ITALY. 



*S67 



:r. was i'l'irtdiately acknowledged as king, by the name 

 **" ,~^*' of Philip V. The emperor Leopold, who claimed the 

 accession in behalf of the *rch<luke Charles, his second 

 son. Grilling it vain to make attempts on Spain, march- 

 ed u considerable army into Italy, under the command 

 of prince Eugene. The Venetians observing a strict 

 neutrality, he met with little or no opposition, till he 

 attempted to enter the Milanese, when he was attacked 

 near Cbiani, by the united mops of the duke of Sa- 

 voy and Mareschal Villeroi, whom he completely de- 

 feated. Cremona also WAS surprised and occupied 

 " 



by the Germans, and Villeroi taken prisoner ; and a 

 revolt at :i favour of Charles III. was with 



difficulty quelled by the Spanish viceroy. Eugene 

 tin 11 laid siege to Mantua, but the arrival of the 

 <'uk' ..me, with considerable reinforcements 



from France, forced him to give up the underta- 

 king. 



.he meantime, the duke of Savoy, offended that 

 the sole management of the war was not committed to 

 him. notwithstanding his connection with Philip, who 

 hail married his daughter, left the French party, and 

 acceded to what was termed the grand alliance, con- 

 si .ting of the emperor king William HI. the states of 

 Holland, and the king of Portugal. The affairs of 

 these great leagues, h<. nperous elsewhere, 



waa unsuccessful in Itah was immediately in- 



vaded by the French armin, under Vtndmnc and 

 .lade ; and the duke at length, after the doubtful 

 action at Caasinato. forced to take refuge in Turin. 

 where he was closely besirgtd by Feuilladc. But the 

 archduke was now matter of great part of Spain, and 

 the decisive victory by Marlburoiigh at Blenheim, hav- 

 ing expelled the French from Germany, prim 

 gene hastened to the relief of Turin. The French ar- 

 my had been reinforced by the troops under the di.kc 

 of Orleans and Mareschal Martin, and was super 

 numbers to that of Eugene ; but the latter, attacking 

 them with vigour in their camp, carried the entrench- 

 ments, aad iVsftallil them with great loss. Mania 

 was) killed, and the duke of Orleans wounded, and the 

 remains of the army fled with great precipitation. 

 The eneeti of this victory were decisive of the fate of 

 Italy, aad the duchy of Milan and kingdom of Naples 

 were occupied by the imperial troops. 



During the course of the four following years, 

 France was reduced to the greatest extremities, and 

 Louis) made several attempts to negociate. but with no 

 racces*, and paace seemed still far distant, when two 

 unexpected events, which took place much about the 

 tame time, contributed to accelerate its approach. 

 The one was the death of the emperor Joseph I. who 

 leaving no heirn, was sncnmAd by hii onlv brother 

 the archduke Charles, who, under the trtl.- Jf Chaiiea 

 III. was in possession of pan - with the 



i!nm of Kaples, and who wa- n.nred ( hrlr VI. lip 

 .!>r:M'*al of the Whig ministry in i-nglai. I. un<l tlic 

 consequent recal of the duke of Marlborough, tended 

 still f irther to prepare the way for the peace which 

 waa at length concluded at l.'irecht, by tl,. kings of 



fttei of France and Spain, with the qur. 



lake of Savoy, the emperor still persisting in carrying 



A.1X 1711 0,1 ho-Hililiea. The articles relating to Italy, were the 

 acknowledgement of the duke of Savoy's right of suc- 

 cession to the crown of Spain, in default of issue of 

 and bis acquisition of the island of Sicily 

 with the title of king. Charles VI. thus deserted by 



his allies, also made peace the following year. By Hutorr. 

 this treaty, which was concluded at Rastaclt, Philip V. "JT^T^ 

 was acknowledged king of Spain, while the kingdom j^'^Vt. 

 of Naples, and duchy of Milan, were left in the pos- A.I). 171 W 

 session of the emperor. 



But the peace was not destined to be of Ions; endu- 

 rance in Italy. On the death of his first wife, Philip V. 

 espoused Elizabeth Farnese, grand-daughter of Francis 

 duke of Parma. This princess soon acquired great in- 

 Hucnce with Philip, while she in her turn was ruled by 

 the intriguing and ambitious AlbtToni. 



The first attempt of this celebrated statesman, was Spaniards 

 the sudden invasion of Sicily, which was so successful, invade :>i- 

 that only two small towns were left in the possession of c ''y- 

 Victor Am.irieus. This sudden a^j-re^ion allied the A- 

 emperor with the regent Orleans and the courts of 

 Urit.-iin .:nd Savoy against Spain. Sardinia, with the 

 title of king, was bestowed on Victor Amsdeus, in 

 lieu of Sicily, wliich was ceded to the emperor. At 

 length. Philip, Alarmed at the number of his ene- 



disinissed Albcroni, and peace was again resto- A. D. 1719. 

 red. 



The question of the right of succession to the duchies 

 of Tuscany and Parma, now exciter! considerable inte- 

 rest ; and by an agreement, concluded by the emperor 

 and Philip V. it had been settled, that on the demise 

 of the two dukes, neither of whom had any issue, the A. D. 17Z5. 

 infant Don Carlos should receive the investitures, and 

 on the death of Antonio Farnese, he was accordingly 

 acknowledged duke of Parma. Hut the contest for the 



; d again divided the European power* ; ^Var of the 

 and France, Spain, and Sardinia, were leagued against Polish tuc- 

 thc emperor. The result was fatal to the German inte- ccnion. 

 rest in Italy ; Naples and Sicily fell again into the hands A. 0. 1733. 

 of Spain, and Milan, with many other cities in I.om- 

 . were taken by Villars. In the mean time, John 

 (aston di Medici, grand duke of Tiucany. died, mil 

 the ini otiture was conferred by the emperor on Fran- 

 'ophcn of Ixirraine, his son-in-law, the Spaniards, 

 however, remaining in actual possession A peace was 

 UK luded, by which Don Carlos w to remain 

 king of Naples Milan and Parma were to be restored 

 empi ror, and Tuscany to Francis of Lorraine. 

 Hut this treaty was never executed, and the death of 

 Charles VI. rekindled with double vigour the flames of J 

 war. III. daughter Maria Theresa, queen of Hungary, 

 and her husband Francis of Tuscany, were attacked by ,. ]>. (741. 

 toe Fri'sii-h, Prussians, nnd Saxon; and Charles, elector Srvcn yct 

 of Bararia, was crowned emperor by the name of ar. 

 ( harles VII. In Italy, the queen was assisted by 

 Charles Fmnnuel, king of Sardinia, while considerable 

 .-!i subsidies aided her in carrying on tlie war. . 

 f troops of the infant Don Philip and tl prince 

 i.ide themselves masters of all Savoy, and 

 most of Piedmont. 



-cs queen having now expelled Charles VII. 

 from his hereditary state*, and concluded a peace with 

 the king of Prussia, was now able to assist her ally ; 

 and (harles Emmanuel re-entered his dominions. The 

 imperial troops then entered Genoa, but were soon af- 

 ter expelled by the people, who arlmitted a French gar- 

 rison, and repelled the repeated attacks of the impe- 



of 



W- 



War at length was terminated by the peace of Aix- T rea( y f f 

 l.i-chapelle, by which the states of Italy were distributed Aix-la-Cha- 

 in the way in which they remained till our own time?, pclle. 

 The king of Sardinia, and the duke of Modena, (who A - D - 



