History Of Florence And Of The Affairs Of Italy

N >> Niccolo Machiavelli >> History Of Florence And Of The Affairs Of Italy


Nicholas II. now attained the papacy; and as Gregory V. had taken
from the Romans the right to create an emperor, he in the same manner
determined to deprive them of their share in the election of the pope;
and confined the creation to the cardinals alone. Nor did this satisfy
him; for, having agreed with the princes who governed Calabria and
Puglia, with methods which we shall presently relate, he compelled the
officers whom the Romans appointed to their different jurisdictions,
to render obedience to him; and some of them he even deprived of their
offices. After the death of Nicholas, there was a schism in the church;
the clergy of Lombardy refused obedience to Alexander II., created at
Rome, and elected Cadolo of Parma anti-pope; and Henry, who hated
the power of the pontiffs, gave Alexander to understand that he must
renounce the pontificate, and ordered the cardinals to go into Germany
to appoint a new pope. He was the first who felt the importance of
spiritual weapons; for the pope called a council at Rome, and deprived
Henry of both the empire and the kingdom. Some of the people of Italy
took the part of the pope, others of Henry; and hence arose the factions
of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines; that Italy, relieved from the
inundations of barbarians, might be distracted with intestine strife.
Henry, being excommunicated, was compelled by his people to come into
Italy, and fall barefooted upon his knees before the pope, and ask his
pardon. This occurred in the year 1082. Nevertheless, there shortly
afterward arose new discords between the pope and Henry; upon which the
pope again excommunicated him, and the emperor sent his son, also named
Henry, with an army to Rome, and he, with the assistance of the Romans,
who hated the pope, besieged him in the fortress. Robert Guiscard them
came from Puglia to his relief, but Henry had left before his arrival,
and returned to Germany. The Romans stood out alone, and the city was
sacked by Robert, and reduced to ruins. As from this Robert sprung the
establishment of the kingdom of Naples, it seems not superfluous to
relate particularly his actions and origin.

Disunion having arisen among the descendants of Charlemagne, occasion
was given to another northern people, called Normans, to assail France
and occupy that portion of the country which is now named Normandy. A
part of these people came into Italy at the time when the province was
infested with the Berengarii, the Saracans, and the Huns, and occupied
some places in Romagna, where, during the wars of that period, they
conducted themselves valiantly. Tancred, one of these Norman princes,
had many children; among the rest were William, surnamed Ferabac, and
Robert, called Guiscard. When the principality was governed by William,
the troubles of Italy were in some measure abated; but the Saracens
still held Sicily, and plundered the coasts of Italy daily. On this
account William arranged with the princes of Capua and Salerno, and
with Melorco, a Greek, who governed Puglia and Calabria for the
Greek emperor, to attack Sicily; and it was agreed that, if they
were victorious, each should have a fourth part of the booty and
the territory. They were fortunate in their enterprise, expelled the
Saracens, and took possession of the island; but, after the victory,
Melorco secretly caused forces to be brought from Greece, seized Sicily
in the name of the emperor, and appropriated the booty to himself and
his followers. William was much dissatisfied with this, but reserved
the exhibition of his displeasure for a suitable opportunity, and left
Sicily with the princes of Salerno and Capua. But when they had parted
from him to return to their homes, instead of proceeding to Romagna he
led his people towards Puglia, and took Melfi; and from thence, in a
short time, recovered from the Greek emperor almost the whole of Puglia
and Calabria, over which provinces, in the time of pope Nicholas II. his
brother Robert Guiscard was sovereign. Robert having had many disputes
with his nephews for the inheritance of these states, requested the
influence of the pope to settle them; which his holiness was very
willing to afford, being anxious to make a friend of Robert, to defend
himself against the emperor of Germany and the insolence of the Roman
people, which indeed shortly followed, when, at the instance of Gregory,
he drove Henry from Rome, and subdued the people. Robert was succeeded
by his sons Roger and William, to whose dominion not only was Naples
added, but all the places interjacent as far as Rome, and afterward
Sicily, of which Roger became sovereign; but, upon William going to
Constantinople, to marry the daughter of the emperor, his dominions
were wrested from him by his brother Roger. Inflated with so great an
acquisition, Roger first took the title of king of Italy, but afterward
contented himself with that of king of Puglia and Sicily. He was the
first who established and gave that name to this kingdom, which still
retains its ancient boundaries, although its sovereigns have been of
many families and countries. Upon the failure of the Normans, it came to
the Germans, after these to the French, then to the Aragonese, and it is
now held by the Flemish.

About this time Urban II. became pope and excited the hatred of the
Romans. As he did not think himself safe even in Italy, on account of
the disunion which prevailed, he directed his thoughts to a generous
enterprise. With his whole clergy he went into France, and at Anvers,
having drawn together a vast multitude of people, delivered an oration
against the infidels, which so excited the minds of his audience, that
they determined to undertake the conquest of Asia from the Saracens;
which enterprise, with all those of a similar nature, were afterward
called crusades, because the people who joined in them bore upon their
armor and apparel the figure of a cross. The leaders were Godfrey,
Eustace, and Baldwin of Bouillon, counts of Boulogne, and Peter, a
hermit celebrated for his prudence and sagacity. Many kings and people
joined them, and contributed money; and many private persons fought
under them at their own expense; so great was the influence of religion
in those days upon the minds of men, excited by the example of those
who were its principal ministers. The proudest successes attended the
beginning of this enterprise; for the whole of Asia Minor, Syria, and
part of Egypt, fell under the power of the Christians. To commemorate
these events the order of the Knights of Jerusalem was created, which
still continues, and holds the island of Rhodes--the only obstacle to
the power of the Mohammedans. The same events gave rise to the order
of the Knights Templars, which, after a short time, on account of
their shameless practices, was dissolved. Various fortunes attended
the crusaders in the course of their enterprises, and many nations
and individuals became celebrated accordingly. The kings of France
and England joined them, and, with the Venetians, Pisans, and Genoese,
acquired great reputation, till 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 a 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. 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 rebellion of Romagna; and while they were encamped at Furli, Guido
Bonatto, an astrologer, contrived that at an appointed moment the people
should assail the forces of the king, and the plan succeeding, all the
French were taken and slain. About this period was also carried into
effect the plot of Pope Nicholas and Peter, king of Aragon, by which the
Sicilians murdered all the French that were in that island; and Peter
made himself sovereign of it, saying, that it belonged to him in the
right of his wife Gostanza, daughter of Manfred. But Charles, while
making warlike preparations for the recovery of Sicily, died, leaving
a son, Charles II., who was made prisoner in Sicily, and to recover his
liberty promised to return to his prison, if within three years he
did not obtain the pope's consent that the kings of Aragon should be
invested with the kingdom of Sicily.