Count Filippino Doria, as we have seen, contributed to the fame of Doria. He was of humble fortune until the Duke of Urbino, as a mark of gratitude for having perilled his life to succour the duke in a single combat, conferred upon him an estate of the Urbino family. Some other members of Doria’s house, who had been schooled under him, gave good proof of their skill and acquired riches and honours which reflected lustre on their master. Such were Francesco Doria di Giovanni; Antonio Doria, marquis of Santo Stefano, Aveto and Ginnosa, and one of the principal generals at the victory of San Quintino; Giovanni Battista Doria, son of Antonio and heir of his valour; Giorgio Doria, and Domenico Doria who having abandoned the cloister was called the Converso.
To these we should add, Andrea Doria d’Alaone; the brothers Cristoforo and Erasmo Opizio, who as lieutenants of Andrea went in 1534 to the aid of Messina; Giorgio di Melchiorre; Imperiale di Bartolomeo, lord of Dolceaqua; Lamba di Alaone; Lazzaro di Andrea; and Scipione di Antonio, all in repute as brave Admirals; and they sailed so many ships and gained so many victories that it seemed as if this family claimed exclusive dominion of the seas.
When Andrea prepared for any enterprise he commanded, in addition to the triremes of the empire, not less than twenty taride or large galleys of his own, manned by his own officers and crews and paid by the emperor at the rate of five hundred broad ducats of gold per month for each vessel. He took with him, also, the ships of the Republic, and those of his relations and of other citizens who chartered their panfili, or vessels of sixty oars, to the emperor of Spain. At the assault of Prevesa the prince commanded, not to speak of square-sailed galleons and caracks, twenty-two triremes whose names we find set down in the chronicles of that period.[22] Antonio Doria, who was only less illustrious in naval warfare than Andrea—though, as Badaero wrote in his report to the Venitian senate, he was so fond of traffic that, when his ships passed from one port to another, they carried so much merchandise that they looked like merchantmen—had six vessels in his division. There were many other Genoese ships in this expedition. Two belonged to Onorato Grimaldi, lord of Monaco; two were the property of the Cicala, and one each of Centurione, Preve, the Gentile and Francesco Costa, not to speak of many others. The Fieschi also sent a vessel, and the Republic furnished twelve.
In fact there was no distinguished family which did not arm a ship, but not one of these houses could rival Doria, not even the Cicala who always kept not less than six galleys in commission. It is worth while to remind the Italians, who are so prone to forget the glory of their ancestors, that Andrea was the first to use armoured ships in battle. In his assault on Tunis, he had in his fleet a galleon called Sant’Anna, to which he was principally indebted for the victory which restored Muley-Hassan to his throne. This ship was the first ever clad with slabs of lead fastened by pivots of bronze. She was built at Nice in 1530, and was equipped by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. She was manned by three hundred warriors and carried many guns. The solidity of her armour rendered her invulnerable to the enemy’s fire. There were a large chapel and sumptuous saloons under her decks, and what seems more strange, ovens so well arranged that they furnished her crew with fresh bread daily.[23]
The Republic having broken with France, was prostrated under the power of Spain and Doria. The citizens were profoundly indignant at this double servitude. They were prohibited by law, under the severest penalties, from proposing or advocating any change in the new constitution of the Republic; so that many, before the attempt of Fieschi, ardently wished to throw off the yoke and place the country once more under the protection of France. In 1534, Granara and Corsanico went to Marseilles followed by many of the people with the intention of preparing a revolution. The enterprise became known by Doria, and Granara lost his head. Corsanico was captured by Doria, and, without the least form of condemnation, hurled into the sea.
A few months later, Tomaso Sauli who had attempted a similar conspiracy with Cardinal di Agramonte, in Bologna, was condemned and quartered. The exiles excelled all others in their devotion to liberty; and in 1536, led by Cæsar Fregoso and Cagnino Gonzaga, with ten thousand foot and eight hundred horse, they marched to attack Genoa. This is not the place to relate how after a few skirmishes they broke up their camp; it is only to our purpose to add that hundreds of citizens who were suspected of complicity with the exiles lost their heads, while their houses were levelled with the earth.
Not only in Genoa, but throughout Liguria these conspiracies abounded; especially in Chiavari, where the revolt of Fregoso, of which Stradiotto was the leader, had its origin. Blood whenever it was shed, far from quenching the thirst for liberty, begot new advocates for the old supremacy of the people. Soon after, that is in 1539, a pious priest named Valerio Zuccarello, beloved by the people, was accused of revolutionary sympathies and leanings to France. He was subjected to an inquisition and lost his head on the scaffold. The nobility struggled to maintain its power; the people to regain the inheritance of which they had been defrauded. The Republic was passing through such pains as these when Gianluigi Fieschi listened to her complaints and resolved to avenge them.