ITALY. 



357 



r.v;-.- : : 



Fl- r- :.:.. 



he attempted to conciliate, by conferring upon him the 

 ham! of Bianca Visconti, his natural daughter, with 

 Cremona and Pontremoli as a dowry. 



In the meantime, Eugene IV. had been declared 

 contumacious by the council of Basle, which elected, as 

 ccessor, Amadeus VIII. of Savoy, who resigning 

 his temporal dominions to his son, took the name of 

 Felix V. On the other hand, Eugene called a rival 

 council at Ferrara, which afterwards removed to Flo- 

 rence, where the emperor John Palarologus VI. and the 

 deputies of the Greek church met, in order, if possible, 

 to effect a union between the churches. 



Three years before this period, Rene of Anjou had 

 entered Naples, but, n<i<wiihstand ; ng the assistance of 

 Pope Eugene, his influence daily declined; and Al- 

 phonzo having defeated the lieutenants, and taken 

 poMrasion of the fiefs of Sforza in Abruzzo, proceeded 

 to brtiege Naples. 



-ta. prepared to march to the assistance of Rene, 

 but Visconti, jealou; of his son-in-law, hinted to Eu- 

 gene that this was now the time to recover the mar- 

 cpriMte of Ancona t i; and sent Piccinino to 



command his army. But during these transactions, 

 Alphonzo succeeded in surprising Naples, and Rene 

 was t'. reed, like hit ancestors, to retire to his heredita- 

 ry state*. 



Sforxa was now attacked by the pope, the king of 

 Naples, ami the duke of Milan ; and at the end of tour 

 years was reduced to the greatest extremity, when he 

 wa.- joined by the Venetian* and Florentines, through 

 the influence of Cosmo di Medici, who was his personal 

 friend. Their combined efforts were successful. 

 sa was re-established at Ancona, and the war was even 

 carried to tl;e gates of Milan, when Visconti again 

 made offers of accommodation to hit son-in-law, which 

 t, by the secret advice of Coamo, accepted, and 

 leaving the marquisate of Ancona to Pope Nicholas V. 

 who had short time before succeeded Eugene, pro- 

 ceeded to march to the assistance of the duke against 

 A. D. HIT. hi* former allie*. But hi* progress was arrrsted by 

 the accounts of the death of Philip, of a dysentery, at 

 I'frta Zobbia, and the revolution at Milan occasioned 

 .at event. 



the duke's death being known to his council, it 

 wa debated whether the sovereignty should be oft-r- 

 ed to Sfbna, or A Iphonzo of Arragpn. The latter 

 party had tb* majority, and the first intimation which 

 the citizen* of Milan received of the death of Viconti, 

 wai the houting of the Arragonian banners on the cas- 

 tlc. 1'iiur distinguished citizens, however, Trivulzio, 

 Bant, Ijunpugnani, and C'ntti, having barricaded the 

 streets, and cat off the communication with the castle, 

 callrd a meeting of the deputies of the people, who, 

 dependence of the republic, csulili.hed 

 a ranttfti,- c. The example of 



Milan was followed by Pavia and Parma, which esta 

 blished independent government., but most of the 

 other citie* agreed to follow the fate of Milan. 



The Venetians having refused to enter into a treaty 

 with the new republic, the war still continued ; and 

 Sforza being invited by the Milanese to become their 

 general, found it prudent to become the servant of 

 ttoae whom he had hoped to govern. 



The senate of Milan had soon occasion to distrust 

 their new general, on whom the Pavitans conferred 

 the sovereignty of their city ; a, desirous of continu- 

 n his command, he contrived to defeat all nego- 

 tiations for peace: At last the Venetians having -uf 

 Crrcd a total defeat at Caravaggio, and having disco- 



vereil by whom their former proffers had been frus- History, 

 trated, applied to Sforza, who deserting the republic -y- ' 

 of Milan, entered into the service of Venice. The war, f KU y O f 

 however, continued only one year longer, for the Veiie- Brescia, 

 tians, worn out by the length of the war, were easily A. D. 1499. 

 persuaded by the Milanese to accede to a treaty ; to 

 which Sforza at first pretended to accede, but having 

 gained the alliance of the Duke of Savoy, continued to 

 carry on the war. Milan was now visited by a dread- 

 ful famine, and the army of Sforza cut off all supplies ; 

 the misery of the people at length raised them in an 

 insurrection against the government ; the gates were 

 thrown open, and Sforza, entering the city at the hcail 

 of his troops, was acknowledged prince and duke of 

 Milan. 



A formidable league was soon formed against the Francis 

 new sovereign, by the Venetians and king of Naples, >forza, 

 but his cause was warmly adopted by Cosmo di Mtdi- ** 

 ci, and the Florentines. Hostilities were, for a short A LK 1450 

 time, delayed by the visit and coronation of the empe- 

 ror Frederic III. of Austria; but, immediately on his 

 departure, Tuscany was invaded by Ferdinand, duke 

 of Calabria, natural son to Alphonzo, while the duke 

 of Milan was attacked by the Venetians, the duke of 

 Savoy, and the marquess of Montferrat. Rene of An- 

 jou, however, having entered Italy at the desire of 

 Sforza and the Florentines, effectually checked the pro- 

 gress of Piccinino and the Venetians ; and the taking 

 of Constantinople by the Turks, having excited a ge- 

 neral alarm and desire for peace, a treaty was con- 

 cluded at Lodi, between the Venetians and duke of 

 Milan, to which the king of Naples soon after ac- p eace O f 



Lodi 



holai V. a pontiff" who had given great encou- A. D. 1455. 

 ragement to the restorers of literature, was now dead, 

 and hi-, successor was Alphonzo Borgia, who was 

 named Calixtus III. The war of Genoa is now the 

 chief object of interest in the atf.'irs of Italy. That 

 state bad, for many yean, carried on war with Al- 

 phonzo of Naples, with various success. At length, 

 weakened by intestine discords, and the destruction of 

 their colonies by the Turks, the Genoese threw them 

 selves under the protection of Charles VII. of France, 

 whom they acknowledged their lord, and received a 

 French garrison, under the command of John, son of 

 Rene of Anjou, who took the title of duke of Calabria. A. D. 1458. 



The death of Alphonzo, at Naples, occasioned new 

 changes. 



I'M receiving this intelligence, Calixtus III. imnie- 

 di.itily declared the kingdom forfeited to the holy see, 

 by the extinction of tin- legitimate line. But Ferdi- 

 nand was acknowledged by the parliament of N..ples, 

 and on the death of Calixtus, which happened MI. n 

 after, Pius II. confirmed his right, ami, along with 

 Sforza, embraced warmly his interest. The Floren- 

 tines and Venetians remained neutral. On the other 

 hand, the arrival of the Duke of Calabria excited a 

 general insurrection among the Neapolitan barons, ..ml 

 Ferdinand, defeated at Sarno, with difficulty retained 

 Napier 



In the meantime, a new revolution at Genoa occa- 

 sioned the expulsion of the French, and the fleet of 

 Rene was defeated , and his son, unable to receive 

 succours from France, and deserted by many ot' hi 

 principal general-, was forced to evacuate Naples. At 

 this period, Louis XI. of France, desirous of acquiring 

 the friendship of SforzH, ceded t;> him i.i* rights over 

 Genoa; and the violence of the reigning party there, 

 having occasioned an insurrection, the state at length 



