FARNESE. 



145 



tween the emperor and France. After having of- 

 fered Charles large sums in vain, he resolved to 

 erect Parma and Piacenza, which Julius II. had 

 conquered from Milan, into a duchy, and, in August, 

 1545, bestowed it upon his son. Pietro proceeded 

 to Piacenza, where he built a citadel, and commenced 

 his tyrannical reign by imposing many burdens on 

 the nobility, and depriving them of their former 

 privileges. His tyranny becoming insupportable, 

 the chiefs of the nobility formed a conspiracy, in 

 concert with Ferdinand Gonzaga, governor of Milan. 

 Thirty-seven conspirators entered the citadel under 

 pretence of visiting the duke, and secured the en- 

 trances. Giovanni Anguissola broke into the apart- 

 ment of the duke, who, enfeebled by the most 

 infamous diseases, was unable to make any resist- 

 ance, and thus fell by the dagger of his enemy. 

 Gonzaga took possession of Piacenza in the name 

 of the emperor, and promised the reformation of all 

 abuses. 



Ottavio Farnese, the son and successor of Pietro, 

 was then at Perugia with Paul III. Parma declared 

 itself in favour of Ottavio, who took possession of it 

 with the papal troops, but found himself, singly, too 

 weak to attempt the capture of Piacenza. He 

 therefore agreed upon an armistice with Gonzaga, 

 and in the mean time endeavoured to secure the as- 

 sistance of France. Julius III., the successor of 

 his grandfather, out of gratitude to the family of 

 Farnese, restored to him the duchy of Parma, in 

 1550, and appointed him gonfaloniere of the church ; 

 but having entered into an alliance with Henry II. 

 of France, he drew upon himself the displeasure of 

 the emperor and the pope, and became involved in 

 new difficulties, from which he extricated himself 

 two years afterwards, by an honourable treaty. The 

 services which his wife and his son Alessandro ren- 

 dered to the Spanish government, gained him the 

 favour of the house of Austria. His wife, Margaret, 

 natural daughter of the emperor Charles V., had been 

 appointed to rule over the Low Countries, and had 

 administered the government with great moderation; 

 but, in 1567, being superseded by the duke of Alva, 

 she paid a visit to her husband in Parma, with whom 

 she had lived but little, Jind then retired to Abruzzo. 

 Ottavio died in 1586, after enjoying thirty years of 

 uninterrupted peace, which he had employed in cor- 

 recting the disorders of the preceding governments, 

 and promoting the happiness of his subjects. 



Alessandro Farnese, elder son of Ottavio and Mar- 

 garet, general of Philip II. in Flanders, and third 

 duke of Parma and Piacenza, succeeded him. While 

 a child, he had accompanied his mother into the 

 Low Countries, and was married in his tenth year to 

 Mary, niece of John, king of Portugal. Inclination, 

 courage, presence of mind, and strength of body, 

 stimulated him to engage in the profession of arms. 

 He served his first campaign under don John of 

 Austria, and distinguished himself in the battle of 

 Lepanto. In 1577, Philip II. called him from Abruz- 

 zo, where he resided with his mother, to lead back to 

 don John the Spanish troops, which the latter had 

 been obliged to dismiss from Flanders, where the 

 situation of the Spaniards was becoming desperate. 

 Don John, who had been a long time infirm, died that 

 year, and Alessandro was made governor. He re- 

 covered Maestricht and several other cities, and suc- 

 ceeded in reconciling the Catholic part of the insur- 

 gents to the Spanish government. The Protestants, 

 however, formed the union of Utrecht, and called in 

 the duke of Anjou, a brother of Henry III. of France, 

 to defend them. He appeared at the head of an 

 army of 25,000 men ; but Alessandro was constantly 

 successful. In the midst of these triumphs, he re- 

 ceived the news of his father's death, and requested 



to be discharged from the Spanish service, in order 

 to attend to the government of his own dominions ; 

 but was not able to obtain his wish, and died without 

 ever returning to the country of which he had 

 become sovereign. Fortunately for the Dutch, who 

 would hardly have been able long to resist a general 

 so bold, skilful, and enterprising, a civil war broke 

 out in France. Alessandro entered France, and 

 compelled Henry IV. to raise the siege of Paris. 

 During his absence, Maurice of Nassau had obtained 

 many successes in the Netherlands, yet, with a mutin- 

 ous and unpaid army, Alessandro kept in check 

 both Maurice and Henry IV., and forced the latter, 

 in 1592, to raise the siege of Rouen. On his return 

 from that expedition, he received a wound in his arm 

 before Caudebec, in consequence of the neglect of 

 which, he died at Arras, in his forty-seventh year. 



Ranuzio I., his eldest son, succeeded him as duke. 

 He inherited none of the heroical qualities of his 

 father, but was gloomy, severe, suspicious, and avar- 

 icious. Observing the discontent of the nobles with 

 his administration, he accused them of having 

 entered into a conspiracy against him, and, after 

 having subjected the chiefs to a secret trial, beheaded 

 them, and confiscated their estates (May 19, 1612). 

 This unprecedented cruelty roused the indignation 

 of many of the Italian princes, and the death of Vin- 

 cenzo Gonzaga, duke of Mantua, alone prevented the 

 breaking out of a war. He imprisoned his natural 

 sou Ottavio, who had acquired the favour of the 

 nation, and left him to perish in cruel confinement. 

 Ranuzio died in 1622. Notwithstanding the ferocity 

 of his cliaracter, he discovered a taste for letters and 

 the arts. During his reign the famous theatre of 

 Parma was built, after the model of the ancients, by 

 John Battista Aleotti. 



His son and successor, Odoardo Farnese (died 

 1646), possessed considerable talent for satire, a good 

 deal of eloquence, and still more presumption and 

 vanity. The ambition of shining in arms involved 

 him in wars with Spain and pope Urban VIII., to 

 whom he was deeply in debt. His excessive corpu- 

 lence rendered him wholly unfit for war, of which 

 he was so fond. 



Ranuzio II. (died 1694), was not so ferocious as 

 his grandfather, nor so presumptuous as his father, 

 but was the weak and ready instrument of unworthy 

 favourites. One of these, Godefroi,a French teacher, 

 whom he had created prime minister, assassinated 

 the new bishop of Castro, whom Farnese was unwil- 

 ling to acknowledge. Indignant at this crime, pope 

 Innocent X. demolished Castro ; and Godefroi, de- 

 feated by the papal troops, lost successively the 

 favour of his master, his estates, and his life. 



Odoardo, the eldest son of Ranucci, was suffocated 

 by his excessive corpulency. Of his two sons, Fran- 

 cesco and Antonio, the former succeeded him. His 

 extreme corpulency precluded all hope of his having 

 issue. Philip V. of Spain had married Elizabeth 

 Farnese, daughter of Odoardo, and niece of the duke 

 Francesco. When it was perceived that the latter 

 could have no issue, the leading powers of Europe 

 agreed that a son of Philip and Elizabeth (not king 

 of Spain) should succeed to the Farnese territories. 

 Thus they came into the possession of the house of 

 Bourbon. 



Antonio Farnese, eighth duke of Parma, succeeded 

 his brother Francesco, who was obliged to concur in 

 these measures without being consulted as to his own 

 wishes. Antonio also died childless, in consequence 

 of his age and corpulency at the time of his marriage, 

 and his whole reign was a series of insults and humi- 

 liations. After his death, 6000 Spaniards took pos- 

 session of Parma and Piacenza, in the name of Don 

 Cnrlos. 



1C 



