See PARMA: A. D. 1545-1592.
ITALY: A. D. 1559-1580.
End of the French occupation of Savoy and Piedmont.
The notable reign of Emanuel Philibert.
See SAVOY AND PIEDMONT: A. D. 1559-1580;
and FRANCE: A. D. 1547-1559.
ITALY: A. D. 1559-1600.
Peace without Prosperity.
Foreign and domestic Despotism.
Exhaustion and helplessness of the country.
"From the epoch of the treaty of Château Cambresis [1559] to
the close of the 16th century, Italy remained, in one sense,
in profound and uninterrupted peace. During this long period
of 41 years, her provinces were neither troubled by a single
invasion of foreign armies, nor by any hostilities of
importance between her own feeble and nerveless powers. But
this half century presented, nevertheless, anything rather
than the aspect of public happiness and prosperity. Her
wretched people enjoyed none of the real blessings of peace.
Subject either to the oppressive yoke of their native despots,
or to the more general influence of the arch-tyrant of Spain,
they were abandoned to all the exactions of arbitrary
government, and compelled to lavish their blood in foreign
wars and in quarrels not their own. While France, torn by
religious and civil dissensions, sank for a time from her
political station among the powers of the continent, and was
no longer capable of affording protection or exciting
jealousy, Philip II. was left free to indulge in the peninsula
all the obdurate tyranny of his nature. … The popes were
interested in supporting his career of bigotry and religious
persecution; the other powers of Italy crouched before him in
abject submission. To feed the religious wars, in which he
embarked as a principal or an accessory, in the endeavour to
crush the protestant cause in France, in the Low Countries,
and in Germany, he drained Italy of her resources in money and
in men. … While the Italian soldiery fought with the courage
of freemen, they continued the slaves of a despot, and while
the Italian youth were consumed in transalpine warfare, their
suffering country groaned under an iron yoke, and was
abandoned a prey to the unresisted assaults of the infidels.
Her coasts, left without troops, or defences in fortifications
and shipping, were insulted and ravaged by the constant
descents of the corsairs of Turkey and Barbary. Her maritime
villages were burnt, her maritime population dragged off into
slavery; and her tyrants, while they denied the people the
power of defending themselves, were unable or careless also to
afford them protection and safety."
G. Procter,
History of Italy,
chapter 9.
ITALY: A. D. 1569.
Creation of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
See FLORENCE: A. D. 1502-1569.
ITALY: A. D. 1597.
Annexation of Ferrara to the States of the Church.
See PAPACY: A. D. 1597.
ITALY: A. D. 1605-1607.
Venice under the guidance of Fra Paolo Sarpi.
Successful contest of the Republic with the Papacy.
See VENICE: A. D. 1606-1607;
and PAPACY: A. D. 1605-1700.
ITALY: A. D. 1620-1626.
The Valtelline War.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1624-1626.
ITALY: A. D. 1627-1631.
Disputed succession to the Duchy of Mantua.
War of France with Spain, Savoy and the Emperor.
"About Christmas in the year 1627, Vincenzo II., Duke of
Mantua, of the house of Gonzaga, died without issue. His next
of kin, beyond all controversy, was Charles Gonzaga, Duke of
Nevers, whose family had settled in France some fifty years
before, and acquired by marriage the dukedoms of Nevers and
Rethel. Although there was a jealousy on the part both of
Austria and Spain that French influences should be introduced
into Upper Italy, there seems to have been no intention, in
the first instance, of depriving Charles of his Italian
inheritance. … But … when the old Duke Vincenzo's days
were evidently numbered, Charles's son, the young Duke of
Rethel, by collusion with the citizens, arrived at Mantua to
seize the throne which in a little while death would make
vacant."
{1845}
At the same time, he took from a convent in the city a young
girl who represented whatever claims might exist in the direct
native line, and married her, the pope granting a
dispensation. "Both the King of Spain and the Emperor … were
incensed by conduct which both must needs have regarded as
indicative of hostility, and the latter as an invasion of his
feudal rights. Spain flew to arms at once. The emperor
summoned the young duke before his tribunal, to answer the
charges of having seized the succession without his
investiture, and married his ward without his consent. …
Charles, supported by the promises of Richelieu, refused to
acknowledge the emperor's rights of superiority, or to submit
to his jurisdiction."
B. Chapman,
History of Gustavus Adolphus,
chapter 8.
"The emperor … sequestered the disputed territory, and a
Spanish army invaded Montferrat [embraced in the dominions of
the Duke of Mantua] and besieged Casale, the capital. Such was
the paramount importance attached by Richelieu to his
principle of opposition to the house of Austria, that he
induced Louis to cross the Alps in person with 36,000 men, in
order to establish the Duke of Nevers in his new possessions.
The king and the cardinal forced the pass of Susa in March,
1629, in spite of the Duke of Savoy, who was another
competitor for Montferrat, and so decisive was the superiority
of the French arms that the duke immediately afterward signed
a treaty of peace and alliance with Louis, by which he
undertook to procure the abandonment of the siege of Casale
and the retreat of the Spaniards into their own territory.
This engagement was fulfilled, and the Duke of Nevers took
possession of his dominions without farther contest. But the
triumph was too rapid and easy to be durable."
N. W. Jervis,
Students' History of France,
chapter 19.
"The Spaniards remained, however, in Milaness, ready to burst
again upon the Duke of Mantua. The king was in a hurry to
return to France, in order to finish the subjugation of the
Reformers in the south, commanded by the Duke of Rohan. The
cardinal placed little or no reliance upon the Duke of Savoy.
… A league … was formed between France, the republic of
Venice, the Duke of Mantua, and the Duke of Savoy, for the
defence of Italy in case of fresh aggression on the part of
the Spaniards; and the king, who had just concluded peace with
England, took the road back to France. Scarcely had the
cardinal joined him before Privas when an Imperialist army
advanced into the Grisons and, supported by the celebrated
Spanish general Spinola, laid siege to Mantua. Richelieu did
not hesitate: he entered Piedmont in the month of March, 1630,
to march before long on Pignerol, an important place
commanding the passage of the Alps; it, as well as the
citadel, was carried in a few days. … The Duke of Savoy was
furious, and had the soldiers who surrendered Pignerol cut in
pieces. The king [Louis XIII.] had put himself in motion to
join his army. … The inhabitants of Chambéry opened their
gates to him; Annecy and Montmélian succumbed after a few
days' siege; Maurienne in its entirety made its submission,
and the king fixed his quarters there, whilst the cardinal
pushed forward to Casale [the siege of which had been resumed
by Spinola] with the main body of the army. Rejoicings were
still going on for a success gained before Veillane over the
troops of the Duke of Savoy, when news arrived of the capture
of Mantua by the Imperialists. This was the finishing blow to
the ambitious and restless spirit of the Duke of Savoy. He saw
Mantua in the hands of the Spaniards, 'who never give back
aught of what falls into their power' … ; it was all hope
lost of an exchange which might have given him back Savoy; he
took to his bed and died on the 26th of July, 1630, telling
his son that peace must be made on any terms whatever." A
truce was arranged, followed by negotiations at Ratisbon, and
Casale was evacuated by both parties—the Spaniards having
had possession of the city, while the citadel was held by the
French. "It was only in the month of September, 1631, that the
states of Savoy and Mantua were finally evacuated by the
hostile troops. Pignerol had been given up to the new Duke of
Savoy, but a secret agreement had been entered into between
that prince and France: French soldiers remained concealed in
Pignerol; and they retook possession of the place in the name
of the king, who had purchased the town and its territory, to
secure himself a passage into Italy. … The affairs of the
emperor in Germany were in too bad a state for him to rekindle
war, and France kept Pignerol."
F. P. Guizot,
Popular History of France,
chapter 41.
"The peace left all parties very nearly in the condition in
which they were when the war began; the chief loser was the
emperor, who was now compelled to acknowledge De Nevers as
Duke of Mantua and Montserrat; and the chief gainer was the
Duke of Savoy, whose territories were enlarged by the addition
of Alba, Trino, and some portions of the territory of
Montserrat which lay nearest to his Piedmontese dominions.
France; too, made some permanent acquisitions to compensate
her for the cost of the war. She eluded the stipulation which
bound her to evacuate Casal, and Victor Amedée subsequently
suffered her to retain both that fortress and Pignerol, such
permission, as was generally believed, … having furnished
the secret reason which influenced Richelieu to consent to the
duke's obtaining the portion of Montserrat already mentioned,
the cardinal thus making the Duke of Mantua furnish the
equivalent for the acquisitions made by Louis."
C. D. Yonge,
History of France under the Bourbons,
chapter 7 (volume 1).
ITALY: A. D. 1631.
Annexation of Urbino to the States of the Church.
See PAPACY: A. D. 1605-1700.
ITALY: A. D. 1635.
Italian alliances of Richelieu against the Spaniards in Milan.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1634-1639.
ITALY: A. D. 1635-1659.
Invasion of Milanese by French and Italian armies.
Civil war and foreign war in Savoy and Piedmont.
The extraordinary siege of Turin.
Treaty of the Pyrenees.
Restoration of territory to Savoy.
"Richelieu … having obtained the alliance of the Dukes of
Savoy, Parma, and Mantua, and having secured the neutrality of
the Republics of Venice and Genoa, now bent all his efforts to
expel the Spaniards from Milan, which was at that time but
weakly defended. … In 1635, a French army of 15,000 men was
accordingly assembled in Dauphiny, and placed under the
command of Mareschal Crequi. Having crossed the Alps, it
formed a junction with 8,000 troops under the Duke of Parma,
and 12,000 under the Duke of Savoy, to whom the supreme
command of this formidable army of 35,000 men was entrusted.
{1846}
Such a force, if properly employed, ought to have proved
sufficient to overwhelm the Dutchy of Milan, in its present
unprotected condition. … But the confederates were long
detained by idle disputes among themselves, their
licentiousness and love of plunder." When they did advance
into Milanese, their campaign was ineffective, and they
finally "separated with mutual disgust," but "kept the field,
ravaging the open and fertile plains of Milan. They likewise
took possession of several towns, particularly Bremi, on the
Po. … On hearing of the distress of Milan, the King of Spain
took immediate steps for the relief of that bulwark of his
Italian power. In 1636 he appointed to its government Diego
Guzman, Marques of Leganez, who was a near relative of
Olivarez. … He had not long entered on the government
intrusted to him when he succeeded in expelling the enemy from
every spot in Milan, with exception of Bremi, which they still
retained. Milan having been thus delivered, Leganez
transferred the theatre of war to the States of the Duke of
Parma, and completely desolated those fertile regions,"
compelling the Duke to renounce his French alliance (1637).
"The Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus, did not long survive these
events; and it was strongly suspected, both in Spain and
Italy, though probably on no just grounds, that he had been
poisoned. … The demise of the Duke of Mantua occurred nearly
about the same period; and on the decease of these two
princes, the Court of Spain used every exertion to detach
their successors from the French confederacy. Its efforts
succeeded, at least to a certain extent, with the
Dutchess-dowager of Mantua. … But the Dutchess of Savoy, …
being the sister of Louis XIII., could not easily be drawn off
from the French interests. Olivarez [the Spanish minister],
despairing to gain this princess, excited by his intrigues the
brothers of the late Duke [Cardinal Maurice and Prince Thomas]
to dispute with her the title to the regency." Leganez, now
(1638) laid siege to Bremi, and Marshal Crequi, in attempting
to relieve the place, was killed by a cannon shot. "By the
loss of Bremi, the French were deprived of the last receptacle
for their supplies or forces in the Dutchy of Milan; and in
consequence of the death of Crequi, they had now no longer any
chief of their own nation in Italy. The few French nobility
who were still in the army returned to their own country, and
the soldiery dispersed into Montferrat and Piedmont. Leganez,
availing himself of this favourable posture of affairs,
marched straightway into Piedmont, at the head of an army of
20,000 men. … He first laid siege to Vercelli, which, from
its vicinity to Milan, had always afforded easy access for the
invasion of that dutchy, by the French and Savoyards." A new
French army, of 13,000 men, under Cardinal La Valette, was
sent to the relief of the place, but did not save it from
surrender. "After the capture of Vercelli, the light troops of
Leganez ravaged the principality of Piedmont as far as the
gates of Turin."
J. Dunlop,
Memoirs of Spain, from 1621 to 1700,
volume 1, chapter 4.
Fabert and Turenne were now sent from France to the assistance
of La Valette, "and soon changed the aspect of affairs.
Turenne aided powerfully in driving back Leganez and Prince
Thomas from Turin, in seizing Chivasso and in organizing a
decisive success." In November, 1639, the French, through want
of provisions, were forced to retreat to Carignano, repelling
an attack made upon them in the course of the retreat. The
command was now handed over to Turenne, "with instructions to
revictual the citadel of Turin, which was defended by French
troops against Prince Thomas, who had gained most of the town.
Turenne succeeded … in conveying food and munitions into the
citadel. In the following spring d'Harcourt [resuming command]
undertook to relieve Casale, which belonged to the Duke of
Mantua. … The place was besieged by Leganez." The attempt
succeeded, the besieging army was beaten, and the siege
raised. "After the relief of Casale d'Harcourt resolved, on
the advice of Turenne, to besiege Turin. The investment was
made on the 10th May, 1640. This siege offered a curious
spectacle; the citadel which the French held was besieged by
Prince Thomas, who held the town. He himself was besieged by
the French army, which in its turn was besieged in its lines
of circumvallation by the Spanish army of Leganez. The place
capitulated on the 17th September. … Prince Thomas
surrendered; Leganez recrossed the Po; Marie Christine [the
Dowager-Duchess] re-entered Turin; and d'Harcourt, being
recalled to France by the cardinal, left the command of the
army to Turenne."
H. M. Hozier,
Turenne,
chapter 2.
"The fall of Turin did not put an end to the civil war, but
its main exploits were limited to the taking of Cuneo by
Harcourt (September 15th, 1641), … and of Revel, which was
reduced by the Piedmontese troops who fought on the French
side. … In the meantime the Regent, no less than her
opponents, began to grow weary of the burdensome protection of
their respective allies. … Under such circumstances, a
reconciliation between the hostile parties became practicable,
and was indeed effected on the 24th of July, 1642. The Princes
were admitted to a share of the Regent's power, and from that
time they joined the French standard, and took from the
Spaniards most of the places they had themselves placed in
their hands. … In the meanwhile the great agitator of
Europe, Richelieu, had died (1642), and had been followed by
the King, Louis XIII., five months later. … The struggle
between the two great rival powers, France and Spain, scarcely
interrupted by the celebrated peace of Westphalia, which put
an end to the Thirty Years' War in the North, in 1648,
continued throughout the greatest part of this period; but the
rapid decline of Spain, the factions of Alessio in Sicily and
of Massaniello in Naples, as much paralysed the efforts of the
Court of Madrid as the disorders of the Fronde weakened that
of Paris. The warlike operations in North Italy were languid
and dull. The taking of Valenza by the French (September 3rd,
1656) is the greatest event on record, and even that [was]
void of results. By the treaty of the Pyrenees (November 17th,
1059) Savoy was restored to her possessions, and Vercelli was
evacuated by the Spaniards. The citadel of Turin had been
given up by the French two years before, owing to the
influence of Mazarin, who married on that occasion his niece
Olimpia Mancini to Eugene Maurice, son of Thomas, Prince of
Carignano, and first cousin to Charles Emanuel II. From that
union, it is well known, was born in Paris, in 1663, Prince
Eugene of Savoy.
{1847}
The French nation were highly displeased at the loss of the
Turin citadel, and never forgave the Cardinal this mere act of
just and tardy restitution. Pinerola and Perosa, however,
still remained in their hands, and placed the Court of Turin
entirely at their discretion. During all this lapse of years,
and until the latter end of the century, the history of
Piedmont presents but a melancholy blank."
A. Gallenga,
History of Piedmont,
volume 3, chapter 2.
ITALY: A. D. 1646-1654.
French hostility to the Pope.
Siege of Orbitello.
Masaniello's revolt at Naples.
French intrigue and failures.
"The war [of France and Spain] in Italy had for some years
languished, but hostility to the Pope [on the election of
Innocent X., which Cardinal Mazarin, then supreme in France,
had opposed] stirred it again into life. New vessels were
fitted out for the navy, and large preparations were made for
the invasion of Italy. … On April 26, 1646, the expedition
set sail, and on the 9th of May it cast anchor off the
important city of Orbitello. The fleet consisted of 156 sail,
and was expected to land 10,000 men, and Mazarin wrote that
all Italy was in terror. The ships were commanded by the Duke
of Brézé, and no more skilful or gallant leader could have
been found. … The command of the land forces was, however,
entrusted to a leader whose deficiencies more than
counterbalanced Brézé's skill. Mazarin desired an Italian
prince to lead his expedition, and Prince Thomas of Savoy had
been chosen for the command. … Fearing that disease would
come with the hot weather, Mazarin urged Prince Thomas to
press forward with the siege. But the most simple advances
seemed beyond his skill. … A severe misfortune to the navy
made the situation worse. In a sharp and successful engagement
with the Spanish fleet, a cannon ball struck and killed the
Duke of Brézé. His death was more disastrous than would have
been the loss of 20 sail. The French fleet retired to Provence
and left the sea open to the Spanish. Sickness was fast
reducing the army on land, and on July 18th Prince Thomas
raised the siege, which was no further advanced than when it
was begun, and led back the remains of his command to
Piedmont. … So mortifying an end to this expensive venture
only strengthened Mazarin's resolution to make his power felt
in Italy. The battered ships and fever-wasted soldiers were
scarcely back in Provence, when the minister began to prepare
a second expedition for the same end. … By September a fleet
of 200 sail, with an army of 8,000 men commanded by the
Marshals of La Meilleraie and Du Plessis, was under way. The
expedition was conducted with skill and success. Orbitello was
not again attacked, but Porto Longone, on the island of Elba,
and Piombino, on the mainland, both places of much strategic
importance, were captured after brief sieges. With this result
came at once the change in the feelings of Innocent X. for
which Mazarin had hoped," and certain objects of the latter's
desire—including a cardinal's hat for his brother
Michael—were brought within his reach. His attention was now
turned to the more southerly portion of the peninsula. "During
the expedition to Orbitello in 1646, Mazarin had closely
watched Naples, whose coming revolution he foresaw. The
ill-suppressed discontents of the city now showed themselves
in disturbances, sudden and erratic as the eruptions of
Vesuvius, and they offered to France an opportunity for
seizing the richest of the remaining possessions of Spain.
After the vicissitudes of centuries, Naples and Sicily were
now subject to the Spanish crown. They were governed by a
viceroy, and were subjected to the drain of men and money
which was the result of Spain's necessities and the
characteristic of her rule. Burdened with taxation, they
complained that their viceroy, the Duke of Arcos, was sending
to Spain money raised solely for their own defence. The
imposition of a duty on fruits, in a country where fruit
formed a cheap article of diet for the poor, and where almost
all were poor, kindled the long smouldering discontent. Under
the leadership of a fisherman [Tommaso Aniello], nicknamed
Masaniello, the people of Naples in 1647 rose in revolt.
Springing from utter obscurity, this young man of
twenty-seven, poor and illiterate, became powerful almost in a
day. While the Duke of Arcos hid himself away from the revolt,
Masaniello was made Captain-General of Naples. So sudden a
change turned his head. At first he had been bold, popular,
and judicious. He sought only, he said, to deliver the people
from their taxes, and when that was done, he would return
again to selling soles and red mullets. But political delirium
seized him when he reached an elevation which, for him, was as
dizzy as the throne of the Roman emperors, and like some who
reached that terrible eminence, his brain was crazed by the
bewilderment and ecstasy of power. He made wild and incoherent
speeches. He tore his garments, crying out against popular
ingratitude, attacking groups of passers-by, riding his horse
wildly through the multitude, and striking with his lance to
the right and left. The populace wearied of its darling.
Exalted to power on July 7th, he was murdered on the 16th,
with the approval of those who had worshipped him a week
before. But the revolution did not perish with him. Successive
chiefs were chosen and deposed by a fickle people. When the
insurrection was active, the representatives of Spain promised
untaxed fruits and the privileges allowed by Charles V., and
they revoked their promises when it appeared to subside. In
the meantime, Mazarin watched the movement, uncertain as to
the course he should pursue. … While the minister hesitated,
the chance was seized by one who was never accused of too
great caution." This was the Duke of Guise—the fifth Henry of
that Dukedom—a wild, madcap young nobleman, who accepted an
invitation from the Neapolitan insurgents to become their
chief. Guise landed at Naples on the 15th of November, 1647,
with half a dozen attendants, and a month later he was
followed by a French fleet. But the latter did nothing, and
Guise was helplessly without means. "The truth was that
Mazarin, even if desirous of crippling the Spaniards, was very
averse to assisting Guise. He believed that the duke either
desired to form a republic, of which he should be chief, or a
monarchy, of which he should be king, and neither plan was
agreeable to the cardinal." At the end of a fortnight the
fleet sailed away. Guise held his ground as the leader of the
revolt until the following April, when certain of the
Neapolitan patriots, corrupted by the enemy, betrayed the city
into the hands of the Spaniards.
{1848}
"Guise endeavored, with a handful of followers, to escape
towards Capua, but they were captured by a detachment of
Spaniards. … By the petition of powerful friends, and by the
avowal of France, Guise was saved from the public execution
which some of his enemies demanded, but he was presently taken
to Spain, and there was kept a prisoner during four years."
Meantime, Mazarin had prepared another expedition, which
appeared before Naples in the summer of 1648, but only to
discover that the opportunity for deriving any advantage from
the popular discontent in that city was past. "Receiving no
popular aid, the expedition, after some ineffective endeavors,
was abandoned." Six years afterwards, in 1654, Mazarin sent a
third expedition to Naples, and entrusted it to the command of
the Duke of Guise, who had lately been released from his
captivity in Spain. "Guise hoped that the Neapolitans would
rise in revolt when it was known that their former leader was
so near, but not a person in the city showed any desire to
start a movement in behalf of the Duke of Guise. The Spanish
met him with superior forces." After some slight encounters
the expedition sailed back to France.
J. B. Perkins,
France under Mazarin,
chapter 8 (volume 1),
and chapter 16 (volume 2).
ALSO IN:
A. De Reumont,
The Carafas of Maddaloni:
Naples under Spanish Dominion,
book 3.
F. Midon,
Rise and Fall of Masaniello.
Mrs. H. R. St. John,
Masaniello of Naples.
H. G. Smith,
Romance of History,
chapter 1.
ITALY: A. D. 1648.
The Peace of Westphalia.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1648.
ITALY: A. D. 1701-1713.
Savoy and Piedmont.
The War of the Spanish Succession.
The Peace of Utrecht.
"Compelled to take part, with one of the contending parties
[in the War of the Spanish Succession—see SPAIN: A. D.
1698-1700, and 1701-1702], Victor [Duke of Savoy] would have
been prompted by his interest to an alliance with Austria; but
he was beset on all sides by the combined forces of France and
Spain, and was all the more at their mercy as Louis XIV. had
(April 5th, 1701) obtained from Ferdinand Gonzaga of Mantua
permission to garrison his capital, in those days already one
of the strongest places in Italy. The Duke of Savoy had
already, in 1697, married his daughter, Adelaide, to one of
Louis's grandsons, the Duke of Burgundy; he now gave his
younger daughter, Mary Louise, to Burgundy's brother, the new
King of Spain (September 11th, 1701), and took the field as
French commander-in-chief. He was opposed by his own cousin,
Prince Eugene, at the head of the Imperial armies. The war in
Lombardy was carried on with some remissness, partly owing to
the natural repugnance or irresolution of the Duke of Savoy,
partly to the suspicion with which, on that very account, he
was looked upon by Catinat and Vaudemont, the French and
Spanish commanders under him. The King, in an evil hour,
removed his able marshal, Catinat, and substituted for him
Villeroi, a carpet knight and court warrior, who committed one
fault after another, allowed himself to be beaten by Eugene at
Chiari (September 1st), and to be surprised and taken prisoner
at Cremona (1702, January 21st), to the infinite relief of his
troops. Vendôme restored the fortunes of the French, and a
very brilliant but undecisive action was fought at Luzzara
(August 15th), after which Prince Eugene was driven from the
neighbourhood of Mantua, and fell back towards the mountains
of Tyrol. With the success of the French their arrogance
increased, and with their arrogance the disgust and ill-will
of Victor Amadeus." The Duke withdrew from the camp and began
to listen to overtures from the Powers in the Grand Alliance.
"Report of the secret intercourse of the Duke with Austrian
agents reached Louis XIV., who sent immediate orders to
Vendôme to secure and disarm the Piedmontese soldiers (3,800
to 6,000 in number) who were fighting under French standards
at Mantua. This was achieved by treachery, at San Benedetto,
on the 29th of September, 1703. An attempt to seize the Duke
himself, whilst hunting near Turin, miscarried. Savoy
retaliated by the arrest of the French and Spanish
ambassadors, and war was declared (October 5th). The moment
was ill-chosen. Victor had barely 4,000 men under his orders.
The whole of Savoy was instantly overrun; and in Piedmont
Vercelli, Ivrea, Verrua, as well as Susa, Bard, and Pinerolo,
and even Chivasso, fell into the enemy's hands during the
campaigns of 1704 and 1705. In the ensuing year the tide of
invasion reached Nice and Villafranca; nothing was left to
Victor Amadeus but Cuneo and Turin, and the victorious French
armies appeared at last under the very walls of the capital
(March, 1706). The war had, however, been waged with different
results beyond the Alps, where the allies had crushed the
French at Blenheim (1704) and at Ramillies (1705). One of the
heroes of those great achievements, Prince Eugene, now
hastened to the rescue of his cousin. He met with a severe
check at Cassano (August 16th, 1705), and again at Calcinato
(April 19th, 1706); but his skilful antagonist, Vendôme, was
called away to Flanders, and Prince Eugene so out-manœuvred
his successors as to be able to join Victor at Turin. The
French had begun the siege of this place on the 13th of May,
1706. They had between 50,000 and 60,000 men, and 170 pieces
of artillery with them." When Prince Eugene, early in
September, reached the neighborhood of Turin, he concerted
with Victor Amadeus an attack on the investing army which
destroyed it completely. "Its relics withdrew in awful
disorder towards Pinerolo, pursued not only by the victorious
troops but also by the peasantry, who, besides attachment to
their princes, obeyed in this instance an instinct of revenge
against the French, who had barbarously used them. Out of
50,000 or 60,000 men who had sat down before Turin in March,
hardly 20,000 recrossed the Alps in September. Three of the
French generals lay dead on the field; … 6,000 prisoners
were marched through the streets of the liberated town, and 55
French banners graced the main altar of the cathedral. In the
following year, Victor and Eugene, greatly against their
inclination, were induced by the allies to undertake an
expedition against Toulon, which, like all previous invasions
of Provence, led to utter discomfiture, and the loss of 10,000
combatants (1707, July 1st to September 1st). An attack upon
Briançon, equally undertaken against the sound judgment of the
Duke of Savoy, in 1708, led to no better results; but Savoy
won back Exilles, Perosa, Fenestrelles, and, one by one, all
the redoubts with which during those wars the Alps were
bristling.
{1849}
The war slackened in Italy, and the fates of Europe were
decided in the Netherlands. … By the Peace of Utrecht [A. D.
1713] France renounced to Savoy all the invaded territories,
and, besides, the valleys of Oulx, Cesanne, Bardonneche, and
Castel Delfino, ancient possessions of Dauphiny, east of the
Alps, from the 12th century, whilst, for her own part, Savoy
gave up the western valley of Barcellonette; thus the limits
between the two nations (with the exception of Savoy and Nice)
were at last fixed on the mountain-crest, at 'the parting of
the waters.' By virtue of an agreement signed with Austria,
November 8th, 1703, the whole of Montferrat, as well as
Alessandria, Valenza, Lomellina, and Val Sesia, dependencies
of the duchy of Milan, and the imperial fiefs in the Langhe
(province of Alba), were ceded to Savoy."
A. Gallenga,
History of Piedmont,
volume 3, chapter 2.
ALSO IN:
Colonel G. B. Malleson,
Prince Eugene of Savoy,
chapters 5, and 7-9.
H. Martin,
History of France: Age of Louis XIV.,
volume 2, chapters 5-6.
W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapters 68, 69, 73-75, 77 (volume 2-3).
See, also,
UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.
ITALY: A. D. 1713-1714.
Milan, Naples and Sardinia ceded to the House of Austria and
Sicily to the Duke of Savoy.
See UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.
ITALY: A. D. 1715-1735.
Ambitions of Elizabeth Farnese, the Spanish queen.
The Austro-Spanish conflict.
The Quadruple Alliance.
Acquisition of Naples by the Spanish Bourbons.
By the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht, Philip V. of Spain
was left with no dominions in Italy, the Italian possessions
of the Spanish monarchy having been transferred to Austria.
Philip might have accepted this arrangement without demur. Not
so his wife—"Elizabeth Farnese, a lady of the Italian family
for whom the Duchy of Parma had been created by the Pope. The
crown of Spain was settled on her step-son. For her own child
the ambitious queen desired the honours of a crown. Cardinal
Alberoni, a reckless and ambitious ecclesiastic, was the
minister of the Spanish court. Under his advice and instigated
by the queen, Philip claimed the possessions in Italy, which
in the days of his grandfather had belonged to the Spanish
crown. When his title to that crown was admitted, he denied
the right of the other powers of Europe to alienate from it
its possessions. This was not all: in right of his queen he
claimed the duchies of Parma and of Tuscany. She determined to
recover for him all the Italian possessions of the Spanish
crown, and to add to them the duchies of Parma and Tuscany.
The Duke of Parma was old and childless. The extinction of the
reigning line of the Medici was near. Cosmo di Medici, the
reigning sovereign, was old. His only son, Jean Gaston, was
not likely to leave heirs. To Parma Elizabeth advanced her
claims as heiress of the family of Farnese; to Tuscany she
asserted a more questionable title in right of a descent from
the family of Medici. These duchies she demanded for her son,
Don Carlos, in whose behalf she was ready to waive her own
claims. The success of these demands would have given to the
Spanish monarchy even greater power than it had before
enjoyed. To Naples, Sicily, and Milan, would have been added
the territories of Parma and Tuscany. All Europe denounced the
ambitious projects of Alberoni as entirely inconsistent with
that balance of power which it had then become a political
superstition to uphold. Philip's French relatives were
determined in opposition to his claims; and to resist them the
quadruple alliance was formed between Holland, England, France
and the emperor. The parties to this alliance offered to the
Spanish Bourbons that the emperor should settle on Don Carlos
the reversion to the duchies of Parma and Tuscany on their
lapsing to him by the failure of the reigning families without
heirs. These proposals were rejected, and it was not until the
Spanish court found the combination of four powerful monarchs
too strong for them, that they reluctantly acceded to the
terms of the Quadruple Alliance, and accepted for Don Carlos
the promised reversion of Parma and Tuscany. To induce the
emperor to accede to this arrangement the Duke of Savoy was
compelled to surrender to him his newly-acquired kingdom of
Sicily, receiving instead the island of Sardinia with its
kingly title. It is as kings of Sardinia that the princes of
Savoy have since been known in European history. The treaty of
the quadruple alliance was thus the second by which at this
period the European powers attempted to arrange the affairs of
Italy. This treaty left the house of Austria in possession of
Sicily and Naples. It was assented to by Spain in 1720.
European complications unconnected with Italy produced new
wars and a new treaty; and the treaty of Seville in 1724,
followed by one entered into at Vienna two years later,
confirmed Don Carlos in the duchy of Parma, of which, on the
death of the last of the Farnese in 1734, he entered into
possession. A dispute as to the election of a king of Poland
gave the Spanish court an opportunity of once more attempting
the resumption of the Neapolitan dominions. Don Carlos, the
second son of Philip and Elizabeth, was now just grown to
man's estate. His father placed in his hand the sword which he
himself had received from Louis XIV. Don Carlos was but
seventeen years old when he took possession of his sovereignty
of Parma. In the same year [1734] he was called from it to
invade the Sicilian dominions of Austria. He conquered in
succession the continental territories, and the island of
Sicily; and on the 15th of June, 1734, he was proclaimed as
King of the Two Sicilies. The war of the Polish Succession was
ended in the following year by a peace, the preliminaries of
which were signed at Vienna. In this treaty an entirely new
arrangement of Italian affairs was introduced. The rights of
Don Carlos to the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily were
recognised. Parma was surrendered to the emperor; and, lastly,
the duchy of Tuscany was disposed of to a new claimant
[Francis of Lorraine] for the honours of an Italian prince."
I. Butt,
History of Italy,
volume 1, chapter 5.
ALSO IN:
E. Armstrong,
Elisabeth Farnese,
chapters 2-10.
P. Colletta,
History of the Kingdom of Naples, 1734-1856,
book 1, chapter 1-2.
See, also,
SPAIN: A. D. 1713-1725;
and FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.
ITALY: A. D. 1719.
The Emperor and the Duke of Savoy exchange Sardinia for
Sicily.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1713-1725.
ITALY: A. D. 1733-1735.
Franco-Austrian War.
Invasion of the Milanese by the French.
Naples and Sicily occupied by the Spaniards and erected into a
kingdom for Don Carlos.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.
{1850}
ITALY: A. D. 1741-1743.
The War of the Austrian Succession:
Ambitious undertakings of Spain.
"The struggle between England and Spain had altogether merged
in the great European war, and the chief efforts of the
Spaniards were directed against the Austrian dominions in
Italy.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1739-1741.
The kingdom of Naples, which had passed under Austrian rule
during the war of the [Spanish] Succession, had, as we have
seen, been restored to the Spanish line in the war which ended
in 1740, and Don Carlos, who ruled it, was altogether
subservient to Spanish policy. The Duke of Lorraine, the
husband of Maria Theresa, was sovereign of Tuscany; and the
Austrian possessions consisted of the Duchy of Milan, and the
provinces of Mantua and Placentia. They were garrisoned at the
opening of the war by only 15,000 men, and their most
dangerous enemy was the King of Sardinia, who had gradually
extended his dominions into Lombardy, and whose army was,
probably, the largest and most efficient in Italy. 'The
Milanese,' his father is reported to have said, 'is like an
artichoke, to be eaten leaf by leaf,' and the skill and
perseverance with which for many generations the House of
Savoy pursued that policy, have in our own day had their
reward. Spanish troops had landed at Naples as early as
November 1741. The King of Sardinia, the Prince of Modena, and
the Republic of Genoa were on the same side. Venice was
completely neutral, Tuscany was compelled to declare herself
so, and a French army was soon to cross the Alps. The King of
Sardinia, however, at this critical moment, was alarmed by the
ambitious projects openly avowed by the Spaniards, and he was
induced by English influence to change sides. He obtained the
promise of certain territorial concessions from Austria, and
of an annual subsidy of £200,000 from England; and on these
conditions he suddenly marched with an army of 30,000 men to
the support of the Austrians. An the plans of the confederates
were disconcerted by this defection. The Spaniards went into
winter quarters near Bologna in October, fought an
unsuccessful battle at Campo Santo in the following February
[1743], and then retired to Rimini, leaving Lombardy in
complete tranquillity. The British fleet in the Mediterranean
had been largely strengthened by Carteret, and it did good
service to the cause. It burnt a Spanish squadron in the
French port of St. Tropez, compelled the King of Naples, by
the threat of bombardment, to withdraw his troops from the
Spanish army, and sign an engagement of neutrality, destroyed
large provisions of corn collected by the Genoese for the
Spanish army, and cut off that army from all communications by
sea."
W. E. H. Lecky,
History of England, 18th Century,
chapter 3 (volume 1).
ALSO IN:
W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapter 102 (volume 3).
ITALY: A. D. 1743.
The War of the Austrian Succession: Treaty of Worms.
"By a treaty between Great Britain, the Queen of Hungary, and
the King of Sardinia, signed at Worms September 23rd, 1743,
Charles Emanuel renounced his pretensions to Milan; the Queen
of Hungary ceding to him the Vigevanesco, that part of the
duchy of Pavia between the Po and the Tessino, the town and
part of the duchy of Piacenza, and a portion of the district
of Anghiera. Also whatever rights she might have to the
marquisate of Finale hoping that the Republic of Genoa would
facilitate this agreement, in order that the King of Sardinia
might have a communication with the sea. The Queen of Hungary
promised to increase her army in Italy to 30,000 men as soon
as the affairs of Germany would permit; while the King of
Great Britain engaged to keep a strong fleet in the
Mediterranean, and to pay Charles Emanuel annually £200,000,
so long as the war lasted, he keeping in the field an army of
45,000 men."
T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 6, chapter 4 (volume 3).
ITALY: A. D. 1743.
The Bourbon Family Compact (France and Spain) for establishing
Spanish claims.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1743 (OCTOBER).
ITALY: A. D. 1744.
The War of the Austrian Succession:
Indecisive campaigns.
"In Italy, the discordant views and mutual jealousies of Maria
Theresa and the king of Sardinia prevented the good effects
which might have been derived from their recent union. The
king was anxious to secure his own dominions on the side of
France, and to conquer the marquisate of Finale; while Maria
Theresa was desirous to direct her principal force against
Naples, and recover possession of the two Sicilies. Hence,
instead of co-operating for one great object, their forces
were divided; and, after an arduous and active campaign, the
Austrians were nearly in the same situation as at the
commencement of the year. Prince Lobcowitz being reinforced,
compelled the Spaniards to retreat successively from Pesara
and Senegallia, attacked them at Loretto and Reconati, and
drove them beyond the Fronto, the boundary of the kingdom of
Naples. Alarmed by the advance of the Austrians, the king of
Naples broke his neutrality, quitted his capital at the head
of 15,000 men, and hastened to join the Spaniards. But Prince
Lobcowitz … turned towards Rome, with the hope of
penetrating into Naples on that side; and, in the commencement
of June, reached the neighbourhood of Albano. His views were
anticipated by the king of Naples, who, dividing the Spanish
and Neapolitan troops into three columns, which were led by
himself, the duke of Modena, and the count de Gages, passed
through Anagm, Valmonte, and Monte Tortino, and reunited his
forces at Veletri, in the Campagna di Roma. In this situation,
the two hostile armies, separated only by a deep valley,
harassed each other with continual skirmishes. At length
prince Lobcowitz, in imitation of prince Eugene at Cremona,
formed the project of surprising the head-quarters of the king
of Naples. In the night of August 10th, a corps of Austrians,
led by count Brown, penetrated into the town of Veletri,
killed all who resisted, and would have surprised the king and
the duke of Modena in their beds, had they not been alarmed by
the French ambassador, and escaped to the camp. The Austrian
troops, giving way to pillage, were vigorously attacked by a
corps of Spaniards and Neapolitans, despatched from the camp,
and driven from the town with great slaughter, and the capture
of the second in command, the marquis de Novati. In this
contest, however, the Spanish army lost no less than 3,000
men. This daring exploit was the last offensive attempt of the
Austrian forces. Prince Lobcowitz perceiving his troops
rapidly decrease by the effects of the climate, and the
unwholesome air of the Pontine marshes, began his retreat in
the beginning of November, and though followed by an army
superior in number, returned without loss to Rimini, Pesaro,
Cesano, and Immola; while the combined Spaniards and
Neapolitans took up their quarters between Viterbo and Civita
Vecchia.
{1851}
In consequence of the expedition against Naples, the king of
Sardinia was left with 30,000 men, many of them new levies,
and 6,000 Austrians, to oppose the combined army of French and
Spaniards, who advanced on the side of Nice. After occupying
that place, the united army forced the intrenched camp of the
Sardinians, though defended by the king himself, made
themselves masters of Montalbano and Villafranca, and prepared
to penetrate into Piedmont along the sea coast. The Genoese,
irritated by the transfer of Finale, were inclined to
facilitate their operations; but were intimidated by the
presence of an English squadron which threatened to bombard
their capital. The prince of Conti, who commanded under the
infant Don Philip, did not, however, relinquish the invasion
of Piedmont, but formed the spirited project of leading his
army over the passes of the Alps, although almost every rock
was a fortress, and the obstacles of nature were assisted by
all the resources of art. He led his army, with a large train
of artillery, and numerous squadrons of cavalry, over
precipices and along beds of torrents, carried the fort of
Chateau Dauphin, forced the celebrated Barricades which were
deemed impregnable, descended the valley of the Stura, took
Demont after a slight resistance, and laid siege to Coni. The
king of Sardinia, having in vain attempted to stop the
progress of this torrent which burst the barriers of his
country, indignantly retired to Saluzzo, to cover his capital.
Being reinforced by 6,000 Austrians, he attempted to relieve
Coni, but was repulsed after a severe engagement, though he
succeeded in throwing succours into the town. This victory,
however, did not produce any permanent advantage to the
confederate forces; Coni continuing to hold out, the approach
of winter and the losses they had sustained, amounting to
10,000 men, compelled them to raise the siege and repass the
Alps, which they did not effect without extreme difficulty."
W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapter 105 (volume 3).
ALSO IN:
W. Russell,
History of Modern Europe,
part 2, chapter 28.
ITALY: A. D. 1745.
The War of he Austrian Succession:
Successes of the Spaniards, French and Genoese.
"The Italian campaign of 1745, in boldness of design and
rapidity of execution, scarcely finds a parallel in military
history, and was most unpropitious to the Queen of Hungary and
King of Sardinia. The experience of preceding years had taught
the Bourbon Courts that all attempts to carry their arms
across the Alps would be fruitless, unless they could secure a
stable footing in the dominions of some Italian state on the
other side, to counteract the power of their adversary, who
had the entire command of the passes between Germany and
Italy, by means of which reinforcements could be continually
drafted to the scene of action. Accordingly they availed
themselves of the jealousy and alarm excited at Genoa, by the
transfer of Finale to the King of Sardinia, to engage that
republic on their side. The plan was to unite the two armies
which had wintered on the distant frontiers of Naples and
Provence, in the vicinity of Genoa, where they were to be
joined by 10,000 auxiliaries on the part of the republic.
Charles Emanuel was sensible of the terrible consequences to
himself, should the Genoese declare openly for the house of
Bourbon, and sent General Pallavicini, a man of address and
abilities, to renounce his pretensions to Finale, while
Admiral Rowley, with a British fleet, hovered on their coasts.
In spite of all this, nevertheless, the treaty of Aranjuez was
concluded between France, Spain, and Genoa. After surmounting
amazing difficulties, and making the most arduous and
astonishing marches, the army commanded by Don Philip, who was
accompanied by the French General Maillebois, and that
commanded by Count de Gages, effected their junction on the
14th of June, near Genoa, when their united forces, now under
Don Philip, amounted to 78,000 men. All that the King of
Sardinia could do under these circumstances, was to make the
best dispositions to defend the Milanese, the Parmesan, and
the Plaisantine; but the whole disposable force under the King
and Count Schulenburg, the successor of Lobkowitz, did not
amount to above 45,000 men. Count Gages with 30,000 men was to
be opposed to Schulenburg, and took possession of Serravalle,
on the Scrivia; then advancing towards Alessandria he obliged
the Austrians to retire under the cannon of Tortona. Don
Philip made himself master of Acqui, so that the King of
Sardinia, with the Austrian General, Count Schulenburg, had to
retreat behind the Tanaro. On the 24th of July the strong
citadel of Tortona was taken by the Spaniards, which opened
the way to the occupation of Parma and Placentia. The combined
army of French, Spanish, Neapolitans, and Genoese being now
masters of an extensive tract with all the principal towns
south of the Po, they readily effected a passage near the
confluence of the Ticino, and with a detachment surprised
Pavia. The Austrians, fearful for the Milanese, separated
accordingly from the Sardinian troops. The Bourbon force
seeing this, suddenly reunited, gained the Tanaro by a rapid
movement on the night of the 27th of September, forded it in
three columns, although the water reached to the very necks of
the soldiers, fell upon the unsuspecting and unprepared
Sardinians, broke their cavalry in the first charge, and drove
the enemy in dismay and confusion to Valenza. Charles Emanuel
fled to Casale, where he reassembled his broken army, in order
to save it from utter ruin. The confederate armies still
advanced, drove the King back and took Trino and Verua, which
last place lay but twenty miles from his capital: fearful now
that this might be bombarded he hastened thither, withdrew his
forces under its cannon, and ordered the pavement of the city
to be taken up. Maillebois, on his side, penetrated into the
Milanese, and by the month of October the territories of the
house of Austria in Italy were wholly subdued. The whole of
Lombardy being thus open, Don Philip made a triumphant entry
into Milan on the 20th of December, fondly hoping that he had
secured for himself an Italian kingdom, as his brother, Don
Carlos, had done at Naples. The Austrian garrison, however,
still maintained the citadel of Milan and the fortress of
Mantua."
Sir E. Cust,
Annals of the Wars of the 18th Century,
volume 2, pages 75-76.
ALSO IN:
A. Gallenga,
History of Piedmont,
volume 3, chapter 4.
{1852}
ITALY: A. D. 1746-1747.
The War of the Austrian Succession: A turn of fortune.
The Spaniards and French abandon North Italy.
The Austrians in Genoa, and their expulsion from the city.
"Of all the Austrian possessions in Lombardy, little remained
except the fortress of Mantua and the citadel of Milan; while
the citadels of Asti and Alessandria, the keys of Piedmont,
were expected to fall before the commencement of the ensuing
campaign. On the return of the season for action, the struggle
for the mastery of Italy was renewed, and the queen of Spain
already saw in imagination the crown of Lombardy gracing the
brow of her second son. On the east, the French and Spanish
armies had extended themselves as far as Reggio, Placentia,
and Guastalla; on the north they were masters of the whole
country between the Adda and Tesino; they blockaded the
passages by the lake of Como and the Lago Maggiore, and were
preparing to reduce the citadel of Milan; on the west their
posts extended as far as Casale and Asti, though of the last
the citadel was still held by the Sardinians. The main body of
the French secured the communication with Genoa and the
country south of the Po; a strong body at Reggio, Parma, and
Placentia, covered their conquests on the east; and the
Spaniards commanded the district between the Po and the
mountains of Tyrol. The Sardinians were collected into the
neighbourhood of Trino; while the Austrians fell back into the
Novarrese to effect a junction with the reinforcements which
were daily expected from Germany. In this situation, a sudden
revolution took place in the fortune of the war. The empress
queen [Maria Theresa], by the conclusion of a peace with
Prussia, was at liberty to reinforce her army in Italy, and
before the end of February 30,000 men had already descended
from the Trentine Alps, and spread themselves as far as the
Po." This change of situation caused the French court to make
overtures to the king of Sardinia, which gave great offense to
Spain. The wily Sardinian gained time by his negotiations with