The writer's motives for not having dwelt minutely on
political or historical subjects—Antiquity of Ancona—Its
reputation under the Roman Empire—Its celebrated resistance
to the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa—Stratagem employed
by its deliverers—Continues to be a free city till
1532, when it is surprised by Gonzaga, General of Pope
Clement VII., and subjected to the Holy See—Flourishes
under Napoleon—Restoration of the Papacy—Pontifical
possessions—Explanation of the terms, legations, and
Romagna—Bologna conquered in 1506, by Julius II., but retains
a separate form of government—Ferrara, Urbino, &c.—Dates of
their annexation.
The foregoing pages were written solely with the view of describing
the social and domestic condition of a part of Italy little visited by
travellers, but which presents features of quaintness and originality
not easily met with in this era. Even in the Marche these peculiarities
risk speedy annihilation. Should they be fortunate enough to be
included in the emancipation from Pontifical government, of which the
neighbouring Legations now seem secure, these sketches in ten years'
time will be looked upon as monstrous caricatures. Should they on the
contrary undergo no change of _régime_, what I have said will be as
applicable a hundred years hence as it was six months ago.
The fear of compromising my friends was one great motive of my
avoidance of political subjects, further than in the exact measure
necessary to illustrate the life and conversation of the Ancona and
Macerata _società_. I have been guilty of no breach of confidence
in quoting their sentiments or anecdotes; for even if the veil of
fictitious names were seen through, the expressions attributed to
them are to be found in the mouths of every man or woman in the Papal
States, who combines intelligence with honesty. It is no want of
charity to say that no member of the anti-liberal party unites _both_
these qualities. I know and esteem a great many _Codini_, but their
mental capacity is undeniably limited. It is only those whom no one
esteems who are really clever.
Any historical retrospections I also purposely left aside, as out
of keeping to the purpose I had in hand, and not likely to interest
the generality of readers, overdone with “the Italian question.”
The condition of the Roman States, however, has of late been so
widely discussed and inquired into, that I believe an outline of
the history of Ancona, and the provinces adjoining it, will now be
found interesting, though with reference to the events of last summer
and autumn, much minuteness of detail is purposely avoided. The
consequences might be fatal to many, were I to give publicity to their
revelations, their sufferings, and their hopes.
Ancona, as already observed, lays claim to high antiquity. It is
supposed to have been founded by a Doric colony, and its Greek name is
derived from the angular, elbow-like form of the promontory on which
the town is situated. In the time of Cæsar it was a celebrated port;
and its importance under Trajan is attested by the magnificent works
undertaken by that emperor, upon which more than seventeen centuries
have scarce left a trace. The mole he built at the entrance of the
inner harbour is a monument of true Roman durability, formed of huge
stones, bound together by iron, and rising to a considerable height
above the level of the sea. The triumphal arch which bears his name was
erected by his wife and sister in his honour. Considered by many as the
finest marble arch now extant, it stands on the old mole, more vigorous
in its decay than aught of the present which surrounds it.
During the dark ages the city sustained many vicissitudes, and was
successively ravaged by Totila, the Saracens, and the Lombards. The
latter placed over it a governor, whose title, Marchese, gave rise to
the general term of Marchesato to the provinces under his rule. Hence
the abbreviation of La Marca, or Le Marche, still in use. In the latter
part of the eleventh century, the March of Ancona was bequeathed to
the Church by the famous Countess Matilda, whose sway extended over a
considerable part of central Italy, but the town was not comprehended
in this donation. It maintained itself as a free city, flourishing
in trade, and steadily opposed to the Ghibeline, or imperialist,
faction. For this Frederic Barbarossa, in 1174, brought it to a deadly
reckoning, and jointly with the Venetians, who were jealous of its
commercial prosperity, entered upon the famous siege which is one of
the most brilliant episodes in Italian mediæval annals.
Then, as now, the harbour had no adequate defences, and the Venetian
galleys were able to moor themselves in the very face of the quays,
establish the most strict blockade, and harass the town by their
military engines, while the German army ravaged the country, and
hemmed the garrison within the narrow compass of the walls. Time had
failed the inhabitants to lay in supplies before the approach of the
enemy, and the pressure of famine early made itself felt. Ere long
they were reduced to such grievous straits, that the skins of animals,
whose flesh is commonly rejected as unclean, as well as sea-weed, and
the wild herbs growing on the ramparts, were all eagerly devoured. A
young and beautiful woman, of the noble class, bearing an infant at
her breast, one day remarked a sentinel who had sunk upon the ground
at his post. To her rebuke for his neglect, he answered that he was
perishing from exhaustion. Her reply has been preserved as worthy of a
Roman matron. “Fifteen days”, she said, “have passed, during which my
life has been barely supported by loathsome sustenance, and a mother's
stores are beginning to be dried up from my babe. Place your lips
however upon this bosom, and if aught yet remains there, drink it, and
recover strength for the defence of our country.”
Dauntless courage, as well as sublime endurance, was displayed by
the besieged. On one occasion the Venetians took advantage of the
garrison's attention being drawn off by an assault of the imperialists
on the land side, to effect a disembarkation. They already thought the
town their own, when they were charged by the inhabitants, who drove
them back in confusion; and a woman rushing forward with a blazing
torch, under a shower of stones and arrows, set fire to a lofty wooden
tower which was the most formidable of their beleaguering works. The
daring of a priest inflicted another loss of equal importance upon
the Venetians. Among their ships employed in the blockade, was one
distinguished for its enormous bulk, bearing towers on its deck,
and known by the name of _Il Mondo_. To destroy this was the brave
priest's aim. Carrying an axe in his teeth, he swam across the harbour,
and succeeded in cutting the cable which moored the vessel to her
anchorage. _Il Mondo_ drifted among the rest of the shipping, and
caused the loss of seven galleys ere it could be secured, at the cost
moreover of its cumbrous engines, and much of its stores.
The hardness and arrogance of Christian, the Arch-chancellor of the
Empire, to whom Frederic had delegated the chief command, contributed
to the Anconitans' obstinate resistance. His disdainful rejection of
their proposals to treat on honourable terms, nerved them to face the
deadliest extremity ere they yielded to his mercy. Help came at last
from the Guelphs of Ferrara and Ravenna. Much inferior in numbers to
the enemy, a classical stratagem adopted by their leader, Marcheselli,
deceived even the astute Christian. It was night when they reached the
heights of Falconara, whence Ancona is plainly seen. To give notice
of his approach to the besieged, and at the same time strike terror
into the German host, he ordered every soldier to bind to the head of
his lance as many lighted torches as he could dispose around it, and
extending his ranks, deployed slowly from the mountain.
Dismayed at the long and glittering lines of light bearing down upon
him, the Arch-chancellor imagined a force was marching to the relief
of the city, of such magnitude as his own troops, already jaded and
dispirited at their want of success, were in no condition to encounter.
He precipitately broke up his camp, and retired upon Spoleto. The
Venetians at the same time raised the blockade, and Ancona remained a
memorable example of what may be borne and done by a free people in the
preservation of their freedom.
Ancona enjoyed its independence until 1532, when it was surprised by
Gonzaga, general of Clement VII., who, under the pretence of defending
it against the incursions of the Turks, erected a fort, and filled the
city with Papal troops. The magistrates, or _Anziani_, were expelled,
the principal nobles beheaded or banished, and the absolute dominion
of the Holy See was established beyond the power of the inhabitants to
resist the usurpation. From that time Ancona remained in subjection
to the Church until the wars of the French Directory, when the Roman
States were occupied by Napoleon; and subsequently, incorporated by him
with the rest of Central and Northern Italy into the _Regno d'Italia_,
under the viceroyalty of Eugène Beauharnais, enjoyed a brief season of
unaccustomed prosperity.
The pacification of Europe placed Italy on its former footing. The
award of the Congress of Vienna restored the successor of St Peter to
the possessions of which he had been stripped by the French Revolution.
By conquest, cession, or inheritance, these possessions had increased
from the original scanty and barren territory, bestowed by Pepin and
Charlemagne to a State containing three millions of inhabitants,
and extending from the shores of the Adriatic to those of the
Mediterranean.
In 1815 the pontifical dominions were divided into twenty provinces,
six styled Legations, governed by cardinals; thirteen Delegations,
under prelates; and the Comarca of Rome. I shall merely name those on
the Mediterranean:—the legation of Velletri, and the delegations of
Perugia, Spoleto, Rieti, Viterbo, Orvieto, Civita Vecchia, Frosinone
and Benevento. It is on the provinces lying on the other side of the
Apennines that at the present moment general interest is concentrated.
The most important of these are the four legations of Bologna, Ferrara,
Forli, and Ravenna, lying between the Po and La Cattolica,[8] and
usually known as the Romagne;—the legation of Urbino and Pesaro; and
the delegation of Ancona. The delegations of Macerata, Camerino, Fermo
and Ascoli, are of less extent and less political importance. The
collective designation of Le Marche is applied to the entire tract
between La Cattolica and the Neapolitan frontier.
Most of these territories and towns do not belong to the Holy See by
the ancient tenure commonly supposed. We have seen how the city of
Ancona became annexed in 1532. Nearly thirty years before, Bologna
had been conquered from its _Signori_, the Bentivogli, by the
soldier-pontiff, Julius II., who, however, allowed it to continue,
except in name, almost independent of his authority. The same pope
also extended his victories over Ravenna, which he obtained from the
Venetians; and compelled Cæsar Borgia to yield up the Holy See, Forli,
Cesena, Rimini, and other smaller towns of the Romagne that he had
wrested from their petty princes, and of which the sovereignty had been
conferred on him by Alexander VI. Ferrara was attached to the Church
in 1598 by Clement VIII., after the extinction of the direct line of
the house of Este in the person of Duke Alfonso II., on the plea that
Cæsar D'Este, the representative of the family by a collateral branch
was disqualified by illegitimacy. The provinces of Urbino and Pesaro
were ceded in 1626 by their last duke, Francesco Maria della Rovere,
to Pope Urban VIII., along with Senigallia, an appanage of the same
family. The towns which give their names to the four delegations last
enumerated, besides Osimo, Recanati, Tolentino, &c., were acquired at
different times, under similar circumstances. Camerino was given up by
the treaty; others which had been taken under the special protection
of the German emperors, who in the Middle Ages claimed a sort of
suzerainship over Italy, reverted to the popes on the decline of the
Ghibeline influence; the rest were governed by their own _Signori_ till
subjugated by Cæsar Borgia, who, while shaping out his own ambitious
ends, did Rome good service by bringing these elements of feud and
bloodshed into the recognition of one supreme authority.