ITALY;. 58* 



Gonzaga, who, adhering to France, the territory was forfeited, as a 

 iiet oi the empire, to the house of Austria. Guasudla was separated 

 from it in 1748, and made part of tne duchy of Parma. 



The firsi. ouke oi Parma was natural son to pope Paul III, the 

 duchy having been annexed to the holy see in 1545, by pope Julius 

 II. The descendants of the house of Farnese terminated in the lute 

 queen-dowager of Spain, whose son, Cnarles IV, obtained the duchy, 

 and his nepaevv neld it, witn the duchy of Piacentia, till his death in 

 18^3, wr.eu it was occupied by the French. It is now, with Piacentia, 

 in t ne possession of Maria-Louisa, archduchess of Austria, and late 

 empress oi Fiance. 



The Venetians were formerly the most formidable marine power in 

 Europe. In 1194 they conquered Constantinople itself, ana held it 

 for some timt, together with great part of the continent of Europe 

 and Asia They were more than once brought to the brink of des- 

 truction by ihe confederacies formed against them among the other 

 powers ot Europe, especialy by the league of Cambray in 1509, but 

 Were, as often saved by the disunion of the confederates. The dis- 

 covery of a passage to India, by the Cape of Good Hope, gave the 

 first blow to their greatness, as it lost them the Indian trade. By 

 degrees the Turks took from them their most valuable possessions 

 on the continent; and so late as the year 1715. they lost the Morea. 

 In 1797 the French seized, upon the city of Venice, abolished its 

 government, and soon after ceded it by treaty to the emperor, with a 

 considerable part of its continental territory. 



The Genoese lor some time disputed the empire of the Mediter- 

 ranean sea with the Venetians, but were seldom or never able to 

 maintain their own independency by land, being generally protected, 

 and sometimes subjected, by the French and imperialists. Their 

 doge, or first magistrate, used to be crowned king of Corsica, though 

 it does not clearly appear by what title. The successful effort they 

 made in driving the victorious Austrians out of their capital, during 

 the war, which was terminated by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 

 1718, has few parallels in history, and serves to show the effect of 

 despair under oppression. 



The history of the papacy is connected with that of Christendom 

 itself. The most solid foundations for its temporal power were laid 

 by the famous Matilda, countess of Tuscany, and heiress of the 

 greatest part of Italy, who bequeathed a large portion of her domini- 

 ons to the famous pope Gregory VII, (who, before his accession in 

 1073, was so well known by the name of Hildebrand.) It would be 

 too tedious here to enter into a detail of the ignorance of the laity, 

 and the other causes that operated to the aggrandisement of the 

 papacy, previous to the reformation. Even since that aera, the state 

 of Europe has been such, that the popes have had more than once 

 great weight in its public affairs, chiefly through. the weakness and 

 bigotry of temporal princes. 



The papal power is evidently now nearly extinct. Even before the 

 present times, when innovation and revolution have made such rapid 

 strides, the pope was treated by Roman-catholic princes with very 

 little more ceremony than is due to him as bishop of Rome, and pos- 

 sessed of a temporal principality. The late pope Pius VI, though 

 he acted with considerable caution and moderation, co-operated with 

 the allied powers* against France: in consequence of which, the 

 French made an incursion into his territories, where they met with- 



