THE NORTH ITALIAN STATES AND REPUBLICS
FROM THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY (476-1000 A.D.)
The deposition of Romulus Augustulus (476) opens a new era for the Italian people. The entire peninsula comes under the titular sway of the Eastern emperor, Odoacer the Herulian chief ruling as king of his own people, and as regent over the rest of the inhabitants. This mixed Teutonic and Roman government is continued by the Ostrogothic dynasty beginning with Theodoric, who in 493 at the commission of the emperor overthrows and replaces Odoacer. The chief strength of the Ostrogoths lies in northern Italy; they have little influence over the descendants of the Greek colonists in the south. The ties between Italy and Constantinople having become very weak, Justinian I plans the reconquest of Italy. By the efforts of Belisarius and Narses this is accomplished in 553; the Ostrogothic kingdom falls. Italy is again a real member of the Roman Empire, ruled in the emperor’s name by the exarch whose capital is at Ravenna. This state of affairs lasts but fifteen years. Narses, the first exarch, recalled to Constantinople in 565, and disaffected with his treatment by the empress, is said to have invited Alboin the Lombard chief to invade the Italian peninsula. In 568 he crosses the Alps, and in three years is master of nearly the whole of northern Italy. The political unity of the peninsula is broken, not to be repaired until the latter half of the nineteenth century. The Lombards penetrate through the middle of the peninsula. Venice, founded about 452 by families from Aquileia and Pavia fleeing from Attila, remains untouched. So does Genoa and its Riviera. Rome does not acknowledge the Lombard rule at Pavia, neither does the country east of the Apennines from the Po to Ancona where the exarch rules at Ravenna, nor the duchy of Naples, the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, and the southernmost province of Calabria. The duchies of Spoleto and Benevento have Lombard rulers, but they are nearly independent of Pavia. Such is the condition of Italy at the end of the sixth century.
Before the close of the next hundred years Constans II (662) makes a vain attempt to restore the empire in Italy. The protecting power of Constantinople becomes weaker and weaker, and in 713 the Venetian islands unite for the purpose of self-government. Paoluccio Anafesto, the first doge, is elected and a council of tribunes and judges chosen. This government lasts until 737 when in a popular tumult the doge Orso is killed, his ducal office abolished, and replaced by an annually elected maestro della milizia (master of the military); but in five years (742) the life-holding office of doge is restored. Meanwhile the growing Lombard power has encroached on the exarch’s dominions; the iconoclastic controversy has virtually alienated the sympathies of the Italian people from the Eastern emperor, and in 752 the Byzantine possessions in northern Italy are conquered by Aistulf the Lombard king, and the exarch flees from Ravenna. Pepin comes from France at the call of the pope, seizes Aistulf’s conquests which he hands over to Stephen (755), and from this gift arises the temporal sovereignty of the pope, which lasts until 1870. In 774 Charlemagne puts an end to the Lombard dominion in northern Italy, and his Italian kingdom extends from the Alps to Terracina. This is included in the Western Empire when it is restored in 800.
Thus the political map of Italy at the beginning of the ninth century shows Rome the head of an empire governing the greater part of the peninsula; Gaeta, Naples, Calabria, Apulia, Sicily, and Sardinia still give their allegiance to Constantinople. Venice, though quite independent, acknowledges the Eastern emperor, and the duke of Benevento pays tribute to him of the West.
In 810 the people of Venice remove the seat of government from the mainland to the present city and the building of St. Mark’s is begun.
In 827 the Saracens begin their attacks on Italy and Sicily. Their fortunes are varied, but by 890 the fall of the Carlovingian dynasty has enabled the Greeks to take many cities from the Saracens and raise a new power that comprises southern Italy as far north as Salerno. This territory ruled by a patrician or catapan remains a part of the Eastern Empire until 1043. Charlemagne does not overthrow the political system in the north, and the great lords retain their territories they have enjoyed since the days of Theodoric. With the decay of Charlemagne’s dynasty, these local rulers correspondingly increase their power, and the bishops appointed to the cities have become almost independent sovereigns. This local ascendency is never suppressed by the emperor, and to it is due the rise of the mediæval Italian republics.
At the beginning of the tenth century we find these great territorial lords and bishops the chief powers in northern Italy—among them the archbishop of Milan, the duke of Friuli, and the count of Tuscany, the latter asserting his predominance since the time of Boniface I in 823. The obedience they pay the king of Italy is merely nominal, and indeed the king is constantly at war with his great vassals. From the deposition of Charles the Fat (888) to the intrusion of Otto I into the affairs of Italy (961) the crown of that country is the bone of contention between the great lords of Friuli and Benevento. The Magyars and Saracens also repeatedly invade the land, and the defended cities rise in power and importance.
With the advent of Otto I their municipal liberty is not much curtailed. The government of the city is generally carried on by two or more consuls chosen by popular vote. In 997 the Venetians’ conquest of the Adriatic coast and islands as far as Ragusa, put themselves in a more independent attitude towards the Eastern emperor.
THE ELEVENTH CENTURY
The untimely death of Otto III (1002) is an important event in the development of the Italian cities. In the resulting dispute for the crown, Pavia upholds the Lombard nobles in their choice of Arduin. Milan crowns the German king Henry II.
1003 War between Pisa and Lucca, the first waged between the mediæval Italian cities.
1004 Henry burns Pavia. Milan and Pavia wake to independent life and action in this struggle. The Saracens capture a portion of Pisa.
1011 Second attack of the Saracens on Pisa, which now assumes the offensive.
1017 The Pisans drive the Saracens from Sardinia and take the island.
1018 Heribert becomes archbishop of Milan, and the most powerful lord in northern Italy.
1024 On death of Henry II, Heribert invites Conrad II of Germany to Italy and gives him the iron crown of Lombardy (1026).
1026 The Venetians expel their doge Ottone Orseolo, but recall him in 1031. The people of Lodi resent Heribert’s appointing their bishop, and a war ensues in which Heribert is successful.
1036 Battle of Campo Malo, between Heribert and the opponent factions. Heribert summons the emperor to his aid, but the latter, offended at the independence of the Milanese, retires to Pavia.
1037 At Diet of Roncaglia Conrad enacts decree that all fiefs shall be hereditary. This is to check the power of the ecclesiastical lords. Siege of Milan by Conrad, who has to retire on account of pestilence.
1039 Siege of Milan raised at death of Conrad. Heribert devises the carroccio.
1041 The people of Milan, headed by Lanzo, drive the nobles out of Milan.
1044 Peace restored in Milan.
1045 Death of Heribert.
1048-1055 During the pontificate of Leo IX, attempts to enforce celibacy of clergy are vigorously resisted in Milan.
1055 The countess Matilda begins her rule in Tuscany.
1063 The foundations of the cathedral at Pisa are laid.
1075 Gregory VII approves the Pisan code of laws—a revival of the Pandects of Justinian.
1077 The Norman conquests of southern Italian cities put the trade of the Mediterranean into the hands of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa. For a century and a half Pisa has the largest trade.
1080 The countess Matilda’s army is defeated near Mantua.
1084 Great defeat of the Venetian fleet by Robert Guiscard.
1091 Capture of Mantua and Ravenna by Henry IV.
THE TWELFTH CENTURY
At the beginning of the twelfth century Milan and the other Lombard cities have become independent municipalities, a result achieved principally through the war of investitures.
1101 Ferrara submits to the countess Matilda, who has obtained practically the power of a queen.
1110 Peace made between Pisa and Lucca, which have been at war for six years.
1111 The Milanese attack and destroy Lodi and Como. The leadership of Milan in Lombardy is now confirmed.
1114 Revolt of Mantua, which is subdued by the countess Matilda. The Pisans descend upon the Saracens in the Balearic Isles, and return with rich booty and many prisoners.
1115 Death of the countess Matilda. Beginning of the struggle between pope and emperor for her great domain. In 1102 she deeded them to the pope. With Matilda’s death begins the rise of Florence and other Tuscan cities to independence.
1118 War breaks out between Genoa and Pisa over the supremacy of Sardinia and Corsica, a papal edict having awarded the Pisan church control in Corsica. Consecration of the Pisan cathedral.
1123 Victory of the Venetian fleet over the Egyptians off Joppa.
1124 The Venetians receive a third of the city of Tyre at its conquest by the crusaders.
1125 Capture of Samos, Andros, and Spalato by the Venetians.
1132 Peace between Genoa and Pisa. Innocent II gives the Genoese church partial supremacy in Corsica and grants to the Pisans in Sardinia and elsewhere.
1135 The Pisans proceed against the Normans in southern Italy. Naples and Amalfi attacked. Amalfi recovered by Roger I.
1137 Second attack of the Pisans in southern Italy. Roger recovers his lost possessions.
1140 The Genoese acquire Ventimiglia.
1144 War breaks out among the Italian cities. Venice against Ravenna; Verona and Vicenza against Padua and Treviso; Florence and Pisa against Lucca and Siena.
1150 The Venetians regain Dalmatia, which has been captured by pirates.
1151 Defeat of the Milanese by the Cremonese at Castelnuovo. The carroccio is captured.
1152 Election of Frederick Barbarossa as king of Germany and Italy. Building of the baptistery of Pisa begun.
1153 Frederick determines to re-establish the imperial authority in the Italian cities. Lodi and Como ask his protection against Milan.
1154 Frederick enters Italy. Diet of Roncaglia, where Frederick hears complaints against Milan and Tortona. He assumes the Lombard crown at Pavia.
1155 Frederick captures and razes Tortona. Milan prepares for war.
1156 Milan rebuilds Tortona and defeats Pavia.
1157 Establishment of the Bank of Venice.
1158 Milan again destroys Lodi. Second appearance of Frederick in Italy. Siege of Milan, which surrenders on account of famine. Diet at Roncaglia. The Bolognese jurists expound the code of Justinian to Frederick, who removes the consuls and substitutes the podesta as ruling officer in the Italian cities.
1159 The Milanese refuse to obey the podesta.
1160 Surrender of Crema to Frederick. The city is abandoned to the cruelty of Cremona. Lucca obtains its independence from Welf of Tuscany.
1162 Surrender of Milan after a nine months’ siege. It is totally destroyed. Lombardy submits to Frederick.
1163 The cities of the Veronese March, assisted by Venice, form a league against Frederick.
1167 Siege of Ancona by Frederick, who has returned to Italy the previous year. Brescia, Bergamo, Mantua, Verona, Cremona, Treviso, and other north Italian cities form the Lombard League to regain their liberties from Frederick. It begins to rebuild Milan.
1168 Frederick, with his army nearly annihilated by the plague, returns to Germany.
1169 The league builds Alessandria. The pope and Eastern emperor join the league against Frederick. Other cities enter the league. Pavia and Montferrat alone remain loyal to the empire.
1171 The Eastern emperor Manuel I seizes the Venetian possessions in his dominions. Stephen, king of Hungary, captures many Dalmatian cities from Venice. Venice recovers Zara, takes Ragusa, and attacks Negropont.
1172 Capture of Scio by the Venetians.
1173 The Venetian fleet returns from the East and infects the city with the plague. Tumults break out and the doge is slain.
1174 Fifth expedition of Frederick to Italy. The Campanile of Pisa is begun.
1175 Peace partially restored between Genoa and Pisa by Frederick’s mediation.
1176 Frederick threatens Milan. He is defeated disastrously at Legnano by the Milanese and a few allies. He opens negotiations with the pope for peace.
1177 Reconciliation between Frederick and the pope at Venice. Six years’ truce concluded with the Lombard cities. They do not ask for more than municipal autonomy, and the Italians lose their greatest opportunity of becoming a powerful nation.
1181 Bela, king of Hungary, recovers Zara and other cities from Venice.
1183 The truce with Frederick is made permanent by the peace of Constance. Venice is not included. The communes have their right to self-government by consuls and to wage warfare confirmed. These privileges are extended to the Tuscan cities, among which Florence is becoming the most powerful.
1194 Battle between the Genoese and Pisan fleets in the harbour of Messina.
1198 Establishment of the republic of Florence.
1199 General war among the Lombard cities owing to a quarrel between Parma and Piacenza.