History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy

the time of Saladin, when, by whose talents, and the disagreement of

  the Christians among themselves, the crusaders were robbed of all that

  glory which they had at first acquired; and, after ninety years, were

  driven from those places which they had so honorably and happily

  recovered.

  After the death of Urban, Pascal II. became pope, and the empire was

  under the dominion of Henry IV. who came to Rome pretending friendship

  for the pontiff but afterward put his holiness and all his clergy in

  prison; nor did he release them till it was conceded that he should

  dispose of the churches of Germany according to his own pleasure.

  About this time, the Countess Matilda died, and made the church heir

  to all her territories. After the deaths of Pascal and Henry IV. many

  popes and emperors followed, till the papacy was occupied by Alexander

  III. and the empire by Frederick, surnamed Barbarossa. The popes

  during this period had met with many difficulties from the people of

  Rome and the emperors; and in the time of Barbarossa they were much

  increased. Frederick possessed military talent, but was so full of

  pride that he would not submit to the pontiff. However, at his

  election to the empire he came to Rome to be crowned, and returned

  peaceably to Germany, where he did not long remain in the same mind,

  but came again into Italy to subdue certain places in Lombardy, which

  did not obey him. It happened at this time that the cardinal St.

  Clement, of a Roman family, separated from Alexander, and was made

  pope by some of the cardinals. The Emperor Frederick, being encamped

  at Cerma, Alexander complained to him of the anti-pope, and received

  for answer, that they were both to go to him, and, having heard each

  side, he would determine which was the true pope. This reply

  displeased Alexander; and, as he saw the emperor was inclined to favor

  the anti-pope, he excommunicated him, and then fled to Philip, king of

  France. Frederick, in the meantime, carrying on the war in Lombardy,

  destroyed Milan; which caused the union of Verona, Padua, and Vicenza

  against him for their common defense. About the same period the anti-

  pope died, and Frederick set up Guido of Cremona, in his stead.

  The Romans, from the absence of the pope, and from the emperor being

  in Lombardy, had reacquired some authority in Rome, and proceeded to

  recover the obedience of those places which had been subject to them.

  And as the people of Tusculum refused to submit to their authority,

  they proceeded against them with their whole force; but these, being

  assisted by Frederick, routed the Roman army with such dreadful

  slaughter, that Rome was never after either so populous or so rich.

  Alexander now returned to the city, thinking he could be safe there on

  account of the enmity subsisting between the Romans and the emperor,

  and from the enemies which the latter had in Lombardy. But Frederick,

  setting aside every other consideration, led his forces and encamped

  before Rome; and Alexander fled to William, king of Puglia, who had

  become hair of that kingdom after the death of Roger. Frederick,

  however, withdrew from Rome on account of the plague which then

  prevailed, and returned to Germany. The cities of Lombardy in league

  against him, in order to command Pavia and Tortona, which adhered to

  the imperial party, built a city, to be their magazine in time of war,

  and named in Alexandria, in honor of the pope and in contempt of

  Frederick.

  Guido the anti-pope died, and Giovanni of Fermo was appointed in his

  stead, who, being favored by the imperialists, lived at Montefiascone.

  Pope Alexander being at Tusculum, whither he had been called by the

  inhabitants, that with his authority he might defend them from the

  Romans, ambassadors came to him from Henry, king of England, to

  signify that he was not blamable for the death of Thomas ? Becket,

  archbishop of Canterbury, although public report had slandered him

  with it. On this the pope sent two cardinals to England, to inquire

  into the truth of the matter; and although they found no actual charge

  against the king, still, on account of the infamy of the crime, and

  for not having honored the archbishop so much as he deserved, the

  sentence against the king of England was, that having called together

  the barons of his empire, he should upon oath before them affirm his

  innocence; that he should immediately send two hundred soldiers to

  Jerusalem, paid for one year; that, before the end of three years, he

  should himself proceed thither with as large an army as he could draw

  together; that his subjects should have the power of appealing to Rome

  when they thought proper; and that he should annul whatever acts had

  been passed in his kingdom unfavorable to ecclesiastical rule. These

  terms were all accepted by Henry; and thus a great king submitted to a

  sentence that in our day a private person would have been ashamed of.

  But while the pope exercised so great authority over distant princes,

  he could not compel obedience from the Romans themselves, or obtain

  their consent that he should remain in Rome, even though he promised

  to intermeddle only with ecclesiastical affairs.

  About this time Frederick returned to Italy, and while he was

  preparing to carry on new wars against the pope, his prelates and

  barons declared that they would abandon him unless he reconciled

  himself with the church; so that he was obliged to go and submit to

  the pope at Venus, where a pacification was effected, but in which the

  pope deprived the emperor of all authority over Rome, and named

  William, king of Sicily and Puglia, a coadjutor with him. Frederick,

  unable to exist without war, joined the crusaders in Asia, that he

  might exercise that ambition against Mohammed, which he could not

  gratify against the vicars of Christ. And being near the river Cydnus,

  tempted by the clearness of its waters, bathed therein, took cold, and

  died. Thus the river did a greater favor to the Mohammedans than the

  pope's excommunications had done to the Christians; for the latter

  only checked his pride, while the former finished his career.

  Frederick being dead, the pope had now only to suppress the contumacy

  of the Romans; and, after many disputes concerning the creation of

  consuls, it was agreed that they should elect them as they had been

  accustomed to do, but that these should not undertake the office, till

  they had first sworn to be faithful to the church. This agreement

  being made, Giovanni the anti-pope took refuge in Mount Albano, where

  he shortly afterward died. William, king of Naples, died about the

  same time, and the pope intended to occupy that kingdom on the ground

  that the king had left only a natural son named Tancred. But the

  barons would not consent, and wished that Tancred should be king.

  Celestine III., the then pope, anxious to snatch the kingdom from the

  hands of Tancred, contrived that Henry, son of Frederick should be

  elected emperor, and promised him the kingdom on the condition that he

  should restore to the church all the places that had belonged to her. br />
  To facilitate this affair, he caused Gostanza, a daughter of William,

  who had been placed in a monastery and was now old, to be brought from

  her seclusion and become the wife of Henry. Thus the kingdom of Naples

  passed from the Normans, who had been the founders of it, to the

  Germans. As soon as the affairs of Germany were arranged, the Emperor

  Henry came into Italy with Gostanza his wife, and a son about four

  years of age named Frederick; and, as Tancred was now dead, leaving

  only an infant named Roger, he took possession of the kingdom without

  much difficulty. After some years, Henry died in Sicily, and was

  succeeded in the kingdom by Frederick, and in the empire by Otho, duke

  of Saxony, who was elected through the influence of Innocent III. But

  as soon as he had taken the crown, contrary to the general

  expectation, he became an enemy of the pope, occupied Romagna, and

  prepared to attack the kingdom. On this account the pope

  excommunicated him; he was abandoned by every one, and the electors

  appointed Frederick, king of Naples, emperor in his stead. Frederick

  came to Rome for his coronation; but the pope, being afraid of his

  power, would not crown him, and endeavored to withdraw him from Italy

  as he had done Otho. Frederick returned to Germany in anger, and,

  after many battles with Otho, at length conquered him. Meanwhile,

  Innocent died, who, besides other excellent works, built the hospital

  of the Holy Ghost at Rome. He was succeeded by Honorius III., in whose

  time the religious orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis were founded,

  1218. Honorius crowned Frederick, to whom Giovanni, descended from

  Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, who commanded the remainder of the

  Christian army in Asia and still held that title, gave a daughter in

  marriage; and, with her portion, conceded to him the title to that

  kingdom: hence it is that every king of Naples is called king of

  Jerusalem.

  CHAPTER V

  The state of Italy--Beginning of the greatness of the house of

  Este--Guelphs and Ghibellines--Death of the Emperor Frederick II.

  --Manfred takes possession of the kingdom of Naples--Movements of

  the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Lombardy--Charles of Anjou invested

  by the pope with the kingdom of Naples and Sicily--Restless policy

  of the popes--Ambitious views of pope Nicholas III.--Nephews of

  the popes--Sicilian vespers--The Emperor Rodolph allows many

  cities to purchase their independence--Institution of the jubilee

  --The popes at Avignon.

  At this time the states of Italy were governed in the following

  manner: the Romans no longer elected consuls, but instead of them, and

  with the same powers, they appointed one senator, and sometimes more.

  The league which the cities of Lombardy had formed against Frederick

  Barbarossa still continued, and comprehended Milan, Brescia, Mantua,

  and the greater number of the cities of Romagna, together with Verona,

  Vicenza, Padua, and Trevisa. Those which took part with the emperor,

  were Cremona, Bergamo, Parma, Reggio, and Trento. The other cities and

  fortresses of Lombardy, Romagna, and the march of Trevisa, favored,

  according to their necessities, sometimes one party, sometimes the

  other.

  In the time of Otho III. there had come into Italy a man called

  Ezelin, who, remaining in the country, had a son, and he too had a son

  named Ezelin. This person, being rich and powerful, took part with

  Frederick, who, as we have said, was at enmity with the pope;

  Frederick, at the instigation and with the assistance of Ezelin, took

  Verona and Mantua, destroyed Vicenza, occupied Padua, routed the army

  of the united cities, and then directed his course towards Tuscany.

  Ezelin, in the meantime, had subdued the whole of the Trevisian March,

  but could not prevail against Ferrara, which was defended by Azone da

  Este and the forces which the pope had in Lombardy; and, as the enemy

  were compelled to withdraw, the pope gave Ferrara in fee to this

  Azone, from whom are descended those who now govern that city.

  Frederick halted at Pisa, desirous of making himself lord of Tuscany;

  but, while endeavoring to discover what friends and foes he had in

  that province, he scattered so many seeds of discord as occasioned the

  ruin of Italy; for the factions of the Guelphs and Ghibellines

  multiplied,--those who supported the church taking the name of

  Guelphs, while the followers of the emperor were called Ghibellines,

  these names being first heard at Pistoia. Frederick, marching from

  Pisa, assailed and wasted the territories of the church in a variety

  of ways; so that the pope, having no other remedy, unfurled against

  him the banner of the cross, as his predecessor had done against the

  Saracens. Frederick, that he might be suddenly abandoned by his

  people, as Frederick Barbarossa and others had been, took into his pay

  a number of Saracens; and to bind them to him, and establish in Italy

  a firm bulwark against the church, without fear of papal maledictions,

  he gave them Nocera in the kingdom of Naples, that, having a refuge of

  their own, they might be placed in greater security. The pontificate

  was now occupied by Innocent IV., who, being in fear of Frederick,

  went to Genoa, and thence to France, where he appointed a council to

  be held at Lyons, where it was the intention of Frederick to attend,

  but he was prevented by the rebellion of Parma: and, being repulsed,

  he went into Tuscany, and from thence to Sicily, where he died,

  leaving his son Conrad in Suabia; and in Puglia, Manfred, whom he had

  created duke of Benevento, born of a concubine. Conrad came to take

  possession of the kingdom, and having arrived at Naples, died, leaving

  an infant son named Corradino, who was then in Germany. On this

  account Manfred occupied the state, first as guardian of Corradino,

  but afterward, causing a report to be circulated that Corradino had

  died, made himself king, contrary to the wishes of both the pope and

  the Neapolitans, who, however, were obliged to submit.

  While these things were occurring in the kingdom of Naples, many

  movements took place in Lombardy between the Guelphs and the

  Ghibellines. The Guelphs were headed by a legate of the pope; and the

  Ghibelline party by Ezelin, who possessed nearly the whole of Lombardy

  beyond the Po; and, as in the course of the war Padua rebelled, he put

  to death twelve thousand of its citizens. But before its close he

  himself was slain, in the eightieth year of his age, and all the

  places he had held became free. Manfred, king of Naples, continued

  those enmities against the church which had been begun by his

  ancestors, and kept the pope, Urban IV., in continual alarm; so that,

  in order to subdue him, Urban summoned the crusaders, and went to

  Perugia to await their arrival. Seeing them few and slow in their

  approach, he found that more able assistance was necessary to conquer

  Manfred. He therefore sought the favor of France; created Louis of

  Anjou, the king's brother, sovereign of Naples and Sicily, and excited

  him to come into
Italy to take possession of that kingdom. But before

  Charles came to Rome the pope died, and was succeeded by Clement IV.,

  in whose time he arrived at Ostia, with thirty galleys, and ordered

  that the rest of his forces should come by land. During his abode at

  Rome, the citizens, in order to attach him to them, made him their

  senator, and the pope invested him with the kingdom, on condition that

  he should pay annually to the church the sum of fifty thousand ducats;

  and it was decreed that, from thenceforth, neither Charles nor any

  other person, who might be king of Naples, should be emperor also.

  Charles marched against Manfred, routed his army, and slew him near

  Benevento, and then became sovereign of Sicily and Naples. Corradino,

  to whom, by his father's will, the state belonged, having collected a

  great force in Germany, marched into Italy against Charles, with whom

  he came to an engagement at Tagliacozzo, was taken prisoner while

  endeavoring to escape, and being unknown, put to death.

  Italy remained in repose until the pontificate of Adrian V. Charles,

  being at Rome and governing the city by virtue of his office of

  senator, the pope, unable to endure his power, withdrew to Viterbo,

  and solicited the Emperor Rodolph to come into Italy and assist him.

  Thus the popes, sometimes in zeal for religion, at others moved by

  their own ambition, were continually calling in new parties and

  exciting new disturbances. As soon as they had made a prince powerful,

  they viewed him with jealousy and sought his ruin; and never allowed

  another to rule the country, which, from their own imbecility, they

  were themselves unable to govern. Princes were in fear of them; for,

  fighting or running away, the popes always obtained the advantage,

  unless it happened they were entrapped by deceit, as occurred to

  Boniface VIII., and some others, who under pretense of friendship,

  were ensnared by the emperors. Rodolph did not come into Italy, being

  detained by the war in which he was engaged with the king of Bohemia.

  At this time Adrian died, and Nicholas III., of the Orsini family,

  became pontiff. He was a bold, ambitious man; and being resolved at

  any event to diminish the power of Charles, induced the Emperor

  Rodolph to complain that he had a governor in Tuscany favorable to the

  Guelphic faction, who after the death of Manfred had been replaced by

  him. Charles yielded to the emperor and withdrew his governor, and the

  pope sent one of his nephews, a cardinal, as governor for the emperor,

  who, for the honor done him, restored Romagna to the church, which had

  been taken from her by his predecessors, and the pope made Bertoldo

  Orsino duke of Romagna. As Nicholas now thought himself powerful

  enough to oppose Charles, he deprived him of the office of senator,

  and made a decree that no one of royal race should ever be a senator

  in Rome. It was his intention to deprive Charles of Sicily, and to

  this end he entered into a secret negotiation with Peter, king of

  Aragon, which took effect in the following papacy. He also had the

  design of creating two kings out of his family, the one in Lombardy,

  the other in Tuscany, whose power would defend the church from the

  Germans who might design to come into Italy, and from the French, who

  were in the kingdom of Naples and Sicily. But with these thoughts he

  died. He was the first pope who openly exhibited his own ambition;

  and, under pretense of making the church great, conferred honors and

  emolument upon his own family. Previous to his time no mention is made

  of the nephews or families of any pontiff, but future history is full

  of them; nor is there now anything left for them to attempt, except

  the effort to make the papacy hereditary. True it is, the princes of

  their creating have not long sustained their honors; for the pontiffs,

  being generally of very limited existence, did not get their plants

  properly established.

  To Nicholas succeeded Martin IV., of French origin, and consequently

  favorable to the party of Charles, who sent him assistance against the