could not be better employ'd than in reducing it but Ernestus instead of countenancing this design immediately declared for the Anno Christi 718 Emperour and help'd to defend Ravenna Gregory the seconds bold Usurpation in pretending to free Italy from Anno Christi 726 any Soveraignty Leo Isaurus had over it because that Emperour fiercely opposed the worship of Images which Gregory was then introducing proved more favourable to the Lombards designs for by this unjust sentence the Emperours Ministers were cast out of most places and that shadow of Authority left him was quite lost and they encouraged to undertake the siege of Ravenna the second time But miscarrying again in their attempt they set upon Rimini which they had scarce well invested when a Venetian Army under the Conduct of Ernestus gave them battel and after a hot dispute forced them to retire with great loss leaving their Kings Nephew prisoner to be led by Ernestus Anno Christi 740 in triumph to Venice All these disappointments did more enflame the Lombards against Ravenna upon which the fate of Rimini and the other places under the Emperour depended And Ernestus judging it the true interest of Italy that the Emperour should keep this Key to open a passage for his Army when ever the occasions of his Friends required it did earnestly sollicite the Pope to repeal the severe sentence he had past and to come to some accommodation with the Emperour lest the Lombards taking advantage of their difference might e're long become Masters of that Important place which hitherto had kept them from fastening their chains harder upon Italy But no arguments how weighty soever being able to work upon the Popes obstinacy unless the Emperour would consent to the erecting Images in Santa Sophia at Constantinople as he himself had done in S t Peters at Rome Ernestus made hast to Ravenna where the Lombards were assembling themselves from all hands nor did he ever abandon the place during its long and close Anno Christi 752 siege of almost three years till an arrow from the Enemies Camp killing him out-right opened a breach for them to enter upon the possession of what they had long toil'd for The fatal consequence of the Popes unjust dealing with the Emperour was the same that Ernestus had foretold for the Lombards being now absolute Masters grew insupportable under King Astolphus nor did any find their yoke heavier than the Popes who well deserv'd it by cutting off that arm which was most likely to protect them and it was remarkable that God prolong'd the injured Emperours life till he received the news of the Lombards having sack'd Rome and in requital of Gregory the seconds favours carried away all the Images of Saint Peters Church which his superstitious zeal had with excessive charge there placed Nor is it to be doubted but Leo's prejudice against Images was more confirmed when he perceived the hand of God visibly joyn with him in opposing them After his death his Son Constantine Copronymus though earnestly courted by the Pope yet could never be brought to meddle with the affairs of Italy being mindfull of the ill usage Leo had met with but France was more Anno Christi 755 easily wrought upon and Pepin began the War with his Son Charles the Great finished by the destruction of the Lombard Monarchy renewing the Western Empire in himself and his family CHAP. III. The advancement of the Family under Charles the Great and his Successors until the settlement of the Imperial Crown upon Otho the first DUring Pepin's Invasion we find no mention of Henry the Son or as some Writers will have him the Grand-child of Ernestus the only War I observe from Atila down to this time in which we cannot prove that any of the House of Esté had part Seeing the Historians silence leaves us to our conjectures it seems most probable that the unhappy death of Ernestus and the incontroulable Power of the Lombards after they got Ravenna might keep Henry from engaging till he had a certain prospect of their ruine and therefore when Charles the Great came he first appeared upon the head of the Venetian Troops sent to assist the French against the Lombards Ernestus had been formerly their General at Rimini which made them the more willing now to employ Henry Nor could he decline so fair an occasion of being revenged upon the Lombards How well Henry behaved himself in this War or how much his own merit joined to that of his Family made him regarded can best be proved by Charles the Great 's Bounty to him after Desiderius King of the Lombards was taken Prisoner and the Army dismiss'd For besides the confirmation Anno Christi 774 of what he formerly possest he had Treviso given him the Country also of Scodosia with the Title of Count and his Son Berengarius was invited to Court as the fittest place for his education No sooner was the Emperour gone but those who retained any kindness for the Lombards began to hatch new Projects how to restore Adalgisius the Son of Desiderius to his Fathers Throne The great Contriver of this was Rodigaud Duke of Friuli who being jealous of their placing Henry at Treviso upon the Skirts of his Country as a Spy upon his actions concluded that nothing could be done till he were dispatched by the Dukes instigation then the factious Party in Treviso pretending the breach of some priviledges suddenly took Armes kill'd Henry imprisoned his Wife and Children and forc'd those of his Train to leave the Town Their success here gave encouragement to insurrections in other places so that it was like to have broken out into an open Rebellion had not the Emperours return confirmed his Authority and given him occasion to enquire into the Authors of such practices Rodigaud being found guilty of the Murther of Henry lost his head those of Treviso were severely dealt with Henry's Wife and Children were set at liberty and to secure the peace of that Country Berengarius Henry's Son being high now in the Emperours favour was left in his Fathers place and did in every thing answer the good opinion the Emperour conceived of his zeal and fitness for his service While Berengarius lived at the Emperours Court his winning carriage made him to be highly regarded by all and particularly by Prince Lewis the Emperours Son who succeeding Anno Christi 814 Charles the Great invited Berengarius into France At his arrival he found the purple had no way changed the Princes former inclinations and after some stay at Court an occasion was offered by which he was assured of the Emperours confidence in him and the Emperour likewise of his fidelity Charles the Great had declared his Grand-child Bernard King of Italy but he being young and ambitious suffered himself to be perswaded by his Favourites That the Imperial Crown did of right belong to him as the Son of Lewis's Elder Brother This with the invitations sent him from the disaffected Party
themselves as much out of danger as those that belong'd to Albericus did and upon much more honourable terms owing their safety wholly to their Generals courage without making that base contract of freeing their own Estates at the charge of their Neighbours Vbertus was Count of Esté and Commachio the History of whose life the writers of that age have thought fit to leave us in a few yet so weighty words that if there were extant a perfect Journal of his actions we could not thence form a more glorious Panegyrick or a compleater Idea of his worth he treated always his Subjects say they with the same tenderness as if they had been his Children by which he did so gain upon their affections that they were rather loth than afraid to offend him and his discreet indulgence preserved his Authority more than severity could have done Italy reaped no benefit by its union with France the Imperial Crown had of late been set upon some Heads that did ill fit it For the Race of Charles the Great was strangely degenerate and almost spent the late Emperour Carolus Crassus who at first filled the Empire with the expectation of an extraordinary Prince was afterwards laid aside for insufficiency and brought so low as not to have a servant left him nor any thing allowed for his maintenance except what flowed from the Bishop of Mentz's Charity Arnulphus who came after him found more business in Germany than he could well deal with and Lewis of Provence was making haste towards Pavia nothing doubting the Conquest of Italy Most of the Italians therefore being weary of a Foreign Yoke began to think of chusing a Prince of their own Nation a blessing they had not enjoyed of many Ages Vido Duke of Spoletum and Berengarius Duke of Friuli both descended of Charles the Great by their Mothers thought their quality equal and their title better than that of Lewis whom they forced to return into France and agreed the matter so that Vido should be Emperour and Berengarius King of Italy Vido miscarrying in his attempt fell Anno Christi 890 out with Berengarius dispossessed him of all and Berengarius with some of his most trusty friends among whom was Vbertus Count of Esté took Sanctuary at the Court of Arnulphus whom he engaged in a War against Vido At their coming into Italy they found Vido dead and his Son Lambertus in his place and after great variety of successes and much blood-shed Berengarius was again restored but before he was setled had new disturbance given him from Lewis of Provence countenanced by Anno Christi 899 the Marquess of Tuscany who could not endure to see any Italian greater than himself and by the Marquess of Eporoedia though he had married Giscla the Daughter of Berengarius Notwithstanding all their endeavours Berengarius had the better and made Lewis enter into a solemn vow never to return more into Italy Afterwards Lewis not valuing this oath which he said was extorted undertook a third invasion in which his success did justly answer his perfidy for being taken prisoner according to the barbarous resentment of that Anno Christi 903 age he had his eyes put out Berengarius as soon as he was eas'd of the fears of so dangerous a Rival disposed of what he could among his friends and none had a larger share either in his bounty or affection than Vbertus who never had deserted him in all his troubles Vbertus by his last Will committed his Son Albertus to the Kings care and protection which thing succeeded happily to the Family for Giscla the Kings Daughter being divorced from the Marquess of Eporoedia her former husband for his siding with Lewis of Provence was given in marriage to Albertus The ancient root of Esté was at this time conspicuous in its branches Sigifred whom I mention'd before was still alive both lov'd and obey'd by those of Luca and Parma which were grown considerable under his Government Almericus Cousin German to Albertus was invited to Ferrara to be Rector for so they named the Chief Magistrate in that City but his equity in the decision of all their differences and his zeal in uniting them in one common interest prevailed upon them so far that they soon abrogated the Office of Rector as too mean and precarious and declared him their Prince Giscla had also enrich'd the Family with two Sons Hugo and Azo and a Daughter who was afterwards married to Petrus Candianus Dogé of Venice Albertus being thus happy in his Kinsmen happy in his Off-spring and above all in his Father in Law lest the world in good time before the scene changed For Berengarius after twenty years glorious reign was murdered Anno Christi 923 at Verona and leaving no Male Issue Berengarius Giscla's Son by her former husband laid claim to his Grandfathers Crown The Princes of Italy having no great Opinion of his merit being unwilling likewise to submit to one of the same rank with themselves call'd in Rodolphus King of Burgundy presently weary of Rodolphys they sent to Hugo of Arles with whom Rodolphus adjusted all differences by giving his Daughter Adeleidis to Lotharius Hugo's Son and Anno Christi 948 to him resign'd his pretensions to Italy Lotharius prov'd but a weak Prince and this put Berengarius again in a condition to dispute his Title which he did to so good purpose that getting the Power into his hands he left Lotharius only the empty name nor did he ever rest till Lotharius was kill'd and thereupon had himself created Emperour and his Son Albertus King He came to the Crown by the same difficult steps his Grandfather Berengarius the first had done which made many hope he would imitate him in his Princely Virtues and restore to Italy that Government which they were not sensible of while they enjoy'd it Yet his carriage presently discovered that he design'd nothing less seeing he neglected those whom the ties both of nature and gratitude ought to have made him regard What in all outward appearance could have been more for the Interest of Hugo and Azo of Esté after their Grandfathers death than to have their Brother Emperour but it proved much otherwise for Berengarius either jealous of Hugo's aspiring to the Crown whom he knew to be popular and bold or still angry when he reflected how much he and his Brother were caressed at Court in their Grandfathers time took all occasions to slight and discountenance them Hugo could hardly bear such ill usage and just when his long-stifled anger was ready to break out as fair an occasion of being revenged upon Berengarius presented it self as Hugo could have desired Adeleidis the Wife of Lotharius who by her excellent deportment had strangely insinuated her self into all peoples affections promised not to leave Italy in the condition whereunto Berengarius had brought it and he knowing how little he was beloved design'd her for his Son Albertus hoping by this means both to
the first man that thought of employing himself this way because the animosities they had been bred up to from their Infancy had so heated and sour'd their tempers that their whole study was how to ruine one another looking upon this as the only method to secure themselves Yet Opizo shewed the world that as he could put off those Principles his Grand-father had infused in him so by his means others could be brought to righter apprehensions of things and differences be made up betwixt Families which were judged absolutely irreconcileable An instance of this he gave at Milan where he brought several Families which had long lived in open defiance to an entire friendship and scarce was he got back to Ferrara when Ambassadors from Modena and Regio came to declare him their Prince The Emperour likewise approving of this choice confirmed to Opizo and his Successors the perpetual Principality of those Cities which continue to this day in their Allegiance to the House of Esté and have in these latter Times given signal marks of their fidelity to their Princes beyond most people of Lombardy So great were the distractions of Modena and Regio when they chose Opizo for their Prince that it was thought strange they could ever be brought to agree in any thing yet the Opinion both parties had of his worth and justice made them not only unanimous in chusing him but likewise in submitting all their differences to his determination and his Prudence and Authority soon put an end to them This was the last remarkable passage of Opizo's life for at his return to Ferrara he died He was a prudent and a fortunate Prince had in his youth shewed both resolution and conduct in several enterprizes but the latter part of his life was still the most glorious and he got also more in a few years by promoting the peace of Italy than his Grand-father had done all his time by fomenting their unnatural divisions He left three Sons the eldest was Azo the ninth whom the French in Naples highly caressed knowing his friendship to be necessary for the support of their interest in Lombardy But the Padouans were like to have given him much trouble by setting up his younger Brother Aldobrandin had not the Patriarch of Aquileia adjusted the matter before it broke out into an open war The City of Parma had more respect for Azo and resolved to follow the example of Modena and Regio but Bologna did so deal with the Gibellins that they could not be brought to consent to it This ill office the Marquess did much resent and thereupon began a war with Bologna which lasted a Anno Christi 1297 long time and was prosecuted by him with such heat that Bologna sensible of the danger sent to the Pope and the Florentins to intercede with the Marquess for a peace The Families of Visconti and Torriani had long divided Milan either of them affecting the Soveraignty by the ruine of the other at last by the favour of the Emperour Henry the seventh who began again to meddle with the affairs of Italy neglected by his predecessors for almost sixty years Visconti not only prevailed but grew on a sudden so powerfull that he was like to swallow up all near him the Cities of Pavia Vergelli Novara Cremona Crema and Bergamo apprehending themselves most in danger did with the Marquess of Ferrara Montferrat and Saluzzo enter into a confederacy to pull Visconti down and Azo being declared their General did so successfully manage the war that Visconti was soon humbled and might have been brought low enough had the League continued After the conclusion of the Peace Beatrix Azo's Sister was contracted to Galliazo Visconti's Son and the marriage solemnized at Milan with such magnificence as Italy had not seen of late years Visconti being a little depressed Azo was absolutely the greatest Prince of Lombardy for besides Ferrara Modena Regio Rovigo Commachio with several other places of less note all his own Bergamo Cremona Crema and Pavia lived under his protection and were ready at a call This made Charles the second King of Naples willingly hearken to a match betwixt the Marquess and his youngest Daughter having married her three elder Sisters to two Kings and the first Prince of the blood in France Such an Alliance we must allow was highly for the honour of the House of Esté but proved unhappy in its consequences for the Neighbours grew jealous of Azo as they had formerly been of Visconti and it was given out that the King of Naples and he designed to Conquer and then to divide Italy betwixt them that Azo was to have all upon this side and the King all beyond the Appenin Scaliger therefore of Verona with those of Mantoua Parma and Bologna by the Popes means declare war against the Marquess and Regio narrowly escaped being taken by those of Parma as Modena likewise by those of Bologna and both places after some time fell into their hands by the treachery of a few disaffected Inhabitants who by night opened the Gates for the Enemy to enter at The loss of two Cities gave not so much discouragement to Azo as the revolt of his Brother with others of Anno Christi 1308 his Subjects which made him doubtfull whom to trust but the seasonable arrival of his Father in Laws troops from Naples and of some from the Swisses together with seven hundred Catalonian Horse did remove his fears and put his affairs in so good a posture that it is believed it would have gone hard with his Enemies if he had lived to finish that Campagne No wonder if Francis who durst rebel against his Brother did dispute the Title with his Son Friscus after his death but it seems there was a Will either found or feigned in which Azo had declared him his Successor by this and the Legate of Bologna's help he raised a tumult against Friscus got possession of the City of Ferrara and was by the Magistrates and People saluted Marquess The Castle whither Friscus retired had a Venetian Garrison and made a stout resistance till Friscus seeing things desperate stole away by night to Venice where he died and left the Garrison to the mercy of the Legate who caused the eyes of all the Venetians to be pulled out Francis likewise had little reason to brag of his Conquest for the Legate assuming the whole Authority sent him to reside at Rovigo where by his order he was soon after murdered The Pope first by countenancing and then by murdering this ambitious Prince got Ferrara to himself but such wicked practices did so alienate the hearts of the People that to preserve it from the Emperour he was advised to consign it into Robert King of Naples hands Robert though Brother to Beatrix Azo's Wife kept it more by the strength of the Garrison than the affections of the Inhabitants who retained an inward reverence and passion for the injured Princes of Esté and waited but for an
any wayes have consisted with his safety that he desired not to know who had been his Enemies lest he were thereby tempted to bear them a grudge and that he would not have such think he knew them lest it might occasion a jealousie of his being less tender of them than of the rest of his Subjects Sixtus the fourth who succeeded Paul designing to exalt his Nephews at any rate and hoping if he could make sure of Iulian and Laurence of Medici Florence might easily be seized upon procured the one to be murdered at Church before the very Altar and the other to be desperately wounded and as they thought killed But the blackness of the action put the whole City into such a fury that none of the Conspirators no not the Arch-bishop of Pisa escaped being hanged from the Palace windows only the Popes Nephew against whom the Evidence was not so clear they shut up in prison The Pope grieved for the disappointment as likewise for the Arch-bishops ignominious death and the imprisonment of his Nephew made ready the arms of the Church and those of the King of Naples against the Florentins but they who were not to be threaten'd neither by his Excommunication nor the Kings Troops out of their Liberty and the Justice of their Cause had assistance from Venice and Milan with the Duke of Ferrara for their General The War was carried on but faintly in the Popes behalf by the Duke of Calabria and a Peace at length was concluded betwixt Ferdinand King of Naples and Florence the Pope having lost his honour without reaping any advantage by this Anno Christi 1479 wicked enterprize Some disputes arising about the Confines of Rovigo neither the Duke of Ferrara's proffering to refer the matter in contest to any two Princes nor Ferdinand King of Naples and Iohn Galeazo Duke of Milan's endeavouring an accommodation by their Ambassadors could keep the Venetians from a War with him the Pope they were sure of because he hated the Duke since the war of Florence but Galeazo and Ferdinand declared for him and Frederick Duke of Vrbin esteemed the greatest Captain of Italy after the death of Francis of Milan undertook the Conduct of his Army The Venetians at first went on furiously because their Forces were much more numerous than the Dukes and the Pope denyed passage to the Troops of Naples but Matthias King of Hungary who had married the Dutchess of Ferrara's Sister and Ferdinand of Spain her Cousin never gave over soliciting till the Pope broke with the Venetians and then the Duke of Calabria having leave with his Army to march towards Lombardy things went better with the Duke and after several Campaignes both parties being almost tired acts of hostility came insensibly to cease a more dangerous war for Italy then breaking out Galeazo's Son of the same name being now Duke of Milan and married Anno Christi 1489 to the Duke of Calabria's Daughter his Uncle Lewis Forza kept all the Power in his hands much to the grief of the young Dutchess who was more impatient than her Husband so that she never rested till she engaged her Father to write to Lewis to resign the Government to his Nephew that was then of age threatning that in case he refused he would see reason done to his Son-in-Law Lewis that he might find employment elsewhere for Alphonsus invited Charles the eighth to the Conquest of Naples to which he could make a specious Title and the King being young stout and ambitious to say no worse was easily engaged What Lewis did all thought to be by the advice of the Duke of Ferrara whose Daughter Beatrix he had married for the Duke though he appeared not much in it yet went with Lewis to meet the King of Alexandria This Expedition is so exactly set down by Guiccardin one of the best of the Modern Writers that it will save all who come after him the pains of enlarging upon it but in short there are few instances of a Kingdom Conquered in less time or with less resistance wherever Charles came the Gates were opened and the Magistrates ready to salute him King and at Naples he was welcomed as Emperour of the East whether this were to gratifie a vanity they observed in the French as Alexander the sixth had done before at Rome or if Charles and his Officers really gave out that he designed to pass unto Greece against the Turk I shall not determine but too true it is that this empty Title given him at Naples cost many thousand Christians in and about Constantinople their lives for Bajazet the Father of Selym seemed jealous of some such design and of their being privy to it The Kings great success frighted the Princes of Italy into a Confederacy to cut him and his Army off in his return and no person was so forward in this as Lewis Forza who had brought him in but the Duke of Ferrara tho' he had only complemented the King stood more upon his Honour and could by no perswasions be brought to the field against him The Confederate Army trusting in its number which was four to one stopped the King near the River Taro where he bravely fought his passage and got safe into the Duke of Savoy's Territories The Duke of Orleans afterwards Lewis the twelfth kept Novara whither the Confederate Army marched to be revenged on him for the Kings escape but there was no getting the place till by the Duke of Ferrara's mediation honourable Articles were granted the French First that in lieu of Novara Forza should pay the Duke of Orleans a considerable summ of money Secondly that neither he nor the Venetians should assist the house of Arragon in Naples and in case the Venetians did that then Forza should be obliged to make war upon them and for the performance of these Articles the Castle of Genoua was consigned into the Mediators hands who sent Francis Raugoni one of the chief Gentlemen of Modena to take possession of it and to continue his Government there After the death of Charles the 8 th Lewis the twelfth being mindfull of Forza's treachery and encouraged by the Venetians invaded Milan and notwithstanding the endeavours of Maximilian the Emperour and the great diversion given the Venetians by the Turks whom Forza had stirred up against them Forza lost Anno Christi 1500 Milan and was carried prisoner to France there to end his dayes in a melancholy dungeon The Duke of Ferrara not knowing how to meddle betwixt the King that was his Friend and Forza to whom he was so nearly related had observed in this War a perfect neutrality but when the French Troops marched again to the Conquest of Naples none was more forward than the Duke to assist them The Great Gonsalvo Ferdinand of Castiles General being then in Sicily they fatally advised Lewis to secure his friendship by allowing him a share which being agreed to the division of the Kingdom betwixt them cost more time
them little reflecting that Gregory the sevenths dying outed of his dignity and in a most forlorn condition several years before gave no less advantage to the Emperours party Others therefore who were not byassed made no such inference from thence knowing if there were no surer arguments to direct men in their judgments than the undertakers success the best causes might oftentimes suffer and the most palpable usurpations be vindicated The Pope and Matildis after they had compassed what they long designed thought it now an easie matter to manage not only Italy but Germany also and the young Prince as they pleased All the grievances of their Party were to be redressed and the pretended corruptions of the Clergy of Germany to be reformed in a Synod at Ausburgh where the Pope the better to confirm his Authority among them was to be present but they were much disappointed in Henry the fifth who as soon as he was setled in his Throne began to discover a strong dislike to their proceedings with his Father and as he heartily wished he had no wayes been accessary to them so to atone his guilt his whole thoughts were employed on maintaining the Dignity Prerogatives of his Crown which had been so much violated by the late Rebellion There was little encouragement then for the Pope to appear at Ausburgh where he was sure to be crossed in whatsoever he proposed besides Henry had an Army in readiness to go into Italy there to receive the Imperial Crown It frighted Matildis to hear of his coming in this posture yet dissembling her fears she was the first when he past the Alpes who sent to welcome him The Pope likewise with great expressions of confidence invited him to Rome because he knew he could not hinder his coming thither Upon the day appointed for his Coronation the Arch-bishop of Milan by whom according to the custom he had first been crowned King of Lombardy presented him to the Pope who before he proceeded any further in the Ceremony required him publickly to renounce all pretension to the collation or investiture of Ecclesiastical Dignities this Henry flatly refused to do telling him he would not be tied to any such conditions and that he expected his Crown after the same manner that Charles the Great and Lewis his Son had received it the contest lasted several dayes not without great heats and threatnings on both hands the Pope declaring upon Henries refusal to comply that he must come to his spiritual Arms and Henry letting him understand that his Army was ready at a call so that nothing could perswade Henry to depart from this generous resolution not valuing the Popes Arms so much as the Troops he had brought with him from Germany at length the Pope was forced to yield that as a Right to the Son which had been denied his Father and which Matildis and the former Popes had made the ground of all their wars The Emperour prouder of retrieving this lost Prerogative than of the Imperial Crown returned to Germany where the first thing he did was to see his Fathers body enterr'd a favour his enemies malice had not thought fit to allow it No wonder if it pierced Matildis to the heart to see all her encroachments upon the Emperours power for so many years brought to nought in a moment and the Papal Authority which with so much cost pains and danger she had highly advanced now reduc'd to what she had found it in the beginning of Henry the fourths reign and all this by one whom Pascalis and she had helped to set up upon his Fathers ruines grief then and old age cast her into a languishing distemper which in the end proved mortal She had all along designed that not only the Popes in whose times she lived but their Successours also should reap the fruits of her bounty which made her easily hearken to those who judged it the securest way to put the Church in possession of the best part of her territories and that it must be a particular satisfaction to see her own will executed to prevent the trouble it might occasion after her death and to hear the frequent Panegyricks of those who extolled her munificence and whose interest it was so to do By these insinuations they had already got into their hands that which is called the Patrimony of S t Peter with several Cities in Tuscany And now lest upon Anno Christi 1115 her death-bed she should seem to abate of her wonted zeal she confirmed what was formerly granted adding thereunto all the rest I cannot find she was ever Canonized but the best of their Pens have been employed to celebrate her Virtues and her memory is still more precious among them than that of most of their Saints of this Vrban the eighth in our own time has given testimony by having her body or what at least past for it translated from a Church near Mantoua to Rome where it lies buried in S t Peters under a stately Monument erected 1635. at his charge with an Inscription which expresses both his value for her Piety and Virtue and his gratitude for her protection and bounty and if oftentimes both in speaking and writing of her they call her a Saint it is no strange thing if one consider the stile of the Countrey according to what Philip de Comines observed in his passage through Milan where wondering to read the name of one of their worst Dukes with this glorious Epithet of Saint upon the front of a Convent a Priest ingenuously told him it was their custom to call all those Saints to whom they were much obliged In this respect then envy it self must allow never any could lay juster claim to this title than Matildis who deserved better of the Popes than any that went before her or that hath been since her time for let them amuse men as much as they list with pretended donations from Constantine or from Charles the Great it is plain the Countess Matildis first set them up and it is her whom Rome must chiefly thank and others blame for the Popes bearing such a figure since among the Temporal Princes of Italy The event did verifie what was apprehended before that Matildis actions would be called in question afterwards for Henry the fifth declared he would not agree to what she had done because she could not dispose of what came to her by her Mother Beatrix but that by her death it return'd to the Crown and in truth there seem'd to be a great deal of reason in what the Emperour alledged seeing it was too much that she had abused while she lived the power derived from his Ancestors without entailing it for ever upon his enemies the Pope on the other hand thought he had good right to what was left him chiefly when it was strengthen'd with possession and betwixt these two powerfull Competitors the Family of Esté whose Title certainly was best had the least share CHAP. VI. An account of
had banished and kept himself afterwards within the terms of moderation as long as the Marquess lived The support the Gibellins had from Manfred made Vrban the fourth who was a French-man offer the Crown of Naples to Charles Count of Anjou a Brother of France which he accepted the more willingly because he was much encouraged by the assurances that were given him from the Marquess and the Guelphs of Lombardy but while preparations were making on all hands the Marquess died much lamented by his Party He had been wonderfully successfull in most of his attempts though he had to do with the greatest men of that Age and that often times upon very unequall terms he cannot be much taxed either with cruelty or breach of promise yet he wanted not his frailties only the wickedness of his Rival Actiolin both helped to cover them and render his virtues the more conspicuous And upon the whole matter it must be acknowledged he was engaged in the worst Party seeing the Gibellins Cause how ill soever they managed it was much the justest they maintained the Emperours undoubted Rights which the Guelphs pretended the Popes Spiritual Arms had cut off Azo leaving his Grand-child Opizo too young to undertake the Government the Bishop of Ferrara under a pretence of the danger of the times that required a Prince able to protect them would have come to a new Choice but such was the respect the City generally had for the Family of Esté that the Bishops practices served only to make them the more watchfull in preserving Opizo's right In this Mantoua Padoua and the Neighbour places encouraged them offering their assistance if required towards Opizo's establishment and the Turcii a powerfull Family who with most vigour withstood the Bishop were appointed Guardians during the young Princes minority Clement the fourth no less an enemy to Manfred than Vrban his Predecessor sent to Charles of Anjou to make hast if he expected the Crown designed him and finding the most decent the most effectual and withall the cheapest way for the Church to make war was by Croisado's where a red Cross and a plenary indulgence which cost nothing made the good men of those dayes fight more desperately than any pay The War against Manfred was declared a Holy and a meritorious Expedition and none in Lombardy promoted it more than Opizo or rather his Guardians The issue of all was Charles and the worst Cause prevailed Manfred losing Anno Christi 1266 his Crown with his Life under the Walls of Benevent The Gibellins only hope was placed in Conrardin Manfreds Nephew and the Grand-child of Frederick the second whose journey into Italy Mastinus Scaliger Prince now of Verona did as earnestly sollicite as the Marquess did formerly that of Charles Conrardin came and past most of the winter with Scaliger consulting about the method of carrying on the war while Opizo's Guardians and the Guelphs nothing frighted by the enemies nearness raised what Troops they could for Charles Early in the spring both Parties appeared in the field but the fate that pursued Barbarossa's Family soon overtook Conrardin The Germans and Gibellins were beat the poor Prince made prisoner and in the eighteenth year of his age sentenced by Charles not without the Popes privacy and direction to die as a common traytor by the hand of an Executioner for endeavouring to recover what of right did belong to him The Guardians resigning the Government to Opizo now of age he by his strict Union with Charles covered himself from all the storms Mastinus Scaliger and the Gibellins raised It is true the extinction of Barbarossa's Family in Conrardin had brought them so low that for some time they durst scarce own the name or the quarrel however they wanted not wayes to continue the division and Mastinus kept them in hopes of great things under a new Emperour but when application was made to Rodolphus Count of Hapsburgh the first of the House of Austria that had the Imperial Crown no arguments could work upon him to come into Italy or to intrigue himself at all in the concerns of that Nation so fatal to his Predecessors whom he said he could trace going thither but could meet with no foot-steps of their return from him as Sigonius and the best Writers observe Italy may date its liberty seeing any City could purchase of Rodolphus what Government it pleased though if we look narrowly into this thing it proved rather a changing Masters than any true liberty and in many places a losing the protection of an Emperour to be under the lash of some petty Tyrant it made way for the greatness of the Church established the French and in general it fared worse with Italy afterwards though in some places they fell into gentle hands as happily Modena and Regio did when joyned with Ferrara under the same Prince The Church was soon sensible how little it had got by exchanging Germans for French who seeing themselves once fixt in Italy could not be satisfied unless they had the spiritual power likewise and according to the vanity natural to most people in prosperity but in a peculiar manner to the French they talked of nothing but a French Pope a French Consistory and to have all new modelled in their way This made Nicolaus the third a proud Italian of the House of Vrsini who hated and contemned all Tramontani and particularly the French vigorously bestir himself against Charles and the first that found the ill effects of his displeasure was Opizo against whom he armed Albertus Scaliger and the Gibellins that Anno Christi 1276 by this means he might weaken the Kings Party in Lombardy which Opizo kept up We have not the particulars of the War betwixt Scaliger and the Marquess only it is to be supposed it went not ill with Opizo because the Articles of the Peace afterwards concluded are most favourable to him After the Peace was made up betwixt Opizo and Scaliger the Popes Arts and the insolence of the French drew suddain ruine upon them in Sicily for Peter King of Arragon married to Manfreds Daughter coming thither with his Navy the Sicilians as it was before agreed on at the hour of Vespers fell upon the French in all parts of the Kingdom and without compassion or respect massacred Men Women and Children and presently Peter with his Spaniards landing took possession of the Kingdom The Popes hatred against Charles and Peter's success did not a little help to set up the Gibellins again who began in several places to return upon the Guelphs the ill usage they had lately met with But Opizo bore no Anno Christi 1286 share in those disturbances having made a Peace to his mind and married the Prince of Verona's Daughter and now he was so far from taking pleasure in heading a Faction that for the future he resolv'd to put on the person of an Umpire and to use his Authority in composing differences among his Neighbours For his honour he was
than the Conquest for what opposition could two such powerfull Princes meet with from Frederick whom his Subjects hated and contemned But Naples was too narrow to satisfie both the French and the Spaniards and Gonsalvo was a man of such unlimited ambition that a Controversie began about a small parcel of Ground to which both parties pretended and which nothing but Arms could decide In this the French had so ill success that they were suddenly beat out of all Gonsalvo with the Spaniards becoming then sole Masters of the Kingdom of Naples which they have kept ever since About this time died Hercules Duke of Ferrara whose life doth represent to us Fortune in all her different aspects he was born the undoubted Heir of one of the richest Princes of Italy was left young by his Father which made him come the later to his Estate after the death of two Brothers Many storms did he weather both in the Court and Wars of Naples his own Courage and the Kings Malice exposing him to every danger till at length he changed parties At his return from thence he lived for some time a Subject in his own Principality being glad to be a Governour of one of his Cities under his Brother But the latter part of his life made a fair reparation for the former no Prince of Italy being more valued or courted than Hercules that very King of Naples who hated him so much sent to proffer him his Daughter in marriage by whom he left a hopefull Issue the Kings of Castile and Hungary when he was in danger by his War with Venice gave testimony how much they were concerned to support him Henry the seventh of England complemented him with the Order of the Garter and three several Kings of France sought his Friendship as necessary for the advancement of their interest upon the other side of the Alpes CHAP. XII The Life of Alphonsus the first the third Duke of Ferrara HErcules had four Sons Alphonsus who succeeded him Hippolytus the former of the two famous Cardinals of Esté of that name Ferdinand and Sigismund Alphonsus was twice married in his Fathers time first to the Daughter of Iohn Galeazo Duke of Milan when he was very young and when she died a Match by Lewis the twelfth's means was made up betwixt him and Lucretia Borgia Pope Alexander the sixth's Daughter the King designing by this to unite the Duke with Caesar Borgia and both to himself The first remarkable action we meet with in Alphonsus after his Fathers death Caesar Borgia being then ruined was his defending Bologna for Iulius the second and his defeating Bentivoglio from whom the Pope had lately taken that City and recommended it to the Duke Not long after was the League of Cambray concluded where Alphonsus joyned with the Emperour the Pope the Kings of France and Spain to take the terra firma from the Venetians The King of France began the War and gave the Venetian Army which was commanded or rather divided by two Generals of quite different tempers so great an overthrow that the other Confederates did thereupon make the more hast The Venetians seeing themselves in no condition to defend their Subjects wisely made a virtue of necessity and allowed them the liberty to make the best terms they could with the Enemy and so prevent their ruine for they presumed and upon good grounds that this instance of their tenderness would invite them home to their ancient Masters as soon as the storm was over being attacqued then on all hands nothing except Treviso was left them in a short time and the Duke of Ferrara for his share was once in possession of Rovigo la Badia with Monfelice Esté and other places which formerly belonged to his Family Besides the places he had taken the Pope declared him the General of the Church which made the Venetians discharge their whole fury upon him both by Sea and Land but such was their ill success in every enterprize that their very Navy became a prey to him that had no ships for having chained them up by night within the mouth of the River where they thought themselves secure he burnt some took others and returned to Ferrara in a sort of Naval Triumph upon one of their Chief Gallies Anno Christi 1510 The sole hope now left the Venetians was to break a League in which so many Princes of different or rather incompatible Interests were united and this they found no hard matter Julius being willing not only to take off his censures but also to fall out with France and to help to chase Lewis out of Italy if they would give him the places in Romagna which by the League were designed for him It was not now time for the Venetians to stand at any thing and therefore they readily acquiesced to the Popes proposals and he sent to the Duke of Ferrara to acquaint him with what he had done and to desire him to forbear any further acts of hostility against the Republick but the Duke excused himself saying that he could not in honour nor in conscience abandon those with whom he was in Confederacy Julius taking this excuse for a direct upbraiding himself with what he had done excommunicated the Duke immediately sent Orders to Romagna to seize upon what places he possessed there and exhorted the Venetians to fall upon him to revenge his and their quarrel the Duke in a short time lost Rovigo all the Polecine Monfelice and Esté on the one hand and upon the other hand all the places of Romagna and which grieved him most Modena and Sassuolo with several Castles near him his only comfort was he knew that if he had pleased to make honour and conscience truckle to Interest he might have been a saver But never resolving to stear by this compass nor to follow the precedent given him by P. Iulius he waited for better times till he could fairly recover what he had unjustly lost Never was Pope freer of his thunders than Iulius who seeing his success against Alphonsus took his aim a little higher at Lewis the twelfth deprived him of his Title of the most Christian King and of his Crown and exposed his Territoris as a prey to those that could take them but though his lightning did shine it was not felt in France otherwise than in provoking the good King to Vow and to publish his Vow also in his coin That he would destroy Babylon meaning Rome The King of Castile sent an Army to assist the Pope and the Venetians which made Lewis likewise re-inforce his Troops under a new General Gaston de Foix Duke of Nemours to him he particularly recommended the concerns of the Duke of Ferrara whom of all the Italians he had found the most trusty Confederate and the French Army then lying in Romagna the Duke recovered his places from Iulius Gaston was impatient till he gave the Enemy battle which he did near Ravenna the Duke commanded that part where
esteem of Henry the second The Dukes refusal while his Son accepted the Command signified nothing to Philip who laboured hard to make a breach betwixt him and the Venetians but they not being disposed then to enter into a War in the Spanish Quarrel excused themselves pretending that the Dukes being a Gentleman of Venice and a member of their great Council he must first forfeit that priviledge before they could so far disown him as to come to a War The great overthrow the French received at S t Quintin put the Duke and all that party in Italy in some apprehensions but the Victory not being pursued a Peace was some time after concluded betwixt the two Crowns and then died Hercules the fourth Duke of Ferrara in the fiftieth year of his age In his youth he had been the most hopefull Prince of Italy for all manner of accomplishments After his Fathers death he lived in peace govern'd his Subjects with great gentleness no Prince ever was readier to pardon injuries or to oblige every person about him the expence of his Court being great and his Subjects slow in granting new Subsidies he did much anticipate his Revenue by borrowing money upon several branches of it in which his Subjects did not think fit to concern themselves seeing it only emptied his Exchequer and made the Government uneasie for his Successor CHAP. XIV The Life of Alphonsus the second the fifth and last Duke of Ferrara AN Express was immediately dispatched by the Dutchess to her Son Alphonsus then at the Court of France who making what hast he could to Marseilles took ship and had a quick passage to Legorn where Cosmus Duke of Florence with many of the Toscan Nobility were ready to welcome him and saw him safe in his own Territories Near Modena his Uncle Alphonsus and the whole Gentry of that Countrey received him and at Ferrara he made a publick entry passing through five triumphal Arches erected at the Cities charge Next morning was the death of Hercules the second published Alphonsus by sound of Trumpet was proclaimed Duke the Scepter and Sword delivered to him by the Chief Magistrate upon his knees and an Oath of Allegiance taken by him to the new Duke in the name of all the people the Duke also according to the usual form swearing he would be a Just Prince and consult the Common Interest of his Subjects Which solemnity being over Alphonsus made his Fathers Funeral Rites be performed with great decency and then he sent Francis one of the Princes of Esté to Florence to bring home his Dutchess that Dukes Daughter According Anno Christi 1560 to the account I have seen nothing could be more magnificent than the train she brought along with her and the manner of her reception at Ferrara The Dutchess Dowager having no comfort in her stay in Italy after her Husbands death returned to her Native Countrey from which she had been so many years absent and left all Ferrara except the Jesuits in tears for the loss of so incomparable a Princess The Gentry when she first came thither considering her as Lewis the twelfth's Daughter bred up in the most glorious Court of Christendom where Princes of the blood especially the Kings Children could not have too much respect payed them expected to be kept at a greater distance now than they had been under the former Dutchesses but on the contrary access to her was so easie her conversation so free and her whole deportment so modest that had she been the Daughter of a little Duke of Saluzzo or an Eustochia Laura raised by her virtue she could not have taken less state upon her All the Learned found the good efeffects of her Patronage and were as liberal in setting out her Virtues as she could be towards their support The Poor and the Sick were sure of relief and Orphans of care and protection So that in the whole City of Ferrara there was scarce a person that could not shew some instance of that unlimited goodness which had so long time diffused it self upon all her subjects without missing rich or poor Prince Lewis after his return from France whither he went to accompany the Dutchess his Mother was created Cardinal and while the joy of his promotion filled the Court with Balls and Banquets the death of the Dutchess Lucretia changed the scene she had lived but fourteen months with her Husband and had left him childless yet this was in some measure repaired by the birth of Caesar the Son of Alphonsus and Julia of Vrbin in whom the Duke could not want a Successor Cardinal Hippolytus had been Legate in France and returning thence with the Cardinal of Lorrain and many French and Italian Noblemen they were all treated at his Nephews Court where at the same time there happened to be several other Princes and then it was that Hippolytus playing at Cards with a vast summ at stake and all the good Cards in his hand made a hard shift to lose whispering to one of his Confidents who seeing his hand seemed surprized that he was more a Gentleman than to win so much money of strangers at the Court of Ferrara but if he had such luck in France or at Rome he knew how to make the best of it The Duke was easily reconciled to a second marriage when the Emperour Maximilian proffered him the Princess Barbara his Daughter the Cardinal Lewis went to meet her at Trent and brought her to Ferrara with all the state that either the Princes of Esté or that City could shew upon so solemn an occasion The War in Hungary growing hot with the Turk Maximilian invited the Christian Princes to his assistance and thither went the Duke of Ferrara with fifteen hundred Horse having sent the Officers of his Household before with the Baggage soon after their arrival in the Imperial Army Solymans death put an end to the War This Expedition was very chargeable to the Duke for besides the length of the march he had three hundred Gentlemen cloathed in Velvet richly embroidered with Servants all in the same Livery the rest also were so finely accoutered that they seemed rather designed for a Cavalcade than an Army his zeal however and his magnificence in this great appearance was so much taken notice of that some years after they named him in Poland among the Princes who were Candidates for that Crown and it was thought if Maximilian had not in vain designed it for himself he might have carried it for his Son in Law the Duke of Ferrara The Duke having no concerns at Rome for three or four reigns which therefore I pass in silence spent his time in entertaining all the Princes that came that way and in diverting himself Great complaints were brought him of the Countrey peoples Anno Christi 1570 spoiling his Game at a distance from the Court which made all the penal Laws against such abuses be renewed but they continuing still to transgress trusting either that
supposed that out of flattery or a design to promote their own fortunes by bettering other mens condition they would have condescended to publish a falsehood seeing there was not at that time the least appearance of this succession the four Sons of the former Dutchess Lucretia Borgia being then alive Leander Albertus in his description of Italy treating of Romagnola and speaking of Alphonsus the first uses these very words He had three Wives first Anne Daughter to Galleazo Forza Duke of Milan then Lucretia Pope Alexander the sixth's Daughter by whom he had four Sons Hercules the second Hypolitus afterwards a Cardinal Francis and Alexander in the third place Lucretia being dead he married Laura of Ferrara a woman of mean Parentage indeed but of most quick parts and extraordinary prudence by whom he begot two Alphonsus's Words most plain and which prove not only the Marriage but also the Sons he had one of whom was Alphonsus that we now mention This Writer was a Fryar a Subject of the Church and Contemporary with Duke Alphonsus he had occasion to be informed of the truth of the business and if passion could at all have by assed him it is to be believed he would not have written for the Marriage but against it Jovius who was not only a most rare Person but a Bishop Contemporary likewise to the above named Duke and perfectly well versed in the concerns of Princes discoursing of the Lady Laura sayes But she being of a virtuous and chast behaviour and in her beauty answerable to her parts and being happily recommended by her fruitfulness he had her for his lawfull Wife and had by her two Sons both of whom after his own Name he called Alphonsus By which we clearly understand that Duke Alphonsus after he had got two Sons by her being charmed with the singular Virtue of the Lady Laura took her for his Wife Marcus Guazzo in his Annals of those Times calls the Lady Laura of Ferrara Duke Alphonsus's Wife a woman of low Extraction but for her Prudence and Parts truly Noble both Sansovinus in his History of the Illustrious Families of Italy and Andrew Teut a French Author in his Lives of the Illustrious Men lib. 5. cap. 53. do testifie the same And finally Marcus Antonius Guarini of Ferrara though he was a great friend to the Church and writ so long after the seizure of Ferrara that he had reason to doubt of his incurring the Popes indignation yet being constrained by truth he confirms the same in his Historical Compend of the Churches and pious places of Ferrara To the above-mentioned Authorities we must likewise add that of Frederick Scot a Doctor of great reputation and that writ also near those Times who while he endeavours to prove Cons 4. numb 17 and 18. Tom. 2. lib. 3. That a Prince may make presents to his Wife brings for an instance the presents made to the Lady Laura when she was married to Duke Alphonsus in these very words I could give an example in the Presents sent by Alphonsus the first Duke of Ferrara to the Lady Laura his third Wife and the Daughter of Beretarius whom the Duke married in performance of his vow Nor do the depositions of many Witnesses that were examined in a legal manner since the loss of Ferrara and which are still kept on record differ from the Historians Testimony From whence a publick report and fame of the marriage we speak of is evidently proved and some there were ready to take oath that they had seen the Lady Laura treated by the Duke himself with that honour and respect which are only due to a Wife to this they add that she enjoy'd Prerogatives which were sutable to none but a Princess she was generally respected as such not only by her Subjects but likewise by foreign Princes and was by all treated with the name of the House of Esté which sirname she alwayes took in all publick and private writings as doth still appear by an infinite number of Authentick Instruments Priviledges Orders Letters Commissions and the like She made use of a Seal with the Arms of the Princes of Esté in her Orders and Letters she spoke in the plural number We It was her custom when she went abroad to have Gentlemen before and Ladies in Coach behind her And as an expression of that favourable fortune which from her low Condition had exalted her to that pitch of greatness she had engraved upon her Coach a Sun with this Motto For he who is great has magnified me and the Duke her Husband alluding to the same had Money coined of which very many pieces are still to be seen where our Saviour is sitting and a woman at his feet with these words Thy faith hath made thee whole which was a most manifest sign that he had exalted her to the eminent station of a Wife All the time she survived her Husband she went in the habit of a widow which she had not done had she not been one From the Honours and Prerogatives she enjoyed in her life the said witnesses pass to the respects which were pay'd her at her death and they averr that Duke Alphonsus the second and Cardinal Lewis his Brother with a train of the whole Court did solemnly accompany her to the place of burial the Duke honouring the Funeral with mourning and the Cardinal with the Cloaths which such Princes use to wear upon the death of their Relations The whole Court put on mourning and as the custom is they did hang out the Arms of the said Lady quartered with those of the Princes of Esté one of which according to the testimony of the same witnesses is still preserved To whom else could honours and respects of this kind agree but to the Dukes Wife and how could ever Duke Alphonsus and Cardinal Lewis who were Princes that in their carriage observed alwayes a state and carriage sutable to their quality ever have suffered much less contributed by their presence towards her being treated after this manner if they had not really own'd her for a Princess of their Family Finally there are two Authentick Instruments verified by all the forms of Law which remove all manner of difficulty and were with great earnestness required and made by a Notary in Ferrara the one in the year 1550 and the other in 1551. The very words for what concerns the marriage do agree and are the same as they are here set down The most Illustrious Lady the Lady Laura Eustochia Wife of the most Illustrious and Excellent Duke Alphonsus late Duke of Ferrara Modena and Regio c. And yet Hercules the second was then alive who having no kindness as every one knows for the Lady Laura and her Sons would never have suffer'd that she should have been falsely honoured in publick writings with such like Titles as these And with those abovementioned there is another ancient Instrument which agrees with it thus The most Illustrious and most Excellent Lady Laura of Esté relict of the late most Illustrious and Excellent Prince Alphonsus of blessed memory Duke of Ferrara c. being personally present To conclude the matter now in hand we must consider that here we treat of a business of some antiquity in which not only evident proofs but likewise presumptive and conjectural ones such as these are must be allow'd and the rather because we do not enquire now into the truth of the marriage for the marriage it self but only to make the Succession Legitimate for posterity in which case slighter proofs may be the better admitted Nor is it of small moment that the said marriage was solemnized before the Council of Trent because then so many formalities were not required and the Orders that were made in that most holy assembly were for regulating future marriages and not those that were past as it has been often declared in several Supreme Judicatures nor would the Original Instrument of the marriage be wanting which was required and made by John Baptista Sarachi a Notary in Ferrara if this and other papers relating to the same affair had not been withdrawn by Duke Hercules for the grudge he bore as we have already hinted to the two Alphonsus's his Brothers both upon the account of their being the Sons of another Mother and because he observed that his and their Father Duke Alphonsus loved them so very tenderly and thereupon granted them free and independent Feuds and considerable Revenues Nevertheless by Divine Providence so many proofs still remain as are sufficient to discover the truth Moreover his Imperial Majesty Ferdinand the second being wrought upon by these motives and informed that Don Alphonsus was really legitimate by the Marriage that followed not only declared the report which was given out to the contrary by ill affected persons to be vain but did grant also the Investiture of the Imperial Territories to me not as the Successor simply of Duke Alphonsus the second but as to a Prince named and comprehended in the ancient Investitures of my Progenitors And that it may not appear his Majesty was moved to do this without having first weighed well the business he accompanies his Declaration with the very words that follow that he declared this having deliberated well upon it and having taken sound and mature advice about it The Marriage being then proved by the credit of so many Historians by the testimony of so famous a Lawyer by the deposition of Witnesses that the Lady Laura was alwayes treated as the Dukes Wife during her Life and at her Death by Titles Subscriptions Seals Arms Habit and lastly by the Emperours Declaration It necessarily follows then that the pretence of the devolution of Ferrara is overthrown because the Marriage being thus proved it cannot be questioned but the Children who are by this means Legitimate are really lawfull and therefore capable of succeeding to any estate whatsoever FINIS