CHAP. I.]

REVOLT OF THE NEAPOLITAN BARONS.

103

his will his natural son Ferdinand to be his successor on the throne of Naples; and, in spite of his illegitimacy, Ferdinand had been recognized as rightful heir by two successive Popes, Eugenius IV. and Nicholas V. In order to strengthen his son's claim, Alfonso had restored to the Neapolitan States the right of electing their Sovereign and making their own laws; and the States, out of gratitude for the recovery of these privileges, had confirmed the appointment of Ferdinand (1443). Calixtus III., however, who filled the Papal chair at the time of Alfonso's death, refused to invest Ferdinand with the sovereignty of Naples, on pretence that the war of Naples with Genoa prevented the forces of Italy from being employed against the Turks; but in reality, it is said, with the ambitious view of raising one of his nephews, the Duke of Spoleto, to the Neapolitan throne. This Pontiff, by name Alfonso Borgia, a native of Valencia in Spain, founded the greatness of that Borgian family, whose name has become synonymous with infamy. In the year of his accession he bestowed the purple on his nephew Rodrigo Borgia, afterwards under the title of Alexander VI. notorious as the most wicked and profligate Pontiff that ever polluted the Chair of Peter. On the news of Alfonso's death, Calixtus published a bull in which he claimed Naples as a fief escheated to the Church; and he endeavoured to procure the help of the Duke of Milan, in order to carry out his views upon that Kingdom. But the strong matrimonial connection between the Houses of Naples and MilanFerdinand's son Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, having married Francesco Sforza's daughter Ippolita (1456), while at the same time the Duke of Milan's third son, Sforza Maria or Sforzino, was betrothed to Ferdinand's daughter, Isabella-as well as political reasons, induced Sforza to support the cause of the Neapolitan King. From the opposition of Calixtus Ferdinand was soon delivered by the death of that Pontiff, August 6th; and his successor, Pius II., acknowledged Ferdinand's claims, exacting, however, a yearly payment, and the cession of Benevento, Ponte Corvo, and Terracina, which had formerly belonged to the Church. Pius also effected a marriage between his nephew, Antonio Piccolomini, and Mary, a natural daughter of Ferdinand's.

That monarch's most formidable opponents were the Neapolitan Barons, who, led by Gianantonio Orsino, Prince of Taranto, the

place, Palermo. This work, entitled Dicta et Facta Alphonsi Regis Aragoniæ, has been frequently reprinted.

104

JOHN OF ANJOU INVADES NAPLES.

[CHAP. I. uncle of Ferdinand's own consort Isabella, revolted against him. The malcontents having in vain offered the Crown of Naples to Charles, Count of Viana, eldest son of John II. of Aragon and Sicily, as well as to John himself, applied to John of Anjou, who was still residing at Genoa as representative of the French King; and from him they met with a more favourable reception. The moderation of John of Anjou had rendered him popular with the Genoese; and when he communicated to their Senate the offer that had been made him, they voted him a force of ten galleys, three large transports, and a subsidy of 60,000 florins. John's father, René, who had renounced in his son's favour his claims to the Neapolitan throne, also assisted him with twelve galleys, which had been assembled at Marseilles for the crusade against the Turks.

Ferdinand endeavoured to detain John of Anjou at Genoa, by inciting against him the former Doge, Fregoso, who was discontented with the French because they had not rewarded him for his cession of that city. On the 13th of September Fregoso, with other exiles, attempted to take Genoa by a nocturnal assault, which, however, was repulsed, and Fregoso slain. Delivered from this danger, John of Anjou hastened on board his fleet, and on the 5th of October appeared off Naples; which city, as Ferdinand was absent in Calabria, would probably have fallen into his hands but for the vigilance and courage of Queen Isabella. In all other respects John's enterprise was eminently successful. He was joined by the chief Neapolitan nobles, and Nocera opened its gates to him. The events of the following year (1460) were still more in his favour. He defeated Ferdinand with great loss in a battle near the Sarno (July 7th), and that King with difficulty escaped to Naples with only twenty troopers. Towards the end of the same month, Ferdinand's captains, Alessandro Sforza and the Count of Urbino, were also signally defeated in a bloody and obstinate battle at S. Fabriano. All the strong places in Campania and the Principato now surrendered to John of Anjou, who, had he marched directly on Naples, would probably have taken that city, in which there was a large party in his favour. Ferdinand, in this low ebb of his fortunes, is said to have owed the preservation of his Crown to the great qualities of his consort. Isabella, accompanied by her children, requested contributions for her husband's cause, in the streets and public places of Naples; and her fine countenance, her dignified, yet modest and engaging address, proved in most cases irresistible. In the disguise of a Franciscan friar, she also

CHAP. I.]

AFFAIRS OF FLORENCE.

105

proceeded to the camp of her uncle, the Prince of Taranto, and besought him that, as he had raised her to the throne, he would permit her to die in possession of that dignity. Moved by her entreaties, Orsino adopted a policy which caused John of Anjou to lose the fruits of his victories, and by interposing delays led him to fritter away his strength in small undertakings.

From this time the cause of the Duke of Anjou began to decline. In 1461 Ferdinand was assisted by Scanderbeg at the head of 800 horse, who are said to have been paid by Pope Pius II. out of the money raised by the Council of Mantua for a crusade against the Turks. Pius also assisted Ferdinand with his spiritual weapons, threatening with excommunication all who should favour the Angevin cause. The loss of Genoa by the French through the impolitic conduct of Charles VII., which will be related in the next chapter; the death of that King and consequent accession of Louis XI., who was little disposed for foreign enterprises, were also fatal blows to the cause of John of Anjou. Louis even formed an alliance with Francis Sforza, the friend of Ferdinand, and from motives of self-interest, the warmest opponent of French influence in Italy. John was defeated by Ferdinand in an engagement near Troia, August 18th 1462; and in the following year the defection of some of his adherents, and the death of Orsino, by which all the possessions and fortresses of that Prince came into the hands of Ferdinand, determined John to quit Italy. His aged father René had indeed come to his aid with a fleet; but as the French King had abandoned both to their fate, they returned to Provence (1464), and subsequently enrolled themselves among the enemies of Louis XI. About the same time Genoa, with the concurrence of the French King, fell under the dominion of the Duke of Milan.

The same year (1464) was marked by the death of Pius II., already related, and also by that of Cosmo de' Medici. During the last years of his life, Cosmo, debilitated by ill-health, had intrusted the administration of Florence to Luca Pitti,1 who availed himself of his friend's retirement to promote his own advancement. His rule was harsh and tyrannical, and is said to have been regarded by Cosmo with sorrow. His contemporary, Pope Pius II., who could have been swayed by no motives of self-interest, has left a noble portrait of Cosmo in his Commentaries." It was not so much

This Pitti erected the palace still bearing his name, which, with its beautiful gardens and rich collections of works

of art, continues to form one of the chief attractions of Florence.

Lib. ii. p. 50, ed. Frankf. 1614.

106

CHARACTER OF COSMO DE' MEDICI.

[CHAP. I. by the extent of his wealth, as by the application which he made of it, that Cosmo gained his influence and credit. Far from relying on that pomp and show which are so captivating to the vulgar, his manner of life, both public and private, was of the plainest and most unostentatious kind. He employed his riches, not in dazzling the eyes of his fellow-citizens with his personal magnificence, but in the patronage of learning and the arts, and in the erection of unequalled monuments. He encouraged the architects Michelozzi and Brunelleschi, the sculptor Donatello, the painter Masaccio, and with their assistance erected and adorned several churches, convents, and palaces in Florence and its neighbourhood. His agents, throughout Europe as well as in the East, were instructed to buy or procure copies of all newly discovered manuscripts; he founded two private libraries, one at Florence and the other at Venice; whilst his private collection formed the basis of the present Bibliotheca Laurentiana, so named after his grandson Lorenzo.1 He was not, however, a mere dilettante. He took an interest in the higher speculations of philosophy, especially those of Plato, in which studies he displayed a just and profound judgment: nor did he neglect the improvement of the more useful and practical arts of life, and especially agriculture. But this man, so wise, so enlightened, so accomplished, and so munificent, preferred the interests of himself and his family to those of his country. By the charms of literature and art, and of a noble and splendid public luxury, he imperceptibly subjugated a lively and sensitive people and Florence under Cosmo, somewhat like Athens under Pericles, remained indeed nominally a Republic, but under a first man, or Prince.

2

Nothing can more strongly show the firm hold of power which the great qualities of Cosmo had enabled him to seize, than his transmitting it to his son Peter, who, besides that he lacked the abilities of his father, was so great an invalid that he resided chiefly in the country, and was accustomed to travel in a litter. Yet the dominion of Peter survived the attacks of the able, experienced, and treacherous statesmen by whom he was surrounded. Pitti, who had allied himself with Diotisalvi Neroni, Nicholas Soderini, Angelo Acciajuoli, and other influential Florentines, encouraged by the death of Francis Sforza, Duke of Milan (1466), the firm ally of the House of Medici, attempted an insurrection,

1 Capponi, Storia di Firenze, lib. v. c. 3, fin.

2 Εγίγνετό τε λόγῳ μὲν δημοκρατία,

ἔργῳ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἀνδρὸς ἀρχή. Thucyd. ii. 65.

CHAP. I.]

PETER DE' MEDICI.

107

which, however, was frustrated by the vigilance of Peter de' Medici and the neutrality of the Signoria; and Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the son and successor of Francis, remained true to his father's policy.1

This abortive conspiracy only strengthened the hands of Peter. Pitti, whom he had gained over, and who had helped to dissipate the plot, lost all his influence and power; most of his confederates fled and were declared enemies of their country; others were banished, and some were even tortured and put to death. Peter now began to govern dictatorially; and he assumed those airs of princely state which his more prudent and moderate father had carefully avoided. Yet a grand festival was celebrated to thank God that the democracy had been preserved! The Florentine exiles, with help of Venice, raised a considerable army, which they placed under the command of Bartholomew Coleone, a famous condottiere. The Florentines also armed, and were assisted with troops by Ferdinand of Naples and Galeazzo Maria Sforza. The latter joined the Florentine army with a body of cavalry; but, either through cowardice or inability, proving rather a hindrance than a help, Peter de' Medici invited him to Florence, whilst the Florentine general, Frederick of Montefeltro, Count of Urbino, was instructed to deliver battle in his absence; and accordingly a bloody but indecisive engagement took place near La Molinella, July 25th, 1467. Galeazzo Maria, offended by this slight, returned to Milan; and the Venetians were obliged to abandon an enterprise which they had formed against that city in case Coleone should have proved victorious. Pope Paul II., with a view to compose these differences, but without consulting the parties interested, published the terms of an arbitrary peace (February 2nd, 1468), in which he appointed Coleone commander of a league against the Turks, with an annual subsidy of 100,000 ducats, to be paid rateably by the different States; and he threatened to excommunicate those who should refuse to accede to the treaty. Venice alone, however, in whose favour it was drawn, could be brought to assent; and as Milan, Florence, and Naples refused to contribute, and answered the threat of excommunication with the counter one of a General Council, Paul was induced to retract, and in April published a more moderate and equitable peace, to which all the belligerent States agreed.

It may serve to show the still barbarous state of manners, that Galeazzo, who was in France at the time of his father's death, deemed it prudent to travel

in disguise, lest some lord through whose territory he passed should seize his person in order to extort a ransom. Muratori, Annali, t. ix. p. 295.