a moment of misfortune Genoa on the other hand her victorious rival was backed by the ridge of the impassable Apennines the Coroniche or narrow ledge of Coast Road between Genoa and Spacia offered points of vantage for many a little town which old allegiance to her proud mistress but to no one else the busy ports were well suited for shipbuilding the sea supplied the wealth and sustenance which the hills denied every village sent forth its contingent of hardy sailors no one worthy fellow countrymen of Columbus for these reasons the contest between the two cities was unequal and the issue could not be doubtful their rivalry after continuing for a long time sometimes after the manner of a tournament with elaborate displays of force and a chivalrous indifference to secrecy of preparation terminated in a great disaster on August 6th, 1284 was fought the great battle of Melodia in which the peasants were entirely defeated the fleets of the two cities met in seeming equality and the accounts of the battle and their minuteness of detail and their painful insistence on individual disaster remind us of the terrible defeat of the Athenians and the great harbor of Syracuse as narrated by Thucydides Gally contended with Gally and man with man there was no smoke to obscure the horrors of the fight at length when the fortune of the battle was wavering thirty Genoese galleys which had been concealed behind the island of Melodia hastened to the attack and rendered the result no longer doubtful five thousand peasants were slain eleven thousand were taken prisoners of whom only one thousand returned at the conclusion of peace fifteen years afterwards peasants never recovered the blow the source of her noble families was dried at its fountain head the towns of Tuscany seized the opportunity to complete her destruction Florence, Luca, Siena, Pistoia, Prato, Volterra, San Gimignano and Cole signed an alliance with Genoa for the destruction of their common enemy this calamity was averted by the diplomatic skill of Count Ugollino della Gerardesca who by persuasion and bribery sowed dissension amongst the members of the league the count was afterwards imprisoned with his sons and grandsons by Archbishop Roger in the Torre della Fame, the Tower of Hunger the key was thrown into the Arno and they were left to perish the narratives of this horrible deed of vengeance form one of the most thrilling episodes in the hell of Dante we must now turn our attention to the affairs of Florence, the city of Dante himself it has been stated above that in the year 1250 after the death of Frederick II the primo popolo that is the upper middle classes who formed a commercial aristocracy began to raise its head and to assert itself against the nobility this party deposed the existing Podesta and appointed some new officers 36 Caporali or heads chosen from the six divisions of the city a capitano del popolo or captain of the people and 12 Anziani or ancients to serve as his council in each ward was organized a company of trained bands each under his own standard bearer while to the captain of the people was entrusted the gonfalone del popolo the standard of the people half white and half red the towers of the nobles were reduced in height so as to be no longer formidable from this time the capitano who was required to be a foreign knight and a doctor of law stood by the side of the Podesta as the defender of the people this change of constitution was a decidedly Guelphic movement and contributed to the supremacy of that party until its defeat at the battle of Montaperti in 1260 after this defeat Florence suffered less than might have been expected various devices were invented with a view of holding the balance between the two parties the office of Podesta was committed to two fratigodenti from Bologna who were supposed to belong one to the Guelph and the other to the Gibriline party this order had been founded in 1233 to appease the strife between Guelphs and Gibrilines they appointed 12 Buonomini or overseers chosen from both parties to assist them the guild of Calimala the makers of fine Italian cloth took the lead in the state under the protection of the Buonomini arose the organization of arts or guilds which has been already mentioned above these guilds were organized with capitudini or heads and collegi or assessors and with captains of companies with the right to banners and soldiers of their own besides the 12 guilds 7 of the greater trades and 5 of the lesser 9 industries of still lower rank strove for recognition at a later period the final result of these popular or quasi popular reforms was to reestablish the supremacy of the Guelphs an institution called the capitani di parte Guelpha was formed consisting of three persons their original duty was to manage the confiscated property of Gibrilines but they afterwards assumed very large political power the scenery of Florence was committed to King Charles of Anjou for ten years while Tuscany became Guelph except Pisa and Siena we have seen above that Popes Gregory and Nicholas were not very anxious for the aggrandizement of Charles's power to carry out their ideas they attempted to effect a new arrangement between Guelph and Gibrilines fourteen Buonomini were appointed by Pope Nicholas in 1280 to form the Signoria and they consisted of eight Guelphs and six Gibrilines but the arrangement only lasted for two years in 1282 a final constitution was made which continued till the close of the liberties of Florence the Signoria was made to consist of six priori chosen from the higher guilds holding office for two months only they were obliged to lodge and have their meals in one house to hold no discussion with anyone except in a public audience and were never to leave the city some changes were subsequently made in the number of these priori they varied from six to twelve and when the six wards were replaced by four quarters became eight in number the method of these elections was often changed at different times but the principal object of the several arrangements was to prevent family influence or jobbery this constitution possessed something of an oligarchical character being directed on the one hand against the grande or nobles who could not be elected to the office unless they were members of the guilds and on the other hand against the populo minuto or lower class who were however at first content to be governed by their wealthier fellow subjects power was thus concentrated in the hands of the upper middle class the rich merchants these arrangements were not sufficient to keep the grande in check and their feuds were the occasion of perpetual disturbance in order to put an end to these quarrels the ordina menta justiciae the ordinances of justice were passed by the populani under jano de la bella in 1292 he being a man of noble family who had been included in the guilds the general effect of these regulations was that the fact of being a grande was an incapacity for holding office and to be made a grande was one of the penalties with which prominent citizens were visited by their political enemies the severest penalties were inflicted on a grande who wounded a citizen the grande were excluded from all places and offices except by the consent of the commune and from the registers of the citizens between the ages of 16 and 70 they could not accuse or bear witness nor appear in court against populani without consent of the priori they were also not allowed to live within 150 elves of a bridge to aid in the execution of these laws e gon faloniere della justicia or standard bearer of justice was appointed he was to be a member of one of the superior guilds to have a vote with the priors and not to belong to any house from which any of the priors came the office was to last for two months and to be filled by persons chosen from the six wards of the city successively this important functionary had in his charge the gon faloniere or standard of the people and had under him a body of chosen foot soldiers first 1000 in number then increased to 2000 and in 1295 to 4000 similar arrangements were made in the districts around Florence so that a militia was always ready to crush any uprising on the part of the nobles it is interesting to remember that the great poet dante who was born in 1265 possibly took part in these constitutional changes and that brunetto latini his preceptor was notario del comune or town clerk it is also probable that dante fought in the battle of compaldino on June 11th 1289 a battle in which the gibbeline inhabitants of orezzo were entirely defeated but which did not enable the united armies of Florence and Siena to take the town before we pursue the interior history of Florence further we must turn our attention to the events which were taking place at this time in the other parts of Italy Pope Martin IV the creature of Charles of Anjou was succeeded by two popes who were indeed Italians but who had no influence either on Italian or on European history Pope Honorius IV of the illustrious family of Civelli was unable to pray or to celebrate mass or to perform the most ordinary ecclesiastical duties without mechanical aid he reigned for two years from 1285 to 1287 Nicholas IV his successor is chiefly known for his subservience to the interests of the noble family of Colonna he died in 1292 after his death there was a vacancy of the Holy See for more than two years this interregnum resulted in the election of a pope whose life and reign was characteristic of the Middle Ages not to claim our attention the city of Solmona the birthplace of the poet Ovid is situated in one of the wildest and most romantic districts of Italy it lies at the extremity of that great central valley of which we have before spoken in which were founded Corfinium the capital of the Samite League and Aquila the capital of the emperor Frederick II it is a cold and bleak region chilled by the eternal snows of the mighty peaks of the Grand Sasso d'Italia and the Matese in a cavern hallowed out of the steep rock not far from Solmona had lived for many years an aged hermit, Pietro di Morone his body was wasted with privations and tortures worthy of an Indian fakir but the reputation of his sanctity had spread far and near and his wild utterances were taken as the words of prophetic inspiration by a sudden impulse the College of Cardinals decided to elect this holy man as pope he ran away from the deputation sent to do in reverence but was caught and detained by main force and conducted to the Cathedral of Aquila in which he was to receive the papal crown it is difficult to account for his election perhaps the College of Cardinals weary of perpetual intrigue determined to remit their cause into the hands of God and to raise to the headship of Christendom the holiest and most saint-like man they knew the Cathedral of Aquila is one of the most perfect specimens of the Italian Gothic of the time of Frederick II it is said that the door in which the new pope entered has never been opened since and certainly the carved ornaments which surrounded are as fresh as on the day when they were first sculptured as he rode through the streets of Aquila his bridle was held by two kings Charles II of Naples the son of Charles of Anjou who had been liberated from prison by the Aragonese and his son Charles Martel King of Hungary he hired that title by his marriage with the heiress to the Hungarian crown the new Pontiff assumed the name of Celestine V whatever may have been the motives for his election it could not have resulted in a greater failure he was entirely unfit for the most ordinary matters of business he gave away the same benefits to different people he scattered indulgences with the most lavish hand he kept four Lenten seasons in the year instead of one and during these periods was absolutely invisible worse than all he was completely in the power of the Anjouven kings Charles persuaded him to create twelve non-Italian cardinals of whom seven were French and this act of weakness was the final cause of the transference of the papal sea to Avignon at last on December 13th 1294 he resigned the pontificate with the consent of the cardinals ten days later a successor was elected in the person of Benedetto Gaetani who took the name of Boniface VIII Celestine had up to the time of his abdication resided at Naples but Boniface compelled him to accompany him to Rome on the road thither he escaped and took refuge in the hermitage in which he had spent so many years dragged from this by force he sought a refuge in the forests of Apulia and eventually embarked on board ship with the intention of crossing the Adriatic driven back to the coast by a storm he was seized by the emissaries of Boniface and was at last immured in the castle of Fumone which stands on the summon of a lofty rock not far from the valley of the Lyris he was treated with the most cruel rigor he was allowed to see no one except a few hermits of his own order and in this prison he died on May 19th 1296 22 months after his election it is believed that Dante alludes to him as one who made the great refusal placing him in the most despicable part of the inferno amongst the cowards who did neither good nor harm in life as a punishment for having renounced the great office of reforming the church of God however this may be his history should be to us rather significant of the sharp antagonism which existed between the church and the world in the 13th century it shows us how ascetic and self devoted piety while able to influence the mass of the people and to excite the hopes and enthusiasm of some of those who were in high places yet when brought into conflict with the passion so fiercely raging in the world earned for its possessor nothing but a life of torture and a death of ignominy in happier days an ascetic life would be less wildly ascetic and at the same time would not be denied its influence over the affairs of men important changes were now taking place in the government of Italy, Spain and France which had a serious influence over the fortunes of the Italian peninsula Philippe de Arcdie king of France who died in 1285 was succeeded by his son Philippe de Bell his second son was Charles of Valois who had been invested by Pope Martin IV with the crown of Aragón in 1288 Edward I king of England had made peace and Aragón on the following terms Charles II was to be liberated from prison and to be recognized as king of Naples James of Aragón brother of Alfonso king of Aragón who had succeeded Peter of Aragón in 1285 was to be recognized as king of Sicily Charles II was to persuade his cousin Charles of Valois to surrender his rights to the crown of Aragón receiving a compensation of 30,000 pounds of silver this treaty however came to nothing Charles II was crowned by Pope Nicholas IV king of the two Sicilies and Charles of Valois refused to complete his renunciation and on the contrary allied himself with Sancho king of Castile with the view of attacking that kingdom Alfonso forced to submission agreed to surrender the kingdom of Sicily to Charles II on the condition that Charles of Valois gave up his pretensions to the throne of Aragón shortly after this Alfonso died and was succeeded by his brother James who in his turn left the kingdom of Sicily to his brother Frederick thus Sicily lay as a bone of contention between France and Spain the population as before loathing the idea of submission to the rule of the French Boniface VIII on his election to the papacy endeavored to reconcile these conflicting elements he proposed that James of Aragón should marry Blanche of Naples daughter of Charles II with a large dowry receiving also Corsica and Sardinia which belonged at that time to Pisa and Genoa the Pope considering that he was paramount lord of all islands and might give them to whom he pleased in return for this addition to his dominions James was to surrender Sicily to Charles II James was quite willing to assent to this treaty but his brother Frederick the actual ruler of Sicily had to be dealt with he was offered as a bribe to Mary Catherine granddaughter and heir of Baldwin II emperor of Constantinople to charge some of money to assist him in conquering this new empire John of Procida and Roger de Loria veteran patriots of the Spanish cause dissuaded him from accepting this tempting offer when James attempted to stand by the promise he had given the Sicilian barons renounced their allegiance to him and recognized his brother Frederick his king thus the war went on between the French and the Aragonese and Calabria and Sicily and James was compelled to take part against his own brother for some years he assisted Charles II against him but gave up the contest for very shame in 1299 Charles of Valois who had entered Tuscany in 1301 sailed for Sicily in 1302 he had however but little success and soon concluded peace the conditions were that Frederick was to marry Eleonora daughter of Charles II to retain Sicily during his life with the title of king of Trenacria with the promise that after his death the island should pass to the house of Anjou this event did not however take place till the year 1337 and before that time the relations of the chief actors in the drama towards each other had become materially changed End of section 4