350 



ITALY. 



Sicilian 

 vespers. 



soth Maid), 

 1283. 



ferred the sovereignty on Visconti ; who thus became 

 the founder of adynisty of princes, whose sway, at an 

 after period, extended over all Lombardy. 



On the deatli of the late pope, the cardinals, influen. 

 ccd by the threat* and violence of the king of Naples, 

 elected as his successor Martin IV. ; who, entirely devo- 

 ted to the interest of Charles, deprived the Orsini fa- 

 mily of the government of Roinagna, filled Italy with 

 its exiles, and the Neapolitan treasury, from the confis- 

 cation of their property. The pontiff also, to second 

 Charles' designs against the Grecian emperor, excom- 

 municated him for relapsing into heresy, and dignified 

 with the title of a crusade the expedition against Con- 

 stantinople, for which Charles was making preparations, 

 But it was destined that a check should now be given 

 to the ambition of the king of Naples, and a bloody sa- 

 crifice affixed to the shades of Manfred and Conradin. 

 John de Procida, a nobleman" of Salerno, the physician 

 and friend of Frederic II. and Manfred, had, on the 

 death of Conradin, taken refuge at the court of Peter 

 nd Constance of Arragon, and was by them honour- 

 ably recompensed for his attachment to the house of 

 Suabia. But his ardent spirit could not enjoy repose, 

 while his country was enslaved by the murderer of her 

 princes. Having, therefore, excited Constance and Pe- 

 ter to undertake the defence of the oppressed Sicilians, 

 whom he visited, and whose spirit he kept alive, he 

 proceeded to Constantinople, where he obtained pecu- 

 niary assistance from the emperor, and to Rome, where 

 he received a promise of aid from Nicholas III. The 

 death of that pope seemed at first to impede his de- 

 signs ; but his successor having insulted the Arragoni- 

 an ambassadors, Peter at length made serious prepara- 

 tions for invading Sicily, concealing, however, his in- 

 tentions, by an expedition to the coast of Africa. Pro- 

 cida in the mean time repaired to Sicily, to await a f'a- 

 vourable opportunity for insurrection. 



This very soon occurred. The brutal insolence of a 

 French officer to a female, roused the indignation of 

 the inhabitants of Palermo, and a general massacre of 

 the French was the consequence. The example of Pa- 

 lermo was followed by the other cities of Sicily ; and 

 long before the fleet of the king of Arragon reached its 

 shores, the French had been either exterminated, or 

 expelled from the island ; Peter and Constance acknow- 

 ledged as king and queen of Sicily ; and the former 

 sent to Charles, whose fleet now besieged Messina, a 

 solemn defiance and challenge. In the mean time, a 

 scarcity of provisions obliged the latter monarch to re- 

 land his troops in Italy ; and his whole fleet and tran- 

 sports were destroyed by Roger de Loria, the Arrago- 

 nian admiral. Charles then determined to accept of 

 the challenge of his rival ; and it was agreed, that the 

 next year a private and judicial combat should take 

 place at Bourdeaux, under the auspices of the king of 

 England, between 100 knights on each side, which 

 was to decide the fate not only of Naples and Sicily, 

 but of the hereditary dominions of each party. The 

 preparations for this combat left the south of Italy for 

 a short time in a state of tranquillity. But the pope 

 opposed this mode of decision, and in the meantime 

 passed sentence of excommunication against Peter; 

 and, as king Ed ward I. of England refused to guaran- 

 tee the place of battle, the king of Arragon did not ap- 

 pear on the day appointed, although waited for by his 

 antagonist. Martin now conferred the title of king of 

 Arragon on Charles of Valois, second son of Philip the 

 Hardy, king of France ; and the king of Naples set out 

 by sea from Provence, on his return to Italy. Before 



his arrival, however, his son Charles, prince of Salemo, HHtonr. 

 had been provoked to hazard an engagement with the S """V 1 

 Arragonian and Sicilian fleet. ThV superior skill and 

 valour of Roger de Loria decided the day ; and the prince 

 of Salerno, and his principal officers, fell into the hands 

 of the Spanish admiral. Charles of Anjou seemed at Reath of 

 first unmoved by this misfortune, and continued to *; . rle 

 make preparations to invade Sicily ; but his disguised 

 distress and anxiety produced a fatal effect on his health, 7t!l , ; Ian> 

 and occasioned his death at Foggin, in the 69lh year of "**" 

 his age, and 1 <)th of his reign. His death was soon fol- 

 lowed by that of Martin IV. who was succeeded by Ho- 

 norius IV. a man of talents, but aged ajjd infirm. The 

 kings of France and Arragon also died this year, both 

 in consequence of wounds received in a battle, in which 

 the former was defeated by the latter. Peter was suc- 

 ceeded in Sicily by his second son James ; and as 

 Charles of Salerno still continued a prisoner, the king- 

 dom of Naples was administered by Robert count d'Ar- 

 tois, his cousin. The division of the Sicilian kingdoms, 

 and the captivity of the king of Naples, tended consi- 

 derably to alter the state of Italy ; and the republic of 

 Florence, which had lately adopted the democratical 

 form of government, which it continued to retain, was . 

 now generally looked up to as the head of the Guelph 

 confederation. 



The object of chief interest in the north of Italy, had 

 for some years been the naval war between the states 

 of Pisa and Genoa for the possession of Corsica, in which 

 the fleets of the former were repeatedly defeated. The 

 Guelph cities taking advantage of this, formed a league 

 against Pisa. In this extremity, the Pisans appointed 

 Count Ugolino de la Gherardesca their general. This 

 nobleman was successful in his negociations to dissolve 

 the league ; and, having obtained peace, continued to Death of 

 retain his authority. His tyranny soon became odious C unt Vff 

 to the Pisans ; and at length having, in a fit of passion, 

 slain the nephew of Roger Ubaldini, archbishop of Pi- 

 sa, that prelate headed an insurrection against him. 

 Ugolino was defeated and taken, and, by order of the 

 archbishop, thrown with his sons into a dungeon, where A. D. 128 

 they were left to die of hunger. 



Soon after this event, Honorius IV. died, and Nicho- 

 las IV. was elected his successor. This pontiff raised 

 the Colonna family in Rome to that power and emi- 

 nence, which enabled them to rival the Orsini. He 

 also obtained the deliverance of Charles II. king of Na- 

 ples ; but no sooner was that prince set at liberty, than 

 he released him from the obligation of his oath ; and 

 the king and pope set themselves to attack the house 

 of Arragon both in Spain and Sicily. On the death of 

 Nicholas, the papal see continued for two years vacant; 

 and w(s at length filled up by Peter Morone, a hermit, 

 who assumed the name of Celestine V. and entirely 

 submissive to Charles II. took up his residence at Na- 

 ples. The unfortunate anchorite soon shewed his in- 

 capacity for reigning ; and even Charles found him ut- 

 terly useless in promoting his designs. He was easily 

 persuaded to resign, and Boniface VIII. was elected; 

 but the latter, jealous of his feeble predecessor, shut 

 him up in a tower in Campania, where he did not 

 long survive. 



James of Sicily having now succeeded his brother 

 Alphonzo of Arragon, Frederic, the youngest of the fa- 

 mily, was left to govern Sicily. But James soon after 

 entered into a treaty with Charles of Naples. Having 

 married his daughter Blanche, and given up Sicily, the 

 pope bestowed on him Sardinia and Corsica, although 

 these belonged to the Pisans and Genoese. But the 



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