364* 



ITALY. 



HUtory. bility, and the subsequent insurrection of the people 

 ^"-""V-" 1 * against their divided lords, was fortunatfly terminated 

 by the mediation of the pope, the emperor, and the 

 king of Spain; and Genoa remained, till our days, un- 

 disturbed by any more intestine revolutions. Not long 

 after this, the last Marquess of Saluces died in France, 

 having previously ceded his dominions to Charles IX. 

 whose troops immediately took possession of it, not- 

 withstanding the remonstrances of the duke of Savoy, 

 who claimed it as an ancient dependency of his duke- 

 dom. The latter prince, unable to accomplish his ob- 

 ject by pacific measures, and unwilling to have recourse 

 to war, was forced, during the remainder of his reign, 

 to acquiesce ; and the French remained possessors of 

 Saluces. After his death, however, his son Charles 

 Emanuel, taking advantage of the difficulties in which 

 Henry III. was involved, made himself master of 

 Saluces, where his cruel persecution of the Protestants 

 has made his name odious in the annals of the reform- 

 ed churches, while it acquired him, at Rome, the re- 

 putation of the active and zealous defender of the Ca- 

 tholic faith. 



In Tuscany, the grand duke Francis (son of Cosmo 

 di Medici) and his duchess, the celebrated Bianca Ca- 

 pella, died at Florence in the course of the same night ; 

 and as he only left two daughters by his first wife, Jane 

 of Austria, the dukedom descended to his brother car- 

 dinal Ferdinand di Medici, who, laying aside the pur- 

 ple, assumed the government of Tuscany. 



Soon after the peaceable establishment of Henry IV. 

 on the throne of France, having at length obtained the 

 consent of the pope to his divorce of Margaret of Va- 

 lois, lie was married to Mary di Medici, the youngest 

 daughter of the grand duke Francis; and the Tuscan 

 family was thus honoured by a second alliance with the 

 royal family of France. Henry now turned his arms 

 against the duke of Savoy, desirous to recover Saluces, 

 and punish that prince for his interference in the wars 

 of the league. In one campaign, he made himself mas- 

 ter of most of the duke's strongest fortresses; but the 

 war was put an -end to by the intervention of Pope 

 Clement VIII. and the King of Spain. Saluces was 

 left under the dominion of Savoy ; but the country 

 of Bresse was ceded to France, and 100,000 crowns 

 were paid by the duke to defray the expences of the 

 war. 



Much about this period, Alphonzo II. of Este, dake 

 of Ferrara and Modena, died, and was succeeded by 

 his son Caesar ; but Clement VIII. took advantage of 

 this conjuncture, to assert the ancient claims of the 

 church to the city of Ferrara, which was immediately 

 seized by his troops. Caesar, unable to contend with 

 the pope, retired to Modena ; and Ferrara was united to 

 the papal territories. These changes, however, but 

 little affected the general peace of Italy, which conti- 

 nued for upwards of twenty years ; a period, doubtless, 

 of great advantage to that country, but of little interest 

 to the historian. 



A. D. 1612. The succession to the duchy of Mantua occasioned 

 a contest, which once more laid Italy open to fo- 

 reign invasion. Francis IV. duke of Mantua, left 

 A. D. 1627. only a daughter, and was succeeded by his brothers 

 Ferdinand and Vincent II. ; but neither leaving any 

 children, the dukedom was claimed by Charles Gon- 

 zaga, duke of Nevers, the heir-male of the family, 

 and whose son was also married to Maria, daughter of 

 duke Francis. The emperor Ferdinand II. unwilling 



Ch.ul.- 

 Juke of 

 Savoy re- 

 covers Sa- 

 luces. 

 A. D. 1588. 



Death of 

 Francid 

 grand 

 duke of 

 Tuscany. 



His daugh- 

 ter mar- 

 ried to 

 Henry IV. 

 A.D.1599. 



that so valuable a principality should fall into the 

 hands of a subject of France*- Conferred Mantua on the 

 duke of Guastalla ; while Charles Emanuel of Savoy 

 asserted the old claims of his family to the marquisate 

 of Montferrat, and obtained the support of the Spa- 

 niards. The duke of Nevers, unable to contend against 

 such powerful rivals, applied for assistance to Louis 

 XIII. of France, and was seconded by the Venetians, 

 who dreaded the consequences of Mantua falling under 

 the dominion of the Spaniards. The cardinal de Rich- 

 elieu having, by the capture of La Roche, succeeded in 

 subduing the Protestants, was not unwilling to enter 

 into a war which might conduce to the great end he 

 had now in view, the humiliation of the house of Austria. 

 The French accordingly, commanded by Louis in per- 

 son, crossed the Alps, and, without receiving opposi- 

 tion from the duke of Savoy, (whose prudence, or per- 

 haps indecision, prevented him from taking any active 

 part in the war,) proceeded to the relief of Casal, then 

 besieged by the Spanish troops. The news of the in- 

 surrection in Gascony, of the Protestants under the 

 duke of Rohan, obliged Louis to return to France ; 

 and the duke of Savoy, imagining all danger from the 

 French at an end, united his forces with the besiegers of 

 Casal. But the duke was soon taught the impolicy of 

 his conduct, by the speedy return of the French army 

 under the command of Richelieu ; which, after mena- 

 cing Turin, and forcing the duke to concentrate his 

 troops for its defence, laid siege to the fortress of Pig- 

 nerol, a post commanding the passes of Italy, and re- 

 duced it in a few days. 



In the mean time, Louis returned and entered Sa- 

 voy, which soon submitted to his arms; and the duke, 

 overwhelmed with the weight of these sudden calami- 

 ties, died at Turin, in the sixtieth year of his age. His 

 son, Victor Amadetis I. instructed by the example of 

 his father, hastened to conclude a treaty with Louis ; 

 whose troops now proceeded to Casal, which still con- 

 tinued to hold out. In Lombardy, however, the cause 

 of the imperialists had been successful ; the Venetian 

 and French troops, commanded by Marshal d'Estrees, 

 were defeated, and the city of Mantua taken by assault 

 by Count Colalto, the imperial general. But the ac- 

 tive mediation of Pope Urban VIII. or rather of his 

 agent Julio Mazarine, succeeded in procuring a sus- 

 pension of arms ; and, at the diet of Ratisbon, the in- 

 trigues of Richelieu procured the acknowledgment of 

 the duke of Nevers' right to Mantua, which was deli- 

 vered up to him ; while the duke of Savoy received a 

 few towns in Montferrat ; and the Gonzagas of Guas- 

 talla a pecuniary indemnification ; and Pignerol, Luza, 

 and two other fortresses, remained in the hands of the 

 French, as securities for the performance of the treaty. 

 The subsequent treaty of Querasque secured to the 

 French the entire possession of Pignerol, and thus left 

 them an easy entrance into Italy. 



Three years after, war broke out a-new. Richelieu 

 secured on his side Odoard Farnese, duke of Parma, 

 and the dukes of Mantua and Savoy. The two bro- 

 thers of the latter, however, Cardinal Maurice, and 

 Thomas, entered into the imperial service. The death 

 of Victor Amadeus left his dominions, and the care of 

 his infant successor, in the hands of Louis. The cam- 

 paign in Italy, however, was not at first successful ; 

 and although the duke de Crequi afterwards defeat- 

 ed the duke of Modena and the Spaniards, the^state 

 of the contending parties remained, at the end of two 



Histnnr. 



LouisXIII. 

 passes 

 through 

 I'iedinont. 

 A. D. 16'-'9. 



Richelieu 

 takes Pig. 



nerol. 



Death of 

 Charles E. 

 m.-.miel of 

 Savoy. 

 A. D. 1630. 



Sack of 

 Mantua. 



New wai 

 in Italy. 

 A. D. 163j. 



