office for life--should be in fact a Doge. To this important
post of permanent president Piero Soderini was appointed; and
in his hands were placed the chief affairs of the republic.
... During the ten years which elapsed between 1502 and 1512,
Piero Soderini administered Florence with an outward show of
great prosperity. He regained Pisa, and maintained an
honourable foreign policy in the midst of the wars stirred up
by the League of Cambray. Meanwhile the young princes of the
house of Medici had grown to manhood in exile. The Cardinal
Giovanni was 37 in 1512. His brother Giuliano was 33. Both of
these men were better fitted than their brother Piero to fight
the battles of the family. Giovanni, in particular, had
inherited no small portion of the Medicean craft. During the
troubled reign of Julius II. he kept very quiet, cementing his
connection with powerful men in Rome, but making no effort to
regain his hold on Florence. Now the moment for striking a
decisive blow had come. After the battle of Ravenna in 1512,
the French were driven out of Italy, and the Sforzas returned
to Milan [see ITALY: A. D. 1510-1513]; the Spanish troops,
under the Viceroy Cardona, remained masters of the country.
Following the camp of these Spaniards, Giovanni de' Medici
entered Tuscany in August, and caused the restoration of the
Medici to be announced in Florence. The people, assembled by
Soderini, resolved to resist to the uttermost. ... Yet their
courage failed on August 29th, when news reached them of the
capture and the sack of Prato. Prato is a sunny little city a
few miles distant from the walls of Florence, famous for the
beauty of its women, the richness of its gardens, and the
grace of its buildings. Into this gem of cities the savage
soldiery of Spain marched in the bright autumnal weather, and
turned the paradise into a hell. It is even now impossible to
read of what they did in Prato without shuddering. Cruelty and
lust, sordid greed for gold, and cold delight in bloodshed,
could go no further. Giovanni de' Medici, by nature mild and
voluptuous, averse to violence of all kinds, had to smile
approval, while the Spanish Viceroy knocked thus with mailed
hand for him at the door of Florence. The Florentines were
paralysed with terror. They deposed Soderini and received the
Medici. Giovanni and Giuliano entered their devastated palace
in the Via Larga, abolished the Grand Council, and dealt with
the republic as they listed. ... It is not likely that they
would have succeeded in maintaining their authority--for they
were poor and ill-supported by friends outside the
city--except for one most lucky circumstance: that was the
election of Giovanni de' Medici to the Papacy in 1513. The
creation of Leo X. spread satisfaction throughout Italy. ...
Florence shared in the general rejoicing. ... It seemed as
though the Republic, swayed by him, might make herself the
first city in Italy, and restore the glories of her Guelf
ascendency upon the platform of Renaissance statecraft. There
was now no overt opposition to the Medici in Florence. How to
govern the city from Rome, and how to advance the fortunes of
his brother Giuliano and his nephew Lorenzo (Piero's son, a
young man of 21), occupied the Pope's most serious attention.
For Lorenzo, Leo obtained the Duchy of Urbino and the hand of
a French princess. Giuliano was named Gonfalonier of the
Church. He also received the French title of Duke of Nemours
and the hand of Filiberta, Princess of Savoy. ...
{1147}
Giulio, the Pope's bastard cousin, was made cardinal. ... To
Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, the titular head of the family, was
committed the government of Florence. ... Florence now for the
first time saw a regular court established in her midst, with
a prince, who, though he bore a foreign title, was in fact her
master. The joyous days of Lorenzo the Magnificent returned.
... But this prosperity was no less brief than it was
brilliant. A few years sufficed to sweep off all the chiefs of
the great house. Giuliano died in 1516, leaving only a bastard
son, Ippolito. Lorenzo died in 1519, leaving a bastard son,
Alessandro, and a daughter, six days old, who lived to be the
Queen of France. Leo died in 1521. There remained now no
legitimate male descendants from the stock of Cosimo. The
honours and pretensions of the Medici devolved upon three
bastards,--on the Cardinal Giulio, and the two boys,
Alessandro and Ippolito. Of these, Alessandro was a mulatto,
his mother having been a Moorish slave in the Palace of
Urbino; and whether his father was Giulio, or Giuliano, or a
base groom, was not known for certain. To such extremities
were the Medici reduced. ... Giulio de' Medici was left in
1521 to administer the State of Florence single-handed. He was
archbishop, and he resided in the city, holding it with the
grasp of an absolute ruler. ... In 1523, the Pope, Adrian VI.,
expired after a short papacy, from which he gained no honour
and Italy no profit. Giulio hurried to Rome, and, by the
clever use of his large influence, caused himself to be
elected with the title of Clement VII." Then followed the
strife of France and Spain--of Francis I. and Charles V.--for
the possession of Italy, and the barbarous sack of Rome in
1527.
See ITALY: A. D. 1523-1527, 1527, and 1527-1529.
"When the Florentines knew what was happening in Rome, they
rose and forced the Cardinal Passerini [whom the Pope had
appointed to act as his vicegerent in the government of
Florence] to depart with the Medicean bastards from the city.
... The whole male population was enrolled in a militia. The
Grand Council was reformed, and the republic was restored upon
the basis of 1495. Niccolo Capponi was elected Gonfalonier.
The name of Christ was again registered as chief of the
commonwealth--to such an extent did the memory of Savonarola
still sway the popular imagination. The new State hastened to
form an alliance with France, and Malatesta Baglioni was
chosen as military Commander-in-Chief. Meanwhile the city
armed itself for siege--Michel Angelo Buonarroti and
Francesco da San Gallo undertaking the construction of new
forts and ramparts. These measures were adopted with sudden
decision, because it was soon known that Clement had made
peace with the Emperor, and that the army which had sacked
Rome was going to be marched on Florence. ... On September 4
[1529], the Prince of Orange appeared before the walls, and
opened the memorable siege. It lasted eight months, at the end
of which time, betrayed by their generals, divided among
themselves, and worn out with delays, the Florentines
capitulated. ... The long yoke of the Medici had undermined
the character of the Florentines. This, their last glorious
struggle for liberty, was but a flash in the pan--a final
flare up of the dying lamp. ... What remains of Florentine
history may be briefly told. Clement, now the undisputed
arbiter of power and honour in the city, chose Alessandro de'
Medici to be prince. Alessandro was created Duke of Cività di
Penna, and married to a natural daughter of Charles V.
Ippolito was made a cardinal." Ippolito was subsequently
poisoned by Alessandro, and Alessandro was murdered by another
kinsman, who suffered assassination in his turn. "When
Alessandro was killed in 1539, Clement had himself been dead
five years. Thus the whole posterity of Cosimo de' Medici,
with the exception of Catherine, Queen of France [daughter of
Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, the son of Piero de' Medici], was
utterly extinguished. But the Medici had struck root so firmly
in the State, and had so remodelled it upon the type of
tyranny, that the Florentines were no longer able to do
without them. The chiefs of the Ottimati selected Cosimo," a
descendant from Lorenzo, brother of the Cosimo who founded the
power of the House. "He it was who obtained [1569] the title
of Grand Duke of Tuscany from the Pope--a title confirmed by
the Emperor, fortified by Austrian alliances, and transmitted
through his heirs to the present century."
_J. A. Symonds,
Sketches and studies in Italy,
chapter 5 (Florence and the Medici)._
ALSO IN:
_H. Grimm,
Life of Michael Angelo,
chapters 8-15 (volumes 1-2)._
_T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
book 9, chapter 10, book 10 (volume 4)._
_H. E. Napier,
Florentine History,
volumes 4-5._
_W. Roscoe,
Life and Pontificate of Leo X,
chapters 9-23 (volumes 1-2)._
_P. Villari,
Machiavelli and his Times,
volumes 3-4_.
FLORENCE: A. D. 1803.
Becomes the capital of the kingdom of Etruria.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1801-1803.
FLORENCE: A. D. 1865.
Made temporarily the capital of the kingdom of Italy.
See ITALY: A. D. 1862-1866.
----------FLORENCE: End----------
FLORIANUS, Roman Emperor, A. D. 276.
FLORIDA: The aboriginal inhabitants.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: APALACHES;
MUSKHOGEAN FAMILY; SEMINOLES; TIMUQUANAN FAMILY.
FLORIDA: A. D. 1512.
Discovery and Naming by Ponce de Leon.
See AMERICA: A. D. 1512.
FLORIDA: A. D. 1528-1542.
The expeditions of Narvaez and Hernando de Soto.
Wide Spanish application of the name Florida.
"The voyages of Garay [1519-1523] and Vasquez de Ayllon
[1520-1526] threw new light on the discoveries of Ponce, and
the general outline of the coasts of Florida became known to
the Spaniards. Meanwhile, Cortes had conquered Mexico, and the
fame of that iniquitous but magnificent exploit rang through
all Spain. Many an impatient cavalier burned to achieve a
kindred fortune. To the excited fancy of the Spaniards the
unknown land of Florida seemed the seat of surpassing wealth,
and Pamphilo de Narvaez essayed to possess himself of its
fancied treasures. Landing on its shores [1528], and
proclaiming destruction to the Indians unless they
acknowledged the sovereignty of the Pope and the Emperor, he
advanced into the forests with 300 men. Nothing could exceed
their sufferings. Nowhere could they find the gold they came
to seek. The village of Appalache, where they hoped to gain a
rich booty, offered nothing but a few mean wigwams. The horses
gave out and the famished soldiers fed upon their flesh.
{1148}
The men sickened, and the Indians unceasingly harassed their
march. At length, after 280 leagues of wandering, they found
themselves on the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, and
desperately put to sea in such crazy boats as their skill and
means could construct. Cold, disease, famine, thirst, and the
fury of the waves, melted them away. Narvaez himself perished,
and of his wretched followers no more than four escaped,
reaching by land, after years of vicissitude, the Christian
settlements of New Spain. ... Cabeça de Vaca was one of the
four who escaped, and, after living for years among the tribes
of Mississippi, crossed the River Mississippi near Memphis,
journeyed westward by the waters of the Arkansas and Red River
to New Mexico and Chihuahua, thence to Cinaloa on the Gulf of
California, and thence to Mexico. The narrative is one of the
most remarkable of the early relations. ... The interior of
the vast country then comprehended under the name of Florida
still remained unexplored. ... Hernando de Soto ... companion
of Pizarro in the conquest of Peru ... asked and obtained
permission [1537] to conquer Florida. While this design was in
agitation, Cabeça de Vaca, one of those who had survived the
expedition of Narvaez, appeared in Spain, and for purposes of
his own spread abroad the mischievous falsehood that Florida
was the richest country yet discovered. De Soto's plans were
embraced with enthusiasm. Nobles and gentlemen contended for
the privilege of joining his standard; and, setting sail with
an ample armament, he landed [May, 1539] at the Bay of
Espiritu Santo, now Tampa Bay, in Florida, with 620 chosen
men, a band as gallant and well appointed, as eager in purpose
and audacious in hope, as ever trod the shores of the New
World. ... The adventurers began their march. Their story has
been often told. For month after month and year after year,
the procession of priests and cavaliers, cross-bowmen,
arquebusiers, and Indian captives laden with the baggage,
still wandered on through wild and boundless wastes, lured
hither and thither by the ignis-fatuus of their hopes. They
traversed great portions of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi,
everywhere inflicting and enduring misery, but never
approaching their phantom El Dorado. At length, in the third
year of their journeying, they reached the banks of the
Mississippi, 132 years before its second [or third?] discovery
by Marquette. ... The Spaniards crossed over at a point above
the mouth of the Arkansas. They advanced westward, but found
no treasures,--nothing indeed but hardships, and an Indian
enemy, furious, writes one of their officers, 'as mad dogs.'
They heard of a country towards the north where maize could
not be cultivated because the vast herds of wild cattle
devoured it. They penetrated so far that they entered the
range of the roving prairie-tribes. ... Finding neither gold
nor the South Sea, for both of which they had hoped, they
returned to the banks of the Mississippi. De Soto ... fell
into deep dejection, followed by an attack of fever, and soon
after died miserably [May 21, 1542]. To preserve his body from
the Indians his followers sunk it at midnight in the river,
and the sullen waters of the Mississippi buried his ambition
and his hopes. The adventurers were now, with few exceptions,
disgusted with the enterprise, and longed only to escape from
the scene of their miseries. After a vain attempt to reach
Mexico by land, they again turned back to the Mississippi, and
labored, with all the resources which their desperate
necessity could suggest, to construct vessels in which they
might make their way to some Christian settlement. ... Seven
brigantines were finished and launched; and, trusting their
lives on board these frail vessels, they descended the
Mississippi, running the gauntlet between hostile tribes who
fiercely attacked them. Reaching the Gulf, though not without
the loss of eleven of their number, they made sail for the
Spanish settlement on the River Panuco, where they arrived
safely, and where the inhabitants met them with a cordial
welcome. Three hundred and eleven men thus escaped with life,
leaving behind them the bones of their comrades, strewn
broadcast through the wilderness. De Soto's fate proved an
insufficient warning, for those were still found who begged a
fresh commission for the conquest of Florida; but the Emperor
would not hear them. A more pacific enterprise was undertaken
by Cancello [or Cancer], a Dominican monk, who with several
brother-ecclesiastics undertook to convert the natives to the
true faith, but was murdered in the attempt. ... Not a
Spaniard had yet gained foothold in Florida. That name, as the
Spaniards of that day understood it, comprehended the whole
country extending from the Atlantic on the east to the
longitude of New Mexico on the west, and from the Gulf of
Mexico and the River of Palms indefinitely northward towards
the polar Sea. This vast territory was claimed by Spain in
right of the discoveries of Columbus, the grant of the Pope,
and the various expeditions mentioned above. England claimed
it in light of the discoveries of Cabot, while France could
advance no better title than might be derived from the voyage
of Verrazano and vague traditions of earlier visits of Breton
adventurers."
_F. Parkman,
Pioneers of France in the New World,
chapter 1._
ALSO IN:
_T. Irving,
Conquest of Florida by De Soto._
_Discovery and Conquest of Terra Florida;
written by a Gentleman of Elvas (Hakluyt Society)._
_J. W. Monette,
Discovery and Settlement of the Mississippi Valley,
chapters 1-4._
_J. G. Shea,
Ancient Florida (Narrative and Critical
History of America,
volume 2, chapter 4)._
FLORIDA: A. D. 1562-1563.
First colonizing attempt of the French Huguenots.
About the middle of the 16th century, certain of the
Protestants of France began to turn their thoughts to the New
World as a possible place of refuge from the persecutions they
were suffering at home. "Some of the French sea-ports became
strong-holds of the Huguenots. Their most prominent supporter,
Coligny, was high admiral of France. These Huguenots looked
toward the new countries as the proper field in which to
secure a retreat from persecution, and to found a new
religious commonwealth. Probably many of the French
'corsarios' following the track of the Portuguese and
Spaniards to the West Indies and the coasts of Brazil, were
Huguenots. ... The first scheme for a Protestant colony in the
new world was suggested by Admiral Coligny in 1554, and intended
for the coast of Brazil, to which an expedition, under Durand
de Villegagnon, was sent with ships and colonists. This
expedition arrived at the Bay of Rio de Janeiro in 1555,
and founded there the first European settlement.
{1149}
It was followed the next year by another expedition. But the
whole enterprise came to an end by divisions among the
colonists, occasioned by the treacherous, despotic, and cruel
proceedings of its commander, a reputed Catholic. The colony
was finally subverted by the Portuguese, who, in 1560, sent
out an armament against it, and took possession of the Bay of
Rio de Janeiro. ... After the unfortunate end of the French
enterprise to South America, Admiral Coligny, who may be
styled the Raleigh of France, turned his attention to the
eastern shores of North America; the whole of which had become
known in France from the voyage of Verrazano, and the French
expeditions to Canada and the Banks of Newfoundland." In
February, 1562, an expedition, fitted out by Coligny, sailed
from Havre de Grace, under Jean Ribault, with Réné de
Laudonnière forming one of the company. Ribault arrived on the
Florida coast in the neighborhood of the present harbor of St.
Augustine, and thence sailed north. "At last, in about 32° 30'
North he found an excellent broad and deep harbor, which he
named Port Royal, which probably is the present Broad River,
or Port Royal entrance. ... He found this port and the
surrounding country so advantageous and of such 'singular
beauty,' that he resolved to leave here a part of his men in a
small fort. ... A pillar with the arms of France was therefore
erected, and a fort constructed, furnished with cannon,
ammunition, and provisions, and named 'Charlesfort.' Thirty
volunteers were placed in it, and it became the second
European settlement ever attempted upon the east coast of the
United States. Its position was probably not far from the site
of the present town of Beaufort, on Port Royal River. Having
accomplished this, and made a certain captain, Albert de la
Pieria, 'a soldier of great experience,' commander of
Charlesfort, he took leave of his countrymen, and left Port
Royal on the 11th day of June," arriving in France on the 20th
of July. "On his arrival in France, Ribault found the country
in a state of great commotion. The civil war between the
Huguenots and the Catholics was raging, and neither the king
nor the admiral had time to listen to Ribault's solicitations,
to send relief to the settlers left in 'French Florida.' Those
colonists remained, therefore, during the remainder of 1562,
and the following winter, without assistance from France; and
after many trials and sufferings, they were at last forced, in
1563, to abandon their settlement and the new country." Having
constructed a ship, with great difficulty, they put to sea;
but suffered horribly on the tedious voyage, from want of food
and water, until they were rescued by an English vessel and
taken to England.
J_. G. Kohl,
History of the Discovery of Maine
(Maine Historical Society Collection,
2d series, volume 1), chapter 11._
ALSO IN:
_F. Parkman,
Pioneers of France in the New World,
chapter 3._
_Father Charlevoix,
History of New France;
translated by J. G. Shea,
book 3 (volume 1)._
_T. E. V. Smith,
Villegaignon
(American Society of Church History, volume 3)._
FLORIDA: A. D. 1564-1565.
The second Huguenot colony, and the cry in Spain against it.
"After the treacherous peace between Charles IX. and the
Huguenots, Coligny renewed his solicitations for the
colonization of Florida. The king gave consent; in 1564 three
ships were conceded for the service; and Laudonnière, who, in
the former voyage, had been upon the American coast, a man of
great intelligence, though a seaman rather than a soldier, was
appointed to lead forth the colony. ... A voyage of 60 days
brought the fleet, by the way of the Canaries and the
Antilles, to the shores of Florida in June. The harbor of Port
Royal, rendered gloomy by recollections of misery, was
avoided; and, after searching the coast, and discovering
places which were so full of amenity that melancholy itself
could not but change its humor as it gazed, the followers of
Calvin planted themselves on the banks of the river May [now
called the St. John's], near St. John's bluff. They sung a
psalm of thanksgiving, and gathered courage from acts of
devotion. The fort now erected was called Carolina. ... The
French were hospitably welcomed by the natives; a monument,
bearing the arms of France, was crowned with laurels, and its
base encircled with baskets of corn. What need is there of
minutely relating the simple manners of the red men, the
dissensions of rival tribes, the largesses offered to the
strangers to secure their protection or their alliance, the
improvident prodigality with which careless soldiers wasted
the supplies of food; the certain approach of scarcity; the
gifts and the tribute levied from the Indians by entreaty,
menace or force? By degrees the confidence of the red men was
exhausted; they had welcomed powerful guests, who promised to
become their benefactors, and who now robbed their humble
granaries. But the worst evil in the new settlement was the
character of the emigrants. Though patriotism and religious
enthusiasm had prompted the expedition, the inferior class of
the colonists was a motley group of dissolute men. Mutinies
were frequent. The men were mad with the passion for sudden
wealth; and in December a party, under the pretence of
desiring to escape from famine, compelled Laudonnière to sign
an order permitting their embarkation for New Spain. No sooner
were they possessed of this apparent sanction of the chief
than they began a career of piracy against the Spaniards. The
act of crime and temerity was soon avenged. The pirate vessel
was taken, and most of the men disposed of as prisoners or
slaves. The few that escaped in a boat sought shelter at Fort
Carolina, where Laudonnière sentenced the ringleaders to
death. During these events the scarcity became extreme; and
the friendship of the natives was forfeited by unprofitable
severity. March of 1565 was gone, and there were no supplies
from France; April passed away, and the expected recruits had
not arrived; May brought nothing to sustain the hopes of the
exiles, and they resolved to attempt a return to Europe. In
August, Sir John Hawkins, the slave merchant, arrived from the
West Indies. He came fresh from the sale of a cargo of
Africans, whom he had kidnapped with signal ruthlessness; and
he now displayed the most generous sympathy, not only
furnishing a liberal supply of provisions, but relinquishing a
vessel from his own fleet. The colony was on the point of
embarking when sails were descried. Ribault had arrived to
assume the command, bringing with him supplies of every kind,
emigrants with their families, garden-seeds, implements of
husbandry, and the various kinds of domestic animals. The
French, now wild with joy, seemed about to acquire a home, and
Calvinism to become fixed in the inviting regions of Florida.
{1150}
But Spain had never abandoned her claim to that territory,
where, if she had not planted colonies, she had buried many
hundreds of her bravest sons. ... There had appeared at the
Spanish court a commander well fitted for reckless acts. Pedro
Melendez [or Menendez] de Aviles ... had acquired wealth in
Spanish America, which was no school of benevolence, and his
conduct there had provoked an inquiry, which, after a long
arrest, ended in his conviction. ... Philip II. suggested the
conquest and colonization of Florida; and in May, 1565, a
compact was framed and confirmed by which Melendez, who
desired an opportunity to retrieve his honor, was constituted
the hereditary governor of a territory of almost unlimited
extent. On his part he stipulated, at his own cost, in the
following May, to invade Florida with 500 men; to complete its
conquest within three years; to explore its currents and
channels, the dangers of its coasts, and the depth of its
havens; to establish a colony of at least 500 persons, of whom
100 should be married men; with 12 ecclesiastics, besides four
Jesuits. ... Meantime, news arrived, as the French writers
assert through the treachery of the court of France, that the
Huguenots had made a plantation in Florida, and that Ribault
was preparing to set sail with re-enforcements. The cry was
raised that the heretics must be extirpated; and Melendez
readily obtained the forces which he required."
_G. Bancroft,
History of the United States
(author's last revision), part 1, chapter 4._
ALSO IN:
_G. R. Fairbanks,
History of Florida,
chapters 7-8._
_W. G. Simms,
History of South Carolina,
book 1._
FLORIDA: A. D. 1565.
The Spanish capture of Fort Caroline and
massacre of the Huguenots.
Founding of St. Augustine.