Classic Audiobook Collection - The Age of the Condottieri - A Short History of Mediaeval Italy from 1409-1530 by Oscar Browning ~ Full Audiobook [history]

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Age of the Condotieti, a short history of medieval Italy from 1409 to 1530 by Oscar Browning, Chapter 1, Retrospect and Prospect, Part 1. In the first section of this history entitled Guelphs and Gibilins, the fortunes of the peninsula were traced from the death of the Emperor of Frederick II in 1250, down to the Council of Pisa in 1409. In the present section, it is proposed to carry on the narrative down to the fall of Florence in 1530. Having arrived at the middle point of our long journey, it will be convenient to cast an eye both forwards and backwards, and to consider briefly the fortunes of the five principal states of Italy, Milan, Florence, Venice,

Starting point is 00:00:52 Venice, Rome, and Naples, during these three momentous centuries. We will shortly recapitulate the steps by which they gradually attained the rank of states and follow their destinies to the point where they are just about to merge into a common Italy. Milan was the first of the Italian towns to undergo the transformation from a commune to a country. In the previous book we witnessed the rise of the power of the Visconti and have seen how that power was eventually concentrated in the hands of one of its members, John Galezzo. We have read how he destroyed his uncle by treachery, how he overthrew one after the other the little tyrants of the Italian towns, and how at length he was invested by the emperor with the Duchy of

Starting point is 00:01:41 Milan. In this new position, he extended his power over Genoa, Bologna and Tuscany, till at last Florence alone resisted his encroachments, and he was stretching out his hand to grasp the crown of Italy. Death surprised him suddenly. Unsupprized him suddenly. Unsuppressed. September 3rd, 1402, and broke the threat of his designs. His government had its brighter side. He created a new state to meet the exigencies of the times. He was obliged to make it his chief object to levy taxes to maintain his wars, but justice was well administered and prosperity increased. His centralized and autocratic government was effective for the projects it had in view. He surrounded himself with men of letters. He built the Cathedral of Milan and the Certosa of Pavia.

Starting point is 00:02:34 He was the first of modern princes, anarchy, followed upon his death. Philippo Maria, his son, who reigned from 1447, is a most unlovely character. He knew no other arts of government but those of treachery and cunning. A coward shut up in his castle of Milan, engaged in all the quarrels of the age, and he always contrived to press the disasters of his enemies to his own advantage. He defeated the Florentines at Zagonara in 1424. Often conquered by the Venetians, he has often renewed the war. In the contest between Anjou and Arragon for the throne of Naples, he weakened each party in turn. He gained his victory by the help of mercenary generals, the greatest of whom was Francesco Sforza. In 1441, he gave his only child, Bianca, in marriage to Sforza,

Starting point is 00:03:34 and on his death, Sforza was able to succeed him. Sforza was a man after the heart of the 15th century, a great captain, an acute politician, a mixture of the fox and the lion, ready to shed blood if necessary, otherwise a friend of impartial justice. He founded a dynasty, he conquered a kingdom which he left powerful and well governed, he constructed public works, he held one of the most brilliant courts in Italy. He died March 8th, 1461, celebrated by men of letters as just, great, and magnanimous. He had succeeded in all his designs, but the state which he had founded had no internal strength. It had been molded by his hands alone, and could be more than.

Starting point is 00:04:24 molded and knew by the hands of another. Galliano Maria Sforza, the son of Francesco, was dissolute and cruel. He was accused of having poisoned his mother. He buried some of his subjects alive. He squandered his treasures in useless festivities. He was at last murdered on December 26th, 1476, in the Church of Santo Stefano by three conspirators who had prayed to the saint that the blow might not failed to affect its object. His uncle, Ludovico, called Il Moro, or the moor from his worthy

Starting point is 00:05:01 complexion, ambitious, timid and restless, seized the dominions of his nephew Galliato, and played an important part in that enslavement of Italy, which we shall have to describe at a later period. The history of Florence is a strange contrast to that of Milan. Throughout all the changes and vicissitudes of its fortunes, it kept steadily in view the present. of liberty and the maintenance of democratic government. In 1293, the ordinances of justice struck a heavy blow at feudalism. The nobles were excluded from office. The city was governed by an oligarchy of merchants. The Arti Maggiore, the more important merchant guilds, had overcome the Grandi, the nobles. Their activity and enterprise extended the borders and founded the greatness of the

Starting point is 00:05:51 republic. In a period of peace and prosperity, the Arti Minori, the smaller guilds, were able to assert their power. But a too violent and unrestrained democracy paved the way for the predominance of the Medici. But the Medici did not, like the Visconti, gained their power by the arts of tyranny. They did not torture their enemies alive or give them to be devoured by dogs. They pursued a consistent policy for more than a hundred years and arrived at the summit of power by courtesy and firmness. In 1378 in the rising of the Chompi, Salvestro de Medici took the side of the lesser guilds, and when the greater guilds and the Albezi returned to power, Alverardo de Medici remained quietly immersed in money-making. His son Giovanni was the real founder of the fortunes

Starting point is 00:06:46 of the House. The Medici always took the popular side. They rose by securing a constant majority in the elections, and as their power increased, it seemed as if the Republic was only assuming a more popular form. The great Cosimo succeeded his father Giovanni in 1429 at the age of 40. Enriched with commerce, he used his wealth to increase his influence, but he was careful to preserve the habits of a private citizen. Driven into exile by the Albezi, he returned to Venice where he was received as a prince. The following year he was recalled to Florence by the popular party and then threw off the mask. He cast down all the powerful rivals who might stand in his way and raised his own creatures of humble birth to influence in the state. For himself he never stepped out of the rank of a private citizen and held no office in state.

Starting point is 00:07:43 He governed by means of Abalia, a kind of caucus, composed of citizens devoted to his interests, who elected the principal magistrates for a period of five years. He remained in outward appearance, a quiet and peaceable banker devoted to his trade. He spent but little money on himself, but was profuse toward the Republic. He built churches, libraries, and palaces. He founded the Platonic Academy. He surrounded himself with men of letters. He surrounded himself with men of letters, and placed Florence at the head of European culture. He established intimate relations with foreign powers. Pope Nicholas the Fifth, and Francesco Sforza of Milan were his devoted friends.

Starting point is 00:08:27 Machiavelli and Judarcini all united in his praise. For 31 years he maintained his power in this fickle and capricious town and deserved the name which he acquired of the father of his country. Lorenzo, the grandson of Cozimo, was a man of very different character. He was a bad man of business and left his bank to be managed by others. He spent such large sums of money on himself that he deserved the appellation of the magnificent. He reduced himself to poverty by his extravagance. He alienated his fellow citizens by his lust. He recruited his private finances from the public treasury and was shameless in the promotion of his private favorites.

Starting point is 00:09:13 The means taken to overthrow him served only to consolidate his power. The conspiracy of the Pazzi came to a head in 1478. It was generally believed to have been arranged in the Vatican by the Pope himself, Sixtus the Fourth. On April 26th, the two brothers were attacked in the Cathedral of Florence at the moment of the elevation of the host. Giuliano was killed. Lorenzo escaped. The populace rose in tumult and put the conspirators to death. Lorenzo found himself powerful enough to weaken his enemies forever and seized the opportunity to change the form of government.

Starting point is 00:09:56 Instead of the Balea, a council of 60 was appointed in 1480. It was co-optative and was indeed a Balea with larger powers. the Republic of Florence henceforth existed merely in form. Lorenzo de Medici was a tyrant, but a more attractive and winning tyrant could not be imagined. The city was never more rich and more prosperous. Lorenzo was not only the protector of literary men, but a distinguished man of letters himself. Without an army to support him, without any legal or constitutional position, he not only governed Florence and Tuscany, but held the balance of power in Italy. His enemy Sixtus the Fourth was dead, and his successor, Innocent the Eighth, was his friend.

Starting point is 00:10:46 The enmity which raged between Ludovico Il Moro and Ferdinand of Argon, enabled Lorenzo to keep both of them in check. But his power had no elements of stability. It was likely to fall with its author. Lorenzo had sacrificed the interests of his people to the interests of his family, and his family could only maintain their power by establishing a virtual sovereignty. Venice exhibits a type of government different to those, either of Florence or Milan. Florence, beginning with the rule of an autocracy, became gradually more and more democratical, and submitted at last to the despotism of an individual. Venice by degrees consolidated the government of a close and jealous oligarchy.

Starting point is 00:11:37 Venice from its foundation was untouched by any admixture of German elements. She knew no emperor and no feudal aristocracy. Her distant commerce, her vice-dukel governments, were from the first, favorable to the growth of a rich merchant class, while the common people were kept well-employed at sea. It is unnecessary to recapitulate at any length the changes of Constitution which have been already described in full. It has been shown how the power of the Doge was gradually limited on one side and that of the people on the other, how the Major Concilio or Greater Council became the dominant power in the state, how it was confined at last to certain favored families,

Starting point is 00:12:23 how the resistance of the great nobles was suppressed, and the oligarchic, confirmed by the Council of 10. Pisa and Genoa were the natural rivals of Venice in the field of maritime trade, but Pisa was destroyed at Meloria in 1284, and the Genoese were finally conquered at Kioja in 1380. From this epoch, a new period began. Venice, hitherto engaged in extending the limits of commerce and civilization further and further to the east, was now oppressed by enemies on both sides. On the west, she had to contend with the despot of the Lombard plain. On the east, with the growing domination of the Turk. In defending herself from abroad, she did not always employ the most exalted means. Beginning with the conquest of Padua and the destruction of the

Starting point is 00:13:17 family of the Karara, she gradually increased an empire on the mainland, the terra firma of her historians. The 15th century, which was an epoch of decadence for the rest of Italy, opened a season of glory for the Republic of the Lagoon's. She was the bulwark of Christianity against the advancing Muslim. Step by step, she disputed the ground against the invader, and developed in this unequal and hopeless struggle the highest qualities of heroism and devotion. For the first and last time since ancient history, a city attained to the rank of one of the great powers of Europe. The strength of Venice might have sufficed for these efforts had it not been exhausted by other struggles. In 1426, under the Doge Foscarri began the war with the Visconti, which lasted till 1447. It was carried on with the greatest energy.

Starting point is 00:14:12 Carmagnola and Carrara were beheaded between the two columns on the Piazzetta of St. Mark. But the triumph of Venice was short-lived, and the capture of Constantinople, in 1453 dealt her a mortal blow. The Turks advanced under Mohamed II. Negropont, Kaffa, and Skutardi were lost in turn. Venice had to maintain the fight single-handed. Toward the end of the century, we find the Republic occupied by internal interests,

Starting point is 00:14:45 involved in the intrigues of Italian politics, no longer caring to be the guardian of the peninsula against the invader or of Christianity, against the infidel. The discovery of America, the doubling of the Cape of Good Hope, deprived her of her ancient commerce. She was no longer the link of union between the east and the west. Her territory was still considerable on the west, where it was bounded by the Ada. She possessed Ravenna, Chervilla, Fianza, Imola, and Roverero. She held dependencies on the Adriatic coast of Naples. The loss of external power brought with it as it often does, the canker of internal corruption.

Starting point is 00:15:30 The state was governed by a city, the city was governed by a small party among the citizens. Extravagance and luxury increased with gigantic strides. Egoism took the place of self-devotion. Such was the position of Venice when it had to face Europe, arrayed against it in the League of Cambrai. End of Section 1. Section 2 of the Age of the Condottieri by Oscar Browning. This Libra Box recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 1, Retrospect and Prospect, Part 2.

Starting point is 00:16:12 The condition of Rome was very different from that of the rest of Italy. The pontiffs of the 14th and 15th centuries were employed, not so much in attempting to acquire an empire over the consciences of men, or a general influence over the sovereigns of Europe, as in forming and consolidating their own temporal power. During the residence of the popes at Avignon, which is known as the Babylonish captivity, that power was reduced to very small dimensions. Rome was a free state, and the Orsini, Colonna, and the governors of Vico were independent sovereigns. Cardinal Albarnoth, as the regent of Innocent the 6th, succeeded in building up a new dominion with the help of the petty tyrants of the cities of central Italy, and Pope's Urban the 5th and Gregory

Starting point is 00:17:02 the 11th followed the same course. The schism which divided the church prevented the establishment of order. This confusion of authorities was put an end to by the Council of Constance, which in 1417 deposed the three existing popes and elected Odo Colonna, who took the name of Martin the 5th. From his election, a new period began. The popes became more and more absorbed in purely temporal interests, and the papal court reached a depth of abasement unequalled by that of any court in Italy. Martin V was the best pope of his age. He, He entered Rome in 1420 and founded a nest of beggars and brigands. Before his death in 1431, he had reduced the city and the Campagna to something like

Starting point is 00:17:56 order and security, and deserved the title which he obtained of Temporum Suorum Felicitas. But this success was obtained by means which were not without their disgrace. He shamelessly favored the family of the Colonna, and he supported in turn each of the claimants to the Crown of Naples. He was brought back to Rome by Joanna II, but he transferred his support to her enemy, Louis of Anjou, and afterwards to his conqueror, Alfonso of Aragon. The successor of Martin VIII, Eugenius VIII, had a stormy reign. Driven out of Rome in 1434, he took refuge in Florence and sent Vitaleschi, Archbishop of Florence and Patriarch of Alexandria, to execute his vengeance. By measure,

Starting point is 00:18:45 of the greatest cruelty the city was reduced to obedience, and Eugenius lived in it peaceably for three years before his death in 1447. His successor, Nicholas V, forms a striking contrast. He was entirely devoted to literature. He employed the revenues of the papacy in the collection of ancient manuscripts, and made Rome a great center for literary men with the finest library in the world. He labored to make Rome superior to Florence and beauty as well as learning, and he commenced those great works of building which were continued by Julius II and Leo X. Nicholas died in 1455, and was succeeded by Callixtus III, a Spaniard of the family of Borja, the creature of Alfonso of Arragon. He reigned only three years, but the first

Starting point is 00:19:36 of the Borges gave a foretaste of the miseries which that name was afterwards to inflict. He filled the city with Spaniards and thought of nothing but amassing money in enriching his nephews, one of whom was the notorious Alexander the 6th. Anius Silvius Piccolomini, who became Pope under the name of Pius II, was a worthy successor to Nicholas. He was one of the most striking characters of the age and was devoted to erudition. He employed the authority of the papal throne to stimulate a crusade against the Turks and wrote a letter to convert the Sultan Mohammed II. He died at Ancona in 1414, his eyes fixed toward the east, longing to commence the enterprise

Starting point is 00:20:24 for which he had labored so long, and believing that it would be effected by his successors. Paul II, whose papacy lasted seven years, was an enemy of learning, but was not destitute of merit. He repressed brigandage with a severe hand, was a stern maintainer of discipline and reformed the practices of the Roman court. The next three popes, Sixtus the Fourth, Innocent the Eighth, and Alexander the Sixth, occupy the saddest period in the papal history. The first was a violent tyrant without scruples and without shame. His nephews, the Riario, exhibited an abandonment of dissoluteness, which could afterwards scarcely be improved upon by Chezzi at Ebo.

Starting point is 00:21:11 Georgia. Sixtus the fourth is believed to have formed the conspiracy of the Patsy in order to obtain the money of the Medici. In politics, he was a faithless traitor. He took the side, first of the Venetians against the Neapolitans, and then of the Neapolitans against the Venetians. It is said that he died at the news of the siege of Banyolo in 1484. Nula vis Saibum patuit extingeri sextum. Auditotantum nominé Pachi's obit. No war could quell Pope sextus's cruel pride. The name of peace was whispered, and he died. After his death, the papal sea was sold to the highest bidder.

Starting point is 00:21:56 This was Cardinal Chibo, who chose the name of Innocent the Eighth. By taking the side of Anjou against Aragon, he threw all Italy into confusion, and peace was with difficulty secured. In Rome, all offenses could be compensated for by fines which went to swell the possessions of his son Francesco. Innocent the 8th was the first Pope who openly acknowledged his children. He married his son to the daughter of Lorenzo de Medici and made her brother cardinal at the age of 14. His sons and nephews openly led the most scandalous lives. Francesquetto Chibo lost 14,000 Florins one night gambling,

Starting point is 00:22:39 with the Cardinal Riario. False bulls were sold and indulgences to secure pardon to assassins. Every night the dead bodies found in the streets were thrown into the tiber. When Innocent the 8th died in 1492, it seemed impossible that the world would see a more abandoned pontiff, but a worse pope arose in the person of Alexander the 6th. The history of Naples during this period is a monotonous narrative of confusion and disorder, order. The glory of the Southern Kingdom ends with the deaths of Manfred and Conradine. The rule of the Angevin dynasty was fatal to the prosperity of the country. The kingdom reached the extremity of anarchy under Joanna I, who married four husbands in succession. Her cousin,

Starting point is 00:23:27 Ladislav, had subdued the barons, conquered his internal enemies, obtained authority over Rome, and was marching northwards with a large army aspiring to become king of Italy, when when he died of poison at Perugia in 1414. His sister, Joanna II, was a viler and more worthless repetition of her predecessor of the same name. Martin V by whom she had been crowned in 1419, incited in the following year, Louis III of Anjou, to contend against her worthless favorites. She in turn proclaimed Alfonso of Aragon as her successor, whom she afterwards deserted for René of Loren. After long and ruinous wars, peace was secured by the entrance of Alfonso into Naples on June 2nd, 1442, and the establishment of the dynasty of Aragon. Alfonso died in 1458 and left his hereditary

Starting point is 00:24:23 dominions, Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia to his brother, Naples, the fruit of conquest, to his natural son, Ferdinand, who is generally known as Ferranti. The Pope did not allow him to enjoy his kingdom without dispute. Pope Calyxtus claimed Naples as a papal fee. The Angevin barons rose in arms. René of Lorenne disembarked on the western coast. Ferranti spent six years in establishing his power. He maintained it by cunning and astute diplomacy. He was able to contend against external enemies, but he could not resist the onslaught of King Charles the 8th of France. Ferranti, as an old man, saw the significance of the the storm and urged the powers of Italy to unite against the common danger. He died in 1494 with this

Starting point is 00:25:14 prophetic entreaty on his lips. The long drama which we have described was a prelude to the coming disaster. The condition of the smaller states of Italy, Ferrara, Fienza, Lemani, and Urbino, was as deplorable as that of the larger. We find the same strange contrast between a high degree of literary culture and enthusiasm and the deepest political degradation. It has been said that Italy at this time was not worse than the rest of Europe, that Louis X11th was a monster of cruelty and deceit, and that Ferdinand of Oregon was notorious for duplicity and cunning. It might be answered that these sovereigns were at least striving toward a great end. Each of them wrought after his own manner, the unity of his country, whereas the crimes of Italy,

Starting point is 00:26:04 led only to her disunion and insignificance. But Italy could not have been all bad. Had the corruption of her rulers spread throughout the people, her case would have been hopeless, her future impossible. Venice and turn still preserved some remains of morality and virtue, and there is no reason to suppose that the great mass of the people had deserted the better ways of their fathers. If power was concentrated in few hands, so also was the crime and the extravagance which accompanied power. We have now traced the course of the five principal Italian states down to the time when they were about to be absorbed under the pressure of a common tyranny. We make a halt at the pontificate of Alexander the 6th and the expedition of Charles VIII. The greater part of this book

Starting point is 00:26:55 will be consecrated to the narration in detail of the events which we have here attempted to convey in a bird's eye view. End of section two. Section 3 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovoc's recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 2, Joanna of Naples, Mutsio's Vortza, Bracho da Montone, and Carmagnola, Part 1. The period of Italian history, which extends from the Council of Pisa, to the march of the Emperor Sigismund upon Rome in 1436, is one of great confusion. It is a time of chaos and anarchy, during which no striking individuality,

Starting point is 00:27:45 no predominant power, make it easy for us to group the events in due subordination. But the same epoch was one of the most flourishing periods of Italian art. To the first quarter of the 15th century belong the early sculptures of Donatello, the doors of the baptistery of Florence, cast by Lorenzo Giberti, which Michelangelo declared worthy to be the gates of paradise, the first frescoes of Massacho in the Church of Santa Maria Novella. During it, Felipeo Brunelleschi was appointed to construct the marvelous dome of Our Lady of the Flower. On May 3, 1410, Pope Alexander died, and Baldassarre Cosa was elected his successor under the name of John the 23rd. His quarrel with Ladislav of Naples still continued, but in 1412, a treaty of peace was arranged between them by the good offices of the Florentines. Peace was still

Starting point is 00:28:42 better assured by the death of Ladislav in 1414. Italy was well rid of this unquiet spirit. Ladislav before his death had given his consent to the summoning of a general counsel at Constance. the place was happily chosen as being neither Italian nor German and yet near enough to both countries to be of easy access. Ladislav had been moved to this course by the new emperor Ziegismund. Ziegismund was king of Bohemia, the younger brother of Vensel or Wenceslaus, king of Germany, and a sion of the famous line of Henry of Luxembourg. After a short war with Venice and negotiations with Milan and the Pope, The General Council was convoked at Constance for November 1, 1414. At the Council, the Italians were found to be present in by far the largest numbers, so that a salutary rule was made that

Starting point is 00:29:40 boats should be taken not by individuals but by nations. There was the same difficulty as before in persuading the rival popes to abdicate their functions. John the 23rd promised to resign, but ran away in disguise to Schaffhausen. He was caught. and imprisoned in 1415. Gregory the 12th recognized the authority of the council and surrendered the tiara. Benedict the 12th held out obstinately at Perpigno and was solicited to retire by Ziegasmund in person. At last, even his own Spaniards fell away from him and he was deposed in July 1417. The papal throne was now vacant and before the election of a new pope there was an opportunity for reforming the church in head and members. The opportunity was lost, and the bonds of obedience

Starting point is 00:30:33 were drawn tighter than ever. The teaching of Wycliffe was condemned. John Hus, who had come to Constance under a safe conduct, was tried, found guilty, and burnt, his ashes being thrown into the rhine. Jerome of Prague met with no better fate, but the fire of reforming zeal kindled at their stakes burnt long and brightly in the country of their birth. Otoone, or Odo Colonna, was elected Pope with the name Martin V. His first act was to dissolve the council. It had carried no reforms, but it brought into clear light the dissensions which existed in the church, and the persecution of reformers only prepared the way in Germany for the work of Luther and Melanchthon. King Ladislav was succeeded on the throne of Naples by Joanna II, at that time, 46 years old. In vice and shamelessness, she was a worthy successor of her

Starting point is 00:31:32 earlier namesake. She had been married to William, Duke of Corinthia, son of Duke Leopold III of Austria. But she was now a widow, and under the control of Pandolfello Alopo, her grand chamberlain. Atendolo Sforza, the famous Condotieri captain, and father of Muzodzvorza, was the commander of her troops, and she shortly afterwards married Jacques de Bourbon, the Count of La March, who Alopo believed would be entirely in his power. It is useless to waste time over the domestic revolutions of this debased court. Mutso Tforza was put into prison. Jacques, contrary to the terms of his marriage contract, contrived to be crowned king. He then proceeded to ill-treat his wife and to deprive her of independent power. He threw her into prison, but the people arose and liberated her.

Starting point is 00:32:27 She chose a new favorite by name Giovanni Caracolo, and Sforza was set free to command her armies. We now meet with a second Condottiere as leader of mercenary troops, Bracho Damante, first a companion in arms and afterwards a rival of Sforza. Profiting by the confusion of Italy, he had managed to acquire for himself a state of which Perugia was the center, and he had extended his conquests down the valley of the Tiber as far as Rome. The Neapolitans could not allow the capital of Italy to fall into his hands, and they could the more easily prevent it as they already had the powerful fortress of St. Angelo in their hands. Mutsot Sforza was dispatched to the rescue. On his arrival, Montone retired, and Svorza entered the city in triumph, on

Starting point is 00:33:20 August 27th, 1417. The condition of Italy was indeed deplorable when Pope Martin V set out to return southward to his new dominions. Elected in November, 1417, he remained for several months in Constance. On April 22nd, 1418, he finally closed the council, summoning a new one to meet at Pavia to continue the work of renovating the church. Crossing Savoy, he entered Lombardy and celebrated mass in the Cathedral of Milan. He remained at Mantua from November 1418 till February 1419, and passing by Ferrar and the Romagna, without touching Bologna, which, with a number of smaller towns had declared her independence, he arrived at Florence, then flourishing under the rule of the Guelph aristocracy. As Roman Beneventum were in the hands of the Neapolitans, he thought it better to remain

Starting point is 00:34:17 in the capital of Tuscany, and in fact, he stayed there for a year and a half. He took up his abode and quarters specially prepared for him in the convent of Santa Novella, the church of which he consecrated in October 1420. He obtained from the Duke of Bavaria the release of Baldassarcoza from his long imprisonment. The aged pontiff came to Florence to throw himself at the feet of Martin to do him abeyasance and to recognize him as the true father of the Christian world. He was invested with the purple of a cardinal, but died soon afterwards in November 1419, and was buried in the Church of San Giovanni so dear to the poet Dante. The history of Rome and Naples during the next few years is a tissue of the most complicated intrigues.

Starting point is 00:35:06 Joanna adopted as her son, and named as her successor in the kingdom, Alfonso V of Aragon, one of the most prominent princes of that age, a model of all-nightly account. accomplishments. A quarrel had broken out between Sforza and Karacholo, the queen's favorite, which had the most disastrous consequences. Joanna was at first well-disposed toward the Pope. He recognized her as queen and gave his authority for her coronation. Muzzo Zforza had been sent by her against Bracho da Montone to conquer the states of the church which were still in his possession. But Sforza was severely defeated in June 1419, between Viterbo and Monte Fiacone. In the following January, Sforza came to visit the Pope at Florence,

Starting point is 00:35:55 but the boys sang under their windows, Papa Martino, not valetun quaterino, and Bracho valente that vince any gent. Pope Martin is not worth a farthing. It is the hero Bracho who conquers everyone. At the end of February, Bracho himself came to Florence,

Starting point is 00:36:15 accompanied by 400 horse and 40 foot. His lofty and imposing stature caused great admiration. The Florentines reconciled him with the Pope, who confirmed him in the possession of the towns he occupied, Perugia, Orvieto, Narni, Rieti, and Assisi. A complete change now took place. Sforza and the Pope, having become friends, deserted the cause of Joanna and supported a rival claimant to the throne of Naples and the person of Louis III of Anjou. Let us consider who he was. In June 1386, Joanna I, pressed by the Hungarian party, had adopted as her son and successor, Louis I of the Second House of Anjou, son of John II, King of France, and descended from the earlier House of Anjou through the female line.

Starting point is 00:37:09 Louis I first had borne the title of King of Naples from 1382 to 1384. His son, Louis II, bore the same title from 1384 to 1417. He had died three years after Ladislav and left his claims to his son, Louis III, who now won the favor of Pope Martin IV and the Condottieri Muzzo Sforza. From this time, Naples is again torn and sundered by the corals of fourals of fours. Louis and Alfonso, and the struggles of the Angevin and Aragonese parties for the possession of the throne. It is a curious example of the complications of interest in this troubled time that Louis actually asked Alfonso, who was his cousin on his mother's side, to lend him a fleet, in order that he might disembark his troops at Naples, and seemed surprised when the request was refused.

Starting point is 00:38:03 He received, however, a promise that he should not be hindered from equipping a fleet in general. Genoa, where he armed five large ships and nine galleys. Louis arrived with his fleet in the Gulf of Naples in the middle of August. At the beginning of September, the galleys of Arragone appeared under the command of Raimundo Polirione. Joanna gave the Costello Nuevo into his possession which he accepted in the name of his master, Alfonso. The king of Arragon was at this time besieging Bonifacio in Corsica and seemed in no hurry to join his adopted mother. Driven from Bonifacio by the Genoese,

Starting point is 00:38:43 he went to Sardinia and to Sicily, and did not reach Naples till the end of June 1421. Joanna had, in the meantime, summoned Bracho to her assistance, who entered the capital at the beginning of that month. Naples was divided into two camps, one, the Angevans under Louis and Sforza, the other the Hungarian or Aragonese,

Starting point is 00:39:06 or Doratian under Alfonso and Bracho. In November 1421, the Pope with the assistance of the Florentines succeeded in concluding a kind of peace. Both claimants were to leave the kingdom. Alfonso was to retain the title of Duke of Calabria. Joanna was to retain the kingdom of Naples, and after her death, the question of inheritance was to be settled by the Pope. The peace really came to nothing. Louis went to Rome, where he remained for a long time feeding on vain hopes. Pope Martin had been there since the previous autumn. He found the city at peace, but poor and desolate. He did what he could to raise it, and deserves to some extent the title which his biographers have given him of father of his country. After this, confusion in Naples

Starting point is 00:39:54 became worse confounded. Queen Joanna became jealous of Alfonso. Sforza and Bracho, who were the real rulers of the kingdom, had a conference and became friends, remembering the fair days of their youth when they learned the art of war together under Alberico da Barbiano. By the help of Bratso, Sforza was reconciled with Joanna and the great Sennishal. Bracho kept his title of constable of the kingdom and governor of the Abruzzi. In the spring of 1423, the relations between Joanna and Alfonso became more strained. The queen invoked the assistance of Sforza, and Alfonso summoned Bracho to his aid. Svorza obtained a victory over the Catalans, and Alfonso was shut up in the Castello Nuevo.

Starting point is 00:40:41 In June, Alfonso, by the help of a Catalan fleet, recovered his ascendancy. Louis was now in high favor with Joanna. She created him, Duke of Calabria, adopted him as her son, and declared him heir to the throne. In October 1423, Alfonso was obliged to return to Spain. He left his son Peter in his place with only a small army. During the last six months of the year 1423, Bracho had been engaged in the siege of the great city of Aquila. Sworza was determined to drive him from his enterprise, and with this end attempted to pass the river Pescara so as to take him in the rear. It was Monday, January 3rd, 1424, a day marked as unlucky by the astrologers. The passage by the usual ford was disputed by soldiers of Bracho, and Mutso Tzforza was compelled to cross by the very mouth of the river.

Starting point is 00:41:40 First crossed five horsemen, then Mutsu Tvorts' son, Francesco, then Miquelota da Tendolo, then Sforza himself and a few men at arms. The first who crossed engaged with the soldiers of Bracho, Francesco distinguishing himself by a valor beyond his years. Muzzo Zforza called upon the rest of his company to cross. the river, and when they could not obey because a breeze was blowing from the sea and ruffening the water, he entered the river again to show that there was no danger. As he held out his hand to support a sinking page, his horse Skalzanaaka stumbled and fell. The horse recovered itself, but Mutsottsvorza fell into the water and never rose again. Thus perished, one of the first and one of the greatest of the condottieri. He was of more than the common height,

Starting point is 00:42:34 neither thin nor fat, large-limbed, strong and robust, sound and mind and body. His appearance was terrible and severe. His eyes were set deep into his head. He had a hooked nose and a face bronzed by the sun. He was a man of few words and could scarcely read or write, but he was wise and prudent in counsel, full of courage and spirit in times of danger, full of affection for his family, his country, and his servants. Such is the character drawn of him by Minuti, his companion in arms. End of Section 3. Section 4 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning.

Starting point is 00:43:16 This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 2, Joanna of Naples, Mutso Tsforza, Baracho da Mold and Carmagnola, Part 2. The soldiers of Sforza determined to avenge the death of their chief. Like the black Brunsvickers, they placed themselves in mourning, darkening their helmets and decking their chargers with black housings. The battle was fought under the walls of Aquila on June 2, 1424. It lasted eight hours, and no prisoners were made on either side.

Starting point is 00:43:57 Bracho was defeated and fell wounded in the head. He was carried into the city and died there, refusing all food and the aid of doctors. He was in character far inferior to Sforza. He knew neither pity nor religion, nor had he any affection except for his comrades and arms. A chronicler says of him, In his army he was loyal and valiant, but he was impious and heretical in his life. He believed neither in God nor the saints. He despised the offices and services of the church,

Starting point is 00:44:34 never heard mass and was most cruel. By the desire of the Pope, his body was carried to Rome and buried an unconsecrated ground. The principality which he had formed was broken up. Philippo Maria Visconti, the second son of John Galezzo, succeeded his brother John Maria in 1412. He was naturally of weak health, and whether at table, in bed, or on the chase, surrounded

Starting point is 00:45:04 himself with doctors. In his early youth, he delighted in the arts of war, but with advancing years he became stout and sickly and had to content himself with hunting. He was a master of dissimulation. At the same time, he was no despiser of literature and studied the poems of Petrarch and Dante and the histories of Livy. He could not bear to be alone, and sometimes summoned his guards to watch round his bed as he often passed sleepless nights. He was reputed, religious, and charitable, but he was very superstitious and believed in augurs and astrologers. He undertook no military enterprise without consulting the stars, and it is said that the signs of heaven foretold his death three years before it happened. His power depended upon his army, and the efficiency of his army depended upon the excellence of the Condotieri leaders whom he was able to attract to his service.

Starting point is 00:46:05 The chief among these were Francesco de Carmanola, Niccolo Piccinino, Francesco Sforza, and Angelo della Pergola. Francesco Bussone was born at Carmanola in Piedmont about the year 1390, and, according to the course, according to the usage of those days took the name of his native town. He became by degrees not only the head of Visconti's army, but the prime minister of his dominions. By the help of this general, and by a combination of courage and duplicity, Philippo Maria gradually recovered most of the possessions which his father had held in northern Italy. One of Cana Maniola's first enterprises was to capture the castle of Tretzo, whose ruins now rise

Starting point is 00:46:51 majestically from the green waters of the rushing Ada, which was then held by the family of Collione. Bartholomeo, the last and the best of the Condottieri, being then a boy of 16. The castle surrendered in the early days of 1417. In 1424, Visconti became master of Genoa by treachery, and in the following year he made an attack upon the Italian provinces of Switzerland. Up to the year 1422, he had made no attempt to recover the former possessions of his house in Tuscany, and the Florentines had no reason to doubt his honor or his goodwill. But war between these powers broke out in consequence of a dispute about the little town of Forli in the Romania.

Starting point is 00:47:42 Gior de L'Affi died in January 1422, leaving a son Tebaldo nine years old. His mother was Lucrezia, daughter of Ludovico Alidozi, Lord of Imola. He desired to make himself guardian of his grandson, but the people of Forli, jealous of the supremacy of Imola, determined to give themselves to the church. Philippo Maria seized the opportunity of meddling in the business on pretense of supporting the wife of the deceased Duke. The people called two Milanese condottieri to their aid. Great was the agitation in Florence. Giovanni de Medici tried to prevent the republic from taking part in a quarrel from which they could gain nothing. But the war party eventually prevailed, and a Florentine army was sent to the assistance of the Duchess.

Starting point is 00:48:36 In a few months, the Florentines suffered no less than six defeats. Between September 1423 and October 1425, they were beaten at Ponte Aronco, Zagonara, at valdi lamona at rapalo at angiari at la fagula in their trouble they turned to venice for assistance and their prayer for vengeance against the duke was reinforced from an unexpected quarter francesco carmagnola had been living for some time in a kind of exile at treviso in august fourteen twenty five he discovered that filippo maria had formed a plot to poison him he flew to venice spoke against the Visconti and entered upon negotiations with Amadeo, Duke of Savoy. The Doge of Venice was at this time one of the most distinguished of the line, Francesco Foscarri. His predecessor, Tomaso Mochenigo, who had died on April 4, 1423 at the age of 80, had warned the Republic against him as a restless and unquiet spirit.

Starting point is 00:49:46 The ambassadors of Philippo Maria and of the Florentines were both at the court of the Rialto at the close of 1425. To the Duke, the Venetians offered their mediation between himself and the Florentines. But a month later, they accepted the alliance with Florence, the Doge, urging them to declare war to avenge the injuries they had suffered, and to tread underfoot the common enemy of all, and to give lasting rest to the Lord. whole of Italy. By the terms of the alliance, which was solemnly published on January 27th, 1426, it was arranged that Venice was to have the conduct of the war, that the conquests made in Lombardy were to go to Venice, and those in Tuscany to Florence, and also those in the marches, so far as they did not interfere with the supremacy of the church. Carmagnola was made commander-in-chief.

Starting point is 00:50:44 The first operations of Carmanola were directed against Brescia, which fell into his hands in March 1425. In July, the Duke of Savoy joined the league on the condition that the city of Milan, if conquered, was to pass to him. But the task of the Allies was by no means an easy one. The war with the Turks was still proceeding, and Negropont was threatened. Genoa prepared a large fleet to help her suzerain the Duke of Milan. Germany and Hungary were hostile. Philippo Maria sold Foroli and Imola to the Pope to provide himself with money. The only thing which helped the Allies was the misunderstanding which prevailed amongst the mercenary generals of the Duke.

Starting point is 00:51:31 At last, on December 30, 1426, before a single important battle had been lost or won, peace was made. at Verrata by the intervention of Pope Martin V. Brescia, with all its dependencies, was to remain in the hands of the Venetians. When the news of the peace reached Milan, there was an outburst of patriotic fury. We are accustomed to regard the government of these Italian princes as purely personal, and to view them as making peace or war solely by their own interest and advantage. Here we see the people and the nobles coming forward, in a time of peril to rally round their sovereign.

Starting point is 00:52:14 The Emperor Ziegismund also put pressure upon the Duke to break the treaty, which he had just ratified, and refused to confirm the Venetians in the possession of Brescia. By the exertions of the Milanese nobility and the influence of the Emperor, the war was renewed, but the result was only to give a more complete victory to Connemagnola. At the Battle of MacCloidio fought on October, 12th, 1427, the Duke was entirely defeated, and a very large number of prisoners were taken, amongst whom was Carlo Malatesta, whom Philippo Maria had placed at the head of his army in order to appease the quarrels between his Condotieri generals. A scene followed the battle

Starting point is 00:52:59 which throws a curious light on the manners of the time. The Duke's troops consisted almost entirely of mercenaries. They had no ill-feeling toward the soldiers, against whom they had to fight, nor the prisoners whom they had taken. The consequence was that all the prisoners on both sides were liberated during the night or in the course of the next day. This was a common but not universal practice. One reason for it was undoubtedly the desire among the professional soldiers that the state of war should continue and that they should not on the conclusion of a lasting peace be sacrificed to the vengeance of the people. After this battle, Amadeo the 8th, Duke of Savoy, with the characteristic fickleness of his

Starting point is 00:53:46 house, made peace with Philippo Maria at Turin on December 2nd, whereas he had sent him letters of defiance on August 27th. Thus, Savoy and Milan were united under the protection of the emperor against Venice and Florence. The Duke of Milan was to marry Maria, the daughter of the Duke of Savoy and to receive the town of Vercelli as her dowry. The second wife of Philippo Maria was the unfortunate Beatrice di Tenda, the widow of Facino-Cane. The Duke had married her from motives of policy, but at first loved her dearly and gave her the city of Monza. He afterwards tired of her, and she was executed in August 1418 on a false charge of a

Starting point is 00:54:35 adultery protesting her innocence. He married Maria of Savoy on October 6th, 1428. Before this, peace had been signed at Ferrara on April 19th between the combatants again by mediation of the Pope. The conditions were that Brescia, together with the conquests made in the district of Cremona, were to go to Venice, that Bergamo should be surrendered to the same government, that the possessions of Carmanola in the Milanese and should be restored to him but without the right of alienation, and that the Duke of Milan was to form no new alliances in Romania or in Tuscany. The peace did not last long.

Starting point is 00:55:17 Francesco Sforza, who had, after a breach again, entered the service of the Visconti, recommended a renewal of the struggle. The Florentines had declared war against Paolo Juni, the Lord of Lucca. Philippo Maria was bound by the Treaty of Ferrara, not to interpretive, interfere in the affairs of Tuscany. He contrived, however, by means of Svorza and Pichinino, actually to give assistance to Luca and to harass the allies of Florence. He amused the Venetians and Florentines with negotiations and sent continual messages to the Emperor Sigismund, urging him to march upon Italy, promising that when he came he would declare himself against the two republics. Both parties were suing

Starting point is 00:56:03 for the support of Francesco Sforza. The Duke succeeded in securing him by offering him the hand of his illegitimate daughter Bianca Maria, born in 1425, and now therefore only five years old. The death of the Pope Martin V and the succession of a Venetian, Gabriel Candolnier, under the title of Eugenius the fourth, made no difference in the course of events. War broke out openly in the spring of 1431. A few days after the commencement of the war on March 16th, the Venetians were defeated at Soncino, and on June 22nd, their fleet under Niccolo Trevesani was utterly routed by the fleet of the Visconti under Oystachio Pecino. It was engaged in the siege of Cremona on the side of the River Po, while Carmanola invested the city by land. Carmanola gave no assistance to the Venetian

Starting point is 00:57:03 fleet. But whether this was due to deliberate treachery or to his being deceived by false information cannot be ascertained. At any rate, his conduct on this occasion formed one of the principal grounds of his impeachment. Carmanola also failed to support an attack made upon Cremona on October 18th, when the Venetians had occupied the castle of Santa Luca and one corner of the city walls. The Cremonesi certainly thought that they owed their salvation to his negligence. At the beginning of the following year, the Venetians began to be still more suspicious of their general. Messengers sent by Visconti were continually coming to his camp, and on February 22, 1432, the Venetian Senate was compelled to tell him not to trust any ambassadors of the Visconti

Starting point is 00:57:55 who only meant to deceive. It was known that, that Carmanola desired a principality for himself, and the Venetian government probably believed that Visconti's messengers were talking to him of other matters than peace. At length, on March 29th, the Council of Ten met to deliberate on the fate of the commander-in-chief. Some were in favor of arresting him openly, others of employing artifice. The latter prevailed. A special messenger, Giovanni D'Imperio, sent to Carmagnola, who was then at Brescia, with orders to invite him to come to Venice to consult upon the spring campaign, which was just about to open. If he refused, the governors of Brescia were to seize him and imprison him in the castle. Carmaniola accepted the invitation at once.

Starting point is 00:58:48 At Padua, he was treated with distinguished honor, probably with the view of lulling his suspicions and preventing his escape. He arrived at Venice on April 7th. He was received by the Doge with apparent affection, but his suite was not allowed to follow him. On entering the Doge's palace, he was conducted to a prison and said with a sigh, I clearly perceive that I am dead. On April 11th, his chancellor was examined under torture. Carmagnola himself was not exposed to the rack because one of his arms had been severely wounded, but fire was applied to his feet.

Starting point is 00:59:26 The trial was interrupted during the holy season of Easter. but afterwards the judges applied themselves to the inquiry day and night. At length on May 5th, the matter was referred to the Council of Ten. His guilt was soon agreed upon, and the only question was as to his punishment. A minority were in favor of confining him in a strong castle, but the majority voted that on that very day, at the accustomed hour and in the usual manner, he should be led, with a gag in his mouth, and his hands tied behind his back, to the space between the two columns in the square of St. Mark and there beheaded. His wife who lived at Treviso was to have a

Starting point is 01:00:07 pension, and provision was also made for his daughters. The execution was carried out on March 5th, 1432, after sunset. Materials do not exist for determining the guilt or innocence of Carmanola. We know, however, that the judgment of the Council of Ten was not given without careful inquiry and long deliberation. If they had wished to assassinate him, they could easily have done so. It is probable that they had proofs of his treachery. The desire of every prudent Condotieri of those days must have been to carve out a little government for himself as a retirement for his old age, and the pursuit of this end was not always consistent with chivalrous loyalty to any master whom at the time he happened to be serving.

Starting point is 01:00:58 These professional warriors of no country and of no principles served only for pay, and could always be bought by a higher bidder. The impeachment of Collione is a pendant to the execution of Carmanola. After this tragedy, peace was not long in following, and a new treaty, the third, was concluded at Ferrara on April 7, 1432. It was framed on the basis of the Statue Quo. The Duke of Milan engaged to surrender his conquests and not to meddle anymore in the affairs of Tuscany or the Romagna. End of Section 4.

Starting point is 01:01:44 Section 5 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 3. The Emperor Sigismund, Pope Eugenius IV, The Rise of the Medici, Alfonso of Aragon, Part 1. In 1432, the Emperor Ziegismund undertook his journey to Rome. Pope Martin V, a colonel, as we know, had died on February 20th, and the rival party of the Orsini prevailed in the next election. As we stated in the last chapter, the choice of the Cardinals fell on Gabriel Candolmier, Pope Eugenius IV, a Venetian sister's son to Gregory

Starting point is 01:02:33 the 12th. He was 47 years of age, vigorous and young, for his time of life. Experience showed that his nature was weaker and more inflammable than his friends had expected. His first public act was to recognize the Council of Basel. His first step in the government of Rome was to persecute the hated stock of the Kelona and to destroy their castles and fortresses. The chief objects of the Council of Basel were the reform of the church in head and members, the quieting of the trouble of the Hussites and Bohemia, and the union of the Greek and Latin churches. The Greek emperor, hard-pressed by the Turks, was ready to consent to this union, but his consent was of little value. The emperor and the Pope regarded the council with very different feelings. The emperor was anxious for a settlement of the trouble

Starting point is 01:03:27 in Bohemia and for a union of Christendom against the heathen. The Pope was afraid of the inauguration of a reform which could only begin with himself, yet he went so far as to send Cardinal Cesadini to Basil to open the sittings of the council in his name and to preside in his place. The council was of short duration. The Pope, afraid to be that. The Pope, afraid to be that. The Pope, of the influence of Germany and of the Court of France, summoned the Council to meet at Bologna. The Council refused to obey, declared itself superior to the Pope, and summoned him before them in turn. Ziegismund took the side of the Council against the Pope. The Emperor did not appear in Italy with that pomp which some of his predecessors and ancestors

Starting point is 01:04:14 had exhibited. He was accompanied only by a hundred Hungarian horsemen. He found Italy, as we have described it above in a state of war, and as he had been principally invited by Philippo Maria, he naturally took the side of Milan against the republics of Venice and Florence. Ziegis-Mont entered Milan on November 22nd, 1432, and was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, three days afterwards in the Church of Santambrogio. The ceremony was performed by Bartolomeo Capra, Archbishop of Milan, while Niccolo Piccinino, the Condotieri General, representing the Duke of Milan his master, offered to his new sovereign the golden ball as the symbol of universal sovereignty. Ziegistmund stayed for some time in Milan, as the Pope was not willing to expedite his journey to Rome.

Starting point is 01:05:08 In February, he moved on to Piacenza, Parma, and Luca, and reached Siena in July 1432, where he remained for nine months, which were consumed in negotiations with the Pope. The situation was not without its humorous side. Ziegismund desired the imperial crown, but he would not receive it unless the Pope recognized the Council of Basel and recalled the decree which had dissolved it. The Pope was anxious to crown the Emperor, but he was afraid of being deposed himself by the council, and therefore refused to crown Zygosmund until he consented to the council being held in an Italian town. An arrangement was at length agreed to in April by which Eugenius was to be recognized as the

Starting point is 01:05:53 undoubted pope of Christendom. Ziegusmund made his solemn entry into Rome on May 21st, 1432, the festival of the Ascension. He was crowned on May 31st by the Pope and St. Peter's, but without the splendor of attendant vassals, which had so often graced that ceremony. He remained sometime in Rome lodging at the palace of the Lateran whilst the Pope dwelt at the Vatican. The Emperor confirmed the ancient privileges of the church, beginning with those granted by Constantine, the Pope renewed in Ziegismund, the Empire of Charles the Great. When Ziegismund left Rome in August, he was very friendly with the Pope, but he had lost his interest in the council. Also, he was disposed to take the part of Venice rather than that of Milan. He returned to Basel in the guise of a modest traveler on October 11, 1433.

Starting point is 01:06:50 The emperor had scarcely left Rome before a terrible storm burst upon the Pope. It did not proceed directly from the council, but from Philippo Maria Visconti, who doubtless felt encouraged in the attack by the hostility of the council to his heart. holiness. Niccolo Fort de Bracho, a condottieri leader and nephew of Bracho da Mantone, who had never laid down the sword, and was now in the pay of the Duke of Milan, pressed on through the Sebyne Mountains, overran the Campagna, captured the Pont de Molet, and presented himself at the Porte del Papolo on August 25th, 1433, only 11 days after the departure of Sigismund. He demanded the title of Standard Bearer of the Church, took Tevalli on

Starting point is 01:07:39 October 7th, and kept it till the month of June in the following year. He was supported by the Colonna family, whom the Pope had declared the public enemies of the church. Eugenius had no one to help him but Giovanni Vitteleski, a strange product of these days, a cardinal and a patriarch, but a bloodthirsty and cruel soldier. Another danger felt. upon the Pope from the north. Francesco's Tforza, attached to the fortunes of Philippo Maria, by the promise of his daughter's hand, treacherously seized a number of towns in the March of Ancona, and said that he was empowered to do so by the Council. Eugenius saw no way out of his difficulties but to recognize the authority of the Council,

Starting point is 01:08:23 which he did on December 15, 1433. Sforza was reconciled to the Pope in March 1434, was recognized as Marquis of the March of Ancona and was appointed standard-bearer of the church. Forte Bracho, refusing to submit, was attacked by Sforza, but he found an unexpected ally in another Condottieri leader, Niccolo Piccinino.

Starting point is 01:08:51 With his assistance, he pressed Rome so hard that Eugenius had no resource but to fly. The citizens were in rebellion and the old republic was proclaimed. A pirate named Vitelio of Iskia engaged to receive the Pope on board his ship at Ostia. At midday, on the 4th of June, the Pope disguised as a friar, with a single monk as his attendant, rode on a mule to the tiber bank. A sailor carried the Pope on his back and laid him down in the boat. The fugitive was recognized and the whole town ran to the riverside. Another boat was launched in pursuit but stuck fast in the mud.

Starting point is 01:09:31 stones, lances, and arrows were discharged at the flying bark. The rowers labored stoutly, while the Pope lay in the stern covered by a large shield. Below the Church of St. Paul outside the walls, a large boat filled with armed men came out to intercept them. The skipper of the Pope's bark determined to charge it or run it down, but the boat was old and rotten, and the assailants avoided the shock. Danger was now passed, and they reached the ship of Vitellio in the roads of Ostia. On June 12th, 1434, Eugenius landed at Pisa and reached Florence on June 23rd. He was the last Pope who was violently driven out of Rome until Pius the 9th in the middle of the present century. The Pope found Florence in a state of considerable confusion. We have now reached

Starting point is 01:10:24 the period when the family of the Medici begin to play an important part in the history of their country. The origin of this family is not exactly known. It is supposed that they came from the Mugelo, a district in the Ampanines, between the Arno and the Emilian Road. It is certain that for a considerable time, they held only a subordinate place in Florence. They had the character of being good, steady, careful merchants of popular sympathies, opposed to the reigning oligarchy of the Albizzi, but not prominent or powerful enough to excite hatred or to invite destruction. We heard of the name of Salvestro de Medici at the time of the conspiracy of the Chompe. The real founder of the greatness of the house was Giovanni, the son of Alverardo,

Starting point is 01:11:11 who was born in 1360 and died on February 20th, 1429. He took advantage of the Council of Constance and the increased facilities of communication in Europe to extend his relations with various countries. Florence, we have already seen, was the most flourishing commercial town in Europe. The staple product was wool, but Florence also imported roughly made woolen clothes from other countries, dyed and refined them by a process which was long preserved as a jealous secret, and exported them again to the countries from which they had already come. The artisans who pursued this trade formed the Artre or Guild of the Kalimala.

Starting point is 01:11:54 Besides this, they were the bankers of Europe, and the name Tuscan or Lombard was used as a sort of euphemism for banker or usurer, which had a disagreeable sound. The business relations of Florence were carried on principally with London and Bruges, also with Avignon and Genoa, and to a considerable degree with Venice. Giovanni at his death left two sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo, one born in 1389, and the other in 1395. The relations of his house with the last two popes, John the 23rd and Martin V, had been of a most friendly character, and his son, Cosimo, had represented the interests of his house, both with one and the other. Cosimo had accompanied John the 23rd to the Council of Constance, and the Medici

Starting point is 01:12:44 constructed the tomb in the Church of San Giovanni, in which the ashes of Baldassarre Cosa now repose. It was not likely that the oligarchical party of the Albizzi could view with indifference so formidable arrival. The heads of this party, after the death of Maso deli albizzo in 1417, were his sons Ronaldo, Niccolo da Uzzano, and Palastrozi. The Albizzi first appear in the history of Florence in the middle of the 13th century. They came originally from Arezzo. About the year 1370, they were a by a rival family the Ritchie, and they were the first to use the means which the Constitution gave them, the Ammonide, and the Balea, and the powers of the Parte Guelpha, to establish their new supremacy upon a firm basis. In 1379 they were exiled, but returned in 1382 more powerful than ever.

Starting point is 01:13:42 They became the dictators of the city, and although their rule was not unstained by the cruelty of the age, there can be no doubt that the period of their government was one of great splendor and prosperity to the state. Masudelial Bizi died, as we have said, in the year 1417 at the age of 74. His son, Ronaldo, was then eight years old. But the governing and moderating spirit of the party was Niccolo da Uzzano. He was by far the most powerful man in Florence. Palastrotsi was rather a man of letters than a politician. He was a man of the highest character, and his modesty was equal to his powers.

Starting point is 01:14:24 He was one of the richest men in Florence, richer than Giovanni de Medici, and he spent his wealth in the furtherance of learning. Peace was preserved at Florence by the equilibrium of these opposing forces. The Republic had never been more flourishing or more prosperous, but a touch might destroy the charm. The shock came in the attempt to conquer Luca, a town whose varied fortunes must often occupy the attention of the historian of medieval Italy, and which still maintained a provoking independence under the family of the Junici. The attempts to reduce Luca ended in failure and disgrace. Felipe de Ser Brunelleschi, who was at that time building the marvelous dome of the cathedral at Florence, offered by diverting the course of the Serkio to surround Luca with a lake which would

Starting point is 01:15:17 throw down the walls. But the lake turned out to be no better than a frog pool, and Brunelleschi lost reputation as a man of science. Rinaldo Deli Albizi lost his prestige as a statesman. He tried to recover his position by an attack on Cosimo de Medici, and as Niccolo D'Audsono had died during the siege of Luca, there was no one to hold him in check. Giovanni was summoned from his villa to Florence and was imprisoned in the public palace. At first he feared for his life, but he was able to use his money with good effect. He was condemned to be banished for four years to Padua. His brother, Lorenzo, was sent to Venice and the rest of the Medici family to Rome,

Starting point is 01:16:00 Naples, and Ancona. Cosimo was received in his expatriation, rather as an ambassador than as an exile, and his life at Padua and Venice was not less brilliant than it had been at Florence. The Medici left Florence on the evening of October 3, 1433. This, therefore, was the condition of things when Pope Eugenius arrived at the city in June of 1434. But a revolution was at hand. The seniory which came into office on September 1, 1434, was favorable to the Medici. Rinaldo attempted to prevent the return of his enemy by force. He and his friends assembled in arms to the number of 600.

Starting point is 01:16:43 The signore summoned the people to their assistance, and they thronged into Florence in crowds. The Pope, who was inclined to favor Cosimo, tried to reconcile the two parties by means of Giovanni Vittleski, bishop of Reconati, but in vain. The Medici were recalled, Ronaldo Deli Alpici was driven into exile and never were never saw his country again. The supremacy of the Medici and Florence dates from this time. Cosimo became Gont Falunieri di Justici for the months of January and February 1435. The government of the Albezi had lasted 40 years, which was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant epochs in Florentine history. During it, Florence withstood with glory and success

Starting point is 01:17:29 the converging attacks of foreign foes, and she was more rich in consolidated. wealth and power than she was when it began. End of Section 5. Section 6 of the Age of the Condottieri by Oscar Browning. This Libravox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 3. The Emperor Sigismund, Pope Eugenius IV, The Rise of the Medici, Alfonso of Aragon, Part 2. We must now turn our attention to the affairs of Naples.

Starting point is 01:18:13 King Louis of the Second House of Anjou, who had been recognized by the Pope, died without heirs at Conzenza in November 1434. And on February 11, 1435, the first house of Anjou Naples came to an end in the person of Joanna II. By her will she had declared as her heir, Renée, Count of Provence, and Duke of Anjou. He was the possessor of a number of titles but of little real power. He was Duke of Bar, Duke of Le Rheon, King of Naples, and titular King of Aragon. His daughter was the wife of Henry VI of England, the ill-fated Margaret of Anjou. Four days after the death of the Queen, the Neapolitans appointed a Council of Regency

Starting point is 01:19:05 and raised the banner of René. The queen had left at her death in gold and jewels the immense sum of 500 golden ducats. With this treasure, an able and energetic king could have secured the welfare of the state. But when the Neapolitan ambassadors arrived in Provence to invite René to come to Naples, they found him a prisoner in the hands of the Duke of Burgundy. His wife, Isabella, and his second son, Louis, who were not in prison, were able to accept the offers of the Neapolitan mission, and they reached their capital with a small fleet on October 18th, 1435. The validity of Joanna's will was contested by Alfonso, who hurried from Sicily

Starting point is 01:19:53 to defend his kingdom, while the Pope declared that on the failure of the heirs of Charles of Anjou, the crown of Naples reverted to him as a papal fief. The Duke of Milan took the side of René against Alfonso and sent a Genoese fleet to defend Gaeta against the attacks of Alfonso. The Arragonese fleet was defeated in August 1436 off the island of Ponza, and Alfonso and his brother John, King of Navarre, and the chief of his barons were taken prisoners. They were conducted first to Genoa and then to Milan, where Alfonso, by his ability and charms completely won over the capricious Felipe Maria. He persuaded him that it was to his real interest to prefer the advancement of Aragon to that of France, and he left him a devoted friend.

Starting point is 01:20:48 This sudden and romantic change created a great impression in Europe. The Pope was in despair. Genoa, in disquiet at the fickleness of Philippo Maria, renounced its allegiance to the Viscont Alfonso returned to Naples to conduct the war against Isabella of Lorraine. The Pope assisted René as the lesser of two evils, but his general Vitaleschi, who had before this reduced Rome to the Pope's obedience, could effect but little and return to his master at Ferrara. Renée himself obtained his liberty in 1438. The cause of his imprisonment is so characteristic of the manners of the time, that it is worthwhile to relate it, although it is only remotely connected with the history of Italy.

Starting point is 01:21:40 Charles II, Duke of Lorenne, had died in 1431, and having no male heirs, had left his duchy to his daughter, Isabella, and her husband, René of Anjou. The will was contested by the Duke's nephew, Anthony Count de Vaudement. Renee, whose right was also acknowledged by the Emperor Ziegismund, began the war with spirit. But on July 2, 1431, was taken prisoner by Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, who supported the cause of Anthony. He was liberated on parole in April 1432, but not wishing to break his faith as a knight or to sacrifice the hostages which were being retained for him, he returned of his own free will to prison in May 1433 and remained there for three years,

Starting point is 01:22:35 not being able to obtain his liberty without paying a large sum of money. He now arrived at Naples on May 19th, bringing with him his eldest son John, and on Ascension Day, May 22nd, he rode through the city in triumph. From this time a struggle of varying fortunes continued between the two rivals, René being generally established at Naples and Alfonso at Galleta. Renée proposed to settle the quarrel by single combat, an offer which Alfonso scornfully rejected. At length, in 1444, some of Alfonso's troops were enabled to enter the city by an old and disused aqueduct. Francesco Sforza, who had declared for the side of René,

Starting point is 01:23:27 could give doefficient help. The unfortunate Angevin took refuge on board a Genoese galley and sailed for northern Italy and France. The Pope, seeing that René was hopelessly defeated, made peace with Alfonso in June 1443, who reigned from that time undisputed King of Naples. In the meantime, the exiles from Florence, as the only hope of returning to their homes, stirred up Philippo Maria to attack their city. The principal general on the side of the Visconti was Niccolo Piccinino. He was quite worthy to rank with the great Condotieri leaders of his time, but he failed to found a dynasty and was treated with gross ingratitude by his master.

Starting point is 01:24:15 His adversary was Francesco Sforza, in every way a worthy antagonist. Pichinino was a pupil of Bracho da Montone, Sforza of his father, so that the Condotieri were divided into two schools, the Sforceschi and the Branccheschi, each with its own traditions and names of warfare. The struggle began in the territory of Luca, but was continued in the Romagna. It would be idle to attempt a detailed account of the conflicts of these equally noted generals. On one occasion, Pici Nino, after a defeat, was a carried in a sack through the field of battle to appear unexpectedly in another place. The war was decided by the Battle of Anguadi, fought on June 29, 1440, in which Pichinino was defeated

Starting point is 01:25:11 and half his army taken prisoners. In the following year, as we have already heard, Philippo Maria reduced to extremities was forced to give Svorza the hand of his daughter, Bianca Maria, and to mark him out as heir to the Duchy of Milan. Pichinino complained bitterly that his rival had been preferred before him. The peace of Caciano closed the war between the two republics and the Duke. Venice obtained Bergamo, Brescia, Pesquiera, and the Riva di Trento. Sforza received Cremona as dower with his wife. The independence of Genoa was recognized, and Florence acquired the Cazentino, the upper valley of the Arno immortalized in the verse of Dante, containing the magic names of Campalino, Popi, Romana, and Bibiana, which had hitherto been subject to

Starting point is 01:26:09 the Count Guido da Polenta as an imperial fief. During this period, Pope Eugenius had been at war with the Council of Basel, and was gradually getting the best of the contest. The Council had entered too hastily, on the path of reform. It had aimed blow after blow at the power of the papacy and had roused up powerful advocates in its defense. Torquamada now supported the papal infallibility of which Thomas Aquinas had been the champion in earlier days. One of the most important subjects before the council was the union of the Greek and Latin churches and the choice of the city in which the Council of reconciliation should be held gave rise to heated controversy. The Pope was willing that it should be summoned at Constantinople, but the Council refused to place their heads in the mouth of the Turks.

Starting point is 01:27:06 They wished the Greek fathers to come to Basel, but the patriarch of Constantinople replied that the personal presence of the Pope was essential, and he could not be expected to go to a place which had been the scene of rebellion against him. At last, the two parties changed the scene of the intended conference, one choosing Avignon and the other Florence or Udine. At the beginning of these negotiations, it had been arranged that if the council were held in the east, the eastern church should bear the expense, if in the west, the expense should fall upon the Pope. When it was practically settled that the council should be held somewhere in Italy, the Pope equipped four galleys in Venice and sent them to Constantinople, where they met a similar fleet

Starting point is 01:27:54 coming from Avignon. The Greek emperor, John Palaiologos, together with the fathers who were to attend the council, embarked on the Pope's galleys, and on September 17th, 1437, the Pope issued a bull convening the council at Ferrara, an order which was not recognized by the fathers at Basel. The first meeting of the Council of Ferrada was held on January 8th, 1438. It was very scantily attended, and none but Italians were present. On January 27th, the Pope entered the city with a splendid retinue. On February 8th, the swift-sailing imperial galley, which bore the Emperor of the Eastern World, entered the harbor of San Niccolo del Lido. The Doge, Francesco Foscarri, went immediately, to pay a visit to the emperor on board his galley,

Starting point is 01:28:52 and on the following day, which was a Sunday, he received him on board the Bucentoro, accompanied by Venetian senators and nobles. The Byzantine emperor made his way into Venice to the strains of music and amongst the cheers of the populace. On the last day of February, Palaiologos left Venice, and on April 9th,

Starting point is 01:29:13 the representatives of both churches were united at Ferrara under the presidency of Eugenius IV. The Greek and Latin theologians discussed the points of difference between the two churches without any practical result. The most important question being the retention of the word filioque

Starting point is 01:29:33 in the Nicene Creed, which implied the double procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, a doctrine not accepted by the Greek Church. The Council of Basel was by no means in a humor to submit. On January 23rd, four days before the arrival of Eugenius at Ferrara, it had declared the Pope suspended from his pontifical authority in answer to his decree of the previous February, which excommunicated the fathers of the council.

Starting point is 01:30:06 In March, it declared the Council of Ferrada schismatical. In May, it asserted that general councils received their authority direct. from Christ, and in June it actually deposed Eugenius. In October, it appointed electors for a new pope, amongst whom was Enya's Silvius Piccolomini, afterwards Pope under the name of Pius II. In November, it confirmed the election of Amadeus of Savoy, the hermit of Ripe. In February 1440, it ordered the Christian world to pay him obedience as the true pontiff. Thus the schism was complete. Alfonso of Oregon and Charles, King of France, took the sight of the

Starting point is 01:30:52 Council against the Pope. Germany had the opportunity of anticipating the Reformation by a hundred years. Just at this time on December 9th, 1437, the Emperor Sigismund died and was succeeded by his stepson, Albert of Austria. The Pope's Council could not remain long at Ferrara. The plague broke out in the town, and Pichinino was threatening the neighborhood with his mercenary troops. So, in January 1439, Eugenius removed the council to Florence. Here the process of reconciliation went on with great rapidity. The Greek theologians eventually declared themselves satisfied as to the points of dispute between the two churches. They admitted that the Holy Spirit did, in a certain sense, proceed from both persons of the Trinity.

Starting point is 01:31:45 that leavened as well as unleavened bread might be used in the Holy Eucharist, and that purgatory really existed. They agreed that the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, should be considered as the first head of Christendom, that the Bishop of Constantinople or New Rome should be the second, of Alexandria the 3rd, of Antioch the 4th, of Jerusalem the 5th. On June 9th, the Greek patriarch died declaring his adhesion to the the Roman Church. To celebrate and confirm this union, a solemn service was held on July 6th, 1439, in the cathedral of Our Lady of the Flower. The emperor and the pope were present, together with the fathers of both churches. The Greeks were placed on the epistle, the Latins on the gospel side. The gospel was sung in both languages, and during the mass

Starting point is 01:32:41 was read the bull of union, drawn up in Greek and Latin, as subscribed by the members of the council. No Christian can recall the memory of this momentous function held under the dome of Brunelleschi, which half a century later resounded to the preaching of Savonarola without deep emotion. Eugenius might well feel that the disunion of Christendom had been permanently healed, and that the Church of Christ would henceforth form one fold under one shepherd, and be able to meet with a unified front the assaults of, Islam and of infidelity. But national feeling proved then too strong, as it has proved since,

Starting point is 01:33:24 to admit of the establishment of a single church which should embrace all nations. To the act of union one signature was wanting, that of Mark of Ephesus, and the Greek church has professed to follow that single voice. We have said above that Amadeus of Savoy had been elected as Pope and recognized by the Council of Basel. He was the 8th Count of Savoy, son of the Red Count, and grandson of the Green. He succeeded in 1391, bought the county of Genovoix, of which Anonisi was capital in 1401, was made first Duke of Savoy by the Emperor Sigismund at Chambre in 1417, and inherited Piedmont in the following year. On the death of his wife in 1434, he abdicated his throne and retired to the delightful monastery of Rippe on the Lake of Geneva. There he founded the order of Saint-Morice

Starting point is 01:34:25 and lived with six companions as the richest and mightiest of all the hermits of Christendom. The council thought him a desirable choice because he was reported to be very rich, was connected with very powerful families and held one foot in France and one in Italy. He accepted the tiara with some hesitation in January 1440 and took the name of Felix V. He had, however, no power and was not recognized by any important persons except Alfonso of Aragon. Germany remained neutral in the schism. He resigned the papacy on April 7, 1449, and died on January 7, 7th, 1449, and died on January 7th. 1451. King Albert of Hungary, Bohemia, and Germany died on October 27th, 1439. He was succeeded as King of Germany by his uncle, who three years later became the Emperor Frederick III and reigned for more than 50 years.

Starting point is 01:35:29 Pope Eugenius, having made peace with King Alfonso in 1443, found it possible to return to Rome. The same populace which had driven him out with stones and arrows, now streamed across the Ponte Moli to welcome him back. After an exile of nine years, he found the Eternal City indeed a contrast to Florence, one the most civilized city in Europe, the other a desolate wilderness. He summoned a council to the Lateran and thundered from that palace against the Council of Basil and his rival Felix. His last days were embittered with war. In 1446, a war broke out between the Republics of Venice, Bologna, Florence, and Genoa on the one side, and the King Alfonso, the Pope, the Duke of Milan, and the Lords of Riemini on the other. Francesco Sforza led the army of the republics. The Duke was entirely defeated,

Starting point is 01:36:28 and the forces of Venice pressed nearly to the gates of Milan. This success of the Venetians produced a strange revolution in the state of affairs. Sforza hoped at some time to be Duke of Milan, and he did not care to see his future duchy diminished by Venetian conquests. Also, Cosimo de Medici thought it better for the interests of Florence to preserve an equilibrium between all the states than to allow the predominance of one. By his mediation, negotiations were opened between Francesco Sforza and his father-in-law, and they were hastened by the impatience of the Venetians, who suspecting the treachery of Sforza attacked some towns belonging to him in Lombardy. Sforza deserted the Republican League and became commander-in-chief of the Duke's forces, but his assistance came too late.

Starting point is 01:37:25 Sforza was just about to help his father-in-law when he heard of his death on August 13, 1447. Eugenius IV had died in the previous February and had been succeeded by Giovanni Parentuccilli called Avzartazanza, but really born at Pisa in 1398. He was Archbishop of Bologna and Cardinal of Santa Susana and took the title of Nicholas V. The last act of Eugenius had been to sign a concordat with Germany. The Emperor Frederick III for a present of 100,000 Florence and the promise of being crowned at Rome, surrendered the cause of the Council of Basil and did homage to the Pope. Thus, the cause of the reformation in Germany was lost, and the German church sank step by step into its former condition of subservience.

Starting point is 01:38:24 End of Section 6. Section 7 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Libra-Box recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 4. Francesco Sforza, Frederick III, Pius II, Part 1. After the death of the Duke Philippo Maria, Milan was in a condition of the greatest confusion and embarrassment. There was no son or near relation to claim the thief by right of inheritance. It is said that the Duke the day before his death had made a will, in which he declared Alfonso of Naples as his successor, but it is a great question whether this will was genuine, and if it were, it is doubtful whether the Duke had a right to dispose of an imperial fief by testament.

Starting point is 01:39:23 Two other pretenders to the coronet were Francesco Sforza, who had married the Duke's daughter Bianca Maria, and was the best defense against the hostility of Venice, and the Duke of Savoy, who was the brother of the widow Duchess. Francesco Sforza was, as we know, the son of Attendolo Sforza, the great Condodieri General. It is said that the founder of the family attached himself by an accident to the career which brought him so much distinction. He was a woodsman working in the forests of Cotignola. Some mercenary troops passing by asked him to join them. He said that his answer should depend upon whether his axe, when he was a man.

Starting point is 01:40:09 he threw it, remained sticking in the tree or fell to the ground. It remained suspended, and he followed the voice of destiny. Two days before the death of the Duke, Nicola Gawarna wrote a sforza, urging him to come to the city. Consider what the state of things is, and how you will be off if our Lord dies and you are not here. On the day of the Duke's death, he wrote again. On the following, Antonio Guido Boni informing him of what had occurred and urging him to come, said, As soon as you are here, half the game is won. The moment the Duke's death was known, the Iragones party filled the fortresses with Neapolitan troops, and the chief mercenary generals took the oath of allegiance to King Alfonso. The people of Milan were of a different opinion.

Starting point is 01:41:01 They wished for none of the three alternatives. They were talking. They were talking about. hired a princely government and longed for the establishment of their ancient freedom. They rose in insurrection and declared that with the extinction of the Visconti dynasty, the sovereignty reverted to the town itself. The government remained in the hands of the Great Council of 800, out of whom were elected a small council of 24, four from each of the six wards of the city. These were to stand at the head of the new constitution. the Golden Ambrosian Republic, as conservators and defenders of liberty,

Starting point is 01:41:41 Capitanei et defensores Libertatis Ilusi et excelsi Communities Mediotani. The Condodieri in search of their own interest left the King of Naples and swore allegiance to the Republic. The Neapolitan soldiers in the forts were bought off for the sum of 17,000 foreigners. The freedom of the city was successful. secured. But the Venetians were in no mood to make peace with a new power. The Empire of the Duke was hopelessly broken up. Venice had good hope that the whole of it would fall into her hands. In Lodi, the Guelph party drove out the Ghibelines and surrendered the city to Venice. Piacenza did the same. Pia, Parma, Tortona declared their independence. Asti was occupied by the Duke of Orleon,

Starting point is 01:42:34 who laid claim to the whole of the Milanese in the right of his mother, Valentina Visconti, the sister of Philippo Maria. Cremona was in the hands of the Sforza as part of his wife's dower. Brescia had been for some time in the power of the Venetians. The only towns which remained in their allegiance were Como, Alessandria, and Novara. The danger of entire dissolution roused the people of Milan to redoubled efforts. Sforza was promised the possession of Brescia and Verona if he could win them back from the Venetians. The new republic made a great mistake in taking Sforza into their pay, as he could have no other purpose than to recover the dominion of his father-in-law for himself.

Starting point is 01:43:23 It would have been better to have made terms with Venice, however hard. The two sons of Niccolo Piccinino left the service of Venice and attached themselves to Sforza, in the Milanese by the advice of Sforza, took into their pay the great condottieri leader, Bartolomeo Collione. Strengthened by these reinforcements, Sforza first turned his attention to Piacenza and Pavia. Pavia was at this time as much torn by parties as Milan itself. The people wished for freedom, but the castle was occupied by Mateo Bolognine. and also by Agnesi Delmanio, the mother of Bianca Maria, who was the wife of Swarza. By her intervention, Pavia delivered itself to Sforza under the condition that it should not be

Starting point is 01:44:17 made subject to Milan. The Milanese were naturally much distressed at this sign of self-seeking on the part of their general, but they were too weak to resent it. The Estes were pressing them on one side, the Karegi on the other, the doge of Venice was threatening Tortona, the Duke of Savoy had designs on Novara and Alessandria. The Marquis of Montferrat was bestirring himself, and René, the lieutenant of the Duke of Orleon, was attempting to extend his power from Asti. The Duke of Savoy at this time was Louis the Elder, who succeeded to the dukedom when his father, Amadeus Ith, now Pope Felix the 5th, retired to the hermitage of Rippe. Louis is described by his contemporaries as being a strong man, handsome and affable, fluent of speech, but indolent in action, inconstant, and variable as were so many of his line. He often sought his father's advice, but was believed to be guided rather by

Starting point is 01:45:24 the influence of his wife Anne, Princess of Cyprus. Men complained that he impoverished his own country to enrich the house of Lucigno. On November 15th, Francesco Sforza took Piacenza by storm. The town was given up to the most horrible excesses of the soldiery. The fate of Toritona was remarkable. It surrendered itself secretly to Sforza, shortly after he had got possession of Pavia, but the people of Milan ordered Bartolomeo Corleone, who had just defeated Drené in the territory of Alessandria to drive out Sforza's representatives and to occupy the town for themselves. Sforza, on his part, took no notice of this insult. The two republics again attempted to order peace, and their representatives met at Bergamo for that purpose in January, 1448. But the peace had

Starting point is 01:46:26 to be ratified by the great council of Moulin, and the party of Sforza was thoroughly opposed to. to it. By his intrigues, the project was given up, and in May 1448, the war broke out with new vigor. The resources of the New Republic began to fail. It had no money to pay its mercenaries. One after another, they dropped off. The most important loss being that of Bartolomeo Collione, who joined the service of Venice. Sforza continued to serve the Ambrosian Republic, knowing he could afford to wait for the accomplishment of his ends. In the early summer of 1448, the war was pursued with energy in the valley of the Adda, and the Venetian suffered severe defeats in the summer and the autumn.

Starting point is 01:47:16 Their fleet was destroyed at Casal Maggiore on the Po. But the most important feat of arms was the siege of Caravaggio, which began at the end of July and lasted for six weeks. It concluded with the Battle of Farms. Caravaggio on September 15th, in which the Venetians were most severely defeated. The Venetians trusted to recover themselves rather by diplomacy than by force. They knew that the Milanese were jealous of the power of their general, and they thought they would be able to estrange him from their service.

Starting point is 01:47:52 On October 18, 1448, a treaty was signed at Rivoltela, a small village close to Pesquiera, between the Venetians and Sforza, by which Venice bound herself to assist Francesco in the conquest of Milan with 4,000 cavalry, 2,000 infantry, and 13,000 ducats a month. If Sforza was victorious, the Adda was to form the boundary between the two countries. It is probable that the Venetians did not really desire that Sforza should conquer Milan, but they reckoned that the Milanese from fear of having him as their master would make peace with them on favorable terms. The generals of Milan were Francesco Pichinino, the son of the famous Niccolo, and Carlo Gonzaga, who was afterwards Duke of Mantua. The Ambrosian Republic, in despair,

Starting point is 01:48:50 turned for assistance to the chief potentates of Europe, to the Emperor Frederick III, to King Alfonso. to Charles the 7th of France, to the Dauphin, afterwards Louis the 11th, to Philip the good of Burgundy, to Louis of Savoy. There exists in the archives of Geneva a volume of 80 letters, which passed between Pope Felix V and his son with regard to the League of Milan. Swarza crossed the Ada and gained numerous successes. Milan was torn asunder by Guelphs and Ghibellines, Gonzaga tried to conciliate the popular party in order to gain the dukedom for himself.

Starting point is 01:49:36 Upon this, the Ghiboline nobles turned their eyes to Sforza and thought of offering him the dukedom upon certain conditions. The result of this was that they were driven from the town and many of them took refuge in Svorkza's camp. The popular party abused the power they had won, and the consequence was that the two Pichinini went over to Svorkas'vorkas. It is wearisome and unnecessary to follow the details of the conflict. In September 1449, the Venetians made peace on their own account with Milan, as the popular party in Milan saw in this the only means of procuring their independence. The Venetians offered to admit Sworza as a party to the arrangement on favorable terms, but he refused, as the terms did not comprise the freedom of Milan.

Starting point is 01:50:29 Sforza was determined to reduce the city by famine. He could affect this by blocking the passages over the Ada so that the Milanese could receive no assistance from the Venetians. The two bridges over the Ada were at Trezzo and Brio. The first was guarded by a castle with a bridge and was in the power of Sforza. The second was not difficult to blockade. Month after month, the distress of Milan grew greater.

Starting point is 01:50:59 An attempt made by Bartolomeo Collione to relieve the blockade by passing to the Lake of Como by the Valcassina, although it was one of the greatest feats of that general, did not affect its purpose. At the end of February, Milan was in the extremity of despair. The first breath of spring was scarcely felt. Several months must elapse before the harvest, and what was the harvest of that sun-burnt plain, scorched by the flame, scorched by the flames of war and trampled down by innumerable battles. Crowds of hungry men followed by their wives and children fled from the city to find

Starting point is 01:51:38 nourishment in the fields. Sforza forbade that they should have any assistance. The people became irritated against the Venetians. The heads of the Republic met in the Church of Santa Maria de la Scala, but the populace of the Porta Nuova rose in tumult. the government tried in vain to suppress it. The Venetian ambassador Leonardo Venet was massacred. The magistrates fled, and the people summoned the principal citizens to meet in the same church of La Scala. Gasparé di Marquate exposed the impossibility of procuring freedom and the danger of submitting

Starting point is 01:52:16 to any other lord but Sforza. His name was at once accepted. Some days were spent in settling the conditions and the insurricular. was finally signed on March 3, 1450. Sforza made his triumphal entry into the Concord City on March 25th. He came to Milan for a Monza. Outside the Porta Tichinese, he was met by the chief men of the city, by Bianca, his wife, Galeozo Maria, his eldest son,

Starting point is 01:52:48 and his brother, Alessandro. A triumphal car and a canopy of white silk embroidered with gold, had been prepared for him, but he refused these gods as the superstition of kings and great princes. He entered the city and proceeded to the cathedral. There he was clothed in white cloth according to the ancient custom of the dukes. He took his seat with his wife by his side and listened to a discourse by Castilione, the author of the Cortegano. He was confirmed as Duke by the voice of the people, received the oath of allegiance from the representatives of the wards, and took into his hands the scepter, the sword, the banner, the keys of the gates,

Starting point is 01:53:32 and the seal of the Visconti dukes. He then created his son Galezzo, Count of Pavia. For some time he was not recognized by the king of France, who claimed the Duchy of Milan for the Duke of Orleon, nor by Frederick III of Germany, who regarded the Duchy as sheeded to the imperial crown, He was, however, recognized by the ambassadors of all the Italian states except Venice and Naples. The Pope, Florence, Genoa, Siena, Ancona, and many others sent their envoys to congratulate him.

Starting point is 01:54:08 It is a characteristic fact that just at this time, the Council of Ten at Venice discussed for the second time the propriety of accepting an offer to poison the newly crowned duke. End of Section 7. Section 8 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 4. Francesco Sforza, Frederick III, Pope Pius II, Part 2. Recent researches have made us. acquainted with the Constitution of the government of Milan at this time, which was not as arbitrary

Starting point is 01:54:58 as might be thought at first sight. A council of 12 members called the Secret Ducal Council assisted the Duke and the government. This owed its origin, at least in part, to the similar institution in the Ambrosian Republic. There was a special council of three members for affairs of justice, and another to superintend the revenues. These were carefully ordered, and were composed of taxes on merchandise and cattle, of dues payable at the gates, of a tax on grinding corn, and of a money contribution called Caligio. The army was divided into two parts, the ducal army of Lombardy and the Field Army for external wars. We have said above that the accession of the New Duke of Milan was recognized by Pope Nicholas V. He was a great contrast to his predecessor,

Starting point is 01:55:53 His youth was spent in studying and copying ancient manuscripts, and he used the power of the papacy to give a strong impulse to his favorite pursuits. His reign is the beginning of a new era, the dawn of the Renaissance. He cared nothing for war. He employed artists to build, chisel, and paint for him. A hundred men of learning translated for him the treasures of antiquity and were well rewarded for their exertions. In 1450, he celebrated the general piece of Italy by a Jubilee attended by an enormous crowd of pilgrims, who brought countless offerings to the Holy See. Such a concourse had not been seen since the great Jubilee of 1300 under Pope Boniface the 8th, which we find so often recorded in the verse of Dante. The great object of Sforza

Starting point is 01:56:50 at his accession was to confirm his power. The Venetians were his bitter enemies. The Republic of the Adriatic formed a league with Alfonso, Louis of Savoy, William of Montferrat, and the Republic of Siena. Florence and Milan were close allies, Cosimo de Medici, sent Aguolo a Chachuli, on an embassy to Charles the 7th, who was able to announce from Tour in December 1451 that the king was willing to conclude an alliance with Milan and Florence. Above all, Sforza desired the recognition of the emperor. Frederick III had been promised the imperial crown by Eugenius IV, who had also purchased from him for 100,000 gulden, the recognition of the Pope by Germany. It was arranged, that the emperor was to marry Eleanor of Portugal, the niece of Alfonso of Naples.

Starting point is 01:57:52 The marriage and the coronation were arranged by Ania Silvius Piccolomini, one of the greatest men of the age, afterwards Pope under the name of Pius II. Frederick refused to pass by Milan to receive the Iron Crown of Lombardy, for fear that he might be compelled to recognize the usurper Sforza. He passed by way of Ferrara to Florence and was betrothed to his bride at Sienna on February 24, 1452, an event which is commemorated by a cross still existing outside the walls of Sienna, and by one of Pinto Riccios frescoes in the Piccolomini Library. He entered Roman triumph, was crowned there in March, and went on to Naples for the solemnity of the marriage.

Starting point is 01:58:41 He was the last emperor who was crowned in Rome. He returned by way of Venice, but left without honor or respect. We have now reached the furthest verge of the Middle Ages. They are passing away, and the modern world is arising in their place. Frederick was the father of Maximilian and the great-grandfather of Charles V. The emperor had given his countenance to the cause of Venice against Malachi. but he had never joined the league between Venice and Elphonseo on the one side and Milan and Montua on the other. The king of France had two courses before him. He could either press his own claim on the Duchy of Milan, or he could support the right of his ward, René of Vangu, to the throne of Naples. As we have before indicated, he preferred the latter course, and in 1453 René was sent with an army to assist Sforza. He did, however, very little good, and soon returned to his own province. Just at this time, an immense effect was produced by the taking of Constantinople by the Turks on May 29, 1453. We know that on our own day this city is considered by most impartial

Starting point is 02:00:02 statesmen to be a place of too great importance to be in the hands of any first-rate European and state. It was of still greater importance then. The conquest of New Rome, once the chief seat of imperial majesty and the second capital of Christendom, by a militant band of heathen, roused Europe to the duty of uniting against the common foe. The call was felt most strongly by Venice, which had always stood in the vanguard of the struggle. The Pope also summoned to Rome the representatives of the Italian powers to treat of peace in his presence. The result of these feelings was the piece of Lodi, signed on April 9, 1454. The Ada and the Olio were to form the boundary between Venice and Milan. The peace of Lodi is an important epoch in the history of Italy. It was initiated, not by the

Starting point is 02:01:01 petty lords of independent cities, but by two great states, the ancient Republic of St. Mark, and the duchy of milan under the energetic rule of a victorious soldier the italian states whether willingly or not all took part in it florence accepted the peace on may fourteenth and it received the adherence of siena lucca the lord of piombino bologna borso marquess of esti duke of madina and regio louis of mantua the ordalafi of forlii the heads of the family of Malatesta, the Manfredi of Fianza and Imola, Ancona, Karl Gonzaga of Mantua, the Malaspina of the Lunigiana, and other lesser lords. The Coorajeschi of Parma submitted to Sforza. The Marquess of Montferat and his brother accepted the peace. Louis of Savoy gave his adhesion in August 1454,

Starting point is 02:02:04 and Borso Destae restored to the Duke of Malmelo. the territory which his brother Lionel had occupied in the Parmesan. Italy was now at peace, and the five great powers kept each other in equilibrium. In the north, Venice was a counterbalance to Milan. In the south, Naples formed a counterpoise to Rome. In the center, Florence, the chief depository of the wealth of the peninsula and the main source of its culture, held the scales between the north and the south. It is convenient to date the revival of learning in Italy from the piece of Lodi or of Frasimoneta, as it is sometimes called.

Starting point is 02:02:45 It was followed by a league for 25 years between the Pope, Elfonso, Naples, Florence, Venice, and Milan. It was the fear of the Turks, the taking of Piero from the Genoese, the threatening of the coasts of the Mediterranean by Turkish cruisers, which brought about the first League of the Italian powers. Pope Nicholas lived just long enough to see it completed. He died on March 24, 1455. He was a scholar, Pope, who defended the papacy, not by armies and intrigue, but by placing it at the head of modern culture. On his deathbed, he addressed to the Cardinals an apology for his life and reign. He claimed to have healed the schism of the church, to have recovered its estates and protected them by fortresses, to have enriched the papal treasury with books, manuscripts, and countless works of art, and to have done all this, not by simony or niggardliness, but by the legitimate revenues of a peaceful reign.

Starting point is 02:03:50 This boast was true enough, and these arguments might defend the papacy against the attacks of the Council of Basel or of Constance. But the other side of the picture is that Nicholas was the first of the worldly popes, the forerunner of Leo the 10th. What would St. Francis of Assisi or St. Catherine of Siena have thought in hearing as the bitterest lament that the muses and Apollo wept tears of sorrow over his tomb? He was succeeded by Calyxtus IV, Elfonso de Borja, an old man of 77, of great learning and honorable character. He was a Spaniard of Shativa in the province of Valencia,

Starting point is 02:04:34 He was in the conference of Alfonso of Aragon, and he first connected with the papal tiara, the detested name of Borgia. His short reign was unimportant. The pope on his sickbed was surrounded by monks and nephews. His only passions were the crusade against the Turks and the advancement of his family. Callixtus sent emissaries into all lands, nunsios and friars were dispatched into every country. The treasures of Nicholas were squandered, jewels sold, books robbed of their costly binding, to fit out a fleet of 16 triremes which only succeeded in plundering a few islands in the archipelago. Far more important was the defeat which the conqueror of Byzantium suffered at the hands of John Hunyadi before the walls of Belgrade on August 9, 1456.

Starting point is 02:05:29 The conditions of Europe were not favorable for a great united effort. France dreaded an invasion from England. England was preparing to attack France. Germany refused to move. Alfonso was more angry against Genoa and Milan than against the Turks. It needed something more than the power of a feeble old man, however good and however much respected, to weld the warring jealousies of Europe into a failing,

Starting point is 02:05:59 lengths of attack against the infidel. End of Section 8. Section 9 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 4. Francesco Sforza, Frederick the 3rd, Pius II, Part 3. The affairs of Genoa now become of importance for Italian history. Genoa, which had for a long time been subject to Milan, recovered its liberty in 1438.

Starting point is 02:06:44 There was an old naval rivalry between the Genoese and the Catalanes, which made the Genoese the persistent enemies of Alfonso of Aragon. The two principal families in Genoa were the Adorni and the Campo Fregosi of great power, but of plebeian origin. The old nobility found themselves excluded from offices in power. In 1441, John Antonio del Fiesco placed himself at the head of the ancient families of the Doria and Spinole, allied himself with the Duke of Milan and the King of Naples, and attacked the power of Tomaso Campo Fregoso, who was then Doge. At the close of 1442, the Doge was suddenly deposed, and the government committed to a Bale of eight men, of whom Raphael Eadorno was won.

Starting point is 02:07:37 Almost immediately afterwards he was elected Doge but with limited power. Peace was now concluded with Alfonso of Naples and Quiet continued for a short time. In 1447, Raphaelie Adorno was forced to give way to his cousin Bernabaut. He was in his turn driven out and was succeeded by more than one of the family of Campo Fregoso. In fact, out of the thirty-one, one doges who reigned between 1339 and 1527, seven are Adorni, and 14 Campo Fregosi. From 1446, no other names but these are seen upon the roll. In 1453, Piero Fregoso was unable as Doge to defend the colony of Perra, and the other

Starting point is 02:08:27 Genoese settlements on the Black Sea, as well as the island of Corsica, had to be surrendered to Bank of St. George, a trading company invested with powers of government, similar to the old East India Company of England. Alfonso was embittered against Genoa from the favor which it had always shown to France, and especially toward René of Anjou, and he gave his support to the family of the Adorno. Piero Campo Fragoso saw no other hope of safety than to seek help from France. In 1458, Charles VIII, King of France was solemnly declared Lord of Genoa, and he sent as his representative, John of Calabria, son of René of Anjou, the titular King of Naples. Alfonso continued the war with great vigor against this new enemy, but died on June 27, 1458. After his death, the throne of Naples

Starting point is 02:09:27 was again disputed. Arragon and Sicily went to his brother, Adonando. Naples, he leapt to his natural son Ferdinand, who was generally known as Don Ferranti. Alfonso had endeavored to secure the peaceable succession of Ferrante by marrying a son and daughter of Ferante to a son and daughter of Francesco Sforza. Calixtus the third, notwithstanding the benefits he had received from King Alfonso, refused to recognize his natural son as his heir. He rather supported the claims of John of Calabria of the House of Anjou, and it is probable that his real object was to secure the throne of Naples for one of his nephews. If the Pope had conceived any idea of the infamy with which the advancement of his sister's sons would stain the name of Borgia, he would have suffered them to remain in the obscurity of Valencia. The race of the Borges and medieval Rome has been compared with that of the Cloddy E in the ancient

Starting point is 02:10:36 city. They were by nature, strong of body, full of passion, ambitious, unprincipled, appropriately represented by the bull which they bore on their arms. Two of them, young, immature men, he made cardinals, adopted them and gave them his own name. A third, Don Pedro Luis, his uncle's favorite, was designated for a a throne, either that of Naples, Cyprus, or Byzantium. The Vatican was overrun by Spaniards. The Spanish language took the place of the Italian, the faction of the Borges, the Spanish orthography is Borja, went by the name of the Catalans.

Starting point is 02:11:20 Don Pedro Luis Borja was the most powerful and the most brilliant man in Rome. When he saw the Pope's death approaching, he fled from the vengeance. of the Romans and retired Tachivita Vecchio, where he died of fever. His uncle, Callixtus III, expired on the day succeeding his flight, August 6th, 1458. The successor of Callixtus III in the papacy was a remarkable man, early known to the world, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, sprung from a noble family of the city of Siena, who now took the name of Pius II. In the conclid, Cardinal Bissarion had said that he would not vote for Piccolomini because he had a disease in his feet and that the church, threatened by the Turks, had need of a very active head.

Starting point is 02:12:13 The event shows how much he was mistaken. The new pope had first made himself known as a poet and a man of letters. In 1430 he became secretary to Cardinal Capronica and accompanied him to the Council of Basel. He traveled all over Europe and was one of the first cultivated Europeans to become acquainted with the condition of Germany. His life is full of romance. Once in a storm off the coast of Scotland, he made a vow that if he were saved, he would walk barefoot to the nearest chapel of pilgrimage, and he suffered all his life from gout in consequence of the performance of his vow. He was created Poet Laureate of Frankfurt by the Emperor Frederick III. He was afterwards secretary to Frederick's chancellor, Kaspar Schlick. In 1445, he left the emperor for the Pope, took orders, and was made a bishop by Nicholas

Starting point is 02:13:09 the 5th. He did not finally leave Germany till 1455 when he was sent to convey the homage of the emperor to Pope Calixtus. He was made a cardinal in the following year. He had lived the life as varied and as full of interest as a condottieri. He had attained, he had attained, high rank, but had not been able to amass a fortune. At the conclave, it was difficult to obtain a majority. Astute de Ville, Archbishop of Rouen, was the favorite candidate. But there were objections to having a French pope. At last, Rodrigo Borgia arose and said, I vote for the Cardinal of Siena. The rest followed his example, and Piccolomini heard of his election with tears. His very election was a sign of for the first time a traveled, cultivated, astute man of the world was seen upon the papal throne.

Starting point is 02:14:07 He took the name of Pius as a natural accompaniment to that of Aeneas. He would say of himself, sum Pius Aeneas, phama super ateranotus. The emperor was delighted with the choice. Pius II was 53 years of age when he assumed the tiara, small and weak, bald-headed, looking pale and aged, a martyr to the gout. Men who expected to find in him a literary pope, a second Nicholas V, were disappointed. The one object of his efforts was the recovery of Constantinople from the Turks. He summoned the princes of Christendom to meet at Montua for the discussion of this common object.

Starting point is 02:14:53 He said that God had made him pope to liberate the church from this affliction. He was sensible enough to recognize Ferranti as King of Naples. We must return to the affairs of Genoa, which we left in the hands of the French. In the spring of 1461, Paolo Campo Fregoso, Archbishop of Genoa, and Prospero Adorno, forgetting their quarrel for the moment, entered the city and drove the French back into the castle. After some vicissitudes, Adorno was elected Doge, and the Genoese asked Svortes, set to assist them in driving out the French. The battle took place on July 17th, 1461, the day of Santalacio. The French were entirely defeated, and it was ordered that the victory

Starting point is 02:15:42 should be commemorated by an annual festival. After the battle, the animosities between the two rival families again broke out, and Ludovico Campo Fregoso was made Doge. In 1461, Charles I 7th of France died and was succeeded by Louis XIV. He had always been a friend of Sforza, and he now made him a present of Savona, together with his rights over Milan. At the beginning of 1463, Paolo Campo Fragoso, the Archbishop, became Doge of Genoa, and was recognized by Pius II. His rule was so tyrannical as to be unbearable, and his first thought was a to take vengeance on those who had at any time opposed him. Sforza sent Gaspari v. Maracate to press his claims to the city,

Starting point is 02:16:36 and in April 1464, Sforza was recognized as Lord of Genoa. The Congress of Mantua led to but little result. The Pope delivered a great oration on September 26, 1459. He showed that if the Turks conquered Hungary, there would be no obstacle to their progress. Passing through Carniola and Trieste, they might descend upon Italy with the same ease with which they might disembark at Brindisi. He proclaimed a crusade on January 14th, 1460 and so closed the Congress. Notwithstanding the zeal of the pontiff, the plan for a crusade appeared to languish. There was a great want of money. This was unexpectedly supplied by the

Starting point is 02:17:26 discovery of some Allam mines at Tolfa in the neighborhood of Chifita Vecchio by Giovanni de Castro, a friend of the Piccolomini family. He wrote to the Pope, I announced to you victory over the Turks. These mines continued to be profitably worked till 1814 when artificially made alum took the place of the natural mineral. In 1463, the Pope told the astonished world that he was a lot of the he would lead the crusade himself. In the bull of October 22nd, 1463, he says, We will not fight with the sword because our feeble hand can scarcely raise itself to bless the people. We will fight not with the sword, but with prayer. We will stand on high on the poop of the ship, or on a high hill near the battle to bless our friends and to curse our enemies.

Starting point is 02:18:22 The Pope, although he knew that he was dying, determined to travel to Ancona, where the crusading fleet was to rendezvous. He left Rome on June 18, 1464. The prelates and the people took leave of him at the Ponte Moli, and he continued his journey with a few companions. He reached on Kona on July 11th. He found in the town some 30,000 French and Spanish adventurers, who, when they discovered that the Pope had no intention of paying their expenses, retired to their homes. There were only two papal galleys in the harbor. On August 12th, the Doge Christophoromoror arrived with 12 galleys. From the window of his palace, the Pope gazed at the Venetian fleet as it entered the port and fixed the day of assumption August 15th for receiving the Doge. But on that day, he died. When the Cardinals had finished

Starting point is 02:19:22 the sacred rites, he called them round his bed and said, My hour is come, God calls me. He spoke of the crusade which he had twice attempted, and asked pardon for his many shortcomings. His last words were addressed to the Cardinal of Pavia whom he begged to pray for his soul. The 40,000 ducats found in the Pope's chest were given to Matthias, king of Hungary.

Starting point is 02:19:48 Everyone felt that after the Pope's death, the Crusade was at an end. On August 16th, the Doge left Ancona and returned to Venice on August 23rd. Francesco's Forza was now nearing his end. We have already alluded to the marriage of his daughter, Ipolita Maria, with Alfonso of Calabria, son of Farante, king of Naples. Frederick, the brother of Alfonso, came to Milan in the summer of 1465 to receive the bride, but when the marriage train had reached Siena, it was stopped by order of the two. Duke. This was caused by the death of Giacomo Piccinino, who had been treacherously thrown into prison by

Starting point is 02:20:30 Farante. The circumstances which attended this would be incredible if they were not supported by irrefragible evidence. Pichinino had come to Milan from his capital, Solmona, in the summer of 1464, at the request of Sforza. The Duke received him with every demonstration of affection and gave him the hand of his daughter Drusiana. Pichinino then left for Solmona, intending to go to Naples, if he could do so with safety. He sent one of his friends, Brocardo Perciko, to sound the intentions of Ferrante, and his reports were most reassuring. Pichinino therefore went to Naples, but there is no doubt that his death which was warmly desired by Ferrant, because he was an adherent of the Angevin party had already been conceded by Sforza as a price of alliance with Naples.

Starting point is 02:21:26 As a mark of friendship, Sforza had given to Pichinino, Pietro Pusterla, one of his own orator's official speakers, and there is no doubt that this man was thoroughly informed of Sforza's most secret intentions and had no other design than that of conducting Pichinino to death. Suddenly, the mask was removed. On St. John's Day, June 24th, when both Naples and Milan were gay with festivity, Pichinino came to the Castello Nuevo to take leave of Ferranti as he desired to return to Solmona to meet his wife, Drusiana. He was received with affection, but was suddenly seized and imprisoned, together with his son Francesco and others. Ferranti justified his conduct and as circular letter full of empty phrases addressed to the potentates of Italy.

Starting point is 02:22:19 Drusiana, who had not reached Solmona, returned to her uncle Alessandro in Pezzaro. The Bracchese's soldiery of Piccinino, insulted and oppressed, took refuge with Domenico Malatesta, and the territories of Piccinino yielded themselves spontaneously to Farante. The Pope and the King of France accused Sforza of having consented to the imprisonment of Pichinino. Sforza wrote a long letter of sorrow and expostulation to Naples, and to gain more credit for his innocence, he stopped the marriage train of Ippolita at Siena and sent his son Tristan to demand the liberation of the prisoner. On July 7th, a battle took place between the Aragonese and the Angevin fleece in the Bay of Naples. Ferranti was victorious.

Starting point is 02:23:09 It was said that Piccinino, anxious to see what was going on, had clungence. climbed upon a table in his cell, and had fallen down and broken his leg. Certainly he died a few days afterwards, in all probability strangled by order of Farante. Tristan wrote from Naples to urge that Piccinino, being dead, could not be brought to life again, and that Ippolita's marriage had better be concluded. The Pope, the Florentines, and Ferranti, joined in the entreaty, and Ipulita entered Naples on September 14, 1465. The letters found by Bucer in the National Library at Paris

Starting point is 02:23:51 and published by him in 1879, leave no doubt that Sforza was privy to this disgraceful act of treachery. Sforza's last enterprise was to assist his friend Louis XI. in the war against his vassals which ended with the peace of conflin. For this purpose, he sent his eldest son, Galeiato Maria, to command his troops, and the young prince was permitted to don the Fleur de Lee of France as an addition to his arms. Francesco died after two days' illness on March 8th, 1466, at the age of 65. End of Section 9

Starting point is 02:24:30 Section 10 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 5, Cosimo de Medici. Paul II, Part 1. The affairs of Florence now claim our attention. After the return of Cosimo de Medici in 1434, his great object was to confirm his relations both at home and abroad, and to establish them in the fullest security. He found a favorable field ready for him in Florence, as his party had prepared the way for him. The heads of the hostile factions had been banished, and many of their supporters had been executed.

Starting point is 02:25:22 It was easy for Cosimo to claim the credit that during his term of office, he had exiled no one and done no one any harm. This was not so much from any inherent gentleness of character or from any especial dislike for violence or bloodshed, but from calculated cunning. He knew how to allow others to give the laws a character which secured his own position, without taking harsh measures himself. The two principal instruments he employed for this purpose were Pucho Pucci and Luca Pitti.

Starting point is 02:25:59 The family of Pitti had been established in Florence for about 150 years and was destined to make way by its fall for the rising greatness of the Medici. Cosimo had also friends of a different character. Among these was Neri Caponi who played the part of moderator to his part. party. Another important friend was Anuolo Achachuli, one of a family which reached its highest point of distinction under the engeven sovereigns of Naples. Anuolo's ancestors had been dukes of Athens and of Corinth. The object of his political activity was to favor the rise of his party in Florence, but to oppose himself to the rise of a single family or a single individual. He was therefore not in

Starting point is 02:26:47 complete agreement with Cozimo, but was notwithstanding one of the most brilliant and distinguished members of the Medician party. Another of the same family was Donato Achachuli, who was only six years old at the return of the Medici, but who played in early life an important part in state affairs. Other most active supporters of the Medici were the Junyi, who had persistently maintained their devotion to the Guelphi, the Pandolfini, for whom, and later times, the painter Raphaelaisanzo dedicated a magnificent palace and the Giuchardini, one branch of which left the party of the Albizzi to which they had been before devoted and joined the Medici. From them sprung a few generations later the famous historian Juchardini.

Starting point is 02:27:38 The strength of these families, although they supported Cosimo on the one hand, made his position more difficult on the other. He was obliged to keep himself in the background. The first measure of Cozimo was to fill all the offices with his own adherents. He also took a singular method of excluding the Grande from power. He procured the abrogation of the laws which afflicted them with civil disabilities and made them eligible to all offices. The consequence of this was that they were not elected to any office and were excluded

Starting point is 02:28:16 from those offices which had before been specially reserved for them. He raised men to power who were of no consequence or position and showed the most bitter harshness to his political enemies. Palastrozi was banished and compelled to die in exile, while his relations, the Bardi, were reduced to absolute poverty. Rinaldo deli albici was exiled first to Jaze in the neighborhood of Ancona, then to Naples, then to Trani on the coast of Apulia. Having no hope of returning to their country except by force,

Starting point is 02:28:55 these exiles joined Philippo Maria Visconti in his attack upon Florence. But their plans were shattered by the Battle of Anguari in 1440. They were declared infamous, and their portraits were painted hanging with signs of infamy on the walls of the Bargello, the palace of the Podistá. If such was the severity of Cosimo toward his enemies, he was not the less anxious that none of his supporters should become too powerful. It is suspected that in 1441 he caused the death of Baldacho Dangari, a distinguished Condorieri leader in order to weaken the influence of Neri Caponi,

Starting point is 02:29:38 who was a great friend of this soldier. In 1444, Cosimo being gondfalonieri of la justici for the third time in the months of September and October, established a new reform proposed by his friends called the Balea of the eight citizens, with the object of keeping all offices in the hands of the Medici Party. This lasted till 1455, when Cosimo, thinking that his power was now sufficiently confirmed, re-established the election of magistrates by lot. Under this new system, which lasted till 1458, his power continued really unimpaired because the bags from which the lots were drawn only contained the names of his own adherence. In 1458, a revision of the method of raiding property was proposed, as the existing rate had not been altered for five and 20 years,

Starting point is 02:30:37 although during this interval the wealth of Florence had very largely increased. This was naturally resisted by the rich, and they had recourse to Cosimo to prevent it. Cosimo did not put himself forward, but he allowed Peti, who was made Gonfaloneere for the purpose, to take the burden and the odium of opposing the measure. This caused an uproar. The great bell of the Palazzo Vecchio was sounded, the people thronged into the piazza della the signoria, a Balea was formed like that of 1444, and all the citizens who had opposed the change were tortured or put in prison. In April 1459, Pope Pius II came to Florence on his way to Mantua,

Starting point is 02:31:26 where, as we have seen, he had summoned an assemblage of the princes of Christendom to determine upon a commencement of operations against the Turks. Young Galeazzo-Maria, eldest son of Francesco's Forza, was there at the same time, and it is recorded that a giraffe, then a very uncommon animal, was exhibited for his amusement. Whilst the Pope was at Florence, a very celebrated man died there, the Archbishop of the town, Antonio, generally called Antonino, partly out of affection and partly from his short stature. He lived the simplest life, had no property, and spent his time in doing good and in writing works of morality and devotion. Saint Antonino now shares with the Virgin and St. Mark, the honor of protecting the city of

Starting point is 02:32:19 Florence. In 1459, changes again took place in the government with regard to the election of magistrates, which proved a new victory for the Medician Party. Cozimo died at the age of 75, worn out by long infirmities at his villa of Carreji near Florence. On August 1st, 14th. A few months before, he had buried the younger of his two sons, Giuliano, and an infant son of Giuliano's as well. There only remained to him his elder son, Piero, who had two sons, Lorenzo, afterwards known as the Magnificent, and Giuliano, one fifteen, the other eleven years of age. Cosimo had been accustomed to depend on Giuliano rather than on Piero because Piero had bad health and had long been a martyr to the gout. Weighed down by these losses, he exclaimed as he was

Starting point is 02:33:17 carried into his vast and desolate palace that it was too large a house for such a family. Lorenzo the younger, brother of Cosimo, had died in 1440. His descendants lived in comparative obscurity so long as the elder line lasted. But when this died out in 1537 with Alessandro, a mulatto, the bastard son of Pope Clement the 7th, Cosimo, the head of the younger branch, succeeded and became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569. Cosimo wished his funeral to be simple, but he was too distinguished a man not to be the object of a national mourning.

Starting point is 02:33:57 He received the title of Pater Patriai, the father of his country, which is inscribed upon his tomb in the Church of San Lorenzo at Florence. He was the great banker, of Europe. The name of the Casa Medici had much of the same reputation in Europe as the name of Rothschild has in our own day. He lent a large sum of money to our own king, Edward V. But no one ever made a more noble use of his wealth. He performed material services to the most distinguished men of his age. It was in recognition of this that Pope Nicholas V made him the banker of the Holy See,

Starting point is 02:34:35 and in the year of the Jubilee, 1450, Cosimo held on account of the Pope, more than 100,000 ducats. He paid great attention to agriculture, but the magnificence of his taste showed itself principally in buildings. His great palace at Florence and the Via Larga still exists. Besides this, he built numerous villas at Caragi,

Starting point is 02:34:58 at Fiesole, at Trebio, and at Caffajivolo. He constructed a library at Venice, and restored an Italian college at Pavia. The branch of the Medici Bank at Milan, directed by one of the Portinari, was famed as one of the most elegant and sumptuous palaces in the town. He built or enlarged numerous churches and convents, notably the Basilica of San Lorenzo, and the church and convent of St. Mark at Florence, the Abbey and convent of San Domenico at Fiesole, and a convent for Franciscans on the hills near his village. Even at Jerusalem he established a hospital for poor pilgrims. He said, I know not the humors of this city.

Starting point is 02:35:43 Before 50 years we shall all be exiled, but these buildings will remain. Cosimo was a contemporary of many Florentines, whose names are familiar to all who know anything of art. Brunelleschi, who reared into the air, the marvelous dome of the cathedral of Florence, a dome higher and more imposing than that of Michelinian, Angelou at Rome. Donatello, the sculptor, whose statues have every attribute of life except those of speech and motion. Luca de la Robbia, who after carving one exquisite frieze of dancing, singing, and playing

Starting point is 02:36:20 children, devoted himself for the rest of his life to modeling saints and virgins in colored pottery. Giberti, who spent the whole of a long life and making two pairs of gates for the baptistry at Florence, of which the second pair are a wonder of the world and are worthy, as Michelangelo said, to be the gates of paradise. Cozimo stood in the midst of these learned men, who received the new learning as it came like a fugitive from the east, and distributed its riches through the rest of Europe. In the convent of St. Mark, he founded the first public library open to the use of all students. He opened another at the Abbey of Fiazzolet. The manuscript, in his own private collection

Starting point is 02:37:04 formed the foundation of the great Laurentian Library so famous throughout the world. It is scarcely too much to say that if this library did not exist, we should be without the best authorities

Starting point is 02:37:17 for the text of Escalis, Sophocles, Apollonius, Thucydides, Herodotus, and Virgil. His secretary records that his master finished the copying

Starting point is 02:37:29 of 200 volumes in 22 months, His treasure chambers were full of carved gems, vases, coins, and jewels. He received the learned Greeks who fled from the advancing Turk, Argyrapoulos, Chrysolaras, and others. He raised the great scholar Marcilio Ficino from the position of a poor and humble youth and gave him a house in the town and a little villa at Kadeji. Lorenzo has left on record that between the years 1434 and 1414,

Starting point is 02:38:02 Cozimo spent 663,705 florins, equal to as many pounds of our money in alms and buildings and public gardens, and he adds that he thought the money had been well invested and that he was quite content. Such is the man of whom Machiavelli says that he surpassed all others of his age, not only in authority and riches, but also in liberality and prudence, because amongst all the other qualities which made him the first man of his country, he was above all other men, liberal and magnificent. End of Section 10. Section 11 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 5, Cozimo de Medici, Paul II, Part 2. After the death of Cozimo, the most important members,

Starting point is 02:39:06 of the Medician party were Anilo Acha Chachuli, Dietzalvi Neroni, and Luca Pitti. They thought that it was very doubtful whether Piero, with his ill health, would be able to manage so large encumbers of business, and they expected to succeed in undermining his influence in order to prepare the way for their own. Cosimo had directed his son to take the advice of Neroni, both in public and in private affairs, and he recommended Piero to recall a great deal of the money which had been lent lavishly to private citizens, hoping thus to ruin his popularity. He then proceeded to further measures. He formed a conspiracy with the other three, the object of which was to estrange Piero from the Sforceschi, and to abolish the appointment of offices by the Balea and to have recourse to the lot. This proposition

Starting point is 02:40:04 was carried with only five dissentient voices. In November 1465, Niccolo Sodarii became gonfaloniere de la justicia, an occasion comparable to that in May 1376, when Salvatro de Medici was carried in triumph into the public palace and laid the foundations of the greatness of his house. Soderini was very likely not actuated by personal ambition, but by the desire to restore liberty. and to prevent the predominance of a single family in the state. His party was called Del Poggio, or the hill, deriving its name from the hill of St. George on which Luca Pitti's house stood, that huge building once the palace of the Ducco Medici, and now of the kings of Italy.

Starting point is 02:40:54 The Medici party was called the party del Piano, or of the plain, names which recall the factions of ancient Greece. so that Denedini found that he could effect very little. He summoned two meetings of the citizens, one of 500 and one of 300, and sought their advice. But everyone had a different plan to propose. He tried to abolish the Council of 100, a recent creation of the Medician Party,

Starting point is 02:41:24 but he could not succeed. He then proposed to examine the accounts of those who had administered the government, but this Lucapiti would not agree to. His office came to an end before he could do anything except refill the bags which contain the names of candidates for office. The death of Francesco's Forza on March 8th, 1466, seemed to deprive the Medici of their chief support in Italy.

Starting point is 02:41:54 During the first six months of 1466, the two parties stood and watched each other. The Hill Party knew not where to turn for allies. Milan and the other chief Italian powers were friendly to the Medici. Pope Paul II, who had succeeded Pope Pius II, was neutral. Their only hope seemed to lie in the Republic of Venice, which was occupied by its struggle against the Turks. They opened negotiations with Bartolomeo Coleone of Bergamo,

Starting point is 02:42:26 the great Condorieri leader, whose magnificent equestrian statue, stands in the square which fronts the school of St. Mark at Venice. They also thought of inciting René of Anjou to hold in check King Ferante of Naples, and Achatjouli did actually unite for the assistance of Borsodeste, Duke of Madana. He dispatched his brother Ercaldeste with 800 cavalry, 2,000 infantry, and 1,000 archers. They were already on the march when Piero was informed, of his danger by the Lord of Bologna and the Duke of Milan. Piero narrowly escaped being killed by the conspirators. A plan had been formed to cut him down as he returned from his villa at Kadeji into Florence.

Starting point is 02:43:15 There is a tradition that his young son Lorenzo saved his father's life by riding quietly along the roadway as if his father were following and so keeping the conspirators in expectation, whilst Piero reached Florence by another route. He went immediately to the Signoria and told him of the danger which threatened. He took no strong measures against his adversaries but even tried to win over Lucapiti by promising that Lorenzo should marry his daughter and that he should have an important place in the government. By this means, he avoided an outbreak of civil war. The new priors who entered on their office on September 1, 1466 were all favorable to the

Starting point is 02:43:59 Medici. The bell was sounded and the people were summoned to a parliament. The result of this was that the appointment of offices by nomination was restored for ten years and the heads of the Hill Party were sent into banishment. Ajachuli and his sons de Bottleta, Soderini to Provence. The Archbishop of the family of the Nerini fled to Rome. Luca Pitti remained in Florence but his punishment was worse than exile. His palace remained unfinished, his friends who had given him presence demanded them back of him. He died in obscurity despised and neglected by all men. Thus, the prudence of the Medici gained its ends. The authority, which seemed personal in Cosimo, was strengthened and perpetuated in his son Piero and marks a new epoch in the history of Florence, bringing the communal

Starting point is 02:44:56 government to an end and preparing the way for the Medici and Principate. The Florentine exiles did not put up quietly with their defeat. They still continued their negotiations with Venice and persuaded Bartolomeo Colione to join the lords of the Romagna in campaign against Florence. To meet the general suspicion of danger which hung over the whole of Italy, the ambassadors of Milan, of Florence, and of King Farante, who, formed the League at Rome for 25 years on January 4, 1467, giving the opportunity of entering it to Siena, Luca, Louis Gonzaga of Montua, and even to the Republic of Venice, of whom they were

Starting point is 02:45:42 especially afraid. The Pope did not take part in it, reserving to himself liberty of action. The League of Rome chose Federigo, Duke of Urbino, as their commander-in-chief. The two armies of Cullione and the League were arrayed opposite to each other in the neighborhood of Imola, but nothing decisive took place. The new Duke of Milan, Galiatso Maria, was in the camp of the League, and his rank gave him an authority which his experience did not justify. The Florentines contrived to induce him to visit their city, where they entertained him with games and amusements. In his absence, the Duke of Urbino was able to fight a battle. It was long and bloody but indecisive. The Duke, when he returned to the camp, was very angry that an engagement had been fought in his

Starting point is 02:46:36 absence and withdrew his contingent. He had also heard that Amadeus the 9th, the new Duke of Savoy, was invading the dominions of the Marquess of Montferat his ally. This Duke, called the Blessed, did much to restore the prosperity of his country, and was greatly assisted by his wife Violante, the sister of Louis XIteenth, King of France. After the departure of the Duke, the war continued to smolder, but both the Venetians and the Duke of Milan were anxious that the conflagration should not become too dangerous. At last, on the day of the purification of the Blessed Virgin, February 2nd, 1468, the Pope published a bull for the pacification of Italy, especially between Naples, Venice, Milan, and Florence. Each of these powers was to accept the peace within 30 days.

Starting point is 02:47:33 Collione was to be made captained general against the Turks with a stipend of 100,000 ducats, and was to restore the territories he had recently captured. Peace was finally made in May, with the exclusion of the Duke of Savoy. Pope Paul II of the Venetian family of Barbie was a very handsome man, proud of his appearance and fond of pageants and fine clothes. He desired to assume the title of Formosis on his accession, and he laid great stress on the external trappings of his position. The jewels on his papal throne were valued at 800,000 gold florins.

Starting point is 02:48:15 To save money for this splendor, he turned out the copyists and scribes who had swarmed in the Vatican during the reigns of his literary predecessors. They rebelled against this treatment and shut him up as a prisoner in the castle of St. Angelo. Without the culture of a Nicholas or a pious, he was just as much of a pagan. The Vatican reeked with the greatest pollution and the Pope celebrated his carnival with representations of gods and heroes, nymphs, and Bacchanals. On the other hand, he deserves the credit of having revised the statute book of Rome and having established judges of the peace to put down the system of wholesale assassination.

Starting point is 02:49:02 The life of Piero de Medici was now drawing to a close. The exiles had lost all hope of returning to their native land and gave but little sign of their existence or of their discontent. T. Lawrence was engaged in a short war with the Pope for the possession of Rimini. Ziggis Mundo Malatesta, Lord of that city, died on October 9th, 1468, leaving as his heir a bastard son, Robert. Paul II claimed the fief as S. Sheeded to the church, hoping to obtain it for his nephew, Agostino Baudable. Robert offered to secure the city for the Pope if he might be allowed to drive out his stepmother Isolta from the possession of it. The Pope consented, but soon found that Robert intended to secure

Starting point is 02:49:51 the city for himself. A war began in June 1469, and Florence, Milan, and Naples found themselves allied against the Pope. Federico of Urbino gained a decisive victory for the Allies on August 30th. The Venetians were prevented from helping Paul II by the terrible news of the capture of Negropont by the Turks, and his holiness at last recognized the succession of the bastard son. Lorenzo de Medici was now 19 years of age. As his father was kept in the background by illness, the son came forward to take his place. By frequent travels in Italy, he had come to live on intimate terms with the Italian princes. He had been received with royal honors at the courts of Ferrada, of Milan, of Venice, Roman, Naples. He took an active part in public affairs. His literary education

Starting point is 02:50:51 had been superintended by Gentili Durbino and the Greek Argyrapoulos. He had written poetry as a boy. Ficinus had initiated him into the philosophy of Plato. The Medician palace was the principal place of resort for literary men and distinguished foreigners. Lorenzo was long as well. Lorenzo was large and well-formed in body, but an ill-shaped nose and a massive jaw deprived his face of beauty. His voice was harsh, his sight weak, and he was entirely without the sense of smell. The former league was renewed by the Treaty of Naples on July 8, 1470. It comprised Naples, Milan, and Florence, as well as many smaller states. The Pope gave it his adherence toward the end of December. After the peace, Lorenzo was able to quietly assume his own position. He persecuted one by one

Starting point is 02:51:49 the Caponi, the Strozzi, the Pitti, the Alessandri, and the Soudarini. In short, all the families of distinction which were not decidedly attached to the Medician Party. The severity displayed in their banishment and executions formed a strong contrast to the splendors of the Medician court. At the age of 21, Lorenzo married Clarice, daughter of Jacopo Orsini, a distinguished Roman noble. To celebrate his betrothal, a tournament was held in the square of Santa Croce on February 7, 1469, a very grand and magnificent pageant, which attracted lords and knights from the whole of Italy. Pulci, the author of Morgante Maggiore, a poem which excited the admiration of Byron and inspired Don Juan, gave a minute description of the festival in three contos.

Starting point is 02:52:45 Piero rode out preceded by nine trumpeters and a page with a red and white banner. He was accompanied by two giants in full armor and twelve young nobles on horseback. The dress of Giuliano, Lorenzo's brother's son, was valued at 8,000 ducats. Five pages followed him on horseback, then came drums and fives,

Starting point is 02:53:09 and lastly Lorenzo himself. He was clad, half an armor and half in silk, and across his breast was a scarf embroidered with fresh and faded roses, and the legend, Leton Viendra, in thickly clustered pearls. On his satin cap sewn with pearls, he bore three feathers of gold lace, set with diamonds and rubies, and in the middle a pearl worth 500 ducats. on his shield was a diamond called Ilibro, valued at more than 10,000 ducats. His horse, a present from King Farante of Naples, had a saddlecloth of red and white satin, also sung with pearls. His dress worn in the tournament itself was different,

Starting point is 02:53:56 and on it were conspicuous the gold lilies of France in an azure field. The victory was probably arranged for him beforehand. He says of himself that though he was young and not very expert, yet he received the prize, a helmet inlaid with silver surmounted by a figure of Mars, the god of war, and the ancient protector of the city. These details have been dwelt upon to show how regal the state of the Medici had become, and how far it had departed from the Republican simplicity of earlier days. Piero remained almost continually shut up in his villa of Kadeji, racked by gout in every limb and entirely unable to move.

Starting point is 02:54:41 Before his death, he increased the dominions of Florence by the purchase of Sarazana, which defended the territory of the Republic on the side of Genoa, and rounded it off in that direction. He was never able to acquire the much-coveted town of Lucca, which indeed was not united with Tuscany until after the middle of the present century. Piero died on December 3rd, 1464. Just a year before this, the Emperor Ferdin and the second, made an unexpected expedition into Italy under the pretense of performing a vow which he had made during the siege of Siena in 1462, but really with the object of consulting the Pope on the subjects of

Starting point is 02:55:25 Milan, Hungary, Bohemia, and the Turkish War. The Pope treated the Emperor with great condescension, and the emperor was not able to assert himself. Christend him saw, for the last time, its temporal and spiritual heads, walking together through the streets of Rome under the same canopy. Frederick took occasion of publicly depriving Galliato Maria Sforza of the Duchy of Milan, and investing a grandson of his own with the fief. The proposed measures against the Turks came to nothing. The last act of Paul II was to create his favorite Borso Deste, Duke of Ferrara.

Starting point is 02:56:06 He died suddenly on July 26, 1471. His servants found him dead in his bed. He had not even received the last sacrament. There is no doubt that he died of apoplexy, but the report was that he was strangled by certain devils which held him fast. He had carried out nothing of the designs of Pius the Seventh. and his only merit was to have increased, to some slight extent, the material power of the holy sea. His reign appears most favorable when compared with those which followed it. After his death,

Starting point is 02:56:43 the corruption and the degradation of the papacy proceeded with rapid strides. End of Section 11 Section 12 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovoc's recording is in the Public Domain, recording by Pamelaan Agami. Chapter 6, The Turks in Europe, Part 1. During the late years of this history, we have often had occasion to record the malign influence of the Turks. While cities were struggling together in Italy, and Pope and Emperor were striving for the mastery, the nomad nation of the Turks like a black cloud of locusts or an irresistible torrent of mud, was slowly advancing and obliterating some of the fairest monuments of civilization and of piety.

Starting point is 02:57:40 In the present day, the sympathies of historians or politicians may be either for or against the Turks. Some admire them, some detest them, others while condemning them, may feel that it is impossible to set up anything in their place. But 400 years ago, there could be no doubt about the matter. The military virtues of the Turks were equaled or surpassed by those of many European nations, while there could be no question as to their hatred of Christianity and their barbarous and savage character. The countries which were attacked by them were flourishing and prosperous. The coasts of the Levant were covered by the commercial fortresses of the Venetian and Genoese, who occupied the position once held by the ancient Greeks.

Starting point is 02:58:28 Bulgaria since used as a term of reproach was a flourishing kingdom, the seat of a pure form of Christianity, which extended its influence to the furthest limits of Western Europe. Bosnia was governed by a powerful feudal aristocracy. Serbia was happy and prosperous under its native princes. Hungary held a proud position amongst the nations of Europe, and Bohemia and Poland played no inconsiderable part in the fortunes of the civilized world. A Slavonic Empire, Christian, civilized and powerful, united with Hungary, side by side with the great Teutonic empires, was then no visionary dream. All this was endangered by the impetuous advance of the Turkish

Starting point is 02:59:17 arms. In those days, communication of news was difficult, events happening in strange and distant kingdoms were hard to realize. The fate of Constantinople, which might long have been foreseen, came upon men with surprise. Yet some of the ablest statesmen in Europe were alive to the danger. It is to the credit of more than one of the popes that they used every secular and spiritual agency to unite the strength of Europe in this great cause. But the popes were generally old men, and were permitted only a short reign. The emperors, were often weak and worthless. Venice, which ought to have stood as the warder of Europe, was occupied with her own ambitions, and when she made the effort, it was too late. It has taken the

Starting point is 03:00:06 labor of 400 years of war and diplomacy to redress in part the disasters which were permitted to arise by the sluggish indifference of the age which we are now examining. It will not, it is hoped, be thought foreign to our purpose, if we give some account of the origin of those Turks who have played and are destined still to play so large a part in the calculations of European statesmen. The vast space of Central Asia, from the Ural Mountains to the Sea of China and Japan, from the frontier of India to the ocean of Siberia, is inhabited by a number of nomadic tribes who at one time belonged to the same race and probably spoke a similar language. These are now divided into four great branches who cannot understand each other's language,

Starting point is 03:00:59 but who resemble each other very much in manner and habit of life. The first of these are the Mongols, who made their earliest appearance in history under Zingas Khan in the first quarter of the 13th century. Even at that time, the great bulk of his army was composed of Turks. The Mongols now live to the north of the Great Wall of China. The second is the Tungusians, of whom the most celebrated tribe is the Manchus, who are the present rulers of China. In the third place were the Ugri or Finnish race. These left their home in Central Asia at a very early period and extended themselves over the Baltic and the coasts of the North Sea.

Starting point is 03:01:45 From them are descended the Finns and the laps, and to them is by many scholars assigned the great race of the Madiard the conquerors of Hungary. The last and largest of the four races is the Turks, who under different names inhabit a vast extent of country from Lake Baikal to the boundaries of the Greeks and the Slabs. We hear of them from time to time as Turks of Kashgar and Yarkand, as Kyrgyz, or Uzbeks, or Turkomans, or Noghe Tartars, and lastly as Ottoman Turks. The Turks first appear in his about the middle of the 6th century, when they descended from the slopes of the Al-Tai Mountains and attacked the Avars. They sent an embassy to the Emperor Justinian and received the envoys of Rome into their camp. About 500 years later, AD 1033, another tribe of Turks, or Turkomans, conquered Persia and the

Starting point is 03:02:45 dynasty of Seljuk reigned over them for a little more than a hundred years. Towards the end of the 11th century, the Seljukian Empire split up into four parts, and the princes of one of these divisions conquered Asia Minor and founded the Kingdom of Room. This kingdom is described, as extending from the Euphrates to Constantinople, from the Black Sea to the confines of Syria, pregnant with mines of silver and iron, of alum and copper, fruitful in corn and wine, and productive of cattle and excellent horses. The capital of the New Kingdom was fixed at Nicaea in Bethinia, distant only a hundred miles from Constantinople, the birthplace of the great creed of Christendom.

Starting point is 03:03:33 Gibbon says of this striking change, the divinity of Christ was denied and derided in the same temple in which it had been pronounced by the first general synod of the Catholics. The date of the consolidation of the Kingdom of Room is 1084. The conquest of Jerusalem by the Turks immediately after this gave occasion to the First Crusade. The first result of this enterprise was that the Turks were compelled to remove their capital to Iconium, 200 miles further from Constantinople. The Caliphs of Baghdad and the various Seljukan dynasties were overthrown by the invasion of Zingas Khan, which has been already mentioned. He retreated, believing that he had left nothing but desolation in his track. But a little spark had escaped the deluge and was destined to become a mighty flame.

Starting point is 03:04:27 A tribe of Turkamans, from the banks of the Axus, had taken service under the Sultan of Iconium. The chief of this tribe now ruled over 400 families in the mountains of Bethinia, his son, Ottoman, who should more properly be called Osman, has given his name to the Ottoman Turks. In the last year but one of the 13th century, July 27, 1299, he invaded the territory of Nicomedia. Before his death, he was able to hear that his son Orkan had conquered the town of Brusa, and this event which happened in 1326 may be regarded as the real beginning of the Ottoman Empire. empire. It is not necessary for our purpose to follow the development of this empire in detail. A map of Central Europe in 1452 will show that the Osmanlis occupied all the western part of

Starting point is 03:05:22 Asia Minor except the mountains of Pamphilia and Solicia in the south. Philadelphia, which had long maintained its independence, had been forced to surrender in 1390. The Ottoman Turks occupied the whole of Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria, with the exception of the three-fingered peninsula of Calcidia. The Dobrutska then is now formed a part of the Romanian territory. Bosnia and Albania still preserved their independence, and Thessaly was a kingdom. The conquest of Constantinople was reserved for Mahomet II, the son of Amarath II. His capital was at Adrianople.

Starting point is 03:06:05 For the attack upon the stupendous walls of Constantinople, he prepared paired a huge brass cannon capable of throwing a stone ball 600 pounds in weight. A large breach was made in the gate of San Romano. On the evening of May 28, 1453, confused cries of Allah Ila Allah and of Curia Ilazon ran from the contending armies, and at daybreak, on May 29th, the assault began. All did their duty, but the Turks were the conquerors, and Muhammad II, and entered in triumph, the Cathedral of Santa Sophia. When the Sultan ordered a search for the person of the Emperor Constantine, his body was found under a confused heap of Christian and infidel corpses.

Starting point is 03:06:53 The fate of New Rome called a blush of shame to the faces of the Christian princes of Europe. If the Emperor of the West could have led a host selected from every European nation from Sweden to Naples, the Turks might have been driven back to the Euphrates. We have an animated picture of the feelings of the time in the writings of Sylvia's Piccolomini. Christendom, he says, is a body without a head, a republic without laws or magistrates. The Pope and the Emperor may shine as lofty titles or as splendid images, but they are unable to command and none are willing to obey. Every state has a separate prince and every prince a separate interest.

Starting point is 03:07:36 What eloquence could unite so many discordant and hostile powers under the same standard? Could they be assembled in arms who would take the place of general? What order could be maintained? What military discipline could be enforced? Who would undertake to feed so enormous a multitude? What mortal power could reconcile the English with the French, Genoa with Otagon, the Germans with the nations of Hungary and Bohemia? If a small number enlisted in the Holy War, they would be overthrown by the infidels, if a large number, by their own weight and confusion.

Starting point is 03:08:16 When all hope of resistance was at an end, the powers of Europe fide with each other and their anxiety to make peace with the conqueror. The brothers of the last emperor, Constantine paleologus, the princes of Kiyas and Lesbos, Calajan of the House of Cominus, all submitted themselves. Servia sent a tribute of 12,000 Florence. The Genoese settled in Galata consented to buy the preservation of their rights from the infidel. The contribution of the island of Ragoza was doubled as a punishment for having received and harbored members of the Greek imperial family and Greek men of letters on their way to Europe. Even the pride of Venice was compelled to submit. In the capital of Constantinople, 47 Venetian nobles had been killed, many taken prisoners,

Starting point is 03:09:09 and many Venetian families had lost their property. The possessions of the Republican Greece were threatened and Jacobo Loredano was sent with 12 galleys to the defense of the Negropont. The fiery-tempered Doge, Francesco Foscii, would have declared war, but it was thought better to temporize. The peace of Lodi, which followed on the capture of Constantinople, had secured tranquility in Italy. Bartolomeo Marcello was sent as ambassador to the sultan and agreed to pay a small yearly sum for the possession of Lepanto and Scutari and for security of trade. A resident Venetian consul termed a bilio was admitted into Constantinople. This timely submission perhaps preserved Venice from the fate of Genoa. The Ligurian Republic was, as we have heard, torn asunder by internal dissensions.

Starting point is 03:10:04 There was no central authority strong enough to defend these distant dependencies from attack. They were given up to the Bank of St. George only to be lost altogether. Kaffa in the Crimea had to be surrendered. Amastris, the most flourishing possession of Genoa in the Black Sea, was depopulated in order to fill the empty streets of Constantinople. Fama Augusta, the possession of the Genoese in the island of Cyprus, was conquered by the family of Lusigno, to be transferred to Venice at a later period. When Mohamed II saw that he was secure on the side of the sea and had nothing to fear from the intervention of Christendom,

Starting point is 03:10:45 he determined to turn his arms toward the north. Serbia was already tributary, but he wished to subdue it altogether, and above all to gain the mastery of the great fortress, of Belgrade, which would thus become the point of departure for future efforts. He did not despair of success, but he was repulsed from the walls of Belgrade by the hero of Hungary, the great general John Hunyadi, the father of King Matthias Corvinas. The only regular troops at his disposition were 300 Polish crusaders and a few German Landis connects, but with these he was able to put strength into an undisciplined rabble of

Starting point is 03:11:25 50,000 men. The fleet of Muhammad was destroyed. He was severely wounded, and he retired, leaving 24,000 dead upon the field and his tents and all his property as a spoil to the conquerors. The defeat took place in July 1456. Muhammad was driven back to Sophia for a time, but two years later he succeeded in subduing Serbia, with the treacherous help of the native, no one. Nobles. End of Section 12. Section 13 of the Age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami.

Starting point is 03:12:15 Chapter 6. The Turks in Europe, Part 2. The finest character in this dismal narrative of cowardice and incompetence is Skanderbeg, the ruler of Albania, who maintained the independence of his native land, his lifetime. His proper name was George Castriot, and when Albania had been compelled in the reign of Amarath II to submit to the authority of the Sultan, he went with his three brothers to Adrianople. Amarath treated him with great distinction and gave him a high command. He concealed his plans till they were well matured and behaved as a devoted servant of the port. But when in 1444, the Turks were retreating before the columns of the Hungarians, he threw off the mask, and was received

Starting point is 03:13:04 with acclamation by the people. He was assisted by the Venetians, and in the Battle of Debra, in the same year, he gained a splendid victory in which 22,000 Turks were killed. On the three days, October 17th through 20th, 1448, was fought the Battle of Kosovo, or the Blackbird Field, as it is called, certainly one of the decisive battles of the world. After three days hard fighting, the Hungarians were entirely defeated, and even the valor of John Hunyadi could not save them. And Serbia and Bulgaria were conquered at the same time, yet Skanderbeg remained unsubdued. Behind the walls of Kroya, he laughed at the power of Amorath. All Europe looked on with wonder at his hardihood and sent him presents and embassies of honor.

Starting point is 03:13:56 Amrath II died in 1451. His son, Mohamed II, found Skanderbeg as invincible as his father had found him. In two succeeding years, 1455 and 1456, he completely defeated the Turkish forces, and in one year took three generals, prisoners. Mohamed tried to get rid of Skanderbeg by treachery, but fraud was not more successful than force. He then made peace with him, but this was not of long duration. Year after year, the old quarrel broke out again and always did the advantage of the Albanians. When he died, in January 1467 at the age of 63, his country was independent, while the Venetians were losing one possession after another. Scanderbeg left his territory under the protection of the Venetians, but Mohammed made it a point of honor to obtain the place for which he had so long

Starting point is 03:14:57 struggled, and he desired to have Albania as a starting point for the invasion of Italy. The Albanian Scutari was defended by Antonio Loredano with the greatest courage in 1447, and the Turks were forced to retire. But the respite was a short one. Four years later, Scutari and Croya were captured by Mohamed II, and their possession was secured to him by the peace of Constantinople in 1479. One of the transient intervals of peace with Skanderbeg gave Muhammad the opportunity of completing the conquest of Bosnia. The country was torn asunder by intestine strife, not only political but religious. The king, Stephen Thomas, 1443 to 1459, had wavered between submission to the Turk and dependence on the strength of Hungary. After his death, the throne was

Starting point is 03:15:56 contested by three competitors. Bosnia, like Bulgaria, was the seat of that rare form of belief called the Paulician heresy, which, spreading westwards from the fastnesses of the Balkans, had supplied Italy, Germany, and southern France with devoted martyrs. The Pope could not avoid taking part against the heretics, possessed though he was with a fiery zeal against the Turks. The country was completely conquered in the two years, 1462 to 1463. The Paulician landowners allowed themselves to be easily converted to the Mohammedan faith, and it is said that the numerous Mohammedan proprietors who offered the keenest assistance to the occupation of Bosnia by the Austrians in 1879

Starting point is 03:16:44 were the descendants of Christian ancestors. Two years later, the Herzegovina was incorporated with the Turkish Empire. The Montenegrins withdrew into their mountain fortress and maintained a war of independence against the Muslims for 400 years until they were recognized by the Treaty of Berlin. Wallachia was governed by a despot, Vlad IV, whose cruelties were worse than those of any Italian tyrant. He is said to have put to death in a few years

Starting point is 03:17:17 20,000 people of every condition age and sex. He paid tribute to the port, but seeing that Muhammad had determined to conquer him, he made an alliance with Matthias Corvinas. After atrocities far worse than any which in the present century have been witnessed in the East, Vlad was defeated and went to live in Hungary, where he was kept in prison. After his death, Wallachia became entirely Turkish. The brother of the

Starting point is 03:17:47 Emperor Constantine Paleologus governed the Wallachians with the title of Desperter Lord. The tyranny of the Sultan drove them to revolt, and the Peloponnesus was finally conquered in 1461. The proud race of the Palaiologi sank into obscurity. The Duchy of Athens once held by Walter of Brienne was now in the hands of the Florentine family of the Achachuli. They had been at first tributary to the Venetians, but since 1295 had owed allegiance to the Turks. Family quarrels and disputed succession gave Muhammad an opportunity of conquering the country in 1455. Thebes and Boeotia suffered the same fate. The Parthenon, which had been converted into a Christian church was now turned into a mosque. A Turkish garrison took possession of the

Starting point is 03:18:42 Acropolis. Thus, in ten years, from the time of his accession, Muhammad had achieved the conquest of the whole of Greece. It would be foreign to the plan of this work to trace the development of the Turkish Empire toward the east. Suffice it to say that the Byzantine Empire of Trebizond fell in 1462, Karamania, the eastern part of Asia Minor, was finally subdued in 1473, and that the Crimea, including the Genoese Emporium of Kaffa, was conquered in 1475. But the struggle of the Turks with the great European power of Venice must be described in some detail. The islands of the Greek archipelago were all this time in the possession of various Frankish princes of Italian origin. chiefly Venetians or Genoese.

Starting point is 03:19:35 Muhammad saw that in order to extend his conquests over this region, it was necessary to prepare a fleet. The fate of these small principalities was not uncertain. Their absorption by the Turks was only a question of time. They attempted to put off the fatal day by paying tribute and by submission, and whilst Muhammad was fully employed elsewhere, he was content to leave matters in a state of indecision. In 1462, as soon as he felt himself free, he prepared for a powerful attack on Lesbos, then held by Agataluzi of Genoa, whose ancestor had married a princess of the Palaiology.

Starting point is 03:20:15 An opportunity was as usual afforded by family dissensions. Lesbos was besieged and taken by storm on September 19th, 1462, and the inhabitants were killed or taken prisoners. The Venetians were much bull. blamed for allowing this island to fall without attempting to defend it, but they feared to bring upon themselves the scourge of the Sultan's power. Pius II saw country after country and island after island fall under the grasp of the Muslims without being able to rouse Christendom to the rescue. At last in 1463, stimulated by the loss of Argos, the Venetians were persuaded to

Starting point is 03:20:58 declare war. Argos and Corinth were soon taken and lost again. The last site which gladdened the eyes of the dying Pope was the sailing of a Venetian fleet into the harbor of Ancona. It is true, Paul II was a Venetian, but Turkish diplomacy was then as now skillful in sowing dissension between rival powers and in preventing union for a common object. King Ferranti received a Turkish embassy at Naples, and the court of Milan accepted presence from the Sultan. An alliance with Skanderbeg gave the Venetians hope for a time, but their plans were shattered by the defeat of both fleet and army at Patras in the spring of 1467. Barbarigo, their general, was taken prisoner, and Vitori Capello, their great admiral,

Starting point is 03:21:50 died of a broken heart. The death of Skanderbeg in the same year was another blow. The Venetians offered Muhammad the second peace, but he refused to accept it and the war continued. The conquest of the town of Inos by a new Venetian admiral named Niccolo Canale roused Muhammad to a desire for vengeance. He determined to direct all his strength against Negropont, the chief possession of the Republic in Greek waters. This island called Ubeah in ancient times lies along the northeast coast of Adam. and is joined by a bridge to the mainland. The second and final storm took place on July 11th, 1470, and on the following morning the island was taken. The inhabitants were treated with the

Starting point is 03:22:40 utmost cruelty. The fate of this island produced scarcely less effect in Europe than the taking of Constantinople. Canale, the admiral whose hesitation was thought to have lost the island, was sent into exile, and Pietro Mochenigo was appointed his successor. For several years, the war continued in desultory fashion. Muconigo succeeded in burning and plundering some towns on the coast of Asia Minor and in assisting the inhabitants to avenge themselves upon the Turks. But this kind of warfare was almost as disastrous to the Venetians as to their enemies. Commerce was interrupted, and the very purpose for which,

Starting point is 03:23:23 Emporia had been established in the east ceased to have any existence. In 1471, the Turks carried the war into the Italian territory. They crossed the river Izonso, pressed on to the Taliamento and the Piave, and wasted fields and villages with fire and sword. At last, peace became a necessity for the existence of the Republic. For 15 years, they had attempted to defend their hard-won possessions. Their commerce was now destroyed. The Moslem was ravaging their vines and mulberries. The coast towns of Albania and Dalmatia were threatened with destruction. Their last possessions in the Levant were slipping from their hands, and Venice itself was wasted with a destructive plague. The nobles began to desert the sinking ship, and the government had no other course open to it,

Starting point is 03:24:18 but to send Giovanni Dario with full power to treat for peace. The peace of Constantinople was signed on January 26th, 1479. The conditions were hard. The Republic was forced to surrender Scutari and Croya in Albania, the islands of Lesbos and Negropont, and the mountains of the coast of Moria, as well as to pay an indemnity of 150,000 ducats and a yearly sum of 10,000 ducats as a compensation for customs and tolls. The Venetians, by these means, rescued their remaining commerce, secured the towns which still remain to them, and were allowed to establish bylies or consuls in various parts of the Turkish states. A short account of the manner in which the island of Cyprus passed into the hands of the Venetians may fitly conclude this chapter.

Starting point is 03:25:12 In the year 1191, the island of Cyprus had been given by Richard Cur de Lyon to Guy de Luceon in exchange for the the kingdom of Jerusalem. It continued in this family till the death of John II, which took place in 1458. John left two children, a legitimate daughter, Cardalata, and an illegitimate son, James. Caudillata married first John, Duke of Coimbra, and secondly, Louis, Duke of Savoy. He was crowned in the Cathedral of Nicosia on October 7, 1459, as the king of Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Armenia. James, with the help of some Egyptian mamelukes, conquered the kingdom, and drove Carlotta out of it. The Genoese, who had an establishment at Famagusta, took the part of Carlata. The Venetian supported the side of James.

Starting point is 03:26:06 Marco Coronaro, a Venetian settled in Cyprus, assisted James with money to conquer the island, and gave him his niece, Katerina Coronaro, in marriage with a large dowry. She had previously been declared the daughter of the Republic and crowned as queen. James by this means became the son-in-law of the Republic. The marriage took place in 1473 and a child was born in the same year, which was regarded as King of Cyprus under the name of James III. The infant, however, scarcely lived a year, and from 1474 to 1486, the island was regarded as Venetian.

Starting point is 03:26:45 The islanders were worse off than ever. They had repulsed Carlotta for fear of falling under a Savoyard king, but they now found themselves under the dominion of a Venetian queen. A rebellion broke out in Cyprus, and Mochenigo was compelled to conquer the island. Caterina, after her husband's death, lived partly at Venice and partly at Azolo, where her palace still exists. The island remained in the possession of Venice, although the titular queen survived till 1510. End of Section 13. Section 14 of the Age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 7. Lorenzo de Medici, Galeiato Maria Sforza, Part 1. After the death of Piero de Medici in 1469,

Starting point is 03:27:49 Lorenzo succeeded practically to the government of the state. He felt the great burden which lay upon him and made use of the Council of Sodarini and others. Juliano was of a quiet disposition and fond of pleasure so that the chief burden of government fell upon Lorenzo. The government of Florence was arranged in the following manner. There was a council of a hundred which elected officers called a copiatori, who in their turn chose the gand-folonieri. As Lorenzo was not satisfied with this arrangement, he drew the bonds of power still tighter, and on July 3, 1470, secured the election of New Acopiatorre, who united to the previous body formed a council of 40, which elected the Great Council of 200.

Starting point is 03:28:36 By this measure which was carried when Angelo de la Stoufa was Gonfalonieri of justice, the lordship of Lorenzo began to assume a legal aspect. At the same time, the Concilio del commune and the Concilio del Popolo were abolished. The office of Capitiano del Popolo was also done away with, and the position of the Podesta became far less important than before. With respect to external relations, Lorenzo saw that no reliance was to be placed on the Venetians or on the Pope. The Venetians were, as we have seen, being hard-pressed by the Turks, and were anxious to increase their possessions on the terra firma of Italy in proportion as they lost them in the east. The popes were generally old and capricious men, and a sudden and unexpected death might at any

Starting point is 03:29:30 moment change the policy of the Papal Curia. Therefore, the surest alliances of Florence lay with Milan in the north and Naples in the south. The Medici were the great bankers of Italy, as they were its richest inhabitants. Not only were they the depositories of wealth, which made it the interest of many Italian princes that they should not become insolvent, but they were the resource to which the hard-pressed and impecunious naturally turned in time of need. The archives of the Medici doubtless contained many begging letters, in which the suitors were among the most powerful potentates in the world.

Starting point is 03:30:12 John Galejazzos Forza consolidated the Florentine Alliance by a visit to their city in the autumn of 1471. He was accompanied by the principal personages of Milan and by Bono of Savoy, his wife. Historians describe with minuteness the number and splendor of his retinue and of that of his consort, the knights, the pages, the lead horses, the very kitchen knaves dressed in gold and silver. This exhibition of royal splendor is not without significance.

Starting point is 03:30:47 The center of it was the son of a condottieri leader, the grandson of a peasant adventurer, while the visit was made to a republic which could no longer feel shocked, that a prince should visit one of its citizens in princely guise. When the Duke entered the Medici Palace in the Via Larga, he was astonished at the wealth and splendor of its collections, and felt that he could not hope to rival it. The more serious Florentines were indeed disgusted that the visit being paid in Lent, the feastings and junketings, which accompanied it, did not always respect the limit of the precepts of the church.

Starting point is 03:31:26 After the death of Paul II, 18 cardinals came together in conclave on August 6, 1471, and three days afterwards elected his pope the Cardinal of Saint Pietro in Vinkoli, Francesco de la Rovere. He was born at Albizola near Savona, the son of a poor sailor. He was general of the Franciscan order and was very learned on questions of scholastic theology. He was now 57 years old and was of a hot-blooded and determined nature. Sixtus the fourth, for this was the title he assumed, was inexperienced in politics, but he imitated his predecessors by contemplating a crusade against the Turk. But he was carried on by the irresistible tide of events, and during his reign the papacy

Starting point is 03:32:18 began to assume a worldly character which was only surpassed in the time of Alexander the sixth. Under him, refined a terrible development of that vice of nepotism, which did so much to discredit the character of the popes and which yet was almost inseparable from the part of a worldly sovereign. We must not consider this nepotism as merely the amiable weakness of an old man for his relations. It has also its political side. Without some such assistance, the court of Rome could not have held its own among the powerful and ambitious courts which were growing up around it. as the Roman Curia under Calyxtus III had been Spanish, and under Pius II, Sienese, so under Sixtus the Fourth it became Ligurian.

Starting point is 03:33:08 A few months after his accession, he elected to the cardinalate, Giuliano della Rovare, bishop of Carpentras, son of his brother Raphaelay, 28 years of age. He was at a later period to become Pope under the name of Julius II. At the same time, he gave the Cardinal's hat to Pietro Riario, son of his sister Bianca. Girolamo, the brother of Pietro, was destined to pursue a political career and to found estate as a man of arms. On Pietro, his uncle lavished all the resources of his favor. He made him patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop of Seville, Florence, and Mende, and gave him so many benefices that his income amounted to 60,000 Florence. Two other nephews, brothers of Giuliano,

Starting point is 03:34:02 remained layman. Leonardo married a daughter of King Farante and was made prefect of the town of Rome, and Giovanni was united to a daughter of Federico, Duke of Molino. Girolamori, received as his bride, Catherine Sforza, the illegitimate daughter of Galeazo Maria, and the lordship of Imola was purchased for him by his indulgent uncle. The life of Cardinal Riario was a short but a merry one. No words can exaggerate the profuse and childish luxury of his court at Rome. This is shown by the reception he gave to Leonara of Aragon, natural daughter of King Ferante, who passed through Rome in June 1473. on her way to marry Hercules, Duke of Ferrara. The square of Santiagooli was converted into a banqueting hall.

Starting point is 03:34:56 The princess reclined like Cleopatra on the costliest tapestries. At the banquet the waiters were clothed in silk, and the seneschal changed his dress four times. The banquet was served with wild boars roasted hole in their skins, goats, hairs, fishes covered over with silver, peacocks in their pride, pheasants, storks, cranes, stags, a bear, served up, skin and all with a stick in his mouth, a mountain which gave birth to a living man who came out, looked at the people, and went in again. Other dishes represented the history of Atlas, the story of Perseus and Andromeda, and the labors of Hercules.

Starting point is 03:35:39 Barley sugar castles full of meat were stormed, and their contents thrown to the people outside, while sailing ships discharged their cargo of sugared almonds. Cardinal Giuliano despised the folly of his cousin, but there was some danger in it nevertheless. When Riario went to Milan in 1473, where he found a fit companion in the Duke Galezzo, he entered into plans of far-reaching ambition. A design was formed to make Galeo duke of Lombardy,

Starting point is 03:36:10 at the expense of the Venetian territory, and in return, Piero was to be made Pope. Sixtus was either to be forced to abdicate or to be killed. On his way back from Milan, Cardinal Riario stayed at Venice, where he was received with great honor, but he died immediately on his return to Rome, January 5th, 1474. It is said, in consequence of his excesses. There was some talk of poison, having been administered to him,

Starting point is 03:36:43 either at Venice or Florence, and this suspicion may have prejudiced the Pope against the two cities. During the two years of his cardinalate, the young man had spent 200,000 gold Florence and was considerably in debt. His tapestries, his silver plate and his furniture, which was valued at not less than 8,000 ducats, passed to his brother Girolamo. Leonardo de la Rovere died in 1476, and his brother Giovanni was made prefect of Rome in his place. This growing degradation of the papacy was not witnessed by the best and wisest of the cardinals, Bessarion, who died at Rabenna on November 19, 1472. He was as upright and robust a man as he was a diligent and learned scholar.

Starting point is 03:37:32 He left a great collection of manuscripts which he gave to the library at Venice. He was born a member of the Greek Church, but became recognized. to the Latin Church at the Council of Florence. The luxury and pride of the new Italian princes, whether men of Milan, Florence, or Rome, were not likely to pass without exciting energetic opposition. The Cardinal Riario, if he did not die of poison, might perhaps have fallen a victim at no distant period to private or public vengeance. The years 1476 and 1478 witnessed two murders of princes both perpetrated in church, both with a design of satisfying private animosity and of overturning intolerable tyranny. The Duke of Milan was murdered in the Church of San Stefano in Milan. The conspiracy of the

Starting point is 03:38:26 Pazzi slew one of its victims in the Cathedral of Florence. The cruelties of Galliato Maria Svorza almost exceed belief. A priest who had prophesied that he had only 11 years to reign was starved to by the Duke's orders. A man who dared to write a letter to the Duke's mistress had his two hands chopped off. Another offender was shut up in a chest and buried alive. A peasant who had killed a hair was made to eat it, skin and all, and died in consequence. The Duke enjoyed nothing so much as being present at executions. His lust exceeded all limits, and he took as much pleasure in the disgrace of his victims as in the gratification of his passions. In the time of Duke Francesco, a certain scholar named Colamontano had come to teach at Milan. He had a great enthusiasm for the

Starting point is 03:39:22 history of ancient Rome. He painted the effeminacy of Galeatsu in the darkest colors, and hinted that in a pure and more heroic age, he would have met the rewards of his desserts. He sent some of the most distinguished of his scholars, among them Girolamo da al-Jate, to Bartolomeo Colione to learn the trade of arms. But they were immediately recalled. In 1474, Montano was imprisoned under the suspicion of having written some epigrams against the Duke, and this made him more bitter than before. In the following year, he returned to Milan and met Giovanni Andrea Lampugniano. After this, he quitted the city never to return. He was absent at the time of the Duke's murder and therefore could have taken no part in it, but it is certain that the ultimate inspiration of the deed came from him. Lampugano and Al Jate

Starting point is 03:40:18 found an ally in Carlo Visconti. They met in the Garden of the Church of Santambrogio, devoted themselves under a solemn compact to the holy work, and called upon the saint to assist them in their enterprise. The Duke Galeiato Maria had just been engaged in a military expedition in the territory of Vercelli and had concluded a league with Louis XI of France, with the assistance of Philippe de Comines, the celebrated historian. He returned to Milan on December 20th, 1476, the eve of St. Thomas' Day, and had passed the season of Christmas in the usual festivities. On the day of St. Stephen, December 26th, he desired to hear Mass in the castle of Porta Jovea, where he resided, but his chaplains had already gone to the Church of St. Stephen, and the Bishop of Como could not

Starting point is 03:41:11 satisfy his wish. He went to the church on horseback, accompanied by the envoys of Ferrara and Montua. He was clothed in silk and gold, and had, unfortunately, no breastplate. As he entered the church, Lampugano went before him to clear the way. He then knelt down as if to ask a favor and plunged a dagger into his stomach. Oljate stabbed him in the neck, Bisconte, under the shoulders. He died immediately and was buried the same evening without ceremony in the cathedral. Lampugniano attempted to fly, but his feet becoming entangled in the dresses of the ladies who thronged the entrance of the church, fell and was killed by the Duke's guards.

Starting point is 03:41:55 The other two escaped, but were soon captured and executed. Uljate, who was only 22 years of age, was torn to pieces with hot pincers. He gloried in his crime and boldly declared that the judge before whom he was shortly about to stand would pardon his other faults for this one act of virtue. It is reported that his last words were, Colligate Hieronymay, stabitvettus Memoria Fakti, Morzakuta, Fama Perpetua. Courage, Girolamo, the memory of your deed will

Starting point is 03:42:29 remain forever. Death is bitter, but fame is eternal. When Sextus IV heard of the death of the Duke, he said, Today, the peace of Italy is dead. End of Section 14. Section 15 of the age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Agami. Chapter 7. Lorenzo de Medici, Galliato Maria Sforza, part two. The conspiracy of the Potsie was a product of various causes. In this plan was the desire to get rid of a tyrant. This was an unlovely and unlooked-for result of the study of antiquity. The same feeling had driven Stephano Precario in 1453 to form a conspiracy against Pope Nicholas V, and it caused the murder of Galeozo Maria to be received in Florence with a certain degree of approbation.

Starting point is 03:43:35 The principate was consolidating itself. This had been shown as early as 1474 by the harsh measures which were taken to suppress the revolt of Voltaire. Relations had also become strained between the Florentines and the Pope, but the exact reasons of the quarrel remain in obscurity. The expedition of a Condotieri General, Carlo Forte Bracha da Montone, son of the famous Bracho, in 1477, for the conquest of Siena is supposed to have had something to do with it. The Sienese suspected that the Florentines had connived at the enterprise, and they claimed the support of the Pope, Ferante, and the Duke of Milan. They revenged themselves by capturing the castle of Montone on September 27th. The Pope accused the Florentines of having made Montone master of Perugia

Starting point is 03:44:32 and of having stirred up the war with Sienna. At any rate, in February 1478, there was a close alliance between the Pope and King Ferante for the advantage of Girolamo Riario. Ferranti was to have Sienna, perhaps Riario was to have Florence. Traders were not wanting in Florence itself. One of the most powerful of the Florentine families

Starting point is 03:44:58 was that of the Pazzi, who stood only second to the men. Medici in consideration and wealth. Cosimo had taken care to marry the sister of Lorenzo to Julialmo De Pazzi. His elder brother, Francesco, was sullen, jealous, and discontented, and waited eagerly for an opportunity of overturning the rival family. This local jealousy was fostered by the court of Rome, under the influence of Girolamo Riario, who was always stirring up his uncle to overthrow the power of the Medici. Francesco Pazzi was made the banker of the Holy See instead of the House of Medici. There was also another cause of quarrel. On the death of Felipe de Medici, Archbishop of Pisa in 1474,

Starting point is 03:45:48 6th the 4th appointed Francesco Salviati to the vacant sea. Salviati was a Florentine, but not of the Medician party, and Lorenzo refused to give him the possession of the cathedral. The Pope had also wished to make him Archbishop of Florence, but Lorenzo obtained this dignity for his relative, Reynaldo Orsini. The conspirators found an instrument ready to their hands in the person of John Battista de Monticeco, a mercenary soldier in the service of Count Girolamo Riario. It is from his confession, written down at Florence on May 4, 1478, of which there is no reason to doubt the correctness, that we derive the best information as to the details of the conspiracy. The confession is especially important as throwing light on the question as to exactly how

Starting point is 03:46:44 far Pope Sixtus IV was implicated in the plot. The guilt of Giuliano's murder was generally ascribed to the Pope, but it is certain that he limited himself to the desire of a change in the government of Florence, and that he expressly forbade the shedding of blood. He said, I do not desire the death of anyone on any account because it is not consistent with our office to consent to the death of anyone, and although Lorenzo is a villain, and is on bad terms with us, yet I do not wish his death on any account, but only a change of government. On Girolamo suggesting that the Pope would at least grant absolution after the deed if it could not be effected in any other way, Sixtus replied,

Starting point is 03:47:31 thou art a beast, and turning to Monteseco told him that he must rest the government from the hands of Lorenzo, and that then we will make of that republic what we desire, and it will aid in a great purpose of ours. Whether Sixtus ought not to have known that a change in government was impossible without murder is another question, and we must condemn him for being an accessory before the fact. The conscience of Monteseco was not appeased, and he asked, the count on another occasion if it was really true that his uncle consented to the crime. Girolamo answered, do you not know that we can make him do anything we please? Troops were now brought up from the Romagna and from Arezzo to take the necessary measures

Starting point is 03:48:18 when the deed was done. The plan was finally matured in the villa of the Pazzi at Montugue, another young cardinal being present, Rafael Sansohn, sister's son, to Girolamo Riario, who had been recently raised to the purple. The other conspirators were two of the family of the Salviati, both bearing the name of Giacomo, Bernard de Bandino de Baruncelli, Antonio Maffei of Volterra, a papal scribe, who wished to avenge in the person of Lorenzo the desolation of his native city, Stefano Bagnone, the chaplain of Giacomo de Pazze, and Jacobo de Poggio Bracolini, also René and Giuliano the Pazzi, the latter of whom had married a sister of the Medici.

Starting point is 03:49:06 It had been determined not to carry out the design unless both brothers were present, and the first plan was to effect it at a banquet given by Lorenzo to the new Cardinal Sonsone in the Medici Villa at Fiesole, now the Villa Mozi. But it was put off because Giuliano could not be present on account of ill health. Polician tells us this, who was himself present at the banquet, as the the tutor of Lorenzo's son, then a boy of seven years old. It was then determined that the murder should take place on Sunday, April 26th, in the Cathedral of Florence at the moment of the elevation of the host. In the morning, Monteseco entered Florence with 30 mounted

Starting point is 03:49:49 Archbousier and 50 foot soldiers. The Archbishop Salviati went to the public place with some armed men to drive out the priors. Monteseco had been told off to to Lorenzo, but he refused, and Antonio Ovalterra and Stefano Bagnone were put in his place. At the given moment, when it was assumed that both brothers were kneeling in adoration, Bernadot Baranchelli, Francesco de Pazzi, and others fell upon Juliano. At the first wound he attempted to escape, but his strength failed him, he fell to the ground, and was soon dispatched. Antonio of Voltaire stabbed Lorenzo in the neck,

Starting point is 03:50:31 But he defended himself with the assistance of the Cavalcanti family, fled into the sacristy on the gospel side, now decorated with the doors of Sansovino, and held his own against his assailants. The young Cardinal Sansone, only 17 years old, looked on and wonder at a scene of which he probably understood but little. The town rose to the cry of Palle, Pale, not for freedom, but against the murderers. While this was going on, the Archbishop, was at the public palace talking with the standard bearer of justice, and waiting for the moment when the uproar in the street should announce that the deed was done. The standard bearer suspected him from his talk and arrested him.

Starting point is 03:51:15 At the same time, Giacomo de Pazzi occupied the gate of Santa Croce with Monteseco and his archbousiers. He then went into the great square to rouse the people and to assist his nephew Francesco who had been wounded. Finding that all was lost, he first retired to his house and then fled by the Santa Croce Gate. The Archbishop Salviati and some others of the conspirators were hanged from the windows of the public palace, and the same fate befell Francesco de Pazzi, who was dragged from his house naked and bleeding. The rest of the conspirators were executed. Monteseco was beheaded on May 4th. Beroncelli fled to Constantinople, but was surrendered and executed December 29th, 1479. Niccolo Vespucci alone escaped.

Starting point is 03:52:08 Giovanni de Pazzi was buried in the family chapel in the church of Santa Croce. A heavy rain fell on that day, which was taken to signify the displeasure of heaven, that so notorious a malfactor should be buried in holy ground. His body was disinterred and laid behind the mouche. The rain continuing, his corpse was again dug up, and after being dragged ignominiously through the city with scornful songs, was thrown into the Arno. It was never seen again, and it was said that the devil had taken it. The property of the Pazzi was confiscated. The square in front of their palace received a new name, and the remaining members of the family changed,

Starting point is 03:52:50 for the time at least, their arms and their appellation. The family still exists. The family still exists at Florence at the present day. Giuliano was the darling of the populace. He died unmarried but left an infant child who was adopted by Lorenzo and who 45 years afterwards became Pope under the name of Clement the 7th. He justified the conspiracy of the Pazzi by enslaving Florence and placing a dynasty of spurious and degenerate Medici on the throne. The conspiracy only served to increase the reputation of Lorenzo.

Starting point is 03:53:25 Juchardini concludes his account of the conspiracy with the following words. Such was the end of civil dissensions and discords. One party is exterminated. The head of the other becomes Lord of the City. His supporters and adherents become his subjects. The people and the state are enslaved. The principate becomes hereditary. Gino Caponi observed that all the great conspiracies

Starting point is 03:53:52 which took place in Italy from the middle of the 15th to the middle of the 16th century ended in the same way. The Porcri, the Pazzi, the Fieski, the murderers of Galezzo's Forza, of Alessandro de Merici, and of Pierre Luigi Farinez. The principates were not overthrown, and the conspirators lost their lives. It is said that the young cardinal never forgot the horror of that terrible hour. The pallor of terror clung to him until death. He had been imprisoned on the day of the murder and was not set free till June 12th.

Starting point is 03:54:31 End of Section 15. Section 16 of the Age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Libro Box recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 7 Lorenzo de Medici, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Part 3. The effect of the conspiracy on the Roman court was unexpected. Sixtus the fourth, instead of expressing his indignation at the crime which had been committed by his friends, launched the thunder of the Holy See against the city of Florence. He complained that an archbishop had been murdered and a cardinal legate imprisoned.

Starting point is 03:55:19 He laid the city under an interdict and joined himself with King Ferranti for the destruction of the Medici. It is fair to say that his conduct roused the indignation of the Christian world. Venice, herself in the anguish of a terrible struggle against the Turks, Milan, Ferrar and Riemini, promised their assistance to Lorenzo. Louis XI, always well disposed to the Medici, gave his special sanction to the League and sent the historian Philippe de Comyn to represent him at Florence. He desired to summon a council of the church, at Orleon, and sent letters of expostulation to the Pope.

Starting point is 03:56:02 The Emperor and Matthias Corvinas of Hungary also sent ambassadors to Rome to warn the Pope from his purpose. It is not necessary to follow minutely the fortunes of this war. Ludovico Sforza, the brother of the murdered Galeaso Maria, called Il Moro, or the Moor from his dark complexion, had seized the inheritance of his nephew, and there was some danger of his making terms with King Ferante, and so breaking up the alliance with Florence. Lorenzo determined on a bold course of his own motion, and without communicating his desire,

Starting point is 03:56:39 he sailed to Naples, where Philippo Strazi, belonging to a distinguished Florentine family, had a considerable business, and in three months he had produced such an effect on King Ferranti by his courtesy and manners, that peace was made between Florence and Naples. Though Pope was furious at the news and determined to prosecute the war more vigorously than ever, but in 1480, the Admiral of Mohammed II, conquered the Ionian Islands, subduing them with difficulty. He then suddenly crossed the narrow sea and began to threaten the coasts of southern Italy. This probably disposed 6thus to recognize the peace made between Lorenzo and Ferante, which was solemnly published on the day of the Annunciation, March 25th, 1480.

Starting point is 03:57:33 The city of Otranto was besieged by the Turks on July 28th and was captured on August 11th, the greater part of the inhabitants being put to the sword. The Turks then began to ravage the lands of Lucca and Brindisi, The Pope and the King now began to feel in earnest that the Sultan was knocking at their doors. The Pope prepared to fly for refuge to France. It was thought that Muhammad II as Lord of Constantinople might claim for himself the whole inheritance of the empire and stab the heart of Christendom by aiming a blow at Rome. However, on May 30th, 1481, this victorious Sultan suddenly died. The conquests of the Ottoman Turks were checked for a moment by his death, and O'Tranto was recovered.

Starting point is 03:58:25 The terror, inspired by its loss, had disposed Sixtus IV to forgive the Florentines. In December 1480, they received solemn absolution for their offenses. The doors of St. Peter were closed. The papal chair was placed in the loggia. The Florentine ambassadors, having confessed their sins, knelt before the Pope, and were touched by the sort of discipline and absolution. The gates were thrown open, and they were once more allowed to enter a church. Even before this final pacification, Lorenzo had taken care to modify the government of Florence so as to secure his own power.

Starting point is 03:59:05 The councils of the hundred, of the people, and of the commune, approved the election of 30 citizens, who, together with the priors, were to elect a Balea of 210 citizens of the age of at least 30 years. The 30, the 200, and the executive government were charged with making a scrutiny, by which they were to select 48 other citizens chosen equally from the four quarters of the city. As the Council of 30 might have the appearance of being too oligarchical, the Signoria, that is, the priors and the standard bearer of justice, determined a few days later to add to them 40 other members. This was the origin of the Council of 70, which during the whole of Lorenzo's principate continued to elect the priors and the standard-bearer. This council proved a useful

Starting point is 03:59:56 instrument of personal government in the hands of the Medici. The last four years of the life of Pope Sixtus IV were mainly occupied by two enterprises, the war against Ferrara and the attempt to exterminate the family of Colonna. The war against Ferrara in which Venice was the Pope's ally was begun by Sixtus IV, with the main object of securing a temporal principality for his nephew, Girolamo Riario. It was for this that he stirred up the cupidity of Venice, intending afterwards to cheat her for his own advantage. Naples, Milan, and Florence acted together to protect Verrara. The war raged most hotly in the south and in the north. On August 20th, 1482, was fought the battle of Campo Morto in the midst of the deadly swamps of the Pontine marshes. Renaldo Malatesta of Rimini defeated Alfonso

Starting point is 04:00:55 Duke of Calabria, the eldest son of King Ferante at the head of the Neapolitan army. The result of this battle was that the Pope became tired of the war and being threatened by the emperor with another Council of Basel and being afraid of the aggrandizement of Venice, he changed his policy and joined the Alliance of Naples, Florence, and Milan. The alliance was published on April 30, 1483. The war with Venice continued for some time longer. During its course, the Republic made overtures to the House of France, urging the young King Charles VIII to undertake the conquest of Naples and to the Duke of Orleon, the acquisition of the Duchy of Milan to which he laid claim as representing the family of Visconti. Peace was eventually concluded at Bagnolo in the neighborhood of Brescia in August 1484.

Starting point is 04:01:53 The limits between the Milanese and the Venetian territory were laid down as those fixed by the Peace of Lodi in 1454. Conquests on either side were to be restored, with the exception of the Polazina which remained in the possession of Venice. the Duke of Ferrara promised to make no more salt at Comaccio, which had been one of the chief causes of the quarrel. The peace of Banyolo was the occasion of great rejoicing at Venice, but it was received by the pontiff with different emotions. When he heard the news on August 11th, he was very seriously ill of gout. He was deeply affected and said that he had undertaken the war for the security of the church, and that he was deeply distressed that he had not succeeded in obtaining it. On the following day, he died. As we have said, the last year of his life was

Starting point is 04:02:46 also occupied by a war with the Colonna, of whom the Orsini were the hereditary rivals. The Orsini were adherents of the Pope, the Medici, and the League, whereas the Colonna were friends of King Farante. Now that the Pope and the King were friends, it was rather difficult to find a pretext for war, but one was discovered in a strip of disputed territory. Open war did not begin till May 1484 when Girolamor Riario and Virginio Orsini attacked the houses of the Colonna. They took them after a stubborn resistance and captured Lorenzo Colonna, who had his head cut off on the last day of June. Five days before, Marino had fallen into the hands of the pontiff, and on the last day of July, Capronica, also, fell. That once powerful family was nearly ruined. The unexpected death of the Pope put an end to these

Starting point is 04:03:44 designs. Count Girolamoriario abandoned his war against the Colonna, and in the first moment of terror took refuge in the castle of Spoleto. He then returned to Rome while his wife shut herself up in the castle of St. Angelo. The Colonna recovered Marino and Capronica, and returned to Rome four days after the Pope's death, while the Orsini withdrew in their turn. For a few days, it was impossible to perform the obsequies of the dead Pope, but the city became gradually quieter. On August 25th, Girolamo's wife surrendered the castle of St. Angelo to the Cardinals who met in conclave on the following day. There were 25 present, of whom the most influential were Marco Barbo and Giuliano della Rovare. Much authority was also possessed by Ascanio Sforza, the brother of Ludovico the Moor.

Starting point is 04:04:41 Barable, finding that he could not procure the papacy for himself, joined with Giuliano de la Rovare, in procuring it for a Genoese by name John Battista Chibo. He took the title of Innocent the Eighth. He was an inoffensive man who wished no harm to anyone. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about him is that he was the first Pope openly to recognize his children of whom he had two, Francesquetto and Teodoridi, born while he was still a layman. Cardinal Giuliano de la Rovare, afterwards Pope, under the name of Julius II, exercised a great influence at the papal court and involved the Holy Father in the intrigues of Europe. The only events which disturbed the serenity of Lorenzo to Medici's declining years were the war between Florence and Genoa for the recovery of Sarzana, which had been seized by them,

Starting point is 04:05:40 and the certain participation in the Barons' War of Naples, in which Lorenzo helped King Ferranti to put down his rebellious nobles, who on their side were countenanced by the Pope. This war of the barons was a last attempt to preserve the feudal system against the encroachments of royal power, and is analogous to the similar struggle which engaged the chief energies of Louis XI. 11th of France. The family circumstances of Lorenzo were most prosperous. His daughter, Madalena, was married in 1488 to the Pope's son, Francesquetto Chibo, but the marriage was saddened by the death of his faithful wife, Clarice. His eldest son, Piero, was united about the same time to Alfoncina, daughter of Roberto Orsini, of the branch of Raciano.

Starting point is 04:06:34 His second son, Giovanni, was nominated Cardinal in 1489 at the age of 12. This was done in Petto, that is, in the breast of the Pope or secretly, and the appointment was not to take effect until three years afterwards. The boy was brought up at the University of Pisa together with Chesare, the son of the Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, one of the most notable and infamous characters in Italian history. They were both intended for the ecclesiastical condition, but their destiny was very different. Giovanni became Pope Leo the 10th and Chezzed that a Borgia died in exile fighting in Spain. The solemn opening of the bull in the Abbey of Fiesole, the gorgeous ceremonial in the Church of Our Lady of the Flower,

Starting point is 04:07:25 The departure of the boy cardinal for Rome all took place in March, 1492, only just before his father's death. Before he went, his father took an affecting leave of him. He foresaw his own approaching end and felt anxious for the future of his son. In a long letter which he wrote to him at this time, he recommends to him piety and gratitude to God for the benefits he had received. He says, you are now entering upon a scene of greater danger. I know that in going to Rome, which is the seat of all wickedness, you will find it very hard to carry out what I have advised you. But I remember to have seen among the cardinals some men of saintly life, follow their example, although there is but little virtue at the present moment in the sacred college. He recommends him again and again to adorn himself with the virtues which are becoming to a true cardinal,

Starting point is 04:08:24 Use not too much silk or gold. Prefer rather the charm of antiquities and beautiful books, and let your suite be noted rather for its courtesy and its learning than for its numbers. After many years of suffering, Lorenzo died at his villa at Kadeji in April 8, 1492, at the early age of 43. His relations to literature and art do not strictly belong to political history, but it is difficult to imagine Lorenzo the magnificent, separated from Pico della Mirandula, from Polition and from Marcilio Ficino. He had grown up in a circle of learned men, drawn to his palace by the munificence of his grandfather. Ficino, who owed everything to the protection of the Medici family, was an ecclesiastic who endeavored to harmonize science and

Starting point is 04:09:18 faith, Platonism and Christianity. He edited a Latin Transcernetian. He edited a Latin Transcernation. of the whole of Plato's works, which was published in 1482 at the expense of Philippo Valori. Christophorolandino translated Pliny, and lectured not only on Homer and Virgil but on Petrarch and Dante. The first Florentine edition of the Divina Comedia published in 1881 contains a commentary by him. Lorenzo's own poems were of a light and amorous character. He extended his patronage to Pulci, the author of the Morgante Maggiore. Another of the Medician circle was Polyshin, whose proper name was Angelo Ambruginida multipulciano. Seldom has the world known so versatile in intellect. He wrote verses in Greek, Latin, and Italian. He was a poet, a philologist, and a philosopher

Starting point is 04:10:13 of the school of Ficino. He translated Hippocrates, Galen, and Herodian, and began a version of the Iliad. Giovanni Pico of Mirandula was, as his name implies, not a Tuscan, but with Ermalio Barbaro, he enjoyed the hospitality of the Medician house. He came to Florence in 1484 about the age of 20. He was a platonist of the school of Ficino, but he was also an eclectic, as is shown by the 900 theses which he proposed to defend it, Rome. Thirteen of them were found to be heretical, and the Pope forbade the controversy. Lorenzo founded a museum of antiquities and collected a valuable library. He profited much by the sale of the library of Matias Corvinas in 1490.

Starting point is 04:11:02 He used to spend 30,000 ducats a year on books. His patronage of art extended itself to Sangallo, the architect, Verochio the sculptor, the painters Lipino Lipi, and Domenico Giralandayo. The mighty name of Leonardo da Vinci, is also connected with that of Lorenzo. By his assistance, Leonardo studied the remains of ancient art in the Medician Garden of St. Mark. The malady from which Lorenzo had so long suffered began to grow much worse at the beginning of April 1492. His last days were enriched by the conversation of his son Pietro, of Ficino, of Pico, and above all of polition. Presages announced the coming catastrophe. Above all, the dome of Our Lady of the Flower was struck by lightning.

Starting point is 04:11:56 Fraguirolamo Savonarola, of whom an account will be given in a later chapter, came to shrive him in his dying hours. We do not know for certain what passed between them. It is said that before Savonarola would give him absolution he asked three things of him, to have faith in God, to restore what he had wrongly taken, and to give back liberty to his country, and that the dying man assented to the first two but refused the third upon which absolution was denied him. The story is inconsistent with the account given by Polition, the intimate friend of Lorenzo, and it is probable that the tyrant received absolution from the monk. Pope Innocent the 8th did not long survive him. He died on July 25th, 1492. End of Section 16. Section 17 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain,

Starting point is 04:13:03 recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 8, Charles V in Italy, Part 1. The year 1492 is an important date, not only in the history of Italy, but in the history of the world. The expedition of Charles the 8th, King of France, into the Italian peninsula, is generally regarded as the close of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times. From that event, it becomes possible to regard the history of Italy as a whole and to survey the entire system of European states from a single point of view. This year, as we have seen, witnessed the death of Lorenzo de Medici and of Pope Innocent the eighth. The one removed an influence which had preserved peace in Italy and prevented suppressed passion breaking out into wild excess. The other was followed by the accession of Alexander

Starting point is 04:14:02 the 6th, the Pope who has helped to give a meaning of horror to the name of Borgia. The same year saw the final expulsion of the Moors from Spain, which allowed that country to assume a leading place in the affairs of Europe. While the following year is signalized, by the discovery of America by Columbus. The immediate cause of the expedition of Charles VIII, which wrought so momentous a change, lay in the circumstances of the Duchy of Milan, and to the history of Milan we shall now recur.

Starting point is 04:14:37 After the murder of Galiatso Maria in 1476, his son, John Galiato, was proclaimed Duke, being at that time eight years old. John Galezzo had a brother, Erone, a year younger than himself, and two sisters, one, Bianca Maria, betroth to Filippert of Savoy, and the other Anne, who was intended to marry a prince of the court of Ferrara. The Duchess Bona assumed the guardianship of her son in January 1477, and her most trusted minister was Chico Simonetta, a Calabrian, who had been secretary to Galeasso Maria and to France. Francesco Sforza. The murdered Duke had left five brothers. Of these, Philippo Maria and Ottaviano

Starting point is 04:15:28 were in Milan, and three others had been banished, Ascaneo to Rome, Ludovico Il Moro, and Sforza Maria, Duke of Bari, to France. On returning to Milan, they found the Duchess and Simonetta established in their places. They immediately formed a party against their sister-in-law, but by the mediation of Ludovico Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and the assistance of the Pope and the Florentines, peace was for the present preserved. The uncles obtained not only an annual pension, but a fortress and a palace in Milan for each. The young Duke was solemnly crowned with the approbation of the empire on St. George's Day, April 23, 1478. Just before this, Giuliano de Medici had been murdered in the conspiracy of the Potsie, and in the war which ensued, the Duchess lent assistance to the Florentines.

Starting point is 04:16:25 The Pope and King Ferante succeeded in stirring up the Swiss to fight against the Duke of Milan. The men of Uri crossed the St. Goddard Pass into the Valle Leventina. Valenzona, an old possession of the Visconti, was besieged, and the Battle of Jornico fought in November, 1478, was a severe defeat for the Milanese. About a year after this, Ludovico Il Moro, who was an open alliance with the King of Naples, managed to come to terms with his sister-in-law and entered Milan. He soon persuaded her to dismiss her faithful servant Simonetta, who was imprisoned at Pavia for a year and then beheaded. On his tomb in the Church of Saint-Amolinar were carved the following lines, my country's faithful servant and my lords, I perished by the guile of treacherous words.

Starting point is 04:17:23 Ludovico then proceeded to so dissension between the young Duke and his mother, and eventually drove her away from the capital. On November 3, 1480, Ludovico Il Moro was solemnly appointed guardian of his nephew and regent of the duchy. From this moment, Ludovico, already Duke of Bari, after the death of his brother was virtually Duke of Milan in everything but name. Nothing of any great importance happened for several years. In October 1488, the city of Genoa was formally given up to the Moor, who received the banner of St. George, the Scepter, the Keys, and the seal of the commune. Thus perished the independence of that ancient republic. The young Duke of Milan had been betrothed at a very early age to a Neapolitan princess,

Starting point is 04:18:16 Isabella, the daughter of Alfonso, Duke of Calabria. As he grew up to manhood, King Ferranti demanded the fulfillment of the contract, but under various pretences, Il Moro continued to put it off. At last he could defer it no longer, and on February 1st, 1489, the fair Neapolitan princess was received with all honor in the castle of Milan, and the marriage was celebrated. The young couple established themselves at Pavia, and early in 1491, a son was born to them who received the name of Francesco Sforza. Isabella was endowed both with courage and with wisdom, but her husband, although of mild and excellent character, had been purposely left uneducated

Starting point is 04:19:05 and had no experience in affairs. Moore was very sorry that he had ever allowed his nephew to marry, and he determined to conclude a double alliance with the House of Este. He married Beatrice, daughter of Ercole, Duke of Ferrara, and gave his niece Anne to the Duke's eldest son. This made matters worse. Beatrice was devoted to pomp and luxury. The two brides quarreled with each other. Isabella was compelled to live with her husband in the dull imprisonment of Pavia, whilst Milan was full of wealth and hilarity. Tourneys, jousts, and pageants were the order of the day, the machinery for which was often designed by the cunning hand of Leonardo da Vinci. Isabella complained to her grandfather but without effect.

Starting point is 04:19:56 Ludovico had the keenness to perceive that his power needed strengthening. He bethought him that the right of the Sforza to the Duchy of Milan had never been formally confirmed by the empire, and he thought that this confirmation might be conveniently affected in his own person. He therefore entered into an arrangement with Maximilian, son of the Emperor Frederick III, by which he promised his niece Bianca in marriage to Maximilian on the condition that he, when Emperor, would grant Il Moro the investiture of the fief. This agreement was, of course, kept secret for the present. The support of Germany, however, was not sufficient. King Ferante would certainly take the side of his son-in-law.

Starting point is 04:20:42 So he turned for assistance to the quarter whence assistance had often come before and persuaded Charles the 8th, king of France, to revive his claims on the throne of Naples and march into Italy. Charles VIII, the son of Louis XI. was 13 years of age when his father died in 1483. During his minority, the government of France had been conducted by the strong hand of his sister, Anne of France, commonly called Anne of Bouges, from the title of her husband. When he came of age, he married by a sudden change of policy, Anne of Brittany, and thus united to the crown the last great province which stood apart from France, and saved it from the clutches of the House of Austria.

Starting point is 04:21:30 We have a description of him as he appeared at this time from the Venetian ambassador Contarini. The king is mean in appearance and ugly to look at. His great lackluster eyes see but little. He has a hooked nose disproportionately large and thick lips which he always keeps open. He is continually making awkward, ungainly gestures with his hands and is drawing in his speech. I may be mistaken, but I think that he is of little use either in body or mind. The claims of Charles to the throne of Naples were of two kinds. In the first place, he was descended in the female line from Charles of Anjou, King of Naples. The eldest son of Charles called Charles II or the lame, or in Italian history, Cardlo Novello, had a daughter, Margaret

Starting point is 04:22:24 of Anjou, who married Charles of Valois, the father of King Félain, who married Charles of Valois, the father of King Philip the 6th, from whom Charles the 8th was linearly descended. Again, Charles, Duke of Men, nephew and heir to René of Provence, had on his death in 188, left all his dominions to Louis XI, from whom the claim passed to his son, Charles the 8th. In order to obtain a free hand for his Italian expedition, Charles made peace with his enemies who were likely to interfere with him. He contracted. He contracted. the Treaty of Etape with Henry the 7th of England. He yielded

Starting point is 04:23:03 Rousillon for the sake of peace to King Ferdinand of Oregon, and he allowed Margaret of Austria, also for the sake of peace, to take back with her to Germany the sovereignty of Arctois and Franchconté. The French people thought that the Crown of Naples, if it was ever won,

Starting point is 04:23:23 would be dearly bought by these sacrifices. The people thrown was at this time occupied by Rodrigo Borgia under the title of Alexander the 6th. His election was unexpected. The principal cardinals at the death of innocent were besides himself, Rafaeli Riario and Juliano de la Rovare, the two nephews of the late Pope, and Ascaniosforza, the brother of Ludovico Il Moro. Barbo, whom the Venetians hoped would receive the tiara, had died shortly before. and his countrymen believed that he had been poisoned by Ferranti of Naples. It is said that Borgia owed his election to bribery,

Starting point is 04:24:07 and that four mules laden with silver were seen to enter the palace of Ascanio before the conclave. This story does not come from an impartial source. His character has been much disputed, and he had undoubtedly some good qualities. But after making all allowances for the character of the defense, effects of the Renaissance, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that his reign marks the lowest level of papal morality. Ju-Chedardini tells that the King Farante predicted that Borgia would prove the curse of Italy, and in that he was not mistaken. The historian allows him good sense, eloquence, and capacity for affairs, but complains that these qualities were obscured by his

Starting point is 04:24:55 disillute life, his want of uprightness, modesty, truth, honesty, faith, and religion, his insatiable avarice and ambition, his cruelty, and his unbridled anxiety for the advancement of his sons, who were as bad as himself. The Pope had five children, four sons and a daughter. Their mother's name was Vanozza Castanai. The eldest son, Piero Luigi, was created Duke of Gandhi by Ferdinan, and of Aragon. He died young and was succeeded in his dukedom by his brother Giovanni. Chisari Borgia came next. His father made him Archbishop of Valencia

Starting point is 04:25:36 immediately after his accession, although he was not yet in orders, and shortly afterwards, cardinal. The Pope's daughter Lucrezia of worldwide fame was at this time a graceful, lively child of 12 years old, with beautiful golden hair. She had been betrothed to a Spanish nobleman, but she was married at the age of 13 to Giovanni Sforza, bastard son and successor to Costanzo, Lord of Pizarro, who was a nephew of Francesco Sforza. The marriage was celebrated with Great Pomp on June 12, 1493. The Pope was present at the banquet, the ball, the play which followed, and the songs, as well as the Cardinals and ambassadors of Venice, Milan, Ferrara, and France. Previously to this,

Starting point is 04:26:25 In April 1493, an alliance for five and 20 years had been signed between Rome, Milan, and Venice, to which the young king of France was invited to exceed. Alexander's youngest son was Joffredo. He married the daughter of Alfonso II of Naples and received from him the principality of Squilache in the south of Italy. The character of Lucrezia Borja has been most unjustly abused. Her contemporaries describe her as high-minded, sensible, strong in character, highly accomplished, speaking and writing, Spanish, Italian, French, Greek, and Latin.

Starting point is 04:27:05 The plans of Charles VIII were not unknown to King Féranté. He sent ambassadors to France to meet the coming danger, but they were of no avail. He tried in vain to obtain assistance from the Pope, who only replied that the French were also good Christians. He also turned to Venice and even to England. A wiser council was to attempt to rouse Piero de Medici from his state of torpor and to urge him to arm the Duke of Urbino. On January 17, 1494, he addressed one last despairing appeal to Alexander, but a week after this, the aged monarch was dead. Ferranti and Lorenzo had been the two princes who preserved the balance of power in Italy, and now that they were gone, ruin was inevitable.

Starting point is 04:27:55 Ferdante was succeeded by his son, the Duke of Calabria, under the title of Alfonso II. He was a man of no courage or ability, and was proud, cruel, and insincere. His relations with Ludovico Il Morrow were naturally of the most bitter character. Charles VIII did his utmost to secure allies in Italy. The two Marquesses of Saluzzo and Montferat

Starting point is 04:28:20 on the Italian border, promised their aid. Il Moro was able to secure to him the advantage of the Genoese fleet. Venice rejected his overtures and remained neutral. Florence adhered firmly to the alliance with Naples. But Piero de Medici was not a man of great ability. Fragerolamo Savonarola thundered from the pulpit of the cathedral, that God was preparing some great punishment for the sins of his country, and of the Roman court. The advance of the French was too completely a fulfillment of his own

Starting point is 04:28:56 prophecies for him to call out the full energy of patriotic zeal. The Pope, although he was an alliance with Milan, yet began to become alive to the danger of foreign conquest, he invested Alfonso with the Kingdom of Naples in May 1484, and a few days afterwards his son Jofrido was married to Alfonso's daughter, Sancho. At the same time, the Cardinal Juliano de la Rovare, having been summoned to do homage to the Pope at Rome, had taken refuge in France, and it is said that his advice gave the final impulse to the hesitating Charles. Charles had arrived at Lyon at the beginning of March. He left it on July 22nd, and a month later reached Grenoble. Here his queen left him, and he pursued his march to Italy alone. End of Section 17.

Starting point is 04:29:57 Section 18 of the Age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Libravox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 8, Charles V in Italy, Part 2. Charles passed the Montgeneuve on September 2nd and entered Piedmont on the following day. His army was composed of 90,000 men, his navy of 410,000. 150 ships. His most formidable arm, the artillery, was drawn by light horses instead of the oxen of the Italians and was furnished with movable carriages. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this event. It was a new attempt to conquer Italy by a foreign force after a lapse of many years. It was very

Starting point is 04:30:46 different from those expeditions of the German emperors to be crowned at Rome with which the Italians were familiar. To the French, it was the discovery of a new land. They knew nothing of the wealth of art and culture with which Italy had adorned herself during 200 years. The leader of the expedition was a weak, ill-shapean young man of 22, who seemed incapable of commanding so brilliant an army. But his was only the arm to execute. The head, which planned and directed the exploit, was that of Ludovico I'll Moro. Charles entered Osti on September 9th, 1494. The Cardinal Giuliano and the Duke of Ferrara were awaiting his arrival. Thither came the Duke of Orleon to bring news to his cousin of his recent victory over the Aragonese fleet, and thither came also the usurping Duke of Milan and Beatrice, his wife.

Starting point is 04:31:47 Here the king fell suddenly ill. However, in a few weeks he recovered, and after visiting his ally, the Marquess of Montferrat at Casale, came to Pavia, where on October 14th he visited the unfortunate John Galezzo on his bed of sickness. The Duke was hot with fever, wracked with a consuming cough, and evidently near his end. He recommended to the king his young son, Francesco Sforza, Count of Pavia. However much the entreaties of the unfortunate young man and of his wife, Isabella, may have touched his heart. It did not change his policy. He was with the moor at Piacenza, when a week later, he heard of the death of John Galezzo, perhaps poisoned by his uncle.

Starting point is 04:32:35 Ludovico hastened to Milan, where he secured his election as Duke. The Pope, the King of Naples, and Piero de Medici, in vain attempted to rouse Venice to action. She preserved a complete neutrality, and refused to lend the king 50,000 ducats, even at the request of Philippe de Comines. As the army passed through the Romania, the camps of the French and the Aragonese were always one in advance of the other, but the only engagements were insignificant skirmishes. Katarina Sforza, Lady of Imola, declared for the French. The French now entered the Apennines by the pass of Pontremoli, at the southern foot of which stood the fortified town of Sarzana, which belonged to the Florentines.

Starting point is 04:33:25 Piero Caponi had, when he was sent as ambassador to France, advised the Medici to conclude a French alliance, but they hesitated to take so decisive as step. Now, Piero de Medici, on his own authority, went to the king, who was lodging in an abbey near Sarzana and yielded everything that he asked for. He promised him two hundred thousand ducats and the immediate surrender of Sarzana, Sarzanela, Pietrasanta, Libre Frata, Pisa, and Leghorn as a pledge for the payment of the money. The king promised to restore them at the end of the expedition. The cowardice of Piero roused the Florentines to indignation.

Starting point is 04:34:11 Capone cried that it was now time to get rid of the government of children and to recover liberty. A new embassy was sent, of which, which Savonarola formed part. They found the king at Pisa, which he had entered on November 8th with 3,000 cavalry. The Pizans were only too glad to purchase the freedom of their city. They threw down the sitting lions which were the emblem of Florentine supremacy and cast them into the Arno. When Piero de Medici returned to Florence, he found the citizens united against him. He tried to approach the signory, but the door of the public palace was shut. in his face. His enemies rose in tumult, the party of the Medici were defeated in the streets,

Starting point is 04:34:56 and the three brothers, Piero, Giuliano, and the Cardinal Giovanni were driven from the town. After the departure of the Medici, the citizens exiled in 1434 were restored, including the Pazzi, Lorenzo and Giovanni, sons of Pierre Francesco to Medici, were allowed to return, being thought to be on the popular side. On November 17th, 1494, Charles VIII entered Florence. A canopy was supported by four Florentine doctors, and under this rode the king on a magnificent horse. His coat was cloth of gold, his cloak of blue,

Starting point is 04:35:37 and on his head he wore an enormous white cap, so that he appeared as if he were nothing but horse and cap, being a little man with a smiling face and a hooked nose and plenty of soldiers round him. He bore his lance in rest as if he were entering a conquered town. The terms finally arranged between the king and the people were that the Medici should remain in banishment and Florence should be free. The fortresses should be held by the French till the end of the war and that the town should pay 20,000 gold Florence in three installments toward the expense of the expedition. The king at first proposed much harder conditions, but Piero Caponi tore the paper

Starting point is 04:36:20 and two and said, since you demand dishonorable things, you shall sound your trumpets and we will ring our bells. From Florence, Charles issued a proclamation declaring that his real object was to march against the Turks and that he only asked for a passage through the Roman territory. Alexander was in the greatest embarrassment. He knew how insecure. his position was, that it was believed that he had obtained the tiara by simony, and that all his enemies were ready to rise against him. However, he boldly refused the passage. He forbade the king to advance any nearer. He fortified the buildings of Rome. He even packed up and prepared for flight. But the patrimony of St. Peter was undefended. Charles left Florence on November 28th and

Starting point is 04:37:11 reached Siena on December 2nd, where he was joined by Cardinal Giuliano de la Rovare. He reached Viterbo on December 4th. He was received in a friendly manner by the Orsini and lodged in the castle of Braciano. Alexander at last saw that resistance was hopeless. He sent away the Neapolitan garrison from the city commanded by the Duke of Calabria, son of Alfonso, and came to terms with Charles. The king was to enter the city, but not to cross the tiber into the Borgle, that is, the part occupied by the Vatican and St. Peter's. The solemn entry took place on December 31st. No one was waiting for the army at the gates because the appointed day was January 1st, 1495. The king was attended by eight cardinals, among whom were Giuliano de la Rovare and Ascanios Forza. The procession

Starting point is 04:38:10 lasted from three in the afternoon till nine at night. The greater part of it was conducted by torchlight. It must have been a wonderful sight, the motley Swiss with their huge broadswords and plumes, the ugly little Gaskin archers, the gallant French cuirassier, the 36 bronze cannon each eight feet long, the king, the most hideous of the human race, at the head of his 40,000 troops. There was some talk of deposing Alexander, in which case the world would never have heard of Chesere Borgia, but the king had not the strength of mind enough to affect it. The Pope shut himself up in the castle of St. Angelo, and Rome was plundered by the French. At last, on January 15, 1495, a treaty was made with the Pope, by which he surrendered to Charles,

Starting point is 04:39:04 Terracina, Chivitavecia, Viterbo, and Spoleto. Chesa de Borgia was to accompany the king in his enterprise against Naples. Jem, the brother of the Sultan Bajazet, who had been since the death of Muhammad II, bandied about like a shuttlecock amongst the princes of Italy, was to remain with Charles. Astia continued in the possession of Cardinal Giuliano, and an amnesty was accorded to the disaffected Cardinals. The effect of this treaty was to make Charles master of the states of the church. The following day, the Pope left the castle of St. Angelo and returned to the Vatican, where the king came to do him homage. In return, the Pope conceded the Cardinals had to Brie Connay,

Starting point is 04:39:53 Bishop of Saint-Malo. Pope and King then heard mass together in St. Peter's. One thing Alexander steadily refused, to grant to Charles the investiture of the kingdom of Naples. On January 28th, Charles VIII left Rome, accompanied by Gem and Cheseré Borja. He marched along the Via Latina, the same which Charles I vanjou had followed 229 years before. His enterprise might to many have seemed coaxotic. Alfonso had the reputation of being the chief captain of his time and enormously wealthy. But as Philip de Comyn has said, Cruel men are always cowards. Alfonso shut himself up in his castle in a state of abject terror.

Starting point is 04:40:45 The waves as they beat against the foot of his palace walls, the leaves as they rustled in the wind, seem to repeat the burden, France, France. On January 21st, he resigned the crowned and his son, Ferranti II, or Ferrantino, reigned in his place. The new king could make no resistance. There was no fighting except a sharp skirmish on the frontier. Ferrantino fled to Icernia, and Charles entered the capital on February 22nd. A few days later, the unfortunate Gem died. The French falsely said poisoned by the Pope. Jem was the elder of the two sons of Muhammad II, and if he had succeeded to the throne, being a poet and a man of letters, he might have carried out his father's design of fusing

Starting point is 04:41:39 together the various races of which the Turkish dominion was composed. But Bajazet, being the first to hear of his father's death, seized the crown. On June 20, 1481, the two brothers met in battle on the banks of the River Yenish. Gem was conquered and put to flight and took refuge in Egypt. After a second trial of fortune, he determined to go to Europe and to raise the standard of revolt against his brother. He sought the protection of Pierre Dobousson, master of the knights of St. John and Rhodes, but he found himself little better than a prisoner, as each European power regarded him as a valuable hostage. Do Bousson sent Jim to France, and Bajasette had to pay a yearly sum of

Starting point is 04:42:25 45,000 ducats for his maintenance. Jim was anxious to escape. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, the kings of Naples and Hungary, were all anxious to get hold of him. At last, after six years spent in France, he was delivered over to the Pope. He entered Rome on March 13, 1489. In his first first interview with Innocent the 8th, Gem bewailed the bitterness of his lot and expressed his desire to return to Egypt to the society of his wife and children. He shed copious tears and the Pope was much affected. After the death of Innocent, he was shut up in the castle of St. Angelo. The death of Gem was a great misfortune to Charles, who had to give up his Turkish plans, and by it, the Pope lost 40,000 ducats which he received every year from Bajaset, and he received,

Starting point is 04:43:18 for his brother's maintenance. Charles had conquered Naples at a single blow, and his success seemed little short of miraculous, but while he was enjoying himself in that delightful city, a storm was rising behind him. Already the ambassadors of Ferdinand of Aragon had torn up before his face the Treaty of Barcelona, saying that it was broken by Charles' attack on Naples.

Starting point is 04:43:44 Il Moro began to be afraid that the Duke of Orleans might claim Milan, and that the French might occupy the whole of Italy. Ferdinand of Aragon dreaded the loss of Sicily. Maximilian could not forget that Italy had once owed allegiance in great part to the Holy Roman Empire. Ambassadors from these discontented powers met in Venice, where Philippe de Comynne, the historian, represented France. A league was formed ostensibly against the Turks, but containing secret articles for the restoration of Ferrantino. parties to it were the Emperor Maximilian, Ludovico Il Moro, Ferdinand of Spain, and the Pope. Henry V. 7th of England entered it a little later. It was to last five and 20 years.

Starting point is 04:44:33 In the event of a war in Italy, each power was to contribute 800 cavalry and 4,000 infantry, except the Pope who was only to contribute half that number. If Maximilian came into Italy to receive the imperial crown, Venice and Milan were each to send 400 men at arms. The League was solemnly proclaimed on Palm Sunday, March 31, 1495. This alliance is of great importance and may be regarded as the first serious attempt to secure the balance of power in Europe. We have reached the end of the Middle Ages. Charles, after vainly endeavoring to persuade the Pope to recognize him, had himself crowned with great pomp in the Cathedral of San Januarius on May 12th. A week afterwards, he set out on his return,

Starting point is 04:45:23 leaving about half his army in the kingdom as a garrison. The Pope fled at his approach, but ordered that he should be received with every honor. He re-entered Rome on June 1st, when he was offered apartments in the Vatican, which he did not accept. He then proceeded northwards by Orvieto and Siena. Here Savonarola came to him, and and bitterly reproached him with the excesses of his troops and with the grand opportunities which he had neglected. He desired to avoid Florence, and passing through Pisa prepared to cross the Apennines. His object was to reach Asti, where the Duke of Orleans was posted with a large army. Now was the time for Italy to avenge herself. The king was returning with a small force of 15,000 men,

Starting point is 04:46:10 having let the bulk of his army to garrison his towns. If the army of the League could intercept him as he crossed the Apennines, he could be completely destroyed, and the danger of French domination be crushed forever. Four large rivers, or rather torrents, descend northwards from the Apennines into the Amelian Plain. One of these is the Trebia, on the banks of which Hannibal won his celebrated victory over the Romans. The others are the reno, the Panama, and the Tado. It was at Fornovo on this last-name torrent that the army of the league determined to intercept the French king. The battle was fought on July 6, 1495. It did not last an hour. The Allied army was four times as strong as the French,

Starting point is 04:47:00 but their generals committed two faults. The Marshal Gonzaga allowed a large reserve to accumulate on the right bank of the Taro, where they were entirely useless, and, and these soldiers who did not attack were chiefly occupied and plundering the French baggage. The Italians lost 3,500 men and the French only 200. The king was saved by the excellence of his horse, Savois, which had been given him by Philippe de Brès. Charles VIII arrived at Asty on July 15th, having got back much more safely than he could have expected or than he deserved. The immediate results of the expedition into Italy were slight. Even before the Battle of Fornovo, the Pope returned to Rome, and on the very day after it was fought, Ferrantino re-entered Naples.

Starting point is 04:47:51 He did not enjoy his kingdom long. He died without children on October 7, 1496, and the throne was taken possession of by his gifted uncle Federigo Count of Altamura. The deposed Alfonso was already dead. But the results of the expedition of Charles in Europe were more important. It indeed deserves to be considered as the transition from the Middle Ages to modern times. In the first place, it revealed the renaissance to France and through her to the rest of Europe. The revival of learning, beginning in Italy, gradually spread to all branches of human inquiry, but it had scarcely touched France until the expedition of Charles VIII. France's decisive. decidedly a most powerful distributor of culture, and the French genius and language are

Starting point is 04:48:42 specially fitted to make the discoveries of other nations the common property of the civilized world. In the second place, as we have already said, the League of Venice against Charles the 8th is the first instance of a general combination of the powers of Europe for a common object. Lastly, this expedition marks the end of Italian freedom. We have yet to trade through a period of five and 30 years the dying struggles of that noble country. But the death blow has been already dealt, and we shall see how state after state gradually sank into that sleep of insignificance which has only been broken in our own age. Perhaps it is a consolation that her final throws are decorated and in some measure concealed by the splendors of art and the enthusiasm of chivalry.

Starting point is 04:49:37 End of Section 18 Section 19 of the Age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 9, Sabonarola, Part 1 In this history, we have more than once mentioned the name of Girolamo Sabonarola. It will be convenient now to give a more complete account of his teaching and his political views. Let us first mention two salient points in his influence. We have seen that there was in Florence, a sharp contest proceeding,

Starting point is 04:50:21 between the democratic and the monarchical tendencies. Savonarola broke in upon this strife with a strong democratic influence, and we shall best understand him by regarding him from this side. At the same time, from the point of view of general culture, the Medici, as the supporters and distributors of the new learning, wished to form a union between Christianity and Platonism. To this, Savonarola was vehemently opposed. While platonic banquets were being held in the halls of Carreji,

Starting point is 04:50:59 Savonarola was thundering in the Church of St. Mark against any admixture of Christianity and paganism. Savonarola was born at Ferrada, in the year 1452, a city which the brilliant court of the Esté family made as illustrious and as active as Florence itself. His early boyhood coincided with the time when Pope Pius the second was preparing for his fruitless expedition against the Turks. Savonarola became a Dominican friar at the age of three and twenty. At this time he wrote to his father, The reasons which move me to enter the religious life are these,

Starting point is 04:51:40 the great misery of the world, the iniquities of men, the adulteries, the robberies, the pride, the idolatry, the cruel blasphemies, for the age has come to this, that one can find no one who does good. When he was thirty years of age, the war broke out between the Pope and Venice for the possession of Ferrara, which Sixtus the fourth desired to convert into a principality for his nephew. The Dominican convent was broken up, and Savonarola entered the cloister of St. Mark at Florence, illustrated also by the names of Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolomeo. He found the Florentines at this time strongly opposing the interdict which Sixtus IV had launched

Starting point is 04:52:28 against Lorenzo de Medici and supporting the Bishop of Carniola in his efforts to call yet another council together at Basel. Up to the year 1490, Savonarola preached in various towns of Italy against the papacy, saying that a renovation of the church was necessary, which would follow its present misery as spring follows winter. On his return to Florence in the above-mentioned year, he found Lorenzo to Medici fast friends with Pope Innocent the 8th, but it was not consistent with his principles to approve of Lorenzo's method of government, nor of his enthusiasm for pagan culture. As we have before said, he was in politics a Democrat, and he regarded paganism as the natural enemy of Christianity. He attempted to reform his order. He did reform the preaching of his age.

Starting point is 04:53:25 For a dull explanation of difficult texts of scripture couched in stiff and cumbrous syllogisms, he substituted a stirring appeal to the people in simple homely language. He gradually assumed the style and tone of a prophet. There is no doubt that he considered himself prophetically inspired and thought that he was empowered by heaven to thunder against the vices of Florence as Isaiah and Josea had thundered against the vices of Israel. He dreamed that he had seen a sword suspended in the sky with the inscription, Gladius dominis superteram Kito at Velakiter, the sword of the Lord above the earth,

Starting point is 04:54:09 speedily and swiftly. He foretold the coming of a new Cyrus across the Alps, no fortress and no sword would be able to stand against him. Savonarola was a man of small stature but well-proportioned. He had a high but wrinkled brow and blue eyes gleaming from under dark bushy eyebrows. His most prominent feature was his nose, which is familiar to us in the portrait of his friend Frá Bartolomeo, or in the waxen bar relief which his followers the Piaagnoni carried about with them as an object of reverence.

Starting point is 04:54:47 He was courteous in his address, accessible to everyone, and marvelous in his power over men. He knew the works of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, almost by heart, and was probably better versed in the text of the Bible than any theologian of his age. The descent of Charles VIII into Italy gave him that honor in his own country which a prophet so often lacks. It seemed as if the king were coming for the very purpose of carrying out the preacher's views. Charles put forward as his two great objects after the conquest of Naples, the reform of the church, and the expulsion of the Turks from Europe.

Starting point is 04:55:26 Alexander the Sixth did not much care for either of these ideas. He naturally preferred that the church should remain as it was, and he would have been willing to have placed gem instead of Bajazet on the throne of Constantinople. But even if Charles seriously entertained these designs, he had not the ability to carry them out. He made terms with the Pope, gave up the design of the Turkish war,

Starting point is 04:55:54 and left the reform of the church to Sabonarola. Sabonarola saw that political reform must precede religious reform. He has left on record his views with regard to the government of Florence. His principles were based upon the teaching of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. He admits that a good monarchy is ideally the best form of government, but it easily degenerates into tyranny which is the worst. The rule of the mob, which according to Aristotle's

Starting point is 04:56:26 definition would be called o'clockracy is detestable. The Florentines are too independent to put up with a monarchy. They must therefore have popular institutions. These once existed in full vigor, but they had been corrupted by the Medici into tyranny. A Republican government is best for the city. But the offices must be filled by the genuine vote of the citizens, and that not all of the inhabitants which could produce confusion and anarchy, but only of properly qualified citizens who shall form the great council. He looked forward to the entire abolition of party, and to the equality of all privileged persons. He made it, as might be expected, a matter of great importance, that no one should be admitted to the council who was not a man of good moral character.

Starting point is 04:57:18 He promised his fellow citizens that if they devoted themselves, heartily to the common cause, they should speedily obtain possession of Pisa. Savonarola did not apparently see that Pisa had as much right to independence as Florence. The Constitution of December 23, 1494, was drawn up under the influence of Savonarola. Under this, there were to be two councils. The first was to consist of all those who had completed the age of 29 years before January 1, 1495, and whose father, grandfather, or great-grandfather had been elected to one of the principal offices of the state, these being seniori, the standard bearer of the companies, and the 12 bonyominy, or if they themselves had held one of these offices.

Starting point is 04:58:12 If the number of these exceeded 1,500, they were to be divided into three parts, and each part was to hold office for six months. The number proved to be 2,300. Every year, additional young members of not less than 24 years of age were to be added to the Great Council. The Great Council was to elect a Council of 80, called the Riquisti de la Signorea, members of which were to be at least 40 years old. The seniori, the various boards, the 10 of Liberty, and the 20 Acopiatorior electors, were also to form part of this upper change. These 20 Accopiatory had been appointed on December 2, 1494, by a Parliamento or General Assembly

Starting point is 04:58:59 of the People in the Great Square to choose the seniorie and the standard bearer of justice. By this new constitution, their power disappeared. Savonarola had considerable difficulty in getting his councils of peace and pardon accepted. At that time, the Otto de Guardia could, by six votes, send anyone into exile. This was supported by the common people as a security against tyrants, and especially against the party of the Medici, the Paleschi, as they were called. Sabonarola succeeded in getting a general amnesty passed, and in giving those condemned to death or exile an appeal to the great council. It was also part of the Friars' plan to do away with

Starting point is 04:59:45 the right of calling a parliament or assembly of the whole people in the Pia. which was the recognized way of changing the Constitution. The abolition of this popular right was obtained with some difficulty. In fact, the proportion of Florentine citizens admitted to the government by Savon-Orola's constitution was small. The number of inhabitants of Florence at this time is placed at 90,000, whereas the number of beneficiati or persons capable of belonging to any deliberate or representative body was only 3200. End of Section 19. Section 20 of the age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamelaan Agami. Chapter 9, Savon Orola, Part 2. Whilst Charles VIII was engaged at Naples, parties in Florence were

Starting point is 05:00:49 divided between the king and the duke, the latter having joined the League of Venice against Charles. Savonarola had supported the king, as he feared that the influence of the Duke might be used to upset the Constitution and restore the Medici. As we have seen, Savonarola had an interview with Charles

Starting point is 05:01:09 on his way between Siena and Castel Fiorentino, in which, although he reproached him with his shortcomings, he did not altogether repudiate him. At this time he was the most powerful man in Florence, and was consulted upon all matters both public and private. But it was not likely that the Pope would forgive the monk who had endeavored to overthrow him or that the people would support him in his attack on the Holy See.

Starting point is 05:01:37 Besides this, the Cardinal Ascanio, the brother of Il Moro, was always present to poison his mind against the friar. Alexander the 6th, by a letter dated July 21st, 1495, summoned Savonarola to Rome to give explanations with regard to his preaching. He declined to go, pleading his weak health and the danger of leaving Florence at so critical a moment. The Pope was at first inclined to accept his excuses, but a second letter of September 8th written in a very different style suspended him from teaching and preaching, and this prohibition was repeated on October 16th. However, in February 1496, Savonarola ascended the pulpit, saying that he had obtained leave from the Pope.

Starting point is 05:02:27 In the meantime, the Franciscan friars of Santa Croce began to take part against him. The city was divided between two parties. The chief among Savonarola's opponents were Piero Capone, Alessandro da Pisa, Francesco de Merici, Jude Antonio Vespucci and Bernaro Rucelai. They were of aristocratic interests and sympathies. Opposed to them under the name of Pianioni were Francesco Valori, Paolo Antonio Soderini, and John Battista Rolfi. If the first party gained the upper hand,

Starting point is 05:03:05 the friar would have to leave the city. But both parties were united against a common foe. They were equally afraid of the rifted. return of the Medici from exile and of the destruction of the Constitution, and they knew that the friar and his sermons were their best defense against this danger. The effect of the new constitution had been that the aristocracy and the old families lost their power in the state. This was still further intensified by another change. Formerly, no one who owed any money to the state could be a candidate or a voter for a public office. They must all be what was called netto de spakio,

Starting point is 05:03:45 that is, clear of the account books or spakio. This condition was now done away with, as the great council was too numerous for it to be enforced. At one time, as many as 1,700 persons were assembled in it. The Carnival of 1496 showed Savonarola's power in a striking light. The ordinary games and abusments were given up. Thousands of children walked in procession through the streets, despoiling ladies of their useless finery, and bringing their money to the frate to found a monte di Pieta or public pawn-broking establishment, where money could be lent to the poor on easy terms. All this increased the bitterness of the friar's enemies. Sickness broke out in the city. There was no employment for workmen, the troops were not paid,

Starting point is 05:04:38 And at each of these calamities, Sabonorola continued to preach that worse miseries than these must precede the desired reformation. We have seen how much the power of Sabonarola depended upon the king of France, on whom he had hung all his hopes of present improvement. There was some talk of Charles returning to Italy in 1496 and repairing his former mistakes. But the condition of Europe was altered. Spain was now a united monarchy, and even the Duke of Milan felt something of the patriotism of an Italian. Maximilian, the emperor, began to assert himself. He called on the Florentines to submit to him, and Ludovico Il Moro supported his demand. It was difficult for the Frate to resist his influence. The great desire of Florence was to recover Pisa, but this Maximilian sternly abhorred.

Starting point is 05:05:34 He even marched into Italy to its defense and prepared to attack Florence. On September 30th, by the advice of Savonarola, a solemn procession was held in Florence, in which the picture of Santa Maria Immaculata was carried with great pomp and ceremony. On the morning of that very day, news arrived that a favorable breeze had carried the French fleet into the harbor of Lagorn, escaping the hostile armaments of the emperor and the league. This was a great triumph for Savonarola and his friends, who argued more boldly than ever that the arm of the Lord was on their side. His preaching took a higher tone. He had a pulpit fitted in the hall of the great council, that vast chamber, which still excites our admiration in the

Starting point is 05:06:28 public palace of Florence. He tried to wean them from earthly objects and from political ambition. Dast thou wish for peace, he said, serve Jesus. He told them not to place their trust in men but in God. Ah, my people of Florence, you hang all day on these matters of temporal importance. Let them go. I do not say that you shall not have what I have promised, for that God has said. But is it not enough that God has illumined you? If Florence were to go to the ground and lose its liberty in all temporal things, would it not be enough that it has the light of God which may lead it into paradise? Let this suffice, and if you are Christians, do not seek for anything but this light. The Carnival of 1497 was even a greater triumph than that of the previous year.

Starting point is 05:07:23 All vanities, all books and pictures which excite idle thoughts, were collected and solemnly burnt, and it is to be feared that many valuable works of art perished in the process. The friar was destined to reach a still greater height of power in the state. The standard bearer of justice for the first two months of 1497 was Francesco Valori, one of the warmest supporters of the Frate. He was a violent opponent of the Medici, a man eager for his cause, simple in manner, silent in speech, but very ambitious. Under his influence, a measure resembling a progressive income tax was introduced, and the age for admission to the Great Council was lowered from 29 to 24, while measures of severity

Starting point is 05:08:12 were adopted against the Frate's opponents. A reaction naturally followed. For the first two months, March and April, Bernardo del Nero, one of the Beiji or Medician party, was standard-bearer, and it was perhaps owing to this that on April 28th, Piero Medici made an attempt to return from exile. He came close up to the gates of Florence but was compelled to retire. This defeat, strangely enough, roused the popular feeling against Savonarola because he counseled moderation toward the Medici party, and Piero's attempt made the citizens too angry to be moderate. The Pope now wrote to the Signore of Florence,

Starting point is 05:08:55 begging them to prevent Savonarola from saying harsh things of the Holy Father. After deliberation, they determined that no friar should be allowed to preach on May 4th the Feast of the Ascension. Savonarola came down to the cathedral, accompanied by a large number of friars, by a large military guard, and by a numerous body of private friends. He mounted the pulpit and said, You believed that I should not come to the pulpit this morning. but you see that I am come. Perhaps you may say, yes, thanks, Friar, to your guard, and I will tell you that I did not summon this guard, but that I would have come anyhow, and that I will always come when the Lord God inspires me. No man in the world, be he who he may, shall make me stop in such a case. He went on to protest that he had

Starting point is 05:09:49 been calumniated, but that he always returned good for evil. If I thought it better not to preach, I would leave off. I have received no order from the signory not to preach, and if I had it is doubtful whether I should have thought myself bound to obey it. At this moment, two loud knocks were heard in the church, which was the signal for a tumult. The friar fell on his knees and grasped his crucifix, exhorting the people to hope in Christ. He then descended from the pulpit and accompanied by his followers, repaired to his own confent of St. Mark, where he finished his sermon. The expressions used by Savonarola had been an open defiance of authority. In consequence of this, he was excommunicated by the Pope, partly for not obeying his citation to Rome, and partly for his contumacious words.

Starting point is 05:10:44 The signory entreated the Pope to withdraw his excommunication, but in vain. it was published in Florence on June 11th. At the end of July, traces were discovered of a conspiracy for effecting the return of the Medici to Florence. The members of it belonged to the most distinguished families in the city, and the head of it was Bernable Del Nero, an old man of 75, who had been standard bearer of justice. Others were Niccolo Rydolfi, Lorenzo Tornaboni, Giovanni Pucci, and Giovanni Kambi. It was proposed to refer the matter to the great council, but the case was finally judged by a Pratica or committee of 136 persons consisting of the seniori, the 16 standard-bearers of

Starting point is 05:11:31 guilds, the 12 Buoni-Womini, the captains of the Guelph party, the 10 of war, the eight of the Balea, the officials of the Monte di Pieta, the conservators of the laws, the Council of 80, with the additional members. The vote was given, not personally, but by the separate component magistracies. The five criminals were unanimously condemned to death. There was some talk of a new trial, but Francesco Valori courageously opposed it, and they were beheaded in the courtyard of the Bargello. It is not certain what parts of Honolola played in this celebrated trial, but the probability is that he would have wished to leave the matter in the ordinary course of law, to, the decision of the great council. At any rate, the effect of what had happened was to give

Starting point is 05:12:20 Francesco Valori the greatest authority in the city. The convent of St. Mark became the nucleus of the governing party. Every new measure was discussed with Savonarola. A private body of his friends decided on every subject of business before it was submitted to the 80. Even when it came before the great council, the assembly was found to consist almost entirely of the friar's friends. By these means, a free constitution had been gradually changed into a party government. End of Section 20. Section 21 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Libravox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami.

Starting point is 05:13:11 Chapter 9. Savonarola Part 3 In external politics, the party of the Piano always held more or less closely to the King of France, and hoped for his return to Italy. The opposite party were attached to the League of Venice, which had intercepted Charles the 8th at Fornovo. Of these, Milan and the Pope were powerful members, and the Pope had recently shown his feeling against France by giving the consecrated hat to Henry the 7th of England. The party of Savonarola were very careful to keep the elections to the public offices favorable to themselves, the more so, because they feared the vengeance of the friends of the

Starting point is 05:13:58 executed conspirators. The signory which governed Florence in the last month of 1497 were favorable to Savonarola, and they continued to negotiate with the Pope in his favor. But the friar did not await the result of these interventions, and on the evening of Christmas, Christmas Day in that year, he celebrated Mass. At last, on February 11th, 1498, he again ascended the pulpit in the cathedral. This is a very important event, as it was a direct denial of the Pope's authority. In his sermon, he spoke of the excommunication and denied its validity. He said that it had been brought about by the Florentines whose only desire was to do away with good living and the common wheel. He said that if he did not preach, he should be excommunicated by Christ.

Starting point is 05:14:50 To whom he said should you betake yourselves? To those who are blessed by the Pope and whose life is ashamed to Christianity? Or to those who are excommunicated by the Pope, but whose life brings forth fruit of truth and daily becomes better? A change now took place in the attitude of the Pope toward Florence. It was believed that Charles VIII was preparing another. expedition into Italy, and the Florentines expected by this means to recover the possession of Pisa, which was the great object of their desire. But the Pope now suddenly promised to give them Pisa,

Starting point is 05:15:29 and said that in his eyes its union with Florence would be favorable to the unity of Italy. The Florentines were on their side inclined to accept the offer. It would cost them nothing, whereas Charles would demand a contribution in money. On February 26th, Alexander wrote to complain that Savonarola, although excommunicated, was performing priestly functions, and asked that he should be arrested and sent to Rome. He, however, continued to preach and prophesied the terrible retribution that would fall upon his country. O Italy, thou shalt be given into the hands of savage people, a barbarous race, who shall only take pleasure in doing you harm and slaughtering men,

Starting point is 05:16:18 and in the sight of blood. They will be barbarians, cruel as lions, and will come from this side and from that. Italy, then, shall be given into the hands of a strange people, every one of which will rack his brains to do the harm, and even the worse they can. And it shall be worse for Rome than for any other city, your property, your treasures, shall be given into their hands. This many years later in 1527 seemed to the Pianioni, a prophecy of the descent of Constable Bourbon and of the sack of Rome. The Pope's brief of February 26th was referred to a committee which was favorable to the friar. An ambassador was sent to Rome with explanations, but he found the Pope very angry, and he threatened Florence with an interdict.

Starting point is 05:17:12 On March 9th in another brief, he attacked the doctrines and the orthodoxy of the friar. The citizens were told that to hear the friar preach was a sin, that they might be absolved if they confessed immediately and promised not to offend again, but that if they continued in their contumacy, they would be papally excommunicated and could only be absolved by the Pope.

Starting point is 05:17:37 A party now arose of young men of family who were opposed to the friar. The head of these was Dolphospini. Party spirit ran high. Some said that Frou Girolamo was a good and holy man, but that it was safer to obey the Pope, an interdict would destroy the commerce and prosperity of Florence. Others amongst whom was Francesco Valori, asserted that the Frate was a direct messenger from

Starting point is 05:18:07 God and that the Pope had no authority to prevent his preaching. At last, on March 17th, a new committee determined to ask Savonarola to suspend his preaching. He said to the messengers who brought the news, is that your will, my lords? They said, it is. He replied, I have another Lord whom I must consult. I will give my answer tomorrow. The next day he preached his farewell sermon. He said the true believers must have recourse first to their confessor, then to the bishop, then to the pope, but if all these forsake him, he must go to Christ and say, Thou art my confessor, thou art my pope. He agreed to obey the orders of the committee, but declared that some sign from heaven

Starting point is 05:18:56 would soon be given to prove the truth of his mission. Savonarola did not give up the struggle. He persuaded his friends to write to the Florentine ambassadors and France and Spain that the time was come in which a general counsel ought to be called. He drafted letters on the same subject to the Emperor Maximilian, the kings of France, Spain, England, and Hungary. In these he declared Alexander not to be a true pope. These letters were never sent, but they were written. The schism in the city was not healed. Crowd still flocked to St. Marks to hear the devoted friend of Sabonarola, Fra Domenic

Starting point is 05:19:36 of Pesca, who took his place in the pulpit. At last, a strange method was adopted for deciding the quarrel. In the year 1063, a monk of Valembrosa had charged the bishop of Florence with having obtained his sea by Simony. The charge was rejected by the Lord of Florence at that time, but the monk offered to prove his case by passing unhurt through two rows of burning faggots. He did so with safety, and the bishop was condemned. Pradomenico da Pesca now offered to pass through the fire to prove the truth of Savonarola's teaching, and a Franciscan friar of Santa Croce offered to enter the flames with him to prove the contrary. They would both be burned, but the truth would prevail.

Starting point is 05:20:24 The authorities of the city doubted for a long time if they should permit the ordeal, but at last they did so. If Fra Domenico was burned, Savonarola was to leave the city. everything was arranged. The gates were closed, the streets guarded. The trial was to take place on Saturday, April 7th, 1498, the eve of Palm Sunday at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The propositions which Fradomenico was prepared to defend were these. The Church of God needs renovation. It shall be scourged. It shall be renewed. Florence also, after scourging, shall be renewed and shall promise. prosper. Unbelievers shall be converted to Christ. This shall all come to pass in our own time. The excommunication recently launched against our reverend father, brother Girolamo is null and void. Those who do not observe it do not sin. The platform necessary for the ordeal was erected in the great square of the seignory. It was 40 L's long and five wide, covered with earth,

Starting point is 05:21:32 and paved with stones so as to resist the fire. A pathway in L-wide was left in the middle, and on each side were piled up the fagots and logs of wood. The brothers of the two orders arrived at the spot and took up their position in the Lodje de Lanzi on the south side of the square. The Franciscans advanced in silence without ceremony, but Fradomenico was dressed in full priestly robes and held in his hand a huge crucifix. Savonarola was also clad in a pluvial and carried a picket. with the consecrated host. Some citizens with lighted candles accompanied him. The Dominicans had been celebrating divine service in St. Marks and marched to the square chanting psalms with a loud voice. An unexpected difficulty arose. The Franciscans demanded that Fra Domenico should take off his robes

Starting point is 05:22:26 and dress like a Franciscan. They also would not allow him to enter the flames with the crucifix and the host. Savonarola would not permit him to go otherwise. The dispute carried till dusk, and the people were disconcerted and confused. The friends of Dolphospini, the Arabiata, and the Companacci, as they were called, proposed to see Savonarola. The feeling of the people was now strongly against the Dominicans. They said that their wish to carry the host and the crucifix into the flames was an insult to God. The Franciscan had offered to enter the flames alone. The whole thing was a trick and a delusion. On Palm Sunday, Savonarola preached in St. Marks,

Starting point is 05:23:14 but those who went to hear him were threatened by the Companacci. A Dominican preaching in the afternoon in the cathedral was interrupted by loud cries. The tumult spread from the church to the streets. The people rushed to St. Marks to bring the business to an end. The signory in vain summoned them to lay down their arms on the condition that Savonarola should leave the city in 12 hours. They continued to shout against him and against Valori. Valori, who was at St. Marks, returned with difficulty to his house, and on his way from

Starting point is 05:23:47 thence to the public palace was met by some of the relations of the men whom he had had executed and was murdered. The monks defended their convent as well as they could against attack. Savonarola stood before the altar in the midst of his novices with the host in his hand, the brethren kneeling around him in prayer. Then appeared the messengers from the signory bidding him to go with them. They guaranteed him against violence and he determined to obey. He took leave of his brother friars in an affecting speech, urging them to remain firm in faith, prayer, and patience, and swearing to them before the sacrament that he had never

Starting point is 05:24:29 preached anything but the truth. They then proceeded with lights and torches and a large body of soldiers to the public palace where he was thrown into prison. Savonarola's strength had lain in his opposition to the Pope, an opposition intensified by the different characters of their morality. Florence now desired to be friends with the Pope and the supernatural foundation on which the fryer had attempted to base his mission had broken down. His political enemies rose against him, his religious supporters could no longer defend him. The days which followed were most painful. Savonarola was examined under torture. We cannot be sure of the authenticity of the confessions thus extorted. It is said that he gave himself up to despair, that he doubted of the reality

Starting point is 05:25:22 of his mission, that he confessed that he had always expected that. He had always expected some supernatural intervention which never came. It is asserted that he admitted that his object had been the glory of the world and to have credit and reputation, and that with this object he had invented his prophecies. The seignory which entered upon office on May 1, 1498, was the bitter enemy of the friar. On May 22nd, he and two friars, his companions were condemned to death. They were first to be hanged and then burned. their offense was declared to be heresy in denying the pope to be the true pope,

Starting point is 05:26:02 the perversion of holy scripture and the divulgence of the secrets of confession, as well as the causing of dissension and deaths in the city. The last night of Savonarola in prison was spent in a parting colloquy with his disciples. They communicated together and then watched in prayer. After this, Savonarola slept peacefully, his hand resting on the knee of Jacobo Nicolini, who had come to comfort him. The other friars were executed on May 23rd in the square of the signory on the very place where the platform had been prepared for the ordeal. They were divested of their orders.

Starting point is 05:26:40 They then received a plenary indulgence from the Pope, which they acknowledged with reverence. The first hanged was Marufi, then Buona Vichini, then Savonarola. As he mounted the ladder to his execution, he gazed with widely opened eyes upon the crowd which had thronged to see him die and called out, My people, what have I done to you that you should treat me thus? They were all dead before their bodies were burnt. Their ashes were thrown into the Arno, but their memory was long preserved, and for many years, reverent and loving hands placed fresh flowers on the spot where they had suffered on the anniversary of their execution. End of Section 21. Section 22 of the Age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Liberovox

Starting point is 05:27:37 recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 10, Pope Alexander the 6th, Part 1. Charles VIII, King of France, died of a stroke of apoplexy on April 7, 1491, the very day on which the doctrines of of honorola were to be submitted at Florence to the proof of fire. Charles was 27 years of age, and had reigned for about 14 years and a half. He was the last of the direct line of the House of Valois, which had sat on the throne of France for 119 years. He was succeeded by Louis XVI, a name full of fate to Italy. Before his accession, he was known as the Duke of Orleon, being descended from Louis. Duke of Orleans, son of King Charles V, who married Valentina of Milan. Before we proceed with the further relations between France and Italy, we must retrace our steps

Starting point is 05:28:41 and follow with close attention the career of Alexander the 6th. Charles VIII had left Italy in a state of the most terrible confusion. It was divided by two parties, the League of Venice, between Rome, Venice, and and Milan, supported by the Emperor Maximilian and the King of England, and the French Party, which consisted of Savoy, Montferrat, Ferrara, Florence, Bologna, and the Orsini of Rome. Whilst Charles was on his homeward march, the Emperor Maximilian was at the Diet of Vroom's, haggling with the estates for money. Before he returned to the Tyrol, Charles was back again in France, and the war was over. But there was some danger lest Charles should return.

Starting point is 05:29:33 An embassy was sent to Maximilian to say that Charles was expected every day and that the Florentines were threatening Pisa. After taking counsel with his son Philip, Maximilian determined to march. His plan aimed at something more than to rescue Italy from the hands of the French. He proposed, after Italy was pacified, to go on to Provence to help. Duke René. Philip was to attack France from the Netherlands, Ferdinand of Spain from Rosseille. The invaders were to meet in Lyon and Burgundy would be recovered for the empire. It should be noticed that in the wars of Europe at this time, German soldiers bore a principal part. German soldiers assisted the Muscovites against the Poles. With their help, the Swedes destroyed the

Starting point is 05:30:24 forces of the Scandinavian Union. Germans fought in England for the House of York and for Brittany against the crown of France. In Naples, the soldiers on both sides were Germans, and so also were the conquerors of the Hungarians. Maximilian had some reason for believing that if he could unite all these forces under his own standard, he would be irresistible in Europe. The reality was a dismal contrast to the dream. The king of the Romans arrived at Monza at the end of August 1496, without an army, and without money. He hoped to be able to obtain these from the League, but in vain, he found that he could trust neither Sforza nor the Pope. The dispute was chiefly centered round the question as to whether Pisa should be free, or whether it should be surrendered to the

Starting point is 05:31:21 Florentines. In October, Maximilian laid siege to Lagorn, but the French fleet was able to relieve the place, and his own ships were destroyed by a storm. He returned to Germany at the close of 1496. This event, and the restoration of the Otagon rule in Naples, marked the commencement of the second epoch of Alexander's pontificate. Up to this time, his faults had chiefly been those of indecision and weak self-indulgence. He now seemed to enter upon a deliberate course of evil. His first object was to dispossess the barons of the Roman state in order to enrich the family of the Borgia. He began with the powerful Orsini. In the wars of Naples they had taken the side of Charles and their rivals the Colonna the side of Aragon. In June 1496, the Pope confiscated the

Starting point is 05:32:19 property of the Orsini, and gave it to his son the Duke of Gandhia, whom he also made standard bearer of the church. The Orsini at first bowed before the storm. They surrendered all the places which appeared to them incapable of defense, and took refuge in the strong castle of Bracchano, which was formidable, not only by its natural strength, but by the lake which lay before it. Help speedily came to them from the north, and the Pope's troops were entirely defeated at the Battle of Soriano on January 26, 1497. The Duke of Urbino was taken prisoner, and the Duke of Gandia wounded. The plans of the Pope against the Orsini were thus baffled, and he was compelled to make peace. He now turned his attention elsewhere.

Starting point is 05:33:11 With the help of the great Captain Consolvo of Cordova, he conquered the castle of Astia, the property of the noted Cardinal Giuliano, now in possession of Virginio Orsini. He divorced his daughter, Lucrezia, from Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, probably at the bidding of Cheserayborja, who now began to exert his baneful influence. He loaded the Duke of Gondia with honors. He gave him the duchies of Benevento, Terracina, and Ponte Corvo, and offered even to mark him out

Starting point is 05:33:48 for the throne of Naples. He was to go there with his brother, the Cardinal Chesaday, to crown Federico of Altamura. Before they could start on their journey, a terrible event occurred. On the evening of June 14th, 1497, the Duke

Starting point is 05:34:07 of Gandhia, Chazadeh and their mother, Vanozza, together with Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, supped together in a vineyard on the outskirts of Rome. It is said that during the banquet of Borja insulted Ascanio. Chazadei and his mother went away, and Ascanio and Gandia were left alone. Gandhi then departed riding a mule with a single companion. When they reached the piazza to della Ebrei, Gandhi has sent his attendant to the palace to fetch arms. When he returned, he saw nothing of the Duke, but the mule was afterwards discovered. Some charcoal burners deposed that they had seen on that night a man on horseback with others on foot, mount one of the bridges over the tiber, and throw the dead body of a man into the river.

Starting point is 05:34:58 The man on horseback said to his attendants, Has it gone to the bottom? and one of them replied, Yes, my lord. The charcoal burners looked on to the river and saw the dead man's mantle floating and threw stones to sink it. When asked why he had made no report to the governor, he replied,

Starting point is 05:35:19 I have in my life seen a hundred dead bodies thrown into the river there and no one ever troubled his head about them. The next day the body of the Duke was recovered. It was completely dressed and had nine wounds and one mortal thrust in the throat. The purse was full of money. The Pope on hearing it neither ate, drank nor slept for three days. He was altogether inconsolable and could only say perpetually, I know the murderer. There can be little doubt that the murderer was Chez de Borgia, who was very jealous of his brother. He had entered most reluctantly into the ecclesiastical state,

Starting point is 05:36:02 which seemed to shut the door to civil honors. The Pope, after a fortnight, gave up all attempt to discover the criminal. After a few weeks' decent morning, Chezaderie went to Naples and crowned Federigo on August 10th. He was the last king of the House of Aragon. The attempts which the Pope had made at reform in the first threat of disaster were given up, and there was no more talk of his relinquishing the tiara. Chesda de Borgia became more powerful than ever. He was invested with the fiefs which were to have belonged to his brother, and it was clear that he would soon exchange the cardinal's hat for a princely coronet. The summer of this year showed a change in the politics of Europe,

Starting point is 05:36:48 which was one of the signs of the era. Spain takes henceforth a prominent place in the new family of nations. Ferdinand became anxious to strengthen himself with a lion. He betrothed his daughter Isabella to Manuel, king of Portugal, making it a condition of the marriage that all Jews and enemies of the Inquisition should be driven out of the country. The Jews thus expelled spread over Europe, which they enriched by their industry, and from that time there was peace between Spain and Portugal for a century and a half. A similar negotiation was begun with the King of England, Catherine of Oregon was married to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Henry

Starting point is 05:37:34 the 7th joined the League against France. The Pope, as has been already mentioned, sent to Henry the consecrated hat and sword. The pretenders Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck were supported by the French party in order to weaken the position of Henry. They also found assistance in Scotland, which was always well-disposed toward France. Peace with Scotland was purchased by the marriage of Margaret, daughter of Henry the 7th, to James IV, the king of that country, an alliance which eventually brought about the union between the two kingdoms. A strong friendship also existed at this time between Scotland and King John of Denmark, who possessed Norway and had claims over Sweden. Thus, a league of alliance and friendship extended from the Arctic Circle to the southern shores of Spain and Sicily.

Starting point is 05:38:31 The three pillars of the alliance were Ferdinand, Henry, and Maximilian. It seemed to threaten the very existence of the French monarchy. The troops of Maximilian entered France in three bodies, but as we have seen, Charles VIII, died on April 7, 1491, and his successor, Louis X12 was able to break up the league and to place Europe in the same condition as if it had never existed. The first object of Louis XIth on coming to the throne was to strengthen his position as king. For this purpose he divorced his own wife and married the widow of Charles VIII and Duchess of Brittany, by which means that appanage was secured to the crown.

Starting point is 05:39:18 In order to contract this marriage, he required a papal dispensation. and this gave an opportunity for bringing about more intimate relations between himself and the Pope. On his entry into Paris, he proclaimed himself King of Naples and Duke of Milan, King of Naples as heir to René of Provence, and Duke of Milan as the lineial descendant of the Visconti in the female line. This step had the effect of breaking up the league. Ferdinand joined him against Naples, Venice joined him against Milan, Ludovico Il Moro awaited the onslaught, relying on the Turks, the emperor, and the Swiss. We shall see how these props were destined to fail him.

Starting point is 05:40:04 In August 1498, Cheza de Borgia solemnly laid aside the dignity of cardinal. This was easier because he was still a layman and had never received holy orders. He declared that he had no vocation for the priestly state and that he had become cardinal under the compulsion of the Pope. Someone has remarked that these are perhaps the only true words he ever spoke. In October he set out for France with a gorgeous train. He carried with him a treasure of 200,000 ducats. The robes of his suite were sewn with pearls,

Starting point is 05:40:40 the shoes of his horses were of silver. He was received by Louis XIteenth at the castle of Chino with outward courtesy, but with inward contempt. He was created Duke of Valence or of Valentinois, a province on the Rhone. This is curious because he had before been Archbishop of Valentia, and it has led to some confusion. He soon afterwards married Jean Dalbray, sister of the King of Navarre,

Starting point is 05:41:09 and thus became a member of the Royal House of France. The object of Chesday was to procure for himself a principality in Italy, and Louis promised to assist him in this as soon as he got possession of Milan. Alexander joined the alliance which the King of France had made with Milan, paying no attention to the protest of the King of Spain. This alliance was effected by the Treaty of Montgé, concluded between France and Venice on February 9, 1499, by the mediation of the Cardinal Giuliano de la Rovare.

Starting point is 05:41:45 The cause of quarrel between Il Moro and Venice, was the possession of Pisa, the Venetians wishing it to remain independent, the Moor wished it to belong to the Florentines. But there was no mention of Pisa in the treaty. It only provided that Venice should make war against Il Moro, and in case of success, should receive Cremona and the whole of the Milanese coast of Adda. It was the will of fate that the Duke of Milan should find no allies to assist him in this crisis. The neutrality of England and Spain were secured by treaty. Maximilian, who had begun an attack on Burgundy, found himself engaged in a war with Switzerland. Florence was busy with Pisa, and Federigo of Naples had quite enough to do to defend himself.

Starting point is 05:42:35 There are few things more remarkable in history than the manner in which Louis X12, finding himself at his accession, girt with a threatening ring of powerful foes contrived to break up their alliance and even direct some of its force against his chosen enemy. The war began in August. Trivolzo, the general of Louis Xelph, took Valencia and Alessandria. As he advanced from the west, the Venetians pressed on from the east. The Guelph party took the side of the French, and town after town fell before them. Il Moro had no safety. but in flight. He went first to Como and then into the Tirole, where he was received with much favor by Maximilian. Louis X-12 entered Pavia on October 6th. He was accompanied by the princes of Savoy, Montferrat, Ferrara, and Mantua, by the ambassadors of Venice, Florence, Siena, and Pisa,

Starting point is 05:43:38 by Giuliano de la Rovare, and by Chees de Bourja. An eyewitness after speaking of the Duke of Valentinois as a most wicked man, describes him as a young man well-made and robust, with fair hair falling over his shoulders, his face lean and pale, his eyes light and fiery, his general appearance combining beauty and grace with signs of the terrible temper which seethed within. Louis Xelph left Milan to return to France on November 7th. He took with him Francesco's Forza a child of eight years, the son of the unfortunate John Galezzo. He left Trivolzio behind him as a viceroy. End of Section 22.

Starting point is 05:44:34 Section 23 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Libra Box recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 10, Pope Alexander the 6th, Part 2. The visit of the visit of Chesa R borgia to the Court of France had a profound political effect. The Pope received authority to overthrow the vassals of the church in Italy. He did not lose time in beginning the work. He made his daughter Lucrezia, regent of Spoleto, a town which up to this time had never been under the authority of a signoria. He drove the Gaetani out of Cermoneta. He declared the great

Starting point is 05:45:17 reigning houses, the Malatesta, the Mandaesta, the Mondeuse. the Feltri, the Bentivoli, to be deprived of their authority. Machiavelli has praised this design of freeing Italy from a multitude of rulers. Chaisen Eborja, who principally affected it, and who is Machiavelli's ideal prince, is one of the most remarkable characters in history. He was extremely handsome. His terrible lust was controlled by a cold and acute understanding. He had at his command all the arts and devices of secret government, mysterious silence, deceit and delusion,

Starting point is 05:45:57 a careful laying of plans, swift action at the proper time, pitiless cruelty, and knowledge of mankind, perhaps rather of their weaknesses and vices than of their virtues. He could use both good and bad means for his purposes. He could be just and generous, but only when it's suited his ends. We may be glad that such monsters of iniquity, if they now exist, cannot exercise their influence in high places, but find their way eventually to the felons dock. Cheza de Borja began his conquests in the Romagna in November 1499. He first attacked Imola,

Starting point is 05:46:40 which fell an easy prey, and then Forli, which was defended by Catherine Sworza, rather of Avargo than woman. It yielded on January 12,500. After the conquest of these two towns and of Chezena, Chesere made his triumphal entry into Rome. In the meantime, Ludovico Sforza had been the sport of the most varied fortune. Maximilian could be of no use to him in the Tyrol, so he went on into Switzerland and persuaded the men of Uri to help him by promising them some extension of territory. He swooped down upon Milan from the slopes of the Alps, surprised Trivolso, who was defending it, and entered it on February 5th. His triumph was of short duration. Louis XIV sent La Tremuy to recover the lost possession.

Starting point is 05:47:36 Ludovico was betrayed by the Swiss in Novara. On the night of April 9th, the Burgundians and Germans penetrated into the Duke's chamber and said, you are the king's prisoner. He exacted the promise that he should be taken to Belenzona. He then dressed himself like a Swiss soldier, and soon afterwards contrived to mix himself up with the 16,000 who were there and got out of Novara. But a Gris-on captain pointed him out to the French.

Starting point is 05:48:07 Il Morrow, when he was discovered, said, I surrender myself to my kinsman, Monsieur de Ligneur. The Duke was first, taken to Leo and then to Lusch, where he remained ten long years in prison. His brother Ascagnos was also taken to France, but was let out after a short time. Milan remained in the hands of the French, and Belenzona was given to the Swiss. In the summer of 1500, Rome was horrified by another fearful crime. The young prince of Bicelya, the husband of Lucrezia Borgia, was coming out of the Church of St. Peter on the evening of July 15th, when he was stabbed by an assassin who immediately

Starting point is 05:48:51 disappeared. The wounded man was carried to the Pope and named the murderer. Lucrezia, who was present, immediately swooned. The name was not revealed, but it was well known to be Chezzade Borgia. For a month, the wounded man lay, tended by his wife and the Pope, and surrounded by guards. It was no secret that Cheseray had determined on his death. At last, on August 18th, Chazeray entered the apartment, sent Lucrezia away, and strangled Bessalia with the assistance of a paid assassin.

Starting point is 05:49:28 After the conquest of Imula and Forli, Cheseray turned his arms against Fianza, then governed by Astore Manfrede, a youth of 16, who was the darling of his people. The town was reduced by famine. Astore was captured by treachery and sent to Rome, where he was imprisoned in the castle of St. Angelo and put to death. Chazere received the title of Duke of Romania, and Alexander did not hesitate to alienate this large province from the Holy See. Bologna was to be the capital,

Starting point is 05:50:03 and Cheseray hoped eventually to unite with this principality the sovereignty of Italy. After this, in May, May 1501, Chesere turned his attention to Florence and threatened to restore the exiled Piero de Medici, but the Florentines bought him off, and by the intervention of Louis X12th, he was recalled to Rome. A treaty had been signed at Grenada on November 11,500, between Louis XIV and Ferdinand of Aragon, who then assumed respectively for the first time the titles of the Most Christian and Catholic king. The object of the treaty was the conquest of Naples by the combined force of the two monarchs and the partition of the kingdom. Calabria and Apulia were to go to Spain, the rest of the country to France. Federigo, a wise and gentle sovereign, beloved by his subjects, was entirely ignorant

Starting point is 05:50:59 of the storm which was preparing. In his simplicity, he went so far as to request the king of Spain to assist him against France. The treaty was communicated to the Pope who gave his adhesion to it. The ostensible reason for the conquest was that it might be the stepping stone to an expedition against the Turks. The Pope's real reason for acquiescence was that when Spain and France had worn themselves out in the struggle, Naples might fall to the lot of Cheza de Borgia. The French army invaded Naples in the summer of 1501.

Starting point is 05:51:34 Consolvo da Cordova, to whom the terms of the treaty had been communicated, and who was the subject of King Ferdinand, treacherously betrayed Federigo, who had committed his fortunes to his keeping. Capua was taken by storm with circumstances of great atrocity. Federigo dismayed and thunderstruck at the treachery of his nearest relatives and most trusted friends threw himself upon the mercy of the French king. Louis XIV gave him the Duchy of Angu and a considerable pension. He died a prisoner at Tour in 1504. His son Fernando preserved the title of Duke of Calabria and Prince of Tarentum. He died in 1559, and the Neapolitan branch of the House of Aragon came to an end. The conquest of Naples by the French gave the Pope an opportunity of attacking the barons of Latium.

Starting point is 05:52:31 During his absence in the field, he left his daughter Lucrezia as regent in the Vatican. That a woman should be placed even temporarily in the chair of St. Peter is a measure of the degradation and corruption of the Holy See. The property of the vanquished barons was divided between Roderigo, the son of Lucrezia, and the murdered Alfonso, and Giovanni Borja, a bastard son of the Pope. By these means, nearly the whole of the states of the Church, came into the hands of the Borja family. The unfortunate Lucretia was now compelled to contract a fourth marriage with Elfonso son of Ercole de Este, the Duke of Ferrara. The object of this was to acquire support for Cesare Borgia in the north of Italy. The marriage which took place on December 28th,

Starting point is 05:53:23 1501, turned out better than might have been expected, and Lucretia lived happily with her husband and children. She held a brilliant court at Ferrara. Her beauty, virtue, and wisdom were exalted to the stars by the poet Ariosto, the Cardinal Bumbo, to whom she sent a tress of her hair still preserved and seen by Byron, and the scholar Aldous Manus Lucius. She died on June 24, 1519, and on her deathbed, wrote a touching letter to Pope Leo the 10th, committing her husband and children to his care and her soul to his prayers. Chesa de Borgia was now tyrant of Rome, and the Pope was entirely unable to restrain him. A Venetian had written a pamphlet against the Pope and his son. He was smothered and thrown into the tiber. When complaint was made to Alexander, he said that the Duke of Valentinois was a good-natured man,

Starting point is 05:54:22 but that he could not bear to be abused. I have often told him, he said, that Rome is a free town, and that everyone may write and speak here as he pleases, that I am often abused myself, but I take no notice of it. The Duke answered me, if Rome is accustomed to write and to speak in this manner good, but I will make people who do this suffer for it. The death of Astore Manfredi at the age of 17 and of his brother at 15 was brought about by Cheserde's orders. Cheseray left Rome, in June 1502 to continue his operations in the Romagna. He was already master of a considerable territory. He desired further to occupy Camarino, Urbino, Florence, Siena, and Perugia, and to be proclaimed king of central Italy. The latter half of 1520 was occupied by the crimes which were undertaken for this

Starting point is 05:55:23 end. The first two towns he gained by treachery. He then took the title of Chais Abordia of France, by the grace of God, Duke of Romagna, of Valance, and of Urbino, Prince of Arditi, Lord of Andici, Pianbino, standard-bearer and captain of the Holy Roman Church. His name was extolled by flatterers to the skies. Men of genius like Leonardo da Vinci entered his service. His attempts on Tuscany failed. Louis XIV forbade him to touch Florence. The King of France found himself again summoned to Italy by the course of events.

Starting point is 05:56:04 Since the partition of Naples, peace had never been secure between the Spaniards and the French. There were disputes about the boundary, and in this age of bastard chivalry, everyone preferred the occupations of war to those of peace. A notable incident was the De Svida, or challenge, of Barletta. On November 9, 1502, the Duke of Nemur, marched from Melfi toward Barletta, which was defended by Consolvo de Corrova, Fabrizzo, and Prospero Colonna, and other Italian lords and barons. The soldiers on either side vied with each other in deeds of valor. In January, 1502, the Spaniard Diego Mendoza made some Frenchmen prisoners. At dinner some hot words

Starting point is 05:56:53 arose between them, Aninigo Lopez de Ayala, who defended the honor of the Italian soldiers against the attack of the Frenchmen. It was settled that the question should be fought out by 13 on each side. The battle took place on February 13, 1503, in a plain between Andrea Barletta and Quadrara. A Torre Fierre Mosea, the leader of the Italians, returned victorious, bringing with him the Frenchmen as prisoners. It is said that nothing discouraged the French army so much as this defeat and from that day, fortune abandoned them. The situation of affairs in Europe was at this time remarkable. The two most prominent countries were France and Spain.

Starting point is 05:57:41 The heir of Ferdinand and Isabella was their son Juan, who seemed destined to reign over the Spanish portion of that great peninsula, which was now united for the first time. He, however, suddenly died, and his posthumous child died also, as soon as it was born. Isabella, married to the king of Portugal, now became the heir, and it seemed as if the entire peninsula

Starting point is 05:58:06 would be subject to a single ruler. She, however, died, and her son Miguel after her. The inheritance now passed to Juana, the third daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, who had been married to Philip the Fair, son of the Emperor Maximilian. An heir had been born to them

Starting point is 05:58:26 on the day of St. Matthias, February 24,500, who was afterwards to reign over half Europe under the name of Charles the 5th. It was the consequence of such a series of accidents that such vast dominions were united under a single crown. As Ferdinand and Louis XIV were at least nominally an alliance, and Philip, the son of Maximilian, was son-in-law to Ferdinan, it need not appear strange that the emperor should invest the king of France with the Duchy of Milan. Chasedaday Borgia did not secure his conquests entirely without opposition. Frightened by his designs on Bologna, his condottieri leaders were against him and brought him into the greatest danger. The great Machiavelli,

Starting point is 05:59:18 the author of the immortal prince, was now in the service of Chesa de Borgia and has left us an account of these events. He tells us that on the last day of the last day, of the year 1502, Valentino was marching along the shore which stretches between Fano and Senegalia, there met him in the suburbs of the city, Vitellozi, Paolo Orsini, the Duke of Gravina and Oliveroto of Fermo. He entered with him into the city. Machiavelli noticed that the face of Vittaloto was pale. Perhaps the Duke had let a wordfall which betrayed his design. arrived at the castle he called the captains into his room and had them arrested. Vitolozzo and Oliverotto were executed that very night.

Starting point is 06:00:06 The Pope did the same to the Cardinal Orsini. Prayers and bribes were squandered in vain to save his life. It was believed that at the very time when the Pope was promising to spare him, the Cardinal had already drunk of the poisoned cup. The Pope immediately seized the castles and the castle. possessions of the Oracini and their property was only to some degree protected by the intervention of France. In the spring of 1503, the Borgia stood at the height of their power. The Pope was sturdy and strong. The Orsini and Colonna lay conquered at their feet. Cheseret was destined to become

Starting point is 06:00:47 king of Romagna and the marches. France alone stood in the way. But for that power, Cheseray would become lord of Pisa and possibly of the whole of Tuscany. Even this obstacle seemed in a fair way to be removed. The French generals Obigny and Nemour were entirely defeated by Consolvo. A French historian remarks that Louis XVI was justly punished for allying himself with such monsters as the Borgias. Alexander was separating himself from Louis and preparing to ally himself with Ferdinand to drive the French from Italy.

Starting point is 06:01:26 Louis offered Alexander the possession of Naples if he would surrender Bologna and the Romagna. Alexander was beseeching the emperor to invest Chesire with the lordship of Pisa, Siena and Luca. La Tremuil lay ill at Parma, but intended when he recovered to march on to Naples with a new army. These complicated intrigues were brought to nothing by an unexpected event.

Starting point is 06:01:52 In the early part of August, the Pope and Chazade were supping with Cardinal Adriano, a very wealthy man in his vineyard. Shortly afterwards, they were both attacked by illness. The Pope died on August 18th. Chazade, after lying in the agonies of death, eventually recovered. It has always been supposed that they were poisoned. The corpse of the Pope became rapidly black and was horribly swollen and disfigured. He was buried after a long.

Starting point is 06:02:23 interval on September 3rd in a miserable manner without funeral rights. The explanation usually given is that Chazade had intended to poison the Cardinal in order to seize his property, but that by accident or design, the wine destined for the purpose was handed to the Popin himself. Some modern historians see in this only a violent attack of autumnal malaria fever. The consequences of this event will be narrated in the next chapter. End of Section 23. Section 24 of the Age of the Condotiary by Oscar Browning. This Libravox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami.

Starting point is 06:03:12 Chapter 11, Pope Julius II, Part 1. Up to the time of his father's death, Chazadei Borgia, was Lord of Rome. He had money in strong castles, many friends, and eight devoted Spaniards in the Sacred College. With these resources, he expected to be able to carry any election he pleased for the papal chair. He told Machiavelli that he had anticipated everything that could possibly happen on his father's death, only that he had not foreseen that at the time he himself might be dangerously ill. As it was, he got possession of the Pope's treasure before the death was made known. Everything else was plundered by the servants.

Starting point is 06:03:58 The Cardinals were in the greatest embarrassment. A French army under Francesco Gonzaga was on the march from the north. The Orsini and the Colonna might at any moment make an attack upon Rome. Cheseray entrenched himself in the Borgo, that portion of Rome which contains St. Peter's and the Vatican, and which is defended by the Tiber in the castle of St. Angelo. He contrived to make a treaty with the Colonna, and so to detach them from the,

Starting point is 06:04:28 reliance with the Orsini. He also offered to join his army with that of the King of France to receive and return a guarantee of all his possessions. With the Cardinals, he made an agreement to leave Rome in three days. Juliano de la Rovare now returned to Rome after an exile of 10 years, together with Ascanio Sforza and Cardinal Dambois, Archbishop of Rouen, the Minister of Louis the 12th. At the same time, Jacobo da Piano returned to Pianbino, Pandolfo Malatesta to Rimini, and Giovanni Sworza to Pezzaro. The French and Spanish armies were both forbidden to enter Rome. The French candidate for the papacy was the Cardinal Dambois. The Venetians were in favor of Giuliano de la Rovare, who promised to be a good Italian. The requisites for a pope at this time were

Starting point is 06:05:25 that he should reform church discipline, should summon a council, and should conduct a crusade against the Turks. The Italians and Spaniards united against a French pope, and preferred to choose an old man who would fill the place for a short time. The votes fell on the Cardinal of Siena, Francesco Toresquini Piccolomini, 64 years of age and in bad health. He was proclaimed on September 22nd. Being the nephew of Pius II, he took the title of Pius III. The Venetians had determined to take possession of the Romagna and conquered Chezena and Fienza without difficulty. Chazeri Borgia returned to Rome with a certain number of troops

Starting point is 06:06:12 and received the protection of the Pope, which was not worth much. But the Orsini made peace with the Colonna, and Chesery retired into the castle of St.angelo, which had been the living tomb of so many of his. victims. Pope Pius III, who had been in weak health at the time of his election, and was actually ill on the day of his coronation, died on October 18, 1503. There was no doubt as to his successor. The 36 cardinals who entered into conclave chose unanimously Giuliano de la Rovare, who took the name of Julius II. He was a most remarkable man, 60 years of age but full of enterprise and energy,

Starting point is 06:06:58 more fitted to be a great king than a great priest. During his 10 years exile, he had cared more for the interests of France than of Italy. He had stirred up the expedition of Charles VIII into Italy in order to overthrow Alexander the 6th. He had promised the Spaniards that if he became Pope he would make Chaisdae Borges standard bearer of the church. Machiavelli says that the only mistake chaserie ever made was in allowing him to be Pope instead of the Cardinal Dambois. Julius was not only a soldier of blood and iron, but a great patron of literature and art.

Starting point is 06:07:37 For him, Bramante worked in St. Peter's, Michelangelo painted the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, and Raphael made the apartments of the Vatican glow with color. The attempt to produce a tomb worthy of the great pontiff was the tragedy of Michelangelo's life. If the Venetians thought that Julius would make a compliant Pope, they were greatly mistaken. Riemni had already opened its gates to them, but the Pope bade them abstained from invading the dominions of the church. At the same time, he refused to confirm Cheseray Borja in his dukedom and had evidently planned his overthrow.

Starting point is 06:08:17 Cheserre embarked on the Tiber on November 9th and set sail for Ostia. His supposed object was to go to Tuscany and to implore the assistance of the Florentines against the Venetians, but Julius demanded from him the restitution of the Romagna in order to save it from Venice. When Cheseray refused, he was brought back to Rome and thrown into prison. Here he was compelled to humble himself before Guido Baldo de Montefeltro, Duke of Vourabino, whom he had so ruthlessly driven from his capital. In the beginning of the year 1504, he was released from prison on the condition of delivering up his fortresses. Just before this on December 28, 1503, the French had been seriously defeated by the Spaniards

Starting point is 06:09:06 under Consalvo on the banks of the Gadeliano. Piero de Medici was drowned by the swamping of a boat at the mouth of the river. When Cheseray found that he could no longer depend upon the French, he turned his attention to their rivals. He took refuge with Consalvo de Cordova at Naples. The great captain appeared at first to receive him in a friendly manner, but afterwards treacherously delivered him to Spain. He spent two years in confinement at Medina del Campo and was then allowed to live with his brother-in-law, the king of Navarre. He fell in his service, on March 12, 1507, in a petty conflict with his vassals. So perished, one who is justly regarded as one of the greatest monsters of an age, fruitful and evil characters. He was relentlessly cruel,

Starting point is 06:10:00 and allowed no obstacle to stand in his way. Yet he was not only admired, but loved by those who knew him well. Machiavelli represents him as the incarnation of political wisdom, but we may reasonably doubt whether this wisdom went much beyond a calculating cunning. Had he been a really great man, he would have thrown himself into his dukedom of the Romagna, and either held it against all comers or perished in the struggle. He may have conceived the idea of the unity of Italy, but greater political wisdom would have shown him that he was not taking the best means to affect this object. We have seen that Julius II ascended the papal through.

Starting point is 06:10:43 at a great crisis in the history of Europe and especially of Italy. Naples was in the hands of Spain and Milan and those of France, and on the rivalries of these two great powers hung the destinies of the peninsula. The smaller states were powerless. Florence was entirely occupied by the war with Pisa. In 1502, she had entirely changed her constitution by abolishing the rapid succession of magistrates who held office for two months only, and electing Piero Sodarini, standard bearer for life. Perugia, Siena, Luca, Bologna, held their independence only on sufferance. Julius restored to their possessions those Roman barons who had been driven out by the Borgia. Amongst those were the Colonna and the Orsini.

Starting point is 06:11:36 The Pope also established his nephew Francesco Maria della Rovare, as heir to the Monte Feltri, Urbino. He also favored the triple alliance between France, Spain and the Empire, concluded at Blois, on September 22, 1504. By this treaty, Naples was to pass to the Archduke Philip, and Louis XIteenth was to have the investiture of the Milanese. Charles, the son of Philip, was to marry Claudia, the daughter of the King of France. For the moment there was peace in Italy, with the exception of the war between Florence and Pisa. But a league was made between the Pope, the Emperor, the King of France, and the Archduke Philip, to recover from the Venetians the territories which they had conquered.

Starting point is 06:12:24 This remained for the moment without practical result. Under the present condition of Europe, it was impossible for an energetic sovereign like Julius not to desire to imitate, in some degree, the policy of Cheza de Borgia, and to establish a solid temporal princdom in the center of Italy. For this purpose, it was necessary to extinguish the petty lords who stood in his way, and the cities which principally arrested his attention were Perugia and Bologna. He entered Perugia as a conqueror on August 13, 1506. He then proceeded to Chezena, where on October 1st he published a bull deposing Giovanni Bentivoglio

Starting point is 06:13:05 from the government of Bologna. at the same time excommunicating him. Finding that the help of France was given to his rival, the unhappy victim surrendered himself with the promise of life and revenue, and on November 11th, Julius entered Bologna in triumph. He stayed there the whole winter, and on Palm Sunday, March 13th, 1507, he reached Rome, received with every sign of rejoicing which the imagination of the Renaissance could invent.

Starting point is 06:13:36 At this time, Ferdinand the Catholic was at Naples. He had heard on his journey of the death of his son-in-law Philip, son of Maximilian, husband of Juana, called the mad, and father of Charles V. He returned hastily, passed by Austria without going to Rome to visit the Pope, and landed at Savona where he met Louis XVI. They remained together for three days, but it is not known what agreement they arrived debt. It is supposed that they took into consideration the reform of the Church, the League against Venice and the fate of Pisa. Venice was at this time occupying some towns

Starting point is 06:14:18 in the territory of Lombardy and of Naples, which were claimed by France and Spain. The Pope had determined ever since the moment of his succession to abate the pride and restrain the ambition of the Venetians, by resting from them the conquests which they had made, made in the Romagna. At an early period, he had created three French cardinals and one Spaniard, the famous Jimenez, in token of his desire to bring the two rival powers into harmony. As early as March 1504, he had sent representatives to the courts of France, Spain, and the empire to stir them up to an attack upon Venice. At that time, Louis XIV and Maximilian were not on terms of intimate friendship, and the emperor is supposed to have favored a plan by which

Starting point is 06:15:07 Il Moro should be restored to the throne of Milan, and some addition of territory should be granted to the Swiss. His views on these matters were altered by the death of his son Philip. The heir to Spain and the empire was his grandson Charles, a weekly child of seven years old. He wished to secure to him the quiet possession of his inheritance, and one step in that direction, was to reestablish the power of Germany and its influence over Italy. Maximilian desired to receive the imperial crown at Rome. He may known his attention of doing so to the imperial diet assembled at Constance in 1507. The Pope was not in favor of this expedition, while France and Venice were strongly opposed to it. Switzerland, in the Diet of Zurich,

Starting point is 06:16:00 alone declared its consent. On February 3rd, 1507, Maximilian was proclaimed in Trent, Roman Emperor-elect, a title which was afterwards used by his successors, as it appeared to relieve the emperors of the necessity of being crowned in Rome. The project of a journey to Rome was given up, and a war was undertaken against the Venetians, who, with the support of France, had refused the emperor a passage through their dominions. Maximilian was everywhere defeated.

Starting point is 06:16:34 Gorizia and Trieste were added to the Venetian dominions, and in June 1508, he was with great reluctance, forced to accept the three years truce. Venice was at this time in a critical condition. She had by degrees lost her possessions in the east before the advancing Turk, and had only the shreds of her former power left. Her commerce also was passing from her.

Starting point is 06:16:59 The discoveries of the Portuguese, the opening of the new route to India, were events destined to carry the course of the world's traffic into other lines. Venice determined to make up by an empire in Italy for what she was losing in the east, and she dreamed that she might be the savior of the peninsula who should bring together state after state in long-desired unity. Had she followed out this design with frank and open magnanimity, it is possible that she might have been able to affect at least a considerable portion of it. But she attempted to gain her ends by conquest, and so roused the determined opposition of powerful enemies. She was then the mistress of great resources. Her fleets had kept

Starting point is 06:17:45 the French from Genoa, the Spaniards from Naples. Her army had defended Milan. She lay, a bulwark against the invader, before the Alps of the Tyrol and Corinthia. She was mistress of Verona the key to Italy to those who entered her by the valley of the Adige. She possessed Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, and part of the Duchy of Milan. She also owned Friuli, which was coveted by Austria,

Starting point is 06:18:14 and some towns on the coast of Italy, of which Spain demanded the restoration. In the Romania, she held Ravenna, Fienza, Chervia, and Rimini. She possessed something which every other power, wish to have. Pope Julius was especially wroth with the Republic of St. Mark about his territory in the Romagna. He said one day to the Venetian ambassador, I will make Venice into a fishing village.

Starting point is 06:18:42 And we replied the envoy, we'll reduce you again to the status of a petty priest if you are not sensible. The outcome of all these jealousies was that a league was formed against Venice at Cambrai on December 10th, 1508, the object of which was the destruction of Venice and the partition of her possessions. Besides the gains of the powers already mentioned, Hungary was to have Dalmatia, and Cyprus was to pass to the House of Savoy. The league was formed between the Emperor, France, Spain, and the Pope, but the latter did not sign it until all hope of gaining the towns in the Romagna by other means had been lost. The Florentines were induced to join it by the promise of Pisa. The League of Cumbrae is a serious blot on the reputation of Julius II. He consented to invite the great powers of Europe as invaders into Italy in order that he might recover a few towns of no great importance.

Starting point is 06:19:42 Venice prepared to withstand her enemies with courage. The burden of the war fell on Louis XIV, as Maximilian was slow in collecting. his forces. The famous battle of Aguadelo was fought on May 14, 1509, and nearly destroyed the Republic. It is said that the killed amounted to 20,000, nearly all Venetians. Pesquiera, Kremona, Brescia, and Bergamo fell, and the keys of Verona, Vicenza, and Pavia, were delivered to the representatives of the Emperor. The very completeness of the victory was to a certain extent an advantage for the Venetians, as it brought into contrast the ambition of Louis XVI and the sluggishness of Maximilian, who was not supported by Germany. When the emperor at last in July reached Italy in person,

Starting point is 06:20:35 he found that an accommodation was already in progress. The Venetians in their despair offered to the Pope and the Spaniards the towns which they coveted, and when the Pope hesitated about granting peace, talked of appealing to the Turks. Julius thundered with his bowls on the other side. In the din of the conflict, Pisa, after a long resistance, surrendered itself to the Florentines. Venice was saved by the jealousy of the allies who were opposed to her and by the slowness of the emperor. Maximilian was driven back from the walls of Padua. The Pope began to be more disposed toward peace. He said to the Venetian ambassadors, If Venice ceased to exist, we should have to create another.

Starting point is 06:21:23 He came to terms in February 1510. The Venetian ambassadors received solemn absolution, as the Florentines had received it from Sextus IV. The ceremony took place in St. Peter's on the second Sunday in Lent, February 24th, 1510. End of Section 24. Section 25 of the Age of the Condotiary by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 11, Pope Julius I second, part two. Julius was not contented with being the most powerful man in Italy. He wished to become the most powerful man in the world.

Starting point is 06:22:16 The peace between the Pope and Venice was a great blow to Louis Xelph. He and Maximilian, continued the war. Julius sent the golden rose to Henry VIII of England, who had succeeded his father a few weeks before the Battle of Aguadelo. He also granted the investiture of the Kingdom of Naples to Ferdin and the Catholic, although he was still bound in a league of amity with Maximilian. In August 1510, he attacked Ferrara, which was an enemy of Venice. Louis lost all patience. In September, he summoned a synod at Blois and renounced all dealings with the Pope. Julius replied by expelling the French embassy from the Papal Court. He pursued his conquests in the Romagna in person.

Starting point is 06:23:06 It was not a matter of astonishment to the Italians that the Pope should fight in person at the head of his army. He was carried into Mirandola, the city of Pico, through the first breach made in the walls. After this being unable to ride on horseback, he was conveyed from town to town in a carriage drawn by four oxen. In May, 1511, he suffered a great blow by the loss of Bologna, which had been left under the charge of Cardinal Alidozzi, a worthless favorite. Exasperated by the vices of his government, the people rose in tumult, pulled down the statue of Julius II, which Michelangelo had placed over the portal of the cathedral to commemorate the conquest of the city, and cast out of its

Starting point is 06:23:55 materials, a cannon and a bell, and recall the Bentivoli to their ancient city. The cardinal fled to Julius at Ravenna and laid the blame on the young Duke of Urbino, who, he said, had reached the town too late to save it. The Duke enraged at this, cut Aladozi down in the public street and killed him with his own hands. None of the Cardinals ret knew daring to defend him. Julius was beside himself with rage and despair. The world seemed to darken around him. Bologna was lost, his nephew had disgraced him, he was threatened by a schism and a council. The rebel cardinals, among whom the principal were Adriano da Cornetto and Bernardino Carvajal, who had deserted Julius on his breach with France, retired to Pisa, where they prepared to summon a council.

Starting point is 06:24:52 They said that as Julius had always refused to do this, the king of France had a right to call one in his place. It is said that at this time, Maximilian had serious thoughts of making himself first coadjutor of the pontiff, then actual pope, and at last, priest or saint. It is not known whether he was serious in this design, but there is evidence that he had collected 300,000 ducats to purchase the votes of the Cardinals. It is scarcely likely that he would have succeeded in securing the obedience of the world. The Pope, on his return to Rome, summoned a council to meet at the Lateran, which was the most effective answer to his enemies. In the middle of August, he fell suddenly ill, and in a few days, a report spread through Italy

Starting point is 06:25:43 that he was dead. His attendance plundered his palace. They scarcely left the linen in his bed. The Romans determined to make an effort to restore the ancient liberties of the Republic, which the ecclesiastics had usurped. Pompeo Colonna, who was afterwards Cardinal and Roberto Orsini, placed themselves at the head of the movement. A new pope was to restore popular rights, to raise four Romans to the purple, and to surrender the castle of St. D'Angelo forever to the people. But Julius suddenly awoke from his lethargy. There was a general panic in the court and in the city. Colonna retired to his estates in the Campania and collected partisans for the French cause. After his recovery, Julius II had only one thought, to drive the French out of Italy. As the League of

Starting point is 06:26:36 Cambrai had been formed against Venice, he would now form another league for this purpose, which should be called the Holy League. This new alliance between the Pope, Spain, and Venice was proclaimed in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo on October 5, 1510. It was open for Henry V and Maximilian to join it, if they pleased. Reimundo da Corrova was made commander-in-chief. Money alone was needed. Switzerland would supply soldiers in plenty. Julius had given the Cardinals hat to Sheen. Bishop of Ceyonne. The Swiss had hitherto fought in the cause of France. Sheenir now enlisted them in troops for the service of the Pope. Just a month after the publication of the Holy League, the Schismatic Council held its first sitting in Pisa. It was a mere shadow of the Council

Starting point is 06:27:32 which had sat there a century before. It comprised two archbishops, 14 bishops, and a few abbots, who were all placed under the Pope's ban. The peasans closed their cathedral, and the council soon transferred itself to Milan. In the war of the League, which now ensued, the soul of the French army was Gaston, Count of Foie and Duke of Numour, sister's son to Louis XVI. Gaston speedily conquered Bologna, Bergamo, and Brescia. This last conquest was sullied by a terrible slaughter. The unhappy city was quickly sacked, says a contemporary, and all its male inhabitants were either killed or taken prisoners, a thing cruel indeed, but almost necessary. Gaston tried to save the convent of nuns from attack but was unable to do so. This took place on February 19, 1512,

Starting point is 06:28:28 and appeared to be a realization of the prophecies of Savonarola. Gaston had been ordered to fight a decisive battle before the Swiss could have time to descend from their mountains, or Henry the 8th to land in Normandy, and before Maximilian had declared himself. The conquered territory was to be preserved for the future pope, and Naples was to be attacked by the victorious army of the French. With this intention, he appeared before the walls of Ravenna. On a low swampy ground where the Roman fleet had once ridden at anchor was fought on April 11, 1512, the 10th. The 10th, the 10th. The terrible battle of Ravenna, one of the bloodiest on record, a battle fought on Easter Sunday between the most holy Pope and the most Christian king. Gaston had under him 8,000 French and

Starting point is 06:29:18 Italians, 5,000 Gascon, 5,000 German mercenaries, together with splendid cavalry and artillery. The army of the league, which contained the veterans of Consolvo, was commanded by Cardona. on one side was Cardinal San Severino, clad in full panoply of mail. On the other, Giovanni de Medici, the luxurious Epicurean, afterwards Pope Leo the 10th. The artillery fire lasted two hours. Then the French cavalry completely routed the Spanish. Giovanni de Medici was taken prisoner. Giuliano de Medici, afterwards Pope Clement the 7th, fled for safety. The struggle between the German and Spanish infantry was terrible. Just in the flush of victory, as he charged with French fury in the final encounter, Gaston de Foix was killed. He was only 22 years of age. He has left a brilliant name in that

Starting point is 06:30:16 chivalrous time, but impartial judgment cannot acquit him of needless cruelty. The victory of the French was complete. Ravenna was plundered for four days. Riemanni, Fortli, Chisena, Siena, Imola opened their gates. Rome and Naples would not have been safe if there had been a general competent to lead on the troops, but Gaston de Foix had fallen at the moment of greatest need. This battle is remarkable, among other things, as marking the transition from the medieval

Starting point is 06:30:48 to the modern methods of fighting. Cannon were largely used, but pikes, spears, and halberts were no less efficacious. The chivalrous nobility of France, Italy and Spain appeared in full armor. The battle was undoubtedly won by the steadiness of the Swiss and German infantry, who held their own against a storm of onslaught. When the news of the defeat reached the Vatican, the consternation was very great. The cardinals counseled peace, the Pope prepared to fly, but he soon recovered courage, and sending for the ambassadors of Spain and Venice,

Starting point is 06:31:25 told them that he would risk 100,000 ducats and his tiara to chase the French from Italy. He was really saved by the Swiss. Cardinal Xenero was not ungrateful for his elevation. He got together a force of 20,000 mountaineers and sent them over the Alps to invade the Milanese. The French were forced to retreat into Lombarding and to give up all idea of marching against Rome. The Pope felt so secure that he was able to open the ladder in Council on May 2nd. There were present at the first sitting, 15 cardinals, 13 patriarchs, 10 archbishops, 56 bishops, two abbots, four Masters General of Orders,

Starting point is 06:32:10 the Florentine Pietro Squarci-Lupi, Senator of Rome, and the ambassadors of Spain, Venice, and Florence, Girolamo Vique, Francesco Foscari, and Antonio Strazi. The council was opened with an ostentatious display of military pomp. A fortnight later, the Pope was able to announce the renewal of the Holy League. Henry VIII of England had promised to support the power of the papacy, which he afterwards did so much to destroy, and Maximilian also agreed to join in driving the French out of Italy. Thus, by skillful diplomacy, a brilliant victory had been turned into a disastrous defeat. Cardinal Siney recovered Gromona and Lodi and entered Milan at the end of June.

Starting point is 06:32:58 The victory of Ravenna bore no fruit. Giovanni de Medici escaped from prison and the French retreated from Italy. Pope Julius was now again at the height of his power, and it might seem that he had recovered it by the direct interposition of Providence. Bologna drove out the Bentivoli and made its submission to the Pope. Alfonso of Ferrara was solemnly reconciled. with him. A Congress of the Allies was held at Mantua, at which were present Reimondo de Cardona as Spanish Viceroy and the representatives of the Emperor, the Pope, the Venetians, the Swiss,

Starting point is 06:33:35 and the Florentines. The possession of Milan was secured to Massimiliano Sforza, the son of El Morrow, a boy of 15. The fate of Florence was more difficult to determine. At this time, as we have seen, Piero Sodriini was standard bearer for life. The League wanted money and Florence under its present rulers was not able or not willing to grant it, whereas much more might be expected from the Medici. King Ferdinand had given an uncertain voice with regard to the destiny of Florence, but Cardona demanded the deposition of Sodini and the recall of the Medici. When these conditions were refused and the negotiations for money dragged on slowly, the war against Flodon, the war against Flodon was declared to be the business of the entire league. Prato was besieged by the

Starting point is 06:34:25 viceroy and taken on October 29th. The sack of the city by the infuriated dogs of Spain is one of the most terrible events in Italian history. A contemporary says the sack was universal, of all property, of all persons, and of all places sacred and profane. Of the rapes, incestes, and adulteries which followed, I will not speak for shame. Florence was ill-prepared for defense. A sedition broke out which had been long brooding. A number of young men went to the palace crying that they wanted no more of the standard-bearer. On August 24th, Sodedini left the public palace, and on September the 1st, Giuliano de Medici entered Florence. Cardinal Giovanni followed, and then his nephew Lorenzo.

Starting point is 06:35:15 Juliano, the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was regarded as the head of the house after Piero's death, but Cardinal Giovanni was really the soul of the government. A conspiracy of the Pianioni to restore liberty to Florence, which broke out in February 1513, under the leadership of Agostino Capone and Pietro Paolo Boscoli, was easily suppressed. Niccolo Machiavelli was imprisoned and consequence of it. He had lost all his offices at the change of government. Parma and Piacenza now submitted themselves to the Pope the first time that they had been under papal dominion since the original donation of Pepin. The Madonna di San Cristo of Raphael, which was painted for a church in Piacenza, is a standing memorial of the divine favor which those cities might expect,

Starting point is 06:36:07 who sought for the mediation of the Pope by accepting his authority. but these very successes had within them the germ of future dissensions. Venice was discontented with her share of the plunder. Maximilian did not approve of the aggrandizement of the Papal Sea. He was also desirous to obtain the Duchy of Milan for his grandson Charles, a project which was strongly opposed, both by Julius and the Swiss, who were now a considerable power in Europe. Matthew Lang, Cardinal and Bishop of Genoa, came to Rome in November 1512 to attend the Lateran Council as representative of the Emperor. This secured the countenance of the Emperor for this ecumenical Council in opposition to the Schismatical Council, which had now removed from Milan to Lyon. The Emperor and the Pope also agreed to make common cause against Venice, who refused to surrender the important towns of Arona and Vicenza.

Starting point is 06:37:07 Julius II now stood at the height of his power. He had established the authority of his counsel, had driven the French from Italy, gained the friendship of the emperor, and enlarged the states of the church. He ruled with undisputed sway over the fairest provinces in the heart of Italy. There is some reason for believing that his next enterprise would have been to turn his arms against the Spaniards and to recover Naples. Just at this juncture, he died. He fell ill with fever at the end of January 1513, and could not be present at the fifth session of the Lateran Council held on February 16th in that year, in which were promulgated the famous constitutions for the abolition of simony in the election of the popes, one of the most

Starting point is 06:37:55 important events of his reign. He gave orders for his burial, lamented the sins and offenses of his life, and with his last breath absolved the seniority of Venice and the Duke of Fedata from censure. A vain attempt was made to rescue him by a draft of melted gold. He died in the night between February 20th and 21st. All Rome felt that a mighty spirit had departed. Julius II, besides being one of the greatest of popes, was one of the most conspicuous princes of his time. But whatever may have been his eminence in the councils of church and state, it is impossible to dissociate his memory from the names of Bramante, Raphaelais, and Michelangelo. All these he employed in turn on the great work of St. Peter's, a building which was planned as the

Starting point is 06:38:47 emblem of a new era and a new church. Bramante made the design for the mighty temple. Rafaelé decorated the Vatican with undying frescoes. Michelangelo raised, as he said, the dome of the Pantheon in the air as a symbol of a church which was to embrace the whole of Christianity. Also, the great tragedy of the sculptor's life was to have projected the gigantic monument of Julius, too vast a conception ever to be realized.

Starting point is 06:39:17 Instead of that majestic dream, the figures of prophets and virtues, the sarcophagus raised aloft by titanic representations of heaven and earth, all that marks the burial place of Julius is a small slab in a chapel of St. Peter's, while the most notable fragment of the monument, the horned Moses with its cataract of beard, is to be sought in a distant church. Julius had no successor.

Starting point is 06:39:45 The scepter of the temporal power fell from the grasp of weaker hands. The building of the cathedral of St. Peter's lay taxes upon the Catholic world, which could only be met by the sale of indulgences, an abuse which roused the indignation of Christianity and stirred up the revolt of Luther. End of Section 25. Section 26 of the Age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 12, Leo the 10th, Part 1. The conclave for the election of the new pope, Metaugh. on March 5th, 1513. The time of meeting had been hastened to prevent the interference of the

Starting point is 06:40:40 schismatic cardinals and the outbreak of tumults in Rome. The 25 cardinals who were present were divided into two groups, the old and the young. The first might think of electing Rafael Loriadio, sister's son, to Sixtus the fourth. The cardinal, whom we remember as a young man, struck forever with a deathly paleness by his presence at the conspiracy of the Potsie in Florence. The younger party, however, were determined to choose Giovanni de Medici. He had indeed weighty claims. His house was illustrious and wealthy. He was the enemy of France. His character was good, according to the standard of those times. He was a great patron of literature and art, and was known to be remarkably generous. His palace was the center of the Italian culture of the late

Starting point is 06:41:35 Renaissance, and he turned no one away without a gift. He was only 37 years of age, but he was known to have an incurable disease. He was elected without difficulty on March 10th, as the other party withdrew their opposition, and took the name of Leo the 10th. The title was singularly inappropriate. There was nothing of the lion in that soft, gentle, and self-indulgent nature. His election was, however, hailed with joy throughout Italy. It was regarded as the beginning of a golden age. His first act was to appoint as his secretary's Bembo on Sadoletus, the most distinguished Latinists of the age.

Starting point is 06:42:20 He chose April 11th, the anniversary of his capture at the Battle of Ravenna, for the day of his coronation, and of his. solemn procession and ride from the Vatican to the Lateran Palace. A more splendid spectacle had never been seen in Rome, at least in later days. The vassals of the church were all assembled, the Duke of Urbino, Alfonso of Este, Duke of Ferrara, the hero of Ravenna. Leo rode on the white Arab steed which had carried him in the day of battle. The streets were decorated with the full magnificence of the pagan Renaissance.

Starting point is 06:42:57 The talent of Raphael and his scholars was at Leo's disposal to devise statues, inscriptions, and triumphal arches. Some of the finest statues of antiquity were set up before the houses, Ganymedes, Apollos, figures of Bacchus and Venus. The fountains flowed with wine, servants scattered gold and silver among the crowd, a lofty arch erected by the banker Augustino Kiji bore this instance, inscription Olim Habewitt Kupria, Sua Tempora Maers Olim Habuitt, Sua no tempura, palishabat.

Starting point is 06:43:37 Love and war have had their time, wisdom now claims hers. A delicate allusion to Alexander, Julius, and Leo. The Pope must have smiled still more when he saw that close by this arch, a goldsmith, had placed a statue of Venus with this legend in better Latin. Mars Fuit at Palace Kupria Semper Ero. Lust indeed was not likely to fail in the Court of the Renaissance. When after a passage of many hours the procession arrived at the Lateran, the palace was found guarded by a joint battalion of Colonna and Orsini.

Starting point is 06:44:17 The beginning of Leo's reign was certainly auspicious. He set free from prison Niccolo Machiavelli and Niccolo Caponi, his father's biographer, who had been confined since the conspiracy of the Boscoli. He recalled the exiled Soderini from Ragoza. He wrote to his brother, Giuliano, and to the King of France, that the dearest wish of his heart was union and peace among the princes of Christendom. The schismatic cardinals, Carvajal, and San Severino, surrendered themselves, and all the states of Europe declared their obedience, except France.

Starting point is 06:44:56 the situation was full of anxiety. The two pressing needs of Leo the Tent were to preserve intact the inheritance of Julius and to keep the King of France away from Italy. War was not long in breaking out. Two leagues or alliances stood opposed to each other face to face. The League of Blois signed in March 1513 between Louis XIV and the Venetians for the recovery of Milan and the League Mechlin or Malin between Henry VIII and Maximilian, to which Spain and the Pope afterwards gave their adhesion. Among the objects of this league were to defend Milan and the Church, and to attack the King of France in his own country. Swiss mercenaries, the best infantry of those days, were to be hired with papal gold. The war began and was destined to continue for a long time. Milan was the prize

Starting point is 06:45:55 of victory and its possessions seemed to determine the mastery of the world. The struggle was fought out in the broad plains of Lombardy, where Swiss infantry, French men-at-arms, Spanish-Arcassier, Italian cavalry and artillery, and German landis-connecks wrestled together in endless conflict. The Battle of Novaro was fought on June 6, 1513. The French generals Tuvalso and La Tremu, Mouille were completely beaten and were compelled to repass the Alps. Dominicianus Forza was established in the possession of his capital. At the same time, Louis Xelth was being hard-pressed by the English in his own country. On August 16th was fought the Battle of Spurs, which caused the French the possession of Picardy.

Starting point is 06:46:49 Swiss troops were also laying siege to Dijon. These reverses induced Louis to make peace with the Pope. In December 1513, he solemnly renounced the schism of Pisa and gave in his obedience to Leo X as the rightful occupant of the Holy See. Such was the brilliant close of the first year of Leo's reign. It soon appeared that in the matter of nepotism, Leo would be little better than his predecessors. The court of Rome, which had been in turn,

Starting point is 06:47:21 Spanish and Ligurian became Florentine. Leo made his brother Giuliano and his nephew Lorenzo, the son of Piero, patricians of Rome, and he seemed anxious to create for his brother a principality in central Italy. He raised to the Cardinal Lake Julio, the bastard son of his brother Giuliano, after falsely declaring his legitimacy and thus paved the way for his becoming pope under the title of Clement the Seventh. It ought to be mentioned that in the spring of 1514, Pope Leo exercised for perhaps the last time the function which has long been accorded to the Holy See when the world was not yet divided between Catholic and Protestant, of being the supreme referee of disputed questions between the sovereigns of Europe and the enforcer by spiritual means of the sanctions

Starting point is 06:48:16 of international law. At this time, the progress of maritime discovery was chiefly due to the enterprise of Spain and Portugal. There was some danger of their conflicting claims clashing and producing a serious European war. Alexander the 6th had therefore, either as the acknowledged arbiter and such questions, or because all newly discovered islands were held to belong to the Pope, drawn an imaginary line between the conquests of the two countries, with the idea that one should pursue their discoveries to the east and the other to the west. The ships of the two nations had, however, unexpectedly met on the other side of the globe, and a new arrangement became necessary. Pope Leo received a Portuguese embassy with Tristan Dacuna at its head, bearing the treasures of the east to lay at the pontiff's feet.

Starting point is 06:49:10 An elephant was now seen in Europe for the first time since the destruction of the Roman Empire. Leo solemnly secured to the Portuguese the possession of the lands which they had discovered and made an award which was calculated to prevent disputes in future. The history of Italy now becomes involved with those struggles for the balance of power in Europe with which we are familiar in modern times. The defeat and death of King James IV of Scotland at Floddenfield on November 9, 1513, deprived Louis the 12th of an important ally. This led to his making peace with Ferdinand at the close of 1513,

Starting point is 06:49:52 with Maximilian in the Treaty of Orleans in March 1514, and with Henry VIII in the Treaty of London, August 9, 1514. Louis was anxious to marry his daughter to the young Archduke Charles, but it did not suit Leo's purpose that France, and the Empire should be so closely connected, and the marriage did not take place. Woolsey, on his side, was anxious for an alliance between France, England, and the Pope against Spain and the Empire. And with this view, Louis X-12th married Mary the sister of Henry VIII, just at the time of the Peace of London. But this marriage had no result. Louis died a few months

Starting point is 06:50:35 afterwards and was succeeded by his nephew, Francis I, on January 1st, 1515. Leo was too cautious to commit himself. He saw that the strength of the papacy lay in holding a just balance between France and Spain. He even secretly encouraged an alliance between Spain, the Empire, the Swiss, and Milan for the defense of that duchy. With two leagues before him, he was able to join whichever he pleased. At another time, he sent Anuncio to the Venetians to detach them from the French alliance. They replied that they were well disposed to the Pope, but that it was for his advantage to be on good terms with France, because it might assist him in claiming the kingdom of Naples for his brother Giuliano. Francis I was now 20 years of age,

Starting point is 06:51:28 a brilliant prince full of ambition. The world had seldom seen two such monarchs side by side as Francis I of France and Henry the 8th of England. A third was soon to be added to them in the person of Charles V. On his succession, Francis assumed the title of Duke of Milan and asserted his claim to that duchy. With the objective enforcing it, he renewed the alliance with England and Venice. Leo was in hesitation as to which side he should take. Giuliano had just married Filipperta of Savoy, which seemed to favor the French alliance. And if Francis would have given Naples to Giuliano in exchange for Milan, it is possible that Leo would have joined him. But Francis wished to keep Naples for himself, and so, in July 1515,

Starting point is 06:52:21 Leo definitely joined the alliance between the Empire and Spain. At the same time, time he made Woolsey a cardinal in the hope of detaching Henry from the French alliance. The strength of a league consisted of 30,000 Swiss soldiers, whom Machiavelli calls the masters of modern warfare, but the French were successful against them. Frio Ullozzi, crossing the more southern passes of the Codian Alps with his heavy artillery, surprised Prospero Colonna and defeated his army, so that the frightened Leo cried for peace. Francis the first in-person, marching from Turin, advanced against the Swiss. A battle raged at Marignano between Milan and Pavia for two days,

Starting point is 06:53:07 September 13th and 14th, 1515, at the end of which the French were victorious and the Swiss infantry lost its prestige forever. Milan passed into the hands of the conqueror. Francis might now, if he had pleased, have advanced to the conquest of the rest of of Italy, with better hopes of success than Charles the 8th. But he was afraid to have his two rival powers of England and the empire in his rear. The terrified Pope hastened to change his policy. He met Francis at Bologna on December 8th, where he held a conference which lasted two days. His passage through Florence rivaled his brilliant entry into Rome. For this occasion, the unfinished facade of

Starting point is 06:53:56 the cathedral was temporarily completed by San Sovino and Andrea del Sarto. Francis assumed an attitude of humility. He had the assurance to tell Leo that he had journeyed over mountains, woods, rivers, and streams of fire, and made his way through the legions of the Swiss only to submit himself in lowly reverence to the godlike man. He laid his power, his riches, his army, his fleet, his kingdom, and himself at the the feet of His Holiness. The result of the meeting, however, did not correspond with these professions. The Pope had to surrender Parma, Piacenza, Reggio, and Madina, and to contend himself with the Duchy of Urbino. Francis also took the opportunity of extracting from the Pope a concordat, which has since formed

Starting point is 06:54:48 the basis of the liberties of the Gallic Church. By this, the King of France had the right to nominate to vacant seas, while the Pope received the revenues during the first year. In accepting these terms, Leo perhaps chose the best way out of his many difficulties, but all hope of driving the French from Italy was lost. On March 17, 1516, Juliano de Medici, Duke de Nemour, died. The Pope transferred his interest to his nephew Lorenzo. King Ferdinand the Catholic had died previously on January 23rd. After he had secured the unity of Spain by the expulsion of the Moors,

Starting point is 06:55:33 the ruling principle of his life, had been antagonism to French ambition, which he believed with some justice would never be satisfied with anything short of the empire of the world. Ferdinand was succeeded by his grandson, Charles I of Spain, Charles V of Germany, a youth of 16. It was probable that before long he would also succeed to the dominions of his paternal grandfather Maximilian, who was now growing old, and this union of possessions would make him the most powerful monarch in Europe. The war which had been begun by the League of Cambrai now came to an end, and after an eight-year struggle, Italy might hope for quieter times. On August 16th, the Treaty of Nooyon was signed between Francis,

Starting point is 06:56:22 Henry the 8th and Charles, by which the fate of Italy was left undecided. This was followed by the Treaty of Brussels signed on December 3rd, by which Verona was surrendered to the French and by them handed over to the Venetians. Before this, on November 29th, the 13 Swiss cantons had made the perpetual peace of Freiburg with the French. End of Section 26. Section 27 of the 7 of the 7th. Section 27 of The Age of the Condodieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 12, Leo the 10th, Part 2. The peace was only of a short duration. Europe was seething with mighty forces which no one completely understood and which no one could master. All were conscious of the presence of a new age, and each tried to grasp eagerly and prematurely

Starting point is 06:57:28 the advantages which the new age would bring forth. As early as February, 1517, Leo the 10th invited the assistance of Francis I for the recovery of the Duchy of Rubino and the Medician state of Florence was naturally comprised in the arrangement. Shortly afterwards, a treaty was signed at Cambrai between the three great potentates Charles, Francis and Henry, for the partition of the north of Italy. Venice, Florence, Pisa, Lagorn, and Siena were to be formed into a state under the name of the Kingdom of Italy, which was to be given as an imperial fief, either to Charles V or his brother Ferdinand, while the rest, including Lombardy, Genoa, Asti Piedmont, Mantua, Montefarot,

Starting point is 06:58:17 Verona, Piacenza, and Luca were to go to Francis, also as an imperial fief, under the name of the Kingdom of Lombardy. Leo besides was afflicted by domestic troubles. His enemies were those of his own household. The most powerful of these was Cardinal Rafael O'Reario, who wrote about Rome with a suite mounted on 40 horses. Another young cardinal, Alfonso Petrucci, formed a plot to kill the Pope and to change the government of Rome. He had more than once brought a dagger with him into the consistory, but his courage failed him. He then attempted to use poison, but was betrayed to the Pope, tried and executed. At the same time, the Cardinals Rafael Loriadio and Adriano were both put into prison.

Starting point is 06:59:11 Adriano, strange to say, was of Bath and Wells in England. He escaped to Venice, but returning to Rome at the death of the Pope, He was murdered by one of his own servants. In order to secure himself against similar attacks, Leo created 39 cardinals at once, of various states and of different ranks in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Some of them were distinguished, but they were most of them friends and adherents of the Medici.

Starting point is 06:59:41 The ceremonies attending this creation, and the war with Orvino, which now came to an end, cost the Pope enormous sums and plunged it, him heavily into debt. Still, he was in the possession of outward prosperity. The states of the church were consolidated and at peace. Lorenzo was married to Madalena, daughter of John II, Lord of Latourne. The latter in council was closed, having devoted its last sittings to the possibilities of a crusade against the Turks. Yet, on the other side of the Alps, a storm was arising, more serious than any which had as yet stricken the foundations of papal obedience.

Starting point is 07:00:26 The money required for the Pope's necessities was supplied by the sale of indulgences, and this sale raised the indignation of Luther. On the eve of all saints, October 31st, 1517, he fastened down the door of the Cathedral of Wittenberg, the 95 Theses by which he challenged the authority of the Pope. Luther, born at Isleben in 1483, had visited Rome in 1510 and made his pilgrimage round the seven basilicas and had climbed the sacred staircases on his knees. He now refused to obey the Pope's citation to Rome. He attended the imperial diet at Augsburg, with the safe conduct of the Emperor and the Elector of Saxony, and appealed against the authority of the Pope to a general council. together with the reformation which brought about a condition of war in Europe which lasted until

Starting point is 07:01:23 1648 and indeed for some time afterwards arose a political struggle for the possession of the empire Maximilian strained every nerve to secure it for his grandson Charles, who he hoped would someday recover both Milan and Burgundy as ornaments of the imperial crown. His rival was King Francis I First. Maximilian pressed Leo to crown Charles King of the Romans in Germany, but before this could be accomplished, Maximilian died at Linz on January 11, 1519. With him passed away a remarkable figure. He stands astride the medieval and the modern world. He so far comprehended his peculiar position that he took pains in his political conduct, by reconstruction of the army, and by constitutional reforms to prepare the old fabric of the empire to meet its new conditions and responsibilities.

Starting point is 07:02:25 In the contest for the imperial crown, Leo, as might be expected, played a double part. He thought that the raising of either of these two powerful monarchs to the imperial throne would not contribute either to the security of the apostolic sea or to the interests of Italy. The Pope would have preferred the margrave of Brandenburg, but he would not accept Frederick of Saxony, the protector of Luther. Charles was elected emperor at Frankfurt on June 28, 1519. When Leo saw that his election was inevitable, he did his best to secure his friendship. Charles was, it is true, a stranger to Germany,

Starting point is 07:03:10 but he was grandson of Maximilian, a descendant of the imperial line of Habsburg, and was the best bulwark that could be found against the ambition of the French, and the onslaught of the Turks. The great empire of Charles V is the common source from which most of the arrangements of our modern states have arisen. Before this time, the two great powers in Europe

Starting point is 07:03:33 were the church and the state, the Pope at the head of the one and the emperor at the head of the other. Both these powers were weakened or destroyed by the Reformation, and in their place a new antagonism sprang up. The antagonism between Protestantism and Catholicism, represented mainly by the Germanic and the Romantic nations. France stood at the head of one section, Germany, herself divided, at the head of the other.

Starting point is 07:04:02 The political life of Italy sank into comparative unimportance. At the age of 19, Charles ruled over Spain, Flanders, Naples, Sicily, and Germany, and styled himself king of the Indian islands and of the oceanic continent. A struggle with France was inevitable. Leo, as usual, knew not which side to take. His flatterers advised him to throw himself in the arms of Charles, but his instinct forbade him as he dreaded the effect of his overweening power in Italy. At the same time, an alliance with Germany was rendered easier by the death of his nephew Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino,

Starting point is 07:04:45 who had married a French woman. His wife had died six days before in April 1519, after giving birth to a daughter, who at a later time became famous as Catherine of Medici, the wife of one French King and the mother of three others. She was the last legitimate sion of the elder house of Medici. One son remained, Alexander, afterwards Duke of Florence, from 1534 to 1537. He was a mulatto and his mother was a negress. It is certain that he was a bastard, but it is not certain whether his father was Lorenzo or Giulio. Probably, however, the latter. Machiavelli urged Leo the 10th to take the opportunity of restoring liberty to Florence, but he refused, as he had been too much accustomed to regard Florence as the private property of his house. It is strange that Pope Leo the 10th should,

Starting point is 07:05:41 like the Emperor Augustus of Rome, have lost one after the other those he had expected would be his heirs. But this loss did not make him less anxious to increase the possessions of the Holy See. He aimed at the wrestling of Parma, Piacenza, and Ferrada from Venice, and he was ready to ally himself with that power which would best further the execution of his views. For this purpose, he entered into communication both with Francis and Charles. Charles assumed the crown of the Holy Roman Empire at Ex-Las Chappelle on October 23, 1520, on the very same day that Solomon the magnificent Girt himself with the sword of Muhammad at Constantinople. Charles had some difficulty in persuading the citizens of Castile and Aragon

Starting point is 07:06:30 to accept a sovereign who was a Fleming by birth and education, and he was greatly in want of allies. Henry VIII had married Catherine of Aragon, and nevertheless, on the field of the cloth of gold, he had met Francis I and embraced him with all affection, although he was the most formidable rival of Charles. In order to counteract this friendship, Charles took care to meet Henry V at Rouen,

Starting point is 07:06:57 and by loading his minister, Cardinal Woolsey, with riches and honors, believed that he had fully attained his end. The Emperor Charles V summoned his first diet to meet in Vres on January 6, 1521. Germany was then on fire from one extremity to the other with the agitation produced by Luther. He had been excommunicated, as we have heard,

Starting point is 07:07:22 on July 15, 1520, and had appealed to a council. Charles was at this time extremely anxious to secure the friendship of the Pope. They both needed each other for the ends they had in view, the driving of the French from Italy and the establishment of the Sforza in Milan.

Starting point is 07:07:41 Just before the meeting of the diet, Leo renewed his excommunication against the rebellious, monk. At Rums, Charles stood for the first time face to face with the German nation. The younger and more alert spirits would have wished him to place himself at the head of Germany and to resist her two deadliest enemies, France and the papacy. But Charles was not disposed to break entirely with the ancient church. His views were rather to repress the storm of anarchy and Germany, which threatened to break up the old civil and religious polity, to explain to

Starting point is 07:08:16 extinguished the authority of the Turks in the east and to curb the ambition of France in the West. France provoked him to war and he was ready to meet her. It is perhaps fortunate that the emperor did not head the German Reformation. Being left to itself, it became a popular movement and was in the end more completely successful. Luther appeared before the Diet of Wulham's on April 17th and 18th, 1521. Here he withstood the emperor, surrounded by his brilliant court. I cannot do otherwise, God help me, was his cry. The edict launched against him was dated May 26th, when many of the estates had gone away and Luther himself was in safety. Charles did not act a sincere or single part with regard to Luther.

Starting point is 07:09:06 On the one hand, he was anxious to ingratiate himself with the Pope, and perhaps to satisfy his own conscience by condemning him. On the other, he felt that it would be unwisely. to crush him entirely, as he could be used from time to time, as a useful check upon papal authority. The Reformation in Italy had a different character to that in Germany. Its principal effect was to bring into prominence the hatred felt against the temporal power of the Pope. Machiavelli and Giuchardini, the two foremost political characters of their time, both considered the temporal power of the popes as the curse of Italy.

Starting point is 07:09:46 and Juchardini tells us that all those circumstances forced him into the service of the popes, yet that his nature would have led him to prefer a Luther, in the hope that if he did not entirely ruin, he might at least seriously impair the accursed tyranny of the priests. Such were the aspirations of Italian patriots, who desired that Italy might take her proper place among the kingdoms of the world. But Italy was not ripe for such an effort. and there were no materials for forming or for continuing temporal sovereignty.

Starting point is 07:10:22 Centuries were destined to elapse before their hopes were finally realized. On the same day on which the bull against Luther was issued, a league was made between the Pope and the Emperor. The conditions were that Milan and Genoa should be taken from the French and be given back to their legitimate rulers, Francesco Sforza, the younger brother of Massimiliano, and to Antonietto Adorno. After the French had been driven out, Charles promised to give Piacenza to the Pope and to help him to conquer Ferrada. On the other hand, the Pope was to invest Charles with the kingdom of Naples, and to crown him

Starting point is 07:10:59 emperor and to support him in the war against Venice. It was to be left open for the Swiss and the English to join this league if they pleased. It was not so easy to hire Swiss soldiers as it had been. Cardinal Sheena did his best to assist the pontiff, but Svigli told him. told his countrymen, The Cardinals wear large cloaks and red hats, shake them, and ducats fall out of them, ring them, and your own blood drops out. France, seeing that a breach with Charles was inevitable,

Starting point is 07:11:31 declared war against him and attacked his possessions, both in Luxembourg and Navarra with very little success. It was in the Battle of Esquiros, in the War of Navarra on June 30, 1521, that Ignatius Loyola received the war, wound which had so important an effect on the fortunes of the Catholic Church. It was in the enforced retirement of the hospital that he conceived the idea of founding the Society of the Jesuits. The King of France had no allies in Italy except the Duke of Ferrada, the Republic of Venice,

Starting point is 07:12:04 and some of the smaller Italian despots. Woolsey, although he did not give up the hope of mediating between the two contending powers, made a treaty with Charles V on August 25th at Bruges. Milan was captured on November 19th, and only a few towns were left to the French. The Pope was so overjoyed at the fall of Milan that he said that it was of more value than the papacy itself. He talked of creating Cardinal Giulio de Medici, Duke of Milan, and of making Francesco Sforza, cardinal in his place. Piacenza and Parma soon followed the fate of Milan. But Leo was unable to enjoy his triumph. News of the conquest of of Milan was brought to him on November 24th in his villa of Maliano. The next day he returned to Rome

Starting point is 07:12:53 and was received by the populace with great rejoicings, the shaking of olive branches, the blowing of trumpets, and the firing of guns. A consistory had been summoned on the following Wednesday, November 29th, and the Pope intended to go in person to the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo to return thanks for his victory. But the night before, he felt unwell. and on December 1st, 1521, he died. One effect of his death was to ruin his friends, as they had lent him large sums of money which now would never be repaid. After the enormous expense of his court, he did not leave enough money to pay for his funeral. It was necessary to use up the old candles prepared for the obsequies of Cardinal Riario. The name of Leo the 10th is generally, held in honor as the great hero of the Renaissance, who continued the work of Lorenzo and Cosimo de Medici, the sovereign under whom culture and refinement reached its zenith in Italy. This side of his career belongs rather too literary than to political history. As a politician, we must judge that Leo the 10th

Starting point is 07:14:06 was little better than his predecessors. He filled the papal court with his relations. He did not succeed in driving out the French from Italy. He dealt no serious blow to the Turks. He did not secure either the unity of Italy or the peace of Europe. He showed no courage in great crises. He left the church a prey to the Reformation. If he cannot be accused of employing the arts of Machiavelli in temporal matters, he must plead guilty to the charge of defending the Holy See with those weapons of deceit and double-dealing, which under the name of finesse and economy, have brought so much discredit on the career and the reputation of the Jesuits. End of Section 27. Section 28 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This

Starting point is 07:15:04 Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 13, The Sack of Rome, Part 1. The election of a new Pope appeared to contemporary politicians as the decision between the conflicting claims of Charles V and Francis I to the mastery of Europe. Every device of persuasion, fraud, and violence was used to affect the result. It was said that there were 18 candidates. Charles' ambassador Manuel was horrified at what he saw at Rome. He said that hell itself could not contain so much hatred and so many devils as there were amongst the cardinals. The candidates who had the best chance were the Spaniard, Carval, Woolsey, the Englishman, and

Starting point is 07:15:57 Giulio de Medici. Charles would have been very glad to accept Giulio, but he had too many enemies to succeed. The states of the church were in a flame when Giulio consented to give his support to some other imperial candidate, and the choice fell upon Hadrian of Utrecht, who was a elected on January 9th, 1522. It was difficult for the conclave to make up their minds to elect an unknown foreigner, and Cardinal Farnese came very near to obtaining the papacy. The people of Rome received the news with a howl of execration, but the imperial party were in the greatest delight. The new pope was a Fleming, son of a shipbuilder at Utecht, named Boyence. He was born in 1459. He had been the tutor to Charles V and was then vice-chancellor of the University of Louvain.

Starting point is 07:16:53 He afterwards became Bishop of Tortosa and Cardinal, and on the accession of Charles to the throne of Spain, was made regent of that country in his absence. Charles was naturally delighted at the election and sent immediately to say that he hoped to receive the imperial crown at the hands of his former tutor. In return, the Pope gave him similar assurances of goodwill. Hadrian heard of his elevation at Vittoria, but he delayed his departure until a fleet could be ready in Barcelona to convey him across the dangerous seas. In the meantime, the war between the French and the imperialists was continuing in northern Italy.

Starting point is 07:17:35 Milan, as we know, had been taken and Genoa was sacked. Anarchy and confusion reigned in Rome itself, and there was still. some apprehension lest a second Avignon should be established in Spain. To make matters worse, the plague had broken out in the Eternal City. It is a curious proof of the heathen sympathies of the time that in order to stay the pestilence and ox consecrated with magic rites was led by a Greek through the streets to the Coliseum and there solemnly sacrificed, the Roman clergy not offering a word of objection. Hadrian set out from his sea at Tortosa on July 8, 1523, and a month later sailed from Tarragona.

Starting point is 07:18:20 He had no interview with Charles before his departure, which was looked upon as a sign of independence. He landed at Genoa, and did his best to spare the town. He reached Rome at the end of August. On his arrival, he refused all pagan honors. His entry into the capital was simple, partly on account of the... plague, partly because Leo had left the treasury poor. His life was certainly a great contrast to that of his predecessors. He hated the unholy pomp, the naked statues, the glaring frescoes. He reluctantly submitted to endure the splendors of the Vatican and longed for a lodging in a quiet house and

Starting point is 07:19:01 garden. Pope Hadrian the 6th, for his title was a repetition of his Christian name, was a handsome man of imposing and serious mean. He lived in the simplest manner. He rose before daybreak to pray and spent the rest of the day in study. His needs were supplied by a single servant whom he had brought with him from Spain. His expenses were a duck at a day, which he paid overnight to his chaplain for the morrow. He spoke no Italian, and little of anything else, and Latin with a foreign accent. He gave no encouragement to artists, and it is well perhaps that Raphaelais had died in 15,

Starting point is 07:19:41 The great frescoes begun by his predecessors remained unfinished on the walls. Poets and fine writers were driven from the Vatican. Sardolet went to his bishopric of Carpentra, saying that Rome was Rome no longer. Castiglione retired to Mantua. Perhaps the reputation of Leo X has been intensified by the contrast with his successor. Hadrian found nothing to succeed to but debts. He dismissed the idle crowd of menials which thronged the galleries of the Vatican. He filled the court with Fleming's and gave his chief confidence to men of his own nation.

Starting point is 07:20:21 The objects which Hadrian had nearest at heart were those which had for some time formed part of the program of every new Pope. He desired to give peace to Italy and to the world, to lead a crusade against the Turks, to stamp out heresy and to reform the church. He began by setting himself to stop the sale of indulgences, but in none of these objects was he successful. He effected something by restoring Alfonso Ferrada to his dominions, but he could not reconcile the great powers. Indeed, on June 19, 1522, Charles and Henry had met at Windsor

Starting point is 07:21:01 and entered into an alliance against France. Although Belgrade had fallen and Solomon was threatening roads, there was little hope of organizing an expedition against the Turks. The attempts of the Pope to reform the church were equally idle. The evils which caused the mischief were too deeply rooted. There was no abuse which had not many defenders personally interested in maintaining it. Hadrian's own simplicity of life served only to set off and stronger contrast the unbounded luxury of the Cardinals. He had too little sympathy with the tastes and passions of his predecessors. The breach between him and them was too abrupt. He stigmatized the great group of the Laiacowan as one of the idols of the heathen and made the Belvedere of the Vatican,

Starting point is 07:21:56 the depository of the finest statues from antiquity almost inaccessible. His efforts to stem the Reformation were not destined to be more successful. Luther was, it is true, imprisoned on the Vartburg, but his writings were disseminated throughout Germany. Hadrian would have been glad to have reformed the church, but how was such a work to be begun? The war against the Turks fared no better. The knights of St. John and Rhodes in vain implored help from Europe. Only three papal ships went to their assistance. They had possessed the island since 1309, they left it forever, 4,000 strong, on January 1st, 1523. It was impossible to compel the three great rivals, Charles V, Henry V, and Francis I, and Francis the first, to sink their differences and make a truce. Francis refused to yield up his

Starting point is 07:22:54 claims to Milan and Naples, and Charles would not desert the league formed for the humiliation of France. The troubles of Hadrian were still further increased at this time by a conspiracy, which was formed against the government of Giulio de Medici at Florence. It was supported by Cardinal Sodini, the leader of the French Party in the Sacred College, and the King of France was privy to it. It was hoped that France would assist by attacking Florence and sending a fleet against Sicily. The Pope, therefore, seeing that Francis was beyond the reach, of his advice, was forced slowly and reluctantly to take the side of the Empire and England.

Starting point is 07:23:37 On August 3, 1523, a league was signed between Charles, Henry, Milan, Florence, Genoa, Sienna, Luca, and the Pope, and was published two days later in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Lanroa, Viceroy of Naples, was named General of the League. It was directed against the enemies of Italy, but the Turks were forgotten, and its true objective was Francis I. The chances of Francis I and resisting his enemies were made far worse by the sudden revolt and desertion of Charles Duke of Bourbon, constable of France. He was one of the most powerful of the vassals of the crown, and had been allowed to preserve almost royal independence. He was descended in the seventh generation from Robert, Count of Clermont, brother of Philippe Le Ardi, and the son of Louis VIII, who had married

Starting point is 07:24:35 Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress of Dampier-Boubon. Charles himself of the line of Montponciet had acquired the Duchy of Bourbon through his wife Susanna, heiress of the elder line. Constable Bourbon had ambitious views for his own advancement and aimed at independent sovereignty. His treachery became at last too open to be concealed, and he had been, fled to take refuge with Charles. Francis, however, did not interrupt his preparations and marched upon Sousa. Hadrian was heartbroken at the overthrow of his cherished plans, the security of the peace of Europe, the crusade against the Turks, and the Council for Reforming the Church. He died on the very day that the French army crossed the Ticino, September 4, 1523. He was one of the most virtuous

Starting point is 07:25:28 popes that ever occupied the papal throne, but he strove in vain to stem the tide of corruption. He was the last pope who was not an Italian. He is buried in the German church at Rome, and on his monument are inscribed these words, Pro dolor, quantum refert in quad tempura, vel optimi cuyusque in virtus incidat. Alas, what a difference do the circumstances of their time make to the merits of even the best man. The conclave summoned to elect a new pope after the death of Hadrian lasted 50 days, as before it must be regarded as a trial of strength, between the three great potentates of

Starting point is 07:26:13 Europe, Henry V, Francis I, and Charles V. Cardinal Woolsey, the nominee of the first of these monarchs, had no chance because the Romans were determined to have an Italian pope. Cardinal Farnese was the French candidate, while Julio de Medici was supported by the Emperor. Julio was at last chosen on November 18th, 1523. It is said mainly by the influence of the Condottieri leader, Prospero Colonna, who was in his turn influenced by the Duke of Cair, the representative of Charles. The new pope took the name of Clement the 7th and reigned till 1534, a date which transcends

Starting point is 07:26:55 the limits of this present work. The election was received with joy and the people looked forward to the prospect of a brilliant court. The bastard son of the murder Giuliano was now 46 years of age. He was of a serious and energetic character, and the greatest hopes were entertained of him. He recalled to his court the men of letters whom Pope Hadrian had exiled and bade fair to renew the glories of the age of Leo. Section 29 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamelaun Agami. Chapter 13, The Sack of Rome, Part 2. Clement the 7th had taken an active part

Starting point is 07:27:52 in the formation of the League against France, but he felt that as Pope he should display at least some appearance of impartiality. He could not declare himself as openly as, he had when cardinal. The war continued in Lombardy, but fortune began to abandon the French. Milan was held by Prospero Colonna in the name of the emperor, but was closely invested by the French who occupied the territories of Lignano, Monza, Casano, and Melignano. The last-mentioned place was held by the Chevalier Bayard, the hero of French romance, the knight without fear and without reproach. He captured Lodi and went on to attack Cromona, but failed in the attempt and had to return to Monsa. Colonna, now over 80 years of age, died on December 28, 1523, and was succeeded first by Lanois,

Starting point is 07:28:48 who was summoned hastily from Naples, and then by the constable Bourbon, who was made lieutenant-governor of Lombardy. As a Frenchman taking service under a German emperor, he may be regarded. guarded as the last of the condottieri. In the beginning of the next year, the French again suffered defeats. Bayard was beaten at Rebecca on January 25, 1525. The castle of Cremona was taken. The Allies passed the Taccino on March 2nd, and Bonavé, the French commander, retired to Novara. Defeats again followed on the Sasea, and Bayard was taken prisoner at Ravi Zingo, after receiving a wound which caused his death in a short time. The French army existed no longer. A few scattered and demoralized bands of troops re-entered France, more or less protected from insult by the Swiss.

Starting point is 07:29:47 Lodi, Pescara, and Novara fell. Pope Clement was by no means unfeignedly pleased with this result. He did not need the emperor to obtain a permanent footing in Italy. Therefore, he opened up negotiations with France and tried to detach Venice from the League. Nicholas Schaumburg, Archbishop of Capua, was dispatched as legate to France, Italy, and Germany to endeavor to conclude a truce. This, however, had no effect, and on May 25th, Henry V and renewed their ancient league, engaging themselves to invade France from different sides. Bourbon was base enough to invade his own country

Starting point is 07:30:33 and had been induced by the English ambassador Richard Pace who visited him at Montcalieri to take an oath of allegiance to the emperor. As he marched along the shores of the Mediterranean, town after town fell before him, and he at last undertook the siege of Marseille. Francis, having to avenge the disgrace of his arms, collected a force of 40,000 men

Starting point is 07:30:58 and marched in person, at its head. He crossed the Alps and descended into the Lombard plain, found Milan in a defenseless state, the garrison having been withdrawn into the neighboring towns. On October 26, 1524, the French entered the long-contested capital in triumph, and immediately began to lay siege to Pavia. By this unexpected change of fortune, Clement VIII found himself in the greatest difficulty. He naturally wished to preserve the integrity of the papal dominions and of Florence, and he may be credited with some desire to restore peace to Italy. When Charles had conquered, he had negotiated with him,

Starting point is 07:31:43 and he now entered into overtures with France. Venice also began to seek the protection of France, which sometime before she had so basely deserted. It is difficult to forecast the ultimate object of negotiations which were never brought to a conclusion, but it is probable that Clement wished that Milan should remain in the hands of the Emperor, and that Francis should have possession of Naples. He therefore granted a passage through his dominions to John Stuart, Duke of Albany, who was sent by Francis into the south of Italy, and excused himself to Lanroa, the Viceroy,

Starting point is 07:32:22 on the ground that he was obliged to bow to circumstances. He afterwards made a little league with the French king under the condition that Parma and Piacenza should pass to the Holy See, Florence should remain untouched, the church should be supported, and that a war against the Turks should be begun. Charles V, when he heard of this, was beside himself with anger. He declared that he would come to Italy in person to revenge himself upon his enemies, and that he would make Venice, Ferrara, and the Pope pay dearly. for their duplicity. It was no time now, he said, to speak of Luther.

Starting point is 07:33:04 The French army was still engaged in the siege of Pavia, but the king idled away his time in the park of Mirabello and left the whole conduct of military affairs to Bonnevei. Fortune, at this time, smiled upon the French at sea. Varagine Lago di Moncara, the admiral of the imperial fleet, was conquered and taken prisoner by Andre Adieu. Doria. But this did not prevent a serious disaster on land. The duty of Francis was obviously to raise the siege of Pavia and to meet the imperial army before it should receive reinforcements. This course

Starting point is 07:33:44 of action was pressed upon the king by La Palise, La Tremouille, and Thomas de Foix, but he continued to confide in Bonnevet. Lodi was still in the possession of the imperial troops. They marched out of the town on January 25th, 1525, passed over the fatal field of Marignano, and approached Pavia to attack the besieging army. For some weeks, the armies lay in the presence of each other, the time being occupied by skirmishes, which generally ended to the disadvantage of the French. At length, on February 24, 1525, the decisive battle of Pavia was fought. It was very hard. It was very hardly contested as both sides knew the possession of Italy was at stake. The king thought that he had won the day by the prowess of his splendid cavalry, but the result was changed by the steadiness of the Spanish Archbusier.

Starting point is 07:34:42 The bravest nobles on the side of France had fallen. The king himself was wounded. When Francis saw that the battle was lost, he attempted to fly, but he was conspicuous from the splendor of his attire. His surcoat of silver, his white plume, had been noticeable in the thickest of the struggle. He was borne down by force of numbers and compelled to surrender himself prisoner. He refused to give up his sword to the traitor Bourbon, he said, I know no other duke of Bourbon but myself. He would only submit himself to L'Anneux, the appointed viceroy of Charles V. He was in a terrible condition, bleeding so as scarcely to be recognized. His plume, his girdle, his order of St. Michael, his silver coat of mail had been stripped off him by the soldiers, as they said, for keepsakes. Bourbon and the rest of the

Starting point is 07:35:39 victorious generals could scarcely refrain from tears. It was indeed a remarkable scene, only paralleled by that other tragedy of our own days when the emperor of the French surrendered his sword to the future emperor of Germany. The French army was entirely destroyed. Out of 36,000 men, 12,000 lay dead on the field. The chief among the French nobles were taken prisoner. Thomas de Foix, Montmoren, Si, and the King of Novart. From Pavia, careers hastened to Spain, Germany, England, and Rome. Francis, in sending the news to his mother, the Duchess of Angoulin said, all is lost except life and honor. When Charles V heard in Madrid that the king of France was his prisoner, he grew pale. He was overcome by the greatness of his

Starting point is 07:36:31 good fortune. He allowed no extravagant signs of rejoicing, but sought for help in prayer, and looked forward to a European crusade against the Turks. Clement the 7th received the news with dismay. He could scarcely believe it. The Colonna and the Spanish Party were triumphant. The Pope felt himself in much the same position as that in which Julius II had been after the Battle of Ravenna. The imperialists were eager to march immediately upon Rome, but Lanwa thought it better policy to make terms with Clement and to force money out of him. Florence had to pay a hundred thousand Florence, and a large sum was demanded from Venice. Charles had a dread that Francis might be taken to Naples, but the king persuaded Lanwa to conduct him to Genoa instead as being

Starting point is 07:37:21 better for his health. From this port, he would be removed by sea to Spain, and it is possible that he expected to be rescued by the fleet of Andrea Doria. He landed at Palamos in June 17th, and then proceeded to Barcelona. Charles gave orders that he should be confined in the castle of Madrid, where he arrived on August 17th. The Battle of Pavia had brought Europe into a serious crisis. France lay exhausted. England threatened her with invasion. The emperor conceived plans of attacking Lyon and Avignon. Germany was overthrown by the Reformation and by the risings of the peasants. The papacy was tottering to its fall. It was natural that Clement should favor the formation of a league against this preponderance of strength, his object being to unite the powers of

Starting point is 07:38:14 Italy, Venice, Florence, and Milan under the protection of England. Relations between England and Charles had become strained because the King of England would not consent to the emperors occupying a portion of France. Woolsey had not forgiven Charles for cheating him as he believed out of the papacy. He listened to the proposals for forming a league for the defense and liberties of Italy. The projected alliance was to include England, France, Italy, Scotland, Portugal, Hungary, Navarre, Lorenne, Childers and Switzerland. At the same time, a very obscure conspiracy was begun by Morone, the secretary of Francesco Sforza. Even after the publication of numerous documents, the whole matter remains in the greatest uncertainty. It appears that Morone invited Pescara,

Starting point is 07:39:09 the conqueror of Pavia, to commit a great act of treason, to betray Charles, restore the dukedom of Milan to the Swozzas, and to receive the kingdom of Naples as his reward. It is not certain how either Morone or Pescara was guilty in this arrangement. It is certain that they both betrayed each other to the emperor. Pescara listened to the suggestions of Morone, but said that nothing could be done without the adhesion of Venice and the Pope. He then invited Morone to a conference and had him arrested. Pescara died shortly afterwards on December 3rd, and by his last testament, ordered that Marone should be said at liberty, perhaps being afraid of the revelations which he might make.

Starting point is 07:39:57 His successor, the Marquese del Vasto, did not dare to assume the responsibility of executing his wishes. Pescara at his death was only 36 years of age. He left behind him the greatest reputation as a general. His widow, Vittoria Colonna, devoted her poetical powers to the celebration of his virtues. End of Section 29. Section 30 of the Age of the Condodiary by Oscar Browning. This Libravox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 13, The Sack of Rome, Part 3. was still a prisoner in the castle of Madrid, and it was difficult to determine on what terms he should be released. In any case, it was probable that he would remain an enemy to Charles for life.

Starting point is 07:41:00 The Duchess of Alonsohn, sister of Francis, came to Madrid in September 1525, partly to take care of her brother who had fallen ill, and partly to discuss terms of accommodation with the Emperor. The renunciation of all claims. to possessions in Italy was easily agreed upon, but Charles demanded not only the complete restitution of the Duke of Bourbon to his estates, but also the concession of all his other claims, besides the annexation of the Duchy of Burgundy by the Emperor. This Francis could not assent to. There was also some talk of the marriage of the king, who was a widower, to Eleonora's sister of Charles V, who was herself the widow, who was herself the

Starting point is 07:41:47 widow of the king of Portugal. The Duchess returned to her brother having settled nothing. The negotiations were then taken up by Gabriel de Gromont, Bishop of Tarbe. Francis offered to pay the enormous contribution of three million crowns and to marry Eleonora, giving her the Duchy of Burgundy as a dower. These terms were not accepted. Francis then abdicated in favor of the dauphin with the Duchess of Anglphins. With the Duchess Van Goulin as regent. At last, on December 19th, the terms were concluded. Francis renounced his claims to Italy, Aragon, Catalonia, Roussion, Flanders, Artois, Burgundy, and agreed to marry Eleonora. The Treaty of Madrid, as it was called, was solemnly sworn to by the King and the French Plenipotentiaries

Starting point is 07:42:41 on January 14th, 1526. But the day before, he had signed a protest declaring that he yielded to force and that his arrest was to be regarded as null and void. Charles was advised not to release Francis before he had obtained possession of Burgundy, but he ratified the treaty on February 11th and ten days afterwards returned to France, leaving behind him as hostages two of his sons, the dauphin aged 18 and a half, and the Duke of Orleon, who was underst. The Duke of Angoulin, the youngest, remained with him. Machiavelli said of this treaty,

Starting point is 07:43:24 I shall always say that if the king acts as a wise man, the emperor is mad. Francis touched the soil of France again on March 9th, and of course did not ratify the treaty. The states of Burgundy refused to detach themselves from France. Eleonora, sister of Charles V, had been promised in marriage to the Duke of Bourbon. When she became the wife of Francis I first, Bourbon was invested with the Duchy of Milan by the emperor, and Francesco Maria was deposed. The establishment of a Frenchman on an Italian throne caused great indignation in Italy. Francis, when he found himself safe in his own dominions, formed the League of Cognac on May 22, 1526. The contracting parties were France, Venice, and the Pope, but as a formality, leave was given both to Charles V and Ferdinand his brother to join if they pleased.

Starting point is 07:44:25 The object of the League was the liberation of the king's sons from Spain on payment of an adequate sum of money and the preservation of the Duchy of Milan for Sforza. The king of France was to retain the county of Asti in Italy and his ancient suzerainty over Genoa. There were two final articles, one as to the conditions under which Charles V should be allowed to retain possession of Naples, and the other intended to place Florence firmly under the principality of the Medici. This was the Second Holy League. The Pope solemnly absolved Francis from his sins, and Henry VIII of England was named protector of the League, in the hope that he would shortly join it. A Pope once more stood at the head of a league, the object of which was the enfranchisement of Italy.

Starting point is 07:45:17 Charles was surprised at this energetic resistance and sent Gagori Moncara to explain his views, and if possible to disarm his enemies. He tried his powers of persuasion on the Pope, but Clement was not willing to desert his allies. It was necessary for the success of the league that the armies of the several allies should act in strict combination, but each of the members distrusted the other. Milan was attacked, but with little success, and Sforza was compelled to surrender himself to Brubein. But a rising in Rome struck the league in its most vital part.

Starting point is 07:45:58 The old feeling of the Ghibolines for the empire was not extinct. The Colonna was against the Pope and attacked Rome. Although Clement the 7th was a far better Pope than Leo the 10th, he was much more unpopular. The Pope was forced to retire with his Swiss guard into the castle of St. Angelo, and the Vatican was left defenseless. The palace was plundered by the troops of the Colonna to the value of 300,000 ducats. The Pope could not maintain himself in the fortress of St. Angelo because it had been disarmed. He was compelled to submit, received the tiara from the hands of Moncada, made a truce with Charles, and promised to withdraw his troops.

Starting point is 07:46:43 from Lombardy. The conduct of the Pope was not calculated to stimulate the Emperor to a more active persecution of Luther. At the Diet held that Schuyer in 1526, it was determined that until a general national church assembly could be convened, each German province should practice that form of worship which the local government should sanction. While Germany was thus breaking away from the allegiance to the papacy, the Turks had become masters of Hungary. Solomon the magnificent having gained the victory of Mohatch on August 29th, 1526, in which King Louis II lost his life. Clement the 7th probably never intended to keep the truce with Charles V,

Starting point is 07:47:32 and scarcely needed the arguments of Henry and Francis to induce him to break it. On the other hand, the emperor determined upon vigorous measures. He dispatched Lanwa to Naples, whilst an army was collected in Germany under Georg Funzberg, an ardent partisan of Luther, who had done much to secure the victory of Pavia. Funzberg was a prince of Mindelsheim, the principality which after the Battle of Blenheim was given by the Emperor to the Duke of Malbara. The bulk of his army was composed of pious lancekynxts, at this time the most powerful infantry in Europe. stronger than either the French um-darm or the Swiss. They formed a kind of organized military

Starting point is 07:48:17 republic, the duties and obligations on either side being carefully drawn up and guaranteed. They were generally armed with a long lance which they carried over their shoulders and were clad in a striped dress of different colors, but their arms and uniforms were very much varied. They consisted of Schwabians, Franconians, Bavarians, and Tyroles, all of them, young, strong, and active. Frunzberg was determined to march on Rome, and it is said that he carried with him a golden cord with which he intended to hang the Pope. On November 1526, he marched over the little-known passes, lying between the Lake of Garda and the Lake of Idro, until he descended into the territory of Brescia. At the same time, L'Anois sailed to Naples and began to invade the papal territory

Starting point is 07:49:11 from the south. On December 21st, he had marched as far as Frozenone. The lancekineks came on with irresistible force. They were at one time decoyed by the Marquis of Montua into a trap, and were very nearly destroyed. Encompassed by swamps and ditches, they were attacked by the Duke of Orvino, and Giovanni de Medici, captain of the Band de Nere or black bands, but they escaped by their marvelous steadiness. They were greatly assisted by Alfonso Ducca Ferrara, who, after much hesitation, now determined to join the emperor. He sent Frunsberg money, provisions, and cannon. On November 27, Giovanni de Medici was wounded close to Governollo, by a shot from an archbuss in the same leg in which he had been wounded, two years before at Pavia. He was carried to Mantua where his leg was amputated, but he died on

Starting point is 07:50:11 December 30th in the arms of Pietro Aritino at the early age of 28. He was the great-grandson of Lorenzo, younger brother of Cosimo, Pater Patriya. His mother was Caterina Svorza. Someone has called him a mixture of hero and fawn, but he was the last hope of Italy and of the Pope. Furnsberg had reached Fierensualo between Parma and Piacenza on December 14th. Here he was joined on February 7th by the constable Bourbon, who came from Milan. Their army was now 30,000 strong, an immense force for those days. It comprised 16,000 Lonskinexts, 5,000 Spaniards, 2,000 Italians, 500 men-at-arms, and 1,000-like cavalry. A fortnight afterwards they set out on their march, their destination being either Florence or Rome.

Starting point is 07:51:11 Terror reigned in the Eternal City, and the civic militia was called out after a disuse of many years. The invading army had now reached San Giovanni in the immediate neighborhood of Bologna, when a mutiny broke out, which nearly brought the expedition to an untimely end. The soldiers were in want of arms, money, and provisions. The Spanish soldiers heard a rumor that a truce had been signed with the Pope and clamored for pay. The disorder spread to the Lansknecks. Frunzberg tried to pacify them and told them that in a month all would be well, but they would not listen and leveled their spears at him.

Starting point is 07:51:52 This broke his heart. He sank down on a drum and never spoke again. He was first carried to Ferrara and then to Augsburg, where he died a year and a half after. He was one of the greatest of the German soldiers, and in different parts of his character, resembled both Cromwell and Wallenstein. A few days after this, Clement made a truce with Charles. The emperor was to have Naples, Swarza was to be restored to Milan, and the Pope was to pay the army of Bourbon 60,000 ducats on the condition that it retired from Italy. These terms were ratified by Lanwa

Starting point is 07:52:31 and were carried by Chezzere Fierre Mosca to the army but they refused to accept them and Fierre Mosca nearly lost his life. The Spaniards said that they had committed many sins and needed to be absolved at Rome. At the end of March, the army resumed its march. Lanroix went to Florence to see what arrangements he could effect. It was agreed that 150,000 ducks should be paid to the army, and that it should retreat on receipt of the first installment.

Starting point is 07:53:04 The money was supplied by melting down church and public plate. Lanois went to visit Bourbon in person who was encamped in the Casentino, but the constable raised his demands to 240,000 ducats. It was evident that he always intended to plunder first Florence and then Rome. La Noir was so ashamed of having effected nothing that he would not returned to Florence but retired to Siena. Clement was now in great straits. When he felt certain that the march of Bourbon would be stopped, he had dismissed the bandenere and left himself defenseless. But when it became evident that the attack was inevitable,

Starting point is 07:53:46 he again joined the League of Cognac, which he had previously left. The constable now advanced to Arezzo, a position from which he could equally threaten Florence and Rome. The Duke of Urbino barred the way to Florence, but left the road to Rome open. Bourbon suddenly declared to his troops the object of his march. They marched by way of Siena, Monte Pultiano, and Monte Fiacone, reaching Viterbo on March 2nd, where they were received by the knights of St. John. They crossed the Monte Cimnio, drove the papal troops out of Ronchiliano, and encamped at Isola Farnese, the site of the ancient vion.

Starting point is 07:54:28 Véi, three hours distant from Rome. From this point, the constable sent a trumpeter to demand a free passage into the Neapolitan territory, while some lance connects attempted to cross the river in boats. The next day, May 5, 1527, the constable established his headquarters at the monastery of Santonofrio on the geniculin, the place in which were spent the last days of the poet Tasso. His army of 40,000 men now surrounded the city in a half circle, the Germans on one side, the Spaniards and Italians on the other. A council of war was held which determined on an assault. The attack began in the gray dawn of May 6th, the Germans advancing upon one side, the Spaniards and Italians on the other. They had no cannon and were forced to make their scaling ladders out of vine stakes.

Starting point is 07:55:24 The walls of the city were covered by a thick mist. Bourbon in person, his coat embroidered with silver, urged on his warriors on horseback. Soon seeing them waver, he leaped from his horse, seized a ladder, mounted it, and beckoned with his hand. A ball struck him in the stomach. He cried out, Ha! Notre Dame, I am dead. Our lady, I am dead, and fell. The Prince of Orange covered him with his clobes. and he was carried into a neighboring chapel, a dying man. Benvenuto Chilini, the famous sculptor, claims for himself the honor of having fired the fatal shot,

Starting point is 07:56:09 but the fact rests upon no other evidence than his own. The fall of their leader inspired the besieging army with a new courage, and they stormed the walls in a resistless flood. The Pope fled from the Vatican along the wooden bridge into the castle of St.angelo, covered with a bishop's mantle, and about 3,000 people took refuge in the same place. It was a misfortune for the Pope that the constable was killed. Had he lived, he would have spared the city and after exacting a large tribute marched on to Naples or Venice. As it was, the army could not be restrained. The last defense was made at the bridge of San Cisto. The victorious soldiers remained in the ranks during the day, but at midnight they broke up to plunder the city.

Starting point is 07:57:00 The sack of Rome was permitted for three days, but when Fillebert of Chalon, Prince of Orange, who had succeeded Bourbonne the command of the army, attempted to put a stop to it, he found that he was unable to do so. It continued for twelve days longer, and then only ceased because there was nothing more to rob. It was at least as great a disaster as the burning of Rome, by the Gauls or its plunder by Alaric. No persons nor property were spared. After the sack came famine, and after the famine pestilence, which lasted not for days or weeks but for months. It was impossible to pass through any street of Rome which was not crowded with dead or dying. The miserable inhabitants in vain hoped for assistance. The army of the League under the Duke of Urbino advanced

Starting point is 07:57:52 southwards by slow marches and reached Isola Farnese on May 22nd. After long consultations, they determined not to relieve the city and at the beginning of June marched back again to Viterbo. The conditions granted to the Pope were extremely hard. He agreed to pay 100,000 ducats at once, 50,000 in 20 days, and 250,000 in two months. As a pledge of fulfillment, he gave. He gave, gave up the castles of St. Angelo, Ostia, Chivita Vecchio, Chivita Castellano, Panama, Piacenza, and Madina. He promised to absolve the colonel, to remain for the present a prisoner in the castle of St. Angelo, and then to repair two Naples or Gaeta to await the decision of the emperor. Five of the noblest Romans, including two cardinals, were delivered up as hostages,

Starting point is 07:58:48 and with difficulty, escaped with their lives. In order to pay these enormous sums, Clement was reduced to the humiliation of asking Benvenuto Cellini to melt even his tiara and what was perhaps still more bitter to borrow 300,000 ducats from the Duke of Fedada. End of Section 30. Section 31 of the Age of the Condotieri by Oscar Browning. This Librovox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela. Malinagami. Chapter 14, The Fall of Florence, Part 1. We must now return to Florence, which will

Starting point is 07:59:36 remain the center of our narrative, until we have traced the first subjection of Italy to its close. The news of the sack of Rome reached Florence on May 12th. The enemies of the Medici, who were called at this time the Libertini, thought that the time had come for them to throw off the yoke. Niccolo, the son of Piero Caponi, a man of high position in the state, respected by all the citizens for his integrity and moderation, and for the services rendered to the state by his great ancestor, placed himself at their head. One of the most prominent citizens of Florence at this time was Philippo Strzzi,

Starting point is 08:00:16 a man of great wealth and great authority. He had married Clarice de Medici, the sister of Lorenzo duke of Orbino, and was therefore regarded as being in a certain sense a member of that house. Pasadini, Cardinal of Cortona, had been appointed governor of Florence in 1524 by Pope Clement the 7th. The most determined of the partisans of the Medici now urged him to act with vigor in repressing the popular movement, but he showed an entire want of courage and resolution. He hovered between the different plans proposed to him, and he was at length induced to consent to the summoning of a Pratica,

Starting point is 08:00:58 or an informal assembly of citizens to consider the condition of the state. The Pratica discussed the reopening of the great council, the creation of a Balea or committee of 20 citizens for the reform of the constitution, and the setting up of a council of 120 persons. It was understood that Ippolito and Alessandro de Merici should leave the city. Alessandro, the mulatto, and Ipolito, the son of Giuliano, Duke of Numur, then a youth of 18. Philippo Strazi was sent to the young princes to tell them that they must go and deliver up the fortresses.

Starting point is 08:01:36 His manner was stern and severe, and his orders were enforced by the violence of his wife, who poured the vials of her scorn upon Ippolito and Alessandro, whom she regarded as unworthy scions of her illustrious house. The Cardinal agreed to do everything that Stratio, desired, provided the lives of the young men were safe. Pasarini and the two Medici left the city on May 17th, accompanied by Strazi and others representing the Balea. He had orders to follow them to Pisa in order to secure the surrender of the fortress of that city, as well as the citadel of Lagorn. But at Pisa, they contrived to elude the guard of Strozzi and escape to Luca in safety without having

Starting point is 08:02:24 surrendered the fortresses. This cast a great slur on the reputation of Philippo Strazi. He became an object of suspicion to the popular government. He left Florence to take refuge at Lyon. He abandoned politics and made peace with the Pope. After the departure of the Medici, Florence was in the greatest confusion, being torn asunder by opposing factions. These were the moderate Otimati, the supporters of a tempered aristocracy, the Arabiati, who were strong Democrats, and the Partapalesca, which consisted of the open and secret partisans of the Medici. For the moment, the Otimati triumphed. They saved the town from disorder and confusion and set to work to reconstruct the government. The arms and ensigns of the Pope were pulled down, and the ancient Gilio or lily of popular liberty

Starting point is 08:03:22 set up in their place. The Otto di Balia were put an end to, and the Balia dissolved itself. On May 21st, a great council of the citizens was summoned in the hall of the Palat Sovecchio, which was attended by 2,500 persons. Not only the hall itself, but also the staircases were crowded. No such sight had been seen since the days of Savonarola. A constitution was formed, which seemed likely, to preserve the liberties of the state. A council called the Ten of Liberty and Peace, Dei di Liberti Pache, was created, and the Council of Eighty was reinstituted.

Starting point is 08:04:04 It was determined that the standard bearer should remain in office 13 months and should be elected by the Great Council. Niccolo Caponi was appointed to the office. A Quarantia or Judicial Board of 40 was established in imitation of the similar institution at Venice. The news of the capture of Rome was received with rejoicing in Germany, but with different feelings in England and France, who were afraid of the exaggerated power of Charles. With these sentiments,

Starting point is 08:04:36 Henry and France assigned a treaty at Westminster with the object of setting the Pope free. A French army under Odette de Foix, Lord of Lothraq, Marshal of France, crossed the Alps at the end of July, and in August 1527, a league was formed between France, England, Venice, Florence, and Sforza of Milan. We now see the beginning of the policy, which afterwards induced Henry to divorce Catherine of Oregon, in order to free himself completely from Spain. Charles might have made whatever terms he pleased with the Pope. He was tempted at one time to have destroyed the temporal power forever, but he sure he should rank from so strong as step. It is possible that to have established a Spanish dynasty of Italian

Starting point is 08:05:26 kings with Rome for their capital might have anticipated the work of many years. But the time was not ripe for it, and it is probable that it could not have come to pass in any other epoch but our own. On December 8, 1527, the Pope escaped from confinement and fled to Orvieto. While he thanked Charles for being allowed to exist as a monarch, his eyes naturally turned toward Francis. Florence was not altogether at peace. Caponi had many enemies, and the memory of recent woes and the revival of the great council induced the remains of the Pianioni to recall the memory of Savonarola, the monks of St. Mark, aimed at a religious revival. This would have added strength to the turbulent faction of the Arabiati, but Caponi ruled with moderation and kept both the contending parties in check.

Starting point is 08:06:22 The Pianioni, however, succeeded in proclaiming Christ, the King of Florence. At the same time, the city made preparations for the coming war. The Bandenere, the black bands, which had once obeyed Giovanni de Medici, were now reorganized by Oratio Balioni. On January 28th, 1528, the War of the League against the Emperor was solemnly proclaimed. Lotrek determined to avoid the territory of Rome and marched, as so many previous invaders had done, through the great Central Valley of Italy to Naples. Balioni, to the misfortune of Florence, led his black bands through the Campagna of Rome, and joined Lotrek at Luchera.

Starting point is 08:07:08 The imperial troops advanced southwards to oppose them, carrying with them the corpse of the Constable Bourbon in a leaden coffin. Lhotreck began the siege of Naples on May 1st, while Clement began to approach Rome, moving from Orvieto to Viterbo, from which place he dispatched Cardinal Campeje as legged to England, a memorable event in the history of our country. Italy was in a state of the deepest misery. From one end of the peninsula to the other, it was a battlefield for Spaniards, Germans, French, and Italians. All the different powers were tearing Clement asunder.

Starting point is 08:07:49 Henry VIII was suing for a divorce. If the Pope refused it, he drove the king into the arms of Luther. If he granted it, he offended the emperor. The emperor's fleet was severely defeated by Philippine. Nodoria off Capo d'Orso in the neighborhood of Sorrento. Moncara and Cheza de Fiaramosca were killed, but this victory proved the ruin of the French. Reinforcements were dispatched to the contending armies on either side. Francis Bourbon, Lord of St. Paul, led a large host in the pay of France and England,

Starting point is 08:08:28 while Archduke Ferdinand sent to the Army of the Emperor 10,000 infantry and 600 horse under the command of Henry of Brunswick. These armies engaged each other in the north of Italy, but worse than all, Andrea Doria, the great Genoese admiral, following the instincts of a condottieri, abandoned the cause of the French, and sent orders to his nephew Filipino to desist from the siege of Naples, The army of Lodrek was destroyed by pestilence. Of 25,000 infantry, there only remained 4,000. Of 800 men at arms, only 100 survived. Lotrek himself fell ill and died on August 16th. Baliano had died of a wound at Capua the month before, and was succeeded in the command of the black bands by Hugo Pepoli. The Germans said that the French had never had good fortune in Naples, and that the blood of Conradin still cried aloud for vengeance.

Starting point is 08:09:34 In October, Genoa threw off the French yoke and elected as Doge Uberto Cattinello. This change of fortune in favor of the emperor induced the Pope to make peace with him, and on October 6, 1528, he was able to return to his desolated capital. It resembled the return of Honorius after the destruction of Rome by Alaric, Out of the 85,000 inhabitants, which were numbered under Leo X, only 32,000 now remained. The Pope now began to contrive vengeance against his persecutors. He was specially enraged against Florence, which was still under the wise and moderate rule of Caponi. The arms of the Medici had been pulled down and trampled in the dust.

Starting point is 08:10:22 His nephews had been insulted, and the charge of bastardy, which had been brought against them, was equally valid against himself. Clement knew that the most acceptable bait, which could be offered to the emperor, was the reduction of Florence. Caponi entered into negotiations with Clement, but the party of the Ottimati was weak and that of the Arabiati impetuous.

Starting point is 08:10:49 The correspondence was discovered and Caponi was arrested and brought to trial. His acquittal was complete. even his enemies acknowledged the integrity of his mind and the purity of his intentions. But he felt bound to retire from Florence and sought rest in a quiet villa where he could meditate on the approaching ruin of his country. The people thronged round him as he left the city, full of sympathy and reverence for his character. Francesco Carducci, a representative of the Democratic Party, was elected Gondofaloniere in his place. End of Section 31.

Starting point is 08:11:35 Section 32 of the Age of the Condodiary by Oscar Browning. This Libra-Vox recording is in the public domain, recording by Pamela Nagami. Chapter 14, The Fall of Florence, Part 2. On June 12, 1529, the Leva, the General of the Emperor in Milan, defeated the French under San Paul in the Battle of Landriano. The result of this was to make Charles V, master of Lombardy, and peace became possible. The Treaty of Barcelona signed on June 29, 1529,

Starting point is 08:12:13 between the Emperor and the Pope, provided that Ravenna and Chervia would be taken from the Venetians, Madena, Reggio, and Rubiera from the Duke of Ferrara, and held by the Pope as imperial fiefs. The Medici were to be restored to Florence, Alessandro de Medici was to marry Margaret, the emperor's natural daughter. Charles was to suppress the reformation and come to be crowned at Rome. The Pope was to be restored to his estates and Sforza to Milan, if he should be proved to be innocent.

Starting point is 08:12:48 Charles was to be invested with the kingdom of Naples. This was followed by the peace of Cambrai between Charles and Francis, published on August 5th in the cathedral of that city. By this, Francis gave up all his rights over Italy and left Venice, Florence, and Ferrara to the vengeance of the Emperor. Filippert, Prince of Orange, the last of the House of Chalon, the principality after his death passing into the House of Nassau, was marked out as the destroyer of Florence. He collected forces and money in Rome where the soldiers were eager for the plunder of Florence, as they had already plundered Rome.

Starting point is 08:13:30 The Emperor Charles V landed at Genoa on August 12th, preceded by 2000 Spanish infantry. He was now at the height of his power and appeared to the subject world as a second Charles the Great. Florence sent ambassadors to him, four in number after the manner of the Republic, Niccolo Caponi, Tomaso Soderini, Mateo Strazi, and Rafael E. Girolami. They obtained an audience by the intervention of Andrea Doria. They begged the Emperor to preserve the liberty of their city and not to surrender them to the Medici, but he received them coolly and sent them away unconsoled.

Starting point is 08:14:14 Strazi went to Venice, Sodini to Luca. Caponi died on the way home, but he had time to send a last message to his fellow citizens, warning them of the uselessness of resistance. His advice was unheeded. Desperate attempts were made to raise money. Sacrilegious hands were laid upon the property of the church and the endowments of the guilds. Meanwhile, the Prince of Orange continued to advance. Malatest de Balioni came to terms with the Pope and delivered Perugia into his hands. The Florentines determined to make a last effort for peace by sending an embassy to the Pope.

Starting point is 08:14:54 They chose for the purpose Francesco Vettori, Andreaolo Nicolini, Jacobo Juciardini, and Pierre Francesco Portinari. They did not know what instructions to give and decided to allow them a free hand. The Pope made answer to them

Starting point is 08:15:13 that when he returned to his own home, he would show to the world that he did not desire to be tyrant of his country, but only to secure its welfare. Aretzo revolted, from Florence at the approach of Filibert and declared itself a free republic. This blow only stimulated the citizens to greater efforts. They employed the great sculptor Michelangelo Bonorati to repair their fortifications, especially on the height of San Migniato. The delicious villas and gardens,

Starting point is 08:15:43 which generations of cultured merchants had made for their delectation, were destroyed, the women themselves aiding in the work. Michelangelo visited Caponi in his last moment and heard from his lips the dying cry, To what a pass have we led our miserable country? In the first days of October 1529, the heads of the invading columns appeared in the Valdarno, wasting as they went.

Starting point is 08:16:13 The army of the Prince of Orange numbered between 30 and 40,000. The Florentines again, sent an embassy, but Philippebert demanded the restoration of the Medici and the nomination of half of the great council by the Pope. They replied that they would rather see Florence in ashes than under the Medici. The prince advanced and began to bombard the new fortifications of Michelangelo on San Miniatto from the height of Archevri. At this time, the Pope was at Bologna, awaiting the arrival of the emperor. One gleam of hope for the doomed city now illumined the scene. The emperor heard at Piacenza that John Sapolia had received the crown of Hungary from the

Starting point is 08:16:58 hands of the Sultan and that Suleiman was marching on Vienna with 250,000 Turks. For a moment, Clement moderated his terms and asked only for the adhesion of Florence to the League of Cambrai and that the Pope should be allowed to nominate ten members of the Council of 80. These hopes, however, were soon dispelled by the repulse of the Ottoman army. The emperor arrived at Bologna on November 15th. Charles knelt before Clement, as Barbarossa had knelt at Venice before Alexander III. He kissed the Pope's hand and foot and did him homage. Nearly all the Italian princes were collected together at Bologna as if to a Congress. Venice made her submission, Sforza received Milan as an imperial fief. The end of the conference was that on December 23rd,

Starting point is 08:17:52 a so-called Everlasting League was signed between the Pope, the Emperor, the King of Hungary, Venice, Milan, Montua, Savoy, and Montferra. When peace was restored, the arms of a United Europe were to turn against the Turks. The reformation was to be suppressed and the Church reformed by a council. The peace which sealed the political death of Italy was solemnly proclaimed on New Year's Day 1530 in the Church of St. Petronius. On February 24th, the lucky day of Charles, the day of his birth and of the Battle of Pavia, Charles V was crowned by the Pope after the custom of the ancient right. Two days earlier, he had been crowned king of Italy, not with the iron crown of Monsa, which was too small for him, but with the crown of the king of the Romans. Even after the humiliation of the papacy, the emperor did not disdain to hold the Pope's stirrup.

Starting point is 08:18:54 Very few Germans were present, but the pomp which accompanied the solemn cavalcade through the streets of Bologna had never been surpassed. Alessandro de Medici bore the standard of the church. Tedesino held up the papal train. Charles III of Savoy carried the emperor's cap, who wore the crown on his head. Bonifacho of Montferra held the golden scepter and Philip of Bavaria the golden ball. About a month later, Charles returned to Germany, and in June at Augsburg received the famous confession which bears the name of that city, the manifesto of the Protestant faith. A week later, the Pope returned to Rome. Clement now turned all his energies to the reduction of Florence. The city fought boldly against tremendous odds, the last bulwark of Italian liberty. She had lost many of her

Starting point is 08:19:49 greatest men, among them Caponi, but a new captain arose for her needs, strict even to severity, stern even to inhumanity, courageous even to imprudence, stubborn, even to obstinacy. This was Francesco Ferruci, the sion of an ancient family who had been brought up as a merchant. He had learnt the career of arms under the French in Italy, and had been made prisoner by the imperialists. His first exploit was the recovery of San Miniatto Al-Tidesco from the Spaniards. Still, the cause which Ferruci supported was desperate. Prato and Pistoria were abandoned in order to save Empoli, Pisa, and Lagorn. On January 26, 1530, Malates de Balioni was made captain general, and the baton of command was solemnly presented to him in the great square of the signori.

Starting point is 08:20:45 No one believed that he could prove a traitor. Feducci wrote from Empoli to congratulate the ten on his appointment. It was only in the time of their need that the Florentines found out that he had the common vice of all condottieri and of all those who fight for money and for their own advantage. Two days after the appointment of Balioni, an ambassador, came from France to counsel's submission. Abandoned by all the world they determined to put their trust in God, and Benedetto di Ferrano, after preaching in the great hall of the public palace,

Starting point is 08:21:21 gave to the gonfalonieri a standard on which was painted the figure of Christ, their king. Ferrucci now signaled himself by a brilliant feet of arms. Woltera revolted and gave herself to the Pope, but Ferruci, marching from Empoli, recovered the city, conquered. its street by street and house by house. Unfortunately, in the absence of Feducci, the more important town of Empoli was seized and paved the way for the capture of Florence. The Prince of Orange had promised to reduce the town in two months,

Starting point is 08:21:57 but the siege lingered and the Pope was at the end of his resources. He created new cardinals to obtain money. However, pestilence and famine took possession of the beleaguered city, meat became very scarce, and horses, cats, and even mice were used for food. A sortie was made on May 5th, 30 companies of citizens fought for four hours, but could not break the lines of the besieging forces. After this, the troops were counted, and they found that they had under arms 3,000 young men between 18 and 40 years of age and 2,000 between 40 and 50. rest of the army was composed of mercenary troops under the command of Malatesta.

Starting point is 08:22:44 The Council of Adi determined to continue the struggle as long as they had a crust of bread. On the night of June 20th to 21st, the Florentines made a second sortie. Stephano Colonna led the attack upon the German camp, while Malatesta prevented the Prince of Orange from marching to the rescue. The attempt failed, and Malatesta was suspected of treachery. The end was now at hand. Orders were sent to Feducci, who was then at Volterra, to go to Pisa, and from his place to attack the besieging army, while at the same time Malatesta and the Florentines would make a final sortie from the city. He reached Pisa on July 21st, passing by way of Ligorn. He got together with great difficulty, 3,000 infantry and 600 cavalry, with 10 large muskets and 20 cannon.

Starting point is 08:23:37 When ordered to make his departure, he exclaimed, We are going to death. It is said that he conceived the bold idea of marching to Rome, and forcing the Prince of Orange to raise the siege and follow him. But the ten of liberty adhered to their plan he obeyed. Marching through Luca, he met Orange on October 12th at Gavinone, in the territory of Pistaria. The two armies entered the village at the same moment. The struggle was long and fierce. The imperialists began to give way. The Prince of Orange was killed.

Starting point is 08:24:14 Feducci's soldiers raised shouts of victory, but the rearguard composed of Germans stayed the flight and changed the fortune of the battle. Feducci was taken prisoner and led before Maramaldo, who had succeeded Orange in the command. Maramaldo struck the hero with his hand, and the soldiers dispatched him. The promised sortie from Florence never took place. It is said by the treachery of Malatesta. The Florentines could number 8,000 infantry, 6,270 mercenaries, and 20 pieces of artillery. The signori and the magistrates determined on the enterprise, and with this view they received the communion in the Church of Our Lady of the Flower. But, at the last moment, Malatesta and Colonna refused to march. When the news of Feducci's death arrived, there was nothing left but to submit.

Starting point is 08:25:09 Malatesta had been already in treaty with the enemy, perhaps with the idea of preventing needless bloodshed, but also with the hope of getting back Perugia from the Pope. He was now master of the town and the citizens laid down their arms. Four ambassadors, Lorenzo Strozzi, Pierre Francesco Portinari, Bardo Altoviti, and Chacopo Morelli, concluded terms with Ferranti Gonzaga on August 12th. Florence was to pay 80,000 ducats and the whole dominion of Florence, without exception, was to be subject to such a form of government as the emperor might ordain within four months, liberty of the city being preserved. Florence had lost in the siege 8,000 citizens and 14,000 foreign soldiers. She was utterly impoverished by her efforts.

Starting point is 08:26:01 She had spent 1,200,000 ducats during the 11 months of the siege. On August 20th, Abalia of 12 citizens was elected to reorganize the Constitution, and the exiles returned to the town. Alessandro de Medici became Duke of Florence on July 6, 1530, and reigned till January 6, 1531, when he was murdered by his cousin, Lordenfer. Thus Florence fell three years after the sack of Rome. Our history ends with her as it began with her. During the 280 years we have traversed, she never played an unworthy part. She was always the home of culture and the assertor of liberty. If Rome has a superior claim to sovereignty as the widowed mistress of the world, the love and reverence of every

Starting point is 08:26:58 must turn with pious yearning toward the towers of florence end of section thirty two end of the age of the contottieri a short history of medieval italy from fourteen o nine to fifteen thirty by oscar browning

Classic Audiobook Collection - The Age of the Condottieri - A Short History of Mediaeval Italy from 1409-1530 by Oscar Browning ~ Full Audiobook [history]

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