A. D. 697. fleet, under Henry Dandolo, the doge, bore a great share, she got three-eighths of the city and of the provinces, and she purchased the shares of some of the other spoilers. It was thus she obtained Candia and the Ionian isles. The trade of Venice was chiefly carried on with Syria and Egypt, and she was the great medium of conveying the productions of the East into Europe. After the war of Chioggia, Venice began to turn her thoughts towards territorial acquisitions. Before that period, the Venetians had united with Florence to check the career of Mastino della Scala, lord of Verona, and had gained Treviso. They looked on with indifference at the progress of the Visconti of Milan; but when, in the confusion that followed the death of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Francesco Carrara, lord of Padua, had seized Verona, the Venetians, who hated that family, took arms, and reduced both Padua and Verona, and the duke of Milan ceded Vicenza to them. Venice afterwards, in alliance with Florence, against Filippo Maria Visconti, took into her service Carmagnola, the celebrated condottiere, and she acquired Brescia and Bergamo, and reached the Adda, which she never passed. The government of Venice, at first, perhaps, merely federative, had become, under its Doge, or duke, nearly an elective absolute monarchy. Limitations were gradually laid on his power, which ended in making the doge little more than a pageant, and converting the government into a jealous close aristocracy, which, with its various councils and intricate mode of election, has lasted down to near the present time. Italy - Naples and Sicily. 1254. On the death of Conrad, son of Frederic II., his natural brother Manfred occupied the kingdom in the name of Conradin, the young heir. The Ghibilin party looked up to Manfred as their head: the pope hated him as the son of Frederic. The pope, as superior lord, offered the kingdom which Manfred had usurped to Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, who, with his brother's consent, led thither a crusade, as it was called. A. D. Manfred fell in the field. Conradin, afterwards attempting 1266. to recover his inheritance, was taken prisoner and judi- 1268. cially murdered by Charles. But Constance, daughter of Manfred, was married to Peter III. of Aragon, who, in her right, claimed the crown. Charles was master of Provence, Naples, Sicily, head of the Guelf party in Italy, and created by the pope vicar-general in Tuscany. John of Procida, one of the adherents of Manfred, was living in Valencia, watching an opportunity of revenge. The Neapolitan barons were French, or in that interest; but Sicily was treated as a conquered country, the women, after the usual manner of the French, insulted, and the indignation of the people thereby excited, which was increased by the speeches of John, who went in disguise through the island. Pope Nicholas III., adverse to the Angevin dynasty, the court of Constantinople, the king of Aragon, all entered into the project of John of Procida, and when the massacre of the French, called the Sicilian vespers, an utterly unpremeditated act, occurred, the fleet 1283. of the king of Aragon was at hand, and the Sicilians gave him the crown. A war ensued, in which the king of Naples was supported by the kings of France and Castile and by the pope. Peter dying, left Sicily to his second son, James; and Alfonso, king of Aragon, made peace, engaging not to assist Sicily. James, on succeeding to his brother in Aragon, renounced Sicily; but the Sicilians transferred the crown to his brother Frederic, and maintained the war against Charles II. of Naples and the king of Aragon; and peace was at length concluded, on condition that Frederic should retain for life 1300. the kingdom, which then should revert to the crown of Naples. On the death of Charles II., the crown was disputed 1305. between Caribert, the son of his eldest son Charles, who had died king of Hungary, and Robert, his eldest living The point was referred to the pope, the feudal lord of the kingdom, who gave sentence in favour of son. A.D. Robert. The latter leaving no male issue, the crown espoused to her cousin Andrew, son of Caribert, king of Hungary; but the manners of this prince were brutal, 1345, and he was assassinated, an act of which the guilt was laid on the queen. Louis king of Hungary invaded Naples, to avenge the death of his brother. Joanna fled, but afterwards regained her crown. The queen had no children. The king of Hungary, and Charles duke of Durazzo, were the only male descendants of Charles I. The latter was married to the queen's niece, and was regarded by her as heir to the crown. Offended with the queen, Charles invaded her kingdom, took her pri1378. soner, and had her smothered in prison. But Joanna had adopted Louis of Anjou, uncle to Charles VI. of France. He easily entered on Provence, and led 30,000 men to Naples, but he effected nothing. Charles III., now, as he thought, secure, accepted the crown of Hungary. His son Ladislaus, only ten years of age, succeeded him in Naples. The party that had called in Louis then invited his son Louis II., and put him in possession of the greater part of the kingdom. But as Ladislaus grew up, he displayed superior qualities; the Angevin barons came over to him, and he recovered the whole of the kingdom. On the death of this able prince, his elder sister, Joanna II., a weak vicious woman, came to the throne. The kingdom fell into anarchy. Sforza Attendolo, the great constable, and Ser Gianni Caraccioli, the seneschal, were the most powerful individuals. Sforza called in a pretender to the crown, Louis III. of Anjou. Caraccioli persuaded the queen to adopt Alfonso, king of Aragon and Sicily. The successors of Frederic I. of Sicily were weak or infant princes. Maria queen of Sicily had married Martin, son of the king of Aragon, to whom, when dying, she 1409. left her crown; and on his death his father Martin, king of Aragon, had taken possession of Sicily as heir to his son. Alfonso gladly embraced the offer of Joanna; but jealousy of him, or some other cause, induced her to revoke her deed, and adopt Louis; and the queen's and the Angevin parties united were too strong for Alfonso. Louis dying before the queen, she substituted his brother Regnier. When Joanna died, Regnier was a prisoner in Burgundy; but his wife maintained his cause with spirit. Fortune, however, sided with Alfonso, and he founded the Aragonite line at Naples. Alfonso, having no lawful issue, was anxious to transmit Naples to his illegitimate son Ferdinand. Chiefly with this view he became a party with Sforza duke of Milan, and the republics of Venice and Florence, in the quadruple 1455. league, for the maintenance of peace in Italy; and the pope and the Neapolitan parliament confirmed the succession of Ferdinand. But the character of this prince A.D. was dark and vindictive, and the barons offered the crown to John, son of Regnier of Anjou, who made an ineffec- 1461. tual attempt to obtain it. Germany. After Germany had been three-and-twenty years with- 1273. out a head, the electors fixed on Rodolf of Habsburg, a prince of ancient family and of considerable possessions in Switzerland, and along the Upper Rhine. Rodolf was an able, sensible monarch, and he turned all his efforts to the establishing of peace and tranquillity within the empire. He naturally sought to aggrandise his family. The rebellion of Ottocar, king of Bohemia, gave him the disposal of Austria, Styria, and Carniola, which, with the consent of the diet, he bestowed on his 1283. son Albert, and Carinthia on Meinhard landgraf of Tyrol, whose daughter Albert married. This was the origin of the possessions of the house of Austria. The electors refused to choose Albert king of the Romans in his father's lifetime; and on the death of 1291. Rodolf they gave the imperial dignity to Adolf of NasAlbert, however, raised a strong party against him, and got himself elected. Adolf fought for his dignity, 1298. but fell, as was said, by the hand of Albert. Albert was sau. T A. D. active, ambitious, unquiet, but unsuccessful in his proHe jects, and hated by his neighbours and subjects. 1308. was murdered by his nephew John, from whom he withheld his inheritance. Some of the princes are said to have been consenting to the deed. 1309. Henry VII. of Luxemburg was elected. His reign is chiefly distinguished by his attempts to establish the In this he met some imperial authority in Italy. partial success, but died suddenly in the midst of his projects. 1314. Louis of Bavaria was chosen by one part of the electors, Frederic of Austria by another. The battle of 1322. Mühldorf finally decided in favour of Louis. This emperor also crossed the Alps to contend against the pope and Robert king of Naples; but he derived little credit from his expedition: his whole reign was occupied in the contest with the holy see. 1947. Charles IV., son of John king of Bohemia, next purand chased the empire. This monarch loved pomp parade, and lived in great splendour. He annexed 1355. Brandenburg and Silesia to Bohemia. By his Golden Bull he ascertained the prerogatives of the electoral college. He procured his son Wenceslaus to be appointed his suc cessor. 1378. Wenceslaus was addicted to pleasure. His Bohemian 1394. nobles, thinking he favoured the people too much, confined him, under the pretext of his violence and immorality, and gave him in custody to the duke of Austria. 1400. He escaped. The spiritual electors and the palatine deposed him, and he gave a willing assent to this act, satisfied with his paternal kingdom of Bohemia. Frederic duke of Brunswick was chosen in his stead, but was murdered immediately afterwards by his private enemies. Rupert, palatine of the Rhine, was then chosen. On his death, the choice fell on Jobst of 1410. Luxemburg, margraf of Moravia. He, too, died within a short time, and all the voices declared for Sigismund, brother of Wenceslaus, and king of Hungary. Few princes have united more crowns than Sigis |