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CONTENTS
| VOLUME IX | |
| ITALY | |
| PAGE | |
| [Introduction. The Scope of Italian History: A Prefatory Characterisation] | [1] |
| CHAPTER I | |
| [Italy in the Dark Age (476 ca.-1100 A.D.)] | [15] |
| The Barbarian invaders, [17]. Charlemagne and his successors, [18]. The empireand the papacy, [21]. The disunited municipalities, [22]. The origin of Venice, [24]. Theorigin of the dogeship, [27]. Venice in the tenth century, [28]. Prosperity and politicalreforms, [32]. Other maritime cities, [35]. The Lombard cities and their allies, [36].Florence, [39]. Social conditions, [40]. Municipal wars, [41]. | |
| CHAPTER II | |
| [Imperial Aggressions of the Twelfth Century (1152-1200 A.D.)] | [ 45] |
| Frederick Barbarossa in Italy, [45]. The siege of Crema, [50]. Rival popes, [53].Imperial campaigns and reverses, [54]. Frederick once more aggressive, [57]. Battleof Legnano; peace of Constance, [58]. Death of Frederick; his successor, [60]. Growingpower of the nobility, [61]. | |
| CHAPTER III | |
| [The Normans in Sicily (787-1204 A.D.)] | [63] |
| The Normans in France, [65]. The Normans come to Italy, [68]. Capture of thepope; Robert Guiscard, [69]. Conquest of Sicily; Eastern invasions, [72]. Roger, greatcount of Sicily, [76]. Roger II, [77]. William the Bad (il Malo), [81]. William theGood, [81]. Norman influence, [83]. | |
| CHAPTER IV | |
| [The Thirteenth Century] | [85] |
| Factions in Florence, [87]. Frederick II crowned emperor, [90]. Renewal of theLombard League, [91]. Frederick II and the Lombard League, [92]. Battle of Cortenuova,[93]. Pope against emperor, [94]. The Guelfs expelled from Florence; battleof Fossalta, [97]. Death of Frederick II: the succession, [98]. The pope and the cities,[99]. Florentine affairs; the Guelfs recalled, [101]. Florence and Siena at war; battleof Montaperti, [102]. The tyrant Ezzelino, [104]. The beginning of feudal tyrannyin Lombardy, [106]. Perennial strife of Guelfs and Ghibellines, [108]. Charles ofAnjou conquers Sicily, [109]. The fall of Conradin; Gregory X; Otto Visconti, [110].Ghibelline successes; the Sicilian Vespers, [112]. Waning influence of king, emperor,and pope, [114]. The republic of Pisa, [115]. Pisa defeated by Genoa near Meloria, [116].Perfidy and fall of Ugolino, [117]. Florence; the feud of the Bianchi and the Neri,[118]. The pope sends Charles of Valois as conciliator, [121]. | |
| CHAPTER V | |
| [The Free Cities and the Empire (1300-1350 A.D.)] | [124] |
| An emperor once more in Italy, [126]. Milan seditions; Genoa and Venice at war,[128]. Henry’s coronation and sudden death, [130]. Rival emperors; ecclesiastical dissensions,[131]. Castruccio Castracani, [133]. Florence menaced, [135]. The Florentinearmy under Raymond of Cardona, [137]. Raymond temporises, [139]. A brilliant skirmish,[140]. Battle of Altopascio, [141]. Castruccio adds insult to injury, [143]. Florencein despair calls on the duke of Calabria, [144]. Charles and his army, [145]. TheGhibellines call on Ludwig of Bavaria, [147]. Successes of Count Novello, [148]. Ludwigcomes to Italy, [149]. Castruccio goes to Rome, [150]. Castruccio’s new conquest;his sudden death, [152]. Estimates of Castruccio, [153]. Duke of Calabria dies; Ludwigretires, [155]. Can’ Grande Della Scala, [155]. John of Bohemia comes to Italy,[156]. Lucca a bone of contention, [158]. The duke of Athens made protector of Florence,[162]. Growing unpopularity of the duke of Athens, [164]. The duke driven fromthe city, [165]. Attempted reforms, [167]. War of the factions in Florence, [169]. TheGreat Plague, [171]. Boccaccio’s account of the plague in Florence, [173]. Napier’sreflections on the plague, [176]. | |
| CHAPTER VI | |
| [The Vanguard of the Renaissance (ca. 1250-1400 A.D.)] | [178] |
| European culture in general, [181]. The universities and nascent scholarship, [183].Latin and the vernacular, [184]. The master poet, and his theme, [186]. Dante theman, [187]. Lesser contemporaries of Dante, [190]. Petrarch, [191]. Early Italian prose,[194]. Boccaccio, [198]. Lesser contemporaries of Petrarch and Boccaccio, [202]. Artin the thirteen and fourteenth centuries, [203]. The Tuscan school of painters, [207].Ruskin’s estimate of Giotto’s tower, [209]. | |
| CHAPTER VII | |
| [Rome under Rienzi (1347-1354 A.D.)] | [211] |
| The rise of Rienzi, [213]. Lord Lytton on the speech of Rienzi, [216]. Rienzi’sopponents; his friends; his proclamations, [218]. Disaster succeeds victory, [220].Anarchy and jubilee in Rome, [223]. Rienzi in exile; his renewed opportunity; hisdeath, [224]. | |
| CHAPTER VIII | |
| [Despots and Tyrants of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (ca. 1309-1496 A.D.)] | [230] |
| The kingdom of Naples, [231]. Joanna II, [234]. Alfonso the Magnanimous, [237].Ferdinand, [238]. The tyrants of Lombardy, [240]. Companies of adventure, [241].Florence menaced by the Visconti, [243]. Charles IV in Italy, [244]. The “war ofLiberation,” [248]. The papal schism, [249]. Gian Galeazzo Visconti, [251]. FilippoMaria Visconti, [257]. The house of Sforza, [258]. | |
| CHAPTER IX | |
| [The Maritime Republics in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries] | [261] |
| The affairs of Pisa and Genoa, [261]. Naval exploits, [266]. The affairs of Venice,[269]. The Tiepolo conspiracy, and the council of Ten, [272]. The story of Marino Falieri,[273]. Venetian wars and conquests, [275]. Victories of Carmagnola, [279]. Deathof Frescobaldi; the war ended and renewed, [284]. The great naval battle on the Po,[286]. The revolt of Pisa; the cruel ruse of Baldaccio, [288]. The fall of Carmagnola,[289]. Venice and the Turks, [293]. The government of Venice, [297]. The two Foscari,[301]. | |
| CHAPTER X | |
| [The Commerce of Venice] | [303] |
| Venice in the Levant, [308]. The commercial forebears of the Venetians, [310].Venetian glass, [315]. Other manufactures, [318]. The slave trade, [319]. The declineof Venetian commerce, [323]. The bank of Venice, [324]. | |
| CHAPTER XI | |
| [The Guilds and the Seigniory in Florence (1350-1400 A.D.)] | [326] |
| Social upheavals of the middle of the fourteenth century, [327]. Macchiavelli’saccount of the Ciompi insurrection, [331]. The eight “saints of war,” [333]. Mob violence,[336]. Michele di Lando, [340]. Momentary peace; renewed insurrections, [343]. | |
| CHAPTER XII | |
| [Florence under the Medici (1434-1492 A.D.)] | [349] |
| The rise, reverses, and power of Cosmo de’ Medici, [350]. Cosmo and the revivalof learning, [353]. Last years of Cosmo, [356]. Roscoe’s estimate of Cosmo, [359]. Cosmo’ssuccessor, [361]. Piero’s sons and the conspiracies, [363]. The Pazzi conspiracy,[365]. Lorenzo the Magnificent in power, [370]. The Florentines routed at Poggibonzi,[373]. Lorenzo’s embassy to Naples, [375]. Peace with honour, [376]. Further papalwars, [379]. Last years of Lorenzo, [386]. Von Reumont’s estimate of Lorenzo, [388]. | |
| CHAPTER XIII | |
| [Aspects of Later Renaissance Culture] | [391] |
| Fifteenth century art, [392]. Vasari’s estimate of fifteenth century art, [393]. Leonardoda Vinci, [395]. The end of the mediæval epoch, [398]. The age of Michelangelo,[399]. Michelangelo as sculptor, [402]. Raphael, [403]. Ariosto, [405]. Machiavelli, [406]. | |
| CHAPTER XIV | |
| [The “Last Day of Italy” (1494-1530 A.D.)] | [408] |
| Charles VIII; his army, [412]. Charles VIII in Rome; a contemporary account,[414]. Charles goes to Naples, [420]. Florentine affairs; Savonarola, [421]. The Frenchin Milan, [424]. The French and Spaniards in Naples, [428]. Northern Italy, [429]. Theleague of Cambray, [432]. Battle of Ravenna, [435]. The age of Leo X, [439]. Battle ofMarignano; last years of Leo, [441]. Successors of Leo; Francis I and Charles V,[447]. Capture and sack of Rome, [452]. The fall of Florence, [458]. | |
| CHAPTER XV | |
| [The Beginning of the Age of Slavery (1530-1600 A.D.)] | [463] |
| The siege and fall of Siena, [464]. An Italian estimate of the abdication of CharlesV, [467]. Renewed hostilities; the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, [468]. A Spanishaccount of the battle of Lepanto, [473]. The general condition of Italy, [477]. PopeSixtus V; Ferdinand, grand duke of Tuscany, [478]. Pope Clement VIII, [481]. | |
| CHAPTER XVI | |
| [A Century of Obscurity (1601-1700 A.D.)] | [484] |
| General conditions, [485]. Galileo and the church, [493]. The successors of UrbanVIII, [495]. Lesser principalities, [498]. Tuscany, [501]. Piedmont and Savoy, [502].Venice, [511]. Venetian wars with the Turks, [518]. | |
| CHAPTER XVII | |
| [Italy in the Eighteenth Century (1701-1800 A.D.)] | [524] |
| Italy in the war of the Spanish Succession, [528]. War of the Quadruple Alliance,[530]. War of the Polish Succession, [532]. War of the Austrian Succession, [534]. Fortyyears of “languid peace” for divided Italy, [536]. The kingdom of Naples and Sicily,[537]. The states of the church, [538]. The Sardinian kingdom, [540]. The four republics,[541]. Milan and Tuscany, [542]. A Tuscan estimate of Leopold, [546]. Italy inthe revolutionary age, [547]. Time of the French Republic under the national convention,[548]. The campaign of 1796 and its consequences, [551]. The expulsion ofthe French from Italy, [557]. Bonaparte reconquers Italy, [564]. The growing desirefor liberty, [565]. | |
| CHAPTER XVIII | |
| [The Napoleonic Régime (1801-1815 A.D.)] | [566] |
| The constitution of the republic, [567]. Napoleon makes Italy a kingdom, [568].The kingdom of Naples and the papacy, [570]. The islands of Sicily and Sardinia, [574].The rise of national spirit, [574]. The fall of Napoleon, [576]. | |
| CHAPTER XIX | |
| [Ineffectual Struggles (1815-1848 A.D.)] | [578] |
| Marriott on the Restoration, [580]. Errors of the monarchy, [581]. The insurrectionsof 1820-1821, [583]. The revolutions of 1831, [585]. Sassone on Mazzini and “youngItaly,” [587]. Fyffe’s estimate of Mazzini, [588]. Symonds on the problems and theleaders, [589]. Pope Pius IX and his liberal policy, [591]. | |
| CHAPTER XX | |
| [The Liberation of Italy (1848-1866 A.D.)] | [593] |
| The war between Naples and Sicily, [594]. Revolt against the pope; Rome arepublic, [595]. The French restore the pope, [597]. Revolutions in Tuscany and elsewhere,[598]. Charles Albert’s war with Austria, [598]. Charles Albert abdicates: VictorEmmanuel II succeeds, [600]. Venice fails to acquire freedom, [601]. Louis Napoleon’sintervention, [603]. Austria declares war: Magenta and Solferino, [603]. Thepapacy versus unity, [606]. Garibaldi drives the Bourbons from Sicily, [607]. The deathof Cavour and the revolt of Garibaldi, [611]. Florence becomes the capital, [613]. Thewar of 1866 and annexation of Venice, [614]. | |
| CHAPTER XXI | |
| [The Completion of Italian Unity (1867-1878 A.D.)] | [616] |
| The revolt of Garibaldi, [617]. The French intervene again: Mentana, October31st, [618]. The Roman question renewed, [620]. Papal infallibility proclaimed, [621].Rome taken from the pope, [621]. The plebiscite, [622]. Rome again the capital ofItaly, [624]. The Minghetti ministry, [625]. Death of Victor Emmanuel and Pius IX,[626]. | |
| CHAPTER XXII | |
| [Recent History (1878-1903 A.D.)] | [628] |
| Irredentism, the Triple Alliance and “Trasformismo,” [630]. The power ofCrispi, [632]. Death of King Humbert, of Crispi, and of Leo XIII, [633]. | |
| [Brief Reference-List of Authorities by Chapters] | [635] |
| [A General Bibliography of Mediæval and Modern Italy] | [639] |
| [A Chronological Summary of Italian History] | [646] |
INTRODUCTION
THE SCOPE OF ITALIAN HISTORY: A PREFATORY CHARACTERISATION
THE DARK AGE
It has been observed again and again that the sweep of history is a continuous stream, and that all attempts to divide it into epochs are more or less arbitrary. Nevertheless, one cannot escape the tendency to classify, and memory is greatly aided by such arbitrary divisions. The largest and perhaps the most uniformly accepted of such arbitrary parcelling out of history is the classification into ancient, mediæval, and modern. Everyone is aware that the general historian usually regards ancient history as closing either with the later decades of the fourth century, when the northern barbarians began their invasions, or, perhaps more generally, with the precise date 476, when the last emperor of old Rome was dethroned. The ensuing epoch, comprising a period of about a thousand years, is known as the mediæval period; which epoch is usually considered as closing with the discovery of the New World in 1492. The earlier centuries of this epoch are usually spoken of as constituting the dark age.
Such a division is arbitrary, but not altogether illogical. It has been urged that Rome itself did not know it had fallen in the year 476; and that the Roman Empire—even the Roman Republic, in the phrasing of the time—went on, as the minds of contemporaries conceived it, uninterruptedly for many centuries after the date which we of later time fix for the quietus of Roman imperial life. But few things are better established than the fact that a clear conception of history demands a certain opportunity for the observation of events in perspective. In other words a contemporary judgment is rarely, if ever, the best judgment regarding any epoch. In the multiplicity of details that are thrust necessarily upon the attention of the contemporary observer, large proportions are lost, and a confused mass of little things makes the picture as unintelligible as is the large canvas of the painter when viewed at too short a focus. With the historical view, as with the painting, one must recede to a certain distance before gaining a measurably true conception. And so looking back through the vista of centuries one is able to observe very clearly that the time of the alleged fall of the Western Roman Empire was a time of real crisis in the sweep of historical events. The erection of the one focal date is, to be sure, a quite unjustifiable marking of boundary lines, unless it be regarded in the same way in which one thinks of the parallels of latitude and longitude on the globe. It is a convenient milestone, nothing more. But the epoch which it marks, if not to be limited to the confines of a single year, is none the less a true epoch; as no one can doubt who will consider the history of Rome in the aggregate during the first, second, and third centuries of the Christian era, and then will consider the history of the same city during the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. Obviously, a vast change has come over the spirit of civilisation in this time; the later centuries, contrasted with the earlier ones, may well be considered a dark age.
We have already shown that during its period the eastern division of the later Roman Empire was the seat of a culture which found expression in the production of an elaborate literature. But the West during this period was under quite different auspices. Rome had ceased to be important as a centre of civilisation; its chief citizens had removed to the city of Constantinople. Here in the West the half-civilised Herulians and Ostrogoths held almost undisputed sway from 476 till about the middle of the sixth century. Then for a century the Eastern Empire reasserted control over Rome and the legions of Narses and Longinus upheld the authority of the Byzantine emperors. But in 568 the Lombards under Alboin swept down into Italy and their supremacy was hardly disputed until the Carlovingians took a hand in Italian affairs, with the result that in 774 Charlemagne, capturing Desiderius in Pavia, assumed the title of king of the Lombards and virtually ended the Lombard kingdom.