No sovereign ever mounted his throne amid greater tokens of
good will on the part of the nation than did King Humbert I on
the death of his father, whom he succeeded as quietly as if the
Italian kingdom had existed for generations under the princes
of the house of Savoy. It was a striking proof how completely
that royal house had identified itself with the national cause,
which had had no firmer supporter than Victor Emmanuel. His son
was no less true to it. He commenced his reign on the 9th of
January, 1878, and proved himself one of the best sovereigns
who ever governed a free people. He faithfully adhered to those
principles of constitutional liberty which have delivered Italy
from despotism, revolution, and foreign occupation. He placed
himself above party strife and took his place as chief of the
nation, leaving to it the exercise of the rights secured by its
free institutions. He devoted himself unsparingly to his royal
duties, and sympathised by word and deed with the nation’s joys
and sorrows. His whole conduct, as that of his queen and his
son, justly won the hearts of his people.--PROBYN.[b]
[Sidenote: [1878-1903 A.D.]]
The entry of Francesco Crispi into the Depretis cabinet (December, 1877)
had placed at the ministry of the interior a strong hand and sure eye at
a moment when they were about to become imperatively necessary. Crispi
was the only man of truly statesmanlike calibre in the ranks of the Left.
Formerly a friend and disciple of Mazzini, with whom he had broken on
the question of the monarchical form of government which Crispi believed
indispensable to the unification of Italy, he had afterwards been one of
Garibaldi’s most efficient coadjutors and an active member of the “party
of action.” Passionate, not always scrupulous in his choice and use of
political weapons, intensely patriotic, loyal with a loyalty based rather
on reason than sentiment, quick-witted, prompt in action, determined and
pertinacious, he possessed in eminent degree many qualities lacking in
other liberal chieftains.[c]
Of Crispi, a less moderate opinion is given in the work of Bolton King
and Thomas Okey[d]:
“Crispi was a much abler man than Depretis. He had, at all events,
grandiose politics, a considerable capacity of leading men, a force
and an insistence that fascinated Italy, and for a time made him more
worshipped and more hated than any Italian statesman of this generation.
He was as unscrupulous as Depretis in his methods, and he had a hardy
inconsistency that came not so much from any deliberate dishonesty as
from an impulsiveness that made him the slave to the passion of the
moment, quite forgetful of the promises and the policy of yesterday.
“At one moment he paraded his friendliness to France, a month or two
later he was irritating her by hot and foolish speeches. Now he posed as
an anti-clerical and free-thinker; now he spoke as one who longed for
reconciliation with the Vatican. In 1886 he said that the ‘workman must
be freed from the slavery of capital’; in 1894 he charged socialism with
‘raising the right of spoliation to a science.’ The wildest fancies,
madcap adventures, anything that was showy and dazzling stood for
statesmanship.
“In 1894 he believed, on the vaguest of forged evidence, that the
Sicilian socialists were plotting to surrender the island to France.
When the Russian exiles crowded into Italy after the assassination
of Alexander II, Crispi, then an ex-minister and over sixty years
old, preached a crusade of civilised nations against Russia. He was a
savage, passionate fighter, who stuck at no severity, however unjust or
unconstitutional, towards a political opponent, and whose intolerance
grew till the ex-democrat became essentially a despot.”[d]
Hardly had Crispi assumed office when the unexpected death of Victor
Emmanuel II, as previously described, stirred national feeling to
an unprecedented depth, and placed the continuity of monarchical
institutions in Italy upon trial before Europe. For thirty years Victor
Emmanuel had been the central point of national hopes, the token and
embodiment of the struggle for national redemption. He had led the
country out of the despondency which followed the defeat of Novara
and the abdication of Charles Albert, through all the vicissitudes of
national unification to the final triumph at Rome. His disappearance
snapped the chief link with the heroic period and removed from the helm
of state a ruler of large heart, great experience, and civil courage, at
a moment when elements of continuity were needed and vital problems of
internal reorganisation had still to be faced.
Crispi adopted the measures necessary to insure the tranquil accession
of King Humbert with a quick energy which precluded any radical or
republican demonstrations. His influence decided the choice of the Roman
Pantheon as the late monarch’s burial-place, in spite of formidable
pressure from the Piedmontese, who wished Victor Emmanuel II to rest
with the Sardinian kings at Superga. He also persuaded the new ruler to
inaugurate, as King Humbert I, the new dynastical epoch of the kings of
Italy, instead of continuing as Humbert IV the succession of the kings of
Sardinia.
Before the commotion caused by the death of Victor Emmanuel had passed
away, the decease of Pius IX, February 7th, 1878, had, as we have
seen, placed further demands upon Crispi’s sagacity and promptitude.
Like Victor Emmanuel, Pius IX had been bound up with the history of
the Risorgimento, but, unlike him, had represented and embodied the
anti-national, reactionary spirit. Having once let slip the opportunity
which presented itself in 1846-1848, of placing the papacy at the
head of the unitary movement, he had seen himself driven from Rome,
despoiled piecemeal of papal territory, reduced to an attitude of
perpetual protest, and finally confined, voluntarily, but still confined,
within the walls of the Vatican. Ecclesiastically, he had become the
instrument of the triumph of Jesuit influence, and had in turn set his
seal upon the dogma of the immaculate conception, the syllabus, and
papal infallibility. Yet, in spite of all, his jovial disposition and
good-humoured cynicism saved him from unpopularity, and rendered his
death an occasion of mourning. Notwithstanding the pontiff’s bestowal of
the apostolic benediction _in articulo mortis_ upon Victor Emmanuel, the
attitude of the Vatican had remained so inimical as to make it doubtful
whether the conclave would be held in Rome.
Crispi, whose strong anti-clerical convictions did not prevent him
from regarding the papacy as pre-eminently an Italian institution, was
determined both to prove to the Catholic world the practical independence
of the government of the church and to retain for Rome so potent a
centre of universal attraction as the presence of the future pope. The
sacred college of cardinals having decided to hold the conclave abroad,
Crispi assured them of absolute freedom if they remained in Rome, or of
protection to the frontier, should they migrate; but warned them that,
once evacuated, the Vatican would be occupied in the name of the Italian
government and be lost to the church as headquarters of the papacy.
The cardinals thereupon overruled their former decision, and the conclave
was held in Rome, the new pope, Cardinal Pecci, being elected on the
20th of February, 1878, without let or hindrance. The Italian government
not only prorogued the chamber during the conclave to prevent unseemly
inquiries or demonstrations on the part of deputies, but by means of
Mancini, minister of justice and Cardinal di Pietro, assured the new pope
protection during the settlement of his outstanding personal affairs, an
assurance of which Leo XIII, on the evening after his election, took full
advantage. At the same time the duke of Aosta, commander of the Rome army
corps, ordered the troops to render royal honours to the pontiff should
he officially appear in the capital.
King Humbert addressed to the pope a letter of congratulation upon his
election, and received a courteous reply. The improvement thus signalised
in the relations between Quirinal and Vatican was further exemplified on
the 18th of October, 1878, when the Italian government accepted a papal
formula with regard to the granting of the royal _exequatur_ for bishops,
whereby they, upon nomination by the holy see, recognised state control
over, and made application for, the payment of their temporalities.[c]
IRREDENTISM, THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE AND “TRASFORMISMO”
The partnership of Depretis and Crispi in the cabinet had a short life.
Crispi was attacked as a bigamist, and while the courts declared his
earlier marriage in 1853 null and void and ratified his later marriage,
the popular outcry compelled his resignation. The election of the leader
of the Left, Cairoli, who was an enemy of Depretis and who defeated him
on a taxation question, led Depretis to resign. Cairoli formed a new
cabinet with Count Corti in charge of foreign affairs. He represented
Italy at the congress of Berlin in 1878, where he witnessed Austrian
triumphs over Italian policy. This caused a fall in his popularity and
the activity of revolutionary bodies called irredentists, from their
desire for the “redemption” of Trent and Trieste from Austria, provoked
an agitation which led Corti to resign in October. In November a wretch
named Passanante attempted to assassinate the king at Naples. The king
defended himself with his sabre, but there was an outburst of public
indignation against the ministry in spite of the fact that Cairoli had
bravely thrown himself in front of his sovereign and received a serious
dagger-wound.
Cairoli resigned and Depretis came back into power, only to yield again
to Cairoli in July, 1879. Cairoli’s foreign policy was again so weak as
to merit the epigram of Bonghi,[e] that it was “marked by enormous mental
impotence balanced by equal moral weakness.” In November Cairoli was
compelled to call Depretis to his aid in the face of a financial crisis,
which was made the more dangerous by Depretis’ plan for spending over
forty million pounds on the building of railways.
It was a railway which brought about a misunderstanding with France, and
gave Italy another humiliation in her foreign affairs. Italian influence
in Tunis was threatened by French aggression, and a railway built
there by an English company was the subject of a rivalry between the
two countries. The English courts prevented the French from buying it,
whereupon the Italians secured it at a price estimated at eight times its
value. The next year, 1881, the French, after some difficulties with a
Tunisian tribe, seized Tabarca and Biserta, compelling the bey of Tunis,
who had protested in vain to the powers, to accept a French protectory.
This caused great excitement in Italy, and Cairoli was forced to resign
by a vote of want of confidence.
On account of the dissensions in the party of the Left the king appealed
to the leader of the Right, Sella, but the Left reunited against this
loss of power and Depretis became minister, suffering a new humiliation
in the massacre of Italian workmen at Marseilles on the return of
French soldiers from Tunis. Riots in Rome during a procession carrying
the remains of Pius IX from St. Peter’s to San Lorenzo showed further
governmental feebleness.
A new problem now agitated the politics of Italy. There was an
opportunity to strengthen Italy’s position in the eyes of Europe by
entering a triple alliance with Germany and Austria. The Right strongly
favoured this, but the Centre wished to keep on good terms especially
with France, while Crispi and others in the Left leaned towards Austria.
The irredentist agitation and a fear that Austria might throw her
influence in favour of the papacy decided the matter in favour of the
triple alliance. The visit to Austria of King Humbert and his queen
Margherita furthered the matter. The opposition of Depretis was finally
overcome and the offensive and defensive treaty of the triple alliance
was signed May 20th, 1882. The treaty was, however, kept a secret until
March, 1883. But the position of Italy in the alliance was not one of
much honour, and while it minimised the chances of a restoration of the
papal power, it brought Italy into some danger from France. On March
17th, 1887, the alliance was renewed on better terms for Italy.
In the meanwhile, in 1881, the suffrage had, by lowering the tax
qualifications, been enlarged from 600,000 to 2,000,000; at the same time
it had been extended to practically every man able to read and write.
The state ownership and building of railways, whose income was far less
than estimated, together with the forced currency and the expenditures on
public works and various financial experiments, as well as a tendency to
vote public works in return for local support, have kept Italian finances
in a critical condition, though, in general, the industrial affairs
of Italy have shown a steady improvement and sanitary legislation has
received attention. The increase of the army and of the navy has also
been marked, the new army bill of 1882 having given great satisfaction to
Garibaldi just before his death at Caprera, June 2nd, 1882.
The long tenure of power by the Left had at the same time caused
dissensions in its ranks and frequent compromises with factions of
the Right, causing a gradual partisan “transformation,” called the
_trasformismo_,--it was really another name for chaos. This state of
affairs is generally blamed to Depretis who, in his four recompositions
of his cabinet between 1881 and his death, July 29th, 1887, had made many
alliances with the Right. It is customary to heap upon his memory the
blame for a large part of the financial and political distresses of the
country. He had a large influence also in the none too fortunate colonial
policy of Italy.
In 1884, in return for lending support to the British policy in regard
to Egypt, Italians were encouraged to seize Beilul and Massawa. England
also invited Italy to join her in pacifying the Soudan, an invitation
the more cordially accepted from the massacre in Assab of an exploring
party under the Italian royal commissioner. In January, 1885, an Italian
expedition occupied Beilul and Massawa and began to extend the zone of
occupation. This aroused the _negus_ of Abyssinia and Alula, the _ras_
of Tigré who attacked the Italian exploring parties. The Abyssinians
massacred a force of five hundred officers and men and mutilated the dead
at Dogali, January 26th, 1887. All Italy was horrified at this atrocity
and Crispi, having been called to Depretis’ cabinet, threw his influence
to the vindication of the country’s dignity. The _negus_ of Abyssinia,
though he had 100,000 men against Italy’s 20,000, opened negotiations for
peace and turned against the Mahdists by whom he was defeated and killed
March 10th, 1889. A war of succession arose in which an ancient enemy of
the _negus_, Menelek, king of Shoa, signed the treaty of Ucciali, which
the Italians construed as a protectorate.
But King Menelek, having received the submission of his rival Mangashá,
became more independent in his tone towards the Italians. After an
Italian expedition under General Baratieri had achieved great success in
Eritrea over the Mahdists, Menelek, in 1893, repudiated the Treaty of
Ucciali. His coalition with Mangashá, in which he was easily defeated in
January, 1895, led Baratieri to push on to Adowa and even to Axum, the
holy city of Abyssinia. In December, however, the Abyssinians arose and
the Italian forces suffered several defeats, ending in the great disaster
of Adowa March 1st, 1896, where the Italians lost 6,000 men and nearly
4,000 prisoners. Baratieri fled precipitately, leaving his troops to
follow; but General Baldissera, who had been previously sent to replace
Baratieri, succeeded in making terms with Menelek and securing the
release of the prisoners.
THE POWER OF CRISPI
Shortly after the death of Depretis, Crispi, now sixty-eight years old,
came into power and assumed that predominance which he held for so many
years. Efforts at conciliation with the Vatican, where the pope called
himself a prisoner, had no success. Crispi was strongly in favour of
the Triple Alliance and did little to conciliate French feeling. He had
much support from the Right until, in 1891, he lost his temper during a
speech and rebuked them for their interruptions. Such feeling was raised
against him that he resigned and was succeeded by the marquis de Rudini,
the leader of the Right. Crispi had been accused of “megalomania,” but
he had, by cultivating the friendship of Bismarck and paying him a
visit, so strengthened Italy’s position that the Rudini cabinet seemed
weak by comparison and fell in 1892, being succeeded by Giolitti, whose
administration ushered in “what proved to be the most unfortunate period
of Italian history since the completion of national unity.” Bank scandals
and other revelations of corruption brought about the fall of the
cabinet, weakened by its attitude towards an insurrection due to popular
discontent in Sicily.
[Illustration: A DOORWAY OF ST. MARK’S, VENICE]
The strong hand of Crispi put an end to the riots upon his return in
December, 1893, to the ministry, and heroic efforts were made by his
minister of finance, Sonnino, whose measures were so severe, however,
that Crispi became the victim of an unusually violent war of defamation,
in which his political and private life was exposed to all imaginable
accusation, just or otherwise. An attack was made upon his life by an
anarchist and a few months later a mass of stolen documents were brought
before the chamber by Giolitti, who endeavoured to prosecute Crispi but
was compelled by a counter-suit to flee to Berlin. The radical leader
Cavalotti made another attempt to prove Crispi guilty of embezzlement.
The effort failed, though public respect for the condition of politics
suffered a great diminution. Crispi had gained a great majority at the
election of 1895, but fell before the disaster at Adowa in 1896.
His successor Rudini gave assistance to Cavalotti’s effort to disgrace
Crispi, but without success, as has been said, and after a persecution
of two years a parliamentary commission vindicated Crispi of dishonesty,
though finding him guilty of irregularity. Public discontent brought
about, in May, 1898, riots in the south of Italy. These were put down
with an inexcusable severity especially at Milan where the repression
amounted almost to a massacre. The month before Crispi, who had resigned
his seat in parliament, had been returned by an enormous majority from
Palermo. In June the Rudini ministry fell and Luigi Pelloux, a general of
Savoy, succeeded, but he resigned after a defeat at the polls in June,
1900, and was followed by a moderate liberal cabinet under Saracco.
DEATH OF KING HUMBERT, OF CRISPI, AND OF LEO XIII
Shortly after, July 29th, 1900, an anarchist named Bresci assassinated
King Humbert while he was returning from the distribution of prizes at
an athletic carnival at Monza. King Humbert was a monarch whose personal
magnetism and courage and whose tenderness to his people had atoned for
his lack of great political distinction. During the flood of 1882, and
after the earthquake of 1883, and during the cholera epidemic of 1884,
he had risked his own life to aid the sufferers. He governed in strict
accord with the constitution. His death brought genuine public grief, for
his generosity had won him the name “Humbert the Good.”
The prince of Naples, his only son, succeeded the king, and took the
title Victor Emmanuel III. He was born on November 11th, 1869, and had
married the princess Helena of Montenegro in October, 1896. A daughter,
the Princess Yolanda-Margherita of Savoy, was born to them June 1st, 1901.
On the 12th of August, 1901, Crispi died, leaving behind him a reputation
for forcefulness of character and for intense national feeling, though
there are many acts which his most fervent admirers deeply regret.
The Saracco cabinet had fallen in February, 1901, and was succeeded
by the ministry of Zanardelli who recalled Giolitti, giving him the
portfolio of the interior. The ministry was noteworthy for its somewhat
socialistic spirit which tacitly encouraged great labour agitations;
there were 600 strikes during the first six months of 1901. The general
result was some amelioration of the condition of the labouring classes
and the increase of the socialist strength. Italian finances have also
been somewhat improved.
Pope Leo XIII died after a long illness, July 20th, 1903. While keeping
to the policy of his predecessor in his attitude towards the Italian
government he had brought the Catholic church to a far higher position
of esteem in the eyes of all nations, even of those predominantly
Protestant. His successor, Cardinal Sarto, the patriarch of Venice, took
the name of Pius X and seems to be inclined to a policy of friendship
towards the Italian government, a policy which the king seems eager to
foster. In recent years Italian literature and science have been making
large progress in cosmopolitan favour, and Italy seems destined to a
re-illumination of her ancient splendours.[a]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
BRIEF REFERENCE-LIST OF AUTHORITIES BY CHAPTERS
[The letter [a] is reserved for Editorial Matter.]
CHAPTER I. THE DARK AGE
[b] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _The History of the Italian Republics_.
[c] FRANCESCO BERTOLINI, _Storia delle Dominazioni in Italia_ (in
Villari’s Storia Politica d’Italia).
[d] PIERRE ANTOINE DARU, _Histoire de la République de Venise_.
[e] HENRY EDWARD NAPIER, _Florentine History_.
[f] GIOVANNI BATISTA TESTA, _History of the War of Frederic I against the
Communes of Lombardy_.
[g] ANDREA DANDOLO, _Chronicon Venetum_.
[h] GIOVANNI DIACONO, _Chronicon_.
[i] HEINRICH LEO, _Entwicklung der Verfassung der Lombardischen Städte_.
[k] W. C. HAZLITT, _History of the Venetian Republic_.
[l] PASQUALE VILLANI, the article “Pisa” in the Ninth Edition of the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_.
[m] KARL HILLEBRAND, _Dino Campagni: Étude Historique et Littéraire sur
l’Époque de Dante_.
[n] MALASPINA RICORDANO, _Istoria fiorentina_, in Muratori’s “Rerum
Italicarum Scriptores,” vol. VIII.
[o] E. PROCTOR, _The History of Italy_.
CHAPTER II. IMPERIAL AGGRESSIONS OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY
[b] H. E. NAPIER, _op. cit._
[c] J. C. L. SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[d] G. B. TESTA, _op. cit._
CHAPTER III. THE NORMANS IN SICILY
[b] GOFREDUS MALATERRA, _Rerum Roberti Guiscardi et Rogerii fratris ejus_.
[c] E. A. FREEMAN, articles on “Normans” and “Sicily” in the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_.
[d] HENRY HALLAM, _The State of Europe during the Middle Ages_.
[e] FLODOARD, _Annales_.
[f] ADHÉMAR DE CHABANNES, _Chronicon_.
[g] G. B. DEPPING, _Histoire des Expéditions maritimes des Normands_.
[h] ST. MARC, _Histoire de l’Italie_.
[i] S. ASTLEY DUNHAM, _Europe in the Middle Ages_.
[j] GUGLIELMUS APULIENSIS, _Rerum in Apulia, Campania, Calabria et
Sicilia libri_.
[k] ANNA COMNENA, _Alexias_.
[l] E. GIBBON, _The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_.
[m] HUGO FALCANDUS, _Historia Sicula_, in Muratori’s “Rerum Italicarum
Scriptores,” vol. VII.
CHAPTER IV. THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY
[b] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[c] H. E. NAPIER, _op. cit._
[d] LORENZO PIGNOTTI, _The History of Tuscany_.
[e] MALASPINA, _op. cit._
[f] N. MACCHIAVELLI, _History of Florence_.
[g] G. B. TESTA, _op. cit._
[h] B. DUFFY, _Tuscan Republics_.
CHAPTER V. THE FREE CITIES AND THE EMPIRE (_First Half of the Fourteenth
Century_)
[b] P. A. DARU, _op. cit._
[c] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[d] GIOVANNI VILLANI, _Florentine History_.
[e] L. PIGNOTTI, _op. cit._
[f] H. E. NAPIER, _op. cit._
[g] N. TEGRIMUS, _Vita Castruccio_.
[h] MALASPINA, _op. cit._
[i] N. MACCHIAVELLI, _op. cit._
[j] BOCCACCIO, _Decameron_.
CHAPTER VI. THE VANGUARD OF THE RENAISSANCE
[b] J. A. SYMONDS, _The Renaissance in Italy_.
[c] J. BURCKHARDT, _The Civilisation of the Period of the Renaissance in
Italy_.
[d] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[e] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _The Literature of Southern Europe_.
[f] GIOVANNI VILLANI, _op. cit._
[g] KARL HILLEBRAND, _op. cit._
[h] S. ASTLEY DUNHAM, _op. cit._
[i] E. MÜNTZ, _Les Précurseurs de la Renaissance_.
[j] WM. SPALDING, _Italy and the Italian Islands_.
[k] JOHN RUSKIN, _The Seven Lamps of Architecture_.
[l] GIOVANNI PONTANO, _De Fortitudine_.
[m] HUGO FALCANDUS, _op. cit._
[n] GEBHARDT, _Origines de la Renaissance en Italie_.
[o] DANTE, _Divina Commedia_.
[p] P. L. GINGUENÉ, _L’histoire littéraire de l’Italie_.
CHAPTER VII. ROME UNDER RIENZI
[b] GIOVANNI VILLANI, _op. cit._
[c] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _History of the Italian Republics_.
[d] CARLO CIPOLLA, _Storia delle Signorie Italiani_.
[e] E. G. BULWER-LYTTON, _Rienzi, Last of the Tribunes_.
[f] MATTEO VILLANI, _Florentine History_.
[g] EDWARD GIBBON, _op. cit._
[i] PETRARCH, _Letter to the Roman People_ (from Robinson and Rolfe’s
_Petrarch, the first Modern Scholar and Man of Letters_).
[k] MURATORI, _Italian Antiquities_.
CHAPTER VIII. THE DESPOTS AND TYRANTS OF THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH
CENTURIES
[b] W. SPALDING, _op. cit._
[c] ROBERT COMYN, _History of the Western Empire_.
[d] H. HALLAM, _op. cit._
[e] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[f] ISAAC BUTT, _The History of Italy from the Abdication of Napoleon_.
[g] J. BURCKHARDT, _op. cit._
[h] S. A. DUNHAM, _op. cit._
[i] E. PROCTOR, _op. cit._
CHAPTER IX. THE MARITIME REPUBLICS OF THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH
CENTURIES
[b] S. A. DUNHAM, _op. cit._
[c] CAFFARO, _Annales Genuenses_.
[d] JACOBUS DE VARAGINE, _Chronicon Genuense_.
[e] OBERTUS CANCELLARIUS, _Annales Genuenses_.
[f] GIOVANNI VILLANI, _op. cit._
[g] ROBERT COMYN, _op. cit._
[h] G. STELLA, _Annales Genuenses_, in seventeenth volume of Muratori’s
collection.
[i] VETTOR SANDI, _Storia civile Veneta_.
[j] H. HALLAM, _op. cit._
[k] W. C. HAZLITT, _op. cit._
[l] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[m] H. E. NAPIER, _op. cit._
[o] L. PIGNOTTI, _op. cit._
[p] E. PROCTOR, _op. cit._
[q] OTTOBONUS SCRIBA, _Annales Genuenses_.
[r] MARCHIRIUS ET BARTHOLOMÆUS SCRIBÆ, _Annales Genuenses_.
[s] UBERTUS FOLIETA, _Annales Genuenses_.
[t] GATARO, _Istoria Padavana_, in Muratori’s collection.
CHAPTER X. THE COMMERCE OF VENICE
[b] J. BURCKHARDT, _op. cit._
[c] G. VILLANI, _op. cit._
[d] SANUTO, _Vile di Duchi di Venezia_, in “Rerum Italicarum Scriptores.”
[e] W. C. HAZLITT, _op. cit._
[f] H. HALLAM, _op. cit._
[g] P. A. DARU, _op. cit._
[h] W. HEYD, _Histoire du commerce du Levant_.
[i] J. LABARTE, _Arts of the Middle Ages_.
[k] SABELLICUS (MARCUS ANTONIUS COCCIUS), _History of the Republic of
Venice_.
CHAPTER XI. THE GUILDS AND THE SEIGNIORY IN FLORENCE
[b] F. T. PERRENS, _Histoire de Florence_.
[c] MATTEO VILLANI, _op. cit._
[d] GINO CAPPONI, _Storia della republica di Firenze_.
[e] N. MACCHIAVELLI, _op. cit._
CHAPTER XII. FLORENCE UNDER THE MEDICI
[b] HEINRICH LEO, _Geschichte der italienischen Staaten_.
[c] ALFRED VON REUMONT, _Lorenzo de’ Medici il magnifico_.
[d] WILLIAM ROSCOE, _The Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici_.
[e] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[f] F. M. A. VOLTAIRE, _Essai sur les Mœurs et l’esprit des nations_.
[g] GIORGIO VASARI, _Le Vite dei pittore, scultori e architetti_.
[h] TRAVERSARI, _Lat. Ep._
[i] POGGIO BRACCIOLINI, _Opera_.
[j] FLAVIUS BLONDUS, _Italia Illustrata_.
[k] ANGELO MARIA BANDINI, _Letters sopra i principi e progressi della
Biblioteca Laurenziani_.
[l] FICINO, _Marsilio Ficino Epist._
[m] AMMIRATO, _Istorie Florentine_.
[n] GIOVANNI CAMBI, _Del. Erud. Tos._
[o] TRIBALDO DE ROSSI, _Ricordanze di Tribaldo de Rossi, Del. degli Erud.
Toscan._
[p] H. E. NAPIER, _op. cit._
[q] GUICCIARDINI, F., _History of Italy from the Year 1490 to 1532_.
[r] N. MACCHIAVELLI, _op. cit._
CHAPTER XIII. ASPECTS OF RENAISSANCE CULTURE
[b] J. A. SYMONDS, _op. cit._
[c] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _Literature of Southern Europe_.
[d] G. VASARI, _op. cit._
[e] PHILIP GILBERT HAMERTON, _The Intellectual Life_.
[f] H. HALLAM, _op. cit._
[g] WORKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.
[h] W. SPALDING, _op. cit._
[i] HERMAN GRIMM, _Life of Michael Angelo_.
[j] WM. ROSCOE, _op. cit._
CHAPTER XIV. THE “LAST DAY OF ITALY”
[b] F. GUICCIARDINI, _op. cit._
[c] BENVENUTO CELLINI, _The Life of Benvenuto Cellini_.
[d] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[e] H. E. NAPIER, _op. cit._
[f] JOHN BURCHARD (or BUCARDUS), _Diary of John Burchard_ (in Cimber’s
“Archives Curieuses de l’Histoire de France”).
[g] W. H. PRESCOTT, _History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella_.
[h] F. A. MIGNET, _Rivalité de François I et de Charles V_.
[i] E. QUINET, _Les Révolutions d’Italie_.
[j] MÉMOIRES DE BAYARD.
CHAPTER XV. THE BEGINNING OF THE AGE OF SLAVERY
[b] J. A. SYMONDS, article “Italy” in the Ninth Edition of the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_.
[c] E. PROCTOR, _op. cit._
[d] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _op. cit._
[e] W. ROBERTSON, _The History of the Reign of Charles V_.
[f] CARLO DENINA, _Delle Rivoluzioni d’Italia_.
[h] CALLEGARE, “Preponderanze straniere” in _Storia politica d’Italia
scritta da una Società di Professori_.
[i] JULES ZELLER, _Histoire de l’Italie_.
[j] M. LAFUENTE, _Historia General de España_.
[k] J. C. L. S. DE SISMONDI, _Literature of Southern Europe_.
CHAPTER XVI. A CENTURY OF OBSCURITY
[b] WM. HUNT, _History of Italy_.
[c] E. PROCTOR, _op. cit._
[d] ANTONIO COSCI, _L’Italia durant le Preponderanza Straniere_ (in
Villari’s work).
[e] H. B. BRIGGS, article “Savoy” in the Ninth Edition of the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_.
[f] WILLIAM WHEWELL, _History of the Inductive Sciences from the Earliest
to the Present Time_.
[g] GALILEO, _Dialogo delli due Massimi Sistemi del Mondo, Tolemaico e
Copernicano_.
CHAPTER XVII. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
[b] ALFRED VON REUMONT, _Geschichte Toscanas seit dem Ende des
Florentinischen Freistaats_.
[c] HEINRICH LEO, _op. cit._
[d] GIOVANNI DE CASTRO, _Patria_.
[e] E. PROCTOR, _op. cit._
[f] W. SPALDING, _op. cit._
[g] GIUSEPPE MONTANELLI, _Mémoires sur l’Italie_.
[h] JULES ZELLER, _op. cit._
[i] CARLO BOTTA, _History of Italy during the Consulate and Empire of
Napoleon Buonaparte_.
[j] J. REINACH, _La France, et l’Italie devant l’histoire_.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE NAPOLEONIC RÉGIME (1800-1815 A.D.)
[b] CARLO BOTTA, _op. cit._
[c] CARLO DENINA, _Storia dell’Italia Occidentale_.
[d] WILLIAM SPALDING, _op. cit._
[e] CESARE BALBO, _Sommario della storia d’Italia_.
[f] HERMANN REUCHLIN, _Geschichte Italiens_.
[g] GIOVANNI DE CASTRO, _Storia d’Italia, 1799-1814_.
CHAPTER XIX. INEFFECTUAL STRUGGLES (1815-1847 A.D.)
[b] ISAAC BUTT, _op. cit._
[c] HEINRICH LEO, _Geschichte der italienischen Staaten_.
[d] W. SPALDING, _op. cit._
[e] J. A. R. MARRIOT, _The Makers of Modern Italy_.
[f] R. H. WRIGHTSON, _A History of Modern Italy_.
[g] J. A. SYMONDS, _op. cit._
[h] COUNTESS MARTINENGO CESARESCO, _The Liberation of Italy_.
[i] GUALTERIO, _Rivolgimenti Italiani_.
[j] F. SASSONE, _France et l’Italie_.
[k] C. A. FYFFE, _A History of Modern Europe_.
[l] JULES ZELLER, _op. cit._
CHAPTER XX. THE LIBERATION OF ITALY (1848-1866 A.D.)
[b] COUNTESS MARTINENGO CESARESCO, _op. cit._
[c] FRANCESCO BERTOLINI, _Etona d’Italia_.
[d] C. BULLE, _Geschichte des Königreiches Italiens_.
[e] TAXILE DELORD, _Histoire du Second Empire_.
[f] FELIX HENNEGUY, _Histoire de l’Italie_.
[g] GEORG WEBER, _Allgemeine Weltgeschichte_.
[h] H. REUCHLIN, _op. cit._
CHAPTER XXI. THE COMPLETION OF ITALIAN UNITY (1867-1878 A.D.)
[b] W. R. THAYER, _op. cit._
[c] MARIE RATTAZZI, _Bonaparte Rattazzi et son temps, documentis
ineditis_.
[d] H. WICKHAM STEAD, “History of Italy,” in the New Volumes of the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_.
[e] F. BERTOLINI, _op. cit._
[f] JULES ZELLER, _Pie IX et Victor Emanuel, 1846-1878_.
[g] COMTE DE BEAUFORT, _Histoire de l’invasion des états pontificaux_.
[h] THE O’CLERY, _The Making of Italy_.
[i] G. S. GODKIN, _Life of Victor Emmanuel II, First King of Italy_.
CHAPTER XXII. 1878-1903
[b] J. W. PROBYN, _Italy from the Fall of Napoleon I in 1815 to the Year
1890_.
[c] H. WICKHAM STEAD, _op. cit._
[d] BOLTON KING and THOMAS OKEY, _Italy To-day_.
[e] RUGGIERO BONGHI, _Leone XIII e il governo italiano_.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: PONTE VECCHIO, FLORENCE]
A GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MEDIÆVAL AND MODERN ITALY
LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED, CITED, OR CONSULTED; WITH CRITICAL AND
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
=About=, Edmund, The Roman Question, New York, 1859, 1 vol.--=Ademar=,
Chronicon Aquitanicum, a history of the Frankish monarchy from its
beginning to 1029.--=Adomoli=, G., Da San Martino a Mentana, Milano,
1892, 8 vols.--=Anna Comnena=, Alexias.
_Anna Comnena_ (1083-1148), daughter of the eastern emperor
Alexis I, was famous for her beauty and her talent. She was
carefully educated by her father, and is said to have early
surpassed all her contemporaries in philosophy and eloquence.
At her father’s death in 1118 she made an unsuccessful attempt
to place her husband, Nicephorus Bryennius, on the throne.
Her _Alexias_, a biography of her father, is one of the most
important works of Byzantine historiography. By some critics,
indeed, it is placed almost on a par with the ancient classics.
=Annales Genuenses=, edited by Pertz, Monumenta Germaniæ historica, vol.
18, and Muratori, vol. 6.
The _Annales Genuenses_, written largely by commission of the
republic, form the most complete series of chronicles of their
age. They cover a continuous period of almost two centuries
(1100-1294). Caffaro, who began the series, was a citizen of
distinction, having served the republic as general, consul, and
ambassador. He kept a careful record of what he himself saw and
what was told him by consuls and others in authority. When in
1152 he presented his book to the consuls they ordered it to be
copied and preserved in the archives of the city. Pleased at
this prompt appreciation, he continued his annals to 1163. He
was succeeded by the chancellor Chertus, whose connection with
the events he relates likewise gives value and interest to his
writing. Other names connected with the annals are Ottobonus,
Marchirius, Bartholomeus, and James D’Oria. The annals are
characterised from first to last by impartiality and precision
and a great abundance of facts, names, and dates.
=Archivio Storico Italiano=, Firenze, 1842 ff., 119 vols. to 1903.
The most valuable collection of documents and chronicles
supplementary to Muratori.
=Arrivabene=, Count C., Italy under Victor Emanuel; a personal narrative,
London, 1862, 2 vols.--=Azeglio=, Massimo Marchese d’, Recollections
(trans. by Count Maffei), London, 1868, 2 vols.
* * * * *
=Bacci=, V., Ricordi del Risorgimento Italiano, Milano, 1890.--=Balzani=,
Ugo, Early Chroniclers of Italy, London, 1883.
This volume, one of the series of _Early Chroniclers of
Europe_, contains accounts and criticisms of all the principal
chroniclers of the Middle Ages from Cassiodorus to Villani.
Including, as it does in many instances, brief extracts from
the originals, it gives a very clear idea of the sources of the
mediæval history of Italy.
=Barth=, H., Crispi, Leipsic, 1893.--=Bartholomeus Scriba=, see Annales
Genuenses.--=Bartoli=, A., I primi due Secoli della Litteratura Italiana,
Milano, 1880, 1 vol.--=Beaumont-Vassy=, E. F., Vicomte de, Histoire des
États Européens depuis le Congrès de Vienne, Paris, 1843-1853, 6 vols.
(vol. V has sub-title États Italiens).--=Bergante=, Count A., I nostri
tempi, Milano, 1884.--=Bersezio=, V., Il regno di Vittorio Emanuele II,
Trent’ anni di vita italiana, Torino, 1878-1893, 7 vols.--=Berti=, D.,
Il conte di Cavour avanti il 1848, Roma, 1886.--=Bertocci=, Giuseppe,
Repertorio Bibliografico delle Opere stampate in Italia nel Secolo
XIX, 1876-1887, vols. 1-3.--=Bertolini=, F., Memorio del Risorgimento
Italiano, Milano, 1899; “Storia delle dominazioni Germaniche in Italia,”
in Storia politica d’Italia, Milano, 1900.--=Bianchi=, N., La politica
di Massimo d’Azeglio 1848-1859, Torino, 1883; La Casa di Savoia e
la Monarchia italiana, Torino, 1884.--=Blanc=, J., Bibliographie
italico-française, Milano, 1886.--=Blasi=, R., La Nuova Italia, Torino,
1891.--=Bonetti=, A. M., I Martiri Italiani, Modena, 1891.--=Boraschi=,
G., Garibaldi nella Storia, Pinerolo, 1884.--=Bordone=, J. P. T.,
Garibaldi 1807-1882, Paris, 1891.--=Bosco=, G., Compendium of Italian
History, London, 1881, 1 vol.--=Botta=, Carlo G. G., History of Italy
during Consulate and Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte, London, 1828, 2 vols.;
Storia d’Italia, Paris, 1837, 14 vols.--=Breganze=, L., A. Depretis ed
i suoi Tempi, Verona, 1894.--=Breslau=, H., Handbuch der Urkundenlehre
für Italien, Leipsic, 1889.--=Browning=, O., Guelphs and Ghibellines
1256-1409, London, 1893.--=Bulle=, C., Geschichte des Königreiches
Italien, Berlin, 1890.--=Bulwer Lytton=, E., Rienzi.--=Burchardus=,
Johannes, Diarium (incomplete) in Labarthe and Cimber’s _Archives
curieuses de l’histoire de France_.
The diary of _Johannes Burchardus_ (died 1506), master of
ceremonies at the papal court and later Bishop of Horta, is
of great importance on account of its reliability. It covers
the years 1483-1506, and is concerned principally with the
relations of France and England.
=Burckhardt=, J., Cultur der Renaissance in Italien, 3rd edition,
Leipsic, 1877.
As _Jakob Burckhardt_ (1818-1897) combines rare literary skill
with great erudition and keen criticism of sources, his is one
of the most useful of German works on the Renaissance.
=Butt=, Isaac, History of Italy from Abdication of Napoleon I, London,
1860, 2 vols.
* * * * *
=Caffaro=, see Annales Genuenses.--=Callegare=, E., “Preponderanze
straniere,” in Storia politica d’Italia.--=Cantù=, Cesare, Histoire des
Italiens, Paris, 1859, 12 vols.
_Cesare Cantù_ (1805-1895) was at the same time an ardent
republican and a devoted churchman, and his history, owing
largely to its popular character and its partisan spirit,
brought its author into wide repute in his own country.
=Cappeletti=, L., Storia di Carlo Alberto, Roma, 1891; Storia di Vittorio
Emanuele II e del suo regno, Roma, 1892-1893, 3 vols.--=Capponi=, Gino,
Geschichte der florentinischen Republik (trans. by H. Dütschke), Leipsic,
1876, 2 vols.--=Carducci=, G., Studi Litterari, Livorno, 1874; La vita
italiana nel cinquecento, Milano, 1894, 3 vols.--=Cassiodorus=, Magnus
Aurelius, Letters (trans. with introduction by T. Hodgkin), Oxford, 1889.
_Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus_ held the highest offices in the
Ostrogothic kingdom from Theodoric to Vitiges. His letters,
which contain the decrees of Theodoric and of his successors,
are the best source of our knowledge of the Ostrogothic kingdom
in Italy.
=Castro=, G., Piccola Storia d’Italia, Milano, 1888; Patria, Milano,
1882.--=Cellini=, Benvenuto, Memoirs (trans. by T. Roscoe), London, 1850;
(trans. by J. A. Symonds), London, 1887.
_Benvenuto Cellini_ (1500-1571), certainly the most celebrated
if not the greatest of goldsmiths, was also the author of
one of the most famous and remarkable autobiographies ever
written. Although he was born and died at Florence, a large
part of his life was spent in restless wandering, for he was
continually embroiled in feuds and implicated in assassinations
in consequence of which he was frequently forced to sudden
flight. His principal works were executed for Pope Clement VII,
Francis I of France and Cosmo de’ Medici the Great. Besides
his work in gold and silver Cellini also distinguished himself
in die-cutting and enamelling and executed a few pieces of
sculpture on a grander scale. Of these the most famous is the
bronze statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa which stands
in front of the old ducal palace at Florence. This is one of
the most typical monuments of the Italian Renaissance, a work
full of the fire of genius and of the grandeur of terrible
beauty. In his autobiography he sets forth with the utmost
directness and animation the history of these works, as well as
his amours and hatreds and his varied adventures. He relates
his homicides with devout complacency and frequently runs into
extravagances that it is impossible to credit but at the same
time difficult to set down as deliberate falsehoods. Cellini
also wrote treatises on the goldsmith’s art, on sculpture and
on design.
=Cesaresco=, Countess E. Martinengo, The Liberation of Italy,
London, 1895; Cavour, London, 1898.--=Cesaroni=, E., La Tradizione
unitaria in Italia, Torino, 1887.--=Chaillot=, L., L’unita Italiana,
Roma, 1882.--=Chierici=, L., Carlo Alberto e il suo ideale, Roma,
1892.--=Cipolla=, C., Pubblicazioni sulla storia mediævale italiana,
Venezia, 1892; “Storia delle signorie italiane,” in Storia politica
d’Italia, Milano, 1900.--=Colletta=, Gen. P., History of the Kingdom
of Naples 1734-1825 (trans. by S. Horner), Edinburgh, 1858, 2
vols.--=Compagni=, Dino, Istoria Fiorentina dal 1280 al 1312, Firenze,
1728 (Muratori, vol. 9).
_Dino Compagni_, a contemporary of Dante, was a man of strict
integrity and straightforward character who held high office
in Florence for many years, and after his retirement wrote his
chronicle of the years during and just after his own political
life. His personal share in the events he relates makes his
chronicle reliable, while its simple, direct style and the
spirit of passionate patriotism with which it is pervaded lend
it unusual interest.
=Comyn=, Sir R., History of the Western Empire, London, 1851,
2 vols.--=Corpi=, F., Il risorgimento italiano, Biografii
Storico-politichi, Milano, 1884.--=Corradino=, C., Storia d’Italia
474-1494, Torino, 1886.--=Corti=, S., Breve del risorgimento italiano,
Roma, 1885.--=Cosci=, A., “L’Italia durante le Preponderanze straniere,”
in Storia politica d’Italia.--=Costa de Beauregard=, A., Les dernières
années du roi Charles Albert, Paris, 1890.--=Crowe=, J. A., and
=Caval-Caselle=, G. B., A New History of Painting in Italy from the
Second to the Sixteenth Century, etc., London, 1884-1866, 3 vols.;
History of Painting in North Italy, etc., from the Fourteenth to the
Sixteenth Century, London, 1871, 2 vols.
* * * * *
=Dandolo=, Andrea, Chronicon Venetum a pontificatu S. Marci ad annum
usque 1339; succedit Raph. Caresini continuatio usque ad annum 1388 nunc
primum evulgata. In Muratori, vol. xii.
_Andrea Dandolo’s_ work, written while he was doge, is the
most important of Venetian chronicles. The author collected
his materials with great diligence and learning, but made
little effort at logical arrangement or artistic presentation.
Though credulous as to fables concerning remote events, he is
unusually reliable when dealing with his own period and that
immediately preceding.
=Daru=, P. A., Histoire de la République de Venise, Paris, 1877-1884,
6 vols.--=Del Lungo=, I., Dino Compagni e la sua cronica, Firenze,
1879-1880, 3 vols.--=Denina=, C. G. M., Delle Rivoluzioni d’Italia,
Firenze, 1820, 3 vols.--=Dennistoun=, J., Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino,
London, 1851-1853, 3 vols.--=Depping=, G. B., Histoire des Expéditions
maritimes des Normands, Paris, 1826.--=Dunand-Henry=, A., Les doctrines
et la politique économiques du Comte Cavour, Paris, 1902.--=Dunham=, S.
A., Europe in the Middle Ages, London, 1833-1836, 4 vols.
* * * * *
=Eliot=, George, Romola, London, 1863.--=Emiliani=, Gindici, Storia della
litteratura Italiana, Firenze, 1855, 2 vols.--=Épinois=, H. de l’, Les
Pièces du Procès de Galilée, Paris, 1877.--=Ewart=, K. D., Cosimo de’
Medici, London, 1899.
* * * * *
=Falcandus=, Hugo, Historia de rebus gestis in Siciliæ regno, etc.
Gibbon said of _Hugo Falcandus_: “He has been styled the
Tacitus of Sicily; and after a just, but immense abatement
from the first to the twelfth century, from a senator to
a monk, I would not strip him of his title; his narrative
is rapid and perspicuous, his style bold and elegant, his
observation keen. He had studied mankind, and feels like a
man.” Although Falcandus was devoted to the interests of the
Norman nobility in Sicily and obtained his information largely
from partisan sources, his history is judicial and impartial to
a considerable degree. He does not suppress nor distort facts
unfavourable to his party, but contents himself with explaining
them from his point of view. Moreover he had a broader view
of history than as a bare narrative of facts, and to him we
owe our only knowledge of a number of details respecting the
political constitution of the monarchy as well as the condition
of the nobility and the people.
=Fantuzzi=, M., Monumenti Ravennati de’ secoli di mezzo,
Venezia, 1801-1804, 6 vols. Documents of the ninth and following
centuries.--=Farini=, L. C., The Roman State from 1815 to 1830 (trans.
under the direction of W. E. Gladstone), London, 1851 to 1854, 4
vols.--=Ferrari=, Giuseppe, Histoire des révolutions d’Italie; ou Guelfes
et Gibelins, Paris, 1858, 4 vols.--=Filiasi=, G., Memorie storiche de
Veneti primi e secondi, Venezia, 1796-1798, 8 vols.--=Flodoardus=,
Annales.
The chronicle of _Flodoardus_ or _Frodoard_, a Frankish bishop,
covers the years 919-966.
=Freeman=, E. A., Historical Essays, First Series, London, 1871; articles
on “Normans” and “Sicily” in Encyclopædia Britannica.
* * * * *
=Gaffarel=, P., Bonaparte et les républiques italiennes 1796-1799,
Paris, 1895.--=Galileo=, The Accusation, Condemnation, and Abjuration
of, 1819.--=Gallenga=, A. (L. Mariotti), Italy, Past and Present,
London, 1846, 2 vols.; The Pope and the King, London, 1879, 2
vols.--=Galluzzi=, R., Storia del Granducata de Toscana, Firenze,
1822, 11 vols.--=Garibaldi=, G., Epistolario di G. Garibaldi, Milano,
1885, 2 vols.; Autobiography (trans. by A. Werner), London, 1889, 3
vols.--=Gaudenzi=, A., Sui rapporti tra l’Italia l’Impero d’Oriente,
Bologna, 1888.--=Gebhardt=, E., Les Origines de la Renaissance en
Italie, Paris, 1879.--=Ghio=, H., La guerra del anno 1866 in Italia,
Firenze, 1887.--=Ghiron=, J., Annali d’Italia, in continuazione al
Muratori, Milano, 1888.--=Ghisleri=, A., Atlantino storico d’Italia,
Bergamo, 1891.--=Giacometti=, G., La Question Italianne 1814-1816, Paris,
1893.--=Gibbon=, E., Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.--=Gilbert=,
William, Lucretia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara, London, 1869, 2
vols.--=Ginguené=, F. L., Histoire Littéraire d’Italie, Paris, 1824-1835,
9 vols.--=Godkin=, G. S., Life of Victor Emmanuel II, First King of
Italy, London, 1879, 2 vols.--=Gotte=, A., La Corona di Casa Savoia,
Firenze, 1887.--=Gregorovius=, F., Lucrezia Borgia, Stuttgart, 1874, 2
vols.; History of the City of Rome during the Middle Ages (trans. by
Annie Hamilton), London, 1894-1902, 8 vols.
_Ferdinand Gregorovius_ (1821-1891) devoted the better part of
his life to the most extensive and minute investigations in the
libraries and archives of Rome, Italy, and Germany. The result
of these studies was his great work, _The History of the City
of Rome_, which is remarkable not only for its scholarship but
for its brilliant and fascinating style. It was translated into
Italian under the authority of the city council of Rome and at
public expense.
=Grimm=, Hermann, Life of Michael Angelo (trans. by Fanny E. Burnett),
London, 1896, 2 vols.--=Guicciardini=, F., History of Italy from
1490-1532 (trans, by Austin P. Goddard), London, 1753, 10 vols.
Since the publication in 1857 of his _Opere inedite_,
_Francesco Guicciardini_ (1483-1540) has stood in the first
rank among political philosophers, even disputing the supremacy
with his friend Macchiavelli. He had a long career as
diplomatist, statesman, and general in which in addition to the
vices of his age he displayed such cold calculation, phlegmatic
egotism and glaring discord between opinions and practice as
to make him perhaps the most odious of his contemporaries.
Yet it is this very want of feeling that gives excellence to
his history. His style is dull and prolix and he has no sense
of perspective, but as an analyst he stands without a rival.
His history is of no interest to the general reader, but is
of great importance for research in the period with which it
deals, 1494-1532.
* * * * *
=Hallam=, H., View of the State of Europe during the Middle
Ages.--=Hartmann=, L. M., Geschichte Italiens im Mittelalter, Gotha,
1897-1900, 2 vols.--=Hartwig=, O., Quellen und Forschungen zur ältesten
Geschichte der Stadt Florenz, Halle, 1875-1880, 2 vols.--=Hawthorne=,
Nathaniel, Marble Faun, 1860.--=Hazlitt=, W. C., History of the
Venetian Republic, London, 1860, 4 vols.--=Hegel=, Carl, Geschichte
der Städteverfassung von Italien, Leipsic, 1847, 2 vols.--=Hennegay=,
F., Histoire de l’Italie depuis 1815, Paris, 1885.--=Heyd=, W. von
Geschichte des Lavantehandels im Mittelalter, Leipsic, 1885-1886, 2
vols.--=Hillebrand=, K., Dino Compagni: Étude Historique et Littéraire
sur l’époque de Dante, Paris, 1862.--=Hodgkin=, Thomas, Italy and her
Invaders, Oxford, 1880-1885, 4 vols.
_Thomas Hodgkin_ is the first to present in English the results
of modern research concerning the barbarian invasions of Italy.
He gives a full description of the social organisation, and
traces in detail the movements of the various Germanic and
Asiatic tribes.
=Hunt=, L., Italian Poets, London, 1846, 2 vols.--=Hunt=, William,
History of Italy, London and New York, 1874.
* * * * *
=Jona=, G., La Rappresentanza politica, Modena, 1892.
* * * * *
=Kington=, F. L., History of Frederick II, Emperor of the Romans, London,
1862, 2 vols.--=Kugler=, F. T., Handbook of Painting. The Italian
Schools. Revised and remodelled from the most recent researches by Lady
Eastlake, London, 1880, 2 vols.
* * * * *
=Labarthe=, J., History of the Arts of the Middle Ages, London,
1855--=Leo=, H., Geschichte der italienischen Staaten, Hamburg,
1829-1832, 5 vols.; Entwickelung der Verfassung der lombardischen Städte,
Hamburg, 1824.--=Locascio=, F., Fa fallita Italica, Rebellione del 1848,
Palermo, 1887.--=Lozzi=, C. Biblioteca istorica della antica e nuova
Italia, Palermo, 1886.--=Luise=, G. di, Storia critica delle Revoluzioni
italiane, Napoli, 1887.
* * * * *
=Macaulay=, T. B., Machiavelli, Essay on, London and New
York.--=Machiavelli=, N., History of Florence and of the Affairs of
Italy, London, 1847; Works translated by Detmold, Boston, 1882, 4
vols.--=Malaspini=, Ricordano and Giacotto, L’Istoria antica dell’origine
di Fiorenza sino all’anno 1281, con l’aggiunta dal detto anno per insino
al 1286, Fiorenze, 1566. (Also in Muratori, vol. VIII.)
Of _Ricordano_ and _Giacotto Malaspini_ we possess but very
meagre and uncertain information. The chronicle bearing their
names was long believed to be the earliest work on Italian
history written in the vernacular, but its authenticity has
recently been questioned. Villani contains much of the same
matter in nearly the same words. It is conjectured that the
so-called Malaspini were of later date than Villani and that
they either copied from him or both copied from a common
source that has not come down to us. All this, however, does
not detract from the picturesqueness and interest of their
chronicle, nor from its reliability as to the facts narrated in
it.
=Malaterra=, G., Historia Sicula, Cæsaraugusta, 1578.
_Godofredus Malaterra_, a Benedictine monk, has left us a very
valuable history of the Normans in Sicily, written at the
command of Count Roger. It ends with the year 1099.
=Manso=, F., Geschichte des ostgothischen Reiches in Italien, Breslau,
1824.--=Manucardi=, F., Reminiscenze storiche, Torino, 1890.--=Manzoni=,
A., La rivoluzione francese e la rivoluzione italiana del 1859, Milano,
1889.--=Marchirius Scriba=, see Annales Genuenses.--=Marriott=, J. A.
R., The Makers of Modern Italy, London, 1889.--=Masi=, E. Fra libri di
storia della rivoluzione italiana, Bologna, 1887; Il segreto del Re Carlo
Alberto, Bologna, 1890.--=Maulde la Clavière=, M. A. R. de, La Diplomatie
au temps de Machiavel, Paris, 1892-1893, 3 vols.--=Mazade=, Charles de,
Le Comte de Cavour, Paris and London, 1877.--=Mazzini=, J., Life and
Writings of, London, 1864-1870, 6 vols.; Essays (trans. by T. Okey),
London, 1894.--=Mignet=, F. H., Histoire de la Rivalité de François
I et de Charles V, Paris, 1876, 2 vols.--=Montanelli=, G., Mémoires
sur l’Italie, Paris, 1859, 2 vols.--=Montarola=, B., Bibliografia del
risorgimento Italiano, Roma, 1884.--=Monumenta Germaniæ historica=, ed.
by G. H. Pertz, G. Waitz, and E. Dümmler, Hanover and Berlin, 1826,
etc., 35 vols.--=Müntz=, E., Les Précurseurs de la Renaissance, Paris,
1881.--=Muratori=, L. A., Italicarum rerum scriptores, Mediolani,
1723-1751, 25 vols.; Annali d’Italia, Milano, 1744-1749, 12 vols.
_Ludovico Antonio Muratori_ (1672-1750), for many years
librarian of the duke of Modena, devoted his long life to
ardent and energetic labour in various fields of scholarship.
His principal work, the _Scriptores_, is a great storehouse of
contemporary documents covering the entire Middle Ages from 500
to 1500 and is the most important collection of the sort.
=Mussatus=, Albertinus, De Gestis Heinrici VII Cæsaris, Historia Augusta.
De Gestis Italicorum post Mortem Heinrici VII. In Muratori, vol. X.
_Albertinus Mussatus_ (1261-1330?) had in his lifetime a wide
reputation as a writer of Latin poetry and was also a prominent
political and military leader in his native city of Padua.
While a friend and admirer of the emperor Henry VII, Mussatus
is however quite impartial and trustworthy as a historian.
His style is much more careful and polished than that of most
chroniclers and part of his work is even composed in verse. His
works are of the first importance among the sources for that
period.
* * * * *
=Napier=, H. E., Florentine History, London, 1846-1847, 6
vols.--=Narjoux=, F., Crispi, Paris, 1890.--=Norlaughi=, A., Catalogo
delle opere relative alle cose italiane del periodo 1815-70, Torino,
1884.--=North American Review=, Italian Literature, 1864-1866; Origin of
Italian Language, 1867.
* * * * *
=Obertus Cancellarius=, see Annales Genuenses.--=O’Clery=, P. K., The
Making of Italy, London, 1892.--=Oliphant=, Mrs. M., The Makers of
Florence, London, 1876; The Makers of Venice, London, 1887.--=Orsi=, P.,
La Storia d’Italia narrata da scrittori contemporanei, Torino, 1887;
Come fu fatta l’Italia, Torino, 1891.--=Ottobonus Scriba=, see Annales
Genuenses.
* * * * *
=Perrens=, F. T., Histoire de Florence, Paris, 1877-1884, 6
vols.--=Perrers=, D., Gli ultimi reali di Savoia ed il principe Carlo
Alberto di Carignano, Torino, 1889.--=Pertz=, G. H., see Monumenta
Germaniæ historica.--=Pflugk-Harttung=, J. v., Iter Italicum, Stuttgart,
1883.--=Pignotti=, L., History of Tuscany (trans. by John Bowring),
London, 1823, 4 vols.--=Pio=, O., Dramma della storia italiana, Milano,
1889.--=Pöhlmann=, Robert, Die Wirthschafts-Politik der Florentiner
Renaissance, Leipsic, 1878, 1 vol.--=Procopius of Cæsarea=, De bello
Gothorum.--=Probyn=, J. W., Italy: from Fall of Napoleon I to 1890,
London, 1891.--=Proctor=, C., History of Italy from the Fall of the
Western Empire, London, 1844.--=Pucciauti=, G., Vittorio Emanuele e il
risorgimento d’Italia, Paris, 1893.
* * * * *
=Quinet=, Edgar, Les Révolutions d’Italie, Paris, 1868, 2 vols.
* * * * *
=Ranke=, L., Geschichte der romanischen und germanischen Völker von 1494
bis 1535, Berlin, 1824, 2 vols.; Zur venetianischen Geschichte, Leipsic,
1878; Weltgeschichte, Leipsic, 1896, 4 vols.--=Reinach=, J., La France
et l’Italie devant l’histoire, Paris, 1893.--=Reuchlin=, H., Geschichte
Italiens von der Gründung der regierenden Dynastien bis zur Gegenwart,
Leipsic, 1859-1873, 4 vols.--=Reumont=, Alfred von, Bibliografia dei
Lavori Pubblicati in Germania sulla Storia d’Italia, Berlin, 1863;
Geschichte Toscana’s seit dem Ende des florentinischen Freistaates
1530-1859, Gotha, 1876, 2 vols.; Lorenzo de’ Medici, the Magnificent
(trans. by Robert Harrison), London, 1876, 2 vols.; Characterbilder aus
der neueren Geschichte Italiens, Leipsic, 1885.--=Revel=, G. di, Da
Ancona a Napoli, Milano, 1892.--=Robertson=, W., History of the Reign
of Charles V, London, 1856.--=Rodocanachi=, E. P., Le comte de Cavour,
Paris, 1891.--=Rorai=, S. di, Il genio della Rivoluzione Periodo I,
1789-1848, Venezia, 1890.--=Rosa=, G., Genesi della colture italiana,
Milano, 1889.--=Roscoe=, William, Life of Lorenzo de Medici, 8th edition,
London, 1845.--=Ruskin=, J., Seven Lamps of Architecture, London, 1849.
* * * * *
=Saint Maro=, C. H. L. de, Histoire d’Italie depuis la chute de l’empire
d’Occident, Paris, 1761-1770, 6 vols.--=Salimbene=, Chronicon Fra
Salimbene Parmensis, Parma, 1857.
A collection of stories without order or design, which gives,
however, a very minute picture of the condition of Italy in the
thirteenth century.
=Sanctis=, F. de, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, Napoli,
1870.--=Sansi=, A., Storia del Comune di Spoleto dal secolo XII
al XVII, Foligno, 1879-1884, 2 vols.--=Sarti=, T., Il Parlamento
subalpino e nazionale, Terni, 1890.--=Sassone=, F., France et Italie
1820-1886, Geneva, 1886.--=Scheffer-Boichorst=, P., Florentiner Studien,
Leipsic, 1874.--=Schmidt=, D. L., Zur Geschichte der Langobarden,
Leipsic, 1889.--=Sewell=, E. M., Outline History of Italy, London,
1895.--=Sheppard=, William, Life of Poggio Bracciolini, Liverpool,
1837.--=Sichirollo=, G. L. S., Compendio della storia d’Italia nel
medio evo, 1890.--=Silvagni=, D., Rome, its Princes, Priests, and
People, London, 1886-1887, 3 vols.--=Simonsfeld=, H., Andreas Dandolo
und seine Geschichtswerke, Munich, 1876; Venetianische Studien, Munich,
1878.--=Sismondi=, J. C. L. Simonde de, History of the Italian Republics,
London, 1832; Literature of the South of Europe (tr. by Roscoe), London,
1846, 2 vols.
_Jean Charles Leonard Simonde de Sismondi_ (1773-1842) achieved
much distinction through his works on history and literature,
particularly his _Italian Republics_ and his _History of
France_. He was exceedingly laborious and for the most part
free from prejudice, but was somewhat lacking in penetration
and historical grasp. Of the _Italian Republics_ Mignet says:
“Sismondi has traced this history with vast learning, a noble
spirit, a vigorous talent, sufficient art, and much eloquence.”
=Spalding=, William, Italy and the Italian Islands, New York, 1842, 3
vols.--=Spano=, M., Reminiscenze sulle lotte degli Italiani per la loro
independenza, Roma, 1886.--=Stella=, G. and J., Annales Genuenses ab a.
1298-1435; in Muratori, vol. XXVI.
_Georgius_ and _Johannes Stella_ take up the history of Genua
at the point where the work of Caffaro and his successors stops
and bring it down to their own day (1435).
=Summonte=, G., Storia della città e regno di Napoli, Napoli, 1601-1634,
4 vols.--=Sweetser=, M. F., Titian, Boston, 1878.--=Symonds=, J. A.,
Renaissance in Italy, London and New York, 1875-1886, 7 vols.; Short
History of the Renaissance in Italy, London, 1893; article, “Italy,” in
Encyclopædia Britannica.
_John Addington Symonds_ (1840-1893) was a man of intense
ardour and sympathy who, having a passion for Italy, made
the study of the Renaissance in that country the work of the
greater part of his life. His writing is always brilliant and
terse, though his views are sometimes not clearly defined nor
unbiased.
* * * * *
=Taine=, H., Art in Italy; Italy--Florence and Venice, New York,
1869.--=Tegrimi=, N., Vita di Castruccio, in Muratori, vol.
XI.--=Testa=, G. B., History of the War of Frederick I against the
Communes of Lombardy, London, 1877.--=Thayer=, W. R., Dawn of Italian
Independence--Italy from 1814-1849, Boston, 1893, 2 vols.--=Tiraboschi=,
G., Literary History of Italy, Edinburgh, 1835.--=Tivaroni=, C., Storia
del Risorgimento, Torino, 1869.--=Trolard=, E., Pèlerinage aux champs de
bataille français d’Italie, Paris, 1893.--=Trollope=, T. A., History of
the Commonwealth of Florence, London, 1865, 4 vols.
* * * * *
=Valery=, N., Historical, Literary, and Artistical Travels in Italy
(trans. by C. E. Clifton), Paris, 1842.--=Vaumicci=, A., I martiri
della libertà italiana, Milano, 1885, 2 vols.--=Venosta=, F., Umberto
I, Re d’Italia Milano, 1885.--=Venturi=, Mrs. E. A., J. Mazzinni, A
Memoir, London, 1875.--=Viardot=, L., Wonders of Italian Art, London,
1870.--=Villani=, G., Historia Fiorentina all’anno 1348, continuata da F.
Villani, Milano e Firenze, 1802-46, 12 vols.; also in Muratori, Script.
Res. Ital., vols. XIII-XIV.
_Giovanni Villani_ (1280-1348) was the greatest of all the
Italian chroniclers. Those who preceded him had produced
very incomplete and legendary records, generally limited to
particular places and periods, but Villani includes the whole
of Europe in his chronicle. He says that he conceived the idea
of his history while on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1300 on the
occasion of the great jubilee ordained by Pope Boniface VIII.
The contemplation of Rome’s “great and ancient remains, and
reading the histories and great deeds of the Romans as written
by Virgil, Sallust, Lucan, Livy, Valerius, Paulus Orosius,
and other masters of history” inspired him “to take form and
style from them,” and on his return from Rome he “began to
compile this book, in honour of God and of the blessed John,
and in praise of our city of Florence.” Though prominent in
both the intellectual life and the public affairs of the city
he looks at the facts of its history as calmly and serenely
as an outsider. His work is not only the very corner-stone of
the early mediæval history of Florence, but is of the greatest
value for the history of all Italy in the fourteenth century.
Villani’s chronicle was continued by his brother Matteo and the
latter’s son Filippo and by them brought down to the year 1364.
=Villari=, P., History of Girolamo Savonarola and of his times, London,
1863, 2 vols.; Niccolo Machiavelli and his times, London, 1878-1881, 4
vols.; The Barbarian Invasions of Italy (trans. by L. Villari), London,
1902, 2 vols.; Storia politica d’Italia scritta da una società di
professori, edited by P. Villari Milano, 1900.
_Pasquale Villari_ (1827) is not an historian of very profound
insight, but he possesses great breadth of culture and
sympathy, and his works embody the best results of recent
research on the periods in question. While his sympathy with
the aims of Savonarola has perhaps led him to an extravagant
view of the great reformer, his work on Machiavelli is of
the highest importance to the student of Italian history. As
minister of public instruction in the cabinet of Rudini Villari
contributed much to the reform of education in Italy.
=Voigt=, G., Die Wiederbelebung des classischen Alterthums, 3rd edition,
edited by Lehnerdt, Berlin, 1893, 2 vols.
* * * * *
=Wallace=, H. B., Essays on Italian Art, Philadelphia,
1858.--=Weise=, J., Italien und die Langobardenherrscher 568-623,
Halle, 1887.--=Whiteside=, J., Italy in the Nineteenth Century, 2nd
edition, London, 1860.--=Wimpffen=, E. F. de, Crimée-Italie, Paris,
1892.--=Wrightson=, R. H., History of Modern Italy from the First French
Revolution to the Year 1850, London, 1855; The Sancta Republica Romana,
London, 1891.
* * * * *
=Zalla=, A., Studio Storico, Firenze, 1890.--=Zanoni=, E., Speranze e
sconforti d’Italia del 1815 al 1846, 1886.--=Zeller=, J. S., Abrégé de
l’Histoire d’Italie depuis la Chute de l’empire Romaine, 2nd edition,
Paris, 1864; Les tribuns et les révolutions en Italie, Paris, 1874.--Pie
IX et Victor Emmanuel, Paris, 1879.
[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF AMERIGO VESPUCCI, FLORENCE]
[Illustration]
A CHRONOLOGICAL RÉSUMÉ OF ITALIAN HISTORY
THE NORTH ITALIAN STATES AND REPUBLICS
FROM THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY (476-1000
A.D.)
The deposition of Romulus Augustulus (476) opens a new era
for the Italian people. The entire peninsula comes under the
titular sway of the Eastern emperor, Odoacer the Herulian
chief ruling as king of his own people, and as regent over
the rest of the inhabitants. This mixed Teutonic and Roman
government is continued by the Ostrogothic dynasty beginning
with Theodoric, who in 493 at the commission of the emperor
overthrows and replaces Odoacer. The chief strength of the
Ostrogoths lies in northern Italy; they have little influence
over the descendants of the Greek colonists in the south. The
ties between Italy and Constantinople having become very weak,
Justinian I plans the reconquest of Italy. By the efforts
of Belisarius and Narses this is accomplished in 553; the
Ostrogothic kingdom falls. Italy is again a real member of the
Roman Empire, ruled in the emperor’s name by the exarch whose
capital is at Ravenna. This state of affairs lasts but fifteen
years. Narses, the first exarch, recalled to Constantinople in
565, and disaffected with his treatment by the empress, is said
to have invited Alboin the Lombard chief to invade the Italian
peninsula. In 568 he crosses the Alps, and in three years is
master of nearly the whole of northern Italy. The political
unity of the peninsula is broken, not to be repaired until the
latter half of the nineteenth century. The Lombards penetrate
through the middle of the peninsula. Venice, founded about
452 by families from Aquileia and Pavia fleeing from Attila,
remains untouched. So does Genoa and its Riviera. Rome does
not acknowledge the Lombard rule at Pavia, neither does the
country east of the Apennines from the Po to Ancona where the
exarch rules at Ravenna, nor the duchy of Naples, the islands
of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, and the southernmost province
of Calabria. The duchies of Spoleto and Benevento have Lombard
rulers, but they are nearly independent of Pavia. Such is the
condition of Italy at the end of the sixth century.
Before the close of the next hundred years Constans II (662)
makes a vain attempt to restore the empire in Italy. The
protecting power of Constantinople becomes weaker and weaker,
and in 713 the Venetian islands unite for the purpose of
self-government. Paoluccio Anafesto, the first doge, is elected
and a council of tribunes and judges chosen. This government
lasts until 737 when in a popular tumult the doge Orso is
killed, his ducal office abolished, and replaced by an annually
elected _maestro della milizia_ (master of the military);
but in five years (742) the life-holding office of doge is
restored. Meanwhile the growing Lombard power has encroached
on the exarch’s dominions; the iconoclastic controversy has
virtually alienated the sympathies of the Italian people from
the Eastern emperor, and in 752 the Byzantine possessions in
northern Italy are conquered by Aistulf the Lombard king,
and the exarch flees from Ravenna. Pepin comes from France
at the call of the pope, seizes Aistulf’s conquests which he
hands over to Stephen (755), and from this gift arises the
temporal sovereignty of the pope, which lasts until 1870.
In 774 Charlemagne puts an end to the Lombard dominion in
northern Italy, and his Italian kingdom extends from the Alps
to Terracina. This is included in the Western Empire when it is
restored in 800.
Thus the political map of Italy at the beginning of the ninth
century shows Rome the head of an empire governing the greater
part of the peninsula; Gaeta, Naples, Calabria, Apulia, Sicily,
and Sardinia still give their allegiance to Constantinople.
Venice, though quite independent, acknowledges the Eastern
emperor, and the duke of Benevento pays tribute to him of the
West.
In 810 the people of Venice remove the seat of government from
the mainland to the present city and the building of St. Mark’s
is begun.
In 827 the Saracens begin their attacks on Italy and Sicily.
Their fortunes are varied, but by 890 the fall of the
Carlovingian dynasty has enabled the Greeks to take many
cities from the Saracens and raise a new power that comprises
southern Italy as far north as Salerno. This territory ruled
by a patrician or catapan remains a part of the Eastern Empire
until 1043. Charlemagne does not overthrow the political system
in the north, and the great lords retain their territories
they have enjoyed since the days of Theodoric. With the decay
of Charlemagne’s dynasty, these local rulers correspondingly
increase their power, and the bishops appointed to the
cities have become almost independent sovereigns. This local
ascendency is never suppressed by the emperor, and to it is due
the rise of the mediæval Italian republics.
At the beginning of the tenth century we find these great
territorial lords and bishops the chief powers in northern
Italy--among them the archbishop of Milan, the duke of Friuli,
and the count of Tuscany, the latter asserting his predominance
since the time of Boniface I in 823. The obedience they pay
the king of Italy is merely nominal, and indeed the king is
constantly at war with his great vassals. From the deposition
of Charles the Fat (888) to the intrusion of Otto I into the
affairs of Italy (961) the crown of that country is the bone of
contention between the great lords of Friuli and Benevento. The
Magyars and Saracens also repeatedly invade the land, and the
defended cities rise in power and importance.
With the advent of Otto I their municipal liberty is not much
curtailed. The government of the city is generally carried
on by two or more consuls chosen by popular vote. In 997 the
Venetians’ conquest of the Adriatic coast and islands as far as
Ragusa, put themselves in a more independent attitude towards
the Eastern emperor.
THE ELEVENTH CENTURY
The untimely death of Otto III (1002) is an important event in
the development of the Italian cities. In the resulting dispute
for the crown, Pavia upholds the Lombard nobles in their choice
of Arduin. Milan crowns the German king Henry II.
1003 War between Pisa and Lucca, the first waged between the
mediæval Italian cities.
1004 Henry burns Pavia. Milan and Pavia wake to independent
life and action in this struggle. The Saracens capture a
portion of Pisa.
1011 Second attack of the Saracens on Pisa, which now assumes
the offensive.
1017 The Pisans drive the Saracens from Sardinia and take the
island.
1018 Heribert becomes archbishop of Milan, and the most
powerful lord in northern Italy.
1024 On death of Henry II, Heribert invites Conrad II of
Germany to Italy and gives him the iron crown of Lombardy
(1026).
1026 The Venetians expel their doge Ottone Orseolo, but recall
him in 1031. The people of Lodi resent Heribert’s appointing
their bishop, and a war ensues in which Heribert is successful.
1036 Battle of Campo Malo, between Heribert and the opponent
factions. Heribert summons the emperor to his aid, but the
latter, offended at the independence of the Milanese, retires
to Pavia.
1037 At Diet of Roncaglia Conrad enacts decree that all
fiefs shall be hereditary. This is to check the power of the
ecclesiastical lords. Siege of Milan by Conrad, who has to
retire on account of pestilence.
1039 Siege of Milan raised at death of Conrad. Heribert devises
the _carroccio_.
1041 The people of Milan, headed by Lanzo, drive the nobles out
of Milan.
1044 Peace restored in Milan.
1045 Death of Heribert.
1048-1055 During the pontificate of Leo IX, attempts to enforce
celibacy of clergy are vigorously resisted in Milan.
1055 The countess Matilda begins her rule in Tuscany.
1063 The foundations of the cathedral at Pisa are laid.
1075 Gregory VII approves the Pisan code of laws--a revival of
the Pandects of Justinian.
1077 The Norman conquests of southern Italian cities put the
trade of the Mediterranean into the hands of Venice, Pisa, and
Genoa. For a century and a half Pisa has the largest trade.
1080 The countess Matilda’s army is defeated near Mantua.
1084 Great defeat of the Venetian fleet by Robert Guiscard.
1091 Capture of Mantua and Ravenna by Henry IV.
THE TWELFTH CENTURY
At the beginning of the twelfth century Milan and the other
Lombard cities have become independent municipalities, a result
achieved principally through the war of investitures.
1101 Ferrara submits to the countess Matilda, who has obtained
practically the power of a queen.
1110 Peace made between Pisa and Lucca, which have been at war
for six years.
1111 The Milanese attack and destroy Lodi and Como. The
leadership of Milan in Lombardy is now confirmed.
1114 Revolt of Mantua, which is subdued by the countess
Matilda. The Pisans descend upon the Saracens in the Balearic
Isles, and return with rich booty and many prisoners.
1115 Death of the countess Matilda. Beginning of the struggle
between pope and emperor for her great domain. In 1102 she
deeded them to the pope. With Matilda’s death begins the rise
of Florence and other Tuscan cities to independence.
1118 War breaks out between Genoa and Pisa over the supremacy
of Sardinia and Corsica, a papal edict having awarded the Pisan
church control in Corsica. Consecration of the Pisan cathedral.
1123 Victory of the Venetian fleet over the Egyptians off Joppa.
1124 The Venetians receive a third of the city of Tyre at its
conquest by the crusaders.
1125 Capture of Samos, Andros, and Spalato by the Venetians.
1132 Peace between Genoa and Pisa. Innocent II gives the
Genoese church partial supremacy in Corsica and grants to the
Pisans in Sardinia and elsewhere.
1135 The Pisans proceed against the Normans in southern Italy.
Naples and Amalfi attacked. Amalfi recovered by Roger I.
1137 Second attack of the Pisans in southern Italy. Roger
recovers his lost possessions.
1140 The Genoese acquire Ventimiglia.
1144 War breaks out among the Italian cities. Venice against
Ravenna; Verona and Vicenza against Padua and Treviso; Florence
and Pisa against Lucca and Siena.
1150 The Venetians regain Dalmatia, which has been captured by
pirates.
1151 Defeat of the Milanese by the Cremonese at Castelnuovo.
The _carroccio_ is captured.
1152 Election of Frederick Barbarossa as king of Germany and
Italy. Building of the baptistery of Pisa begun.
1153 Frederick determines to re-establish the imperial
authority in the Italian cities. Lodi and Como ask his
protection against Milan.
1154 Frederick enters Italy. Diet of Roncaglia, where Frederick
hears complaints against Milan and Tortona. He assumes the
Lombard crown at Pavia.
1155 Frederick captures and razes Tortona. Milan prepares for
war.
1156 Milan rebuilds Tortona and defeats Pavia.
1157 Establishment of the Bank of Venice.
1158 Milan again destroys Lodi. Second appearance of Frederick
in Italy. Siege of Milan, which surrenders on account of
famine. Diet at Roncaglia. The Bolognese jurists expound the
code of Justinian to Frederick, who removes the consuls and
substitutes the _podesta_ as ruling officer in the Italian
cities.
1159 The Milanese refuse to obey the podesta.
1160 Surrender of Crema to Frederick. The city is abandoned to
the cruelty of Cremona. Lucca obtains its independence from
Welf of Tuscany.
1162 Surrender of Milan after a nine months’ siege. It is
totally destroyed. Lombardy submits to Frederick.
1163 The cities of the Veronese March, assisted by Venice, form
a league against Frederick.
1167 Siege of Ancona by Frederick, who has returned to Italy
the previous year. Brescia, Bergamo, Mantua, Verona, Cremona,
Treviso, and other north Italian cities form the Lombard League
to regain their liberties from Frederick. It begins to rebuild
Milan.
1168 Frederick, with his army nearly annihilated by the plague,
returns to Germany.
1169 The league builds Alessandria. The pope and Eastern
emperor join the league against Frederick. Other cities enter
the league. Pavia and Montferrat alone remain loyal to the
empire.
1171 The Eastern emperor Manuel I seizes the Venetian
possessions in his dominions. Stephen, king of Hungary,
captures many Dalmatian cities from Venice. Venice recovers
Zara, takes Ragusa, and attacks Negropont.
1172 Capture of Scio by the Venetians.
1173 The Venetian fleet returns from the East and infects the
city with the plague. Tumults break out and the doge is slain.
1174 Fifth expedition of Frederick to Italy. The Campanile of
Pisa is begun.
1175 Peace partially restored between Genoa and Pisa by
Frederick’s mediation.
1176 Frederick threatens Milan. He is defeated disastrously at
Legnano by the Milanese and a few allies. He opens negotiations
with the pope for peace.
1177 Reconciliation between Frederick and the pope at Venice.
Six years’ truce concluded with the Lombard cities. They do not
ask for more than municipal autonomy, and the Italians lose
their greatest opportunity of becoming a powerful nation.
1181 Bela, king of Hungary, recovers Zara and other cities from
Venice.
1183 The truce with Frederick is made permanent by the peace
of Constance. Venice is not included. The communes have their
right to self-government by consuls and to wage warfare
confirmed. These privileges are extended to the Tuscan cities,
among which Florence is becoming the most powerful.
1194 Battle between the Genoese and Pisan fleets in the harbour
of Messina.
1198 Establishment of the republic of Florence.
1199 General war among the Lombard cities owing to a quarrel
between Parma and Piacenza.
THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY
The acquisition of independence by the cities brings about
constant feuds between the people and the nobles. The latter
have become more or less financially dependent upon the
citizens and are forced to reside a portion of the year in the
cities. Here in their palaces they carry on their feuds, in
defiance of all civil authority. The consuls are powerless to
curb them, and from this state of affairs arises the office of
podesta (the name taken from Frederick Barbarossa’s official,
but having no connection with the empire). The podesta is
always the citizen of another city and holds his office for one
year. His function is to arbitrate and keep peace between the
citizens and nobles, and the powers delegated to him pave the
way for the despots of later times.
1202 The crusaders capture Zara for Venice in fulfilment of
a bargain made with the doge Dandolo, who disregards Pope
Innocent III’s threats of excommunication for this. The
Venetians accompany the crusaders to Constantinople.
1204 In the division of the Eastern Empire after the capture
of Constantinople the Venetians receive about three-eighths of
the empire of Romania. Most of this they make no attempt to
take possession of. Formation of Guelfic leagues in Umbria and
Tuscany, looking to the pope for protection. Pisa, strongly
Ghibelline, holds aloof.
1205 The Venetians exchange a portion of Thessaly with Boniface
of Montferrat for Crete. Venice decides on a policy of allowing
her nobles to take her acquisitions, holding these as fiefs of
the republic.
1208 The Genoese are defeated in an attempt to capture Crete.
1209 The Ghibellines expel the Guelfs from Ferrara.
1215 The Buondelmonte (Guelf) and Amidei (Ghibelline) feud
begins in Florence. It lasts thirty-three years.
1218 Milan forms a league to drive the Ghibellines from
Lombardy. It is defeated at Ghibello; this causes great trouble
between the Lombard nobles and citizens.
1221 The Milanese expel the nobles from the city.
1222 First war between Pisa and Florence. Foundation of the
University of Padua.
1226 Renewal of the Lombard League for twenty-five years.
1227 Frederick II appoints Ezzelino da Romano to conduct
warfare against the Guelfs in the Veronese March. They are
defeated in Verona and Vicenza.
1228 Victory of Pisa over the united forces of Florence and
Lucca near Barga.
1233 The cities of the Veronese March conclude the peace of
Paquara through the efforts of the monk Giovanni da Vicenza. It
lasts only a few days.
1234 Montferrat, Milan, Brescia, and other cities join the
rebellion of Frederick’s son Henry. The Pisans renew war with
the Genoese.
1236 Frederick takes the field against the Lombards. Ezzelino
is in control in Verona, Vicenza, and Padua.
1237 Frederick defeats the Milanese and their allies at
Cortenuova. The _carroccio_ is captured and sent to Rome as a
trophy. Tiepolo, podesta of Milan, son of the doge of Venice,
put to death.
1238 The pope allies himself with Venice and Genoa against
Frederick, who establishes Ghibelline supremacy in Turin, Asti,
Novara, and Alessandria. Frederick unsuccessfully besieges
Brescia.
1239 The Guelf fortunes begin to revive, owing to the pope’s
excommunication of Frederick. Ravenna taken by the Venetians
and Bolognese.
1240 The Venetians and Azzo d’Este take Ferrara. Frederick
recovers Ravenna.
1241 The Pisan and Sicilian fleets capture a number of Genoese
galleys, bearing the French cardinals and bishops to the pope’s
council at Rome. Frederick besieges Genoa.
1243 Frederick’s son Enzio is driven from Milan.
1247 Revolt of Parma against Frederick, who besieges the town.
1248 Frederick raises the siege of Parma. Revolution in
Florence places the city in Ghibelline hands.
1249 The Bolognese defeat Enzio at Fossalta. He is imprisoned
for the rest of his life. Ezzelino da Romano takes Belluno and
the marquisate of Este.
1250 The Florentines free themselves from Ghibelline rule. They
establish the _signoria_. With death of Frederick, the great
power of the emperors in Italy comes to an end.
1251 The Florentines recall the Guelf exiles and wage war on
neighbouring cities to compel them to serve under the Guelf
banner.
1252 The first florin coined at Florence.
1254 The Florentine “Year of Victories.” Many triumphs over the
Tuscan cities.
1256 The marquis Azzo recovers Este and captures Padua.
1258 The Ghibelline leaders exiled from Florence.
1259 Defeat and capture of Ezzelino da Romano at the bridge of
Cassano. He dies of his wounds.
1260 The Ghibellines headed by Manfred win a great victory
at Montaperti. They regain Florence. The popular government
is abolished. One composed of nobles swearing allegiance to
Manfred is substituted.
1264 By this time the head of the Della Torre family holds
the office of lord of the people in Milan, and other Lombard
cities have conferred the same title upon him. The office
has become hereditary, and we have the beginnings of the
future duchy of Milan. The pope, jealous of the Della Torre’s
growing power, appoints Otto Visconti, of a powerful local
family, archbishop of Milan. The people refuse to receive him
and are excommunicated by the pope. Beginning of the Della
Torre-Visconti feud. The Pelavicini are now predominant in the
valley of the Po and the Della Scala in the Veronese March.
1266 After Charles of Anjou’s victories in the south, the
Florentines destroy their Ghibelline government.
1267 The Florentines intrust the signoria to Charles of Anjou
for ten years. Their constitution is restored. The Ghibelline
cities in the north go to Conradin’s assistance.
1269 Charles summons a diet of all Lombard cities at Cremona.
Some confer the signoria on him; others offer him an alliance.
He calls himself imperial vicar. The pope becomes jealous of
Charles’ power.
1270 The Doria and Spinola families obtain control of Genoa and
support the Ghibellines. War between Bologna and Venice.
1277 The pope forces Charles to resign the title of imperial
vicar. The Visconti obtain the ascendency in Milan and
henceforth rule the city.
1280 The count of Savoy takes up his residence in Turin. Faenza
becomes subject to Bologna.
1282 War breaks out between Pisa and Genoa.
1284 Disastrous naval defeat of the Pisans by the Genoese, off
the island of Meloria. The power of Pisa is broken. Ugolino
della Gherardesca made captain-general of Pisa. He makes a
disgraceful peace with the Guelfs.
1288 Deposition of Ugolino, who is starved to death. The
marquis of Este is elected lord of Modena.
1292 Guido di Montefeltro of Pisa victorious over the
Florentines.
1293 Peace between Pisa and Florence. A long war breaks out
between Venice and Genoa.
1296 The Ghibellines expel the Guelfs from Genoa. The Venetians
seize Genoese possessions in the Crimea.
1297 The Venetians shut out membership in the Grand Council to
all but members of the noble families.
1298 The Genoese destroy the Venetian fleet off the Dalmatian
coast.
1299 Peace between Venice and Genoa through mediation of Matteo
Visconti. It is favourable to Genoa.
1300 Florence divided between the Neri (violent Guelfs) and
Bianchi (moderate Guelfs) factions. Pope Boniface VIII invites
Charles of Valois to Italy to check the Bianchi.
THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
Civil wars begin to decline. The despots, growing out of the
captains of the people, begin to grasp the free cities.
1301 The Florentines admit Charles of Valois into the city. The
Neri overcome the Bianchi and drive them out. Dante is among
the expelled.
1302 The Visconti are expelled from Milan and the Della Torre
return.
1304 Florence is partially burned in civil riots.
1306 The Este family lose their supremacy in Modena. The Doria
are expelled from Genoa.
1308 Domestic feuds in the Este family. The Venetians assist
one of them to take Ferrara.
1309 The papal legate expels the Estes from Ferrara. It is
governed for the pope by King Robert of Naples, the Guelf
leader.
1310 Henry VII of Luxemburg enters Italy. He confers title of
imperial vicar on the reigning lords of the Lombard towns. The
Venetians establish the Council of Ten.
1311 Henry receives the iron crown of Lombardy. The Guelfs
driven from Milan and the Visconti restored. General Guelf
uprising against Henry. Unsuccessful siege of Brescia. The
Genoese confer absolute authority over the city upon Henry for
twenty years.
1312 Henry withdraws from an attack on Florence.
1313 Death of Henry as he is preparing to attack Robert.
Henry’s visit has afforded the despots a means of consolidating
their power. The Visconti rule in Milan, the Scaligeri in
Verona, the Carraresi in Padua. Uguccione dà Faggiuola in
Lucca. The Ghibellines keep up the struggle in Pisa, Lucca, and
other places.
1315 Uguccione wins many victories over the Guelfs in Lombardy
and Tuscany.
1317 The Este family is restored in Ferrara. Civil war in Genoa.
1318 Robert saves Genoa from the Ghibellines and is made ruler
of the city for ten years.
1319 The Ghibellines renew attack on Genoa after Robert’s
departure. Brescia accepts a governor from Robert.
1320 Unsuccessful attempt of Philip of Valois to crush the
Visconti.
1321 The Ghibellines at Genoa defeat an army sent against them
by Robert. Siege of Cremona by Galeazzo Visconti.
1322 Surrender of Cremona to Galeazzo. His brother Marco
defeats the papal and Neapolitan army. Excommunication of the
Visconti family. Frederick of Austria refuses to take part in
the strife.
1323 The papal army captures Alessandria and Tortona. It is
driven from Milan by the Visconti with the help of Ludwig of
Bavaria, who is excommunicated for giving his assistance.
Massacre of the Pisans in Sardinia by the Aragonese.
1324 Galeazzo defeats the papal and Neapolitan army at Monza.
Robert refuses to make peace.
1325 Castruccio Castracani of Lucca makes himself lord of
Pistoia and with the Visconti attacks Florence.
1326 The Pisans abandon Sardinia to the Aragonese. The
Florentines make Charles, son of Robert, governor of the city
in return for the promise of Robert’s assistance against
Castracani.
1327 Ludwig IV of Germany receives the Lombard crown at Milan.
He imprisons Galeazzo Visconti.
1328 Death of Castracani. Ludwig seizes Pisa and sells Lucca.
Death of the Guelf leader. Carlo Luigi di Gonzaga makes himself
master of Mantua, and assumes title of imperial vicar. Padua
submits to Can Grande della Scala. Ludwig liberates Galeazzo
Visconti, who dies.
1329 Treviso submits to Can Grande della Scala, who dies
shortly afterward. Ludwig returns to Germany. His attempts to
establish the Ghibellines in Germany have ended in failure in
Italy.
1330 John, king of Bohemia, comes to Italy to assume the
leadership of the Ghibellines. He receives the sovereignty of
Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, and other republics. Azzo Visconti
nominally cedes to him the lordship of Milan. John reconciles
the Guelf and Ghibelline factions in these cities.
1332 Jealous of John’s power the Della Scala and Visconti unite
with the Guelfs of Florence against him, in consequence of which
1333 John leaves Italy. The Estes repulse an attack of the
papal army on Ferrara.
1334 The papal legate loses Bologna.
1335 After many disputes the Lombard Ghibellines take
possession of the cities abandoned by John. Lucca, which has
been allotted to Florence, is seized by Mastino della Scala and
war results, in which Florence is unsuccessful. Alliance of
Florence and Venice against Mastino. The Visconti regain Como
and Crema. The Doria and Spinola families again triumphant in
Genoa.
1337 Padua taken from Mastino by Florence and Venice and given
to the Guelf family of Carrara. The Venetians capture Treviso
and other cities, their first Italian possessions beyond the
Lagune. Taddeo de’ Pepoli makes himself master of Bologna.
1338 Florence and Venice make peace with Mastino della Scala
who allies himself with the Ghibellines.
1339 The Genoese, disgusted with the government of their
signoria, replace it by a single chief, Boccanera, who takes
title of doge. First appearance of the Free Companies in Italy.
1341 Mastino attempts to sell Lucca to the Florentines. This
alarms the Pisans, who raise an army and seize Lucca.
1342 The Florentines having taken a sudden fancy to Walter
de Brienne, duke of Athens, who is in Florence on his way to
France, make him their lord for life.
1343 Disgusted with his selfish administration the Florentines
expel the duke of Athens and regain their freedom. Werner forms
the “Great Company.”
1344 The Genoese expel their doge and elect one from the
nobility.
1345 Mediation of Lucchino Visconti in Genoa’s civil troubles.
1346 Revolt of Zara suppressed by the Venetians. Parma and
Piacenza submit to Lucchino Visconti.
1347 Rienzi made tribune in Rome.
1348 The great plague in Italy.
1350 War breaks out between Venice and Genoa over the seizure
of some Venetian ships by the Genoese. The Pepoli cede Bologna
to Giovanni Visconti, brother and successor of Lucchino.