Conspiracy of Gaston and the duke of Montmorency. 1632, Oct. 30. Defeat of the allies and execution of Montmorency. Foundation of the French Academy (1635). 1631-48. Participation of France in the Thirty Years' War. See p. 314. 1641. Conspiracy of Henri d'Effiat, marquis of Cinq-Mars ("Monsieur le Grand "). Secret treaty with Spain. The plot was exposed by Richelieu. 1642. Dec. 4. Death of Richelieu. The effect of Richelieu's administration had been to break the power of the nobles and make the crown independent of the parliaments. He restored French influence in Italy, in the Netherlands, in Germany (311), and established it in Sweden. Richelieu laid the foundation of the power of Louis XIV. Louis XIII. died May 14, 1643. § 6. ITALY. The duchy of Milan, since 1556 (p. 306) an appanage of the Spanish crown, was held, nominally, as a fief of the empire. Venice. The discovery of the new route to the Indies struck at the root of the commercial prosperity of Venice, and her power was steadily declining during this period. The danger which threatened the republic from the League of Cambray (1508), between the Pope, the emperor Maximilian, Louis XII., and Ferdinand the Catholic, passed away as the Pope, Julius II. withdrew from the League in 1510, made his peace with the Venetians and induced Ferdinand the Catholic to join the Holy League, which had for its object the expulsion of the French from Italy. On the other hand the Turkish power confined Venice to the coasts of the Mediterranean. In 1570 the Turks attacked Cyprus, of which Venice had acquired possession in 1489 (p. 262). The victory of Lepanto, gained by Don John of Austria (p. 331), retarded the progress of the Turks but little. In 1573 Venice was forced to deliver Cyprus to them, and at the close of this period retained of all her possessions in Grecian waters, Candia, Paros, and the Ionian Islands only. Genoa. Genoa freed herself in 1529 from French supremacy, under the doge, Andrea Doria, who gave the republic a new constitution. Unsuccessful conspiracy of Fiesco (Jan. 2, 1547). Gianettino Doria, the nephew of the doge, was murdered, and Andrea Doria was compelled to fly. The conspirators had got possession of nearly the whole city, when Fiesco was accidentally drowned. Return of the doge, restoration of the constitution. Savoy. The dukes of Savoy, who also possessed Piedmont, were the most powerful of the native dynasties of northern Italy. Nevertheless, during this period, Bern deprived them of the Waadtland, and they got into straits during the war between France and the empire. After the peace of Cateau-Cambresis (1559), Emmanuel Philibert was reinstated in his duchy. Florence. In the year in which Charles VIII. of France invaded Italy (1494), Peter di Medici, son of Lorenzo, who had concluded a treaty with the king, was driven from the city. The Dominican monk Savonarola (born 1452, prior of San Marco, 1490) was leader of the democratic party in Florence; asceticism for a short time fashionable in Florence. Savonarola excommunicated, and executed (May 23, 1498). In 1512 the Medici were restored in consequence of the victory of the Holy League (pp. 300 and 318). In 1527 the Medici were a second time expelled, and the republic for a while restored. In 1530, however, Charles VIII. appointed Alexander di Medici hereditary ruler in Florence, and he soon assumed the ducal title. After his murder by his cousin, Lorenzino, Cosimo (Cosmus) di Medici became duke (1537). He incorporated the republic of Siena with his territory, and in 1569 was created grand duke of Tuscany by Pope Pius V. Under Cosimo II., Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) taught in Florence, who, in 1633, was forced to abjure the Copernican System by the Inquisition at Rome ("It does move though " 1). The Papacy. The following popes of this period deserve mention: the debauched and criminal Alexander VI. (1492-1503), of the family of Borgia. His daughter was Lucrezia Borgia; his second son Cæsar Borgia, ruler of the Romagna; the warlike Julius II. (1503–1513); the scholarly Leo X. (1513-1521) of the family of Medici, a patron of art; the fanatical Paul IV. (Caraffa, 1555-1559), upon whose advice Paul III. had established the Inquisition in 1542; Gregory XIII. (1572-1585), who revised the calendar by striking out leap year at the close of each century, excepting every fourth century; the wise and severe Sixtus V. (1585-1590), who suppressed the banditti in the Papal States and adorned Rome. (Reërection of obelisks, completion of the dome of St. Peter's 2). Naples. Naples throughout this period was an appanage of Spain (since 1504, see p. 318). Insurrection of the fisherman, Tommaso Aniello, called Masaniello (1647), soon suppressed († July 16). Most flourishing period of Italian art. Painters: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519); Raphael Santi (erroneously called Sanzio, 1483– 1 This saying, it is now claimed, is unauthenticated. - [TRANS.] 2 Ranke, die römichen Päpste, 6th ed., 1878. 1520); Antonio Allegri, called Correggio (1494-1534); Michael Angelo Buonarotti (1475-1504), also sculptor and architect; Titian (14771576); Paul Veronese (about 1535-1588). Poets: Ariosto (14741533); Torquato Tasso (1544-1595). Politician: Macchiavelli (14691527). § 7. SPANISH PENINSULA AND THE NETHERLANDS. By the marriage of 1479-1516. Ferdinand the Catholic of Aragon and Isabella 1474-1504. of Castile (p. 276), which was consummated before the accession of either to the throne, the way was prepared for the future union of the two kingdoms. 1492. Conquest of Grenada, capital of the last Moorish kingdom Jan. 2. in the peninsula. In the same year, discovery of America (p. 282), and consequent acquisitions on the other side of the ocean for the crown of Castile. Conquest of Naples (1501–1504, see p. 327) for the crown of Aragon. Annexation of the grandmasterships of the three military orders of Calatrava (1487), Alcántara (1494), and San Jago (1499), to the crown. Support given to the league of the cities (Hermandad) against the robber-nobles; (Spanish) Inquisition. Upon Isabella's death (1504) her daughter, Joanna, wife of Philip, archduke of Austria (p. 301), was the legal heiress of Castile. Her father, Ferdinand the Catholic, however, who had long planned the union of the two kingdoms in one kingdom of Spain, obtained from the Cortes authority to carry on the government in place of his absent daughter. In 1506, Philip and Joanna went to Castile to expel Ferdinand by force. Meeting of the two princes and treaty of Villafafila, whereby the regency was granted to Philip. Shortly after the treaty Philip died suddenly (of poison ?), and Ferdinand resumed the regency († 1516). Joanna, who was insane, was kept in strict confinement for 49 years († 1555), first by her father, afterwards by her son Charles.1 Ferdinand was succeeded in both kingdoms (at first as co-regent of his mother, in theory) by the son of Philip and Joanna. Netherlands. Preliminary: These provinces, originally inhabited by Batavians and other German tribes, formed a part of the empire of Charles the Great, and after the treaty of Mersen (870) belonged in great part to Germany, forming a dependence of the duchy of Lotharingia. The decline of the ducal power favored the growth of powerful counties and duchies, such as Brabant, Flanders, Guelders, Holland, Zealand, Hainault, and the bishopric of Utrecht. After 1384, and during the fifteenth century, the provinces were brought under control of the dukes of Burgundy. 1 The view advanced by Bergenroth (Karl V. und Johanna, in V. Sybel's Hist. Zeits., 1868), that Joanna was only declared insane from political reasons, has been clearly shown by other scholars (Gachard, Roesler, Maurenbrecher) to rest on misunderstandings. Philip II. the Bold, fourth son of John II., k. of France. In 1363 made duke of Burgundy (the duchy reverted to the crown, 1361, by the extinction of the first ducal line in the person of Philip I.). In 1369 m. Margaret, dau. and heiress of Louis III., c. of Flanders and Artois, † 1404. John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, 1404-1419. Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, 1419–1467. Acquired Namur, by purchase, in 1425; in 1430, Brabant Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, 1467-1477. Acquired Gelderland and Zutphen in 1472, by bequest k. of Spain; archduke of Austria, d. of Burgundy, k. of Naples and Sicily, lord of Spanish America, emperor. They descended to the Hapsburg heirs of Charles the Bold, united and having a common states-general. In 1548 Charles V. annexed the seventeen provinces (Brabant, Limburg, Luxemburg, Gelderland, Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zealand, Namur, Zutphen, East and West Friesland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssel, Gröningen) to the Burgundian circle of the empire. 1516-1556. Charles I. (as emperor, Charles V. p. 302). After suppressing a revolt in Castile he founded the absolute monarchy, the Cortes henceforth having no importance. In America conquest of Mexico, Peru, Chili, New Granada (p. 283, etc.). Upon his abdication the Spanish lands and the colonies, the Netherlands, Franche-Comté, Naples, and Milan, descended to his son 1556-1598. Philip II., who married four times: 1. Mary of Portugal, mother of Don Carlos; 2. Mary the Catholic, of England (p. 336); 3. Elizabeth of Valois (p. 318); 4. Anne, daughter of Maximilian II. War with France (p. 381). Bloody persecution of the Moors and the Protestants in Spain. Inquisition, autos da fé (i. e. acts of the faith). Conflict between the king and his heir, Don Carlos; the latter was arrested and died in prison (1568). Don John of Austria, a natural son of Charles I. (V.), gained over the Turks the 1571, Oct. 7. Naval battle of Lepanto (on the Gulf of Corinth). 1568-1648. War of Liberation in the Netherlands. Cause: The provinces of the Netherlands, which fell to Spain after the abdication of Charles I., rejoiced in the possession of ancient and important privileges. The estates (Staaten, états) granted taxes and troops. The Spanish garrison, the penal edicts against heretics, the dread of the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition, led, during the rule of the regent Margaret of Parma (1559–1567), the natural sister of king Philip II., and her adviser, bishop Granvella, to a league of the nobles (the Compromis de Breda), headed by Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde. Presentation of a petition by 300 nobles (Gueux, Beggars, a party name, originating in the contemptuous exclamation of the count of Barlaimont: Ce n'est qu'un tas de gueux). Insurrection of the lower classes. Destruction of images, and sack of the churches. These disturbances were opposed by Lamoral, count of Egmont (b. 1522, fought under Charles V. in Algiers, Germany, France; led the cavalry at St. Quentin, and Gravelines, 1558; appointed governor of Flanders and Artois by Charles V.; executed June 5, 1568), and William of Nassau, prince of Orange, the leaders of the higher nobility in the Netherlands, who were soon no longer masters of the movement. Separation into a Catholic and a Protestant party. Although quiet was finally restored Philip sent the 1567. Duke of Alva with 20,000 Spaniards by way of Genoa, Savoy, and Franche Comté to the Netherlands. William of Orange and many thousand Netherlanders left their native land. Margaret resigned her regency and left the country. Creation of the "Council of Blood." The counts of Egmont and of Hoorn and many others were executed (1568). The estates of those who did not appear before the tribunal were confiscated, including those of William of Orange. The latter and his brother, Louis of Orange, invaded the Netherlands, but were repulsed by Alva. The arbitrary taxes imposed by Alva (the tenth pfennig from the price of every article sold, the one hundredth part of every income), produced a new revolt. Capture of Brille, on the mouth of the Meuse by the Water Beggars (1572). Rapid spread of the insurrection, particularly in the northern provinces. |