[CHAPTER VII.]
PREPARATIONS.
Character of the Fieschi family—Gianluigi acquires the friendship of the silk operatives and other plebeians—The Duke of Piacenza selects the count to arbitrate his differences with the Pallavicini—Secret understandings between the count and the duke—Gianluigi puts his castles in a condition for war—Gianettino Doria, to pave the way to supreme power, gives Captain Lercaro an order to kill Fieschi—Industry of Verrina—The decisions of history on the merits of Fieschi should be made in view of the political doctrines of the sixteenth century.
In monarchical states great families usually derive their importance from the head of the nation, who overshadows them all; but in cities ruled by the people, every house has its peculiar position and character. In Genoa, families had features and qualities which had characterized them and given them a distinct history for centuries. The Adorni and Fregosi always loved authority; the Durazzi were distinguished for munificence; the Serra for legal learning; the Pinelli for indomitable energy; the Lomellini for liberality; the Doria and Spinola for military genius. The Fieschi had always maintained and guarded, though with a partisan spirit, the popular franchises.
We find in the annals of this illustrious race a Nicolò and a Percivale, who, as imperial vicars, granted liberty to the Florentines and Luchesi. We find in the long history of their political power in Genoa that the Fieschi never struggled for supreme position as did the Adorni, Fregosi, Spinola, and Doria. Carlo Fieschi, as the chief of the Guelphs, was, in 1318, placed at the head of the government, with Gasparo Grimaldi for colleague, but he never attempted any legislative or constitutional charges for the sake of remaining in office. Bonfadio himself, though their enemy, declares that, though the Fieschi surpassed in power all other families, they never laid hands on popular rights.[39] They were in Genoa what the Capponi were in Florence.
This reputation of the counts of Lavagna rendered it easy for Gianluigi to obtain followers. To cover his true designs, he made no change in his manners or life, carried an open and jovial countenance, and studied more than ever to promote domestic tranquility. His palace was open to all; he was generous with his friends, affable and courteous to every one. He courted the rich with flattery and blandishments, the poor with gifts. His table, spread with regal profusion, was free; and he seemed to have no other cares besides races, the chase and the dance.
He cultivated friendship with the old nobles, but had greater intimacy with the new. The Dorias did not complain of the count’s relations with the new nobility; for, though his house was old and illustrious, its traditions were Guelph, and the new patricians and the leading popular families belonged to that party. In his intercourse with these persons, on whom he relied for assistance, he spoke sneeringly of the reforms of 1528, which had advanced the Portico of San Luca to the highest power, created deep-rooted antipathies, and weakened the Republic. Sometimes he showed a profound passion, and his broken and threatening tone conveyed a meaning beyond the import of his words.
Having won the favour of the rich and distinguished popular families, he cultivated the love of the plebeians. In this, his pleasant and familiar manner secured him great success. He treated them as his equals, and, the true Alcibiades of his time, he adapted himself to their personal characteristics and prejudices. Chronicles tell us that he watched from his towers to see if the chimneys of the poorer classes smoked regularly at the hour for preparing food, and sent provisions whenever this token of a meal was missed on any roof. Such wise generosity acquired him the affection of the people. The foreign wars and the stagnation of trade had impoverished a great part of the citizens, especially the spinners and the silk operatives, then called Tuscans, of whom there were fifteen thousand in Genoa.
The history of the manufacture of silk, through which so many Italian families acquired wealth and rank, has not yet been adequately treated. The history of trades and crafts in the Peninsula would be a useful work, and would show that even in the midst of the fiercest contests of faction, commerce was always held in merited honour and was regulated by few and simple restrictions;—that merchants and artisans had their art-unions or corporations with their own laws, arms and masters, that the trades were thus united in associations as a means of perfecting their products and as a security against fraud. The historian of our manufactures would tell us that in Genoa, before 1432, the trade of silk-weaving had its capitudini, or officers, consisting of two consuls and six councillors, who inspected the quality of the fabrics, provided for their sale, took charge of the profits and decided upon the complaints of the operatives. The government issued many proclamations and made numerous laws to promote the woollen trade; among which those of Doge Pietro Fregoso are remarkable. He forbade the operatives, who lived in the quarter still called Borgo del Lanieri, to leave the walls of the city, or carry elsewhere their tools and skill, under penalty of confiscation of goods and other pains. Some illustrious men were enrolled and matriculated in the art of silk, among them Doge Paolo da Novi; and Gianettino Doria himself, when his father Tomaso fell into poverty, spent his youth among the silk-weavers of our city. The silk operatives venerated the Volto Santo of San Cipriano, a circumstance which explains the extraordinary number of these images which are to be found in Genoa and along the eastern Riviera.