3.5G 



ITALY. 





Kr.uiru 



i suc- 

 retdi hit 

 lather. 

 Defeat and 

 dwthof 

 Montone. 



A.D. un. 



Conquests 

 of Visconti. 



His first 

 war with 

 Florence. 



A. D. H2fi. 

 Second war 

 with Flo- 

 rence and 

 Venice. 



Third 



the successor to the command of the troops of his fa- 

 ther, who was drowned in crossing the river Pescara. 



The party of Jane was successful. Don Pedro, bro- 

 ther to Alphanso, wa< obliged to yield Naples, and 

 hut hiniM-lf up in a fortress ; and the queen was com- 

 plftfly re-cst.iblished in her authority, by the decisive 

 buttle of Au ui la, and the death of Montone. The re- 

 mains of his Kind of adventurers, entered into the 

 MTV ice, under the command of Nicholas 

 iiino. Martin V. resumed the territories wrested 

 from the church ; and of all the principality of Brac- 

 ,i-)thing was left to his son Count Oddo, but the 

 castle of Montone. 



At this period, the chief influence at Florence was 

 possessed by Nicholas d'Uzzano, of the same party 

 and policy as Maso Albizzi ; but, notwithstanding his 

 power, the Medici, at the head of the democratical 

 party, were gradually increasing in.wealth and autho- 

 rity, and John di Medici, (lathes of the great Cosmo), 

 iiuw attained to the office of gonfalonier of justice. 



A treaty had been concluded with Philip Visconti ; 

 but tlie ambitious spirit of that prince soon excited 

 new wars and revolutions. Francis Carmagnola, his 

 general, had succeeded in the conquest of Genoa, 

 which was in a state of anarchy from its intestine dig- 

 cords. This was followed by the acquisition of Parma 

 and Borgamlo ; and Brescia and Crema were surren- 

 , ;,j his arms. Bellinzona, Duomo d'Ossola, 

 and the Levantine Valley, were next wrested from the 

 .Swiss: but 3000 of that gallant nation having crossed 

 Mount St. Gothard, attacked the army of Carmagnola, 

 w.ik-h, although consisting of 24,000, was with diffi- 

 culty able to keep its ground, and the Swiss were per- 

 mitted to retire unmolested. 



The interference of Visconti, in the affairs of Romag- 

 na, after the death of Montone, was considered by the 

 Florentines as an infraction of the treaty, and war was 

 immediately commenced ; but the republicans were 

 defeated in six successive battles, and obliged to apply 

 for aid to the senate of Venice. In the meantime, 

 Carmagnola, having incurred the jealousy of Philip, 

 had fled to Venice, where, eager for an opportunity of 

 revenge, he zealously pleaded the cause of Florence; 

 and the senate, roused by his exhortations, placed him 

 at the head of their troops. Brescia soon submitted ; 

 and the duke, alarmed, acceded to a peace with the re- 

 publicans, allowing them to retain their conquest. 

 But the Milanese, dissatisfied with the terms of the 

 peace, prevailed on Philip immediately to break the 

 treaty, and invade Mantua. His troops were at first 

 victorious ; the event of a second battle was doubtful ; 

 but in the third, which was fought at Macalo, on the 

 Oglio, Charles Malatesti was completely defeated, and, 

 with 8000 men, was taken prisoner by Carmagnola. 

 They were, however, released next day, by the gene- 

 rosity of that leader and his soldiers ; but this act ex- 

 cited the suspicions of the supreme council of Venice, 

 and afterwards occasioned his ruin. 



This defeat occasioned a second peace between Phi- 

 lip and the republics. But the attempts of Florence 

 against Lucca, being frustrated by Sforza and Peccini- 

 ni, now in the pay of the duke, the war was again re- 

 newed, but with less favourable auspices. The Vene- 

 tian fleet on the Po, was almost entirely destroyed by 

 the Milanese, and the army of Carmagnola surprised 

 and routed near Soncino by Sforza, while in Tuscany, 

 J'iccinino made demonstrations against Pisa, ami laid 

 waste the Florentine territory. After his defeat, Car- 

 magnola continued for some time in a state of inaction, 



which increasing the suspicions of the Venetian conn- Hittory. 

 cil, he was invited to Venice, to give his advice on the S """"Y"^ 1P ' 

 state of affairs ; but no soonfer had lie arrived, than he 

 was thrown into prison, and after a sfttrtt trial, where 

 he suffered the torture of the rack, was publicly be- A, D. 1432. 

 headed in St. Mark's place. His trial was never made 

 public, but throughout Italy he was generally consi- 

 dered as a victim rather to the jealousy, than tne re- 

 venge of the Venetians. 



In the meantime, Martin V. had been succeeded in 

 the pontificate, by Gabriel Condolmieri, a Venetian, 

 who embraced the cause of the republics and of ihe 

 Orsini at Rome. But this pope, who took the name 

 of Eugene IV was hasty and passionate, and his whole 

 reign exhibits a series of contests with tfie Coloima; 

 the Hussites in Bohemia; the council at Bs!e for the 

 reformation of the church ; and his own vassals in Ho- 

 magna. 



The emperor Sigismond now entered Italy, and at Visit of the 

 Milan received the iron crown, but without obtaining emperor 

 an interview with the duke. He then .succeeded in s 'g lsmi "ia. 

 restoring peace between the republics and Philip; and, 

 repairing to Rome, was invested with the imperial 

 crown, from whence, after attempting in vain to act as 

 mediator between the pope and the council of Basle, 

 he returned to Germany, convinced by experience, 

 that it was in vain for an emperor, without an army, 

 to interfere in the affairs of Italy. 



The death of queen Jane II. of Naples, now re- Contests for 

 kindled the war in that country. The Neapolitans the crown 

 embraced the party of Rene of Anjou, son of Louis of Naples. 

 III., while the duke of Suessa, the prince of Tarento, 

 and the Count of Fondi, declared in favour of Alphon- 

 zo of Arragon. The latter prince, whose actions enti- 

 tled him to the appellation of the magnanimous, having 

 engaged the Genoise fleet near Gaeta, was defeated, 

 and with his brothers made a prisoner, and conveyed, 

 by order of Visconti, from Genoa to Milan. Here his 

 brilliant talents and amiable manners were more effec- 

 tual than his arms ; and the dnke, persuaded by his 

 arguments, renounced his connection with the French, 

 and allied himself to his captive, whom he immediately 

 set at liberty. But the Genoese, on receiving Vis conti's 

 orders to reconvey Alphonzo to Naples, determined no 

 longer to be the submissive slaves of his caprice ; and 

 expelling the Milanese governor, and the garrisons of 

 Genoa and Savona, reasserted their liberty, and leagued 



themselves with the Venetians and Florentines. The A n IA 

 > i i -* u. i* 



ruling party in the latter state was now that of the 



Medici. Two years before, the death of Nicholas 

 d'Uzzano, who had kept in order the rival factions, 

 had thrown the chief power into the hands of Rinaldo 

 Albizzi, who having brought Cosmo di Medici to trial, 

 obtained his banishment to Padua. Not content with 

 the exile of his rival, Rinaldo proposed to attack those 

 magistrates who opposed his measures ; but in this his 

 friends refused their aid. The magistrates soon after 

 having cited him to appear, to give an account of his 

 conduct, on his resistance, exiled him and his principal 

 adherents, and recalled Cosmo di Medici. Rinaldo, 

 who took refuge at Milan, incited Visconti again to 

 make war on Florence, and Piccinino again invaded 

 Tuscany. This war, which continued for five years, 

 with various success, is more interesting from the mili- 

 tary atchievements of Sforza and Piccinino, than the 

 importance of its results to the parties concerned. It 

 was at length terminated by Visronti, who submitted Peace of 

 the terms of the treaty to the arbitration of Sforza, the Capriana. 

 commander of the republican troops, whose interest A> D> l * 



