Europe in the Sixteenth Century 1494-1598 Part 1

Europe in the Sixteenth Century 1494-1598, Fifth Edition.

by A. H. (Arthur Henry) Johnson.

PREFACE

The limits as to length imposed upon me by the Editor of the Series forced me to adopt one of two alternatives. I had either to content myself with a very slight sketch of the whole of European History during the period, or I had to exercise some principle of selection.

Unwilling to do over again that which has already been well done by Mr. Lodge in his _History of Modern Europe_, I have fallen back on the second alternative, and confined myself to the greater Powers of Western Europe.

Nor is such a selection without some justification; for it is the struggle for supremacy between these Powers which underlies the other issues, affects every movement (even the religious ones), and gives unity to this many-sided and involved period of the world's history.

My readers will therefore find no reference to the affairs of England, nor to those of the Kingdoms of Northern and Eastern Europe, except so far as in their foreign policy they affect the course of that great struggle.

My best thanks are due to Mr. Armstrong for help, more particularly in points of Spanish History, and to Mr. Fletcher, who has revised the proofs, and a.s.sisted with his kindly criticism.

Oxford, _May 1897_.

INTRODUCTION

| True meaning of the division of History into Periods.

| Importance of closing years of the fifteenth century.

| Break-up of mediaeval idea of a World-Church.

| Rise of Individualism.

The division of history into periods may be very misleading if its true purport be not understood. One age can no more be isolated from the universal course of history than one generation from another. The ideas, the principles, the aims of man change indeed, but change slowly, and in their very change are the outcome of the past. The old generation melts into the new, as the night melts into the day. None the less, just as the night differs from the day, although it is impossible to say when the dawn begins, and when the day, so does the Modern differ from that which has been termed the Middle age. This once granted, the importance of the later years of the fifteenth century may be easily grasped. The mediaeval conception of the great World-Church under Pope and Emperor had by this time lost all practical power. The authority of the Emperor was confined to Germany, and was even there disputed, and, if the Papacy still retained its pretensions, they no longer had their old weight. Not only had they been resisted by the various powers of Europe in turn, they had even been severely criticised by two General Councils. Already the man was born who was to take the lead in the final overthrow of the unity of the Western Church. Meanwhile, the older society was breaking up: the links which in binding a man to his lord, his fields, his trade, or his town, bound him to his fellows, and his livelihood to him, were falling to pieces, and the 'individual' of modern life was emerging. To this change many things contributed. The movement of the Renaissance emanc.i.p.ated men from the somewhat narrow limits of mediaevalism; it opened to them the knowledge of the ancients, and gave them a glimpse of the worlds of thought beyond, of which the New World about to be discovered to the west seemed but a type. The economic revolution had a like effect. The break-up of the older organisation of trades under the system of close guilds, was accompanied by the rise of modern compet.i.tion. In life, as in thought, the individual was a.s.serting himself.

| Growth of nationalities.

| The rivalries of the nations lead to foreign wars.

| The triumph of monarchy.

| Rise of the theory of the Balance of Power and of | Diplomacy.

Amidst the clashing of rival interests which this revolution necessitated, a new principle of unity--that of nationality--arose.

This conception, due to an appreciation of the ident.i.ty of interest based on such things as common language, common religion, natural boundaries, common hopes and fears, was, if a less attractive one than that of the Holy Roman Empire, at least more capable of realisation, and alone seemed able to control the spirit of individualism from running riot. It was in France, Spain, and England that this new spirit of nationality had been most successful: but, if Germany was no more than a loose confederation of princes, the Hapsburgs had already laid the foundation of a monarchy of their own, while the Pope was becoming more and more the prince of a temporal kingdom in Italy. The first result of this triumph of nationality was not surprising. When once a people have realised the ident.i.ty of their interests, they are apt to be aggressive. This now occurred.

England indeed, isolated from the Continent and absorbed in domestic questions, did not take much part as yet; but the others began to look abroad, and Italy, where alone no political unity existed, offered fair hopes of spoil. No sooner had France made the first move in pursuit of her claims on Naples than their cupidity was aroused, and Western Europe was involved in a series of wars which continued, with but little intermission, until the Peace of Vervins, 1598. The circ.u.mstances of the age gave to this struggle its peculiar character. National consolidation had been accompanied by the triumph of the monarchical principle, after its long struggle with aristocracy--a struggle which of late had not been confined to the temporal sphere, but had been ill.u.s.trated also within the Church by the conflict between the Papacy and the General Councils. It followed that the dynastic interests of the reigning families predominated.

The monarchs, no doubt, represented the pa.s.sions and aspirations of their subjects. Nevertheless, their policy was deeply coloured by their personal and family rivalries, and hence the wars were more prolonged than otherwise they might have been. To this also must in part be attributed the shifting combinations of alliances and counter-alliances, which change with the variety and rapidity of a kaleidoscope, and which make the period, so far as its wars are concerned, one of the most confused in history. In the struggle which ensued, the Romance and the Teutonic nations came into close though hostile contact; the theory of the Balance of Power became a guiding principle of politics; and diplomacy found its birth.

| Political issues affected by the Reformation. The | beginning of Modern Europe.

Before many years were pa.s.sed, the unity of the Church of the West was broken by the Reformation. It was inevitable that the religious and the political questions should become involved. The struggle for supremacy in Europe, the internal politics of the several kingdoms, were deeply affected by the religious issues. The web of European complications became more confused than ever, and, if the interest of the period before us is thus enhanced, its difficulty is certainly increased. Into it all the problems of the Middle Age became absorbed, and out of it Modern Europe was to arise.

CHAPTER I

THE ITALIAN WARS, 1494-1518

Political condition of France--Regency of Anne of Beaujeu--The Italian Expedition--Political Condition of Italy--Charles attacks Naples--League of Venice--Battle of Fornovo--Retreat and Death of Charles VIII.--Savonarola--Home Policy of Louis XII.--Louis attacks Milan--Treaty of Granada and attack on Naples--Quarrel between Louis and Ferdinand--Battles of Seminara, Cerignola, and Garigliano--French driven from Naples--Alexander VI. and Caesar Borgia--League of Cambray--Battle of Agnadello--The Holy League--Battle of Ravenna--French driven from Italy--Medici restored to Florence, and Maximilian Sforza to Milan--Conquest of Spanish Navarre--Break-up of Holy League--Louis XII. succeeded by Francis I.--Battle of Marignano--Concordat of Bologna--Treaties of Noyon and London--Causes of decline of Venice.

-- 1. _The Expedition of Charles VIII._

At the date of the Italian expedition, Charles VIII. had been eleven years on the throne of France. The monarchy to which he succeeded was, perhaps, less controlled by const.i.tutional checks than any other in Europe. The crown had earned popularity as the leader in the struggle against the English--a struggle which had created the French nation; and as the patron of the middle cla.s.ses against the feudal n.o.bles. The Estates-General, the deliberative a.s.sembly of the kingdom, had never succeeded in vindicating its claims. The cla.s.s divisions which divided it, as they did the people, had prevented united action. The third estate did not adequately represent the middle cla.s.ses; the knights of the shire, those valuable representatives of the country districts, who had formed the backbone of the English House of Commons, did not exist. With these defects, the Estates-General had failed to secure the command of the purse, or to control the legislation and administration of the country. All power accordingly lay with the Royal Council, a body of royal nominees who issued ordinances and levied taxes at their will, so long as they did not entrench on the privileges of the n.o.bility to be free from all direct taxation beyond their feudal dues.

True, the 'Parlement' of Paris, the supreme judicial court of the realm, tried to exercise a power of veto by insisting on its right of registering, and therefore of refusing to register, the royal edicts.

The King, however, could easily overcome this opposition by holding a 'Lit de Justice,'--that is, by summoning the members of the Parlement before the Great Council, and ordering them to register; and under a strong King, at least, the Parlement became the humble instrument rather than the opponent of the crown.[2]

| Charles VIII. under the guardianship of Anne of | Beaujeu, 1483-1492. Her successful policy.

As Charles was in his fourteenth year on the death of his father Louis XI. in 1483, a regency was not necessary according to the ordinance of Charles V. (1374). But Louis XI., conscious of the way in which he had from policy or from cynicism[3] neglected his son's education, had intrusted him to the guardianship of his daughter Anne, wife of the Sire de Beaujeu, who, on the death of his elder brother in 1488, became Duke of Bourbon.

Of Anne Louis XI. had said 'she is the least foolish woman in France.'

But her conduct during the earlier years of Charles' reign belied his further remark that 'of wise women he knew none.' She had, in the interests of centralisation at least, though perhaps to the permanent loss of her country, successfully evaded the claims made by the States-General of 1484 to share in the government. She had defeated the repeated attempts of the n.o.bility headed by Louis of Orleans, the heir-presumptive, to oust her from power, and to restore feudal licence--a movement which had been supported by Francis II. Duke of Brittany, by Maximilian, then King of the Romans, by Richard III., and subsequently by Henry VII. of England.

On the death of Francis, Duke of Brittany (1488), she had interfered in the affairs of the duchy and won by arms the hand of Anne, the Bretonne heiress, for the young King. By the marriage-contract the autonomy of Brittany was indeed acknowledged, but it was agreed that the duchy should fall to the survivor, and the d.u.c.h.ess Anne bound herself, in the event of her husband dying before her without children, to marry the next possessor of the French throne. Thus the way was prepared for the final incorporation into the monarchy of the last great semi-independent feudatory state, so long a thorn in the side of France.

This brilliant triumph of diplomacy aroused all the enemies of France.

Maximilian had a double affront to avenge. He himself had been married by proxy to Anne of Brittany, while Charles VIII. had at the Treaty of Arras, 1482, plighted his troth to Margaret, Maximilian's daughter.

Thus, by Charles' marriage with the Breton d.u.c.h.ess, both the Emperor and his daughter were jilted. Stung by this twofold insult, Maximilian forthwith laid claim to Margaret's dower, Artois and Franche-Comte, and tried to enforce his claims by arms. Henry VII. attempted to prevent the union of Brittany with France, and Ferdinand of Aragon seized the opportunity to reclaim Roussillon, which had been ceded to Louis XI.

The claim of Maximilian to the dower of his daughter was a just one and could scarce be denied. But the cession of Roussillon should have been resisted at all hazards, while the interference of Henry VII.

might have been answered by a resolute attempt to regain Calais and drive the English finally from the kingdom. Whether France was strong enough for so bold a stroke may perhaps be doubted, but at least her policy should have been devoted to the strengthening of her frontiers and the consolidation of the kingdom.

| Charles bent on the Italian expedition makes peace | with his enemies.

Unfortunately at this moment Charles had become infatuated with the idea of the Italian expedition. Being now old enough to act independently of his sister, he hurriedly yielded to the demands of his enemies. Henry VII. was bought off by the Treaty of etaples, November 1492. Cerdagne and Roussillon were ceded to Ferdinand by the Treaty of Barcelona, January 1493, and by the Treaty of Senlis, May 1493, the princess Margaret was restored to her father with Artois and Franche-Comte. Having thus evaded his difficulties near home, Charles hurried on his preparations for the Italian campaign.

| Condition of Italy in 1494.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Italy had rapidly lost all national cohesion. In spite of fruitless attempts which were made now and again to establish a united kingdom in the Peninsula, the principle of disintegration had finally triumphed. The Emperors of the West indeed had claimed supremacy, but, since the close of the thirteenth century, this had ceased to be a reality, and on the ruins of those claims, amidst numerous smaller states, five had risen to special prominence.

| Milan.

In the centre of the plain of Lombardy stood Milan, which at the close of the thirteenth century had fallen to the Visconti. That cruel but capable family, while they destroyed the liberties, extended the dominion of the republic, and absorbed most of the smaller states of the plain which escaped the rule of Venice. The territory, which on the extinction of the male line of the Visconti was seized by the Condottiere, Francesco Sforza (1450), stretched from the river Adda, where it marched with the Venetian lands, to the Sesia, where it met Piedmont then under the Duke of Savoy, and the Marquisate of Montferrat. In 1476, the son of Francesco, Galeazzo Maria, had paid the penalty of his tyranny, l.u.s.t, and cruelty at the hands of three Milanese n.o.bles who, if tyrannicide may ever be defended, are worthy of the name of patriots. He left a widow Bona of Savoy, who ruled in the name of her infant son Gian Galeazzo, aided by her husband's wisest counsellor, Francesco Simonetta. Three years later, 1479, Ludovico 'Il Moro,' uncle of the young Gian, overthrew her rule, caused Simonetta to be executed, and a.s.sumed the regency. Ludovico, though ambitious, unscrupulous, and a lover of intrigue, was not wantonly cruel as many of his predecessors had been, and, if his rule was a despotic one, he was a liberal patron of the arts and kept his dominions contented and at peace.

| Venice.