.xxv. yeres after Whiche other some doe disallow groundyng them vpon Peters age that reckenyng the time it was impossible Peter should liue so longe after Christes passion ¶ Neroe reigned .xiiii. yeres and .vii. monethes whose customes were odiouse to the whole worlde He killed his mother his wife his maister Seneca and dyuers other excellent men so that his owne souldiers rebelled agaynste hym and the whole Senate condemned him wherfore he fledde and because he coulde not escape desperately slewe him selfe ¶ Galba Sergius reigned but .vii. monethes by reason that his next successour laie in waite for hym and slew hym in the baines ¶ Otho Lucius reigned scarsely .iii. monethes till he was ouercome by his nexte successour so that throughe despayre he slew hym selfe ¶ Uitellius reigned but .vii. monethes For the Romaine armie that than was in the east parties elected Uespasian emperour so that in despite therof Vitellius chased Sabinus Uespasians brother with dyuers into the capitoll and there set fyre on theim Wherfore Uespasian came streight to Rome toke Vitellius made hym to be drawen through the stretes hewen to peecê ¶ Uespasianus reigned .x yeres and reduced the customes and lawes into a better ordre amonge the people whiche by Nero and the other emperours after hym were muche corrupted and beganne the Amphitheater now called Colliseo And this was he that destroied Ierusalem in fulfillyng of Christes prophecie ¶ Titus sonne to Uespasianus reigned .ii. yeres and ii monethes after his father and was a verie graciouse prince ¶ Domitianus reigned .xv. yeres .v. monethes he was brother vnto Titus but lyke Nero in condicions for he delited in vnnatural vices and in cruel death of men â–ª so that he slew diuers senatours persecuted lerned men and Christians had ill successe in his warres and finally through conspiracie was slaine ¶ Nerua reigned one yere and .iiii. monethes and was the fyrst straunger that is to wete no Romaine borne that euer was made emperour ¶ Traianus adopted son vnto Nerua and a Spaniarde borne reigned .xix. yeres and .vi. monethes so benigne and courteise a prince that for a prouerbe men vsed to saie God make the happier than August and better than Traiane For beyng sometime aduertised of his friendê that he vsed hym selfe to muche familiarly he aunsweared that a prince ought to be vnto his subiectes suche as thei should be to hym and geuyng the swoorde to a Pretor that he had newly made he saied vse this against mine enemies but see the cause be iust and if I deale vniustly than spare not me He prospered muche in his warres and greatly augmented the Romaine empyre ¶ Adrianus reigned .xxi. yeres the most part in peace for that was his studie He was well learned and yerely wrote a pronosticacion he builded a notable sepulchre whervpon Castell S. Angelo now standeth And in his tyme there rose vppe a false Messias amonge the Iewes whiche Adrian ouercame with muche a dooe ¶ Antonius Pius adopted sonne vnto Adrian reigned xxiii yeres so gentill a prince that all the worlde loued hym For he was wont to saie he had rather preserue one of his citesins than destroie a .1000 of his enemies ¶ Marcus Aurelius Antonius reigned .xix. yeres and one moueth At the first his brother Lucius Verus was ioigned with him but he liued not longe This Marcus was an excellent philosopher wrote dyuers good bokes prospered in the warres where finallie he died ¶ Commodus son to Marcus Aurelius reigned .13 yeres more lyke in condicions vnto Nero than to his father so that at last he was both poysoned and strangled ¶ Helius was surnamed Pertinax because he toke the empire on him in maner against his will and reigned not vi monethes but that his nexte successour caused hym to be slaine ¶ Didius Iulianus reigned not fully .vii. monethes for his next successour came against hym discoumfited his armie toke hym and caused hym to be beheaded ¶ Seuerus reigned .xviii. yeres and restored muche the Romaine empyre from the decaie that it was fallen in by his predecessours tyme prospered muche in his warres and died in the citee of Yorke where it is written he made a diche with a walle full of toures and bastilions from one sea to the other .132 miles of length ¶ Antonius Caracalla reigned .vi. yeres he caused his brother Geta to be slayne maried his stepmother Iulia vsed muche tyrannie and was at laste slaine by one of his owne souldiours ¶ Macrinus with his son reigned one yere and were bothe slaine ¶ Uarius Heliogabalus reigned .iiii. yeres so abhominable a man of liuyng that after he had tried all the waies of carnall vice he caused his owne membres to be cut of in hope to chaunge his kynd Wherfore his owne souldiours slewe him drewe his carcasse a longe the stretes tied a stoue about his necke and so threw him into Tyber ¶ Alexander Seuerus reigned .xiii. yeres full of vertue and good gouernaunce but because he was seuere in punysshyng his souldyours offences they rebelled agaynst him and slewe him ¶ Maximinus reigned .iii. yeres and because he was created of the armie without the Senatours consente therfore did the senate ordeine newe Emperours against hym so that his owne souldiours slewe him ¶ Gordianus reigned .vi. yeres and prospered muche in his warres but at last for lacke of vittayles the armie rebelled against him and elected his next successour emperour by whose order Gordianus was slaine ¶ Iulius Philippus with his sonne reigned .vii. yeres and were both christened but finally they were slayne by procurement of theyr next successour ¶ Decius with his sonne reigned .ii. yeres and .iii. monethes a great persecutour of the Christian religion In his time the Gothes first assailed the Romayne empyre and passed the riuer of Danubie where Decius and his sonne mette with theym and in the battayle were bothe slaine ¶ Uirius Gallus with his sonne reigned .ii yeres and were slaine bothe of theyr owne army as they were goyng against Emilianus that than woulde haue vsurped the empyre ¶ Ualerianus with his sonne Galienus reigned .xv. yeres But Valerian in the .v. yere was taken in battaile against Sapor kyng of Persia who put out his eies and vsed hym alwaies for his foote stoole whan he went to horsebacke and Galienus became so viciouse that he was faine to flee from Rome and finally was slaine of his owne men ¶ Claudius elected by the senate reigned one yere and ix monethes fought against the Gothes and Germaines and discoumfited bothe theyr powers but he sickened shortly and died Whervpon the armie elected his brother Quintilianus emperour who within .xvii. daies after was slaine ¶ Aurelianus reigned .v. yeres and .vi. monethes recouered a noumbre of regions that his predecessours had lost and was so prosperouse in the warres that Eutropius compareth hym vnto Alexander the great or Caesar But at last he was slaine through crafte of one of his owne souldiours ¶ Tacitus reigned not fully .vi. monethes but died of the
they of their owne originall holde diuers opinions Athis or Egyptus Siluius reigned .24 yeres Capi Siluius reigned .28 yeres and builded the citee of Capua Carpentus reigned .13 yeres Tyberinus reigned .9 yeres of whom the riuer that renneth through Rome was first named Tyber by reason he was drowned in the same for before it was called Albula Agrippa reigned .40 yeres Remulus reigned .19 yeres and was slaine with a thunderbolte Auentinus reygned .38 yeres and was slaine in battaile on the hill Auentine and buried there wherof that hill toke his name though Varro saieth that the â—ame proceded of the sight of certaine birdes Proca reigned .23 yeres and ordeined by testament that of his two sonnes the one shoulde haue his realme and the other his treasure so that theldest toke the treasure and the yongest the dominion Amulius reigned .24 yeres and chased his elder brother Numitor out of his realme because he had learned by diuinacion that one of his brothers descent shoulde expell him out of his astate Wherefore he slewe his nephewe Sergistus and put his neece Rhea into a religion of virgines called Vestales where at the ende of .vii. yere she was gotten with childe by an vnknowen man and brought foorth at one burden two sonnes Romulus and Remus with the whiche Amulius was so offended that he not onely caused the mother to be buried quicke accordyng to the law but also commaunded the two children to be throwen into Tyber so that thei were left on the banke and there fed by a she woulfe as the poeâ—es feigne but the trouth of the historie is that they were founde by a shepherde whose wife for hir beauty and licenciouse liuing was called Lupa and so taken and nourished till thei grew vnto suche yeres that they reuenged theim selfes slew Amulius and made theyr graundefather Numitor kyng ¶ Numitor reigned not fully one yere til Romulus and Remus together founde the meane to slea him and than builded the citee of Rome Before whiche tyme these Latine kynges had reigned in all about .620 yeres ¶ After the citee was builded the two bretherne so contended for geuyng the name and for the dominion that Remus was slaine ROmulus than reigned .38 yeres and created .100 senatours for the rule of the common wealth And within .4 yeres after the edificacioÌ„ of the citee because the inhabitauntê beyng men assembled of diuers nacions had no women to mainteine succession he deuised sacrifices and plaies to the whiche the Sabines aswell men as women resorted So that by ordre of Romulus all the Sabine maydens that came to the feast were taken and maried amonge the Romaines Whervpon the Sabines made warre against Romulus and procured diuers other of theyr neighbours to dooe the like but the Romaine preuailed against theim all Finally as he perused his souldiers on a daie in a great tempest he was stricken with a thunderbolte and because he could neuer more be hearde of the Romaines imagined he was ascended to heauen and therfore worshipped hym as a God ¶ Numa Pompilius reigned .41 yeres and kepte the citee in peace and because the people thoroughe theyr passed continuall warres were become in maner wilde he therfore entroduced religion and Gods among them and so brought theym to ciuilitee ¶ Tullus Hostilius reigned .33 yeres and conquered the citee of Alba whiche he rased to the earthe and at last bothe he and his house were burned with thundre ¶ Ancus Martius reigned .xxiiii. yeres and subdued the Latines with diuers other people about Rome ¶ Tarquinus Priscus reigned .37 yeeres he doubled the noumbre of senatours and after he had vanquisshed the Sabines entred triumphauntly into Rome but at last he was slaine by the sonnes of Ancus Martius ¶ Seruius Tullius reigned .34 yeres he ordeined first the paiment of taxes and therby founde that he had at that tyme in Rome fourescore and foure thousande persons and was slaine at last by the procurement of his sonne in law Tarquine the proude ¶ Lucius Tarquinius reigned .35 yeeres he was the fyrst that inuented prisons and tourmentes and by reason of the odious acte that his sonne didde in enforsyng the chast Lucretia wife of Collatinus who therefore slew hir selfe he and all his were exiled out of Rome and the astate chaunged from kynges to Consules after that the kynges had reigned aboue .230 yeres ¶ Than did the Romains ordeine two Consules remoueable from yere to yere The fyrst were Lucius Iunius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus housbande to the dead Lucretia vnder whiche ordre of Consules a few chaunges excepted the Romaines mainteigned theyr common wealth well nere .500 yeres and so preuailed in conquestê ouer the worlde that none other monarchie is to be compared vnto theyrs nor almost so many other woorthy men to be read of in all the histories written as were founde in that citee for the time as he that readeth Liuie shall see But because the onely writyng of their names wold occupie a greatter part of my boke than should be requisite to my purpose I shall beseche all gentill readers to be contented that I referre theim ouer vnto the Romaine histories whiche are common to the whole worlde ¶ Finally about .700 yeres after the edificacion of Rome and .47 before the comyng of Christ the libertee of the Romaine common wealth ceased by reason that Iulius Caesar after the death of Pompeius hauyng quieted the ciuile contencions tooke on hym by force the whole empyre and had at his commaundement the greatest part of all the worlde From whom vnto the tyme of Constantine the fyrste there reigned 38. emperours as by theyr names hereafter it appeareth and they all kepte theyr principall seate in Rome as the head citee of theyr monarchie IUlius Caesar reigned in all not fullie .v. yeres for Brutus and Cassius with diuers other senatours conspired against him and slew him in the senate house ¶ Octauianus Augustus reigned .56 yeres and .vi. monethes but the fyrst .xii. yeres he had Marcus Antonius Lepidus as parteners of the empire till by force with consente of the senate he subdued them bothe and because he was happie in his enterprises the senatours surnamed him Augustus In the .42 yere of his reigne our Sauiour Christe was borne ¶ Tyberius son in lawe vnto Octauian reigned .xxiii. yeres In the .xviii. yere wherof Christe suffred his passion and Pilate wrote vnto Tyberius of the miracles that he had doen wherfore Tyberius commaunded he shoulde be woorshipped as a God but the senatours woulde not graunte vnto it because he had proclaymed it without theyr consentes ¶ Caius Caligula reigned .iii. yeres and .x. monethes A man of so yll liuyng that he shamed not to companie flesshely with his owne sisters and was flayne by his owne souldiours ¶ Claudius reigned .xiii. yeres and .viii. monethes and was poysoned Some write that the seconde yere of Claudius reigne Peter the apostle came to Rome and there continued
so euer thei founde them they left not in all Sicile one frencheman on liue nor one woman that was knowen to be with childe of a frencheman Wherof yet vnto this daie the Sicilians euensonge is vsed as a prouerbe in Italie ¶ And than by accorde came the kynge of Aragone and receiued Sicile vnto his dominion the rather because he had a certaine title thervnto as in the right of his wyfe Constance daughter to the late kyng Manfredo Unto whom also the bishop of Rome graunted his consent and in deede inuested hym kyng therof by his ecclesiasticall power ¶ Many thynges happened betwene kyng Charles and kyng Peter amongest other a defiance to feight hand to hand with the place appoincted at Burdeaux before our prince Edwarde than ruler of Gascoygne where bothe kynges kepte theyr daie but nother mette nor fought And ere euer kynge Charles retourned Roger di Loria admyrall to kyng Peter had foughten by sea with Charles prince of Salâ—rn onely sonne of king Charles before Naples and taken hym prisoner with a numbre of the Neapolitane barons and gentilmen that were all sent except Charles with .ix. of the chiefest into Sicile and there for a reuengement of Corradinos death .200 of those nobles and gentilmen were beheaded on a daie ¶ Finally kyng Charles vpon his reiourne made excedyng great preparacion to inuade Sicile but er he could bringe it to passe he died for anger and melancolie after he had reigned .xix. yeres ¶ And for as muche as some holde opinion that this Charles was the fyrst Neapolitane kyng that obteined the title of kynge of Ierusalem it is necessarie to declare by what meane ¶ The ladie Marie doughter of the prince of Antioche resigned into the handes of this kynge Charles all hir tytle to the realme of Ierusalem whervpon be caused him selfe to be crowned kynge of Ierusalem and with helpe of the Uenetians sente Roger Di San Seuerino to be gouernour to receiue feaultee and homage of the christen barons there Thus and not by the interest of Federike the kynges of Naples vsed the title of Ierusalem though I fynde not who was Maries father by name nor yet by what reason that realme shoulde apperteine to hir ¶ Whan kynge Charles was deade his onely soonne and heire Charles prince of Salerne remained prisoner in Sicile vnder the kepyng of quene Constance wife to kyng Peter of Aragone and was by consente of the barons condemned to die as it were for a full reuengement of Corradinos death but the noble hert of Constance woulde not suffre it Excusyng the mattier that before she knew hir housbandes mynde she would not attempt so great a thyng Wherefore she sent hym into Aragone where he continued prisoner till kyng Peter died and than by procurement of prince Edwarde lorde of Gascoygne he was deliuered and restored to his realme of Naples Who was raunsomed at .30000 markes and for perfourmance of couenauntes .iii. of his sonnes and .100 gentilmen laie in hostage ¶ Here is to be noted that within the space of one yere died .iii. kynges and a bishop of Rome that is to weâ—e Phillip kyng of Fraunce Charles kyng of Naples Peter kyng of Aragon and Martine the .4 bishop of Rome ¶ After Peter succeded in the realme of Aragon his eldest sonne Aufus in Sicile his sonne Iames that helde in prison the forenamed Charles the secounde ¶ Finallie Aufus the elder brother beyng dead Iames to haue the kyngdome of Aragon in peace sore vexed at that time by the Frenche kyng fell at composicion with Charles to renounce Sicile vnto hym and so did But Federike yonger brother to Iames assoone as he heard therof gotte a certain power went into Sicile and gatte it to hym selfe by reason wherof betwene Charles and Federike was continuall warre manie yeres till at last Charles to haue Calabria in peace the most parte wherof Federike had gotten by force consented that Federike duryng his life shoulde quetlie enioy Sicile ¶ So Charles bringing all his thinges to a quiet reigned .24 yeres and died leauyng issue by his wife Mary doughter of kyng Stephen of Hungarie ix sonnes and v. doughters The eldeste named Charles Martell afterwardes kynge of Hungarie by the mothers title Lewis the secounde sonne bishop of Tolouse in Spaine Robert the thirde sonne kynge of Naples As for the reste though they were princes Quenes and princesses yet I passe theim ouer and will onely speake of Lewys Duke of Durazzo because Charles Da Durazzo who was next kyng after the firste quene Iohan descended of him ¶ At the death of Charles Robert his .iii. sonne beyng in Auignion was called from thens to the dominion of Naples and confirmed kyng by Clemente the .v. than bishop of Rome howebeit not longe after Caronumberto kynge of Hungarie and sonne of his elder brother Charles pretended title thervnto but after longe debatyng therof the lawiers finallie determined that Robert shoulde continue and Caronumberto shoulde contente hym with the realme of Hungarie And though Robert was muche troubled by the comyng of the emperour Henry the .vii. into Italie yet after the emperour was poisoned by a blacke frier in ministryng hym the sacrament of communion at Bonconuento besides Siena by order as thei saie of the Romish legate king Robert prospered so well in Italie by reason he was taken as heade of the Guelfi that he subdued Genoa and the Florentines with their whole astate submitted them selfes vnto him and accepted his sonne Carlo senza terra to be their lorde Whiche Charles not longe after his establishment in that dominion retourned to Naples and died ¶ Finally Robert hym selfe sickened and died without heyres males And so the inheritance remained in the iii. daughters of his forenamed sonne Charles Unto the eldest named Iohan he by his testament lefte the realme vpon condicion that she shoulde marie with his nephew Andrew younger son of the abouenamed Caronumberto In whose tyme liued Petrarcha and Bocchacio the one for verse and the other for prose famouse in theyr Italian tongue and for theyr vertues muche cherisshed of this kynge Robert ¶ Accordyng to the testament of kyng Robert his nephiew Andrew came out of Hungarie and maried Quene Iohan with whom he reigned scarcely .iii. yeeres but that she caused hym to bee hanged out at hir chambre wyndow because as the same wente he was not cockie enough to satisfie hir appetite ¶ Than maried she Lewys prince of Taranto an excellent beautifull man But Lewys kyng of Hungarie elder brother to Andrew to reuenge his brothers deathe came with a puissaunt armie into the realme insomuch that the Queene and hir husband bothe fledde to Auignion in Prouance leauyng Charles da Durazzo sonne of Lewys da Durazzo beforenamed theyr lieuetenant to defende but the Hungarien so muche prospered that in short space he gatte the whole realme and toke this Charles da
commonly at the mouth of the hauen So that all the merchandise vittails and other thynges that come by shippe ar discharged at Ostia into certain small vessels and so brought to Rome either drawen by corde or rowed vp by force of ores ¶ The head or fyrst spryng of Tyber is in the Appenine hilles somewhat higher than the heade of the riuer Arno that renneth through Florence and er euer it come at Rome it receyueth .42 other riuers So that it is no meruaile though it be depe specially in Rome and to the seawardes where it appeareth that the naturall bredth of it is restreigned and by force of stronge bankes made muche narower than his auncient course hath ben Of the bridges VPon this riuer of Tyber in Rome be .iiii. bridges the first and fairest is it that passeth from the citee vnto castell S. Angelo vnder the whiche the riuer comyng from the Northe towardes the South entreth into the citee And is commonly called Ponte di Sant ' Angelo or del Castello ¶ The seconde is Ponte Sisto otherwyse called Ponte rotto a very goodly bridge that leadeth from the strete now called Iulia vnto the foote of the hylle aunciently called Ianiculus in Transtyberim ¶ The thirde is called Ponte de Pisola Ponte di San Bartholomeo or Ponte di quatuor Capora whiche passeth from the herte of the citee throughe the ilande Tyberina into Transtyberim ¶ The fourth next to the goyng foorth of the riuer out of the citee at the South is called Ponte di Santa Maria. ¶ But to satisfie theim that be learned I thynke mete to reherse here the names of the .viii. bridges Sublicius Palatinus Fabricius Cestius Ianuclensis Vaticanus Elius and Miluius and to declare where thei stode ¶ Fyrst Sublicius whiche Horatius alone defended in the warres of Porsena was at the foote of the hill Auentine where now is no bridge at all and fyrst it was made of tymber afterwardes of stone by Emilius Lepidus for the whiche he was surnamed Lapideus but finally it was made of marble by Antonius Pius now decaied to the foundacions wherof part are yet to be seen ¶ The seconde Palatinus is now called di Santa Maria. ¶ The thyrde and fourthe Fabricius nexte the citee side and Cestius on the side of Transtyberim ar the two bridges that passe through the ilande Tyberina ¶ The .v. Ianuclensis is now called Ponte Sisto ¶ The .vi. Vaticanus is decaied to the foundacion part wherof is seen against the hospitall di San Spirito ¶ The .vii. Elius is now called del Castello ¶ The .viii. Miluius is .ii. mile northwardes out at the gate called del popolo in the waie to Tuscane and is called at this daie Ponte Molle Of the walles THe circuite of the citee about by the wallê as Plinie writeth was in his tyme .xx. miles and Flauius Vopiscus saieth that the emperour Aurelius .200 yeres before the comyng of the Gothes enlarged the circuite of Rome to .50 miles whether these authours included the suburbes I can not tell but ones there can be seen no signe or token of any walles that shuld conteigne so muche compasse nor yet of the wallê that Liuie mencioneth shoulde be made of square stone â–ª For the wallê now about Rome are of bricke and in my iudgement passe not .xiiii. miles in compasse Nor I can not perceiue either by mine owne eie or by writyng of authours or yet by report that euer the walles were of greater circuite than they be at this present It is euident that many partes of the same wall haue been throwen to the earth by diuers enemies and repaired againe For notwithstandyng it be builded of bricke yet dooeth it shew suche an antike maiestee hauyng .365 towres agreable with the noumbre of daies in the yere that he who seeth it must needes confesse it could neuer be builded but in tyme of the Romaines glorie Perchaunce some will meruaile how bricke shoulde so longe continue but theyr bricke whether it be longe of good makyng or of the heate of the soonne that drieth muche better than with vs is wonderfull durable For there be many buildynges in Rome of bricke that haue continued these .1000 yeres and more and yet to this houre are nothyng worne or decaied In deede many gates of the citee are of square stone wrought after the most antike facion so that it is not incredible as Liuie writeth that the walles haue been of square stone but it should not seeme so because that in makyng of a newe wall in the same place it is to be supposed the builders would haue vsed the olde square stone rather than bricke Of the gates PLinie writeth that in his tyme were .xxx. gates open and .vii. closed but because he hath not written theyr names I woull not trauaile to trie what they were For I can finde but .xvi. that are vsed Of whiche .iiii. are in the Vaticane that many yeres after Plinie was walled by Leo the .4 bishop of Rome for defence of his owne palaice and of saincte Peters churche ¶ Fyrst nexte vnto the comyng downe of Tyber on the northsyde is the gate called Porta del popolo whiche aunciently hath had diuers names as Flumentana and Flaminia of the waie Flaminia that went out therat ¶ Than comyng about towardes the East the next gate is called Pinciana sometime Collatina ¶ The .iii. Salaria anciently called Quirinalis or Aegonalis ¶ The .iiii. Porta di Sant ' Agnese sometime Viminalis Figulensis and Numentana ¶ The v. Porta di San Lorenzo sometyme called Tiburtina after some authours and after other Exquilina though Andreas Fuluius affirmeth plainely Exquilina to be betwene this and the nexte gate ¶ The .vi. Porta maggiore was somtyme called Neuia Labicana and Prenestina ¶ The .vii. Porta di San Hioanni hath ben called Celimontana and Asinaria by reason it lieth towardes the reame of Naples that bredeth many asses ¶ The .viii. Porta Latina hath not chaunged name or if it be chaunged the aunciente name can not be knowen nowe ¶ The .ix. Porta di San Sebastiano was somtyme called Appia and Capena and after moste opinions was also called Triumphalis ¶ The .x. Porta di San Paolo was sometime called Trigemina All whiche .x. gates are on the Champaigne side of the riuer ¶ The .xi. Porta portese or Porta di Ripa ¶ The .xii. Porta di San Pancratio sometyme called Aurelia ¶ The .xiii. Porta del Torrione ¶ The .xiiii. Porta portusa on the toppe of the hill behynde sainct Peters ¶ The .xv. hath dyuers names as Porta di Beluedere di San Piero del Giardino or di Santo Peregrino and is hard vnder the bishops palaice ¶ The .xvi. Porta del Castello sometyme Posterula lyeth vnder Castel Sant ' Angelo and serueth to goe into the medowes As for those auncient names Carmentalis Pandana Mugonia Queruetulana Iauernalis Rudusculana Rhuttumena Carthularia and diuers others whiche as I
were trymmed eyther with glasse with leade with Iesse orels with very fine peintyngê and the floores vnder foote made some of glasse and some of the finest marble or other pleasaunt deuises of diuers makyng ¶ They had many kyndes of straunge marble as white marble of the I le of Paro and of Carrara and that whiche cometh from Laconia the pleasauntest of all The redde marble not vnlike the masarde with certaine white spottes whiche thei call porphirie The blouddie marble that groweth in Troade The blacke marble called Luculleus The spotted marble called Serpentine The Onichite brought out of Arabie The alabaster and some marble transparent that is to be seene through as the Fengite with diuers others ¶ Of the present astate of Rome OF the ground conteigned within the wallê scarcely the thyrdde parte is now inhabited and that not where the beautie of Rome hath been but for the most part on the plaine to the water side and in the Uaticane because that sens the bisshoppes beganne to reigne euery man hath coueted to builde as neere the courte as myght be Neuerthelesse those streetes and buildynges that are there at this time are so fayre that I thynke no citee dooeth excell it by reason they haue had the beautifullest thynges of the antiquitees before rehersed to garnishe theyr houses withall Specially the bishop his Cardinalles prelates and other membres of his churche who haue all at theyr commaundement For though the Romains haue in theyr hertes vnto this daie a certaine memorie of theyr auncient libertee whiche they haue attempted many tymes to recouer yet doeth the bishop kepe them in suche subiection that thei dare not ones steerre for their liues but speake thei maie what thei list so it be no treason and therfore many times you shall here theim raile on the bishop and his officers that it is a wonder In effect the present astate of Rome in comparison of the auncient astate deserueth not to be spoken of and yet I beleue that in the Romaines most glorie there was neuer halfe so muche pompe vsed as now O what a worlde it is to see the pride and abhominacion that the Churchemen there mainteigne What is a kynge whaâ— is an emperour in his maiestee Any thyng lyke to the Romaine bishop No surely nor I would not wisshe theim so to be And to the entent you maie the better perceiue it you shall vnderstand that on Christmas daie the yere of our lord 1547. Paule the thyrde beyng bishop I noted his coming to church because it was a principall feast celebrated in Pontificalibus Wherfore early in the mornyng I resorted to the palaice and there waited the comyng of the Cardinalles that for the most parte lie in the citee and to come to sainct Peters must passe Ponte Sant ' Angelo where is an olde ordre that whan so euer any Cardinall passeth the bridge there is a peece of ordinaunce shotte of in the castell for an honour that the bishop is bounde to obserue towardes his bretherne ¶ I had not ben longe in the palaice but I harde two peeces shotte of at ones wherby I knew that two Cardinalles were comyng and therefore resorted to the gate to see theim and their traine ¶ From Castell Sant ' Angelo to Saint Peters staiers there is an excedyng faire strete streight and leuell more than a quarter of a myle longe called Borgo San Piero in the further ende wherof I saw these Cardinalles come and therwith out of the bisshops palaice came his garde of Suizzers all in white harueis and there alongest before the gate made a laue halfe on one syde and halfe on the other with their .ii. drummes and a fife before theim And assoone as the Cardinallê approched the drummes and fife beganne to plaie and so continued till the Cardinalles were well entred amongest the garde Than the trumpettes blewe vp an other while till the Cardinalles were almost at the gate and as they should enter the shalmes began to plaie and ceased not tyll they were alighted and mounted vp the stayers to the bisshoppes lodgeyng ¶ The lyke cerymonies were vsed vnto all the Cardinalles that came whether one came alone or many togethers And there taried more than .ii. houres harkenyng to this gunneshot and mery pipyng and rekened aboue .40 Cardinalles that came thus rydyng sometime one alone and sometime .iii. or .iiii. together ¶ There was no Cardinall that came without a great traine of gentilmen and prelates well horsed and apointed some had .40 some .50 and some .60 or mo and next before euerie of theim rode .ii. henchemen the one cariyng a coushin and a riche clothe and the other a piller of syluer and the Cardinalles theym selfes aparayled in robes of crymsen chamlet with redde hattes on theyr heades rode on moyles ¶ Whan they were all come to the palaice and had waited awhile in the chaumbre of presence the bysshop him selfe with the .iii. crowned miter full of iewelles in a veraie riche cope with shoes of crimsen veluette secte with preciouse stones and in all his other pontifical apparaile came foorth and at the chambre dore sate him downe in a chaier of crymsen veluet through the whiche reuneth two staues couered with the same Thus beyng sette the prelates and clergy with the other offycers passed on afore hym Whiche are suche a numbre as were able to make the muster of a battail if they were well ordred in the field Dataries Threasorers Clerkes of the Chambre Penitentiaries Prebendaries Notaries Protonotaries and a thousande mo eche order of theim in his diuers deuise of parliamente robes all in skarlet and for the moste parte finely furred Than came the double crosse the swoorde and the imperiall hatte and after that the Cardinallê by two and two and betwene euery two a great route of gentilmen Than came the ambassadours and next theim the bishop hym selfe blessyng all the waie and caried in his chayre by .viii. men clothed in longe robes of skarlet and on either side of hym wente his garde makynge Rome and criyng abasso abasso for they that woull not willyngly kneele shal be made kneele by force And I thynke verily the foremost of this ordre was distant from the hindermost more than a quarter of a myle ¶ Thus whan he came into the middest of the churche against the sacrament of the aulter he turned hym selfe towardes it and bowyng his heade a little seemed to make a certaine familiare reuerence ¶ Than was he caried into the chapell brought behind the aulter for the aulter standeth in the middest open euerie waie and there in a trone of wonderfull maiestee was set vp as a god ¶ The Cardinallê then bestowed them selfes after their auncientees in certaine stalles somewhat lower about the queere Than sate the Ambassadours and other prelates at theyr feete And so whan they were set the chapell beganne the offitorie of the masse and sange so sweetely that me thought I neuer heard the lyke
thei conuerted it to a fortresse and haue edified many goodly lodgeynges vpon it so that oftentymes the bishop hym selfe lieth in it and kepeth his courte there Of buildynges in generall FYnally there be a noumbre of as fayre palaices in Rome as in any other place of the worlde wherof it should be to longe here to make perticuler mencion but specially the palaice that Paule now bisshoppe there hath builded by the place called Campo di fiore where Pompeius house stode in the olde time deserueth not to be forgotten For he hath rooted out of the ruines of the antiquitees suche goodly marble pillers and other fine stone whiche he hath bestowed on that house that if he finisshe it as it is begunne it woull be the galauntest thyng olde or new that shall be founde againe in all Europe and he hath called it after his owne name Palazzo Farnese Abbridgement of the liues of the Romaine Bishoppes BEcause my principal purpose tendeth to descriue the astates of Italie I neede not to vse muche circumstance either in mattiers of religion or yet in writyng all the liues of the bishops of Rome Wherfore entendyng to beginne at Siluester the fyrst bishop there that had any thing in perpetuitee I haue thought good to declare the diuers opinions of theyr originall ¶ Some auncient authours affirme that Peter one of Christes Apostles after that he had sufficientlie confirmed the churche in Asia and confuted the errour of those Christians that allowed circumsicion came to Rome the seconde yere of Claudius Empire and there was receiued of the congregacion as bishop In whiche office he ministred .25 yeres and at last was crucified with the heade downewardes the same daie that Paule the apostle was beheaded the laste yere of Neros reigne and the 37. yere after Christes death ¶ Contrariwyse manie learned men at these daies are of opinion that Peter neuer came in Rome groundyng them selfes vpon diuers reasons as this If Peter had commen thither it coulde not haue been vnwriten in the holie scriptures either by Luke in the actes of the apostelles or elles by Paule in some of his epistelles Or if Peter were of that age that it shoulde seme he was at Christê death and after continued in Antioche and other places so manie yeres as is to be proued it semeth impossyble he shoulde come to Rome and there liue .25 yeres Wherfore they saie the ambiciouse bishops of Rome to couer theyr vsurped auctoritee haue feygned this comyng of Peter thither ¶ But this is clere that from Peter to Siluester they recken .33 bishops whiche for the moste parte were persecuted and many of theym martyred by the emperours officers So that in maner they alwaies kept theim selfes out of sight preachyng and ministryng secretlie without pompe astate or solemne ceremonie But from the tyme of Siluester hitherwardes as they grewe in wealthe so encreased theyr worldely maiestee and ambicion as hereafter more plainely appeareth ¶ As for the bisshops names the tyme of theyr reygne and the date of our Lorde because that in a table I haue put theim all togethers I neede not perticulerly to reherse euery one of theim but suche as the occasion of my purpose shall necessarily requyre SIluester the fyrst of that name after he had been a certaine space in the hill Soratto now called Monte di San Siluestro where for feare of persecucion he hydde hym selfe hearyng of the good inclinacion that the emperour Constantine the fyrst was of towardes Christian religion came to Rome and so discretely behaued him selfe that the emperour was conuerted to the right faieth and baptised ¶ Some write that the occasion therof proceded of a myracle doen on Constantine in recoueryng his health from the leaprie But Platina thynketh that to be a fable and in maner proueth it thynkyng rather it proceded of the signe of the crosse that Constantine did see in the firmament vnder whiche he was promysed victorie and so cariyng a redde crosse in his standarde before hym he ouercame his enemie Maxentius wherevpon he gaue eare to Siluesters preachyng and was conuerted But what so euer the occasion was it is agreed that Siluester baptised Constantine who being christened turned many of the gentiles temples to Christian churches enduyng theim with ornamentes and possessions ¶ Not longe after leauyng Rome to Siluester and his successours as the clergie saie Constantine wente to dwell at Bizantium whiche he had than newly reedified callyng it Constantinople after his owne name So that from thensfoorth the Christian faieth began to flourishe ouer all the worlde and therfore most part of all Christian churches sent to the bishops of Rome to learne of them the cerimonies and ordres necessary to be vsed in the churche by reason wherof the emperours beyng residente elswhere the Romayne bishops grewe in such reputacion that at lengthe they became emperours theym selfes ¶ And there is an auncient writyng in the Vaticane librarie called the Donacion of Constantine whiche is so vehement liberall that it shoulde seeme the emperour spoyled him selfe of all his glorie and honour and of a great part of his dominion to geue theim to the churche of Rome by aucthoritee wherof the Romaine bishops haue taken vpon theim the imperiall vestementes maiestee commaundementes and dominion ouer some countreys ¶ In deede Laurentius Valla an excellent learned man and a Romaine borne hath written a boke to confound this Donacion of Constantine and proueth by so many reasons that it hath been feigned by some bishop of later tyme than Siluester that I am persuaded rather to beleue hym than the Donacion In effect this Siluester was the fyrst that prescribed a direct ordre of ministers in the churche and how they shoulde be knowen in theyr degrees from the highest to the lowest by whose tyme there spronge dyuers sectes amongest the Christians as the Arrianes Photines Sabellianes and others for whose reformacion the Nicene counsaile was called but for all that those errours ceased not many yeeres after ¶ Next vnto Siluester Marke succeded who made his clergie like vnto a common wealth exemptyng the same from all temporall iurisdiction and further established a certaine ordre for the solemne consecracion of the Romaine bishops that before vsed no pompe at all ¶ Iulie the fyrst contended with the churche of the Orient partely for the Arrian sect but most of all for the supremacie of the churche For this Iulie was the fyrst that claimed the inheritaunce of Peters keyes for the whiche Constantius the sonne of Constantine banished hym out of Rome But ere he had fully been awaie .x. monethes the emperour died and than retourned he from exile ¶ Liberius the first was bishop after him who by the power of the Arrianes after the counsaile holden at Myllaine was banished and Felix the second chosen in his place But at length through the emperours displeasure Felix was deposed and Liberius restored who from that time
armie came to Rome and wolde haue besieged it had not the Romayns receiued him so that Crescentius and the bishop Iohn both fled into Castel Sant ' Angelo and there helde them till thei had so faire offres made on themperours behalfe that vpon trust therof they came foorthe and submitted theim selfes But for all that they were both turmented and at last put to death Wherupon it folowed that this Gregorie who was a Saxon borne transferred the election of emperours vnto .vii. princis of his owne nacion that is to wete The kyng of Boeme cupbearer the Marques of Brandenburgh chamberlayne the Conte Palatine sewer and the Duke of Saxonie swoordbearer with .iii. Archebishops of Mentes Treueâ—e and Coleyn And ordeyned further that from the emperours election to his coronacion he shoulde be called none other but Caesar and kyng of Romayns and after that the bishop of Rome had crowned him he shoulde be called Emperour and August whiche order by consent of the forenamed Otho was established about .200 yeres after Charlemaignes coronacion ¶ Benedicte the .viii. crowned Henrie the secounde emperour who was the fyrste that accordyng to the order of Gregorie the .v. was elected by the princis of Germanie Some call him Henrie the fyrste because Henrie Duke of Saxonie that succeded Conrade neuer came to Rome to be crowned ¶ Benedict the .ix. for his naughtie behauiour was expulsed and Siluester the .iii. placed in his roume who helde it .40 daies and than was Benedict restored Neuerthelesse Benedict mistrustyng that he coulde not kepe it longe solde his iurisdiction vnto Gregorie the vi but the emperour Henrie the .iii. came to Rome deposed these .iii. bishops and created Clement the seconde who liued not fullie .x. monethes by reason that his next successour Damasus the seconde founde meane to poyson him beyng after so serued him selfe the .23 daie nexte folowyng his election ¶ Leo the .ix. beyng sent as bishop to Rome at the Romaines request that desired the emperour to sende theim a good man mette with .ii. monkes by the waie who persuaded him so muche that he put of his pontificall habite and priuatelie came to Rome saiyng that he repented hym to haue taken of the emperour that whiche apperteined to the clergies free election For whiche humilitee the clergie embraced him and neuerthelesse made him their bishop ¶ He made an armie against the Normains than reignyng in the realme of Naples to recouer Beneuento that they had wonne from the churche where his army was discoumfited and he with diuers of his Cardinalles taken prisoners But the Normaines freely deliuered hym and honourablie sent hym home ¶ In his time was the counsaile of Vercelli called against the opinion of Berengarius for the sacrament of communion ¶ Stephen the .ix. brought the churche of Myllaine to the obedience of the churche of Rome whiche for .200 yeres before would neuer knowlage Rome for hir superiour ¶ Nicolas the .ii. after the clergie had deposed Benedicte the .x. was elected who made a decree that from thensefoorth the Cardinalles onely shoulde choose the bishoppe ¶ He created Robert Guiscarde Duke of Calabria and Puglia and made hym lieutenaunt of the churche by whose power he subdued to the churches dominion the Prenestini Tusculani and Numentani with diuers other territories about Rome ¶ Alexandre the .ii. in the beginnyng of his astate was disturbed by Gadolo bishop of Parma for the whiche they fought two battailes but finally Alexandre preuailed by reason that at a counsaile holden in Mantua where the emperour was present the whole clergie agreed vppon Alexander and exempted from all emperours the aucthoritee of confyrmacion of the Romaine bishops whiche afterwardes was occasion of many inconueniences ¶ Gregorie the .vii. incontinently vpon his election beganne to proue maistries with the emperour Henrie the .iii. Fyrst he woulde not be confyrmed of the emperour and afterwardes where the emperour before tyme had vsed to geue bishoprikes Gregorie would geue theim hym selfe So that whan a bishop died the emperour woulde name one and Gregorie an other Wherof folowed excomunicacions as thicke as hayle so that at laste the emperour hym selfe was not onely excomunicate but also by the ecclesiasticall power deposed of the empyre And yet had religion so muche power in hym that whan he was come into Italie and had besieged his enemie Gregorie within the towne of Canosso the emperour hym selfe went barefooted to the towne gates in the harde frost and snow to aske forgeuenesse of the bishop who for all that stode styfe .iii. or .iiii. daies ere he woulde assoyle hym At lengthe they agreed vpon condicion that the emperour shoulde obey the bishops commaundementes ¶ But the bishop not yet contented within a whyle after so offended the emperour againe that he came to Rome and was there receiued of the Romaines Wherfore Gregorie fled into Castel Angelo and there kepte hym till he was rescued by Robert Guiscarde for feare of whose comyng the emperour retyred into Germanie Where by the bishops procurement the princes had elected Radulphus de Sueuia emperour betweene whom and Henry were many blouddy battailes foughten and not onely Radulphus him selfe slaine at length but also the emperours owne sonne so suborned that he warred against his naturall father and besieged hym in the towne of Mentz Neuerthelesse muche against the bishops will nature and friendes wrought a peace betwene theim at last ¶ And though Guiscarde deliuered this bishop out of themperours handê yet he was so hated of the Romaines that he durst not abide in Rome but went with Guiscarde into the realme of Naples and there died ¶ Some write that this Gregorie was the fyrste that prohibited matrimonie vnto priestes ¶ Uictor the .iii. was poysoned by the emperours procuremente as some write but some holde that he died of a naturall infirmitee ¶ Pascall the .ii. fell at varyaunce with the familie of Colonna in Rome by reason wherof whiles he was at the gettyng of Beneuento which by the helpe of Roger Duke of Puglia he obteined the Colonesi by force toke the towne of Caua apperteinyng to the churche But the bishop at his retourne both recouered Caua and also toke from them Zagarolo and Colonna their owne enheritaunce Wherupon folowed so muche busynesse that almoste no man coulde passe in quiete anie where through Campania ¶ This Pascall went into Fraunce to reforme the disordinate life of the clergie there ¶ After his retourne into Italie he condemned the doynges of Henry the .iiii. emperour so that whan the emperour him selfe was come as far as Sutri with a great armie the bishop forbade hym the comyng to Rome till he had promised not to medle with the churche matters and further to cause those bishops that he had made to renounce their bishoprikes ¶ But whan the emperour had kyssed the bishops foote at the heade of S. Peters staiers and was receiued with solemne procession into
.5 14 3 1430 218 Eugenius .4 15  1438 219 Phelix .5 9  1447 220 Nicolaus .5 8  1455 221 Calixtus .3 3 3 1458 222 Pius .2 5 11 1464 223 Paulus .3 6  1471 224 Sixtus .4 13  1484 225 Innocentius .8 5 11 1492 226 Alexander .6 11  1503 227 Pius .3  1 1503 228 Iulius .2 9 4 1513 229 Leo .10 9 3 1522 230 Adrianus .6 1 7 1523 231 Clemens .7 11  1535 232 Paulus .3 14  ¶ Authours dooe varie somewhat in the times of these bishoppes but I haue agreed the best togethers and so haue set it foorthe ¶ The Uenetian astate BEcause the meruailouse Situacion of the citee of Uenice amongest other thynges seemeth vnto me moste notable I therefore haue thought good fyrst to treate therof and than consequently to procede vnto the declaracion of the Uenetians astate theyr customes and procedynges ¶ Of the meruailouse Site Whan I consider what thinges necessitee causeth hauyng an earnest proufe for my parte therof I nothyng meruaile to see the wonders that it worketh For he that beholdeth the place where Uenice standeth and would imagine it to be without any buildyng or habitacion shoulde saie it were the rudest vnmeerest and vnholsomest place to builde vpon or to enhabite that wâ—re againe to be founde thoroughout an whole worlde It standeth open vpon the maine sea foure miles from the neerest maine lande in suche a marishe as at euery low water leaueth the muddy ground vncouered and at euery full sea drowneth it cleane And yet men constreigned of necessitee haue brought this marishe to suche a passe that it is now not onely excedyng full of people and riche of treasure and buildynges but so holesome withall throughe the muche haunte of people and the great noumbre of continuall fyres that I thynke none other citee hable to shewe so many olde men But were it not that as it seemeth nature hath of purpose made a banke two or thre miles of betwene it and the sea it were impossible to be enhabited Because the citee standyng equall with the water the floudde by reason should passe through the houses at euery full sea But this banke that beginneth at Chiozza and stretcheth towardê the citee of Concordia 60. myles of length dooeth so defende the water floudde that within those marishes it hath nothyng the lyke force as on the other sea costes For it is a great mattier whan the sea swelleth in Uenice .iiii. or v. foote aboue the lowe water marke Notwithstandyng that the citee seemeth to be rather in a part of the sea than in a marisshe For euerie chanell as who woulde saie euery streete is full of water and the chanels are so many that you maie row through all partes of the citee though there be waies also to goe on land if you list Whiche streetes for the most parte are verie narow and the houses nothyng so faire as on the water side And in the marisshe betwene the citee and the maine lande whan the water is low the most parte of the chanels are so shalow that the botes haue muche a dooe to passe to and fro For the mudde encreaseth daiely by reason of the lande flouddes that a noumbre of riuers fallyng into the same dooe carie with theim And a wonderfull treasure the Uenetians spend in continuall diggyng and cariyng awaie of that mudde to preserue theyr foresaied chanelles and to defende that theyr citee ioygne not to the maine lande ¶ The banke before rehersed is broken in .vii. places through the whiche botes maie come in but no shippe can passe to Uenice sauyng at the porte of Malamoco or at the two Castelles of Lio. The entrie wherof is so daungerous by reason the sandê are mouable here there that whan any shippe cometh in she taketh fyrst pilottes to sounde the waie whiche in effect is reputed to be one of the greatest sureties that the Uenetians haue for defence of theyr citee against all ennemies by sea and than by lande it is impossible to hurt or besiege it vnlesse the enemie were hable to occupie .150 myle compasse with his armie Of buildynges NExte vnto the situacion the maner of theyr buildyng is most to be meruailed at For almost euery man that buildeth an house maketh his foundacion lower than the water and er euer he set in hand withall is constreigned to make suche a stronge pale of pyles and mudde betwene his buildyng and the water as shall be hable to defende his woorke whan after he hath closed it well the water and mudde that resteth within is clensed and emptied out Than causeth he stronge pyles of timber of a great length to be driuen in and therupon with stone and grauell beginneth his foundacion So that whan he hath brought it to the full sea marke he rekenneth to haue furnished one halfe of his buildyng notwithstandyng that aboue water I thynke no place of all Europe hable at this daie to compare with that citee for numbre of sumptuouse houses specially for theyr frontes For he that woull rowe throughe the Canale grande and marke well the frontes of the houses on bothe sydes shall see theim more lyke the doynges of princes than priuate men And I haue been with good reason persuaded that in Uenice be aboue .200 palaices able to lodge any kyng ¶ But now to the particuler of theyr notable buildynges The new Castell at the mouthe of the hauen Lio for strengthe and beautie is one of the rarest thynges dooen in these daies ¶ The churche of S. Marke is a verie antike thyng furnisshed with goodly pillers of fine marble to the noumbre of .900 as they saie besides the floore vnder foote of small marble stones wrought in knottes of diuers colours and foure faire brasen horses ouer the fronte ¶ The Dukes palaice is a verie sumptuouse buildyng and not yet finished ¶ The streete called La Piazza di San Marco is verie fayre and large and the one syde is built of harde stone all vniformely with faire glasen wyndowes and the streete by low paued ouer with bricke ¶ Saincte Markes steeple is a veraie hyghe and fayre toure of bricke so well built that within foorth an horse maie be ledde vp vnto the bellfroy ¶ The Rialto is a goodly place in the hert of the citee where the merchauntes twyse a daie assemble ¶ The schooles of S. Rocke and S. Marke are two notable thynges the frontes wherof are the fayrest and costliest that euer I haue seen ¶ Finally the Arsenale in myne eie excedeth all the rest For there they haue well neere two hundred galeys in suche an ordre that vpon a verie small warnyng they maie be furnisshed out vnto the sea Besydes that for euerie daie in the yere whan they woulde goe to the cost they shoulde be hable to make a new galey hauyng suche a staple of tymber whiche in the water within Th'arsenale hath lien a seasonyng some .20
of that place hange .ii. or .iii. boxes into whiche he will he maie let fall his ballot that no man can perceiue hym If there be but two boxes as commonly it is in election the one saieth yea and the other saieth naie And if there be .iii. boxes whiche for the most part hapneth in cases of iudgement the one saieth yea thother saith naie and the thyrde saieth nothyng and they are all well enough knowen by theyr dyuers colours By this ordre of ballottyng they procede in iudgement thorough all offices vpon all maner of causes beyng reputed a soueraigne preseruacion of iustice For oftentymes the iudges maie graunt theyr voyces and neuerthelesse whan thei come to the hearyng of the mattier dooe as theyr consciences shall leade theim aunswearyng afterwardes that thei did theyr best but thei could not preuaile ¶ Finally in the disposyng of theyr offices thei vse this ordre that all offices of preeminence as of the Signoria that are before rehersed or the beeyng Potestate Capitaine or Gouernour of any citee castell towne or countrey maie be geuen to none other but vnto gentilmen Uenetians All offices that be vnder commandement as chauncellour secretaries and suche others are bestowed amongest theyr best knowen citesins For though there be many of those offices of commaundement verie profitable yet can no gentilman haue the benefite therof Either because they woull mainteyne in theyr personages a certeine maiestee with theyr lybertee or els because they woull aduoide the inconueniences that maie growe of perpetuitee For all maner of gentilmens offices from the highest to the lowest the Dukes dignitee onely excepted ar remouable some froÌ„ yere to yere some euery .ix. monethes some more some lesse for no gentilman maie longe enioie one office So all offices that appertaine vnto theyr citesins are durable for terme of liue without any chaunge ¶ Amongest all other this notable ordre thei haue that two gentilmen of one familie can not be in one magistrate or hygh office together at ones By reason wherof those gentilmen that of one name are fewest in numbre grow a great deale sooner and oftner to authoritee than they that be of the most whiche is thought a wonderfull helpe of their vnitee and concorde For if many of one name shoulde rule at ones they might happen so to agree that it should be an vndoyng of their common wealthe ¶ Of the proctours and treasure THere be certeine principall officers whiche shulde seeme exempted from theyr common wealth and be neuerthelesse headê of the same that is to were xii of the principallest called Procuratori di San Marco out of whiche numbre the Duke is alwaie chosen and those haue theyr offices for terme of life with a certeine stipende of an hundreth dukates a yere or there about Theyr charge is seme to gouerne the reuenewes and treasure of the common wealth and some the rentes and treasure of saincte Markes churche ¶ As for the treasure of theyr common wealth I could neuer fynde the meane to see it but I haue been crediblie enformed that it is a great summe of readie money locked vp in chestes that no man maie come at whiche is sometyme more and sometyme lesse as theyr wealth or charges encrease And thoughe theyr reuenewe be verie great yet consideryng the often warres that they haue the great wages that the senatours and officers receiue the noumbre of straunge capitaines that they wage for terme of life the noumbre of castels and fortresses that they maintaine fortified with watche and warde theyr continuall costly buildynges and finally the vnreasonable charge of theyr Arsenale and of their galeys abrode I thynke they can not laie vp any great some at the yeres ende ¶ The other treasure of sainct Markes churche I haue seen the principall thing wherof is a table on the high aulter plated ouer with siluer grauen and enameled and set full of preciouse stones of all sortes And than in a little stronge corner on the southsyde of the churche are certeine plates of golde muche lyke womens partelettes set full of riche stones a goodly imperiall crowne for theyr Duke two fayre vnicornes hornes and diuers other thynges the value wherof consisteth onely in the preciouse stones For the golde that is about theim is but small in quantitee but the stones are many in numbre excellent great and fayre and almost inestimable of price ¶ Finally to retourne vnto the Proctours theyr reputacion is the greatest next the Dukes and there is none can clymbe vnto that dignitee but either he must be so woorthy auncient and notable a man as fewe lyke are to be founde amongest theim or els so riche that in time of neede he hath before his election releaued the common wealth with the lone of a notable summe of money Whiche seconde sort of election is also commen vppe of late sens money as some saie hath entred in more reputacion than vertue ¶ Of lawes THeyr aduocates as we shoulde saie our men of law studie principally the ciuile lawes and besydes that the statutes and customes of the citee whiche are so many that in maner they suffise of theim selfes But he that substancially considereth the maner of theyr procedynges shall plainly see that all mattiers are determined by the iudges consciences and not by the ciuile nor yet by theyr owne lawes For in euery office there be dyuers iudges and that parte that hath most ballottes preuaileth euer be it in mattier of debt of title of lande vpon life and death or otherwise And in euery triall of thefte murder or suche other the partie hym selfe is neuer suffred to speake But there be certeine aduocates waged of the common reuenewe whiche with no lesse studie pleade in their defence than the Auogadori in the contrarie One daie the Auogador cometh into the courte and laieth against the felon that that either by examinacion by torture or by witnesse hath been proued And an other daie cometh in th'aduocate and defendeth the felon with the best aunsweare he can deuise so that many tymes the prisoner tarieth ii.iii and sometyme .iiii. yeres er euer he come vnto his triall of life and death ¶ This ordre they obserue in Uenice onely For out of Uenice the gentilman Uenetian that is Potestate of the citee towne or place hath absolute power to iudge vpon all mattiers hym selfe alone how be it euery of theim hath a counsaile of learned men to aduise hym what the law commaundeth Besides that euery .v. yeres there be certaine inquisitours called Sindici sent foorth to refourme extorcions and all other thyngê that they finde amisse throughout theyr whole dominion ¶ Finally there is a law in Uenice that no gentilman Uenetian maie speake with any ambassadour without licence of the Signoria for feare of intelligence or of daungerouse practise And because they feare least ciuile sedicion might be the destruction of their common wealth as of dyuers other it hath been therefore thei haue prouided
takyng ¶ Nexte to Vendramino succeded Marco Barbarico who neuer seking to be auenged on his enemie woulde saie It suffised a discreate prince to haue power to reuenge wherby his ennemie shoulde haue cause to feare him Therfore he vsed seueritee against the transgressours of the common wealth and not against theim that priuately offended hym In his daies hapned littell adoe ¶ The contrarie wherof folowed in the tyme of his successour Agostino Barbarico ¶ Firste by reason of the warres with Edmonde Duke of Austriche for the interest of certain mynes of yron in whiche enterprise the Uenetian capitaine Robert of S. Seuerino died than thoroughe the comyng of Charles the .viii. Frenche kynge into Italie who at lengthe partely through the Uenetian force was constreigned to retyre into Fraunce but most of all they were troubled with the Turkes who fell out with theim oueranne all their countreis as farre as Tagliomento slew aboue 7000. persons of the Uenetian parte and toke from theim Lepanto Modone Corone and Durazo Neuerthelesse this meane whyle the Uenetians gatte Cremona and diuers other townes in Italie whiche is rather a reproche to theÌ„ than an honor that wolde lieffer warre vpon their christen neighbours than bende their power to resist the Turkes ¶ After Barbarico Leonardo Loredano was elected to the astate in whose tyme all Christian princes about the Uenetians conspyred by one accorde vtterly to destroie theim And the league was suche that in one selfe tyme the emperour Maximilian Lewys the .xii. Frenche kynge Ferrando kyng of Spaine and of Naples Iulius bishop of Rome with the Dukes of Mantua and Ferrara should warre vpon theim beginnyng about the yere of grace .1509 So partly by force after many discoumfitures of the Uenetians power partly by accorde in maner all the Uenetian dominion with in the maine lande was diuided amongest these princes The frenche kyng had Bressa Bergamo Cremona and Crema the emperour Maximilian Verona Vicenza Padoa and parte of Friuli The kyng of Spaine the citees and portes in Puglia that the Uenetians before had gotten The bishop of Rome Arimino Faenza Rauenna and Ceruia with the rest of Romagnia and the Duke of Ferrara the Pollisene di Rouigo So that the Uenetians had so little dominion lefte on the maine lande â–ª that the emperour Maximilian came to Maestie v. little myles from Uenice as neere as the sea would suffre hym to approche and there for a triumphe or despite shotte of his artillerie to Uenicewardes though he coulde dooe it no hurt Wherfore the Uenetians prouoked in maner by despayre and through an oracion made by theyr Duke that encouraged theim rather to die lyke men than to suffre theim selfes thus vilie to be eaten by and despysed renued an armie by lande recouered Padoa than negligently kept fortified it and Treuiso fought dyuers tymes with variable fortune against theyr enemies fought to be reuenged on the Duke of Ferrara against whom they sent .xvii. galleis and 400. botes to assaile the Ferrarese dominion by the riuer of Pò and finally behaued theim selfes so manfully that the kyng of Spaine and the bishop of Rome made a new leage with them against the frenche kyng who at that tyme besydes the state of Myllaine had gotten Bononia and was become so great in Italy that they were all afearde of hym Upon conclusion of whiche league the citesins of Bressa retourned to the Uenetian obedience so that for defence of that citee against the Frenchemen Andrea Grâ—tti with certeine other noble Uenetians and capitaines and a conuenient noumbre of souldiours were sent thither where after a sore conflict with the Frenchemen they were all discoumfited slaine or taken and the principall prisoners sent to Myllaine to Mounser du Foys than gouernour there who sâ—nt Andrea Gritti as a singuler presente prisoner to the Frenche kyng ¶ The Uenetians not a little troubled for this losse caused the campe of the league that than laie before Bononia to draw towardes Ferrara and in succour of that campe made a new armie by water wherwith they sacked Argenta toke Mirandula and did muche hurte to the Ferrarese dominion till at laste the Vice Roy of Spaine generall of the saied campe came before Bononia and from thense to Rauenna for feare of the Frenche host that from Myllaine pursued him Unto whiche Frenche armie the Duke of Ferrara vnited his power and so together folowed the armie of the league to Rauenna where on Easterdaie in the mornyng was fought the blouddiest battaile betwene theim that hath ben heard of in our daies and so many thousandê slaine on bothe sydes that it coulde scarcely be iudged who had the better Sauyng that the Frenchemen obteined the victorie toke Rauenna put it to sacke and after gatte diuers other townes in Romagnia ¶ Whilest these thynges were doyng the Douchemens hall in Uenice called il fondago di Tedeschi was reedified a very faire and great house and of a meruailouse rent For they affyrme that it yeldeth to the Uenetians aboue .100 duckates a daie whiche after our old reckenyng amounteth aboue .7000 pounde sterlyng by the yere ¶ After Loredano succeded Antonio Grimani who beyng in exile was called home made proctour of sainct Marke and finally Duke ¶ Than Andrea Gritti before named newly retourned out of Fraunce was elected Duke by whose meanes the Uenetians entred in league with the frenche kyng and so recouered Bressa redeemed Verona for a great summe of money and ayded the Frenchemen to recouer Myllaine and to doe many feates in the realme of Naples how be it the frenchemen not longe after lost all againe through theyr ill gouernaunce and tyrannie ¶ Finally practisyng now with Fraunce now with the emperour now with the bishop of Rome as best serued for the common wealth this Duke left it in good ordre tranquillitee and peace and so died greatly bewailed of his citesins ¶ Than folowed Peter Lando in whose daies the Turke made warre to the Uenetians because they ioigned with the emperour against him so that thei to obteine peace were faine to geue hym the stronge and notable citees in Napoli and Maluagia in Greece and beside that the summe of .300000 duckates ¶ It was thought that the Turke woulde haue been appeased with a muche lesse gifte but beyng secretely aduertised by the Frenche ambassadour how the Uenetians had geuen theyr Bailo or ambassadour commission that rather than the warre should continue to make this offer he woulde none other wise agree with them ¶ This knowlage came through intelligence that the frenche ambassadour had with one of the Uenetian Secretaries who through corrupcion of money disclosed all the procedynges of the priuie counsaile whiche at length beyng discouered the same Secretarie fledde into Fraunce and .ii. other Uenetians of his confederacie were taken and hanged ¶ By this mans time Andrea Doria with a great nauie of the emperours of the bishop of Romes and of the Uenetians together
the newes of his election was brought hym nowe of a good friende shall I haue an ennemie For in dede Innocent all his daies ceased not to woorke against Federike all the mischiefe he coulde imagine He fledde into Fraunce and called a generall counsaile in Lyons where Federike was double accursed but he esteemed it not answearyng alwaies that as longe as the bishop went about temporall persecucion he would defend him selfe temporally ¶ Finally after many notable battailes and victories he finisshed his life in Fiorentino a little towne of Puglia leauyng generall heyre of the realme of Naples his sonne Conrado borne of his seconde wyfe Iolante who by election of the princes of Germanie succeded his father in the empyre One other laufull childe he had named Henry borne of Isabell his .iii. wyfe to whom he assigned the ilande of Sicile from the Faro di Messina forewardes Than of bastardes he had Entio beforenamed kynge of Sardegna Manfredo prince of Taranto and Federike Prince of Antioche with diuers others not so notable ¶ As soone as Conrade beyng in Almaine heard of his fathers deathe he came with a great armie fyrste into Lumbardie where he recouered many citees that newly had rebelled and after passed into the realme reducyng also vnto his obedience those townes that before his comyng were in a rumour of whiche some he destroied and put to sacke as Capua and Aquino and so finally besieged Naples whiche at length he toke by famine ouerthrowing the walles and principall houses therof with banisshement of diuers of the nobles Thus whan he had gotte Naples the whole realme was clerely his owne so after he gaue him selfe altogether to huntyng and haâ—kyng with other lyke pastymes And beyng so in peace his mother Isabell sent his brother Henry than tendre of yeres to dooe reuerence vnto him whom Conrade caused secretely to be murdered by the waie A childe in witte and beautie very towarde But the crueltee was not longe vnpunished For Conrade him selfe by procurement of his bastarde brother Manfredo as it was saied was poysoned within .v. monethes after ¶ Now it is to be vnderstanded that Henry the eldest sonne of themperour Federike who as I saied before died in prison had a laufull sonne named Corradino to whom after the death of Conrade all the dominion of Federike descended But Innocent the .iiii. yet liuyng and coÌ„sidering Corradino being but a child in Almaine made an armie and withall speede wente to Naples where he was receiued and as it was thought had in short space obteined the realme had he not died immediately ¶ By reason of whose death Manfredo by title of tutour of the younge Corradino yet still in Germanie sodeynely assaulted and discoumfited the bishops army and within very short space brought the whole realme to obedience ere the ryght tutours of Corradino in Almaine knew of this victorie ¶ Than craftily he hyred certaine Almaines to feigne that thei came streight out of their countrei with newes of Corradines death wherfore Manfredo with all his clothed in blacke seemed greatly to lamente the thyng insomuch that he caused the funeralles honorably to be executed ¶ Not longe after appered him selfe in kyngelie habite and was saluted and called kyng Wherwith Alexander the .iiii. than bishop of Rome was sore offended excommunicated Manfredo and sente an armie againste him whiche was discomfited For Manfredo gathering into his handes the treasures of his predecessours waged so many Sarasynes and banisshed men of the Florentines and Lumbardes that he was alwaies to stronge for the bishop ¶ After Alexander succeded Urbane the .iiii. who to ouercome Manfredo lette crie a Croysie vnder colour to expulse the Sarasines out of Italie and Sicile But the armie of that Croysie was not sufficient to furnish the enterprise So that Urbane of newe began to deuise a better waie callyng Charles Duke of Angio and erle of Prouance brother vnto Lewys the .x. French kynge vnto Rome where firste he made him Senatour and after crowned hym kynge of Sicile and of Ierusalem vpon condicion that he shoulde paie yerelie to the churche .48000 duckates Pursuyng the title Charles with his frenche armie inuaded the realme and at laste in plaine battaill fought with Manfredo besides Beneuentâ— where Manfredo was slaine and his power discomfited so that Charles findyng after in maner no resistence gatte the dominion ouer the whole realme and at lengthe toke the wife and sonne of Manfredo prysoners whiche sonne bad his eies put out and after died miserablie in prison in the castell De Louo ¶ Than went Charles royally to Naples where he founde an infinite treasure that Manfredo had gathered the thirde part wherof he destributed amongest his souldiours and waxed so great that Clemente the .iiii. who succeded Urbane made him vicare of the empire in Italie so that at his pleasure he rode about to Utterbo and into Tuscane vntill the comyng of Corradino beforenamed righte heire by title of the house of Sueuia vnto the crowne of Naples who hauyng certaine intelligence in Italie came with a mightie power out of Almaine to recouer his enheritaunce But Charles ouercame him more by policie than strength in the plaine of Palenta ¶ And albeit Corradino and his cousen the Duke of Austriche veray yonge men fledde in the discomfiture of the battail and did disguise them selfes in vile apparaâ—l trustyng to escape yet their yll fortune at last discouered them so that they were taken brought to Naples and there after a yeres imprisonment against all law of armes or reason openly beheaded some saie through counsaille of the bishop of Rome For whan Charles had asked counsaile of the bishop what he shoulde doe with Corradino he aunswered these wordes Vita Corradini mors Caroli mors Corradini uiâ—a Caroli ¶ But surely Peter than kynge of Aragone iustly reproued this crueltee in a letter written to Charles with these wordes Tu Nerone Neronior et Sarracenis crudelior that is to saie thou arte more Nero than Nero him selfe and more crewell than the Sarasines For in dede Charles wente into the holy lande with his brother Lewys the Frenche kynge and there beyng taken prisoners of the Sarasines were courteisly entreated and sette to theyr raunsome Whiche thyng gentilnesse and reason wolde he shoulde haue vsed towardes Corradino ¶ But see what folowed The frenche officers and souldiours in Sicile behaued them selfe to proudly with a certaine kynde of tyrannie as well against women as men that the Sicilians conspyred against them through the instigacion of one Iohn di Procida sometyme phisicion to the kyng Manfredo who after he had obteined promyse of maintenaunce by kynge Peter of Aragone wrought this conspiracie the space of .xviii. monethes a wonder it coulde so longe be kept secrete and so well it came to passe that at the daie appoincted with the fyrst ringyng of a bell to euensonge the Sicilians beyng armed slew all the frenchemen where
one of them mounteth into a place called the Harange a little hygher than the rest and in his owne mother tounge maketh an Oracion of an houre longe of what mattier so euer he thinketh best hym selfe This Oratour hath warnyng so to dooe by an officer a great space before his daie For thei chose euery halfe yere a Consull who appoincteth a sundrie man to the Harange for euery holidaie And whan the houre of assemblie approcheth the moste parte of the company repayre to the Consull and so bringe him honourablie to the place where he sitteth hyghest thoughe the Duke him selfe be present And for my part I neuer heard reder in schole nor preacher in pulpitte handle theim selfes better than I haue heard some of these in the Harange ¶ The Florentines wyfes are nothyng so gaie as the Uenetians For thei loue a modestie in theyr womens apparaile and specially if she passe the age of .xl. lightly she weareth but plaine blacke clothe And thei kepe theyr maidens so streict that in maner no stranger maie see theim ¶ The common people are verie religiouse and for the most part full of supersticion but thei that are reckened wysest beleue muche with Plinie And where they haue been muche burdeined with Sodomie in tyme past I can not perceiue there is any suche thyng now ¶ Of the Dukes dominion and reuenew BEsydes Florence the Duke hath vnder his dominion .vi. citees Pisa Volterra Pistoia Arezzo Cortona and Borgo with diuers other good townes and the greattest part of Tuscane and maie dispende better than .500000 crownes of yerely reuenue the greatest part wherof riseth vpon the .x. that is paied hym of all the landes within his dominion Of the edificacion and successe of the citee of Florence COnferryng the discourse of diuers authours togethers toucheyng the Florentine histories and findyng the effectes of theim all gathered in one by Nicolas Macchiauegli a notable learned man and secretarie of late daies to the common wealthe there I determined to take hym for myne onely auctour in that behalfe ¶ It is manifest that from the auncient citee of Fiesole the olde rewines wherof are yet to be seen on the toppe of an hill two myles from Florence the citee of Florence had hir beginnyng principally For by reason Fiesole slode hyghe and was painefull for merchantmen to bringe theyr cariage vnto the citesins kept their market on the side of the riuer Arno in the plaine where Florence now standeth and buildyng there shoppes for theyr wares from shoppes thei grew to houses and from a fewe to many so that at lengthe it became a towne whiche encreased muche through certaine Colonies of the Romains sent thither fyrst by Sylla and after by those three Romaines whiche after the death of Caesar diuided the empire betwene theim ¶ And albeit that some haue contended vpon the name affyrmyng that it was fyrst called Fluentia and after corrupted Florentia yet myne opinion agreeyng with Macchiauegli is that from the beginnyng it was called Florentia Under the Romaine empyre and about the beginnyng of themperours it semeth to take fyrst name and reputacion For whan the empyre beganne to be afflicted of barbarouse nacions as the Italians calle theim than was Florence also destroied by Totila king of the east Gotes .250 yeres after it was reedified by Charlemaine and so continued as one of the principall citees of Italie vnto the yere of our lorde .1215 alwaies as subiectes fyrst to the succession of Charlemaine after to Berengarii lastly to themperours of Almaine by whiche tyme the Florentines coulde dooe nothyng woorthy of memorie for the power of them whose subiectes they were Neuerthelesse in the yere .1010 they toke Fiesole and destroied it vtterly either by the emperours consent orels betwene the death of the one emperour and the election of the other ¶ But whan the bishoppes of Rome beganne to growe great and the emperour littell moste parte of the citees of Italie ganne to gouerne theim selfes with smalle regarde towardes their prince so that in the tyme of the emperour Henrie the .iii. all Italie was deuided betwene him and the churche Notwithstandyng the Florentines in all those troubles kept them selfes vnited togethers and obeied the strongeste Untill the yere .1215 But lyke as after longe health sickenesse is more perillouse so the longer Florence forbare to folow the sectes of Italie the more affliction they suffered whan they fell to diuision amonge theim selfes The firste occasion wherof was ¶ Amonges their noble families were two principall Bondelmonti and Vberti next them were Amidei and Donati In the familie of Donati was a ryche wydowe that had a wonderfull faire doughter which she purposed to bestowe on a yonge knyght chiefe of the familie of Bondelmonti But he not knowyng either the faire doughter or the wydowes purpose was betrouthed to a maide of the house of Amidei Wherwith the wydow was wonderfully offended And thinkyng with the beautie of hir doughter to breake that mariage on a daie as the gentilman passed alone by hir doore she called him and hauing hir doughter with hir saied I reioyse at your good marige notwithstandyng I haue a great while kepte my doughter here for you At whose beautie the gentilman beyng astonied and consideryng hir dower shoulde be greatter than the others without respecte to his trought geuen or to the inconueniences that might folow for the breache therof foorthwith aunswered that syns she had kepte hir for hym he shoulde be muche vnkynde to refure hir and so incontinentlie maried hir Whiche iniurie the familie of Amidei with helpe of the Vberti determined to reuenge So waityng their tyme on Easter daie in the mornyng at the foote of the brydge Ponte Vecchio as maister Bondelmonti was ridyng to churche they slewe hym Whereupon the whole citee was deuided in two partes the one with Bondelmonti and the other with Vberti And because these two famimilies had manie stronge houses and towers speciallie in the countrei thei warred togithers many yeres with diuers fortunes And although they neuer concluded a full peace yet manie times thei toke truce In which astate Florence continued vntill the tyme of the emperour Federike the .ii. who beyng kynge of Naples and at variaunce with the churche of Rome to make hym selfe the stronger in Tuscane toke parte with the Vberti by reason whereof the Ubertine parte preuailed and chased cleane out of the citee the Bondelmonti ¶ Here is to be noted that in the cōtencion betwene the emperour and the bishop of Rome the whole Italian nacion was so diuided in two partes that in many houses you should haue the father against the sonne brother against brother and commonlie one neighbour and one house against an other And to encrese the mischiefe ii brethern Dowchemen dwellyng in Pistoia 20. miles from Florence fell out for this matter and oftentimes openlie fought in maintenaunce of their diuision Wherupon it folowed that all the imperiall
warre or of other like occasion that requireth or rogacions suche processions thei assemble and clothe them selfes in sacke linnen or buckeramme with their backes naked and their faces couered sauyng littell holes to loke out at And hauyng certaine skourges or whippes some of wyer in their handes they goe about the towne whyppyng theim selfes that the bloud shall renne from the backe downe to the heeles so painefully that it moueth the poore people to compassion For whan this is done thei thinke God must nedes fulfill their praier The lyke wherof is vsed in all other places of Italie but because I thynke no two citees are able to matche Genoa in the number of these Battuti I thought good to make mencion of theim here ¶ Finally the astate is holden by a Duke chaungeable euery .ii. yere who with .viii. gouernours and .viii. proctours assigned vnto hym ruleth the whole for the tyme. Neuerthelesse Andrea Doria the emperours admyrall for the myddell seas vseth all at his will in mattiers of peace or warre and almoste in euerie other thyng The buildyng of Genoa OF the edificacion of Genoa be dyuers opinionsâ— but because no certaintee is written therof I will omitte theyr saiynges that ascribe it to Ianus or to Genuus the sonne of Saturne and agreeyng with the opinion of the bishop of Nebio that perticularly wrote the Chronicle therof I thiÌ„ke it to be of suche antiquitee that neither the tyme of foundacion nor yet the authour therof can well be knowen As for the name it is not vnlyke but that because it is the veraie entrie from the seas vnto Lumbardie it was fyrste called Ianua a gate or dâ—ore and afterwardes corruptely Genoa But how or whan it was builded or for what cause it was so named this is cleere that in the Romaines tyme almost .300 yeres before the comyng of Christ this citee ruled the countrey about it as appeareth bothe by a table of brasse lately founde in the vale of Poceuera and also by the mencion that Liuie maketh of the destruction of it by Mago Anniballes brother and of the repairyng of it againe by the Romaine Consule Lucretius Spurius ¶ From whiche tyme to the comyng of Charlemaine into Italie I find nothyng notable of Genoa saue that it was one of the fyrst citees that openly professed the Christian feith But after Charlemaine was crowned emperour and his sonne Pepine made kynge of Italie Ademaro a baron of Fraunce was sent thither so be capitaine who by commaundement of kynge Pepine fought by sea with the Sarasines and though he was taken prisoner in the battaile yet the Genowaies ouercame theyr enemies toke .xiii. Sarasine shippes and the I le of Corsica whiche in maner euer sens hath remained vnder the Genowaies dominion and so continued Genoa obedient to the emperours capitaines the space of .100 yeres ¶ In the yere .936 there happened in a little strete than called Fontanella and now Bordigoto nere to the piere of the hauen a littell spryng in stede of water cast foorth bloud and ranne so a whole daie to the great wonder of the people wherupon folowed that the Sarasines armie came sodeinely vpon the towne and takyng it by force sacked and rifled it sette it on fyre and caried awaie the people men women and children in suche wise that thei left the towne as a plaine wildernesse But the Genowaies armie whiche was than abrode mette with these Sarasines on the sea about Sardegnia where they foughte with theim cutte theim in peces and recouered their prisoners with double praie and so restored their citee ¶ After this the emperour Berengario graunted theim certaine priuileges with full dominion ouer the townes that they than possessed By reason wherof thei shortly encreased not onely in welth but also in suche power that in the voiage made into the holy lande by Godfrey of Boloigne and other princes the Genowaies armie was one of the notablest of that company firste at the wynnyng of Antioche and after at the gettyng of Ierusalem in comyng to whiche secounde enterprise the Genowaies were faine to drowne theyr owne ships in the hauen of Iaffo because they were not able to resist the Soldanes armie that came vpon theim thought better to drowne them than to encrese the enemies power with their losse and shame both how be it thei firste discharged all thynges that mighte be had out of them whiche they caried with them vnto the siege of Ierusalem and there behaued them selfes so worthily that almost none other company of the christian armie was comparable to theim ¶ After this they armed .27 galleis and .vi. shippes and sente theim into Soria in ayde of Boemonde than kyng of Ierusalem where they gatte the citee of Caesarea in Palestina and leauyng it in possession of the christians retourned home with great tryumphe and praie ¶ Finally within the space of .13 yeres the Genowaies sent .vii. seuerall armies into Soria by whose meanes the principall townes from the golfe of Laiacia southewardes to the golfe of Rissa that is to wete Malinistra Solino Antioche Laodicia Tortosa Tripoli Baruti Accon sometyme called Ptholemaida Acres Ghibelleâ—to Caesaria Assur Iaffo Acaron and Ascalon were gotten out of the Turkes handes â–ª For whiche great seruice Bauldewyn than kynge of Ierusalem nexte after Boemonde gaue to the Genowaies diuers notable priuileges through all his dominion whiche thei enioied longe tyme. ¶ After these manie victoryes retournyng to Genoa the warre that ceased so farre of sprange vp nerer home For the Pisani contended with the Genowaies for consecracion of the bishop of Corsica and for the I le of Sardegnia Wherupon folowed sharpe warres betwene them for the moste parte to the disauauntage of the Pisani so that at last beyng plainely ouercomen the Genowaies entred into Pisa by force and rased all the houses therof downe to the fyrst floore ¶ Thus finishyng those warres and wantyng occasion where to be occupied thei made out an army against the Sarasines and first ouerranne the I le of Minorica and after assaulted the citees of Almeria and Tortosa in the confines of Granata whiche thei toke by force with the slaughter of an infinite noumbre of Moores besides 10000. slaues that they caried with them to Genoa and suche a quantitee of treasure and booties as fewe lyke had ben seen in those daies diuidyng the dominion that was gotten into three partes the Erle of Barcelona chiefe of this enterprise had two to hym selfe and the Genowaies the thyrde ¶ The glorie and wealth of whiche victories were such to the Genowaies that for many yeres after thei enterprised no great mattier farre from home but suche sedicion fell amonge them selfes that theyr owne braulingê many times gaue courage to forein princes to woorke against theim For the emperour Federike the fyrst after he had conquered Lumbardie thought also to subdue theim and made open preparacion for it Whiche was cause of theyr vnion againe For
common wealth bought of Nicolas De Flischo certaine townes and territories to the value of 25000. pounde whiche thei well and truely paied him But the Flischi and Grimaldi continued scarcely .xii. monethes at home but thei were accused of conspiracie against the astate and so banished of new ¶ And though kynge Phillip of France had before this tyme made peace for a season betweene the Uenetians and Genowaies in hope of an enterprise that he entended towardê the holie lande yet the auncient hate was suche betweene theim that the one coulde scarce meete with the other on the sea but that they would fight togethers and take that aduauntage that they wolde doe in warre ¶ Than began Giudice di Ginercha in Corsica to trouble the Genowaie vessels and at lengthe to declare him selfe open ennemie to theim Wherefore they made out a power againste hym and expulsed hym out of his astate But by theim of Pisa he was by force restored againe for the whiche the warre renewed betwene the Genowaies and the Pisani one of the blouddiest warrê and greattest by sea that hath lightly ben hearde of betwene two common wealthes For within the space of three yeres their armies foughte .iiii. battailes and theyr diligence was suche that whan the one army was discomfited whiche for the moste parte hapi to the Pisani thei wolde within a moneth or .vi. weekes repaire their number of galleis as stronge as at the fyrste not of olde galleis but of newe timber And it wolde seeme incredible to hym that knoweth those two citees that thei should be able hauyng so little dominion to make suche powers one against an other as by their chronicles appereth they did ¶ For the Genowaies vppon a sodeine tidynges of the Pisanes landyng in Porto Venere armed .70 galleys in lesse than .iii. daies and sette them foorthe to the sea and in the same yere was .58 galleis and .viii. Pamphili whiche be boares of .140 or .160 ores made readie in Genoa in a daie whiche with the reste of the armie to the number of .88 galleis besides other vesselles sailed foorth before the hauen of Pisa where after a cruell and blouddie battaill the Genowaies had the victorie toke .28 Pisane galleis boulged seuen put the reste to flight and ledde with theim .9272 prisoners whose raunsome yelded vnto the Genowaies no small summes of money and though this ouerthrow shoulde seeme almoste sufficient to be the destruction of a great prince yet did that one citie of Pisa so beare it that after a little dissembled peace they declared and contynued enemies a longe while after againste the Genowaies and fought many battailes by sea with diuers fortune ¶ The nobilitee of Genoa conspired against the gouernours and people to take from theim the rule because the citee was gouerned more after the commons will than the gentilmens And this conspiracy was so close kept notwithstandyng that in maner all the chiefe families as Grimaldi Flischi Negri Malloni Salâ—atici Embriaci others were confederates in it that it was neuer knowen till they were in the streetes armed on horsebacke and on foote and had taken the churche of saincte Laurence But folowyng to the Abbotes house for so was the chiefe ruler called the people assembled and resisted the conspiratours in suche wise that the nobilitee was faine to laie downe their weapons vpon promise to be pardoned of life and goodes By reason wherof the commocion ceased and certaine of the principall causes were banished for a time ¶ Upon examinacion what power the Genowais were able to make by sea in tyme of nede it was founde they had .120 galleis furnished with their owne chosen men Wherof .40 were immediatly sent foorth against Pisa. whiche entred the hauen destroied the great toure that the Pisanes had made there for theyr defence toke the towne of Ligorno and raced it to the earth and finally brake the great chaine that crossed the water a great parte wherof they broughte with theim to Genoa and there openly hanged it vp for a perpetuall memory of their victories ¶ Where as the commons the yere before had defended their rulers from the conspiracie of the nobilitee now they them selfes beganne to moue and to make rumours against theim so that the capitaines of their owne accorde gaue vp their offices to the people wherevpon a newe order was taken that they shoulde haue a straunger to be their capitaine and the reste of all the officers as the counsaylours the Antiani and suche other should be made halfe of the gentilmen and halfe of the people ¶ Not longe after vppon a lighte occasion the truce was broken betwene the Genowaies and the Uenetians and either of theim armed a certaine number of galleis to the sea and in the Leuaunte seas before the hauen of Giacia meite and foughte where the lesse number 〈◊〉 Genowaies ouercame the greater number and take .25 of their galleis ¶ Here it is to be noted that within the space of .vii. yeres from the beginnyng of the laste warres againste Pisa it appereth that the Genowaies at sundrie tymes had armed .627 saile besides the merchaunt shippes and galeis that yerely amounted to .70 or moe And the custome of comers and goers with the taxe of salte yelded yerely vnto the comminaltee aboue an .140000 poundes euery pounde of theirs beyng two of ours or theraboutes whiche semeth a thyng incredible ¶ Than were the Mascharati and Rampini of the citee whiche were also as Guelfi and Ghibellini made at one after they had contended as ennemies more than 50. yeres Whervpon hearyng of a great preparacion that the Uenetians made to reuenge theyr losse the yere before the Genowaies armed .165 galleis wherof 105. were new in the whiche thei had .45000 feightyng men all of their owne subiectes vnder the leadyng of Oberto d' Oria admirall for that vyage who wente into Sicile thinkyng there to mete the Uenetians but thei mette not so that the army returned without doyng any feaâ—e and their wealthe was suche that .8000 men of that armie were cloathed in clothe of golde and silkes ¶ The olde enuie betwene the Guelfi and Ghibellini renewed so that the citee was deuided that is to wete the families of Spinola and Doria with their folowers on the one parte and Flischi and Grimaldi with theyr secte on the other parte so that they foughte from the later ende of December vnto the .vii. of February daie by daie and burned diuers goodlie houses but at laste Spinola and Doria preuailed and the other were driuen out of the towne and banished By reason wherof .ii. capitaines of those .ii. houses were elected to the rule of the citee after the olde maner and the straunge capitaine with the Potestate discharged ¶ Lamba d' Oria beyng one of the capitaines of the towne and admyrall of the armie by sea entred the Uenetian golfe fought with the Uenetian army burned 77. galleis and brought .18
maner of priuileges that Genoa had with the custome of â—alte and other thynges whiche at lengthe woulde be the destruction of Genoa ¶ And though the Genoways made diuers complaintes herevpon yet as thoughe thei were not regarded no reformacion was had ¶ Than the Frenche kyng had taken from Andrea Doria diuers of his prisoners and amongest all others the prince of Orenge and besides that had paied hym his wages but verie homely so that whan Andrew began to murmour against this the kynge wrought meanes to haue had him slaine whiche comyng to his knowlage caused hym to dispose hym selfe otherwaies so that whan the tyme of his wages was expired he bare a white baner declaryng that he was at libertee to serue whom he wolde and than after certaine practises with his prisoners the Marques of Vasco and Ascanio Colonna he became the emperours man and was made prince of Melfi by reason wherof the citee beganne also to be moued against the kynge remembryng his ingratitude So that finally by meanes of Andrea Doria the Frenche kyngê officers were licenced his galleis by sea put to flight and some taken and the citee restored to hir ancient libertee Notwithstandyng that many thought Andrea Doria wolde haue taken the rule of it vnto him selfe ¶ Hereupon a counsaile was called a new reformacion established a Duke .viii. gouernours and .viii. proctours chosen accordyng to the order that yet remaineth and the citee euer sens continued in peace with increase of so much wealth and quietnesse that at this howre she maie be reckened one of the happiest and richest cities of Europe ¶ And albeit that some sterrynges haue ben sens that time for alteracion of the astate as the assaulte that the Conte Guido Rangone made with .10000 men of the Frenche kynges brought out of Lumbardy and the conspiracy that the Conte Di Flischo made now of late in the which he him selfe was drowned and Iannetine Doria slaine yet hath the citee perseuered now these .20 yeres in one astate much through the great wisedome of Andrea Doria who refusyng the dominion of it whan he might without difficultee haue taken it vppon hym hath not onely restored it to the perfect libertee of a coÌ„mon welth but also with his notable seruice in themperours affaires as in his viages to Tunise and Algier in the rescue of Coron besieged of the Turkes in defence of Barbarossa his armies the yeres .37 and .38 and in oppressyng of the great Corsales or pirattes by sea hath so mainteigned the imperyall fauour towardes the Genowaies that no man is able to hurte them at this day For though in dede thei be not the emperours subiectes yet whan any astate shoulde happen to moue warre against them it should well appere that he tendreth them no lesse than as the deerest subiectes he hath For the whiche they likewise at all times haue and yet doe serue him for his money to the vttermost of their powers The description of Myllaine AMongest other perticuler astates of Italie the Duchie of Myllaine hath been one the most notable ¶ For while the hous of Visconti reigned the same valiauntly maintened warres of great importaunce against most puissaunt princes and powers And for the interest therof the notablest warrê of our daies haue hapned betwene the emperour and the Frenche kyng insomuche that Fraunces the fyrst of that name feightyng before Pauia against the imperiall armie ledde by the Marques of Pescara and the Duke of Bourbone was taken prisoner and conueighed into Spaine where for his raunsome after a yeres imprisonment he was faine to pledge his two sonnes and consequently to marie the emperours syster with other couenauntes to longe to reherse ¶ And no meruaile though these two most mighty princes of Christendome so muche contented for his onely astate For though in name beyng but a Duchie it shoulde not seeme great yet in very deede bothe for the wealth of the countrey and for the quantitee the thyng hath been of as great reputacion as some realmes of Europe Out of doubt there haue been some Dukes of Myllaine muche greatter in territorie wealthier in reuenewes and treasure more puissaunt in warres and finally more honourable in peace than diuers of theim that had kyngly titles ¶ As for the richesse and beautie of the countrey I am afearde to speake of least to hym that neuer saw it I shoulde seeme ouerlarge in the due praisyng of it and least vnto hym againe that hath practised there I shuld seeme vnwise to treate of that that my knowlage is not hable woorthily to set foorth Neuerthelesse betwene feare and shame this muche woull I saie that suche an other peece of ground for beautifull citees and townes for goodly riuers fieldes and pastures and for plentie of fleshe foule freshewaterfishe graine wine and fruites is not to be found againe in all our familiar regions ¶ I thinke the emperour that now is lord therof woull confesse that he draweth more money yerely to his purse â—ut of that onely astate than out of some of his realmes And yet his Mylanese dominion is not halfe so muche at this present as that that diuers Dukê of Mylaine haue had For wheras the emperour besides the citee of Myllaine hath now .vii. or .viii. citees as Pauia Lodi Cremona Alexandria Vercelli Nouara and Como Dukes of Myllaine haue had some .xx. and some .xxx. citees and vpwardes Yea and some so great that they haue aspyred to the dominion ouer all Italie as in the briefe historie folowyng more plainely appeareth Neuerthelesse he that now shall happen to see the company of noble men and gentilmen that ar in maner continually attendaunt on themperours lieuetenaunt or deputie in Myllaine shall saie that the same representeth rather the courte of some puissaunt kynge than the traine of a deputie ¶ And I thynke verily that Don Ferrando Gonzaga now lieuetenaunt there rideth many times more honourably accompanied and with a greatter presence of magistee than the emperour him selfe dooeth in Germanie ¶ The like wherof with rather the more is to be saied of the Mylanese gentilwomen who in sumptuouse apparaile maie compare with the best specially in the ornamentes of theyr Chariottes with coueringes of cloth of golde of veluettes of silkes and a thousande sortes of embroderies There is almost no craftesmans wife in Myllaine that hath not hir gowne of silke and hir chaine of golde A thyng that shoulde seeme rather meruailouse than credible But the craftesmen there are so excellent in theyr dooynges and the women so experte in silke workes that it is no wonder though their gaine grow to the biyng of gaie geare ¶ Finally the citee of Myllaine standyng in the herte of the pleasauntest and fayrest plaine of all Christendome is serued of all delectable and necessarie thynges that are to be desyred for mans sustentacion Honourable for the courte gallaunt for gentilmen herborough for souldiours delicate for dames riche for merchauntes and wealthy
or three where vnder the fresshe herbers hedges and boowes amongest the delicate fruites they triumph in as muche pleasure as maie be imagined And for the most parte eche man hath his make with some instrumentê of musicke and suche other thynges as serue for his recreacion And if euer the tenaunt haue good daie than lycketh he his lippes of his maisters leauynges As for the women Some be wonders gaie And some goe as they maie Some at libertee dooe swymme a flot And some woulde faine but they can not Some be meerie I wote well why And some begile the housbande with finger in the eie Some be maried against theyr will And therfore some abyde MAIDENS still In effect they are women all Euer haue been and euer shall ¶ But in good earnest the gentilwomen generally for gorgeouse atyre apparaile and iewelles excede I thynke all other women of our knowen worlde I meane as well the courtisanes as the maried women For in some places of Italie speciallie where churchemen doe reigne you shall finde of that sorte of women in riche apparaill in furniture of householde in seruice in horse and hackeney and in all thynges that apperteyne to a delicate Ladie so well furnisshed that to see one of theim vnknowynglie â—he shoulde seeme rather of the qualitee of a princesse than of a common woman But because I haue to speake hereafter in perticuler I woull forbeare to treate any further of theym in this place Of the states of Italie THe greatest prince of dominion there at this present is Charles the .v. emperour of Almaine who for his part hath the realme of Naples and the Duchie of Mylaine whiche realme is diuided into .8 regions and to the entent the readers maie the better be satisfied I haue set foorth as well the auncient names of those regions as the present The realme of Naples ¶ The present names ¶ The auncient Parte of Campagnia di Roma Maremma Latium Terra di Lauoro Campania Principato Picentini Basilicata Lucania Calabria Brutij Grecia magna Puglia terra d'otranto Salentini Calabria antiqua Iapigia Mesapia Puglia Apulia Peucetia Aetholia Apulia Daunia Abruzzo Frentani Peligni Marrucini Vestini Precutij Marsi Valle Beneuentana Samnites As for that parte of the Duchie of Mylaine that the emperour hath it lieth in Lumbardie aunciently called Gallia Cisalpina for the most part on that side of the riuer Pò that was called Transpadana The bisshop of Rome hath for his parte the citee of Rome with these countreys folowyng ¶ The present names ¶ The auncient Parte of Campagnia Maremma Latium Parte of Tuscane Hetruria The Duchie of Sposeti Vmbria Marca D' Ancona Piceni Romagnia Flaminia Emilia The citee of Bononia  The Uenetians for theyr parte haue the Citee of Uenice with those townes in and about their marishe called La Contrada di Venetia La Marca Triuigiana and a great part of Lumbardy aunciently called Gallia Cisalpina on the same side of the Pò that was called Transpadana And parte of the countrey of Istria The common wealthe of Genoa haue the countrey about theim nowe called Jf Genouesato and auncientlie Liguria Tuscane auncientlie called Hetruria is diuided into diuers dominions wherof a small parte the bisshop of Rome hath but the greatest is the Duke of Florence who hath .vii. citees vnder him And than there be two common wealthes Siena and Lucca whose territories are not great The Duke of Ferrare hath parte of Romagnia and parte of Lumbardie The Duke of Mantua is all in Lumbardie And the Duke of Urbine is betweene Marca d' Ancona and Tuscane whose people are called of Plinie Metaurensi The Citees of Parma and Placentia in Lumbardie haue ben of late transposed from the churche vnto the astate of a Duchie but nowe it is diuided agayne as hereafter you shall perceiue ¶ Now here is to be noted that euery perticuler prince and common wealthe of Italie within his owne dominion accompteth him selfe absolute lorde and kyng and lyueth vpon the customes taxes and tallaiges that he raiseth of his subiectes For lightlie they haue littell or no landes at all of theyr owne And generallie they procede all together by the ciuile lawes and are so diligent in the administracion of iustice specially against murderers and theues that I thynke no countrey more quiete than it the realme of Naples and some part of the Romaine territorie excepted where many tymes happeneth muche robbyng by the waies ¶ An abbridgement of the state of Italie from the beginnyng vntill the Romaine empyre was vtterly diuided AFter the generall floudde remaigned no moe but Noe his .iii. soonnes and theyr wifes betweene whom it shoulde seeme the whole worlde was diuided Sem toke the easte parte Cham the southe and Iafet the weast Some write that Iafet was the same Ianus that fyrst reigned in Italie and some that Ianus was Iafettes soonne But whether so it be this Ianus was euer taken for father of the gods and was peinted with two faces either because he was father of two nacions the Greekes and Italians orels because the moneth of Ianuarie whiche hath two respectê one to the beginnyng and an other to the ende of the yeere toke name of hym While this Ianus reigned in Italie Saturne beyng chased out of the realme of Candia by his soonne Iupiter came in a maner naked vnto hym and Ianus not onely receiued hym But also gaue him the halfe of his dominion For memorie wherof either of theim builded a citee to his owne name that is to wete Ianicula and Saturnia from Ianus vnto Numitor were .xxi. kyngê of the latines whose names with the yeres of theyr reigne hereafter folow Ianus Saturnus Picus beyng a great talker was therfore feigned of the poetes to be conuerted into a pie Faunus was after woorshipped for a God of the wooddes Latinus chaunged the name of his people from Laurentini to Latini and gaue his daughter Lauinia to Eneas the Troiane promised before vnto Turnus sonne of kyng Daunus These .v. kynges reigned about .200 yeres Eneas maried the daughter of Latinus and after his death reigned .iii. yeres and builded the citee Lauinia Ascanius sonne of Eneas and of Creusa kyng Priamus daughter reigned .38 yeeres and builded Alba longa to the whiche he brought his fathers idollê called the gods Penates but they of theim selfes tourned iii. tymes backe againe to Lauinia Siluius Posthumius seconde son of Eneas and begotten on Lauinia reigned .xxix. yeres Of whom all the latine kynges afterwardes surnamed theim selfes Siluij and after some authours he was father to Brutus that first named this realme Britaine and that slewe his owne father by mischaunce whiche thyng Polidorus Virgilius doeth not grauâ—t Eneas Siluius reigned .31 yeres Latinus Siluius reigned .50 yeres Alba Siluius reigned .39 yeres and builded Alba whiche he made his royall citee but after it was destroyed by Tullus Hostilius Of that citee descended those that to this daie are called Albanesi though
Rome So the emperour sent for his Germaines that laie at Uercelly in Lumbardie and deliuered theim to the bishop that in his owne person with the reste of those Italians he coulde make entred into the realme entendyng vtterly to expulse the Normans But Gisulfo heryng of his comyng hasted to Beneuento toke and fortified it and afterwardes abyd the bishoppes armie at a place called Ciuita where in conclusion was stricken a sore battayle but the Normains gatte the victorie takyng the bishop with certain of his Cardinalles prysoners whom after veray gentill intreatyng they lette goe without raunsome For rewarde of whiche courtesie the byshop afterwardes confirmed vnto the Normaines all that they helde in Italy to be their laufull possessions ¶ Not longe after this died Godfrey and left the Erledome of Puglia to his sonne Bagelardo Wherwith Roberte surnamed Guiscardo brother vnto Godfrey was so muche offended that by force he chased his nephew out of the astate and than occupied both the countreys of Puglia and Calabria adioignyng also vnto it the citee of Troia whyche vnto that daie perteined to the Romaines ¶ This Robert was a man strong hardy and wise who perceiuyng the great contencion betwene the Romaines and Nicolas the secounde their bishop the better to establisshe his dominion he sente his ambassadours to the bishop who in company of those ambassadours came to the citee Aquila and there mette with Robert and had suche communicacion to gethers that Robert was contented to restore to the bishop the citees of Beneuento and Troia with those other landes that he before had taken from the churche for the whiche the bishop created him laufull Duke of Puglia and Calabria and inuested him in the same duchy with gifte of the standarde of the churche so that Robert became liege man and vassaile of the Romain see and by the bishops commaundement broughte his armie to Rome where he so chastised the Romaines that they gladlie obeied theyr holie Romaine father ¶ Not longe after leauyng his brother Guglielmo in Puglia he passed into Calabria and fortified the towne of S. Marke and departyng thense encamped besides the riuer Moccato nere to the baynes and shortly after gatte Cosenza and Martirano Than went he to Squillaci and so a long the sea costes to Reggio whiche he besieged and finally did so much that he gatte whole Puglia and Calabria the lande of Brutij and the reste of the whole realme of Naples geuyng vnto certaine of his brethern suche part as pleased hym By reson wherof the same bretherne who a little before had ben his contraries consented wholy to call him from thensfoorth Duke of Calabria and Puglia ¶ And though I couet to be briefe yet I woull not passe ouer one thyng that happened in the tyme of this Roberte ¶ There was found in Puglia a certeine image of marble with a cercle of brasse in maner of a garlande about his heade in whiche were written these wordes Kalendis Maijs Oriente Sole aureum caput habebo the exposicion or meanyng of this sentence was diligentlie sought for by Robert but none coulde declare it tyll at last a Sarasine learned in artemagike came foorth and beyng prysoner required his libertee for the intrepreting of it which beyng graunted incontinently he saied The first daie of the kalendes of Maie at the risyng of the son marke where the end of the shadow of this head shal be and diggyng there you shall know the meanyng of these wordes whiche time was obserued and ere thei had dygged depe they founde a wonderfull treasure â–ª that afterwarde did no small seruice vnto Roberte in his warres ¶ Than was the realme of Sicile vnder the Moores whose prince Bestauetto made one Bettimino his admyrall or chiefe capitaine ouer the same This Bettimino came secretely into Puglia to Roger Duke Robertes brother and shewed hym how Sicile was in poincte to rebell so that for a rewarde and other agreementes betwene theim he finally opened to Roger the meanes how he might get it Whiche Roger by the helpe of his brother Robert immediatly enterprised and passyng with a power into Sicile the fyrste towne he toke was Messina and at length chased awaie all the Sarasines the whole ilande became subiecte vnto hym and his brother so that for a token of this victorie Roger sent vnto Alexandre the secounde than bishoppe of Rome .iiii. camelles laden with part of the praie of the Sarasines for a present And wonder it was to see the speede of these victories for Robert Guiscardo and his brethren had brought all these dominions before rehersed vnder theim within the space of .xviii. yeres ¶ Not longe after Gregorie the .vii. bishop of Rome fyrste fell out with Robert but afterwarde beeyng sore persecuted by Henrie the .iii. emperour of Almaine he agreed with Roberte and receiuyng of hym onely the marke of Ancona he confyrmed to him all that Nicolas the .ii. had before graunted with rather more For the whiche whan the same Gregorie was after besieged in the castell S. Angelo at Rome by the forenamed emperour Robert Guiscardo came thither with an armie and reysed the siege leadyng the bishop who was muche hated of the Romaines with him to Salerno for his more suretie where he shortly after died ¶ Thus Robert after many woorthie feates dooen in Italie and Sicile by occasion at last minded to driue Alessio emperour of Constantinople out of his astate and to be emperour hym selfe so that he passed the sea with an huge armie conquered Durazo Valona and dyuerse other citees in Dalmatia Albania and Gretia fought by sea with the Greekishe and Uenetian armies bothe and ouercame theim and was lyke to haue preuailed in his enterprise had not death preuented him ¶ Finally as he was goyng into Greece at Cassiopoli in the I le of Corfu he sickened and died ledyng a gloriouse and victoriouse lyfe .60 yeres ¶ Than succeded him in the duchie of Calabria and puglia Roger his yonger son who in the couÌ„sail holden at Melfi was confyrmed by Urbane the seconde bishop of Rome But Boemonde the elder brother who euer had folowed the father and at that tyme remained capitaine ouer the armie in Grece heryng that no part of the dominion in Italie was reserued for him waxed so wrothe withall that habandonyng all his fathers enterprise passed the sea with his armie to driue his brother out of the astate and did so muche that after muche feyghtyng by agreement parte of Puglia was assigned vnto hym though he enioied it not longe For immediatly after folowed the great viage into the holy lande vpon the conclusion of the counsaile made in Chiaramonâ—e d' aluerina in Fraunce In whiche viage amongest the other princes Boemonde hym selfe woulde nedes goe and so woorthily behaued him that by assent of all men he was made prince of Antioche and so continued honorablie till his laste daie By reson wherof his brother
Roger remained quietely Duke of Puglia and Calabria from the beginnyng of his reigne aboute xxv yeres ¶ Next hym succeded his sonne Guglielmo that thynkyng to marie one of the daughters of Alessio emperour of Constantinople â—oke shippyng to goe thither and commended his astate to the protection of Calixt the seconde than bishop of Rome But while Guglielmo was absent Roger than Erle of Sicilâ— sonne vnto Roger brother of Robert Guiscardo without any regarde of the bishop assaulted Calabria and gotte the better parte ere euer Calixt coulde succour it And albeit the bishop reised suche an armie as the hastie tyme woulde serue and came foorth as farre as Beneuento sendyng a Cardinall before with exhortacions and excommunicacions yet wolde Roger nothyng decline from his purpose but was rather more hotte in his enterprise and fortune so muche fauoured hym that after a noumbre of the bishoppes armie were fallen sicke and many of his deere friendê dead the bishop him selfe sickened so sore that he was caried in a horselitter backe to Rome and all his people desperpled By reason wherof Roger in maner without resistence in short time gatte all Puglia and Calabria into his owne possession and so kepte it that whan Guglielmo retourned deceiued of his pretended mariage findyng him selfe also spoyled of his dominion he was fayne to repayred to his cousen the prince of Saern where not longe after he died leauing none issue ¶ So Roger remaignyng successour by inheritaunce woulde no more be called Duke but entitled hym selfe kynge of Italie whiche Calixt and Honorius next bishop after him dissembled because thei could not chose but Innocence the seconde theyr next successour would not abyde that name and therefore moued of disdeine without measuryng his force sodenlely assembled suche people as he coulde make and went against Roger with so great a furie that ere euer Roger coulde make any preparacion he draue hym from S. Germaines and out of all the abbey laudes where Roger thought to haue defended hym selfe and finally constreigned hym to flee into the castell Galuzzo and there besieged hym till William Duke of Calabria sonne of Roger coming with an army to succour his father discoumfited the bishops power finally toke the bishop him selfe withall his Cardinals prisoners whoÌ„ Roger the father entreated very courtesly and at last licenced them to depart at theyr pleasure In consideracion wherof the bishop graunted Roger all his owne requestes the title of kyng onely excepted and amongest other thinges the citee of Naples whiche till that tyme had alwaies ben the emperours For ioye wherof Roger at his entrie made an hundreth and fiftie knightes But Innocence returnyng to Rome founde a new bishop made in his absence one Peter sonne of Pierleone and was called Anacletus Wherfore Innocence fledde with certaine shippes of Pisa into Fraunce The meane whyle Roger visityng this other bishop Anaclete obteined of him the title of kyng of bothe the Siciles on this syde and beyonde the Faro But within three yeres after Innocence by helpe of the Pisani returned and brought with hym Lothayre Duke of Saxonie whom he crowned emperour After whiche Coronacion they bothe with a puissaunt armie went against Roger and toke from him all that he had gotten in Italie as farre as the Faro di Messina but within fewe yeeres whan Innocent was dead Roger recouered againe all that they toke from hym and did afterwarde many notable feates against Emanuell emperour of Constantinople whose ilandes and townes he toke by force as Corfu Corinthe Tebes and Negroponte and burned the suburbes of Constantinople assaulted the emperours palaice and for a memorie of his beyng there gathered apples in his Orcharde ¶ He also fought with the Sarasines and rescued Lewys the .vii. Frenche kynge out of their handes taken by theim by the waie goyng into the holie lande And so reigning .24 yeres lorde of Sicile he died in the citee of Palermo ¶ Than succeded his sonne William before named who immediately ouerran the churche landes and was therfore excommunicated insomuche that many of his owne barons conspired with Adrian bishop of Rome againste him But finally after muche a doe he humbled him selfe to the bishop of whom he was assoiled and inuested kynge of â—ewe in the dominion of bothe the Siciles And after that made an armie into Barbarie where by force he toke and sacked the citee of Tunyse In his retourne from thense he vanquished the Grekish armie by sea though they were manie moe in numbre than he But because he waxed afterwardê somewhat couetouse and burdeined the people with taxes and subsidies his barons rebelled toke him in his palaice at Palermo and put him in prison Than toke they his eldest sonne Roger and made him ryde through the streetes After whom the people went criyng Life to kynge Roger and death to the tiranne kyng William ¶ But the inconstante people repentyng theim of their errour or fearyng leste Roger woulde reuenge the iniurie done to his father retourned to the palaice with a new rumour and findyng it closed began to assaulte it so that Roger thinkyng to appease them came to a window and as he wolde haue spoken was shotte in to the heade with an arrowe wherof he died ¶ Than was William taken out of prison and restored to his kyngdome wherin after he had reigned in all .21 yeres he died â—euyng his sonne also named William in the astate ¶ This William for his good and peasible gouernance was surnamed The good kynge William For in 26. yeres reigne he neuer had warre with any christian prince excepte that littell that moued onelie of a noble courage he made againste Andronico who beyng lefte tutour to Emanuell the seconde a childe vsurped his empire of Constantinople But the Constantinopolitans theim selfes arose against him and hewed him to peeces creatyng Isaac emperour in his place ¶ Manie worthy feates did this William with his galleis against the infidelles specially in the vâ—age that the two kynges Phillip of France and Richard of Englande made into the holy lande Duryng whose beyng at the siege of Acres the good kynge William died in Palermo without issue of his body ¶ Than the barons fearyng the bishop of Rome should subdue theim whose subiectes thei wolde in no wise be incontinently elected Tancredi bastarde soonne of the last Roger before named to be their kyng But shortlie Celestine the .iii. bishop of Rome founde meane to trouble him on this wise ¶ He crowned Henry the .vi. emperour on condycion that he at his owne charges should conquere the realme of both Siciles to hold it in fee of the churche restoryng certain citees and paiyng a certaine tribute And to make his mattier the better he secretlie toke out of the monastarie of Palermo Constance a nunne doughter of the forenamed Roger and dispensyng withall gaue hir in mariage to this emperour Henrie crownyng them both with the title of the