of the Garigliano, November 9. "Here their progress was
arrested. … The seasons themselves were hostile to the
French; heavy rains set in with a constancy quite unusual in
that climate; and the French soldiers perished by hundreds in
the mud and swamps of the Garigliano. The Spanish army,
encamped near Sessa, was better supplied and better
disciplined; and at length, after two months of inaction,
Gonsalvo, having received some reinforcements, assumed the
offensive, and in his turn crossed the river. The French,
whose quarters were widely dispersed, were not prepared for
this attack, and attempted to fall back upon Gaeta; but their
retreat soon became a disorderly flight; many threw down their
arms without striking a blow; and hence the affair has
sometimes been called the rout of the Garigliano [December 29,
1503]. Peter de' Medici, who was following the French army,
perished in this retreat. … Very few of the French army
found their way back to France. Gaeta surrendered at the first
summons, January 1st, 1504. This was the most important of all
Gonsalvo's victories, as it completed the conquest of Naples.
The two attacks on Spain had also miscarried. … A truce of
five months was concluded, November 15th, which was
subsequently converted into a peace of three years."
T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 1, chapters 5-6 (volume 1).
ALSO IN:
L. von Ranke,
History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations, 1494-1514,
book 1, chapter 4,
and book 2, chapter 1.
T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
book 9, chapters 8-9 (volume 4).
M. J. Quintana,
The Great Captain
(Lives of Celebrated Spaniards)
G. P. R. James,
Memoirs of Great Commanders,
volume 1: Gonzalvez de Cordoba.
L. Larchey,
History of Bayard,
book 2.
ITALY: A. D. 1504-1506.
The Treaties of Blois.
Tortuous diplomacy of Louis XII.
His double renunciation of Naples.
"There was danger [to Louis XII. of France] that the loss of
the Milanese should follow that of the kingdom of Naples.
Maximilian was already preparing to assert his imperial rights
beyond the Alps, and Gonsalvo de Cordova was marching toward
the northern part of the peninsula. Louis XII. divided and
disarmed his enemies by three treaties, signed at Blois on the
same day (1504). By the first Louis and Maximilian agreed to
attack Venice, and to divide the spoil; by the second Louis
promised the king of the Romans 200,000 francs in return for
the investiture of the Milanese; by the third he renounced the
kingdom of Naples in favor of Maximilian's grandson Charles,
who was to marry Claude,' daughter of Louis XII., and receive
as her dowry three French provinces,—Burgundy, Brittany, and
Blois. A more disastrous agreement could not have been made.
Charles was to obtain by inheritance from his father, Philip
the Handsome, the Netherlands; from his mother, Castile; from
his paternal grandfather, Austria; from his maternal
grandfather, Aragon. And now he was assured of Italy, and
France was to be dismembered for him. This was virtually
giving him the empire of Europe. France protested, and Louis
XII. seized the first occasion to respond to her wishes. He
found it in 1505, when Ferdinand the Catholic married Germaine
de Foix, niece of Louis XII. Louis by treaty made a second
cession of his rights over the kingdom of Naples to his niece,
thus breaking one of the principal conditions of his treaty
with Maximilian. He convoked the States-General at Tours in
order openly to break the others (1506).
{1837}
The Assembly declared that the fundamental law of the state
did not permit alienations of the domains of the crown, and
besought the king to give his daughter in marriage to his heir
presumptive, Francis, Duke of Angoulême, in order to insure
the integrity of the territory and the independence of France.
Louis XII. found little difficulty in acceding to their
request. Maximilian and Ferdinand were at the time unable to
protest."
V. Duruy,
History of France,
chapter 38.
ITALY: A. D. 1508-1509.
The League of Cambrai against Venice.
The continental provinces of the Republic torn away.
See VENICE: A. D. 1508-1509.
ITALY: A. D. 1510-1513.
Dissolution of the League of Cambrai and formation of the Holy
League against France.
The French expelled from Milan and all Italy.
Restoration of the Medici.
Recovery of Venetian territories.
As the League of Cambrai began to weaken and fall in pieces,
the vigorous republic of Venice "came forth again, retook
Padua, and kept it through a long and terrible siege, at last
forcing the Emperor to withdraw and send back his French
allies. The Venetians recovered Vicenza, and threatened
Verona; Maximilian, once more powerless, appealed to France to
defend his conquests. Thus things stood [1510] when Julius II.
made peace with Venice and began to look round him for allies
against Louis XII. He negotiated with the foreign kings; but
that was only in order thereby to neutralise their influence,
sowing discord among them; it was on the Swiss mercenaries
that he really leant. Now that he had gained all he wanted on
the northern frontier of the States of the Church, he thought
that he might safely undertake the high duty of protecting
Italy against the foreigner: he would accomplish what Cæsar
Borgia had but dreamed of doing, he would chase the Barbarian
from the sacred soil of culture. … He 'thanked God,' when he
heard of the death of the Cardinal of Amboise, 'that now he
was Pope alone!' … He at once set himself to secure the
Swiss, and found a ready and capable agent in Matthew
Schynner, Bishop of Sion in the Valais. … Bishop Schynner
was rewarded for this traffic with a cardinal's hat. And now,
deprived by death of the guiding hand [of Cardinal d'Amboise],
Louis XII. began to follow a difficult and dangerous line of
policy: he called a National Council at Tours, and laid before
it, as a case of conscience, the question whether he might
make war on the Pope. The Council at once declared for the
King, distinguishing, as well they might under Julius II.,
between the temporal and the spiritual in the Papacy, and
declaring that any papal censure that might be launched would
be null and void. Above all, an appeal was made to a General
Council. … Meanwhile war went on in Italy. A broadly-planned
attack on the Milanese, on Genoa, and Ferrara, concerted by
Julius II. with the Venetians and Swiss, had come to nothing.
Now the warlike pontiff—one knows his grim face from
Raphael's picture, and his nervous grasp of the arms of his
chair, as though he were about to spring forward into
action—took the field in person. At Bologna he fell ill; they
thought he would die; and Chaumont of Amboise was marching up
with the French at his heels to surround and take him there.
But by skilful treating with the French general Julius gained
time, till a strong force of Venetians had entered Bologna.
Then the Pope rose from his sick-bed, in the dead of winter,
1511, and marched out to besiege Mirandola," which
capitulated. "Bayard soon after attacked him, and all but took
him prisoner. A congress at Mantua followed: but the Pope
sternly refused to make terms with the French: the war must go
on. Then Louis took a dangerous step. He convoked an
ecclesiastical council at Pisa, and struck a medal to express
his contempt and hatred for Julius II. … The Pope had gone
back to Rome, and Bologna had opened her gates to the French;
the coming council, which should depose Julius, was proclaimed
through Northern Italy. But, though the moment seemed
favourable, nothing but a real agreement of the European
powers could give success to such a step. And how far men were
from such an agreement Louis was soon to learn; for Julius,
finding that the French did not invade the States of the
Church, resumed negociations with such success that in October
1511 a 'Holy League' was formed between the Pope, Venice,
Ferdinand of Aragon, and Henry VIII. of England. Maximilian
wavered and doubted; the Swiss were to be had—on payment. At
first Louis showed a bold front; in spite of this strange
whirl of the wheel of politics from the League of Cambrai to
the Holy League, he persevered, giving the command of Milan to
his nephew, Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours, a man of 23
years, the most promising of his younger captains. He relieved
Bologna, seized Brescia, and pillaged it [1512]; and then
pushed on to attack Ravenna; it is said that the booty of
Brescia was so great that the French soldiers, having made
their fortunes, deserted in crowds, and left the army much
weakened. With this diminished force Gaston found himself
caught between the hostile walls of Ravenna, and a relieving
force of Spaniards, separated from him only by a canal. The
Spaniards, after their usual way of warfare, made an
entrenched camp round their position. The French first tried
to take the city by assault; but being driven back, determined
to attack the Spanish camp." They made the assault [on Easter
Day, 1512] and took the camp, with great slaughter; but in his
reckless pursuit of the retreating enemy Gaston de Foix was
slain. "The death of the young Prince more than balanced the
great victory of the day: for with Gaston, as Guicciardini
says, perished all the vigour of the French army. … Though
Ravenna was taken, the French could no longer support
themselves. Their communications with Milan were threatened by
the Swiss: they left garrisons in the strong places and fell
back. The council of Pisa also had to take refuge at Milan.
When the Swiss came down from their mountain-passes to restore
the Sforza dynasty, the harassed council broke up from Milan,
and fled to Lyons; there it lingered a while, but it had
become contemptible; anon it vanished into thin air. The Pope
retook Bologna, Parma, Piacenza; the Medici returned to
Florence [see FLORENCE: A. D. 1502-1569]; Maximilian Sforza
was re-established [see MILAN: A. D. 1512], while the Grisons
Leagues received the Valteline as their reward: the English
annoyed the coast without any decisive result. … Ferdinand
seized Navarre, which henceforward became Spanish to the
Pyrenees.
{1838}
Before winter, not one foot of Italian soil remained to the
French. Julius II., the formidable centre of the Alliance,
died at this moment (1513). … The allies secured the
election of a Medicean Pope, Leo X., a pontiff hostile to
France, and certain not to reverse that side of his
predecessor's policy. … Louis, finding himself menaced on
every side, suddenly turned about and offered his friendship
to Venice. … Natural tendencies overbore all resentments on
both sides, and a treaty between them both guaranteed the
Milanese to Louis and gave him a strong force of Venetian
soldiers. Meanwhile, Ferdinand had come to terms with
Maximilian and boyish Henry VIII., who … had framed a scheme
for the overthrow of France. The French king, instead of
staying at home to defend his frontiers, was eager to retake
Milan, and to join hands with the Venetians. … But the Swiss
round Maximilian Sforza defended him without fear or
treachery; and catching the French troops under La Trémoille
in a wretched position not far from Novara, attacked and
utterly defeated them (1513). The French withdrew beyond the
Alps; the Venetians were driven off with great loss by the
Spaniards, who ravaged their mainland territories down to the
water's edge. For the short remainder of his life Louis XII.
had no leisure again to try his fortunes in Italy: he was too
busy elsewhere."
G. W. Kitchin,
History of France,
volume 2, book 2, chapter 3.
ALSO IN:
P. Villari,
Life and Times of Machiavelli,
book 1, chapters 12-14 (volume 3).
M. Creighton,
History of the Papacy,
book 5, chapters 15-16 (volume 4).
L. von Ranke,
History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations
from 1494 to 1514,
book 2, chapter 3.
Sir R. Comyn,
History of the Western Empire,
chapters 37-38 (volume 2).
L. Larchey,
History of Bayard,
book 2, chapters 21-44.
H. E. Napier,
Florentine History,
book 2, chapter 9 (volume 4).
ITALY: A. D. 1515-1516.
Invasion and reconquest of Milan by Francis I.
His treaty with the Pope.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1515; and 1515-1518.
ITALY: A. D. 1516-1517.
Abortive attempt against Milan by the Emperor, Maximilian.
His peace with Venice and surrender of Verona.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1516-1517.
ITALY: A. D. 1520-1542.
Early Reformation movements
and their want of popular support.
The Council of Trent.
See PAPACY: A. D. 1537-1563.
ITALY: A. D. 1521-1522.
Re-expulsion of the French from Milan.
The treason of the Constable Bourbon.
His appointment to the command of the Imperial army.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1520-1523.
ITALY: A. D. 1523-1527.
The double dealings of Pope Clement VII.
Invasion of Milanese by Francis I. and his defeat and capture
at Pavia.
The Holy League against Charles V.
The attack on Rome by Constable Bourbon.
Giulio de' Medici, natural son of Guiliano de' Medici, and
cousin of Leo X., had succeeded Adrian VI. in the Papacy in
1523, under the name of Clement VII. "Nothing could have been
more unfortunate than the new Pope's first steps on the
zig-zag path which he proposed to follow. Becoming alarmed at
the preponderating power of Charles [the Fifth, Emperor, King
of Spain and Naples; Duke of Burgundy, and ruler of all the
Netherlands, in 1524 be entered into a league with Francis
[the First, king of France];
See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1496-1526;
and GERMANY: A. D. 1519.
but scarcely had this been concluded when the memorable battle
of Pavia resulting in the entire defeat of the French, on the
24th of February, 1525, and the captivity of the French king,
frightened him back again into seeking anew the friendship of
Charles, in April of that year.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1523-1525
Each of these successive treaties was of course duly sworn to
and declared inviolable; but it could hardly be expected that
he who exercised the power of annulling other men's oaths
would submit to be bound by his own, when the observance of
them became inconvenient. Clement accordingly was not
prevented by the solemn treaty of April, 1525, from conspiring
against his new ally in the July following. The object of this
conspiracy was to induce Ferdinando Francesco d'Avalos,
Marquis of Pescara, who commanded the army of Charles V.
before Milan, to revolt against his sovereign, and join the
Italians in an attempt to put an end for ever to Spanish sway
in Italy. … But the Spanish general had no sooner secured
clear evidence of the plans of the conspirators, by pretending
to listen to their proposals, than he reported the whole to
Charles. The miscarriage of this scheme, and the exposure
consequent upon it, necessarily threw the vacillating and
terrified Pontiff once more into the arms of Francis. 'The
Most Christian'—as the old Italian historians often
elliptically call the Kings of France—obtained his release
from his Madrid prison by promising on oath, on the 17th of
January, 1526, all that Charles, driving a hard bargain, chose
to demand of him.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1525-1526.
And Clement hastened to prove the sincerity of his renewed
friendship by a professional contribution to the success of
their new alliance, in the welcome shape of a plenary
absolution from all observance of the oaths so sworn. … On
the 22nd of May following [at Cognac], the Pope entered into a
formal league with Francis [called 'Holy' for the reason that
the Pope was a party to it]. Venice joined her troops to those
of the Ecclesiastical States, and they marched together to the
support of the Milanese, who had risen in revolt against the
Emperor. Assistance had also been promised by Henry of
England, who had stipulated, however, that he should not be
named as a party to the alliance, but only considered as its
protector. This was the most strenuous and most united attempt
Italy had yet made to rid herself of the domination of the
stranger, and patriotic hopes beat high in several Italian
hearts. … It may be easily imagined that the 'Most Catholic'
monarch [Charles V.] felt towards Clement at this time in a
manner which led him to distinguish very nicely between the
infallible head of the universal Church and the sovereign of
the Ecclesiastical States. … Though he retained the utmost
respect and reverence for the vicegerent of heaven, he thought
that a little correction administered to the sovereign of Rome
would not be amiss, and nothing could be easier than to find
means ready to his hand for the infliction of it. The Colonnas
were of course ready for a rebellion on the slightest
encouragement. … So when Don Ugo di Moncada, Charles's
general at Naples, proposed to the Colonnas to join him in a
little frolic at Clement's expense, the noble and most
reverend members of that powerful family jumped at the
proposal. … The united forces of the Viceroy and the
Colonnas accordingly one morning entered Rome, altogether
without opposition, and marched at once to the Vatican.
{1839}
They completely sacked, not only the Pope's palace, and the
residences of many gentlemen and prelates, but also, says the
historian [Varchi], 'with unheard-of avarice and impiety,'
robbed the sacristy of St. Peter of everything it contained.
Clement had barely time to escape into the castle of St.
Angelo; but as he found there neither soldiers nor ammunition,
nor even food for above three days, … he consented to a
treaty by which the Pope agreed to pardon the Colonnas freely
for all they had done against him; to take no steps to revenge
himself on them; to withdraw his troops from Lombardy; and to
undertake nothing in any way, or under any pretext, against
the Emperor." As a hostage for the fulfilment of this treaty,
Pope Clement gave his dear friend Filippo Strozzi; but no
sooner was he delivered from his captors than he hired seven
"black companies" of adventurers and 2,000 Swiss, and began a
furious war of extermination upon the Colonnas and all their
dependents. At the same time he wrote private letters to the
heads of his "Holy League," "warning them to pay no heed to
any statement respecting a treaty made by him with the
Emperor, and assuring them of his intention to carry on the
war with the utmost energy." A little later, however, this
remarkable Holy Father found it convenient to make another
treaty with the Viceroy of Naples, for the release of his
friend Strozzi, which bound him still more to friendly
relations with the Emperor. This latter treaty, of March,
1527, "would seem in some sort to imply the reconciliation
once again of the Pope and the Emperor." But Charles had
already set forces in motion for the chastisement of the
faithless Pope and his allies, which either he could not or
did not care to arrest. "The Constable Bourbon, whom the gross
injustice of Francis I., and the intolerable persecution of
his infamous mother, Louise de Savoie, had driven to abandon
his country and allegiance [see FRANCE: A. D. 1520-1523], …
was now … marching southwards, with the imperial troops, to
chastise the different members of the League against the
Emperor, which Clement, as has been seen, had formed. George
Frundsberg, a German leader of reputation, had also crossed
the Alps with 15,000 men,—'all Lutherans and Lanzknechts,' as
the Italians write with horror and dismay,—and had joined
these forces to the Spaniards under Bourbon. … The combined
force was in all respects more like a rabble rout of brigands
and bandits than an army; and was assuredly such as must, even
in those days, have been felt to be a disgrace to any
sovereign permitting them to call themselves his soldiers.
Their pay was, as was often the case with the troops of
Charles V., hopelessly in arrear, and discipline was of course
proportionably weak among them. … The progress southward of
this bandit army … filled the cities exposed to their inroad
with terror and dismay. They had passed like a destroying
locust swarm over Bologna and Imola, and crossing the
Apennines, which separate Umbria from Tuscany, had descended
into the valley of the Arno not far from Arezzo. Florence and
Rome both trembled. On which would the storm burst? That was
the all-absorbing question. Pope Clement, with his usual
avarice-blinded imbecility, had, immediately on concluding the
above-mentioned treaty with the Neapolitan viceroy, discharged
all his troops except a body-guard of about 600 men. Florence
was nearly in as defenceless a position"; but a small army of
the League, under the Duke of Urbino, was at Incisa, and it
was "probably the presence of this army, little as it had
hitherto done to impede the progress of the enemy, which
decided Bourbon eventually to determine on marching towards
Rome. It seems doubtful how far they were in so doing,
executing the orders, or carrying out the wishes, of the
Emperor. … Upon the whole we are warranted in supposing that
Bourbon and Frundsberg would hardly have ventured on the
course they took, if they had not had reason to believe that
it would not much displease their master. … On the 5th of
May [1527] Bourbon arrived beneath the walls of Rome. … On
the evening of the 6th of May the city was stormed and given
over to the unbridled cupidity and brutality of the soldiers.
… Bourbon himself had fallen in the first moments of the
attack."
T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
book 10, chapter 3 (volume 4).
ALSO IN:
T. A. Trollope,
Filippo Strozzi,
chapter 7.
W. Robertson,
History of the Reign of Charles V.,
book 4 (volume 2).
L. von Ranke,
History of the Reformation in Germany,
book 4, chapters 1-3.
ITALY: A. D. 1527.
The Sack of Rome by the Spanish and German Imperialists.
"Bourbon fell at the first assault; but by evening the Vatican
suburb was in the hands of the enemy. Clement, who was even
best informed of the state of things, had not anticipated such
an issue. He scarcely saved himself by flight from the Vatican
to the castle of St. Angelo, whither the fugitive population
hurried, as the shipwrecked crew of an entire fleet hastens to
a single boat which cannot receive them. In the midst of the
thronging stream of men, the portcullis was lowered. Whoever
remained without was lost. Benvenuto Cellini was at that time
in Rome, and was among the defenders of the walls. He boasted
that his ball had destroyed Bourbon. He stole fortunately into
the citadel, before it was closed, and entered the Pope's
service as bombardier. Even at this last moment, Clement might
have saved Rome itself, which, situated on the opposite shore
of the river, had not yet been entered by the enemy. They
offered to spare it for a ransom; but finding this too high,
and awaiting hourly Urbino's army, to which, though nothing
was yet to be seen of it, he looked as a deliverer in the time
of need, he would hear nothing of it. And thus the undefended
city fell into the hands of the imperialists. Almost without
resistance they entered Trastevere, a small quarter of the
city lying to the west of the Tiber; and then crossing the
bridges, which no one had demolished, they pressed forwards
into the heart of Rome. It was the depth of the night.
Benvenuto Cellini was stationed on the tower of the castle of
St. Angelo, at the foot of the colossal angel, and saw the
flames bursting forth in the darkness, and heard the sorrowful
cry all around. For it was late before the soldiers began to
cast off all restraint. They had entered quietly. The Germans
stood in battalions. But when they saw the Spaniards broken up
and plundering, the desire was aroused in them also; and now a
spirit of emulation appeared, as to which nation could outdo
the other in cruelty. The Spaniards, it is asserted by
impartial Italians, carried the day.
{1840}
There had been no siege, no bombardment, no flight of any
great extent; but as if the earth had opened, and had
disgorged a legion of devils, so suddenly came these hosts.
Everything was in a moment abandoned to them. We must
endeavour to conceive what kind of men these German soldiers
were. They formed an intermediate class between the prime and
the refuse of the people. Gathered together by the hope of
booty, indifferent what end was assigned them, rendered wild
by hunger and tardy pay, left without a master after the death
of their commander, they found themselves unrestrained in the
most luxurious city of the world—a city abounding with gold
and riches, and at the same time decried for centuries in
Germany, as the infernal nest of the popes, who lived there as
incarnate devils, in the midst of their Babylonian doings. The
opinion that the pope of Rome, and Clement VII. in particular,
was the devil, prevailed not only in Germany, but in Italy and
in Rome the people called him so. In the midst of plague and
famine he had doubled the taxes and raised the price of bread.
What with the Romans, however, was an invective arising from
indignation, was an article of faith among the Germans. They
believed they had to do with the real antichrist, whose
destruction would be a benefit to Christendom. We must
remember, if we would understand this fury of the German
soldiery, in whose minds, as in those of all Germans, Lutheran
ideas at that time prevailed, how Rome had been preached and
written upon in the north. The city was represented to people
as a vast abyss of sin; the men as villains, from the lowest
up to the cardinals; the women as courtesans; the business of
all as deceit, theft, and murder; and the robbing and deluding
of men that had for centuries been emanating from Rome, was
regarded as the universal disease from which the world was
languishing. Thither for centuries the gold of Germany had
flowed; there had emperors been humbled or poisoned; from Rome
every evil had sprung. And thus, while satiating themselves
with rapine and murder, they believed a good work was being
done for the welfare of Christendom, and for the avenge of
Germany. Never, however—this we know—does the nature of man
exhibit itself more beast-like, than when it becomes furious
for the sake of ideas of the highest character. Before the
castle of St. Angelo, which, carefully fortified with walls
and fosses, alone afforded resistance, the German soldiers
proclaimed Martin Luther as pope. Luther's name was at that
time a war-cry against pope and priestcraft. The rude
multitude surmised not what Luther desired when he attacked
the papacy. In front of St. Peter's church, they represented
an imitation of the papal election with the sacred garments
and utensils. They compelled one priest to give extreme
unction to a dying mule. One protested that he would not rest
until he had consumed a piece of the pope's flesh. It is true,
Italians for the most part relate this, but the German reports
themselves do not deny the excessive barbarity which was
permitted. Ten millions of precious metal was carried away.
How much blood did this money involve, and what was done to
those from whom it was taken? Fewer were put to death than
were plundered, says one of the records, but what does that
imply? It is true, the Germans often quarrelled with the
Spaniards, because the horrors which they saw them practise
were too terrible for them. Otherwise the sparing of human
life was less an act of clemency than of covetousness.
Prisoners of war were at that time regarded as slaves; they
were carried away as personal property, or a ransom was
extorted. … This system was carried to a great pitch in
Rome. The possessors of palaces were obliged to purchase their
ransom, the Spanish cardinals as well as the Italian—no
difference was made. Thus at least escape was possible. …
And as the people were treated, so were the things. Upon the
inlaid marble floor of the Vatican, where the Prince of Orange
took up his abode—the command of the army devolving upon him
after Bourbon's death—the soldiers lighted their fire. The
splendid stained glass windows, executed by William of
Marseilles, were broken for the sake of the lead. Raphael's
tapestries were pronounced excellent booty; in the paintings
on the walls the eyes were put out; and valuable documents
were given as straw to the horses which stood in the Sistine
Chapel. The statues in the streets were thrown down; the
images of the Mother of God in the churches were broken to
pieces. For six months the city thus remained in the power of
the soldiery, who had lost all discipline, Pestilence and
famine appeared. Rome had more than 90,000 inhabitants under
Leo X.; when Clement VII. returned a year after the conquest,
scarcely a third of that number then existed—poor, famished
people, who had remained behind, because they knew not whither
to turn. All this lay on the conscience of the man who now for
months had been condemned to look down upon this misery from
the castle of St. Angelo, in which the Spaniards held him
completely blockaded, and where pestilence and want of
provisions appeared just as much as down below in Rome. At
last, after waiting day after day, he saw Urbino's army
approaching from afar: their watch-fires were to be perceived;
and every moment he expected that the duke would attack and
deliver the city. But he moved not. It is thought he intended
now to avenge the rapine which the Medici under Leo. X. had
carried on against him. … After having rested for some time
in sight of the city, in which the imperialists had opened
their intrenchments round the castle of St. Angelo for a
regular siege, he withdrew back again to the north, and left
the pope to his fate."
H. Grimm,
Life of Michael Angelo,
chapter 10, section 3 (volume 2).
ALSO IN:
Benvenuto Cellini,
Life,
translated by J. A. Symonds,
book 1, sections 34-38 (volume 1).
Benvenuto Cellini,
Life,
translated by T. Roscoe,
chapter 7.
J. S. Brewer,
The Reign of Henry VIII.,
chapter 25 (volume 2).
ITALY: A. D. 1527-1529.
Siege and captivity of the Pope.
New league against the Emperor.
French invasion and disastrous siege of Naples.
Genoese independence recovered.
Treaties of Barcelona and Cambrai.
Francis renounces all pretensions beyond the Alps.
Charles V. supreme.
Shut up in Castle St. Angelo, the Pope, Clement VII.,
"deprived of every resource, and reduced to such extremity of
famine as to feed on asses' flesh, was obliged to capitulate
on such conditions as the conquerors were pleased to
prescribe. He agreed to pay 400,000 ducats to the army; to
surrender to the emperor all the places of strength belonging
to the Church; and, besides giving hostages, to remain a
prisoner himself until the chief articles were performed. …
The account of this extraordinary and unexpected event was no
less surprising than agreeable to the emperor.
{1841}
But in order to conceal his joy from his subjects, who were
filled with horror at the success and crimes of their
countrymen, and to lessen the indignation of the rest of
Europe, he declared that Rome had been assaulted without any
order from him. He wrote to all the princes with whom he was
in alliance, disclaiming his having had any knowledge of
Bourbon's intention. He put himself and court into mourning;
commanded the rejoicings which had been ordered for the birth
of his son Philip to be stopped; and, employing an artifice no
less hypocritical than gross, he appointed prayers and
processions throughout all Spain for the recovery of the
pope's liberty, which, by an order to his generals, he could
have immediately granted him. … Francis and Henry [of France
and England], alarmed at the progress of the imperial arms in
Italy, had, even before the taking of Rome, entered into a
closer alliance; and, in order to give some check to the
emperor's ambition, had agreed to make a vigorous diversion in
the Low Countries. The force of every motive which had
influenced them at that time was now increased; and to these
was added the desire of rescuing the pope out of the emperor's
hands, a measure no less politic than it appeared to be pious.
This, however, rendered it necessary to abandon their hostile
intentions against the Low Countries, and to make Italy the
seat of war. … Besides all … public considerations, Henry
was influenced by one of a more private nature: having begun,
about this time, to form his great scheme of divorcing
Catharine of Aragon, towards the execution of which he knew
that the sanction of papal authority would be necessary, he
was desirous to acquire as much merit as possible with
Clement, by appearing to be the chief instrument of his
deliverance. … Henry … entered so eagerly into this new
alliance, that, in order to give Francis the strongest proof
of his friendship and respect, he formally renounced the
ancient claim of the English monarchs to the crown of France,
which had long been the pride and ruin of the nation; as a
full compensation for which he accepted a pension of 50,000
crowns, to be paid annually to himself and his successors. The
pope, being unable to fulfil the conditions of his
capitulation, still remained a prisoner. … The Florentines
no sooner heard of what had happened at Rome, than they ran to
arms … and, declaring themselves a free state, reëstablished
their ancient popular government.
See FLORENCE: A. D.1502-1569.
The Venetians, taking advantage of the calamity of their ally,
the pope, seized Ravenna, and other places belonging to the
church, under pretext of keeping them in deposite." On the
other hand, Lannoy, Charles' viceroy at Naples, "marched to
Rome, together with Moncada and the Marquis del Guasto, at the
head of all the troops which they could assemble in the
kingdom of Naples. The arrival of this reinforcement brought
new calamities on the unhappy citizens of Rome; for the
soldiers, envying the wealth of their companions, imitated
their license, and with the utmost rapacity gathered the
gleanings which had escaped the avarice of the Spaniards and
Germans. There was not now any army in Italy capable of making
head against the imperialists." But the troops who had enjoyed
months of license and riotous pillage in Rome could not be
brought back to discipline, and refused to quit the perishing
city. They had chosen for their general the Prince of Orange,
who "was obliged to pay more attention to their humours than
they did to his commands. … This gave the king of France and
the Venetians leisure to form new schemes, and to enter into
new arrangements for delivering the pope, and preserving the
liberties of Italy. The newly-restored republic of Florence
very imprudently joined with them, and Lautrec … was …
appointed generalissimo of the league. … The best troops in
France marched under his command; and the king of England,
though he had not yet declared war against the emperor,
advanced a considerable sum towards carrying on the
expedition. Lautrec's first operations [1527] were prudent,
vigorous and successful. By the assistance of Andrew Doria,
the ablest sea-officer of that age, he rendered himself master
of Genoa, and reëstablished in that republic the faction of
the Fregosi, together with the dominion of France. He obliged
Alexandria to surrender after a short siege, and reduced all
the country on that side of the Tessino. He took Pavia, which
had so long resisted the arms of his sovereign, by assault,
and plundered it with … cruelty. … But Lautrec durst not
complete a conquest which would have been so honourable to
himself and of such advantage to the league. Francis … was
afraid that, if Sforza were once reëstablished in Milan, they
[his confederates] would second but coldly the attack which he
intended to make on the kingdom of Naples. … Happily the
importunities of the pope and the solicitations of the
Florentines, the one for relief, and the other for protection,
were so urgent as to furnish him with a decent pretext for
marching forward. … While Lautrec advanced slowly towards
Rome, the emperor" came to terms with the pope, and Clement
obtained his liberty at the cost of 350,000 crowns, a tenth of
the ecclesiastical revenues of Spain, and an agreement to take
no part in the war against Charles. The latter next made
overtures to the French king, offering some relaxation of the
treaty of Madrid; but they were received in a manner that
irritated even his cold temper. He, in turn, provoked his
antagonist, until a ridiculous exchange of defiances to
personal combat passed between them. Meantime "Lautrec
continued his operations, which promised to be more decisive.
His army, which was now increased to 35,000 men, advanced by
great marches towards Naples." The remains of the imperial
army retreated, as he advanced, from Rome, where it had held
riot for ten months, and took shelter behind the
fortifications of the Neapolitan capital. Lautrec undertook
(April, 1528) the siege of Naples, with the co-operation of
the Genoese admiral, Doria, who blockaded its port. But he was
neglected by his own frivolous king, and received little aid
from the Pope, the king of England, or other confederates of
the league. Moreover, Doria and the Genoese suffered treatment
so insolent, oppressive and threatening, from the French court
that the former opened negotiations with the emperor for a
transfer of his services. "Charles, fully sensible of the
importance of such an acquisition, granted him whatever terms
he required.
{1842}
Doria sent back his commission, together with the collar of
St. Michael, to Francis, and, hoisting the imperial colours,
sailed with all his galleys towards Naples, not to block up
the harbour of that unhappy city, as he had formerly engaged,
but to bring them protection and deliverance. His arrival
opened the communication with the sea, and restored plenty in
Naples, which was now reduced to the last extremity; and the
French … were soon reduced to great straits for want of
provisions." With the heat of summer came pestilence; Lautrec
died, and the wasted French army, attempting to retreat, was
forced to lay down its arms and march under guard to the
frontiers of France. "The loss of Genoa followed immediately
upon the ruin of the army in Naples." Doria took possession of
the town; the French garrison in the citadel capitulated
(September 12, 1528), and the citadel was destroyed. "It was
now in Doria's power to have rendered himself the sovereign of
his country, which he had so happily delivered from
oppression." But he magnanimously refused any preeminence
among his fellow citizens. "Twelve persons were elected to
new-model the constitution of the republic. The influence of
Doria's virtue and example communicated itself to his
countrymen; the factions which had long torn and ruined the
state seemed to be forgotten; prudent precautions were taken
to prevent their reviving; and the same form of government
which hath subsisted with little variation since that time in
Genoa, was established with universal applause." In Lombardy,
the French army, under St. Pol, was surprised, defeated and
ruined at Landriano (June, 1529), as completely as the army in
Naples had been a few months before. All parties were now
desirous of peace, but feared to seem too eager in making
overtures. Two women took the negotiations in hand and carried
them to a conclusion. "These were Margaret of Austria,
dutchess dowager of Savoy, the emperor's aunt, and Louise,
Francis's mother. They agreed on an interview at Cambray, and,
being lodged in two adjoining houses, between which a
communication was opened, met together without ceremony or
observation, and held daily conferences, to which no person
whatever was admitted." The result was a treaty signed August
5, 1529, known as the Peace of Cambray, or "the Ladies'
Peace," or "Peace of the Dames." By its terms, Francis was to
pay 2,000,000 crowns for the ransom of his sons; restore such
towns as he still held in the Milanese; resign and renounce
his pretensions to Naples, Milan, Genoa, and every other place
beyond the Alps, as well as to Flanders and Artois; and
consummate his marriage with the emperor's sister, Eleanora.
On the other hand, the emperor only agreed not to press his
claims on Burgundy, for the present, but reserved them, in
full force. Another treaty, that of Barcelona, had already, in
1529, been concluded between the emperor and the pope. The
former gave up the papal states which he occupied, and agreed
to reëstablish the dominion of the Medici in Florence; besides
giving his natural daughter in marriage to Alexander, the head
of that family. In return he received the investiture of
Naples, absolution for all concerned in the plundering of
Rome, and the grant to himself and his brother of a fourth of
the ecclesiastical revenues throughout their dominions.
W. Robertson,
History of the Reign of Charles V.,
books 4-5.
ALSO IN:
F. P. Guizot,
Popular History of France,
chapter 28.
C. Coignat,
Francis I. and his Times,
chapter 9.
G. B. Malleson,
Studies from Genoese History,
chapter 1.
ITALY: (Southern): A. D. 1528-1570.
Naples under the Spanish Viceroys.
Ravages of the Turks along the coast.
Successful revolt against the Inquisition.
Unsuccessful French invasion under Guise.
"After the memorable and unfortunate expedition of Lautrec, in
1528, Philibert of Chalons, Prince of Orange, who commanded
the Imperial army, exercised the severest vengeance [in
Naples] on the persons and estates of all those nobles who had
joined the French, or who appeared to demonstrate any
attachment towards that nation. … These multiplied … acts
of oppression received no effectual redress during the short
administration [1529-1532] of Cardinal Colonna, who succeeded
to the Prince of Orange. … In the place of Cardinal Colonna
was substituted Don Pedro de Toledo, who governed Naples with
almost unlimited powers, during the space of near 21 years.
His viceroyalty, which forms a memorable Epocha in the annals
of the country, demands and fixes attention. We are impressed
with horror at finding, by his own confession, … that during
the progress of his administration, he put to death near
18,000 persons, by the hand of the executioner. Yet a fact
still more extraordinary is that Giannoné, himself a
Neapolitan, and one of the ablest as well as most impartial
historians whom the 18th century has produced, not only
acquits, but even commends Toledo's severity, as equally
wholesome and necessary," on account of the terrible
lawlessness and disorder which he found in the country. "The
inflexible and stern character of the viceroy speedily
redressed these grievances, and finally restored order in the
capital. … All the provinces experienced equal attention,
and became the objects of his personal inspection. The
unprotected coasts of Calabria and of Apulia, subject to the
continual devastation of the Turks, who landed from their
gallies, were fortified with towers and beacons to announce
the enemy's approach. … Repeated attempts were made by
Solyman II., Emperor of the Turks, either alone or in
conjunction with the fleets of France, to effect the conquest
of Naples, during this period: but the exertions of Toledo
were happily attended with success in repulsing the Turkish
invaders. … In no part of the middle ages … were the
coasts of Naples and Sicily so frequently plundered, ravaged,
and desolated, as at this period. Thousands of persons of both
sexes, and of all conditions, were carried off by Barbarossa,
Dragut, Sinan, and the other Bashaws, or admirals of the
Porte. Not content with landing on the shores and ravaging the
provinces, their squadrons perpetually appeared in sight of
Naples; laid waste the islands of Ischia and Procida, situate
in its immediate vicinity; attacked the towns of Pouzzoli and
Baiæ; and committed every outrage of wanton barbarity. … The
invasion of 1552, when Dragut blocked up the harbour of
Naples, with 150 large gallies, during near four weeks, spread
still greater consternation; and if the fleet of France had
arrived, as had been concerted, it is more than probable that
the city must have fallen into their hands. But the delays of
Henry II., Solyman's ally, proved its preservation. The
Turkish admiral, corrupted by a present of 200,000 ducats,
which the Viceroy found means of conveying to him, retired and
made sail for Constantinople. …
{1843}
The administration of Toledo … was … completely subverted
from the moment that he attempted [1546] to introduce the
Inquisition. … The Neapolitans, patient under every other
species of oppression, instantly revolted. … They even
forgot, in the general terror, the distinction of ranks; and
the Barons united with their fellow-citizens to oppose that
formidable tribunal. The Viceroy, returning to the capital,
reinforced by 3,000 veteran Spaniards, determined
nevertheless, to support the measure. Hostilities took place,
and the city, during near three months, was abandoned to
anarchy, while the inhabitants, having invested the castle,
besieged their governor. … The Emperor, convinced by
experience of the impracticability of success in his attempt,
at length desisted." Toledo died in 1553, and "was succeeded
by the Cardinal Pacheco, as Viceroy; and the abdication of
Charles V., in the following year, devolved on his son Philip
II. the sovereignty of Naples. Alarmed at the preparations
made by Henry II., King of France, in conjunction with Paul
IV., who had newly ascended the papal throne, Philip
dispatched Ferdinand, Duke of Alva, to the aid of his
Neapolitan subjects; and to the vigorous measures embraced by
him on his arrival was due the safety of the kingdom.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1547-1559.
… The administration of the Duke of Alcala, to whom Philip
delegated the supreme power soon after the recall of Alva
[1558], lasted near 12 years, and was marked by almost every
species of calamity."
Sir N. W. Wraxall,
History of France, 1574-1610,
chapter 9 (volume 2).
"The march of the Mareschal of Lautrec was the last important
attempt of the French to reconquer Naples. … Spain remained
in possession of this beautiful country for two centuries. …
Their [the Spaniards'] ascendancy was owing as well to an iron
discipline as to that inveterate character of their race, the
firmness of purpose which had gradually developed itself in
the long struggle for the country which they wrenched inch by
inch from their tenacious enemies. The Neapolitans found that
they had in the Spaniards different rulers from the French."
A. de Reumont,
The Carafas of Maddaloni:
Naples under Spanish Dominion,
book 1.
ITALY: A. D. 1529.
Siege of Florence by the Imperial forces.
Reinstatement of the Medici.
See FLORENCE: A. D. 1502-1569.
ITALY: A. D. 1530-1600.
Under the Spanish domination, and the Papacy of the
Counter-Reformation.
The Inquisition.
The Jesuits.
The Vice-regal rule.
Deplorable state of the country.
"It will be useful, at this point, to recapitulate the net
results of Charles's administration of Italian affairs in
1530. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with the island of
Sardinia and the Duchy of Milan, became Spanish provinces, and
were ruled henceforth by viceroys. The House of Este was
confirmed in the Duchy of Ferrara, including Modena and
Reggio. The Duchies of Savoy and Mantua and the Marquisate of
Montferrat, which had espoused the Spanish cause, were
undisturbed. Genoa and Siena, both of them avowed allies of
Spain, the former under Spanish protection, the latter subject
to Spanish coercion, remained with the name and empty
privileges of republics. Venice had made her peace with Spain,
and though she was still strong enough to pursue an
independent policy, she showed as yet no inclination, and had,
indeed, no power, to stir up enemies against the Spanish
autocrat. The Duchy of Urbino, recognised by Rome and
subservient to Spanish influence, was permitted to exist. The
Papacy once more assumed a haughty tone, relying on the firm
alliance struck with Spain. This league, as years went by, was
destined to grow still closer, still more fruitful of results.
Florence alone had been excepted from the articles of peace.
It was still enduring the horrors of the memorable siege when
Clement left Bologna at the end of May. … Finally, on August
12, the town capitulated. Alessandro de' Medici, who had
received the title of Duke of Florence from Charles at
Bologna, took up his residence there in July 1531, and held
the State by help of Spanish mercenaries under the command of
Alessandro Vitelli. … Though the people endured far less
misery from foreign armies in the period between 1530 and 1600
than they had done in the period from 1494 to 1527, yet the
state of the country grew ever more and more deplorable. This
was due in the first instance to the insane methods of
taxation adopted by the Spanish viceroys, who held monopolies
of corn and other necessary commodities in their hands, and
who invented imposts for the meanest articles of consumption.
Their example was followed by the Pope and petty princes. …
The settlement made by Charles V. in 1530, and the various
changes which took place in the duchies between that date and
the end of the century, had then the effect of rendering the
Papacy and Spain omnipotent in Italy. … What they only
partially effected in Europe at large, by means of S.
Bartholomew massacres, exterminations of Jews in Toledo and of
Mussulmans in Granada, holocausts of victims in the Low
Countries, wars against French Huguenots and German Lutherans,
naval expeditions and plots against the state of England,
assassinations of heretic princes, and occasional burning of
free thinkers, they achieved with plenary success in Italy.
… It is the tragic history of the eldest and most beautiful,
the noblest and most venerable, the freest and most gifted of
Europe's daughters, delivered over to the devilry that issued
from the most incompetent and arrogantly stupid of the
European sisterhood, and to the cruelty, inspired by panic, of
an impious theocracy. When we use these terms to designate the
Papacy of the Counter-Reformation, it is not that we forget
how many of those Popes were men of blameless private life and
serious views for Catholic Christendom. When we use these
terms to designate the Spanish race in the sixteenth century,
it is not that we are ignorant of Spanish chivalry and
colonising enterprise, of Spanish romance, or of the fact that
Spain produced great painters, great dramatists, and one great
novelist in the brief period of her glory. We use them
deliberately, however, in both cases; because the Papacy at
this period committed itself to a policy of immoral,
retrograde, and cowardly repression of the most generous of
human impulses under the pressure of selfish terror; because
the Spaniards abandoned themselves to a dark fiend of
religious fanaticism; because they were merciless in their
conquests and unintelligent in their administration of
subjugated provinces; because they glutted their lusts of
avarice and hatred on industrious folk of other creeds within
their borders; because they cultivated barren pride and
self-conceit in social life; because at the great epoch of
Europe's reawakening they chose the wrong side and adhered to
it with fatal obstinacy. …
{1844}
After the year 1530 seven Spanish devils entered Italy. These
were the devil of the Inquisition, with stake and
torture-room, and war declared against the will and soul and
heart and intellect of man; the devil of Jesuitry, with its
sham learning, shameless lying, and casuistical economy of
sins; the devil of vice-royal rule, with its life-draining
monopolies and gross incapacity for government; the devil of
an insolent soldiery, quartered on the people, clamorous for
pay, outrageous in their lusts and violences; the devil of
fantastical taxation, levying tolls upon the bare necessities
of life, and drying up the founts of national well-being at
their sources; the devil of petty-princedom, wallowing in
sloth and cruelty upon a pinchbeck throne; the devil of
effeminate hidalgoism, ruinous in expenditure, mean and
grasping, corrupt in private life, in public ostentatious,
vain of titles, cringing to its masters, arrogant to its
inferiors. In their train these brought with them seven other
devils, their pernicious offspring: idleness, disease,
brigandage, destitution, ignorance, superstition,
hypocritically sanctioned vice. These fourteen devils were
welcomed, entertained, and voluptuously lodged in all the
fairest provinces of Italy. The Popes opened wide for them the
gates of outraged and depopulated Rome. … After a tranquil
sojourn of some years in Italy, these devils had every where
spread desolation and corruption. Broad regions, like the
Patrimony of S. Peter and Calabria, were given over to
marauding bandits; wide tracts of fertile country, like the
Sienese Maremma, were abandoned to malaria; wolves prowled
through empty villages round Milan; in every city the
pestilence swept off its hundreds daily; manufactures,
commerce, agriculture, the industries of town and rural
district, ceased; the Courts swarmed with petty nobles, who
vaunted paltry titles, and resigned their wives to cicisbei
and their sons to sloth; art and learning languished; there
was not a man who ventured to speak out his thought or write
the truth; and over the Dead Sea of social putrefaction
floated the sickening oil of Jesuitical hypocrisy."
J. A. Symonds,
Renaissance in Italy: The Catholic Reaction,
part 1, chapter 1.
ITALY: A. D. 1536-1544.
French invasion of Piedmont.
French and Turkish siege of Nice.
Turkish ravages on the coast.
The Treaty of Crespy.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1532-1547.
ITALY: A. D. 1545-1556.
Creation of the duchy of Parma and Placentia,
under the rule of the House of Farnese.