5. ITALIAN MODERN HISTORY (1492-1815). Foreign Intervention (1492 1530).— The great Italian historian, Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540), begins the history of his time by declaring that Italy was never so prosperous as toward 1492. Certainly the eco nomic and intellectual condition of the Italian people was then far superior to that of the rest of Europe; but they became weak from lack of unity. Whilst France and Spain organized powerful kingdoms, Italy remained divided into a number of states, none of which was strong enough to unite to itself the scattered portions of the peninsula, though each was sufficiently strong to hinder another from carrying out the great work of unification. Italian policy at that time consisted in a continued series of combinations to maintain a kind of equilibrium, always difficult and unstable, between the five large states of the peninsula, Milan, Venetia, Florence, Rome and Naples.
The lord of Florence, 'Lorenzo the Mag nificent," specially distinguished himself among his contemporaries by the great tact with which he prevented the breaking out of discords among various Italian princes; but he died in 1492 and at his death the political equilibrium was suddenly disturbed.
The first dissensions arose between the court of Milan and that of Naples. Then the young king of France, Charles VIII, who as heir of the House of Anjou — the eternal rival of the House of Aragon in Naples — had a right to the Neapolitan crown, dc:.cunded on Italy to conquer it (1494). He crossed the peninsula without meeting any opposition, except at Flor ence, where Pier Capponi with his energetic words of defiance induced the French king to modify his demands. The Aragonese in Naples did not know how to organize a serious re sistance; and on 22 Feb. 1495, Charles VIII, without opposition, made his solemn entry into Naples. The extraordinary ease with which he accomplished this conquest alarmed the Italian princes. The Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, called the Moor, who had invited Charles VIII to this undertaking, now began to organize a league against the French, which was joined by the republic of Venice; by Pope Alexander VI (Borgia); by the king of Spain, Ferdinand II, lord of Sicily and Sardinia; and by the Emperor Maximilian. Thus for the
Italian equilibrium they began to substitute the idea of European equilibrium. At Fornovo on the Taro, on 6 July 1495, a furious battle was fought which cost the French army many lives, and the allies boasted a victory. Charles however, succeeded in escaping and returning to France. But the few troops left by him. in Naples were speedily driven out and the Ara gonese dynasty was once again established on the throne, Whilst Charles VIII Was marching into Italy, the rule of the Medici had been over thrown in Florence, and that city reorganized its old republican form of government. A Do minican friar, Girolamo Savonarola (q.v.), of Ferrara, at that time exercised a great influence over the people of Florence. But he aroused terrible enmity when in his holy enthusiasm he inveighed against the scandals that the court of Rome, represented at that time by the Borgias, furnished the world.
The Pope excommunicated him, and the discords in Florence furnished him a pretext for getting rid of the friar. On 23 May 1498, on the Piazza della Signoria, in Florence, Gi rolamo Savonarola and two of his devoted fol lowers were hanged, and their bodies burned.
A new expedition to. Italy was meanwhile preparing in France. The new king, Louis XII, being descended from Valentina Visconti, • claimed his right to the dukedom of Milan, and. to make his conquest more sure .he enteted into an alliance with the Venetians, promising them a portion of his territory. Ludovico Sfovea, the Moor, betrayed by his Swiss mercenaries, was made prisoner at Nevara, 10 April 1500, and taken to a castle, in France where he remained until his death.