ITALY. 



355 



jrr. duke of Milan. Successive intrigues made him master 

 ^-^r^ of Pisa, Sienna, and Perugia ; and Florence, deserted 

 by her allies, alone remained unsubdued. In the mean 

 A.D. HOO. time, the princes of the empire deposed the emperor 

 U\ nceslaus for incapacity, and elected Rupert, elector- 

 palatine, on the express condition of his revoking the 

 grant of the dukedom of Milan. This prince was not, 

 however, acknowledged by Boniface IX. who was un- 

 willing to incur the displeasure of Visconti. Having, 

 notwithstanding, contracted an alliance with the Floren- 

 tines, he entered Ixmibardy with an army ; but, being 

 met near Brescia by the forces of the duke of Milan, the 

 Italian cavalry soon evinced their superiority, and Ro- 

 bert was forced to retreat. Leopold of Austria, and 

 the archbishop of Cologne, having left him, and return- 

 ed home, be was obliged to remain in a state of inac- 

 tivity, and soon after to evacuate Italy. 



Visconti now fumed his arms against John Benti- 

 voglio, lord of Bologna, and, being successful in gaining 

 the city, put him to death. Florence was now left 

 without an ally ; all the cities which formerly served as 

 outlet* for its commerce were in the hands of its ene- 

 my, and its citizens were reduced to the greatest clis- 

 Dsatbef the tress, when Providence interfered in their behalf: the 

 plague again broke out in Lombardy, and the tyrant of 

 A.D. HOI, Milan was cut off in the midst of his successful career. 

 By his will, bis states were divided among his sons, 

 under the care of their mother Catharine, daughter of 

 Barnabas Visconti. But one year had scarcely elap- 

 sed, before many of his conquests had returned to their 

 former owner*. Bologna again obeyed Boniface IX: 

 Sienna asserted her liberty ; and the duchess Catharine, 

 eiied by the Milanese, died in prison, by poison. 

 Doth of Carrara took Verona and Vicenza; but the Venetians, 

 retaining their ancient hatred against the family, soon 

 deprived him of hi* conquest, and excited conspiracy 

 at Padua against him. He was at length forced to 

 throw himself on their mercy ; but the supreme coun- 

 cil were inflexible, and this gallant and unfortunate 

 A, D. 140C prince perished, with all his family, in the dungeon* of 

 Venice. 



The same year is distinguished by the capture of 

 Pitt by the Florentines, and the final destruction of 

 the independence of that state. This was the first de- 

 parture of that republic from its former liberal policy ; 

 and the era of the decay of its civil liberties, may be 

 dated from it* first war of conquest. The papal chair 

 was now filled by Gregory XJI. and Benedict XIII. 

 was the antipope at Avignon ; but the clergy, weary of 

 the schism, endeaveurrd to prevail on them to refer 

 to a general council. The pope* at first 

 Imt afterwards refused to appear ; but their 

 cardinals, with deputies of the clergy, and ambassadors 

 from the different state*. sormbltJ at Pisa. The first 

 result of their deliberation*, was to condemn both the 

 pope* a* guilty of heresy and schism, and to declare 

 the pontificate vacant The archbishop of Milan was 

 elected by the name of Alexander V. under the pro- 

 mise of soon calling another council, for the reforma- 



t.,.i, ,.Mlu- rlertfv. 



The state* of the church were, however, in the hands 



Cnf. 



"< , ' 



of l^adislant, king of Naples, who, under pretence of 

 bracing the party of Gregory XII. retained them 

 in hi* name. But the Florentine* and Siennese deter- 

 mined to assert the right* of the church ; and, bribing 

 into their service Braccio Montone, a celebrated leader 

 of condottieri, and many other of his associates then in 

 the pay of Ladislaus, prepared to combat the king of 

 \aplei -with hi* own troops. That prince first com- 



menced the war by the invasion of Tuscany, but his History, 

 projects were thwarted by the military skill of Mon. ** m *^f~~' 

 tone; while the Florentines, assisted by Louis II. of 

 Anjou, who had received the investiture of Naples, 

 carried the war into the states of the church, and made 

 themselves masters of Rome. But Alexander V. did 

 not live to enter that city, having died at Bologna. A. IX 1*10. 

 His death was generally ascribed to the effects of poi- 

 son, administered to him by Cardinal Cossa, who was 

 elected his successor, under the name of John XXIII. 

 Louis of Anjon, after two unsuccessful campaigns, at 

 length defeated Ladislaus at Rocca-secca ; but, unable 

 to improve his victory, was again forced to return to 

 France, and interfere no more with the affairs of Italy. 

 The pope was forced to leave Rome, and take refuge 

 at Florence ; and that state, menaced by the Neapoli- 

 tan troops, commanded by Sforza, were on the point of 

 concluding a treaty with him, when Ladislaus was at- , . 

 tacked by a disease, said to have been occasioned by L!isi!s 

 his excesses, which soon terminated in his death. A. D. 141k 



In Lonibardy, John Maria Visconti, Duke of Mi- 

 lan, and Facino Cane, his principal general, were mur- 

 dered by Hector, a natural son of Barnabas Visconti ; 

 but Philip Maria, the second son of John Galeazzo, 

 having married the widow of Cane, (aged 40, while he 

 was only 20), was followed by the soldiery, and soon 

 regained the city of Milan. 



The death of the emperor Rupert was followed by 

 the election of Sigismund, king of Hungary, who, 

 anxious to put an end to the schism in the church, 

 prevailed on John XXIII. to call another general coun- 

 cil at Constance. On the proceedings of this cele- Council of 

 brated assembly, it is impossible to dwell here. After Constance, 

 long deliberations, John XXIII., and his two rivals, 

 Gregory IX. and Benedict XIII. were deposed: the 

 buses in the church, and the vices of the clergy, were 

 exposed without any steps being taken for their re- 

 formation ; while their zeal against reformers was 

 shewn, by the cruel execution of John Huss, and hi* 

 disciple Jerome of Prague, although the former had 

 received a guarantee of safety from the emperor. At 

 length a new head was given to the church, in the 

 person of Martin V. of the Colonna family, and his 

 first act was to dissolve the council, and reserve to ^. D. UK. 

 himself the farther reformation of the clergy. 



At Naples, Jane II. the sister and successor of La- 

 dislaus, had married James of Bourbon, Count de la 

 Marche ; but that prince, irritated by the irregularities 

 of his wife, treated her so ill, that the people of Na- 

 ples revolted against him ; and, the pope, having de- 

 clared in favour of the queen, he returned to France, 

 where he soon after died in a convent. But Louis 

 III. of Anjou, having asserted his claims to Naples, 

 succeeded in obtaining the concurrence of Martin, and 

 the assistance of .Sforza. On the other hand, Jane had War of N, 

 recourse to the alliance of Alphonzo of Arragon, to p'c- 

 whose family the crown of Sicily had again returned, 

 whom she adopted as her heir. She also engaged in her 

 service, Braccio Mentone, who had now established 

 himself in the principality of Perugia, his native city. 

 This war was terminated in two years, by the inter- 

 vention of the pope, and Louis again retired to Pro- 

 vence. But Alphonzo, jealous of the influence of Ca- 

 raccioli, the queen's favourite, caused him to be ar- 

 rested, and attempted to seize the queen, who had re- 

 course to the protection of Sforza, who defeated Al- 

 phonzo, but was obliged to retreat to A versa. Jane 

 now chose Louis as her successor, and was assisted by 

 the armies of the Duke of Milan, and Francis Sforaa, 



