The Carafas of Maddaloni: Naples Under Spanish Dominion

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0.1 JS-J-V-i

I

JOHN 0. PALFREY

: HARVARD COLLEGE LI BRARY3

THE

lRafas of MADDALONL

I
^ I

NAPLES

ITNDER SPANISH DOMINION.

TRANSLATED FBOM THE GEKMAX

OF

ALFRED DE REUMONT.

LONDON:
iWRV G, BOHK, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

1854.

zL^ol %%Vit ^ e

harvardN

UNIVERI^ITY

libraryJ

LOMDOK :
PBI»T£0 BT WILLIAM CLOWES & S0K8, 8TA1CFORO STRSET, AND CHABIKO CROSS.

( iu )

PEEFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR.

This work, which is one of considerable research, con-
tains an interesting account of the vicissitudes of a noble
Neapolitan family, combined with the history of Naples
during the period of its subjection to Spain; including
many details of the Masaniello rebellion, which have not
yet been brought into notice.

The whole era is one of which there are but few
accounts in English. The author, a learned German,
has published other works, and is anxious that this,
which he considers his best, should be known in England.
It has already been translated in France.

The translator is aware of the many defects of the
translation ; but hopes that allowance will be made for
the difficulty of rendering the spirit and force of the
German idiom in the English language.

December 8, 1853.

a^

( ^ )

PREFACE.

A^^k^^NA^i^^kA^^^%^^«^V^^^^^^i^

The results of the political revolutions in the Roman
States, of the year 1848, led me to Gaeta, and from
thence in the train of Pope Pius the Ninth to Naples ;
where, during a residence of eight months, I had daily
intercourse with my respected friends, and I have to
thank them for their constant assistance and cordial
kindness. If I now beg their permission to present them
with this work, — ^the result of my employment at Naples,
and of Neapolitan histories, — it is only as a tribute of the
gratitude I owe them, and shall ever bear to them.

They must not expect a learned historical work. It
has never been my intention to write such a one, even
had it been in my power. I have only endeavoured to
trace a picture of Naples under the dominion of Spain, in
connexion with the fate of a family who lived in stirring
times, and have witnessed remarkable events ; who were
once involved in the fate of all Italy, and even in the
countries beyond it, and were more than once active
sharers in that of their native country. The plan of
uniting a general history with that of one family must be
the excuse for the unusual form of the work, whilst per-
haps more life and greater clearness is by this means
introduced into the narrative.

Why have I chosen the most melancholy period of
Neapolitan history? For many reasons. The Italians,
in general, have so inveterate and well-founded an aver-
aon to the Spanish epoch both in Milan and at Nai^les^

Tl PREFACE.

that they only dwell upon it with reluctance. In our
days an author, equally distinguished by his poetical
genius, his historical mind, and his moral tendency, has
overcome this aversion. If the story of the * Promessi
Sposi,' one of the most beautiful productions of modern
literature, has given us more insight into the deplorable
condition of Lombardy than any historical literature, it
has, at the same time, given an impulse to more or less
successful labours on the subject in other quarters. But
this epoch is little known at Naples, and still less con-
sidered by foreigners. The episode of Masaniello, or of
the Duke of Guise, has been selected, and, not in ro-
mances and operas alone, placed in a false light.

And yet the later and present circumstances of Naples
are not to be explained clearly without an exact know-
ledge of this period of the Spanish dominion. This I
have endeavoured to give in the present work: others
may decide if I have succeeded.

It is not a complete history of the Spanish adminis-
tration. My aim is to discuss the causes of the invete-
rate evil, destructive to the public and social relations;
the development of the forms, as well as the system of
the constitution; a description of the way of life, in
conjunction with the localities and their historical points
of association. The materials of all kinds, both manuscript
and in print, which I have obtained by the kindness of my
Neapolitan friends, have in many cases been so abundant
and various, that I have not been able to make use of
them all within the limits of my task.

May they give this work the same reception they once
gave to its author !

Home, Easter Sunday , 1851.

( vii )

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

INTRODUCTION.

CHAPTER I.

THE ABBAGOKESE AND THE VICEROYS TILL THE DEATH OP

PHILIP III.

The Normans in Salerao — Foundation and growth of the Norman
Power — the Hohenstaufens' — Charles of Anjou and his successors
— Alphonso of Arragon King of Naples and Sicily — Ferdinand I.
— The War of the Barons — March of Charles VIII. to Naples —
— Alphonso II. — Condition of Italy in the year 1494 — The last
Arragonese, Ferdinand and Frederick — Division of Naples between
Ferdinand the Catholic and Lewis XII. — Departure and death of
King Ferdinand — The Spaniards in sole possession of Naples —
French and Spanish war — Charles V. — Naples besieged by Lau-
trec — Causes which led to the establishment of the Spanish Power

— Don Pedro de Toledo : condition of Naples from the beginning
of his government — Reform of justice — New laws — Restoration
of the public security — Undertakings and works of Toledo —
Financial relations — The hearth-tax — The donative — Attempt
to introduce the Spanish Inquisition — Insurrection of the Neapo-
litans — The municipality — The nobility — Embassy from the town
to the Emperor — Decree of Charles V. — End of the disturbances

— Last years of Toledo — Intercourse with the Emperor — Trans-
formation of Naples into a Spanish province — The Consiglio-colla-
terale — The Council of Italians-;- The Secretaryships of War and
Justice — ^The great courts" of justice : the proceedings of the court
— The later Viceroys under Philip TI. and III. — General relations
— Disputes about jurisdiction with Rome — Military system —
Description of the Viceroys : their position — Don Pedro Giron,
Duke of Ossuna — War against Venice — Ossuna's plans and depo-
liition — The Cardinals Caspar Borgia and Zaputa — Famine and
insurrection — Death of Philip III Page 1

CONTESTS.

CHAPTEK II.

The nobility and people in the presence of King Chariea VIII. —
people claim (heir anoieni privileges — Tlie old constituiion —
Nonnan parliameuls —The feudal Bfstem — Change under the
Angevina— Municipal constitution of the capital— The sediles —
The sediles compared with the Florentine associations and lories
— Form, number, and privilegea of the sedilea : their double repre-
Eenlatioua, with reference to the luwn and kingdom: political
importance — Difference between the feudal nobility and the city
nobility — Sedile of the people — Different classes of the people -
The joint government of the ton-n conducted by the sedllea of the
nobility and the sedile nf the people — -The associations of the people,
or oi[i«™— The elttio fl!ei;jopu/n— Destruction of the aedile oi
people under Alphonso 1. of Armgon — Revival of the popular
element under the French dominion — Comparison between the
nobility and the people in the year U9S — Posilicn of the pcopl*
uuder the last Arragonese — Claims of the people for an equal share,
of representation with the nobility under Ferdinand the Catholic —
Form of the municipal government of ibe sediles under the vice*
WJB^Mode of election — Deputies — The municipal government
(tribunal of the Eletti) in San Loreneo — Spanish policy willi
Teierence to the sediles as substitutes for the general parliaments —
Form of the parliaments onder the viosroyg — The locality of the
parliament in San Lorenzo — The opposition of the seddes to
viceroys— The nobility in the sediles— Opposition— Spain's end
vour to oppress the great nobility — Apparent contradiction in
position— Feudalism and the comma ni ties — Privileges of the ci
muniiles to redeem themselves fVom feudal ties, the so-called pro-
olftmation of liberty — Be-alienation of the commuBiiies by the
government — The right of rebellion in the name of the king —
Belations of the barons to their vassals — Actual and assumeil rigbU
of the feudatories — Political condition of the uobilily — Granting
□f titles— Disadvantageous position'of the commanities witli regard
to the tritiute-aeeurilies — Money transactions — Farming tolls —
Banks — The Genoese- Money-market— Excbange— Agio— l^ans
on the banks— System of coinage — Usury — False coinage — Con-
ditions of admission into the sediles- Foreign sovereigns nod great
fitmilies — Neapolitan feudatories — Difficulties in being enrolled
amongst the sediles in the tiiuo of the Spaniards — Deputations;

CONTENTS. IX

rejection of their claims — Different lines of the system of titles —
Spanish families in the kingdom — Orders — Judicial relations —
Jurisdiction of the nobility — The second, or new nobility — The
people — Description of Camillo Porzio Page 58

CHAPTER III.

THE CABAFA8 OF MADDALONI. XV**» AND XVl*^ CENTUKIES.

Cistle and village of Maddaloni— The family of Carafa—Malizia Carafa
— Diomed Carafa, first Count of Maddaloni — The war of the barons
—Coppola and Petrucci — The Count of Maddaloni, with reference
to Ferdinand I. — His monument in San Domeuico — Activity about
the sciences — Palace of Maddaloni, now St. Angelo — The bronze
horse's head — Posterity of Diomed Carafa — The Carafas of Mon-
torio — Gian Pietro Carafa, afterwards Pope Paul IV. — Paul IV.
opposed to Spain — Alva's march against Home — Alva before the
gates of the city — Retreat — Peace at Cave — The nephews of the
pope— The Cardinal of Carafa— The Duke of Pagliano— Fall of the
Carafiis — Death of Paul IV. — Insurrection of the Roman people —
Complication of the catastrophe of the Carafas — Murder of the
Duchess of Pagliano — Pius IV. — Trial and condemnation of the
Carafas — Letter of the Duke of Pagliano to his son — Final
destiny of the Carafas of Montorio — Cardinal Alphonso, Archbishop
of Naples — Cardinal Olivieri Carafa • 108

BOOK 11.

CHAPTER I.

THE VICEROYS UNDER PHILIP IV. TILL THE YEAR 1647.

Die Spanish monarchy under Philip II. and III. — Idea of a universal
Christian monarchy — Condition of Spain — Disunion of its indi-
vidual parts — Centralization of policy — Philip II. *s foreign policy
— Decline of Spain under Philip III. — Change of system under
Philip IV. — War in the Netherlands, Germany, and France —
iDsarrection in Catalonia and Portugal — War in Lombardy —
Political condition of Italy — Don Antonio de Toledo, Duke of Alva,
Viceroy at Naples — Great distress in the country — The viceroys :

CONTENTS.

Duke of Alcalk, Count of Monterey, Duke of Medina — Share of
Naples in the Spanish wars — Military service of the nobility —
Increasing pressure, and increasing distress — Quarrels between
the sediles and the viceroys — The donative, and general system of
taxation— The arrendamenti, or monopolies — The composizioni,
or money indemnities— Compulsory loans, tributes, sal(v of places —
System of robbery, squadra di campagna, bisogni — Administration
of justice — Right of asylum — Disputes between the secular and
clerical authorities — Cardinal Ascanio Filomarino — Courts of the
viceroys — The Admiral of Castille, Viceroy of Naples — Misery and
immorality — The Duke of Arcos in the admiral's place — Attempts
of the French against the Spanish presidencies on the shores of
Tuscany — Ineffectual siege of Orbetello — Second attempt — Conquest
of Piombino and Porto Lungone — Warlike preparations at Naples —
Want of money — Fruit-tax — Excessive pauperism . . Page 142

:CHAPTER II.

THE YOUTHFUL LIFE OF DIOMED CARAFA. THE NOBILITY IN THE

XVII* CENTURY.

Don Marzio Carafa, Duke of Maddaloni — Warlike fame and splendour
of the family — Diomed Carafa*s birth and youth — Military service
of the nobility — Social relations and position of the great families
— Their pride— Inability to resist the viceroys — Attempt to attract
the feudal nobility to the capital — Magnificence of the viceroys in
the seventeenth century — The royal palace at Naples — Count oi
Lemos — Domenico Fontana — Festivities — Masquerades, theatres,
tournaments — Feats of horsemanship— Pleasure excursions — Play,
and gambling-houses — Courtesans (Donna di Libera Vita) — Tht
Prince of Conca and his family — Corruption of the morals of the
higher classes — Duels — Insecurity of the streets — Bravoes —
Quarrels with the police — Deeds of violence done by the nobles —
Murder of Camillo Soprano — Proceedings against the murderers —
Debts of the nobility — Oppression of vassals — Domestic life —
Women — Disputes about rank — Balls and quadrilles — Convents —
Feasts in them — Presence of the Infanta Maria — Diomed Carafa*
way of life — Anna Carafa, Princess of Stigliano, Duchess of Medini
— The palace of Donna Anna — The ill-fated house— Story of Ann:
Acquaviva*s marriage — Nuptials of Diomed Carafa— The Caracciolo
ofAvellino — Avellino and its neighbourhood 18

CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER III.

THE CITY OF NAPLES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE XVn* CENTUBY.

Jituation aud first impression — Earliest settlement — Normans — Hohen-
staufens — Period of the House of Anjou — San Lorenzo and Santa
Maria la Nuova — The Cathedral — San Domenico Maggiore —
Sta. Chiara — Connexion of Naples with Tuscan art and poetry —
L'Incoronata — Giotto — S. Martino — Buildings of the Durazzo
race — Antonio Bamboccio of Pipemo — S. Giovanni de* Pappacoda
— S. Giovanni a Carbonara — Palaces and houses of the last
Angevin period — Corporations and streets named after them —
Aragonese era — Triumphal arch of Alphonso I. — Principal gate
of the Castelnuovo — Wall of Ferdinand I. — Palace upon the Poggio
Beale — Pietro and Polito del Donzello — Villas of Alphonso II. —
Cardinal Pompeo Colonna — Montoliveto — Modanino's group of
the Piet^ — San Severino — Palaces of private individuals: Carafa,
SauSeverino, Orsini — Pontano's chapel — Santa Maria del Parto —
Sannazzaro — Increase of the city since 1530 — Consumption —
Number of inhabitants — Trades — Commerce — Enlargement under
Don Pedro de Toledo — General view of Spanish Naples — San
Giacomo degli Spagnoli —Tomb of Toledo — Art of painting in the
14th and 15th centuries — Zingaro — The Donzello — ^Art of painting
in the 16th century — Andrea del Salerno — Earlier sculpture —
Agnolo Aniello Fiore — Giovanni da Nola — Girolamo Santa Croce,
Domenico d' Auria, and others — Changes in the last half of the
16th century — Art in the 17th century — M. A. Naccarino —
Genei-al condition of the town — Palaces of the nobility, and their
establishments — Magnificence of the churches — Carthusian mo-
nastery of S. Martino — Cosimo Fansaga — Chapel of St. Januarius
in the Cathedral — Pictures in the chapels — Contention of Neapo-
litan artists with those of Rome and Bologna— Cav. d'Arpino —
Guido Reni — Belisario Correnzio — Domenichino — Lanfranco —
Michelangelo da Caravaggio — Lo Spagnoletto— G. B. Caracciolo —
The Painter-knights — II Cavalier Calabrese . . . Page 237

XU CONTENTS.

BOOK III.

CHAPTER I.

HASANIELLO.

The years 1547 and 1647 and their consequences — Insurrection at
Palermo — The gabelles. The fruit-tax — Tommaso Aniello — In-
creasing discontent of the populace — Giulio Genuino. Festival of
Our Lady of Carmel — Beginning of the dispute on the morning of
the 7th of July — The deputy of the people Naclerio's interview
with the Duke of Arcos — Attack upon the palace. Danger and
flight of the viceroy — Cardinal Filomarino as peacemaker — The
viceroy in the Castle dell' Uovo and in Castelnuovo— Disturbances
in the night from the 7th to the 8th of July — Progress of the
rebellion, 8th July — ^The Duke of Maddaloni as an officer with a
flag of truce — The privileges of Charles V. — Destruction of the
toll-houses and of private houses — Maddaloni detained by the rebels
— His flight to Torella — Filomarino again a mediator. Monsignor
Altieri — Storming of San Lorenzo — Masaniello's great influence —
Attack of the banditti upon Masaniello and his followers — Murder
of Don Giuseppe Carafa — Destruction of the dwellings of the'
Carafas — Negotiations of the viceroy with the rebels — Treaty of
the Duke of Arcos with the people — Masaniello in the royal palace
— Continuation of the rebellion. Masaniello's acts of violence.
The captain-general of the people — Aniello Falcone and his
death-troop. Salvator Rosa — Solemn convention in the cathedral,
13th July — The beginning of Masaniello's delirium — Senseless
rage. The palace of Maddaloni — Plot of the Duke of Arcos against
Masaniello — Murder of Masaniello in the Carmelite 'convent —
His funeral Page 299

CHAPTER II.

WAB DUBINQ THE TEABS 1647-1648.

An imperfect and only apparent tranquillity after the death of Masa-
niello— Flight of Genuino— The gabelles — Open war — Advantage!
gained by the troops of the people — Francesco Toraldo captain-
general of the people — New treaty of the 7th of September -
The Carafes of Maddaloni outlawed by the people — Giovann
An^elo Barile — Arrival of the Armada of Don John of Austria—

►

CONTENTS. Xlii

Measures taken against many of the leaders of the people— Attack
of the Spaniards upon the town — Victory of the people — Don John
retires to Bajae — Destruction of the pictures and arms of the king
— The Nuncio Altieri — French intrigues — Attack of the people
upon the posts garrisoned by the Spaniards <— Murder of Toraldo —
Gennaro Annese captain-general — Siege of Castelnuovo — Pictures
of Salvator Rosa — Condition of the provinces — Extension of the
rebellion in the feudal principalities and in the royal cities — The
Count of Coiiversano in Nardo— Deceitfulness of the Duke of Arcos
— Persecution of the Duke of Maddaloni — Rising of the nobility in
behalf of Spain — Battles in the Ticinity of Naples — Skirmish at
Scafati — Conquest of Acerra and Aversa — Successes of the barons
at Castellammare, &c. — Don Vincenzo Tuttavilla undertakes the
command of the royal and baronial troops— Defence of the bridge
of Scafati — Don Francesco Capecelatro's description of the state
of the neighbourhood of the capital — Want of union amongst the
royalists — Blockade of Naples — Don John's ineffectual negotiations
with the rebels — Henry of Lorraine Duke of Guise — Landing of
Guise at Naples the 16th of November — Naples a republic —
Homage performed in the cathedral — Conference with the nobles
— Advantages of the rebels in the provinces — The fleet of the
Duke of Richelieu on the coasts — Deplorable condition of the town
at the beginning of the new year, 1648 — Dissensions between
Guise and Gennaro Annese — The Duke of Arcos resigns his office
— Don John of Austria takes his place provisionally — Rapid change
in the fortunes of war in the provinces — The Count of Onate viceroy,
the 2nd March, 1648 — Guise's attack upon the island of Nisida —
Onate's negotiation with the leaders of the people — Re-conquest
of the town on the 5th April — Guise's flight and imprisonment —
Ineffectual attempts of the French, later, against Naples . Page 340

CHAPTER in.

LAST YEAB8 OF DIOMED CARAFA.

Condition of Naples after the return of the Spaniards — Activity and
policy of the Count of Onate — Measures against the disturbers of
the peace — Corn-law system and laws — Abuses of the corn-trade
— Measures of finance — Expedition against Piombino and Elba —
Be-conquest of Porto Lungone — Departure of Don John of Austria
— Disposition of the Neapolitan people — Conduct of the viceroy
towards the nobility— Secret motives — Rumour of a conspiracy —

XIV CONTENTS.

Imprisonment of the Prince of Montesarchio and the Prl
Boccella — Transactions with the banditti — New proceedings ag
the nobility — Measures against the Count of Celano, the Pr
of Avellino and Forino, and the Duke of Maddaloni — Persec
of Diomed Carafa — Vain attempts at reconciliation — The Du
of Maddaloni and the viceroy — Diomed Carafa presents hin
and is pardoned — Condition of the provinces — Don Fran
Capecelatro in Calabria — Family life of Diomed Carafa — G
Romer — Construction of the palace of Maddaloni — Festi
under the Count of Onate — The influence of Spain upon It
literature, morals, and the way of life — Marini, Gongora, Sal
Rosa — The Spanish power during the second part of the
century — Recall of the Count of Onate — The Count of Cas
viceroy in 1653 — Donatives and feast — Maddaloni and Car
Filomarino — Renewal of the robbery system — The Count of
versano — Imprisonment of Diomed Carafa — His departur
Spain, and his death, 1660 — The Cara&s of Maddaloni in
times — Results of the Neapolitan revolutions — Subsequent vie
— Weakness and decline of the aristocracy — Extinction o:
Spanish line of Hapsburg — Attempt at ah insurrection b^
Prince of Massa— Charles III., King of Naples, 1734 — His s^
of government — Bernardo Tanucci — The nobility during th
volutions of the year 1799 — Dissolution of the sediles and o
old constitution — The Spanish era with reference to the pr
time • Pag

Appendix • Pag

THB

CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

Yis imperii virtus.— Cafecelatbo.

BOOK 1.

INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER L

THE ARRAGOKESE AND THE VICEBOYS TILL THE DEATH OF

PHILIP III.

Ihe Normans in Salerno — Foundation and growth of the Norman
Power — The Hohenstaufens — Charles of Anion and his successors

— Alphonso of Arragon King of Naples and Sicily — Ferdinand I.

— The War of the Barons — March of Charles VIII. to Naples —

— Alphonso II. — Condition of Italy in the year 1494 — The last
Airasonese, Ferdinand and Frederick — Division of Naples hetwecn
Ferdinand the Catholic and Lewis XII. — Departure and death of
King Ferdinand — The Spaniards in sole possession of Naples —
French and Spanish war — Charles Y. — Naples hesieged hy Lau-
trec — Causes which led to the establishment of the Spanish Power

— Don Pedro de Toledo : condition of Naples from ike beginning
of hia government — Reform of justice — New laws — Restoration
of the public security — Undertakings and works of Toledo —
Financial relations — The hearth-tax — The Donative — Attempt
to introduce the Spanish Inquisition — Insurrection of the NeapoH-
tans — The municipality — ^The nobility — Embassy from the town
to the Emperor — Decree of Charles V. — End of the disturbances

— Last years of Toledo — Intercourse with the Emperor — Tnuas-
formation of Naples into a Spanish province — The tSonsiglio-colla-
terale — The Council of Italians — The Secretaryships of War and
Justice — The great courts of justice : the proceedings of the court

— Hie later Viceroys imder Pmlip II. and III. — General relations

— Disputes about jurisdiction with Rome — Military system —
Description of the Viceroys : their position — Don Pedro Giron,
Duke of Ossuna — War against Venice — Ossuna's plans and depo-
sition — The Cardinals Caspar Borgia and Zaputa — Famine and
insurrection — Death of Philip IIL

''A THOUSAND years after our Saviour's birth there appeared
k the world forty valiant Pilgrims. They came from the
Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, whither they had been to

2 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

worship Jesus Christ. They reached Salerno, which wa«
invested by the Saracens, and so distressed that it was oi
the point of surrender. Before this the town had been tri-
butary to the Saracens, but, as the inhabitants were careless
and did not pay their tribute regularly every year, the Saracens
came upon them suddenly in numerous vessels, plundering, de-
stroying, and laying waste the country. As soon as this wag
known to the Norman Pilgrims, they would not bear such
enormities, nor endure that Christians should be subject tc
Saracens. So the Pilgrims went to Guaimar, the illustrious
prince who then ruled the land with much justice, and begged
him to allow them horses and arms. They would fight against
the enemy, not for the sake of the hire or of the money, but
because they could not endure the insolence of their adver-
saries. So they asked for horses ; and after they had received
both them and arms, they assaulted the Saracens, killed many
of them, put others to flight, driving some to the sea-shore, and
others to their camp. And thus did these brave Normans
conquer, and the SaJemians were freed from their slavery to
the infidels."*

It was in the year 1017, according to common reckoning,
that the valiant Normans, who at first acquired a domicil in
France, appeared in the south of Italy. In the country which
is bounded by the Tronto and the Liris, and the chain of the
Apennines from the Adriatic, the Ionian, and the Tuscan
Seas, there had existed for centuries two conflicting principles ;
two hostile races had struggled one against another, till both
the spirit of the Greek and of the Lombard civilization were
exhausted, and could with difiiculty ward off the attacks of
their vigorous enemy, Mahometanism, which seemed invin-
cible tiU the West roused all its vigour and set a limit to
its progress. The Normans brought to the south a new
principle of life. They drove back the Saracens from the
shores of Southern Italy, and took from them their con-
quest of Sicily. The Norman feudal monarchy raised itself
on the ruins of the small, weak States of the southern con-
tinent, adopting many of the local elements and incorpo-
rating with it many others. The success of these knights*

* L'Ystoire di Normant, etc., par Aim^, moine dn Mont-Cassin, pubi
li^e par M. Champollion-Figeac. Pans, 1835. P. 15.

CE4BLES OP ANJOD. 3

nrant before SaJeroo stimulated other of their countiyraen
to uiake similar attempts.

1'ajicred of Hautevilie. a nobleman of Cotentin, sent manj-
of his sous to Italy. Kobert (iuiscard. born at Coutances,
tirsi established, as well by strength of arms aa by dexterity, a
goUd power. In the year 1059 Pope Kifholaa 11. gave him
ttw bvetttiture of Apulia and Calabria, to which possessions
united those of Amalfi and Salerno, whilst Roger, Tanored's
jotingest son, conquered Sicily, and took tlie title of Great
Cuimt of that beautiiul island. Through Roger's ton the
nyal dignity pa8§ed into the Norman race. Naples submitted
to (his first King Roger in 1130, — Naples which was destined
to become the principal dty of the southern ItaUan kingdom,
twit bad been tlie last seat of east Koman dvUizatios. Two
UogB of the name of William, the WicJceil and the Good, and
Tascred of Lecce, an illegitimate scion of the house, wore the
erown, which by right of inheritance belonged to Constance,
tin Ust legitimate descendant of Tancred of Hauteville.

*• Appolus et Calaber, Siculus raihi servit et Afer," King
Kiiger bad caused lo be engraved on his sword. Now the do-
niniun. as beautitiil as it had been rapidly acquired, passed
from the stem of the Northern Franks to a mighty race in the
wnili of Germany. The Emperor Frederick BairbarosBS had
bctmtbad bis eldest son Henir to the heiress of Apulia, Calabria,
HidSit-'ily : it was a rich and precious inheritance, but it led to
Ibc ruin of the splendid house of Hohenstaufen. The Emperors
Hrnry VI. and Frederick 11., and the Kings Conrad and Man-
6td fuughi. conquered, and were subdu^ ; the crown came
■j^n throngb the papal investiture upon a French head.
Cb«rie* of Anjou, Count of Provence, overcame the last of the
Ui^Muutnufens, and founded the monarchy which was main-
aiiieU 174year8 by his ptosterity. Frederick II. did the most
towHrds inoiJding the kingdom -, Charles I. adapted the work

1 rf ibe greatest of his predecessors, according to the exigences
•Ckbday and llie traditions of the country in which his heredi-
■nrctaiea were situated. The settlement oftheSwabiass first,

[ (Qcl tlirii thjil of the Provencal B, in the southern portion of the

< rstablishment of a feudal state upon the soil

: I rjluries been fertilized by theGrecian element

:lii-' contrasts which had been elicited by these

. i liiiental priudples warring against one another,

4 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

and only at last imperfectly intermixed, have necessarily
led to characteristic differences between the kingdom of Naples
and the northern parts of the peninsula, as well as to the
eccentric phenomena in this kingdom. The blood-guiltiness
as well as the injustice of the proceeding were fearfully
avenged on the house of Anjou. Even the first of them lost
Sicily, and with it one of the principal causes of its glory, as
well as of its power and stability. He died of grief at the
flEulure of his daring plans, and at his death left his son and
successor in prison. If Charles I. during eighteen years go-
verned by fear and not by love, erecting with a firm hand an
edifice of government, which he sought to finish in its various
parts, Charles II., who succeeded his father in the year 1284,
pursued a milder course. His dominion lasted for a quarter
of a century, and that of his second son Robert lasted still
longer, tliat is, thirty-four years. The house of Anjou, in
consequence of the means of its elevation, represented in Italy
the Papal or Guelphic principle. Charles I., whose strong
hand grasped with vigour all relations, had done this with
an energy so consistent, that the Papacy itself perceived its
danger ; because the authority of the King of Naples ex-
tended itself over Rome, where he was a senator, to Florence
where he was lord protector, and even to Upper Italy ; and so
the Popes had again before their eyes the image of terror which
they had struggled against with such tenacity of purpose in
the race of Hohenstaufen. Even King Robert, who ascended
the throne in the year 1309, assumed a similar position, and
stood at the head of the Guelphic party in opposition to the
two last Emperors, who instinctively took up the great battle
of the middle ages, though in different ways — Henry of Luxem*
bourg and Lewis of Bavaria. But the Italian relations assumed
practically other forms, and Robert's later years were devoted
to cherislung efforts of peace, and to the. cultivation of the arb
and sciences, which has made his name so famous, anc
connected it so indissolubly with the history of Italian art ii
its most flourishing period.

After the death of King Robert, which happened in 1343
bad times followed. His son Charles, Duke of Calabria
called by the Italian chroniclers rillustre, though he had no
exactly acquired a just fame in the affairs of Tuscany, die<
about fifteen years before, and the crown devolved upon th
Jiead of a girl of seventeen, Joanna, the eldest granddaughtc

SUCCESSOBS OF CHARLES OF ANJOD. 5

of RolxTt. According to the strict law of inhfiritance, it
aaaht to have descended to his great-nephew, the graDdson
of his eldest brother, Charles Martel, King of Hungary. If
Pope element V., who, like Lis predecessors, feared from a
>on of natural instinct the too great power of the house of
Aitjou, had by his decree altered the usual course of suc-
MMJun, die King sought a means of adjustment b; uniting in
narricige hb great-nephew, Andrew of Hungary, with the
kMre&a. But that which seemed likely to streugthon the
uuion of the family produced incurable divisions, and to
Naples many years of war and of intestine comniolions, the
wounds of which centuries have not sufiiced to heal over.
Hie murder of Andrew in Aversa, the second marriage of
tlw vouiig Queen, the march of the Hungarian army against
^iapW. the flight of the Queen to Provence, and her return
ktcr, the claims on the crown of the collateral line of Anjou-
Dnnnxo, the adoption of Prince Lewis, Count of Aiijou, the
litother of Charles V. of France, from whom the younger
nee of Ajijou descended, the pretensions of which passed to
tiie Valois as well as to the Guises, Joanna's murder at
the eiiiuniand of Charles Durazzo — all this happened during
tbe thirty-five years that immediately followed. Nor was the
IhDe vhich succeeded it happier ; the period of government
«Uch comprises the dominion of the line of Durazzo pos-
■Med few ornoneof the brilliant qualities of the elderbranch,
Int tmlf tlieir weaknesses, faults, and vices. The short and
niqiiiet reign of Charles III., whose chief interests lay in
Hiiugary, where he met with his death ; — the regency of his
vtdow during the minority of her son Ladislaus ; — the first buc-
t»ui r and later discomfiture of the Anjou faction, who fought
far the rights of the French pretenderto the throne — the com-
nirtP rictoiy of the Durazzi— and the reign of Ladislaus rich
U fhiitful deeds of war, occupied the years from 1381 to
1414. TheD another Joanna ascended the throne, the last
■f tho AnJDU-Durazzi, and her reign, scarcely less eventful
uii variable than tliat of her unhappy namesake, extended
loDiter than the duration of her house, and beyond the stniggle
fur ibe throne, as she first selected Al]ihonso of Arragon for
ber mccutsur, then the French Prince Lewis of Anjou, after
vt'iMe auly death she chose the " bon roi Ren^," the knight-
nrant of ihe fifteenth century, who forgot liis lost kingdoms
lUlut pajRun for painting and poeti-y. It wastliisii\»iousta.\W^

6 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOISl.

at Joanna which gave up the kingdom as the prize of new
conflicts and inveterate hostilities, and which in its conse-
quences provoked the claims and interference of foreign
powers, which deprived Naples for two centuries of its inde-
pendence, and brought upon it the dominion of strangers, the
most terrible calamity by which a country can be visited.

Queen Joanna died on the 2nd of February, 1435.
Seven years elapsed before the representative of the house of
Arragon could entirely subdue his rival and conquer the
capital. Naples now formed part of a great kingdom, for'
Sicily, the Balearic Islands, and Arragon were all comprised
under Alphonso's dominion. But the King took up his
settled residence at Naples, and clung both to the town and
country with an especial preference. After a peaceful pos-
session of sixteen years he bequeathed the crown, which he
separated from his hereditary dominions (which went to his
brother), to his natural son Ferdinand, whose birth was
shrouded in a mysterious obscurity. As early as the yeat
1443, a year after he had taken possession of Naples, he
caused Ferdinand to be recognised as his successor and as
Duke of Calabria. The parliament, consisting of the barons
and the deputies of the towns and communities, had hastened
to comply with the wishes of the King, and Ferdinand was
confirmed in his newly acquired rights by the Pope as lord
paramount of the kingdom, as well as by treaties with Flo-
rence, Milan, and Venice. When King Alphonso, the most
able and meritorious t)f the rulers of Naples since the days of
Frederick of Hohenstaufen, died in the year 1458, the line of
the illegitimate house of Arragon began with Ferdinand, who
governed the land for almost half a century. Once more there
succeeded a period fruitful in crime and revolutions, like that of
the Durazzi, though more favourable to the prosperity of the
country in a material and intellectual point of view. After
his father's death, Ferdinand had mounted his horse and ridden
through the city of Naples, and the people had greeted him
as king ; but this did not allay the opposition which threat-
ened to deprive him of his throne. It rose against him from
all sides. Pope Calixtus III. declared the escheat of Naples
for the want of lawful heirs. The mightiest of the barons took
the side of John of Anjou, King Rene's son, and titular Duke
of Calabria. Now again did Apulia and Terra di Lavoro,

FERDINAND L 7

tke most fimitM and flourishing provinces of tJie kingdom,
become the theatre of a desolating war ; now again, as in the
time of the seccmd Joanna, did the heavy armed troops of
tie condottieri in the service of the Pope and of the iSforzas
of Milan, the two rivals for the throne, spread themselves over
tbe land south of the Tronto and Liris. Almost the whole
kingdom rose in &vour of Anjou, and Duke John's victory
in tbe plain near the mouth of tiie Samo, a few miles from Na-
ples, on the 7th of July, 1460, appeared to decide the question.
Bnt four years after this, Ferdhiand was in undisturbed pos-
sevion of the whole kingdom. Pope Pius II. had contributed
as much to the success of the arms of the house of Arragon, as
Us predecessor Calixtushad to the conflagration of the kingdom.
It would have been well if a solid internal peace had been
n won ; but the divisions of party remained. King Ferdinand
meanidiile, — ^who had, either by himself or by his eldest son
Alphonso Duke of Calabria, taken a part in aU the wars of
Itidy, in that of Florence which was followed by the con-
ipiracy dei Pazzi, in that of Ferrara against Venice, and that
of Rome against Sixtus lY., — assisted as well with as against
his will in fomenting this hostility. In the year 1485 civil
vir broke out again in the kingdom. The first occasion that
oflered was a treacherous attack of the Duke of Calabria's
on Aquila, the capital of the Abbruzzi, the government of
which, although it was subject to the crown of Naples, was,
18 often happens, almost independent and republican. There-
upon the chief nobles of the Angevin party assembled, to
take counsel upon the means of defending tiiemselves from
the attadLs of the house of Arragon. The conference took
pilaoeat Melfi : the barons had adherents amongst the familiar
friends of Ferdinand. They sought to draw the young prince
Don Frederick, Count of Altamura, to their side : he was as
moch beloved as his brother Alphonso was hated. The King
prevailed by violence and fraud. To judge of him with the
utmost lenity, and to make every allowance for the position
in which he found himself, in the midst of a restless nobility
inflamed with hereditary hatred towards him ; still does his
device (impresa), which is even now sometimes to be seen
at Naples, of an ermine with the inscription " Malo mori
quam fcedari," sound like the most bitter irony. In his en-
deavours, wherein he found in Lorenzo dei Medici, his old

8 THE CARAFAS OF SIADDALOXL

oppuueut and afterwards steady all;, a finn support, tbere
was ax much subtlety, mlculation of means, and consistent polity
conspicuous as was deficient in the conduct of the barons and
their ally Pope Innocent VIII. On neither side could a<
trace of houesty, or a regard to plighted faith, be found.

The King conquered. But his victory, of wliich he availed:
himself with a revolting cruelty, did not turn out to his ad-
vantage. Ferdinand of Arrsgou was a man endowed with.
those rare mental quaUties of great resolution and strength
of will. He perceived, and in this he did not deceive him-
self, that the position which the great nobility had assumed,
must entail a weakening of the royal jiower, which only re-
tained the shadow of supreme authority. He knew that he,
must look to the people for support, and he sought to obtain
this by governing the country with a stricter order and a
better administration of justice, and by promoting trade and
industry. But he failed in both his ends ; this was partly
owing to the unhappy tendencies of the whole period
partly to his own greedy and imperious character. The class
through whose assent and co-operation Alphonso of Arragon
had leil the fair inheritance to his illegitimate son, tliis sdU
powerful feudal nobility, was more exasperated than destroyed.
The masses, if they could even have forgotten their old griev-
ances, were ruined, partly by the augmentation of taxes, partly
by the excesses of the feudal system, and were not bound by
any lie of dependence to Iheir ruler or his heir presumptive.
The foundations of the tlu-one were undermined, Tiiere was
only wanting a storm for its- overthrow.

The storm came. The desire of Lodovico Sibrza, sur-
named H More, to secure to himself the dukedom of Milan,
which rightly belonged, after Ids nephew, to his son-in-law
the Duke of Calabria, and the discord into which he was
plunged thereby with the House of Arragon, which was ,
doubly aUied with that of 8forza, was the immediate cause ,
of drawing Charles VIII. of France into Italy. It was
rather the consciousness of guilt, and the hatred of all claaeea,
than the power of the enemy, which lowered the spirit of the
House of Arragon, and palsied its arm, Wot long before,
Ferdinand had concluded a new league with the Pope Alex-
ander VI. at Borne. Standing on the rampart of the castle
of St. Angelo, he had pointed out to this Pope, who was of a

ALPllOXSO IL 9

coBgenial spirit with his own, what direction lie must give to
the street opposite the bridge, on the left bank of the river,
iu order to allow full sweep to the artillery of the castle.
What avail was it now to this grey-iiaired ruler, his much-
boasted policy, what availed his cruelties and intrigues, what
hi» league and friendship with the accursed Borgia F Even
before the French king set his army in motion, the old Fox
of Arragun was prostrate, never again to rise.

Ferdinand I. died on the 24th of January, 1494, at the age
rf M»enty-one. lie had spent thirty-five years upon ^e
throne ; the united reigus of his three successors, two sons
and a grandchild, lasted only seven years. Had he established
■ dynasty and a lasting kingdom, the means he employed, like
that of raany others, would have been overiooked. But what
be bad established fell to pieces with him. The marrow in
tlus diseased body shrivelled up, as the reed before the blast of
the desert wind. King Alphouso II. had at one time passed,
tccording to Italian ideas, for an experienced warrior, but his
warHlce skill was as the policy of his father ; nothing came of
it. Without liL) father's talents, he possessed his vices and
evil qualities, and, as Iiis father's political tool, was in later
years more hated even than hinD. He knew it. His fancy
was ao excited that he was heard to cry out through whole
nights " The French are here, and the atones and the trees
cry out ' France ! ' " Many measures of defence were taken :
Borne was to be kept by the successor of Don Ferdinand, and
tiie pope's relations with the Orsini faction ; nowhere was
there any resistance : " God allows things to happen," saya
Philip de Coramines, " which are beyond human comprehen-
rion."* Kotquiteayearafler that he had ascended the throne,
' Tiz. on the 22nd of January, 1495, Alphonso II. abdicated
b favour of his son. On tlie following day the young king
rode through the town in solemn procession. Before him was
borne the banner of Arragon, by Lancillotto Annese, oue of
(be members of the confederacy of the nobles of Fortanova,
behind him the sword in the hand of Andrea of Altavilla.
Tluis did the procession move towards the cathedral, where

Cfa gave the benediction, in the presence of
lenoa, of the house of Fregoso, the Venelian

■ Ufimoirei do Ffailippo da Commincs, chap. li.

It) THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

ambassador, and others of high rank.* Seldom has a prince
ascended the throne under circumstances and presages of
deeper melancholy.

Thus did Alphonso U. of Arragon quit Naples and the
kingdom. In the morning of his birthday in the year 1446
a fiery meteor had appeared in the heavens, and the king his
grandfather observed to the bystanders that " this child would
bring ruin upon his house, and kindle a dangerous war in
Italy." " He considered himself no longer worthy to be king,'*
said the French chronicler, of the march of Charles YIII.,
" he had been guilty of such great crimes and cruelties. There
never was a man more savage or worse than him, or more
vicious and corrupt, or more abandoned to debauchery. His
father was more dangerous, for none understood him or his
anger ; whilst he assumed a smiling countenance, he seized
and betrayed people. There was in him neither graciousness
nor compassion, as his near relations and friends have informed
me ; he never had any pity or forbearance for his people
when money was concerned. He turned everything in his
country into articles of sale and merchandize, and did not even
despise the breeding of pigs. The people were obliged to
take care of his pigs for him : if fat, he sold them to his profit ;
if otherwise, they were obliged to pay for them. In the dis-
tricts productive of much oil, as Apulia, he and his son bought
it at the price they fixed, likewise corn before it was ripe. Then
they drove an usurious traffic with the oil and wheat, and when
the prices fell they compelled the people to buy theirs ; and so
long as they had any in store, no other was allowed to be
used in the market. If a gentleman or baron was a good
housekeeper, and had saved spmething, they sent to him for a
loan, and took it either by his consent or else procured by
violence. Thus they took away the stallions and kept them
for themselves, so that at last they had an excessive stock -of
horses, stallions as well as mares and colts, which they had
kept upon the pastures of their vassals, to their great detri-
ment. Both of them seized with violence upon several women ;
and, in short, it is not possible to perpetrate deeds of greater
wickedness than they both did." t

Alphonso left the country with a liaste that astonished

* Cronaca di Notar Giacomo, pubbli da P. Grarzilli. Naples, 1845.
f Commines.

r

ITALY m 1494. 1 1

ereiy one. It was as if the ghosts of the victims sacrificed in
4e Barons' War haunted him. " My opinion," says Commines,
^is, that he fled out of real cowardice, for no cruel man was
c?er brave.*'* His stepmother, the sister of Ferdinand the
Catholic, besought him to remain only three days longer, that
ke might have spent one year in his kingdom. He said, '^ No —
h would throw himself out of the window ; did she not hear
few all France called after him ? " So the galleys pushed off
from the castle of Uvolo. He took away with him many
mts of wine, which he loved above everything, and many
leeds for the gardens that he meant to lay out ; otherwise he
did not dispose of any of the rest of his property, of which
Ike most part remain^ in the castle. The fleet made for
Kessina, where he remained, and lived exclusively with the
monks of Mount Oliveto, for which order he had always che-
fidied an especial preference, and to which in Naples he had
dedicated an extensive convent, with a beautiful church and
endowed it with many rich foundations, where he even in his
fitther's time had lived a good deal, and where a remarkable
Booument of the House of Arragon is preserved. With these
Ohvetans he lived like a monk, took a share in their prayers by
day and night, fasted, gave abundant alms, and declared that
he would not again belong to this world. He thought of going
to Valencia, there to enter into a convent, when he was sur-
prised by his last illness, an attack of stone. He bore acute
pain with great patience. Alphonso II. died on the 18th of
December, 1495, at the age of forty-seven.

The panegyrists of Italian events before the invasion of the
year 1<^4 are too apt to leave out of consideration the deep
moral decline of the Peninsula at this time. They take too
literally the testimony of those who were placed in the midst
of the ensuing concision; and who, of the consequences
arising from the intervention of foreigners, only saw, and only
could see, the very worst. The misery of Italy was not to be
found in the tempest brought over the Alps by Lodovico
Q More : her true misery was this, that the body was without
nifiicient strength to struggle through the crisis. If we look
at this second part of the fifteenth century, the boasted time
of Italian independence, what a fearful mass of corruption

• Oommines.

12 THE CABAEAS OF MADDALONL

forces itself upon our notice! In politics — the increasing
growth of that system of treachery and perjury which seemed
to make treaties only to break them; treason and perfidy
towards equals, cunning and violence towards inferiors, dis-
trust towards all : the policy of which Ferdinand and Al-
phonso of Arragon, the Popes Sixtus IV. and Alexander
VI., Francesco and Lodovico Sforza were masters ; and which
appears in Lorenzo de' Medici in a less hideous shape, perhaps
on account of his peculiar position at the head of a republic.
In war— nothing but the exorbitances of the condottieri system ;
in the people — ^the cessation of all military spirit ; in the leaders
of the mercenary troops, the mere calculation of their pecuniary
advantage ; in the mercenaries themselves, no trace of that
which elevates and ennobles war — no valour, but only a cer-
tain dexterity in evolutions, no struggle for honour, no defence
of home, of rights, of kindred and their dependants ; but only
fighting for wages, to-day for this man, to-morrow for his
enemy. No advantage of standing armies for the security
of the frontiers, but the full burden of them, especially on the
peasant, threatened by the incessant plunder and the devastation
of the harvest and of the soil. No important war during
many years, but perpetual disquiet and the incessant vexation
of a petty struggle, the disturbances on the frontier, the sur-
prises by single condottieri, who wished to procure pay and
food for their lawless squadrons ; a thirty days' siege of
wretched villages ; battles, in which the loss was that of a
single man suffocated in his heavy armour. No war, and no
true peace : perpetual suspicion, because one party knew the
nature of the other, and knew what he had to guard against.
In all private relations want of security and predominant ca-
price; in criminal proceedings the most frightful cruelty,
which fell still more heavily upon the nobles than upon the
populace. In all matters of finance a total disregard to the
fiscal interests, against which, even the corporations of the re-
publics, rapidly diminishing in number, were not always an
adequate security. It is true that many of these evils were
common to the majority of the other European states, but no-
where had these excesses been raised with so much art into
a system as in Italy, never had the old liberties of the people
been so annihilated as under the Visconti of Milan, and the
Durazzi and Arragonese of Naples.

FERDIN.VSD IL 13

A storm was necessary to dissipate the pestilence which
brooded over the stagnant waters, and to substitute fresh air
for such malignant exhalations. But to the whole political
derelopment of Italy since the time of the Hohenstaufena
must be ascribed the fault that nothing great or rational
unfolded itself out of the ciiaoa which began with the year
1494 ; tliat the year 1530, and its consequence, the treaty of
Chateau-Cambreids in the year 1559, which gave another di-
rection to French policy, stamped itself upon the new form of
thingB, which combined with many evils of its earlier condition
the greatest of all — i.e. foreign dominion — and even in its impo-
tence and servitude flattered itself with the idea of glory. It
was the misfortune of Italy that her internal divisions were at
tbmr height precisely at Che moment when France, by a last-
ing incorporation of Provence, Brittany, and Burgundy ; Spain,
-bj the destruction of the last kingdom of the Moors, and the
nnian of Castille and Arragon , had acquired a strength which
placed such overwhelming power in the reach of monarchs
like Ferdinand the Catholic and lewis XI, and XII.

>'oue could resist the storra which now approached, least
cf all the guilty House of Arragon. Femandino, as the young
Icing was wont to be called, must take possession of the me-
lanclioly inheritance of his father and grandfather. He wag
twenty-eight years old, but without experience. His depend-
ents lost their faculties, the old enemies of the Arragonese
started up in all directions. At tlie moraeni no help could be
expected from the Italian princes— the nnfortnnate young
raan liad even applied to the Turks for assistance. " Messer
Camillo," he wrote, even at the last moment, when the enemy
Iraa at the gates, on the 27th January, 1495, to his ambassa-
dor Camillo Pandone, famous for his great experience in
diploinstic business, "in a former letter we have given you
{nformation of the events that have actually taken place, and
endeavoured to accelerate the march of the Sandschah. Kow
we inform you tJiat Aquila has raised the banner of France,
rIm) Salmona and Popoli, and (in the Abbruzzi) everything
is lost up to Celano. The enemies collect in greater num-
bers to overrun Fescara, and gather the taxes in Apulia.
The King of France left Home on the 22nd of tliU month,
and marches towards Germano, where we have men, whilst
« third part of his troops have taken the road over Fondi.

L

14 TOE CARAFAS OF MADDALONl.

With him is the Cardinal of Valenza, son of the Pope (Ci
sar Borgia), and the brother of the great Sultan (the unib^
tunate Dscheni), whom the King has in his power and mead
to keep in custody until lie has accomplished his prettai
undertaking — then be will march against the Sultan. Yol
see. then, how matters stand, and in what a state of distroM
we find ourselves. Hasten matters, then, that the Saudscl
may come. If tiie troops march, see that they do it quid
If a delay happens, do you have a persoual interview with
Sandschah, or even with the great Sultan. Haste ia neces?]
8ary. as we cannot resist oa so many points ; if the suc4M>ut ii
delayed it will be too late. You know now the stale of
things ; so take heed, make ready, hasten, go,— ^no, fly ! " •

All was in vain. The resistance was weak at the Erontiers;
all who resisted both there and at Capua were cut to piecatj
The Eing, in a parliament summoned on the 16tfa of Febi^
ary, required the capital to hold out of itself, only for a shoil
time ; he was answered that it had neither food nor artillei^
When, on the 18th, the news came that Capua had doM
homage to the i'rench king, the alarm at Naples was uw
bounded. The Jews were plundered : even the nobility toJl
a share of the spoil. The |iillage reached the Caetle Capuaid
and the royal stables ; many of the ships in the areenal woB
in flames ; the Are burst out in many places of the towM
Fernandino, who had at first sought refuge at Castelnuovq
went by sea to Casteluovo, and on the Slat of February 1^
galleys reached the island of Frocida.

Scarcely had he departed when the French occupied Napleft
On the evening of the 20th many of the nobles, Messer Cesani
Bozzuto, Lodovico Caraeciolo, Antonio Maramoldo, and
others, opened the Capuan gate. The Bastard of Burgundy
rode flrat into the town with his troop, and immediately
paired to the castle of Capuano. Giovanni Pontano,
private secretary and confidential friend of tlie fugitive Sova
reign, delivered up to hina the keys. Ciiarles VIII. ]>ass
the night iu the palace of Foggioreale, without the gat
and on the following Simd»y,the 22nd, made his solemn ent
into the capital,

* Oiivan Tint^enKO Fuscu, Intomu a lle Z coche cd ille Honets batti
nel Beamc di Napoli. Da He Oaria YUL di Frandi. Haplea, 1ft
P. 132.

THE FRENCH IS NAPLEa

Almost tlie whole kingdom fell itjto the hands of the French
Ig. One part of the nobility and of the people eaw in him
ly iha lawful heir of the House of Anjou, for Charles Count
Maine, of this race, whom the old King K^ne had declared
heir, had, on the day before his death, transferred hia
Bitt to Lewis XI^ the young king's father. Those of the
fotite party fell off from the fugitive prince, as has hap-
ned a lumdred tioiea an similar occasions. Only the Marquis
JVseant, Alphonso d'Avales, the father of the conqueror of
' I. who had been brought up with King Femandluo, pre-
1 an inflexible fidelity, and he whs. during the siege of Cas-
rn), treacherously sliot by a Moorish servant. The hand
the Arragunese heid weighed too heavily on the land to
ire scope for spontaneous affection, even if it had bad to
ll with a less fickle people. The truth of Pope Alexan-
f» nying became more and more verified : " 'Ilie French
with wooden spurs, with chalk in their hands like a
ister, without further tronble." That they lost Na-
*• nlmost as rapidly as they won it, may be attributed as
U t» the character of the French King, and to the blun-
n of those who surrounded him. as lo the actual relations
itself. Never has an important conquest been
kUMl with more wanton levity, and the same disease
nitxt all tlie subsequent camjiaigns of the Frendi in the
Hit.

TIw Memoirs of Philip de Commines show us in the
■rest m&nner how it came to pass that Charles Vni. and
I French, though welcomed with so much joy, could gain
•olid foodng iu Naples. " The King said he showed his
w snbjeets much favour, and lowered the taxes very consi-
lably. The people, 1 believe, would not have turned against
K, variable as it is, if he had taken any trouble to satisfy
nobility, but nobody paid any attention to the nobles, and
he gates Ihey were mdely treated. Those who were best
led were of the family of Carafa, zealous Arragonese ;
even from these however some property was Ijiken away.
i»e were left in station and digni^', but the Angevins were
I warae off tlian ihe Arragonese. For whoever was in
MMiDn was kept in it by a royal decree, and so Ihe An<

B themselves prevented from recovering their o
IS fay litigation. Where, however, any c

16 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONI

taken possession of his own property by force, as the Count
of Celano, force was again used to dispossess him. All places
of profit were granted to Frenchmen, and the King bestowed
the vast provisions, which were to be found in the castle, to
anybody who asked him for them." * On the 20th of May,
14^5, King Charles, with the greatest part of his army, b^an
his retreat. Gilbert of Montpensier, of the House of Bour-
bon, remained as Viceroy. Fernandino, meanwhile, had
made preparations for war in Sicily. On the 6th of June
his fleet appeared, numbering fifty sail, including galleys and
vessels of transport, at the Cape of Minerva, the extremity of
the promontory towards Capri. The nobles of the Angevin
party persuaded Montpensier that they would defend the towii|
and the French went through the streets exclaiming " France,
France !" Nevertheless, on the following day the people re-
volted. At the cry of " Ferro, Ferro ! " every one flew to
arms. At the tenth hour Fernandino entered the city by the
gate of Mercato. He rode a dark brown horse which had
belonged to his grandfather, and was in full armour. The
people wept around him from emotion, and they kissed his
hands so much that he was quite tired.f So quicldy had the
favour of the people changed.

Fierce and bloody was the struggle now kindled round the
castles of the city, and the places which belonged to the
Angevins. The French defended themselves in Castelnuovo
till December. Fortune often changed, still it became
more and more favourable to the Arragonese, to whom Gon-
salvo de Cordova, the celebrated general of the Moorish wars
in Granada, who in Naples was destined to act so great a
part, brought assistance. Fernandino expected the recovery
of the whole kingdom. Some facts would lead us to surmise
that Commines did not form a false judgment when he said
that men suspected he would become worse than his father
and grandfather, however humble and gracious he might ap-
pear in his necessity. But only a short career was allotted to
him. He had married his young cousin Joanna, the daughter
of the old age of Ferdinand I, by a second marriage. Not
long after he fell sick. On Wednesday the 5th of October,
14&6, relates the chronicler, his Majesty Ferdinand II. came
into the town from his quarters in Somma. He was borne
* Commines, chap. xiy. f Cronaca di Kotar Giacomo, p. 193.

FKEOEKICK, TOE LAST 01' THE ARKAGO.Nl'SE. 17

pD a bier co''ered with scarlet. Thus did he enter Casfel
Eapuano. On the following Thursday, the Most Reverend
^Md Archbishop, Alexander Oartcfa, led two solemn proces-
uns, one of which went towards the Nundafa, bearing the
eod and blood of tlie glorious martyr St, Januarius, followed
f a numberless troop of women with burning utix torches.
is the procession reached the castle, the Queen mother ap-
leared under the portal and fhr-ew herself on the ground,

ri which the Archbishop uttered three prayers : tho one to
Madomia, the second fur the sick King, and the third to
Januarius. Then they all exclaimed Misericordia so
(odly and tamultuously that the Archbishop could hardly
'ihlbe prayer amid the lamentations of the people. On
following Friday, at the seventh hour, another procesSon
I about to inarch to Santa llaria la Nuova : tjien came
intelligence that Uod had taken the Lord King to him-
6l£ Cujus uiima leaquiescat in pace ?*
And oow began the stormy reign of Frederick, the last and
at of the Arragonese. liemoved at first to a distance {Vom
e throne by a brother and nephew, he had a milder spirit
ui either; and he had, like King Robert in former times,
ecupied himaelf cliiefly with the arts of peace when the crown
kvolved upon him, 'J'he people hailed him with shouts of joy :
bebostili! giarties of the nobles, undeceived by bitter experience,
oped to find in him a centre for the union of their interests.
~ jBarBorgia,Btill a cardinal of the Church, performed the cere-
iny of coronation at Capua. The Sausererini themselves,
the Mmily which for a long time had stood at the head of the
'jigevin faction, made advances te the Arragouese. Most of
le fortresses in the kingdom were in the King's power. Three
NIB bom to him by Ids wife, Isabella del Babo, seemed to
tcure the succession ; but it was decreed that the descend-
Bls of King Alphonso should not pass away from the scene.
Ferdiiuuid the Catholic had long resolved in Iiis heart to
■ttnck the legitimacy of the rights of im Neapolitan couivina
■t soon as {.'ircum stances placed the means in his hands,
^icstlj. during llie lifetime of Charles Vlll.. he had made
t pn))>oeal to him to divide the Kea])olitan kingdom. The
poftosala were renewed when, ai^er the early death of Charles,

" Croaoca di ^Tolar Gincomo, p. 209-

I

18 THE CASAFAS OF MADDALOln.

the Duke of Orleans ajcended the throne as Lewis the Xlltl
Lewis wished to eatablish himself in Naples as well a
banly, the inlieritance of which he claimed from his g
motlier, Valentina Visconti, On the 1 1th of November of d
year 1500, an alliance was concluded, with the greatest m
at Granada, together with a treaty of partitioD. Lewis was
be King of Naples, and to keep tlie Terra di Lavoro and i
Abruzzi ; Ferdinand to have the title of Duke of Apulia m
Calabria. Frederick's first knowledge of the treaty was wb
the French army under D'Aubigne, of the house of Stuai
approached from Rome. So little idea bad he of the cuiinu
of the King of Arragon that he confided the protection of h
kingdom to Gonsalvo de Cordova, who was then Btationd
in the Terra di Lavoro with the Spanish troops. But d
treachery was soou apparent. Alexander VL, once the fii
and associate of the Arragonese, and allied to them by n
riage. turned his back upon Frederick with the perfidy of
Borgia, and declared that he had forfeited the throne. Got
salvo marched from San Gerraano to Capua, and flung off tb
mask ; Capua was stormed by D'Aubigne, and terribly pi]
laged. When this unnatural alliance became known in Najde
the barons, the gentry, and the people assembled themsetvi
in the cathedra! ; they heard mass devoutly, and at the elevi
tion of the host they swore aloud to be united and one bod
and faittiful to their lawful ruler ; but when the enemy sto
at the gates, union and fidelity were at an end. Then w
Naples lost. Frederick, to save his capital from the fate ■
Capua, concluded in Aversa a capitulation with the leader
the victorious army, and promised to give up the castli
The duplicity of Ferdinand had crushed his hope. "
towards Castelnuovo, Aubigne occupied the t<
kept bis word honourably, when the fleet of Bretagne und
Philip of Ravenstein arrived and attempted pillage ; but t
, terror was so great that all fled, till the French closed all t
gates, even to those of the market and Molo.

Most of Frederick's adherents were in Castelnnovo ; t._
left it one after another, guaranteed by the treaty wi
D'Aubigne. The widowed Queen of Hungary, and t
Duchess Dowager of Milan, the daughter and grand-daught
of the old King Ferdinand ; and lastly the old Queen .Toam
lister of Ferdinand the Catholic. The former went in t' ~

^m.

DEATH OF FREDERICK. J9

galleys to Tschia, the latter to Falermo ; and on tbe 3rd of
August, 1501, Frederick himself left the shores of Naples,
sever to see them again. Upon a rocky promontory, conspicuous
Ar over the wayes, stands the Castle of Ischia, the last poa-
Msnon which the unfortunate monaj^ retained of his heautiiiil
Ungdom. Obliged to choose a future residence, he turned
'Addi Sp^n with deep aversion, and selected France. On the
4di of September his last galleys carried Iiim away from the
.tout of Italy. The French King allotted him a large domain
,ti laud and a sufiicient income. But his heart was broken.
'Vodinand, his firstborn, had fullen into the power of Gon-
!)|i]^^ io violation of a. solemn oath, and had been carried into
Anm. For some time Frederick still cherished the hope of
JtMormng to his kingdom, but death did not allow him the
iBDe. On the 21st of August, lj)04, the illustrious King
X^ederick fell sick at Amboise, of a, forty days' fever, and
j^noed himself to be removed to Blois, thoogh the sickness

' continued. There, in the night of Sunday the 15th of
ember, a fire broke out in the palace, and spread so widely
vuu the church waa enveloped and destroyed by the flames.
Ibe King, notwithstanding his sickness, was carried away
villi his wife and children ; then an incessant fever seized him,
ittended with loss of blood and pains on the chest, so that on
flw 9th of October, in the palace of Tours, he passed into
Wotber world. His beloved wife had him embalmed, and
him sis days in her apartmenls, in order that all France
»me to see him. Royal obsequies were prepared for
formerly for his father ; and, in conformity to his last

I, his body was placed in a wooden coffin, which was en-
' in a leaden one, and buri«d in the church of Santa
di Jesu, whore a funeral sermon was pronounced by
boly brother St, Francis de Paula, who proclaimed that
'Jfe aoul was in Paradise on account of the patience which he
mowed in his sufferings,* But it fared sadly enough with his
depeDdents. as is usually the case with those of dethroned
Vioou. Hb widow lived for a long time in Ferrara, whence
me was compelled to retire to France, because she would not
put her rhddren into the King of Spain's jiower, as was agreed
b the treaty of peace between Lewis and Ferdinand, and

* Cronaca di Notor Ctucomo, p. 2T3.

J

them the meaoE
ily was the DuW
r 1550. In tW
giore at Kaple*jj
idoT upon whicihl

L

20 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOSL

rather preferred to lose her jointure. Slie accepted the gift
with gratitude, when the monks of Oliveto, mindful of the old
affection of the Arragonese for them, allowed her a yearly i»
come of 300 ducats. " A gift," writes the poor Queen, " rik
much the more welcome in our distress, as we daily tonnoafe
ourselves with the thought how we can bring up our cliildre^
the offspring of a. king, in any nianner suitable to tlieir cnft
dition, yea, how we are even to procure for them the
of support."* The last remaining of the family
of Calabria. He died in Spain in the year 1
sacristy of the church of San Dorainico BIaggi<
you may see, on three sides of the wall, a corridor upon
stands a row of coffins covered with velvet cloth more or lean
faded. One of them projects, with eifigies of a sceptre and,
crown, and with inscriptions which tell us who here sleep tht'
eternal sleep. As in the cathedral King Charles I. and tiii'
sons lie ; in Santa Chiora King Rol)ert,with his children and]
children's children in San Lorenzo and San Giovanni a Can

church of the hospice of the I^^unziaCa, selected for herself ^
lowly and undistinguished grave ; bo the Arragonese who diet
in their capital were buried in San Dominico — Alphonso ai4
Ferdinand I., and Femandino and his wife Gioi'anna, wkji
survived twenty-two years, and (he Duchess of Milan, togetlieR
with many illegitimate scions of the house, by whom the emj
name of D'Aragona has been transmitted into so many familieM
So stone monuments, accompanied with the pomp and Inxof
of G othic art. like those of the princes of Anjou, enclose the
bones. To the transitory is Joined that which is most trand
tory : wooden coffins with gilt emblems and decaying covert
presenting a gloomy and doleful spectacle, like the history 6
the ruin of the house, without earnestness or irue dignitg
A flre seized and consumed, in part, the mortal remains
the kings : and whitt remained of the tirst Alphonso ■9
trausported to Spain in the seventeenth century, to be buri
in the church of Santa Maria di Popleto in Catalonia, wlu
his ancestors rest.f

• GiuHo Ceraro Caporcio, II Forastiero. Saplcs, 183*. P. 893.

t Seipiono Volpicclla, Dearriaiono Storiwi rii alpuni principnli Edtfiij
ilella citti di Nopoli, Naples, 1850. Pp. I!(i(i, 272, 42(1, 44J. ^

r

CUA11LR3 V. 21

The alliance could not last long between France Find Spain.
A quarrel arose on acconnt of the duty on the Hocks of
Apulia and the division of the proviiiceit. They had forgotten
to determine to whom Capitana and Moliae^ the Principata
and Ba^lica, should belong. Each claimed them for liimseLf.
Fortune was propitious to the Spaniards, and the neighbour-
hood of Sicily made the expenses of the war more easy to
them. On the 16th of May, 1503, Gonsalvo de Cordova
entered by the port of Capua : on the 23rd a solemn homage
ns offered to the King and Queen of Spain in the cathedral.
In January of the following year, by Gonsalvo's victory on
the Garigliatio, and by the capture of Gaeta, the power of
France in the south of Italy was entirely annihUated.

On the Kith of October, 1505, a peace was concluded at
Segovia, which left Spain in sole possession of Kaples. In the
nitutnn of tlie following year Ferdinand the Catholic visited
lui new kingdom, where he remained several months. When
he returned to Spain he took Gonsalvo de Cordova with him,
who tiJl then had supplied his place. It was to Gonsalvo that
lie owed the conquest ; and who, too eager to promote tlie
intnesta of his master, had sacrificed his name iu the same
degree that he had increased his military reputation. This
did not prolect him from the suspicion of his master, and his
4ueer was at an end. The Count of Riitacoreo succeeded him
u Viceroy, and he was succeeded by Don Hamon de Cardona,
IQng ir'erdjnand died in January, 1516 ; and now began that
meiDurabie government of Charles Y., nominally shared with
hit imbecile mother, Domia Jtiana. which gave Italy the form
'riucb it kept til! the extinction of the Spanish branch of the
lonae of Ilapsburg — a time which, numerous aa were its vicis-
liuides, must remain inferior in great events to that last de-
ttibed. The kingdom of Naples was absorbed iu the intricate
vfairlpool of events which filled the last years of Julius II., and
the govtrnment of the Mediceau Popes Leo X. and Clement
Tn. The viceroy Cardona had fought at Kavenna against
Oaatoo de Foix. His successor, Charles de Lannoi, fought at
fario, took Francis the 1st prisoner, and held in his hands the
thread of the Italian politics of bis master the Emperor. No
irentrkman had reached Naples, till, in the year 1527, when
the Coiuit of Vaudemont, of the hoase of Lorraine, revived
the disputed hereditary claims of the hoose of Ai^ou, that had

22 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

passed on from Yiolante, the daughter of ^ing Bene, to his
fiunily. In the next year, King Francis sent the last great
expedition to Naples. Marshal Lautrec, Odet de Foix, com-
manded it. He had done much service in the Italian cam-
paigns, and combined with a knowledge of the country tiie
fiery valour of a Frenchman. At first everything succeeded.
In the Abruzzi the people did not wait till the French reached
their villages and towns, but went forward miles to meet them,
so weary was the country of the Spaniards. In the capital
itself the feeling was such that an outbreak was every day
apprehended ; and the viceroy, Don Ugo de Moncada, allowed
the barons to plant the French standard, without imputing it
to them as treachery. Lautrec took Capua and most of the
adjoining places, and blockaded Naples on the eastern side.
Nevertheless he could not keep Philibert of Chartres, Prinee
of Orange, the Captain-General of the imperial army of Rome,
where he had conunanded after the death of the constable in
the unfortunate year 1527, from hastening to its relief. He
fortified the mountain of San Martino, wmch, with the Car-
thusian Monastery and the Castle of Sant' Elmo, commands
the city, and so kept the whole western side free. A bittei
dissension between Moncada and Orange was favourable to
the French cause ; but as the first, " le plus vaiUant hommf
de son tems," as Brantome calls him, had fallen in the bloodj
naval battle which took place at the Capo d'Orso betweei
Amalfi and Salerno, Orange took the command alone. Thi
siege was drawn out to a tedious length. Lautrec wanted ti
deprive the town of its supply of water, and deluge the plaii
by breaking the dykes. A fever broke out in the camp. I
was midsummer ; the contagion spread fearfully on all sides
thousands and thousands fell a sacrifice to it ; the Marsha
himself died on the 15th of August. The Marquis of Saluza
who assumed the command, raised the siege ; but the wretche
remnant of the powerful army only reached Aversa. Here tb
Prince of Orange met them. Some saved themselves in tb
Abruzzi, but most of them were made prisoners of war or slab
This last was the fate of almost all the captains, as well Italiai
as French. Within a short time there was not a Frenchman 1
be found in the kingdom. The house of Foix is a strikiii
example of the murderous manner in which war during tin
age was carried on. Gaston de Foix, Lewis XII.'s sistei

NAPLES 0NDEB VICEROYa 23

ion, fell at three-and-twentj, at Ravenna, on the II tli of April,
1512. The three brothers met with the same fate upon the
lield of buttle. Andre de Fois, Loi-d of Lesparre, was bo
wounded wliilst defending Navarre, under the walls of Pam-
peluua, against the tipaniards, that he lost his sight for the
nrt of hia life, Thomas, Marshal of Lescuii, fell at Pavia
ill 1525. 1'he elder brother, Lautrec, who had been drawn
fcrth from a heap of djiug and dead men at ItoveiiDB covered
ntli wounds, met with a grievous end at Naples. " Lautrec,"
nya BniDtQme, '' etait brave, hardi, vaillant, et excel-
ICBl pour combattre en guerre et frapper comme sonrd, mais
pour gouvertier uii ^tat il n'etait pas bon." This explmns the
ihon duration of the French successes. They perceived it
Ibemselves. but they could not remedy the evil. " Mon-
■igDeiir de Montpensier," thus does Comminea characterise
Ibe Viceroy whom Charles Vlll. left beiiind liiin at his de-
pBtnrefrom Naples in the year 1495, '• bon chevalier et hardi,
II ne se levait qu'U ne fut midi."

Philibert of Orange retained the dignity of viceroy, lie
proved by ht.i sternness to the barons what Aloocadir had
touSesned in the hour of danger. It was the last great di-
•Uau of the Angevins and A^gonese ; it was the last great
diviuoii of property. Many of the first families in the land
■ere completely ruined by it : many of the mortgages that
ka*F eiieted on the property of the feudal nobility up to the
recent period, and of which at this day the titles at
kre atiU evident, date from that period. So did Andrea
iJorin llelfi become possessed of his, after which his Bomish
inn iiilniitii are called to this day. Alphonso d'Avalos del
Vwio became possessed of Montesarchio and Procida ; Pliilip
itj/umoi.ibeson of the deceased viceroy, of Venafro, and so
go. Tlte fTcat iief of Acqiia Viva in the Abruzzi Atri was
^reo to Arcan Colotma, but the Abruzzis would uot submit
to tbe new master, and caused a revision of the trial, at which
■rciiBei] was found innocent ! many, however, left their
b u)>oii the scaffold : many of once opulent families were
nduced to beggary or sent into exile ; many of the towns,
■pedal); Aquila, were obliged to buy their ransom tbem-
■mm from punishment by heavy iiayments ; and so complete
nu tl»e effect of Orange's proceedings that the year after-
wards l'o»i I'edro de Toledo had only to demand the ruin of

24 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

the family of the Sanseverini of Salerno, to destroy
the old importance of the Angevin party.

The. treaty of Barcelona precedeid the peace concl
Cambrai on the 5th of August, 1529. Charles V.
Italy and received the imperial crown from the hands <
Clement. Nobody resisted him with the exception of
public of Florence, which fought the fight of despair
Emperor and Pope. It was subdued on the 12th of .
1530. Italy was subject to Charles V.

The Prince of Orange, who had commanded the i
army against the Florentines on the 3rd of August
same year, died at Gavinana in the mountains by Pisto
office at Naples was filled by the Cardinal of Colonna
happy memory, on account of the misery which he he
bring on his native place. Rome during the govern
Clement VII. assumed the government of Naples : -^
died, in the summer of 1532, the viceregal dignity pi
the man who had assisted more than any other persoi
strengthening and final arrangement of the Spanish p
Naples, Don Pedro de Toledo, Marquis of Villa Frar

The march of the Mareschal ofTiaufrfefi was the
portant attempt of the French to reconquer Naples,
times their fleets appeared on the coasts, but no gener
succeeded again in forcing the passes of Fondi and Sa
mano. Spain remained in possession of this beautiful
for two centuries. It was not accident or the mere i
arms that led to this result ; the causes of it lay deep
volatile and susceptible Frenchman was not the ruler
serve the dominion over the innovation-loving, excita
quacious, and unsteady Neapolitan. Their national cl
resembled each other too much in many points, and thei
ence in others was so much the more offensive. Ilecei\
open arms, the Frenchman soon made himself irrecon
enemies by his severity, scorn, and supercilious arr
The Italians shuddered at the desolating massacres
French wars : they writhed under the iron grasp of
that came to thena with chivalrous demeanour, then ti
them imder foot, and contaminated everything still rei
as precious and very venerable in their possession.

Such were not the Spaniards, not those at least whi<
salvo de Cordova led from the JVioorish wars to the c

CAUSES OF SPAXISH ASUENDAKCY.

'KapJes. Their ascendancy was owing as well to an iron

KipUne as to that inveterate character of their race, the

nness of purpose which had gradually developed itself in

I long stniggle for the country which they wrenched inch

ilKli bom their tenadous enemies. The Neapolitans fbund

It Uiey hadiii the Spaniards ditl'erent rulers from the French.

'ilh all their frivolity they could not deny them their respect,

the Spanish policy waa always more the old '• Oderiut

■ metuuut." The Spaniards degenerated by degrees, but

remarkable what a moral influence they exerdsed even to

* Ust. Tlie more reflecting of the ItaUans endeavoured to

[iLuii the reason to themselves, wherein lay the true secret

lite povrerful Spanish influence, apart from political con-

nstiona. A mind still more fantastic l^an profound, but

ieb cuinbined, however, in a rare degree the knowledge of

I csAct and philosophical sciences of his time, and which, in

(6 of the waut of unity of purpose and all the restless

HDpfB to grasp a thousand empty visions, has rendered very

ipariant services, has proclaimed or anticipated much that was

!. The pominican monk, Fra Tommaso Campanella,

) cm-tainly had no reason to love the Spanish dominion,

eadeavotired to fathom the reason of its existence, as well

ike rensuti of its duration. It is interesting to esamine his

wiwDt. which may be taken as the opiniou of many of his

ntnnporaries. " Do I look at Spain," says tiie Calabrian

* Kt tfau eod of the fourteealli century, " I find that since the

of the world no such wonderful monarchy as this has

Ml. It must seem like a fable to those who do not imder-

tiie destiny of our times. "What Spain possesses in Eu-

ts, »o (u ftpetJc, nothing in comparison with her other

lagdoms. Tills, more than any other monarchy, is founded

I the inscrutable purposes of God, not upon mere human

BT and power, for the inveterate tendency of the Spanish

DH tu sepnm'ion and dismemberment would have produced

■t dw contmry result to tliat which we «ee before us.

ikapwwe the ijation is, as it were, formed for emjure. They

r* Qjlignii iiml careful, preserve what they acquire, observe

ij . ■! 1 heir enemy, are prudent and perseveritig,

lii'aring fatigue than tlte structure of their

1 liey are rather prudent than cunning, they

^^■iitient, and their courage increases with the

26 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

danger. All these qualities are wanting in the French, m
never could preserve their sovereignty in foreign countr
because they are impatient and bold without aim. Thi
qualities are also wanting to the other European nations, n
are formed more for conquest than to retain their domindi
Nor is it less surprising how Spain governs her surrounding
well as such extensive and distant possessions with so sm
a population : for the greater part of Spain is dry and barre
many of her sons perish in the wars ; many become prie
and monks ; the law of inheritance prevents the increase
families, and they have not yet understood how to supj
their scanty number by the mixture of races, and by i
naturalizing of other nations ; and yet by their art and dexter
they govern so many different countries and nations.

"In order to resist the Turks, Italy, too weak herw
requires the aid of a vigorous foreign arm. The choice 1
between France and Spain, for to obtain the help of both
the same time, on account of their ancient jealousy, is out
the question. At this day, neither Germans, nor Swiss, e
French lEire of any service to Italy. Apart from the cc
sideration that they were more encumbrance than help, i
religious dissension is now to be feared which they woi
infallibly bring with them. People who deny human free wi
who make a question about the unity of the apostolic prin
pality, would plunge us into manifest ruin. For a nation r
absolutely lost, subordination to a foreign power is a misf<
tune. But of two evils we must choose the least ; and
foreigners must rule in Italy, the Spaniards are nevertheh
the most tolerable. The habits arising from their climi
agree generally with our own ; they are more sober a
tranquil in their demeanour ; they obey established authorit
they conduct their government with prudence and skill ; th
form a contrast to the violent and unruly people of the oth
side ' of the mountains ; they are adherents of the Catho
religion and the papacy, quite as much from conviction
frt)m interest. When they are once upon your neck it c<
taihly is more difficult to shake them off ; nevertheless th
are easier to bear, because they do not give wanton offen<
but always observe a certain decorum. If the Frenchm
gets drunk, he takes from you your wife and property, a
humbles you by a thousand acts of insolence. If the Spania

GOVERNMENT Or PEDRO DE TOLEDO. 27

takes it in Us head to do anything of the sort, he does it with
an admirable dexterity ; but as his great object ia to avoid
offending the people, matters seldom go so far. This shyness
ar reserve contributes to the strength of the Spaniard, bo
much the more as he tries to conceal it by boastdng, -which has
■n effect upon the mass of the population,"* So judged, a
hundred years after the Spanish dominioD had been estab-
lished in Italy, a Neapolitan of the character of the Spanish
nation, and of its relation to his countrymen ^ and, although
io this judgment the melancholy effect of a hundred years'
glavery is not to be mistakeu, inasmuch as even to so aspiring
ittd independent a nature the sad alternative between the
dominion of one or other foreign nation presents itself — a
Bate of things we have seen constantly repeated even down to
our own time — still, there is much truth in this delineation of
character. The belief that Italy could not exist without
foreign dominion gave way, even in the time of Campanella,
to b«ter judgment and nobler feelings. " Were the Italian
relations quite diilerent," he says upon it, '' no Itiilian prince
Ought to make use of foreign aid, for he who comes does not
tame for love of us, but to take from us what we do possess,
or to dispute with others about it . Foreign aid is at all times
in unadvised measure. It is foUy in Italian princes to have
biih in France, Spain, Germany, or other countries ; they
■bould place their reliance only npon God, and in union with
well other. The old prophets warned the Hebrew kings of it,
■nd even the wicked Machiavelli is full of this doctrine."

It was no light task which fell to the share of Don Pedro
de Toledo, A people made savage by thirty-five years' war,
and the instability of all political and personal relations ; a
land laid wa.'^te and trampled under foot ; most of the towns
tinned aiid desolate ; the population decimated by wars and
■iduiess ; many of the great femilies banished, impoverished,
nuned ; a troop of adventurers risen to opulence and dignity ;
(Terywhere the dreadful traces of a revolution that had led
nothing untouched ; all ties rent asunder ; oath violated after
Mill J the ruling house that had governed sisty years anni-
kOUed I old laws despised, old rules overturned ; all over the
Ungdom dissension, hatred, discord, misery, and the conse-

• FrnTomrooio CempanpUa, DiiooraipoliticisJprincipid'Itulia: piibbli
i» V GmrtM. Naples, IMS. In many pticei.

J

26 THE CAUAFAS OF MADDALONI.

quences *of perpetual internal insecurity, and the inoeSsttrt
change of bad habits occasionally adopted. Over this country
and people Don Ptdro de Toledo was to rule; he was to
create a Spanish province out of the desolate wreck of a fidlen
kingdom. He did it : he accomplished his task in good as in
evil ; what Naples became it became essentially through hhxu
The house of Alvarbz and Toledo had a good name in the
history of Spain's middle ages. Ferdinand of Toledo, seconi
Duke of Alva, had done faithful service to Ferdinand the
Catholic in the war against Portugal and in the wars of Grsr
nada and Navarre. His wife, Donna Isabella de Zuniga^
was tall and beautiful ; she said rightly that she was come to
give a different stature to the little people of the house of AlvaL
Don Pedro was page to King Ferdinand, and mapded, though
yet very young, first at thirteen years of age Donna Maria
Ossorio Pimentel, heiress of Villa Franca in Gallicia, from
which he took the title, which has descended to this day to
' each succeeding head of the family. The incliriation which
he had "for Ferdinand he transmitted to his grandson ; he ac-
companied Charles V. to Flanders, to England, tb Germany ;
and at the moment when the Sultan Souliman threatened Hun-
gary no less than Italy, the Emperor named him governor of
Naples, where he made his entrance on the 4th of September,
1532.* He was then forty-eight years old; he was not far
from seventy when he quitted life and office.

First and foremost he applied himself to introduce order
and respect for the administration of justice : to succeed in
this it was necessary to reform the law. It was not enough
to unite the diflPerent tribunals and prisons in the same locality,
which the new viceroy did, while he caused the old royal
palace of Castel Capuano to be rebuilt and arranged for that
purpose. He busied himself still more about the abolition of
abuses, of which som^ idea may be formed by looking through
the set laws (the Pragmatica) of Toledo. These laws forbid
the judges to take money at the examination of witnesses, and
to omit writing down such depositions as were in favour of
those accused ; they raised the salaries of the judges, to take
away from them all grounds for a departure from the path of

* Scipione Miccio, Vita di Don Pictro di Toledo, printed in the Narra-
zioni c Documenti nclla Storia del Kegno di Napoli dall' anno 1022 al
1667, raccolti da Francesco Palermo. Florence, 1846. P. 9.

Toledo's legislation. 29

prightnesa ; they forbade the hire of prisons, which . had be-
jme a heavy tax upon the prisoners ; they abolished the sale
f the judgea' places, and the open intrigues for them ; fixed
!ie duration, of the time for sitting ; they authorised an instant
ttterference against usurers ; they forbade taking money for
odicial sentences and remissions of punishment, without appeal
o the highest courts, in trials for offences punished by death
ir mutilation. They rendered more severe the proceedings
igainst bankrupt bankers, whose knaveries were forthcoming
every day ; allowed the poor prisoners bread at the public
expense ; forbade the demand for money on those dismissed
from prison ; excluded suspected judges from deriving any
benefit from their transactions ; rejected the declaration of
oollity against two similar decisions ; settled the fees of the
ta)xndinate officers ; lightened the treatment of those impri-
looed for debt ; regulated the interposition and rights of the
exchequer in the disputes of the citizens ; ordered the publi-
cition of the judgments the day after they were pronounced.
Qd all these points there are special regulations extant.

But there were two cases where the legislation of Toledo
proceeded with the utmost severity, but without attaining its
iha in either. Perjury has ever been the original sin of the
}?eapolitan people. Nowhere was it so easy to buy false wit-
aenses ; no laws were of avail, however severe the punishments
they threatened. Toledo increased the severity of the earlier
regulations : he who was detected in perjury a second time was
to suffer death; whoever alleged imfounded charges was
liable to the same punishment. At the disturbances caused
by an attempt to introduce the Spanish Inquisition, of which
we shall soon have to speak, it was especially the dread of
£ibe witnesses which filled the citizens with such consterna-
tion : the kingdom is full of them, said they in their repre-
seataticns, and all personal security will disappear if the
rjtiem of secret accusations is introduced, and religion and
the treasury and personal hatred are mixed up together. The
liws continually repeated in later times, against perjury show
only too plainly that the evil is not to be extirpated.*

Not less severe were Toledo's laws to restore security in

• 0012011100 Antonio Parrino, Teatro croico e politico do' govcrni de'
^i cro del Bcgno di Napoli, 2iid edition. Naples, 1730. Vol. i. pp. 159,

2:-.

TUE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

capital. By the enlargement and rebuilding of the stres
. by the destruction of many alleys, he took away the Iiau
numberless malefactors ; by severe regulations tie contii
the bearing arms to the use of the sword ; and he laid hold
the courts of the great nobility, which had become the reo
tacle of banditti, an evil that gave full employment to
successors. The nightly wanderings of armed vagaboi
were for a time stopped, and the breaking into houses durt
the day, by means of ladders, was punished with death, fl
of the first who aufifered by the severity of the lawwaaayoij
man of one of the principal families, Col' Antonio Brancact
The chief of the police seized him with prohibited laddi
concealed, on hb way to a nightly love adventure : ndti
representations nor entreaties availed to save him. It &1
tlie same with other noblemen, who had till now set Justice'
defiance. This was new to the nobility, who were accnston
to lose their heads on the scaft'old for political offences, not]
common crimes, Don Pedro made no distinction of ra
Wlioever, after the second hour of the night, when the bel
of the town gave the signal, had arms about him till the moi
ing, fell under the penalty of tie law. The town was dirid
into diiferent police quarters, and the police incessantly
ambulated the neighbouring suburbs. The barons c
mured aloud, and accused the Viceroy of cruelty ; the peo]
Btill clung to him.

But wliut were the fruits of Don Pedro de Toledo's bio
jmtice ? When rebellion was threatened on account of
Iac|uieition, he declared tliat, if the Emperor insisted npoa
he would himself dissuade it, and leave the country, for
was convinced that even then atjiiinst it false witnesses vsouldnoi
wanted.' When he was once in Tuscany, the academy of )
Intronati at Siena prepared a splendid feast for him, "lb
rather be a member of your academy," said he, " and be guid
by such worthy women, than go to Naples to annihilate

Kcfc of robbers in order to keep the favour of my sovereignj
the year 1530, afler an administration of eight years, 1
confessed to the Tuscan agent, when there was a disciissL
about the robbery of a courier, that in the town of Na]di
B^htesrt thousmd persons had died by the hands of the hai
• Scipione Mictia, chap. ixxv.
f Filatiao AlicaniBwoa, Vita di Dnn Pietto ili Toledo.

WORKS OF TOLEDO. 31

ice he had undertaken the government ; he did not know
iRt more he coiild do ! *

No Viceroy had done so nmch for the kingdom. In n tna^
erial point of viev, as Toledo ; and if many of his preliminary
isur^s did not answer, their inconsiderable effect is not to
attributed bo much to him aa to the perverted economical
aA, 1o the extirpation of which other times were necessary,
■od which even to this day are not quite extioct, What the
ttfhal owes to liini will be explained in another part of this
work. He rebuilt Por^uoli after it had been destroyed by
anhqiwkeB and volcanic eruptions in 1538. That it con-
daued a miserable place in spite of hia palace, his gardens,
ud the institutions connected with them, cannot be laid to his
tbarge. He built castles and fortresses on all the coasts, not
ttly by the Terra di Lavoro, but of Calabria and Apulia. In
Ul time Turks and barbarians in league with the most Chris-
ittB King roved over the Adriatic and Meditermnean seas,
mprised the towns in the Bay of Gaeta, laid waste with fire
JidttB and l^roeida, did not leave a single living soul in San
Lneido in Calabria, desolated the Apulian coast from Otranto

Cards, and carried off the inhabitants to severe slavery,
, Pedro went to Apulia — ^everywhere he restored the for-
fificatians of the maritime cities or rwsed new ones. From
te p^xil boundaries to Terradna, where he built a, small
fen,))esec-uredthe coasts by towers. These Saracen towers, aa
tw people call them, of Toledo, many of them raised in
tfnt time of the middle ages, may EtUl be seen, partly in ruins
ind partly in preservation, now ased as watch-towers along
'he diore. The Bay of Baia^, that earthly paradise of the old
BoBmns, he protected by the picturesque castle with wliich he
omnied its western promontory.

The Viceroy required a great deal of money for all these
fanJHeations. and the military establishments connected with
Aam. Much more was requisite to support his Emperor in
Ui nevM-euding wars. A great revolution had taken place
ia the financial arrangements of the empire since the begin-
"' of the Spanish dominion. Ferdinand the Catholic had
lOy abolished the extraordinary taxes that were raised
iho name of collections, and declared himself deter-

32 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOXI.

mined to keep only the so-called fiscal fiinetions. These
consisted in the hearth-tax, the Ihssa dei Fuodii, which formed
the groundwork of the Neapolitan taxation* Each FwocOj or
separate household, was then taxed at a ducat and a half^ or,
according to German money, a reichsthaler, and twenty-four
silver groschen ; and, according to the calculation made in the
year 1505, the number of Fuochi amounted to 262,345. The
Feudatories who paid the feudal tax or adva were exempt
from this taxation. But the promise of the Catholic King
was not kept ; his wars with Lewis XI., his marriage witfi
Germaine de Foix, the obtaining of new, or xK>nfirming of old
privileges, in short, first one, then another event, required
fresh supplies', and these extraordinary payments received the
name of donatives. Indeed, tliis was very moderate in corn**
parison with the extension afterwards g^ven to these taxes.
We shall speak more particularly about it when we reach the
times when the form and spirit of taxation in Naples became
such as, perhaps, have never been practised elsewhere. Here
we will only remark that during the administration of Toledo
the custom of the Donative had become a system, the treasury
tax had increased a fourth more, so that in the year 1550 the
Fuoco amounted to more than two ducats, a sum at which it
neither did, nor could, remain.

The increase of the taxation in the towns occasioned the
first great outbreak of the people's discontent. The munici-
pal administration, formed from the deputies of the nobility
and of the citizens of Naples, had consented to the tax, or, as
this indirect tax was called, the GaheUe, But the people began
to revolt. A plebeian of the name of Fucillo was the leader
of the discontented. He was imprisoned. The infuriated po-
pulace demanded his freedom. As an answer, the Viceroy
caused him to be hanged at the window of the palace of jus-
tice. It was evening ; two torches burnt by the side of the
corpse. The Spanish guard rode immediately tlwough the
streets : the tumultuous fury of the rebels continued : but, o&
the following day, the ringleaders were taken and hanged.*
The tax was continued : the people submitted, but the poptt- •
lar feeling turned against Toledo. In the year 1547, it
caused a dangerous outbreak. The Lutheran and Calvinistic

♦ S. Miccio, chap. x.

ATTEMPT TO ISTRODCCE THE r^QUISITIO^^ 33

had found iii Naples, as in the rest of Italy. consiilET-
! syiDiialhy, Don Pedro thought extreme measures requi-
to satisfy the Emperor as well as the Pope, Paul III.
sUemiittNl to introduce the Spanish Inquisition. IVherher
idtiii proceeded &om him or from others has never been
jNnttaincd. fur the couduct of the Viceroy through every |)aTt
i«C ibe bosinesB was ambiguous. The name ulone of the
.Bpuisb luquisition filled the Neapolitans with terror. It
nt scarcely possible for them to form an entirely clear eou-
Mfioo uf the cliaracter of an institution to the scrutiny of
>anch ibe people, nobility, and clergy would be equally sub-
JmI, but vae thing tliey saw clearly, that the Inquisition was
a pofilJcai instrmuent. Camillo Porzio, a contemporary
noer, bns slAted the grounds and preliniinaries more impur-
Ujratii] equitably than any other writer, "So few," said he,*
'Si Naj'les have been intected by the Liitheran opinions,
ikt ih«y might easily be counted. But much hatred and aiii-
'" "y jircvail amongst the inhabitants of the kingdom, and
Are many who for a small piece of money are ready to
hi»e witness. Moreover, the Neapolitans knew their
ftt a diarance, and in continual want of money, and ihey
bis ministers as venal and false, so that at the first
uf the Inquisition the idea of the people was that the
ly did nut establish tliis tribunal so niudi out of zeal
the fait)), as to be a snare for the subjects, to rob thera
Ibelr property ; and with this belief was coupled a con-
ible bitlemess of feeling, for they thought this a bad
d for llieir liberality to their Emperor, to whom on dif-
it Docaatons they had abeady contributed iu taxes twenty
UBi of gold."

A papal bull intrusted the management of the Inquisition

Am Dumiiiicans. The municipal authorities besought ilie

Tkeniy lo hinder the eaeculion of the bull; his answer was,

"* '. the bull was unknown to Mm, but tliat the spreading of

Lntll«nin doctrines required some remedy. This answer,

rdl IU lib transactions witli the papal vicar. Increased their

T'he ^'iceroy showed hunself inclined to allow the

liqiiaidoD. if a lay judge was admitted as an assessor ; but to

Ilk the clergy could not be brought ti) assent. The ruler of

' L'litona d' Italia ncll' anno ][i4T, e la Dcsumianc delKcgno rUI^aguIi
iCnOloroixia, pubbl, &c., by Agost. Getvasio. IIaplea,13^D. I'.SS.

34 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALQNL

the supreme tribunal of the vicariat, meanwhile, began
quisition on his own authority : he commanded the commit
street officers, of the administration of police, to gv
a list of all the inhabitants, and to inform him whe&e
conducted themselves in a Christian manner. This the
would not bear. It had been little disturbed by the
ligence that the Viceroy had introduced a severe cens
the press ; that he had forbidden the reprinting of theo
writings tiiat had been in use for the last twenty years
he had ordered the literary academy of the nobility,
had formed itself after the pattern of other Italian tov
cease, and had particularly forbidden any dispute on 1
gical subjects. But the system of secret spies roused
action. The Popolans flew to arms. Don Pedro, whc
rally remained at Pozzuoli, was obliged to hear iron
envoys that they would endure no other Inquisition ihi
established by the canons, and that they would appeal
Emperor ; if the Viceroy refused to support them, they
have recourse to other aid. " The town," said one of i
puties, " declares, that if even your Excellency will en^
they will not"* Toledo now became uneasy. His an
dors declared to the assembled deputies of the munic
that he would allow the matter to rest if the people
return to its obedience. For an instant all seemed qui
the uproar soon burst out again with more violence thai
for the Viceroy entered into proceedings against the 1
of the rebellion. His pride could not endure to be con
to submit to the populace.

On the 21st of May a new edict was found on the d
the cathedral, which proclaimed the establishment t
hated tribunal. Every one ran to arms. The deputy
citizens of the municipality, who was supposed, and not ui
to be in the interests of the Viceroy, was tumultuously de
and a decided Popolan, Giovan Pasquale da Sessa, cho
his place. The former deputy and his adherents were de
traitors to tlieir country. All was in confusion. Upon
ing of the disturbance, Don Pedro de Toledo, exaspers
the highest pitch, rode through the city, and threaten
who had taken a part in it wi& the severert punishment

* S. Miccio. P. 57, and other places.

raSORRECTION.

of any avail. Up to this point the insurrection
nnifiiied to the lower elaases, but now tbe oobility "
ke part in it. It liad always tteeti the endeavour
nw ici separate the nobility frora tlie people ; whilst he
wstsA the former, he believed himself to be gaining over
alter. Bui now they both united Rgwnat iiiin. Ferdinand
ifii. >farqui$ of Lucido, saved one of the partiBtina of the
4e from the hands of justice by taking him up behind him
is haTfv : he was called Tommaso Anello, of Sorrento, and
won himself a name in the history of this insurrection,
■h s hundred years later, upon a simiJar but not more se-

I Bccasion, again became notorioiis. Two other noblemeu
iitstrious families, Giovan Francesco Caracciolo, prior of
Bngpitallers at Ban. and Cesare Mormile, placed them-
» at the head of the insurreclion. When the Viceroy
ed the Spanish infantry to be moved into the town from
nolii a bloody battle ensued between them and the people
he suburbs of Castelnuovo. The Viceroy himsetf rode
ueb the streets with an armed troop ; not a hand was
■a to salute him. Three young men, imprisoned tlie day
le, were esecuted by his orders. The wrath of the popu-
inereased ; for this resembled more an act of revenge
■n act of justice. Don Pedro could not disguise tbe fury
B displeasure.

It matters became worse. Toledo sent out a company of
en to take Ceeare Alormile and the remaining leaders
hitera. Tlie bells of San Lorenzo simimoued the people
ins and courteil. In a stormy meeting it was resolved to
« obedience to the Viceroy, to form an union between the
Ithy and the people, and to send ambassadors
'. The ambassadors were Don Ferdinand Sansevi
W of Kalenio, the first nobleman of the kingd<
Ida di Sangro. 'Vbe union was to be solemnly
L Tbe people indsted upon ringing the great bell
LDTeuzo, in sjiite of every effort of tbe deputies to deter
I frnm it, because they feared it would be misconstrued
lebelliun. But the clang of arms had made the people
mf tij all pei'siiasion. thiit they would not listen to such

II tnbtleties, and they almost flimg Marino Rosso, one of
depnties. from tiie lop of the steeple. Banners, with the
■"" * [le, were planted upon the belfry, and a vast crowd

St he '

en the .

erii^^^^H

«ir^^^

owd ■

3G THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

collected itself in the streets. The Marquis of Pescara, still
a child, bore the crucifix at their head, and the mighty pro-
cession moved through the streets of Naples. Nobles and
Popolans mixed together without distinction, rich and poor^
titled and untitled, and the cry resounded of " Union, unioziy
in the service of God, of the Emperor, and of the town ! " — S,
a man stood aloof he was branded as a traitor.*

Don Pedro endeavoured to assume an appearance of calm
indifference. He said to the ambassadors, who took their leav^
of him, " If you go on account of the Inquisition, it is need*
less, for I promise you not to introduce it, and pledge mj
word to obtain an imperial privilege ; but if you go as my
accusers, depart at once, with the blessing of God." And
upon the news of obedience being refused, he turned to thoaq
around him, smiled, and said, " We will henceforth let timi
run merrily, my Lords, for I have no longer any care, as I an|
no longer Viceroy of Naples." And when the union was pro*
claimed, " How vexatious that I too cannot enter into tbi^
holy bond !" But in his heart he was extremely uneasy. AJ|
alliance between the nobility and the people was the source ql
no small alarm to him, because he feared that they woulq
learn to know their own strength, and by open rebellion cruih
the old system on which both he and his predecessors ha^
acted, of keeping up an artificial barrier between the two
classes.

On the other side, these events showed the national aversioq
of the Neapolitan people to incur the guilt of rebellion. Thi
banner with the two-headed imperial eagle waved, as has beea
said, upon the steeple of San Lorenzo ; and the war-cries weru
" Spain and the kingdom ; life to the Emperor ; death to thf
Inquisition." Still the insurrection took its course. Thff
combats in the streets were renewed with increased fiercenes^i
The Spaniards marched out of their fortifications into th^
lower parts of the town ; the people entrenched themselves im
the positions most capable of defence. Both parties had rein*
forced themselves with men and weapons. There were abow
twenty thousand men accustomed to the use of arms on thi
side of the city.

The artillery of the castle opened upon the town, and thi

» Camillo Porzio. Pp. 102, 103, and other places.

^^" DECREE OP CHAHLES V. 37 1

fere eager in return to direct the heavy town c
San Lorenzo against Castelnuovo, but tlie deputies!
simined them. Meanwhile tiie greatest confusion pre- 1
The proceedings of the courts of law, and indeed I
,11 otherbusiness,were8topped. The shops were dosed, 1
rers of all kinds filled the streets, and the people flocked 1
hose oralors who were most violent in their harangi
if tlie nobles and of the principal inhabitants fled ft
ildered city. The opposition to the Viceroy had arisen \
a canses, but the line of demarcation between Jawftil
ce and revolutionary sedition is easily overstepped.
1st Placido di Sangro came back from Kuremberg,
te had had an interview with the Emperor, wlio had
I an ambassador on the part of Toledo, the Spanish
adella Valle, chiunberlaiii of Castelnuovo, to counteract
ireasion made by the representationa of the town. The
I of Charles was, that the insurgents should lay down
ma, and then he would thuik no more of their offence,
never had the intention of introducing tlie Inquisition, i
«d hard to the people to aurrender themselves defence- I
) the power of an armed enemy, for such the Viceroy 1
id to be. but the; submitted. Most of the arms were 1
t inloCastelnuovo; many were missing, but this Toledo j
over without notice : perhaps he tliought matters were i
as tbey were, lie informed the courts of Justice of the 1
nd of the Emperor, that none should be proceeded J
OH account of the past disturbances ; but on the foUow- 1
rix-and-thirty were excluded from the amnesty, and the - J
f Bari, Cesare Mormile, and Giovaimi da fSesaa, were ,
at« their rebellion by death. They were warned, t
t ; only one man's blood was shed. Then the Viceroy
niy the troops to a distance from the town. Above
Maand men lost their lives, above a hundred and fifty
igs and other buildings had been levelled to the ground,
> town had sufiered incalculalile losses during a war or
th'« duration. The Bmperor solemnly confirmed to 1
m the title of " most faithfid ;" but imposed upon it J
lib A fine of a hundred thousand ducafa.* The I'ri

1, following Mict

38 TH£ CARAFAS OF SfADDALONI.

of Salerno remained for some time at court ; but then the hm
of the Emperor's favour, Toledo's persecution of him, his om
reckless and fickle conduct, drove him into a rebellion wliiek
ended with his death and exile, after the loss of his rich in-
heritance, after a few warlike deeds little known to fame, aal
performed in the service of France and in allianoe with tiii
Turks, and aflter many and evil days of wandering. Tit
Viceroy's observation- on the tidings of his flight was, " Tta|
say Don Ferdinand Sanseverino has done the Emperor nuuq
a service, but the best of all his services is that he has mak
him a present of such a fine possession as Salerno."

Don Pedro de Toledo remained till the end of his life ii
the possession of his office. No Viceroy had held it for mud
more than half that time. The cabals against him had beti
incessant, for the Neapolitan nobility did what they could li
supplant him. The iSince of Salerno, and the Marquis di
Vasto, celebrated for his warlike deeds, were long at the heai
of the opposition. When Toledo, in the autumn of 1535, re
ceived the Emperor at Naples, upon his return from his eaa
paign against Tunis, Charles V. said to him, " Don Pedro
you are not the violent character that I have been told y«
were." " I see," he answered, " that I have been describei
to you as a monster."

But no complaints which were derogatory to Toledo's set
vices carried any weight with the Emperor. He did not £m
to set a just value on the defence and the internal manage
ment of the kingdom, no less than on the abundant supplia
received from it during his wars with France and the leago
of Smalkalde. It was Toledo, moreover, who had secuiw
the crown of Naples on Charles's head. Toledo's iUnea
dated from the time when the Emperor gave him the com
mand of the army which, together with the force of Cosmf
de' Medici, the Viceroy's son-in-law, was sent to enforce sdh
mission on the republic of Siena, after it had revolted and hsd
driven away the Spanish garrison. When Toledo was seized
with an inflammation of the chest at Leghorn, the physidau
gravely asserted, as the origin of the malady, that Leghoin,
being under the influence of Neptune, formed too great a con-
trast to the climate of Pozzuoli, which recognised the sove-
reignty of Vulcan. The sick man was brought first to Pisa
and then to Florence, where he departed this life on the 22xii
of February, 1553.

NAPLE3 A SPANISH PROVINCE. 39

No Other Viceroy had enjoyed so much authority as Don
sdro de Toledo. He left Naples a Spanish province, though
ider an iron yoke. The Viceroy was supported only by
w, and of these few some were Spaniards who were entirely
I creatures. He always governed with more or less de-
■n the ministers of the King, as suited his individual
The ca^tellanies of tlie fortresses and castles, and
rest of the important military posts, were intrusted to
paniards ; and they established themselves more and more in
Bees, even when subordinal* to the native nobility. Tlie
inn of the government system had begun under Ferdinand
Catliolic, and had already been accepted conditionally, in
absence of the reigning sovereign ; but the new forms
only introdaced by degrees, and, like those of the new
ition of justice, only reached their perfection under
The King's jealousy and dbtrust of Gonaalvo de
tordoTa gave rise to the first establishment of the upper
HVy Council which, nnder the name of Consiglio Collaterale,
mttitated the higliest tribunal under the viceroys. But even
nler the kings of the house of Arragon we And a similar
rtitntion, which was peculiar to the state of things which
Bn existed ; for when, in the year 1506, Ferdinand visited
B4)Ies, he brought with him two members of the Supreme
aimcilof Arragon, Lone and Malferit, as administrators of
conrt, as they were called. They always stood by him
iDg the legislative business and during the proclamations ;
at his departure their places were filled by a Catalan and
Sicilian. These, under the pre^dency of the Viceroy, com-
■ed the highest legislative tribunal ; and a Spaniard was
KKaated with them as secretary at the l>eginning of the reign
Charles V. A third administrator was appointed, who was
prays to be a Neapolitan ; and since the Emperor, who was
Sen absent, kept this administrator by him to discuss Nea-
fitan affiiira, a fourth was appointed to supply the place of
B absent one. Ferdinand the Catholic had had with him a
■qtoHtaD jurist who did not belong to this more important
ibonal.

"niiis it remained during the government of Charles V., but
"WSS Philip II. who brought tMs institudon to its perfection,
he nnion of the dukedom of Milan with the Spanish mo-
gftve rise to the establishment of a resident ministry

40 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

at Madrid for Italian affairs, the Consejo de Italia, which had
£n its hands the whole of the business, and survived the parti-,
tion of the Spanish monarchy, as it was maintained at Vienna
by Charles VI., and exercised an influence upon the destiny
of the south of Italy, the fatal tendency of which was only re-
cognised when too late.* There were in this council, besides
many Spanish members, two representatives for Naples, Sicily,
and Milan. By this council the Italian provinces were actu-
ally governed. Although at times eminent personal abilities
might make some alteration in their relative position, the
Viceroy and his Collateral Council were in general, in spite
of their great nominal power, the mere executive body to
carry out the orders issued at Madrid. The number of the
members of the collateral or government council was in time
increased to five. They consisted partly of Spaniards and
partly of Neapolitans. Each time a vacancy occurred, the
crown of Arragon laid claim to the nomination of one of them,
because Naples was especially a fief of Arragon. The au-
thority of the administrators was great, and their dignity con-
siderable. If the death of the Viceroy occurred at Naples,
they undertook the government. The secretary of the Cc^-
lateral Council received the title of Secretary of the Kingdom,
and as such held an important position, both as to his legis-
lative labours as well as in parliament. .

Whilst the authority of the great offices of the state and
about the court, the origin of which may be traced to the
times of the Normans, were in a great measure absorbed by
this new institution, so thai they remained little more than
empty titles, the government was more and more concentrated
in the person of the Viceroy. The two secretaryships of jus-
tice and of war were held in his palace, by which all the pre-
liminary business of the Collateral Council was executed ; and
besides this, the Scrivania di Razione, the office of finance,
from whence was issued all the money for the maintenance
and pay of the troops, as likewise other payments for military
concerns, subject to the inspection of the tribunal of the roysd
exchequer chamber ; and likewise the treasury, the administra-
tion of which depended upon the above-mentioned tribunal ;
and the general auditory of the army. Thus a complete

* Storia Arcana di Marco Forcarim. Florence, 1843. (Archivio Storioo
Italiano, voL v.) P. 48.

TIIE GREAT COUKTS OF JUSTICE. 41

nistry was egtablished in the viceregal palace, tVe members
which were cliiefly Spaniards, as, for instance, always the
EPetaries for the adiuinlstratioii of justice atid for war.
Tbe refonn in tie jurisprudence was introduced, as ha«
readj been mentioned, by Don Pedro de Toledo. There
(te three great courts of justice in Naples — the Holy
touieil (Sacro Consiglio) of Santa Chiara, so called from its
'ug beld in the monastery of the same name : the Court of
Vicariat ; and the Hoyal Chamber. The first was assigned
drU uatises, which it decided eveu to the tliird instance. It
of fifteen counsellors— ten Italians and five Spaniards,
of them bore the title of President. It was divided into
9 chambers. The Court of the Vicariat consisted of two
i: the superior criminal tribunal, with four judges ; and

Reourt of appeal with three, for civil suits. The Supreme
Tt of JndicHture of the Sommoria judged all fiscal causes,
feMber tlicy were of a civil or criminal kind. The im-
asaat ofiioe of luogotenente of the Exchequer was for life.
bne ihrce courts of judicature Toledo united in the rebuilt
Mtel Capuano. where from this time dwelt the president of
aOA Chutra, the governor of the Vicariat, and tbe lieutenant
' the Exchequer. Its arched hulls were transformed into
loons, and its ground floor into prisons. In the capital,
ven tribiinah of first instance existed under the Court of
« Vicariiit. The administration of justice in the provinces
w reformed at the same time. Six governors, with the title
" Vicars, administered justice in the twelve provinces ; each
■d two assessors, one advocate and one attorney of the E\-
lequer. They formed the second court of instance for the
Arior tribunals of the captains, which, with the assistance Of
Doctor of Laws, in all provindal places, were they royal or
uoni«l, niigtit pass sentence in civil and criminal cases. The
use* must be brought to the capital, for repeated appeals
nd carnations. Thus was constituted the external system of
■■dec, but in what spirit was it administered? We will hear
'hat Girolanio Lippomano says about it, who, twenty-two
nfs after the death of Toledo, gives a detailed account of
1* mivnon with which the Senate of Venice intrusted him to
k! conqueror of Lepanto, Don .Jolm of Austria : — " Most of
M <ifEic«s which the King confers in the kingdom of Naples,
those belonging to the great courts, he gives only

42 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

to persons recommended to him bj the viceroys as qaalified.
If a riyahy arises amongst the competitors, such offices cost
considerable sums. For instance, if the income for life is
about 600 scudi, you must generally pay from 300 to 400
scudi. It is the same with the judges' places in the proyinces,
which to the Viceroy (at that time tiiie Marquis Mcmdgar)
would be worth many thousands, if he woiM do like his pie*
decessor, the Cardinal Granvelle. The barons, with this
view, push things to worse extremes in the lands subject
to them, and sell the offices to people who flay their poor
vassals alive. Thus it comes to pass that justice is sM
throughout the kingdom ; and that the captains, by enterii^
into an agreement with the syndics of the towns, complete
the ruin of the unfortunate districts, which are so over-
whelmed with debt that they have no means of escaping
from their tormentors. If these debts were not so oppres-
sive, and if the administration was better, the taxes, either
ordinary or extraordinary, would not be so burdensome to
the people ; and it would not happen that the protectors of
the provinces, who are similar to the Carmalinghi sent by
your Serene Highness to the different towns, would unroof the
houses and sell the beams to collect the royal taxes. This is
truly a cruel proceeding, which drives the people to despair,
and turns many out to pillage the country. Hence it is that
the land is so full of highway robbers and murderers, although
I have no hesitation in saying that more people in Naples have
been executed and sent to the galleys than in the whole of
Italy and Spain put together. In more important concerns,
especially when the matter comes before the Viceroy, justice
is well administered, particularly when there is question of the
nobles seeking to oppress their inferiors. Then their privi-
leges do not help marquises, dukes, and princes : they are
imprisoned for debt ; and in criminal cases the torture is
applied to them with more severity than it would be to their
inferiors. The reason of it is this : that the endeavour is to
degrade the nobility, and set an example to others ; and also
that, in the case of law proceedings against the nobles, a rich
harvest is brought into the treasury of the King, the Viceroy,
and the officers ; but the world believes that justice is the same
at Naples for great and small. A still greater evil is the
many imprisonments that take place, from worldly favour and

VICEROYS mSBER PHILIP IL AKD III. 43

worldly moTives, which coald not hugipen if only authentic in-
fernintioQ was attended to. For the aiaallest debts tardy
ptyitrs are imprisoned, by n-hich the tribunal always gaina 10
per ceut. No asylmn is of any use, as little so as in criniiital
o«s«i.""

Nineteen Ticeroys and lord-lieuteDonts niled !□ Naples
mder the kinga Ptuiip II. and III. Amongst them were la~
mous met) — men of merit and of good Intentions. It was not
&e &iilt of the individual that the condition of the kingdom
beemtie more and more melancholy. It was caused by the
Eiiaeiiae of the sovereign, by the general relations of the
Spanish monarchy, by the system which did not regulate the
pnvi&cea according to the measure of their own particular
mats, but contemplated tlieni solely as a. means of Airthering
liw views of the general Spanish policy ; lastly, it was caused
yf the gradual but irresistible decline of the Spanish power.
I>f all the wars to which Naples was obliged to contribute her
men and ber money, one only had to do with the kingdom
itself, and even this merely on account of its relations with
I^in. It was the war with Pope Paul IV,, conducted by
■lie Diike of Alva : and which, by reason of the remarkable ■
Brcnmsiaiices and opportunities attending it, caused more to
h« said about it than its small military importance justified.
In the coime of this hislorjr a more ample account will be
Kiran of this war. The struggle against the Turkish power
U to the brilliant though useless victory of Lepanto, ai^
wludi Don John of Austria made bis solemn entrance into
Maples on the 18th of November, 1572. The defection of the
aniitid Nettierlands, and t!ie conquest of Portugal, increased
(hedainuonllie resourcesof the kingdom of Naples, the mora
•o as the finances of Spain were declining lower and lower.
Itaring tlie French war of religion under the last kings of the
house of Valoisi, France had not been able to keep her usual
paction in the a^lrs of Europe; but with Henry IV. the old
tnxiry between the two neighbouring states revived. lu the
MBie degree as Spain sank, especially since the death of
rUl^ II. in the year 1^98, after his guvertrnient of forty-
fan ymn, the French power rose.

* Btbaiaae il Napoli del Sonalore Girolamo Lijiponumo, acil' aUDO
19TS. la the Bclasions degli Amheaoialori Vtneli, cdite da E. Albari
(Woirow. 1*41), \oLY.p.'-il6. P. Gionona, Istoria drila del Eegao di
K»i«li Qlilim. 1823J. VoL U. up. 113-143, 277-384.

44 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

Meanwhile the state of things in the kingdom became more
melancholy. Many of the causes of the disturbances and
abuses did not depend upon the will of the ruler. Foremost
amongst these were the disputes with the court of Rome about
its spiritual jurisdiction. The peculiar relation of Naples as
a fief of the Church had already occasioned many embarrass-
ments under the Angevins and Arragonese : they became
worse and worse imder the viceroys. In Toledo's time the
struggle against the Inquisition began, which continued under
other forms during the whole reign of Philip II. Then fol-
lowed the violent quarrels between the Duke of Alva and
Paul IV., who declared that the King had forfeited his throne.
After this the dissensions about the jurisdiction of the tribunal
of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, established by Leo X., which
gave rise to many claims, especially about matters of inheri-
tance and legatine affairs. The Duke of Alcala, the elder of
this name; one of the most deserving men who have been in-
vested with the viceregal dignity, fought for the space of
twelve years for the royal prerogative against ' the spiritual
jurisdiction. The point in question was the admission and
publication of the decrees of the Council of Trent, to which
the crown of Spain, like many other states, refused its consent
on account of the decree with regard to discipline and the
authority of kings, the Exequatur ; about the publication of
the bull. In Coena Domini, of Pius V. ; about the Hegium
Exequatur, without which no papal bulls or briefs would be
of any validity ; of the jurisdiction in what was called mixed
cases between the clergy, the institutes, and the laity ; and the
prohibition issued that the laity should not appear before the
apostolical visitors sent into the kingdom by the Pope ; of
the royal share of the tithes collected by the clergy ; of the
claims of the clergy upon the execution of testamentary lega-
cies ; and many other disputed points, which occasioned more
than once the mission of cardinal legates to Naples, besides
the resident nuncio, and of royal ambassadors sent to Eome,
without any agreement being made. Moreover, during all
these disputes about jurisdiction, the power of the clergy in-
creased considerably. Under Charles V. many new bishoprics
had been established ; and the Emperor had entered into an
agreement with the Pope with reference to the right of pre-
sentation, which was to belong partly to the sovereign and

MILITARY SYSTEiL 45

partly to tlie Holy See. Then the clerical orders were mulli-
|iiied' ; wbilst the older ones, as. the Dominicans, the Camal-
iiolitea,lhe Capuchins, the Servites, enlarged their monasteries
■od obtained a firmer footing. The Tlieatines owed tlieir
origin to a Ne^wlitan, Gian. Pietro Carafa, afterwards
Paul IV. ; the Jesuits, who were introduced by Father
AlphoDso Halmeroii in 1551 ; the barefooted Carmelites, re-
formed by the Spaniards ; the Theresenians, following the
same rule ; the Fratelli della Carita, founded by the Portu-
guese Johannes de Deo; the regular clergy of Girolamo
Einiliani, generally called Sommayli ; the Oratorians of the
Holy Philip Neri ; all these orders established churches and
monasteriea iu Naples,*

The state of the military system depended more upon the
general affairs of the empire than upon the individual interests
of the kingdom ; for Spain perpetually drained it not only of
mosey but even of troops. This was especiaUy the case during
die second unsuccessful expedition against Tunb, during the
campaign against Siena and the war about the Portuguese
succession. The Neapolitan troops, commanded by Neapolitan
tmblemen, fought in Lombardy, in Sp^tin, in the Netherlands,
and in Germany. The garrisons in the itingdom, on the con-
trary, were filled with Spaniards, WaUooVis, and Germans.
The Duke ofAIcala, established, a national regiment, which.
was called the steady battalion of militia. The cominunities
were obliged to supply, for every hundred fuochi, four foot-
soldiers and one trooper. Thirty thousand men were raised,
I who only received pay in time of wiir ; but for tliis they en-
joyed certain privileges in time of peace. They were engaged
oiuy to serve in their native country ; but they were also
wanted abroad, in which case it often happened that they re-
vised to march, as under the Duke of Arcos. It also often
happened that they were obliged to be discharged, because
they would have been masters of the field. In the year 1012
it was calculated that the kingdom contained seven -an d-twenty
companies of Spanish infantry, sixteen companies of heavy
armed cavalry (gens d'armes), and four companies of light
cavalry, all native troops ; one company of arquebusiers on
horseback ; besides the garrisons of the castles, the local
militia, and the artillerj-. There was, distinct from these,

• (luum'nie, and other places. VoL i, pp. G7-S17, 338-34S.

i

46 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

a kind of guard of nobles on horseback, called I Continui,
composed of a hundred noblemen, ooe-hidf Spanish and the
Other Italian, for the perMinaJ service and escort of the
Viceroy. The whole military eBtabliahment cost then some-
what more than eight hundred thousand ducata, in which how-
ever is not included the expense of incessantly sending troops
to Spain aud to the provinces ; and these expenses increased
more and more during the first halfofihe seveutfienth cen-
turj.* What the conduct and the discipline of the natiTe
troops were, and how they v^^ere recruited in times of need,
will be explained later by many examples. How they looked
is most vividly described b; an agent .of Ferdinand J. from
Tuscany. " To-day," he writes on the Gth of January, 1601,
" six companies of soldiers embarked, and in so pitiful a con-
dition that, before they get tp Genoa or Gaeta, they will be^
most of them thrown into the sea, corpses. Your Highnewl
would have laughed at sucb a scene. One was, if I may be 4
allowsd to say it, without a sliirt, another without shoes ; Sat 1
they had sold everything to appease their hunger. Mai^
had fallen away to such a degree that, instead of wearing their
riflea and swprda at their side, they were obliged to use tT
as supports. It is whispered here that these people will go
over to the French when they reach the place of their destina-
tion, because they cannot get their pay.""|"

The individual characters of the Vicerojs must naturally
have exercised a decided influence upon all events : for Spain
allowed them a tolerably free scope about the details of the
government. One was prodigal, the other covetous ; oiie
loved pomp and expense, the other retirement ; one thought
only of war, another of internal arrangements ; one was proud,
another affable. Don Pedro de Toledo fettered the free spirit
of study, and the development of science and of poetry, which
had been so remarkable under the Arragonese kings, but then
it was interrupted by a thirty years' war, and again checked.
The Count of Lemos patronized universities and academies;
and even if he did much for show, nevertheless he aaaisted
materially in making the higher classes take again their part <
in sciences, in obtaining a considerable position for leanied'v

■ Lodovico Bianchini, Delia Storia diJle Fimurze del Regno di Nnpoli, I
lihriT. Naplpa, 1B33. Vol. ii, p. 46+. *

t Fn Tina Naidi, at PaJnrmo, P. 27b, and other placea.

DESCEtPTlON OF THE VICEROYS. 47

loi : inquiriea and works of Tarious kinds were HDdertaken,
K guod cfFectb of which »re felt even at the jire^iit time.
'he elder Duke of Alcala was, as we have said, one of the
nt \'iceroys that Kaples has had. but it miifit be admitted
lal liie FonunQiiity of the Waldenses iu Calabria was de-
wilh such cruelty that even the stem Catholic reporter
j« ~ II makes oue shudder to think of it. They have slaugh-
Nd the people like a flock of sheep."

Tlie Marquis of Mondejar clnng so much to ceremony and
jMiUBk '*Su88iego," as the Italians are accustomed to eaU by
iofeigii word a foreign ibmiality contrary to their nature.
Bit a nobleman who visited him declared '' that he thought
• had beau going to see the Viceroy of Maples, but that Le
ad been received by the King of Spain." He lived, besides,
ta very ivtired manner ; the Venetian ambassador remarks,
'He had rea^n to amass riches, for he had seven buns and
B» daughter," but by '■ good management" he had already
d from four to forty thousand ducats.* The first duke
the courage to interpose with his authority in a riot
scarcity of bread against a multitude composed of three
ed of the lowest oi' the populace, who caused the death
Giano Vincenzo Starace, the deputy of the citizens, in a
rrible manneF, and placed the whole town in terror ; but
a peace was restored he bad 498 persons imprisoned,
Oat S20 took to flight, 270 were tortured, 58 were con-
niied, either for life or for a shorter or longer time, to the
leys, otliers to exile, and 30 were sentenced to death, of
uni OJaiiy were executed with the most horrible torfures.f
« Count of Ittiranda, whom otherwise there is much to
Mid against, would not receive two golden keys presented
Inn by the town at his departure, and more than one Vice-
F haa gmie away in debt. Nevertheless, their income was
t ■nail : till the year 1612 it amounted to about tliirty
HMnd diiCBts, then it was raised to nearly forty thousand.
It ihe extrnordimuy revenues which tbey had, the money
jch many of them made by the sale of ofBces, the preseuts
iA tliey knew bow to obtain from the town, amounted in
' Moreover, they calculated tlieir

. P. 389, and othiT pkrcB.
■ oil Antaniii SonnnonW, Historia deUa Citti e RagnQ cii Niipoli.
-'-,11(78. YoL IT. i^ 446-*79.

■mil CABAFA3 OF MADDALOSI.

'l

80 much beloved, so-called secret expenses, which in the
above-mentioned year, 1612, was valued at somewhere about
fifty thousand ducats yearly. But when the Duke of Ossuna
entered in his accounts from the years IG16 to 1619 the mon-
strous sum of three hundred and eighty thousand ducats for
"Spese segrete," the yearly sum was reduced to twenty-four
thousand, and it was detennined that for all increase of it a
royal grant must be obtained.*

The Count of Olivarez, father of the celebrated minister,
was accustomed to say, " that one ought not to wish to be
Viceroy of Naples, to avoid the pain that one should feel at
leaving it,"

None felt this grief more than Don Pedro Giron, Duke of
Ossuna, the third duke and second viceroy of this name. He
sprang from the great Lusitanian family d'Acunha. They
had conie Irom Portugal to CastiUe, and had divided themr
selves into numerous branches, talcing in general distinct
names. In the middle of the fifteenth century Don Pedrff
Giron founded the house of the Counts of Urenna ; his great
grandson of the SEime name was made by Philip II. Duke at
Ussuna and Viceroy of Naples. It was his grandson, again s
Don Pedro, who has rendered the name famous. In the (a--
mily chapel at Ossuna you might read the following inscrip^
tion : '■ yi el viver ea henaoso, el raorir es gauancioso " (If
life is beautiful, death is gain). Nevertheless, Pedro Giroa
sought above all things a life of gain. He was not mudt
above forty when he undertook the government of Naples.
He had fought bravely during the campaigns in Flanders : he
was already a Enight of the Fleece, and had been Viceroy of
Sicily. Whilst there he had shown the vigour as well as the
imperiousness of his nature : he had protected the bland
against the assaults of the Turks. But he imprisoned and
dragged to Palermo the Jurats of Messina, because they urged
vith energy the observance of their privileges, those pnvileges
which ^ty years later, under the Marquis di Bajona, caused,
the dangerous rebellion of the Messeuiaua, which Spain, eX'
hansted, could only conquer after a war of five years, who^
she despoiled the town of its old liberties, in the same manner
as, under Philip II. and IV., Arragon and Catalonia were '
d^irived of their constitution.

■ B inni-hini . F. 443, and at other plK»i.

DON PEDRO GIKOX. 49

Ossitoa entered Naples like a sovereign. Koiie of his
predecessors had so lived. In the palace a series of brilliaut
iestiviliea, for the people aothiiig but sports and pleasures ; an
nnusual pomp in all church ceremonies. The Viceroy pa-
raded the streets with six horses ; petitions and memorials
were thrown into his carriage from all sides, then he stopped
and gave the wished-for audience to those who desired to
speak to him. The outside of his state carriage was covered
with black velvet, upon which were silver ornaments ; the in-
side was embroidered with gold ; the side-posts were of silver,
omaniented with all kinds of jewels. The silver alone weighed
two hundred pounds. Such a carriage could not be built
tat three or four thousand scudi, writes the Tuscan agent, who
considered it worthy of a king, and offered it for sale to his
Archduke." Ossuna took, moreover, great interest in the
edmuiistration of justice. He used to wander through the
town till late in the night, to convince himself that all was in
order. Whoever, great or small, incurred a penalty, had no
tbrbearance to expect. When Le showed himself in public,
■nd waa in good humour, he dung gold and silver coins libe-
rally amongst the people. Thus he oblmned a number of fol-
lowers. AAer the first year of his government he represented
ks liealtli as too weak to continue any longer in his office, and
besought ihe parliament to ask the King for a new Viceroy,
Whether they thought it a piece of acting on his part, or that
he was really in earnest, they, on the contrary, presented a
petition for the confirmation of his authority.

But this good understanding did not last long. Dissensions
with the nobility soon burst out. Ossuna was of an imperious
Dsture, full at the same time of pride and of sensuality. He
believed that he could govern entirely according to his own
jadgraent ; and as he regarded neither forms nor customs, and
M he attacked with the greatest heedlessness the privileges uf
the nobility, even in their official relations, he made them
his dedded enemies. The arbitrary manner in which he en-
cnMclied npon justice did away immediately with the good
impression produced by his strictness. He ordered the punish-
ueitts of death and of the galleys without any judicial trial.
Ue sent a man to the galleys, because he had followed him

• Tine Tcttori, Naples, Sopt 20, 1622. At Palermo, and other

50 THE GABAFAS OF ICADDALONL

one evening in the streets ; a dentist, because he had yeafB
ago, in Sicily, broken one of his teeth, and had afterwaiids
made his escape ; a municipal syndic who had given asBJstaaet
to the citizens against their feudal lord ; and seven individmls
who, to obtain a £Bivour firom him, had allowed themselves to
be caught in an untruth. He caused one of the officers be^
longing to the finance department to be flogged through tiie
streets, because he had boasted that he could procure the
King a great advantage, and had contented himself with tiie
mere words. He put a druggist to the rack in the most un*
merciful manner, upon the saying of an imprisoned Turic, be*
cause sequins and jewels were concealed in a oari^ of sugar
which he had bought out of a prize-vessel. He condemned m
sbirri to the galleys, because he had allowed a prisoner to
escape, who had been afterwards apprehended again in a church.
He caused a barber to be scourged through the town, mounted
on an ass, and chained to the oar for life, because, at the de-
position of a witness, with reference to a wound, an irregu-
krity had happened which could not be proved against him.
Because the presidents of the exchequer had not their accounts
made up upon the day appointed, he had them imprisoned in
their own houses, and threatened to send the secretary to the
galleys. Some days afterwards he sent for them, and an-
nounced to them that they were instantly to be imprisoned in
distant castles, one in the castle of Tronto, another in Man-
fi:^onia, and a third in Cotrone. Three carriages were ready
in the courtyard ; each person stepped as he was, in his court-
dress and fasting, into one of the carriages, accompanied by a
captain of the guard. Some people interceded in their &f
vour : they said it was endangering their lives to let them
undertake so long a journey in such a manner during the heat
of summer. It is precisely on that account that he does it,
was the answer. The real cause of this severity was, that the
Viceroy suspected that they had written to complain of him
at court. He inflicted the pimishment of death without an]r
sentence being pronounced. When once, at Pozzuoli, six de-
serters were brought before him, he condemned them to the
galleys ; and when one of them declared himself a nobleman, he
had his head cut ofp without further delay. He condenmed s
deputy commissioner, at Capua, who was besides a bad fellow
to death. The sentence was to be carried into execution ii

WAR AGAINST VENICE. 51

IWD hours ; and, as there was no executioner there, the htit-
cher chopped off the criniinftl's head with hia aiaughtering
knife. He administered his paniahments as well as hiw
pardons nithout any reason, quit« according to his own iancy.

But this man, who bad so liigh an idea of bis own dignity
and authority, frequented low company. He showed hiniBelf
in the puhUc streets with common jesters and bad women. He
desired two quack doctors, who w«re quarrelling about which of
them possessed the best antidote, to come before him and make
tlie experiment in his presence. One of them vomited the
[Kneun and the antidote, the other died in dreadiiil agony. He
had a ridiculous dread of being spelJ-bound : he continually
had women seized in the streets and flogged throngh the town,
M the suspicion of witchcraft. Jt was a favour when they
irere allowed to endure the ])uiii8hment with veiled faces; a
Capuchin went first with a crucifix. The scourged persons
were then sent out of the country.*

But all this would have produced no catastrophe, if the
Ehike of Oeauna had not believed that hecouldaot in the same
arbitrary manner with reference to his native, country. But
he over-estimated his power and abused his authority in a most
tinheard-of manner. His wild hatred of Venice was the occa-
KHi of his ruin. The so-called conspiracy of the Spaniards
against Venice is one of the best authenticated fiicts of modem
Itmlian history, although the tnie facts have only been traced
in our day.^ The relatione between the repubUo and Spain
were Tiolated in many ways, by the disputes between Venice
and the Archduke Ferdinand of Steiermark, by the Mantuan-
Savoyard commerce, and other differences. But there was
the appearance of peace between both these states, when the
Vicere^ of Naples and the Governor of Milan, Don Pedro de
Toledo, began their attack upon Venice. The idea upon
iriiich was founded the project of both these men and their
■Dt, the Marquis of Bedmar, the ambassador to the republic,
who, tinited, fonned the Spanish Triumvirate, arose from the
eomiderBtion that Venice was the only state in the peninsula
iriiich actually stood in the way uf the Spanish dtmiinion, and

" Fr«iU>e»eo ZaMEtn, Govorno di Don Pietro Ginioo Duua d'OiaimB,
ieiA-1620. At rnlenno and at nlhei placeE,

t L. Rwik;, DDDiKTiiuig the wnspiracjr Bigainxt Tenice in Qm year
1618. BerUn, 1831.

r 52 THE CAEAFAB OF MABDALOSr,

particularly prevented the union between the Italian posses-
sions and the German states of the house of Hapsburg.

At the end of the winter of 1617 Ossuna began to make
warlike preparations : galleon upon galleon was prepared, he
himself borrowed the artillery of Smi Lorenzo. Long ves-
sels with flat keels were built, to be given up to the piratieal
Uscochi, the old enemies of the repubhc, who had occasioned

I the quarrel with the Archduke, and had boasted that they

' would bum Venice. An edict opened to these pirates all the

harbours on the coasts of the Adriatic belonging to the idug-
dom. At the same time men were everywhere enlisted. Ail
prisoners and persons condemned for conbimacy, as well as
all the banditti, were offered a free pardon if Ihey would enter
into the service. A negotiation was opened with the Pope
about the march of the cavalry into Lombardy. The Duke
lodged and fed twelve thousand foot soldiers and two thousaud
sailors ; twenty galleons and a number of other vessels were
stationed in the Neapolitan harbours. Notwithstanding all
these preparations, Ossuna at first treated the resident minis-
ter of the republic in a friendly manner, who did not leave
Naples.*

Thus began this singular conflict, which was carried oa
upon the Adriatic Sea with great animosity. The Venetians
sank a Neapolitan vessel containing sixty people ; the Viceroy
caused prizes to he sold in the ground-floor of the palace,
under the eyes of the resident Venetian minister. The dis-
covery of this attack upon the republic, which was conducted
by the Spanish ambassadors, hrought sfTairs to a crisis, l^etro
Gritti obtained at Madrid the recall of Bedmar and Toledo (
Spain did not want a war in Italy. It was a critical moment
for Ossuna. He saw his daring plans thwarted ; he felt how
tottering was his position at Naples ; his preparations had
swallowed up vast sums of money ; the land groaned under
the burden of quartered soldiers ; the foreign troops, espe-
dally the "Walloons, occasioned daily bloody quarrels by their
want of discipline. All the public works were at a Btandstill,
the treasury empty, even the artillery concealed in the Sicilian
fortresses was sold. Envoys from the nobility and from the '

' town were gone to Madrid to Eillege Iheir complaints against the

• Lettwi of t!ie ngent of tho Duke of Urbino from Uio yean 1617-

I 1618. At Fnlenno, and in miuif other places. ■

OSSUNA'a PLANS.

Viceroy. He had tried first to prevent and then to weaken
Ibeir complaints, but failed in botb cases ; then the idea
■emed to occur to him of making himself an indejiendent
nkr of Naples, He sounded France and several of the Italian
princes i lie sought at the court of Lewis XIII, to win over
die Duke of Luynes and the Constable of Lesdiguieres to
Ins plan for the establishment of an independent kingdom at
Naples. lie had a quantity of foreign troops and no incon-
riderable fleet in his pay. He tried to make himself a party
unongst the common people in Naples, and he succeeded.
Hln principal tool was GiuUo Genuine, a judge of the vicarial
Kwrt, whose election lie had carried as deputy of the commons
in the mimici]ial government. Genuino was a restless man,
And of change, fiill of hatred against the nobility and its inor-
diiiUe cluims, who only considered the Spaniards, and in this
CMS Ossuna, as a means of obtaining his own ends, which
■{ipeared to be concentrated in raising the authority of the
tooiitionB ! meanwhile, as the sequel will bring to light, a
peat deal of aelfisimess was mixed up with this democralical
clement. Hence the attempt, by the separation of the deputies
of the eitixens from those of the nobility, to procure greater
{odependence and influence to the municipality, and the desire
br a more enlarged share of the government for the people.
What Genuino attempted this time in vain he accomplished
w Bootber occasion, seven-and-tweuty years later, with ready

Mennwliile the Viceroy sought in his way to conciliate the
people. He rode upon a small ponylhrough the most thickly
mlinbUed parts of the town ; tlie crowd called after him tliat
ht ought to abolish the gabelle on flour : he willingly pro-
tmaed to do it, and threw doubloons and scudi amongst tlie
people : he patted one on the head, and another on the shoulder,
MObrBCed litem, and inquired who they would have fora ruler?
SoiDH answw«d " Tour Eseellency," but others "His Majesty."
Tlu» crowd waa so mischievous, that the cry resounded of
"Close the doors! close the doors I " The wealthy merchants
immediately closed their magazines and barred up their doors ;
tnned men were seen in the windows of the bank of St. Eligio ;
but Ottauna. always tlin^ng out money, drew on the noisy
oojrd behind him till he reached thepalace. The crowd begged
once to abolish the lately introduced fhiit-tax, which
icularly hateful to them, and the new tax on bread; i

r

1

54 THE C^RAFAS OF MADDALONI.

he did it immediately, without considering how the deficiency
in the revenue would be supplied. When he once csune to
the place where the tax-gatherers were weighing the goods,
he drew his sword and cut the cords of tiie scales. Such
actions procured him indeed adherents, but the laws were
badl; adminiBtered. and the rabble became more and more
insolent. The noblemen who had any influence with the
better part of the people did their possible to keep the peace,
and preserve the allegiance due to their monarch. But the
state of things was extremely critical, and a general tenor
prevailed that the city would be pillaged.

Then there was a report that the Cardinal Caspar Borgia,
who WB£ in Rome as ambassador, had received a command to
undertake the government without delay instead of the Duke ,-
immediately aAJerwaids the Duke arrived in Frocida. Ossuno,
whose fury at the shipwreck of iiis plans amounted to madness,
made the boldest projects of resistance. But Borgia arranged
his afiairs 50 cleverly, that the castellan of Caatelnuovo let
him in during the night. It was the 3rd of June, 1620, when
the Cardinal, a young and brave man (he was just one-and-
thirty). landed from a fisherman's boat at Bagnoli, near Poi-
zuoli, and entered the town in the dark in a hired carriage,
dressed as a soldier and armed with sword and dagger, ao-
companied by a few intimate friends. On the following morn-
ing the thunder of the artillery from all the fortresses pro-
claimed a change of government. Still Ossuna made one
other trial ; he issued an edict, threatening whoever obeyed
the Cardinal with the punishment of high treason. But it
was too late, his power was at aii end.

He remained ten days longer in Naples, and saw his inti-
mate friends and acx^omplices either imprisoned, banished, or
murdered. He only succeeded in saving Giulio Genuino,
who reached Piombino diagnised as a sailor, irom whence the
Duke took him afterwards to Spain. The town was joyfully
illuminated for three nights ; bonfires were kindled in the
streets ; for not merely the nobles, but the greater part of the
people, were glad to have escaped the impending danger of J
a violent revolution.* I

The deposed Viceroy did not reach Madrid for some time, I
though he had solemnly sworn to make a clear vindication of ■

• ZaEZFrfl, and Reporta of tho Tuscan Agi>nt. Prom Palermo, and in 1^

CASPAR BORGIA. 55

himself, and take eslreme vengeance on his enemieg. At first
bis affairs seemed to take a. favourable turn, but the death of
King Philip IIL changed everything for him, A formal trial,
the legal documents of which came from Naples, was instituted
agaiflBt him, and he was conveyed to the fort of Almeda, Here
Ins proud and restless spirit was crushed, as well as his body.
Madness came on, and he died in prison in September, 1624.
Nevertheless he had so much influence at Madrid that Gaspar
Borgia was recalled after the lapse of a few months. The jov
occasioned by his arrival soon ceased. He had proceeded
against all disturbers of the peace with great severity ; he had
changed a number of the officials and of the militaiy persons,
amongst them the castellans of most of the fortresses, who had
been suspected ; the gabelles abolished by Ossuna were re-
stored. The Turks that Ossuna bad threatened them with at
Ub departure bad taken Manfredonia, and ravaged it fearfully.
The town has never recovered from the blow. The Cardinal
did not know how to introduce order and honesty into the
government, This government perplexed him, and yet he
aspired to whiit was mure exalted and ditficult. He hoped to
wear the triple crown. It had once been predicted to him
that the buU would roar for the third time ;■ the bull is the
well-known armorial bearing of the Ijorgian race, that had
been used alre-.idy by two popes. The great nephew of the
holy Francesco Borgia, who, consumed by his aspiring genius,
lelinquiahed the splendour and vicissitudes of the life of chi-
valrouB knighthood to enter upon other fields of contest. He
kft behind him a different name from that left by the enthusi-
■rtical and pious Duke of Gaudia, who was the third general
of the society of Jesuits. " Borgia is gone away," writes the
Ttwcftn agent, '' lamented but by few ; his private secretary,
TioB Diego, will go ftway cursed by many, if not by all. They
had done things which if Olivarez or Osauna bad only dreamed
D^abundred couriers would have been despatched to the court
with complaints. They have no scruple of robbing the King.
Tbey have sold for fifty ducats, favours which Ossuna would
Dot huve given for five hundred, and that in cases which were
beyond their authority. For fifty ducats they have pardoned
. the murderer of a father and of a child, and that without
■ Pr. Cuuellieri, Natiziu atoriche e bibUogiaiihisbe di CriBtufuro
Colambo. Eomc, 1809. P. 197.

56 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

making any composition between the parties. Crimine ab nno .
disce omnia. They negociated with the King of Poland, who
was to be ^d sixty thousand ducats from his Catholic Majesty,
without being at all shy of their intention of putting forty
thousand ducats into their own pockets. They have squan-
dered beforehand all the revenues up to the end of ApriL
May God preserve us from all want, for it will not be possiUtt
to raise a penny !"*

Want soon came. Gaspar Borgia was replaced by the
Cardinal Antonio Zapata, the protector of the crown of Spain
at Rome. When the appointment became known, it created
the greatest excitement amongst the Neapolitan nobility, who
considered it as a concession in £sivour of Ossuna. The whole
municipal government wished to go to the King, many threat-
ened to set out for Venice, but the Cardinal came nevertheless.
He had declared, " Whoever gives my officials money, flings
it out of window : if any one is to steal, I will." It was an
unhappy government. Several bad harvests were followed bj
a complete failure of the crops, and famine in Naples. Suf-
ficient com could not be purchased in the provinces ; the ele-
ments and the pirates of Barbary concurred in preventing the
importation of it from Sicily and foreign countries ; added to
which came the want of money. The small coins were almost
all adulterated, chipped, and ought to have been recoined :
now every one refused to take them, fearing to lose by them.
The Cardinal thought to remedy the evil by announcing that
the full worth of the old money would continue the same.
Then the kingdom was on a sudden literally deluged with false
coin. In the summer of 1620 an insurrection broke out. The
people complained that the Cardinal and his nephews, who
swarmed about him, enriched themselves by a usurious traffic
in com. They wanted to storm the house of the Prince of
^an Severo, who was considered as a hoarder of corn. Thus
things went on during the whole of the autumn. In the be-
ginning of January, 1622, bread failed entirely. When
Zapata, on the festival of the Epiphany, went to the cathedral,
his carriage was attacked by the populace, who flung stones at
him and reviled him. He saved Hmself with great difficulty
in the archiepiscopal palace, the doors of which were barri-

* Vincenzo Yettori, Dec. 15, 1620. From Palermo and other places.
P. 284.

FAMINE AXD ISSDUEECnON. 57

.. tliat the mob might Dot take it by storm. TheCHrdiaal
tended to condder the riot as of do consequence : he de-
■ed it to be only koavish tricks practised agalaet the deputies
lie towns. Thinga became worse aud worse. In Apulia
omcrable field-mice overran the country and devoured the
In the capital the people fought with the Spanish gar-
In all the churches the holy sacrament was exhibited.
Coont of Monterez, ambassador to the Pope, visited
Zapata accompanied him. The crowd screamed
I'ood, food '." and threw a piece of bread into the carriage,
here waa more earth than ftour in it, says a contemporary
■muScler. The Cardinal smiled, " Your Eseellency shoulS
it smile." said an old man, " for there ii cause for weeping."
ktdie same time stones were flung up against the carriage.
!^ ambassador's master of the horse laid his hand upon his
Let that alone," said one of the oificers of the palace,
tor the people wiU tear us to pieces." They were glad to
■ch tile palace again, which fortunately was not distant.

The Cardinal Iwl about three hundred of the rioters im-
inuoned. " I understand that to-morrow justice is to be
kne," writes the Florentine agent : " many will be jiut to
tut nek. This would be too dreadfid a punishment, and God
ptaL ibat it does not awaken another feeling besides com-
pHOOn. 3Ieanwhile I stilt believe that my Lord Cardinal
will be satisfieil with the threat."

ilevanlieless, in llie vicinity of the Catalan Street, seven
ptnous died on the wheel. This happened on the 1st of
Jhw, 1622.-

As in the quarrels with Ossuaa a Capuchin was despatched
Mllie Court, now a priest from the Oratorium was sent to
teoibe the dreadful condition of the kingdom. But the new
Vioeroy, the Duke of Alva, only arrived at Naples in De-
nnber.

Mauiwliile King Philip HI. had died on the Slst of May.
IG3Ii killed by Spanish etiquette, in the midst of a burning
dcBDg-disb.

• TinooMo Vcttori'e Letters, ftom October 13, 1630, to May 31, 1622.
Ital r»liffmo and other plaips. Pp. 281-29*. Diurnali Si Scipionu
Ob«i». (Cuvemo del Signur Card. Antonin Zapata, yeara 1621-32.)

58 THE CABAFA8 OF MADDALONL

CHAPTER n.
conshtdtion, NOBiLrnry fjbofjub*

The nobility and people in tiie presence of King Charles VlXl. — Tit
people claim &eir ancient privileges — The old eonstitation -^ Tht
Norman parliaments — The feudal system — Change under tin
Angevins -^ Municipal constitution of the capital — The sediles -*
The sediles compared with the Florentine associations and loggitfip

— Form, number, and privileges of the sediles : their double repn?
sentations, with reference to the town and kingdom : political i»
portance — Difference between the feudal nobility and the di^
nobility — Sedile of the people — Different classes of the people —
The joint government of the town conducted by the sediles of tilt
nobility and the sedile of the people — The associations of the peopl%
or ottmen — The Eletto del popoh — Destmdion of the sedile of tihl
people under Alphonso I. of Arragon — Bevival of the popdv
element under the French dominion — Coii^parison between till
nobility and the people in the year 1495 — rositicHL of the peopito
under ike last Arragonese — Claims of the people for an equal shaie
of representation with the nobility under Ferdinand the Catholic — >
Form of the municipal government of the sediles under the vicerofi

— Mode of election — Deputies — The municipal govemmeitf
(tribunal of the Eletto) in San Lorenzo — Spanish policy wifli
reference to the sediles as substitutes for the geaeral parliaments —
Form of the parliaments under the viceroys — The locality of th»
parliament in San Lorenzo — The opposition of the sediles to the
viceroys — The nobility in. the sediles — Opposition — Spain's endear
vour to oppress the great nobility — Apparent contradiction in its
position — Feudalism and the communities — Privileges of the com-
munities to redeem tiiemselves from feudal ties, the so-called |»ro-
clamation of liberty — Ke-alienation of the communities by the
government — The right of rebellion in the name of the king —
Belations of the barons to their vassals — Actual and assumed rights
of the feudatories — Political condition of the nobility — Granting
of titles — Disadvantageous position of the communities with regard
to the tribute-securities — Money transactions — Farming tolls —
Banks — The Genoese — Money-market — Exchange — Agio —
Loans on the banks — System of coinage — Usury — False coinage

— Conditions of admission into the sedues — Foreign sovereigns and
great families — Neapolitan feudatories — Difficulties in being en-
rolled amongst the sediles in the time of the Spaniards — Deputatione:
rejection of their claims — Different lines of the system of titles —
Spanish fEumlies in the kingdom — Orders — Judicial relations —
Jurisdiction of the nobility — The second, or new nobility — The
people — Description of Camillo Porzio.

On the 17th of May in the year 1495, one Sunday, so a Nea-

CHARLES vm 59

ilan chronicler" infonos ub, King Charles appointed for
eiviiig the oath of ullegiance and fealty. When those per-
m who surruiinded his Majesty inquired for the people and
ixeas of ^Naples, certain uoblemen replied to them that they
K the people, the citizeiis, and nobles of the town ; but aU
rrst, icho were strangers irom different places, and not
.pnlitanE, expressed their astonishment to his Majesty that
1 a tuwn should have no citizens besides noblemen. Some

By» aitecvrards, Messer Carlo Mormile, a nobleman of Porta
OOTU. came over to kSan Lorenzo, when Batislii Pirozo, a
grocer and citizen, asked him to tell him what his most
otn Majesty had comraanded with regard to the regula-
M of the towu and the chapter? "Whereupon be gave him
isnswer: "Why do you concern yourself about this city ?
'e ore th« nobles and citizens of ^Naples, and you have no-
lo do with it. you loathsome vermin I " The aforesaid
\» went to all the intluential dtizeus and merchants in
tmni, and repeated these words to them. Early on the
bOowing morning, about six hundred men, enveloped in
nles, mnrched two abreast to the castle of Capuauo. As
F (tdod waiting in the courtyard till they could speak to
King, he stepped up to the window, and, looking at the
BBn, allki^d nrhu they were? Then they answered that they
N tha citiieiis of the Neapolitan people. His Majesty upon
i^umed to C'arlo Moraiile and Lancilotto Annese, and the
" " illors who had said that there were no citizens in
now that the contrary was apparent they knew
to answer. The King then had eight of the six hun-
■moaed into his pre^nce, whilst the others waited
sod irum them he learnt that the number of the citi-
_. exceeded that of ihe nobles, and other things that lay
Wry on their hearte.

I^dnrtng the past period of the dominion of the house of
Amgoit, the relations between the nobles and tiie citizens
•WW of the nature described in this simple but clear narration,
ii the course of time many changes took place in the same.
tf the constitution of the kingdom of Naples was from the
Sb* Injured by the internal evil of heterogeneous ingredients
bting compounded together into a mere external whole, with-

* Cionaoa di Notor GtaMmo, p. ISO-

60 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

out any organic development taking place that could ii
truth and originality into the whole body, these defect
came much more prominent in the fifteenth century, whe
struggle between the two dynasties and the two great pol
parties, which divided the country, first endangered the ri^
the weaker party, and then, so to speak, annihilated it. I
Italy did not go through the process which has given si
predominant interest to the history of the municipal institi
in Lombardy and in Bomagna, as well as in Tuscany :
the conflict between the Greek and Lombard elements
continued, another, that of the Norman, mingled itself
them, and out of an agglomeration of small states, wil
other interest in common than that they obeyed ruler
scending from the same race, arose that monarchy of
Roger's which, being in its origin of a feudal nature, pa
larly struggled to bring into union the intractable f
system and the claims of superior power.

Together with the monarchy came the parliaments, in i
the clergy and feudal nobility came into the presence o
ruler of the country, during which were discussed the ge
as well as the particular interests and afiairs of the kin^
and by whom the laws and canons were published. I
view, the first assembly of the barons, which Roger he
Melfi before he obtained the royal dignity, as well as the
ral parliament held at Ariano in the year 1140, are c
greatest importance. In both monarchy struggled witl
dalism, which, short as had been its duration, had neverti
entwined its roots deeply — a proof how the soil had
shaken, and how brittle the old state of things had be
By a general peace a stop was put to the feuds of the v
amongst each other ; the reception and protection of rol
who disturbed private property and the territories of the
of the soil, was forbidden by a positive law ; the bad coini
the Grecian time was abolished, and the new one of the
generally established. Throughout the kingdom suitable
lations were introduced for the courts of justice and tl
ministration of the finances, independent of the feudal
Ten chief justices administered the laws in the countri
this side of the Faro ; their divisions were essentially the
as they are to this day: Terra di Lavoro, the Princ
Molise, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Capitanata, Terra d'Otranto, '

THE FECDAL S^-STEM, 61

..JiBari, Val Grata, and Terra of Giordano (Calabria ulteriore),
'.{iBl^bria; a separate chitf justice for 8ici!j, ultra flumen

I'SlBiua. Like those mentioned above for the administration of
|)tfice, the Maestri Camerarii (superior master chamberluins)
Woe appointed for the finances, oc-e in each province. In tlie
,;|BwnB and villageB the inferior judges, Bajuli ""

Jildministered the law. The contemporary chroniclers, espe-
jfBBlly Bomualdus Salertinus, bear testimony to the favourable
iRBolt of these institutions, established by the first kiog, who
filj the might of his royal will bound together the paria that

filing to decay, and placed limits to the arbitrariness or
■opposed right of the individual. Then King William I.
tterted himself to protect by a particular constitution tlie
mbjects of the feudatories, whether these were prelates,
WoDB, or knights, from arbitrary burdens; he did it, whilst
ht not only fixed the cases in which taxes might be levied,
but also the rate of them. The «stablishment of a superior
■ouit of justice in Sicily interposed new impediments to arbi-
tary power.

■ "nius the Hohenstaufens found a perfectly arranged feudal
fftem, controlled by the royal power, that only in later times
became in some degree weakened by the uncertainty of the
incession to the throne. They continued to govern in the
■^e spirit as their predecessors. It was Frederick II., in the
t inetanoe, who, after the disturbances which Jiad taken
|kce during his minority, gave a more regular form to public
~ ' ra. At his first parliament or assizes, held at Capua in
I, of the constitution of which no account has been kept,
W ordered, amongst other things, the destruction of all the
bttreaaes recently erected by the nobility. It is expressly
Bentioned that, in the large parliaments that were held later,
*nt in one town and then in another of the kingdom, every
vwa or district sent deputies, the more important ones two,
fat the benefit of the kingdom and the public weal."* In
.Kb wise we find the three states represented in the assemblies,
^wgy, nobility, and citizens. The laws of King Frederick
Ihiut^d besides in all ways the feudal power in favour of the
lights of the crown and of the crown lands, whilst at the same
fime they vigorously defended the (Mvil liberties of tiie subjects;

• Biccnrdn da Sen Gennnno, in the ypar 1S32. D. Winspearc, Storia
ir^ Abnri FcudnJi. (N^ilea, ISll.) Vol. i, Banuuki^ p. 3i>.

62 THE CABAI^AS OF MADDMiONL

and with r^ard to these, whether they were dependc
ft liegeman or immediate dependents of the orown, they
lated expressly for the protection and guarantee of the
reign. Under the first rolens of the race of Anjou t
change took place in the constitation of the kingdoi
influence of which was felt for many succeeding cen
Charles I. was a vigorous prince, but he governed in
quered country. He found institutions, many of whid
obnoxious to him, because they had been established 1
dynasty conquered by his arm. He had to reward the
who had followed him, as well as those who had favoure
and to punish his old adversaries. He required a grei
of money for the consolidation of his authority, as also i
furtherance of his extensive plans ; but at the same ti
was obliged to reflect upon the means of settling and o*
trating his internal power. All these circumstances e
the system which he introduced, and which imposed a
burden upon the relations of those times — a burden ^
placed by the arbitrary will of an imperious stranger up
island of Sicily, pressed still more heavily upon it, and
its inhabitants to that bloody rebellion which separated
firom Naples for two centuries. A number of towns ai
tricts, which till then had been dependent upon the <
were given away as fie& ; the still existing registry statei
number to have been somewhere about six hundred, ai
generosity of the King was compared to that of Alej
the Great. The nobility availed themselves of these ci
stances, and took possession of many places in an un]
manner ; and this was carried to such an extent, that a
decree announced the restoration of the usurped fie& and
tenures, and empowered the oflicers of the crown to re|<
unfounded claims. Meanwhile, such single measures
exercise no lasting eflects upon the progress of the evil,
increased to such a degree during the last years of Ch
reign, that Pope Honorius lY . was induced to act as a
between the King, the nobles, and the commons. Thef
especially complied that, in their disputes with the b
they could not get access to the King to state their griev
and the Pope was compelled, in his character of lord
mount of the kingdom, to limit the tax upon birth, f
recommend to the King the abolition of other grieve

MUNICIPAL CONSTITUTION. 63

IBfise general rdattons, here more especially the par-
^^nes uniler our (Xtnsideration. The court of the
PUid of the Uoheastiiufeiis had been a moveable one.
of AojOQ made ^Naples his capital city and his par-
3il&r resideDce. The parliaments moved fnim town to town
ill tlio court : the towus of Apulia especiallj^ were, for a
art time at least, the centres of political life ; nevertheless,
Iwr pluoes and provinces had also this honour granted to
mh. King Roger held general assemblies at AriHno and
ipua, Tancred at Termoli, Henry VI. at Ban, Frederick II,
CApoA, Foggia, Barletta, Taranto ; Manfred at Puggia and
ul^lA. But now it was different; the King lived con-
ntly m the castles of Capua and of Castelnuovo ; he eslab-
iied a central government in this town ; the French nobility,
were richly endowed with lands and cities, overran the
itry 1 most of them gathered round the hereditary ruler.
parliaments likewise were then held at Naples, with only
a eseeptioDS, like that iamous assembly in the plain of San
tino, on this side of Calabria, where Prince Charles of
regent of the kingdom during the absence of the old
g, on the 30th of March, 1283, summoned together the
■tea, barons, and deputies of the towns, and granted tliem
twnstitulion that he afterwards conflnned to them when
ing, which essentially diminished the rights of the crown,
* alrengthened and extended the feudal power.
tut with the removal of the parliament to the capital, a
tdifictttiou of its character is to be connected, which has ex-
Kd an important inHuence upon the constitution of the
■by, and upon Ihe state of the municipal institutions of
_iaL The representation of Naples aa a town reeeiyed,
' lliia new arrangement, increased activity and importance,
'cih appeure by no means to have formed part of its original
ncier. The Lmportance of the parliament diminished more
Bore, whilst that of the Sediles, or Seggi, increased in the
■ proportion. Much has been written of the origin and
t Bnraent form of the tiediles, or association of the nobles
of ihe people, 'ihe part of it which bears particularly
n tti0 history of the constitution may be reduced into a
Jl oampBss i the rest belongs to the archteological depart-
A, We can trace tiie Sedileato the times of the Grecian
of Xaples, and consider them as connected with the

f

L

64 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI,

Athenian Fratrii (^parp/ai) ; and these again have been con-
sidered allied to the casts in the East.* It cannot be denied
that there existed a resemblance between both the one and the
other, although the more rigid organization of the Fratrii, with
their relationships and duties towards each other, cannot be
referred to the Sediles, who, especially before their definitive
establishment with a fixed authority as citizens, were dt
iicient in authentic intelligence. The number of the ancient
Sediles was fixed at three-and-twenty, who were named after
considerable families, or after their localities ; this last usually
was the case in the vicituty of a church or gate. They were
derived fiwra family alliances, or they proceeded from aeigh-
bouring relations, which were usually the same, because the
individuals of the same race were accustomed to dwell to-
gether in the same quarters of the towns, and in clusters of
houses, for a long time, which was the case in many of the
Italian municipalities, even into the fourteenth century, and
which, apart from other matives, was necessary for their de-
fence in the times of the disturbances of the citizens. The
men then met together in one common locality to discuss
their own personal affairs or those of the town. These loca-
lities were marked by many names ; we find them mentioned
as Portico, Tocco, Seggio, or Sedile. It is, moreover, un-
necessary to go as far back as ancient Athens for the origin of
an institution which is easily explained ; and if we look at the
rest of Italy we shall find parallels ; in Florence, for instance,
where the meetings of considerable families were of a mixed
(diaracter, of a political and domestic kind, the lodges were
usually added to the houses of the nobility, and the remuns erf
them are to be seen at this day, in a greater or less degree (tf
preservation, as those of the Cerchi, Perrurai, Rucellai, Alberti,
Buondelmonti, and so on. Many of these lodges have not'
been withoutimportance in the history of that republic, thoti^
the meetings, as an institution chiefly of an arlstocratial
nature, couM not obtain the importance which, by the powei>>
ful development of corporations and tiieir absorbing infloene^
was acquired in the course of time by the Neapolitan Sedil«a
in a monarchical-feudal state. But the oric;inal aim, both ti
the one and the other, was the same. In Florence also everf
* Cajnillo Tutini, DcU' origino o fuudozion in' Scfzi <li XapolL
Koplej, Uii.

THE SEDFLES. 65

|eison of Doble race had the privilege of possessing' a lo^a
^~ porticus, to settle family busiaess in, lu talk over public
'aire, to pa^ away the time by exercises and ganitts) i'ur, as
^n Battista Alberti remarks, the I(^^e are uot only an
tnameiit to the market-place and the streets, but arc also
fful for young people, who do not when there behave so
itldly in t)ie presence of the older patricians. Again, in
narwee those of noble descent clEiinied certain privileges for
loggie, as the right of asylmn, for which they were
iy upbraided and punished "with fines when the citizens
the mastery, who sought to humble the old nobility in all
ijB.* The uiore considerable towns in the kingdom iiad also
sir Sediles, with this great difference, however, that they
d not the important political power of those who dwelt in
e capital, and they were now, what all the associations of
Uiau nobles became by degrees, casinos for social purposes.
I According to the best authority the town of Naples was
Irided in the most ancient times into -four principal regions,
itipaaao, Forcella, Montana, and !Nido. The places of meet-
of the Sediles of these quarters were usually calfel Piazze,
ee ia derived the expression " far Piazza," when the SedUes
e summoned : they were smaller places, which, as may be
claded from their names, liad more the character of family
ms. Two new larger tiivisious, Porto and Portanuova',
added wtien the town was enlai^ed, whilst Forcella and
Bgna were miited. By degrees the smaller Sediles were
into the larger ones; when this happened is unknown,
the time is probably connected with the reform under
rieti L We do not meet with family Sediles after the last
■ of King Robert, whilst the five others obtained extensive
cal rights and representations. They were all associations
nobles. Meanwhile, as the popular element could not re-
kin excluded, the mizens, in a sixiii Sedile, took their share
public events. This popular element must not be over-
toked in the earlier history of Naples. Opinions are divided
I to its form. Many of tbe older hbtoriaiis adopt the idea of
perfect equality in the form of the government of the people
id of the aristocracy, as they give the town iiine-aiid-twenty
gble Sediles, and also iiine-and-twenty curies of the people, who

■ Del HCglloro, Fu^ozc iUustratn. Plorence, 13S8.

1

66 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

were represented by Deeurions. The existence of the latter
18 undoubted, and whilst under King Tancred, in the jen
1191, the people were numerously represented in the maiglh
tracy of the town, and we find them equally privileged to a
certain extent with the nobility during the homage perfinmed
by Naples, at the death of Conrad of Hohenstaufen, to Fop«
Innocent IV., when the Podesta of the town, Ricardo FOan*
gieri, cum deputatis nobilium et popularium civitatis, Idami
the foot of the Pope.

£[ing Charles I. removed, as has beai said, the seat of tin
Parliament to Naples, whither he also attracted the greatar
part of the feudal nobility. Whilst this nobility was ooih
nected with the Sediles, or, if indeed this is the right expret*
sion, were absorbed in the Sediles, the feudal element ovei^
powered the popular one, whilst at the same time the tran^
action of business in the once moveable Parliament was coiA»
jcentrated in the capital : for whilst the feudal system in
general gained in intensity, the most important ingredi^it df
that Parliament was completely supplied. Whilst thus tho
Sediles had in their hands the government of the town, the
nobler Sediles represented the usual business of the nobility
of the whole kingdom, as the citizens or popolo of Naples did
or claimed to do with regard to the remaining cities and pro-
vinces of the kingdom. If in the first case a justification can
be made, as the barons were more or less connected with the
capital, the last has something in it quite monstrous ; and to
this lumatural rivalry, which existed as well in the relation
of the nobility and the citizens to each other, as in the relatioa
of both to the whole kingdom, is to be ascribed the defective
development of the whole constitution at aU times.

Thus the actual political importance of Sediles begins, as
has been said, with Charles I., and this explains the widely
spread idea that this king was their original author. But
only by degrees did this institution attain definite forms.
For instance, it was not settled till long afberwards that the
share of a family in the honour and labour of a Sedile should not
be altered by their change of abode. The important changes
which happened after the fall of the house of Hohenstaufen, in
the condition of the Italian towns, would not fiedl of producing
some effect upon Naples, in spite of its tenacious grasp of feu-
dalism. It was the time in which in Tuscany — the most

TOE aEDILEB, 67

Iponant country at a later epoch for the history of the con-
~ latioa of the towns — liie co[|)oratioiis gniued a decided form
1266), and by meauB of ihtir priors got entire posfiession of
gnveruoiviit (in 1282). The tiobility,assiich, wasexduded
ut a share of it in 1293 ; in fine, it whs the time iii which
B people weut from one measure to another in a dtunocrar
aH S(writ, till in the year 1343 it annihilated politically the
lobility, whilst it aet fire to their castles over their
DatOd. Naples, by the relatious of ita rulers, especially
Cinules 1. and Robert, as chiefs of the Guelphic leagt;e at
iriuTence, was too much connected with Tuscany not to feel
the re-actiun — not as if this was to be considered abstractedly
M ft struggle with the nobility, it was too finnly rooted for
dns. But after that, divisions had taken place amongst the
■nctocncy itself; go that the Sediles of Capuano and Nido
RyKMDled as it were the feudal nobility (il Baronaggio),
Uw three otbere, Montagna, Porta, and Portanuova, the rest
iiltlMi nobility (i nobili). A great commotion was excited
Utougst the popolaiis. A number of families had sprung up
ifau could not enter the sphere of the nobles, neither would
Ikcy cutiuider thinnselves as belonging to the common people ;
M Itwy attempted to form a third class, called " Militi Medi-
■ati," and in this manner tliey realised, to a certain degree,
Ihe institutions of the old Etoman republic. King Robert,
under wliose long reign tliis new nobility was formed, recog-
" ' ila legal existence without injuring the privileges of the
'■"■ f. Nevertheless, after many, and some bloody, di»-
, the new nobility, as a class, were oppressed during
yean of Queen Joanna's reign in 1380; many
ig to these families appear to have been received later
le bediltss; (or whilst, to enter into the associations of
Cftpuauo auU Nido, severe tests were required, the remaiuuig
net ware open also to tkmilies belonging to the new nobility,
■mi to such who had originally been mercbaots. Later
ligulatiD:is, that appear In the statutes of the iseggio of Man-
Mm, tiBike it evident what a radical ditTerence existed between
tbe condition of the Neapolitans, for instance, and the Floren-
tinea, for in Florence the new nobihty originated almost
Odtljely from commerce. Nevertheless, a number of other
' '*' were excluded from the ISediles, and consequejttly had
t in tlie representation. TUs was also ilie case

r

68 THE CAEiFAS OF ILUDD^VLOXI.

with a series of ^milira belonging to the roost ancient nobility
that belonged to no Sedile, of whom we cliall Bpeak presently.
But the popular Sedile ought by no means to be coitsidereij
as a, repress utative of the lowest class of people, A decree of
King Robert's of the year 1338 clearly expresses that,
amongst those who belong to it, the popolo grasso, or higher
class of bui^hers, are to be understood, who, in the democra-
tioal republics of those times, gained the ascendency, and were
very different from the popoio minuto, or artisans, who were
particularly excluded from political honours and burdens
(honoribuB et oneribus}. According to later ideas, the popolo
grasso were divided into two classes, that of judge and official,
and of trade, into which last even the higher professions were
included. It is, though in an imperfect form, the same idea
which is the foundation of the Florentine Arti of the thir-
teenth century, and consisted of seven guilds, of which the
judges were dealers in woolteii clothj usurers, cloth and silk
mercers, physicians, and furriers, to whom more extensiTe
political rights were granted tlian lo the lower trades. If the
popolo grasso at Naples did not attain to the some importajUK
as in many other places, this was the consequence of the above-
mentioned circumstances. The actual Neapolitan nobility,
testier with the feudal nobility of the whole kingdom, -
might represent its class well enough j the class of citizen^ I
who were only the citizens of Naples, must naturally be in the
background. In this consisted the radical feult of the whglei i
even for futurity, of the restricted Angevin coiistitution. But J
the people would not give up their rights without a stnigKlckil
They desired an equal share with the nobility, without reGei%^
ence to the difference of their position, and the heterogeneous 4
origin of their claims. The explanation of many of th« '
internal causes of the disturbances is to be sought for ill I
this misunderstanding — a misunderstanding, to mention only I
one point; for instance, it was made known in the lime of tlw
Spaniards that, although the town of Naples was freed from
giving the usual donative, nevertheless the deputies of the
people were summoned to ad-viae upon it. Even iu the year
1602, the barons remarked that this was improper, wJiiJst
the Neapolitan nobihty, as a representative of tlie wliolo
nobility, was here to be considered, iind not the Neapolitan
people. But it was not tiioi^bt feasible then to ciuuige the

L

GOVERNMENT OF TIIE TOWX. C9

old custom, the less so because the government, as will soon
be seen, could count more upon the pliability of the S^^io
popolare than upon the associatioits of the iioblea.

Till the reign of Alphonso I. of Arragon, the nobles and
people divided the government of the town, ordo et populus.
The people had tlieir own peculiar constitution, the funda-
meutal principles of which were derived from the times of the
Kornioii HoheDstaufens. As under the five noble Sediles
s existed twenty-nine smaller societies, of which mention
has been made already, so the Seggio popolare was the centre
of nine-and-twenty sub-sections that were called Ottine^.
The people living in one or more streets formed an Ottina,
«bo had their capitano, who was chosen from a college of
ngbt butchers (lience the name Ottina), established by the
*hoIe body, and by these means he ii'ent through a double
Section. Tiiese capiiani formed the actual city police, as far
municipal authorities were conceraed; from tliem was
1 the president of the deputy, wlio comes before us
nnder difii^ent appellations, as Bletto (Electus), an I'rocura-
tor, and as Syndicus universitatis popularium Neapolis. The
Eletti of the five noble associations, added to the one belong-
ii^ to the people, consequently made up the six men who
GHTced the representation of the town, in which, according to
ibe usual practice, diat of the whole kingdom was included.

It was in the year 14^6 when a change took place in these
tdatims, whicli, no less than both the wars of the Barons, un-
dermined the fumidation upon whjch the power of the House
of Am^n was established. Upon the place, now della
ia, once named after the Tuscan merchants, stood the
e House of the people, called, on account of its beoutiiid
ptdntings, Fittato. King Alphonso I. had it destroyed that
J'«w ; different motives were assigned for it, but the secret
agisted in this, that AlplionKO I. wislied lu secure the succes-
n of the crown of ^'aples to his natural sou Ferdinand,
T that be consiclered the nobility as his principal supporters in
1 tfaiA design, and he souglit to wiu them over by annihilating
I Lbe onerous privileges of the citizens. The result was, that a
I rebellion broke out amongst tlie lower classes, which the
I Idiig easily suppressed, and deprived the people of their politi-
I ca] rights. Thus began that estrangement of the masses
" ^ Ferdinand I. was well aware of, and tried to conquer

70 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

when he withstood the Barons in a dangerous struggle, fiff
which, however, he gained no assistance, because his anxiety
at the ascendency of the popular element prevented him
from consistency in those measures which otherwise formed
part of his character, and which could alone restore the
balance of power. Thus Alphonso II., who had already
enough to do with his own sins, was obHged to be answef^
able fbr those of his father and grandfather, of whom one had
made the people, and the other the nobles, his enemies; a
twofold enmity, which met together upon the head of the
third, who was as inferior to the one in noble qualities, as to
the other in political acuteness. Thus it came to pass that
the nobles of Naples could tell the conqueror forty yean
later that they were the people, the citizens, and the nobles of
the town.

And now this long-suppressed popular element revived
again so powerfully during the short period of the French
dominion, that it not only, as if in an instant, obtained its
old rights, but even claimed new ones. After that the depu-
ties of the people had explained to the French king how the
government of the town had been arranged, and how they
liad been deprived of their share in the same, he authorized
them to meet and discuss their interests. For forty years
their Sediles had been levelled to the ground, so they selected
the chapter-room of the Augustinian monastery, which is aitu*
ated in the vicinity of the Pendino quarter, particularly
belonging to the people. The room built in a pointed arch
style, is remarkable for its roof, which converges towards the
middle, and is supported by two slender marble pillars : here,
in the year 1495, the deputies of the people assembled ; here
they met till the old constitution of the town of Naples became
extinct in the last century. Giovan Carlo Tramontano was
appointed syndicus in this session, twelve counsellors were
added to assist him in the cause of the people in this new
order of things.* The homage of the country had been per-
formed, without the people having been at all represented.
The deputies of the people protested that this homage was not
at all binding upon them ; meanwhile they would perform it,
and, if they did not, it would be because they had not been

* ^otar Giacomo, and at other places.

NOBUJry and people m 1496. 71

ariBed.* The deputies were not idle, but the discontent of the
kbility increased to such a degree, that on the 16th of June
k had almost come to bloodshed. Suddenly a suspicion
ttoae that the nobles would unite with the French, and disarm
die people and pillage the town. Every one flew to arms.
The troops of popolans marched from Sedile to Sedile, with
titt ery of ' France and the people !' But none came forth
to enter into competition with them.'l' Warering as the king
lad his counsellors might be, nobody thought the moment
kvoorable. On the next day a compact was entered into
between the two classes, which on the following morning,
on the festival of Corpus Christi, was solemnly proclaimed by
die sound of trumpets.

The conditions of this agreement were as follows : when
the public money was granted, the people were to be taxed
by their own deputies. These same deputies were in time of
war to raise men for the town, or for the king, or whoever com-
oumded in his stead. The homage on the part of the people
was to be performed by a deputy. In times of infectious sick-
ness and pestilence the affairs of the people were to be left to
their free will, without any interference even of the nobility
of the popolans. Of the Gahella del buon denaro — of whid^
the public money was understood to be given for the main-
toiance of the town, for the repairs of the walls, streets,
churches, and other buildings, and for other useful purposes —
the people were to pay a fifth, the nobility to contribute the
fwt. The collectors to be taken from the people ; neverthieless
the nobles were to choose them out of six candidates selected
by the people. No expenses were to be entered into without
the consent of the deputies of the people ; no parliament to
be held without their presence; the commissariat for the
supply of food to the town was to be governed in common ;
^ overseers, consisting of two popolans besides the nobles,
were to change every month, by two and two ; if the nobles
acted against the interests of the people, they were to be
deprived of their office, and to govern without them. Such
were the articles which were accepted and sworn to on both
odes, with the reservation of their privileges.^

* GKacomo Gallop Diumali, p. 11.
t Ibid., p. 12. X loid., p. 12.

72 THE CAK^VFAS OF MADDALOSL [

The French dominion came to an end soon afterivords. j
It Itad iiumblfid the nobility without gaining the people, who |
immediately ranged themselves on the side of the return-
ing princes of the House of Arrag^n ; the people might
think that they had been taught by experience the danger of
oppressing the popular element, especially in a state the
aristocracy of which was weakened by hereditary divisionsi
Feruaudino sought to keep the balance even between botli
parties; he could hardly have done so for long. Towards tbo
end of Iiis short reign the people were always increasing ia
their demands. The less the affairs of the country wer*
settled, the more wavering was the position of the aristocracy,
who were obliged to resign more and more of their part ib
tlie rights which they had usurped some years before from that
people whose political existence they iiad at first even denied.
A great cliange had gone forth, and it proclaimed another
social oi^nization in favour of a single class, that shortly
before had appeared to be annihilated.

In April 1496 the people unanimously decreed the expul*
sion of the Jews; the nobles opposed it, because they would
not lose their house-rents. But the Jews were threatened
with robbery and murder if they did not depart, and they
departed.* Shortly afterwards a dispute arose on the festivd
of Corpus Christi, because one of the deputies of the people I
would bear one of the poles of the Baldachin : he carried i^
and had a deed of attestation drawn up about it, whilst two
hundred armed men accompanied him. The nobles were
incensed, liecause at the return of the procession none would ',
(ill up the place. The riglit of the deputy of the people to J
support the Baldachin was afterwards recognized by a special I
treaty .t The mediation of King Frederick, who more than I
any other Bovereign of his race showed himself favourable I
to tlie people, whose privileges he enlarged, was more tbaS'^
ouce necessary to restore at least the semblance of harmony ' k
between the two classes. '

But the people were not satisfied, notwithstanding all these

privileges obtained in so short a time. During the fust .

period of the Spanish dominion, in 1507, they demanded tOiJ

be placed on a perfect equality with the nobility. " Also m ^

• Oiacomo GbUo, Diuniali, p. 3S,

t Ibid., p. ae. Notar Giiicomo, in the year ItS9, p. 227.

J

MUSICIPAL GOVERSMEST UNDER THE VICIiHOTS. 73

wpplicale you, for what has been promised us very often by
different king^ of the illustrious House of Arra^ou, that in all
the circumstances, privileges, honours, and digoities of the
■Ibresaid town of Naples, we, the petitioners, may have the
nine number of votes as the nobles ; and although this is a
mere act of justice, nevertheless we will acknowledge it as
■n especial favour, whidi iviU be very serviceable for the
(Ute, and for promoting attachment to his Catholic Majesty,
ud xeal for his service." The direct refusal of the r^ueat
THUS thus: " Sua Majestas providebit taliter, quod cognoscent
beoevolum animum quern habet erga eos et honorem eorum."
The remaining grants are about the right of taking precau-
tionary measures for the government of the town without
being hindered by others about the appointment and rights
of ttie prosident of the corporation (Consoli delie Arti), the
cliMCe of the deputy of the people, the esportation of com
uid salt, the care of the keys of the gates of the town (upon
wUcb the king reserved for himself the right of decision),
uid measures against retail merchants and usurers. ~Wliat
Perdinand the Catholic in the year 1507 granted to the
Ne&politan people was confirmed by his daughter Joanna
ten years afterwards, and in 1522 by Charles V., with many
extensive privileges, during the government of Cliarles de

Such were the forms with which the municipal government
of Naples was conducted under the viceroys. The organisa-
tion of it might be briefly described as follows. In the five
noble Sediles, tiie members of the registered families chose the
Bletto, or deputy. In the Sedile of tiie people, a particular mode
of eleclion existed. Each Ottina cliose two Procurators, who,
b number eight-and-fi%, met together on an appointed day,
in S. Agostino, and drew lots for four of their company,
tcig;ether with a secretary, to collect the votes. Each person
wrote down a name, and every name had one vote. Six
Mil of those persons who had the most votes were drawn for
Iw lot, and of these six, according to an old custom, one was
eJcdted as deputy. But under the Spanish government the
right of appointing a deputy out of the six belonged (o the
Viceroy, Meanwhile, he was not obliged to (lo it after that
SuppliuLtiuoi c gratic, kc. Tutini, and at ntltcr places in tho

74 THE CABAFAS OF KADDALONL

the Collateral Council had already elected one, as 'the Duked
Ossuna did once in a similar case, when he ordered a new
election. Thus was the person, in whose hands the interests
of the people were placed, in i&ct only a puppet in the hands
of the Viceroy. And it has but too often happened that this
" Eletto del Popolo," when disputes have arisen amongst the
Sediles themselves, or on other occasions, has made himself
remarkable for the very worst kind of severity, as was the
case during the struggle about the Inquisition under Don
Pedro de Toledo with Domenico Terracina, and during the
Masaniello rebellion with Andrew Nauclerio and others.
The confirmation of the Eletto took place on the festival of
Corpus Christi ; he received possession of his office in the
Augustinian monastery, and the chapter, and the privileges,
and the keys of the town, were delivered up to him. In the
divisions on common business the deputy of the people had
a vote, the same as the deputy of the nobles, and voted last
Moreover, his authority was great ; he named the presidents of
the corporations, administered justice in cases of police,
appointed the notaries of the town, represented the people
upon all occasions of business, as well as of ceremony.
Meanwhile, in the course of time, many of these rights were
diminished, or entirely abolished.

The six Eletti, or deputies, represented the nobility and the
people. They had their tribunal in the monastery of San
Lorenzo, which was therefore the seat of the municipality.
But the Sediles appointed also a Syndic, whose office
changed from year to year, and from one association to
another : he was a representative of the whole nobility of the
kingdom, in which capacity he took precedence over every
class, every dignity, every office — a name without any real
power, and principally made use of on festive and cere-
monial occasions. The authority belonging to the Sediles
was considerable and extensive, and for the exercise of the
same, and for the management of business, they appointed
different deputations or offices, which were calculated for the
separate departments of the government of the town. The
edicts of the most faithful town of Naples were issued collec-
tively from these offices. The privileges of the town, amongst
which those bestowed by King Ferdinand the Catholic and the
Emperor Charles V. were the most important, and which

SEDiLES AS 6tnj3rrn:TE3 for i'akliauents. 75

fwe cojifimied by every monarch upon his accession to the
Anme, were intrusted to the guardianship of ttie magistrates
#Ute Sediles.

The more the Spanish rulers were disposed to weukeo the
great political power of the nobles, the more privileges they
nanted them in the municipal government of the capital.
Ibe mure ihey wished to strengthen the partition wall between
Ae nobility and the people, to make the nobles hatefiil to the
ptople, and to deprive them of real influence, so much the
careful were they to leave a free scope for the feudal
at in the government of the town. They iliveried a
gnat part of the odium from themselves ; they broi^ht for-
»utl the nobility when it was a question of measures which
were coQtwify either to the wishes or the interests of the
jteople [ they annj filiated the resistance of the nobles', if indeed
Ibej met with any, by promoting quarrels and opposition
mongst their own body, and looked on quietly from behind
the xenee at the stn^gle between the nobility and the people,
« at the quMTels of the nobles between themselves, certain
Hut in either case it would be for tlieir advantage. The
jnliey of liie Spaniards iiad eouuEted in this for two centuries i
Ea Bach a manner they had for the space of two centuries
made use of the kingdom of Naples merely for Spanish pur-
pases, and caused one revolution after another with impunity,
mdeed had |>rofited by them to increase their power. The
tit^jierfect constitution of the country just described, and the
■ctive diaaeti^ons kept up by it between the nobles and the
people, answered their purpose very well, for the SedUes were,
•I we have said, not merely municipal authorities.

The appearance of estensive and importuiit authority
vErich was granted to them was just the point which tlie
ggnmroeiit knew how moet skilfully to profit by for its own
purposes i in ordinary cases the power of granting taxes was
|dued in their hands.

It luu already been said that the Sediles took more and
more the place of the common parliaments; for the viceroys
were accustomed in general only to summon parliament
when they could not carry through their views by means of
the Sediles, Even then it was not always easy to conquer the
of^ioaitioD of the barons, who, eitiier by the reserve of their
fuU powers, prevented, or at least delayed, the meeting of the

76 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

great conventions, or even in these actual conventions sought
to frustrate the proposals of the government. At one time
the parliaments were summoned to deliberate upon public
affairs in general, and especially with reference to legislation,
but under the Spanish rule their only task was to procure
money ; for this alone were they sununoned, for this solely
were they consulted. They might struggle as much as they
liked, but in the end they were obliged to submit to wlu^t
was unavoidable, and they had but to determine amongst
themselves in what manner the money was to be raised.
The form of the great parliaments was much changed since
the times of Alphonso I. of Arragon. In the first parliament
which he held after the conquest of Naples, only the Barons
and the Syndics of the royal towns appeared ; the Bishops and
Abbots had, it is not known for what reason, lost the privi-
lege.* The more the grants of money, known under the
name of donative, of which we shall spes[k presently, became,
from an extraordinary measure, an ordinary one, so much the
more were the parliaments a mere formality. How little real
importance they had is proved amongst other things by the
circumstance that the Barons, when they were prevented
from appearing, or had no mind to come, were represented
by substitutes, and indeed mostly by lawyers, who were
in the interests of the Viceroys, and did all that they re-
quired, by which they often exceeded the power intrusted to
them, and all to make themselves acceptable to the ruler, and
to obtain places and money. As it was inciunbent upon the
Syndic of the five noble Sediles to make inquiry into the ful-
ness of their powers, he could, when he did his duty, prevent
abuses. But if he also was gained by the Viceroy, or timid,
or ignorant, then it was difficult to check fraud and arbitrary
proceedings, and in general the opposition of single noblemen
or sediles availed pennanen y little or npthing.f

How it fared with the parliaments may be perceived by
the account of a Tuscan agent of the meeting held, in Janu«
ary 1630, by the Duke of Medina. On Thursday, he says,}

* Annali della Citt^ di Napoli di Don Francesco Capecelatro. Naples.
1849. P. 39. (In the year 1634.)

t Capecelatro, and at other places.

j Vincenzo Medici, 18th January, 1639. At Palermo, and at other
places. P. 319.

r

r^lHLIAMENT DJ S.\N LOEESZO.

the Lord Viceroy went fo San Loretizo ; none of the Ijirils
were wanting, except the Prince of Bisignano San Severino,
who stayed away because Don Tiberio Cafara had the first
j^ace. TTin excellency spoke well, and made a great impre»-
Bion, and then presented the royal letter, which was read
alood by the imperial Secretary, the Duke of Caivano (Bari)e),
ituiding. The Syndic, who laid claim to a chair, went out
during' the reading of it, and waited ia an adjoining room-
On Friday they all met at Sau Lorenzo, and according to
eiBtoni the Syndic sat down. The first who spoke was the
Uarquis of Fuscaldo (Spinclli), as Grand Justiciary; he
discoureed upon the wants of the crown, and advised assist-
tnce to be given to it. After him, the Grand Seneschal,
Duke of Bovino (Guevara), wto spoke against the desired
graut of a mUlion (ducats) ; tbe country could no louger
bear the burden. The Prince of San Severino sent in his vole ;
what was possible must be done, but the distress ought to be
con»dered. The Viceroy proposed that the Barons should
pay 8 percentage on the value of their fiefs, and otlered
ibr his own possessions, namely those lands he held in right of
hia wife, Anna Carafa, a contributioa of 40,000 ducatx.
The whole nobility opposed this motion, ao that nothing more
eould be said about it. It was then proposed to raise upon
every fuoco, or fireplace, in the kingdom, a yearly duty of
ax carlins, instead of the present one of sixteen grans, to
which was replied, that this new duty might be paid, but
that the other securities would fail. There was no serious
question of a new duty on salt, but of a (ax of one carline on
evray tomolo (bushel of com), which would bring in the sum
of 1,800,000 ducats. Many other proposals were made;
Don Fietro Orsini, Prince of Cmica, wanted the Barons to
fp»e up a quarter of their inconoe for four years ; only one
hundred and thirty titled noblemen agreed with him, ajid
titoB made themselves knuwn as- true fiiends to the peoide.
The Harqub of Fuscaldo, on the contrary, carried through his
plan concerning an assessment of the whole community :
taaay of the Barons and most of the deputies of the towns
supported the proposal. In fine, a tax of one carline was
laid iipcin a bushel of flour, and every household was ordered
ia takii a bushel of salt at twelve carlines. Whoever wanted
more might buy it of those who had it in superfluity. The

J

1

L

78 THE CAEAFA3 OF MADDALONI.

former taxes of the fireplaces were to be discontinued. Never
had a. parliament been held which had been su contrary to
the interest:: of the whole people as this one. Whilst the
Barons knew how to avoid, making any particular pledge,
even the town of Naples remained free irom et^pecial taxattony
for which reason it raised no objection to the grant of the Bait-
tax, by which its commerce must suffer. If the donative
was granted as a proof of gratitude on the part of the crown,
a longer or shorter list of favours was obtained : amongst
these favours, the Viceroys did not forget requests for their
own continunnce in power, aJid accidental pin-money for their
wives. Thus in the year mentioned, 1639, trifleti to the amount
of fifty thousand ducats were allowed on the part of the
Parliament for the already immeusely rich Duchess of Medina.
Thus the Parliament was dissolved with the con;H.'iousiiesB of
duty fuJflUed.

In the Franciscan conventual monastery of San Lorenzo
the room may be seen in which the Parliaments were holden
irom the times of the Angevius till the old constitution of
Haples ceased. The locality had been from ancient times
famous and important. Here the forum and the Augustinian
Basilica, and the temple of Castor and Pollux, embarraai
the antiquarians. King Charles I. began the church of Uan
Lorenzo, but the spot always retained the name of the old
market; and in the monastery the deputies of the town
afflembled, as well as those of the coiuitry. The' chapter-
home was used by the latter, the windows of which open upon
the arcade in the garden of the monastery ; the roof, of GothiD
construction, is, like the walls, adorned with arabesques and
pictures of monks, and is supported by two pillars of granite.
Here King Alphonijo of Arragon caused his natural son
Ferdinand to be reci^nized as his successor. The Hefectoiy
was the place where the deputies met together to present the
King with the donative; the Count of Ollvarez had the
twelve provinces of the kingdom painted on the walls in
fresco, and an inscription designates the elder Count of
Lemos, in the year 1600, as a restorer of the " Forum ad
publiea Kegni negocia a Carolo I. eonstructum, temporia
iniuria pene cullabens." Where the notary's room now is,
in a locality never worthy of the municipal government (^
a great and powerful city, was held the tribunal Qf Saa

PAELIAMENT IX SAN LOBESZO. 79

Lorenzo, namely, the office of the community, atid the court
. of the deputies of the Sediles, or, according to our phraseolc^,
' the Senate Houae of the town. Over the name h raised a
tower, built of large sU>nes — in later times it has been nrna-
nented with marble statues of the holy St. Lawrence; and
tte belfry of the church, but originally it was the tower of
' the ooiuoiunity, begun under the first Angevins, and finished
nder Ferdinand of Arragon. Here was placed the town
trtillery under the guardiant-hip of the Sediles, here the
privileges of the town were kept, here the bells called the
Btizen militia to arms, here in many a rebellion of the most
Uthful burghers the populace w«re summoned to delibera-
tnn and action. Its consequence waa not merely owing to its
being the seat of the principal city authorities ; its advan-
' togeous position in the upper port of the town made the
. Bonastery and belfry of San Lorenzo one of the most im-
'{nrlsnt situations of Naples ; and even to this day they both
elaim more historical interest than the place by the church,
with the ornamented statue of St. Cajetan of Tiene, erected
ky the Viceroy Don Pietro d'Aragoia, in memory of the
, great pestilence, whilst he adorned the extremely projecting
fiifade of the Theatine church of San Paolo with both the
MUgle pillars wliich belonged to the portico of the temple
■f Castor and Pollux, and have remained there since the
MTthquake of 1688.

Thus were the parliaments constituted, so were they con-
'-Toked, and thus was the business carried on. But the
tSediles oiien supplied their place ; only it was difGcult to
■wake them agree, and at times this was only accomplished
liter violent stru^les. The Sediles of Nido and Capuano
ihrays showed the greatest independence of mind in resisting
I tiw Viceroys ; they represented, as has been remarked before,
' the most illustrious of the nobility. Whilst the votes of the
I ather Sediles were often venal, th^ were quite incorruptible.
iTbe Viceroys indeed succeeded in makingtliem harmless; for
vheu tiiey had obtained the consent of the remaining four,
the (^position of the two others was vain, because two-thirds
'■f me votes carried the point. Thus it happened under the
'Duke of Uedina, in the year 1643, when for the grant of a
donative, which was to be raised by means of a new tax on
flour, the purchase of votes was carried on to such an extent,

J

1

L

80 THE CAHAFAS OF MADDALOSI.

that Portanova, Porto Popolo, and at last, after many efforts,
Montagua, were gained. The kuights uf Nido and Capuano
issued a declaration of nuUit; against the decree, and iateiuted
to send a deputy to Madrid, to save the freedom of their votes
as well as their privileges, which the Viceroy meanwhile
kuew how to thwart.* Sometimes the opposition was so
violent, that even a raan of so imperious a nature aa the Duke
of Ossuna could not conquer it.| The populace were for
thia reason devoted lo both the knights of the Sediles named,
Bs they testified during the rebellion of the years 1647-48.
When the Sedilea were summoned by the Viceroys for the
purposes above mentioned, they el'ected their deputies, always
four in number, who then met at San Lorenzo. By them
were appointed the ambassadors to the king, when it was a
question either of thanks or of petitions— missions, which the
Viceroys either knew faow to make use of for their own designs,
bet»use they themselves proposed the person who was to be
ambassador, or else laboured to prerent them. Lastly, there
was, besides the parliaments and the meetings of the deputies
of the Sediles, a kind of previous parliament, which met
t^^ther twice mider Charles V., &iu] one was summoned in
September, 1640, by the Duke of Medina, in the church of
St. Oliveto, conusting only of barons. Naples at that time
was threatened by a Frencli fleet ; the government wanted
money, and the Viceroy wished to avoid for the moment,
on account of its formalities, the convocation of the great
parliament of the kingdom. But the barons quarrelled forth-
with so violently, that tiie meeting was dissolved without any
result having been obtained,}

The treatment which the Viceroys inflicted upon the
barons of the greatest rank, when they could not conquer their
resistance, «ihows us clearly in what light Spanish despotism
looked upon the semblance of a constitution, which was
generally of no other use to the Spaniards than as an occasion
of dii'erting from themselves the hatred of the people. Kven
the offic« of an Eletto did jmt protect the individual from

' Vinccnzo Mtilici Naples, &lli and 29l]i Sept. UiiX At PiOonno,
A. A 0, Pp. J33, 331.

+ CorreBpondence of the Agents of Crliuo, Saplcs, 13th Dec. IGl*.
At PtJcrmo and other places. P. 226.
■ o Aiuiftli, p. 217-

SPAIN'S OPPRESSION OP THE SOBILITV, 81

imprisonment : under the government of Medina tlie SedtJes
flsked for such a privilege as a favour. If the officers of
justice could not penetrate into the Sediles, or the tribunal of
6u) Lorenzo itself, they seized the deputies as they were
leaving it. The Marquis of Mondejar, caused the deputies to
be eondemned to a seven years' banishmKnt at Capri, because
they had sent a messeng;er to tiie court of Spain without his
l^owledge. The Count of Olivarez had two persona of
illustrious birth apprehended, Caserta (Caetani) and Vietri
(Sangro). TheCountofLemos forbade the Sediles to assemble
without his especial permission. The Count of Benevento
had once, to win over the people, fixed the price of bread so
low, that the municipality of Naples, who were obliged to
provide the corn, incurred debt upon debt, while they lost daily
2000 ducats. When the Eletto of Nido, Ceaare Pignatelli, who,
a» the oldest of a deputation sent to the Viceroy, acted aa
speaker, declared that, if it had not been for joy upon the birth
rf the Infanta, they would have appeared in mourning', the
Viceroy answered, that he knew not what prevented him
from having him thrown out of window; he caused him
to be oonfiued to his own house, and ordered the Sediles to
choose another deputy. Then indeed the citizens threatened
to inform the king of it, and the Count apologized : he had
not meant to offend the community, but only to punish the
boldness of one individual. Lastly, how little consideration
the government had for the nobility and for tlie constitution la
shown by the circumstance that, in the year 162S, the Duke
of Alva suddenly collected, on his own absolute authority, an
ertnuwdinary tax of two carlinef on a fuoco, without iiaving
asked for the consent of the parliament or of the Sediles.*

As lon^ as the Spanish government lasted the feudal ele-
ment predominated throughout the constitution of the country :
little inclined as this government was to feudalism, with which
it unwillingly divid^ its power. Prom the earliest times
of the House of Arragon the endeavour to curb and op-
<pKm the power of the great nobility was manifest — an
attempt which, under Ferdinand I., as well as under Charles
v.. caused the ruin of the greatest families. But whilst the
Or«ini's of Tara:ito, and the Sa.&severini'a of Salerno tost a

82 "tEE CABAFAS OF MADDALOM.

power which had more than once made them rivals to the royal
authority ; whilst the tendency to promote the liberation of cities
and places from the feudal power was expressed by numberless
measures and decrees ; whilst the jealousy of the viceroys of
the nobility made them avail themselves of every opportunity
to weaken its authority, the number of fiefs and fiefholders
increased visibly in a really frightful manner. The contradic-
tion is explained when we take into consideration the financial
relations. The government regarded the feudal system as an
affair of finance, and sought, by selling and buying, to get as
much money as possible. The measures of finance, on the
contrary, contained no political principle in them; and if
these principles were constantly injured, the viceroys reckoned
solely and entirely upon the idea that any violent revolution
would place the means in their hands of regaining their appa-
rently lost authority. They continued the work only during
the line of the illegitimate Arragonese ; of the earlier dynas-
ties only the Hohenstaufens had really tried to keep feudalism
within bounds. The Angevins, indeed, sold some privileges
to the towns, whose capital they wished to secure from being
sold to the barons ; but in the midst of the revolutions which
the kingdom underwent under the French dynasty, the privi-
leges of the towns were in general but little regarded. Ferdi-
nand I., the worst enemy of the nobles, deprived them of many
of their fiefe ; but some of these he was himself obliged to
g^ve again to families of his party, and some of them returned
under his successors to their old state.

Under the government of the Count of Miranda, in the
year 1686, a census was taken of the communities. Of the
1973 communities then reckoned up in the kingdom of Naples
(under Charles V. they were reckoned at 1563, and in the
year 1579, 1619, which appears too little in comparison with
the above niunber), nine-and-sixty were royal places ; all the
rest, that is one thousand nine hundred and four, were fiefs !
In the Terra del Lavoro the number of royal (crown) places
amounted to nine, the feudal ones to 197 ; in the Principato
of Citra, 13 of those and 251 of these; in the Principato
Ultra, a royal place, 13 belonged to the Hospice of the Nun-
ziata; in Naples, 159 were feudal tenures; in Basilicata, 5
were royal and 104 feudal ; in Calabria, Citra, and Ultra, 5
and 9 of the first, 159 and 153 of the last ; in Terra d'Otranto,

r

SELF-REDEMPTION OF COMMUNITIES,

7 of those, 169 of these ; in Terra di Ban, 3 out of 51 ; in
.bothche Abruzzi,4crown places, 466 feudal; in Molise, lout
,of 104 ; lastly, in Capitana, the proportion was 5 to 76. It
-iDUBt be con^dered that we are here only treating of actual
etmununities, viz. of cities and districts vilh their independent
-government ; not at all of the numerous villages or casales
dependent upon them, of which, in a circle of twelve miles,
twenty-ibur belonged merely to one capital. Also, after the
violent destruction or peaceful incorporation of the great fiefs —
those, for instance, of the dukedom of Bari, which, after the
death of Queen Bona of Poland, returned to Philip II., the
OrM&ian principality of Taranto and the Sanseverinian
principality of Salerno — there were besides baronial states,
like those of the Counts of Tagliacozzo and Abba, on the Lake
of Fucina, in the Abruzzi ; the Orsini ruled over forty-four
jdacea in the country which Conrad of Swabia subdued: those
if the Count of Celano with thirty-four places, the Count of
Maiera with twenty-five, not to mention others, like the great
Itoweesious of Acquaviva, Caracciolo of Avellino, &c.

Wlien Charles V. was at Naples, the fact that the sove-
lagnty was weakened by such an extension of the feudal
■ystem did not escape him. One of the measures which he
took to guard against it was by bestowing on the conmiunities,
in certain cases, the privilege of buying their ireedom from
iheat feudal tenures, and so to place them under the immediate
power of the crown. This was called the proclamation of the
royal dom^, or, indeed, also of liberty. A number of com-
muDities hastened to make use of the privilege, so tliat soon
•tine nobility and the lawyera soug'ht to stop it. They went bo
&r B» to »ay that the servant once bought could not redeem
Inmselfi Under the Count of JMirondu the limit of a year was
^ipointed as the time for Bucb a work, the consequence of
wluch was, that the feudatories and cummunilies mutually out-
bid and ruined one another, whilst the treasury only gained.
Tiins Amalfi, in the year 1599, paid 216,160 ducats for its so-
called freedom ; Somma, a small vil lage at Vesuvius, 1 1 2,000 ;
and others in tiie same proportion, or, to speak more correctly,
disproportion. The communitita were so desirous to free
tbmselves from these feudal relations, that sometimes they
did not at all consider the burden of debt which they imposed
imon themselves. To clear it off, indeed, tbey sold their Go-

84 THE CARAFAS OF liADDALOKI.

belle, or property of the community ; or the opulent inhabit-
ants mortgaged their landed property ; or the municipalities
gave up again some of their dependent villages to be fiefs.
The consequence of wliich often was, that the resources of the
communities were thrown by these ransoms into such a degree
of confusion, that notliing remained to them but to sell them-
selves anew. They then prayed that they might at least be
sold to kind and christian lonls, that their ruin might not be
complete.* But it also happened that the government often
resolved, firom motives of its own, upon the re-alienation of
communities that had ransomed themselves. These abuses
happened especially in the seventeenth century, when money
embarrassments had increased to such an extent that the vice-
roys adjudged, almost publicly, the remaining villages which
belonged to the crown to the highest bidders. The court had
discovered a new alchemy, says the Tuscan agent, in the year
1606.f ^' It sells aU its domains, with the exception of the for-
tresses and suspected places. The Prince of Conca wished to
buy Salerno; but the Sorrentians defended themselves so
valiantly, and produced their privileges, according to which
the Arragonese kings could not even grant the investiture of
their town to their younger sons. Perhaps they would not
have been able to make good their just rights, sJthough the
five noble sediles had declared in their favour, and that they
had for their lawyers the best advocates of Naples, if the court
had not been gained by a present of ten thousand ducats.
Bepulsed here, the Prince of Conca obtained Salmona ; but
scarcely had it transpired when the inhabitants roused them-
selves, and collected money for their ransom. Thus, in one
way or another, the court succeeded in its object of getting
money. A similar opef%ition, only on a larger scale, was
made by the second Duke of Alcala in the year 1630, who
was incessantly pressed by his court for fresh supplies of
money, with the most public infringement of justice, because
many of the places sold had either their express privileges to
show, or had effected their ransom from feudal tenures by their
own money. The highest authorities often connived at the
fact that the communities often reserved to themselves tha

* Winspeare, Remarks, p. 998, and at other places,
t Letter of Fabrizio Bamaba. At Palermo, and at other places.
P. 262.

RE-ALIKNATIoN OF COllMCNITIEa. 85

light of rebeJlion in llie name of the h'ny to have a guarantee
l^uiist the rajiacity of the treasury,* Such circumstances are
tM remarkable not to deserve ounBideration in particular cases.
Two of tiiese cases may illustrate the mode of proceeding —
Anuilfi and Amantea offer examplea. Antonio Todesciiini
Ptccolomini, son of the sister of Pope Pius II., was invested in
tbe year 1461, out of gratitude to the Pope, and in recognition
of hie own services, with thefidf of Amalfi by Ferdinand I., an
inveetitiu'e which included the adjacent places of Bavello,
UiDiLri, and Xramonto. The hand of a natural daughter of
tike king's, Donna Maria d'Aragona, was t)estowed at the same
time upon this founder of the race of the Piceolomini's d'Am-
foaa, Dukes of Amalfi. When iu the year 1584 the escheat
of (he fief by the death of the heir took place, his mother,
Uaria d'AvaloB, wanted to sell it to a near relation, Marcan
lonio del Carretto, then to the Carafaa of Stigliano. Kever-
IbelesB, the community made good tJieir right of purchase,
nd, as baa been mentioned, ransomed themselves by the sum
of 216,160 ducats. The payment seems considerable, but the
ttle of some detached feudal rights to private individuals pio-
luued the sum fourfold, and more. Thus it remained till the
jtai 1642, when King Philip IV. granted Amalfl, with aJl
't» royal rigiits and revenues, to the Marshal Ottavio Piccolo-
nini : " in acknowledgment of the many and great services of
ibe «une to the royal erown and to the House of Austria, in
Inly. Flanders, and Germany." The deputies of AmalH
(Dlered a protest at the Collateral Council, and knew so well
bow to manage their business, that the investiture was recalled,
■hhougii it had already been followed up by a royal letter
tUnased to the viceroy, the Duke of Medina.t

The town of Amantea, in Calabria, answers to its name.
It H situated in a strong position on a rocky promontory on
tbe oottttt of the Mediterranean sea, almost as if on an island.
Wbetber tliis portion gave its citizens a feeling of security, or
t^the Calabrian character, always inclined to resist actual or
■qipDsed restraint, came out with greater energy, Amantea
W had, both in ancient and modern times, a peculiar fate.
Ori^imlly belonging to tlie Angevin party, the town set up

" Wimpeanj, p. 55.

+ H. Csmen, Storia iklla Cittii c Costicra di Amoia. Naples,

i

86 THE CARAFAB OF HADDALONI.

the bftnner of Femandino, aflter the univei8al ruin which fol-
lowed the arrival of Charles VUI., when the French king
granted it to Monseigneur Persi, one of his followers.* When
the Duke of Alcalk sold it, in the year 1630, to the Prince of
Belmont, it did not submit to the unjust decree, but defended its
just rights with arms and a revision ; and the same town proved
its loyalty in the year 1806, when Joseph Bonaparte took the
kingdom from the Bourbons. Defended by a handful of par-
tizans, whose whole artillery consisted of three bad cannons,
they resisted the assaults of the French forty days, and would
have done so still longer, if the want of provisions had not
compelled them to make an honourable capitulation.l

The relations which the barons bore to their vassals aie
most clearly shown by the decree which King Charles V.
issued for the protection of his subjects. Even the introduc-
tion of the Pragmatic Sanction indicates the condition of the
country. Since he had passed over the boundaries of his
Sicilian kingdom, to this side of the Faro, says the monarch,
the complaints of his people about the severity of his feuda-
tories sounded continually in his ears, and it appeared hard
that those whom he had defended by his arms from external
enemies should be op'pressed by their own countrymen. All
usurped^ rights that were not expressly contained in earlier
grants were to be abolished for ever, and no statute to be
pleaded in their favour. The common pastures and woods of
the community were again to be common property, and not
belong as a private possession to the landlord ; enclosures and
the plantation of new woods were forbidden. The subjects
were permitted a free sale for their crops, without the barons
having the right of pre-emption, or of a previous sale of the
produce of their lands ; that they should grind flour without
impediment, bake bread, keep taverns, and travel, without
being bound by any other personal services that were not men-
tioned in the original feudal act. At the same time, on the
29th of March, 1536, the Fmperor established a commission
to inquire into grievances, and to abolish them, from the deci-
sions of which no appeal could be made. How little these
measures checked the evil is evid^it £rom the fact that the

* Gommines, chap, ziii., and at other places.

t CoUetta, Storia del Beame di Napoli. Book vi., chap, zziii., and at
other places.

GRANTING OF TITLES. 87

commons of the realm brought forward the same grievances,
and laid the same papers before the feudal commission which
was instituted by Joachim Murat, as they had opce brought
forward and laid before the delegates of Charles V.* How
shrewdly the exchequer dived into everything, with what
harpy claws the terribly tormenting, impoverishing jurispru-
dence of those days seized upon both complainers and defend-
ants, of which, alas, even to our time, deep traces have remained
both in spirit and in practice ! it has fastened itself to all the
relations between the feudatory and the vassal, which may be
seen by the catalogue composed by the abovementioned feudal
eommission of the privileges, of the burdens, and gravamina
of the' feudal system. Now, it had in general maintained
itself in one form or another, either as actual service, or as
money contributions, till the time of the Bourbon dominion —
a catalogue of which the first letter of the alphabet alone con-
nsts of 90 articles.l

But the system, which attained to greater perfection at the
accession of Philip II. to the throne, was to the highest degree
pernicious, not only to the communities, but to the real in-
terests of the nobility itself, which suffered from it, and indeed
in various ways. The more productive the fiefs were, the
more zealously did those persons who possessed wealth by
offices, by farming tolls, by trade, or any other way, solicit for
them. This took place to an unheard-of degree in the first
half of the 17th century: never were so many places sold,
never were so many titles granted. Every one wanted to be
a prince or a duke, or at least a marquis or an earl. No
regard was paid any longer to birth, and the fundamental
principle of all genuine aristocracy was destroyed. The per-
sons who had been raised in such a manner were in general
the severest and most unmerciful masters, and thus it hap-
pened that in the revolution of the year 1647 they seized the
com belonging to almost all those persons who had lately
acc}mred riches and titles, whilst that of many of the ancient
fiunilies of nobility remained untouched, with the exception of
the excesses which were committed during the riots of the
people in the capital, which differed in many respects from
the rebellion of the feudal vassals in the provinces. Whilst

♦ Winspeare, pp. 47-50, and at other places. Bemarks, pp. 77-85.
t Ibid., Remarks, pp. 151-213.

83 THE CABAFAS OF BiADDALONL

the purchase of fiefs was generally accompanied by very
oppressive conditions, because the government only considered
the momentary interests of the treasury, and often a profit of
4 per cent; was taken to begin upon, under such relations a
quota difficult to be obtained, the purchasers, on their side, in
most cases, as may be conceived, took care also only of their
pecuniary interest, how to extort as much money as possible.
Hence the fearful. oppression of the subjects, besides the re-
peated bad transactions of the feudatories. The mortgage of
incomes and rights, not unfrequently even before the purchase-
money had been paid down, happened so often, that the chamber
of the Sommaria established a government commission, which
bears some resemblance to the Credit Institution of the provin-
cial directions of later times. But this patrimonial adndnistra-
tion ruined most of the families completely, since they fell into
the hands of lawyers, who in Naples have had a bad name for
centuries, for nowhere has the nature of the relations of pro-
perty, in consequence of the partition of land, given rise to a
great number of trials. Thus the mania for titles, and the
struggles to live suitably to their new rank, caused many of
these rich upstarts to be as quickly reduced again to b^;gary.
The worst evil was, that the commxmities practically gained
nothing by it, and were continually changing their masters.
For the facility with which this outward appearance of rank
was obtained in the kingdom attracted buyers every time. A
peculiar arrangement in paying the tribute made their change
often particularly disadvantageous to the communities ; namely,
after that the quota of the tribute had been apportioned, the
communities were answerable to the treasury for the payment.
Now the apportionment was put upon the individual members
of the communities, by which the largest share fell upon the
feudal lords, as the most important proprietors. But in many
cases the feudal lords knew how to avoid the payment : the
communities, who met with no favour, were compelled to dis-
charge it for them, and thus a rate of debt was incurred, which,
owing to the absolute dependence in which the communities
were kept by the barons, proved extraordinarily oppressive ;
or else the barons practised usury with sums for which they
were indebted to the communities, and made them give securities
for larger sums, so that these last were never in a condition to
unprove their financial arrangements. Since the result of this

MONEY TRANSACTIONS. 89

tnkd in tjie communities being unable to fulfil their obliga*
tioiis to the treasury, the viceroys were compelled in the last
klfof the 17th century to resort to measures which forbade
the alioiation of the revenues .and possessions of the conunu*
nities, and ordered a revision of all similar contracts, but prac-
tically these edicts had but little result.*

These forced money-relations, of which mention has just
been made, lead us to the consideration of the pecuniary con-
dition of the kingdom in general. It was the most lamentable
that could be imagined, and the evil increased daily, owing to
the system pursued by government, which will be more clearly
elucidated by an explanation of the system of taxation by
fimmng the tolls. If it was a question of extraordinary taxes,
the capital was sold whilst the ways and means of getting the
money were left to the purchaser ; but with respect to the ordi-
nary taxes, such as those of the customs, &c., the proceeds
themselves were farmed. In the first case, a public debt was
lonned, like that of Monti's, whose system was brought to
such relative perfection in the 16th century in Italy, with the
particular clauses that the collection of interests on the side of
the subjects should not be executed by the government ; in the
second case, it was the usual way of farming tolls, as was the
system in France, more than elsewhere. All the capitalists in
the kingdom had money to put out, private individuals and
families no less than corporations. Sometimes they were com-
pelled to do it by the government, for the imperiousness with
which it proceeded in all business, as also in that of finance,
took away from prudent people the desire to buy such rents —
the more so as the viceroys did not hesitate to lower the rents
when it was difficult to pay them, as was done by the second
Count of Lemos in the year 1611, although the parliament
and the town exclaimed against it, and the Jesuits and Thea-
tines preached against it, who were punished by the with-
drawal of their licence to preach.| How wretchedly it fared
with those who had farmed tolls, in and after the revolution of
the year 1647, will be mentioned in the further course of this
history.

But the farmers of toUs, like the bankers, were in general

* Winspeare, p. 57, and at other places.

t Letters of liie Asent of Urbino, of the 3rd and 26th March, 1611.
At Palermo, and at other places. P. 223.

90 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

foreigners, and most of tbem Grenoese. In the Genoese the
pecuuar spirit of mone^ "^xaders appears to have been incorpo-
rated from the earliest periods of the middle ages, far more
than in the rest of the mercantile population of Italy, viz. the
Venetians, Lombards, and Tuscans. Even in the midst of his
pomp and luxury the Genoese calculated; and if the long
narrow strip of territory belonging to the republic forced him
into maritime commerce, the peculiarity of his character
pointed him out especially for banking business. Although
the great and most interesting banking establishment, that of
St. George, has long ceased to exist, to this day the immense
old grey palace, with its gigantic saloon adorned with images
of deserving men, reminds one powerfully of this state within
a state, which, like the East India Company, had also its foreign
possessions beyond Italy, freighted and armed vessels, sent
out troops, and waged war — an establishment, the existence
of which is inseparably connected with that of finance, and of
the system of public debts.* It is easy to be understood, that
in so arduous a struggle, though engaged in transactions of so
grand a character, a thirst for gain and contracted views could
not be wanting. Hence the haired borne to these republicans in
those parts of Italy where they had much business to transact.

So it was in Naples, whose inhabitants were far inferior
to them in mercantile activity. Since the reign of King
Philip II. the Genoese had had in their hands the largest
portion of the money transactions of the kingdom. They
were the people who kept most of the banks ; the catalogues
of private banks at the beginning of the 17th century con-
tains almost only Genoese names. They were the persons
who speculated most in farming the revenues of the state ; the
Spaniards gave them the preference, because they held out the
prospect of greater securities. But in the same proportion
that their payments were more certain, they were the more
inexorable in their demands. They were therefore perse-
cuted by the people, whose officers came daily into contact
with them, with a fearful hatred, and with sanguinary abuse
and scorn. And not only by the people were the inhabitants of
the Ligurian shore treated with hatred, scorn, and contempt :
they were not better dealt with by others, who knew the

♦ Carlo Cimeo, Memorie sopra Tantico debito pnbblico, mutui e Banca
di Son Giorgio in Genova. Genoa, 1842.

THE GEKOESE. 91

ndnoiis effects of this exhausting system, by which they emu-
kted the Spanish goveniment in the endeavour to carry all
tbe gold out of the country, in which, alas ! they only suc-
ceeded too well. Genoa was called the hell of Spain ; the
Gtnoese merchants were compared to leeches, who deprived
tie whole Spanish monarchy of all the vigour of life (for not
Naples only was visited by this nuisance), and fattened them-
edres more than the eels of the bogs of Comacchio, or of
the lake of Bolsena, from which Pope Martin IV. was obliged
to deanse himself by fasting in purgatory.* Everything fell
into their hands, banks, state papers, debts of the commu-
nides ; in short, all there was to negotiate about. But they
woe very prudent, and often excited the anger of the person
in authority. The second Duke of Ossuna wanted to let the
CQstom-house of Foggia to the Genoese Naselli, who,
» he did not think the business a promising one, excused
ImmBelf on the plea that he had other tolls to farm : he was
eommanded to leave the country within two days on pain of
death, and the only remark made by the chronicler is, " Truly,
these Genoese devour the kingdom, and will only trade with
large security and to their own great advantage, f When a
year afterwards the same viceroy wanted them to advance him
two himdred thousand ducats upon a gabel, and they refused
to do it, he had three hundred thousand sequestered in a rea-
sonable manner."^ Even the bank of St. George had the
reputation of usurious practices. Many of these Genoese
fimilies have remained in Naples, and attained to the highest
honours. Amongst them are to be mentioned the Rava-
sdiieri, who are considered as a branch of the Fieschis of
Lavagna, who opened a bank at Naples, under the govern-
ment of the Cardinal Granvelle in 1573, which failai; but
they recovered themselves so much at the beginning of the
following century, that they became Dukes of Cardinale and
Giri&lco, Princes of Satriano and Belmonte, and the highest
distinction of the House of Hapsburg, the Golden Fleece, was be-
stowed upon the Maestro di Campo, Don Ettore Ravaschieri.§

* Dante, Purgatory, canto zxiv. ver. 23.

+ Zazzera, Gfovemo del Duca d' Ossuna. At Palermo. P. 520 (to
the year 1517).
t Ibid., p. 537.
I G. Campanile, Notizie di NobiltJi. Naples, 1672. P. 776.

92 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONI.

The money-market was almost perpetually in a state of
embarrassment, the percentage and agio enormous, and com-
mercial intercourse checked in every way. The sudden dis-
turbance in money matters of the years 1848-49, and the
£ulure hardly now to be conceived of the specie, have given
us an insight into the circumstances of earlier times of which
younger persons can form no adequate idea. What is now
in great measure a transitory was then a chronic evil. In the
year 1673, under the government of Cardinal Granvelle, in-
terest for money rose tQ 30 per cent ; four years afterwards
32i was lost at Rome by the change, and in the year 1621, at
Venice, where an alteration in the system of coinage had in-
troduced indeed a worse confusion, quite 60 per cent. The
usual interest with a good security was 8 per cent. These
are a few instances out of long lists, f The commercial in-
tercourse with foreign countries, and indeed with other Italian
states, was difficult and only of service to the usurer. Bank-
ruptcies were frequent. When, in the year 1698, the great
bank of Mari's at Genoa stopped payment, the people at the
first alarm ran to all the banks and demanded back their
capital ; and most of the banks would have broken had not
the Count of Miranda decreed that for the space of one month
they should only pay down one-tenth. Only the banks be-
longinig to charitable institutions kept up their credit. The
government proceeded against these banks with incredible
arbitrariness. In April, 1605, the Count of Benevento ordered
a loan upon the banks, and, as they would not advance the
money, he began by taking from the six charitable institutions
60,000 ducats, for which he promised to pay 8 per cent, in-
terest According to an order of the Cardinal Zapata's of
the year 1622, the capitalists were only to have the free dis-
posal of t^^;o-thirds of their property that was in the bank.
Under the Duke of Alva, Ms successor, in June, 1623, the
distress of the banks had increased to such a degree that for
many days no business was done, and the half-ruined banks
were entirely closed. They owed three millions, and could not
procure one and a half.f

The evils of the money-market are partly explained by the

* Letters of the Agents of Tuscany and Urbino. At Palermo and
many places. — L. Bianchini, at other places. Vol. ii. p. 558.
t Palermo, and several other places.

COIXAGE, 93

ttkte of the coinage. Tilt the time of Charles V. it had been
ititble and well regulated, as aJso under the government of
Ferdinaod the Catholic ; the eaiae species of coins were minted
at were used under the Neapolitan Arragonese. But then began
the fluctuations, id consequence of the value of the metals
being changed. In the year 1554 the price of the metal,
which b generally considered in coine.and gives the pioper
stamp to tlie silver, rose, af^er four-and-forty years, almost one
fifth, which naturally exennsed the greatest influence upon the
proportiooB of the coins. The old coins were all clipped, and
tsmucJi adulterated coin slipped in amongst them, Don Pe-
dro de Toledo, in the year 1552, decreed that each coin should
be used only according to the value of the actual weight.
And now a series of decrees and measures were begun about
money, many of which were so ill advised that conl'umon and
cheatiDg are easily to be accounted for. A forced currency
beyond the actual worth ; the billon, of which one-fiflh was
tilver and the rest copper; putting a fixed value on the price
of foreign coins ; the responsibility of the banks for the adul-
tersled coin found in them and the loss of the clipped money ;
tliii disproportion between the (better) Neapolilan and the
l^paoiah silver coin nominally of the same value ; constant
alleiationa in the weight and name of the coins ; too great an
infusioa of copper in comparison with the precious metals, a
Giult that even to this day belongs to the Neapolitan coinage,
which is very deficient in small silver coins — all this helped to
increase the evil. Under the government of die Duke of
Omina it had become so bad lliat the zannette or half-car-
liae, of which at first, under the Duke of Alva in the year
1556, twenty went to the stamped ducat, according to which
thvy are usually reckoned at the present day, were reduced
lo a quarter their nominal value, and no1)ody would lake
them. This caused the greatest confusion in the change, and
caused more Uiaa one rebellion of the people, because tliese
HUinette were the coins most in use. In the year 1622- they
were at lust put out of currency, melted down, and a new one
iiuued. But even this did not stop the deeply-rooted evil ; for
epvculatora practised usury with the meltcd-down zaniiettes,
Ihc mass of which was valued at sis million of ducats ; the
circuinatance that the office of the mint could not supply the
uew money in sufficient quantity that the trattic with the old one

1

94 THE CARAFA8 OF MADDALONI.

could be at onoe stopped, encouraged this usury and occasioned
bloody insurrections, whikt the erroneous calculation of the
relative worth of the metal with tiie nominal value led to new
j&auds and losses. It was calculated that the losses occasioned
by the new coinage amounted to 50 per cent. : it affected pri-
vate people no less than the government ; every one lost, and
the discontent was increased by distrust, because it was gene-
rally believed that &lse coin was circulated even from the
palace. From the year 1699 to 1629 nearly thirteen millions
of ducats were minted of gold and silver coins in the kingdom
of Naples : but as this coinage was in general better than in
many other states, so it was exported to the great detriment of
the country in large quantities, and a scarcity of good money
constantly prevail^ : not to mention that in the second half of
the 17th century the silver coins of 1622 had lost three-quar-
ters of their value by clipping.*

The false coinage and the clipping of the different monies
had become a large and thriving business, and neither the
perpetually repeated jand revived Pragmaticas of the Viceroys,
nor the many very cruel punishments with which false coiners
were threatened, and which were sometimes put into execution,
availed to check it. During the government of the Cardinal
Zapata four persons were executed for such crimes in the
course of a month, amongst them a wealthy Genoese; and
not long afterwards three more were executed, whilst a fourth
was sent to the galleys and a woman was scourged. The
three condemned to death sat in a cart, the sides of which
were decorated with the tools that they had used to adulterate
the coins, whilst they wore themselves a false coin upon their
breasts. Behind the cart went both the others who fiogged the
woman. Under the Duke of Alva, who succeeded the Cardinal,
things did not improve. People of gentle birth, priests, monks,
were amongst the false coiners. '' I am ashamed to mention the
families," remarks the chronicler. A certain Lisco di Ausilio,
who was hanged in the time of 2^pata, possessed a property of
40,000 ducats, and confessed to have followed this bewitching
traffic for eighteen years. The criminals were hung and quar-
tered, and their limbs placed over the gates of the city.f

* L. Bianchini, at other places. Vol. ii. pp. 507-543. Letter of the
Tuscan Agent. At Palermo, and several other places,
t Guerra andBucca, Diumali Years 1621-22.

ADMISSION INTO THE SEDILES. 95

If we turn from these reflections on pecuniary af^rs under
the Spanish dominion, to the consideration of the condition of
the nobility with reference to the people and the government,
in relations as well as themselves, the privileges of the Se-
<iile8, as such, once more attract our attention. The greater
the value set upon these privileges, so much the more did the
desire of the patrician families increase to become members of
them. This membership did not at first depend upon station
and nobility : many of the most illustrious families did not
belong to the Sediles, but a share in the municipal govern-
ment assuredly did, and, as the abovementioned relations
prove, the adnussion to the government of the country was con-
ditional. Thus the families applied more and more to be
admitted into the Sediles; but this became proportionately
difficult The present members did not wish to share their
authority with too many, or the pecuniary advantages which
accrued to them later in the times of the viceroys. They de-
vised statutes to clog the reception of new families with cer-
tain conditions: for instance, the Seggio of Montana was
occupied in the year 1500 by a nobleman of ancient family,
who lived like a noble, as well in the kingdom as out of it.
He could indeed, if he took up his domicil within the dis-
trict of the association of the nobles, become a participator,
with the consent of their members, in their honours ; but
within fifteen years he could be neither an eletto or a deputy
to the parliament, or even an elector at the reception of a new
member. If he died before the lapse of the time, the obliga-
tions as well as the restrictions passed over to his sons. The
same was the case with the citizens when they lived like
nobles.*

Thus the aristocracy who were in the possession of municipal
rights were by no means excluded, and could, by taking in new
&milies, supply the considerable number that had died away.
The Sedile of Capuana, for instance, numbered, in the second
half of the 17th century, three-and-thirty families, whilst
eight-and-fifty that had belonged to them since the register
had been begun were extinct ; those of Nido counted four-and-
forty during the first half and thirty-eight during the last part
of the century. Every one knows how quickly the aristocra-

♦ Tutini, p. 122, and at other places.

96 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

tical families die away when a renovation of their races cannot
take place within reasonable limits, and in this respect the his-
tory in the last century of the limited and hated oligarchy of
the fallen republic of Lucca offers us an example but too well
known. In the year 1768 there were not more than two hun-
dred and six-and-thirty patricians who were capable of sharing
in the business of the government ; so that, when the disqua-
lified and the invalids were deducted, there were not persons
enough left to fill up the official appointments. Twelve years
later this number was diminished to a hundred and seventy-
seven, who belonged to eighty-eight families, so small was the
progress.* To the most ancient and illustrious families of
Capuano and Nido, who will be mentioned more or less in the
course of this history, belonged, so far as r^ards the first of
these Sediles, the Cantelmi, the Capece of various families,
both the races of the Caraccioli (those from Louvain and the
red ones), the Filomarini, Lofiredi, Delia Marra, Mendoza,
Orsini of Bracciano, Sconditi, Seripandi, Tomarelli ; at Nido
the Acquaviva, Davalos, Brancacci, Caraccioli Bianchi, Ca-
rafa, Caetani, Gesualdo, Giron, Guevara, Mastroguidice, Or-
sini of Gravina, Ficcolomini, Fignatelli, Sangro, Sanseverino,
Spinelli ; not to mention the Roman families that have sprung
up in later times, and that have obtained fiefs in the kingdom,
as was the case with the Buoncampagni, the Dukes of Tora,
and the Barberini. For the advantages secured to great or
rich races by the feudal system which existed in the kingdom
of Naples attracted many, especially of &milies related to
them, as the Borgia Princes of Squillaci since the times of
Pope Alexander VI. in 1497, the Ludovici Princes of Ve-
nosa, the Peretti-Montalto Princes of Venafro, 1605, the
Borghese Princes of Sulmona, 1607, the Aldobrandini Princes
of Rossano, 1612, the Altemps, and so on. The foreign royal
families also possessed fiefs, and some of them were enrolled
amongst the Sediles, to whom also many Spanish families be-
longed. The Fameses of Parma were Princes of Altamura
in Apulia, and Dukes of Civita di Penna in the Abbruzzi, a
title which had once belonged to Alessandro de' Medici, the
first Duke of Florence, and through his widow Margaret, a
natural daughter of Charles V., had descended to their son,

* G. Tommazi, Sommario della Storia di Lucca (continued by Carlo
Minutoli). Florence, 1847. Pp. 601, 602.

ADMISSION LSTO THE BEUILEti. il7

Aleseandro Famese. The Medici were Princes of Capes-
ttano ; the Gonzagaa were of tlie tamily of Don Ferdinand, the
(bulkier of the Guastallan line, Princes of Molfetta and Dukes
of Aiiant>: the Cjb6 of Massa- Carrara were Dukes of Aiello.
The communities preferred having foreign sovereigns for iheir
liege lords, because they hoped for better treatment froiii
than ; and h certainly did happen that they offered theniBelves
to them for sale, as Shb^o, in the year 1618, and in the fol-
lowing year Cutrii (Cotrone), in Calabria, offered thenuelves
to the Archduke Cosmo II. of Tuscajiy." If the Grand
I>uke could not or would not buy them, the inhabitants of this
last town declared they would themselves mortgage their
cUldreD, to free themselves from feudal ties.

The reception of new families into the Sediles rested, as has
been said, with the SecUles themselves. Thus in the years
1477_lo07 the Orsini, Del Balzo, Delia Leonessa, Cantelrai,
Bicci, Caetoiii, .Cardona, Cavaiiiglia, Avquaviva, Sangro, were
enroJIed into the associatious of Capuano and Nido: but
under the Spanish dominion the old practice was altered.
Those of the nobility who enjoyed mutucipal rights left the
motion to the crown, and only reserved to theraselvea the right
of GoiiJirmalion. The reafou of this is to be sought for in the
tame cause which led to the limtution of the admission by
means of tlie chapter. Tlie Sediles wished to guard against
too great a crowd ; the crown, ou its side, believed it lo be
nner to govern a smaller mmiber of votes. It was on both
ndes only a calculation of interests. But the noblemen who
■IV tluanselves escluded in such a manner uould not give up
nitbout some further effort. At dif&rent times attempts were
made at Madrid to enlarge the Sediles or form new ones. In
like year I5o7 Giovanni Doimto della Marra, and in I5S8
EUoro d'Aquiua, were sent to King Fhilip II. as deputies of
the nobles who were unentitled to vote. Their instructions
(ie^red Uicm to obtain equal privileges, as they shared the
burdens equally. The form and practice of the Sediles, it
was said, bad been altered in an unjust manner. What once
belonged in common to all the noble families within the juris-
dietioD of the town, to which even those who were not noble
had attained by matrimonial alliances, was now tlie exclusive

98 THE CARAPAS OF MADDALOITL

piiDperty of a few pefsons. If the king did not wish to- en-
large the old Sedile», he had the means in his hands to satisfy
jtust claims, which consisted in the reopening of the closed
Sedile of Forcella, and the formation of a new one, at the
street of Toledo, or at the San Giacomo d^li Spagnoli, where
the town had lately been enlarged one-third, and many of the
nobles had built to it. These new Sediles would prove invin-
cible fortresses and firm pillars to the crown of Spain. Those
who claimed snch a concession were the whole body of native
Neapolitans, true and legitimate rightful burghers, as well by
birth as by the conunon right and power of the Pragmatica
of Ferdinand I., by which they had been promised an equal
authority with the rest of the nobles in things regarding the
town.

The Sediles, to whom these claims were inconvenient, ap-
pointed deputations to make good their objections. They did
not resist the general admission of new families into the
Sediles, but persisted in obeying of their old chapter, " to
keep up the splendour for which the old Neapolitan nobility was
famous throughout the world." But it was exactly the
balloting and other forms prescribed in these chapters which
made them refuse to recognize the admission of the candidates.
The petitioners could not obtain their request. The minister
declared to them, "que a tal negocios hay munchsv contradi-
cion." The king commissioned the then Lord Lieutenant in
Naples, Don Juan de Manrique de Lara, to make inquiry
and report about the aflair, to " proveer en ello como con-
venga, de manera, que ningmna de las partes re^iba agravio,
y se haga justicia. * But the affairs remained the same as
before. The solicitations, repeated in the year 1637, pro-
duced as little result. Single families were indeed received^
yet this seldom happened, and the prescribed forms were
observed. The crown itself, indeed, could not effect such an
admission. In the last half of the seventeenth century are found
amongst the races that did not belong to the Sediles the
names of Ajerbi d'Aragona, Aquino of Castiglione, Cus-
triota, Concubut of Arena, Capua of Conca (the hereditary
high Admiral of the kingdom), Fieramosca, Filanghien,

♦ Trattazioni di molti nobili Napoletani per aver parte ne seggi. At
Palermo. Pp. 145-190.

SYSTEMS OF TITLES, 1)9

Gunbacorta, Griraaldi of Eboli, Imperiitli, Meiiici of Otta-
kno, Kavaachieri, Butfo of SciUa, ami others — partly families
bdongiog to the ancient Nommn nobUity, of whom many
iodeed had never coDcerned themselves on being received into
^ associations.*

By virtue of old capi I illations, no new title could he granted
by the crown without the Sediles. But the Spanish court did
not attend to tliis, but conterred title after title, especially in
the seventeenth century, that time which in Italy generally
wa« occupied by the evcr-becoming-vainer exterotd. pageantiy
of the ariatocracy.f Originally the city nobility had no
thles, whicit the feudal nobility first introduced amongst the
Sediles, so much so, that in the middle of the fifteenth century
not a cangle count belonging to the city nobility had a seat
in tbcni.t The feudal titles increased under King Kobert'g
TGigQ ; tiiey multiplied more and more under the Durazzi
Princes, but to a still higher degree under the Arragoneae,
who created princes and dukes constantly, not to mention the
tnudpuees and counts. The first duke was made by Queen
Jouma I. ; he was Jacobo Mar^jono Duca di Sesea, upon
wluwe jkniily Kiug Ferdinand I- exercised afterwards such
k IwrAil revenge for their attachment to the house of Anjou.
During the era of the Viceroys this degenerated into a posi-
tive abusef and the court at last sold titles which hud no fieffa
sl(ach«d to them, which no one had attempted before. The
wit of the people ridiculed this evil in satires and plays ; thus
ire find, in a comedy of Torquato Taaao, the love intrigues
carried on in the person of Gialaise, a delightful portrait of a
cotmterfeit nobleman. According to official catalogues, tiiere
exiiited in the kingdom of Naples, in the year 1675, 119
jviuoes, 156 dukes, 173 marquises. The number of counts
UDoUDted to many hundreds : 42 of them belonged to the
higher nobility, like the Count of AltBvilla, of the House of
Capua i tiie Count of Converzano, of the House of Acqua^
rivB; the Count of Celano, of the House of Ficcolomini ; the
Count of Policastro, of the House of Carafa ; and so on.
An «3act precedency did not exist, although the title of Frinca

• Aiiiuip'>r(i. RnccoHa di varie notilic hirioritie. {Ap[jcadii to G. A.
SanDDtTDlVft Tlistorj'.) Nnpltis, 1675. P. 30.
t Zwugn. Oavemu d«l Ducit d'Osaoiu. At Palermo. P. 5:^4.
I Tutini, cliup. tL

1

i

100 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONl.

was generally considered the most illustrioiis. The head of
the foiiiily of Toledo bore, aa lias already been remariied, the
(Spanish) title of Marquis of Villafi-anca, tioug-h there were
princes and dukes in his family. The Great Count lilarquis
Comes de Altavilla, a creation of Kiug Robert's of 1335,
preceded many princes and dukes.

In Die middle ages the nobility were addressed by the
title of Messert. "If this was to be done now," says Sunv*
monte, who wrote in the time of Thilip II. " it would be lagk.
treason." After the " Ulustrissjmo " came the ■' Eccelleiiza,"
which even towards the end of the sixteenth century hfi4
become so common, that one of the Pragmatics of the Count
Olivarez to check the abuse, forbade the use of titles wheOt
they were not attached to an office. Wiiat this availed any;
one may im^ine wiio spends only eight days in Naples, where,
moreover, princes do not receive by right tlie title of Eccel-
leuza, as is the case, for iustauce, at Rome. The great ci'uwtl
offices of the nobility were become, under ihe Spaniard^
mostly hereditary offices ; meanwhile tiiey iiad lost almost
all r^ importance, since the complete remodelling of the
government, which had been begun under Ferdinand tiie Ca-
tholic, and was finished during the administration of Don Pedro
de Toledo : as they were from tlieir nature more or less depend-
ent upon tlie then existing king and his court, nowthey were
little more than titles. The office of Constable has been
since the limes of Ferdinand tlie Catholic, and is to this day,
atUl in the possession of the Colonna of Paliano ; that of
Justiciary, under the Spanish dominion, was first granted to
the Ficcoloniini of Amalfi, then to the Gonzagas of Mol-
fbtta, and lastly to the Spinellis of Fuscaldo. The members
of the houses of Cardoua and Capua were invested witli the
dignity of Admiral, and afterwards the Cordovas of Sessa,
relations of the Great Captain. The d'Avalos of Pescara'
and Vasto were the Chamberlains; the Dorias of Melfi
had been Protonotaries since 1556; the Caraccioli of Avol-
lino Chancellors since the time of Philip HI. ; lastly tiie'
office of Seneschal had belonged since the year 1535 to the
Guevara of Bovino, Aa may be seen, these great crowu
offices were not only not bestowed on Neapolitans, they were,
not even given to I^ians. Both bad been in existence befbra
the Spanish times, which is to be explained partly by the foreign

i

SPANISH FAMILIES IK KAGLE3.

dpiafties, who one after another ruleii the laiid^Nonuiins,
HoheDstaufeoB, Aageviiia, ajid Arragonese — and partly by the
momentary pressure of circumstances. Thus we find only, to
begin with the Angevins, as Constable, GuiUaume I'Etendartl,
Alberigo da Barbiano, Slbrza Atteudolo, Braccio da Mon-
tone, Gonsalvo de Coidova, Under the first Joanna two Flo-
reDtioesi, one alter another, were invested with the ofRce of
Senesclia]. Both the French kings gave away these offices to
their countrymen.

.Since the times of the Arregonese, Spanish families have
•ettled more and more at Naples, bo it is natural that
nunicrous foreign names are to be found ia later centuries
unoQgM the Neapolitan nobility. The first and most iamoua
amongst them were the d'Avalos- Roderick d'Avalos, of
CastiUian or Navarrese origin, liad, by a victorious single
combat with an English knight belonging to the army of
John of Gaimt (the " time-lionoured Lancaster " in Kin^
Kiclutrd II.), wlien he fought for his visionary claims on
Castille, won the favour of his King, Heory III., and
obtained the dignity of Constable of this kingdom. One of
his sons, Inigo, came to Naples with Alphonso I., became
Greut Cliamberlain, and had inherited, by a marriage with
Antonia d'Aquina, the Marquisate of Pescliara; he left two
eoiig, one of whom, as has been already mentioned, was the
only persim wlio preserved his fidelity during the invasion of
Cbiirles VIII. ; he was the father of the celebrated Ferdinand,
who with Lannoi and Bourbon beat Francis I. 9.1 Pavia. The
younger had a son, Alphonso Marchese del Yasto, who in the
wars of Charles V. attained scarcely leas fame and distinction.
In their hearts these d'Avalos were more Spaniards than
Italians, and it is known in particular how Ferdinand, the
husband of Vittoria Golonna, would only be considered as a
Spaniard ; nevertheless they joined fief to fief, and amassed
riches upon riches in the kingdom. Besides Pescaro and H
Vosto, Mith in the Abruzzi, the picturesque as well as fortified
Munieoarchioi on the rood tiiat leads from Terra di Lavoro
lo Benevento, Truja in Apulia, Isernia and Fr&ncavilla,
and Uie island of Ischia, belonged to them. Next to the
d'Avalos the Cordovas are to be named, who obtained, even in
tbe penCQ of Gonsalvo, the titles of Sesf^a, Sant' Agata, and
Teiranova ; llie Cardonas, Sanchez de Luna, Mendoza do

102 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOXL

Leyva, Diaz Grarlone, Alarcon, Enriquez, and many lesser
personages who came to Naples in the suite of the Viceroys,
and when there found themselves much too comfortable to
leave the country. Also illegitimate branches of Spanish
families planted themselves in Naples, as the Afan de ^E^vera,
and so on. It is unnecessary to add that these colonies of
Spaniards, who intermarried with the greatest families of
the land, could not fail of producing some effect upon thdr
morals and way of life.

Under the Spaniards the custom of wearing orders first
became general amongst the Neapolitan nobility. In the
times of the kings, orders were rare, if we except that of the
Sjoights of St. John, who possessed a number of priories and
oonmianderies in the kingdom, where peculiar strength of the
Italian language was preserved. Lewis of Tarento, the
second husband of the first Joanna, foimded the Ordine del
Nodo, which first perhaps gave the idea of the Ordine ^'dd
' Collare" the Comte vert of Amadeus VI., which still exists as
an order of the Annunziata. Foreign orders were seldom
worn, except by royal princes. But under the Spanish rule
this was quite different. A number of Neapolitan noblemen
were knights of Spanish orders, especially of San Jago and
Calatrava, seldom of Alcantara. The Golden Fleece was
g^ranted to many who imited eminent services to illustrious
birth ; at the presentations the Viceroys occupied the place of
the monarchs, and the investments were made with great
pomp. But even in the seventeenth century we find that to
obtain the Fleece " an infinity of trouble and solid gold "
was necessary.

Before we leave this dissertation on the public relations of
the nobility, it is necessary to consider briefly the judicial cir-
cumstances, in as far as they are here to be understood. The
general grant of the superior criminal jurisdiction, the Jus
gladii, or merum and mixtum Imperium, to the Barons, con-
sequently the partition of the sovereign power between them and
the ruler of the country, appears not to have continued beyond
the time of King Alphonso I. For whilst Charles I. assigned to
his eldest son the principality of Salerno, and thereby recog-
nized the merum Imperium within the jurisdiction, this was
only a special favour for the successor to the throne ; and the
sovereign expressed, with regard to other fie&, that he reserved

JUDICIAL BE1.ATI0XS. 103

for bis own court all aud every ^rant of land ;• and in the
investitures of Joanna I., Charles III., ajid both liis children,
wliere the criminnl juriBdiction is included, this drcuinafance
is expressly mentioned every time.

Meanwhile the way was tJius already paved fur the luter
OKS of it. How badly the baronial justice waa in general ad-
Duitistered proceeded from the many decrees by which tlie
woeroyB sought to check abuses, especia:lly that (rf corruption,
wbich they did put some reetraiula upon. Thus the Count o^
iiooterey took ^e baronial jurisdtctioji of aU trials for crimes
which were committed through the use of flre-anna ; but hia
■nocessor, the Duke of Medina, revoked the decree. 'j' If the
bsioDS administered justice in mercy, so they made no scruple
of tranegressing the laws themselves ; and the royal tribunals
i^ either not the power, or wanted the spirit, to punieh them.
There are many cases of punishments inflicted on the great
nobility, but geoerally in such cases political reasons were
mised with the personal hatred and temper of the ruler. la
nuther case were tlie ends of justice in any degree furthered,
It was seldom that the public discontent, or the enormity of
my action, caused the viceroys to allow justice to have a really
fi«e course. One such ease we shall meet with in the further
progresB of tiiis present history, when we reppesent the way of
life and morals of the h^hest classes, especially of the young^.

In the preceding description of the public relations of &e
Bofaility — the feudal nobility — the barons are especially to be
kept in view. The second-rate nobility, who were derived
fitwu the higher class of citizens, may in general be compared
to tlie French rmbiesse de robe ; there was a wide disparity in
their origin as well as in their importance from the nobtesss
itipk. But this disappears more and more; the more the
ftolitical position of the nobUity lost in importance, the more
qtihiced many of the old families became in their c
Muutai, which was especially owing to the revolutions ii
muldle of the seventeenth century, the more hostile the Spanish
nwnnient shoved itself to the feudal nobility, lo whose
nddity, neverthelefS, it owed the salvation of the kingdom in
tbat lime of great distress. As early as the epoch of the
Arragonese, but still more in that of the Viceroys, tlie Nobili
Kmtig Dp : but they increased in numbers more than in pros-

■ 'Wmspearc, B^iBOrkB, p. Tl, and nt Dther pbi^eB.
t Ibid., p. 113, sail nt other places.

1

J

104 TIIE CAIl^lPAS OF MADDALOSI.

perity. Aa the fiefs were eveiyn'here, and all of tliem. oflered
for sale at a cheap price, they bought fiets like the iithers. A
number of obscure names are to be found amongst the titled
persona^, especially since the government of the younger
Duke of AJcalk. But the titles were, as we have siud, by no
means attached to the property. The principal means of
obtaining them, next to commerce, especially in money mat-
ters, were by offices of state and judges' places. Jurisprudence
flourished more than any otiier science. The study ant* orac-
tice of law became the field where many, even out of t!ie most
illustrious families, as Capecetro, San Felice, Capece Galeota,
Caracciola, and others, obtained fame ani) influence, whilst
many made themselves names by their wealtli. The advo-
cateship paved the way for judicial offices and to goveriimeat,
and consequently to presidencies of councils and the remainii^
places of honour, in as far as Spanish jealousy and Spanish
mistrust would allow Neapolitans to possess them. Traditional
clientship and later recollections contributed to this generally
in an equal degree.

And now the people, the great mass of the inhabitants, of
this country, so richly endowed by nature, and so illused by
men 7 What, in the midst of such frequent changes on tl»
throne and quarrels with the crown, with so much uncertainty
and war, with so many good and wise instituiione, become ia
practice, if not hurtful, yet in general useless under such sys-
tematic oppression, — what had become of them ? When the old
chroniclers and historians, native as well as foreign, speak of
them, they blame them most, first for their unsteadiness and
fickleness, their passionate irritability, and the savc^ rage to
which this passion worked in them. What shall we say to
the description which an author of the seventeenth century
gives of the common people of the capital? "The dregs M
the land, inclined to tumult and rebellion, trampling under
foot, morals, laws, and obedience to authorities, like mutilated
members and rotten juices, who, upon the sligiitest occasion,
introduce confusion ; an unholy mixture of grocers, sailors,
drivers, day-labourers, and such-like ballast without substance,
snatching at dishonourable profit in their every-day trana-
octions."* These are the exi^gerations of a rhetorician who
dedicates the book in which be says such things of his

• G, r. Cnpiwao. T. 7?+, and at other pkco

J

THE PEOPLE. 105

countrymen to the Viceroy, the Count of Monterey, whose
person is the " greatest wonder which, in this town of Naples,
rich in marvels, is to be seen, far escelling all old and new
curiosities by the refinement of his sublime g^enius, by the
deamess of his divine judgment, by the copiousness of his
strong memory — in short, tlie wonder which comprises all
others within itsel£"

After opinions of tttis kind it is not uninteresting to attend
to the description which one of the most clear-sighted and
eloquent historians of the south of Italy, and who was not
wanting in inilependeuue of mind, Camillo Porzio, gives of
the moral qualities of the inhabitants of the kingdom of
Kaples, and describes the various peculiarities of the different
provinces towards the end of the third part of the sixteenth
eentury." " The inhabitants of the Terra di Lavoro," says
he, " are most of them ostentatious, dirty wranglers ; they
have arms in tlieir hands in an instant ; they leave the country
with reluctance ; they are fond of pageantry, and gesticulate
a great deal with endless bombast. The inhabitant of tlie
Pnncipata is poor, ingenious, never sparing of his trouble;
siinple and ill-dressed. There are good sailors on the coasts,
especially those of Araalfi, otherwise the people are particn-
larly addicted to the tratKc and transport of mules. The most
active and expert seamen are the Calabrians : they are acute
and crafty, powerful and patient, minding neither hunger nor
thirst; courteous andskilful in the use of arms; so that Ihey
would, without doubt, muke the best soldiers in Italy were
they not inclined to inconstancy and rel>elliau j iience
it also happens that this province is more filled with
robbers and banditti than any other- In the interior of the
country, the Basilicata, the peasants dress coarsely and badly.
They are more fitted for agriculture and other hard work,
such BB driving nmles in the mountainous country, than for
war. The people in the Terra d'Otranto liave adopted many
of the customs of the Greeks, who not only are their neigh-
bours, but many of Ihem have settled amongst them, and have
preserved their dress, language, and character. They s
bnve, and love the military service more than a sailor's li

• Camilln Vnnio, Eelnzicmc del Regino di Nnpoli al Mnri^hpsp di Mi
ioKtM, IGTT-Tt). (.InA.GcrvaaiD'aodidoDorthoXat(imd'ltaUii 11^11547,
Pj, 133-157.)

1

106 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

notwithstanding their beautiful coasts, so ihat the seamen,
fishermen, and vessels that visit these harbours come mostly
from the Venetian toritory. The inhabitants of Terra di
Bari, a flat province, are quite unfit for war, but weH adapted
for all peaceful occupations, as agriculture and other branches
of industry, wherefore this rich province is kept for com, oil,
cotton, wine, saflron, and salt, and other things. It contains
whole woods of almond-trees. There is not much to say of
the inhabitants of Capitanata, as we call the flat Apulia, the
Apulia Daunia of the ancients. Their number is small with
reference to the extent of the province, so tliat in summer
reapers come "from other countries to cut down the com of
the vast fields, while in winter nmnerous herds dP cattle go in
quest of the excellent pastures ; so that this -country is not
only the granary of the kingdom, but also of other countries ;
and by its tolls on com and cattle is a treasure to the crown.
The very unhealthy air in summer causes the want of inhabit-
ants : the present occupiers are unfit for war, as well as for the
endurance of hardships ; the very horses are feeble. Many of
the inhabitants are not Italians, but spring from, the opposite
Sclavonian shores. As Molise as a district has no marked
character, the same is the case with its inhabitants ; every-
thing is in disorder in the provinces, between which this, the
smallest in the kingdom, is situated in the midst, for it has the
Prinoipata towards the east, the Abruzzi westwards, Terra di
Lavoro to the south, and Capitanata on the north side. The
inhabitants of the Abruzzi, once Frentani, Peligni, Vestini,
Samnites, were in former times the most valicmt people in
Italy, now they are the most peaceful. Almost all of them
employ themselves in feeding cattle, for which the country is
well adapted, on account of *i*s hills and valleys and its good
air ; and they are particularly addicted to eating and drinking.
Moreover, the Abruzzi is, owing to its streams and mountainB,
more secure from hostile attacksthan any other frontier. With
regard to the opinion of the Whole nation — the inhabitants
ef the kingdom, although they are divided into three classes,
ff£ plebeians, nobles, and barons, still resemble one another
in character. They are lovers of innovation, fear the laws but
little, are susceptible in aflairs of honour, more for show than
worth ; they are brave, and inclined to deeds of violence, and,
what is worst of all, they are as a body but little satisfied with

THE PEOPLE. 107

llie present government. This discontent does not perhaps
proceed from aversion to their Icing, whom they love and
honour. Other reasons account for this. The common iieople
see themselves impoverished and drained perpetualjy by the
quarteriDjr of soldiers cuid oppressive taxes, and are frequently
distressed for want of food, which they impute to itieir ruler,
although it may be attributed to natural circumatanceH.
Tiiey are tormented by c-oiuttint wars ; for if a foreign
oiemy is wanting, robbers and banditti never fail, as Uttle
eo as pirates. The nobles are displeased, because the state
never promotes, or rather so to say excludes, them from a
warlike or learned career. The offices and benefices which,
during the time of the kings of the House of Anagon,
were their portion, tliey see now mostly in the Itonds of
foreigners. The tarons also are discontented, for they are
obliged to contribute beyond theii- means to the Donatives ;
and the royal officers iiave granted so many privileges to
ibeir subjects, that the barons can only with difficulty reetrain
them. And because the barons are proud and imperious,
they cannot brook to t>e summoned be^re a tribunal fur the
amiillefit trespass, because between them and ttie other sub-
jects but very little difference is made in the trial or in the
panUhmenl."

Thus ends this description of CamiUo Porzio's, which, in
many things, agrees with tliat given at the same period by the
Venetian amliassador, Girolamu Lippomano, which is a proof
of the veracity of both. Only the Neapolitan advocate, who
htd, by his father's and his own diligence united, obtained a
beautiful property and bought the fief of Cantola, of which to
Ons day a branch of the family of tlie Dorias of Angri bears
the title, concludes his narration witli the following captatio
benrvnlentise for the viceroy, which, on account of the facts
tnentinned hy the historian, cannot be too much depended
itpmi; — "It must be owned that, since the arrival of your
wtrellency, plelieians, nobles, and barons appear to have bo-
comrmnre united aud more peaceful, whilst all in general, and
nme individuals in particular, hope, from the activity, wisiiom,
and kindness of heart of yourexcellency, to obtain such help in
thrir need tliat their complaints will be silenced, grievances
wni MBse, and that they shall live happy and conieiitMi."

108 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

CHAPTER ni.

THE CARAFAS OP MADDALONI. XV* AND XVl*^ CENTURIES*

CasUe and village of Maddaloni — The family of Carafa — Malizia Carafa
— Diomed Carafa, first Count of Maddaloni — The war of the barons
— Coppola and Petrucci — The Count of Maddaloni, with reference
to Ferdinand I. — His monument in San Domenico — Activity about
the sciences — Palace of Maddaloni, now St. Angelo — The bronze
horse's head — Posterity of Diomed Carafa — The Carafas of Mon-
torio — Gian Pietro Carafe, afterwards Pope Paul IV. — Paul IV.
opposed to Spain — Alva's march against Rome — Alva before the
gates of the city — Retreat — Peace at Cave — The nephews of the
pope — The Cardinal of Carafe — The Duke of Pagliano — Fall of the
Carafas — Death of Paul IV. — Insurrection of the Roman people —
Complication of the fete of the Carafas — Murder of the Duchess of
Pagliano — Pius IV. — Trial and condemnation of the Carafas —
Letter of the Duke of Pagliano to his. son — Final destiny of the
Carafas of Montoiio— Cardinal Alphonso, Archbishop of ifaples —
Cardinal Olivieri Carafa.

In the most fertile climate of Europe, the old Campania Felix,
now called the Terra di Lavoro, which is separated to the
west fron the States of the Church by the river Ufento, north-
wards from the country of the Samnites by the chain of the
Apennines, to the east from the province of Salerno by the
Samo, whilst the sea forms its southern boundary, rises upon
a gentle eminence, on one of the last hills and hilly projections
of mount Tifata, a few miles to the north of Naples, the ruin
of the Castle of Maddaloni. It is one of the castles of the
middle ages, which, situated at the edge of the great chain of
mountains, conmiands the rich plain which reaches as far as
the sea ; and, when standing upon these heights among the
ruins, you may see at once, in all the magic splendour of
colouring and the pomp of the southern regions, from Man-
dragone's marble group to the mount of St. Angelo, which,
like a far stretched-out promontory, separates the gulf of
Naples from that of Salerno. At a little distance to the
south-east of Maddaloni, by the small village of Cancello, the
picturesque road which leads to Benevento winds through the
hollow pass of the mountain that, under the name of the Cau-
dinian chain, reminds the traveller of one of the most unfor-

CASTLE AND VILLAGE OF MADDALOSI. lO'J

tunate days in the glorious Mstory of Rome, and of the ancient
power, cunning, and pereeveracce of the Samiiite people. To
the north-wefit, at an equal distance, rises the splendid palace
of Caserta, at the foot of the heights, built by King
Charles lit,, who did more for the countTy than any other
mler of Naples, as well for its embellishment by adorning it
with large buildings, as for ita intellectual improvement by
tlie introductioii or revival of sensible laws and institutions,
which makes it for ever to be lamented that his summons to
the inheritance of the throne of Spain intemipted hia efficiency.
The valley behind Maddaluni, narrow and deep as all these
mouutain hollows are, ofiers to the astonished eye of the
traveller another work of thi« active king, bolder and more
surprising than the conspicuous villa of gold and marble, the
aqueduct through which is conducted the pure mountain
stream of the Tabumo, from the boundaries of Sanium, the
lei^th of twenty-two miles to the gardens of Caserta, there to
break into foaming cascades and refresh the foliage of the
thick bowers — an aqueduct which spans the valley above
named with three elevated arches, over a height of a hundred
and fifty feet, a work of Luigi Vanitelli, worthy of the best
times of Rome, and alike honourable to the monarch who
ordered and the artist who eouducted so gigantic a structure.

Like Caserta and other castles in the vicinity, Maddaloni is
probably of I^mbard origin. Under the INorman rulers it
appears lo iiave been a military fief: at the time of "William
the Good, Ascotino, the son of Robert, had to supply first one,
■nd then two troopers for the crusade in the Holy Land.
Under the government of the second Angevin, in 1309, the
castle paid as toll nine-and-twenty ounces. In much later
times, when King Ferdinand I. of Arragon governed the
country, Maddaloni was laid waste by a conflagration. At
this day little remains of the old castle, but what does remain
fbmu a picturesque group : a high watch-tower, with tiu'ee
stories, projects over the buildings annexed to it, whilst an
encircling wall, protected by side towers, crowns the hill,
eoclosing the space of the actual castle, and a second watch-
tower is uluated on an adjacent height. A new town has
been built at the foot of both lieights, which contains ten
thousand inhabitants, wiio support themselves mostly by
agriculture.

110 TEH CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

This castle, wbich in this age most people pass rapidly by
on the road which leads from Caserta to Capua, without
dreaming of the importance of its name in Neapolitan history^
whilst at most they cast a hasty glance upon the group of
ruins, has gtvesn a tilde to a branch of one of the most ancient,
noble, heroic races, a name by which it has been known from
the fifteenth century up to our time. If the old feudal nobility
of Naples had conasted only in the Caracciolos, Cara£Bis, and
Capeces, the triple C would have produced a number of
families who, although they have the same surname and give
partly the same arms, nevertheless, only by means of the
boldest art of the genealogist can they be traced to the same
origin. The Caracciolos formed into three great divisions
are the most numerous ; the Carafas are the next. An effort
has been made to trace the families of both races to the same
root, and there are monuments of early centuries, even as
early as the fourteenth, upon which the name of Caraczolus
dictus Carafa may be read.* No composer of early genea-
Ibgies, were he even a Litta, could penetrate the obscurity
which veils the origin of this, as it does of most of the families
of great antiquity. Filippo Cara&, as the wise man tells us,
was a son of Sergius, last Duke of Naples, who in the year
1 130, after a long and heroic defence, yielded to the superiority
and valour of the Normans, and delivered up the last Grecian
free state of Italy to King Koger. The family is said to be
of Grecian-Pisan origin, and to have migrated from Sardinia,
where the Pisans ruled, then masters of the Mediterranean.
They were sought for and respected as friends and feared as
rivals, as well on the Italian shores as on those of the kingdom
of Byzantium and of the East. They gave the town of Na-
ples insufficient aid in her last need, which in fact laid the
foundation of her future greatness, for the principle of the
transplanted Grecian element had long borne in itself the
seeds of death, whilst the northern element, on the contrary,
bloomed with new vigour. The large ramification of this
race is derived from a great-grandson of that Philip, existing
even to this day, which is divided into the Cara& de Spina and
the Carafa de Statera, called according to their armorial bear-
ings — a thorn-bush and pair of scales ; both these again forming

• G. Borrelli, Vindex Neapolitanae NobilitatiB. Naples, 1658. Pp.
131, 132.

UALIZU CAEATA. Ill

DDinerous faniliea, which led to the introduction of an e\ccs3
of titles, according to their fiefe.

The last Queen of Naples of the House of Anjou, Joanna
n., who uniwd the love of jileasure of her unfortunate pretie-
ressor and tiMnesake with that hereditary perfidy which hasgiven
liie line of Anjoii-Durazzo aii acciiraed name, hesitated long to
whom she should leave the gucci>sBiou, which would most natu-
rally have been transraitted to her cousin Lewis, the representa-
livo gf the younger branch of tht House of Anjou. A civil war
ravaged the unfortunate country, which brought Italy's most
famous condottieris in quick succession, first into favour, and
then into disgrace, now raised them to tJie summit of power,
and then plunged them into a precipice. Then did a Carafii
deteraune, in behalf of a childish and weak woman, against
the enemies who oppressed her internally and externally, to
implore the assbtance of Alplionso of Arragon, a Idng who
loved enterprise, and united the sovereignty of the eastern
part of the Spanish peninsula to that of Sicily. Antotuo
Carafa, suraamed Malizia, descended from tliat branch of the
race which was distinguished by the sign of the balance, ap-
peared in the king's camp, as he with his Arragonese and Catal-
lans, thoBe joyous troops, long known ou the Italian shores as
w^II as on ^ose of the Levant, were blockading Bonifazio, the
CuTMcan GibnUtar, situated upon the rocky southern point of
the idand, where tiie narrow chaimel separates it from Sar-
dinia. Joanna's ambassador easily won over Alphonso to the
alluring nnderlaking; and if the disiurijances did not cease
witli the arrival of the Arragonese, because the queen of
unsteady mind was iiiithless to him whom she had adopted as
her child, and bestowed the succession on her Provencal
cousin, if she thereby left behind her at her death, which hap-
pened in the year 1435, adbpute about the throne, which kept
the kingdom in excitement for seven years, nevertheless,
HaUcia Carafa reniamed firm in his attachment to the king
whom he had nunimoned : he did not miscalculate ; in the
rear 1442 Alphonso conquered Naples, and soon the whole
countiT obeyed the Arragonese.

Mall«ia did not survive thb issue of the struggle. His iiio-
nnnient is to be seen in the Carafa chajiel, dalteated to tlie
Baptint, in San Domenico Mngglore at Naples : under a
cannpy encircled with architect iiro, the armed form of the

112 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

knight lies upon a sepulchral urn ; the head and feet are
placed upon cushions, the arms over a cross, surrounded by-
angels and saints, and symbolical figures representing magna-
nimity, justice, and wisdom, with the arms of the family in
mosaic work ; and an inscription, according to which the illus-
trious knight. Lord Malizia Carafa, departed this life on the
10th of October, 1457. But a second inscription records his
services to the sovereign race of Arragon : —

'' Auspice me Latias Alfonsus yenit in eras,

Bex pius ut pacem redderet Ausoniae.

Nactorum hoc pietas struxit missi sola scpulchnmi,

Carrafae dedit haec mimera Malltiac."

Like the father, the son preserved his fidelity to the royal
family — and the favour of the ruler of Naples passed from the
father to his son. Diomed Carafa, the first Count of Madda-
loni, was the founder of the power and the wealth of his
family. A diploma, which not long before his death King
Ferdinand I., Alphonso's son, had had made out, calls him
" the illustrious and enlightened man Diomed Carafa, inva-
riably faithful to the king and the royal kingdom, and a
worthy counsellor, fit to govern the people, upright in the
administration of justice, and adorned with virtues. He
served Alphonso, he served Ferdinand. He was one of those
who in the night of the 2nd of Jime, 1442, introduced the
people of Alphonso of Arragon into the town by means of the
aqueduct. When the king sent liis son Ferdinand against the
Florentines, Diomed, yfnih 300 cavalry and 500 infantry,
made an excursion till within a few miles of the town of
Florence, terrifying the people everywhere, and driving away
the flocks, which was well nigh the most memorable deed
of this unfortunate campaign. When the Tuscan wars came
to an end, he went as the king's ambassador to Pope Ni-
cholas V. In the capacity of one of the first inspectors of the
public accounts, he exercised great influence over the whole
government. Ferdinand undertook notiiing without consult-
ing him, and his second son, Frederick, called him father and
master. Besides Maddaloni, with which he was invested in
the year 1465, his important services were rewarded with
many fiefe and Castellanies.* When, under the government of

* D. Biagio Aldimari, Historia Genealogica della Casa CaiafEi. Naples,
1691. VoL ii. — Giuseppe Campanile, Notizie di Nobilt^. Naples, 1672.
Pp. 453-458. — Scipione Anmiirato, Istorie Fiorentine, ii. 158.

DIOMED CARAFA. 113

Frederick, that war began, usually called the Conspiracy of
the Barons — a war in wiiich victory was obtained more by
perfidy than by force of anns, and whieli rekindled with
greater animosity the old dissensions wliich had existed for
centuries between the nobles of the Angevins and Arragonese
patties^Diomed was among the first to range Umself on the
royal side. Antonello Petrueci and Francesco Coppola were
tlie pretended cluets of this conspiracy, whicli had for its aim
to deliver up Ferdinand and his adiierenta into the Itanda of
Kene of Anjou, the heir of the disputed Proven^l claiina
upon Naples. Both had risen, by the favour of the king,
from a low condition to the highest honours and splendid
wealth. Antonello, educated by Lorenzo Valla, the trans-
lator of Herodotus and first Latin scholar of his day, had
already been much employed by Alphonso, and under Ferdi-
nand he was supreme adviser and executor of the royal com-
mands : Francesco, poor but of an ancient family, had raised
himself in commerce by his own industry ; he had been made by
the king a participator in all the monopolies that were e^ctorted
ont of the country, and its restricted commerce ; his vessels
traded from east to west ; he was appealed to as arbitrator in
all the disputes connected uith llie shipping interest, as if he
bod been its patron. Francesco had obtained an ancient fief
of the Orsini, and was called Count of Samo. Antonello
retained his name, and was generally called the Secretary
(il Segretario), a name by which he is as well known in the
iuitory of Naples as Machiavelli is in that of Florence. But
of his sons, one was Count of Carinola ; the second. Count of
PoUcastro ; the third. Archbishop of Tarento ; the fourth,
prior of the Knights of St. John of Capua, a richly endowed
oommandery of the Hospitallers, which in Spanish times be-
longed to Giulio de' Medici, afterwards Pope Clement VIL,
and after him to Leo Strozzi. What reason these men had
for dethroning the royal family, to wliom they owed every-
thing, has never been clearly luiown. But if we consider the
diaposilion which Ferdinand and his eldest sou Alphonso
■howed on every reason, we shall be very much inclined to
a«dit those who say that the wealth of the subjects and the
povertv of the king conspired to efiijct the ruin of the firat.
The Duke Alphonso had in the midst of the distress oc-
raiionod by tlie Turkish war, which after the conquest of

i

"^'^

114 THE CARAFAB OF MADDALONl.

OtrBJito had tilled all Italy with terror, upbraided the long'.
that he had allowed ids servants to enrich themselves at Ms ex-i
pen^ and that he ought now, in a. time of such great daage^ ,
to deprive them of their epoils, and puiiish them as impostors.

Thus began this strug^fle, one of the most bloody, cruel,.
and shocking wtiicli is recorded iu the annala of the king-
doin. The brazen doors of tiie gates of the strong castle of,
Charles of Anjou show us, in rough but remarkable repre-:
sentationa in. baaso-relievo," the principal events of the wa*-
which King Ferdinand had to wage, not long after his acces-
sion to the throne, against llie Duke John of Anjou, sou o£
Ren^, who then led the French party. It was a struggle for;
the existence or non-existence of the House of Arragon, and'
the children and grandcidldrea of the leaders of the AngeviiL
party were still persecuted with a bloody vengeance. But it.
scarcely drew duwu upon the king and liis family such &
burden of hatred and alKunination aa this second "War of tliO'
littrons. Only by a sliameful act of perjury did Petrucci and
Coppola fall into the htmds of the king. A contemporary
chronicler informs ua, in a simple but dreadful narrative, of
the revenge which he took on them. " On Monday the 13tii'
of November, 1486, the sentence of condemnation was issued
at Castelnuovo against Messer Francesco Coppola, Count of
Samo ; Francesco de' Petrucci, Count of Carinola ; and Gio-
van Antonio do' Petrucci, Count of Policastro, The sentence
condemned them to decapitation, to the loss of all their ho-
nours and dignities, and the conQscation of all their possessions.
Several of the counts and barons were against it, and. on the
11th of December of the year mentioned, Messer Francesco
v/as placed in a small cart, with a cord round Ids neck
and chained ; he was conducted past all the noble sedilee ia
the town, till he reached the great market, where a high
scaffold had been erected, and the executioner cut off his head
and quartered him : the quarter of the head was exposed
upon a stake with iron prongs by the custom-house at Casa
Nuova, the second by the custom-house at Sant' Antonio, the
third by the bridge and the house of Angelo Como, and the
tburtfa by the cliapel. But on tlie same day his brother
Giovan Antonio, Count of Policastro, who sat in tiie tower of

" OngHalmo Mooauo." Gcimfln paper, 1850. Pp. IGl-

THE WAR OF THE BAKONS. 115

Saa VinceDio in mourning clothes, was conducted out of
CastdnuoTO in the same manner, to the same scaffold, occom-
ponied by two monks of tbe order of St. Dominicus, and one
hfflniit of the order of Santa Maria delta Grazia. There he
was also beheaded. On Thursday the 11th of May, 1487, in
Caateliiuovo, by the citadel, a highly projecting scaffold waa
erected, covered with black cloth, upon which the sentence of
tftincato capitis was executed upon Messer Antonello de' Pe-
trucci Olid Messer Francesco Coppola. In the evening the
Domiutcau fiiara came and carried away the corpse of Messer
Autoiiello to his &mily chapel, and in the same manner the
monks of St, Augustin conveyed the body of the Count of
Serno, together with liis head, to his chapel in theii" church.
There were siirteeu monks with twelve torcfies who thus bore
away the corpses." * It b knoivn from other eye-witnesses
tiial* the numerous apectators belonging to the people, who
weiv present at the bloody scene within the walls of the prison,
luielt down and took off their caps us the grey head of the ouoe
pawertul private secretary felL

In the sacristy of the Dominican church stands, nest to the
royal cofHn at the present time, tlje coffin which contains the
boats of the decapitated Count of Folicastro ! What a neigh-
bourluxK) ! Mouldei'ing fragments of drapery still cover a
pai-t of the body ; the joiuts of the neck are cut through by
ilm blow of the sword, and only the head is fixed, which has
the stamp of youth upon it.

The Count of Maddaloni was one of the principal rivals of
tho men upon wliom Ferdinand exercised such a cruel revenge
for unproved giiilt. " Amongst those," says the most elo-
quent Itistorian of these tragical events, " who sought to con*
ceal personal dislike by political reasons, whilst they eidted
thn king against them, Diomed Carafa is to be found. Apart
from his noble descent, the recollection of his lalher's merits,
no less than his own services, procured him great influence
with the bing, as they obtained for him the confidence of die
duke. Like the rest of the barons, the great power of the
count, and of the private secretary, was hateful to him ; and as
if higo rank, and not eminent intellectual power, ought to
govern countries, he saw with reluctance the men wliom he

• CnmacadiNapclidiNDtuGiacDiaQ. Pp, 161-103.

116 THE CAKAFAS OF MADDALOSI.

despised govern the king, and so quickly become his eijuals in
station, and outstrip him in the favour of the monarch." • If
the ambition of Diomed Carafa was gratified by tiie &U of
his rival, he did not long enjoy this satisfaction. Six days
afterwards he was a corpse. " On Wednesday, the 17th of
May, 1487, at the fifteenth hour, in the Caatle dell' Ovo, the
excellent Lord Diomed Carafa, Count of Maddaloni, departed
this life according to tlie eter:ial decree of God. On the fol-
lowing day the funeral service was performed in the church of
San Domenico, at which were present iiis Majesty the King, the
Queen, the Duchess of Calabria, and many dukes and princes.
The body was laid upon a bier, wliich was covered with a carpet
of rich brocade, clothed in white damask, with a sword and
gilt spurs. Then he was buried in the ground under Jiia
chapel." t

Diomed Carafa's name is not inscribed upon his monument,
but its genuineness does not admit of any doubt Pilasters
and arclutectural compartments, with allegorical figures of
Justice and Generosity, wiih rosettes and raised ornaments in-
laid with gold, surround a niche, in wliich, upon a sarcophagus,
lies the form of a warrior ; a helmet is upon the head ; Hie
hands are folded upon the breast ; a dagger upon the left side ;
at the feet two recumbent small dogs. A round arch with
heads of cherubs, and a canopy decorated with roses, form a
lunette, which shows in bas-relief the Annunciation. An Agnus
Dei crowns the top of the arch, and gives a finish to the whole.
The arms and emblems of the Carafas, the three sheaves on a
red field, the balance stretched out, the ped^^ee of the Madda-
lonis on a circle of stretched leather, are fixed upon marjy of
the escutcheons. The inscription upon the sepuchral urn nien-
tioned before is Hwa virtiis glariam, gloria immortaiitatem ; next
U> the sign of tlio balance you read the motto, Fim in tanto,
that corresponded well at the time with the Hoc fac et vives.
The date of the year, 1417, shows tliat the work was begun
even in the lifetime of the Count. It is justly ascribed to
Agnolo Aniello del Fiore, who is not unknowTi to fame, as well
by his own works, by means of which he paved the way for
the sculpture of the Cinquecento, as by being tlie master of

L

DIOMED CAItAFA. 117

one of tlie most excelleot sculptors at Naples, Giovanni da

Many recoilectiona remain of Dinmed Carafe, In the
midst of his active life he was not a strang;er to the Bciences ;
and there are some eltort writing^a of liis which show, in an
equal degree, his practical underetanding, his knowledge of
business, and hia worldly wisdom. Thus he is the composer of
a letter addressed, bj the dt^ire and in the name of King Fer-
dinand, to King Henry of Castxlle, which gives to tlus last
some military nilea for the conduct of his war against Por-
tugal, and admonbhes him to greater prudence and skill.
There are other missive letters by Diomed of a didactic kind :
one to the Duke Alphonso of Calabria, who waajust preparing
f'jT a journey to Ancona ; another to a natural son of the
king's, Francesco Cuke of St. Angelo, who then was in Hun-
gary with his brother-in-law, MatUiias Corvinus, to learn the
art of war. He composed tliree books on military concerns,
and another upon court affairs. When Beatrice of Arragon,
Ferdinand's daughter, who was betrothed to Corvinus, went to
Htingaty in September, 1476, from whence she, years after-
wards, married a second time, and was repudiatel with a vile
breach of promise, returned home to survive the ruin of her
buuee, Carafa presented her with a manuscript containing
many rules of conduct " Know," it was said therein amongst
other things, " that the caresses of persons in your rank are no
pnymeiit, and tliat you will not always be able to give gold
and silver ; but the more fine words you distribute, by to
much the more do you keep of them in store." A similar
writiog was destined for another prince's daughter, probably
the clever and spirited Eleotiora, who married, in the year
147S, Ereole d'Este, tlie first Duke of Ferrara ; and often
governed the country in the absence of her husband. His-
torical mention is made that after she had jnst given birth to
the prince royal, Alphonso, she was surprised by a conspiracy
pLuined in her own house, and the clatter of arms upon the
■tepn. She sprang up from her bed almost naked, and with
her baby in her arms hastened by a covert passage to the
nutle ; thus saving her husband, his son, and his castle,
"Think tliereupOD, Madonna" (says the author, farther en-

8, Vuliiioclla, rrincipnU Edifidi dnlla Citli SI ^fopoU. Pp. 27S, *)7.

1

L

118 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONT.

lai^Q^ Upon the axiom mentioned above), "that you canniit
give to all with whom you speaJt, gold, silver, and posses-
sions, for the world would not be sufficient for this. But good
words and a friendly face you may have for all j and such a.
gift is natund. For as wealth, when it is divided, diminishes,
the treasure of words iacreases, and they only become more
flesible and elegant, "Why, then, not give what afibrda si>
much pleasure and is of use, and is increased by generosity ?
Believe me, your equals can do more by such words than by
presents : itierefore divide this abundance of coins, and the
good fruits will not fail." If in such advice, suitable to the
morals of the time and the inclinations of this family, was only
not to be understood Dante's celebrated Langa promessa coU*
attender corto ! he bids her besidea, with regard to her conduct
to her husband and her mother-in-law : " In conversation with.
them strive to be discreet, and you will find your advantage in
iL Loquacious and lively women are well enough, but not in
their own homes." *

Owing to tiie favour of the royal family, the Comit of Mad-
daloni became a very rich man. Philipe de Commines relates
of him, that at the entrance of Charles VXH. llie revenue*
which Carafe obtained from the House of Arragon, partly.
in land and partly in the shape of beneficefl, amounted to forty
thousand ducals. "For," he added, "the kings there can
give away their (crown) lands, and give away the other as
well ; and I believe there are not three people in the kingdom
whose property is not derived from royal presents and confis-
cations."f Diomed Carafe made, moreover, a noble use of
his wealth. He left behind him a memorial in Naples, the
worth and importance of whicii is the more fdt from the want
of a similar one in the capital of both the Sicilies. In the
never-ending long street, which is to be seen far below when
one stands upon the hill of Sant' Elmo (now it cuts through a
colossal heap of houses almost in the middle, even to Nola,
called by the people for that reason the Spacea-Napoli), in the
quartet which was then the place of meeting of the most

" B. ChiVPcaiiJK, De lEustiiliua ecriptorilnis qui in dvilate et regno
Neapolia floracnmt. NapicE, 1780, Vol. i. p. 144.^Giq. Ant. Cussitto,.
Lettora a S. E. la Signnrs Dorheasa Giovano D. Giuliano BKCont'ssa di
Mudcrsbich. Naples, 1790.

PAIACB OF MADDALOSI. 119

iUnstriouB persons, and even to this day cont^iis the dwellings
of many families of noble birth, besides the most beautiful and
remarkable churches, not far from the monastery of the Domi-
nicans, IMomed Carafe built a palace, one of the few which,
well preserved, and remarkable for its style and circumfer-
ence, have remained to us in tiie later times of the middle
ogea. We must not think of the fortified palaces of Florence
ill the fifteenth century, when they were brought to the highest
degree of perfection ; for, compared with those, this building
will not produce an imposing effect. But the architects of
Florence who were employed at Naples, as well under the
Angevins aa under the Arragonese, have had some influence,
and a decided one, upon the style, although other elements have
bad their effect also. The whole palace, conasting of two
stori^ is built of gray marble from the quarries of Sorrento,
the«tones of which are carefully fitted into one another with
nmk grooves. The doors and windows are four-cornered, and
tolerably wide, with marble posts ; each architrave is decorated
by a earland of leaves ; on each framed frieze, besides the
coat of arms, is an inscription which expresses the grateful
•ense of the founder towards the royal family, In hcmortm
opHmi Jifffis FtnUnandi et splendorem mbilismiae patriae Dio-
medes Carafa comes Matalrms, mccccucvi. Ancient remains of
■culptureB and busts are fixed in a judicious manner on Bie
&9ade and side walla ; a wooden roof, with moditlions niade
according to an old pattern, crowns the building, which alto-
gether conveys an impression of durability ; but the effect of
its noble simplicity is more ornamental than imposing. The
atrium at the entrance of the steps is in the same decorated
■trie, with smooth broad arches ; the staircase is convenient ;
and on the upper story above the great rooms another inscrip-
tion may be read, expressing the same thing in other words,
Mas eomes insignis Dtomedes coiididit aedes in iaudem Regis pu-
triu&que dacorem. The architectural decorations of the court-
yard remained unfinished. It was once remarkable for two
■mnunwnts, of which in our days little is left beyond tlie
iwollection of them. Upon a pillar of Seranezza marble was
ul«cedi as late as the last century, a bronze statue of King
Ferdinand on horseback ; it is ascribed lo the Florentiiie
iwulptor Donatello, if a confused account of the life of this
anlHt, by Geoi^e Vasari, is lo be so understood, which is to be

1

1

120 THE CAUAFAS OF MADDALOSI.

Bure a bold hypothesis.* A piUat and statue mark the spot
where the Airagoiiese once waited for Carafa, whom he came
to fetcli to the chace ; Diomed was still in bed, and the king'
waited in the courtyard till he was dressed- Oa the wall
opposite the entrance a colossal brass head of a horse was once
plac«d, the only remains of the once celebrated Grecian horse
that, as a symbol of the republic, was to hare adorned the
place in front of the temple of Neptune, to which the people
attributed magical power ; and King Conrad of Hohenataufen,
as a token that he had subdued the rebellious city, placed a
bridle upon it as the iuscriptiou informs us ; —

" HaotenuB effitinis, Domini nunc parat Jiabeoia,
Hax domat banc nequus ParthBaopeiUB equiun."

Till the year 1322 the horse stood before the cathedral.
Tradition informs us that the Archbishop Uberto of Mont-
auro, to put an end to the superstition which caused the
people to lead sick horses round this gigantic form to heal
them, caused it to be broken to pieces, and the mass of brass
cast into church bells. Only the masterly bead was saved,
and erected by Diomed on the place mentioned, where it re>
mained till later times. Its place is at present supplied by a
plaster copy, whilst the original has been moved to the Bour-
bon museum ; one of the ornaments of a room which contains
the wonderful bronzes and statues of Ilercukuieum. The
following inscription by Francesco Carafa, Prince of Colo-
brano, informs us of its strange fate: —

" QuiG mea fucrit dignitss, qum corporia vaatitaa
SuperaleB monstrat caput
Barbnms injecit frenoa
Supptatilio aVEiritieaque dedenmt morti, J

Bunorum dcaidcrium nugot milii prcdum ■

Caput huic viilce, I

Corpus cQoioris templi tmnpunie acrvant, I

Mccum ciyitatis puriit inaignc, I

Id gpnua artjuni amotorpa, ■

FnmciBco Cnrafa \

Hoc quicquid est deberi aciant."

The Count of Maddaloni did not collect this memorial of
antiquity only, but many other works of art, in his dwelling.
He had his rooms decorated, by the painter Pietro del Don- ,

L

• Voiiiri, in the Life of Donatello. Florenoa edition, 1848. VuL iii

POSTERITY OF DIOMED. 121

lelloi with pictures which Bernardo de' Domiiiicj, the Vasari
of Naples, saw wheu el youth at the beginning of the lust cen-
tury, but which perished in his time, owing to new buildings
in the hou^.* Tiiese works of art disappeared by degrees
from the palace, which, after the deatli of the fourth Count
and first Duke of Maddaloni, without children, in tlie year
1561, also called Dionied, passed to his nephew, Don Marzlo,
and remained in trust for the Prince of Colobnuio, a collateral
branch uf the Carafas, till the year 1813, when a well-known
lawyer, Francesco Santangelo, obtained it by purchase. The
new possessor cared for the restoration and preservation of
antiques, and by degrees filled up the empty places with
those treasures of art and science to which his sons, Niccolo
and Michele, niade important additions. It forms at the
present time one of the first private collections of Naples,
worthy by its value and extent of a royal palace, whether from
its pictures and bronsies, its coins and ancient pottery, or, lastly,
its well-selected library. |

Diomed Carafa married twice. His first wife was Maria
or Isabella Caracciolo, the second Sueva San Severino, both
belonging to the most illustrious races in the country. Gian
Tomaso, tiie eldest of his sous, iiilierited the rank but not the
good fortune of his father. Leader of the troops hastily
gailiered logelher after the departure of Charles Till., with
which Feniandino imdertook to regain his patrimonial in-
heritance, he was completely beaten by the French at £buli,
oa tli« side of the road which leads to Calabria ; his troops
na different ways without fighting well, and some of the in-
lantiy were cut to pieces in their flight before the deserters
reached Nola-f This second Count of Maddaloni, as well as
his cousin Antonio of Moudragone, the founder of the line of
Stigliano, was involved in the extreme coniusion which ac-
oonipaaied the fall of the Arragonese. At Gonsalvo's en-
trance into Naples in the year 13U3, as an adherent of tho
fugitive Angevin, bb fiefs and titles were declared forfeited,
hi* goods were confiscated, and it was only after the establish-

• De Domemiri, Vito Aei Kttori, Scullori, ed Architetti Kapolelnni.
Sew edidon. Naples, 1810. Vol. i. p. .log,

t Vvpoli e i Luoghi celcbri dello eue vicinoiwe. Naplos, 18^3.
ToliLp. 331.

^

AM

i

122 THE CABAFAS OF KADDALOXI.

ment of the Spanish dominion that the Carafas were again
received into fiiTour. The son of Gian Tomaso fought imder
Bamon de Cordova at Bavenna, and established the line of
the Counts of Maddaloni, whilst that of the Count of Montorio,
of the elder branch, was founded by Giovan Antonio, the
second son of Diomed. The fast will occupy the principal
place in the further course of this history ; of the second we
diall speak now. In the course of two generations they at-
tained to a power and grandeur which gave them the hope of
an hereditary position amongst the rulers of Italy ; but their
&11 was the more rapid and terrible, and made the whole
peninsula tremble. .

Gian Antonio Cara£Ei dreamt not of this fate when he built
a house obliquely opposite his father's dwelling, which is re-
markable even to this day by its grave and somewhat heavy
architecture and its black stone. On the 28th of June, 1476,
a son was bom to him by his wife Yittoria Camponeschi, out
of Aquila in the Abruzzi, according to some fit)m Sant' An-
gelo della Scala, and to others from Capriglia, in the province
of the Principata Ultra, who received the name of Gian Pietro.
When still young he made rapid progress in the sciences. He
was brought by his relation, the Cardinal Oliviera Carafa, to
the court of Pope Julius II. ; became Archbishop of Chicti, the
principal place of that side of the Abruzzi, ^^unded with St.
Cajetan of Tiene, the order of monks who called themselves
after the Theatine bishopric; became a cardinal under the
government of Paul III., and was one of the members of the
sacred college, who by word and deed assisted, with the
greatest activity, in the revival of a Catholic spirit. At last
he obtained the bishopric of Naples. Hostile to Spain and to
Spanish politics, he had to struggle against a violent opposition
before he could gain possession of his see. The viceroy, Don
Pedro de Toledo, knew the violent and inflexible character
of the man too well to wish to have him by his side. Pope
Julius IIL was obliged to invoke the aid of the emperor to
remove the impediments. When Julius died, the eyes of the
conclave were directed toward the Cardinal Carafa ; the im-
perial lunbassadors warned him that their sovereign would
never consent to his election. He replied, " If God wishes
me to be pope, no emperor can hinder me firom being so ; but
for myself it will be so much the better, fw then I shall owe

PADL IT, 123

my elevation to no haman power." He was elected as a suc-
cessor of St. Peter's on Ascendoa Day, May 23, 1555, at the
age of 79. He called himself Paul IV.

What a stormy government was his ! The popes had long
wavered betweea the emperor and France. The small results,
nolvrithstanding- all the detached succe^ees, of the labours of
Julius n. and Leo X., and the dreadful distress of the govem-
ment of Clement Til., are to be ascribed to this wavering,
the oeoessary consequence of a policy which, witli small in-
dividual means, with unfaithful and uncertain allies, wished
to accomplish great things, and eveu hindered every decision
which they seemed to facihtate, from dread of being oppressed
by the overpowering might of the conqueror, even when he was
their friend. Paul UI. did much the same ; and if he suc-
ceeded better than his predecessors, it is not merely to be at-
tributed to Ids refined tact, but still more to the times, that
were hushed after that the violent stonns imder the Medici
had spent their fury. But he likewise could not hinder, what
Leo and Clement had struggled against, the imperial power,
or rather, to speak more correctly, the firm establishment of
the Spanish power, in the north as well as in tlie south of the
peninsula. That, for the sake of which the papacy liad ouce
fought a life and death struggle with the Hohenstaufeua, it
was now forced to bear from Hapsburg.

Paul IV. would not bear it. He is the last pope who
adopted a gr^t jiatioual policy, which extended not only
beyond the narrow limits of the States of the Church, but
bej-ond the frontiers of Italy. The spirit of llie Italian, of
the noble, and of the prince of the Church, stirred alike within
iiim. By nature he hated the emperor and the Spaninrds ; he
nid that, as a good Italian, he could not endure tiiat those
perBons who now ruied liis native land had beea thdr own
Oooks and grooms. He complained that the emperor's agents
bad favoured the religious movement in Germany, to over-
llirow the papal power, and so to appropriate to himself tbe
mt of the peninsula. He considered Italy as an harmonious
instrument with four strings. Some, Venice, Milan, ajid
Naples. He bewailed as lost the souls of Lodovica Sforza
utd Alpiionso of Arragon, because tliey had destroyed this
beeotifol instrument. If none would take care of it, he
would. If no one would listen to his appeal, he would comfiv't

12-i Tilli CAKAFAS OF MADD,U.OKI,

himself with the judgment of posterity.* " Iliac omnis mail
labes," he said once to the Venetian ambaasariors, when re-
calling the events which had happened in his native countiy
from the entrance of Charles VIII. to the departure of King
Frederick, " Then was tiiat door of misforUine opened to the
barbarians which we might have sliuC, but were not listened
to, for the sake of our sins. We sliall not repent tiiat we have
done what we could, perhaps more than we were able. We
leave to future sliame all those that have not assisted us,
and it shall be related how an old man of eighty, when he
was expected to retreat into a comer to weep over his sins,
stepped forth valiantly as a eliompion for the freedom of Italy,
but he yras left in the lurch by those who ought to have as-
sis(«i him the most zealously. Repentance will reach you
one day, my lordj of Venice, and all the rest of you who
would not lake advantage of the opportunity to free yourselves
from this pestilence. It began under a king who was en-
durable from his good qualities ; but then came this race, a
mixture of the Fleming and Spaniard, in which nihil regium
nihil Christianum, that sticks like a burr where it once fastens.
The French are different ; they break off in the middle of iheir
work, and would not stop were they lightly bound. We have
Been them lords of Naples and lords of Milan ; they are gone ;
Stare loco nesciunt. Illustrious ambassadore, we speak to you
in confidence, as we would to his excellency the Doge, to the
counsellors and heads of Christendom, for we know tiiat you
will not publish our thoughts. We shall never repent that
we have laboured through this residue of life for the honour
of God and the weliore of poor Italy, that we have led a la-
borious life without repose or refreshment ;" and soon after-
wards, — "Mark what we say to you; we are old, ajid shall
go from hence one of these days when it pleases God. But
the time will tome when you will kuow that we have told you
the truth ; God grant tliat it may not be to your hurt ! You
are both barbarians ; and it would be as well if you remaintd
at home, and that no other language were spoken in Italy
besides our own."t

* Rdazione di B/>mii, di Somardo XaTBgero, 1
degU Amboaciatoii Yctieti nl Suuata edlte da £ug
1816. Vol, vii. p, 565,

f B.Navagero'B despatdies ftom the Slat of Maj and 2ath of June, ii

ALVA 3 MARCH AG^ilNST ROME. 125

He began the war against Spain — but what a war ! King
Philip li. was the mightiest monarch in the world. "What
had the Pope to resist auch secular power? France helped,
but the Duke of Guise was not a mateh for Alva, — the Viceroy
of Naples, and the vielory of Spain at St. Quentin ktpt hjia
back. The old levity of the French in Italy rendered the
designs of Henry II., as it had once done those of Lewis XII,
and Francia II., of no effect. The enemy soon stood before
Rome. The town narrowly escaped falling- once more into
the power of the imperial army, aa it had done thirty years
earlier into that of the Constable. In the night between the
24th and the 25th of August 1557, the Viceroy planned to
accomplish a bold design (un coup-de-niuin). He had heard
bora bis spies that it would be easy to lake Porta Maggiore,
if they had only two pieces of artillery to attack the fortifica-
tions with. Whoever lias known Rome before the last ten
years may remember the towers that flank this remarkable
gate, which is fonncd by great arches, over which the stone
canals of three old aqueducts have been placed. Under the
govcEmment of tiie last pope, Gregory XVI., it was brought
nearer again to its original fonn by the removal of the later
buildings. Alva marched thither on the 25th of August from
llie Via Latina to La Colomia, a bbulII village situated upon
the extreme heights of the Albanian mountains, near to the
road leading from Falestrina to Rome; there he remained
aud sent his condottiers, Ascanio della Comia, an illustridos
native of Perugia, and a nephew of Fope Julius III., with a
hundred horsemen, who carried as many arquebusiers behind
iliein. They were to mount the walls at Porta Maggiore by
means of ladders which they carried with them, break open
tiie gate, and wait at the Baidlicata of Santa Maggiore till he
and the whole anny moved un. From thence he wished to
march thruugh the quarter of Monti, to try and reach Campo
di Fiorc, and from Monte Giordano in the strong Orsini
]i)ilace to turn the artillery i^aliist Ihe nieghbouring fortress
of St. Aogelo, All this was to be performed during the
night. Ascanio marched on. At tlie second hour after sunset
the Viceroy put himself in movement. La Colonna in fifteen

126 THE OABAFAS OF MADDALONL

miles distant finom Borne ; there the heavy artillery and the
baggage were left behind. The Duke, with Mark Anton
Colonna, the head of this great Ghibelline family, who were
detested by the Pope with a deadly hatred, and deprived of their
fiefb, led the vanguard, which consisted of light cavalry ; the
eemtre was formed by the Spanish infantry, and the Germans
brought up the rearguard. Their waiKsry was ** Liberty," —
a bitter mockery. The weather £3iyoured the undertaking;
the night was rainy and intensely dark.

The army was only half a mile distant from the town, but
Ascan had arrived long before. He saw that the whole city
was illuminated, and heard everywhere the people running to
and fro and the clatter of arms. The decampment of the
army was known in Rome, and, although it was not known
whether it would turn towards the town or towards Tivoli,
it had been resolved to be upon the watch. The troops of the
Pope remained the whole night under arms. Cardinal Carafa,
the soul of the papal decisions, visited all the places on horse-
back, and did not indulge in a moment's rest. The Viceroy
held a council of war ; it was resolved to inspect other parts
of the wall : one of the officers rode as &r as the gate of
Salara; he found everything quiet, and said to the Duke,
^' I will stake my life, if we go on, we shall take Rome before
the day dawns." But Colonna reminded him of Agrippina's
speech when Nero sent his sergeants : ^^ Could he bear it," said
he to him, '^ that his native town should be destroyed, wliich had
produced so great a hero as himself?" Mark Anton and
Alva looked at one another, and the last resolved upon a retreat.
He granted an hour's rest to his men, and then marched to
La Colonna, and further to Genazzano, and to Paliano, castles
belonging to the Colonnas.* The Viceroy had forbidden
his soldiera to plimder the town,^ and promised them double
pay instead; but had they entered it, they had secretly
determined not to lose so fine an opportunity of enrich-
ing themselves. Many attributed to this drcumstance that
Alva did not advance ; he merely wished to show the Pope and
his followers that he could take the town if he liked. But
others said that he would gladly have done it, if he could ;
but that the lights, and the noise, and the clatter of the horses'

♦ P. Nores, p. 210.

PEACE AT CAVE. 127

hoofs, imd caused liim to believe tliat preparations iiEtd beeu
made, and that the French troops were m the vicinit}'."
But the Pope saw at last that it was necessary to eouclude a
peace. The war was voluntary, says the Yeuetiau amlmssa-
dor, the peace forced. Paul IV. had no more moHey, or
ammimilioD, or provisions, or prospect ot'asBisiance. The same
happened during another war, which long afterwards was
undertaken by another pope. His own troops, it was feared,
would in thar licentiousness plunder the town. Poor Rome,
what will become of thee ? exclaimed the women, who durst
not leave any door open, on account of the debauchery of the
soldiers. Marshal Strozzi, who was sent by his cousin Henry
H. to Rome, and who only of all the j^apal party understood
the x^Tilar system of warfare, said frankly to the pope tliat he
must make ae good terms as be could with the imperial party.
Yeoice advised peace — the president had already said in
council, that, if your neighbour's house is on fire, you are
partjcipators in it.f

The peace was concluded at Cave by Falestriua on the 9th
of September. A pope, even- when he loses, said Navagero,
always comes off much better than any other ruler, from whom
the peace takes what the war had left liim. This may be true
of the time of the treaty of Toledo, of Pius IV. and Bonaparte.
The Duke of Alva entered Rome on the 19th of September,
rode directly to the Vatican, kissed the foot of the Pope
with all reverence and humility, and begged for pardon, in his
own name and in that of the king, for what they had undertaken
against the apostolical chair and his holiness. Such an end,
observes Pietro Nores, the most authentio historian of tliese
events, gave Paul IV. more proud thoughts for the deliver-
ance of Italy from foreigners, though they were not
ikvoured by fortune ; thoughts which would perhaps have
btv-n more successfully fulfilled, if the Pope, instead of iu-
vokiug foreign aid, had only made use of that of Italian
princes, But how to accomplish this, when all Piedmont
witH in the interests of Spain, when Venice Jealously observed
a strict neutrality, not to mention, besides, that the Houses
of Esta and Famese were weak, and Cosmo de' Medici sold
to the Spanish policy, and only thinking how he could en-

r

128 THE CARAFA8 OF MADDALONI. '

large his beautiful possession of Florence by the lasting an-
tiexation of Sienna 1

When Paul IV. conducted this war, his adherents were all-
powerful in Rome. His elder brother, Giovan Alphonso, Count i
of Montorio, left behiad him, at bis death in 1543, three bods,
for nbom a brilliant career was opened when their aged uncle
became pope. It is hardly to be believed that under so eevere
a zealot, and so impassianed a champion for church reform,
an administration of nepotism would prevail, almost as wild
as that of the Borgias, and as ambitious as that of the Famese.
But Paul IV., with his mind quite full of great ecclesiastical ■
and political plans, honestly believed that he promoted the
welfare of the States of the Church, and of the universe, by the
assistance of his arms, and publicly declared that the apostoli-
cal chair had never possessed a greater man than Charles
Caraia. Charles Carafu was thirty-six years old when his
uncle ascended the throne of St, Peter — the youngest of three
brothers. He iiad seen much of the world, had been tossed
about during the wars of Piedmont, in Germany and in the
country of Sienna ; his way of life was such that his uncle the
Cardinal could not have him about him. But when his uncle
became Pope, the tables were turned,* and Charlts Carafa's
violent hatred of the Spaniards, more than hb activity and
dexterity in business, brought together these dissimilar natures.
Even when a cardinal he led a wild life, sought after plea-
sure, hunted, played, gave banquets, and gladly accepted
invitations. He was very jealous of his influence ; he liked
to be recognized as lord, and see others in a state of depend-
toice. To the same degree that he assisted his friends and
dependents, he knew how to avenge himself on his rivals and
enemies. Much as the Pope granted to him, he had neverthe-
less but a small sliare in the eccle^astical government. His
eldest brother, Giovanni, after his fiither's death Count of
Montorio, was of a weak disposition, very much attached to
his family, extravagant to such a degree that the rich revenues
which he received from his ofHce of Captain-General of the
Chtucli, and the fief of Faliano, which the Pope had taken
away from tlte outlawed Colonnas, and had bestowed upon
him, scarcely sufficed to defray the expenses of his household,
and that of his wife and of his son. The other brother,
Antonio Marquis cf Montibello, was dull and passionate j

J

FALL OF TEIE CAKAFAS, 129

he had one son, Alpliocso, the Pope's favourite, and eJevated
by Iiim even in his tender youth to the dignity of catdiiial.
^uni the beginning there had been dissensions amongst the
brothers: the elder ones could not bear the overwhelming
infiuencc of the younger brother, aud the younger one
quarelled with the elder ones on account of iheii lukewarra-
nees in warlike enterprises, fur they opeuly blamed the policy
of the Pope aud his hatred against the Spaniards. Once
things went so far, that after some violent words they drew
their swords in the presence of Piero Stroizi. They were
hated by all the Romans — as Neaimlilans, and because they
enriched themselves with the spoils of great Roman families —
as insolent men in authority, to whom were attributed the
many misforlunea which had befalleu Rome by war, foreign
soldiery, iucrease of taxation, the demolition and utter ruin of
houses and villas, the destruction of the vines during the
government of the Pope, of whom the Venetian amba^dor
said in the year 1556, " he had spent twenty-five months in
war, and sis in peace." The Carafes were ruined in the
opiuian of all — with the Roman people, with the imperial-
Spanish party, as well as with the French party. Frdn5ois
de Guize said to Pietro Strozzi, he had clearly proved to the
Fupe that his nephews betrayed the papal throne, and that
their engagements with the King of France had been ill
performixl. But one of their worst enemies was the mtriguing
Cosmos Duke of Florence, who had not forgiven them for
haviiig ustd their utmost exertions to thwart his plans, in the
year looo, for tlie establishment of an independent kingdom
for liimself, of the conquered Sienna, as in later times was
done by Cybo in Massa, the Medici in Florence, the Famese
ia Piaceiiza and Parma.

The bow was too tightly strung ; it burst, and never has the
fill! of nepotism been more terrible. The three Carafas were
al the same time declared to have forfeited their offices, aud
WCTP sent into exile in different places. The Pope said to
the Roman magistrate, the conservator, " They have ruined
tlie world, the apostolical see, and Rome ; we hope that a just
Ood aud our successor will chastise them ! Catherine
Canlelmo, the mother of the three, east herself down l>efore
him, but iie had her taken away, saying, "Cursed be the
womb ihal has produced such base and ciimiual men." He

1

ItjO THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

fnnM nctt listen to any justification ; he never allowied Iqb
fevomites to appear before him again. ThiQ young' Cardinal
Alphonso was l^e only one whom he retained near him.

Even in that time opinionf were divided as to the particu-
lar cause which gave rise to this excess of severity and anger.
For, whatever dise the Cardinal Carafa might be reproached
with, he had foTlowed up the political designs of the pope
with zeal and energy, the more so as they were also his own.
But Paul lY. was, like other men of passionate natures, of an
ascetic disposition, which he had employed solely on eccle-
siastical afiairs ; he plunged suddenly in his old age into the
excitement of war and politics. "When he succumbed, as he
was obliged after a violent internal struggle to make a peace
with his hated enemy, he returned again with the same energy
to the train of thought which had occupied the whole of his
earlier life. When the treaty was concluded at Cave, Car-
dinal Vitellozzo Vitelli brought him the news of it. He
said as he came into the room, '^ Holy father, peace is con-
cluded." It was the second hour of the night : the Pope sat
at his supper. He immediately stood up, micovered his head,
and said, '* God be praised who has granted us this grace,
that we longed for above all others !" then he sat down again
in the most cheerful mood, and finished his supper.'*' It is
known that from this time he occupied himself almost exclu-
sively with ecclesiastical afl^irs. Worldly matters affected
him little, if the disappointments are excepted which the
necessity of settling with his vassals the Colonnas imposed
upon him. These transactions offer one cause for his anger
against the Cardinal Carafa, of whose fidelity and sincerity
he entertained suspicions that were not imfounded. The
worldly actions and tyranny of his nephews must have been
the more hateful to Mm the more his thoughts took a spiritual
direction.

However this might be, the Carafas remained away from
court till the death of Paul IV., which happened on the 18th
of August, 1559. Great rejoicings had been made in Rome
over their fkll, but the monkish severity of the pope embit-
tered the people still more violently against him than against
his nephews. He was still in the agonic Of death when the

♦ Nores, p. 217.

raSURBECTION AT ROME. 131

HoinflJis revolted. They issued a decree from the Capitol that
the prisons should be broken opera by ibrce of arms; iheu the
i«M masses spread tfaemaelves over tlie Town. First th^
rtonned liw pnson of the Inquisition, wounded the guard, let
cut all ttie prisoners, and set it on fire. Then tiiey weiit to
the Dominican monastery of Sancta Maria aopra Minerva,
where many peisons were imprisoned for heresy : they would
have flung the monks out of the windows if Giulio Cesarini
had not prevented them. The rest of the prisons, Torre Sa-
▼ulla, Tor di Nona, and that of the senators' palace, were also
brokei opai : above four hundred prisoners were set at liberty.
A few months before, wlien Pope Paul had put an end' to the
ftdminiBtcution of his nephews, the people had erected a statue
to him in the Capitol ; this now fell a sacrifice to their fiiry.
Early on the second morning tiie magistrates and the people
assembled upon the hill which had been the place of honour of
tlie old republic, and has survived so many outrages even up
to the present day. The populace tore down the statue and
smashed it to pieces, the magistrates and nobles looked on
l&iigfaiijg. Like a Jen, the yellow cap was placed upon the
venerable head, which, according to a decree of this pope, the
Jews were obliged to wear to dislingnish them from the Chris-
tians. During the whole day the head remained a« an object
of scorn for the lowest of the rabble, till towards evening
Mtne persons, out of pity for him, flung it into the Tiber. For
a festive jubilee on the third day, which was Monday, all the
escutcheons and inscriptions of the Carafas were broken to
|deces and destroyed, and it was resolved to try and seize the
nephews. Under such auspices the cardinals met in conclave,*
"Hiis Ktorm had already been lowering over the heads of the
Cara&s, when, during the vacation of the Sediles, an event
happened which increased their guilt. It was a domestic tra-
gedy. The Duke of Paliano had heea once a tender husband
and father; nevertheless Diaz Garloni, of the race of the
Counts of Alife, occasioned an estrangement between him and
his wife Violante. The perfiily of the man caused the fall of
the woman. Diana Brancacci, one of her ladies, revealed to
(he Duke the intimacy between his wife and Marcello Capece.
Karcello was seized and brought to Soriano, a place now be-

tba

J

132 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONT.

loDging to the Albani, in the territory of Viterbo, where the
Duke was just then staying. Violante was kept under stiict
g^uard. Carafe, wish^ at first to conceal the shame of his
house, and affected to have other reasons for these measures ;
but the affair had become too public. Then he resolved to
wash out the stain with the blood of the adulterer, as Pietro
de' Medici, the brother of the first archduke, did years after,
and whose brother-in-law was Paolo Giordano Orsini, the
famous Duke of Bracciano. The brother of Violante, the
Count of Alife, was summoned, together with a friend of the
house of the family of Toraldo. They held a formal court of
justice about Capece, with whom they confronted his accuser,
and some other ladies of the old Countess of Montorio. He
denied it at first, but, as they threatened to put him to the tor-
ture, he confessed all. The Duke examined Marcello's decla-
ration, and said to him, " Write it all down with your own
hand." But whether the terror of death made him incapable,
or that his hand was injured by the rope, he could write nothing
but the words, " Yes, I am the betrayer of my lord ; yes, I
have deprived him of his honour." Giovanni Carafa ap-
proached him, read the writing, and stabbed the prisoner on
his breast with three thrusts of his dagger, and had the corpse
flung into a drain of the adjacent prison.

When this happened Pope Paul still lived. When informed
of it he merely asked, "And what has been done with the
Duchess ?" The Duchess had been still permitted to live, be-
cause she was likely to become a mother. None thought of
calling the Duke to account for his actions, so great was the
authority of the barons. Meanwhile the pope died, and it
was discovered that the imprisoned lady, notwithstanding the
strictness with which she had been watched, found an opportu-
nity of entering into a negotiation with the deadly enemy of
the Carafas, Marc Anton Colonna. If he found the means of
rescuing her, she would deliver her husband dead or alive into
his hands. On the 28th of August Giovanni Carafa sent one
of his captains to his castle of Gallese, situated in the valley
of the Tiber, not far from Civita Castellana, where Violante
was imprisoned. In a letter written afterwards from prison
to Pope Pius IV. he describes the transaction and the state of
his own mind, from which is clearly to be perceived that he
still loved his wife ; and the urgency of his relations, who

MURDER OF THE DUCHESS OF PAGLUXO. 133

threatened to disown him " if he did not. wash t}ie ignominy
irom his face by the death of the criminal," hsd a.t least as
much influence over him aa the consciousness of his injured
honour. Two days afterwards, Don Ferdinand Garloni, Count
of Alife, and Don Leonardo di Cardine, a relation of the
fitmily, entered the palace of Gallese. In the morning the
Duchess's death waa announced to her. She desired to con-
fess and receive the sacrament. When they both oame into
the room she inquired, " Is it the Duke's order that I must
die?" Upon Don Leonardo answering yes, she said further,
" Show it to me." After she had read it he seized her hands,
in which she held faiit a crucifix, to put an end to the tragic
scene, whereupon her brother murdered her. Little was said
of this circumstance, for from the moment her incarceration
became known slie had been considered as dead. It was just
the turbulent, lawless time, big with expectation of the Sediz
holiday, and the deed was done out of the town.*

The Cardinal Giano Angelo Medici, of Milan, was elected
pope on the 25th December. Carlo Oarafa had contributed
to this choice, and believed himiielf secured by it : but he de-
ceived himself. Spain, the emperor, and Tuscany had con-
spired tc^ether to effect his ruin and that of his family ; the
Colonnas and other hostile barons worked upon the new pope,
and, more than any one else, Marc Anton's mother, once the
very beautiful Donna Giovanna d'Aragona, whose picture, by
the liand of Raphael, beams with perpetual youth. She could
not forget how she had fled out of Rome in danger of her
life from Paul IV. Cosmo de' Medici came hiniBelf to Rome,
accompanied by his wife Donna Eleonora, who was the daugh-
ter of the deceased Viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo. As ehe
was going away again she said, " I go, not to be present at the
tragedy of the Carafas." On the 7th of June of the following
year the brothers were imprisoned, and brought into the castle
of St Angelo.

The Carafas had not been siunts, but their trial was con-
ducted in an unwarrantable manner. The fiscal advocate, Ales-
(andro Palantieri, had a particular aversion to the Cardinal.
" Advocate," the Cardinal had once s^d to him, when full of
suspicion of him on an earlier occasion, "if you have another

• Nores, pp. 379-282,

134 THB CABAFAS OF KABDALONI.

opportunity of looking after me, I shall (^pen my eyes very
wide." Palantieri never forgot this, and, when the fallen
fitvovurite was in his hands, he himself violated the indispeo-
sable forms of the bad administration of justice of those days
and falsified the evidence. He made use of the confessions of
the Duke against the Cardinal ; to prevent the discovery of the
falsifications and abuses, he hindered the personal confrontation
of the two accused persons. Giovanni Carafa penitently con-
fessed the murder <^ his wife and her paramour ; the partici*
pation of the Cardinal remained unproved. But the chief
impeachments against the latter were at the same tkne an im-
peachment against the pope his uncle concemii^ the war
against Spain. With r^^urd to the second accusationy of
having rdi»bed the apostolical chamber for the pay of the
troops, nothing could be proved against him-^tiie books were
not produced. Aa little legal proof could be brought against
him on the other points of impeachment. He continued during
the trial the same as he had been before — ^firm, intrepid, dear,
and of few words. The Duke was weaker i he was threat-
ened with the torture to prevail on him to confessu He was
already bound to the rope, when nis courage fEoled him.
^' Alas !" he exclaimed, " the nephew of a pope, a general in
the church, a duke, one who has three royal quarterings in his
arms, upon the rack !" and he made the confession, that led to
his death.

The consistory in which the fate of the Carafas was decided
lasted eight hours. The Cardinals Famese, d'Este, and Carpi
defended the accused with warmth, but the pope was too much
irritated against them. The sentence of death was pronounced.
The Cardinal Carafa was first strangled with a silk cord in the
castle of St. Angelo. He died boldly, as he had Hved. Then
the Duke of Paliano, the Count of Alife, and Don Leonardo
de Cardines of Tordinona were brought into the eastle of St.
Angelo and beheaded. The Duke likewise bore his hard &te
with wonderful firmness, Christian submission, and with a bear-
ing worthy of his noble house. An hour before his death he
wrote the following letter to his son : —

'^ Dear, beloved, blessed son ! The glorious God grant you
his grace, and the holy blessing which he vouchsafes- to send
to his elect. Praised be the name of our Lord Jesas Christ
for ever ! I think that I shall be present to you in these the

TAGLIANO'S LETTKK TO HIS SON. 135

last lilies, words, aud admoiiUioiis that I shall be able to
addreifi to you. I pray the Lorii that they may be such aa a
good &ther oi^ht to write to his ooly and beloved soa. First,
and as the moat cecessarj', I will remind you that you must ia
all your actions and afiections show that you are a true servant
of God, tikat you love lits divine Majesty far more than your-
self, and set aside your own eujoyment, ^utisfacticm, and will,
ereD tf you are promised worldly greatness, honour, and hap-
piness, not to oifend your Creator and Redeemer. If you
fblluw thflso good and necessary principles you will perfonn
everytliing else well and honourably : and an, next to God, wa
must be &ithfnl to our prince, whom he iias placed over us, so
do you servo lus Catholic Majesty the king, as it becomes a
valiant and honourable Christian kuight, Flee from sin, for
it brings forth death. Die rather than endanger your soul:
be an enemy to vice : seek decent and honourable company ;
ga often to conf«ssioD ; receive the holy sacraments often,
which are the true medicine of the soul ; they kill mi and keep
meti in the grace of God : have pity upon the misery of others;
exercke yourself in works of piety, and Bee from idleness, as
weD as from conversatiooa and practices which are not fitting
fot yoa. Take puns to acquire some knowledge of the
■ciencfls, for they are very necessary for a true nobleman, cs-
IweisUy for one who has lands and vassals, as also to be able
to ttiyoy the sweet fruits of the Holy Scriptures, which are
precious for soul and body. If you relish these yon will
wspbe the things belonging to ibis sad world, and you will
not be devoid of consolation in tiiia present life. I wish you
ID be of good courc^ about this ray death, tliat you do not
behave like a child, but like a reasonable man ; that you do not
pa; heed to the si^cstions of the natural man, or to love to
your father, or to the discourse of the world. Consider well,
aud let this be your comfort, that everything happens here
aocording to the will of the great God who governs the uiii-
roM with infinite wisdom. And it seems to me that he
imparts to me great mercy in taking me &om hence in tliis
ny rather than in any other ordinary one, for which I shall
always thank him, and do vou do the same. May it only
nttOM? him to e^iebange this life of mine with the other; the
bIm and delusive one for the true. Do uot be disquieted by
wiiBt people may say or write to you: say to each one, My

--J

1 86 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

father is dead because God has shown him great grace, and I
hope he has saved him to bestow upon him a better existence.
With this I die ; but you will live and reproach no one with

my death.

" My son, you will have many ^ sorrows, and a heavy burden
of debt. It grieves me deeply, and I might have been able to
free you from it, but I can do so no longer. It seems to me
to be necessary for you to seek an honourable alliance and
choose a wife. Respecting this I recommend to you the
advice of our relations, the Lord Marquis your unde, the
Cardinal of Naples, and the Lord Count of Maddaloni. Then
you will think of marrying your sisters : with Paola you will
do what the Lord suggests to you : I recommend them both
to you, and you must consider yourself as their father. I
recommend the servants to. you, and earnestly b^ of you to
reward them for the services they have done me : take from
my soul and my conscience this burden. Love and respect
your vassals and be gracious to them ; never attack the honour
of their wives, and be as temperate and chaste as you can ; it
is a great virtue in the sight of God. I had a great deal
more and many particular things to tell you, but time fails
me and I go to death : no, to life. If you are a true servant
of God's he will guide you, help you, advise you. May you
be blessed with the blessing wluch Isaac gave to his beloved
son Jacob ! may your days be long and happy in the fear of the
Lord!

^^ On the last day of this deceitful life, that is, on the 5th of
March, 1561, at the fifth hour of the night

" YouB Father, the Duke of Paoliano."*

The unfortunate fate of the Carafas of Montorio persecuted
them even after these tragical events. Pope Pius V. had
indeed, after his accession, ordered the revision of the whole
trial, in consequence of which the sentence was reversed and
the memory of the executed persons restored to honour ; the
confiscated possessions were given back to the survivors. But
the family were soon in a desolate condition. Diomed Count
of Montorio, the only son of the Duke of Pagliano, died at
the age of twenty, soon after his marriage. Both his sisters.

* A manuscript in the library of the Riccardi at Florence, in an
appendix of Nores, pp. 458-460.

CAEDtNAL ALPHONSO CXRXFA. 137

Maria and Faola, went into the convent of Sapionza, which
had been cslablished there by Donna Maria Carafa, the Pope's
sister, where the CardiniLl Archbishop Olivieri CaraJk had de-
dgned a plaii for the erection of a large school, but death
summoned Min away before its accomplishment. The only
descendant of Diomed's niarriag^e with Cornelia Carafe, a
daughter of the Count of Cerreto, Alphonso, married, when he
liad scarcely attained manhood, Yittoria Caraccioto, and was
only one-and-twenty years old iii the year 1384, when be was
killed in a duel by Ferdinand Loffredo, Marchese of Trivico,
which was occasiooed by a dispute which had arisen at play.
Only an illegitimate race remained, that in time obtained the
titles of Castelnuovo and Collepietra. The head of the same
made himself remarkable in the year 1647 by being one of
the fcw of the ancient nobility that went over to the French
party, and was on that account outlawed and deprived of his
fiefs and dignities by King Philip lY., and died in a foreign
land.

It has been already remarked that one individual of , the
family remained with Pope Paul IV., the young Cardinal
Alphonso. He was only nineteen years of age when liia
uncle died, but his youth did not exclude him from the mis-
fortunes which befel the family under Paul's successor. He
was deprived of his ofiice as cardinal-librarian, detained a
prisoner in the castle of St. Angela, and punished by a fine o£
100,000 gold scudi. He was not allowed to leave Borne.
One part of tlus enormous sum vrae r^sed by the sacred
college, another by families who befriended him, as well as
by the sale of his goods. The revenues of liis archbishopric
of Naples were mortgaged for a series of years ; nevertheless,
the Pope was obliged to remit the punishment. Pius V., who
became very fond of Alphonso Carafa, sent him to Naples to
fiilfil the duties of his high ofGce. He executed them with
piety and zeal, but was never again joyous, such an impression
had the fate of his relations made upon him. His grief short-
ened his life ; he died in 1560, scarcely aged five-and-twenty.
In the cathedral of Naples is to be seen the monument which
Pope Pius V, erected to him ; a structure of the Doric order,
composed of many kinds of marble of various colours. The
tintue of the cardinal is lying on the coffin ; the head is sup-
ported by the left arm. Above, in basso-relievo, is a Ha*

138 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONI.

donna and Child, a good work of the Boonarotti school. The
inscription is b j the Pope himself, which expresses that Pins
Y. put up this monument to Alphonso Cara^i : — ^' Adolescenti
non minus sua virtute quam Majcnrum splendore claro, patmi
Panli nn. Pont. Max. religionem integritatemque referenti,
ea saptientia praedito, ut in seeundis relMis summam eius tern-
perantiam, in advarsis miram constantiam omnes laudave-
rint." *

Before we leave the Hne of the Counts of Montorio, of the
House of Carafii of Maddalimi, to whom befel in so short a
time such greatness, such prospects, and such ruin in quick
succession, we must retrace our steps and think of the man
under whose protection Gian Hetro Caraia began his career.
Amongst the Archbishops of Naples none have been more
justly praised than Olivieri Cara&, a nephew of DiomedVthe
first Count of Maddaloni. He was bom in 1430 ; his father
Francesco had, in the vicinity of the monument already de»
cribed of the person above mentioned, a similar memorial
erected to the memory of his bdoved son in San Domenico.
It is considered as a youthful work of Giovanni da Nolans, and
the figure of the knight is arranged recumbent upon the sepul-
chre in the same manner, with the inscription, '^Par vitse
religiosus exitus." At the age oi eight-ahd-twenty Olivieri
was raised by Pius V. to the archiepiscopal dignity. Nine
years afterwards Pkul H. invested him with the Reman
purple. He was a jurist, a theologian, an antiquarian, a
statesman. He even exerted himself in the art of war, as an
admiral, in commanding a fleet of galleys against the Turks,
but without any fortunate results. Like most of his race,
^thful and attached to the Arragonese, in whose favours he
shared largely, and often in the midst of the difficulties attend-
ing the varying politics of the Popes l%Ktus IV., Innocent
VIII., Alexander VI., he defended the interests of his sove-
reign's family. According to the moraHty or immorality of
those times, he accumulated, besides his archbishopric of
Naples, that he pould only visit occasionally, a number of
bishoprics and abbeys — Chieti, that he resigned to bis cousin,
afterwards Pope ; Bimini, Terracina, and so on ; and the famous
Benedictiite Abbeys of La Cave and Monte Vergine, which

* StamslaTiB Aloe, Teaoro lapidario Napoletano. Kaples, 1835. Pp.
27 and 166.

CAHDIKAL OLIVIEltl CAEATA. 131)

are visited in these days, not merely oa account of tbeir pic-
turesque situation in tlie inountEdns, but aJso for the sake of
the rich treasures cont^uned in their archives. His brother
and successor iu the arcbie[HSCopal dignity, Alessajuira Carii&,
brought during iiis lifetime, from Monte Vergine, the boues
of St. Jauuarius to the cathedral of Naples. How revered
Olivini Carai'a was in his home is shown by the description of
hia entry in the year 1498. " On Saturday the 20th April,"
a contemporary chronicle inforras us, whose records contain
so many detaila worth knowing,* " the light reverend Oliver
Cara&i Cardinal of Naples, entered the town, after leaving
Rome oa Friday evening with two galleys and landing at
Cartelnuovo. His Majesty the King (Frederick) went as iar
as the chnreh of the Holy Ghost to meet him, and accompa-
nied him to his palace with many nobles and gentlemen and a
great flourish of trumpets, so that great honour was done to
the Cardinal." Few cardinals have been so popular in Rome.
He deserved this popularity by the use which he made of Ids
great income, as well as by the courteousness of his character.
He was a very liberal supporter of science and leoniiiig:
mwiy youths have been won over by him to the Church and
to serious studies. He biult for the Lateran prebendaries the
monastery next ID Santa Maria della Pace, that church which
was built by Pope Sixtua VI. to commemorate the peace
whieh he obtained, not by, but after, the long wars carried on
during his government, where Raphael's Sibyb and Bni-
■najrte's Court are to be admired. He left lus beautiful
collection of books to this institution. But Rome is indebted
la him for a donation by which alone he would have deserved
hia popularity — the statue of Pasquin. He it was who pot
up the mutilated fragment of the group of the Menelaus-Pa-
troelua near his dwelling on the Piazza Navona, which be-
longed later to the Caracdolo of Santobuono, and afterwards
to the Oniini of Bracciaiio, and was quite built round by Pope
Pins VI. for his nephew Braachi-Otiesti- An inscription on
tbo pedestal mentions it : " Olivierii Ottrafk benefit^o iiic sum
Bimd aalutis MDI." He had another house upon the
Qoirinal, which at that time was almost deserted, and where,
tatBT, the Cardinal Luigi of Este firat built tlie villa which

■ CraQBca dt ^•Aac Gincomi), p. 3

140 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONI.

had been begun in great measure by Gregory XIII., and was
built up into a papal palace by Clement YIII. and Paul Y.,
whilst the Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the Aldobrandini, and
others, raised one building after another in the middle of the
colossal ruins of Constantine's baths, in the purest air and the
most beautiful situation. It was in the dwelling of the Ca-
rafas, '^ Ante equos Lapideos," as it is called fi*om the group
of the Dioscuri, that Pope Paul III. expired, whither he had
caused himself to be brought from the palace of St. Mark's,
now the Venetian palace, which was his usual residence.*

• It was not only in Rome, where he lived the most, that
Olivieri Carafa earned praise. In his cathedral of Naples,
the high altar of which he caused to be adorned by the hand
of Perugino Pietro with the Assumption of the Virgin, which
was obliged to give way to other alterations, and is to be seen
at the present day on the wall next to the door of the sacristy,
he built the confessional in which repose the bones of the
patron saints. Tommaso Malvico, of Coma, was the architect
whom he employed. In the year 1497 the work was begun,
and finished not long before the death of the founder. A
double flight of marble steps leads you down out of the church :
the gates are closed by a bronze rsuling, which show with the
escutcheon, showing the balance and the usual motto, '^ Hoc
file et vives." Ten Ionic marble pillars support the marble
canopy. The relics of St. Januarius rest under the altar, to
the left of which the statue of the Cardinal Olivieri Carafa
kneels praying, as in St. Peter's at Home, before the apostle's
tomb of the sixth Pius. The marble statue is of Roman
work, and is amongst the best sculptures of Naples. Modern
ornaments have increased the richness, but hardly the merit,
of the artistic work of this beautiful confessional.

Olivieri Carafa, of whom the chroniclers of the time men-
tion as a peculiarity that he had an invincible idiosyncracy
against the smell of the rose, died at Rome, as dean of the
sacred college, aged eighty-one years, in the year 1511. His
corpse was conveyed to his home. Blessed as the memory
was that he left behind him in the capital of Christendom,
still it did not protect his escutchoon and mottoes from annihi-
lation, when, after the death of Paul IV., the populace de-

* Canccllicri, II Mercato, &c., ncl cu'co agonale. Borne, 1811. Pp.
27 and 106.

. CARDINAL OLIVIERI CARAFA. 141

stroyed everywhere the emblems and names of the Carafas.
Rome possesses a living chronicle in its numerous inscriptions
and arms, but how many of them have disappeared, how many
shields have only empty fields ! One single Caraifa inscrip-
tion of Paul IV. has remained, and even this has been repaired,
— a monumental stone to mark the overflowing of the Tiber
on the 15th of September, 1555, at Sancta Maria sopra
Minerva.

142 THE CIRAFAS OF ICASDALONI.

BOOK 11.

CHAPTER I.

THE VICKBOY8 UNDEB PHILIP IV. TILL THE YEAR 1 647.

The Spaniflli monarchv under Philip II. and III. — Idea of a universal
Christian monarcny — Condition of Spain — Disunion of its indi-
vidual parts — Centralization of policjr — Philip II.'s foreign policy
— DecHne of Spain under Philip III. — Change of system under
Philip rV. — War in the Netherlands, Germany^ and France —
Insurrection in Catalonia and Portugal — "War in Lomhardy Poli-
tical condition of Italy — Don Antonio de Toledo, Duke of Alva,
Viceroy at Naples — Great distress in the country — The viceroys :
Duke of Alcaic, Count of Monterejr, Duke of Medina — Share of

Naples in the Spanish wars — Mihtary service of the nobility

Increasing pressure, and increasing disfress — Quarrels between the
sediles and the viceroys — The donative, and general system of
taxation — The arrondamenti, or monopolies — 5nbie composizioni,

or money indemnities — Compulsory loans, tributes, sale of places

Svstem of robbery, squadra di campagna, bisogni — Administration
of justice — Right of asylum — Disputes between the secular and
clerical authorities — Cardinal Ascauio FUomarino — Courts of the
viceroys — The Admiral of Castille, Viceroy of Naples — Misery and
immorality — The Duke of Arcos in the admiral's place — Attempts
of the French against the Spanish presidencies on the shores of
Tuscany — IneflFectual siege of Orbetello — Second attempt — Con-
quest of Piombino and Porto Lungone — Warlike preparations at
Naples — Want of money — Fruit-tax — Excessive pauperism.

" Plus ultra," the motto of Charles V., was also that of his
son Philip. The struggle of the mightiest monarch in Eu-
rope was to obtain conquest abroad, and unity at home, by
annihilating individual interests. With reference to the first,
Philip II. has been fortunate, and at the same time has
failed. He maintained Spain, even after it was separated
from the Empire, in the same rank among nations to which
his father had raised it. But he had, during his government
of two-and-forty years, completely weakened the internal
strength of the monarchy : notwithstanding its exterior splen-
dour, the time of its decline had begim, which like a slow Con-
sumption dragged on its existence for a century after his

POLICV OF PHILIP II. 143

dnth, its decay was appurent to all , B.hhoug'h it hud been veiled
ftiT a cunsiderable space of time with hollow pompous cere-
monies. It was the foreign os well ae the domestic policy of
Sing' Philip which in an equal degree conjured up tliis ruin.

Philip II. may be considored aa the personification of
the idea of CathohciBm, in its most rigid exduBiveness and
its mistaken practice. His whole work taken in this eeuse is
harmonious. His policy was formed so mwoh upon hia reh,-
^us views, that at la£t he knew not how to separate his
politics from his religion. He embraced the idea of an nni-
Tcn&l Cliristian monarchy much an it would be produced out
of the cell of a Dominican friar. To incorporate this idea he
pledged his life and his kingdom. Two years before he laid
the foundation stone of the edifice which he thoi^ht to erect
by his marriage with Mary Tndor — it was only four months
before Ins death tliat he perceived iiis inabUily, when he
concluded at Vervins a peace with Henry IV. All his
UDdertakings for forty years must iie considered from the same
potut of view, because they had the same foundation, as they
had the same aim. In England lie tried it fo'st in a fiiendly
way during tlie life of his wife, and then in fighting against
Eliicabeth. He wished to govern France, either aJter the
death of the Valois, by procuring the succession to the Guises,
or by obtaining the thri>ne for iiiinself, or his daughter and an
Austrian aivliduke. Besides this, he claimed Burgundy as
Bteal-grandson of Charles the Bold, Prevence as heir to the
Coant of Barcelona. The north of Europe itself was the
nbjeet of his efforts, whilst, on the other side, he waged an
tinrnnjttins: war with the Turkish power on the shores of
Greece and Africa.

At the same time he wished to command, not merely as a
vnaeigii, but as an absolute despot, over the giga.ntic Spa-
nish monarchy, which contained in itself so many different king-
doms nnil principalities I — so many different nations ! — so many
Taryiiig laws and privileges. It was an agglomeration of the
most contradictory ingredients, and into tliis he wished to in-
troduce unity ! Viceroys presided in Naples, in Palermo, in
Cagliari, in Mexico and Lima; governors ruled in Lombardy,
in the Netherlands, in Franche-Comt^ ; even in Spain tliere
ircre viceroys — in Arragon, Catalonia, in Valencia, Spain
wa» far (rinn forming a complete wliole. The kingdoms of the

i

144 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONI.

middle ages had by degrees fallen into the hands of the rulers
of Castille and Arragon ; but it was in general only an ex-
ternal tie that united them ; not only were the separate pro-
vinces very different in character, with different laws, different
privileges, different interests, but in the provinces again there
stood single independent cities, merely acknowledging the
nominal authority of the king. It is true that Ferdinand the
Catholic and Charles Y. had laboured to bring uniformity
into Spain, but what had existed, and gained strength for cen-
turies, could not be abolished in the course of one or of two
generations. Charles, like his grandfather, had b^un his
activity in the centre of his kingdom. . The victory at Vil-
lalar, in the year 1552, had suppressed the insurrection of the
commons and subdued Castille, which formed the heart of the
monarchy; three-quarters of the population surrendered, and
filled almost entirely the ranks of the army. With this began
the anniliilation of the political power of the nobles, and their
exclusion from the Cortes. King Philip followed the beaten
path. The insurrection in the Alpujarras offered the oppor-
tunity in the year 1570 for the entire subjugation of the
Moors, who even after the fall of their last kingdom consti-
tuted an important share of the population of Spain. The
resistance of Saragossa in the year 1591 led to the ruin of
the constitution of Arragon, one of the freest that have sur-
vived the middle ages. Queen Isabella had once said that
the Arragonese could not give the king a greater pleasure
than by rebelling. Philip still allowed the Fueros, or statute
privileges of the smaller provinces, to remain. Whilst he
created so imperfect an external imion, he could not prevent
the inhabitants of the different parts of the country from
considering each other as strangers, or the Castillian from
looking down upon the Andalusian as the inhabitant of a con-
quered province. Thus was Spain itself constituted. But
Spain was only one portion of the immense kingdom. In what
manner the vicegerents of Philip II. behaved at Naples has
been the subject of an earlier part of this history. In Sicily
the inhabitants were driven into a lasting rebellion ; but the
oppression was greatest in Lombardy. An Italian proverb
says. In Sicily the official gnaws, he eats at Naples, he de-
vours in Milan. The system of government pursued by King
Philip in the Netherlands led to the insurrection of the whole

PHILIP Il.'s FOP.EIGS POLICY. 145

couDtry, and the loss of the iiortberD provinces. It is unn^
cesaarj to speak of America.

The son of Cliarles V. was not successful in his foreign
policy. He conquered Portugal — this, the only result, was
of no advantage to Spain. His interference in French aiTaira
cai;sed an estrangement like that between his father and
Francis I, The long war under his grandson proves it. The
war between Kngland and Holland had for its consequences
the ruin of the Spanish mtuitime power, and brought the
Euglish to Cadiz. The finances of the monarchy were, owing
to tJie constant ware and the expenses required to defend the
Spanish policy in so many difl'ereut countries, completely
ruined. The gold mines of America could not supply as much
specie as the war consumed. The greatest part of Spain
it«elf was not a rich country : the resources of Flanders
and Brabant, believed to be inexhaustible, were paralysed
by the rebellion, and the denianda upon the Italian terri-
tories were larger and likewise oppressive, for, besides the
wretched system of finance in general, the commercial and
industrial condition of the monarchy since the revolt of the
Netherlands, Uie perverted mercantile policy, the haughty dia-
incUoation of the Spaniards for tiie mechanical arts and trade,
the doily diminishing incomes, whilst in consequence of the
old ctMistitutionB of the country the regular taxes in Spain
were Iw no means in proportion to the resoiuTea of the countrj-,
and still less were they in proportion to the necessities of the
government. The privileges of the mother country, and the
increased wants of the ting, occasioned especially by lie in-
cemant wars, rendered the fale of the Spanish provinces a more
melancholy one than that of provinces usually is.

Such wars were not carried on under Philip m., but all
the calamitous consequences of the two preceding reigns were
fell. Marine, commerce, mechanical industry, everything, was
at a low ebb. The national debt had increased in amount to
threefold the sum which Philip II. had found it at. Gold was
•o rare that the rale of interest rose to thirty per cent. The
government coined base money to extricate itself from tem-
porary embarrassnient. An attempt was made to get money
Inr incruasitig ihe monopoly, which ruined what still remained
orluduetry in the country. Agriculture, that in one part of
Spain WM in a most thriving state, in many others was in s

i

146. THE CARAFAS OP MADDALONL

langukhing condition, and decreased more and more after the
expulsion of the Moors by the edict of 1609. In some of the
provinces thre&^uarters of the villages stood empty, and half
of the fields were uncultivated. During the government of
Philip II. the population had decreased about half a million,
whilst during that of his son, which lasted only half as long,
it diminished more than two millions ; and at the accession of
Philip IV. Spain did not number above six millions of inha-
bitants. The northern Netherlands might be considered as
lost, and the lower had much fallen off from their original
prosperity, and their frontiers were daily menaced by the
increasing power of France.

If the internal strength of the Spanish monarchy had suffered
very much during the weak government of Philip III., the
extent of this enormous kingdom was still unchanged ; its po-
sition amongst European powers was the same as in the year
1621, when Philip IV. mounted the throne, and surrendered
the reins of government to the Count-Duke of Olivarez, in
the same manner, indeed with still greater diminution of his
own power, than ins father had done to the Duke of Lerma.
The Spanish branch of the house of Ilapsburg still ruled over
the whole Iberian peninsula, over the Balearic Islands, Sar-
dinia, Milan, Naples, and Sicily ; consequently its moral influ-
ence extended over the whole of Italy, although Venice,
Savoy, and the Pope tried from time to time, with more or
less success, to withdraw themselves from it. The small har-
bours and fortresses on the shores of Tuscany, bearing the
name of Spanish presidencies, which Philip 11. had reserved
for himself when, in the year 1557, he granted the investiture
of the land of Sienna, with which Charles V. had invested him,
to Cosmo de' Medici, to be held under the Spanish Crown,
secured this influence upon the middle of Italy, likewise the
sovereignty over part of the island of Elba. Flanders, Bra-
bant, Hennegau, and Franche Comte, and what else remained
after the separation of the northern Netherlands by the heir
of Mary of Burgundy, still formed a valuable possession, to
which may be added the strong places on the North African
coasts, the Portuguese islands, and that gigantic kingdom of
America, and the colonies of South Eastern Africa, and the
East Indian possessions, and the younger branch of the family
j)laced upon the impericd throne of Germany since the election

PHILIP IV. 147

of Ferdinand XL was more than ever allied to the elder one in
political and religious views and interests. Who could have
foretold to such a power so rapid and low a fall ? Neverthe-
less it was at hand. Spain appeared weary of the long peace
which it had maintained under Philip in. and Lerma. On
the 9th of April, 1609, a truce of twelve years had been con-
<duded, and Holland had made such progress in this interval
that it was said Spain had lost more during the peace than
during the war of five-and-twenty years. This war was re-
newed again in the year 1621. It lasted another seven-and-
twenty years, and concluded with the recognition of the inde-
pendence of the united Netherlands. Two great men stood
opposed to one another at the beginning, Ambrogio Spinola
and Maurice of Nassau. The boldness and good fortune of
the Dutch were attended with more brilliant successes at sea
even than on land. In the last days of Philip III. Spain had
already taken a part in the great German war called the
thirty years' war, and its excellent infantry had had no small
share in the victory at the white mountains, which snatched
the crown of Bohemia from Frederick of the Palatinate. On
the Rhine the Spaniards were opposed by the King of Sweden*
At Oppenheim, Frankenthal, Mayence, they were valiant but
unfortunate. In the year 1663 the Cardinal-Infant, brother
of Philip IV., and governor of Milan, sent fourteen thousand
men against the Swedes in Alsace. They also were unfor-
tunate and most of them were lost during their retreat in the
Alps. Nevertheless again in the following year ten thousand
of them, under the command of the Archduke Ferdinand,
helped to obtain the brilliant victory at Nordlingen, which, if
it could not restore peace, destroyed the Swedish supremacy in
Grermany.

The struggles in the Netherlands and in Grermany involved
Spain in a third war, which was far more pernicious to it than
both the others. For a long time a constant collision of in-
terests had taken place with France. The times of Henry IV.
were not forgotten ; as little so as the Spanish intrigues with
Gaston of Orleans, the inconsistent brother of Lewis XIII.
In the year 1627 France and Spain had fought ag-ainst one
another in Upper Italy, when the extinction of the elder
brahch of the Gonzagas caused the collateral branches of
Nevers and Guastalla to be opposed to one another about the

ii 2

148 THE CABAFAS OF HADDALONI.

Mantiian inheritance. The decision which followed, in the
year 1630, in favour of Charles of Nevers, gave a blow to the
Spanish influence from which it did not easily recover. From
that time the Cardinal of Richelieu, who guided the destinies
of the French monarchy, and was infinitely superior in acute-
ness and calculation to Ids rival Olivarez, did not lose sight for
a moment of the principal object of his policy, viz. the humi-
liation of the house of Hapsburg. After he had concluded a
treaty with Sweden, in October, 1634, in the following year
he declared war against Spain and Austria. This is not the
place to relate its results in Grennany. The conflict raged at
all the frontiers, in Flanders, Burgundy, Franche Comt^, and
the Pyrenees. It was conducted with varpng success. Once
the Spaniards were only thirty leagues from Paris. King
Lewis XIII. himself marched against them. They were driven
back. They were not more fortunate in Guyenne. The Prince
ofConde tooklrun and besieged Fuentarabia. The Archbishop
of Bordeaux defeated their fleet before the above-mentioned
town ; the Marquis of Pontcourlay beat it a second time before
Genoa. Burgundy was terribly laid waste. Thus began the
year 1640, when Spain was assaulted on two sides in its most
vulnerable parts, and when it least expected it. Insurrections
broke out in Cataloilia and in Portugal. The monarchy,
nearly exhausted by a nineteen years' war abroad, had to resist
the most dangerous struggle against her own subjects.

Catalonia had still retained much of its old constitution and
its privileges, and with them life and prosperity, whilst
Castille and Arragon were in a reduced state. The Catalonians
possessed many of those characteristics which had made their
forefathers so dreaded from the twelfth to the fourteenth cen-
tury in the Byzantine kingdom and on the coasts of Italy.
They were enterprising, active, rough, submitting to no re-
straint, restless, fond of fighting. They had fought valiantly
against the French, but grew weary in the midst of the
exhaustion which seized the kingdom. The nobles and the
people remonstrated against the constant quartering of the
soldiers on the villages, against the many expenses of the war,
and their excessive burdens. The Peculiarity, which disre-
garded the interests and wants of the whole body for the in-
terest and wants of a single province or town — this Peculiarity,
which forms generally the main feature of the middle ages.

rNSDBRECTI0N3 K CATALONU AND PORTDGAL. 149

and is e^iplained in the case before us, and paj-ticularly by the
history of the origin of the Spaoish monarchy, would tiot yield
to the pressing' need of that monarchy, and the violence of
Olivarez increased the evil. The king and hia miniateT were
impatient. " The Catallans are sometimes well disposed,
aometimes obstinate," writes Olivare?, to the viceroy. " The
-welfare of the army and of the people is of more importance
than the laws and priWlegea of the province. The soldiers
must be cared for : lake the beds of the most iUustrious noble-
men of the land J rather ought they to sleep upon the ground
than let the soldiers sulfer." And King Philip: "Let the
persons of some of these magistrates be imprisoned, if you
think it serviceable : take from them the administration of the
public money, and make use of it for tlie army ; confiscate the
possessions of two or three of the moat unruly, to terrify the
province. It is fitting that an exemplary cliastisement take

The consequences followed without delay. A wild rebellion
began in Barcelona, and soon spread over the whole country.
Catalonia placed itself under the protection of France, and the
French king assumed the title of Count of Barcelona, as he
had once borne that of Berenger. The Spanish troopa, con-
sisting mostly of CastilUans, Italians, and Irish, ravaged the
province in a remorseless way, which was only restored to
tranquillity after thirteen years, and indescribable losses.

At the same time Portugal cast off the Spanish yoke; it
was a yoke, for Philip II. had treated the kingdom like a
conquered country. It bore the same burdens as other parts
of the monarchy without enjoying the same privileges. The
Spanish rulers had had no mind to take in, not only the great
increase of external circumference, but, what was of much
more importance, the strength of an internal compact power,
which the union of this part of the peninsula would have given
Uiem. If their eyes were turned to the ocean, it was only to
look alter llie galleons laden with gold and silver of the trans-
Atlanlic kingdoms. On the 1st of December, 1640, the re-
bellion broke out at Lisbon. The Duke of Braganza, a great-
grajulson of King Emmanuel the Great, was proclaimed king,
as John IV. Eight-and-twenty years later the successor of
Philip IV. recognised the independence of Portugal.

Whilst Spain on all sides had abundance uf occupation,

* "■*

130 IHE CARAFAS OF MADDALQNI.

Fnmce attacked it also in Lonibardy. The Count of Harcomt
beat tlie Marquis of Lleganez before Casale ; tiie loss. in dead
and wounded was calculEited at 6000 men. The Marquis of
Br^ destroyed the Spanish fleet off Cadiz. The French were
encamped on the frontiers of Arragon, when, on the 4th of
December, 1642, Cardinal Bichelieu died. Lewis XIII. fol-
lowed him five months later. Spain gained nothing by the
change of the throne and of the minister. On the 22nd of
August, 1643, the first laurel was wreathed round the youthful
brow of Lewis XIV. by the splendid victory at Rocroi, gained
by Cond^ at two-and-twenty. The Cardinal Mazarin, who
succeeded Bichelieu, remained faithM to the policy of his
predecessor. We shall soon be informed how he attacked
Spain also in the middle and south of Italy. Spain struggled
for thirty-eight years, from 1621 to 1659 ; a period in which
Philip IV. could say with truth, " All are against us ; we are
against all." Then it was ruined. The peace of the Pyrenees,
disadvantageous as it might be, saved more than the dreadful
state of the monarchy justified. The Duke of Olivarez, the
soul of the policy which had drawn such misfortune upon the
country, had perished fifteen years before on the scafibld.*
Thus were constituted the political relations of Spain, the
description of which with reference to Naples is the object of
the following part of this history. Before we proceed farther
it will be advisable, for our better understanding of it, to take
a cursory survey of the Italian states.

Ruin everywhere. Piedmont only flourished. It owed this
to two vigorous princes, Emanuel Philibert and Charles
Emanuel. The peace of Cateau Cambresis, in 1559, had
given back Piedmont to the first, who left behind him at his
death, in 1630, an invigorated and enlarged territory. How-
ever capriciously the fortune of war m»y have changed at
times, however it may have turned its back upon the approach-
ing decay, the times of his successors were disturbed ; for
Richelieu fought against Hapsburg just as much in Upper Italy
as on the frontiers of Burgundy and Spain. The House of
Savoy was constantly drawn into the struggle, and wavered
the more between the two powers when domestic dissensions
broke out, so that it was not till the peace of the Pyrenees

* Ch. "Weiss, L'Espagne depuis le E^gne de Philippe II. Paris, 1844,
Vol. i. pp. 328^392.

POLITICAL CONDITION OF ITALY, 151

and the benevolent government of Charles Emanuel (frran
1638-1675) that peace was reslored to this country, Venice
had, since the war called after the Lea^e of Cambrai, retired
more and more into a neutral policy, which, at ite best, ie only
to be compared to the progressive decline of advancing age.
It ruled '\ts territories on the main land well and justly, taking
into consideration the traditionauy oppression of republioH ; it
sought to maintain, as much as possible, its sovereignty
over the Adriatic, fought against pirates and Turks, and saw
how the Turks, even after they had taken Cyprus in the
sixteenth century, began, towanls the middle of the scveo-
teenth, a war against Candia, which ended by the loss of this,
the most beautiful of its Levantine possessions. The vmi
about the Mantuan succession, from 1627-lfi30, fanned the
flame which was already kindled in Upper Italy. The Fat-
neses of Parma and the Eates of Modena were always allured
into the excitement of common politics ; and the Fameses
occasioned a war in- 1642 for the private affairs of a mere
Italian prince, which brought to light in a tragic-comic
maimer the endless misery of Italian policy and system of war.
It was a struggle for the flef of Castro and Ronciglione, which
the Farneses had possessed since the time of Paul 111., in the
States of the Church, and which llie Barberini, all-powerfiil
under the pontificate of Urimn "VTII., endeavoured to wrest
from them. In Rome the spiritual fouglit against the worldly
intereits, under the Popes Urban and Innocent X., just as the
Spanish and French interests struggled against each other at
the Papal court. In Tuscany, just in the year 1621, in which
Philip IV. ascended the throne, a young prince, Ferdinand
II. of Medici, assumed the government, which lasted five
yean longer than that of the Spanish king, and was as jieace-
ful as the other was warlike s but it conduced slonly, though
certainly, to the niin of Tuscany, although the country in-
erea»ed in outward extent. The dukedom of Urbiiio dis-
appeared from the number of Italian states at this period, by
the estiuetion of the race of Delia Rovere, 1 63 1 : it escheated
to Uie^tates of the Church, Alassa-Carrara, Lucca, Guastalla,
and Genoa, had no political importance; and the energy of
llip 0«noeee was almost, a matter of astonishment when they,
totae years later, defended themselves, and not wiljiout fame,
Mrint an attat^ from the side of Piedmont. This was th«

152 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

condition of Italy towards the latter part of the seventeenth
century : divided in itself, and politically powerless, guided by
foreign interests, the plains of Lombardy and Piedmont became
the theatre for the exhibition of these interests. The peninsula
was without any importance in European relations, excepting
as far as regarded the Spanish and French influence. Hence
industry, trade, navigation, were at a low ebb ; literature and
the fine arts were in a pitiable condition ; the sciences struggling
to rise up amongst the thousand impediments which repressed
their spiritual development.

When we consider what internal and external difficulties
Spain had to struggle against since the accession of Philip lY.
to the throne, it is easy to conceive what demands were made
on the Italian provinces, especially upon Naples, which — less
unfortunate than Milan in this, that it was farther removed
from the seat of war — was obliged to contribute to it a larger
quantity of money and no less a nmnber of men.

When Don Antonio de Toledo, Duke of Alva, arrived in
Naples in the middle of December, 1622, to replace the Car-
dinal Zapata in the government of the kingdom, he found the
country and the people in the most lamentable condition. The
populace met him wailing and crying ; they screamed, Bread !
bread ! He exhorted them to be of good courage ; he would
do what was in his power to help them. And his measures
would have had the wished-for result, if the wars in Upper
Italy had not straitened his arm. He applied himself first
of all to remedy in some degree the immense losses which had
befallen the banks and private individuals, in consequence
of the re-coinage of the old money, of which mention is made
in the second chapter of this history. The manner in which it
was done is a striking proof of the political economy of those
days. A new tax was laid upon wine in casks (the wine in
bottles had been taxed long ago) ; this was fanned for about
90,000 ducats a year. This revenue was assigned to the
creditors of the banks for a third of the outstanding debt, and
another third was immediately allowed them on the new coin-
age. By this operation, and whilst those who supplied the
silver in the coins had assignments given them upon another
impost, the stranger^s tax, the most pressing claims were
silenced for the moment, and a number of banks were saved
from insolvency. But scarcely had the new Viceroy shaken

r

TOLEDO VICEROY AT NAPLES. 153

off this impeniling anxiety, when aew demands came from
Madrid. A quarrel had arisen twtween Piedmont and Genoa :
Spain not oiily mixed itself up ia it, but fought also with the
aUies for the possession of the Valteliae, which it annexed to
the duchy of Milnn. Naples waa to assist with men and
money. Alva procured both, although with great difficulty —
the gold, — by keeping back from the state creditors a third of
the yearly supply from the gabelles and fiscal revenues, for
which a new live percentage was raised upon the duties of
import and export to indemnify them, as also by an extraordi-
ntuy tax imposed upon the fuoclii : men, — by proclaiming
pardon to all criminab and bandits who would enlist in the
service, whilst the commons of the kingdom were obliged to
furnish men in proportion to the uuml>er of the inhabitants ;
600U was the number fixed. The capital granted besides
another large present of money ; and Alva saw himself in a
condition to send considerable sums of money from the dis-
tressed country, and newly-raised troops, mider Neapolitan
captains, as Saugro, Carafa, Ravoschieri, Del Tufa, Suardo,
and BO on, who were despatched in haste to the Spaniards,
bringing some military skill and less discipline. But when
the request was expre^ed from Madrid, that during the wars
in which Ihe kuigdom was involved a standing army should be
maintained for any emergencies, the opposition made to it was
so great, even by Alva's counsellors, tl^t the thing was allowed
to drop.

Meanwliile the &mine had abated a little, and every effort
was made from the victualling-office in the capital to provide
food. Tranquillity was restored amongst the people. Then
came another failure of the crops, and desolating earthquakes
in many parts of the country, and attacks of Turks and Barba*
riaiis on the shores of Apulia and the Terra di Lavoro. The
old evil I the old dbgrace ! the Marquis of Santa Cruza was
obliged to go with the armada, Eiccompanied by the Neapolitan,
TuHcan, and Papal galleys, against the marauders. The
Neapolitans were obliged to fight in foreign lands, wliilst
their own shores were exposed to their enemies.

The Duke of Alva was recalled in August, 1629. His
place was supplied by a second Duke of Alcaic, who, after a
government of only two years, was replaced by Don Kmanuel
ia Gusman, Count of Monterey, the brother-in-law of the

154 THE CARAFAS OF BiADDALONI.

prime minister. Monterey continued in his office six years,
whai he was succeeded by the son-in-law of Olivarez, Don
Bamiro Felipe de Gusman, Duke of Medina de las Torres.
The all-powerful iniler of the destinies of Spain wanted to
have the government of Naples in the hands of persons who
were attached to him by the ties of blood and of gratitude,
who had no will to set up in opposition to his own ; and never
has Naples been more fearfully oppressed than under the two
Gusmans. The merciless system of extortion had reached its
height. The times were bad everywhere for the Spanish
monarchy; and the small resistance which Naples, with its
deficient constitution, its classes at variance with one another,
its long-neglected privileges, could make against each arbitrary
power of the crown, would be of little avail, when even such
provinces were prostrated that had very different privileges to
show, and the inhabitants of which were of a much more
vigorous spirit, and their constitution differently administered
and uprightly maintained. Already under Alcala consider-
able bodies of troops were sent out, especially into Lombardy ;
but under the Count of Monterey they exceeded all former
precedent. The Neapolitans fought in Montferrat, in Milan,
on the frontiers of the Pyrenees, in Provence, and in Ger-
many: under Fra Selio Brancaccio they defended the Isles
Santa Marguerite and Santa Honore against the French : they
fought at Nordlingen under the Prince of San Severo. It was
calculated that Monterey, in six years, sent into the field
48,000 infantry and 55,000 cavalry, most of them native
troops, together with 208 gims, 70,000 rifles, and other arms,
besides galleys, transport-ships, and other • appurtenances.
Nevertheless, Naples could not furnish men and arms as
quickly as they were swallowed up by this unholy war. The
gaps in the Neapolitan troops were to be filled up immediately ;
and even those who, according to their capitulations, were only
bound to serve in their own provinces were forced into the
service. At the end of Monterey's government the capital was
burdened by a debt of fifteen millions of ducats, great part of
which had been incurred for equipments and supplies ; and the
payment of the interest of it was assigned on the profits of the ga-
belle. Affairs were no better imder Medina. The insurrection
of the Catalans and of the Portuguese increased the distress.
Terrible earthquakes laid Calabria desolate, and destroyed

MILITARY SERVICE OP THE NOBILITY. 155

whole cities, like Nicastro, under the nnns of which 10,000
men were buried. French fleets threatened the coasts and the
capital itself, where it was neeessaiy to put arms into the hands
of the people ; whilst from Cape Misen to Salerno the shores
and the islands were occupied by troops and artillery.

The whole of the great nobility of the kingdom devoted
themselves to the military service, and raised, chiefly at their
own expense, a considerable body of militia. The Prince of
Belmonte Pignatelli conducted a regiment of fourteen com-
panies that he had raised himself in Lombardy ; the Prince of
Satriano Ravaschieri, one composed of two-and-twenty com-
panies. Everywhere we find the names of Orsini, Cara£ii,
Caracciolo, d'A\alos, Brancaccio, Toraldo, Tuttovilla, Li-
guoro, &c. Albert of Wallenstein praised more than any
other the bravery and ability of the Neapolitan troops, officers
as well as men, which King Philip sent to the aid of the
Emperor; and Marco Foscarini, the Doge and historian of
Venice, makes mention, even in later years, of the honourable
military career of the great nobility; — of the Duke of Nocera
and Maddaloni of the House of Carafa, of the Prince of Avel-
lino, of the Count of Santa Severina, of Carlo della Galla, and
many others, in other times than those we are speaking of;
lastly, that of the Marquis of Montenero, to whom Henry IV.,
his rival at the siege of Amiens, has borne such distinguished
testimony.* And besides their personal services, the noblemen
came to the assistance of the state in its necessities by volun-
tary loans and levies of troops.

But the burden was no longer to be endured ; and tyranny
doubled it. Monterey, and above aU Medina, scofied openly
at the privileges of the Sediles. When Medina wanted money
he made the Collateral Council decree the creation of one or a
couple of new gabelles. Thus it happened in the year 1638,
when, by means of a simple edict, an increased tax was col-
lected of four carlins upon the bushel of wheat. The Sediles
of Capuano and Montano met together and remonstrated : the
Viceroy had no authority for it without their consent. They
selected deputies to represent this, who applied first to the
father confessor of the Duchess of Medina, a Theatine monk, to
obtain by his intercession a favourable hearing. To such a

* FoBcarmi, Storia arcana, p. 28.

L

156 THE CAKAJA3 OF MADDALONI.

state were the privileges of the town and their representafivM
reduced ! The deputies appealed, amongst other things, to a.
bull of Honoriufl IV., on the occasion of the investiture of
Charles II. ; the father, who hoped to become Arehbiahop of
E^gio, cared more about the edicts of a Viceroy in the seven-
teenth century, than about the bulls of a Pope in the thirteenth.
He not only repulsed the deputies, but even informed agaiist
them for their treasonable discourses. Medina allowed the
deputation to appear before him, and refused their requests;
and as Don Francesco Capecelatro, the historian, was pointed
out to him as one of his principal opponents, he commanded
him to be fined eight thousand ducats, and to place himaclf ,
within eight days as a prisoner in the castle of Otranto. Tlu
criminal judges who were lo convey him this order could not
find him : Mediua considered tlie affair once more and let it rest.
The Sediles met together, and resolved to send an embassy to
the king. The Viceroy examined the protocol of their seasioiH
to see if anything treasonable could be found in their speeches;
but in this he waa mistaken. The Sediles baffled the election
of the syndic wished for by him at the approaching Parliamentj
and appointed the proposed embassy.* But it produced no more
effect than the one sent to Madrid some years before, to claim
justice against Monterey. Justice was, as long as Olivarez
was at the helm, and Monterey and Medina at the head of the
government, always on the side of the Viceroys. Then the
Parliament was held, and Medina obtained, instead of the new
tax on com, which was to be laid upon the whole kingdom, that
a donative of one million of ducats sliould be voted. Already
in the two first chapters of this history, when speaking ol
financial affairs in the times of Ferdinand the Catholic and
the Emperor Charles V., a general statement was made about
the donative and system of taxation. But in the present plac^
where we have reached the times in which the growth of the
fiscal system had exceeded all bounds, it is the more necessary
to consider the sums of money drawn out of the country by the
Spanish govenunent as a representation of the mode of ta.ia-
tion, because the events which will soon be related have their
termination in these financial relations.
According to the census taken in tlie year 150o, whereby, as

• Capecslatro, Aanili, pp. i;2-12a

"■I
' 1

'J

SYSTEM OF TAXATION. 157

^^ been already remarked, tlie fuochi or liearUis, that is of
bdividiial houses, were rated at 262,343, the principal fax of
lie kingdom, or so-called fiscal tax, did not thea exceed the
nun of 393,517i ducats. Five-and-forty years later, in con-
lequeace of the increase of the fuochi, and consequently the
tmount of the tax, the sum might be taken at almost 700,000.
&. quarter of a century afterwards the Venetian ambassador
Balculated the amount at 1,040,248; on this occasion he
wlued the revenues of the crown in the kingdom at 2,355,000
lucats, of which the usual donative was 600,000; iiicume
rom the crown lands itt Apulia, 225,000 ; from the customs,
114,500; a tenth from the clergy and other taxes, 375,252
lucals.* In this meanwhile the extraordinary taxes with
vhicb the fuochi were burdened upon every opportunity are
included, as little so aa the duly upon places on the coast
the maintenance of the watch-towers, or on those in thepro-
ees for defraying- the expenses of the police, which wag
Iways more or less according to the greater or smaller number
if highwaymen, so that those persons the most vbited by ban-
litti had also the most to pay. The taxes levied for making
wds were in general applied to vety different purposes, for
lost of the rt^ds were iu a lamentable condition. Aho the
ivenues from the esclieat of fiefi by death were misapplied ;
lose from the sale of offices, from the crown cities and places,
islly, those from the bishoprics of royal law patronage, of
hicb meanwhile a toll was paid to the court of Some.
Samillo Porzio valued the whole revenue at the same period
2,375,014 ducats, whereby he fixes the tax upon tire-places
737,100; and, including the extra for the Spanish troops, at
8,230 dueats.t All these sums are in general to be con-
idbred only as proximate to the truth.
These taxes refer lo the year 1575. In the year 1595 a
ew census of the fuochi was taken, which in the years 1631
ad IS-IO was completed in the most arbitrary and summary
iBimer. The umnber of them was then estimated at 490,647 ;
IU9 tliey were almost double since the year 1505. But ihia
lluatioa was completely incorrect, and many of the commu-
ities were taxed far above their worth. Hence arose con-
ant reclamations, which at last became so urgent that n

L

158 THE CARAFAS OF MADnALONl.

was had to a new census, which was finished in tiie year 166G(,
and which stated only 394,721 as the real number of Srom
places. The population of the kingiiom meanwiiile had i»;
deed been decimated by the great pestilence of the year 165^
but the number put down, of above a hundred tliousand, ahowi
clearly enough how arbitrary the previous proceeding muaf
have been ; and in the year 1643 the lax of the iiiooo had in-
creased to almost five ducati (four ducats mid eighty-seve*^
grans) ; and in consequence of the promise obtained by tlw
Duke of Medina, a donative of eight millions would still havQ
been levied if the ineurrectioa of the year 1647 had not caused
a change of measures, and occasion^ a diminution, although
not a sufficient one, of the taxes. After this reduction tin
hearth-tax supplied almost two millions of duca(s, but tha
government was so deeply in debt that it was obliged to assign
almost half the sum to its creditors. The tax-quota was, aa
tias already been mentioned on another occasion, placed undo!
the management of the community, who were answerable &0
the payment of it, whilst the apportionment of it to the iiu^
vidual members of the communi^ remained with them. TUt
payment, which was properly a ground-rent, though it imi
also anotiier fonn, and which was called Bonatenema, was fiat
the commons so much heavier a burden, as it pressed moit
upon the poorer part of the inhabitants, whilst the nobility
found the usual means also to evade the la^t for their free pai>
sessions, which were not held by feudal tenure, or else tJw
communities had no power to recover the debts ari^g trraB
them, which amounted to hundreds of thousands. This was
an abuse which the Spanish administration could never mastsr,
and which continued till the dissolution of the feudal system.
All the taxes of the feudatories, which went by the names of
advoa, right of devolution, right of redemption, &c., do not
seem to have produced more than 22,500 ducats a year.*

If this was the condition of the regular assessment, the ex-
traoniinary one requires our consideration still more. Th«
BO-called doHotive was a bad kind of taxation, because it loft
the doors and windows open to arbitrary power, and a govern*
ment as covetous and at the same time as extraviigant as the
Spanish made use of any means to raise money. A stipulof*

• Bumehiiii, vol. ii. pp. 334-335.

THE DONATIVE. 159

tion was affixed to each donative that no other tribute should
be imposed ; but nevertheless, under one name or another,
taxes were contrived to be levied, and hardly was one donative
paid before another was asked for, and granted ; and to raise
the sums required duties were laid on every article of industry^
trade, and consumption, till only the air and the light remained
untaxed. The donatives under King Ferdinand the Catholic,
including the supplies for the expenses of the war against
Lewis Xn., amounted to 1,750,324 ducats, as has been de-
scribed already in the first chapter. The government of the
Emperor Charles V. began, and immediately a present of
about 116,000 ducats must be offered on the marriage of his
sister Eleonora with the King of Portugal. Then followed
the coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle, the imperial coronation at
Bologna, the expenses of the Italian war, the expedition against
Tunis, the war against the Turks, the German war, the third
and fourth French war, besides pin-money (per le pianelle) for
the empress, swaddling-clothes for a little archduke, a wedding
contribution for the nuptials of the Archduke Ferdinand, after-
wards Emperor, a present to the Archduke Philip on his de-
parture for Flanders, not to forget 22,000 ducats which were
awarded to Don Pedro de Toledo as a proof of gratitude.
The sums paid in donatives to Charles Y., from 1518 till
1554, amounted to 6,361,000 ducats, and the necessities of the
emperor usually coincided so well with those of Naples, that
the country was obliged to pay money just when it was in the
most miserable state. Thus in the years 1530-31, after a
war, siege, pestilence, and confiscation in Spain, when the
cmnmons rebelled or the states refused their subsidies, ^^ be-
cause it was dangerous to let such customs come into use," the
viceroys knew well enough how to open the purses of the
Neapolitans.

What was originally a voluntary contribution in extraor-
dinary cases was made by Toledo into a reg^ar tax, and, if
the sum was not then fixed, this was solely out of regard to
the convenience of the government to allow it the power of
increasing its demands. From the year 1566 the sum was
fixed at 1,200,000 ducats, payable by two instalments t\vice
a-year, the principle of which was maintained till the year
1642. But the country, by this regular donative, was by no
means exempted firom the extraordinary one, for in the year

160 niE CARAFAH OF MADDALONT.

1375 it vas obliged to submit to the grant of one milHon about
a new censua upon heartiis, which caused the commuQiliei
many grievaocea and espenses, by which they hoped to escapa
the expected increase of the treasury-tax. In the year I61t
they paid again from the eame motive 300,000. In the year
1643, amidst the greatest pauperism and want, the Duke of
Medina obtained from the parliament, instead of the tottaat
payments, a grant of 11,000,000 in equal instalments, but o^
which, till the year 1647, only a part liad lieen actually pud,
when the rebellion broke out, which resulted in al least a tem-
porary modltication of the system of taxation.

When the amount of the donative was settled io the yev
1 564 it was determined that the feudal nobility should pay ^
quarter of the same, the rest to be paid by the whole of tlxB
inhabitants. The nobility divided the quota bestowed upoi^
them according to the proportion of the instalment of the oMf
feudal system, or advoa, that they had hitherto paid, and,'
which was nothing but the ransom money of the original'
military service, so that in later times the word advoa'
merely denoted that part of the tribute which the feudal nobi'^
lity were bound to pay. Even the barons tried, in the rdgO'
of Ferdinand the Catholic, and lastly in the year 1553, ta.
limit these payments to the duration of the war, but they did
not succeed. Three-quarters of the payments oppressed the
people, and the way and manner in which the taxes were C(A-
lected caused the burden to fall the heaviest on the poortf.
classes. The sums granted were, as has alrendy been stated,
usually collected by tolls or indirect contributions. Kven such'
grants as could only be made once were Armed, as if theyt,
formed part of the regular revenue. The town of Naples haa^
a particular administration for its gabelle or excise consimip^
Idon, wliich was separated from that of the custom-houses oa.
import and export duties. The g;abelles rose partly, like that
of wine, to 46 per cent, of the price for which the produce
was brought to the gates. What portion of this same is to b«
ascribed to tlie Arragonese times became multiplied by de*
grees three and four fold. In consequence of this ruinoui'
system the supply went almost entirely to the creditors of th«
state, to capitalists, and to some convents; so that for the par-
ticular use of the town, for its charities, buildings, public
works, and so on, it derived as little benefit from it as did 'he

THE ARRENDAMENTI. 161

finances. Lastly, the reform undertaken in consequence of the
rebellion of 1647 did not save more than 58,000 ducats yearly.
The nobility and the clergy were free in common frpm the
gabelle ; and if it was wished to compel the latter to any 'kind
of payment, it must be by an understanding with the apos-
tolical chamber that it should receive a tantieme of the supply.
But in the provinces the system of the gabelles was inconceiv-
ably more oppressive than in the capital, which in many in-
stances knew how to keep itself free from taxes.

Besides the tax upon articles of consumption the so-called
Arrendamenti, or prohibitory nghts, were farmed, which, accord-
ing to the system of those times, extended collectively to all
the different kinds of produce. Even of these rights many had
existed from ancient times, particularly since the monopolies
granted by the government of Ferdinand I. But his Spanish
successors augmented and enlarged everything. These rights
were farmed out collectively, hence their non-Italian name.
The most important were those on silk, oil, salt, iron, &c. ;
and the irritating manner in which they were collected was
even more detrimental to the productions than the largeness of
the sums demanded. The chancery fees, the stamp-duties, the
duties on bills of exchange, &c., were mostly of Spanish in-
vention (that on stamped paper was introduced in the year
1636, and Don Francesco Capecelatro relates to what discon-
tent it gave rise),* and generally in the same proportions as
the court fees. The so-called Compostzioni formed a particular
exception, viz., the sums of indemnity in criminal cases were
not to be exchanged for fines. In the middle of the 17th cen-
tury they produced about 60,000 ducats. Lastly, the duties of
import and export are to be mentioned, with all their subdivi-
sions, for the tolls of the customs-offices by sea and land. Till
the year 1626 they were in a remarkable way continued on the
same principles as had existed in the times of the Arragonese.
But then the want of money occasioned by degrees a moderate
increase ; the average duties of entry had reached 20 per cent,
which, moreover, after the so-often-mentioned rebellion, was
diminished one half, so that in this case more sensible prin-
ciples were adopted than in any of the others.^

Such was the system of taxation established by the Arra-

* Capecelatro, Annali, p. 74, and several others,
t Bianchmi, vol. ii. pp. 307-324, 336-368.

M

162 ' THE OABAFAS OF MADDALONI.

gtmeae under the Spanish government; and since all the
donativeB, taxes, tolls^ and fees were not sufficient to fill up the
defici^icy which the wars and extravagance of Spain perpe-
tually created, recourse was had to compulsory loans, to the
levy of tributes frcHn the incomes of strangers domiciled in the
kingdom, to charges on the salaries of officers, to the sale of
offices, to ruinous loans upon foreign, mostly Genoese, mer-
chants, who expected so much the more interest, because the
respectability of the government gave them so little security
for such great debts, and it did not scruple arbitrarily to lower
the interest on the national debt if it knew of no other resource,
or it seized the not less ruinous means of selling the still re-
maining royal towns and districts, which was done on a great
scale under the viceroys Alcala and Medina, a measure which
not only diminished the revenue permanently to obtain a mo-
mentary relief, but also basely injured the rights of the inha-
bitants, and, as has already been mentioned, even gave rise to
rebellions. It is easily understood that this measure was not
confined to Naples. Lombardy, so fearfully ruined, was still
more drained in this manner. A royal decree of July, 1649,
conferred on the governor of Milan the right to farm, to mort-
gage, and sell all the revenues, to give in fief lands and dis-
tricts, only to make money, because the royal patrimony was
in great distress.

An administration of finance of this kind, dreadfully bad
and oppressive as it was, might perhaps have found some excuse
in the distressed state of the Spanish monarchy, if the remain-
ing departments of the government had been more endurable.
But justice was not better or more uprightly administered ; the
coasts were not secured from the barbarians, or the country
from the banditti ; whilst this irrational system checked in-
dustry as well as commerce throughout the country, and the
government, unwarned by the constant returns of famine, and
the destructive influence of the prevailing system of corn-laws
(termed in bitter mockery ^^ Abbondanza" ),* the internal tax-
ation, the monopolies, and restrictive privileges, exhausted the
resources of this naturally fertile land. The turbulence of the
banditti had increased to such a degree under the Duke of
Medina, that the Prince of Torella, Don Joseph Caracciolo,

* Abbondanza was the name given to the officer who overlooked the
supplies of wheat and other grains.

SYSTEM OF ROBBERY. 163

was appointed Vicfroy-General of the open country lo cleanse
it from bands of robbers. It was an old aiid uiveterate evil,
that had spread itself throug^h Italy during: tiie whole of the
middle ages, and it was even greater and more dangerous ill
the kingdom of Naples, and in the Stales of liiu Church, than
elsewhere.

In the fourteenth century robbery formed so completely a
part of the system of war amongst the famous companies, or
mercenary bands, who at first were mostly foreigners, and
afterwari^ were recruited from the Italians, and sprung espe-
cially from the Hungarian campaigns in the Neapolitan terri-
tory (Italians as well as Germans will recollect the Dnke
Werner of Urslingen of cruel memory), that in later times
the Condottieri, when they were compelled to go to war upon
their own account, very much resembled leaders of gangs of
robbers. When in the sisteeaith century the system of Con-
dottieri came to an end, the nobility were in general excluded
frcHn a military career, because the Italian wars, af^er that of
Sienna, were ever diminishing in importance ( but most of' this
nobility were impoverished, wandering, and idle : it often hap-
pened that men of illustriotis descent were real cliiefe of ban-
ditti ; as in Lombardy, a Babiano llelgiojoso, a Count Francesco
of Vimercalo, a Count of Tiene, the femous Marquis Annibale
Porrone, and others, whose type " The Innomiaato " is given
by Alessandro Manzoni in the ' Fromeiisi Spofii,' not invented
by him, but taken from contemporary chroniclers, like all the
persons and events described in his book, which only too truly
represents the state of society at. that time. Finally, ciiiefi
of banditti, like that Alphonso Piccolomiiii, Duke of Monte-
Riarciano, whom the Archduke Ferdinand I. of Tuscany
caused to be hung in the year 1591. The disturbances
which prevailed in the States of the Churt-h under the govern-
ment of Fope Gregory XIII,, and made even the streets
of Borne insecure, against which Sixtus XI. made use of
Buch energetic measures, were connected with the demonstra-
tions in Tuscany and in the kingdom. Under the first Duke
of Alcala the banditti (Fuorusciti) formed a troop of above six
hundred horsemen in Calabria. They elected a king, Marco
Berardi of Cosenza, who was ciUled Ke Marcone : he liad
his council, with secretaries, ofRcers, and offices, and )ie paid
each bandit nine scudi a month ; he granted privileges, drew

L _J

164 THE CARAFAB OF MADDALOSI.

out patents, and demeaned himself like a reigning
He had nearly obtained possession of Colrone. The IMarquU
Cerchiara Pignatelli was sent out against liim ; he commanded
a thousand men, Spauish infantry, two hundred heavy, and
as many light cavalry. Nevertheless, from the first it was
doubted whctlier it would be an easy undertaking, and really
tlie military force was not sufficient to extirpate the rabble.*
It became worse than ever under the Count of Miranda, who
undertook the govetmnent in 1586. Two chie& of tha
robbers inspired more dread than all the others, Benedetto
Maugone in the country about Salemo and Eboli, and Marco
Sciarra in tiie Abnizzi, who called himself King of Can>
pagua ; the banditti obeyed readily to the name of king;
For a long while stories were related of Ke Cuollo, who
made the Abruzzi insecure in the days of Son Fedro dff
Toledo ; he only robbed without killing any one, exceptiu
monks and priests, whose tliroats he cut wlienever he fbmu
tiiem, a custom which was continued by his son, who, havinf
spared the life of one lay brother, was betrayed by himj|
Benedetto Mangone was seized ; the executioner broke hun to
pieces upon the wheel in the market-place at Naples. Moiod
Sciarra, however, always escaped from hia persecutors: iS'
vaiti did the Yiceroy enter into a compact with the Fope tit,.
catch him. Don Carlo Spinelli, with four thousand menj
scoured die Abruzzi after him; the chief of the banditti plun-
dered Serra Capriola, Yaato, Lueera ; the bishop of this last
town remained with tiie rioters. The country people were
attached to the chief, for he never injured them, and reserved-
for them a share of the spoils. In the year 1592 the Count of'
Conversano was sent out with fresh troops, and drove Sviamk
at last into straits, so that he accepted the offer of the repiiblie
of Venice to fight agfunst the Uscocclii, as Piccoloniiui ' "
also done ; when he returned afterwards he was shot.

The predatory excursions were then checked, but only for*:
time : tiie delights of a wild life were too deeply implanted
in the people, and a bad governmejit, as well as distreus,
assisted to augment them. In the eyes of the peasant especialljt'

* ANarrMivo about the Fuoniaciti Calabreai of the IStHAnguat, 1568.
At Palermo, P. 195.

t Letter of Vino Muscfllo to CoTOios I., of the 19th Fehroary,
At Palormo, P. 102.

eVSTEM Of ROCBERY. 165

the bandit system waa not so bad, the immorality of it ivas not so
obvious to him ; often it served only as a. kind of protection
against the fearful oppressions of the barone,as well as of the offi-
cers of the government. When the officers of justice plimdered,
or when the soldier of the Squadra di Campagua, who ought to
have protected him from robbery, and was paid for doing; it,
snatched ihi; last piece of money out of tlie hands of the
peasant, the peasant snatched up his rifle and his knife, and
went into t)te forest. The Spaniard did the same ; tlie Catalan
called it ''andar en trabajo" when he became a bandit.
Slany of the Viceroys of the seventeenth century had much to
do with these robbers. Under tJie later Duke of Alcala, a
nobleman, Giovan Vincenzo Dominimberto, Baron of Pel-
lascianello, was one of the most famous chiefi. He once
escaped from captivity in a basket in which his food had
been broug;ht ; seized in a churcji at Serra Capriola, he waa
tortured and condemned to death. In vain did the bistiop and
the papal ffuncio issue monitions on account of the violation
of the asylimi ; his head was cut ofi' in the presence of the
officer of the Vicar-General. The people grumbled, for they
had expected his pardon.' The Count of Monterey set a
price of three thousind ducats u(>on the beaiis of some of the
chiefs. The Count of'Onate and the Count of Pennureiida
especially took measures against such noblemen as protected
the banditti, of which we nhall make more express menticjn in
the last chapter of ilus history.

All tliis did not eradicate the evil; indeed, under the
Marquis d'Astorga, in 1672, it waa again as bad as it had
been the century before. Gangs of men marauded even to
the gates of Naples ; the royal troops fought them in Calabria
and the Afaruzzi. The measures of the Marquis del Garpio,
who eleven years later undertook the government, had the
most success ; he was one of th« best Viceroys of Naples.
Energetic proceedings against the concealers of banditti, send-
ing troops, and even the destruction of whole villages, putting
prices upon the heads of the leaders, impunity for tliose wliu
surrendered themselves — all this united, freed the country more
tlian heretofore from tlus dreadful plague. But the modern
history of Naples, and of the States of the Cliurcli, show only

• Guerra and Bucta, Diumali for tho year 1630,

J

166 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

too well how little mastery has been gained, even in our day,
over the banditti system. Lastly, when we consider that the
principal means resorted to for the extirpation of a band of
robbers was to take them into the military service, it is easy to
form an idea of the nature of the troops. Ossuna and Medina
collected powerful bands in this way ; even Alva, in the year
1625, offered pardon to those condemned to death in contu-
maciam. In general, the soldiers were indeed no better than
banditti, and in the year 1642 a bloody battle took place be-
tween two companies, because the one wished to prevent the
other from pillaging the inhabitants of a place situated in the
vicinity of Marigliano. The custom of taking the banditti
into the military service was moreover by no means limited to
Naples, where we find them till the time of King Ferdinand L
of Bourbon. Venice employed them, as has been mentioned,
against the pirates. The Archduke Ferdinand II. of Tuscany
had the celebrated Fra Paolo in his service, under his real name
of Cesare Squilletta of Catanzaro, and even Pope Urban VIIL
(or his nephew in his name) hesitated not to employ troops of
banditti to promote the disturbances in the neighbouring
states. He sent a known chief of "Assassini," Taglia-
ferro, with a whole gang of banditti, into the land of Sienna.
Ferdinand II. during the war with the Barberini, wished to
carry things on a great scale ; Fra Paolo was sent into the
kingdom of Naples to excite all the banditti there against
the States of the Church ; Giulio Pezzola, another chief that we
find afterwards in the royal service, offered to collect five
hundred men in Accumoli, an Archducal fief in the Abruzzi,
and to carry fire and flame through the country to the very
gates of Rome, whilst a third, Pagani by name, with one
thousand freebooters, was to surprise Rieti or Spoleto. The
treaty of peace concluded at Venice in March 1644 put an
end to such horrors.*

The Neapolitan people in general would have found the
qption difficult if they had been allowed a free choice between
the robbers and the native and foreign troops. Perhaps
they would have given the preference to the robbers, for the
Spaniards were as unruly guests as they were good soldiers. At
the time when Don John of Austria became Captain-General

* Galluzzi, Storia del Granducato di Toscana. Florence, 1 822. Vol. vii. p.
241.— VincenEOde' Medici. Naples,30th June, 1643. At Palermo. P. 330.

\

uiaouJri. 167

of the kirtg^doni, oiler the victory of Lepanto, Lhe complaints
were toudonall aides of the dissolute soldiery. Tfaey weresent
from Spain destitute of everything- ; hence is derived the nick-
name of Bisog^uL " We have the vilest and the boldest people
here Ibat can be seen," writes the Governor of Sora ; " they are
Bisogni, and come straight from the galleys; you may imt^iae
how they riot about."" They arrived in so lamentable a condi-
tion that they could not mount guard ; the Dulce of Ossuna
wa» obliged to have them first clothed in the arsenal by
foreig;n merchants before he oould allow tiiem to be seen-f
Under his government the evil liad riaen to its height, for
(lie land was filled with foreign troops, who believed every-
Ihing permitted to them. The Walloons belonged to the
boldest and most bated of them, and the peasants took a bloody
venge&Dce on them — it was reckoned that in the Abruzri and
Calabria len at least were murdered every day. The Sedilee
assembled to protest against the burden of quartering the sol-
diers, which was an infringement of the privileges of the towos ;
tlie Duke of Vietri declared to the Viceroy that the people
would revolt, and would be ready in half an hour with all its
soldiers. " During their quarterini^," writes the Tuscan agent,
'* these vUlaius of captaius and soldiers have perpetrated incre-
&ble excesses, and have sacked the poor diatricls, — there is
no Other expression for it; a severe order has been issued
4» the restoration of the stolen property, and more than four
bnndred thousand ducats has already been refunded ; but tins
is a mere nothing, for the towns as yet have made no demon-
ctrations: there are always fine things here to report about."}
The Duke of Alcaic, in April 1G30, sent his natural son
Don Ferdinand de Ribera, with full powers a£ Lord-Lleu-
toiant of the country, to inspect the fortresses, as well as
sgunst the banditti. " The result," says a contemporary
ctowoicler, " will only be to increase the misery of this poor
kingdom, tor tlie remedy is worse than tlie disease, and all the
banditti put together will hardly devise as much mischief a^
Don Ferdinand will probably do harm. Not merely because be
bas obtained 70O0 ducats already, and is accompanied by a
n of adventurers and clients, but lie has also

• letter of the Bth March, 1576. At PaJsrtno. P. 212.

f SEosMTa, Govemo del Duca d'Ossima. At Palecmo. P. S31,

I Vino. Vettori, 3«li March, 1619. TLq foau: P. 278.

168 THE CABAFA8 OF MADDALONI.

two companies of Spanish infantry, and a world of cavalry
with him, who will plmider everything ; and it is said that
these doings will go on for some months. They have exhi-
bited their first specimen in Nola, where the inhabitants,
besides the quartering of the troops, were obliged to ransom
themselves by a large present."* And under the Duke of
Medina things were no better. " For a long time," writes one
of the successors of the agent mentioned, the " Spanish soldiers,
for want of food and pay, have robljed publicly in great
numbers by night and day. What bread and other food they
found they took away forcibly. Then it came to scuffles
and wounds, between them and the sellers, and these last have
applied to the deputies of the citizens to put a stop to the
evil, since otherwise it is to be feared that the people will rise
up against the soldiers, the more so as at night a number of
murders are committed. His excellency has also assembled
the troops in the arsenal to give them their pay ; but at the
same time he has cashiered the captains who have connived
at the robberies of their soldiers,"f

From all that has been said it is easy to fonn an idea of
the way in which justice was administered in the first part
of the 17th century. Terrible punishments, and no justice.
A number of confused laws, and nothing but arbitrary power.
In civil trials instance upon instance, venal judges, and a
troop of subtle advocates, the number of which had increased
beyond all measure ; in criminal cases cruelty, or else sums for
indemnity. We find cutting off of ears, chopping off of hands,
laceration by pincers — all this, besides the banishment of whole
families, the destruction of dwellings, annihilation of districts.
It was not Ossuna only who condemned without any legal
proceedings ; under the Count of Benevento accused persons
were sent to the galleys without judgment, because there was
a deficiency of rowers. The deputy of the victualling-office
did the same by the grocers when he caught them trespassing,
and any one who was taken at night and could not identify
himself was immediately sent to the galleys. For money, on
the contrary, or if the head of a bandit was given up, remis-
sion of punishment was obtained even after murder. J

♦ Guerra and Bucca, Dinmali.

t Vine, de Medici, 21st July, 1643. At Pakrmo. P. 331.

t Letters of Tuscan Agents. At Palermo and many places.

RIGHT OF ASYLUM. 169

If the greater part of the nobility knew how to escape
punishment either by money or superior power, there was a
means by which all the people could scoff at justice, which led
to crying abuses, especially at the time of which we are now
speaking. This was the right of asylum in churches and mo-
nasteries. The greater their number was in the capital and in
the whole kingdom, so much the worse was the temptation.
The viler the abuse, the more frequent was the violation of the
asylum by the officers of justice and the sbirri. Then the con-
sequences were, perpetual quarrels with the bishops and nuncios,
assaults, mandates, and excommunications on account of usurped
jurisdiction. Even the papal nuncio mentions in the year 1600
that the reception of the banditti in places of divine worship,
and their intercourse with the clergy and monks of certain
monasteries, had increased to such a degree, that it was quite
necessary to devise measures to prevent the churches and mo-
nasteries from being continually searched by the officers of
justice, who complained loudly that these churches and con-
vents were become the hiding-places of all the vagabonds and
murderers ; which, alas ! was only too true. The Benedictines
of Montevergine, near Avellino, who had a convent in the
region of Troja, in Apulia, not only sheltered the criminals,
but shared in the spoil, and served them as postmen. It is a
real scandal that will always become worse, and can only lead
to violent measures being adopted by the secular magistracy,
£rom which the dignity of the Church will suffer.* The
Nuncio is an unquestionable witness when he informs his
court of the wild life of a part of the clergy, and of those
who only bore the name, and sometimes did not even wear
the habit of a priest, and profited by the privilege which
exempted them from the jurisdiction of a court of justice to
commit all imaginable atrocities. "It is only too true,"
writes Monsignor Aldobrandini, " that there is nothing which
the monks in this country will not dare to do, so lax has their
discipline become. Some means must be thought of to remedy
the negligence of their superiors." The Coimt of Lemos had
soon after his arrival a conversation with the Nuncio upon
the licentious life of the clergy, and especially of those clerical
persons called " wild " (Salvatichi), and who belonged to the

* Account of the Nuncio, Giacomo Aldobrandini, of the 1st June and
22nd Sept. 1600. At Palermo. P. 447.

170 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOXI.

abovementioiied class. When the Viceroy declared his repug-
nance at seeing the clergy sent to the galleys and exposed to
every kind of indignity, Aldobrandini replied, that it was
die only means of punishing them, and that the galleys often
saved them from the gallows.*

It may be imagined what the asylums became under these
circumstances. The Popes Clement VIII. and Paul V.
laboured zealously to check the evil. Both granted fisundties
to the Nuncio to proceed with the utmost severity against
those members of the clerical body, whether monks or secular
clergy, who gave shelter and protection to criminals. No
privileges, whatever they might be, should be of any avaiL
All the fiigitives were to be driven out, and that with the
assistance of the priests.')' Within six months the convents
and churches were to be purified, even if the secular power
was summoned in to help. How little this availed is shown
by the circumstance that in the year 1647 the Archbishop
Cardinal Decio Carafa issued a similar decree by command
of Gregory XV.J As the clergy themselves maintained no
police, the magistrates interfered when they liked, and did not
scruple to take laymen out of the churches, whilst they de-
clared that the Bull of Gregory XIV. did not affect them, as
they never had received the exequatur. Ossuna once caused
a number of criminals, and even many of the clergy, to be
seized and sent to the galleys. Meanwhile, after some days
they returned to their asylums.§ Under Alva, some person
inflicted a deep wound on the head of a judge, Don Michele
Sanfelice; the offender took refuge in a diurch, and was
immediately seized and hanged ; but the judge who con-
demned him was excommunicated, and could not perform his
functions for a long time.(| Under Monterey, the sbirri and
oflicers of justice in San Domenico Sorriano imprisoned a
preaching monk, Fra Tommaso Pignatelli, a natural son of
the Prince of Noja, and brought him first before the Vice-
roy, and then into the prison for felons. He was accused of
poisoning, and of attempting to introduce by outward mealis

♦ Account of Aldobrandini of the years 1599, 1600. P. 446.

t Instructions to the Nuncio. Borne, 27th June, 1592. P. 441.

t Zazzera, Govemo del Duca d'Ossuna. Pp. 524, 566.

? Ibid.

II Guerra and Bucca, Diumali of the years 1629 and 1633.

EIGHT OF A

171

ranlagioua sickness — that crime in which meo have believed,
it the time of the Atlieniaii plague of Thucydides, as well a^s
Uaring the ravages of the cholera for the last thirty jears,
""^e adoption of which in the year 1630 led to the famous
J of the UiOori at Milan, which, with its causes and results,
a been described in the abuvementioned book, which, although
k novel, has assisted more than any historical work to Ihe
knowledge of the true condition of Lombardy under the Spa-
gigh dominiou. The Pope, who was informed of the case, au-
Siomed the Nuncio with his instnictions for the trial." The
Duke of Medina caused two nobles of Salenio, who had fled
Ear refuge into Santa Orsola, on account of different cnmes,
Ind who had committed fi-esh excesses during; the nig-ht, to be
iritiiout further delay dragged out and beheaded. The asy-
bm, he said, could not really serve as a shelter for such
larpetually repeated transgressions. This so filled with terror
I number of perMina concealed in churches and monasleriee,
Inl most of them enlisted, and were shipped to Spain.'f'
' There were no cxceases, no profanation, and no misfortune,
^t such abuses did not occasion. The most horrible crimes
Fcre committed in and near the churches. Divine service
>aa disturbed every instant by noises and quarrels. One
'agabond killed another in Santo Stefario, by Porta Nuova.
Bid then saved himself by flight.J Several criminals who
ioted together, in a room adjoining the church of San Gioi^o
I the old market-place, carried about fire so carelessly, that
e church was burnt down to the ground.§ The relics were
rith difBculty saved.

' The jealousy between the clerical and secular power, but
jre especially between Rome and the Viceroys (for one
It particularly of the r^ular clei^ ranged themselves on
B wde of the latter), always prevented a co-operatbn which
me would have been able to check such evils. Even when
Ubilc dissensions did not take place, as under the government
f Pope Urban VIII., who was on hostile political terms
Ath the Spanish court, there wns a want of real hannony.
hie party saw in the other an enemy and a rival, from wheas

i Julj, 1
Ouens unil Bucca, for Ihu year 1633.
** '"" " Annali, for the year 1640.

172 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

zttaaks he had to defend himself. The qniitual courts op-
pressed the temporal courts by their activitT ; the secular courts
always disputed the jurisdiction of the spiritual court& These
last complained that the regular tribimals assumed the right
of pronouncing the sentence of death in all cases of assassina-
tion, even wh^ the clergy were implicated ; that they lejected
the Forum Ecdesiasticum in mixed cases ; that they claimed
the jurisdiction of the secular domestics of the clergy ; and
more besides. Everything was at stake. A remarkable case,
which occurred in the year 1643, gives a clear picture of these
unnatural circumstances. One morning in July the deputies
of the SedUes, upon whom devolved the care of the provisions,
were occupied with the inspection of the bakers' shops; in
the Toledo, near the Nuncio's palace, they had the iH^ad
weighed to convince themselves that it was of just weight,
when a servant of the Nuncio Altieri (a race of half-priests,
as the chronicler expresses it) came theie, and told the de-
puties to let it alone, that the breed came from his bakehouse.
The baking-ovens of the mcmasteries and of all religious
places were firee, which occasioned a great deal of mischief.
It was an untruth, but the man was. so bold that, when the
deputy of the citizens could not be hindered from going on
with his business, he drew out a pistol and aimed at him.
The servants of the Eletti seized him ; he was taken before
the tribunal of San Lorenzo, the strappado was applied to
him twice, and he was kept a prisoner. The Nuncio flew
into a violent rage, and excommunicated the deputies, who
sent an authorized agent to Rome to complain of the Nuncio,
and they claimed at the same time the assistance of the Vice-
roy. The Duke of Medina replied that if they had inmie-
diately hanged the delinquent he would have made no objec-
tion ; but that now he would not enter into any negotiation
with the Nuncio- They might themselves urge at Rome the
recall of Monsignor Altieri, it would not be the first time
that it had so happened.*

The evils increased when the Archbishop of Naples did not
personally mediate in the conflicts. In the follo\>'ing pages
mention will often be made of the Cardinal Ascanio Filo-
marino, who, in the year 1641, succeeded the Cardinal Fran-

♦ Vine, de' Medici, July 29, 1643. At Palermo. P. 332.

CARDINAL ASCANIO FILOMARINO. 173

«

cesco Buoncompagno in the archiepiscopal dignity. Ascan be-
longed to a noble race ; he was bom in the year 1588 ; he had
lived most of his youth at Rome, and entered into close alii-
ance with the family of Barberini. When Urban VIII. came
into power, he admitted him into the prelacy. He then attached
himself to the Cardinal Francesco Barberini, a nephew of the
Pope's ; he followed him on his embassies to Paris and Madrid,
as well as to Bologna and Urbino. He went as foreign legate
to Spain, and refused to be made archbishop of Salerno.
Urban VIII. conferred upon him the archbishopric of
Naples, and soon afterwards, according to custom, the
dignity of cardinal. Ascan Filomarino was narrow-minded
and mean-spirited, but a careful and affectionate pastor,
which explains the great attachment of the people to
him. He seemed to unite the aversion of the Barberini
to the antipathy of a large part of tlie Neapolitan people
towards Spain. It often came to open quarrels between him
and the Duke of Medina. They disputed so much about
mere matters of ceremony, that the Archbishop pronounced a
sentence of excommunication against the Viceroy. The Vice-
roy imprisoned a relation of the Archbishop's in the fortress
of Gaeta, and ordered him to leave Naples if he did not wish
the revenues of the church to be put under sequestration. A red
hat does not make a prince (nevertheless Pope Urban VIII.
has declared : '* nostri Cardinales aequiparantur regibus !**), and
he, as Duke of Medina, belonged to a very different class of
nobility from the whole house of Filomarino. It was appre-
hended that the enraged prelate would place the whole town
under an interdict.* But in the following month Medina was
recalled, and the quarrel seemed to have subsided ; not so as
to prevent the Cardinal from cherishing an inveterate spite
against the Spaniards, which was obvious when he, during the
rebellion of the year 1647, in a manner took part with the
people, who idolized him, and would rather allow themselves
to be governed by him than any other person, which must
have placed him in an anomalous position with regard to Spain,
if Spain had not been obliged to connive at much. But
Ascan Filomarino quarrelled with the Neapolitan nobility
still more on every occasion than with the foreign rulers, and

* Vine, de' Medici, 20th Jan. 1643, and 8th April, 1644. At Palermo
and other places. Pp. 326, 327.

174 THE GASAFAS OF HADDALONI.

against them he waged the fiercest opposition, ewea though
he was descended £rom them.

This was the state of public affairs in Naples during' the
first twenty years of the government of Philip II. We shall
speak presently of the way of life, and of the morals, of the
Mgher classes, and their social relations. Here we will only
remark that, in the midst of all the distress and wildness, the
Viceroys spent mwry and brilliant lives. The expenses of
the court had never been greater or more extravagant. The
whole fashion of it fflnce the days of Toledo was more suited
to a sovereign than to a subject, however high in rank. The
officers about the palace, the military dignities, a Capelhue&o
Maggiore, to whom was intrusted the spiritual care of the
troops, a guard of nobles, and a numerous train of servants,
converted the vice-regal dwelling into a royal residence ; and
Spanish etiquette kept a vigilant watch over all mercantile
and social relations, and often offended the nobility, who did
not consider themselves inferior to their Spanish rulers. The
entrances and cavalcades of the Viceroys were brilliant. On
their arrival they usually remained at one of the villas belong-
ing to the nobility at Posilipo or lyhiara till their predecesscnr
had evacuated the palace. Then they w«*e conducted in a
richly-decorated felucca to the harbour, where a wooden pier,
covered with red damask, and a canopy of various colours
stretched over it, was erected for them. The Viceroy landed
amidst music and volleys of artillery ; here the deputies of the
town received him, whilst the soldiers of the body-guard and
the sailors of the royal galleys, according to an old privilege,
plundered the pier and canopy, and fought skirmishes. His
excellency and his suite were conveyed to the palace in mag-
nificent carriages. On the following day a great cavalcade,
joined sometimes by two hundred nobles of the highest rank,
went first to the cathedral, at the gates of which the Arch-
bishop and clergy received the representative of the monarch,
the Te Deum was chanted, and they proceeded through the
town. This was taking possession (il possesso). It was per-
formed with more or less pomp, according to the character and
taste of the individual. . The elder Duke of Ossuna arranged
everything splendidly; he appeared in a complete suit of
white silk, with lofty waving feathers ; his sword, belt, spurs,
anS stirrups gilt ; his horse-trappings covered with the richest

COURTS OF THE VICEROYS, ITA

gold embroidery. Under such masters all must be conducted
on a great scale, as well on festive as on ordinary days.
They made presents like soyereigns. If they travelled about
the country they were accompanied by a nimierous suite.
When the Duke of Alcala, in April 1630, went to Amalfi,
to perform his devotions in the chapel dedicated to St. Mat-
thew, he reached Torre del Greco on the first day, where the
Prince of Stigliano entertained him ; on the second he tra-
velled to Nocera, where he visited the duke, also ♦a Carafa ; on
the third to Salerno, where the Archbishop Cardinal Savelli
received him. He did not reach the place of his destination
till the fourth day.*

Monterey and Medina tried to rival their predecessor Os-
sima, who had lived like a sovereign. Medina could do so, for
by his wife he was the richest man in the kingdom ; and how-
ever great the misery, donatives could always be procured for
Madrid, as well as presents for the representatives of Madrid.
Even the Duke of Alva, though he had used the town very
ill, and was booted and spurred to leave the country, received
at his departiure a present of 75^000 ducats, and then started
off without saying a word of thanks.f Royal decrees, indeed,
prohibited such gifts, but they do not seem to have been much
observed. Don Pedro de Toledo once received 22,000 ducats,
the elder Duke of Alva 25,000, the elder Count of Lemos and
the Count of Benevento the same sums, the first Duke of Alcala
50,000, Ossima 40,000 and more. In the year 1639 it was
wished to present the very rich Duchess of Medina with
50,000 ducats, but the proposal fell through. The sum given
to the Count of Monterey is not known ; but Don Francesco
Capecelatro calculates that, during his administration of six
years, 43,000,000 ducats were extorted, of which not above
nfiOOflOO f6und their way into the royal coffers, whilst he
and his accomplice^ pocketed the rest. At his departure forty
ships were necessary to carry away his efiects. 4500 packages
contained rich furniture, gold and silver vessels, sculpture and
other works of art, and ready money, and he had sent away a
great deal beforehand.^ He availed himself of every oppor-

^ Gueorra and Bucoa, Diumali, in many places. — Zazzera and reports
of the Tuscan Agents at Palermo and many places,
f Ghierra and Bucca, in many places, till the year 1633.
X Capecelatro, Annali, p. 95.

176 THE GABAFAS OF MADDALOXL

tunitj to raise money. He employed a man, by name Grero^
nimo Favella, fonnerly a bad actor, who, after he had failed on
the stage as an Innamorato, became the editor of a newspaper^
and in this capacity was made use of by Monterey to invent
and circulate a quantity of false news. Every defeat of the
Spaniards was turned into a \'ictory, and this victory was
then the occasion for new demands and a new present, the
necessity or ctmvenience of which the Viceroy demonstrated
with great eloquence.* Meanwhile the people were starving,
and had to bear regularly three-quarters of the public burdens.

The year 1644 had arrived. The Spanish monarchy, op-
pressed by external and domestic enemies, with bankrupt
finances, and armies beaten every day, reaped the melancholy
fruits of the policy of the Duke of Olivarez, when the power
of that omnipotent minister broke down under the hatred and
curses of the whole nation. His disgrace caused the recall of
his son-in-law.

On the 6th of May 1644, after a government of more than
six years, the Duke of Medina made room for his successor^
the Admiral of Castillo. The sums which he drew out of the
kingdom in one shape or another are estimated at 30,000,000
ducats. He might have said at his departure that he left
Naples in such a condition, that not four respectable families
could send up one good meal. When, at the present day,
the inhabitant of the capital walks along the broad and popu-
lous street of Medina, or looks at the fountain and the gate
which bear the name of this Viceroy, he can hardly imagine
the misery of those times.

The showy and capricious Medina made way for a more
skilful and prudent, and an older man. Don Juan de Alfonso
Enriquez de Cabrera, Admiral of Castille, had performed im-
portant services during the war. In the year 1638 he had com-
pel led the Prince of Conde to raise the siege of Fontarabia, and
he had been Viceroy of Sicily for the space of three years. Don
Louis de Haro, who had gradually acquired a more important
share of influence over King Philip than the Count-Duke had
had, caused the Admiral to be sent to Naples, because he
feared him as a rival at Madrid. But his administration did
not last long. He soon convinced himself of the impossibility

* Guerra and Bucca, Diumali.

DDKE OF AEC09 VICEROY. 1 77

of govening- in the same maimer as his pretlectssors. The
•ame demands for money were made upon him as upon the
others. The yearly sum, granted under Medina, of the dona-
tive of eleven millioDS, could not be collected, and a new one
was already demanded. The Viceroy had compassion on the
people and on the country. He b^g«d that he might be
'Tecalled; he could not bear that so beautiful a crystal should
'break in his bauds. He was recalled, and said to be unlit to
jgovem a monastery, much less a state like Naples. He had
iaot been there quite two years when the Duke of Arena suc-
ieeeded him.

We approach the most disastrous perioa oi the Spanish
dominion. The state of the kin^om had became insensibly
unbearable. The misery of the lower classes was immense.
The nobility had, by the heavy sacrifices which they willingly
made for the continnation of the war with France, lost an im-
portant part of their dispoaable revenues. It had been hoped
the fall of Olivarez would have produced a change, but the
monarchy was loo deeply imbued with the political system of
this man to be able immediately to strike out into another
line. France, who wished to finish the humiliation of the
House of Hapsbur^, left it no clioice. Its last powers were
summoned to I'esist the struggle. Naples had enjoyed com-
parative repose during the short period of Etu'iquez's govern-
ment, now it was to be disturbed again. Don Eodrigt) Ponce
de Leon wa^ to accomplish what the Admiral of Castille either
could not or would not do. As Viceroy of Valencia, he had
^ned at court at least a good name. In earlier timett the
Teputation for bravery and a spirit of enterprise had been
allied to this name, although the glories of fortune had not
iiradiAted it. Don Juan I'orice do Leon, one of Ovaudo's
MibOTdinate commanders, the successor of Columbus in Ihe
gOvenuDent of the Antilles, iuid, in the year 1512, discovered
the coast of Florida. Amoti^t the natives of the island of
Puertorico, which Don Juan had brought into subjection to
Spain, a legend prevailed that in one of the islands of the great
gulf a spring existed from which flowed the waters of perpetual
youlli. Si) many dreams of the Castillians had been realized,
tiiat nothing appeared beyond the limits of possibility to iheii'
Imaginations. Did not even Columbus himself expect to find
Ihe paradise of our first parents ? Juan Fonce de Leon did

J

178 THE GARAFAS OF IffADDALOKL

not find the qxing' oi youth, bat his death in battle with the
natives; nevcvtheleaB hie diaoovered a beautiful and fruitfol part
of the continent, tiien the most northem point of the Spanish
conquests.

The Duke of Axoos took possession on the 1 1th of Febroarjr,
1646. He had not been in Naples tiiree months wheaa. lie
Cardinal Mazarin, not content with fighting against Spain in
Flanders and Borgnndy, supported the insurrection of the
Catalans, encouraged the Portuguese in the war of independ-
ence, and made a diversion on the shcN^es of Italy, which, al-
though it only partially succeeded, fOled the whole peninsula
with occitement.

At the mcxnent when Dunkirl:, the key of Flanders, was
lost, a fleet, containii^ 7000 troops, left the shores of Provence,
conunanded by the Admiral Duke of Breze. On the Yar,
Prince Thomas of Savoy undertook the command, whcnn the
Cardinal had won over to the enterprise by ddiuling him with
the vision of a crown in southern Italy. In the picture gal-
leries of Turin and Berlin you see, and at each place by the
hand of Vandyke, the striking portrait of the founder of the
Carignani, who ascended the throne of Sardinia in the year
1631. The manly features, the d^^cided expression, the bril-
liant eye, the blooming complexion, mark the man who
might have been of great importance to his country, if tiie
ItsJian relations had not been of such a kind as to excite his
ambition without satisfying it, whilst power and talents were
uselessly exhausted in quarrels and intrigues. Prince Thomas
had long taken the Spanish side, because he envied his sister-
in-law, Madame Royale, the courageous daughter of Henry IV.,
the government of Piedmont ; but he listened at last to the
representations of Mazarin, and undertook the command of the
expedition directed against the Spanish possessions in Italy.
The Tuscan presidencies received the first blow. It has
already been mentioned that King Philip II. had reserved
these places on the coast for himself, in order to have a firm
position in the middle of Italy. They formed a chain at the
foot of Tuscany. The Mount of Argentaro, consisting of a
great mass of rodcs towering one above another, only con-
nected with the continent by two narrow strips of land, projects
far out into the Mediterranean Sea, the waves of which break
at the edge of the mighty promontory. It is surrounded by

K OF OEBETELLO. 179

pany duBtera of small liajbours, which once were of import-
juice to the republic of Sienna, although Sienua never was a
Bommercial state. Here a. struggle took place, when, in the
fear 1555, Sienna, famished and deserted, sank under superior
|iower. Here the heroic Pietro Strozzi fought againt^t his
more fortunate rival the Marquis of Mariguano, who coa-
luered one aitter the other of ihese weak places on the coast.
[n lat«a- times, Port' Ercole to the south, and Santo Stephano
bi the north, became (ilacee of refuge to the Tuscan ruler,
duiing the democratical oouvulsious of his country ; still more
to the north, at some distance from the unhealthy and marshy
coasts, b Talamoue, nhere the fleet of King Ladislaus defeated
(hat of the Florentines, to whom these last thought to transfer
their commercial establishments when they were obliged to
fiTB up the harbours of the Pisana. But the most important
pot is Orbetello, situated, so to say, upon the point of an
BtfamuB in tlie midst of the sea, which is embanked by tiiose
two narrow strips of land, which makes the Mount of Argen-
laio a peninsula seen from far rising out of the midst of the
iravies.

The Frencli fleet turned towards these coasts. The small
barbours were taken instantly ; but the Duke of Arcns had
Itad lime to throw into Orbetello seven hundred men, with
noney and provisions, under the valiant and experienced Kea-
[tolitaa warrior Carlo della Gatta. The Prince of Savoy
XffUi the si^;e. Tlte Neapolitan galleys suffered a serious
loae at Palo: the fortresses made a valiant resistance; but
she issue would hardly have been more favourable if the
fretich fleet, in a. naval battle with tlie Spanish fleet, which
lad been liastily sent out, had not lost its admiral and put out
» sea. A second Neapolitan auxiliary force, under the Mar-
jtus di Torrecuso, came to the assistance of OrbeteUo by land,
n that the French, after a siege of more than two months, left
ibeir trenches on the 24th of July, and retired to their trans-
ports, which conveyed them back to the eborea of Provence,

The greater the rejoicing in Spain and Naples, the less
iras Mazaiin satisfied at the failure of his plans. Scarcely had
le beard that the Spanish fleet had left the Italian harbours,
when the French one set out again. The Marahals La Meil-
leraie aud Du Plessb Praslin commanded the expedition. Its
was believed to be against the Preadeucies, or

180 THE cabAfas of maddalonl

against Naples itself, as a part of the fleet on the 27th of Sep-
tember disembarked 3000 foot soldiers and 300 cavalry, and
a quantity of heavy artillery, in the gulf of Stella on the
southern coast of Elba. The other division meanwhile turned
towards the continent, and on the 5th of October began the
siege of Piombino, which Don Niccolo Ludovici, of Yenosa,
held as an imperial fief under the Spanish power. PicHnbino
is situated on a promontory fortified by nature : it has, like
Gaeta, one single access on the land side. But preparations
had not been made against an attack, and after four days the
fortress surrendered.

The combat lasted longer at Elba. The fortifications of
Porta Lungone are now in ruins ; but it was a strong fort ; the
erection of it had been begun by the Spaniards in a favourable
position in the year 1602. The citadel of Antwerp had been
taken as a model. Five great bastions were united hj
curtains, which were covered by half-moons: four covered
ways and bomb-proof barracks for 2000 men formed al-
together a considerable fortress. Only eighty men were
in the fort ; but they did not lose courage. Their bat-
teries were so well served, that they generally dismounted
those of the enemy. Nevertheless, the superior force was too
great. On the 26th of October the breaches were practicable.
The first storming attack was repulsed ; but four days later
the besieged were obliged to capitulate. A French medal
with the inscription " Plumbino et Porto lungo expugnatis,
MDCxxxxvi.," served as a memento of the conquest, which
gave France two important fortresses in the vicinity of the
Spanish possessions; and as France had the control of the
channel of Piombino, the communication between Spain and
Naples, if not stopped, was at least rendered very difiicult.
Mazarin was at the same time solicitous to win over the
Archduke Ferdinand to the interests of France, and promised
him Elba and the Presidencies as his reward. The prize was
tempting ; but the Medici, although neutral in the conflict,
were attached to Spain by too many ties, and distrusted too
much the old fickleness of the French policy. More than a
century and a half was yet to elapse before Tuscany reached
its natural frontiers.* The progress of the French made more

* Gfdluzzi, in many places. Vol. vii. p. 270. — Repetti, Dizionario
dclla Toscana. Florence, 1833. Vol. iv. pp. 606, 607.

WARLIKE rRBPAEATIONS OF NAPLES. 181

ipreaaion upon Innocent X. than upon the Archduke, who

tened to the representations of Mazarin in favour of the
aephew of his predecessor : the once haughty Barberini re-
ceived them again into favour, and entered into an under-
iManding with France, without quarrelling- with Spain.

The Duke of Arcos was in great straits. Naples was so ex-
|[iiaust«d, that do means were iound to procure the arrears of
the last donative. And now the kingdom itself was threatened
by tlie enemy. Arcos hastened to fortify Gaeta. fie ordered
the proviucial militia to hold itself in readiness to march ; but
it declared itself not bound to perform foreign service. With
the assistance of a voluntary loan from the barons and rich
nroprieiore, he raised some troops, particularly in Germany.
Ite also put the fleet into as good a condition as he could ;
this was necessary, for a small French squadron with
fireships had had the boldness to appear in the gulf of
Kaples. Scarcely liad it departed, when it met witli a great
disaster. In the night of the 12lii of May, 1607, the Admi-
Ttl'a ship, the " Capitana," blew up. Four hundred men lost
their lives, and the damage amounted to three hundred thousand
ducats, besides the ship and the ammunition. The whole town
was in an uproar, nut a single whole pane remained in any of
the houses on the side by the sea. The author of the disaster,
If it wud not aj) unfortunate accident, has never been traced.

Don Bodrigo Ponce de Leon knew not bow to obtain fur^
Iher assistance. Money must be procured at any price. The
parliament was summoned, and granted a million. But where
U> find it '( since, of the eleven millions of Medina's, three-quar-
tum were still in arrear, and never had it been dared to collect
^ tax put upon hired dwellings in Naples and its vicinity in
the year 1645. Mevertheless, capltalbts were found who ad-
vanced the money. But to clear otf tlie debt recourse was had
io another lax, which was the fruit-tax. The Count of Bene-
veoto had about forty years earlier tried to introduce such a
lux ; but it went no further than a mere attempt, because the
euinmon people rebelled and destroyed the custom-house on
the great market. In the embarrassment of not knowing what
eW could be taxed, since most articles of consumption were
bunlt>iie(l with double and triple their share of gabelles, this
Utforlunale idea was returned to.

Ttaa measure was full.

182 TBB CABATAS M MACDAI

The |iist(niaiiB of that tdme, both KeapoUta.i
mention one 6ct wMch more ft&ii ttiiy other b
the ctmdition of the Idngdom. WIi«'li poor j
provincee came into the ca(4^, oDti T-^presented to 4
principal offioeTB that nothing remained ti> lh^ -"i
to Mitisfy the covetooanesB of the cruel and ine^f
collectara, they lecaveA as sn answer tiiat tliey niigM
honour of thdr wiv t and dn^j^iters, and pay theif duties with
the proceeds.

Neapolitan subjects who had travelled to Turkipfaacoarti
annooDced from tbence that the govenmient of inttfeV mu
better than that of the Catholic king. ' ^-■

Onlj an accidental circunutsnce was wanted to d^Mfruine
the isaue.

But be&re we consider the events which threatened within
a hair's-breadth to deprive Spain of its moat beauti^ Italian
province, we must stop to pourtray the maimer of life and
the local rdations of the town of N'aplee, in connexion witii
the life and actions of a man who may be taken as a, repre-
Bentative of the nobility in those days, and who took a decided
port in the following important events.

Son HuxiD CaiaSaj^Ko of MaddnIoTki — 'W&rlikc tamo and eplendonr
.^k< of di«&mh|VlBomi?d Garafn's birth and youth — Military service
^^ of the Dol^Hy — Social relstiniis and poeitiDTi of the gre&t families
J — Their pride — Inability to resiat the yioeroyB — Attempt to atti-aet
', fliB feodal nobility to tlic catatal — Mugnifleenoe of the viceroya in
tha sarenteeuth eentury — The royal palace at Naples — Count of
Lemos — Donumico Fontana — FcsBtivitioB — Masqnersdea, theatres,
toamamenta — Feats of horeemanaliip — PleaBure eicuraions — ^JTi
and gambling-iioHBeB — Coorteaani (Donna di Libera Vita) — Tia
Piinoe of Conca and hia fanuly — ConuptioD of the morala of the
higher claaaea — Duels - — losacurity" of the streets ^— Brayoes —
ftuaiTels with the police — Leeds of violence done by the nobles —
Murder of Camillo Soprano — ProceeiUnga againet the mardcrBm —
Debti of the nobility — Oppreasion of ra^ala — Domeetic life —
Women. — Diapntes about rank — Balls and quadrilleB^ — Conyonl* —
FeMta in them — Presence of the Infanta Maria— Diomed Caiafii's
■waj ot life — Anna Carafa, Princi?B8 of SHiliano, Duchesa of Me-
dina — The palace of Donna Anna — The ill-fated houae — Story of
Anna Acquaviva'a mairiagc — Nuptials of Diomed CaAfa — llio
Oaraccioloa of Avclliao — Avellino and ila neighbonrhood.

The male desceDdants in a direct line of the first Count of
Maddaloni became extinct in the fourth generation. It was
the third Diomed who, after he had commanded a troop of
cavalry in the last, war of tlie Emperor mid of the Duke
Cosmo of Florence a^iust the republic of Sienna, and liad
defended the frontier fortres of Atri agaiDst Paul IV. in
Alva's campaign, exchanged, by a grant of Kirig Philip II.,
his title of Count for that of Duke on the 8th of April, 1558.
He died in the same year in which his cousin of Montorio
met with the dreadlul fate that has been before related. He
married a cousin, Roberta, the daughter of Antonio, the first
Duke of Moudragone and Prince of Stigliano, descended from
another brani^h of the great family of Caraia, of which we
Bhall soon make more particular mention. As he died child-
less, his titles and fiefs passed on to hLs nephew, the eldest son
of his sister, Donna Girolama, wlio had married the younger

L.

184 THE CARAFA3 OF MADDALOSI.

son of the above-named Prince of Stigliano. From this time
the lords of Maddaloni were caUed alteniately by the Christian
Dames of Dionied and Maraio. The first Maizio, hdr to hii J
uncle's dukedom aa well as to the earldom of Cereto, married
a Spiuella and died in thrf year 1607, during the reign rf
Eiiig Philip III. Hk son Diomed, wlio bore also the litis
of Marquis of Arienzo, married Mai^^rila d'Acquaviva
d'Aragona. Of his children, Sfarzio continued tiie direct line,
whilst his younger son Fabio, by hia murine with his rela-
tion, inlierited the title of Duke of Colobraiio, and founded'
the family which exists to this day, and represents, though
under very altered circumstances, the once powerful house of
the Carafas of Maddaloni.

Don Maizio Carafa showed himself worthy of the name he
bore, and of the brilliant station which, owing to his great '
possessions and extensive patronage exceeded the usual average.
He was not above twenty years old when he took a part in tfaa
Loral>ard and Piedmontese war which burst out during the ;
government of the Duke of Ossuna at Naples, of Don Fedn).
de Toledo Marquis of Yillafrauca in Milan, which stirred u|^
the claims of the house of Savoy to the dukedom of Moat-
ferrat, that after the extinction of the Paleoli^i, in the year '
1536, was granted by the Emperor Charles V. to the Duke
of Mantua, which bei^me, by the expected failure of the ffii ii
branch of the house of Gonzaga, an apple of discord between.
tlie Spanisli and French parties ; and it was only eighty yean
later that the Italian province was amiexed to the crown of 1
Sardinia, and the form given to it for which its rulers had so
long struggled. Ossuna found in Toledo nu active ally for his
plans against Yenice ; so it was not unreasonable for hi m to
defray his expenses. More ambitious than discreet, more bold
than dexterous, hasty in his orders and careless in execution,
Toledo had hut little success in this war, and it was this war
which tried Kaplea l>eyond her strength. Don Camillo Ca-
racciolo. Prince of Avellirio, commajided four regiments of
cavalry and sixteen companies of hommcs d'armes; the Duke
of Maddaloni spent 2o,0O0 ducats in raising two regiments of
cavalry, lancers and arquebusiers. He summoned live hundred
of his own vassals, with whom he joined the army of the Mar-
quis of Villafronca, wliich gained distinction in numerous
battles and took part in the siege of Vercelli, The governor

DON MARZIO CARAFA. 185

of Milan, Btrengthened by the help of Ctesuna and the Walloon
troops, appeared suddenly before ttiis fortress in May, 1617:
Duke Charles Emmanuel eserted himself to the utmost to re-
lieve it; the Fiedraontese garrison made the moet valiant
resistance, and a number of the best officers belonging to the
Spanish army met with their death in the trenches, and in the
repeated efibrta to take it by stonn : but after a blodcade of two
months the town was nevertheless obliged to capitulate, though
on honourable terms. After the death of the Prince of
Avellino Don Marzio Corafa became Captain-General of the
hommes d'armes and of all the li^ht cavalry, and died in the
vigour of manhood in 1628. By his marriage he brought an
important accession of power into his family. Donna Maria
di Capua Pacheco, daughter of the Prince of Conca, descended
from one of the most illustrious families of the Aragonese
party, who possessed a fine property, not in the kingdom only,
but likewise in Spain, by an alliance of marriage with the
Zunicas. Matteo dl Capua, Count of Falena, the founder of
the family, had, by his valour and his fidelity to Ferdinand and
AlphoOBO of Aragon, deservedly earned much, and his pos-
terity had always lived in a style of magnificence correspond-
ing to their illustrious descent and princely fortune. When
the Duke of Maddaloui went through the town, his carriage
vae drawn by six horses, and he was attended by a numerous
train of servants, and the ouriage of his wife was likewiBo
drawn by six horses at the same time, when she went to fetch
the vice-queen, the Duchess of Ossuna, to drive up and down
the Toledo, to enjoy the spectacle of the populace walking
incessantly to and fro, which was new to the Spanish rulers.

These were ihe parents of Diomed Carafa, the fifUi Duke
of Mtuldaloni, bom in the year 1611.* In his youth he was
rarrouTided with everything which, according to human ideas,
eould secure not merely splendour but happiness in this life.
Bis family were devoted to the Spanish interests, and the
Spaniards seemed in peaceful possession of Naples for cen-
ttiries. Allied by marriage to the noblest families, rich be-
yond the average wealth of private individuals, lord of nume-
rous district, and master almost unlimited, according to the
custom of those times, of thousands of vassals, though not
• Act! of tin; CoUnleral Council of the ytjar lG2e, in the great ardiivas

i

186 THE CAKAF-IB OF M,U)DALO^^,

secure from the arbilTEry conduct of Spajiish rulers, DiraneA'
Caraia saw hira-self at the head of his family at the age d
seventeen. When only fifteen be bore the title of Marquit
d'Arit^iJZO, and levied, by order of the viceroy the Duke ofi
Alva, a regimeat of cavalry consisting of fifly-two men, ani
their pay was raised from his property. He wished to marcl^
as Their captain to the war in Lorobardy, but his parents would
not permit him as the heir of their house, and a Spaniah nobla^
man. Don FranciBco della Ciieva, went in his stead. If h^
waa not allowed to avail himself of this opportunity la obt
})ractice and martial experience in lai^er campaigns, he did
therefore neglect, any more than his companions in age i
station, to study the art of war, which in his later years,
the bloody days of Naples, proved of great service to
He was not less distinguished io the other arts and sd
which then occupied a considerable portioa of tiie time audi
life of the great nobility.

The Neapolitan nobles, when they were not engaged in th^
business of the state, had only the choice betiveen a militai]
and a court life. In general they united both. The militaij
service has been described ia an earlier chapter of thi^ histtojy
but the court life had in this country neither the attracticoM
nor the higher advantages which bring it into favour in othstf
places, where, as was the case in France in the days of Lewi*
XILI. and Bichelieu, it became the centre of the splendom^
the wealth, and the greatness of the nation, making
sation for many nndeuiable disadvantages by many I
reactions upon the provinces, amongst which a dignified reptB^
sentation in foreign lands is not to be excluded, ait advantaget
which the enemies of courts, who merely see tlie estrang«meitt,
of the nobility Irom the inhabitants of their lands, the outoiy
about demoralization, and the squandering away of moneys
leave, either vohinlarily or involuntarily, too much out a&
consideration. The Neapolitan nobility wanted (he central point!
of a. national dynasty. For more than a century the kingdraw
had been governed from abroad ; the once flourishing king^
dom of the Normans and of the Hohenstaufens was dividetU
into two provinces, which, whether for good or evil, must h»t
dependent on Spain. The centre of gravity was displaced— ^
the whole machinery of the state was in disorder.

The political relations and the position of the nobility b«<

POSITION OF TTIB NOBUnT. 187

dtizens had already become objecis of consideration under the
viceroys. Their social condition was injured by the evils
which poisoned io its inmoit core the whole life of the upper
eiassea. Many of the old forms remuned. It was soon re-
marked that the world liad lietbre it a feudal nobility bearing
the Blamp of the middle ages, with an actual position, if not
illustrious, yet by the number of ita deeds ever exciting' re-
miniscenceH, with exclusive asBociatious and a self-consuousneM
which very often degenerated into abrupt haughtiness wiien
mere externals, the hollow masks of fbrmer power, were con-
cerned. It is not uninteresting to observe the impression which
this state of things produced upon the feudatories of the other
Italian states, — for instance, upon the frugal and calculating
ITiFrentines, who, long after the times of the decline of the
Medici, could not forget that their own nobility sprang from
trade; and tliey did not the less esteem Lorenzo de' Medici,
Bernardo Ruccellai, Filippo Strozzi, the fathers and cousins of
popes, queens, dultes, and marshals, because they had banking
establishments at home, as well as in Rome, in Lyons, and in
Srug«8. An agent of the Duke of Urbiuo's, whilst speaking
of the brother of the viceroy Lemos, the Count of Castro,
■eeks to obtain the love of the nobility of this place by his
Bflhble behaviour. He gives the appdlatton of iUustrissimo
Id all the titled nobility; he exhausts himself in civilities and
ipenks to every one. In short, I believe he would suit Naples
WtteT) where people live merely for vanity, tlian Borne, where
t is disguised." The nobles, writes another to the Arch-
luke Ferdinand of Tuscany, live in great style, and would
Bondder it a disgrace to meddle with commercial afihirs. In-
Aeedi they cojiaidcr it beneath them to trouble themselves per-
toOBlJy alxiut their houseliuld concenia. The time which they
'- - ■ » in their Sedilea they employ entirely in military
and feats of horsemanship.f The disputes about
nuik are incessant at social festivities, as well as during reli-
giona festivals. It often happened that they quarrelled
kinouggt each other about the order of a procession to church,
itln^iished the torches, excited a tumult, wtiilst the priests
M>d there with the sonctlgsifflum, without being able to lK<gtn

• Tom 1611. Al Falenno and otLcr places. P. 324.
t Franwioo MbtchWo. Ri'port to Fordinimd of Medici, 1594. Pa-
• - plaow. P. 294.

i

1 88 TUE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL I

the procession till the Spanish lords iDterfered, and commanded
theiu to march on as they stood, without any lefereace to rank
aail titles. When the elder Duke pf Ossuna assumed the g;o-
vemmcnt he decreed that only titled nobles should be admitted
into the Bute-room (anticamera), but tlie rest should wait in
the hall (sala), where they stood mined up with the citiiseiu
who were waiting for an audience. The nobility threatened
ikD insurrection.* In an assembly in the Casa della Nunmta, J
a doctor who began a speech forgxit to give the title of Eccel- I
lentissiino to the Prince del Colle, who seized hold of a heerj ■]
sword tliat was on the table to give the unfortuuate speaker a, |
gentle and intelligible admonition, but, instead of this, the 1
blow hit an old man, who was carried home with a serere {
womid in his head.f How the feudal nobility behaved to the
dtiztiiis and to tlieir vassals we shall often be informed lu
course of this history.

The viceroys encouraged this conduct as long as it
convenient or in any way forwarded their plans. Suddenly
they made a demonstration of their power. The nobility re-
sembled a bird in a snare; unexpectedly they felt the jerk of
a powerful hand. Their arbitrary will was repreraed by a
greater ; no privileges, no ianiily rank, do sei'vicea to the
crown afforded them any protection. Don Pedro de Toledo
ordered the Count of Cajazzo, one of the most illustrious of the {
nobility, to be put to tlie torture, in the year 1550, about a I
mere trial of inquiry ; such a step had not been taken since the 1
severe measures resorted to by Fhilibert of Orange after the 1
si^^e of Naples by Lautrec against the nobles belonging to the l
French party, and then the circumstances were quite different, I
and of a graver uature than during the government of Toledo 1
in the midst of a time of peaca When, in a dispute with the
Duke of Alva in the year 1635 about the government of the
town, one of the deputies of the Sediles threatened that he
would write to the king, the viceroy answered that he should
put the head before the feet of the person who wished to do i
that In the year 1614 tlie Comit of Lemos imprisoned the
Prince of Conca and the Duke of Bovino, the first XiOrd Higl

• Tear 1582. Pietro Ricrareli to Fordiiifind de' Msdiei, 1594. Pfc
lermo and other plucoa. P. 294.
t Zizzera, GnTemo del Dues d'Oasuna, year 1SI8. At Pitlonaa nail I

THE NOBILITY ASD THE VICEK0Y3. 189

Admiral, and the other High Seneschal of the kingdom, and
lent one to Castelnuovo and the other to Soiit' Elmo, because
supporters of the dignity of the crown they liad refused to
ivppear at a review amongst the crowd of nobles, but claimed
reserved places. A year afterwards the eame Count of Lemos
caused the Uuke of Nocera, one of the most Uistingvished
feudatories of the house of Carnta, to be seized in his palace
by a number of abirri, becaii^ lie had disobeyed tlie iujuncdon
of the king, and had married without his consent. Arrests
for debt, even for very small sums, were not unusual, and tiie
vanity as well as the pretensions to rank of the Neapolitans
was hurl by the Spaniards in this and in all ways. If they
quarrelled amongst each other they were humbled by thu
ruliug nation. The Marquis of Mondejar not only gave his
Bon and his son-in-law the highest rank in the kingdom, but
ftllowed his bastard brother to take the precedence of all the
marquises in the kingdom, and once even of the Duke St.
Agata. When the Duke of Alva, in August, 1629, made his
flrst visit to his successor, the Duke of Alratu, who had landed
at the palace di Trajetto at Fosilipo, he summoned almost the
whole body of the great nobility, that he might be attended by
^ brilliant ewrort: after these nobles had wailed for a long
hour in the hall, they were informed that his Excellency did
not require their services to-day, as he had changed his mind.
1*116 princes and dukes left the iiouse in disgust, but the next
day Alva summoned them again, and they all hastened back
[o the palace — proof enough, says a contemporary chronicler,
that the worse they arc treated the more submissive they be-
ne.* Such things must the men submit to whose origin
_,y be traced to the time of the Lombards, to the ancient
Drecian-Italian races who inliabited the shoi'es of Anialii,
irho were descendants of the valiant followers of a William
Bras de If'er, of a Guiscard, and of a Roger. Nevertheless
the Viceroy had it in his power to unite tlie feudal nobility
)f the capital. Political designs, above all the wish to loosen
tlie ties between the feudatory and his vassal, and to weaken
* B influence of the former in the provinces, where the Itaron,
ilirect ruler, had far more influence than tlie officers of tiie
jwn — these designs and this wish went hand in lumd wilh

■ Dutm and Buuod. Diiinmli to the yBMieae, widminttn)'pliice

190 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

the endeayonr to make the court of Naples as brilliant as
possible^ It was not enough for the rulezs to poflseas nol
power ; they wished also for the display of it. They lived in
regal splendour and at aa immense expense. None of the
rulers had such despotic power and exercised such an infl^ii^ in ^
on the &te of Italy as the £rst Toledo, who placed his daughtwr
on the throne of one of the most enviable and beautiful prin-
cipalities in the worid, saw his son Viceroy of Sicily, con-
tributed through his son-in-law to the victory of MQsselberg,
and resisted the stubborn Pope Paul III. with Spanish tena-
city ; but many of his successors have surpassed him in ex-
ternal splendour. As the seventeenth century left all pre-
ceding ages far behind it, in expenditure, in all that bore upoa
the comfort and convoiience of life, and in the exaggeration of
all relations beyond their natural limits, in pomp of forms,
ornaments, and pretensions, stifled not only the ideal in art
and literature, but real eloquence, genuine merit, and ancient
custom, in the habits and intercourse of daily life, so was this
pre-eminently the case in Naples, where Spanish arrogance
and ostentation were united with the frivolity of Southern Italy.
A thoughtless love of pleasure was met more than half way hy
a cunning calculation of interests. The palace inhabited by
the viceroys of the seventeenth century was as different as pos-
sible from the dwellings in which not only their predecessors,
but even kings and emperors, had been obliged to live. In
situation, extent, and beauty of view it was united to the ideas
of modem luxury and to the demands of exalted station. The
Castle of Capuano, the fort of King William the Bad, and the
usual residence of the rulers of Ajijou-Durazzo and Aragon,
when they did not inhabit the castles or their villas, was, on
account of its situation at the extreme east end of the town,
too inconvenient ; on account of its distance from the sea and
from the principal fortress of Castelnuovo, too insecure to re-
tain its old destination. Don Pedro de Toledo began the con-
struction of a palace, which has only of late years entirely
disappeared, when, after the danger of a conflagration, the
north side of the royal Place, where the yet unfinished side
facade of the theatre of San Carlo is united with the more
recent part of the present king's dwelling, exhibited through
the removal of the different remains of fortifications a different
shape and greater harmony of proportions. It was in the year

ROYAL PALACE. 191

1600 when tlie Count of Lemoa began this royal dwellings, on
one side opposite to the steep hill of Fizzofalcone, and on the
Other side connected by gardens and bridges with Casteiiiuovo,
commandiDg; from the height of tlie precipitate shore leading
towards the sea the gigantic subterranean buildings and the
extensive edifices of the arsenal, embracing the coast of the
■wide horizon from the smoking crater of Vesuvius even to the
Cape of Minerva BJid Capri. In those days the place did not
present the complete effect which, whatever may be the objec-
tions to the architecture of the building separately taken,
always produces a certain impression. An intricate web of
houses covers the declivity and foot of Pizzofeleone, where,
under the Angevine, a small church was raised in honour of
the HolyKing Lewis, the very dissimilar brother of Charles I. ;
near to which the venerable Calabrian hermit, Fraiiciscus of
Paola, founded a monastery for the brothers of his order, the
Minim monks, like a similar one raised by his pious zeal in
Borne, upon Monte Fincio, colled Trinita de Monte, visible
from far in its commanding situation. As King Ferdinand I.,
the Bourbon, after the restoration in the year 1816, in the
place of the ruinous convent, erected the great Basilica of San
Francesco di Paola, levelled the place and adorned it with an
equestrian statue of his father, Charles III., which eervea as a
fellow to his own, so Ferdinand II. finished the whole by
completing the structure on the south and north sides of the

, palace, by the magnificent terrace towards the sea, towards
the place of Castelnuovo by the gardens with the portal, upon
which is placed the colossal group of horses in bronze, a work
by the hand of a northern sculptor, riv allin g the productions
of southern art

Don Ferdinand Ruiz de Castro, Count of Lemos, the first
viceroy sent by Philip III. to Naples, began the building :
one of the front inscriptions mentions this, praising not him
alone, but his wife, Caterina Zunica y Sandoval, " inter he-
roinas jngenio et animi magnitudine praeclara," and his son,
Francisco de Castro, who for a time was governor for his

I &ther. The other inscription extols the palace and garden ;

I *' Inter celeberrimas orbis terranim urbes Austriorum imperio
ten& marique florentem Neapolim, Regia haec operosa et
illustris aediflciis mole condita exomavit." Domenico Fon-

f tana, bom at a village on the Lake of Como, was the architect

J

192 THE CARAFAS OP MADDALONL

to whom the work hod been intrust«d. He bad filled Kome
nilh the fiune of hia nanie. He had already won the favour
of Pope Sistna V., when he was only Cardinal of Montollo,
who hod commissioned bira to build hia beautiful chapel in
Santa Maria Mc^giore, as well as his favourite villa by the
baths of Diocletian. Almost all the great works achieved
under this energetic Pope are by Fontana. He built the
palace of San Giovanni in Laterano, and the ude portico of
the Basilica. He inserted the Yatican library iu Bramante's
great plan of the court. He finished the Vatican palace, and
laid out the streets which, uniting Pincio, Quirinal, and
Esquilin, cross one another at tlie Quattro Fontane. He gave
designs for fountains and waterworks, and put into executian
the great plans of the Pope, if not with the purity and the
grace of that form of art, the perception of which had already
passed away, yet with steadineaa, activity, and enei^. 1'
owes, however, his chief celebrity to two undertakings,
which he acted rather as au engineer than an artist — the
completion of the cathedral of St. Peter, the vault of whidt |
ils gifted raiser did not live to finish, and the erection of the 1
Vatican obelisk, which was the first beginning of decorating 1
Home with Egyptian obelisks.

After the death of Pope SiNtus, Domenieo Fontana, •»
was the object of much enmihr, gladly accepted an iuvitation J
■ of the Viceroy, the Count of Miranda, to Naples, where he I
executed many works before he began the greatest, that of the
palace. The facade alone of this building remains, and even
this is altered ; for every other arch of the Doric portico
wliich forms the ground-Hoor is filled up with masonry, be-
cause feara were entertained for the durability of the upper
story owing to its heavy weight. The second story is deco-
rated with smooth pilasters of the Ionic order, and the third
with similar pilasters of the Composite order. The windows,
which resemble those of' Foiitana's Boman buildings, are .
rather heavy, tliough not out of proportion witli the mass of J
the building. The middle portal, with its granite pillars and I
cupolas, is not without effect. The facade has not always -I
been improved by new additions, least of all by the uglVj '
tasteless watch-tower projecting from the middle of the roof.
The middle court is not spacious, but the proportions of it are
pleasant. The principal staircase, begun half a century after

ROfAI. PALACE. 193

llie time of FontfinB, and only finished witliio the last few
^ yean, has somethiug' grand about it, but it disturbs the har-
piony of the original plan by destroying' the hall or general
iraiting-roora — this very neceasary and faTourite part of an
ttaliaii palace, ou the walls and ceilings of which are often to
te seen auch brilliant frescoes, especially in the times when
tietro da Cortona and Luca Giordano and their pupils knew
DW to produce, in an incredibly short space of time, with ad-
lirable talent although in an inferior style, comprehensive and
|#ective compositions, in which were represeiited all imagin-
ftble persons of mytliolt^, with ever bold and fearful alle-
gories, asasted by a powerful secondary work of attributes
tad masses of clouds. If the exterior of the palace is much
altered, this is still more the case with the interior, which was
tKnodelled by many of the successors of the Count of Lemos,
■nd still more by the kings of the Bourbon race, according to
Am pleasure and convenience : for its present form we are
|iwticularly indebted to Charles III. and Ferdinand II. But
1 first floor, the Piano Hobile, reminds us even to this day,
various ways, of the seventeenth century, whether by the
liiapel, built by the Duke of Medina, or l^ the pictures on
tbe ceilings of tlie two saloons, in which Belisario torreniio,
the passionate rival of the Carracci, represents glorious deeds
friMn Spanish history, the victory of the g^at captain over
the French, and his entrance into Naples. The style is
L«ffected, an<l wants harmony, but the composition is animated,
■nd much knowledge of the art is shown in the execution. The
Duke of Alva, Don Pedro Antonio de Toledo, ordered these
^ctures to be done by Belisario, who was recommended to
bint by Giuseppe Bibera lo Spagnoletto, the darling painter
and fiivDUrite of those times, and one who understood how to
get iiUO the favour of the Spanish rulers. We shall speak
> ■gSLin of these men when we come to the time when tlie Vice-
I fttva of Naples encouraged the works of wilder but not of such
Iflfted artists.

It Thus the ])alacc wa.s the theatre for displaying the pomp
pud the feostings of those who represented the rulers of Spain
iml of India. These festivities were to prevent tiie inhabitants
of Naplm from thinking on more serious matters, and it is not
tiu first time that similar attempts have been made with suc-
Wto. The second Duke of Oasuna was the man who increaaed

MM

^

194 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

all luxury to a degree hitherto unheard of. He had not beea
in the government, which he undertook in the year 1616, many
months, when it was calculated that he had spent fifty thousand
ducats in festivities. Ossuna, who had from the beginnii^
internally meditated the extensive political plans which after-
wards led to the conspiracy against Venice, the details of wfaicb
remain veiled in obscurity even to the present day, and-whidi
involved him in criminal intrigues against his king and hk
country, tried by this lavish expenditure to win over the higher
classes, as he likewise endeavoured by a plausible show of oon*
descension and interest to secure to himself the love of the
people. In this he only imperfectly succeeded. Excursions of
pleasure, tournaments, balls, masquerades, suppers, plays, all
tiiese followed one upon another in rapid succession. He acted
his own part in them with the dignity of a sovereign. On
one evening a hundred and twenty ladies were invited to supper,
and were waited upon only by their relations. The Viceroy
did not show himself till the dessert, but looked on through a
small window. Then he appeared magnificently attired, the
windows were flung open, and the abundant firagments of the
feast were^ thrown into the court of the arsenal. The great
saloon was lighted up, and the ball began, which lasted till
the sixth hour of the night. During the carnival of the year
1618 a great masquerade took place in the palace ; a Turkish
ship was steered through the great hall ; one man after another
jumped out; tilting followed; the whole was concluded by
dancing and a supper. Never had such a display of magnifi-
cence been seen as under Ossuna ; and these festivities were
not limited to the time of the carnival ; they were repeated on
every occasion throughout the year. In 1619, on St. Law-
rence's day, the Duchess of Ossuna arranged a ball; one
quadrille was made up of young ladies of great rank ; they
were twelve in number ; they wore under-garments of white
satin trimmed with gold lace, and petticoats of the same, which
reached to the middle of their legs ; their trains of silver bro-
cade were flung over their left arms ; their head-dresses con-
sisted of white crowns, out of which projected four heron's
feathers. The expenses of their attire were defrayed by the
Viceroy, and cost six hundred ducats for each lady. Every-
thing was supplied to these beautiful dancers, even to their
shoes. When the music b^an, they advanced in pairs, carry-

MASQUEIUDBS. 195

ng; torches in their right hands, and whilst dancing they made
I courtesy to hia Escellency. Various other dances foUowed,
nonget Ihem a gaillarde; and after refreshments of fruit hod
leen presented, conaiating of grapes and melons (the usual
efreshments of rich and poor, high and low), the torcli-dance
llowed, to which the Viceroy was invited by the daugliter
the Duke of Monteleone-Pignatelli. With this the festivity
ded at the fifth hour.*

The successors of Ossuna rivalled him, although the circum-
that they were ecclesiastics gave another direction to
nanoer of living. A brilliant assembly was held on
ind of December, 1629, when the second Duke of
Ucala governed Naples — the first festivity in which we find
eiiti(Hi of Diomed Carafa, then eighteen yeary old. It was
great masked procession in honour of the marriage of the
iwghter- of the Viceroy with the Prince of Paternd, which
ud lately taken place. A galley was brought into the saloon,

■ ■ 1 by Alcala's aon, the Marquis di Tarife, and Don Ti-
Carafa, Prince of Bisignano. Jupiter and Neptune

Lppeared amidst music and song, and two angel forms ad-
anced, singing madrigals to the honour of the giver of the
east. Then came the knights belonging to the quadrille, six-
ad-thirty in number, one-iinlf of them dresed in crimson silt,
be other half in blue, with gold trimming. " The silk stui&
rere fine,"' remarks the simple chronicler, ''whereas the gold
icewassham, and each dress cost a hundred and sixty and five
Iwate. They were young nobles belonging to the most illus-
rious families, Carafa, Bpinelli, D'Avalos, Caracciolo, Filo-
nrino, Capese-Galeota, Gesualdo, Pignatelli, &c. ; they drew
Ots to tis the order of precedence ; then the dandng began,

■ the ball lasted till the 7th hour."j- During tJie ensuing
il many diversions took place in honour of the new-
J pair ; it was said, indeed, that they were given to cele-
t)ie birth of the Infant of Spain, Baltasar Carlos, the

Udest son of King Philip IV. ; but the bridal pair were the

tttnction of these entertainments.
Besides balls and masquerades, numberless dramatic repre-
titadoiis took place in the royal palace, and aha amongst

* ZwiiiTB, Govcnio del Durii d'Ouuno. At PoleTiuu nod other pUcM.
18^ iST, 517. oud many ucbim.
Mid Buocii, Diumali lu the year 162S.

i

196 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

private persons of rank. The taste for these representations
had much increased even in Ossuna's time. In May, 1618,
he ordered Giovanni Batista Guarino's much-admired ^Pastor
Fido' to be performed by Lombard actors. Many plays and
dramas are mentioned in the diaries and annals of the time,
but it is rare to meet with any celebrated names. Indeed, the
Italian theatre was still in its infancy. Ariosto's, Bibbiena's,
and Machiavelli's imitations of the ancient comedies, might
meet with applause, according to the fashion of those times, at
a polished and not austere court, but the people could not
enter into them. It was otherwise with the Neapolitan Giaii
Battista della Porta. Occupying himself one day with the
physical sciences, another day with poetry, and in both show-
ing unusual talent, he was never tired of establishing acade-
mies in his own house. If a papal bull threatened him with
punishment for attempting to fathom the secrets of nature, he
devoted himself with the mind of a Proteus to the cultivation
of the drama, and wrote plays that he caused to be acted after-
wards. If he showed less inventive genius in his plays than when
he presented us with the camera obscura, still he knew as well
how faithfully to seize the events of every-day life as admi-
rably to represent them. He was still alive, at the time we
are now going to describe, a time in which the Commedia
dell ' Arte came into fashion, a play in which only one ca-
nevas or scenarium was given, tiie actor supplied the rest :
the comedies with the stereotyped figures, and with perpetually
new witticisms, have been preserved to our times ; and although
the manner of living is changed, still the way in which per-
sonal peculiarities of character are seized upon offers much
that is amusing and original.

But the influence of the Spanish theatre preponderated, and
this influence, which was felt in France as well as in Italy,
was naturally all-powerful at Naples. As Spanish exaggera-
tion and affectation infested all literature, and especially the
theatre, not merely because it had attained to no true national
character, but also because it addressed itself more particu-
larly to the higher class, and this class was more dependent
and came into greater contact with Spain. Sometimes Spanish
comedies from Spain were introduced. The taste of the com-
pany for them may be compared to the present not unfounded
preference for French comedy. Such a piece was acted in

TIIK THEATIiE. 197

January, 1630: La Palahra cmnpUda. The President of the
Chamber of Deputies, Simon Vaez, Count of Mola,, gave the
Viceroy this entertainment, who sat with his wife upon raised
chaire before a row of ladies. The actore were all noblemei,
and when the piece was ended they introduced a tournament,
accompanied by mujie, on the sli^«. As they recited in
Spanish, and Kpoke very fast according to Spanish custom,
says the chronicler,* the Neapolitans did not underetand a
word of the somewhat complicated representation, and were
obliged to be satisfied as they were, with the spectacle. But
the intrigues of the Italian plays were by no means inferior
to the Spanish ones. Shortly aflerwards, in the palace, the
piece of a Capuan, Ottavio d* Isa, was acted, called L'Alvida.
Neapolitan cavaliers had undertaken the [Kirts ; the bead of
the troop was the Count of Saponaro San Severino. The wo-
men's parts were all performed by men; of nhat stamp they
were is proved by the fact, that many prostitutes, courtesans,
nurses, &c,, accompanied them. At the general rehearsal at
the house of the Impresario many ladies of rank met, but
the tiling; was considered so bad, that not a single one ap~
peored at tlie palace. A comedy of Niccoli degli AngioH
appears to have suffered from another deficiency. For the
epuw of twenty years he had tripled the delay of the Boman
poet in finishing his terse ' Amor Palemo,' and had scrupulonsly
observed the rules of Aristotle. The actors also look great
puns, hut the ladies, who wished for something to laugh at,
and cared nothing for Aristotle, fell asleep from weariness.
The Caraalduense Father, Arcangelo Spina, succeeded better,
whose piay of ' L'Inconstante * was introduced during the
same carnival, in the jialace of the Prince of San iSeverino,
and Buceecded better. Andrea Naclerio, who is so often men-
tioned in tlie history of the stn^glea in the year 1647, acted
admirably, and the piece succeeded so well, that it was acted
again, at the Prince of Bisignano's, and even repeated again
at the Viceroy's.

Jfot only did the ecclesiastics then write plays— as in our
time Don Giulio Genoino, whi> is still living, and has ven-
tured In liis play, the subject of which is laken fVom (he life ot
tbt fiunoua Vico, to ridicule the inveterate prejudice of the

• GucTTB Hul Bueca'i Diumali.

198 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

pot^pla for tlie '^ Jettatura" — ^but theatrical representataoos
were allowed even ia churches and oonventB. It was a well*
known practice of the middle ages : but the plays of the myi^
teries aiid moralities had degenerated to worse and wone.
Since the conclusion of the 1 6th century, when at the court
of the Medici that mixture of poetry and music out of whick
has arisen the modem opera began to assume an artistic
form, these representations in holy places became more and
more melodramatic, and consequently of a more inappropriate
character for the place and the public. In the year 1631 a
^' gran commedia" was introduced in the cathedral : the sub-
ject of it was borrowed from Tasso — whether from the ^ Jeru-
salem Delivered,' or any other poem, is not mentioned. At the
Gerolimini of the Jesuits and the G«N>lomini, such theatrical
representations were performed. On the 1st of October^ the
Jesuits caused a play to be acted in honour of the Infanta, tbe
wedded Queen of Hungary, in which clouds and dancing-boys
and other brilliant apparatus were used ; which, including the
supper, cost seven thousand ducats. The nobility and clergy,
not excluding the cardinal-archbishops, were amongst the spec-
tators. Sometimes especial representations were performed
for men and for women separately ; but in general they were
mixed together. Even in nunneries the custom was followed.
The Benedictine nuns of Santa Maria Donn' Albina, one of
the most ancient convents in the town, acted a play, to which
many ladies of noble birth were admitted by papal permission.
Others looked on at the piece from the outside, and a number
of cavaliers were spectators from the church, and it gave rise
to much scandal and mischief. As the right of asylum in the
churches, about which such daily complaints were made,
caused them to be perpetually desecrated by scandal or crime,
so these theatrical representations did not naturally tend to
improvjB matters. When amongst the crowd that was coUected
at San Gennaro during the time of the acting of that play of
Tasso's Ottaviello Brancacci one of the police officers, for the
administration of justice turned out a troublesome ecclesiastic,
he drew out a dagger and thrust him such a blow as would
have sent him into the other world, if he had not intercepted
it with great dexterity.*

* Guerra and Bucca's Biumali, in many places.

THE THEATRE. 19tf

Isone of the ViceKqw iiaU bucU a love for dramatic repre-
pentatious as tiie Count of Monterey. It was with him a, real
paasioD. Plays were acted daily, eitha' io the public theatres
or in the palace, or in the houses of the nobility. No season of
the year, no festival of the church, made any difference. During;
the fiist of the year 1632 more plays were acted than formerly
during the Carnival. On the boly night of Christmas a play
was acted in the palace ; and the Count went &om the th^tre
into the royal palace to hear mass and receive tJie holy comma-
nion. " Thus were mixed tc^iher, either in levity or wicked-
ness, tile holy mysleries and the fables of mythology." * In the
public tbeatTC he had a box fitted up for himself, which he
occupied, accompanied by his wife; both practices being in
direct contradictiDii to the manners of the tiincs. Often when
he coasted along the shore in his gondola, ttoai Mergellina to
Ponttpo, he was accusloraed to take two persons with him,
Andrew Ciccio of Jt^ilcinella, and Ambrose Buonuomo <i
Coriello, who had not their equals amongst their contempo-
raries; and it was Raid that they could not be matched.
Whenever they both acted t<^ether the whole town poured in j
and no foreigti company could remain in Naples if they were
not joined by them. In the year 1636 Monterey sent for a
Spanish company at his own expense. The mere journey cost
between four and five thousand ilucals. Wlien tliey arrived at
the palace he sent all his servants to meet them in the court-
yard, aud expressed his joy so extravagantly, that even his
oep^idenis could not conceal their vexation and contempt.
And ae the theatre was empty, and the performers complained
tiiat thuy acted only to beaches, lie i^ued an order to com-
Duim) the attendance of tlie Spamsh officers and the common
iveetitutes at the theatre daily ! If these last did not
attend, they were obliged to pay a tax of ibur carlins to
the actors. The Neapolitans clearly perceived that the Count
fcr^ all his state business at the theatre. This passion
mUd bim to such a degrue. eveu at an advanced age, tiiat
when he joined the campaign in Portugal against the Duke of
Bcaganxa, King John IV., be deprived tlie troops of tlieir
ftf to give it the actors 1 f

" Capeceliii™, AnnBli to Ihe year 1933, V. 20.

f (iucrni ubI Uuccb, in other pUc«a. Ycor 1S32.— Cuptuelutrn, in
Othar pUoos. Y«r ISM.

200 THE CABAFAS OF MABDALONL

In peace, the time unoccupied by festivities and plays was
passed by the nobility in equestrian exercises, airings, and
gaming. The love of horses and feats of horsemanship has
ever been connected with an age of chivalry, and the Italian
riding^«chool has long been &mous ; yet horses and the art of
riding appear to have been on the decline at that time. Per-
haps this was owing to the circumstance that but few good
horses were to be found in the kingdom. Under the Ara-
gonese the breeding of horses formed a great occupation ; and
the manner in which warfare was conducted at that period,
when the cavalry was the main point, led naturally to this. In
the year 1586 the elder Duke of Ossuna began the foundation
of a building for a royal stud and riding-school, which the
younger Count of Lemos turned into an university, and where
later the treasures of art were deposited from Herculaneum
and Pompeii, which of themselves form a museum, inferior
to few in works of marble, and excelling all others in bronzes.
That the fondness for horses had diminished, is shown, from the
fact that, at the beginning of the seventeenth century two-
thirds of the carriages of Naples were drawn by mules ; a pro-
hibition was issued by the Viceroy to check this, on the ground
that the breeding of horses was entirely ruined by it

Page after page of the annals of those times is filled with
scandal, quarrels, and duels, by histories of murders and of
riots in the streets, caused by play and parties of pleasure.
Idleness led to gaming, and gaming led to all the rest. There
has scarcely been one Viceroy who has not issued a decree
against games of chance ; but all prohibitions were in vain
when the governor of the vicarial court farmed the gaming-
table, and that which was allowed to the nobles, the people
and the soldiers could not be deterred from. Meanwhile, the
nobility especially devoted themselves passionately to every
sort of gaming. When the Cardinal Zapata undertook the
government in the year 1620, he forbade the governor to farm
th'e gaming-table, who complained loudly ; but the prohibition
only remained in force till a son, or so-called nephew, of the
Lord Cardinal obtained the office. Thousands of ducats
were staked, not upon the cards only, but also upon the dice.
Gian Giacomo Cossa, Duke of St. Agata, lost, in the year
1631, 10,000 ducats at the game of tarocchi. Playing upon
honour only made things woirse. Vincenzio Capece, the natural

r

GAMISG-HOOSES — CDURTESASB. 201

son of a knight of Malta, made a fortune of 60.000 ducats by
merely lending money for playingp ; he made from 15 to 20
ducats daily by the ititerest of such loans.* When tlie people
revolted in the year 1647, they complaioed that this abuse
was connived at, and indeed encoura^^, amongst the Dobility,
and also of the grant of public gaming-houses and Redouts.
In the aflemoon of the 29th of July the people assenibled in
difierent groups to visit such places, and even the royal palace
v/as not spared. One group penetrated into the house of Bo-
logna, by the Seggio of Nido, where the nobles of highest rank
were accustomed to meet. A great uproar ensued. '' Ye lord
cavaliers," called out one of the leaders, " do you think that
you will be allowed to go on with such doings? For what
ebe but to indulge in your vile passion for dice and cards
bavB you sold the poor citizen to his arch enemy? For what
else have you sold your votes to the Viceroy? that he may
burden us with galielles according to bis heart's desire?
Upon this they laid their hands upon everything — household
furniture, tables, chairs, cards, dice, and whatever else they
could lay hold of, was thrown together in a heap and set on
fire. It was calculated that above a hundred gaming-houses
were consumed by fire-f

Besideij the licensed Redouts, adventurers played at games
of hazard, and by such means gained a livelihood. A Cola-
brian cavalier, Muzio Fassalacquu, kept such a house in the
time of the second Duke of Alcata, where the play was so
high, that the Genoese Bartolommeo Imperiali, nottvithstand*
ing the characteristic avarice of Ida countrymen, lost in one
evening 6000 ducats, which he pud on the followiu^ morning.
Bnt gaming went on also in other houses, the number of which
always increased. If we look at the long lists of Pragraadcs,
ur other laws and decreesof theTiceroy, we meet with decrees
and laws perpetually gainst the Cortigiane and Donne dililia-a
in'M. They were forbidden to let themselves be seen in the
town in a sedan-chair (sedia) or a carriage, on the coast by
Chiaja and Mergellina, the most favourite spots for walking;
or tu Bail in a felucca to Poailipo, one of the principal amuse-
ments of that lime. The disobedient were whipped. They
were not allowed to pass the night in the usual inns and places

■ Ciiipim uid Buum, in leTcral places.

t De Suiatis, Hiatorm del Tumulto di Napoli, Ith. loL

202 THE GAKAFAS OF HADDALQNI.

of entertainment; the woman was scourged, and the hoet finecL
But this did not prerent a rapid increase in the number of
eosrtesans, and their houses were more and more visited by the
Dodbilitj^.who sometimes even played a part in them thane*
selves. This was especially the case under the Duke of Oasitfti
so often mentioned, who indeed issued a prohibition to manied
people not to visit such houses ; but he was himself seduced hj
the heat of his temperament into all possible irr^ularities, and
gave the worst example as he sailed along to Chiaja with a
bufibon, or went along to Santa Lucia with a capricious beauty,
Giovanna Maria by name. This was offensive to the Neapcv
litan peqple, who were not yet sold, and this little history
figured amongst the heads of accusation against his Excellency
which were sent to King Philip. At a great national festivity,
g^ven by the Viceroy in June, 1617, at Poggio Reale, and to
which about ten thousand persons were invited, food being
provided for all, a particular table was appointed for twenty-
five of the most notoriously profligate women, and they wero
amply entertained, whilst the Viceroy, who was there with his
wife, went to them and joked with them. Such repeated
scandal could not be tolerated. At a great festival of the
church, a notorious beauty, called La Maltese, tried to squeeze
herself in amongst some ladies of noble birth, and when a
sbirri held her back she gave him a great blow. Ossuna, who
was present, ordered her to be excluded, and she received
blow after blow from the sbirri, whilst the ladies, more than
one of whom were jealous of the beauty of the Maltese, held
their mufis to their &ces to hide their laughter. When the
Viceroy once threatened to shut up an infamous quarter of the
town at the upper end of the Toledo, it was suggested to him
that to obtain his aim he must shut up half Naples. He had
prohibited any person, on pain of the galleys, to visit the Spa-
nish quarter with arms after the Ave Maria, which has now
changed its name though not its character ; but if this checked
the noise and mischief amongst the lower classes, it produced
no efiect upon the nobles.

Scarcely a night elapsed without the' worst kind of scandal,
and cavaliers belonging to the noblest families were almost
invariably mixed up in it. The quarrels began either in
petty jealousies or at the gaming-table, or were caused by
krcenies or meettags with adventurers. Li general, the lights

' DEATH OF THE PBISCE OF CDNCA, 203

were tlirown down ; each person drew his sword or dagger in
dark ; the eervauta were often obJig«d to atone for the amuse-
ments of ttieir maaters by broken heads ; tlie sbirri appeared ; i
the women escaped or were dragged to prison ; the houses were <
pillaged— thus did these scenes usuhUj end. It was fortunate
when matters were no worse. But maiiy returned maimed to
their homes, and many lost their lives in these disgraceful
irays, or else fights and duels ensued which placed whole
fouiliea in hostility to one another for generations. Even the
churches were not held sacred. lu the church of SS. Coo-
cezione de$:li Spagnuoli young people behaved so ill with I
wanton women during the sermon, that the priest was obliged
to admonish them to be quiet. But they scoffed at him in the
pulpit, that it was not his business, and that he ought to keep |
to his text. The priest went to the Viceroy the Duke of
Alcala, with a rope round his neck — the peace-breakers were
imprisoned ; they were p^'sons belonging to the greatest faiui-
lies, the Fignatelli, Barile, Ac. Such scenes took place during '
the celebration of the Mass and the elevation of the Host.

The fate of one of the noblest and richest men of the king-
dom, the Prince of Couca, of the House of Capua, maternal
uncle of the young Duke of Maddaloni, gives us a terrible
uutauce of the corrupt state of morals, and of the feuds of the

a nobility. He was High- Admiral, one of the seven I

itary dignities with which the nephew of the great I

Gonsalvo was once invested : his wife was Donna Sueva
d'Avalos, of Montesarchio, by whom he had one only son.
All the three, father, mother, and sou, lived in discard, and
disgraced their ancient and illustrious name by a dissolute
course of life. The prinue, who found at home neither peace
nor joy, ^ut most of his time out of tlie house. One evening
he was riding alone, according to his custom, when it seemed
to him as if a piece of lead, or a tile, or something, was Hung i

out of a house that he had just left, which fell upon his skull
and stunned liim ho much tliat he let go the reins, and his ter-
rified horse flung him in the neighbourhood of Porta del Fer-
■ tuso, ffltualed at the foot of "the hjll of Sant" Elmo, now called
Porta Medina. He lay bleeding on the ground, and would
II have be«Q choked with blood, had not the barefooted mirnks
1 of Sant' Agostino raised him up, and, after ihey had recogjiiited
I I lim, conveyed him to his palace in a sedan-chair. Hewasmost J

204 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALOKL

grievously disfigured, his forehead and nose were bruised, one
eye abnost destroyed. In the dwelling of this rich noble-
man not a servant could be found to undress him ; the monb
and the bearers of the sedan-chair were obliged to put him I
to bed. In the following morning his son, the Count of
Palena,, was almost forced into his room by violence; he
had quarrelled with his father, and did not live with him.
The son was so pleased, that he wished himself joy and made
jokes ; his own friends reproved him for the indecency of Mb
conduct. When he inquired of the sick man how he was, he
answered, "Agreeably to your wishes." They got on so
badly together, that the Viceroy was obliged to send to the
Count and forbid him to enter the sick man's room. The
judgment of God had so ordered it that the Prince was siff-
prised by death exactly on the spot where some years before
Fra Ciccio Lantaro was murdered by his command, in conse-
quence of his intercourse with women. The Prince eontimied
in this state two days, and then ended his wild life in a meet
miserable manner. But the funeral of the great man formed
a strange contrast to his wretched end. All Naples assembled ;
twelve hundred ecclesiastics with burning wax torches b^an
the procession. The dead man was borne on high upon a bier
covered with crimson velvet worked in gold. He was clothed
in his high admiral's dress ; the garment had large sleeves of
crimson velvet trimmed and lined with ermine. On his head
was placed a cap of the same velvet, and in his hand a staff.
He was carried uncovered ; behind him was borne the coffin
hung with velvet. The comers of the cloth upon which he
was laid were supported by several knights ; many of the rela-
tions of the family, dressed in mourning, &nned away the flies
with flags : thus the corpse was borne, by a long circuitous
way, to the family vault in San Pietro a Majilla.*

But the unnatural son was overtaken in his youth by a fiite
no less tragical than that of his Either. A maiden of
humble condition, whom he wished to engage in a love intrigue,
rejected him ; he hired a Spanish soldier, who killed the poor
woman with the shot of a rifle as she stood at the window.
The murderer was seized and confessed. The Count of Mon-
terey had him hanged, and the young prince brought into

* Guerra, Diumali.

DUELS. 205

CastelDuovo, where he was strictly impriEoned in one of the
towera. After a few days he became seriously ill. His
Amily and the great barons of the kiii^om interceded with
rtbe Viceroy lliat he mi^bt be taken home. Security to the
i#inouiit of two hundred ducats weie offered, but Monterey was
^inexflrable, and Matteo di Capua, Prince of Conca, the last of
a great family, died in priiion. Part of his rich inheritance
wait to Diomcd Carafa of Maddaloni, ti:e nearest relation by
Uood of the dead man."

With such morals and such a mode of life, it must be con-
ndered fortunate when the quarrels ended in nothing worse
thaii duels. The passion for duelling' was not confined to
Italy. The well-known sanguinary edicts issued against it by
Cardinal Kichelieu failed in extirpating- it. Political transac-
tions and personal quarrels were alike fought about. In the
year 1503, upon the ground between Andria and Quarala, in
Apulia, tldrteen Italians fought against the same number of
Frenchmen for tlie insulted honour of their nation, and came
fi^h Tietorious from the battle. Twenty-seven years later,
wttliiii the borders of the imperial camp at Florence, four
Florentines fought in a fratricidal quarrel, shedding their
blood for the Medicean and the liberal party — a melancholy
instance of the divisions of the time. Both events have been
employed in the historical romance of our days, in whicli an
attempt has been made by refined literature to place before

I the public who do not read history, something different from
the beautifully - written but in general licentious novels.
I The numtfer of duels increased to such a degree during
the sixteenth century, that it became obviou.i how much
the interference of the government was required. But
k lisusUy tlie interfereocu produced no effect. One of the
. earliest Pragmaticaa of Don Pedro de Toledo ordained the
! puniahment of death to the bearers of the challenge, and
prohibited those persons who refused to fight from being
I declared dishonoured; but this last decision, like all similar
ones in later times, sliows us clearly enough the bent of the
public mind. In the seventeenth century duelling became a

I perfect mania. A decree of the Count of Monterey's, which
coufirmtd tlie clause in the laws of Toledo, punished the
• CnpecdaU*, Annnli, yeor 1632.

806 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONI.

challengen with a fine of two thousand ducats and ftre yean
of banishment. On a repetition of the oflfence they were to be
punished with death. But the accused person who surrendend
himself was punished according to the sentence. But tbb
fighting continued, and, as if two combatants were not enough,
ihe relations, even in the fourth degree, were obliged to pncl
up the glove. In February, 1638, during the government of
the Duke of Medina, five duels were fought by young noble-
men in seven days. Five of the combatants were badly
wounded and two escaped unhurt, Ferdinand Caracciolo and
Carlo di Sangro, the one under twenty years of age, the other
rather older. They were occasioned by stories about women.
Shortly afterwards two of the PignatelH and their servanto
fought against the Fra Scipione Montforte knights of Malta
and their friends and servants. ' Both the former were killed ;
the others escaped with wounds only. The principal culpritB
were imprisoned and brought into Castelnuovo, but this did not
hinder Fra Giacomo Fignatello, a knight of Malta, from perpe-
trating a terrible and bloody revenge on Don Giovanni
d' Aquino, one of the persons concerned. With eleven com-
panions he surprised his carriage near the palace of Gravina.
Many shots laid d' Aquino dead on the ground ; one of his
grooms stabbed the knight, others were knocked down, and the
combatants were only separated by the sbirri, who conveyed
them to the prison of the Vicarial Court.

Sometimes whole bands of men fought one against the other.
In October, 1630, a battle ensued between the men of Acqua-
viva and Caracciolo, before San Fietro a Majella. It was
evening : sbirri appeared to separate the combatants, but one
was already lying dead upon the spot, and about twelve of
them were wounded more or less. The Cardinal Buoncom-
pagni sent his people to claim Don Ferdinand Acquaviva as
an ecclesiastic : the rest fled to the neighbouring church of
Sant' Antonio of Fadua, which was regularly besieged by the
police ; they extinguished the lights ; Fra Titta Caracciolo
contrived to escape, but the rest were obliged at last to surren-
der themselves. And many years afterwards this wretched
quarrel broke out again, and the Duke of Martina Fetraco
Caracciolo killed in a duel Cosimo Acquaviva, the eldest son
of that Count of Conversano of whom mention will often be
made in this history.

DUELS. 207

Some foug^bt from rivalry, some about gaming, others aixiut
i boundary limits, eome about words, some becaase tttey had
greeted one sDother coldly, aiid. one about a lapdog. Lastly,
mider tbe government of the Count of FenD&renda, the passion
far duelling had risen to such a pitch that they killed one
another more out of gallantry than from punctilio. The
Prince of Cariati Spinelli was the hmi of a battle on an im-
portant occasion, when, on the Chiaja before Santa Maria rlella
Viltoria, sixteen yonng men were confronted against each
oiher, and Don Prospero Suardo was left on the spot. Such
sceues happened betn'een the nearest relations. In the time
of the Duke of Alcali the brothers Vicenzio and Orazio San
S«verino quarrelled about some trilling money transaction;
they drew their swords, but they were separated : they chal-
lenged one another, and the hand of one was maimed. Some-
Gatm tbe authorities interfered. When a cartel belween the
Genoese Marquis Serra and Don Luigi Fignatelli became
known, it was cliecked by the threat of a fine of 10,000 ducats.
When they could not fight out their quarrel in Naples they
eould easily select another kingdom. In Medina's time two
cavaliers appointed the day and hour in Leghorn, and they
I went there in the galleys of the Tuscan knighttt of St.
Stephen's, which were anchored off Naples. Under the Mar-
quis d'Afitoi^ the Acquavivas and CarafasofNoja quarrelled
most violently. The Duke of Noja caused one of the servants
of the Count of Conversano, who had chastised one of his
vaasals for mischief done in tbe forest, to be seized, and sent
him back to his lord with tus nose and his ears cut ofi'. The
&Biilies were nearly related to each other, but their relation-
^p did not prevent revenge, Giulio Acqnaviva with three
kmidred men surprised the castle of Noja in tbe night. CaraJa
wu in bed. Giulio dragged him out of it, had Us anus tied
behind his back, and ordered him to undergo the same treat-
ment wiuch he had used towards fais servant. The lamenta-
tions and entreaties of his wife and mother moved him to
desist from his intention, but he did not leave the castle till
be lutd maltrealed liim. Noja's brother, Francesco Carat^
challenged Ac^^uaviva, and their mutual exasperation was so
gnat that they resolved to light one another a guerra Jinita,
Ihal is, uiily to slop witJi the death of one of the corabalants.
Ill tbe whole of Italy tliey could find no place for such a

1

208 THE GARAFAS OF MADDALONL

combat a outranoe^ so they turned to Gennany. The magis-
tracy of Nuremberg granted them a licence. An incredible
number of spectators, even including women, were present
Time and the journey appear to have softened their resentment,
for after Cara& had been wounded a reconciliation took place.
They were not the only Neapolitans who fought on G^nnan
soil. During the war of the Spanish succession, in the year
1703, a duel was fought before the gates of Vienna, between
Tiberio Carafa, Prince of Chiusano, and Bartolommeo Geva
Grimaldi, Duke of Telese. A Spinelli, a Capece, a d'Avaloe,
and a Caetani, were their seconds. Telese fell severely
wounded, and was disarmed ; his victorious opponent received a
slight scratch, and made some visits to " conceal the afiair."*

Whilst this passion swayed the minds of the nobility it also
took hold of the lower classes. It is reported of six Spanish
soldiers, who in the time of the Count of Fennaranda garri-
soned the fort of Carmine, that they dined together in a social
manner at an inn; they quarrelled and fought each other
before Porta Molana, in a house of the Marquis of Yioo,
which went by the name of the haunted house (casa d^li
spiriti). Five were killed on the spot ; the sixth, more dead
than alive, brought home the news. When it did not come to
an actual duel, knives were used. Even the nobles contended
in this way with the common people. Many unseemly scuffles
took place amongst the nobles, as well as between the cavaliers
and the people. The nightly perambulations in the streets
gave rise to opportunities for this. More than once the
signors drew their short weapons, and more than one of them
were left on the spot. Instead of the dagger and of the sword,
fire-arms were even used. In May, 1631, a battle, where rifles
were made use of, took place in the middle of the town between
the families of Tufo and Vespolo, " with a Franchezza," says a
contemporary chronicler, " as if they were in a forest." Even
the houses were no longer safe. In consequence of a dispute
about horse-dealing, Don Giuseppe Caracciolo went into the
house of the Duke of Castellucia, accompanied by many of his
followers. They first abused one another, then drew their
swords; the ladies of the family and some otHer relations
interposed, and the noise attracted all the neighbours, till the

♦ Mcmorie di Tiberio Carafa. Fragment given by J. Volpicella, in the
Fiori d'Invemo. Naples, 1850. Pp. 211.222.

BlUVOES. 209

pblrri made tlieir way tiirougfi the Cfowd, and conducted the
I whole party fo prison, where they were shut up for a time till
peace was concluded/

We have already spoken of the insecurity of the sireets,
even in the capital itself, during the nig-ht. Wliatever Toledo
and his successors may liave done to check this evil, it waj so
^reat in the time of the second Duke of Ossuna, that be issued
ail order that persons were not to go out at night without
lanterns, wliicli order was renewed in later times by the Car-
dinal Rivarola in Ravenna. But it was not only at night
tJiat such assaults were made. The nobility had their bravoes
in pay, nol^only on their own estates, but even in the town,
and he who would not or could not fight, and did not consider
his rival of equal birth, or who wished to practise private re-
venge, or from any other motive would not undertake a duel,
hired assassins. Under Alcaic, Monterey, and Medina, this
bordered on insanity. Gian Vinoenzo Blacfidonio was severely
wounded in the neck at Uta. Chiara : it was generally said at
the instigation of his intimate friend the Duke of Castro, who
was jealous of him. The advocate Francesco Commino re-
ceived a dangerous wound as lie was coming out of the church
of tJie Gerolomini: Trajano Caracciolo, the instigator, tied;
but the bravo whom he had liired went the next day to the house
of the rich man to inquire after liis health I He had changed
fab clothes, but he was recognised and seized; Paolo Spinelli
Cariati was imprisoned for having abetted many murders.
Don Ottavituio de' Medici, Prince of Ottajano, the grandson
of the founder of the Neapolitan branch of that great Floreo-
dne fkmjly, met with the same punishment. This man had
received the lowest orders of the church, and liod tried to
obtain fnim Pope Leo XI., his great-uncle, the dignity of
cardinal, before he succeeded by the death of his eldest brother
to the feudal posaesaiona, and married the courageous Uiana
Cancciolo, who during the rebellion of tlie year 1647, in the
absence of her husband, defended the baronial palace in Otla-
jauo, at the foot of Vesuvius, against their rebellious vassals,
till the Duk{> of Arcos could send Spanish troops to her assist-
ance. Titta Ciccinello was apprehended by the sbirri on ac-
count of a murder] he defended himself with his people, and
fled Into the church of San Lorenzo, The Marquis of Mari-
gliano Mnt four bravoes to commit one act of murder : ihey

HO THE CARAFikS OF MADDALONI.

frereadnd at the mae time with name of Us servaDts; he
Umself eacKped bj flighl. How fiimly tbe opiniOD of tbe
lawfiilneaB of this kind of self-defence was established in the
practice of the nobility of that time, is shown by tiie dicam-
ftacee that even men who did not beloi^ to the wont dass of
people did not hold it as ill^;al, and did not seon to lear the
pab^ censure. How this niusance of brayoes, of which we
shall soon speak moie particnlarlyy was connected with the
protection granted by the barons to the banditti on their
estates, will be mentioned in the oomae of this history.*

This ooidd not fiiil to be the case so hM^ as the oonstant
interconrae with the sbiiri and perpetual imprisonments and
pomshments took place. But iiequent as were the impriaoD-
ments and punishments, peace and order were not restored;
the treasury only profited. Generally the police reoeiyed
immediate intelligence of duels and disturbances, and befeie
the nobles expected it it was on the spot. Justice or injusdoe,
aggressor or aggrieved, it was all the same — the proverb,
^ caught together^ hanged together," was almost literally ful-
filled. If the disturbm of the peace succeeded in nuikiDg
their escape, a guard was s^it to their dwellings or their
places of concealment, and they were regulaiiy besieged. All
this was done at their expense. If they did not make their
appearance by an appointed day, a fine more or less heavy
was imposed on them. Mandates were affixed to the gat^
of their palaces and those of their relations. The prisoners
remained in confinemeDt in one of their castles either tiU they
had made peace with one another, or else according to the
pleasure of the Viceroy. They might consider themselves a»
fiirtunate if they were not sent to Gaeta or to one of the
presidencies.

If such was the way of life of the nobility, and such their
conduct to one another, it is easy to imagine how they behaved
towards the citizens. We have already spoken of Ae feudal
system, when considering the political state of the nobUity:
one stoiy is sufficient, one example of terrible barbarity, united
to the meanest arrogance and the boldest contempt of all
respect for the laws. Since the days of Sancia of Arragon,
the pious wife of King Robert, the great hospital bearing the

♦ Guerra and Bucca's Diumali. — Cai>ecelatro*8 Aimali. Palermo. —
Narrazioni e documcnti, in various places.

VIOLENCE OF THE NOBLEa 211

MLRte of the Casa Santa dell' Anminziata has existed in Kaples.
Two Neapolitan imights of the family of Scondito, who had
been detained in a wearisome imprisonment during the struggles
of the Gaelph and Ghibelline parties in the time of King
Charles II. in Tuscany, laid the first foundation of this insti-
tution, an offering that they had vowed to the Madonna. In
the course of the century rich gifts and legacies were bestowed
upon the hospital. None of the rulers of Naples forgot the
Casa Santa, to which the benevolent-^ninded of all classes gave
especial donations, and which is at this time a foundling hos-
pital for poor girls. From the middle of the fourteenth cen-
tury till the convulsions which followed the wars of the French
revolution the administration of this institution was vested in a
deputation, consisting of several members, having at their head
as ^' noble master " (maestro or mastro nobile) a cavalier of
M.*A.the Seggio of Nid o, who was chosen by the families belonging
to the association of nobles, whilst the remaining members of
the administration, in number four, five, or eyea six, were taken
out of popolan families, and chosen by the Seggio del Popolo,
by which means one-half was generally composed of doctors of
law, and the other of merchants. This administration was
quite independent in its arrangements, and quarrels amongst
its memb^ were not uncommon. Ciccio Caracciolo, who in
the year 1633 was invested with the office of mastro nobile,
quarrelled with his citizen associates. It was on the 29th of
August when these last wished to settle some business, whilst
Ciccio Caracciolo was ill at home. It was the custom for the
mastro nobile to keep the key of the place where they held
their sittings: this did not prevent the other members from
meeting ; they broke open the doors, and perfonned their busi-
ness as if their number had been complete. Their names were
Francesco Antonio Scacciovento, who had been deputy of the
Seggio del Popolo in the year 1629, Camillo Soprano, and
Francesco Fiorilla. It was said by some that they had sent
for the keys without being able to obtain them ; and by others
that they would not wait for the porter who was bringing
them. However this may have been, the case was quite out
of all rule, and the three were universally blamed.

The afSuT might have remained thus, the more so as Carac-
ciolo was prostrated by illoess, and knew nothing of the matter.
It was said that the Duke of Medina, greatly displeased at the

r2

212 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

audacity of the citizen-deputies, had ordered an inquirj to be
made ; but the relations of the mastro nobile, in their anger
and impatience, took justice into their own hands. The
brother-in-law of Caracciolo, Fabrizio Cara&^ undertook the
punishment of the deputies. He looked about for abettors,
and found them. A knight of Malta, Fra Vincenzo della
Marra, son of the Duke della Guardia, was known for his
wanderings and adventures, and notorious even among the
wildest persons. He was a tall, wild-looking man, with red
hair, partaking more of the brawler than of the cavalier.
He took money for afl^drs of honour, and meddled in every
kind of family business. He was not wanting in courage. In
a battle between some Turkish and Maltese galleys he fell
dangerously wounded into the hands of the enemy, and was
dragged to Tunis, where his ransom was paid by his order and
his family. Scarcely had he returned home when he assaulted
some singers who were passing by during the night ; but they
ill-treated him, and his companion in the frolic paid for it by
his life. Fabrizio Carafa took with him this valiant soldier,
and some others of inferior condition. They went immediately
after their dinner to the house of Francesco Antonio Scaceia-
vento, who, by his participation in the movements of the popular
party against the nobility during the last period of the govern-
ment of the Duke of Ossuna, had long since drawn upon him-
self the hatred of the nobles, and had besides given cause for
it by his studied insolence in the case of the AnnunziatEU
Whether he was really out, or whether he was concealed, he
contrived to escape from the hands of his enemies. They were
marching about the town in search of their victim when they
unexpectedly lighted upon Camillo Soprano. Soprano had
been the least concerned in the whole business, and he had
been desired to beg Caracciolo's pardon for what had hap-
pened, and was just returning home when the band of arined
men met him. They stopped the carriage, and dragged him
out of it ; a torrent of abuse was followed by a blow which
felled the imfortunate man to the ground. Then they com-
pelled him to kiss their feet. He cried out that they ought
not to kill him before he had confessed ; but, without listening
to him, they dashed his skull to pieces with their iron-headed
staves. All this happened in the public street, before the
house of the unhappy man. His wife, who was just returned

MURDER OF CAMILLO 30PR4K0. 813

from walking', wanted to jump out of the wbdow ; his father
and mother were sent for in haste, and iiothing' was heard but
lamentations and curses. A bier was fetched, in which the
corpse was laid ; his relations cut off the hair and covered
themselves with it, whilst the six children of the murdered

oan stood round them.
The Count of Monterey passed by shortly afterwards ; he

aw the still reeking pool of blood ; he saw the crowd of
people standing there with their threatening gestures, already
on the \eTge: of rebellion, and their deputies had made known
that a meeting would be held at Sant' Agostino to deliberate
what was best to be done for their own security. The Viceroy
perceived that it was necessary to punish so horrible a crime.
that his own authority might not be ruined. He immediaiely
ordered a judicial inquiry to be instituted ; whilst Tonno d' An-
gelo, the deputy of the popular Sedile, appeased the crowd and
promised the punishment of the guilty. They had escaped, but
their nearest relations were immediately imprisoned, or ^arda
pat over their dwellings, as well to keep them as host^es as to
protect them from the fury of the populace, who uttered loud
threats that they would make the house of Carafa pay for it —
a threat which was put into execution fourteen years later.
The Duke of Cancellara, Don Frederick Carafa, who wanted
to buy some velvet brocade in a shop (an article which was
sold by a brother of the murdered man) , was in danger of being
torn to pieces, although lie had been quite a stranger to the
dsed. A decided leader only was wanting to rouse the popu-
lace against the nobility, so exasperated were the minds of

nan. Every one said that tliis state of things could not last.

.As was then usually the custom the criminals fled to Bene-
T«nto. They believed themselves secure on papal territory.
Bi»t they Iiad nearly miscalculated. The temper of the people
at Kaples was too formidable not to oblige the Viceroy to take
serious measures. A sentence of outlawry was pronounced
t Fabrizio Carafa: if he fell into the hands of justice
lis lost hb head. A similar sentence was proclaimed against
Doo Vincenzo; but his privileges as a kiught of Malta gave
hini flonie latitude. An attempt was made to deprive him of
hifl coinmandery; but he defended his rights, whilst he would
have sold his order for a piece of bread. Three thousand
h troopsi under Don Juan of Oseorio, were sen '

J

214 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

principality of Beneyento, and Pqpe Urbui YIIL and the
Sing were written to at the same time. The F<^ was the
more tenacious about this violation of his territory because in
nephews the Barberini had quarrelled with the Spamaids.
The fugitives, who had retreated to the convent of St. Sophia
in secret dread of being seized, were imprisoned to the number
of six by command of his holiness ; Imt their surrender was
obstinately refused. The Spaniards ravaged the frontier so
much that the ladders were not even fixed for the vint^e.
The Pope threatened by his nuncio to place the kingdom of
Naples under an interdict, and send forty thousand men to
defend Benevento not only with the bell but with the swc»d.
D'Ossorio caused the chancellor and the private secretary of
the government, who had delivered him a monitory, to be impri*
soned ; but he was forced, by the threat of freeing the Neapolitans
from their oath of all^iance, to set them at liberty.
. But such great preparations led at last to no results ; the
troops retired, the poor peasants were obliged to pay their
score, the mastro nobile resigned his office in &vour of a
relation who was ruled by that Scacciavento who had been
the first cause of the whole affiiir. The widow of the mur-
dered man went into a convent, and one of his brothers, deeply
awe struck by the tragedy which he had witnessed, entered into
holy orders. Both the principal criminals, Fabrizio and Fra
Vincenzo, escaped, the first to Rome and the other to Malta.
Both had cause during the remainder of their restless and
painful lives to repent their deed. Fabrizio Carafa, who was
for long tracked by spies and sbirri, attached himself entirely
to the French-Barberini party in Rome, occupied himself
about the affairs of this party at Gaeta and Aquila, wandered
about in constant dread of the revenge of the Spaniards, aiid
died poor and forsaken in a foreign land. But Fra Vincenzo
led the same wild soldier's life as he had done before. During
the ridiculous war carried on by the Barberini, about the fief
of Famese, against the allied states of Italy (a war in which
the Viceroy Duke of Medina refused the Pope the assistance
which he desired, because it was a domestic war of the Bar-
berinis that had nothing to do with the papal see), he served
with many other knights of Malta as a colonel in the papal
army, was taken prisoner in the battle of Mongiovino in
Perugia, where the Prince Matthias of Medici, in the year

OPPRESSION OF VASSALS. 215'

1643, defeated the troops of Pope Urban VIII,, and was
afterwards dismissed the service because he had ridiculed the
cardinal's dignity. In the year 1647 he ventured back to
Naples, and was seen in San Giovanni Carbonari. He then
entered into the service of Venice, and fell at Candia in a
battle against the Turks.*

Such was the way of life of the Neapolitan nobility, espe-
cially of its youthfid members, during the seventeenth century.
If we try it by the usual standard, their conduct was undoubt-
edly bad, inasmuch as it trampled upon all right as well as
upon all law. Taking into account the absence of all equality
between the classes, it is still vicious, and the instances in which
the aristocracy struck into an honourable career, either in the
military service or the civil administration, can hardly be set off
against it. The results could not be otherwise than mischievous
to the whole community. Immense as the landed estates of
the nobility were, they were yet generally inadequate to cover
the expenditure incurred by the wildest extravagance, and dis-
order without limits, not less by a residence in the fief than in
the city. In spite of the oppression of the vassals, there existed
the devouring cancer of debt, and the rapid elevation of specu-
lators and usurers, the surest sign of the prodigality and reck-
lessness of the nobles, and so injurious to the welfare of the
people. Hence only a semblance of the old power, hence the
natural position of the class which ought to hold the balance
betwe^i the throne and the people was irrecoverably lost.
The time was rapidly approaching which would lay bare these
consequences to the horror of all, and would leave finally useless
the magnanimous efforts, worthy of a better reward, and bearing
traces of better days, which the feudal nobility sometimes made
fofr the welfare of the crown, as well as for the preservation of
their own existence, because in craft and clearness of view that
nobility was no match for the power wielded by a single person,
and perhaps still more because it found no support and no
perseverance in the people, which it had itself contributed to
oppress, to enervate, and to degrade in its morality. The year
1647, which decided the relations between the aristocracy and
the people for the remainder of the Spanish epoch, offered this
nobUity one last brilliant opportunity to place in an advan-

^ GueiTS and Buooa, DiumalL

21C IHE CABAFAS OF XAHaUQn.

Ueat wiot RBouMdio it of ddwlnni ipirit, and oi

Afier tkiff dejcji|aiu M we Deed doc enter farther into the
e t wiiiMM of iwwMirif lifie. It k id genend the weak flde of
the IiaJiaD Datkm. The annik and diazies of the time give
■ioatiinllT but little infonDStion about the iDterior of hoQm
and the life of the vomen. bat £ram this little we may infer
the rert. Edncatian. at k the rnle in the present daj, was the
boiiness of the eonTcnt ; and when the oonTent was left, mar-
riageft were arraneed by the lehtinnB, as is most generally the
case now. In the oentniy of which we are qieakii^ most of
the nobility lived in the capital, and bat few inhabited tfaidr
baronial csstles in the proTinoes. At the Tioer^al coort the
ladies belonging to the most illostrioos fiimilies met at the
feasts, some of which have been described, and the vicennial
court in its torn was invited to partake of the ho^taJities of
the great fendaUnies — the Orsini, Carafiis, Caraccioli, &c. Dis-
putes about precedency were as coDimon amongst the men as
amongst the women, and the titles of Ecoellenza and Signoria
were weighed with great consideration. When the Infanta
Donna Maria d' Austria, the bride of the S^o^ of the Romans,
was at Naples, on her way to Vienna, in October, 1630, so
many quarrels arose about the ceremonial, that all the ladies
in a body declared that they would not appear at the feast
given in the palace. For the Spanish etiquette only allowed
members of reigning families, or those whose husbands were
grandees of Spain, to have cushions, such as the Duchesses of
Sabioneta Gonzaga and of Mondragone Aldobrandini, and the
Princesses of Stigliano Carafa, of Butera Branciforte, and of
Bbignano d' Aragona ; all the rest were obliged to sit down
upon the carpet. At last the expedient was devised that the
Queen should not appear in public, as it was called, but sotto
coverta, and should sit in a box provided with blinds, so that
the ladies were allowed chairs, from which they could look on
at the mythological representations of Parnassus and Helicon,
Night and Fame, Cyclops and Nymphs, and the arms of
Austria as well as the pillars of Hercules. Night was intro-
duced in a starry chariot, drawn by four black horses. The
Elysian fields were represented. The ball began with a qua-
drille of eight-and-forty knights ; one half of their number
dressed in flesh-coloured silk garments, trimmed with silver

BALia AND QUADRILLIiS. 217

fringe, and the other half in black silk, trimjned also with
silver lace aiid embroidery ; their caps were adorned witli
waving herons' feathers, and tiiey held torches in their bauds.
'I'he Marquis of Viilanova del Rio, nephew of the Duke of
Alva, began the quadrille ; after him came the imperial am-
bassador, the Count of Frankenlierg, the Grand Coonetable
Colomia, and all the moat illustrious youn^ nobles. Afler
this quadrille the usual dancing- with the ladies followed. It
was the first of many festivities given in honour of the 1d-
ianta, who remained four montlia in Naples, to the despair of
the Duke of Alcala, by whom tlie expenses of the feasta were
paid. The plan of the journey, when, in consequence of the
remonstrances of the Viceroy, it became at la^t a question
with Frankenbeig, gives us, by the simple enumeration of
the holting-placeH, a picture of the manners and customs of the
time. On the first day from Naples to Nola, on the second
to Avellino, on the third to Mirabella, on the fourth to Ariano,
on the fifth to Bovino, on the sixth to Fog^io, on the seventh
to Tormaggiore, on the eiglitli to Serra Capriola, on the
ninth to Termoli, on the tenth to II Vasto, on the eleventh
to Saraiano, on the twelfth to Ortona, on tiie thirteenth to
Pescara, on the fourteenth to Atri, on the fifteenth to Giulia
Nuova (within the boundary' of the papal territory), on the
sixteenth to Le Groltaoiare, on the seventeenth to Porta di
Fermo, on the eighteenth to Lorelo. Tliere a lialt was to be
made, and devotion was to be performed to the Madonna, so
I that they hoped to reach Ancoua on the twentieth. " Frau-

Icesco del Campo," remarks the chronicler who gives us these
particulare, " iiad to prepare lodgings for the night for the
Queen and her suite, at his own great loss and expense.""
I Visits to the convents were amongst the especial amusemeiits
of ladies of noble birth. The Princess Carafa, who bos already
been mentioned, with her niece Anna Carafk and others, ob-
I tained from the Pope permission to visit the convent of Donna
Reginn, an institution founded in the times of the Iloheii'
staufeiis, where Maria, the widow of King Charles II., spent
the last years of her life in quiet seclusion, and in the per-
formance of acts of piety. Before they went the princesses
sent provisions for the repast — tliree wild boars, fifteen kids, '

* Querra nod Bucca, Diujnali. .

\ J

218 TSE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

twelve turkey-cocks, as many capons, together with a quanttty
of maccaroni, various sorts of cheese, and other dessert, whica
was all served up in the refectory where the nuns dined. Thdr
manners were not remarkably refined. We find expressioiiB
used by the most illustrious which cannot be repeated. Deecb
of violence were not unusual. During the celebration ci a
festival in the church, Donna Zeza Minutola, and a Spanuh
lady of the family of Yelasco quarrelled ; after an exchange
of angry words, the Neapolitan lady gave Donna Zeza a bos
on the ear, and she scratched the face of the other all over.
Many of the relations of Donna Zeza flung themselves upoi
the stranger, who defended herself ably, but, in consequence of
superiority in numbers, she received more blows than she
eould return. The Countess of Monterey beat a beautiful ladj
violently with her slipper, because she had obtained from tbe
Viceroy a judge's place for her husband. This Yieeqaeee,
sister to the Count of Olivarez, generally carried the slipper
about with her, and did not conceal it ; she had scarcely entered
upon her new dignity when she thus informed the ladies tint
they must apply to her and not to her husband. Morals were
in a still worse condition. Ladies belonging to the most illus-
trious &,milies were not ashamed of being the acknowledged
mistresses of the Viceroys, as the Marchioness of Campolattaro
and the Princess of Conca, the first belonging to the house of
Capua, and the other a d'Avalos, under Ossuna, Alva, and
Monterey. The love of intrigue in many of the Viceroys
increased this evil extremely. In dress the ladies began to
exceed the bounds of decorum. The pleasure-seeking Duchess
of Medina gave a masked ball during the carnival of 1639,
at which she appeared with three-and-twenty most beautiful
ladies, dressed as Amazons, and in so mythological a costume,
that it gave rise to much mischief and angry scandal. But
many of the women showed in this and the following years so
much nobleness of mind, so much courage and decision, and
such true attachment in the hour of distress and danger,
that we gladly remark that, in the midst of such corruption
and still greater levity, these better and more promising ele-
ments were by no means wanting.*

♦ Guerra and Bucca, Diumali. — Capecclatro, Annali. — Extracts from
despatches at Palermo and many places.

DIOBfED CABAFA. 219

This was the time, and these were the people and the cir-
cumstances, in the midst of which Diomed Carafa grew up.
At the age of seventeen, the * head of a great &mily, and the
independent possessor of a princely fortune, he was hurried by
the violence of his temperament and the force of example into
a participation in irregularities and quarrels, some of which we
have described to give some idea of the life of the young
nobility. His duel made a noise. He fought Galeaxzo
Cicinello in the house of a wanton beauty, and, though neither
of them were wounded, they were both put under arrest. Soon
afterwards Diomed fought another duel with the Duke of Lau-
renzana Castani, in which, ^^ Thank Heaven, only one groom
had his skull broken.'' At a ball in the palace he quarrelled
with the Marquis of Castelvetere, and in the middle of the night
they went to Chiaja to fight, but several mutual friends hastened
after them and settled the dispute. At another time he coasted
along* the shore of Posilipo with music in a felucca, as was the
custom. Tonno di Liguoro was just coming from thence;
their people quarrelled ; the gentlemen landed and immediately
drew their swords. Liguoro and one of his companions were
wounded ; a Spanish soldier belonging to a neighbouring gar-
rison was left dead on the spot. Maddaloni and his friends
saved themselves by flight; but the others were imprisoned
and in confinement three weeks till peace was concluded. The
duels might be excused ; but things of a much worse nature fol-
lowed. The evil of the bravoes increased more and more, and
the security and peace of the town was seriously endangered.
The laws were set at open defiance. The officers of justice
were remiss, partly from want of power and partly intention-
ally, and sometimes they connived at transgressions to be able to .
impose fines. The palaces of the nobles were filled with armed
men, who were ready at a hint from their lords for any deed
of violence, as if it formed part of their domestic duty. If no
order was issued by their lords, these vagabonds committed the
crimes of robbery and murder on their own account, relying
upon the protection of the nobles, or they were hired by others,
and many cavaliers had their share in the foul gains which they,
by defrauding the taxes, and by other violations of the laws,
and oppressions, extorted from the poor people. The Carafa
brothers, Don Diomed and Don. Giuseppe, with the families of
Son Felice and Liguoro, tyrannised over the whole vicinity of
the boTgo dei Vergiui, in the upper part of the town wh<Mre

220 THE C-iEAFAS OF MABDALONL

they dwelt. The Caracciolo's of Santo Buoiio, the Minutolo'a,
Slid Capecelatro's kept the wiiole country of San Giovanni a
Carbonara and other parts of the town in a continual terror.
Giuseppe Carafa caused, within a. few days, it is said, from
mere ill-temper, three persons to be murdered, and two others
to be severely wounded. Maddaloni caused the head of a. ricti
merchant, Giovanni di Zavaglio, to be cut off, because be had
quarrelled with another merchant. The Prince of Scandi only
escaped, by his presence of mind and his courage, the mur-
derers who were waiting for him at tie church of Santa Maria
di Constajitiiiopoli.

All this happened during the administrations of the Yicemya
Monterey and Medina. Monterey proceeded repeatedly wiih
some seventy against the Duke, who was then not much above
twenty. Once he sent a troop of three hundred men to sur-
round hb palace and take him prisoner. Maddaloni wastbm
at a villa at PosiJipo, not drtsaming of danger ; he was warned
and escaped. One mandate after another wa9 issued against
him. Justice proceeded against hiiu first for one crime and
then for another. Fines were imposed upon him — soldien
were sent into his dwelling and his fief, and maintained at hi*
expense till he presented himself or made his peace. This
pleaseil the Viceroy well. It was calculated that Carafa had
been tased a hundred thousand ducats in a few years. His
estates were the real exchequer of the treasury. But this did
not prevent him from fulfilling his duty as Grand Feudatory
with zeal and Hdelity. Amidst the important preparations
made in Naples during the thirty years' war which distracted
Germany, the attitude of the Pope, Urban VIII,, was always
hostile to Spain, and the frontiers of Lombardy were perpetually
oppressed. Diomed Carafa furnished four-and-twenty com-
panies of troops, composed of his vasaals^ — «ight for Maddaloni,
ten for Arienzo, six for Cereto ; and not long afterwards be
raised considerable sums of money to defray the expenses of j

Notwithstanding all the inad and bad pranks and the ciil- I

pable frivolity of the Duke of Maddaloni, the people disliked 1
him much less than they did most of the young noblemen.

He was in his manner of living a cavalier of the old stamp, |

polished, generous, luxurious. His housekeeping, domestics, i

carriages, horses, his bai^^ea for sta voyages, everything cor- I

responded to his rank and wealtli. He lived and let othetB ]

- <f("' ASN'A CAllAFA. 221

live. Much was connived at, and the services performed by-
hie ancestors were remembered. Wben the Duke of Medina
goverijcd Naples his position was the more favourable because
be was a near relation of the Viceroy's wife. For Don Ra-
niiro Felipe de Gusman had married Anna Carafa, Princess of
Stigliano, the heiress of immense possesions, ihe only Neapo~
politan lady who filled so much higher a station than her
countrywomen. The name of Donna Anna is still in the
niouth of the people ; it has been given to a building, the £ite
of which has been so strange, and so many traditions are told
of it to this day, that we must not pass it over without men-
tion of it or its ancient possessors.

At the end of the coast of Mergellina, that favourite place
of amusement for all classes of Neapolitans, wliere some are
attracted by the wonderful view, others by the inns atuated in
the midst of overhanging masses of tufa, where the villas, in-
creasing every day, form a continuatiou of the most' beautiful
street in the city, the Chiaja, upon the projecting cliff of the
Posilipo, rise the church and the convent of Santa Maria del
Parto, where is the grave of Giacomo Sannazzaro, who wished
his remains to rest here near the ashes of Viigil, to imitate
whose poetry was the fevourite object of his life. Sannazzaro,
one of tlie few who remcuned faithful to the Aragonese in mis-
fortune, had given, to honour the name of his most famous
poem, ' De partu Virginis,' this name to a small church that
he )iad built upon a piece of ground presented to him by King
Frederic. He interweaves tlie recollection of the spot in the
invocation to the Virgin, with which the poem opens : —

" Thou, too, BUTD hope of men and saints bIiovc ;
Blfst parent, whom i^elcstiol bands proclaim
With Round of clarions loud and anlhcms clear;
Whoni all the mighty hoata of heaven announil,
And in triumphant cirdos atOl attond -.

If even to thy spoUcsa shrines 1 bear

The frngrout ^rland — if to thee I raiso
The stodfait idtor, hewn out of the rock, —
■Where Morgellica, o'er the silver wave
Wide glancing, gazes &offl her lofty seat
And ibeWB (he toil-wotn mariner lus home :
If itill thy riteE, thy praise, thy festal day,
Thy worship and thy grECious choirs I sing
Each JBor, adoring one auspicionB birth :
Touduafe, bright Queen of Angels, to direct
Thy poet rude ond ignorant of tuiL"

222 THE CAKAFAS OF MADDALONI.

Saimazzaro never could forget that the Prince of Orange,
whilst engaged in the defence of Naples against Ijautrec, Jad
destroyed his beloved villa at Mergellina; and even shortly
before his death he rejoiced at the news that PhiUbert of CShl-
lons had fallen in battle against the Florentines. If we go
further along the picturesque coast, upon the beautiful facoid
way, the space for which had been gained from the rock with
gpreat skill in many places, which cmiducts us by many wind-
ings past an hundred villas to the promontory of Poailipo,
where our eyes rest upon the rocky island of Nisida, ud
beyond to Cape Miseno, and afterwards upon the group of
islands of Procida and Ischia, to the left we see a boUding
rising out of the sea, which, even in its present state of desola-
tion, reminds us of its former splendour and grandeur. Upon
a strong foundation, surrounded by the waves, rise up tiuree
stories of the building ; the upper one is unfinished ai^ with*
out a roof. The style of architecture, though not good, is not
without that certain degree of grandeur, which cannot be de-
nied to the buildings of the seventeenth century. Broad and
lofty arched windows alternate with smaller ones and with
numerous niches for statues ; the heavy projections on the side
and the irregularity of the style have a pleasing effect, owing
to the massiveness of the building and the singularity of its
position. Through three large gates, on the ground story, the
sea flows into a covered court to some marble stairs, where you
get out, as you would in a Venetian palace, into a gondok
hall to go up to the first-floor, whilst the ground of the adjacait
shore is so arranged that you can ride or drive into the gpreat
hall, or, more properly speaking, into the inner xiourt of the
second story. The building is very much reduced ; . upon one
side stands an humble place of entertainment for lovers of
maccaroni, fish, and frutti di mare ; but the inner rooms, once
destined for the reception of royal persons, are changed into a
glass manufactory. If you inquire the name of the fallen palace,
you will hear it sometimes called after the Eegina Giovanna,
whereby you may choose between the first and second Joanna,
and sometimes after Donn' Anna, of whom the people of
Naples have less to tell than of the two queens, whose weak-
nesses, vices, and the misfortimes brought by their crimes upon
the country, are only too well imprinted upon their memory.

Even till later times this palace, or ruin of a palace, has
been a misfortune /to its possessor. The mass of rocks is called

THE ILL-FATED HOUSE. 223

after the Sirens, upon which stands the casino which in the
b^inning of the sixteenth century belonged to one of the
4X>urtiers of Frederick of Aragon, Robert Bonifacio, Mar-
quis of Oria. Its name appears to predict mischief. Robert
was outlawed by Philibert of Orange, and his villa was
griven away twice shortly afterwards : both the new possessors
died. Then the outlawed Bonifacio appeared before the Em-
peror in Flanders. " The great love," said he, " that I bear
your majesty, and not private interest, induces me to beg
you for the restoration of the property that I, a short time
ago, have been declared to have forfeited. This property
has now escheated to the treasury ; and since it has brought
Boch swift destruction to two possessors, so I fear (which
may Grod avert !) that it will also do harm to your majesty.''
Whether this fear took possession of Charles, we may leave
undecided, but Robert Bonifacio's confiscate property was
restored to him upon his payment of 25,000 ducats.* But
an evil destiny really seemed to preside over the house —
three eons of BcHiifacio's died, some of them under the most
strikii^ circumstances. The fandly became extinct, and the
bouse of the Sirens lapsed again to the treasury, and was
purchased by the Ravaschieri, a family of Genoese origin,
of whom mention has often been made. But the Grenoese were
prudent enough not to defy fate, and soon sold the palace of
the Sirens to Luigi Carafa, Prince of Stigliano. This line of
the Carafas belonged to the main branch, from which the
Maddalonis are descended. Antonio Cara&,, Lord of Mon-
dragone, who succeeded by maternal inheritance to large posses-
sioDs, was created by Charles Y. Duke of Mandragone and
Prince of Stigliano. His great-grandson, Lodovico, was a
knight of the Golden Fleece, a grandee of Spain, a Prince of
the Holy Roman Empire, and Duke of Sabioneta, in right of
his wife, Isabella Gonzaga. For Donna Isabella was a daughter
of that Vespasian Gonzaga, one of the most illustrious men of
his race. He fought in Africa, in Italy, and Flanders, for
Charles Y. and Philip 11., and built Sabioneta, a castle in
liombardy surrounded by a few huts: he turned it into a
pretty little town, where the arts and sciences were fostered,
and commerce encouraged by voluntary contributions — a

^ Antonio Terminio da ContoiBi. Apologia di tre Seggia, illustri d:
Hi^olL Naples, 1633. P. 59.

224 THE CABAFAS OF HADDALONT.

flower that withered away with the death of its founder, as
was the case with those artistic creations of towns of the Ger-
man princes in the eighteenth century. After a long dispute
about the fief of Gonzaga, Sabioneta only remained to Isabella ;
and even this only imder Spanish tutelage.

It was under this Lodovico Carafa that the waywardness of
£Eite baffled all human calculations. His only son, Antomo,
who had married Elena Aldobrandini, a niece of the Pope,
Clement YIII., and sister to the Duchess of Parma, died
before him : of the three children of that son, the two boys
were snatched away by death at a tender age, and only one,
a daughter, remained. The Prince of Stigliano quitted the
deserted house to retire into a monastery of the Jesuits, where
he died suddenly on the 13th of January, 1630. The con-
temporary chroniclers tell us that he was buried like a ruling
sovereign : he was borne upon a bier, clothed in his ducal dress
of crimson silk, with his ducal coronet, his collar of ermine,
his sceptre, rapier, gilt spurs, and the other insignia of his
rank. Monks of various orders, a body of the canons of San
Gennaro, many nobles, and a never-ending crowd of people,
conducted the body to the family chapel in San Domenico. It
is said of him in his epitaph, Fortimee suae nee servus nee
dominus, fastigium eius nee quaesivit nee speravit.

Thus a young maiden was left the heiress of immense pos-
sessions. The sonnets of those days extol the rare beauty of
Anna Carafa ; her light hair, golden as the rays of the sun ;
her high forehead, her lively expression, her majestic demean-
our; and if there is no existing picture to correspond with
this description, painters and poets may settle it. The most
illustrious of the youth of Naples vied with equally illustrious
foreigners for her hancl. Taddea Barberini, the imperious and
powerful nephew of Pope Urban VIII. ; a Medici, brother of
Ferdinand II., Archduke of Austria ; the Duke of Modena;
a Prince Eoyal of Poland ; Don Ferdinand Toledo, Constable
of Navarre, son of the Viceroy the Duke of Alva, were amongst
the suitors, who either received their exclusion from Spain, or
were prevented by a difference of opinion in her own family
from obtaining their object. Three different branches of
Carafas, the Duke of Maddaloni, the Duke of Nocera, and
the eldest son of the Prince of Rocella, opposed the foreigners.
The ardent Maddaloni, who it was said pleased Anna the

ANNA CAKAFA. 225

A, was on the point of 6ghting witti lib relations and rivale.
He left untried no opportunity of bringing himi^f into notice ;
be spared no expense. Tlie felucca in which be wati accus-
timecl to sail up and down the Gulf nf Naples, touching
hither and thither on the coast of FosUipo, visiting his own
villa or those of his friends, was decorated with coloured sails.
gilt carved work, and paiLitings in the most brilliant colours :
the rowers wore the rich liveries of the house ; armed senants
Accompanied their lord ; a band of musicians mode their
joyous liarmonics resound over sea and land. If he went
a^ore, his friends and dependents and his armed escort fol-
lowed him ; and the time was spent in feasting and carousing,
in riding, and combats of sword-Hghting gladiators. Oi:e
person sought to outdo the other ; and this rivalry afforded the
crowd many sights and much amusement A young man of
good family was banished from Naples because he had taken
it into his head to solicit the heart and hand of tlie rich heiress,"

But of all tiia«e whom we have mentioned none obtained the
hand of Anna Carafa. In the year 1636 she married Don
Bainiro Felipe de Gusnuui, Duke of Medina de las Torres,
Xiord High Chancellor of India, and Treasurer of the Crown of
Aragon. Ue owed his success to the all-powerful minister
Olivarez, who also belonged to the Gusmau family, wliich
ciftims its descent from royal blood. Olivarez wished to marry
his daughter to the Duke of Medina-gidouia, the head of the
&inUy, but when this failed he sought for another Gusman,
and found one in the hitherto obscure Bamiro Felipe, who
lived at Valladolid as Lord of Toral, and was introduced
at court as son-in-law of the minister, as a grandee of Spain,
and Duke of Medina las Torres. Olivarez's daughter died
<dli]dle£S i but the connexion between the father-in-law and the
aoD-in-law continued firm, and Olivarez assisted his son-in-law
In marry the helrcM of Stigliano, whilst he promised him the
vieeregut dignity at Naples, and thus gained over the mother
as w^ as the daughter. In the year 1636 Anna Carafa
became Duchess of Medina; and a year ailerwards, after
RUUiy intrigues and much scandal, the Count of Monterey
«va4^uuted the royal palace for his successor.

If IndiaJi splendour and wealth could bestow happiness, tliat

■ Guerra and Bucca'e Diurniili to llie yoat 103!).

J

22G THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

of the married pair seemed secure. The city of Naples wa»
amazed at their magnificence. The palace at the Posilipo wbm
rebuilt. Cosimo Fansaga of Bergamo sketched the plan. For
the space of two years four hundred workmen were employed
upon it; and when the two first stories only were buih,
150,000 scudi had been already expended. But many of the
rooms were already fitted up, and many ancient statues wen
procured to ornament the niches outside the wall, and in the
courtyard. Works of art were not expensive to the Yioerm
of Naples. The Duke of Medina caused the most beantiM
pictures of the town to be presented to him—or, in otfaar
words, he took them. He carried off Raphael's Madonu
del Pesce from the chapel of Acerra, in San Domenioo : it
is at this day one of the most admired pictures in the collec-
tion of the King of Spain ; and when the prior of the church,
the general of the order, Bidolphi, complained, amongst other
things, that this robbery had been connived at in Rome, the
Viceroy caused him to be hurried off to the frontier by fifty
knights.* From the same church Medina took a picture l^
Lucas of Leyden ; from Santa Maria della Sanit^ another
work of Raphael ; from the church of the Incurabili one
of Giulio Romano's, which had been presented to it by
Don Pedro de Toledo by the command of Philip II. His
predecessor, Monterey, had done much the same, and many
of the most beautiful Italian pictures have reached Spain in
this manner, first, in the palaces of the grandees, and then, as
the Spanish nobility became more and more reduced, in the
royal collections. Owing to this passion of the Viceroys for
beautiful works of art, we may give some credit to the report,
that the better reputation the Marquis del Carpio enjoyed, was
really on account of his having bought Raphael's Madonna in
Nocera, which belonged afterwards to the family of Alva,
and is now in Russia. But the worst plunderer of all was Don
Pietro Antonio d'Aragona, who, not satisfied with pictures,
dragged a quantity of sculptures to Madrid to adorn his house at
his departure in the year 1671. He would not have spared the
sea voyage to the beautiful foimtain of Domenico d'Auria,

♦ Despatches of the Tuscan Agents. At Palermo, and at other places.
P. 325. (October, 1642.)— Capecelatro, Annali, p. 139.— I Volpicdla,
PrincipaH Edifizi della Citt^ di Napoli. Pp. 250, 413.

AKNA CARAFA. 227

which stands dry at Santa Lucia, if the fishermen of the quiiy
had not threatened him wilh rebellion. To return to the
Duke of Medina : Those who kmiw Naples may decide whether
the fountains which bear his name, and to whom, if not their
ori^, at least tlieir present fbrm is owing-, and the other
buildings raised under his riiitsction, aifoixl compensation for
the loss of the works of Raphiiel and of his disciples.

The palace of Posilipo was approaching its completion
when the evil star which had once shone upon it reasserted its
inftueiM*. In May, 1644, Medina was recalled and obliged to
leave the country which he had governed in such a manner
that the catastrophe which burst out soon afterwards with such
violence beeams every day mure unavoidable. The covetous-
ness shown on all occasions by his rich young wife, in wliose
veins flowed the blood of several noble Italian races, was most
repulsive. Never has the sale of offices been conducted in so
shameless and public a manner as under Medina, and it is said
that his wife iiad the chief share in this. The general pre-
sumption was so decided against those persona who filled offices
during- this la^overnment, that the Duke of Arcos was compelled
to dismiss them in troops to avoid scandal ; and upon no fiefa
were the subjects so ill-treated as on those of Anna Carafa ;
and, as if the tbousand-and-one rights claimed by the land-
holders were itot enough, many others were introduced by
them, only lo extort still more money. To this number may
be added, besides the usual licence for hunting, a tax of one-
fourth of the beasts killed by those who were provided with a
licence, the demand of a present at the grant of any new title
to the feudatory, taking the bounciary lines of lands belongings
lo the community for their own purposes, prohibiting the slay-
ing of cattle if any disease prevailed amongiit those of the
barons, new statute-labour wi'hout any remuneration for the
buikling of a palace, &c.* In the vicinity of Fondi a large
lake extends towards the frontier of the country, which waters
miles and miles of the low ground, surrounded by woods, and
CMmected with the sea; it makes the whole country unhealthy
as far as Terracina, exercising even a baneful influence upon
this small town, which evil has lately been diminished by the
draiiiag-e of the nearest small bogs. The actual lake is sur*

■ Winspesre, at o^r phuM, p. SS. Bematfce, p. 15S.
<(2

228 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

rounded by marshy meadows, where, as on the Pontine Plauis
and the Maremma, they breed much cattle and follow the
chase. Anna Carafa prevailed upon the community of Foodi
to give up to her a large portion of the low ground, which she
promised to drain and cultivate. When she had obtained it,
she importuned and overreached those who had the possession
and the usufruct of the adjacent lands not belonging to the
baronial and communal circle, in such a manner that she soon
disposed at her pleasure of 40,000 acres of low ground. Not
only she did not turn them into arable land, but she injured
the fishery and everything else by her monopoly. The same
thing had been done by Eleonora de' Toledo at the lake of
Castiglione della Piscaja in the Tuscan Maremma, who altered
the temperature of the region to such a degree, that even at
the beginning of the present century, during the occupation of
Naples by the French, the effect of this vice-queen's pro-
ceedings was mentioned in the ofhcial reports.

Anna Carafa, whose marriage had not been a happy one,
and who had made herself many enemies by her pride as well
as by the nepotism into which she beguiled her husband, re-
mained for a time at her villa in Portici. She was pregnant,
but a violent agitation of mind, caused by the loss of her
high dignity, brought on a premature confinement, in conse-
quence of which she died in the most miserable manner. On
the 24th of December, 1645, Donna Anna Carafa was buried
quite privately in the church of the barefooted Augustinian
monks at Resina, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. She left
three sons by her marriage with the Duke of Medina. The
eldest was Viceroy of Sicily, and another inherited the title
of Stigliano ; but they all three died childless. Medina mar-
ried a third time, and had one daughter by this marriage,
who became Duchess of Medina-Sidonia. She inherited the
Spanish possessions. But the fate of the immense Italian pos-
sessions of Carafa of Stigliano shows but too. clearly what kind
of household economy then prevailed. The creditors were so
many that the court of exchequer undertook the administration
in her favour. After a tedious trial between the Duchess of
Medina-Sidonia and the treasury, which claimed the escheat of
the fief of three hundred localities, it was decided that, of the
once brilliant property belonging to the heiress in the kingdom
of Naples, only six thousand scudi of rents remained ; the trea-

BARTOLOMMEO D'AQUINO. 229

Bury and the creditore divided, however, the remtdnder. Sabio-
neta remained, notwithstaiHliitg the complaints of the Agnate
of Gonzaga, in the hands of the Spaniards, who allowed
even its fortifications to fell into decay, and the title of Priuce
of Stigliano descended, in the middle of the former century, to
the Colonnas, a collateral branch of the family of the Great
Constable, who missed one of the most beautiful properties in ■
Home, that of Cesarini, because a novice preferred a married
life to that of the coijvent.

And the Casa della Sirena ? Tiie palace, although habitable,
mnaincd unfinished. In May, 1683, it received the Viceroy,
the Marquis del Carpio ; but soon after the death of the last
Prince of Stigliano it was half-destroyed by the earthquake in
the year 1688. Sold for a small sum of money, it came into
the possession of tlie Mirelli, Princes of Teora, a family which
rose into rapid prosperity, to become suddenly the victims of a
Bad fate. Then it remained forsaken and desolate, and was
ehltnned and dreaded by the peaceful inhabitants of the aeigh-
bourhood as a suspicious and accursed place, till about a quarter
of a century ago, when the owls and bats and other night-birds
who found shelter amongst the ruins were driven away by the
erection of a glass manufactory.*

The Duke of Maddaloni appears to have consoled himself
£>r the failure of his courtship. He remained on good terms
with hb cousin and her husband, and enjoyed a great deal of
ikToiir and indulgence as a near relation during the govern-
ment of Medina. But this did not prevent him from placing
hiniself, with all the impetuosity of his cliaracler, in the fore-
most rank amongst the opposers of the Viceroy in a dispute
which tends to the honour of the Neapolitan nobilitj', inasmucn
as it clearly proves that the Spanish rulers had not quite ex-
tinguished all independence of mind and self-respect. The
Count of Conversano, Girolamo Acquaviva d'Aragona, be-
longing to a family inferior to none in ancestry and fame,
had on personal aiid political causes quarrelled violently with
the bnke of Medina. Bartolommeo d Aquino, a man who, in

r'" ! of iiis high-sounding family name, was of low birth, had
ined by farming lolbi and money transactions a consider-
able property, and had set his mind upon making an illustrious

• Tolpic*lla, in oflicr plncpa, Pp. 113-133

830 THE CA&AFA5 OF MADDAIiONL

marriage. He had acquired to a giest degree the £Eivoiir of
the Yioeioy, who, partly to please d' Aquino, partly throngn
the indueooe of a nch present, and partly to Tex Convemno,
lesolTed to marry him to Cooversaiio's niece Anna d'Aoqua-
▼iva. One of the brothen. Don Vinoenzo, was gained ofcr
by money : the maiden was brought out of a couvent and con-
ducted to the house of Donna Porzia Sanseverina, who will-
ingly consented to be match-maker on the occasion. With
difficulty Anna was persuaded to give her consent, which she
had hardly done before she repented it, and even the same night
found means to inform her uncle of the circumstances of the
case. Conveisano was at that moment in a situation not on-
oonunon amoi^st his contemporaries : he had deemed it adris-
able, on account of his hostility against the Viceroy, as well as
for various crimes, to seek an asylum in the Minorites' convent
of San Lorenzo. If he was not able to exert himself freely,
still he did not lose time. In the first place he sent an entreaty
to the Duke of Atri, the head of the £unUy, to go with his
mother to Donna Porzia Sanseverina to produce at least some
delay. They did as he desired. Just as they arrived d' Aquino
came with Don Yincenzo to fetch away the bride. A violent
altercation ensued ; the cavaliers grew more and more incensed,
and Don Yincenzo drew his sword and presented it to his
companion, saying, ^Take it and defend your wife.' But
d' Aquino considered, and said to Atri, ^ Her marriage has cost
me 50,000 ducats, but gladly would I pay double if there had
never been a question of it :' and with idhis he left the house.
The Duke hastened to San Lorenzo, the ladies remained.

The Yiceroy soon received intelligence of what had happened,
and he immediately sent one of the counsellors of the vicarial
court with a troop of sbirri to the house of Donna Porzia. It was
his intention to summon the vicar of the archbishop, and put
an end to the opposition by the coiisimmiation of the marriage.
But he miscalculated very much. The Count of Conversano hid
had time to collect the most illustrious men of Naples in the
convent : above forty met, belonging to the Caracciolo, Carafa,
Orsini, Capece, Spinelli, Brancacci, Filomarini, Pignatelli,
Concublet, di Tocco, Mastrogiudici, and others. They resolved
unanimously without loss of time to place the maiden in safety,
whatever the Yiceroy might say against it. They proceeded,
some in carriages and some on horseback, to Chiaja, where

ANNA ACQUAVIVA. 231

DoQiia Poi'zia Sanseveritia lived. They were all armed aud
aiecompaiiited by a numerous train of servanU with fire-anus.
The procession swelled as it went on; when it reached liie laJioft;
lit eosHieted of at least eight hundred pereous. The Prince
Torella Caraccuolo was the foremost : he found the house shut
np by the sbirri ; at the same time another jat^ appeared i'lom
the Yicarial Court, with an express order to the eavalieis to
deeiet from any act of violence, hut they were not in a temper
to obey. They broke open the gate and tlie doors of the
court-yard ; the servants climbed in through the windows ; the
. fllMiri wece overpowered and ili-treated. During thix horrible
tumult Atri and Maddaloni rushed into the upper rooms, where
.Aiina Carafa received them joyfully as her deliverers. Donna
J*orda resisted, but ueither of the men rested satisfied with
mere words, and Torella, who had come up with many otheis,
gHve the chair upon which the kdy sat a kicl^ so that botli the
lady and the chair rolled to the bottom. After this execution the
noblemen hastened down ; and when a royal couuseJlor entered
with tlie order that Anna was to be conducted by the duke of
Atri to the Viceroy on paiii of a fine of 20,000 ducato, they
replied unanimously that they were come to fetch her away,
-•nd would give her up to none but her relations. And witJi
this answer the whole immeose and evcr-increasing troop
marched off. pas^g by the royal palace, as it had dcme in
Oomiug. But the Viceroy was just coasting along the aiiore in
abai^, otjd when he liad seen the uproar he returned to his
^rilla at Fosilipo, whilst from the event lie drew this concla^on —
tfakt it was not advisable to meddle too mucli in the family
A&iCB of the Neapolitan nobility.

When tlie nobles above mentioned returned to San Lorenzo
lUtey found the gate and belfry occupied by armed followerB of
•Converaano. The Count stood upon the tower prepared for
titbate, against every possible attack. The place was well
selected, fur, as we have said, during the sitting of the I'arlia-
■lait of the kingdom in the Cliapl«r, the artillery of the town
was kept in tlic tower, of whidi mtaition will often be niade in
.tJie course of tikis history. But ^ many preparali

nnocttuary. for none thought of molesting the Count ; Dou
^inceuzu liad ' . . . ^ .

Vinceuzo Lad absconded, and Eartolonuueo d'Aqi
lidned a strong guard in his own house. Six fresh horses were
d with all speed to the carriag;e in which

1^^

i

SS2 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

Cbnfit and her oompamoos, and they went full trot towank
AneDSOy a fief of the Duke of Maddaloni's. It is a consider-
able place, stretching along a narrow Yalley, throug'h which the
road leads to Benevento. Here the Duke was ill and remained
behind, whilst Atri and ToreUa went to the abov^iamed town
and placed their chaige in a convent. But the Viceroy, indigf-
nant beyond measure, immediately summoned a Collatenl
Council and proposed severe proceedings. But Fabio Capeee
Galeota, one of the administrators, replied that the affidr mint
not be taken up with so high a hand ; that no contempt of the
laws or of the royal officers was int^Mied, but that the object
had merely been to keep so noble a femily from an unequal
alliance. Had he been summoned to prevent such a marriage,
he would himself have taken ofi* his magisterial robes and gone
forth. The others agreed with him, and Medina was obliged
to be satisfied with a sentence of slight imprisonment upon
Atri, Maddaloni, and ToreUa, which they spent in Castel dell'
IJovo and Castelnuovo, after they had voluntarily submitted to
it. But the Count of Ccmversano laid down fifty thousand
ducats as the dowry of his niece, and married her to a nobleman
belonging to the family of a fiioid.*

And now the time was come when Diomed Carafa, after
a youth spent in* wild dissipation, mad^ a marriage which
might have secured the happiness of his life, if his restless
spirit and love of intrigue and adventure had not conjured up
storms far more serious and melancholy in their results than
were the consequences of the mad pranks of his earlier days.
The two Carafa brothers married almost at the same time :
Don Giuseppe, the younger, married a near relation, Eleonora,
the daughter of his uncle Don Fabio, Prince of Colobrano, and
left after his early death, the horrible circumstances of which
will soon be mentioned, one son, Domenico, who in right of
his mother became Prince of Colobrano, and whose posterity,
as has been already observed, inherited after a few years the
remainder of the Maddaloni property. Diomed also married
a relation, though of a different family, equal in birth, if not in
wealth, to that of Anna Carafa. She was a daughter of
Marino, Prince of Avellino, and widow of Francesco Carac-

* Particularly by Capecelatro. At other places. Pp. 200-209. Year
1640.

THE CAHACC10L03 OF ATOLLINO. 233

aolo, Duke of Airola. Antonia'n father was dead when she,
ly an arrangement of her uiicle the Archbiahop of Tarento,
narried her cousin oiJy fourteen years of ege, whilst another
irother of her father, the already-named Prince of Torella,
pho wished her to marry his son, tried to prevent it. The
luiideii had not merely a rich dowry, but diere was only a
ihild of a few years old between her and the large inheritance
»f Avellino, Here also Medina interfered in the businesa.
e put the young Airola into Castelcuovo, and Autonia into
he convent of Donna Regina. But he was soon obliged to
lelease them, for Antonia would not be intimidated, and
iteadily declared that the alliance had been concluded with
free and full consent. Francesco Caracciolo died after a
ihort time, and Antonia gave her hand to the Duke of Madda-
nni, with whom she faithfiilly shared prosperity and misfor-
une, splendour and danger.

The father of the youn^ Ducheas of Maddaloni had been the
behest nobleman in the kingdom of Naples: The principality
»f Avellino had been two hundred years in the family of Carac-
riolo, brought by Calerina FilangieH to Sergianni Caracciolo.
She was of Norman descent, of which the Neapolitan nobility
I almost as proud aa the English nobles and gentlemen, who
en&brieatea pedigree to prove their descent from the "com-
lions of the Conqueror !" He was the distinguished favourite
the second Joanna, who made him great seneschal of the
[ingdom, and intrusted him with the government for a long
ime, till the year 1432, when he met with his death by the
igger of his rival, who, as is stated on the magnificent monu-
letit erected to him in San Giovanni a Carbonara, fell a sacri-
ae to that envy which once prostrated a Csesar, a sacrifice in
iCt which not only destroyed him but convulsed the whole
ingdom. Marino Caracciolo became Prince of Avellino in
le latter half of the sixteenth century. His son Camillo ob-
&ined the Golden Fleece and the hereditary office of Lord High
Chancellor of the kingdom, by which he had a right to the
[TBnl of a doctor's cap or laureajand the degree of a doctor in
heology. in jurisprudence and philosophy was conferred upon
lim in the palace of the Prince of Avellino, situated in the
|UiuterofSaii Lorenzo. His wife,RobertaCara&of Maddaloni,
Iiighly praised by contemporary historians. "Who is hap-
"tloBoberta?" says Giutio C^are Capaocio in his eult^es

234 THE GA&iLFAS OF MADDATjOSI,

QD cekfanned womeo.* " Two iUustrious and Hignifi^d non
unite in her penoo. In her, beauty contends with chMtUy,
giBoe with modefty, eloquence with gentle reserve." Sie
brought up her children admirably, whilst her husband fimgiit
for &ne and honour ; she took care of the household, increaaed
their income, and governed their vassals with such wisdom tkat
she at the same time promoted peace, whilst she averted mii-
ehief. As her language was well chosen, so was she dexterous id
the use of her pen. Of the sons of Roberta and Caimillo, oni^
Domizio. died heroically in the wars of the Netherlands: he M
Ueeding with seventeen wounds at the sic^ of Bois-le-Doe.
Marino, third Prince of Avellino, kept a magnificent estaUisk-
ment. After he had, like most persons in his rank of lifi^
served a campaign, an opportunity to do which was never
wanting, as Spain was al\i'ays at war, he gave himself up es-
tirely to his taste for the arts and for peaceful pursuits. Bk
palace in the capital as well as at Avellino was perpetoally
filled with musicians and poets, who largely enjoyed his patrao-
age : Ids barber, Giovan Battista Bemazzano, was an autodi-
dactic poetical genius. To gratify his generosity and love of
magnificence he obtained fix>m the Pope the right to nominate
, himself a knight of the Golden Spur. But, magnificently as he
lived, his property was in good order, and he gave his daughter
Antonia a hundred thousand ducats. By his first wife, Lucre-
zia Aldobrandini, he left no children ; by the second, Francesea
d'Avalos of Pescara, he had one son, born after his death, who,
as a captain of cavalr}^, as a patron of literature and of artists,
himself a poet, and moreover a grandee, spent so much money
that his property, the most beautiful in the country, was soon
burdened with debt, and the importance of the family up to the
present day has sunk lower and lower.

The Prince Don Marino died, when little advanced in
years, on the 4th of November, 1630, in the convent of San
.Giovanni a Carbonara. His death took place just as he was
returning from his possessions. He had desired that his body
should be conveyed to the family vault at Avellino. His bro-
ther, the Prince of Torella, meanwhile ordered it to be carried
to San Paolo, but the monks of San Giovanni would not give
.it up. The Theatines came in the middle of the night to fetch

'* G. C. Capaccio, lUiiBtriam Mnlieruzn, &c., Elogia. Kaples, 1608.

AVELLmO AND IIS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 235

■

anray the body of the deed maa; the monks of St. Au^^tin
opposed their entrance. In a moment a hmidred swords were
drawn ; at last, however, the bier was carried to the place of
Its destination.

Avellino, so long the principal fief of this branch of the
Caiacciolos, is now the diief place of the Principata Ultra,
a considerable and flourishing town at the foot of Montevergini,
from the heights of which may be seen the Benedictine mo-
nastery of the same name, where once were preserved the
bones of St. Januarius, and where King Manfred chose for
himself his sepulchre, not anticipating that the rain would
bathe his ashes and the wind drive them to the confines of the
kingdom* — and that Bertrand de Baur would trample under
his feet, in Avellino, the treasure of the Hohenstaufens. The
large baronial palace of the ancient feudatories is turned into
a provincial court of justice. The cathedral has been re-
stored without any taste, and only some of the early Christian
firagments of sculpture on the fa9ade : a mixture of ornaments,
with the usual monsters of grifRns and lions, remind us of the
old building. One of the squares is adorned by a pyramid,
with a statue of Charles II. : the wretched ruler of a great
kingdom, who could not walk alone in his fifth year, is repre-
sented in his youth, as he is on the fountain of Mont' Oliveto at
Naples — Cosimo Fansaga has executed the architectural work,
and affixed to it his own effigy in a medallion. But the old
corn-hall in the great square is an interesting reminiscence of
the Caracciolos. The facade is ornamented with some busts
and headless statues of women of the later Roman period ; next
to which the form of a knight in marble makes a singular ap-
pearance. The inscription mentions that Francesco Marino
Caracciolo restored this Ara Cereris : " ne grassante lue, gras-
setur et fames," which alludes to the brother of the Duchess
of Maddaloni, and to the great pestilence of 1656.

The ancient town of the Nirpini, Abellinmn, was situated
where at present the iron hammers of Atripalda resound, from
which the very same race of the Caracciolo derives the title of
duke, and which belonged before they had it to the Castriota.
The family of the Scanderbegs, who migrated from Albania
to the opposite shores, obtained many principalities in difierent

* Dante, Purgatory, iii. 130.

236 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

parts of the kingdom. The plain which is traversed by
great road which leads to Apulia, rich in com and olives
fiourishing and cultivated. If you ascend the Mount of La
you see the picturesque valley of San Severino, from wl
one of the most famous races in the south of Italy derives
name ; and you travel by roads which present the pleasan
varieties of landscape and many historical recoUeetioDS
Salerno and Nocera.

^

CHAPTER lU.

SHE CITY OF NAPLES IN THE

F THE SEVENTEErC^

koation uid fint impression — Earliest S[^ttln^ont — Nonnaiutfl

IHohenBtnufena — Period of the Houao of Aniou — San Lor
and Santa Maria la Nuova ~- The Catliedra! — Sun Domi._.
Maggiora — Bta. Chiara — Coaneiioa of Naples with Tuscan art
sndpoetiy— L" Incoronata — Giotto — S. Martino — Buildinpa of
the DurazKO taoo — Antonio Bamboeoio of Pipemo — S. GioTaimi
do' Pappacoda — S. Giovanni a Carbonara — Falacca and hoiUHS of
the laat Angevin period — Curporatians and stroelB named after
them — Amgoneie orn — Triumphal arch of Alphongo I. — Prin-
cipal goto of the CaatelnuoTO — Wall of Ferdinand I. — Pulaeo
upon the Pogpo Eeale — Piotro and Polifo del Donzollo — Villoa
of AJphonsd II. — Cardinal Pompeo Colonna — 'Montolivelo —
Modanino's group of the Pioia — San Severino — PalaeeB of private
individuals : Carafa, Ban Severino, Oraini — Pontano'a ihapel —
Santa Uoria del Paito - — Sanna^iaro — lucrcaso of tho city ninco
1330 — Consumpljoii — Number of inhahitanta — Trades - — Com-
inercc — Enlargament under Don Pedro de Toledo — General view
of Spflniah Naples — Son Giaoomo degli Spagnoli — Tomb of Toledo

— Art of painting in the llth and 1 5th centuries — ■ Zingaro — Tho
Doniello — Art of painting in the 16th centurf^ Andrea del
Salerno — Earlier scnlpturo — Agnolo Aniello Fioro — Giovanni
da Nolu ~~ GirolaiDO Santa Crocs, Domenico d' Auria, and others —
Changes in the laat half of the I Sth century — Art in the ITth een-
tury — M. A. Naccarino — Gcnonil condition of the town— Palaces
of the Qobilit;, and their eetabliahments — Magnifii^enco of the
chnrchoB — Carthusian monaBlery of S. Martino — Cosimo Fanaapi

— Chapel of St. Januoriua in the Cathedral — Pieturoa in the
diapeU — Contcnlion of Neapolitan nrtiBts with those of Eome and
Aolofina — Cav. d' Aipino — Guido Ecni — Bolisurio Corronzio —
Domenichino — Lanfnmco — Miaholangclo dn Cacavaggio — Lo
Spsgnoletio — G. B. Caracciob — The Paintcr-knighia ^ 11
Ciwilier Cnlabrcse.

has often been remarked that in hardly any inetaDCe bj^
I chau)^, wtiicli the lives and actions of men Btamp upon
^ts greater, — that never are the traces of one generation
ore suddenly, and, at the sume time, more completely, ob-
' * by the actions of the succeeding one, — never is the

238 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALOXI.

memory of the past more rapidly forgotten, than in the extenal
aspect of cities and of countries.

This truth, which is a general one, finds its exemplificatkn
in, and from, Italy. Nevertheless, it sometimes seems as if
since the lofty soaring of the middle ages, and since the ex-
hibition of the examples of the first decades of the sixteeodi
century, the progress of the human intellect, judged of by ill
material expressions and records, were slower — the clinging to
existing things more resolute — the influence of tradition more
lasting — ^the power of resistance more determined and odimxb-
trated in Italy, than in many other countries.

The standard is not everywhere the same: geograpliical
position, the influence of neighbourhood and of foreign knds,
political revolution and war are, naturally, incidents whidi
produce their eflects in various modes and under various con-
ditions. Even amidst epochs eminently revolutionary, theie
are times more or less imbued with the spirit of reformatioo,
the eflects indeed of which are sometimes rather transient than
permanent, just because they have set at nought the ordinaij
laws of nature and the gradual progress of events, and thus
have conjured up a reaction, which, in its turn, cannot pos-
sibly be lasting, and is so much the more transient the more
violent it is.

It was particularly during the period of the "Viceroys that
Naples obtained the form and development which it exhibits
at the present day, and received that impress which now cha-
racterises it. Naples is also essentially of Bourbon ori^^;
Naples, by which is meant the sea-strand reaching fitnn the
foot of Posilipo to Castelnuovo, and to the great Custom-
house, which astonishes and dazzles at the first glance the
newly-arriving stranger, and preserves the same charm for
all time and at each repetition of the prospect. Probably no
city in the universe possesses a more beautiftil site. A wide
bay in the form of a crescent, — a spacious plain in which a
great city can expand itself, — the ridges of the hills drawing
nearer and nearer to the sea, — in some places with soft,
luxuriantly overgrown declivities, in others with sharp lofty
extremities jutting out into the sea like headlands, and aflbrd-
ing only just space enough for narrow rows of houses in a
long line. Then, suddenly, masses of rock appear to cut off
all connexion with the world lying beyond them, with those

w

EARLIEST SETTLEMENT,

famous countries of the Grecian mythology, and those days of
the earliest traces of union between the Eafit and the West ;
eo that the liand of man, availing- itself of the guidance of na-
ture, could here open a subterranean passage, there level a.
steep in the view of sea aud islands and coasts, which, all
bright, all radiant, all itistinct with life and motion, form one
of the most enchanting highways of tiie world, the Strada-
nuova of Posilipo.

The locality lias been applied to the different uses of culti-
vation and residence at different times. Now the rich and the
noble, seeking sea and sun and prospect, — whether these were
to be obtained on the rugged heights of the Fizzofalcone,
wliich intersect the horizon with the rocliy cliif of the Castel
del Ovo, or whether the strand itself could abundantly ofier
than. — have pressed on, more and more, towards the West
upon the space which, becoming gradually smaller from the
Royal Palace, tenninates in tte grotto of Pozzuoli, namely,
the CMaja of modern creation, which a century and a htdf
ago did not form a part of the town. This town, like all
towns of the middle ages, was confined within a narrow circle
of fortresses. The Naples of the Normans and Hoheustaiifens
extended as fer as the first range of hills from the sea-shore,
where the line of the walls, now eitiier concealed by houses
or entirely obliterated, with half-ruined gates, afforded pro-
tection. Eastward it ended by the entrance to what, at a
later period, l>ecame the great market. Westward, it did not
much extend beyond that portion of the harbour which ends
with the Little Mole, where at this day is the usual landing-
place, hard by the Quarantine ofSce, which, from the statue of
the Madonna which crowns ita fagade, bears the name of
" Ponte deir Immaculatella." At the nortli-eastem extremity
of this city. King William I., surnamed the Wicked, built
the Castle of Capuano, which long remained the habitation of
kings, and has for three hundred years been the seat of the
iribunale ; whilst to the south-west the Norman prince con-
verted the insular rock, tmder the declivity of the Fizzofal-
cone, where Lucullus and Romulus Augustidus dwelt, and to
which the Benedicline monks had given the name of the Re-
deemer, into a fortress named after its shape, which was that
of an egg.

Shig Conrad caused a part of the walls to be destroyed

L.

240 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

He was the son of Frederick II., and on the Igt of Octobsi
1253, three years after the death of his grandfather, made Ui
entrance into the city, which he had captured after a 8ieg;e of
three months, having lain encamped in the country to tiie
north of the Castle of Capuano, on the spot before the chmch
of San Giovanni a Carbonara, where, under the last kings of
the house of Anjou-Durazzo, was the place for toumamentBaad
knightly exercises.

Naples, even under its first French sovereign Charles, hid
acquired a very considerable circumference ; and while eail*
wards he brought within the walls the great market-plaoe,
towards the south-west he built the strong castle to which, afier
the lapse of nearly six hundred years, the epithet New is still
applied ; a strong fortress for that time, and even at this day,
after manifold additions, which have left the main part of the
building in its original form, it is a citadel of great contt-
quence, although not important in a military point of view. In
ins and in his son's time the city, now the king's permaneot
residence, was not only enlarged, but became also, year by
year, richer in remarkable and beautiful buildings. Just as
the abbey of Sta. Maria della Yittoria, now for a long time
sunk in ruins, owes its erection to the victory over Conrad
upon the field of Tagliacozzo, so the church of San Lorenzo,
begun by the first, completed by the second, Charles, is owinf(
to the victory over King Manfred at Benevento. Of all the
beauteous forms of its pointed architecture it only now pre-
serves the neglected choir, whilst the remaining porti(»i, like
most of the other old churches of Naples, has been environed
with buildings, and deformed in a barbarous manner. Santa
Maria la Nuova, erected for the Franciscan monks on an
elevated site at the farthest extremity of the circumference of
the city, has preserved nothing more antique than the new
building undeitaken at the end of the sixteenth century, to
which is annexed the gorgeous chapel of the Gran Capitano.
The foundation of the new cathedral, which occupies the
room of an ancient temple at wlmt was then the highest point
of the city, near the old cathedral, occurs during the reign
of the same king. The finishing of it belongs to the days of
Charles II. and his son Robert. Great have been the altera-
tions of later years, but in its whole appearance, notwithstand-
ing the additions of modern times, it has still preserved the

BAN DOMESICO MAGGIOKB. 241

p of the miiidle ages, besides the memorials of many im-
ircssive occurrences in the history of the city and of the
' igdom, together with the monuments of the Founder and
. wife, Cleraenza, and the simple Bt^ulchre of the unfortunate
Liidrew of Hungary, and that other one where —

" flic superis dignus requxesdt Papa benignvs "^
Innocent IV., against whom the power of the Hohen-
ens was wrecked. Of tlie same epoch is the San Domenico
laggiore, historically and artisticajly one of the churches
io8t deserving of attention. It was built iu consequence of
vow by Charles II. on his liberation from the captivity,
■to wluch he had fallen ailer the sea-light in which he was
rorsted by Ru^ero di Loria, in the second year after the
IMlian vespera. This church remained in the style of the
rchitecture of the middle ages so late as the second half of
Ghetaiih century, then fell a prey first to one restorer and
! to another, until only that was left to it which could not
Baly be destroyed ; the slender proportions of the aspiring
olumns, and the arches of the nave still boldly ri«ng, alttiough
cumbered with additions of a more recent dale.
Yet more disastrous has been the fate which the Santa
Donna Regina has experienced, founded by Mary,
rife of King Charles II., and selected by her as her
esting place both in life and deatli ; and that of the
iiuita Chiara, the beautiful structure of King Robert, the
ipaniJe of which in botli its two lower stories presents a
lie earnestness of form, and a simplidty of proportion and
hich would reflect honour on a work of ancient
!, and surpasses all that lias come down to us from the
reapolitan middle ages. Let any one stroll in the close,
I the church, and in the cloister, separated as they are
om the noisy street, and he must be reminded of the
liddle ages ; but the interior, from the ground upwards,
19 been mndemised with all ihe unmeaning gorgeousneas
r iJie preceding century and of our own time, covered
id) gilded stucco and crowded with wretched paintings
id buteless altars, from which one gladly turns away to
ehold the monuments of the choir, as splendid as they are
Botatkable : there repose Robert and his family, his prede-
aaa, Charles Duke of Calabria, his daughter the

^43 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

first Joanna, her sister Maria, from whom descends the Do-
razzo line, — and titular Empresses of Constantinople and
French-Neapolitan princesses, with the pomp of their empty
titles, the only heritage remaining to the raees of IVinces of
the nineteenth century, from those times, and from the claims
of the Western families to the empire of the East

It is impossible to consider the period of the Angevin fiunily
at Naples, without calling to mind the celebrated Florentines,
those especially, who under King Robert and Joaima I. with
so much activity and with such great results kept up the inte^
change of active relations between the two parts of Italy. The
impulse proceeded from Florence. In whatever way, amid
the confusion of the history of Neapolitan art, (the names and
partly mythical personages of which may with propriety be
omitted,) we are to understand the narrative of Maestro
Buono, who built Castel Capuano, and Castel del Uovo, ftr
King William, and of Niccolo Pisano, who completed them
for the Emperor Frederick II., we must more readily believe
the share of Giovanni Pisano in the construction of the Castel
Nuovo ; and the various political relations between Naples and
Florence made the points of contact of a literary and artistic
kind still more numerous and productive of greater results.
The poetry of the south of Italy, especially that of Sicily
in the thirteenth century, which, though rife with confusion
and misfortune, was yet rich in splendour and in elevation of
intellect, had once exercised a modifying influence upon that
of Tuscanv. Now, when after the fall of the Hohenstaufens
these countries had been stripped of their intellectual life
under the entirely foreign elements of the harsh and oppressive
domination of the first sovereigns of the House of Anjou, and
their power had become weakened by the long and bloody
war between the divided portions of the former kingdom of th«
Normans, the Tuscan poetry, raised again to a gladsome,
no less than brilliant, existence, in unison with the art of
sculpture, made its influence to be felt in the south. • This in-
fluence was rather confined to the Court and upper classes
than diflused among the people ; and herein the great differ-
ence between the Florentines and Neapolitans, between the
originators and the recipients, is to be seen. The author of
the " Divina Commedia" never visited the city, the princes of
which were the great props of that party by which he had

r

UAKTE— I-ETKARCH — BOCCACIO. 243

been nibbed of his home and of the liope of returning' lo it.
But as ill his great work the whole liiatory of Italy iii hb
own, as well as in the prweding centnry, was reflected, so
Mime also there depicted !he destinies of tiie ApuHan kingdom
of the Noiinans with its rulers of German descent, — ^the forma
of the seeond Frederick, whom the Ghibelline prejudices of
the poet could nevertheless not save from the fate of the
Hereaiarch; of his mother, the "Great Consfance," who
"fitrnt the second Swabian atorm produced a third;" and of
the fiaxen-haired Manfred ; — the battles of Benevento and
Tagliacozzo, and the treachery at Ceprano ; — Charles L with
the high nose bears the stamp of the House of Anjou as faith-
fiiUy delineated in the poem as in the marble statue at the
Capitol ;— the wicked rule which drew dpwD Palenno's cry
of vengeance; — Charles the Second, his lost sea-fight and
hb captivity ;— and the base traffic with his daughter; —
the early death of Charles Martel, hb eldest son, whose
amiable character put forth only the leaf, but did not
ripen into fruit ; — finally, the treachery, which took away
from his sons the crown of Naples, which belonged to them,
aad not to their uncle Robert, a treachery for which the latter,
wbeB no son was leA to him, sought to atone by uniting one
of his nephews in marriage witii his granddaughter and heiress,
a marriage which, as evn^body knows, brought ftKsh guilt of
blood and fresh destruction upon the House of Anjou, and war
aiid untold misery upon the country."

If the Naples of the times of the Hohenstaufens and Anjous
cast only a reflected lustre upon Italy's greatest poem, and
upon the life of the poet, it was otherwise with Petrarch and
Boeeacio. The one, who thought Mm self competent to give a
new JRaeia to his country, caught by the delusion, then, and
even later, widely prevalent, that ancient literature and lan-
gusge were still in existence, tarried by the grave of Virgil
and at the polished Court of King Hohert, who awarded to
him the Laureate wreath which he went to the Capitol to
recdve. Tiie other, drawn by businesa to the enchanting sea-
coast, recognised, by a glance at the spot where Home's greatest
epic poet reposes, hia true calling, and bade farewell for ever

" La Divian CummLdifl, Hull, %. UU; Paradise, iii. 118; Puigotory,
in. 103-130; J-urgntory, tii. Ud; ramdiac, viii. "J; I'm galoi y, ii.
79; Fmt^M, viii. 56; u. 1-6,

mm^

I oliuret

244 THE CAEAFAS OF MADDALONL

to the transactions of commerce, however they might promiia
him a more lucrative enlertainment than Poetry, with herevs
changing and Bipricious gifts. In the church of San Loi
renzo, oil Gaster Eve 13U, he saw for the first time tbtt
Maria, who is said to have been of royal descent, and who VM
celebrated by him as Fiaaimetta, the third with Beatrice and
Laura, in the circle of women, for whom the poets of Itil^
have created an imperieliable name. Withthe poets weroothOt
Plorentines who contended for the king's favour. Favounj
by fortune more than any other was Nicholas Acciajuoli, whdi
from being originally a merchant at the Court of Robert
sister-in-law, the Princess of Tarentum, rose quickly by Ui
mental and bodily endowments, and became Grand Senesohlf
of the Icingdom, when !Louis of Tarentum, son of the suA
Princess, was selected by Queen Joanna as her second hua- \
bond. To this day the magnificent Carthusian establishment, I
situated upon the eminence of Uontacuto, not far from Flo- I
rence, calls to mind the greatness aad riches of this man. We J
find also the Genoese in those days already active in Naples I
some in trade and monetary transactions, others in ecqeutifit;A
pursuits; by their side Greeks, who rekindled in Italy tU,V
knowledge of their own language and the taste for their andeot I
literature, for fifty years almost entirely forgotten. Men 1U»"I
wise from all parts of the peninsula, attracted thither by tbt'l
fame of the splendour, and of the joyous and brijljant doings ofl
the Court of the Angevin princes. I

Art also drew support from Tuscany and from the nortbem
parts of the Peninsula. Not far from the new castle of Kiof
Charles I., in the street called delle Corregge (Corteregi&), is
situated the little church of the Incoronata, to which, in con*
8e<]uence of the elevation of the ground which has takeu place
smce the uxteenth century, there is a descent, instead of an
ascent, of several steps. Quite unsightly outside, and concealed
by the building of modem houses, at present it only remind*
one of the date of its erection, by the sculptures on its now
dirsegarded portals : there, are to be seen the arms of the
Neapolitan princes of the house of Aojou, on the right the
red cross of Jerusalem, on the left the golden fleur-de-lis of
France with the border of difference. Next to them, angels
holding the crown of thorns, whence the name of the litUs
church. A portion of the interior b of the deepest interest, on

GIOTTO. 245

account of the paintings of the Sacramento in the ceiling—
which must be classed among the finest works of the Giotto
School. Whether they are by Giotto, or whether this
part .of the church was the old chapel built by Charles IL
for the hall of justice, whilst the remaining, but later, part
was built by Queen Joanna ; whether the words of Petrarch,
when he speaks of the works of the masters of the Flo-
rentine School in the King's Chapel, refer to these frescoes ;
who, lastly, was the master, if they are to be denied to him
whose name, as the beautiful inscription announces, ^< ix>noi
CABMiNis iNSTAB EBAT ;" — all this, notwithstanding the many
critical discussions, has not been clearly ascertained One hy-
pothesis has been stumbled upon after another in the endeavour
to clear away the anachronisms of earlier authors. The
influence of Giotto, however, upon the Neapolitan art of
his time is manifest, although his own labours in Santa Chiara
have vanished even, so to speak, to the last trace. The frescoes
in a large room of the Castel Nuovo, which contain many
portraits of contemporary persons, were destroyed in the time
of Alfonso I. ; and the painting in the refectory of the mo-
nastery already referred to, which represents King Robert and
his family kneeling before the Madonna, may be attributed,
with much more justice, to a contemporary Neapolitan, than
to the renowned Florentine.

Unquiet and evil as were the days of the kings and the
queens who succeeded the long government of this monarch
— whose virtues, too highly praised, are paraded in the in-
scription on the Mausoleum in the words << Cebnite Bo-

BEBTUM BEGEM VIBTUTE BEFBBTUM," — yet Naples CaU

exhibit during exactly these years, viz., from 1343 unto
1435, a considerable number of important works. The
first Joanna completed the Carthusian house, dedicated to
St Martin, on the hill in the higher part of the town,
called at one time St. Erasmus, but now usually St. Elmo.
It bad been begun by her Either, Duke Charles of Calabria,
and rebuilt by her grandfather; and from its wonderfully
beautiful situation a spectator sees at his feet the city and
bay, and all the surrounding country. Almost entirely in-
closed by buildings, and adorned in the most gorgeous, if not
in the best, taste of the 17th century, the Carthusian House
«how8, even at this day, many remains of its original founda*

246 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

tioo in the style of the middle ages. If little was aoooiii;d]siMd
under the immediate saccesBors of Joanna, and of this Side
haidly anything has kept its ancient form, exeeptii^ always the
numerous monuments (amongst which those in the choir of 8n
Lorenzo to the most ill-£ited princes of the Dnrazzo line aie
especially worth notice, and remain melancholy meniatials d
their former circumstances), — on the other hand, the timei d
King Ladislans, and bis sister Joanna II. were all the moR
active. The buildings and sculptures of thb epoch are not »
peculiarly distinguished by chasteness of styk, as they to-
tainly are by gorgeousness, by lavish expenditure am Ik
materials, and by liveliness of imagination. Th^ may te
described as the Rococo of the Gotfaie; to such an
do the accessory parts, those, that is, which are merely
mental, overpower by luxuriance of shape the purity of
position ; to such an extent also are the essential proporti^
sometimes stunted, whilst pyramids and turrets, and pin-
nacles with rosettes and volutes, and every fiintastic deooratian
imaginable, soar on high. To these last times of the Angevin
belong the fa9ades of two Neapolitan churches, the oansi-
deration of which will clearly show the correctness of the
character just described. Both are by Antonio Bamboodo,
of Pipemo, for whom his art procurwi the enjoyment of i
rich abbey ; they are, the fa9ade of the Cathedral, and thai
of the small church of St. John, which goes by the name oi
De' Pappacoda, after its founders.

The time between 1407 and 1415, that is to say of the
reign of King Ladislaus, witnessed the completion of ikem
works, the last of which is in itself the most perfect and cha-
racteristic, although at the same time the most adventunn
of this kind. It partakes more of the portico than of tte
fa9ade, £ar the rest of the wall, which is almost covered by it
is without decoration. Twisted pillars, the capitals of whiid
serve as a support for niches containing saints, rest upon lioBS
Above these niches are entablatures and pedestals, and moha
again and again repeated ; a quadrangular somewhat low dooo
is shut off by a high lunette with a ^oad and sui^en
work, in which is the group of the Madonna and Child,
whom the Baptist and the Evangelist are kneding. Ovei
this is an obdisk with coats of arms and relievos, and thi
richest foliage, terminating in a luxuriant capital of

SAN QJOVJLSm A CABBONABA. 247

apon which stands the Archangel Miokael, the writiHi^
dragon at his feet, his sword bcandashed aloft, shaking his
giant-like wings ; whilst on either side, a little more in recess,
upon similar cajntals, with winch the tops of the door-posts
are finished, the two other archangels crown this fantastic
marble edifice.

Gavaliere Artusio de' Fappaoeda, — the seneschal of King
Ladislans, and an ancestor of that Giovan Lorenzo Pappacoda,
the &ivourite of the Queen Bona Sforza, who indueed her to
return to Italy after the death of Stgismund King of Poland,
— caused, as we learn ^in the inscription, the completicm
of this remarkable, and of its kind p^ect, work, which, in
its disr^ard of the principles and proportions of architec-
ture, by a predominance of (miament, exhibits a deviation
from the rules of art, but yet Rdly makes up for that deficiency
by its fights of fancy, and by a splendour which is not without
its charms. The richly horned monument <^ Ludovico Aide-
moi^no, to be seen in the convent of San Lorepzo, fumi<d>es
a firesh proof of the skill, somewhat mechanical, and not
wholly free from trivialities, displayed by Bamboccio, then
threescore and ten years old, who has aititled himself in the
same monument, ^' pictor et ui omnibus lapidibos atque

MBTAI/LORUM SCULFTOR."

The church of San Giovanni a Carbonara is situated on the
spot where once, as has been already motioned, the tourna-
ments used to be held, and whare noble &milies, such as the
Caracciolo of Santo Bruno and others, built their palaces;
whilst now, the great world has long since withdrawn itself to
other quarters of the town. It received from King Ladislaus
its more modem form, which, from the irregular construction
of the chapels, as also from the display of the altars, has
lost all architectural unity. Behind the high altar rises the
gigantic memorial of the King — tasteless eeough in its out-
line, but remarkable in its devils. The ec]^iestrian statue of
the " Dives Ladislaus " forms the summit. The horse is
there with trappings and hangings of rich undulating dra-
pery ; and there is the last of the rulers of the French race,
who brought so much disquiet upon Rome and Tuscany,
in full armour, the crown on his head, with uplifted
falchion — a genuine chivalric mcmarch of the middle ages.
Andrea Ciccione, the decorator of the church for Ladislaus,

248 TilE C.1RAFAS OF MADDALONL

and tiie builder of MunCe Oliveto for Gurretlo Origlin, the
great prolhonotary of the kingdom, erected this mighty viwk
uf acuJpture for JoaonEi II., just m, years afterwards, lutKX
up the monument for the Queen'^ favourite, Ser Giomn
Ckrracciulo. This last is erected in the striking' and ricl]l;r
adorned chapel, imitating the antique more in its foims, bi^
comprehending-, in this instance, the principles of the antlqiH
as little, as, iu the other, those of the so-called Gothic. Ii
is not indeed without talent and facility of execution in the
huge figures of the knights in the lower port of the etructim.
although devoid of that loftier inspiration of the Floreiiriue
school which is impressed on the nearly contemporary niauu>
ment of the Cardinal Rainoldo Broncaccl in the small cbunli
of Sant' Angelo a Nilo, a work of Donatello and Michelinao.
for which Cosmo de' Medici is said to have given the order.

There still remain, in spite of many revolutions, some build-
ings besides churches and monuments, of the period of tlif
later princes uf the house of Anjou. Only the aegletstxd
exterior of the palace of King Ladislaus is visible fiwo
the street which, from one of the fountains belonging to the
brief rcigu of Alphooso II., bears the name di JIIen»
Cannone. The gateway exhibits the broad flat archtt
which continued in use here throughout the whole centui^,'
and possesses some affinity with the so-called Tudor style
in England. It is adorned with the heraldic shield of the
king. The buildings surrounding the court-yard are en-
tirely new and contemptible. The present hospital of the
Beofratelli, also called La Pace, in the Strada del Tribunalli
was the residence of Ser Gianni Carracciolo, who, an already
related, met with a bloody death in the neighbouring Castel
Capuauo, where Queen Joanna held her court. One can tl
this day recognise the style of building of that age, the traces
of which are equally preserved in the Strada di Portanova, va
the former palace of the Grisani, one of the families now
extinct, whose origin was Amalfi. The fai;adc, however, at
the bouse of Onofrio di Penna is perfectly preserved. He wu
private secretary to King Ladislans, and was laid side bysjdi
with Giovanni di Penno, " Sbcbetus Regis consiuator,"
in the beautiful tomb in Santa Chiara, by the liand of iJie >1
often-named Antonio Bamboccio. lioth belonged to a. fiunily 1
learned in the laws, which sprang ou; of " Citta di Penna," in

KEMAms OF 14th and 15th centobies. 249

the Abruzzi, and of which Luca di Penna, the learned com-
inentator of the code, made himself a name about the same
period, in the history of Boman jurisprudence in the middle
Eiges. The house, situated upon the small square S. Demetrio,
belongs now to the Monticelli family. The fa9ade consists of
flnoothly-hewn square stones, with sunken joinings ; plumes of
feathers and lilies alternately thereon, as tokens, the former
calling to mind the owner, the latter the Sovereign House ;
doors and windows of a broad depressed form, like the
ronainder of the still-existing house-architecture of that
and the succeeding period. There are only few of these,
for the greater part have been two or three times rebuilt.
The never-ceasing extension of the city, and the circum-
stance that the life and action of the nobility had been
chiefly withdrawn from the inner and lower parts towards
the newer and higher portions of the western side, by which
means the greater number of the palaces of the nobility
of that age, emptied of their possessors, and given over to
occupants of inferior station, fell into a decayed and filthy
state. This circumstance is the cause why, if we except the
churches and a small number of the public buildings, much
less that is remarkable and well-preserved has come down to
our times of the Naples of the middle ages, than of many other
Italian cities.

Whoever strolls through the older streets in the semicircle
from Castelnuovo by Montoliveto up to the present street of
Santa Maria di Constantinopoli, and as far as the Strada Car
bonara, and thence to the great market-place, will find many
architectural remains of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
but not many which are uninjured or calculated to give him
much satisfaction. The names of many streets will here remind
him of foreign nations who in Naples, as in Rome, settled them-
selves down in bodies, chiefly with the object of pursuing par-
ticular branches of trade, from which as a matter of course
they derived a considerable profit. Such is still at this day
the case in both cities, however much their industrial con-
dition, no less than the circumstances of their corporations and
nationalities, may have been changed. He will find in the
near neighbourhood of the harbour, hard by the square before
the Castelnuovo, and as far as the narrow street of the gold-
smiths, which adjoins those of the drapers in woollens and

250 TUE GARAi"AS OF MADDALONI,

liiiens, and tradespeople of every kind, even to llie Mereab>,a I
Kua Catalana, a, Kua Fraccesi,' or Fraiicesca, a, liua T
— the term Eua recalling to the memory the ptevaien
Freiich language and manners under the Anjous, who stood
with one foot in Soutliem Ituly and the other Id the South nf
France. In the labyrinth of narrow, damp little streets o{qN>-
site the strand of the Marinella he will find the spot trbete
dtanda, by the present fitih-market (Fietra, del Pesce), ttie Hall
of the Genoese, suppwted by thirty pillars, in the same maanec
as the fish-market of Rome nestles in the proud ruins of tbi
Portico of Oclavia. The Bua Provenzale stood whea^ the
King's palace \s now, and a small landing-place to the nest,
near the pres^it arsenal, is called Porto Provenzale. In later
times this crowded part of the town lias for the most poit
changed its aspect, that is, in the neiglibourbood erf' the palaee,
of the castle, and of the mole, principally by meaus of the
noUe projects of the King, Perdiitand II. Nearer the sea, m
&x as the Strada Medina and Montoliveto, much that is an-
cient yet remains, and the names of many of the streets bring
to mind the calling of those who inliabited them, some i^
which are at this ciay still carried on tliere, as they have beoo
handed down traditionally with the spot from father to Km —
such are the streets of the Panettierri, Armieri, Guaotai,
Orefici, Eamari, Baullari, Ferrari, Zagurellari, Caliettari, flf
the Sellaria, &c. Many, too, and this is the worst feature in
the case, even now pursue their old trades in their ancient a
of imperfection.

Between the Angevin Sovereigns and the Vicen^s to^..„
the time of the Aragonese rulers, a period rich in aetivibr ,
of every kind, political, artistic, Uterary. Sing Alphoiuo L
was too much occupied by struggles, firat for the acquiMtiaD
of the kingdom, then for securing it against the preteusi
of his Provengal kinsmen of the extinguished branch and tl
confederates, to accomplish much fur Naples. The triumf
arch, however, at the entnuice of the inner portion of tltt J
Castelnuovo commemorates his services: one of the moat I
con^derahle and most beautiful works of sculpture, is tba ^
square hemmed in between the two gigantic towers of the old
castle, and overtopped by their pinnacles; it is not vary
favourably situated, and the iieight of the present buildiag is
s disproportion to the other dimensions and to tbe

.^

TECIOD OF ARAGONESE EDLERS. 251

character of a true arch. " AiPHossus Res Hispancs
SictiLOS Italicus pics clembum ihvictus" is the inscri()tiou
which celebrates the virtues of t)ie founder of the new dynftstj.
It is uncertain who prepared the ori^nal design and model for
this work. The assertion ol' Va^ari, that it was the Florentine
Giuliano da Majano, is eon trad icted, even on the first blnsh,
by the evideuce of ciirooology, since the decree for the erection
of the arch was passed by the deputies of tlie city in the year
1443, when Giuliano hcid not numbered more than elevrai or
twelve years. An epitaph, now no longer legible, in Santa
Maria la Nuova, is said to iiave designated a Milanese, Pietro
di Martino, as the original constructor ; tlmt divers arlista, one
a native of Visa, two from Aquila, and others were still working
at it in 1460, is ascertained by records. The upper part,
however, witli the statues of the archangels and of two saittts,
is of the time of Don Pedro of Toledo. Altliough the cha-
racter of the sculpture of the sixteenth, does not accord with
that of the middle of the fifteenth, century ; although in the
architecture neither system nor iiarmony is to be found ; and
although a second arch is raised ^thout scruple on the top of
the fiiBt, which, with its upper story, iiad already a consider-
able height ; nevertheless, not only hiatorical association
speaks in behalf of this work, but it is distinguished also by
the richness of its sculpture, whether regard be had to the
amaments or to the representation, which it is the object
of tlie memorial to express — the triumphal progress of King
Alphonso. But the brazen leaves of the inner gate, which,
adorned with the arms of Aragon, admits one to the conTt-
yard of the Castle, relate in tlie remarkable although very
unskilful relievos, which have been already c^poken of iit
the earlier part of this history, the struggles and occurrences
of the untoward war of Ferdinand I. with the Barons;
the meeting of the King with the Prince of Tarento, at
Teano; the Victorj' of Troia over the Angevin party, led
by Giovanni Cosaa and Ercole da Este (1462); the inva-
sion of Accadia ; the capture of Troia, and other warlike
deeds. Many speculations have lieen formed upon the ii>-
Bcription "Golielmos Monacus fecit," which is legibJe
under one of these relievos, for Guglielmo lo Monaco was, as
ia shown in the books on die history of the fortress, not a

dKuiJ

252 THE CABAFAS OF JIADDALOyt.

sculptor bj' profession but Master of the Artillery, ami
and Surveyor of the King's shot-foundry.

The city is much indebted to Ferdinand of Aragon, for tb»,'
geuemUy, the whole government of this powerful prince a
such a mixture of good and evil, of a splendid spirit of ^!nl(^
prise with cruel artifice, of zeal for the material and Epiritiui
welfareof his dependents, and of tyrannical oppression of thea,
that one oflen stands irresolutely before his portrait, and im
well understand the diversity of tlie sentences passed oil liim
by his contemporaries.

The building of the new town-wall from the Carmine pu
to S. Giovanni a Carbonara (by which the square before llii*
church, £0 oflen mentioned, as well as tliat quarter iiilii*
bited by the lowest class of the common people, only too noia-
rious in the history of the insurrections, and called Laviuanj
from the Sewers of the City, were included in the circuil
the walls) commenced on the I5th of June, 1484. "
cesco Spinelli, and after him Antonio Capecelatro, 91
tended the work; Giulianoda Majanohas been likewise
as the architect, and certainly with greater probability
when the triumphal arch was in question. On a set day
first stone was laid in the presence of the Icing at the Carraii
gate. The gate preserves on its exterior a likeness of him b)
marble relief, which represents him on horseback, with iIk
inscription, Feiidinandus Res kobilissimx patkix. Tht
gates to this eastern line of wall at the present time are three,
the construction of wtiich, out of blocks of lava, cost 2B,46(i
ducats. The arrangement of all of them is the same, namely,
twDstrong round towers Hank the gate, bearing titles which maj
be read on marble tablets: on the Carmine gate, "The ma
faithful anil Victoria ;" on Porta Nolana, " Faith and Hope
on Capuana, "Honour and Virtue," Whilst, however, lia
first two gates are tolerably simple, Porta Capuana
great arcliitectural beauty, and would give no occasi
fault, liad not a high and hideous niche been superaiJt
about the middle of the seventeenth centnry, to the upper sli
which originally, like all the gates of Naples, contained
fi-esco painting by the Cavaliere Calabreae, as a thank-ofitmngT
for the cessation of the great plague ; then, as this became
dim, a modem picture, in brilliant colouring, of the AssumfK

TIIE CAnumE GATE AND BASTION. 253

lion of the Virgin, was aubstiluled for it. Two fluteii pilasters
of the Human order of arcliitecture support the gate, tlic posts
of which are richly ornamented with represeotations of tro-
phies in relief; whilst two figures of Victory copied from
tliose on the Roman triumplial arches fill the vacant space.
A representation of tlie coronation of King Ferdinand is said
to form the frieze in the upijor part of the building, between
the statues of the patron saints of the town, Januarius and Ag-
nellus ; but it perished with the fall of the house of Aragon, and
Don Pedro de Toledo, at tiie entry of Charles V., caused the
double-headed eag;le, the Emperor's coat of arms, to be placed
iuthefront of it, as it is now tobeeeen. A well-conceived, and
not too heavy entablature supports the upper story, adorned
with trophies and the arms of the house of Aragon. No other
piece of architecture in Naples of ancient date can compete
with the Porta Capuana in harmony and elegance, and there-
f>re it is so much the more to be lamented that it stands on a
spot not often visited, since the great road from the north no
longer leads through this gate, as it did even as late as our

The Carmine bastion forms the bulwark of the toivn on the
south-eastern side, and here also are now to be foiuid, the
I stations of the railroads leading on one side to Castellamare
' and Nocera, and on the other to Capua, and traversing the
suburb as far as the Magdalen bridge. These stations pro-
claim day by day more extensive changes and increasing bustle
', and activity. If any one tunjs his steps towards the north
! beyond this bastion, he passes the Aragonese wall before
described, in a straiglit line until near the Capuana gate,
afterwards with a bend towards th-e north-west until it reaches
the newly built, fortress-like barracks behind San Giovanni a
Carbonara, which, with its lowers, is visible upon striking out
of the direct road from the Bourbon Museum to the Held of
Mars. The present town has, sometimes more and some- .J

timefl less, overgrown this enceinte of the walls, which yet, |

however, serves to enclose a considerable tract of land, but
no longer protects it, as in the days when the Marshal of
' Xiautrec attacked Naples from this side. The soil has
' thrown itself up all around ; the wall and numerous aeini-
; circular towers are deeply fixed in the ground, and the
![ cver-incrcasing; population has nestled itself about, upon, and

254 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

in them. The wall has been pierced fer windows, and litde
gardens dress the roo& of the towers with fresh green. Tl»
old wall, however, £rom the bastion near the Porta Capnani ii
entirely concealed between the new buildings and streets wfaick,
in the direction of the Albergo dei Poveri, the greatest pooi^
house in the world, form a respectable suburb for the \m
opulent classes.

King Ferdinand usually occupied the Castel Capuano^or
the palace of the second Joanna, situated to the north-eut of
the city, upon the Poggio reale, all traces of which have ooir
vanished ; whilst the not very distant height of Capodimonte
saw the chd,teau of Bourbon date arise, which, although not
indeed of elegant form, was yet preferred on account of ill
wonderful situation and magnificent park. About the middle
of the seventeenth century Poggio reale was a place of pin*
surable resort for the Neapolitans. The Duke of Ossuna thare
gave -feasts to the people, and Henri de Guise, in his Memoin)
mentions its beautiful gardens and fountains. A century later,
too, people were wont to drive out thither. Giuliano da Majaoo
is said to have built upon the Poggio reale ; the Neapolitan
Pietro and Polito del Donzello represented there in freno
painting the most memorable events of the War of the BaroDS.
It is no favourable testimony to the King's disposition that he
strove to perpetuate, in bronze and by pencil, the circum-
stances of such a melancholy struggle with his own sub-
jects. It is true that he had not much military glory of liis
own to set forth, for when he was yet only Duke of Calabria,
and took the field for his father against the Florentines, he sat
down, with a powerful host of twelve thousand men complete,
for more than thirty days, before Fojano, an insignificant castle
in the valley of the Chiana, defended only by a small number
of soldiers, and by the inhabitants, men and women. There-
upon the whole campaign was shipwrecked, as has been already
mentioned in an earlier chapter. Moreover in the wars of
which his son Alphonso assumed the command in chief in his
stead, equally few laurels were reaped, although that prince
defeated the Venetians at Bondeno on the Po, and tiie Flo-
rentines at Poggibonzi on the road to Siena. Nicol6 Ma-
chiavelli * describes in lively colours how the mercenary host
of the latter took to flight ; and the excellent chronicler Marin
* Machiayelli, Istoric Fiorentine. B. yiii.

WOBiSQ C« AliFHQHBO. 255

Sanudo * rdates how the YeaedaDft^ in defiance of their adver-
sary, and under his aose^ let fly the &lconft i» the rock at
Ferrara. But the name of Campo Morto hears testimony eyen
to tiiis day to Alphonso's sitting down in the pestilential
B&man plains between the Albanian hills and the sea-coast
near Nettuno and Antiiun.

The same Alphonso showed before he ascended the throne
^-afterwards he had other matters to think of — a great love
of building. He caused no fewer than tliree chiteaus, or villas,
to be got ready for himself near the city : the localities, long
since included within, the circuit of the walls, may be easily
indicated, but scarcely any traces of the origixial foimdations
remain. At the Porta Capuana the name of the street, as well
as of the barracks, della Duchessa, calls to mind the gardens
and palace which the Duke of Calabria there designed, out of
love to his wife Ippolita Sforza, the daughter of the great
Francesco Sforza — the inscription reminding one of springs
and baths, of hedges of myrtle and citron, of roads for riding
and driving, for pleasure and for bodily health. The foun-
tain in the court-yard of the great hospice of the Annunziata
still preserves some excellent sculptures which adorned the
fountains of the Duchessa. At the foot of the heights where
now the palace of the Museo Borbonico stands, formerly a
long way outside the town, and called La Conigliera (the
rabbit-warren), Alphonso possessed another chateau, the place
of which is at this day occupied by the residence of the
Muscettola Princes of Luperano. But the villa and gardens
situated between the Chiaja and the foot of the height of the
Vomero are celebrated in history: in later times they have
been in part converted into barracks and stabling for the royal
guards; but part has been preserved to its original purpose
of a beautiful house with smiling gardens, belonging, since
the time of Charles. Y. to the Toledo family, and, together
with the adjoining street, bearing the name of Palazzo and
Strada Ferrandina, after the title of the eldest son of the head
of that fiunily. The popular wit ridiculed the spots chosen by
the Duke of Calabria for his country seats : one, said they, had
neither air nor water ; the other, water and no air ; the third,
air and no water. In the palace on the Chiaja, which, now

* Itinerario di Marin Sanudo per la Terraferma Vcneziana nell* anno
si.cccc.Lxxx.m. Edited by Bawdon Brown. Padua, 1847. P. 51.

256 THE CAEAFAS OF MADDALOXI,

divided into two equal paria, has preserved little more than itt .
original fouudation, dwelt the Cardiiial Fompeo Colonna, only
too well known as having' been, from his violent hatred of Pope
Clement VII., one of the authors of the boundless misery whicJl'
visited Home under this Pope — of that misery at which he him^
self burst into tears when he rode through the city after itssacfc-
by the hordes of the Constable. After the death of the Prince
of Orange, the Imperial Lieutenant iu Naples, the man whoMR
ambition had been so destructive, was satisfied with the cnlti^:
vation of the beautiful garden which amrounded his dwelling'
and himself planted flowers, and grafted fruit-trees. Alrea^:
ailing in health, he was walking in this garden with Pi«
Antonio Cara&, Count of Policastro, whose residence adjoinet
his own, on a morning at the beginning of the summer of
1S32, when he ate some early ripened figs. Presently aftcfe^
this his disease became so much aggravated that he died at thA
^;e of fifty-three in the first days of July. Poison was spoken
of in this, as in almost every case of unexpected death ; bnl
the celebrated physician Agustino Nifo, known also froiUI
the life of Vittoria Colonna, was present at the opening of hUt'
body, and contradicted the report which sought to designaW
French vengeance as the cause. The refectory of the monas-
tery of Santa Maria la Nuova calls to mind in the moat vivid
manner King Alfonso II., for in it are to be seen in the great
fresco paintings of the brothers del Donzello the likenesses of
himself and his son Ferdinando ; so also do the church and
monastery of Montoliveto remind one of him. Alphonso built
the church, and adorned it "with many works of art ; and, ns
the families of the D'Avalos, Piccolomini, and others vied with
htm, and the pious zeal continued during the following cen-
tury, the most brilliant for the Neapolitan, and for Italian art
in general, Montoliveto thus became rich in the choicest works,
especially sculptures, not only of Antonio Rosselino, of Bene-
detto da Majano and of their time, but also of the national
school of Giovanni da Nola,

The Aragonese monarch, who chenshed a particular pre-
dilection for the Olivetan order (called also the order of tba
White Benedictines), as has already been related in the fint ■
part of this history, sometimes came into the refectory to take J
his repast with the monks, and presented them with ridi 1
!, and great gardens and build ing-ground.^, whicli einM'J

SAN SEVEBINO. 257

the end of the last century have been applied to various pur-
poses, whilst the monastery itself became the seat of the
municipality of the town, and, recently the centre of the
republican attempt at insurrection, which was crushed by the
fidelity of the royal troops on the 15th of May, 1848. On
this spot Alphonso wished to leave a speaking memorial of his
affection. In the chapel of the . Holy Sepulchre is to be seen
before the altar a group of figures much larger than life.
Upon the ground lies the dead Saviour ; his mother, having
sunk down lifeless, is upheld by the Maries ; John the Evan-
gelist, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus surround her,
part kneeling, part standing, participators in the anguish for
the crucified one. The countenances are full of living truth,
although not free from exaggeration, and the efifect is the
more striking as the figures are coloured with burnt earth and
with the colours of nature. The harmony of colours is now
destroyed, and the statues have been much mutilated and
wretchedly repaired ; but this, of its kind remarkable, work of
the Modanino (as Guido Mazzoni of Modena was usually
called), who in thq manly forms of Alphonso and Ferdinandino
represented Sanazzaro and Pontano, must still be contem-
plated with lively interest.*

Besides the two above-cited churches there yet belongs to
this period, another, which hitherto has survived the overturn
of political relations, that of San Severino, with its great Bene-
dictine monastery, where room has now been found for the
archives of the kingdom. Alphonso II. employed Francesco
Mormando, a Florentine artist whom the historian of Floren-
tine art has overlooked, to begin the building, to which the
noble family of the Mormile contributed ajssistance in money.
The interior of the beautiful and rich temple is too much
altered for any one to pass a correct judgment on the style ;
but the exterior, and a part of the court-yard of the monastery,
bear &vourable testimony to the refined sesthetical sentiment
of form and fruitful invention of Mormando.

Private persons vied with the prince in architectural under-
takings, and not only the nobility, but also statesmen and poets.
Three palaces of the Aragonese period have been specially
celebrated by contemporary and subsequent writers. Mention

'^ Yasaxi, Life of Giuliano da Majano.

s

258 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

has already been made in this history of the first, which im
buUt by Diomede Carafa, Count of Maddaloni. Of the other,
alas I there is nothing left beyond the memory of it. Novdlo
da San Lucano built it about th^ year 1480 for Roberto
Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno, whose fortunes were neariy u
changeable as those of his successor in Charles V.'s days, wiio
lost his great feudal domains and dazzling wealth in the king^
dom, to die an exile and faithless to the Roman Catholic &A
in a strange land. Naples has beheld no more beautifid
palace. In an advantageously elevated situation nmr tk
then Porta reale, it commanded the lower part of the Urn,
As strong as it was beautiful, it possessed walls of astomahiag
thickness, inlaid with regularly hewn blocks of travertino
marble. This building was long an object of the admintkn
of the Neapolitans ; and when, a century afterwards, it WH
sold, the city wished to have bought it for itself. **The
Neapolitans," writes the Tuscan agent on the 23rd of Mai^
1584, "are angry in their language against his ExceUenef
(the elder Duke of Ossuna was then Viceroy) on account «
the preference shown to the Jesuits at the sale of the pakoe
of the Prince of Salerno. The commonalty of Naples tried
hard at the same time to get possession of it, because they
wished that the mansion might keep its original fonn, since it
contributed particularly to the ornament of the town, and wis
so advantageously situated. But the fathers, who strive after
undivided power, have overcome all difficulties, and obtained
their object, and already is the building begun, of which they
announce that it will not be inferior to the splendid one (Car-
dinal Alessandro Farnese's church and college of Jesus) at
Rome." * The new church and monastery of Jesus, so called
as a distinction from the original Jesuit College, have in them-
selves nothing of any interest. The inscription announces
that the house of Robert Sanseverino was, in the year 1587,
converted into a church by Isabella della Rovere, Princess of
Bisignano.

But the date of the most important of the palaces of Naples,
old or new, coincides exactly with the termination of the
Aragonese dominion. Ferdinando Orsini built it. He was

♦ Pictro Riccardi to the Cardinal Ferdinand of Medici ; Palermo and
other p]aci\^. P. 240.

THE ORSINI PALACE. 259

the son of that Duke of Gravina celebrated m the time of
Pope Alexander VI., whom, together with Vitellozzo Vitelli
and Oliverotto da Fermo, and two more of his cousins,
Caesar Borgia caused to be strangled at that notorious as-
sembly, in the year 1502, at Senegallia, the relation of which,
by Machiavelli, excites scarcely more horror on account of
the deed than on account of the cold-bloodedness of the re-
later.

The Neapolitan historians name Gabriel d'Agnolo as the
builder of this palace, which they likewise call the Sanseve-
rinian. The Florentines attribute it to their countryman,
Baccio d'Agnolo, among whose works, nevertheless, Vasari,
not usually backward when the glory of a countryman is
concerned, does not mention it. But however that may be,
the style is Florentine. It is an imitation of the style of
building of Brunelleschi and Michellozzi, by which we ac-
count for the gradual but entire disappearance of the former
shape of the arch. The palace is unfinished, because, as the
tradition is, when the Emperor Charles admired it, Orsini
answered, "It is your Majesty's so soon as it is finished.'*
Therefore, it is said, neither Orsini nor his descendants ever
thought of completing it. A similar story is told to account
for the ruin of the Villa Mondragone, near Frascati, which
originated in Mark Sittich of Hohenembs, but now belongs
to the Borghese family. The more probable solution, how-
ever, is, that Ferdinand Orsini did not complete the great
edifice because the jealousy of the Spanish lords was thereby
excited. For, as one of the chiefs of the French party at the
time of the last war, and of the investment of the city by
Lautrec, he suffered exile and a confiscation of his goods, and
his family, like that of all others of the Angevin colours,
received a blow from which it never again recovered. The
palace in our time fell into the hands of the Biccardi family,
and later into those of the Government, after that, during the
last attempts at revolution, it had been burnt from the inside,
and, still later, the beautiful ground-floor, built in bossa^e
(opus rusticum), had been disfigured by being broken into ror
booths.

The love of architecture was not confined to dwelling-
houses among the Neapolitans during the times of the last
kings, and, by a singular coincidence, two churches preserve

s 2

260 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

the names of men who stood by the side of the Alphcmsos, the
Ferdinands and Fredericks, assisting them with counsel and
action — men of different reputation, but both deservii^ well of
science and of poetry. Giovanni Gioviano Fontano, before the
fail of the house of Aragon, built the chapel which bears the
name of the Evangelist St. John, in order to prepare a bury-
ing-place for himself and his wife Arianna Sassona, and for hk
family. In the most thron^^ and bustling quarter of the dty,
surrounded by much tasteless architecture, that little church
causes surprise by its decent purity of form, and the simpli-
city of its arrangement. It is a square, built of freestone,
with flat pillars of the Roman order, and an attic with marUe
:ablets alongside of the windows and doors, upon which aze
ingenious Latin sayings, containing the doctrines of the moral
philosophy of the ancients. Sanazzaro, however, built for himself
a villa at some distance from the city as it then was, but doee
to the present city, on the strand of the Margellina, upon a
piece of ground presented to him by the last King of Naples
of the Spanish collateral line. It is situated on a promon-
tory, which commands both sea and land; and when
the war had destroyed this villa, he endowed the Tuscan
order of the Servi di Maria with space and means for a
church, in which his tomb was set up, which, like his much-
praised poems, combines in appearance the mixture of ancient
art with Christianity, and mars the effect of the one by the other,
so that David and Rachel are made to supply names to the
statues of Apollo and Minerva in the sculptures on the monu-
ment of this inspired imitator of Virgilius Maro.

A century and a half had elapsed from the fall of the royal
house of Aragon, up to that time the description of which is
attempted in the present recital. The city of Naples, which
from the invasion of King Charles VIII. to the safe establish-
ment of the power of the Emperor Charles V. in Italy, had
been oppressed in manifold ways by change of rulers, by
war, and by all the evils following in their train, increased in
a rapid measure from the year 1530. It was calculated,
under the administration of the Marquis Yon Mondejar,
1575, that it had been enlarged by more than a third in
thirty years, whilst the number of inhabitants had risen to
200,000. The circumference of the town comprised six
miles, two of which had been enclosed within the enceinte of

HOUSES AND POPULATION OF NAPLES. 261

the walls, during the time of Don Pedro de Toledo. The daily
consumption of bread was reckoned at somewhere about 3000
bushels of com, which was chiefly supplied from the province of
Capitanata. . The numerous monasteries and benevolent insti-
tutions were not included in this calculation, because, from
their privileged position, the victualling office had no juris-
diction over them, and so their wants were not known.

Nine and fifty years later, under the administration of the
Count of Monterey, the number of houses and population had
again been considerably augmented. The estimate at that
time was 20,000 buildings, large and small, 44,000 fire-places,
and 300,000 inhabitants. Rome under Pope Gregory XIII.
had only 14,000 fire-places, and 80,000 inhabitants. The
daily consumption of corn amounted to 4000 bushels ; above
35,000 ducats monthly were expended in vegetables and
garden stuff; the yearly consumption of oil amounted to
100,000 staja (6400 hectolitres) ; that of salt meat to 15,000
hundred weight : that of fish to above 20,000 ; and that of
cheese to 6000 ; upwards of 100,000 head of cattle were
killed. In the public magazines alone 30,000 casks of wine
were annually consumed, without counting the consumption of-
private households. The tax on fruit at one time brought in
80,000 ducats; about 6000 chests of sugar were brought
yearly into the custom house ; 2000 chests of white wax ;
20,000 hundred weight of almonds; 300 chests of various
sorts of spices ; about 400,000 ducats were expended in foreign
cloths ; 200,000 in those of home manufacture ; 300,000 in
Venetian linen ; 200,000 in Dutch ; 150,000 in wrought gold
and silver; the importation of pins amounted to the yearly
value of 40,000 scudi ; and much money went out of the coun-
try for articles of luxury, gold and silk and stuffs for clothes
and household gear, embroidery, and the like. Any one, how-
ever, need only wander through the streets of Naples, says the
informer to whom we are indebted for these particulars,* in
Drder to observe what a populous city it ia, Besides the
handicraftsmen who carry on their trade in the open streets,
besides those who have their workshops in their houses, in
3very street, in every alley, every comer is to be seen a crowd
yf people, pressing, pushing, and pursuing their callings, so

• Giulio Cesare Capaccio, II Forastiere. Naples, 1634. P. 846-848.

262 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

that a man hsus often a hard matt^ to pass through than. If
you go into the churches where there is preaching, as surely do
you find them filled with human beings. Should you bciake
yourself to the courts of judicature, you are astonished at tb
concourse. ' And the streets themselves, not one, not ten, but
all, are full of people, on foot, on horseback, and in vehicles ; w
that there is a turmoil and a hum as though it were a swam
of bees. Everywhere, and at all times, and to anybody,
nothing is more laborious than to wander about Naples.

If business and trade did not increase in the same proportioB
as the increase of the population might have led us to expect,
the blame must be laid upon the perverted economical prin-
ciples which checked at the same time both production and
circulation. A remarkable expansion had taken plaoe under
the native princes of the house of Aragon. Alphonso L hdi
introduced the finer sheep of Spain, and so caused the im-
provement of the common Neapolitan breed, which from that
time especially, flourished admirably in the pasture-grounds of
the Abruzzi. In accordance with the principles of that age,
Ferdinand I. thought he was helping this branch of industry
when he prohibited the introduction of foreign woollens, while,
on the contrary, to foreign manufacturers desirous of settling
in the kingdom, he accorded privileges, and moreover secured
the remission of taxes to the sale of home-made cloths.
There arose indeed then considerable clotli manufactories, as
well in Naples as in other places of the Abruzzi, Aquila,
Teramo, Ascoli, Arpino, Isola di Sora, Alife, at the foot
of the mountains in Calabria, &c., &c. The names by
which the Neapolitan woollen cloths were known at the close
of the fifteenth century are partly indicative of the locality,
and partly of the home of the manufactures^ In equal, if not
greater reputation, stood the silk manufactures, especially
after King Ferdinand had removed the burthensome imposts
upon the silk dyeing. To this branch of industry is ascribed
in great measure the important increase of the population of
Naples, which took place under the said rulers. One-half of
the inhabitants of the capital and of its environs lived by the
manufacture of silk. It is well known that even now this
manufacture is as active as it is profitable. Florentines and
Genoese were induced to settle in Naples. A corporation of
silk workers was formed, with consuls and jurisdiction. Silk

FISCAL LEGISLATION. 263

was manufactured especially on the coasts of Calabria and
Amalii; the fectories supplied every sort of stuff, even to
velvets and the heavy brooades int^woven with gold, for the
preparation of which the Venetians gave instruction.* The
use of them by the court and by the nobility was very great,
not only for clothing, but for household furniture. The
wearing of velvet was the fashion even with the priestly
order, f

The vexatious fiscal legislation of the Viceroys on the one
hand had not been able to promote the advancement of this
branch of industry ; on the other hand the change in the great
conmiercial highways had brought with it, as well in regs^ to
Naples as to the whole of Italy, a sensible diminution, or
more properly a complete stoppage, of the trade, once so pro-
fitable, with the distant East. The policy employed on behalf
of the corporations, and the limitation of all free efforts by
the fixing of still narrower bounds to the divisions and sub-
divisions of the trades, must have been an impediment instead
of a protection. A monopoly had unawares been esta-
blished by the narrow circumscription and the formal nature
of the statutes. The Duke of Arcos, in the year 1647, wished
still further to augment these restrictions on behalf of the silk-
workers' guild, and whilst he subjected it to a surveillance by
the police of a completely inquisitorial character, he endea-
voured also to restrain the making of silk to the capital alone,
with its suburbs, in order by these means to appease the repre-
sentations, already degenerating into threats, of the Neapolitan
guilds, which, infected by the giddiness of revolutionary doc-
trine, thought that they could turn the helplessness of the
government to the advantage of their schemes of monopoly.}
How far the delusion extended is shown by a prohibition issued
in the year 1 685, by the otherwise sagacious Marchese del Carpio,
against the introduction of new inventions in the manufacture
01 ^Ik. Such stuffs only as were manufactured according
to the ancient prescripts, and at a fixed price, were to be
brought to the market. And, as a consequence, yet another
limitation was added, that the prescripts existing for the Spa-

* Summonte, &o. Vol. iii. p. 480.
t Bianchini, &c. VoL ii. p. 170-176.

X Capecelatro, Diario. Vol. i. p. 142.— Notes. P. 83.— Rivas, Insurrec-
tion de Naples (Sublevacion de Napoles). Vol. i. p. 276 ; vol. ii. p. 261.

264 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOXI.

nish manufacture should have exclusive value in Naples. If^
notwithstanding these impediments, arising out of senseless legal
technicalities, the manufacture of silk nevertheless pres^ved
considerable activity, this ^ivourable result is to be attributed
solely to the industry of the people, and their necessities, wUdi
obtained the victory over such impediments.*^

The vast increase of the population was just as much to be
ascribed to the situation of the city, particularly favourable to
trade and business, as to the circumstance that its inhabitants
were less given up to the arbitrary will of the civil fbno-
tiouories tlian the people in the provinces. The Spaniards did
not like to see this increase ; partly because the villages of the
neighbourhood became depopulated thereby; partly becaoee
the common people in the capital paid fewer taxes and enjoyed
many privileges ; partly also, because, with the increase in the
population, and in the circumference of the town, was increased
the difficulty of suppressing an insurrection, which, with this
changeable and easily excited people, was an event always to
be feared. On this account the wish had already often been
excited of giving greater extension to the Castle of San Elmo,
which, from its elevation, commanded the city with which it
had been united since the time of Toledo. Naples was
held to be one of the richest cities of Europe, and with each
year the trade became more active, with each year the number
of merchants increased, who flowed in from all quarters, drawn
thither by the almostcertainty of gain, as well as by the facility
of acquiring considerable possessions in land, and, together
with them, high rank and honours.f Beyond all people, as
has been already explained in a former section of this work,
the Genoese were they who profited by the commercial cir-
cumstances of Naples, and their natural frugality increased
yet more considerably the advantage accruing from those cir-
cumstances. The Spinola, the Serra, the Ravaschieri, the
Mari and others, fixed themselves in this manner in the king-
dom, and partially succeeded to great wealth and princely
titles, and many of them, who by landed property and alliances
became completely domesticated, belong even at this day to
the most distinguished families. After them two merchants,
sprung from the German Netherlands, Romer and Van den

• Bianchini, &c. Vol. ii. p. 606-G09.

f Lippomono, Relazione di Napoli, 1575, &c. P. 265

FORM AND EXTENT, 265

Einden, laid the foundation of brilliant possessions ; and whilst
the first, of whom we shall more than once have to speak,
built churches and palaces, the last allied himself with the
Oarafa of Belvedere, and Ws arms, united with those of the
(Z^arafa, are to be seen on the palace Stigliano, in the street
Toledo, and in that most beautiful chapel of S. Domenico,
which, erected at the beginning of the 16th century by the
Count of Santa Severina (the only Neapolitan who ruled
under the Spaniards in Naples, as Cardinal Trivulzio was the
Dnly Milanese who ruled in Milan), has now descended to the
heirs of Belvedere, the Saluzzo of Corigliano.

The city of Naples had, about the middle of the I7th cen-
tury, in all essentials, the form and extent which Pedro de
Tol^o more than 100 years before had given to it. Only,
the new parts were more closely built and inhabited. At the
Carmine fortress, the most south-eastern point, began the
wall of King Ferdinand already described. Taking in the
gates of Karmel, of Nola, and of Capua, this wall encom-
passed S. Giovanni a Carbonara in a northerly direction;
here it adjoined the bastions of Toledo, which, making a
turn towards the west, with the gates S. Gennaro arid Sta.
Maria di Costantinopoli, near that which is now the square
of the Holy Ghost (Mercatello), reached to the King's Gate
at the upper end of the Toledo Street. This gate, long since
become useless, like many others in our day, the Porta Alba,
S. Gennaro, Costantinopoli, and others, which stand in the
middle of the town, was removed under the administration
of King Ferdinand I., Bourbon, as the inscription in its place
testifies. In the middle of the town also this upper part of
the wall and bastions can be traced, if any one from the
new barracks, already mentioned, near S. Giovanni a Carbo-
nara, ascends the broad street of the Largo delle Pigne, the
former ditch of the fortress, and descending the hill near
the Bourbon Museum to the com magazines, the Fosse del
Grano, arrives at the Square of the Holy Ghost, the tasteless
decoration of which is, with the crescent, a work of the pre-
ceding century. Here it is said that the statue of Charles III.
was intended to stand ; and a plaster cast was set up in 1759 ;
but the tumults of the period hindered the execution of the
intention, and, when at length the erection of a monument to
the King, to whom more than to any other of its rulers,

266 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

Naples was indebted, was set about, the square before the
King's castle was the spot selected for it. From the Porta
Beale the wall ascends the steep hill, the Mootesanto fint
then the Carthusian house of St. Martin, and the Caideof
St Elmo. One bye-gate only was opened, and that latff,
in this whole extent : it was caJled the Porta Pertugio, untfl
the Duke of Medina, in the year 1640, gave it the form whieb
it retains, together with the name of its founder, to this day.

From the Castle the wall of Toledo now descends pnd*
pitously ; single points where the ground itself seems to ofir
protection are undefended, at others again there are £ar6S»
tions, even to the former Chiaja Gate, near the Square of
Sta. Caterina, where the projecting palace of the Prince of
Cellamare stands upon a part of the walls and bastions, which
are still very easily to be distinguished there, although the
gate was carried away in 1782. The wall, having leacbBd
the perpendicular tufa masses of the Pizzofalcone, inckHd
them, as it did Chiatainoue and Santa Lucia, and thus readied
the arsenal connected with the Castel Nuovo. The searfirant
of the city, from the Mole to the Carmine, comprised iti
lower walls already described, and the minor g^tes.

Anybody keeping in view this enceinte of the walls, the
newer portion of which was completed by Don Pedro de
Toledo in two years, can easily picture to himself Naples as it
tlieu stood. What a difference, if it be compared with the
present city I Let us contemplate first of all the sea-side as it
existed two hundred years since. At this day tiie splendid
Riviera di Chiaja extends itself from the Victoria to tl^ Mer-
gellina, forming one of the most beautiful streets in the world,
if not rich in monuments of architectural art, yet so much the
more rich in picturesque charms, such as only the coutinual
inexhaustible fulness of this southern nature, with all her
brilliancy, and all her glow of colours, and all her warmth, can
give. This site was at that time occupied by a row of the
villas of the great, just as they still cover the acclivity of the
Yomero, running parallel to it and to the shore of the Posilippo,
even to the tongue of land whence the bosom of the Baian sea
can be contemplated. Between gardens and groups of trees
lay parcelled out the houses, from the large gardens of the
Toledo family, of which a very small part only remaiiis, — the
houses of the Sanseverino, of the Carracciolo of Torella, of the

BIVIEBA DI CHIAJA. 267

win- es of Conca, and of many othen, as &r as the tower which
ifeood where now the road to the Grotto, and that to the Mer- '
l^lina separate. One villa succeeded another, some upon the
iliore, some upon the steep of the ridges of hill, the possessions
)f the Pignatelli, of the Caraia of Maddaloni, of Roccella
Bud of Stigliano, of the Caetani of Caserta, of the Milano of
Axdore, of the Coppola, of the Cantalupo, and of many other
fitmilies. Where now the Villa Reale, with its long alleys and
evergreen groups of holmoaks and laurels, with its fountains
■ad sculptures, with its temples sacred to Yirgil and Tasso,
fringes the shore like a string of emeralds ; whilst over against
it the ever animated bustle of the Chiaja throngs noisily
on, with all its elegance, and all the turmoil of every-day
wants, — ^there was, in those days, the strand, yet bare and
washed by the waves, which now dash in vain against mighty
lamparts of rocks and breastworks. As at this day is the case
on the Mergellina, the fishermen at that day pursued there
their trade, and drew up their boats on the shore, whilst the
nobles made their horses curvet, or drove in their lumbering,
gold-bedizened chariots to the church of Santa Maria die Pi^di-
grotta, one of the houses of worship most frequented by the
Neapolitan people, long before the victory of Charles III.
over the Austrians at Yelletri had given increased splendour
to the military preparations for the Madonna's festival of the
eighth of September. It was the last Viceroy of the old
Spanish monarchy, Don Louis de Cerda, Duke of Medina
Oeli, who, in the year 1698, caused the strand to be levelled,
and adorned with plantations and fountains, thus completing
the plan of more than one of his predecessors, and making a
beginning of the far more extensive plans which, commenced in
the year 1780 by King Ferdinand, were not, until a few years
fflince, extended in the direction of the Mergellina, where the
space between the line of hills and the sea grows narrower and
narrower. The villa no longer possesses the original group of
the Farnese Bull, which found a refuge from the injuries of
the weather in the Bourbon Museum. It, however, preserves
the ornament of numerous ancient and modem works of sculp-
ture, whilst it unites the English style of gardening with the
origuial regularity of the plan. Who thinks now, when he
sees the masses of elegant equipages rolling along upon the
smooth lava pavement of the Chis^a, — when he sees hundreds

268 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOXI.

of horsemen hastening on to the iron trellis of the vi
groups of pedestrians of high station, mixed with peof
lower rank, filling the alleys, whilst the fifiher-boys, not
half cladj go out upon the rocks by the foundations c
ramparts, in quest of their small earnings, — ^who now t
of the times when, exposed to the attacks of the barbarians
for a protection against the pirates of Algiers and Tunu
small fort already referred to was built, and when (it i
the seventeenth century) the Caracciolo of Torella soug
add to the strength of their dwelling by the tower which
the angle of the present palace of the Count of Syracuse)
If we pass along the strand from the Riviera di Chiaja
is all this also metamorphosed ! Where stands the gro
houses of the Vittoria, under the western precipice c
Pizzofalcone, the Theatine church of Santa Maria della
toria then alone was erected, calling to remembrance 1
name and its origin, the victory at Lepanto, endowe
Joanna, the natural daughter of Don John of Au
completed by his grand-daughter Margherita d' Austria ]
ciforte, Princess of Butera, as the inscription, there affix
the year 1646, proclaims. Of a more recent origin are aj
all the buildings and other works of Chiatamone, witi
royal casino, which serves as a residence for many fo:
noblemen, and the row of dense houses, supported b^
cavernous masses of tufa of the hill so often mentioned,
bridge, long and narrow, leads to the Castel del Uovo, ^
received, in all essential particulars, its present form froD
Viceroy Count of Miranda at the close of the sixteenth
tury ; after that the favourable situation of this old Noi
castle had not prevented the Biscayan Pedro Navarro,
perished so miserably after Lautrec's investment, from ca]
ing it. In the angle near the castle where, struggling ag
the wind at nearly every season of the year, you turn toi^
St. Lucia, stood long since the fountains, set up undei
Count of Olivarez, and executed by Giovanni da Nola's p
Domenico d'Auria, which the Duke of Medina afterward
moved to the square in the vicinity of the Castelnuovo, w
the street and fountains bear his name. Santa Lucia, how<
was then what it now is, the favourite resort of the dealei
fish, and the sellers of the Frutti di Mare, who here possi
the church for their corporation, — very different, howeve

THE pizzofalcoxeJ 269

t8 exterior from the present broad quay, with its gigantic
rails, which lead down to the sea. Even so late as 1620,
iie whole space was covered with wretched fishing huts,
riuch the Viceroy, Cardinal Borgia, took away ; the square
■dy received its present breadth and regularity of arrange-
Hent under the reigning monarch. The charming white
Darble fountain, adorned with sea deities and nymphs, and
ll^^nt ornaments, the most beautiful work of the sort in
N^aples, was wrought from tlie design of Giovanni da Nola,
9y Domenico d'Auria, and justifies the jealous partiality of
£e fish dealers, who erected it at their own expense, and
irbose stalls stand here with oysters and muscles, and the
r&riously shaped produce of the sea, which the Neapolitan
lopulace are wont to swallow with so much avidity.

The street of Chiatamone, steep on three sides, and acces-
ble only on the fourth, rises, separating from that of Santa
lucia the huge masses of tufa of the Pizzofalcone, the
[ons £chias of the ancients. Andrea Carafa, Count of
uita Severina, who has already been alluded to in this
jstory, was the first person who, at the beginning of the six-
enth century, went to dwell on this hill. He built here for
mself a palace, according to the inscription^ Lucullum
iiTATUS, PAR iLLi AKiMo, OPIBUS IMPAB, and surroundcd it
ith garden grounds, whereby the underwood, which in the
aaes of the Aragonese covered the whole heights, became
•06 table to him. From him the possession was handed over
. the liOffredo family, until the Viceroy converted the palace
to a barrack, which even now occupies the summit of the
ountain upon the sea front, the maintenance of which, in the
mes of the burgher disturbances, was of importance, because

commanded the royal palace as well as the Castel del Uovo.
y degprees did one illustrious family after the other build on
le Pizzofalcone, \%Lich at this day is still inhabited by the
erra-Cassano, and the several branches of the Genoese Serra,
y the Carafa of Noja, the Capece Galeota, and by other noble
imilies, from whose palaces may be enjoyed portions of the
lost glorious prospect of coasts and sea. It was the Count of
lonterey who, in the year 1636, construcled the bridge which
onnects this hill with the opposite one (the summit of which is
rowned by the castle of St. Elmo), and with its bold arches
pans the Strada Chiaja, over which the constant traffic of

270 Till: OARAFAS OF MADDALOSI.

foot passengers and vehicles whirl on witli a ceaseless tlinn^
and hum, wMch does not even stop witli the approodi <^

The broad street leading ftom Santa Lucia, opposite tiie
orsenai, towards the royal palace, was built by the Viceroy,
Count Olivarez, and ohtaineJ its name Salita del Gigante, from
the fountain erected by tlie Count of Monterey at its entrance, in
the year 1633, which is marked by the recumbent statue of the
sea-gwd Sebeto — a tolerably tasteless work byCosimo Paits^a.
But the arsenal, and the sea. front of the palace, harbour, ud
mole, custom house, and reservoir, have all been so in
santly metamorphosed, even so late as in our time, that a cot-
temporary of Masaniello and Salvator Ro&a could here scaicel;
find his way aright, did not the grey towers of the Castd*
ttuuvo, which give the lie to the name of the Angevin f brt r ea,
serve him as a landmark. Even the Castel-nuovo, bowei
has been abundantly changed in form during the past c
tury by tiie continuation of the bastions, by which Cha^
III. fortified it towards the arsenal, after he bad efihiled
a breach at the siege of the year 1734, and had taken the
fortress. Wars and conflagrations had made much alten-
tion in the course of time upon this fortress ; and any one wiH
discover at a glance that the outer line of wall in the Largo di
Castello (a square equally hard to reci^ise), is of modern
origin. The ilarinella, the southern quay along the old town
wall from the harbour up to the Canninc, has possibly pre-
served its former appearance more than any other part of tlie
sea front, although here also Charles III., of whose name o
is reminded almost at each step, executed various g;reat woi_
for the regulation of the shore, and the widening of the street,
which, ever crowded with people, has become, since the intro-
duction of railroads, one of the most busy of the town.

Such did any visitor of Naples find the sea front of the town
in those days. Nor did the interior manifest less difference from
the present time. The great revolution of Old Naples had
taken place under Don Pedro de Toledo. The street which
bears his name is the principal street of the city. The Vic^
roy who, in the year 1 540, applied to the purpose of a court of
justice and jail the old royal palace, the Castel-nuovo, to whl^
on account of its situation being neither convenient nor agre^
able, many rulers had already proved faithless, built to tiM

STRAIIA TOLEiX). 271

nestward of, and in cODJunction with, the Castel-niiovo, a new
palace, which was soon termed the old, and the last remnants
of whkh, as haa been already related, were only cleared away
after the fire of 1837. It had a fortress-like appearance : two
towers flanked the principal gate, over which, an apon the
formei* castle, the imperial eagle spread its wings, and the
entrance to which waa by a drawbridge over the ditcb ;
pinnacles crowned the entablature, such aa are seen on tlie
buildings of the Dante a^e in Florence, on the house uf the
Spini, on the Palazzo Vecchio, on the Palazzo of the Podest^,
and on the Venetian palace at Rome. It was here that the
Bmperor Charles V. dwelt after his return from his glorious
campaign against Tunis. Ferdinando Manlio. who is called a
scholar of Gio^'anni da Nola, was the architect. Of him, as
well aa of Nola, the Viceroy availed himself when he designed
ibe great street already mentioned, which led northwards in a
straight line from the position of the palace, and reached the
town wall at the, then new. Porta Keale. Almost all this was
newly constructed : wherever houses and other buildings stood
in the way they were thrown down. The possessors, it ia true,
ccnnplained at first of this, and many reluctantly lost their

nteroal inheritance, or their recent acquisition. This feeling,
wever, was not of long duration, and it was seen that private
advantage was promoted by it, as well as the general good ;
for the value of the building ground, although reduced in size,
ruse considerably in consequence of the handsome broad street,
not to mention that the two architects obtained a propoi'tioa-
able compensation for private individuals. *

The Strada Toledo was not, as may be supposed, what it
became afl^rwards. Most of the great families then continued
to have their residences in the old quarters of the town ; and
with the exception of the Nunziatur Palace, which belongs to
tlie time of Pope Pius V., moat of the houses date from the
Beventeenth, and a part even from the eighteenth, century ; for
it is only in our own days that the ever noisy Toledo has ceased
to attract the great world. The palaces of the Tocc« of Mouie
Itlileito, of the Doria of Arigri, of the Carafa of Maddaloni and
Belvedere, of the Cavalcanti, of the Cirelli, and others, belong

• Du Duniinici, vol. ii. p. 58.

272 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

to the buildings we have named, the series of which was dosei
by the noble palace of the royal offices of state, which ki
one front turned towards the Toledo, and the other towaA
the Castel-nuovo.

But the activity of the viceroy did not confine itself to h
palace and street, nor to the erection of a new line of walk
All Naples shared in the improvements accomplished by hmi;
and if any one will reflect on the appearance of many parts of
the inner town, even at this day, he will then be able topictan
to himself the condition of the whole before the time of tkk
active and resolute man. It was he who paved all the street^
not with those blocks of lava, which, when they are kept ii
good repair, now form the most beautiful pavement in the wciU,
but with tiles, a practice contiimed even in the followiv
century.* In many places he cleared away all the numenw
angles and comers which interrupted the lines of the streets. Am
he promoted by these means cleanliness and the free current of
air ; 'so, moreover, he contributed to the purifying of the air,
inasmuch as he dried up, by means of draining pipes, the
swamps that were in the immediate neighbourhood, that m, to
the eastward of the town, and in the direction of Acerra and
Aversa, and converted them into fruitful fields. Naples poa-
sessed innumerable covered passages and porticoes, whichi
with the narrowness of the streets, formed a complete laby-
rinth; some of these belonged to the most ancient times, and
were never enlightened by the rays of the sun, which were
unable to penetrate this perpetually damp cluster of houses.
Two of these passages are particularly described by contem-
poraries, as long dark caverns, inspiring terror even in the
day time, and at night forming the lurking-place of vagabonds,
who fell upon and plundered such as passed that way. They
were the grotto of San Martino, near the Porta Capuana, and
that of Sant' Agata. A notion may be formed of these light-
shunning passages by any one who wanders through the in-
terior of the town of Gaeta, which, by the like passages, calls
to mind the Moorish character. Don Pedro destroyed all
these porticoes, as he likewise cleared the space of the open
square from the booths of the handicraftsmen and traders, which

* Zazzera, Govemo del Duca d' Ossuna, to the year 1616, at Palenno.
P. 492.

WORKS OF DON FEDBO« 273

oovered it, and also rendered it unsafe by night* This abuse
lioweyer seems to have crept in again aftenwds. For as the
older part of the interior of Naples is not even now free from
similar passages built over, so, for example, the square before
the Castel-nuovo, so late even as the times of the French, was a
labyrinth of wooden booths. Nevertheless, how little these
precautions established real security in the city is proved by a
kundred accounts of that, and of a subsequent period.

Whilst Don Pedro de Toledo laboured after such a fashion
for the city, conferring benefit universally ; whilst he restored
the ruined Fuzzuoli, erected the palace of the same, as well as
the picturesque castle at Baia ; caused the Grotto of Posilippo,
through which the street of Naples leads to that spot, to be
-widened, paved, and provided with air-shafts, so that it was
possible to pass through it without a light in the day-time ; —
single works and buildings remind one of him who, with all
his fiiults, was the most meritorious of the Viceroys of Naples.
In the heait of the old town, in the low and narrow part, even
at this day intersected by hundreds of crooked gloomy alleys,
occupied by small trades and indefatigable second-hand dealers,
which with its everlasting hum may not ill be compared to
a hive of bees, stands the square which is called II Pennino,
or otherwise La Sellaria, from the saddlery business which
took possession of it after that the Tuscan merchants, by whom
it was inhabited in the time of Joanna, had forsaken it.
Here, where once the Sedile of the people stood, — where the
house of Gian Leonardo Pisano, the author of the murder of
Starace, the deputy of the people, was thrown down under the
first Duke of Ossuna, — where, together with the neighbouring
markets, is the centre of the life said action, the starting-point
of the numerous rebellions of the lower orders, who inhabit
the high, narrow, dirty, gloomy houses, where it is difRcult to
direct one's way upon the stone pavement, always damp and
always filthy, between the stalls and baskets of the market, — in
this place stands the beautiful fountain, with the Atlas and
other sculptures by the hand of Giovanni da Nola, which
Toledo erected there ; whilst another, like the first, nearly in-
accessible from the petty trade in fish and vegetables, keeps
the name of the Coimt Onnate, who here levelled with the

* Scipione Miccio, Vita di Don Pietrd di Toledo, at Palermo. P.
18, &c.

T

den
I gen

274 TliE CARAPAS OF MADD,UX>NI.

grOBiKl several of the dwellings of the parti ci]>ator8 in Masf^ -
niello's I'ebdlioii. Whosoever wishes to know ancient Naples
tiioroughly, must visit tliia T^ion, the best part of whidi .
consists of the small streets of the gnldsmitlis, witb which hi«:>
eotiTiected those of the linen and woollen drapers, and of tnd^' |
of all kinds, even to the fish and meat stalls, from the nd^K
'botirhood of which everybody in this climate, and in tlus
eircumscribed space, esca,i>es "with twof<dd speed.

But the meet eminent work which Don Fedro has be-
-queathed to the cily, over which he ruled for one and twenty
years, mwe as a sovereign tiiaii blu a deputy, is the Churdi w
San GiacoiRO, with its adjoining hospital and bank of the
Spanish nation. Externally tliere is no longer anytlung to
be seen, since the church was enclosed in the palace of the
royal offices of state. Although the architecture of Giovami
da Nola and Fcrdinando Manlio, marred as it is by the nr-
rounding buildings, excites little iot«est in itself; yet, nw
beholds with so much the greater pleasure the imp jurf^^
monument of the Viceroy, set up beftind the high allv.
With respect to style, it is not indeed the purest, but, Sum
its design, it is perhaps the noblest, work of Merliaoo. Upon
the huge sarcopha^^, at the four comers of which Skill,
Justice, Moderation, and Power, keep watch tt^ther; tho
sides of it are ornamented with relief, representing the
deeds of Toledo, and the enterprise against Otranto, and the
victory over Chayreddin BarbaroKut, as weU as the entnuwe
(if Charles V. into Naples. Don Pedro and his second wife,
Donufi Viceoaa Spinelli, are kneeJing, the latter reading a
book of devotion ; the imperial commander and minister
holds the book in the one hand, the other rests npou the hilt of
his sword, wlulst he looks around with a resolute Cftrriags
and demeanour that wdl becomes a ruler so active and n
coinnianding.

With the time of Don Pedro de Toledo, that is, with tin
middle of the sixteenth century, ended the purer and men
graceful epoch of art, for Italy in general, as well tu iat
Naples. In the couTse of this narrative, architecture, nHh
which we were chiefly concerned, lias been especially mni-
dered. Fainting and sculpture can only be treated of ia
general outlines. Aa in the fourteenth century, the infloeace
of Giotto v/Bs paramount, so in the fif1;eeDth was that tiitba

LO SSNGABO AND HIS SCHOOL. 275

Blemish schooL As the great paintmg already spoken of, on
the walls of the refectory of St Chiaia (the &mily of King
Robert before the Madonna), has been ascribed by foreigners
to Giotto, so the Neapolitans attribute to their Colantonio del
^re, who Nourished about the middle of the fifteenth cen-
tury, -the celebrated picture, without question belonging to the
KDool of Van ^yck, of St. Jerome in his cell, which is to be
Been in the Bourbon Museum. Even up to the present time
the doubts about the origin and history of the beautiful Epi-
jpbeaxj, with the portraits of the King and his son Ferdinand,
m the chapel of the CastelnuoYO, have not been cleared up ;
BBd whilst some assume it to be a work of John Van Eyck,
irbidi has probably be^i restored by Zinearo, or the bro-
then D(Ri>eUo,-on which supposition the portraits have been
painted in afterwards — others, without any conclusive reascm,
Rienbe it to the Neapolitan master first mentioned. By the
hjcpding together of the more ancient religious elements of
the Trecento with the later naturalistic elements, was de-
vvdoped the art of Zingaro, the most remarkable painter which
Naples can point to before the Cinquecento. The history of
the life and education of Antonio Solario is to this day a web
of oontradictioQS, and of unproved assertions. Whilst some
Ban the Crvitii di Chieti, in the Abruzzi, his home, others
msaove him to Venice; and the l^end makes him, like
Ctuentin Metsys, to have been metamorphosed from a black*
BBith into a painter, out of love for the beautiful daughter
nf Oolantonio del Fiore. The most remarkable productions
irlneli Naples possesses by him are the frescoes of the life of
Bt Benedict in the court-yard of the monastery of San Severino,
BifaSbtting, in composition and grouping, a skill and freedom
of touch, notwithstanding the great predominance of tradi-
tional stiffiiesB ; in the figures, a propriety and individuality ;
in the subordinate parts of building and landscape, a richness
of invention, a taste and an abUity, which shine forth, even from
the present atrocious over-painting ; and, when taken in con-
jimctioQ with the exactness and skill of the mechanical part,
lad the, if not graceful, yet, firm and always well adapted
hnn, bear the most favourable testimony to the mind and edu-
ortion of the artist. How the school of Zingaro formed itself
» shown by the works of the already named painters, Fietro
Did Ippolito del DonzeUo, whose frescoes in the palace upon

T 2

r

L

276 THE CAHAFAS OF MADDALOSI.

the Poggioreale, celebrated by the muse of Sanna7za.ro, have,
it is true, perished, but whose great " Bearing of the Cross,"
in ihe monastery of Santa Maria la Nuova, vividly represents
the ArHgunese age. Simon Fapa tlie elder has perhaps ap-
propriated to lijraself beyond any of hia contemporaries the
style of tlie Flemish school aa regards form and colouring.

Thus, towards the banning of the sixteenth centuiy, the
Keapolitau school of painting could not withdraw itself from
Peniginese-RafiaelliaD influences, and Andrea Sabbatino of
Salerno was one of the most excellent of Sanzio's scholan.
While he sought to approacli the high degree of sweetness of
his master, he preserved much tiiat was ciiaracteristic, whicK
enables us to ju(^ of his abl e previous training, as well as d
his intellectual self-dependence, while he strove to recoadle
the national elements with the rules, now by the iinmber of
imitatotis become nearly stereotyped, of the new UmliriaD-
Boman art. With the scholars of Andrea, as with the whole
over fruitful young scions of the Raflaelliaii school, this com-
bined tendency gradually produced insipidity ; and, during the
remainder of the sixteenth century, the Neapolitan school of
painting was so much the mare dis^reeable, because Marco di
Pino of Sienna sought to force admittance for the Buonarotti
taste, which ruined the mid-Italian schools of that age, the
Florentine and the Soman, and with its lavishness of the
means of producing effects, is so much the more repulsive
from combining spiritless vacancy witii weak colouring and
careless rapidity of painting. In the century whicli succeeded
tiiis style, elements of a different kind developed thenuelvw -
in Naples through a co-operation of favourable circumstance*,
and guided int4> new paths some, at all events considemble,
minds, one of whom we shall presently liave to consider.

Already, in the accotmt of the times of the Angevins, has
the discourse turned upon the sculptors who decorated the
churches with gigantic monuments and rich facades, more
fertile in invention than correct in s^le, with a skill in <
ecution which is moi« calculated to call to mind the t
ohanical crafi of the Lombardic sculptors, of the same stamp
of intellect with them, the author of the Scaliger monument,
of the Summons of St. Ambrose and Peter Martyr, and
of similar works, tlian the more intellectual productions of
the Florentines. We then saw the latter step forth i

GIOVANNI DA NOLA, 277

Naples of the Aragonese princes, with works both of sculpture
and archictecture, and point in a direction in which, with more
or less success and talent, with greater or less self-dependence,
the gifted sculptors, at the dose of the fifteenth, and in the
first half of the sixteenth century, followed. They were no
longer the Gothic forms, at best only half understood,
which exhibited little else than fantastic excrescences, in
which there was no longer any trace of the fundamental
principles of mediaeval art. It was also no slavish translation
or echo of the antique. The older churches of the city, San
Domenico, Santa Chiara, the cathedral, those of the Quattro-
cento, as well as Monteoliveto, S. Giovanni a Carbonara,
and others, contain, particularly amongst their monumental
memorials, interesting works of the epoch and of the tendency
here indicated. Agnolo Aniello Fiore, son, or nephew, of
that Colantonio, who was father-in-law of the Zingaro, is one
of the ablest masters of this period. By him is the beautiful
monument in S. Domenico, which, as was already explained
in an earlier section, probably encloses the bones of the first
Count of Maddaloni ; by him is the memorial of Giovanni
Cicciniello, in the chapel belonging to this family in San
Lorenzo ; by him is the relievo in the chapel of the Afflitto,
in Santa Maria la Nuova, St. Eustace in adoration before
the Crucifix, which appears to him between the antlers of
the stag. The author of one of the best of these works, the
magnificent altar of Miraballo, in San Giovanni a Carbonara,
is imknown.

In these sculptures is foreshadowed (as Haphael was in
Perugino) the master who is allowed to have raised the
sculptor's art in Naples to the highest grade, which it has for
the most part attained. The name of Giovanni da Nola must
be repeated, for churches, palaces, squares, and streets preserve
in abundant measure the memorials of his activity and also of
his influence. Uniting the Tuscan and domestic elements of
the Quattrocento with the yet more awakening study of the
antique, Giovanni Merliano created for himself a style which
assigns to him, as to Matteo Civitella of Lucca, his elder by
about thirty years, an independent, separate position in the
history of art, whilst a whole active and fruitful school has
found in him its origin and its starting point. Of a religious
mind, in the midst of the sympathies of the antique ; full of

THE CiRAiAS OF MADDAI.ONI.

freedom in touch, but repudiatir!^ caprice ^ with peculiar c
raeteristics, althoug-h, in conformity with die manners of
times, devoted to tlie use of allegory; at once powerftili
tender ; true in the expression of the affections ; and eqia
removed from flatness and coldness as fiom aJfectaliaii i
extravag'ance ; with a refined parception of the beauiil
irliich also, with the approach to elegance, does not fijq
simplicity ; a correct draughtsman ; retreating' befoK.
difficulty, but not seeking out difficulties from c^wioft
vain-glory ; indefatigably active and enlerpriang', as bia M
berless achievements in Naples testify : such ia Giovaui-
Nola. By foreigners he is not known as he deserves to!^
because the Neapolitan school, especially in forei^ Im^
not sufficiently esteemed. With his great fertiUty it 1
impossible that all his single woriu should be of equal tna
But whoever considers the monumCTts of the Ihr«e brotlM
Giacomo, Ascanio, and Sigismonde, who perished by
on one day of the year, and above all, the statues of the
themselves who are sitting in varied attitudes, not in a'
tional manner, but both suitably and naturally, upon their:
cophagiis. with a truth and genuine feeling of esprcanoB.
their bearing and countenance which would tell their In '
story even without tiie inscription " teneho uibere o»
lUTiAM NEi?ATi ;" — whoever sees in Sta. Chiara the monimi
of Antonia Gandini, deceased when a bride in the bdoov
her youth ; and that of the little boy, Andrea Bonifacio, inf
Severino, this, like the former, not adomwi by the art ed
but by tiie excellent verses of Antonio Epicoro and of t
nazzaro ; — whoever, lastly, gives his attention to the numtN
less Eculplures, to the altars, the fountains and other wod
will not refuse this testimony 1o Giovanni da Nola, that
ivBs rich, fertile, and appropriate, no imitator of tlie aoeiei
or of his contemporaries, the founder of a prolific school,
which Naples owes the majority of its great works.

The rival of Merliano, Gholamo Sanla-Croce, mad»
specially famous by the tomb of Sanazzaro, lo which there
already been more than one allusion, and whicii oertainly
longs lo the most considerable sculptures of the time, e
though it should be reckoned inferior to the best of Da Nolft^
Domenieo d' Auria, Annibale Caccavello, Pietro Parata,
Other individuals more or less gifled, sought to hold fast tli

ARCHXXBCTUKllL OHANOIS IN lUPLES. 279

principles of this sdiool, wfaiish, evem when it became insipid,
l^reserved a certain gratee and fiuscination of fbrm, as well
as a richness of omam^t, with which it joined aa indns-
trious finishing of the whole. lis latest result brings us to
the dose of the sixteenth century, when other elements ob-
tained the upper hand which will soon o£R» matter for con-
nderatioQ. He who would form to himself a notion of the
truly astonishing activity of the Neapditan school of sculp-
ture in this, century would learn to estimate the wealthy if not
always well adapted means, and, at the same time, would
meaaure the splendour and love of enterprise of the nobility,
must visit the churches which were especially filled with altars
and monuments, San Domenico Maggiore^ in an especial man-
ner the Pantheon of Naples ; the chapel of the Caraccioli
Rossi in S. Giovanni a Carbonara, where the best artists of the
first half of the Cinqueoento vied with one another ; San Se-
verino with its many monuments ; Monte Olivelo, where the
sixteenth, strives to snatch away the palm from the preceding,
century ; Sta« Maria la Nuova, and in it, before all, the chapel
of the great Gonsalvo, perhaps the most beautiful, at all events
the most extensive in size, in the city, possessing the tomb of
the Marshal of Lautrec, which Gonsalvo's grandson, Fernando,
Duke of Sessa, erected, quamvis hostis, to the imfortuiiate,
but brave, general, Gallo duci Hispamus pbinceps, next to
the monument of Pedro of Navarre, who, a Biscayan, went
over to the standard of France^ and, nevertheless, was honoured
by his countryman and adversary, quum hoc in 8x habeat

PBJECLARA VIRTUS UT VEL IN HOSTS SIT ADMIRABIUS.

£ven had, as has been said, the extent of Naples, taking the
town itself, remained to the middle of the seventeenth century
essentially the same as after the enlargement by Don Pedro
de Toledo, many changes must, nevertheless, have taken place
in more than a hundred years. The street of Montoliveto,
one of the most considerable of the inner town, and a<iorried
with many palaces of the most illustrious fiunilies (for this
district, from S. Domenico to the Strada Toledo, was then the
centre of the life of the higher orders), was built under the
elder Duke of Alcala, towa^s the close of the sixteenth cen-
tury • A hundred years afterwards it recdved the fountain
with the bronze statue of Charles II., bereft by a nocturnal
depredation of the sword and dagger, just as if it was intended

280 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

lo say that these were useless to tlie weak rulera of Spain and
Sicily. Churches upon churelies had arisen, gorgeous for the
most part, and not without a certain grandeur, with a euper-
abundance of pictures, worka of marble, statues of bronze and
reliefe, but void of intellect and in a style of art less and lesi
refreshing, the fii^adcs abo, if not, as in Florence, unfinished,
nearly aff exteriorly insignificant. The great church of the
Geau Nuovo, begun, aa has already been stated, in the lost
times of the sixteenth century, upon the site of the palace of
the Sanseverini, — that of the Gerolamini, which is only a litde
more recent, — Sta. Maria la Nuova, entirely rebuilt at the
same time, and others, besides, bear the most complete testimony
to the then prevailing taste. This corruption of taste was no^
however, confined to the soutli of Italy ; Rome and Florencfs
Milan and Venice were ecarcely better in this respect. The
artists of the seventeenth century had in some measure magni-
ficent means at their command, yet, even where it is impoerable
to refuse them admiration, a real delight can seldom be pro-
duced by their achievements. They are characteristic as tiiej
are a lively expression of their age. Tiua age, however, ii^
with few exceptions, that of errors. It is all connected to^
ther: Life, Literature, and Art. The taste for the florid m&>
taphor and bombastic poetry of Giovan Batista Marini, went
hand in hand with the relish for the unnatural attitudes, and
the wreatlis of drapery of Michel Angelo Naccarino. From
the simpler beauty of form and the propriety of the figurei
and compositions of Merliano, sculpture had passed on, fint
to the excess of the Graces, so-called, and of the merely onia-'
mental among its pupils, then to the meretricious chancier,
the confused masses, the exa^eration in the structure of tba-
limbs, and particularly of the extremities, the predominance of
the mechanical part, and the desire for the conquest of ao' •
terial difficulties, which are to be found with his succeascn^,
who carry us from Naccarino to Fansaga, and so to the nilddw^
of the seventeenth century, when it was believed that tin^
masterstroke consisted in avoiding straight lines in arcbiteo^
ture, and the natural form in sculpture. One cannot lea>i«J
unheeded tliese artists ; nearly all of them possessed lalentp^j
they represented tlie spirit of the age more than words and
writings, and wiiat tliey could accomplish in a tecluiical
manner is proved by tiie bronze-works of Naccaririo, the most

ENLABGEMEirr OF SUBURBS* 281

excellent of which are the statue! of St, Matthew, in the cathe-
iral of Amalfi, and that of St. Andrew, in the crypt of Robert
Griiiscard's cathedral at Salerno, which, even in respect of their
shrle, have no little value. If any man takes a general view
^t the seventeenth century in respect to art, especially to sculp-
ture and architecture, he can find no fitter comparison for art-
ists and the public than that of great cliildren. Art, which to
the preceding centuries was an object of cultivation, was to
them a plaything. They longed only for an enchantment of
the senses, splendour, and luxury, they understood only the
exterior : they desired coquetry instead of grace, display in-
stead of dignity, the horrible instead of the earnest; they
broke out into flourishes in everything, in poetry, in sculpture,
in familiar and domestic life. The more gilding and facets,
the more ringlets and knots, the more parade and &n&ronade
the better. One thing must be taken with another if we
would avoid passing a false judgment on this singular style
and execution, which again in this day finds many followers.

Whilst the circuit of the walls of Naples remained the
same, suburbs had advanced beyond it on more sides than one.
On the north side, towards Capodimonte, and close by the foot
o;f the hill, monasteries and other buildings had arisen, all be-
tbnging to the end of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the
following, century ; the monastery of the barefooted Carmelites
of Sta. Theresa, that of the barefooted Augustines, that of the
Mission of S. Francesco di Faola, and of others not worth
recording. Upon the height beyond the broad ditch of the
town, where the garden of Alphonso II. formerly existed, with
its distant prospect, the first Duke of Ossuna, in 1586, built
a riding- school and stables ; there, thirty years afterwards the
second Count of Lemos established a imiversity, a more in--
convenient place for which could nowhere liave been found.
There was therefore no lack of jests and complaints at the banish-
ment of study outside the town ; as little as there was in our
days in another place and another country. In the course of
the year this building once more more changed its destination :
enlarged and new built in various ways, it became a Museum
competing with the Vatican and the Louvre, which must in
more than one respect yield it the palm. On the Borgo de'
Yergini, a name which is to be traced to the old conventual
community of the Eunostidse, dwelt many of the most illus-

282 THE CAKAFAS OF MADDALOKI.

trious families, attracted lliither by the purity of the air, as
well as by the combined advantages of town atid CDUBtn.
Nut-walks covered the slope of the hill, whsre Charles IILs
colossal almshouse raises itfelf ; the greatest hospital was then
near the church of S. Genuaro, which was on that account
called de' poveri, and at one time extra mcenia, to mark its
situation. It ia worthy of notice from its architecture, but more
femous on account of the thouaand-years' old catacombs, the
steps of which penetrate the tu& masses of these heights, an
inexhaustible subject for the investigations of archen>1<^ista,
whetlier their object be Christian or profene learning. Near
this northern Borgo, that by the S, Giovaniu a Carbonara, and
outside the CapuaJi gate, extended itsrit eastward, of which
there is nothing historical or artistic to be told. Towards the
bridge of the Magdalene, outside the gate near the Carmine
bajitioa, the dtvdlings of fishermen and husbandmen were by
degrees collected along the strand.

It is not difReult to form a notion of the condition of Naples
as it was two hundred years ago, if any one strolls through
the old^ streets of the town, Etiid calls to hid aid the nonwrixu
records and relations of eontemporaries. The streets, with
few exceptions, were narrow, dark, ill-paved with tiles, dittj,
and damp. It was about one hundred and fifty years after the
time here described before the names of the streets were marked
at the comers, and the houses numbered. Street-lighting; was
considered a luxury in many Italian towns, even to the end of
the preceding centory; whence was derived the custom of
ordering in times of disorder a. general display of lights at the
windows, as was the case during Masaniello's TcbelUoa. A
custom which even at this day, in another case, the exUlHtioa
of lamps and lights calls to mtnd, when in tlie night the little
bell of the sacristan announces the approach of the ptiwtt
who are bringing the holy viaticum to a dying person. The
dwellings of the people veT« wretched and unliealthgr b>-
yond measure. Many quarters were the constant retuga*!
infectious diseases, which, from 1494, again and ^ain bivke
out, and reached their climax in the fearful plague of the ywr
1656, which exacted from the city alone 350,000 victinu, ud
of which one is still reminded by the statues and busts ef
St. Cajetan of Tiene, set up over the gates under !ho admini-
stration of the Count of Caatrillo, as also by the frescoes of

PAIACES, ETC HOTEL RAMBOUILLET. 283

tiie Cavaliere CalabreBe, now in part destroyed. The houses
of the middle class, whidi bj d^rees had obtained more im-
portance, were yet in some instances, as is the case even now,
wholly miinhabitable ; in others, particularly in those of the
mmierous people who had newly acquired wealth, they vied in
ezpense with the nobility. The palaces of tlds aristocracy
wore numerous, — ^for almost all the feudal fiunilies spent tlie
greater part of the year in the town, — here and there they
were built in a commendable style, but on the avange they
were nothing less than distingidshed in an artistic point of
view. What they want in the latt^ respect they make up
by the splendour of the interior, which was more peculiar to
the seventeenth century than to any other age, The modem
style of palace, in so fiur as domestic arrangement is to be
MHisidered, is essentially of Italian or%in, and belongs espe-
cially to the fifteenth century. The earlier period of the
middle ages built for the most part aloft, and instead of houses
raised up towers, into which there was great difficulty in
dambering by the narrowest steps and a winding staircase.
The palaces of Florence, unsurpassed in style, which, notwith-
9tan£ng many deficiencies and discomforts^ as in the ever
steep staircases, yet, in the interior display a great prepress ;
those of the Medici, Bucellai, Grondi, Fitti, Strozzi, all
nose in the century just named. They furnished the rule,
more than the Venetians, with whom special local conditions
3ame into consideration. They were not patterns for Italy
done, namely, for Naples, where, as has been already ^-
plained, Florentine influence {n«pondarated in arcfaitectare,
but also for foreign countries, and, first in order, for France.
Sow Italian art was made available in the Renaissance, draw-
jig advantage from national elements, and amalgamating them
with itself, the buildings of the most elegant and graeeful epoch
jf architecture in France bring to light, from Jacques Cceur's
iiouse at Bourges to the castle of the Cardinal d'Amboise, at
Graillon, the splendid buildings of Francis I., and the castle of
Diane de Poitiers, at Anet, in which it is usiudl only too readily
» overlook the native principle, and too libdrally to attribute
x> foreign influence the beauty which has grown in Frendi
toil.* Nevertheless, for appropriate residences for towns, Italy

* Leon de Laborde, La Renaissance des Arts h la cour dc Franco.
Paris, 1850. Vol. i. p. xxxviii.

284 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOXL

fumisiiea the pattern. The hotel Eamhouillet was not onlv
famous in a literary aspect, but also remarkable for the dr-
cumstance that it produced a better taste and greater conveni-
ence in the entrance into houses. Not until this precedent was
the floor raised, were lofty ajtd wide doors and windows made,
which opened in their whole height and were symmetrically
cut ; not before this pattern was the staircase so arranged that
a connected suite of apartments waa obtained, whilst up to
that time no one had known how to build in any other way
than a large room on the rig-ht, a small one on the left, dooB
and fitaircases in the middle. Catherine de Vivoane, Itfar-
quise de Rambouillet, who, in the first half of the seventeeuth
century built this house, which was not without influence
upon the palace of the Luxemboui^, was the daughter of a
Boman mother, Giulia Savelli; and at that time Rome already
possessed many of its palaces, which, in respect gf noble beauty,
are not surpassed at thla day.*

The luxury of the interior arrangement of the Neapolitan
palaces is described by many contemporaries as excessive; but,
we must be careful about taking too literally such descriptioiu,
and especially the statements as to the love of spleudour of past
times. Our standard will very possibly prove a false one.
The fashion of making furniture of mosaic in wood (taisia) had
come from Florence to Kaples under the kings of the An-
gonese race- A high pitch of perfection in labours of this Irinil
had been reached in Tuscany in the fifteenth century; asi
besides those who made the art their means of livelihood, then
were also the monastic clergy who employed themselves in
it, representing on a flat surface figures and groups, as well
as flowers and umamenta, and even landscapes and buildings in
woods of various colours, which were at the same time also
interspersed alternately with ivory and other substances. After
that the churches, chi^y the stalls and the sacristy chests (on
which the tareia by degrees supplanted the earlitir custom of
decoration by painting, which was in use in the age of Giotti\
and even in that of Fiesole), had been thus oniaroeiiteil,
came the turn of the palaces. The Duke of Calabria, after-
wards AlphonEO n., had the furniture for his study made iu
tarsia by Benedetto da Majauo, after that the latter had

• HiBtoricttra de Tallcmant Aea RC-aax. Vol. iii. p. 233.— Duo de
Noaillee. HistQiTC do Hadnme de Maiulcnoo, raria, 1848. Vol. i p. S7,

DECORATION OF CHURCHES. 285

supplied chests of tke same sort for Alphonso's brother-in-law,
King Matthias Conriiras^ which, unfortunately for him,
suffered from, damp at sea.* In Istfir times tlie costliness,
of the materials was the chief thing looked to. Numerous
works of art filled the palaces ; pictures, as well as sculptures
'both in marble and bronze ; splendid carpets of velvet and
silken stuffs, inwoven with gold, or of a richly figured texture
which bore the ancient name of Arazzi ; lofty Venetian mir-
rors, with elegantly cut glass ; costly vessels, some of the
precious metals, with enamel and chasing of which so many
and such wonderful specimens have remained to us, others of
porcelain from the distant East, and of skilfully wrought
rock-crystal, which was much sought after. Silver and gilt
ware was used in abundance for tables ; and the furniture was
principally gilt, and of heavy and richly-ornamented forms.
A curious order by the Duke of Ossuna, of the year 1618,
prohibiting, under pain of the gallies, the employment of
gilders in private houses until the completion of a certain
galleon then in course of construction, shows how great was
the demand for gilders.^ The returns of the works of art
and household furniture burnt, or otherwise destroyed, during
the rebellion of Masaniello of itself puts us in possession of
the &ct of the gorgeousness of the Neapolitan palaces.

With this splendour of private residences the churches at
least kept pace, if they did not even surpass it. The eager-
ness not only to endow churches and monasteries richly with
lands, but also to ornament them extravagantly, rapidly in-
creased, especially towards the end of the sixteenth century,
and reached its climax in the second half of the following
century ; and this decoration no longer by preference applied
to the beautiful works of art, but, as was the case in the
dwelling-houses, to the costliness of the materials. It is a
circumstance worthy of remark that this eagerness augmented
more and more in times when the public misery was dreadful,
in times when the people were turbulent, because they had no
bread. Only five years before Masaniello's insurrection,
200,000 ducats were expended upon the altar of the Annun-
ziata, a work of Cosimo Fansaga, who was more extravagant
in execution than ingenious in invention, a work which was

* Vasari, Life of Benedetto da Majano.

t Zazzera, Goyemo del Duca d' Ossuna, at Palermo, &c. P. .^34.

n

I i-Ia

f P. 3

286 THE CARAFAS OF IIADDALOSI.

cuDsumed in the flames a century later. The pix belonging
to the Theatine church e\t!cuteil at this period was the most
costly in the whole city, a:!! well from the value of its precioM
stones, as from the excellence of its workmansliip.* Tbc
treasure of St. Jauuarius was, just at that time, enriched bj
many of its nkr«st articles, whilst about a uiiliion of ducali
were disbursed for the chapel of the patron saint. Yet theie
presents increased in one of the epochs immediately foUowiog
that juBt described, namely, after the great plague by which
ao many &milies were bereft of their members. Tlie Vice-
roy, Count of Fenneranda, beyond all others, CDnfirmed
this propensity, by encouragement and by his own fining
— a propensity which the ^Neapolitan people were, Here-
ibeless, unable to bring into better repute with foreign Bkr
tions. They were used to stealing, as it is said of than, from
their cradle, and left to the ciiureh at their death a portion d ,
that of which, they had robbed her in their lifetime.

Two buildings in Naples give us a complete picture of art in
the first half of the seventeenth century. Those in which it Ini
striven to do its best are, the Carthusian church of St. Martin,
near the fortress of St. Elmo, of which notice has already been
taken, amongst the buildings of the Angevin period ; and Ae
chapel of the cathedral, wiuch is named after the treasure of
St. Januariua. When any one enters the church of St. Martin,
he is justly struck with astanishment at its gorgeousoeia — ■
goT^^ousness which will only be found equalled in La Cetion,
at Fa via, and here and there in the buildings of the seventeentli
century in Falermo. That which single chapelu in Some
exhibit, and not in so great a degree, is here shown by a whole
lai^ monastic church. All the walls are covered with the
most skilful marble mosaic; all the altars shine forth with
the richest labonr in precious stones, amongst which are aeea
the agate, jasper, lapislazuli, and the choicest amethysts. All
the tffilustrades of the chapel are of the roost beautiful marble^
and of different kinds of porphyry ; everywhere axe rcMettesi
leaves, and ornaments in mezzo-relievo, the esecution as exo^
lent as the material is costly, — in short, a richness whicii even
ooe used to richness only contemplates with astoni.ihment
Had the taste equalled tlie expense few things could have

Digpatchos of thi? Tuscan Agent, in the je«r 1S42, at Palwajo, Ac
P. 334.

i«J

NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL OF PAINTING. 287

tood be^e it. Bot it iras just the eeventeenth centuiy
rfadch achieved this wooek, and £x>m it it will be «TideDt that
be spirit of enterprise, perseverance, richneas of invention,
uod a power of wielding great material reeoorces, which can-
lot be denied to the artists of that period, can, nevertheless, not
nake up for the want of a more refined feeling and a purer
juste. The less rigid was the adherenee to the rules of
lit, the less eaa the errors of the epoch indicated be
palliated. And yet how much talent shines forth in many of
tbese works I The man who built this chapel gave the tmie to
Naples. Cosimo Fansaga di Bergamo was a scholar of the
elder Bernini, and studied chiefly in Naples. He possessed
oMidi architectural capacity, but a propensity for that which
is uncommon, and a delight in extravi^ances corrupted him ;
and the nonsensical pyramids with which he endowed the city
(those before St. Gennaro, and particularly those before the
D<mienican church, which served as a model for the later ones
before the Jesuit church) strikingly resemble the ornamental
pastry-work of the confectioner. These pyramids are an indi-
cation of the tendency of the age, the faults of which are
indeed carried to a climax of extravagance in than. In other
points there is improvement, and much respect is due to the
imagination, boldness, solidity, and grandeur. The sweeping
and ignorant condemnation of the age of periwigs, as the period
of B^ini and Boromini to the middle of the preceding cen-
tury is styled, is for the most part at an end.

Cosimo Fansaga had also a hand in the chapel of the patron
saint of Naples. By him is the rich facade which separates it
from the side aisle of the church ; but the design for the chapel
itself beloi^ to the Theatine Francesco Grimaldi, of Oppido.
It is no original style of architecture, but one throughout proper
and well conceived. Like Rome's most beautiful buildings of
this kind, the chapels of Sixtus Y., and of Paul Y. in Santa
Maria Maggiore, and of the Corsinischen in the Lateran, it
is in the form of a Greek cross, with a large cupola. This
last part is said to have received mosaic decorations after the
})attems of St. Peter's cathedral, but was finished al fresco.
On the altars are the handsomest pillars of that Spanish marble
which goes by the name Brocatello ; the brazen lattice- work
alone, in exquisite taste and finely wrought, occasioned an outlay*
of more than 32,000 ducats. A very host of statues in bronze

288 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALOKL

and marble, both allegorical and representing aaiuts ; evMj-
where ^rpbyry, lapi»lazuli, gilt brass, huge candlesticks d
^ver, exclusive of the peculiar treasure which is preaervBl
in the adjoining loom oi the chapel, and which the pietjof
the rulers and of the mighty has increased even to this day.

This was just the period in which the art of paintii^ il
Naples entered upon a. phase which, independently of its fs"
tility, must be designated as most peculiar to, and cha,racterialK
of, itself. This tendency arose principally ©ut of the coatn-
dictions of two schools in up|x>^tion to each other ; and if u
explanation of the power which it carries with it is partly U
be found in its origin, bo ia it by no means without its it
pendance on local elements. These elements an
measure national, in some measure are they the
result of Spanish influence, that is, of that of the acbool «
Seville. The contention amongst the schools into which tin
Italian art of painting was split at the beginning of the sevea-
teenth century, between the Uomaii Mannerists, Bolognne
Eclectics, and the Naturalists, was nearly fought out vrift
swords by the Cavaliers d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesori), t^
Annibal Carracei, and Michael Angelo da Cara\-ag«io, Itil
explanatory of the timea and persons, that D'Arpiuo did not
accept the challenge of Caravag^o, because he was a knight
and the other not (the other also aftenvards became a knight),
whilst Carracei declared that the brush was his sword. In
Naples, however, the contest became in a cei
personal matter.

The architectural committee of the chapel of St, Januarive
had resolved to have the frescoes for it executed by Ceaari,
who had recommended himself by his finished paintings on tlie
■wall of the sacristy of the Carthusian monastery. The agree-
ment was made through the medium of the Spanish Kavaf at
]Jome in the year 1617. Materials and money in advancer
objects and figures decided on, were sent to the painto-. a^
multitude of stipulations made, and arbitrators for fixing the
price appointed. But the Chevalier d'Arpino had a fear at
Naples, where the native painters had already made war upon
him to such a degree, that he had fled away to Monte Cassino.
tio prev^ling was the dread, that he preferred giving up the
glorious commission to resolving upon his return,

in October, 1619, the conunittee struck a new bargua

JEALOUSIES AMONG ITALIAN PAINTEBS. 289

Gruido Reni. It is not without interest to consider such a
contract. Everything was laid down before hand, not only
the subject, but also the arrangement. It was a great thing
that they did not prescribe to the painter the attitudes ; but
this was to be gitisto il parere del medenmOj that, is, was en-
trusted to his d^retion. Here he had angels to paint, ^' with
such sacred symbols or ecclesiastical attributes, as express
the episcopal dignity of the saint ;" then the cardinal virtues,
'^always two-and-two, with some angels, according to his
liking." For each figure as large as life he was to receive
130 ducats ; for every one larger or smaller always in propor-
tion (with Domenichino the price of the mezza figura was after-
wards settled at 50 Roman scudi) ; regard was to be had to
loss by remittance of exchange. According to a further sti-
pulation, a complete domestic arrangement was to be made for
the painter, as, for instance, the sum of 450 ducats 66 grains
was paid for silver spoons and forks, for table and bed furniture,
and so forth. Guido Reni at last arrived, in the year 1621,
and the task was to be begun. But instead of that it began
the intrigues of the Neapolitan painters.

The history of Italian artists can furnish some isolated cases
of tragedy. The murder of Domenico Veneziano, by Andrea
del Castaguo ; that of Guido's pupil, Elisabetta Sirani ; and
of Masimo Stanzioni's pupil, Anna di Rosa, with other traits
of passion and iniquity, are sufficiently known. All this,
however, cannot be compared with the actions of a whole
society of artists during many years, which cast a melancholy
light upon the moral condition of that period. Belisario Cor-
renzio, by birth a Greek, but long since settled in Naples,
ailer that he had in his youth visited the school of Titian,
could not bear that a foreigner should be called upon to
execute a work of such importance, that it must render
famous the name of any artist. He hired the dagger of a
bravo, Gian Domenico, of Capua, to destroy Guido and his
colleague. The latter indeed was murdered. The assassin
came to the gallies ; Belisario lay a long while in prison, but
was afterwards released on baiL Guido had had enough
of the affidr, and returned forthwith to Rome. In vain the
committee sought to come to fresh terms with Giuseppe
Cesari ; nothing could induce him to return to Naples. So
then the task was committed to two native artists, Fabrizio

u

i

290 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI,

Santafede and Gian Batista Caiacciolo : aiid with tlim
joined the Boli^neae Francesco Gessi. But not much timl
be looked for from liiese second-rate painters. Th«f '
met with no approbation ; and the poor termeuted
of architecture issued a notice : that any painter, ]
or fiirdgner, might undertake the task, only on the
condition tliat he was not to receive anything- for his
hie coloure, or other outlay, if his pcunting was not appn

Beliaario Correnzio, full of haughtiness and self-canctat,i
gined himself at the sunnmit of his wishes. In coojunctiaiii
bimon Pa|ui. the younger of this name, he oJIered ' '
to the committee. They painted one of the pen.
the cupola, but neither did their perfoimance fulfill
tations which liad been fanned. Thirteen yean h
since the transactiofw with the Cavaliere d'Aipinoj _
money had been spent, and nothu^ was achievecL It
tlien, at tlie beginning of 1630, resolved to summon
chiiMi. The news was scarcely rumoured throug^h tJie
when he was warned by an anonymous letter, tiiat if he
cepted the commission, it shotild fare worse witli iiim thftn
his countryman Guido. Tiie intervention of tlie CanL_
Buonoumpag'no and Cactani, of the Viceroy Ihe Duke of All
and of Count Monterey, the then Spanish Envoy
was necessary to prevail on Domenico Zampieri to
the tai4. He insisted on ptirticukr guarantees on the pttti
the giwernment. If these protected him from i
they did not preserve him fr«m those everlasting

and vexations, which had so much the more effect upon ,

tliat he was already by nature shy and anxious. He begaa
work in ttiB year 1631 ; but the years which he paseed in 1
pies were not happy ones. There was on all sidee nothinq; bit
blame and ill will: with one he was too cold, with anotherkO
slow; this person said he stole his thoi^hts from other psi^i^
that person said he had no execution. To prove the lUtov
they spoUt his chalk and colours. When Correozjo was w^
from ^;e, tmd Caracciolo dead, Giuseppe Kibem uri
Giuseppe Lanfianco of Farma. continued the war of m^lw*
a^inst Doraenichino ; they even accused liim of overfilling fab
pictures with figures, because he was paid by the piece ami bj
the head- They made it so irksome at last, that poor Zam-
pieri, accompanied by a servant, ran away on foot, took hone

THE NATUBALISTIC SCHOOL. 291

Kt the second post, and reached Borne, whilst the Viceroy shut
up has wife and daughter, in order to force him to return.
Chice again were the Cardinals obliged to mediate, but he did
net return for a year. Domestic misonderstandings arose in
addition ; and Domenichino died, aged sixty, in the spring of
1641. There was talk of poison, but affliction probably l^led
bim.* Four of the altars of the chapel have paintingps aa
eopper plates by him ; as also to him belcmg &e frescoes of the
huiettes, of the pendentives and vaultings. Meritorious as
they are, they are yet inferior to his works at Borne, and
Grottaferrata ; to the wonderful frescoes of the life of St.
Cecilia ; to the Evangelists in St. Andrea della Yalle ; to the
healing of the possessed. Other painters, amongst them
Ribera and Stanadoni, painted the pictures of the remaining
altars ; Giovanni Lanfranco the cupola, with the richness and
multiplicity of figures and groups, but at the same time with
the thoughtless and soul-less conception, and with the mannerist
fiunlity, which makes most of his performances uninteresting
and disagreeable. The paintings in the chapel cost upwards
of d4,000 ducats.

This history of the chapel of the Treasure has brought before
UB the names of the more considerable painters who lived in
Naples in the first half of the seventeenth century ; but it is
necessary to contemplate them in theii* struggles wad in their
character, from a nearer point of view. The Naturalistic
school here gained a decisive victory, not, however, until it
had incorporated with itself other elements from other schools.
Michael Angelo Caravaggio had worked in Naples personally.
He effected, however, infinitely more by his example. The
whole importance of this man is apparent when the feeble
style of the Roman painting of that time — ^the time of Gregory
XIII., of Sixtus v., of Cl«nent VIII. — is considered, the
conventional drawing, and dull as well as false colouring of these
last o£&ets of the Raffaellesque and the Michael- Angelesque,
which are scarcely worth looking at. Michael Angelo da Cara-
vaggio is wanting in refinement of feeling, and also in mode-
ration, but he thoroughly understood nature, colouring, and
effect. The Neapolitan school was, as it were, re-animated by

* Account of the Chapel of St. Januarius, from the Archivio del Tesoro,
in M. A. Ghialandi's Mipmorie risguardante le Belle Arti. Bologna^ 1844
Toi V. (Bologna, 1844) p. 128.

u 2

292 TliE CARAFAS OF M.VDDALOSr.

him. It was not, perhnps, either a hidden life or one of d
mona'raiion. It aniae in all its vigour: it was powerful u
unattractive like the time ; like tliat, gluoniy and desolate, vili
little sestheticnl sentiment, but witli eflective truth. It «a
more dreadful than demoiiiaeal, with that predilection fbrtU
which was horrible and bloody, which is chiefly to be ascribd
to Spanish influence, inasmudi as it is more in accordance wilk
the hard and melanclioly nature of the Spaniard, and irith b
extravagant love of painful subjects, than with the ch
of the Neapolitan, passionate but unable, excitable t
ness, but, with all his want of discipline, Ihoroug-hly gooi-
hearted. The school of Caravaggio was here,
said, tempered with other elements. Amidst num
of distinction, the principal tone cannot be mistaken ; and iB
influence, moreover, makes ititelf felt with those who, in Uxi
whole culture, belong to another school, and assume an il
dependent position. This was the case with Belisarin CoP,
renzio, who, in colouring and des^n, formed himself afler till
Venetians, and especially after Tintoretto, and, like hini,!
rapid painter, did not shrink from the most gigantic uniel'
takings. His works, that is, his freacues, are everywhere lot4
met with, and they wouLi be met witn still oftener had Ma afi
petite for labour been always satisfied. His productions lire H
be seen in the Gesu Nuovo, in San Martino, and loany otha
churches, in the royal palaces, and in other places. Aman^
the most beautiful is accounted the cieling of the chapter<-r(M0
of S. Severino, now the R^stry of the Archives of the Not*
ries, where he creates astonishment by grace and <;arefiilO(M
n? also by intellectual beauty, qualities which are often veastei
in his labours, more remarkable for grandeur of plan and ani-
mated grouping, than for the correctness and expression uf the
figures. He closed his life in a violent manner, at more ihau
eighty years of age, by falling from a scafibld in S. Severine,
when be was retouching the pictures in the cieling, which be
had completed many years previously; after he had lived
nearly half a century in Naples, full of envy and discontent ;
hod quarrelled with almost all' his contemporaries ; and, in
union with two other painters, had exercised a despotism wfaicb
had even plunged him in a public crime.

Giuseppe Ribera, suroamed Lo Spagnoletto, and Giovaii'
Eatista Coracciolo, were the two masters who, aitlunigbj

.^2.

LO SPAGNOLETTO. 293

differing much from one another, chiefly assisted in the propa-
gation of principles allied to the Caravaggiesque. Ribera,
not an Italian by birth, although indeed one by his activity,
softened in some degree the gloomy harshness of his pattern
by Correggesque elements, without however perceptibly weak-
ening his intrinsic nature. In the art of fliat effect, which
rests upon something more than mere contrast, in the cha-
racteristics full of significance, in the conjuring forth of the
reliefs, he is equal to Caravaggio ; but, whilst of the latter it
was said that his material was human flesh painted, the colours
of Ribera's palate became richer as his conception showed
greater nobleness. Whoever wishes to take a view of the differ-
ence between the two, let him compare Caravaggio's celebrated
** Laying in the grave of Christ," in the Vatican collection,
awfidly true and striking in its literal apprehension of the
commonest human nature, with Spagnoletto's " Taking down
from the Cross " in the chapel of the Tesoro S. Martino. A
better picture he never painted, and it is a speaking proof of
the perfection of which this style is capable. Colour, light,
drawing, vie one with the other ; and the attitude of the body
of the Saviour, laid upon a linen cloth, is in its rare art both
difficult and natiu*al ; the modelling is perfect. The position and
bearing of the byestanders are thoroughly suitable and speaking,
whether their grief expresses itself passionately or calmly.

The churches and collections at Naples are full of the works
of Spagnoletto, who, better than any one, understood how to
avail himself of favourable circumstances, and to make himself
a good position to outward appearance, after Hiat, by the favour
of the Duke of Ossuna, he had been dra\Fn forth' from the ob-
scurity of his youthful years. He became court painter to the
Viceroy, and arbitrator in matters of art. He lived en grand
seigneur, and with Spanish grandeur : he kept carriages and
liveried servants ; his wife had her cavaliers, who attended her
when she went out ; he had a gentleman to hand him his
painting brush, and, when he had painted for a certain number
of hours, three in the forenoon, two in the afternoon, to say,
" Signor Cavaliere, you have worked enough, recreate yourself
by a walk." In the evening he was wont to see people at his
house: he lived in a beautiful house, which Luca Giordano
afterwards occupied. He was not large, but had a good car-
riage and much dignity in his behaviour, even towards the

294 THE CARAFAS O? MADDAiOXI.

most illustrious. Hu pride was mingled with natural ctai*
fiilnesa, and he loved jests and Jokes, but was too easily sarc^'
and postuoDate. His wife, Leonora Cortes, -was beautiful ai
full of intellect, but wilhal immoderately addicted to diaf^
and pleasures. Of her five children ttie ddeat daughter, Mtr
Bosa, was of rare beauty ; this beauty, however, brought £
lutfiour and ruin upon the family. When dtiring the di^nl
aocca which are called after Masanielbi, King Ptiilip'* m
Don JuBQ, carae to Naples, and as a young man loving ]ila
sure, was anxious to know the town and people as muH I
circuntFtanoes would permit, Giuseppe Ribera also sougjhtl
pay liis court to him. He invited him to his house to aWei
muBical representation, because Don Juan was usually pIoM
with such invitJktionB. In this way the king-'s son beon
acquainted with the painter's daughter, and an intercounea
sued between them, which ended in the damsel foUowi^ li
seducer into the ^nlace, and, afterwards, to Palermo. T\
proud artist, thua wounded in his honour, curr«d himself M
bis vanity, which had brought him to this pass. He fonod
his house, and withdrew to Posilippo, went out no more, oi
would see no one. But quarrels with his wiie, and muWll
recrimination made even this retir^nent a hell. He i»
appeared one day, accompanied by a sii^le servant. Wlat
became of him b not known. Spanish liiatorians make IdB
die poor and unknown in Naples, after a year's wandering
up and down. The historiaiie of Neapolitan art know noUui^
of his end.* He was not more than fifty-six years «lf U
wlien he disappeared; the guilty daughter died young, ofL
broken heart. Tradition relates of Spagnoletto that homhil
story of the youth nailed to the cross, that he m^ht serve
model for the dying Saviour ; a story wliich has been dtvi
put, first upon one artist and then on another, even oo
narotti and on Rubens, and has been so beautifully treated
a German poet of our day. It is a mere fable, andthoroi '
without any foundation in fact. The psychological
tion, however, will be evident to any one who has
upon Giuseppe Eibera's bai'barous pleas
horrible scenes of martyrdoui (a singular
even a mind so classically nurtured as that of Nicholaa

• De ComiDid, &c Vol iii, p. 139.

LATER HEAPOLITAN SCHOOL. 295

exempt), on bta violent contrasts, his passionate ex-

. and gloomy oolourinj, and lim beard of the wild

itrife aiid bloody enmities, the medicious snares and low

eiimes, which would render the history of Neapolitan art of

■- at time a tragedy, if the commonnesB of lliese practices did

it overpoww tJie tragic part in them.

There is much less decision and unity of purpose in Giovan
Batiata Caraociolo, and tliercfore much less power and efiect
' Bu in Spagnoletto. He laboured to reconcile the primdjdtt
the Boli^aese school, to which he peculiarly bdonged, with
that of tiie Naturalists, an attempt which, in spite of liia unde-
liable abilities, he succeeded in less tlian did lus pupil Masimo
one of the most gifled of the masters of that period.
which appear hardly, or ratlier not at all, compatible
iritb each other, are blendeil togedier hannoniously by him ; and
fit were not that such an endeavour eanly leads to intdpidn^B
fem which even Stazzioni's later works suffer), we could not
tut piaiae that style which has succeeded iu uniting the truth,
he striking character, and the |)owerful effect of tlie Nat»-
a^eb with the finer forms and ihe nobler expression of the
Elclecticii. First one and ttieu the other tendency prevailed
■ntong the later Neapolitan painters. So far as they come
Within the bounds of tiie present history, that is until about the
middle of liie seventeenth century, they are, with all their indi-
vidual peculiarities, only the minutely shaded productions of tLe
sfbrcsaid schools in their more or less successful assimilatioa.
AJl the foreign painters who worked in Najiles left behind
tbem there some impressiuu of ihemselves. Excepting Spaguo-
toto, Salvator Rosa, and a few others, most of the Neapolitans
were practised fresco painters, and tius, — like the Bolognese,
the Correg^esque, and ilie school of Fietro da Cortona, — £^
in with the wunts of the age iar the pictorial decoration of
1h^ spaces, were Ihey churches, palaces, or halls. The
«T«nteenth century ha^ in this respect nearly outdone tlie
preeeding one if we look only to bulk anii magniiioence ; and the
last oonsiderable painter of Naples, Luca Giordano, has tjhown,
Mpecially in his wonderful paintings in Che cieling of the
gaUery of the Medicean-Biccardish palace at Florence, how
ta, apart from a want of style, ease in compositioa and Isil-
liant colouring in this sort of painting, approaching to deoo-
can be carried. One of the few who remained a atrany«x
painting was Andrea Vacearo, who, p'

296 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOSL

between Caracclolo and Stanzioni, and the founder of a seW
mueli sought after, weakened yet more the character for wteS
them artists were still distinguialied.

It is now almost time to part from the Neapolitan aitiA
The adventurous life and \vild pursuits, of which meniw
has already been made, lasted even beyond those timet £
hostile rivalry, and seemed to be an inheritance of In
school. How the battle -painter, Aniello Falcone and kl
pupils, Salvator Rosa, amon^ them, exercised their ]
sion during Masaniello's insurrection, will be told in th
section. Even if the truth alone be told, Salvator's life!
a romance. The artists of those days seized their swords M
readily os their brushes; they did not wish to be styled C»»
lieri to no purpose. The fashion of making them knights fal
arisen especially since the middle of the sixteenth century, u
also with the period of the prevalence of Spanish customs U
of the Spanish "Sosaiego." Bacdo Baodinelli, the gramln—
of a collier in a Tuscan village, became a knight of St. J^
Michael Angelo Buonarotti, descended from an ancient an
illiMtrious race, disdained outward distinction. The Pop
made numberless cavalieri, partly of the Militia Aurata, parti
of the Order of Christ, which in Portugal had taken the plaa(
ofthe suppressed Order of Templars. It was not until lal«
that the French kings converted to this purpose the Onler e
St. Michael, which, until the time of King Henry III., hi
been the highest mark of honour in France. The Malta
Cross was seldom bestowed in this maimer, yet, Slichael AngeL™
da Caravaggio obtained it, — notwithstanding his dissolute iiiq;
of which his style is a true picture, — from the Grand Mosltf
Alof de Vignacourt, for his picture of the " Beheading of tbs
Baptist," in the principal church at Ta Valette. <

Mattia Preti also, sumameti II Cavalier Calabrese, nidt
whom this group of Neapolitan painters will ctmcliidfti
bdonged to the Order of Hospitallers, and hb life also abouaded
in ever-changing circumstances. He waa born at Taverns is
Calabria, and sprang, it is said, from an ancient fanuly.'
No original mind, he took upon himself just what attracte4
him, so that he grafted upon Guercino (after whom he dn^i
formed himself) the reminiscences of Rubens and of tl»
French style, which he had brought home with him tnm Usi
travels. He had already, at the intercession of Pope Urban
*""'.) received the cross of the Order from the Grand Master,

J

FRA MATTU PRETI. 297

Paul de Lascaris, when, in a ccmtest witH a fencing master
who had been the instructor of the Archduke Leopold, he so
roughly handled his adversary, that the Imperial Envoy in
Rome not only lodged complaints against him, but also sought
to get him into his hands, so that Fra Mattia was with all
speed obliged to ship himself off to Malta. At Malta an
asGociate told him in derision that painters should busy them-
gdves with their paint-pots, and not with knightly pranks.
Fra Mattia left him half dead on the spot, and only avoided
arrest by escaping to Leghorn in a felucca. He went to Spain
with the Pope's nuncio ; journeyed in Upper Italy from city to
dty, painting in Venice, in Florence, and Bologna ; returned
to Bome, where Innocent X. had ascended the Papal throne ;
had an afiair with a rival iii his art, and dangerously wounded
him. Now must he again seek his fortune in the wide world.
The Neapolitan was the nearest frontier : thither fled this un-
quiet spirit. But a short time before the plague had raged in
Naples, and, though it had ceased, there was fear of its being
introduced afresh. A quarantine was enjoined at the gates.
Fra Mattia was ignorant of this. When he was about to enter
the city, a sentinel rudely seized him ; as he strove to free
himself, the soldier aimed his arquebuse at him, but fell to the
ground at the same instant, pierced by the sword of the
painter-knight. Enraged, he disarmed a second, took flight,
and ran straight into the hands of a patrol of the city militia,
who were coming to relieve the guard. Caught and im-
prisoned, he was called upon next to give an account of himself.
But he had run away from Rome so hastily, that he was not
provided with a passport. The Sanitary Conunittee pressed
for a sentence of death ; but the Viceroy, Count of Caistrillo,
brought the af&ir before the Collateral Council, and among
its members there chanced to be one who had known Fra
Mattia at Rome, in the house of Olympia Aldobrandini. To
this circumstance he owed his preservation. To obtain his
release he offered the Viceroy, if he was restored to his
liberty, to execute without pay the votive pictiu*e designed
to be placed upon the city gates by the Committee of the
Sediles. His offer was accepted. The frescoes of the Cava-
liere Calabrese have now entirely vanished from the gates of
Naples, or are not to be distinguished, but the older de-
scriptions of the city commemorate with especial praisie and
satisfaction the truth with which the Naturalistic Mannerist

298 THE CARAFA3 OF MADDALONI.

had represented the dragging away of liie ]>lague-9nutBB
corpses.

He remained after that a long time in Naples, and nanwif
escaped a shut from an arquebuse, which was ii]t«nded turluo,
by a &niier whom he had pourtrayed aa the flayer io a picUn
of tlie Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew. Among the
works which be completed here are the pictures in t'
of S. Pietro a Majella, effective and powerful ia ■
although too much darkened- These pictures the
monks wcmld not by any means accept, because they saw
daubs of colour and heavy shades, thick noses and go
eyes, for so the pict^ires appeared before they were fixed*
tiieir place, at a considemble distance calculated before bv^
in t^e gilt Iramea of the cieling, wlucb was ornamented wii

earring'. At length, in the year 1657, Maitiu de Rfd

Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, sununoneti him ■
Hulta, and gave him the commisaron to adorn vtith fMWUl
the principal churcfa'of the capitaL Fra Mattia sp«)t the lut
forty years of his life, with few intermissions, at Malta. Hll
ha£^, pasnonate temperament had had time to grow cool: ki
hod become a staid man, had received the CommaudeRbip at
the order of Syracuse, laboured aisiduously, and gave H'"^
all liis earnings to the poor. He was one of the most po^.
knights. He painted in large tableaux the history of tb»
tist, in the remarkable, although too gay and tasteleas, cT
of St. John, which the Grand Master, La Cassiore. h

in the latter part of the sisteenih century, and on the qi

monuments of which may be studied the genealc^y of a g
part of the French, Spanish, ami Italian nobility, jutf m
the cathedral at Mentz that of the German nobility may b
leamt. The walls consist of the white limestone of the Island, I
which receives nothing that is put upon it, so lliat the painttngi
are executed in oil colours upon liie atune, atWr it has bos
nnoodied and saturated with linseed oil. llis chef-^ttttert,
however, is the colossal picture of the *' Kartyrdom of St i
Laurence," in the church on the Borgo, dedicated to thai n '
After having survived seven Grand Masters, he died at M
in his eighty-sixth year, at the close of the ce:itury, and a
the administration of Itamon Perellos de Hoecafull.

REBELLIOH AOAIHST THE DUKE OF AHCOS.

CHAPTEa L

Q AnieUo — In-

CreHfiing discontent of the popnlooe — Giiilio GenuinD. FestJTal of
Our La^j of C&rmol — Beginning of the dispute on the m urgin g of
the 7lh of Jnly — The deputy of the people K'aclEiio'a interview
■with the Dulo of Arcoa — Attack upon the palace. Danger and
flight of flie TicEroy — Cardinal FQomarino as peacemaker — The
TicsToy in the Casllc dell' Uovo and in Caitelnuovo — Diittirbaiiuea
in die night from the 7th tc tbe 8tb of July — Ihwreaa of the rebel-
lion, 8th July — The Duke of Mftddaloni us an officer with a flag of
tniee — The privileges of Charlea V. — DeBtmctJon of the toU-houeea
and of private houaca — Madda]i>ni detained by the rebels — His
fli^t to ToreUa — Filomarino a^in a mediator. Itfanxignor Altieii
— Storming of San lareaio — Masanicllo'B great influence ^ — Attack
of the benditti upon Masaniello and hio followL'ca — Muidcc of Don
QiaBappo Carafa — Deatruetion of the dwcUinga of the Carafas —
Scgotialions of the Viceroy with the rohels — Trpaty of the Duke of
Arcos viA the penph^ — MasaEiella in the royal paLice ^ Contintui-
tion of Ac rebellion. MaaanicUo's acta of violence. The captain-
general of the people — AnieUo Falcone and. hia death troop. Salva-
tor Hon— Solemn convention in Iho cathedral, 13th July — The
beginning of MaaanieUo'B deliiinm ^- Sensclcsa rage. The poiace of
Maddaloni^Plot of the Duke of Arcog against Maaaniello — Mulder
of MasaniotlD in the Carmelite coavent — Hia funeiaL

Two years iu two successive centuries have acquired a melan-
choly celebrity in the history of Naples, on account of the
inBurrections by which they were characterised, aikd, by a still
more singular coincideuce, the leaders of the people in both
rebellions bore the same name. Iu the year 1547, as has been
related in tlie introduction to tliis history, the people of the
capital took up arms against Don Pedro de Toledo, who at-
tempted to introduce the Spanish inquiaitioD iu the kingdom.
Id ihe year 1647 a rebellion broke out against the Duke of
A rrvifl because, in this same kiugdom, everything was taxed.

A

L

300 THE CARAf^YS OF MADDALC

even to the liglit of the sun. A man of low coadiliun. one ol
tlie hundred thousand, who, so to speak, witlioot shelter or
clotliing', led a life in the great capi^ of fwuthern Ital; \a>
like that led in any other town of Europe, threatened til
Spanish autlioricy oa both occasions, especially on that oUi
we are now describing, if not with ruin, at least with Mrieoi
danger. And if the superior power and wisdom of J^
issued victorious out of these stru^les, tlie country bm IK
inhabiLints were left in a still more deplorable condilMb
The revolution apparently attained its aim each time. In tb
year 1547 the Spanish inquisition was not introduced ; in tta
year 1647 the obnoxious tases were abolished. But the Sit-
eensions between the two great parlies of the nation wen
more deeply rooted and widely extended, and every free inarc-
inent was siified more and more by (he oppression of the nut
dreadful of all governments in modern times, which w8« do*
lined lo last a century longer.

In May, 1647, a rebellion broke out in Palermo anunnl
the lower class of people, which the viceroy, Uon PeSo
Fajaido Marquis de Loa Veles, was not in a condition ton-
sist. The constant increase of the taxea on articles of fcod,
which, especially in the manner in which they were theu raised,
were the most felt and the most burdensome kind*of taxatios
for the people, excited a tumult which lasted many monthB^
occasioned serious dissensions between the nobility and the
people, and was only subdued by a niisture of finuness afld
clemency on the part of the Cardinal Trivulzio, the bucccmot
of Los Veles. The news of the disturbances in Sicily i«a<jwd
Naples, when everything there was ripe for an insurreciioi),
which hod for a long time been fermenting and agitating men's
aunds. On all sides the threatening indications iner^MML
Kotiucs posted up on the walls announced that the people of
Naples would follow the eiample of the inhabitants of Palemu
if the gabelles were not taken off, especially the fruit-lai,
which pressed the hardest upon the populace ; the hotter t^
season was, the more the poor felt themselves debarred from
the enjoyment of a cheap and cooling food. The viceroy was
stopped by a troop of people as he was going to mass at the
(thuruh of Santa 'Maria del Carmine; he extricated himgelf
&om his difficulty as well as. he could, laid the blame on the
Mobility wiio had ordered the tax, and promised what heagftt.

ORIGIN OF MASAIOELLO. 301

intended to perform. The associations of nobles assembled,
but they could not agree. Some were of opinion that the tax
should be kept, because the change would interfere with their
pecuniary interests ; others because the money asked for by
the government could not otherwise be procured. Notwith-
standing these unfavourable circumstances, the Duke of Arcos
allowed most of the Spanish and German troops to march into
Liombardy ; he was deliberating how to meet the attack of the
French in the north of Italy without considering that he was
stripping the country of armed forces, at a moment when the
continuance of the Spanish rule was more than ever in
jeopardy.*

On the great market-place at Naples, the scene of so many
tragedies and so many disturbances, stood a miserable cottage,
with nothing to distinguish it from the others but the name
and arms of Charles V., which were placed on the front wall.
Here a poor fisherman lived, Tommaso Aniello, generally
called by the abbreviated name of Masaniello. His father,
Francesco or Cicco, came £rom the coast of Amalfi, and had
married in 1620 Antonia Gargano, a Neapolitan woman. In
the Vico Rotto by the great market, which is only inFabited
by the poorest people, and where the pestilence began in the
year 1656, four months later, the son was born who was des-
tined to act so remarkable a part. Tommaso Aniello was
baptised in the parish church of Sta. Catherina in Foro on
the 20th of June, 1620. On the 25th of April, 1641, he
married Berardina Pisa, a maiden from the neighbourhood of
that town.f Their poverty was so great that often Masaniello
could not even follow up his trade of a fisherman, but earned
a scanty livelihood by selling paper for the fish to be carried
in. He was of middle height, well made and active; his
brilliant dark black eyes and his sunburnt face contrasted sin-
gularly with his long, curly, fair hair hanging down his back.
Thus his cheerful, hvely conversation agreed but little with
his grave countenance. His dress was that of a fisherman,

• Principal source of information about Masaniello's rebellion ; Diario
di Francesco Capecelatro de Messo a stampa dal Marcbese Angelo Granito,
Principe di Belmonte. Vol. i. Naples, 1850.

t Luigi Volpicella, Delia Patria e della Famiglia di Tommaso Aniello
d* AmaM, amongst the Acts of the Academy of Cosenza. Vol. iii. p. 96.
Capecelatro, Diario, note ziii.

302 THE CAEAFA3 OF MADDALONI.

but aa he is in g:eneni) considered a, remarkable person, whit
ever may be liioiig-ht of the part he perfonned, so lie undo-
stood, ill spite of the meanness of his attire, by liis amingeBBl
and hia choice of colours, to ^ve it a peculiarity that stumud
it in the memory of his contemporaries. The Jife of tbb »■
markable man — a nine days' history — clearly show§ us tlalli
possessed wonderful presence of mind, and a spirit thai Ion
not fear.

It happened onoe, in the midst of the discontent whict m
everywhere excited by the esorbitant increase of taxation, tlB
Masaniello's wife was detained by the keepers of the g<l)
wliilat she was endeavouring to creep into the towii mAl
bundle of flour done up in cloths to loolc like a child in mi'
dling;-clothes. She was imprisoned, and her husband, vk
loved her much, only succeeded in obtmnii^ her libentidB
after eight days. Almost the whole of his miserable gook
went to pay the fine which had been imposed upon her. TJiV
hatred was smothering- in the mind of Mnsaniello, and
flame was stirred when he, it is not known how, quarrelU
with the Dnfce of Maddaloni's people, and was ill-used by tbtn
in an unusual manner. Then the idea seems to hare oceatni
to him to avenge himself by the aid of the people,
have related that instigators were not wanting: Giulio
nuino is named, formerly the favourite of the Duke of Ot
who, after he had encountered the strangest &te, and
wearing the chain of a galley slave at Oran on the coast I
Bftrbary, had returned an aged man, in the tiabit of an eccli
dastic, to his native country, meditattng upon new intrigu
as the old ones had felled : also a captain of banditti and
lay brother of the Carmine, who gave Masaniellu money, wei
amoi^t the conspirators. Perhaps all this was only an al
tempt to explain the extraordinary fact. Thus much only !■
known with certainty — that Masaniello sought to coUeCt k'
troop of boys and young people, who, amongst the numerona
vagrant population, thronged the market and its neighbour*
hood from the adjacent districts, as whose leader he intended
to appear, as had often been done before, at the feast of lh>
Madonna of Carmd, which takes place in the middle of Ju^.
At that festival it was the custom to build a castle of wood
and canvas in the middle of the market-place, close to wfaieh,
aa has already been described, was the church and convent of

CAUSIB OF THB OUTBKEAK. 303

the Carmelites, and this castle wad beseged aiid defended by
troops of the people. The grea-t ma^ of the assailauis was
fonned out of a band of lad* of the lowest class, about four
hundred in number, who painted the greatest part of ihrar
bodies and their &ces black and red ; their tatterod clothes
gave tbem an Oriental appearctnce ; they were armed with
Btieks, and called the company of the Alarbes," perhaps am
Arabian name. They were drilled by Masaniollo. and con-
sidered him as tbeir chief.

It is easy to conceive bow ill the people spoke of die tax-
gatbererg, who, by their severity and roughness in their daily
treatment, kept up perpetual quarrels and ill-will with tlw
equally rough populace, who therefore tried to deceive them.
On one beautiful summer night the ciutom-house iu the gxat
market-place flew up into the air. A quantity of powder had
been conveyed into it by unknown hands, and in the morning
uotliing' remained hut the blackened ruins. It had been in-
tended by thb action to oblige the viceroy to take olf the
taxes i but, without loss of time, in an opposite building' a new
custom-house was established. The collectors were only the
more angry and unmerciful, and every duy seemed lo bring
the outbreak nearer.

Thus the morning of July 7th, 1647, approaclied. li wrw
Sunday, and a number of fruit-sellers, with cartii and donkHV*
and full baskets, came into the town very early from I'liunioli,
and went as usual to the great market Scarttety hud they
reached it when the dispute began. The qaesti'in wan not n
much whether the tax was to be paid, as wiio waji la |>ay ll.
The men of Pozzuoli maintained that the Keapnlitan dmJcia lo
iruit were (o pay tive carliiia on an hundred weiglil ; the olhnr*
said that it was not their business : thus the diiitiirbiinc'! Ixiffku.
Some respectable people who foresaw the evil lia*t(.-tud lo th*
viceroy, who commisaoned Andrea Nacleriu, the deputy of lim
people, to go immediately to the market-place, and naUtie paww.
Naclerio was getting into a boat to nil to PtaiUpu, wli«r« tw
intended to spend the day with hie colkaene* belonging to th»
lUBoeiBdoD of nobles, when he received tbe ord«r. Me luniMl
back, coasted along the shore of the Maiinella, and got otit hj
the taniHfr's gate, near th? ftirt which takes it* iianiv IVoin ttui

■ Alarbei, a nuae given lo thow Anbiau wbo Awe!] iii li'nU, >iid
wbo are ^lingoiihed b^ ihai datm Ana oflwn wbo Ur* in Uiwimr--
Beeit CyetopaiSvi,

304 • THE CAHAFAS OF MADDALOSI.

church of the Carmelites. Here a difierent Sunday scene
awiiitod hitii from that whicEi he hud promised himselfiu tbe
fragrant and aliady gardens. The market was filled witli
riotous people, and the uproar was so much Ihe worse becaufie
Masaniello, with liis troop of Alarbes, bad met there in tiie
morning for a grand review. The people of Pozzuoli. of bad
Jame since the days of Don Pedro de Toledo, quarrelled and
protested ; the Neapolitans were not a whit behind them in
fluency of speech. The tax-gatherers would listen to no re-
monstrances, and iii^sted upon the payment. Andrea Naclerio
tried in all ways to obtain a hearing and to ap[rease tbe tumult.
He said to the Poziuolans that they ought to pay, that the
money would be retunied to them; they would not. He de-
manded to hare the fruit weighed ; lie would pay the tax out
of his own purse : this also they refused. The tax-gatherers
and sbifri now lost all patience. They fetched the great scales,
and wanted to weigh the fruit byforce. Thenlhevenderspusbed
down the baskets, so that the fruit rolled along the ground, ami
called out to the people, " Take what you can get, and tajte
it ; it is the last time that we sliall come here to the market !"

From all aides boys and men flung themselves upon llie
baskets and the fruit. The signal was giren for an insurrec-
tion. The tax-gatherers drove the people hack ; the people
made use of the fruit as their weapons. Andrea Nacleiio
rushed into the thickest of the crowd ; the captain of the obirrt
and some of the respectable inhabitants of the adjacent tan
quarter hastened hither, and bore him in their arms out of the
knot of men who in one moment had increased to a lai^
mass ; for idle people liad flocked thither from the neighbour-
ing street, irom the dirty and populous Lavinaro, as well as
from the coast. The deputy was rejoiced to reach his boat,
and made the rowers ply vigorously that he might bring the
news of the tumult to the palace. But the populace pro-
ceeded from fruit to atones, put to flight the tax-gatherers and
sbirri, crowded into the custom-house, destniyed the taUa
and chairs, set Are to the ruins as well as the account-book^
60 that soon a bright flame rose up amidst the loud rejoiciiigi
of the bystanders.

Meanwhile Andrea Naclerio liad reached the palace. He
related the whole proceeding to the viceroy, and pointed out
to him at the same time that only the abolition of the fnui-
tax could appease the people. The Duke of Areos resolvoi

J

DEMAND THE miVILEGES OF CHARLES V. 305

» try mildness. Two men of OlHStrioos birlii, who were more
doTed by tlie crowd than the others, Tiberio Carafa, Prince
FKsigTiano, and Ettore Ravaschieri, Prince of Satriano, re-
ared to the market-place as peacemakers. Naderio was not
itisfied with this 5 te feared that Don Tiberio would, in his
indness, promise more than could be performed, and so only
lake matters worse. What he had foreseen happened. When
lisignano reached the market and found tiw crowd still wild
ith rage, he announced that the viceroy would not only
Owlish the fruit-tax, but all the other gabelles : they might
Ake meny and be satisfied.

The rioters listened. A promise from the viceroy of the
ix)lition of all the gabellea^tliat was worth hearing. Masa-
iello had kept quiet during the assault upon the deputy and

) tax-gatherers, and to a certain degree had acted as me-

itor. "Mow," heesclaimed, " we wiU march to the palace."
'he great mass of the people followed him ; another troop
grounded Bisignano, who would gladly iiave freed hiinself

mt hia wild escort, and trotted his horse when he came to

B king's gate ; but they soon reached him again, and so

leh forgot the respect duo to his rank, that they laid their
mda on him and compelled him to accompany them to San

renzo, the residence of the superior town magistrate.

rived here, they cried out for the privileges of Charles V.,
» Idea instilled into them by Giulio Gennino, who, disguised

id with a long beard, made one of tlie procession, and wa^

e soul of all the intrigues that were hidden under the wild
imulses of the masses. Don Tiberio Carafa esteemed him-
3i fortunate to escape from his oppressors ; he crept into a
M, and went to Oasielnuovo, from whence he repaired to

me, so exhausted from the scene he had witnessed that he

d mad not long afterwards.

Meanwhile the far more numerous band was on ils way to
a royal palace. Drummers marched in advance. Masa-
ello had mounted a horse, and held up a banner, some of
B followers were provided with sticks, and others armed
ith poles. They had in their haste seized upon any imple-
BUls that they could find ; numerous lads, old guards of the
ader, accompanied the strange procession. Whistling and
a blustering noise, most of them in rags and bare-
a genuine mob, who soon became aware how much

306 TUE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

was left lo their will and iliscreiion. The duke was in the
palace, and with him many of thG uobles belonging to ilie
towii, who advised him to streiigtheo his Spanish guard imnie-
diately ; but he would not, whether from fear of iiritadag- the
people, or because he did not consider the danger so immineat
The grand master of the horse, Don Carlo Camcciolo, with
Don Luis Ponce de Ijeone, a cousin of the viceroy's and govo^
nor of the vicarial court, were standing on one of the balcooifll
at the momait when tlie crowd reached tlie square before the
palace, and Masaniello waving his banner three times befixe
the royal guard, called out " Long life to the king of Spatnl
Down with the gabelles !"— a cry which was repeated by
thousands of the people. Caraceiolo went down, and begu
to talk to the people. They remained standing; they coiih> ~
plained of the oppressive taxes ; they complained, of tLe bad
bread i they held him out pieces of it ; ha might judge for
himself whether it was food Cor men or for dogs. They urged
above all the deposition of the Eletto, on whom, as usual, the
blame was laid that thii^ were not more prosperous.

At first afiaira went on tolerably well. With great dex-
terity Don Carlo kept the crowd away from the entnuicei,
whilst he corresponded by means of hia vassals with the vice-
roy, who consented to Nacleriu's deposition^to the abolitioa
of the duties on fruit and on wine. Now the audacity of the
crowd increased. Why not ask for more when everything
was granted to them? The 6our-tax also ! Caracciolo ob-
jected ; things could not go on so. But in the same twnaitj
new masses of many thousand men crowded into the iquu^fl
uttering wild noises. The negotiator was obliged to fftM
way, and liad oidy time to iiifoi-m the viceroy ihat he miglit '
withdraw into Castelnuovo.

When the people lomid the outer gate of the palace un-
guarded, they rushed into the court and forced their way up
the great stairs. At the end of it, at the entrance of the hall,
stood the German lx)dy-guanl. They crossed their halberds to
ward off the crowd, but the pressure was loo violent Af^t
short struggle their arms were wrenched from them ; i)t
treated and bleeding, they could no longer defend the tn-
trance against the assailants. Meanwhile the Duke of AicM
had made his appearance ut one of the balconies, and UU
the crowd in the Spanish language to compose th«nselvei| kt |

uelvM,WJ I

THE PAiACE STORMED. 307

would do their wilL Bnt they did not understanii him, and
cried out that he must keep to what he had promised them by
the Prince of Blsignaur The viceroy saw that he was losing
time. Already the forouoet of the assailants stormed at the
doOTS of the first salooD, which had been locked in haste.
Now every moment was precious. In vain did Don Carlo
Caracciolo try once more to appease the people ; a blow from
au iron staff wounded him in the arm, and he was hit by two
stones. The doors of the first saloon fell with a load crash to
the ground. Now the crowd saw no further impediment.
Everything; remaining in the palace was torn asunder : the
viceroy causing the various dixirs to be bolted liehind him,
hastened to the ^llery that he might reach the spiral staircaw
leading into the courtyard. Now he repented tW he hod not
followed Caracciolo's advice, who had desired him to make hi*
escape to the castle. Andrea Naclerio concealed liinu«If in
the apartments of the vice-queeo, let hiraaelf down by a rope
into the garden, and fortunately reached the fortrem. IIuI
tiie mob broke everything that they found in the royal apart-
ments, the panes of the high windows clatleffd up<)n tb«
ground, and in the midst of wild rejoicings and lauKiit^r til
the valuable househord fiimiture was flung down tnini tb«
balconies into the streets, including the chairs, the great fan-
Bol of the governor of the Collateral Council, and the mangW
papers of the secretary. Even the balustnutcs of the liul'
conies did not esmpe the Vandal fiiry of iho populatw, and
witii heavy iron poles and haram-ers they daithed.iii yincet the
beautitlilly polished works of sculpture.

The Duke of Arcos had descended the Hpiral rtaireoM,
trhen he perceived that the bridges of tlie uutle weru alreatly
drawn op, the portcullis let down. He believed tluit he cMiii
save himself by croseing the square to tlie opponite couvrnt of
the Minimi, as he imagined that tiie rebels wera loo nitotdi
occnpied with plundering the palace to att^td to hJm. Rut
he miscalculated. Scarcely had he reached the aquari', wluni
he was reci^ised and surrounded. A knight of 8t. 'fago,
I>on Antonio Taboada, was accidentally piu«ing by, he mie-
ceeded in penetraring through the crowd lo the victiruy, aiul
lifted him into his carriage. The rescue of the Duke of
Arcos tomed upon a htur. One «f the people, it Is ta'ul Mam-
' " " '", TOited » tlinuc fai> mavi into bin, Imt tim

308 THE CAILVFAS OF MADDAIONL

blow was parried by Don Emanuel Vaez. A runaway Au-
gustlnian mock seized him by the hair and Bcreamed " Abolish
the faxes !" The carriage could not go on. The horses
pranced ; some of the people seized the reins ; the coachmBn
was Dti the ground. Then many of the nobles pressed through
the crowd, making themselves a passage partly by violenoe,
partly by fair words — the Count of Conversano, the Marquises
of Toirecuso and Brienza, the Duke of Castile Airola, the
prior of Rocella Carafa, Don Antonio Enriquez, and Carb
Caracciolo — the viceroy was indebted to them for hia rescue.
They surrounded the carriage with drawn swords. The rebels
had already taken tlie harness otf the horses ; two uoblsDea
took poBsession of it, put it on as well as they could, and
Caracciolo jumped upon the coachbox, fastened in the Ioom
horses, whilst the other nobles remaned at the door- But
there was no getting furtiber — the cries, the uproar, the ma»
of men increased every instant. So few against so maoy —
if there was any delay no exit would remain. Don Carlo
Caracciolo's mind was quickly made up ; he opened the doon
of the carriage, draped out the half-dead viceroy, seized him
by the arm, whilst the res.t of the nobles surrounded them,
raising high their swords, a>id wardingoff the pressure of the
mob. Wiih the cry "Make room for the king!" they got
through the crowd.

Thus they reached the gates of the convent ; it was shut
up. The populace yelled, and threatened the monks with a
thousand maledictions if ttey opened it. The General and ,
the Provincial of the order were present, botli Spaniard*.
They ordered the gate to be half opened to admit the viceroy.
Thus it was accomplished — Caracciolo gave the duke a push,
and he was saved. But the noblemen to whom he was io-
debted for his safety remained wilhout, exposed to the fury of
the mob, now become so much the more savage as they saw
that their victim had escaped. Carlo Caracciolo saved him-
self with difficulty. A stone wounded the Marquia of Briema
in the neck. The people tried to break open the gates of the I
convent, which the monks had barricaded in ha^te. '• Long |
life to the King of Spain ! Down with the bad government ! i
This wa^ the cry, echoed frora a thousand voices. The Duke 1
of Arcos showed himself at the window — he repeated that bs I
would grant what was desired — he threw down a declonStn j

ACCOUNT BY ABCHBISHOP OP NAPLES. 309

^(^ed by himself: nothing was of any avaiL The rebels tried
Mp ffet into the convent tlm)ugh the church ; they threatened
ijfc drag the viceroy to the market. The alarm spread through
^Ae town. At this momentous crisis, the Cardinal Archbishop
.^Bcanio Filomarino appeared.

J, The more important the part which the Archbishop of
-^iiraples acted during the revolutions of the kingdom, so much
*liie more interesting is the account of it written by himself, in
^- letter addressed to Pope Innocent X. " When I left my
rfcouse yesterday/' he writes on the 6th of July, at the 21st
'jhour, '^ to go to the Capuchin convent, I perceived that the
jrlceroy was besieged in his palace by from fifty to sixty thou-
^*puid of the people, who wished to extort by any means the
-•bolition of the fruit-tax. This tax has agitated the minds of
^the jpeople for some days : the crowd was alike exasperated
fuj;aui8t the ministers and the nobles, and threatened to plunder
their houses, and even not to spare the convents, for it is said
* that from fear of an insurrection a great number of treasures,
■Jewels, as well as plate, have been concealed in these last
' places. Upon this news I changed my purpose, and turned
back towards the town by the gate of the Holy Ghost. On
the way I met numbers of my acquaintance who were making
their escape, and advised me not to go further, but to return
home, which only stimulated me to hasten my speed. About
a hundred steps from the palace of the nuncio (on the Toledo)
I met a troop of armed men, who were marching on in the
ffreatest excitement, whilst people streamed from all the ad-
jacent streets. I expected kindness from this people, that I
have always found full of respect and affection for their
pistors, and amongst whom I saw many that were personally
Imown to me. When I gave the crowd the blessing for which
they longed so much, that they were unwilling to let me pass
without it, and spoke kindly to the people, they replied that
at all events the fruit-tax must be abolished. I assured them
that X would stand by thei^, and willingly sacrifice my life for
them, and labour for the abolition of this and of the other
gabelles. They must be quiet, and let me act, they would
Certainly be satisfied. The further I proceeded the greater was
the crowd, so that to get more space some of the leaders of
the people, who were well inclined towards me, accompanied
me and made room for me by making signs that I was on their

310 THE CABAFAS OF HADDALONI.

side. Thus with great difficulty I reached the square be&m
the imlace, tiiat I found full of frantic people. When I
uDderstood that the viceroy had taken refuge in the oomMt
of the Minimi, I sent him word by one of my noblemeD tkt
I was arrived, but that he must submit to the people. In-
ceived for answer that the viceroy as well as the offioen viA
him were extremely rejoiced at my arrival ; and as I la
getting out of my carriage to go into the convent, theMaiqu
ofTorrecuso brought me a note written by the viceroy In*
self, in which he promised the abolition of the gabelles. Ate
I hiad read tlie note, and communicated its contents to tk
people, I ordered them aloud, and in the presence of all, to
pull down the custom-houses ; and that on the next moming
better and more substantial bread would be sold. I camnt
describe to your Holiness how this order pacified and oaor
tented the people. When I returned to my carriage the
crowd surrounded me ; they knelt before me, they kissed aj
hands and my clothes ; those who could not reach me, made
sisrns at a distance with their hands and mouths. As I re-
turned by the same road, T made it known everywhere thtt
the gabelles were abolished, and tliat the bread would be
better. This announcement had such an effect, that in the
abovementioiied part of the town the tumult considerably sub-
sided, and people's minds were tranquil, and I desired the
leaders of the mob to go into the other quarters of the town,
there to proclaim the same good tidings, and restore peace."*
But the cardinal deceived himself, and assisted jierhaps
even more tlian did Tiberius Carafa by his imprudence to in-
crease the rebellion. The passions of the multitude once ex-
cited, evil-minded persons were not wanting who availed
themselves of this excitement. Scarcely had tlie archbishop
departed, when the uproar began again. Neither the Prince
of Montesarchio, nor Don Prospero Tuttavilla, nor any otiSSb
were able to restore peace, however lavish of their words. The
populace attacked the Spanish guard belonging to the palace,
broke in pieces their drums, smashed their pikes, and were so
violent that the soldiers were obliged to fire. This produced
an effect. Five or six of them fell, and the crowd disperseil
in a wild flight. The viceroy had profited by the inten'al,

* Lettcre del Cardinal Filomarino, published by O. Aiazjci. Floreucc,
1843 (printed again at Palermo and otiier places). Pp. 379-393.

ESCAPE OF THE YtCmCt. Sll

going out by the back dooi* of the cdnvvnt, to reach a house
ifttuated on the slope of Pizzo&lcone. Here he got into a
olosed sedan-chair, and, accompanied by many noblemen, went
to the castle of St. Elmo ovw the bridge built by the Duke
of Medina, which "unites the hill of Pizzofiedcone with that of *
Ban Marttne. Part of the way the motmtain^Vas so steep
that THe bearers of the sedan-chair in which was the viceroy
oould not proceed. He was obliged to get out, and by a great
exertion this corpulent man climbed the height. Other cava*
tiers attached themselves to this procession which met with no
impediment from the masses of the people who had all moved
down to the lower parts of the town. The Duchess of Arcos,
into whose apartments the populace had penetrated, had fled
with her children and servants, with her maids of honour and
many other ladies of illustrious birth belonging to the town,
into Castelnuovo. But the Spanish troops had left the neigh-
bouring posts, too weak to be able to defend them against the
mob, and all the army had assembled under the Prince of
Ascoli in the park, which joins the palace as well as the castle,
to maintain this advantageous post by their united efforts.

The night came — what a night ! A hundred thousand men
marched with loud cries through the town. The churches
were open, and resounded with prayers for the restoration of
peace. The Theatines and Jesuits left their convents and
arranged themselves in processions, singing litanies to the
Madonna and the saints, but the Ora pv nobis was over-
powered by the fury of the crowd. Although the first forced
their way down the Toledo to the palace, and the others pene-
trated to the great market-place, they were obliged neverthe-
less to withdraw without having accomplished their object.
All the highwaymen and murderers, of which Naples was full,
left their hiding-places. The first thing done was to break
open the prisons and set the prisoners at liberty — all, except-
ing those confined in the prisons of the vicarial court, for the
castle of Capuano inspired the rebels with respect, whether
because of a very large imperial eagle of Charles V., fixed
over the portal, or because the garrison of the old fortress,
together with the sbirri, stood with lighted matches behind the
cross-bars, and threatened the assailants with a bloody wel-
come. The prisoners in the viparial court now sought to set
themselves free, and began by destroying the cross-bars with

312 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALOSI.

Leavy beams ; but some shots, which. laid two of tbeiu d
un the ground, warned them to desist from their attempt. .
the other prisons were cleared, and the archives and evn
tiling Uiat couJd be found in them was burnt ; the toll-ban
throughout the town were demolished ; the mob went fid
one gate to soother. Everywhere the toll-gathenn il
escajted — nobody thought of making any resist&nce, ami I
there were no more prisoes to be broken open, no mure eustm
houses to be destroyed, the populace b^an to attack i
houses of those whom they knew had, by farmiDg tolls of i
any other way, become rich at the expense of the feoA
There was no mention of defence — the proprietors were ^
to save their bare livea. Many rewarded with gold the M
vicea of the rowers, who conveyed them to a viDa at PowUp
or to any other place beyond the town. But the houses Wfl
emptied : first that of the ca£hier of taxes, Alphonso Vag;Iiu
Beautiful household furniture, plate, pictures, evet^-thing tb
could be found was dragged into the streets, thrown tog^
in a heap and burnt ; and when one of the people wanted '
conceal a jewel, he was violently upbraided by the rest.

Hitherto but few, comparatively, of the rebels had be
armed : they felt this deficiency, and wanted to procure tjieu
selves amis and artillery. With this view they attacked ito^
oonvejit and belfry of San Lorenzo, but the small SpuiBh
garrison received them with sharp firing, and they ' " '

to retire: they only committ«i the more acfc _

cruelty. The most fearful confusion prevailed : first in
place and then in another the sky was red with the

tion. Suddenly a lurid light iUumiued the towen, _,.,

jecting buildings. The market-place was the principal qusrUc'
of the insurgeuL'j, who still wanted a leader. There tomir^
midnight four men, masked, wearing the liabit of one of tha
holy brotheriioods, entered a circle of men composed of th*
dregs of the populace — amongst tliem was Masaniello. Giulio,
Gieouino, one of the four men, took off his mask. Hebldi
excited and fanned the flame the whole day, and atn
sought, in the darkness of the nigjit, to complete what h« __.
begun. They had done right, he said, to let the King irf'
Spain live, for it was not a question of taking the craxtt'
oi Spain off his head, but to put an end to the opprvtulw
t>f the people by his covetous minister. They must not

MORNING OF THE 8tH JULY. 313

till they had obtaiiied this, but to obtain it, it was necessary
above all things to procure themselves arms, and, by the
ehoice of a leader, to give union and steadiness to their under*
taking. They all agreed with him, and that very same night
lliey followed his advice and provided themselves with arms.
They stormed the shops of the sword-Ksutlers, and took pos->
session of five pieces of light artillery belonging to the pro-
prietor of a ship, and even during this first night the name of
jCasaniello passed from mouth to mouth.

Meanwhile the Duke of Arcos had not lost his time. He
quickly stored the castle of St. Elmo with provisions, con-
oerted signals, issued orders respecting all the powder that the
town contained, and went at midnight, accompanied by num-
bers of noblemen and a strong escort of Spanish infantry, to
Castelnuovo, the governor of which, Don Kicola de Vargas
Machuca, was prepared for a vigorous resistance, and even for
a r^^ar siege. The royal palace remained desolate and for-
saken. After the first tumult was over, the Spanish guards
had occupied it again, and Don Francesco Toraldo, Prince of
Massa, who was destined soon to take one of the most promi-
nent parts in this insurrection to his own ruin, undertook the
command. Many persons of consideration did not shun the
danger, but went to the corn-magazines with the order to take
more nutritious bread for the following morning. If the vice-
roy did not give up the hope of appeasing the people in this
manner, on the other hand he did not neglect to take prudent
military measures. The park at the palace, from which a
bridge leads over the deep ravine to the castle, and the bar-
racks upon the Pizzofalcone, were all secretly occupied by all
the troops that could be collected, and thus the morning of
the 8th of July was expected.

The morning came, but it brought neither assistance nor re-
pose. When the day dawned there was a beating of drums,
a ringing of bells, and country people pouring in from all
sides. The discontented vassals of the barons in the neigh-
bourhood, the banditti, and vagabonds of all kinds, increased
the masses of the populace of the capital, who were augmented
by troops of horrible women and children more than half
naked, making the most dreadful uproar. Arms of all kinds
were in the hands of the insurgents ; some of them made use
of household and agricultural implements both for attack and

ai-i THE CARAFAS OF MADUALOSI.

defence. Unfortunately, various powder-magazines fell inlo
their lianda. At Little Mo\a they stormed a house in which
amuiuniiioD liad been placed; it caiiglit iire and blew up:
ubove forty per^ns were killed and double tlie number woundeilf
most of them severely. The exasperation only increased. It
was soon observed that it waa not blind fury alone which coo*
ducted the rel>ellion — clever management was evident. Th«
Count of Monterey had given the people a sort of military
constitution, as lie divided them iuto compcmies according t0
the quarters of the town, which resembled those Ifermandadm
which the Archbishop of Tortosa, afterwards Pope Adrian "VXf
formed in tiie time of Charles V. in Spain , and that afiterwudi
caused an insurrection of the Communeros. This practice 'a
the forms of war was now of use to tlie insuigentu, aiid whei
on the second morning some of tite worldng cIhsbcs and m«efak>
nics, and persons indeed that belonged to a higher claas of cttk
zens, joined themselves to the actual mob, thinking to obtaiD •
better government in consequence of the insurrection, thV
danger increased. The two principal leaders were Domienicv
Perrone, formerly a captain of sbirri, and Masaniello, whem
the people about the market-place, and the Lavlnaro and iM
vicinity, had clioaeu: but Giulio Genuino conducted tbewhols
aflair by his counsel.

A formal coiujcil of war was held in Castelnuovo. Tl»
viceroy was quite aware that the utmost he could do with hit
few troops would be to defend the fortresses of the town agiinil
the people, but that he could not subdue them. He was, man*
over, reluctant to make use of fire-arms, as the insurgents pf*^.
claimed aloud everywhere their loyalty to the king. So bs
resolved to open a negotiation, to regain his lost ground, or if
least to gain time. The Duke of Arcos has be^ accused ol^
having', even iu Iheee early moments, conceived the plan
push tlie nobles forward, with the view to make them dm
hateful than ever to the populace, and thus to annihilate tb
influence completely, a policy that was so much the m<
knavish the more faithfully the nobles liad stood by him duriotf,
these last eventful twenty-four hours at the peril of thpir aiMf>
lives. Wliatever his plan may liave been, the result was (V
same ; whether the idea proceeded from the Duke of Arco«, or
ins successor the Count of Ouate, the insurrection of 1647^
caused the ruin of the aristocracy. The Prince of Ha

fe.»

PKACEFCl. HKAETBES Of" TEE ViCaiOY. 315

sarchio was the first whom the viceroy teal a£ a nieeseng^r of
j)eace. The name of D'Avalos was ihrougii Pracani aud Del
Vasto cliMelr asMeiated with the n-arUke iamt tii tltr tiiB» nf
Charles V. His repatatioo had been hrilliaitt frcnii llit -jteriul
of the Moomb waiE till iion'- Great pDi»e«eioiu aecnnd him
great influence in maity parts of the kiiigdom. Muiiitearchio
rode to the market-place protided with a «-ritteii prouum: uf
the viceroy's tooclnag' the abolition oi' the taxe&. Be tutit an
oath io the church of the Cannelitee that the fmnuKe idiould
be kept : the people refused to believe him. Thtoi tiw l>iike
of Arcos resolved upon sending' otherE. The gvu-reJ uf tb*
Franciscans. Fra Giuvanni Uistaaza, vho wah iu liie caAle,
directed his atttmtiou to the Dulte uf Madd^raiL

Diomed^Carafa liad lieeu for some tinie agam a pnncoier ia
Castdnuovp. TmiEactionE nith the famittt) and aibttn^
conduct U>waTds the pet^Ie had broi^^ Uai to ofMtft
ivhich was shaTMl by his brcitlier Den Ginifyi^ For ■Ini
reaH>n he was elected for this woric of p^«^ «te Ind «>
heavily oppressed the kmer cbMHi, >ad had «w— riltt*i wuA
ucts of violence thai he had the credit of boag tke kidcr of
the most licentious espaliers, it aaoectatD. It wm «id to In
because he, as a patrician uf the Seggio dd Kklo, had
CQunteract«d the mischief of the tax, and ihiemt*
lace was better iuciiiied ton'ardf him lima tonm
beis of the other aedihs. But oibcn wid, aod
more justice, that tike 3c<)uairiiar:ce vhich be had with
Ferrone was the real cause of it ; fiir this mau bad Uwn KM
a leader of sbini aod the^ of batiditti. and DioDied Canb liad
had a great deal to do with both. However itm might lie,
the viceroy cunimoned him : he mu to go to the gnsi mari(M>
place and try to conclude a peace with tbu luuler* of tba
people. There should be no further ineoboD of Itia crimM at
of punishment : Doo Giuseppe CaiaJa was aba received again
into favour.

The duke mounted his bmse and rode with neitral tmbleinen
to the mark el -place. Arrived there, he employed all hi« ulo
quence. lu the name of the viceroy he promised free trade in all
articles of food, and a general pardon. At first Madiialoiii was

Lwell received. He was but too well known to many of the in-
Burgents, and liis mad conduct had procured him followei« aa
well as enemies ; but as he oaly repeated the same promiMa

4LM

31C THE CARAPAS OF MADDALOST.

woich had been made by the others, the crowd w
huinuur. "No deceitful promises!" screamed a thouwd
voices : " the privileges, the privileges of Charles V." 'fliH^
privileges had long possessed the minds of the people. Dutlff
the disturbances under the Duke of Ossuna many &bulnjl
tales had been told about them. Genutno htid then, as dOVj
brought them forward. Not only freedom from taxes m
contained in them, but an equality of power between the peo^ii
and the nobility in the affairs of the town, by increastnBAt
votes of the fint, and by conceding a right of veto on t^iA^
tions aflecting the people throug'h the intervention of th^
deputies. This privilege they would liave — ' '
should confirm to them. They all screamed a
but at lost Maddaloni obtained a hearing. He promised I
bring them the document — he would ask the viceroy for i
without delay. He was glad to escape the crowd, who pr
vented either himself or hi horse from movicg.

Negotiations for peace could not check the fury of ll
people or its mania fbr destruction. As on the day befo
they had demolished the custom-houses, now the houses of d
who had lately become rich were destroyed. They Jiad alread
begun on the previous evening, but fids was only a preladd
Masaniello, who had not left the market-place the whole dst
drew up a catalogue, in concert with his associates, of all tni
houses and palaces, the effects of which were to be destrofMJ
Many noblemen who believed that they might have soim in
lluence with the mob, had ridden and driven to the marfcefr
place, but they returned home without accomplishing anythbif,
or went again to Gastehmovo, where numbers of them look
refuge from the pressure of necessity. In the ^venuig th^
flames burst forth in all parts of the town : much valuiUt
property was sacrificed amidst the rejoicings of the ftui^
populace, who screamed, " That is our blood ; so may tbOM
burn m hell who have sucked it out of us !" As on Suudftj
the Jesuits and Theatines, now the Dominicans tried to nppeuN
the people. Theu- long processions were to be seen in tliA
square of the obelisk, moving on to the houses of Satigio^
iSaluzzo, and Cara&, with burning torches; but the popuuot
interrupted their prayers and litanies with angry words ind'
many reproaches, and sent them home. Till late in the aig)it'.
the brilliantly-lighted churches were filled with
pUcaiits.

DESTBDCnOS OF PALACES BY THE MOB. 317

Early on the morniiig of the &tb of July a moK dreadful
BCece took place than on «ther of the earlier dajs. The de-
Btruotion b«gan at daybreak. All the jHx^iertT of tii« ooud-
sellor Antonio Mirohallo, in the BoTgo de' Vergini, wa* burning
before his palace. Andrea Naderio had cau^ tlie best fur-
niture to be removed ; the people traced it, destroyed it, dashed
to pieces everythiDg in the house and in the adjoining beau-
tiful garden. At Alphona] Valenzano's eTeryllmig that be
possessed was ruined. In a place of concealment two snallcaslu
were found full of sequins, a box coutainiog precious pearls,
and a small packet of bilb of exchange — it was all thrown into
the fire. AU the rich and noble pereoos nbo were concerned
in the farming of toUs, as well aa all membere of tie govern-
ment, saw their houses demolished. Five palaces of the secre~
lary-general of the kingdom, tiie Duke of Cairano, together
with those of his etms, were burnt:. In one of them at Santa
Chiara the i^uable pictures which that noble, a lover of the
fine arts, had collected were destroyed ; the carpets of ralk-
stuff interwoven with gold, the sumptuous silver viscels, and
every sort of work of art, the worth of which was valued at
more than 50,000 ducats. Tiie mob had already become to
brutal that they stabbed the beautiful horses in their stalls and
threw the lapdogs into the Barnes, whilst they trampled down
the rare plants in the gardens and heaped up the trees for
funeral piles. Above forty palaces and houses were consumed
by the flames on this day, or were razed to the ground, whilst
the unhappy possessors looked on from the forts and watch-
, towers of Castelnuovo upon ihe rapid conflagration, heard the
threatening of the alarm-bells and drums, and the howlings
of the unbridled populace, amongst which niany thieves were
pursuing their business aud filling their pockets with plunder.
ilewB came out of tlie neigh bourJiood that the peasants were
rising on all iddes, and that many beautiful castles belonging to
illustrious iioblemea were already in flames,

Stupified by the uproar, by the advice of a hundred coun-
sellors, by a two days' insurrection, the Duke of Arcos did not
nevertheless give up the attempt at a reconciliation. Certainly
he risked nothing by it, for he had no other means in hia
power; but the hazard to the noblemen who delivered hia
messages was so much the greater. With great difficulty
Montesarchio and Satriano escaped the rage of the populace;
as cavaliers were enclosed by barricades, and only regained

318 'raE CAEAFAS OF MADDALONI.

their freedom by prominng to obtain the traDsmisEnon of
privileges. To oblige tie viceroy the Duke of ll&dikliai
rode once more into the market-place, carrying with lam
m9mife.sto, according to which all the gabelles which had hi.
introduced since the time of Charles V. were abolisLed, ttAt
general amnesty granted ior the crimes already eommiUiA
Scarcely had Diomed Carafe read the paper when the ton '
began ^ain worse than before. The bystanders screamedi
that this was not what they wanted ; he was deceiving "
in concert with the viceroy. In vain he sought to —
them— the tvnnult increased. Suddenly Masanietlo
upon the Duke. It was said that lie had once, receivwd
instead of gold from ooe of his servants when he had sold &
at his palace. Perhapa it is only one of the many fkblatk
are attached to the name of the fisherman of Amolfi, AoM
wild imprecations he seized the reii« of his horse, took hi^^
the knight by his belt and long hair, tore him from the mtj
with the aanstance of his followers, and caused his bands to I
tightly bound together by a rojje : then he delivered the prf-
soner to Domenico Ferrone and M^ associate Berordino Grhh^
to be strictly guarded.

The last remnant of personal rtspect for the nobility, MA
the populace had preserved on earlier occasions in the midfttf
all their diHturbances, had now quite disappeared. The luwd
of Masaniello had torn asunder the tie of centuries of InUt
The Viceroy was dreadfully shocked when he knew the dai^
into which Maddaloni liad fallen for his sake. He sent tin
Prior of the Johannites, Fra Gregorio Carafa, brother of tta
P^nce of Roccella, and afterwards Rrand Master of Ualh,
to try and obtain the freedom of the Duke. The sensible am
placable words of the Prior were as useless as his promt
the populace only answered him by screaming for the prW
leges of Charles V. — for the privileges, in gold chanMleil|
which Giulio Genuino affirmed that he had seen. GreoDriH.
Carafa felt himself in the same danger as Maddaloni, and Tfr'
turned to the castle without having accomplished anyttuiWv
but tlie populace swore that they would allow do parliwiuid
which did not deliver up the document.

Masaniello's prisoner did cot remain long in confinement
The man into whose charge he had been committed was ondtf
<Aii obligations to him. He conducted him into the coawDt

NEGOTIATIONS BY CABDINAL FILOMARINO. 31^

of the Carmelites and confined idm in one of the cells ; but
^hen the night came he fnvoured hk flight. Diomed GaFafii
Bscaped out of the convent in disguise — the fearful tumult and
the drunkenness of the people were j&vourable to him. Unre-
cognised he gained his liberty ; he ascended to the foot of the
heights of Capo di Monte, which overlook Naples and its gulf.
He wandered to the farm-house of Chiajano, a ccHisiderable
distance from the town: here he met a physician who was
riding home after visiting a rich man, and he borrowed his
horse. Thus, towards the dawn of day, crossing the streets
that were known to him, he reached Cardito, a place on the
Toad leading from the capital to Caserta. Maria Loffi^do, to
whom the place belonged, received him, smd procured him the
means of escape from the imminent peril, of his life by fo^
warding him to La Torella in Principato, where the day before
the uncle of his wife, Don Giuseppe Caraceiolo, had retired
with his family. Here the duke found his wife and children,
who, upon the news of his imprisonmoit, had placed them-
selves ui'der the protection of their relations. The nobility
fled on all sides when they not only saw their property but
even their lives in danger.

But we must return to Naples, where one event fol-
lowed another in rapid succession. When tiie Viceroy saw
that the efforts of his messengers proved ineffectual, he
resolved to invoke the aid of the archbishop. He did it
unwil^ngly, for the Spanish rulers never trusted the spi-
ritual superior pastors of Naples, with whom they had per-
petual disputes about jurisdiction. Moreover Cardinal Filo-
ttiarino endeavoured to stand as high in the i^vour of the
people as he was low in that of his fellow nobles. But the
Duke of Arcos had no choice, and so he followed the advice
of the papal nuncio, Monsignor £milio Altieri, afterwards
Pope Clement X., and sent to the archbishop to request him
to come to the castle. Ascanio FilomaiiBo declared, in the
presence of the members of the Collateral Council, that without
producing the old document and the ratification of its c(hi-
tents any negotiation was useless, and he would only undertake
it under this condition. Then an eager search was instituted,
and the charter of privileges was found amongst the archives
of the town in the monastery of San Paolo. Armed with this
the archbishop went to the Carmine, where he was received

320 THE CAB.1FAS OF MADDALOSL

with rejoicings. The adjacent market was now the head
quarters of the leaders of the people. Here businew «
transacted, from here orders were issued ; here M; * "
Genuino, and their adherents took counsel togetlieT, e
Duke of Arcos and his faithful followers In the castle. Sit
thought of returning honie this fine summer evening.

The archbishop soon perceived that he had deceived luaH
in fancying that he could still the waves of this stonuy M
He became conscious that it was not this or that privilcj
which the tumultuou:^ populace desired; that their minda m
chiefly bent upon destruction and murder, and after that op
obtaining quite different rights. Whilst be read to them
old charter, and announced the new concessiooa of the \
roy, he perceived how orders were issued and airaiu
made that were in direct contradiction to his mission of
He saw llie mischief spreading lupidly, that every i
was precious, and that the ruin of the city was no i
illusion. He resolved not to leave the convent that H „
indeed to remain in it till the peace was entirely cxincludal
The apprehensions of the prekte were but too well founds
Another fearful evening ensued. The rebellion had g) *
new strength from the successes of the afternoon. The pi
had stormed the convent of St. Lorenzo, and thereby got p(M^
session of the artillery of the town, Masaniello, with liil
troops, had made prisoners of war two divisions of troops which |
the Viceroy wished to gather round him out of Pozzuoli B
Torre del Greco. All tliis only excited men's minds the moL _^^
The proscription list of the day before did not appear long
enough to the people ; they desired the destruction of thiit^
tax palaces of the nobility, and many were consumed bv t
Sames. Houses were burning in the principal streets of i
town, and the squares blazed with gigantic piles of fiimitonK
pictures, books, and manuscripts — everything that was :" "*
was cast into the flames. The mothers ran to and fro
their children, whose little hands dragged after them whtt
they could. As if around charcoal piles, the charcoal- bumeni.
those half-naked, half-sav^e inhabitants of the caves aM,
alleys of the poisonous quarters of the poor in Maples, horeni
with a fearfii! activity about these holocausts to the fiiry rff'^^

■ Letters dd Card. Filomariuo, p. 333.

1

ORGASIHATIOS OF THE HEBELLIOX.

peop]e, in perpetual motion and with unceasing cries and howl-
iagB. The entrances to the principal streets were Eccured by
artillery: the bells were ringing incessantly, during; whicn
they carried about in procession effigiea of Philip IV., pro-
claiming " Long life to the King of Spain !" and planted the
, royal banner to wave together with that of the people, upon
tlie lofty Hteeple of San Lorenzo.

In this manner passed the night. The Cardinal Filomarino
remained in the convent of the Carmelites in active negotia-
tion with the heads of the people. Many were the difficulties.
The insui^nts went fo far as to demand that the castle of St.
Elmo should be delivered up to them, and a wild storm burst
out when the words of pardon and rebellion were mentioned
in the concesaons of the Viceroy. " We are no rebels !" they
roared confusedly; "we want and need no pardon." The
archbishop was exhausted, when tbe morning came and still
no result. As the former day had ended in fire and desolation,
BO the present one — it was Wednesday, the 10th of .July —
commenced with desolation and fire. The news of Maddaioni's
fiight was like pouring oil upon the flames. If be had escaped,
his efiects should atone for it. Already the day before they
had wanted to set fire to his palace, as well as those of many
of the Carafas, that of Don Giuseppe, of the Prince and of the
Prior of Eocceila, of the Prince of Stigliano, and others be-
longing to the family. Now a dense multitude moved towards
the Boi^ de' Vei^ni, where, by the church of Santa Maria
della Siella, without the then city walls, Diomed Carafa re-
ffided. But the afiair turned out differently irom what they
bad expected. Armed servants occupied the house ; numerous
arquebuses glittered from the windows ; and the people from
the market and from Lavinaro, who knew MasanieUo's bravoes
only loo well, contented themselv'es for the present with smash-
ing' some of the panes of glass, by flinging stones, and reserved
their vengeance for a better opportunity, which did not fail
them. Masaniello had meanwhile, with a presence of mind
and a dexterity to which our admiration cannot be denied, pro-
fited by the time to extend and strengthen the authority so
Tapidly acquired over his contemporaries and superiors. He i

held council and issued decrees with his associates — with
Genuino, who continued the sonl of the insurrection, with the
new deputy of the citizens, Francesco Antonio Arpajo, Ge- i

L _J

322 THE CAHATAS OF SLiDDAI-ONI.

nuino'a old accomplice in hia intrigues, and Bome insignificant
persons. If during the firet three days everything I lad been
done iu wild confusian, now the insurrection was tbrnially
oi^^aoised. The people were infonned that they were to assantMe
according to their quarters, in the town, and meet in tbe
market-place. The companies were fonned.iniraediate)y; more
than one of them coosisted of women belonging to the lo?rest
class. It may be imagined wiiat a band they formed when we
consider the horrid race of women belonging to tbis class U
Kaplea, in u'hich corrupt blood struggles for pre-eminence with
dirt and raga. Masaniello now placed himself at the head of
this troop of people, and marched with them in procesaofl
through the town. They were 1 14,000 in number, most rf
them provided with fire-arms ; for all the shops and mngaaoes
for arms, as well as the houses of the nobility, had been nn-
Backetl. Those amongat the citizens w)io would not mardi
with than were oblia;ed to stand armed before their owndwdl-
ings at the command of a Stihennan ; and in the name " of tin
most faithful people of the most faithful town of Naples, and
in those who, by the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ
and the Virgin Mary, hold in their hands the government of
the same." Oppressive decrees were issued ; on one side were
the royal arms, and on the other those of tiie people. " This
Masanieilo," writes the Cardinal Filomariiio, " lias risen in a
few days to such a height of authority and influence, and has
known how to iicquire so much respect and obedience, ihat he
makes the whole town tremble by his decrees, which are exe-
cuted by his followers with all punctuality and obedience. He
shows discretion, wisdom, and moderation ; in short, be has
become a king in this town, and the most glorious and
triumphant in the world. He who has not seen him
cannot imagine him ; and he who has cannot describe hitn
exactly to others. Ail his clotliing consists iu a shirt awl
stockings of white linen, such as the fishermen are accustomed
to wear ; moreover, he walks about barefooted and u'ilh Ids
head uncovered. His confidence in me and respect for me an
a real miracle of Go '.'s, whereby alone the attainment of ao
end or understanding in these perpleung events is possiblv,"
How the pious archbishop decdv«l himself, in thinking that
he had attained his aJui ! Htill he subdued the first storm which
inlnrrupted the oegotiatioD, but the following one

le neither be I

SUPPOSED POISONING OF BPKDfGS. 323

HOT any one el^e could get the mastery over- He had been w
CastelnuovD tu obtain from tJie Viceroy the ratification of the
conditions stipulated for by the leaders of the people, iinU was
on the point of concluding the agreement in the Carmelite
monastery when in an instant the most dreadful tumult began.
IDomenico Perrone, who had remained near Maaaniello, had
showed liimself but little since the tlight of the Duke of Macl-
daloiit, because the suspiciou was abroad that he had favoured
his escape. Tiie chureh was full of men, who prevented the
termination of the conferences, when this Ferrone stepped up
Co the Fishennaii and took his place by his side, as if he had
something to tell hini. At this moment a shot was fired.
SCasaniello hastened to the gates and cried out "Treason!"
Many shots were fired behind him, none hit him. Tilings
went on wildly in the market-place. From two to three hun-
dred banditti attacked the populace, who quickly recovered
themselves and easily defeated th« assailants. The most hor-
rible carnage followed. " The people," relates Ascanio Filo-
marino, " thronged with great violence to the convent, in the
belief that there banditti or their adherents were concealed.
They ransacked everything, but found nothing excepting six
barrels of powder. Your Holiness may imagine the state
of indescritHible confusion of the town, whilst thirty thousand
armed men, breathing rage and vengeance, rushed about,
murdering all suspicious persons. The worst part went ou in
the church and convent of the Carmine, where I was staying.
In my own room I gave many dying persons the absolution ;
amongst them a tailor, who was shot down by my side, Wlien
the carnage came lo tui end it waa suddenly rumoured that the
banditti had poisoned the springs ai Poggio Reale, which sup-
ply the greater part of the town with water. The Jury of the
people was again roused. I caused a pitcher of water to be
broi^ht, and drank it in the presence of many persons, which
silenced the suspicion ; and as your Holiness is much respected
in this town, and even from the time in which you were a
nuncio here they have a pleasant recollection of you, so in the
time of utmost need I bless the people in your name, and ad-
monish them to be quiet for the love of you, which also docs
not fiiil of its elfect."*

* Letton; del Card. FiknOBrino, p. 3S3, 3S4.

L

324 THE CARArAS OF MADDALOSI.

Domenico Ferrone was one of the first who fell a victim to
the furious crowd. Bleeding- with a deep wound on his bead,
he fled irito the cell of a Carmelite monk, and clung to him in
hi^ mortal agony ; but his persecutors tore him away by main
force and chopped off his head at the threshold of the entrance.
So it fared also with hi£ brother and his associates. Perrune's
pockets were ransacked, and a note was found troia which il
appeared that the Duke of Maddaloni and Joseph Cara& bad
hired the banditti to avenge themselves of the outr^;e com-
nutted against the first. Now the rage of the masses had >
settled aim. Armed men from all sides flew to search for iIk
Duke, but he had been in safety long a^. He was sougbl
for in vain in the convent of the Conception and in other
places: not so fared it with liis unfortunate brother.

Masaniello had extorted from a dying bandit that Don Giu-
seppe Carafa and his cousin the Prior of the Johonnites of
Hocella, with several of their followers, were staying in the
convent of Santa Maria la Kuova. Upon a height tliat in-
clines too precipitately to the harbour, the declivity of which
is covered with steep and in general damp little streets and hod
houses, stands the great Franciscan convent, in which a liirgt
number of monks are lodged. Giuseppe Carafa awaited b^
the news of the result of the attempt upon the life of Mafa-
niello, wlieo suddenly a troop of more than four hundred annni
Fopolans attacked the convent. The gates were closed, bai
the people set fire to them without any scruple, and they wwc
opened. "Where is the chief of the banditti?" With this err
the frantic populace rushed into the broad cloister alley, and
the square and the refectory were filled immediately. A mt-
vant of Carafa was recognised and knocked down ; thus the
persecutor knew that their victim could not be &r diatanl.
" Save yourselves ! save yourselves !" exclaimed Fra Giarami
da Napoli to both the noblemen, who knew not how they couU
escape. But they still hoped that the large space oocupllri
by the old, irregular monastic building would afford thau t]
hidiijg-plnce somewhere- Don Giuseppe wrote in haMe ft ft
lines to the Viceroy to inform him of the danger in which I
was placed : then he changed his clothes and put on a mooL.,
dress. Whilst the persecutors were searching another p«n<fl
the convent, the persecuted petsoiis descended a secret etaJTaitl
and reached the open space by a mde door which,

MURDER OF DON GIUSEPPE CARAFA. 325

in the high, dark back wall of the building, leads out into the
narrow mean street of the soap-manu&u;turers.

Here all was quiet — one faint hope shone wpon them both.
They separated, not to be observed. The prior fortunately
arrived at the dwellings of the Tipaldi, put on woman's
clothes, and thus reached the convent of St. Domenico, where
nobody sought for him, and from wlience he escaped during
the obscurity of the night. But Giuseppe Carafa had only
proceeded a few steps when he heard in the distance the roar of
the approaching pursuit The lay-brother, who was carrying
the note in his cowl to Castelnuovo, was detained ; his embassy
discovered, and again they were upon the track of the fugitive.
He sprang into a cottage which was open, and ran up the
staircase. It was the miserable dwelling of a common woman
of low cast. He promised her treasures : she hid him under
the bed. But as his persecutors approached, she called out to
them from the window they might come up. The knight came
out of his hiding-place. He was seized at the same moment ;
they dragged him down ; he offered twenty thousand ducats
for his life— no one listened to his words. They struck him
and woimded him with their knives and daggers, whilst they
dragged him to the near Piazza del Cerriglio, where once stood
the gate of Petruccio, next to the great tower of the old castle,
where the royal crown fell from the head of Lewis of Tarento,
as he rode to the coronation of the first Joanna, and his horse
shied from the showers of flowers poured from the windows.
His haughty spirit was roused by the ill-treatment he received.
** What are you about, you rabble ?" he exclaimed. " I am
Don Peppe Carafa. Do you want to kill me ?" '* Precisely,
you traitor!" answered a hundred voices, and a hundred
weapons were drawn upon him. . Bleeding, but still alive, ho
sank down, then a man, one of the people, by name Michele de
Santis, pressed through the crowd. He had to avenge himself
of a personal insult : with one stroke of his heavy butcher's
knife he separated the head from the body. Thus tragical
and painful, says Don Francesco Capecelatro, was the end of
Don Giuseppe Carafa, the first in these citizen riots whe
steeped the ground with noble blood. He was of an illus
trious family, lively and acute in mind, captivating and noble
in appearance. But he could not control his anger, and
was easily led into acts of cruelty and murder, by which he

826 THE CARAFAS OF MADDAIX)NI.

became allied in a degree little becoming' a man of his iDni-
Irious family with adventurers and people of depraved OQudnet,
who under his protection perpetrated a number of criDB
which were not punished by the royal ofHcers, as they oagk
to have been, out of consideration for Don Giuseppe. Tim
and other causes drew upon him the hatred of the lower dM
of people, and occasioned his untimely end. But the minds
was not enough ; the populace vented its scorn and fury npQi
the disfigured corpse. The body was dragged through th
town, and remained lying upon the bank of the stream Sdxli
till it was privately buried in the chapel of Sta. Maria Ha^*
dalena, situated upon the bridge of tli^t name. But what u
not happen to it before it got there ! One man of the peopb
cut a foot off the corpse, and declared that he would devoor
it, because Carafa had once made him kiss his feet. When tl»
bystanders, barbarous as they were, shuddered, and wreBtei
the foot from him, he flung himself down and lacerated tic
dead man with his teeth. The head was stuck upon a pike, ud
so carried about in triumph till it reached the market-j^aoeL
Masaniello addressed the pallid head in the coarsest and moit
abusive language, beat it with the stick that he held in hk
hand, and caused it to be sec up, with seventeen other headi,
in the middle of the place, with a tablet upon which was in-
scribed, " This is the punishment for betrayers of their coun-
try." Afterwards the head and foot were placed in an iroe
cage over the Porta San Gennaro, and remained there in t
state of putrefaction till the morning after the fall of Man-
niello, when Don Girolamo Carafa and many relations of the
family knocked down the cage, and buried the melancholy re-
mains privately in the neighbouring church of S. Giovanni in
Porta.

Masaniello gave Michele de Santis a thousand ducats as a
reward for the execution of this deed. He set four thousand
upon the head of the Duke of Maddaloni, and he promised
eight thousand to any one who would deliver him up alive.
He was supposed to have been observed first in one place and
then in another. A woman reported that he had been seen in
Arenella, a small village behind the Vomero. Immediately a
number of armed men rode there after him ; but Diomed
Carafa had been beyond the reach of his pursuers for many
hours. He had escaped ; his goods and those of many of htf

BACK AND PLtlNDER OF CONVERTS. 327

servants, who were murdered because they wore llie Jivery of
the Carafaa, atoued for it. Masaiiiello raarclied witli a strong'
force to tlie palace of Maddoloni, in the Borgo de' Yergini,
that waa jio longer defended as it had been before. What
they fouud of valuable furniture was dragged out. But the
richest spoils were taken by the mob in tlie ai^oining convent
<if Santa Maria della Stella and that of the barefooted monks
of St. Augustin, where the duke fancied that he had secured
liiM best eflects. The most beautiful curtains of gold brocade,
and wrought with stuffs, Arras carpets with compositiooB of
many figures, rare pictures, vessels of silver and gold adorned
with jewels, magnificent carriages and noble iiorses, and a
quantity of gold — everything was brought out. The plate
only was valued at ten thousand scudi, and nas alterwards
g^ven into the care of a rich mercliant, Marco di Lorenzo, by
wliom it was kept back, notwitlistanding the just claims of
Corafa, who to indemnify himiielf laid waste the lands of the
merchant in the territory of Capua, and drove aivay his floeks.
The hero of tlie people did not yield these otyects to the flames,
but caused them to be brought to the market-place, with
other beautiful furniture, which had been delivered up to
him from terror by the monks and nuns of several convents,

1 where stood all these valuable things, exposed to the sun,
the dust, and otiier damage. But the number of victims
-which fell upon tliis artd two following days was above a.
hundred.

Tiie viceroy was so much the further from coming to any

I agreement, the more Masanieilo's power and authority in-
creased, and the more uncomfortable and dangerous his own
position became, in tlie midst of a rebellious city, in the con-
fined space in the castle, and a scarcity of provisions. He
therefore thought himself obliged to disown in writing a know-
ledge of the unsuccessful plan of Diomed Carafa, and pres^

. the archbishop to hasten the bui^ess. This was not easy,
owing to the savage excitement of the victorious and drunken
populace, and the intrigues of the artful advisers of iheFisher-
ntan, who were pursuing at the eame time iheir own selfiti
lums. The streets were become to such a degree the theatre
for deeds of violence, that Masaniello is-iued an order that
each person was obliged to keep a lump or torch burning before

I his own dwelling. The assaults made with daggers, pocket

328 THE CAEAFA3 OF JIADDALONI.

pistob, and other short weapons were so firequent, tbu »!m
the leader of the people had been twice ehot at, a proliibitiiv
was issued agaiust wearing cloaks and long- clothes thfttciaU
conceal such weapons. Even womeA were no longer alliiwd
to wear certain articles of clothing, which on account of tb'
size were called gvard infante, and even the Cardinals H
morino and Trivulzio laid aside their robes. In the most 1
porlant positions of the city barricades were built with bub
full of earth and heavy plajiks for the double purpose of ;
pelling the sallies of the Spaniards from the castle, and p
ventii^ them from receiving supplies fixnn without. 1
people were masters of the whole town, with the esi
of Castelnuovo, the park, and the adjoining artillery,
the castles dell' Uovo, Sant' Elmo, and Fizzofklcone, p
which placed it in tlie power of tlie Spaniards to turn N»i
into a heap of ruins if they made use of the artillery. ^
the Duke of Arcos wished to spare the town as long as pe
able, and the castles were weakly garrisoned, and still It
stocked with proviBions.

At length on Thursday the lltli of July, on the fifth dsj
the insurrection, an agreement was concluded. In the chun
of the Carmelites it was solemnly announced that the vieen
had formally confirraed tlie old privileges of the town, ti
increased tliem by new ones, which were immediately ma
known. As a proof and seal of the reconciliation, J'
who had now, besides the power, the title also, of
general of thu most &ithful people, was to have a
with the viceroy. It was difficult to persuade the .
to take this step. He owned that he saw the gallc
him : he would confess thoroughly before he went, and it
tjnired all the archbishop's power of persuajtion to decide '
At last he consented, under the condition that the confei-
should be in the palace and not in the castle. He previoi
issued a proclamation through the whole town to know "
nuiny armed men could be marched out. The aiiewer .-
a liuiidred and forty thousand, but three hun<lred thousand
there were arms ready for them. A number of men iud
poured forth from the environs, but it is easy to perceive
exaggeration of the number:^. When everything was amuu
Mataniello began to dress liimself ; lie had fasted the wi
day, excepting some white bread dipped in wine aftar tbot

PROCESSION AND DRESS OF MASANIELLO. 329

Qudinal's physician had tasted it, for he was possessed with
jdie idea of being poisoned, and almost starved himself. His
. jlreBS was of silver brocade ; he wore at his side a richly orna-
jmeoted sword, his head was covered with a hat with a white
iflurne in it. In such pomp he is represented in a remarkable
jaicture by the hand of Domenico Garguilo, called Micco Spa-
iBone, whose paintings have represented to us many of the
-te^ies of this revolution. The Fisherman of Amalfi is riding
,mlt the head of a tumultuous crowd, surrounded by adults
and boys ; his white horse is made to gallop, upon his breast
kf to be seen a medallion with a picture of the Madonna of
Carmel. In the middle of the market-place, where the scene
opens opposite to the church of the Carmelites, there are
bloody heads ranged in a double row round a marble pedestal
on which no statue is any longer to be seen, and the gibbet
aiid the wheel await the new victims amongst those who are
persecuted, or have already been dragged hither by the popu-
mce.

The afternoon was already advanced, when Cardinal Filo-
marino got into his carriage before the church, with his
luHise-steward, Giulio Genuino, and two persons of his suite.
Masaniello rode at his right hand, and at his left Arpaja, the
deputy of the people. In the streets through which the pro-
cession passed, from the market-place to the square of the
castle, the people were armed, and formed into bands of sixty'
hundred companies, who lowered their colours before the
cardinal and the captain-general. Thousands and thousands
bad hastened hither to witness so remarkable a spectacle. In
the square of the castle were placed over the gate of the
palace of the prince of Cellamare the effigies of Charles V.
and Philip lY. under a canopy. Masaniello stopped, drevp
out the charter of the old privileges, together with the new,
that he carried before him on his saddle, and spoke to the
assembled crowd, to whom he announced that everything was
settled. The people replied that what he had done was well
done, and so the procession marched on, preceded by a trumpeter,
proclaiming ^^Long life to the king, and the most faithful
people of Naples V*

The viceroy had repaired to the palace, which had been
hastily prepared. He received the deputation of the people
in the saloon of Alva, where the frescoes recalled the most

330 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONT.

glorious times of Spain. The environs of the palaee, on the
contrary, recalled the stonny interview. At the entrance of
the squ&re, on the side of Castelnuavo, the Spanish iofantiy
guarded a strong barricade, which only left a narrow thorougj^
fere, so that the carriage of tlie cardinal with dlHioulty girt on
further. At the gate of the old palane of Pedro de Toledo,
by that of the slablea and of the park, ramparta of earth weie
thrown up. Upon the opposite Pizzofalcone you pereavsd
trenches and a half-moon. With the Italian in&otry wm
Prospero Tuttavillu, a son of the Duke of Calabritto, tt
illeijitiinate scion of the illuatrioua race of D'EstouteviDe
of Normandy, who descended from the Cardinal-Archlwihop
of Rouen, who built the fai^e of the church of S. Agi
at Rome, aud had obtained important possessions in the
dom. The great gate of the palace was also strong^ly fi>rtil.
The courtyard was full of Spanish, German, and tfallt
Boldiers, the camion was ready mounted. In short, everytluBg
indicated war, whilst the word wa.s peace. Tliis, as well M
the unusual precautions, made a deep impression upon the
man of the people. The Duke of Arcos stood at the end of
the saloon, Masaniello flung himself down before liim; the
viceroy raised him up, with friendly words, embraced him,
went with Idm and the cardinal into the adjoining- royal
.saloon, and when the throng of people filled the square '
the uproar continued to increase, he entreated him to a
himself on the balcony. Masaniello did it ; but when be
entered tlie saloon he was so overpowered by the sensations
the day that he sank unconscious on the ground. Now t
viceroy became uneasy, when he thought of the vengeance
of the people if anything happened to their idol. But Mua-
niello recovered, and the actual conference began. Tlie u-
ticles of the treaty were confirmed, and their publicatiou wk
to take place two days afterwards. Masaniello was recogiiised
in his office as captain -general of the people, received a golden
chain, and was conducted by the proud duke to the stairs, aod
publicly called a taitliful Krvant of the king, and a glorions
defender of the people ; he kissed the hand of the viceroy, and
was dismissed by him with another embrace. Night had coaK
on. The streets waving with people, glittered with a tbauauHt
lights, through which the procession passed back to the arcU-
episcopal palace opposite the cathedral. It was not till lat*

"5 I

PEACE COXCLUDED — TRIUMPH OF THE POPULACE. 331

that the Fishennan returned to his humble dwelling in the
carriage of the cardinal.

The peace was concluded, though not yet solemnly ratified ;
but how little did the state of the town correspond to it 1 In
the some niglit, whilst Masaniello was entertained by the
Cardinal Filomarino, a, cry was again raised of treason and
banditti ; watch-fires were kindled, and tlie clatter of amis
heard. The captain -general of the people governed, as there
was no niagistra:C7 in Naples. In the obscurity of the night
he caiiEcd the heads of fourteep persona to be cut off, without
trial or judgment, upon the accusation of their being bnn-
ditti. He liad a wooden scafibld erected before his house of
the same port as the booths of the mountebank*. Here he
issued his orders, and printed decrees appeared: " By' the
command of tiie illustrious Lord, Maso Aniello of Amalfi,
Capfain-general of the most faithfol people." He liad me-
morials and petitions brought to him on the point of a
halberd, and reafi to him by his secretary, upon which he
issued his orders like an absolute ruler. The price of oil
and of com vias fixed. It was forbidden to show oneself
in the streets after the second hour of the night, excepting to
adjuinister the last riles of the church, or to visit the sick and
women to labour. All priests were to present themselves,
that it might be investigated whether they were real ecclesi-
astics, or banditti in disguise. A number of hiirdeitsome
(iirectioos about costume were published. It was a rich
harvest for spies and accusers. Wiiat had been at the first
a defence against tyranny and arbitrariness became now only
WMse tyranny. No families of noble rank could remaia.
None could trust, or even order about their servants, for
Masaniello summoned the domestics to arms, and rewarded
their treachery to their lords. Armed bonds, under known
leaders, had formed themselves, and went their own ways un-
checked. Five days were sufficient to put an end to all dis-
cipline and order. During these wild doings no privacy could
be had. If the errors of the nobUity had been borne hitherto,
DOW b«fpm the satuniolia of the populace, and they were tax
more bloody and horrible than tliose of the nobles.

If it had only been those of the populace, but the depra.ity
had spread more and more ; the tendency to confusion had
tainted even their superiors. AjuongEt these were a number

332 TEE CAKAFAa OF MADDALONI.

of youug artists. Aniello Falcone, especially famous ai i
pauiter of battles, as in Rome Gaspar Poussin had adorned
churches with landscapes, the courts of convents with eeeatt
of battle, he was not satisfied with only painting siich aceate.
He was himself a practised £ghtcr, and had already joined in
many frays. When it happened that one of his relations wu
killed by two Spanish soldiers in some quarrel, Aniello nn
into his workroom, summoned his pupils, and attacked thexd-
diers. These obtained help from their comrades; a blood;
fray began, which ended with one of the young' painters n-
maining dead upon the spot, the rest were obliged to Bf<
Aniello Falcone swore vengeance against the Spaniards. A
few days afterwards the insurrection of the people began. TIk
opportunity was lavourable ; the young painters joined will
alacrity. They abandoned their pencil and brush, fetched their
relations and friends, procured themselves arms, elected their
master as their captain, aud called their troop the Desti
Alliance. One of these men had obtained a name in art and
poetry — Salvator Kosa. He was then thirty-two years old, and
the time was past when the brother-porters, monks of the bare-
footed Carmelites of St. Theresa, beat him because he bad
drawn his youtbful compositions with black coal on the while
walls of their convent ; or when he received some grani fia
his little landscapes, whUst the dealers sold them for just n
many carlins, and the Cavalier Lanfranco, who ctinsiilend
himself as a Raphael Sanzio, reci^nised as he passed by the
merit of the little pictures offered cheap for sale at the comer
of the streets. Salvator Bosa had seen much in Rome and
in Florence, when he returned to Naples, Here it was tlai
his mind, being inclined to adventures, seduced him to join ibe
troop of AnieLLo Falcone. There were besides him that UJco)
Spadaru, who has already been mentioned, and who has left
behind in his pictures, rich in figures, such animated repre-
sentations, of the melancholy events of those days, as iilw of
the succeeding ravages of the pestilence, Carlo Coppola and
other of Aniello's pupils ; Loth the Fracanzanos, scholars at
Spaguoletto, who taught themselves to be great paiiitem, but
had to struggle witli many difficulties all their lives ; Viviuo
Codagora, who made himself a name by hie perspective t
his views of cities ; Andrea Vaccaro, one of the painters uf :
day tlic must sought afler in the style of Guide Reu^,

ud

1

w

333

toTgot hb wife and his fifty years to join in the bravada= of tlie
others, and even made his son, a youth of fourteen, do the same.
A number of others attached themselves to those whom we
iiave named. The Death Society marched through the Gtreetij
anned with sword and da^er. Where they perceived one
Spaniard they pursued and murdered him without any mercy,
and as they spent their days in these heinous actions, and yet
were obliged to support tbemselves, they painted during the
Jiight, in haste, and by such a vivid light, tliat one of them,
Carlo Coppola, lost his sight in consequence. At first, Giuseppe
Ribera, availing himself of the great favour in which he stood
with the Spaniards, protected these ill-advised persons, and ex-
cused them to the Duke of Arcos as well as he could ; but as
they went madly on, and the complaints of them increased,
SpaguoletOD withdrew his protection that he might not fall into
disgrace himself. Some, as Micco Spadaro, Vaccaro and
.otherii, repented, and returned to tbeir easels, but the remainder
only became more audacious the more Masaniello looked upon
them with favour. But at the sudden fall of their protector
they dispersed like frightened deer. Salvator Beta, who had
painted the Fisherman of Amalfi more than once, escaped with
Aniello Falcone lo Rome, where he remained whilst Aniello
went to France and became known to Louis XIV. by his
pictures of battles, and reconnnended by Colbert for mercy to
the Viceroy the Comit of Castrillo, so that at last he returned
to his country. Francesco Fracaiiiiaiio met witii the saddest
&te. After that he, through the protection of the family of
Filomarino, had escaped persecution in the time of the Count
of Onate, he was imprisoned during the great famine of the
year 1656 because he had endeavoured to stir up the people
to rebellion by ciroulating reports that the Spaniards had in-
^ftcled the town with poisonous powder : he himself died of
poison iu his prison.

This was the condition of the town of Naples at the time
(when King Philip's Viceroy and the Captain -General of the
most faithful people met in tlie cathedral on the 17th of July
4o publish solemn]^ the new treaty. The venerable church
'Jiad witnessed many changes in the relations and destinies of
^e kingdom proclaimed in her vaulted lialls, witli the history
of which it had, so to speak, grown up ; but never had it been
4he theatre for such a d^radation of the royal power. Before

L

334 THE CAKAFAS OF MADDAIOMI,

the ceremony took place, the Duke of Arcos was obliged
submit to many humiliations- No cavalier was allowed'
accompany Tiim iu the procession, beoiuBe Masaniello itad I
bidden it. The Fisbennan had disarmed all persons of n
but armed Popolana stood in double rows i '
which were necessarily cleansed from dirt and rubbish, and |
balconies were hung with tapestry. The Cardinal-A
in pontifical attire, tuok his seat under tite baldachin^
some distance from him sat the Vifieroy and Masanidlo.
Knight of Alcantara, Donato Coppola, Duke of Cauzajio,*
the articles instead of the secretary fpf the kingdom. ''
principal contents were the confirmation of the old privili
of Ferdinand of Aragon till the time of Charles V. ; a
flion of all guilt and punishment for crimes of leze ni
and, on account of the disturbances, an equality of the e
and people with reference to the number of votes in a(
the town ; the abolition of all gabelles and tA^ies which I
been introduced since the time of the Emperor Charles V., ■
the exception of those upon which private persons had rig
liberty of the market, and remission of punishmtait for the
cesses committed in the destruction of houses and property.
ratification of the treaty from Madrid was to follow within
three months ; till that time the people were to continue in u
During the reading of these articles Masaniello had 6
very uueusy, and had made observations first on one point I
then on another. When Donato Coppola had finished rea^
fae wanted to take off his sumptuous dress of silver bnxadt
the middle of the church, because he declared that he was n
nobody. When he was hindered from doing this, he fli
himself upon the ground and Idssed the feet of the cardii
The Duke of Arcos swore to the contract, with his hand nt
the Gospels. The archbishop sang the Te Deum, and :
people shouted " Long life to the King of Spain !" The co
panics fired their rifles ; the Viceroy returned through I
streets, swarming with meu, to the castle, and everywhere :
founded the cry, " Long life to the King and the I>ak9
Arcos !" Then, as Mafaniello returned home on foot, I
C0Di])anies all lowered their colours as he passed.

The power of the FiEhermaii of Amalfi was at il_ _
but already he was near his ruin. The unusual way ofB
the always increasing excitoneat, the constant speakiiw i

UASASIELLO'S MADa-ESS ASD TALL. 335

watching-, the saiaU quantity of nourishmeiit whicli he look
&om dread of poison — all tiiis, in the most fearful heat of
suminer, afitK^ted him bodily aiid couipietely turned his head.
His actions can only be exjiloiiied by their being the beginning
of insanity. If a croivrl of people did not please him, he at-
tacked and wouuded tliem right and left. All the persons,
amounting to a thousand, that lived near hie cottage on the
market-plaee, he expelled from their dwellings, that these
might be destroyed and he might build a large palace for him-
self. He lavished gold and silver with prodigiility, and gave
a number of prostitutes rich dowries ; he distributed the titles
of princes and dukes, gave great banquets at Poggio Keale
and at PosUipo, to whicli he invited the Viceroy, and sent his
wife and mother in magnificent dresses to visit the Duchess of
Aruoa. " 1£ your Excellency is the Vicequeeii of the ladies,"
said the Fisherman's wife, "I am. the Vicequeen of the women
of the people." But fear of the Duke of Maddaloni haunted
him like a spectre. He ordered his beautiful villa at Posilipo
to be destroyed, and made his people ransack once more his
pillaged palace at Santa Maria della Stella. The barber of
the Duke and a Moorish slave bought their lives, the first by
giving him various jewels tiiat had been concealed, and the
Other told him that it was Diomed Caraja who bad caused the
admtial'B ship to be set on fire, which had been blown into
the air last May. The Moor, for this lie, obtained the com-
mand of ibur companies of the people, but Masajiiello's fiiU
was brought about by his own people. The Fisherman put to
death many poor musicians, merely because they had been in
the service of Maddaloni. The Duke's correspondence was
intercepted, but as it was ivritten in cipher it only increased
the suspicion. The new master of Naples repaired himself to
the desolate palace of Oarafa and wanted to dine there ; but
he changed liis mind, and had a dinner served up with great
pomp at a neighbouring cunvejit. Whilst he was eating there,
some of his people dragged hither two portraits of the Duke
and his father Don Marxio. Upon them be vented his childish
iBge; smashed the frames, cut out the heads, which he put ou
pikes, which he comoianiled to be placed upon the table l>efore
him. On his return from the market be put on a suit of
Carafa's clothes, of blue alk embroidered with silver; lie hung
on his neck a gold chain, and fastened in bis hat a diamond

336 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOM.

clusp, all the property of his enemy who had escaped. Thni
he flung; himself on a horse, drew forth his pistols wilji buth
Iiands, and threatened to shoot any one wiio approached lum,
or who showed himself at the windows, galloped to the ees,
where was the giondola of the Yiceroy, undresged himself in it,
was dried with fine Dutch linen, and put on a shirt of Mad-
daloni's trimmed with lace ; and hearing' that Maddaloni hod
gone towards Piedimonte d'Alife, he ordered a troop of two
thousand men to march thither and seize him. But as then
men, undisciplined in arms, as usual played their part as hefws
better in the streets than in the open field, they fared wretchedlf.
The Prince of Colobrano, a, cousin of the Dulce's, with mnm
other friends, surprised them suddenly in the mountains whli
not more than a hmidred men. Many perished in battle,
others of their esertions and of hunger, and when the intdli-
gence of Masaniello's unfortunate end reached them, tbt
wretched remainder of the troop returned to Naples.

Masaniello's supremacy was approaching its termination—-
madness and cruelty strove ivithln him. It was the worst kiai
of moll rule. At the entrance of (he Toledo, not far from l!»
royal palace, a high galli>ws was erected. Every eomploiiU
was listened to, and no defence ; no one felt secure in their
home or in their family ; the houses of the nobility all stood
empty, and the most sensible of the people saw that the con-
tinuation of this state of things could only lead to univenal
ruin ; the churches were profaned under the pretext that iKfl-
eures or banditti were concealed in them ; the terrible decora-
tions of the great market-place were increased by above tf
hundred heads, and spread a real plague under tie scorching
rays of the sun. The Cardinal Filomarino had either lost hit
influence, or else the dread of losing his popularity made hi
impotent. Yet he wrote to the Pope : " The wisdom, i
acuteness, and the moderation first shown by this man ate e
tirely gone since the signature of the capitulation, &i:d i
changed into audacity, rage, and tyranny, so that even t
people, his followers, hate him. Amongst tiiese followi
before all, were Genuino and Arpsjo ; but when they m
they could do nothing with this hair-brained man, that
thing W3H going to ruin, and that their own ill-acquired poMtta
was therefore in the greatest danger, they came to an u '
standing with the Viceroy and his collateral council.

w

MUKDER OF MASSASIELLO. 337

Viceroy, in his own person, conferred with common mur-
derers, and the feast of our Lady of Carmel, Thursday the 16th
of July, was fixed for the execution of the plan.

During' the night all the niihtary posts were strengthened,
soldiers were concealed in different liousea, and the galleys
were brought near the shore. Silently and gloomily the masses
filled the streets, a^ dull mood geemed to have taken possession
of every one. The archbishop was celebrating high mass in
the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. Scarcely was it
ended and the prelate gone, wheji Masaniello, with a crucifiK
in his hand, mounted into the pulpit. His speech was a mix-
ture of truth and madness ; he complained of the inconstancy of
the (feople, enumerated his services, described the oppressions
that would fall upon tSiem if they deserted him ; he confeesed
Lis sins, and admonished the others to do the same hefore the
Holy Virgin tliat they ought obtain the mercy of God, and as
he raided the crucifix to bless the people, a womaji called to
him to be silent, that the Mother of God would not listen to
such nonsense. liut he l>^an to undress himself in the pulpit,
to show bow emaciated he wua by labour and sleepless nights.
, A Carmelite monk, tiuta sprang upon the lunatic, compelled
ium to descend the steps, a»d di'u^ged him, with the assistance
of the rest of the monks, into the convent, where, in a com-
plete state of exhaustion, he flung himself upon a bed in one
of the cells and fell asleep.

The mercenaries hired by the Duke of Arcos and nine men
belonging to tlie people had been for a long while in the
church armed with daggers and pistols. St^cely was the
divine service ended, which bad been interrupted by this scan-
dalous scene, when these men hastened to the convent and in-
quired for Masaniello. The monks wanted to defend him — an
uproar look place. The sleeper awoke, believed that tiiey were
some of his ibtlowers, and hastened to the gates. At the seme
moment tlie murderers pressed into the pass^e and perceived
their victim. Five shots were fired. Mortally wounded by
one of them he fell to the ground, whilst he covered his face
with his hand, uttering the cry, " Ah, ye vagabonds !" Sal-
vaiore Cattaneo cut otf tiis head with a blunt knife, seized hold
of it by the hair, and hastened out with ilie cry, " Long hfe
1 to the King of Sp^n !" The populace stood there tbunder-
Ejffnok \ uo sound wu beard, but none detoitied the murderai^

338 THE CARAFAS OF liADDALONI.

Mrho hurried off. They soon met some small bands of Spank I ^^''

soldiejns. wlioni tlie}' joined, and exclaiming " Long life ti I J^'

8f)ain !" they went on. The Viceroy, accompanied h^ 8U» 1*'^"

roiis noblemen, liad just left the castle to ^ into the pHk|^.|^

when the news of the accomplishment of the deed TeMkil*^"

him. It is said that he showed his joy in a way nnbeeoHl ' ^''

liis high rank ; but Don Francesco Capecelatro, who ▼aB|»

sent, only remarks tliat the news arrived at the moment tkt 1^.

the Duke of Arc(;s liad said he would pay ten thousand dncilitl r^

any one person wlio would bring him Masaniello dead or lEit -

The tumult began immediately afterward. The murdcn ^

came, bearing the head upon a pike ; boys seized the oorp^ ' ^

dragged it through the streets, and buried it outside the^j^

walls by the gate which leadis to the market-place. Mof

best known as partisans of the murdered man atoned If

their lives for their short day of power — his relations nm

secured. But still the humour of the people was so Httkti

be trusted, that the Viceroy caused tlie fortifications toh

hastily put into repair. The news of the deed reached th

CardinsJ Filomarino whilst on his way from the Carmine ti

his own house ; he went directly to the palace, and then rode

with the Duke of Arcos and many of the principal nobles to

the cathedral, and from thence through the streets to the market

The armed troops of people still stood everywhere: thff

lowered their colours with the cry " Long life to the King am

the Duke of Arcos !" The privileges were confirmed and i

general pardon proclaimed, from which only MasanieUo^

brother and brother-in-law were excluded. Francesco Ai-

tonio continued to be deputy of the people ; Giulio Genuino

entered upon his promised office as one of the presidents of the

chamber : on the very same day many of the nobles returned

to their deserted mansions.

The populace was still as if stunned ; but, as soon as the
folloving morning, when the price of bread was raised becau*
the Commissary-General of prm'isions and the bakers declared
that it was quite impossible to subsist upon the hitherto low
prices, the humour of the people suddenly changed. The mob
complained that its hero and deliverer had been given up;
they hastened to dig up the corpse ; they sewed the head to
tlie body, washed it, put it on some sumptuous clothes, and
laid it with his bare sword and staff of command upon a bier

EXHUBiATIOlSr AND FUNERAL. 339

covered with white silk, which was borne by the captains which
Masaniello had appointed. Above four thousand priests con-
ducted the procession by the order of the archbishop, who
wavered incessantly between the two parties, and excited mo/e
evil than good. The standard-bearers dragged their banners
upon the groijnd, the soldiers lowered their arms, the dull
sound of muffled drums was heard. Above forty thousand men
and women followed the cofBn, some singing litanies, the others
telling their beads. The beUs pealed &om all the steeples,
lights were burning in all the windows. The procession
passed by all the sediles of cue nobles, and everywhere it was
saluted by the armed troops. A Spanish company was sta-
tioned by the street of the harbour, and the people were de-
«iF(His that it should also salute the body. ^' Depart with the
blessing of Ood," replied the captain ; " nobody orders me
'hut the Duke of Arcos.'* The procession had left the Carmine
at the twenty-second hour of the day ; it did not return till
the third hour of the night. The corpse was lowered into the
earth with the usual ceremonies in the vicinity of the church
doors.

Never had a viceroy or a great prince been borne to the
grave as was Tomxnaso Aniello of AmaliQ.

e2

THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

CHAPTER II.

WAK DDB1M3 THE YEARS 1647-1648.

An imperfect and only apparent tranqniUity after tlic death of Muamella

— Flight of Gemiinu — The Gabellea — Open war — Adyttiil»|Bl
gaiacd \)y the troope ot the poophi — Fianccsco Toritldn capttnt.
general of the people- — Now treaty of Ihe 7th of ScptembH—
Tlie CarafiiE af Maddoloni outlawed by the people — Gioimitf
Aneehi BarQe — AniTol of the Armada of Son John of Aiutiil
—^Moasurea takenagainBt.manyof thebadarsof tho people — Attvk
of the Spaniards upon the town — Victory of tho people — Don Job
retires to Bajao — Dogtmctiaa of tho pictures and arms of the kii|

— Tho Nuncio Altieti — French intrigues — Attack of the ■Mtffi
upon, the posts garrisoned by the Spaniards — Murder of TortOio—
Gennaro Anneae captain-^noral — Hiege of Castehiuovo — PictoM
of Salvatoi Boss — Coitditicin of the provinces — Extension ol til
rebellioa in the feudal principalities and in the royal cities — Tit
Count of Conversane in Nardo — DeceiCfulness of the Duke of Arm

— Persecution of the Duke of Maddaloni — Eising of tho nohiliw it
behalf of Spain — Batflca im the vicinity of Naples — ShiimiiE It
Scttfati — ConquestofAccrra'andAversa— Bupcesaesof the bannaft

• Castollamntare, &c. — Don Vincen^o Tuttavilla undertakes the COB-
mand of the royal and baronial troops — Defence of tho bridge* rf
ScaiiLti — Don Franocaco Capeuelatra'a description of thp state of &■
neighbourhood of the capitaL — 'Want of union amongst the roysUtfi

— Blot^ado of Naples — Don John's incfiectual nugotiulioits witb
the rebels — Henry of Lorraine Duke of Guise — Landing of Chli»
at Naples tte 16th of November — Naples a repubUu — BoBup
performed iu tbo cathedral — Conference with the nobles — Adna-
tages of the rebels in Iha provinces — The fleet of the Dnki it I
Kichclieu on tho coasta — Deplorable condition of the tonm at tb j
beginning of the new year, 1648 — Dissensions between Guise nd I
Gennaro Anneso — The Duke of Arcos resipiB his office — Don John
of Austria takes liia placo proviaionally — Kapid change in the ill-
tunes of war in tho provinces — The Count of Onale viceroy, d«
2nd March, 1648— Guise's attack upon the iabmd of Kisida — Oi '■^
negotiation vrith the leadcra of the people — Ite-conquest of tbc i
on the 5th April — Guise's flight and imprisomnent * ""
attempts'af the French, later, against Naples.

The iusuirection which derived its name from
had lasted nine days. The ivar and revolution, of whii
performed the first act, lasted uine months. Tlie whole
iloni of Naples was, during- this melancholy period, laid
ill tlie most dreadful maimer. The ties of o«ier and disdj

OPEX WAR. 341

■were completely loosened, the old relationa were entirely de-
Btroyed. Cunning adventurers profited by the faults, as well
as the weakness of the Spaniards ; and if the Spaniards, not-
withstanding their feults and weakness, were in the end victo-
rious, they were indebted for it, nest to the eminent talent of
one individual, to their own perseverance, the devoted assist-
ance of a large part of the highest order of nobility, and also
to the dissensions amongst their enemies, and the fickleness of
the people. It is not our intention, or within the limits of
this present work, to give a detaJed account of this long rebel-
lion, and of the bloody battles which laid the whole king-
dom desolate from the Liris and the Tronto to the Ionian sea.
The position which the aristocracy then assumed- — the last
appearances and forms of war under the feudal system —
the reward which the Neapolitan nobles reaped from their
Spanish rulers — is the more to be CMnsidered because it was
essentially characteristic of that crisis.

The peace that reigned in Naples after the death of Maaa-
niello was only apparent. The expression peace is perhaps
an unfit one. For no day passed without noise and tumult.
Suspicion and tiatred were not silenced. The people continued
in arms, and regarded the cavaliers and soldiers with threaten-
ing looks whenever any intercourse took place; it seldom
«ided without murder, and intercourse did continually take
place. The absence of the murderers of the Fisherman in-
creased the discontent, so that the Viceroy was obliged to
Mod them to Rome, with tlie price of their crime, to with-
draw them from the fury of the people. A trial about the
effects that had been robbed and burnt, raised an angry storm
a^inst Giulio Genuirio, who was only saved by a kind of ho-
nourable exile to the island of Sardinia, and not long after-
wards laden with deserved and universal hatred ; he went to
Spain and to Port Mahon, in Minorca, where he ended a life
as long as it bad been mischievous. The gabelles were once
more the cause of an insurrection in the capital. Their abo-
lition had been solemnly promised, with the exception of those
which had been farmed out to private persons. But as this
was the case with all the taxes, the concession was completely
illusory. The populace was enraged, the old bands appeared,
the great market-place wax once more the place of meeting,

■ shut himself up again in Castelnuovo, trie(^^^

342 THE CARAI'AS OF MADDALOSr.

amuse the people with evasive answers, to ^in tiinc, ani] <nv
obliged again to promise what he had no thoughts of l'uifilliii|^
Scarcely^ hod breathing time been gained, when all was ^aa
ccinfusion, and from a skii-mish of the mob with a Genaai
sentinel at the palace, a tiglit arose which lef); far behind IB
horrur the days of July.

This time it waa a rebellion in the worst sense of the wotd>
The masses of tiie people, without a general leader, fooght lib)
madmen. They took by stomi most of the important poaitiaBi
in the tewn, the custom-houses, the Carthusian convent of Sm
Martino, close to the castle of Sant/ Elmo ; even the Pizzofitlcon^
which commands Castelnuo-vo as well as Castel del' Uom
The ArchbiBhop had no longer any influence over these mat-
men, who began to besiege the fortresses in form. Tit
trenches and barricades prevented communication on all atki.
The soldiers that could be seizei^, whetiier Germaiis, Spaniari^
or Walloons, were all murd^ed. The castles held out iW
rebels saw, that without a common ruler they could do vo-
thing, and they offered the supreme conunand to Don CtAt
della Gatta, a valiant warrior, who had acquired a weil-d^
served fame by his defence of Orbitello. As he decUwIt
they chose Francesco Toraldo d'Aragona, Prince of Uaffi,
the brave defender of Taragona against the French under (be
command of Marshal De la Motte Houdaneourt. He alw
refused to undertake the dangerous office ; but the popalaM
surrounded his palace, and cried out that it was fdony agUHt
the people, who had only taken up arms to defend tbemaelns
and the crown of Spain against a bad minister; and a Unt
Avm the Viceroy, as well as the prayers of his terrifieci yoUBg
wife, induced him to accept the command.

Toraldo, without anticipating it, sealed his own sent«Baeof
death. He wished to preserve his fidelity to his kiug,
soon found himself in a completely false podtion with
to the mob, who plunged every day a step further into
lion, and would not listen to anything. Sant* Klmu
Castelnuovo were besieged, and the first was in imminent da ^
from a well-piuced mine ; but the Captain-General preveBUi ,
the people from making too rapid prioress in their miUl '
operations. After an armistice, a new treaty followed,
was sworn to, and concluded with the same ceremonies
first, on the 7th of September, 1647. It was so dij>igT8««fiil N

AKTICLES OF THE NEW TBEATY. 343

bpain, and so unjust towards the nobility, that the oath of the
SHike of Arcos can only be explained by a mental reservation —
ftnmnxUio mentalis. Besides the confirmation of the earlier
toncessions, it was desired that all Spaniards should leave the
torwn, which was to be given up to the care of the people ; the
miuber of the noble-sediles to be reduced to two, Nido and
ESttpuano, all the rest to be abolished ; all the judges' places to
Im ^ven to native Neapolitans. Only native Neapolitans to
be appointed as captains of the galleys, and Giauettino Doria
|» be deposed from the Admiralty office ; the Castel of Sant'
ESlmo to be delivered up to the people, and everything besides.
Those persons whose houses had b^n destroyed by fire during
Abe past disturbances were to be banished, to protect them
irom the vengeance of their enemies. Several &milies, even
to the fourth generation, were to fiy the kingdom ; the king
laving no power to pardon them — Carlo Spinelli, and the
brothers Sanfelice, Giovan Angelo Barile, Duke of Caivano,
liie Secretary-General of the kingdom, with all his male pos-
terity — ^lastly, Don Diomed Carafii, Duke of Maddaloni, and
his sons, grandsons, and great-grand-children in infinitum-^
liiey were to quit the kingdom within a month. If any of
them dared to show themselves, they might be shot at with
impunity. There were good reasons for the hatred of the
Dake of Caivano. For Don Giovan Angelo* Barile, of a poor
Boble &mily of the seggio of Capuana, had been the most
active and useful tool of the last Viceroy's in assisting them
to obtain their ends, especially when it was to move the sediles
to a grant of money. This man had practised a system of
eormption to an imheard-of degree, lie had made the poor
Boembers of the sediles, who could not live at Naples because
of the expense, come thither ; had paid for their journey and
their residence ; had procured places for them ; and when they
were persecuted for debt procured them a safe conduct to dis-
pose of their votes, and to conquer the resistance of the inde*
p^dent barons. He had also constantly kept in view his own
advantage, and that of his followers ; and mention has already
been made, how, at the beginning of the disturbances, the people
vented their fury upon ^e dwelling and the effects of Barile^

The Duke of Aroos ratified the articles, reserving only to
himself a right of appeal to the king about the departure of the
Spaniards and the surrender of Sant' Elmo : no viceroy could

344 THE CARAFAS OP MADDALONL

-^nsent to such articles of his own free will. Thepopolieil i
?as tranquillized, and the Viceroy gained time ; but hmr d» | j
grraceful was the part that he acted! The news oftfaed»
turbances in Naples had excited the greatest constemato it
Madrid ; and as the kingdom was almost destitute of troop, it
was resolved to send fleets and men. On the 1st of Odiihi^
the sentinels from the towers of Sant' Elmo descried the »
mada in the horizon. The royal flag waved upon the CmIi
of Sant' Elmo, and not long afterwards forty-eight lUyi
anchored off Santa Lucia, under the command of Don Joharf ;
Austria, the natural son of Philip IV. by an actress. He !■
eighteen, captivating in appearance, and engaging in manno;
brilliant and amiable, like that Don John who seventy yeia
before had excited the admiration of Naples, valiant, to aot
favoured by the fortune of war, like the conqueror at Lepaidft
The number of troops conveyed by the fleet corTespoiidBl
neither to the strength of it, nor to the importance of the undo^
taking. The intention was to secure the coasts of Italy hm
the French, and there were only four thousand men on boaid!
Don John began to treat with the town before he would allot
them to land. He refused to recognise tlie concessions of thi
Duke of Arcos, till the people had laid down their arms, and
returned to their obedience. Don Francesco Toraldo, pe^
ceiving that this was the decisive moment, did what he conld
to induce the people to yield. He was outvoted, and the
suspicion that had been already excited against him, increased
to such a degree, that an inferior officer was joined with him
in the command, in fact to watch him. A master gunner,
Crennaro Annese by name,, rose in credit with the lower claasei
of the people, in the same proportion as the Prince of
Massa lost his authority, and their confidence. The nego-
tiations with the chief of the people led to no result. The
Duke of Arcos urged on the negotiation. In his gloomy ha-
bitation at Castelnuovo, he brooded over gloomy plans. He
wanted to revenge himself for the many humiliations which
he had experienced during three months, and for the state
of incivility to which he had been reduced. Contrary to hie
will and his better knowledge, Don John of Austria gave his
consent after four days to an attack upon the quarter of the
town occupied by the rebels. When this resolution was settled
the Viceroy 'wanted to strike another blow. On the evening

CONFLICT U*TDEE DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA, 245

of the 4th of October, he caused mMy of the leaders of the
rebels, and the deputy of the people, Arpajn, to be seized.
They were esamined at Castelnuovo before a special commis-
sioner, and convicted of a treasonable correspondence with the
French ambassador at Eome. They were conducted into the
deep ditch of the castle, where between gigantic walls an icy
■wind blows even in summer. Here they were all strang'led,
except Andrea Polito, who laid iJie mine to Sant' Elmo, and
■was hanged within the sight of tfje same by one foot ; and
Arpaja, who might have saved himself if he would have en-
tered into the Viceroy's plans. He refused, and died in prison
at Oran, on the African coast.

On the same night, the majority of the crews were Isnded,
and they joined the troops contained in the arsenal and Castel-
nuovo. The battle began at midday on the 5th of October,
The artillery of the castles and of the fleet opened their fire
upon the lower town. The royal troops, under cover of it,
took the Pizzofalcone, and all the heights. They would have
been victorious if their numbers had tiot been so small. But
from the moment in which the thunder of the cannon began,
the red standard was raised upon the tower of the Carrael,
near the great market-place, and thousands and thousands of
Popolans rushed on, no longer to defend themselves, but to
attack others. The heavy cannon-balls swept the streets and
destroyed the houses ; but the people could not be kept back.
Their principal object of attack was directed against Castel-
nuovo ; trenches were intersected by trenches, barricades were
erected against barricades. One of the batteries erected by
the people thundered against the Strang tower of Sta. Chiara,
one of the most important positions, because it commanded
the lower part of the town. If the populace, commanded this
time by Marcantonio Brancaceio, and many others, besides
Don Francesco Toraldo, did not attain their object, this was
still less the ease with the Spaniards. Valiantly as they fought,
they only succeeded in maintaining their positions, and not in
driving out the people from theirs. The unfortunate town
was exposed to all the devastations of war. Churches and
convents were not spared; a number of buildings were
ruins ; the squares were changed into fortresses ; the prisons
Castel Capuano were burst open ; the galley ^vcs let loose.
On botli sides pardon was unknown, and the prisoners were
murdered.

J

346 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONi;

The battle had lasted many days, when the ammumtka
began to fail in the castles as well as ia the advanced poadw
of the troops. From the first moment when Don Joha tf
Austria had perceived the fearful exasperation, and the wU
courage which animated the people, he had repented his attvL
He liad been deluded with the idea, that one earnest deii»
stration would be sufficient to restore tranquillity to tki
masseii. Now he saw his brave troops decimated by ni^
sacres as bloody as they were useless; and his ships, winA
were anchored close to the shore, severely injured by tb
bullets of the enemy. He withdrew his troops to Bajae. Ih
garrisons of the fortresses still held out ; but the Viceroy va
the more apprehensive of their exhaustion, as provisioiia b^
came scarce, as the rebels had cut off their supplies alsioBt ci
all sides. The leaders of the people also wished to mab
terms, for they were conscious that their undisciplined bndi
could effect but little against the castles and the persevemei
of the Spaniards. But ever}'thing failed, owing to the tenadtf
with which the people clung to the confirmation of the iMt
concessions made to them by the Duke of Arcos, and to tto
surrender of Sant' Elmo. So the battle went on, though not
with the same fury as at the banning.

An important ciiange meanwhile took place. Hitherto the
people had at least recognised the external sovereignty of
Spain. Whilst they fought against the Spaniards, they JHO-
fessed their allegiance to tlie king of Spain ; they rejected the
accusation of rebellion, decidedly as well as vehemently ; they
had respected the pictures and arms of Philip IV. and htt
ancestors, and always called themselves his most faithful people.
But by degrees this had changed, and the unsuccessful exp^
dition of Don John had given the last blow to this feeling of
attachment to the royal &mily. Marcantonio Brancaocb
jforbade the use of the cry, already become rare, of '^ Long lift
to the Eang !" and removed the arms of Spain. A manifesto
of the people on the 17th of October, 1647, set forth the
grievances of the nation against their rulers, and invoked the
aid of the Pope and the Emperor, of kings and of princen
Political parties were formed ; the most active at first weie
those who cried '^ Long life to the Pope ! were he but our
liege lord." The Cardinal- Archbishop leaned to this side ; the
Nuncio Altieri was familiar with intrigues, and his brothff

NEGOTIATIONS. 347

■waa mised up in it. Gut Pope Innocent X., and hia secre-
tary of state, Cardinal Panciroli, had no desire to quarrel
vith Spain, for bo Imzardous an enterprise, and Panciroli
warned tlie Nuncio to abstain &om such things or at Jeast to
be more cautious. " It is better for you lo remain at your
post," writes Panciroli to Altieri, " and so your Holy Father
will allow you ; but his Holiness wishes you for the future to
abehiin from sending notes to the people, and in general to
transmit anything of any kind in tvriting, as it might lead to
felse explanations and cnncluaions, and cause disagreeable mis-
understandings," * Others, and amongst them some of the
nobility, inclined towards France, and intrignera were not
wanting who laboured in behalf of this power; and tbey were
especially supported by the Alarquis de Fontenay MareuU,
the ambassador of Lewis XIV. to the Holy See. Others again,
considered a republic as feasible ; but the great mass of the
middle class began to perceive the danger into which they had
fellen by the last steps taken in the revolution. They had
been desirous of the abolition of burdens which were too op-
pressive, but not of a change iu the government and dynasty.
They had allowed the populace to have its own way about the
gabelles. But whoi the populace prevailed, they changed
their minds, as one insurrection followed upon another, when
all commerce was at a stand-still, when all security was at an
end, when the town was threatened with being turned into a
heap of ruins, and tliat ihey were on the point of losing every
thin^, because they wanted too much. It waa tliis middle
class which later gave Spain an easy and bloodless victory.

But till [his happened, Naples continued the theatre of hor-
rible scenes. As the negotiations with Don John of Austria
led to no results, the people tried to drive away the troops
from the posts which they still occupied within the town.
Thus Michele de Santis, the butcher who had murdered Jioa
Giuseppe Carafa, led six hundred men against the Spanish
poet at Porta Medina. The Viceroy, at^r whom it was called,
as has already been mentioned, bad built this gate in the wail
of Charles Vth, upon the heights of Montesanto, on the slope
of the mountain upon which is situated the Carthusian con-
vent and Sant' Elmo. Here stood fifteen Spaniards, tinned

• Deipalchea in Cipher, of the 4th Jarmary,' 1048, ia the Aii^hivea
AUieri at fioiDB.

J

348 THE CARAFAS OP MADDALOST.

only with pikes and swords ; they drove hack six hundred it
The leaders perceived that, without the advantage of a com-
mandiug; position, all individual detached successes were of
no avail. Santa Chiara, had resisted all their attacks. On the
2l8t of October a mine was sprung' under the tower. Don
Francescu Toraldo, who had been too weak to extricate him-
self, as he might possibly have succeeded in doing from im
false position, and who now acted as a sort of check upon tbs
people, commanded the attack in person. The mine wat
sprung, but being improperly laid, it only injured the neigb-
bouring buildings, which buried numbers of the champifHis of
the people under the ruins. The garrison of the convent toait
a sally at the same time, and the bands of the assailants witk
drew, with the cry of treason. Their unfortunate leader wai'
to atone for the treason ; they seized him and dragged hint ttt-
the market-place. In vain did Don Francesco Toraldo attempi
to speak, in vain did his adherents try to silence the mad nif
He sank down at the fish-market ; they cut off his noble he
upon a stone fish-stall. They stuck it upon a spear ; thus had ft
Carafa's head been carried in triumph, then that of Maa^.
niello. They tore the still warm heart from the mangkS;
corpse, and carried it in a silver dish to the convent, vheifc
Donna Alvina Frezza, the very beautiful wife of the unfortefi,
nate man, was staying. The savage murderers desired that tli
princess would show herself at the gate of the convent t
receive the heart of her husband. The nuns, horror-stmc^
refused to deliver the message: then these savages oollecteo
the wood and feggots that were about to set fire to the eoi|£'
vent. Toraldo's widow, informed of the danger, appeared t^
the threshold, and was obliged to receive from the hands iT
the barbarians this dreadfiil though beloved presenL Ubd
even of the mob wept at this sight. The corpse remaine
hanging on the gallows for two (hiys, then they took it doi
and in one of those sudden revulsions of mind that so c ~
take place amongst the rude masses, they buried ihei
dered Captain-General with isjeat pomp.*

Marcantonio Brancacclo liod hoped to occnpy the V— -^™
of the Prince of Massa ; but a gunsmith was preferred lo tin
nobleman. Gennaro Annese had from the beginning of th^

* Nscmzionc di Eoraies Stamps at Falerma, and at olhsc phwes, p. 3H<

NAPLES DECLARED A HEPDBLIC. 349

revolution made hiiUBelf more remarkable for a savage hatred
of the Spaniards and of all around him, dian for bravery or
jiidgrnent. He had beeti one of tlie most violent oppoiieuts
of Toraldo, and as commander of the small fort, or, more
correctly Bpeakihgp, the tower gate of the Carmine, the only post
of the fortifications that had always remained in the hands of
the people — he had known how to work upon the mob in the
neighbouring part of the town. Gennaro Annese, repulsively
ugly, with vulgar manners, dirty and covetous, inexperienced
in the art of war, and of equivocal personal courage, was ap-
pointed, it is said by French intrigues, on the 22nd of October,
to be eotumander-in-chief of the town and kingdom of Naples,
and he immediately issued " a proclamation from tiie royal
fortress of the Castle of the Carmine," in which he com-
manded obedience to his signature and seal, under pain of
felling into di^race with the most feithful people, tt^ther
with death and confiscatiDU of gotxls. The last traces of Spa-
nish dominion were now obliterated ; Naples was declared a.
republic; thepicturesof our Saviour and of St. Januarius were
placed under a canopy iu the great market-place; a train of
corrupt lawyers, and of the lowest kind of intriguers, clung to
the new commander-in-chief, and governed with him, as " tlie
council of the people," The rebellion meanwhile was in as
helpless a state as the Viceroy, who continued in Castel-
nuovu, and corresponded with Don John of Austria, with
the Archbishop and the Nuncio, and with the leaders of
the nobility. All mutual confidence was destroyed. The
people kept their quarters garrisoned, the troops maintained
posts and fortresses on much the same extent of ground
as they hod occupied after the battle against Don Jotm's sol-
diers. The upper town belonged to the Spaniards ) the lower,
which was very tliickly inhabited, to tlie people. Broad
frenches separated tho hostile parties. The royal lines began
at the Carthusian convent, S. Martino, under the artillery of
the castle of Sant' Elmo, passed along the edges of the moun-
tain to the Porta Medina, from thence along the wall to
Porta Alba, that is at present entirely within the walls, bend-
iDg to the uew church of the Jesuits and Santa Chiara into
the heart of Naples, and so readied to the sea, cutting through
(he liarbour quarter which was commanded by the artillery
of Castelnuovo j but the people had thrown up a strong en-

■L-^

350 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOXL

trencliiiient there, and fired perpetually at the gate of tk | fjni
castle. The whole eastern division of the town, aooi _
Naples, was thus in the hands of the rebels.* 1 1^

An excellent picture of Salvator Hosa's, one of the oofr 1 1^
ments of the collection of St. Angelo, in the former palace tf I {,
Carafa of Maddaloni, represents a scene of the siege of Cart^ I ^
uuovo. The gigantic gloomy buildiug of the fortreai i
Charles of Anjou, with its lofty towers, rises in the midd^
with a view of Molo and the sea. Dark masses of the peofh
are storming it. In the front, you see Gennaio Annaea
horseback, as Generalissimo with the staff of command, viA
a plume in his helmet, a steel coat of mail inlaid with goH,
wMch the former armourer was passionately fond of. Hon*
men are riding their horses to and fro, in the smoke of tk
powder. One of them in a military dress springs upon Air
nese — tradition says Salvator Rosa himself. Such was tk
state of things at Naples in the autumn of 1647.

Every one was aware that it could not last. For the aptf
of three months complete anarchy had prevailed more or W
The people were terribly wild ; almost all the nobility hii
forsaken the city, and only in the parts garrisoned l^ tk
troops some families had ventured to remain. The suppliBi
were cut off on both sides. The castles suffered most For
whilst the people knew for a time how to keep the roads opea
to the south-eastern parts of the Terra di jLavoro, towardi
Nocera and Salerno, and consequently could get provisioM
into the town, the castles received their supplies generaHf
from the sea, for vessels from Capua sailed down the Vol-
turno, and the ships of Giannettino Doria protected the trani-
port. But in stormy weather, such as often happened at Hat
season, this was always a difficult thing. The roads by land
had been closed for some time to the royal party : immediatdj
upon leaving the grotto of Posilipo, you fell in with ditciNi
and abattis which interrupted communication with PozzuoL
But before we follow the further progress of the revolution in
this unfortunate capital, it is necessary to take a survey of the
provinces, and keep in view the nobility who had foraakai
Naples.

From the moment in which the news of the insurrection of

* Karrazione di Hennes Stampa.

BEVOLTS AGAINST THE NOBILITY 351

lie capital had readied the proviiices, the disturbances com-
■lenced in a hundred places far and near. The majority of
;he feudal districts rose against the barons ; in the royal cities,
die mob revolted against the officers.. In the environs of
HTaples the rebellion began, which soon spread to the Abruzu,
ka Basilicata, even into Calabria and Apulia. In the royal
cities, the real object was to plunder the . rich, and to oppress
ttKMse who had hitherto been influential £rom their wealth. In
Hue feudal districts, the hatred against the barons was partly
vented in horrible cruelties. Where the nobility had been
mdlder, on the contrary much of the old attachment was shown
them, and they could, with the help of their vassals, resist the
bloody struggle which broke out not long afterwards. It
would lead us too far here, if all the places were to be named
where the rebellion burst out. Some few only we will men-
tion to show how the flame spread itself from one end of the
kingdom to the other. Aquila and Chieti rebelled in the
Abruzzi — Capua in Terra di Lavoro, one of the most im-
portant fortresses in the whole country. Lecoe and Trani in
Apulia, Cosenza in Calabria. The insurrection first began in
Aquila, the ancient capital of the Abruzzi, the inhabitants of
which could not forget how their liberties had been destroyed
in the year 1465, by the cunning of King Ferdinand and his
son Alphonso,* and that since then they had adhered in .all
*the revolutions to the French side, and amongst others b» re-
lated, were severely punished by the Prince of Orange, in
1529. But here it was not, as everywhere else, the lowest of
the people ; but the nobility and the rich citizens, who could
not endure that the governor of the province had taken up
his residence and placed his tribunal in their town, and checked
their hitherto uncontrolled actions. In Eboli, a town of Prin-
^pato Citra, on the road from Naples to Calabria, which is
to be seen upon the slope of the mountain if you travel from
Salerno to the ruins of the temple of Paestum, the people rose
up against the illustrious families, wlio were excluded, by their
privileges as nobles, from bearing the common burdens. Se-
venteen members of them were, under pretext of an amicable
agreement, lured to the market-place, and there beheaded un-
mercifully. The executioners said scoffingly, that it was the
best agreement that could be made with them.

* Machiayclli, Istorie Fiorentine, b. vii

352 THB CARAFAS OF I€ADDALQNL I

The feudal districts nearest to the capital were moitrf|^
them set on fire even in Masaniello's tinoie. In OttajuioAl 1^
people revolted against the Medicis; iu Mdito agaiuttb ||^
Muscettolas ; in Bosco against the Piccolominis ; in Noeai 1*^
against the Carafas ; in Caserta against the -Caetani ; Sa» 1^
eapriola, in the Capitanata, rebelled against the Marqiui M I''*
Yasto ; Sulmona, in the Abruzzi, against the BoigiMM} I**'
Nardo, in the Terra d'Otranto, against the Count of Cooi» 1^
sano ; Monteleone, in Calabria, against the Pig^atelli ; ])» p
razzano against the Garganos. Innumerable larger and sanOff p
places followed their example. Sometimes the people lOi y
satisfied with promises, and did no mischief to the barouff V
their possessions. Sometimes things went on worse. Fi» l!
cesco Maria Carafa, Duke of Nocera, with great difficnUj 1^
saved his life, whilst his palace was set on fire, and hif 6^
mestics murdered. After some days he retun^ed with maiT
armed men, and took a bloody revenge. The Count of Coh
versano compelled Nardo to surrender, but pardoned the in-
surgents at the exhortation of the Duke of Arcos, who thai
and always believed, that he could, by moderation and fiur
words, tranquillize the country, and gave his instructions in tUf
spirit to his military and civil governors. But scarcely had tiie
Count left the town, and moved towards Conversano, leavii^
behind him a garrison of a hundred men, when the rebellion
broke out afresh. The soldiers were obliged to retire into the
castle, where the people kept them as if in a state of si^
When the news reached Conversano, the Count mounted hii
horse and rode with four hundred of his followers to Nardil
Tradition preserves in the minds of the people of those districts
to this day, the cruelty of Giau Girolamo Acquaviva, or, as he
was wont to be called, the Cyclops of Apulia. It was the
revolution of 1647 which so worked upon the passions of this
man, for otherwise he was, though severe and violent, no un-
just master to his vassals, whose interests he promoted in varioos
ways. That amongst the barons who then took up arms, he
possessed the most military talent, and performed considerable
services to the crown, has been acknowledged by all. The
Count appeared before the walls of the rebellious city. Many
of the inhabitants had retired with the garrison into the castle;
they now took courage, made a sally upon the people, and
Naid6 was obliged to surrender. Acquaviva revenged himself

r

rOLICY OF THE DUKE OF AECOS. 353

fearfully. One of the priocipal authors of the rebellion, the
Baron Sambiase, an old man of seventy, was hung by one foot.
Four canons were shot, and their heads, with their ecclesiastical
inaignia, were stuck up in their seats in the choir of the cathe-
dral. The Syndic had fled to Gallipoli ; but he likewise did
not escape imprisonment and deatli. Many others, like those
condemned by the governor of Nardd, died by the hand of
the hanguan in Conversano, and the place is still called the
' Gallows street.' Their houses were levelled to the ground,
the empty place strewn with salt, property to the value of a
hundred thousand ducats was cxinRscated. Thus did Gian
Girolamo act ; a dreadful instance of the excesses to which
tlie fury of exeited passions led both one side and the other,
in the wild time of civil war.

Many of these places returned by d^ees to tranquillity,
and gave their lords important assistance in the war of the
Barons, which those attached to the royal side began agaiuet
the rebels. When the Duke of Arcos saw that his efforts
were unavailing, he tried to win over the nobles to himself.
The cunning policy of the Viceroy was never at fault. At
the beginning of the disturbances, he made use of the nobility
to appease the populace : when the nobility were outlawed by
the populace he let them fall, to come to an understanding
with the victors. This may be excused by the ui^nt neces-
sity of the moment, but his conduct afterwards was not at all
better. How the people and the ruler behaved towards the
aristocracy is best shown by the example of the Duke of
Uaddaloni, whom we lefl at Torella with his wife'n uncle, Don
Giuseppe Caracciolo, The people had set a price upon his
head, had laid waste and burnt his palaces and villas, d^troyed
his effects, annihilated a great part of his city wealth, perse-
cuted his family unrelentingly with disgrace and murder, ba-
nished his posterity for ever out of Ms native country. Diomed
Carafa thus severely dealt with, turned to Rome and Flo-
rence: it was said that he wished to go to France, and tliis
may well have given rise to the suspicion which was enter-
tained of him later. In Rome he tarried only a few hours in
the palace of his cousin. Cardinal Carafa ; this was sufficient
lo cause the Pope to reproach the Cardinal vehemently for
having admitted him. In Florence the Archduke Ferdinand
II. Medici refused to receive him. The hekd of a great

L

35-i THE CARAFAS OF MADD.ILONT.

femily, and one to which Spain owed much, was treated by is
adherents as a vagabonti. Cardinal Filomarino, a person*!
enemy of Carafa's, highly extols tlie prudence of the Media I
" When the news wbh spread in the palace and in the lom J
that the dut:e mentioned, who is eo much hated here, was Hlfl
received there, every one potired forth their applause of yeitffl
Highness,"— so wrote home tjie Tuscan agent at Naples.* m

There was soon a. sudden change in this servile feeling', W I
the state of things did not improve. When the people vaia I
Toraldo's compulsory guidance besieged Casteliiuovio, -wbn J
moHt of the places in the direction of Castellanunaie and SalaM L J
from which provisions could with greater facility lisve ^M^|
procured, were in the power of the rebels, and, as we 1>«I^|
already said, want prevailed in the royal fortriess, the o^lH
hope left was upon the assistance of the Barons. Th^ i!B^|
duet may often have been criminal ; but in this case tl^l
fulfilled nith alacrity and with all the energy of their poii^|
their duty to their king and their country, not recoUectuig d^l
grievances and new vexations. It may l>e said, that they liVB
it in self-preservation. But it must not be forgotten, that (til
nobility might long ago have taken advantage of the ftwi^|
hatred of the people towards the Spanish governm^it, if they MM
been so minded ; that Don Francesco Toraldo, had he be^udifl
bitious, might have profited by the public opinion in his fa»a< |J
when the masses of the people in the heat of the combat crf|l|
out, " Come on. Prince, and we will make you king ■■
Naples." It must not i>e forgotten that the aristocraqriv-^
mained as faithful, when from Rome and from Franee miiij I
allurements were offered, and the loss of Naples to the B«aw
of Hapsburg hung by a single liair. That this did not hoppa
was principally owing to the nobiltty. We shall see later the |
reward they received.

In Capua, at the beginning of the autumn, many c1ii«6 of
the CavEkliers assemblei by degrees. The Duke of Moddoloilit.^
the Prince of Torella, the Duke of Gravina, and mai^ othe
arrived there. Many members of the govenmieut liad i
thither from Naples. They consulted together,
into~Bn alliance with the Duke of Areos, who aa'

* Sepnrt nftbe Tiucon mideo-t miniitcr, VinccoEo Medici, SOIL Aa|M I
1647 {pcHTespondence iamany rolumea, MS., in the Medioea " - -■ '
Florame).

SCENERY IN THE NEiGHBOOKHOOD OF :fAPlEa. 355

etting every day worse, from the failure of the ttttick of Don
ohn of Austria. In order to procure jjrovisioiis, it was ne-
essary to dear the euvirODs of the •ijiilol of tiie rebels, and
%o confiue tbem in their town quarters. A ^;reat number of
ihe places round Naples wa^. as we have said, iri tlie hands of
ihe insurgents upon the Bide towards Capua, as well as
towards Saleruo. When at this pieaent day we consider th6
Inexliaustibly fertile, thickly inhabited, well cultiTirted country
itrbicb surrouuds the crater of Ycsuvius, hundreds of large and
Vnall districts, the dwellings most off them with flat ceilings in-
fetead of roofe, vines, fig and olive-trees covering every 'height ;
ifbe plains, most of them cultivated as gardens for daily use-;
^1 the roads encliwed by .rows of fruit trees clustered widi
sarlands of vines ; everywhere a rich, beautiful, and flourish-
ing cultivation ; the horizon bounded by magnificent moun-
tains, across them a chain of the same green heights; if we
contemplate this country, we shall have some difficulty in
xealizing that of the environs of the capital of Southern Italy,
in the time which we are now describing.

Three great roads issue from Naples. Tiie Capuau, which
leads off in two ways to Rome, by a tliird to the Abruzzi and
the papal territory- Tiie Apulian, which passing throiigli Avel-
lino, Ariano, and Foggia, and then to tite left by Tavoliere,
and through the flat country to Monte Gargano, and to tbe
■right in the fertile plains of corn and olives in the Terra dl
£ari and Otranto. Lastly, the Calabrian, which between, the
■lope of Tesuvius and the sea, tutd leaving behind it those
districts eo oilen destroyed by the lava-streams of the moun-
tain, and so quickly restored, of Poi'tici, Eesino, Ton'e del
Greco, and Torre dell' Annuuziata, traverses at Seaferno the
river of Saxno, and behind the little town of Nooeia de' Pa-
gan!, in the picturesque and thickly wooded ijays that separate
the magniticent maunimns of Castellammare and Amalii from
tbat of the Principoto Citra, and eo by tlie charmingly situated
La Cava at Vietri reaches the aea, ajid shortly afterwards
Salerno, one of the most beautiful roads in the world, fruni
the variety ol' its views, the uumber and importance of the
places, the perpetual productiveuess of the soU, the care
with which it is cultivated. He wlio wishes to be coiiverjant
with all its beauties in one view, must ascend one of the
nimmits of the mountains at Castellammare, and the heights

356 THE CARAFA8 OF MADDALONI.

of the northern slope, where is situated at the present, the ite|
stroyed but very picturesque in its ruins, castle of Lettere. A.
bouiidless garden lies bAore the spectator — numberless town
and villagea, with their white-shining houses and steeples, peer
forth out of the green enamel of the meadows. The Stroo
winds throug^h fields and woods of the rich plains, which aie
traversed in nearly the same direction by high roaJds and rait.
roads. Next Angri, a fief of Doria the Genoese ; to the ' "
Scafati and Torre dell' Annunziataj to the right, halfi
cealed by projecting heights, Nocera and the adjacent Pae
in the background the mountain, which divides the two Pria-
cipati, Citra and Ultra, from each other, on the heights of which
glitter Samo, Palma, and still further, Nola, the burial-place
of Augustus ; famous for its potteries in the middle agea it
was a fief belonging to one of the many branches of the familj
of Orsini. But the most beautiful end of this enchanting
picture b to the left;, where rises above Torre dell' Armunriaii
near the sea, the mighty mass of Vesuvius, the crater of whicb
is always changing in shape, after it has produced earthqualm
and eruptions, which leave behind them in all the ueighboni^'
hood, a thousand old and new, sad as well as salutary vestigesJ
But more prominent than all is the buried Pompeii, wbcM
green lieap of ashes, in an enclosed field of ruins, is visible it
the foot of the mountain, to which it owed its preservatton,
when apparently destroyed.

It WHS in this plain that the battle between the nobles and
the Neapolitan people began. When the summons of the
Duke of Arcos sounded in thar ears they did not deliberate.
The friends of Spain, the indifferent — even her hereditaif
enemies — the raising of bajmers was universal, Thev «W
the kingdom threatened with anarchy ; this imminent dan-
ger put an end to every other consideration. As in the
times of old, the barons summoned once more their vasals to
arms. The system of war had undergone a complete tian^
formation, but the new arrangements and rules could not bt
applied in the present case. The land was stripped of Iroc^
with ihe exception of the few small garrisons in the fortr«8SH;
it had been left defenceless to strengthen other and perhaps
leas threatened points. Gaeta, Castel-Voltumo, Capua, POfr
zuoli, wanted their soldiers, and could only lend slight aniM-
ance. The barons took arms with the greatest haste, and

MOSTER OF THE BAH0S3 WITH TIIEIE VASSALS. 357

undertook in their own persons the command of their followers
and vassals. The troops furnished bj same of them as early
as tLe latter end of October, a fe-w days after that the Viceroy
iiad implored their assistance, gives us no insignilicant idea of
the power and wealth which they still possessed.

Diomed Carafa was the first of them all to take the field.
Ko rebellion had taken place in his fief — proof sufficient tiiat
his government was not so bad. He raised 360 horsemen and
342 foot soldiers ; no other noble led so lai^ a troop into the
plain of Capua. After him came the D'Avaliis, the Marquis
del Vaato, with 190 horse and 220 infantry, the Prince of
Montesarchio with 130 of the first and 70 of the others. As
during the middle ages the ^at mass of the troops of the
barons consisted of cavalry ; the Duke of Jelsi and Prince of
Foriuo, both Caracciolos, levied 146 horsemen; the Duke of
Sora Buoncompagni 60; the Plccolomini 70; the Prince of
Torella and some of his friends the same number ; the Duke
of Martina and other Caracciolos 50 ; not to mention smaller
bands, which numbered from 20, 10, even to 4 men. It was
a motley anny, without union or discipline, varying' in their
arms and in their dress, and unwilling to obey orders. Great
part of it was composed of peasants s:iatched from the plougli,
with unbroken cart-horses; part of it from domestics of the
nobles, a great part of it also of the bulk of those lawless and
licentious bravoes and banditti, ~who now took the field for
honourable war as they had for years marched forth on pre-
datory excursions. Noblemen of inferior condition, expert in
the pKifesraon of arms, conducted these companies. There wafi
no question of military discipline or co-operation. Many of
tiie nobles had united from necessity, repressing their old family
hatred for the moment, at times perhaps, even whilst under
arms, quarrelling with each other— their people did the same.
They had one common aim, but, as far as the combination,
equipment, and arming of the soldiery was concerned, they
acted as if each man was fighting only for himself: even when
under one common leader, these troops were very little better.

The first object was to deliver the Neapolitan plain and free
the blockade of tlie town from the troop of rebels. With so
little disciplined strength of war this was difficult, indeed im-
posfiible. The battle began at the foot of Vesuvius. Don
jMSmuo Ficcolomini, sou of the Count of Cetano, and, as Prince

J

L

358 THE GARAFAS OF MADOALOST.

of Valle, the founder of that branch of his family which m-
herited the estates of the posterity of Field -Marshal Ottavio,
the Bohemian village of Nichod, and the dignity of a prince
of the empire, shortly before his own death, rode fonii from
the territory of his ikther at Castellammare with a small bond
to Torre dell' Annuninafa, But fortune did not favour him.
In Scafati, hia own barony, the people rose np against turn ;
the peasants from Bosco and other villages on the luounlaiii
rushed hither, and Piccoloinini liad do other resource but Id
shut himself up in the small caatle. It was important to de-
fend Torre dell' Aununziata. because the place contained tiai
corn-mills which supplied llie town with liie most f
peasants invested the tower, but Don Alfonso dn>ve back
repeated attacks and killed many of them. Meanwhile it
impossible for him to liold out without md against the t
increasing superior numbers. He knew that Don Carlo ■
celatro, Duke of Sejano, had collected soldiers in the v _. ^
of Sant' Anastasia, which is situated a few miles from Al
capital at the foot of Vesuvius, or, more correctly speaJcing-, m
the uiountain of Somma, in the vicinity of the famous plaee ti
pilgrimage of Santa Maria dell' Arco, and he succeeded io im-
forming him by a messenger of his dangerous position. Dm
Luigi Minutolo, Rinaldo Miraballo, and other uobleraen, OfMB
the intelligence of the march of Piccolo mini to Sejano, set oat
to join him, and they rode together to the northern dope of
the mountain, above Somma and Ottajano, to the fioaveat of
San Giennaro, in the plain to the market-town of Palma. Hoe
they met Ottavio tie' Medici, Prince of Ottajano, Giovait BU-
tieta Caracciolo, Maltese Prior of Bari, and others with Aom,
and they held a council. On muBtering the soldiers, they did
not number more than 120 men; these were too few to uD-
dertake a march througli the plain fiill of armed peosuti)
and they wanted to give up the enterprise. Meanwhile Dm
Cario Capeeelatro declared that at all events he wonld ridi
with hia men, whether they were few or many, so tlie rest i
with him on horseback. They were about half way when 1
met Ficcolomini and his sm^l band. He had got out bf i
successful sally, and was now looking for his frienda. United
the whole troop returned to Torre dell' Ann unaiata. Seajodf
had they reached the place when two galleys appeared, tat
snC bf tke Yieerey to bring than to Kajdes ; but tbc; Mil

riikriBi*.

FLIGHT OF THE CAVALIEE8. 359

him word that they would stay if he would send them reia-
fercemeitts to defend the place, the possessiou of which was of
no Email importance to him.

The barons had altogether only 150 men with them, yet
thev it«olved to remain, the more so as the news had arrived
that the Duke of Maddaluni was bringing tiiem 300 men,
if they could only hold out till the next day. But scarcely
had the evening set in when alarum-bells from all the steeples
of die uumberless cliurohes resounded throughout the country.
The people rmi together, the wiiole neiglibourhood was on
the alert, and thousands streamed to the Torre dell' Anauo-
ziata. Still the cavaliers wanted to hold out, when the news
reached them tlmt Diomed Cara& could not be there in right
time on account of the difficulties on the road. Iii the middle
of the night they mounted their homes : they considered them-
selves fortunate that the people were more intent upon taking
the pla<% tlian upon making them prisoners, and that the dark-
ness favoured them. With but little loss they took the same
way that they had followed the day before. They tried to
reach Nola, about fourteen mUes distant, a considerable town,
where the people were said to be not disaflected towards the
nobility, and Don Giuseppe Msstrillo and Luca Cesarini bad
^tHnised to briug them a reiuiorcement of 150 men. To-
wards midday, wlien they were only distant about three miles
&om Nola, some priests, who were comii^ from thence, itv-
formed them that the populace had revolted that morning,
ftnd had imprisoned all the nobles and many of the better
class of citizens. Now the barous were in de^iair. prom all
sides came news that the people had revolt^, and were aware
of the flight of the cavaliers. They wished to retire to Caa*
tellammare, but tlie passes of the Samo were already guarded.
Then they resolved to separate, as they thought tlmt they could
easier [>ass safely in small bands. Piccolomini and Capece-
latro turned back : they rode quickly till they were not iar
from tile shoi«, wliere, opposite to the mouth of the Sarno,
upon a rock surrounded by dashing waves, rises the small,
Atrange, islandfortofRevigliano with its towers and pinnacles.
liere tliey passed the stream unobserved and reached Castel-
lammare undisturbed, which wtks scantily garrisoned by the
royal troops : the others, who plunged into tJie interior of the
country, tud more difficulty in saving tbemselves. Don Luigi

.^-M

i

3C0 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOST.

Minutolo, after many adventures, at laat readied iis fief ia
the Basilicata. Binaldo Miraballo and others fled to Somm^
tlie gates of which were closed : they were admitted for Rut
hundred ducats. But much longer and moredangerouswu tb
pursuit after Medici and Caracciolo. At first they bellerei
themselves safe in the Abruzzl. The whole country south-fMt
of Naples within a few days was in one bright blaze of rebd*
lion. In Nocera, La Cava, Laura, Sanseverino, and every-
where in tlie vicinity, the rebellion broke out. It voa in lia
month of October at (lie tiiwe when Don Frajicesco Torsldt
met with his deplorable death at the hands of the mob,*

So little encouraging was the beginning of the campuiga
£)r the barons. Deep dejection threatened quite to cripple dM
powers of the royal party ; hut soon the state of thinn
changed — more power and success accompanied the operatiaiM
in the north. The Prince of Moutesarchio, with 200 men,
tool; Acerra, a small town lietween Naples and Maddalod,
and destroyed the mills and aqueducts there, a heavy loss fat
the people of the capital, who at the news were so futiooi
that Gennaro Annese caused a daughter of D'AvaJos, a nua
in the convent of San Gaudioso, to be seized, and she was only
saved by tiie quick and decided intervention of the archbidMHk.
The want of water at Naples is so great, and the actual spriif
water so scarce, that the aqueducts are of the more importance
From this one is brought that of Carmignano, so called afteP'
its founder, an important body of water from Sant' AgaUt if
Goti through the plain of Capua to the town : in its pra
circuit it discharges its waters by the wide Strada I<oria,
very far from the ravine near Capodiraonte, where are Hm
visible remains of Roman aqueducts known by the name c^
the Ponti Rossi. Monterareiiio cut through this aqueduct it
Acerra. and the effect was very different from tliat whitfc
Harshal Lautrec tried to his detriment when he destroyed tbt
waterworks under Poggio Reale. But the barons stniokft'
still more important blow at the same time. Aversa is situated
half way between Naples and Capua ; in those times it ww t,
weak place but important, because it commanded (he gntP
road to the west. Here the remainder of the army of Lautfeb*
decimated by pestilence and the enemy, assembled for the W
• TheBarona'Wai-iletiiiled.byGlo.Bat.Piaoenle. Le Bivoliurioni M
0(^00 <U Napoli, monuscr^L '

DEFEAT OF THE PEASANTS ON THE SOUTH-EAST. 361

and tried to lialt, but were overtaken and annihilated by
imperial army. The rebels had garrisoned tlie town:
lionied Carafa, Ferdinand Caracciolo, Duke of Castel di '

angro, and his brother the Prior of Ban, with the Prince of
ittajaiio (both these lai«t have already be<!n named), surprised
lem with a thousand men, and look the place after a vig-oroua
ittle. The cavaliers, (veil acquaiaied «'iih tlie countiy, roved
»„ Capodichino, to wiiich place, since the time of Joachim
SUurat, tlie battle-field of Naples has extended ; and by pur-
suing your way along a broad road, you are immediately re-
minded of the extent and industry of the capital of the south.
They robbed, plundered, killed everything that fell into their [

)iaDda : it was the most cruel kind of warfare — a civil war, .

Ihe nobility were not less exasperated than the people, and
the people and nobility proceeded against one another without
£>rbearaiice.

Whilst the barons thus advanced from the north, the second
expedition on the south-eastern side of the town succeeded
better than the first. It was required to drive back the rebels
who had taken possession of the locality of Castellammare.
The Duke of Sejano and Don Alfonso Piecolomini placed
themselves again at the head of their followers : Don Pietro
Carafa and the Duke of Regina, Capece Galeota, joined them.
In a long narrow valley behind Castellammare, upon the ex-
treme verge of the slope of the hill, is situated a considerable
Tillage, Gragnano ; at the present time it is a subslanlial
place, flourishing in trades, and known by its manufactures of
giaccaroni. Here the peasants liad assembled, seven hundred in
number, but much as the locality favoured them, nevertheless
they were put to flight by sixty horsemen ; also in the castle of J

Lettere, a fief of Miraballo's, they could not hold out, strong'
and beautiful as it was ^vitfa its massive walls and towers. The
cavaliers pursued them down into the plain, beat the persevering '

crowds from Nocera and La Cava took the strong castle of
Scftfati, and tlius became masters at the bridges over the Samo.
The city of Naples was reduced to great wanL All the
roads to the provinces had been blocked up as quickly as pos-
.uble and the supplies cut off, whilst in the immediate vicinity
the houses and &rms were burnt, the fields trodden down, the
cattle driven away. The roads to the west were blocked up
by Maddaloni and Montesaichio ; the Apulian road, by which J

L J

362 THE CAEAFAS OF MADDAIJ3NT,

the news hod just arrived of the Count of Conveisano's victoif
at Fogfpa,, was barricaded by the Prinue of Avelliuo ; than
towards Saierno and Caiabria were occupied by Sejcuio ani
Piccoloiniai. The suarcity was every day more felt ; meit
md bread rose fourfold in price ; salt meat and lish were
hardly less dear, wood almost unatbunable. The people and
their leaders saw complete ruin aud femiae at their doors, if
they could not get the blockade raised ; tlie barons on their
side knew ttie ditficulty <^ success against so lai^e a town and
snch overwhelming numbers when tliere was no regular systoa
of aUack ; accordingly both sides resorted to new measures.

Tlie Duke of Atcxm had some time befure sent tlie JJeor
tenant-Gleneral, Don Vincenzo Tuttavilla, wiio has already beSj
mentioned in these pages, with a small Ijand of regular tro^^fl
to the . head-^uarta^s of the barons at Capua. TuttaviU& u4l
only fifty Germans and about a hundred and twenty Spainuinl
and Flemings, of which the half were cavalry ; but these mI- I
diers, who were inured to war, were considered as importaat '
succours. Two galleys conveyed them to PozzuoU, froM I
whence TnttaviUa tried next to clear the rood which leodi
through tiik famxtns gratto of Fosilipo to the capitaL He
&iled, for the rebels, who had thrown up trenches at the
grotto, and were favoured by the ground, defended theinselvea
vaJlaittly. Tuttavilla was not more fortunate in an excursion
against the viU^e of Manino, wliich is HtuateU not far from
the road leading from Fozzuoli to Aversa. He was surprised
l^ an ambush of peasants lying in wait for him, lost abool
fifly men, and returned to Aversa with his fugitive troops Id i
wild confusion, hoping in vain for a musket-ball to put an tad
to his ignominy." The people of Naples triumphed all llw
more, and so<^ht with a greedy impatience amongst the IiebA I
which had been brought in of those who had £illen, for thuseoC
Maddaloni and Montesarchio. From the b^inuii^ of Tulta-
rilla's mission the Vieeroy had cherished the desigu of maLiia
him undertake the office of commander in-cluef of the uniitd i
troops. At first the barons objected, but afterwards diey voIuD- I
tarily recognised him as their chief by a deed of the 24lii of I
October. The " Excellentiasimi et Hluslrissimi dontiui Pl> I
eerea et magnates et baronis et patricii, et equites illuuliwt I

* BuTazianc di HEimeii 9tampa.

r

EXPEDITION T

et excellentissimanim plitt«iruin nobilium fidelissimo-
rum civitatia Neapolis," declare iit ttiia remarkable ilucumeDt
that they, setting aside all ideas irith r^ard to rank aiid proper
position, and onlj coDsidering the service of hia Majesty and
the pressing necessities oi the kingdom, as well as the object
of deljveriDg Naples from the tyramiy and barbarity that now
prevail, the barons liave appointed by universal consent and
with the sanction of the Lord Viceroy, Lord Viiicenzo Tatta-
vilia, Kniglit of the Sedile del Porto, menilwr of the royal col-
lateral comicil, and Lieutcniint- General of the cavalry, to be
bead of the war department, under whom (hey will rally, and
whom they will obey, as tliey will allow and tran^^^mit to iiim
foil power and authority for tbe attainment of tlie object
mentioned."

The town was now more strictly invested, but the people,
diatresed liy want, made also Dtimerous and vigorous salUes.
Tiie scarcity in coni iiicretLsed. Wiiilst the Duke of Maddaloni
jBMCured many stores for the royal foiljesses, and was always
applied to for lielp by the Viceroy and always commended, he
conducted party wars in the neig^ourliood of Naples inde-
filigably, appearing here and tliere with his hoisembn ; he was
hated and persecuted by the rebels in [he same proportion that
he injured them, whilst the leaders of the people were unibr-
tonate. Since the Spaniards were masters of the sea, the aup-
jilies fJToni the shores of Amalfi were consequently cut off by
land as well as by sea, so the leadeni of the people resolved to
open by force of aims the road by land to Salerno, tiiis pro-
vince so abundant in com as w«ll as in cattle. The key of
this road was the bridge over the Sanio at Sca&ti. The tSto
de pout is formed by a fortified tower or small fort on the right
shore, strong enough to guard against sudden attacks in those
lim«s, and to block up the pass. To thia day in many parts
of Italy old as well as new bridge fortifications of this kind are
to be seen. The tower was garrisoned by a few Spanish sol-
diers : this tower G^iinaro Annese determined to attack.

A captain of one of the companies of the people, Michele,
left Naples with five hundred infantry and two hundred iiorse-
men ; at Scaiati they were joined by two thousand men fi'oiii
Noccza, La Cava, and San Severino, and invested tlie tower.

• Doemnant m Uia Appendix to BiT&'s BuUevocian. de N^polei.

THE CARAT AS OF MADDALONL

The garrison did not lose courage : they wereshortofprimin
and ainmuiiitioD, but they directed their shots with sodii
beraiioii that the enemy, who saw every shot take effect, di
it advisable to remain beyond firing' distance and to bk
llie tower. It could only obtiuij succour from the side of
lellammare, therefore the assailants placed their priu
strength upon the road, which, as soon as you rescbed tltfl
shore of the Samo, leads southwards to the right of thcdf
mentioned on the coast, whilst the main road in an OM
direction goes on towards Salerno. At the same time thej
through tliat road with (ieep ditches, threw up rampuit
earth, and, standing behind them, directed tJieir shol« >^
the tower, more with the view of tiring the defenden Q
itith tlie hope of injuring them.

On the side of Naples and on that of the mountain thejfi
circled the small fortress with fortificationa, which, wtak •
hastily put up as they might be, were in a state to resist it '
attack, especially against cavalry. The Spaniards cUd niil
courage. Limited to their muskets, they made so evcelM
use of them that in many places the clumsy pioneers were
vented from going on with their work. But there was
bread for much more than three days, and the ntatcb'^e
began to fail. The enemy had learnt this from the inhabiu
of Scafati, and resolved to starve out the garrisoo, wbibl
people received supplies every hour from the peasants «
hastened thither.

The besiegers nearly obt^ned their objecL The fifth i
of the blockade had arrived, and the Spaniards had ont
scanty residue of bread. They lore their shirta to m
matchwebs for their guns. Don Pietro Carafa, who '
occupying Castellammare, did not think tliat he could
dertake anything with his small force for the relief (>f
tower of Scafati, the importance of which lie well knew, I
immediately despatched messengers to Don Vincenzo TutI
villa to summon him to its a^slance. The day was alrei
drawing to a close when the vanguard of the roynlisis i
peared hither from Somma. The rebels sent a troop of ho
against them : they, nmre used to jiluoder than to battle, «I
off their pistols at a respectful distance and immediately tiuw
their backs. The enemy pursued them rapidly, strer '
''Y fresh soldiers, and many of the people met their

DEFEAT AT SCAFATL 365

an inglorious flight. But the principal mass of ihe rebels re-
solved lo defend their in trench men ta, in the belief that the
royalUta, hindered by ditches and abatti», could accomplish
uoihiog against them. Tuttavilla arrived with hia troop ; in-
stantly he caused an attack to be made on the middle trench
by two companies of in&ntry. For the first moment the
others stood their ground and jired : many in the foremost
row of assailants fell, but they had already taken the trench,
over which the sappers passed in an instant and dislodged the
enemy. Now the way vvas in some d^ree levelled for the
cavalry : the whole troop of besiegers, more than a thousand
men, suddenly dispersed. The Spaniards fired briskly from
the tower upon those who wished to save themselves over the
bridge from the little village of Sca&ti, where many continued
in a savage close fight. The cavalry pursued the fugitives
through a lai^ extent of country to the road to Naples, and
they were only stopped by the approach of night. Above
two hundred and fifty men of the people were killed and as
many wounded and made prisoners ; sixty horses fell into the
hands of the victors. On the very same evening Torre dell'
Annunziata and Bosco, neighbouring places, were garrisoned ;
and Torre del Greco, very early on the following niominE-,
where, however, Tuttavilla left only a small Iroop, whilst he
fortified Torre dell' Annunziata, important on account of its
mills and its position, as well as the time would admit of.

The intelligence of the defeat soon reached Naples, and
excit«d a violent tumult. More than five thousand of the
people immediately took the road to Salerno. They surprised
the vanguard, consisting only of fifty men, in Torre del Greco,
but turned to the left when they perceived the cavalry in
march. They were not more than four hundred in number,
pari Walloons and fresh recruits ; but even so they were a
terror to the troops of the people, however superior their
numbers. These last had taken possession of some heights
by the village of Recina, where, to descend into the buried
dwellings of Herculaneum, you strike into the road lead-
ing up by the craters of Vesuvius. The royal troops took
the whole road and attacked the enemy on both sides, who
had the advantage in position and in numbers. This first
line fired at once, but tiie one behind was careless and
clumsy, and by their slowness of movement ga.ve time for

J

L

366 THE CAEATAB OF MADDALOSL

the cavalry to attack witb their drawn swords. Now iky
were lost. They were Burrouiiried, atjd cut off from ihe rnad
to Naples. The royal troopB gave no quarter generally ; lia
many months this barbarous- war liad not been condncted iqiMij
the usual regulations of martiB] law. About ten kn^tite wnu
left, but of the people more than four liuadred. But tb^
would not even ask for pardon. A lazzarone, who had been
thrown donn by a cavalier, who offered him his life if hewunU
let the king live, exclaimed with wild entbusiosm, ^ May iht
people live a thousand years!" Another vk'rote with Ua
heart-blood that was miining out of him the letter P. (Popolo)
on the sand. The road was covered with WDuuded meu and
corpses, trom beyond Fortiei almost to the gate to the bridge
of the Maddalena. Only those who had escaped to the moun-
tain, where the cavalry could not follow them, saved their Uvts,
Don Vincenzo Tuttavilla gave his victorious troops three dq*
of rest. He put a hundred and fifty men in Torre ddl' i^
nunziata, strengthened will three hundred men the garrison of
CastellammaTe, and marched with the great mass to Nola.*

The appearance of tMngs during lliese unhappy daT« ii
the immaiiate vicinity of tfae capital is most clearly descr^td
by Don Francesco Capecelatru, whilst he relates his Bdven-
tures when he escaped out of Somnia, a little town ritosUd,
as has already been menticjied, to the nortli of Teraviw.|
" I found myself," eo he informs us, " in the palace of tk>
Hoepice of (he I4unziata at Sonurja in the power of the 11H&
l^ore the war broke out, I had, by the command of the Dukt
of Arcos, repaired thitlier, to keep the place quiet if poMiUt^
and to give him infonnatioo of the events in this quarter. AH
my wits were beset to find out how I could leave the plan
and reach another, the population of which hud reioUB*'
fiithful to the king, for twice already tfae inaui^mtt wto
governed in Somma hud attempted my life, once becaiw I
was a relation of the Duke of S^jano's, who had takai At
field against the enemy, afterwards because I had not oca-
plied with an order uf Gennaro Amieae's, acconliug to wtdci
all the noblemen were to return to the capital, and cn^

• Detailed in 0, B. Kacento's Hivoluzioni del Rpgzui dl KopoU,

t Don Fr. Capeoelatro, Diario, acpording to the MS. Given hr K

ToJpiealia, Delia vita lielle opare di Fr. C. Kaplca, 1W8. P. Bi, ol

£ilIowiiig pigta.

CAPECELATRO 3 NAREATIVE. 6Q7

Bcquentlj' I was considered as a rebel. Then came to me
Onofrio Jtiglio, one of my clieutfl, and uader many obliga-
liunE In me, who had been sent out ta persuade rae lo return,
and to promise me honour and profit if I would place myself
on the aide of the people, adding tliat many of the Caracciolos
and other cavaliers bad done the Bame. Since deatli was not
more bitter to me tiian such news, I took Miglio aside, told
him that I would die u I had lived iaitliful to the king, and
would not only not go to Naples, but to the royal camp at
Capua, or wherever else it was possible to get to ; for, from
the interruption of the comraunication, we in Somma had no
certain knowledge of the march of the barons in Aversa. AX
the same time I made known to him that it was my intention
on the following muruit^ to try the undertaking, to which I
was encouraged by two ^thfiil followers on the spot. Ono-
frio, who was infected b; tlie principles of the rebels, tried to
make me change my mind, but in vain. Scarcely bad the
morning of the 27th of October dawned — it was Sunday —
when I mounted my horse, disguised in a way not to be
recognised, in poor clotlies, in the dress of a knight of St>
Jago, accompanied by Mislio, who was a very bad rider, and
two faithful guides, to whom I said that I wished to ride to
my cousin at Nevano, who was master of the place. So 1
took the direction of Aversa across the lields, avoiding the
passable roads and frequented places, only meeting a few
peasants, for ihe alarm of war had penetrated everywhere.
Without impediment 1 reached Pratta, a small place consist-
ing'ufa few houses;. Here I foimd everything in commotion,
for the cavalry from Aversa tried to collect taxes, and the
peasants had blockaded the streets and prepared themselves
for resUtiug an attack. They received me in a hostile man-
ner, although I protested that I was bom in the neighbouring
Nevano, and was no enemy. They compelled me to dismount
my horse and enter their trenches, under the pretext that the
hostile cavalry would do me harm. 1 did not dare to offer
resistance, as I feared uther death or captivity. So I went
through the place to the church accompanied 1^ a priest and
Miglio, whilst the guides with the horses and my ba^age re-
mained outside, and as they heard no mori; of me, at last
returned lo Soraina.

" In the trench I met Don Antonio Guttola, irtig, tike mm,

368 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOSI.

bad taken off the badge of hb order, and stood {
peafitiits in tbt dn^s of a common soldier to throw ubstaijnfl
the way of the royalists. As soon as I recognised liji
vhispered to him tliat it was my inteDtion to repaii h
cousin at Nevano, whereupon I receired an answer f
that he wa* not there at present but in Aversa j
added that it was aUo my intention to gt) thither, haft
me to take great care to let nothing- be perceiTed ab
the people would without doubt behead me. He t.

help me, for he waa compelled by necessity to be in ti

in which I saw him. Accompanied by the priest ami ?Ti;ff
I lefl ttte trenches and took the road to Nevano. Ii\ . '
we met a nmnber of fugitives who were flying ti .
cavalry of the barons. Soon even the priest took In :;
Some of the fug-itives stopped, and wanted to compel n.. .
go with them, to which they were secretly induced 1^ i
companion, who would have been too glad to return to Kapl
Willi difficulty I succeeded in extricating myself from the
and I tried to reach an adjacent Franciscan convent, in 1
hope of finding some one there who knew me, and would (n
cure me the means of reaching Averaa, Whilst I was a
tening over the fields, 1 did not observe a ditch ; I fell into
and lost ray cloak without perceiving it in my haste. Afl.
I had freed myself from the briers, I reached the walls of ll
convent. Here my faithless companion came up to me; I
had not been in a state to follow me so quickly, and exclum
that I must save myself, for the people whom we lad a
were upon my track to catch me, for they had aiidoipated I
design. The ganien of the convent was guarded by a oon
tryman with a halberd; he helped me to climb the ird
Arrived at the top, I saw that on the inner side there ml
considerable abyss, but the fear of being overtaken by my pi
suere allowed me but little time for reflection. I jump
down, and was again upon my feet, by God's mercy, Dtihu
Miglio gave himself more time, and overtook me again.

*' In the convent I found the monks and many people fit
the neighbourhood who recognised me immediately. The f rM
advised ine to take off my boots, because lie feared that, whCD
I went on, I should be known as a soldier belonging lo cta
royal lamilj, and should not escape alive. With difficnitf
I obtained from a peasant a pair of old shoes, quite w

DBUSION AMONG THE BABOSS. 369

and so large that iwo of my feet would have gone into one of
them. Accompanied by the minister of Gnimo and of the
above-mentioned prior I now went to Nevano. Here I found
that the cavalry of the barona, provoked by some shots which
had been fired there by some runaway Neapolitans from be-
hind a hedge, had set fire to a couple of bouees, tiie inhabitants
of which were not at all tu blame about it ; but scarcely had
they perceived their error, when they extinguished the fire
and gave back the effects. Now I dismissed Miglio, and took
with me in bis place a. country priest trom my brother's house ;
and as it was impossible in this dreadful confusion and tumult
to find a horse, I went on foot to Aversa, which I entered by
byways, highly pleased to have escaped the labyrinth of the
doings of the people, and to find myself in a place where I
could ser^-e the king, as I soon afterwards offered my services
to Don Vitieenzo Tuttavilla and the Duke of Maddaloni,
whilst 1 related the dangers through which I had made my
way."

But if the aim of the barons was the same, still a great
want of unity prevailed amongst them. Even in sight of the
dangers which surrounded them, they did not restrain thdr
passions. Maddaloni and Conversano agreed the least. Once
they quarrelled so violently about a measure which Couver-
sano had taken upon false evideaice against the people of Ari-
enzo, a fief of the Carafes, that a division of the whole army
would have ensued if the most illustrious cavaliers had not
interposed. The Duke of Arcos himself was obliged to write
to Maddaloni, and represent to him that the success of the
whole undertaking depended upon union. Nevertheless this was
only maintained with difficulty in the stormy camp, which was
not at all better regulated than the army of the people.

But now the unfortunate city was more strictly blockaded,
and it became more evident lo the leaders of the people that their
cause was lost if they did not obtain assistance. But the Duke
of Arcos and Don John of Austria, who sought each one for
himself to keep up the Spanish interests, were in great sus-
pense. Either the town and the people would be completely
ruined, or these last would go over to Franc* for ever. In
Naples as well as in Rome attempts were made to negotia*
but all in vain. The viceroy trusted no one, aiuli
himself no confidence. Whilst lie ui^ed the a "

pws.
mtttfl

MdTI

370 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOJII.

iwhiist, in his numerous letters to (he I>i}k« of Moddaloni,* be
>praiae<l in mnphatic terms his iidelity aiid activity, called him
Ihe deliverer of the tcorn and liingdom, pramised him 'supj^ffi
•sf flour, bread, cloth for the uniforms and otlier things, aul
put before himiuid .hi« followers the eternal gratitude of the
'Kingof ijpain; he remarked, ill hi« negotiatioas with the Pope,
that it was the barons who preveuted him from coming la a
Agreement with the people. The barons applied to Don Jcfai,
to whom ih^ Tepreaented that they had drawn th^r mroA
for the good of the country and the service of the cm
'tliat they were by no means averse to an honourabli
Don John tried to negodatewith the chiefs of the insui
but the rebellion had gone too far. Notliing was lef
raocelerate warlike measures with enei^. This was dane,:
-well by both the oificere who had lately taken the comma
of the castles and of the royal troops in the ueigbbourhoad
the town, the Boron de Eatteville, a But^undian, and Di
Dionisio de Guzman, a Spaniard, as by Don Vinceiizo Tutta-
villa. But they saw every day more clearly how liule Hlttd
-were the few undisciplined troops, who formed the greolitl
part of their military strength, to blockade so extensive and
populous a town, and to keep in order a peasant)^ alwKya kh
clined to any new revolutioti. The forces of the baroos unds,
the orders of Tuttavilla did not exceed four thouswid oatilCL
and five hundred infantry, who were led by Don Ferdiiwaj
Caraeciulo and the Duke of Aiidria. The regular tmopn
who were joined to them did not exceed some hundreds. •J
So little satisfactory was the state of things, notwithaUB^M
the progress of tlie royalists, when an event happened wUqH
'appeared to give at once a new turn to the fate of Ka|d«B,'M|
revived the recoUectioa of the ware between Anjou and Ann
gaa in the fifteenth century. Whilst French diplomatists UM
Neajiolitan commissioners intrigued at JJome, tlie Spuid
ambassador, the Count of Onate, was thoroughly infomM
of tliuir proceedings witliout being able to stop them: lW9
Pope sought in \aln liir an adjustment of the tvar itlud||
raged at his frontier, a French prince availed himself of IM
oonfuaion to attempt the establishment of a kingdom of in
own in Italy. Henri de Guise, Duke of Lorraine, w«8 m\

' In ahrid^munt, by A14iinari, Hihturia gsTH'olugioa dulla Cua Ctnk

■ or GUIS:. 371

head of a &nu]y who. by their ambition and intrigues, in the
Tuelandialy timeE of the dril and religious wars of France,
had ntade tbemseWes a lame Dot to be envied, but had, by
their valour and brilliant talents, attained to the liigliest rank.
His great grajidfaiber. Francis I^ bad commanded tiie French
auxiliaries in the tsts of Paul IV. against tiie Spnniarda, and
had acquired iounortal fame by his defence of &Ietz agaiiist
the Emperor CharleG Y. and the cuDquest of Calaii. His
g^iand&thei, Henry L, le Balafre, )iad foi^ht tvilh equal
valour against the Turks in Rungury, uiid the I IiigiuniotH in
France, and had atoned 1^ his bloody douth in the iruBllti of
'Blois for the night of St. Bartholomew and (he Leagiiu. ilie
fiilher, Charles, had onee had iu view to be proclainied King of
Fiance by the slates of I'aris, in opposition to Henry IV.,
-who, having quarrelled <w)th Richelieu and the court of linnh>
Tt II I., died in the territory of Hienna. Henry II. of (luiae
"WSE inferior to none of hixTace in lii« planx of siiibiti<rii. He
sought for the liaiid of the Princem of Mantua in mnrriaM, Ibe
only daughter of the Duke Francesco Goniiaga, whom (ibarlw
•Gkinaaga, Doke of Rhetel, married, whv>« mother was a tiubtr,
and nho died beibre his fiither aa hOT«<llU)ry I'rinon of MAirtta,
the first of the line of Nevers. DneeivKd in hifi hopM irf iWi
trich inheritance, he concluded at Itru«M'lti Mi iippstnntly wr-
^euitable marriage with the widow of Cumit Unwnml. tUiomfi
.de Berghea; he repented thiNitppsnd repxiri'd 1o lUMiftf
■obtain a declaration of nullity ; and litmi Ik< imUirtt) i/ii/i an
I alliance with the Neapolitaiui, who MmKht, through tftM Sfav-
-qaiB de Fontenay-Mareuil, to obtain hm hi-l|r. f}triM, wilh
Jiie love of adventure, had taken up Hu- InMinMn )imt M* /#»•
'lonaly aa the French amba»Bd(rr tuul l)f* C«fdrMl Mmotrta',
notwithstanding their wish tu huoiblc Hfmui,hatt Im>»» f t ^iMim
and dilatory in their offett to Itm S«ttp"ii'atr*. A ffttfiUi Af
spies were hung in Gaela. bat iho »afiiiml't*in nrtut- t<*vn(itt^
less to so gpeedy a conclnnMi Itat iUmh 4f ttmir **titmA*4
a the loth of November at tmmi^tiit,* U^wmm iiMt m "

right bank of the mouth of lU 'I Umv. tmimnutl fc^ nwf M«

a ■ ■■

joicings of an innmnerablc pfjwd -4 i*****

small trwip of faithful fnUn»a»«Map«ll«4«>«»iMMif>^ tt^t
John's feluccas, and even im tha Minmmn iHn hMtutt lU m
fort of Cannel, uode^tlic lUuiuirr <4 llw •*'»tl*'? itm ^ H
■ »(* mmmmtM

^OBfljifr^otJ

372 THE CAEAFAS OF MADDALOKI.

then he spent the night in Gennaro Aunese's dwelling ii
caatle of the Carmine. What a contrast the two fonutd !
armourer ugly, coarse, dirty ; the prince youiig, brilliant, u
accustomed to luxury^—spoilt by women, valiant aa the Guii
were formerly, but not a clever calculator of circiimstAncts, I
his ancestors Francis and the Balafr^ had been.

But, however inconsiderate he may have been ii
himself in the business, he uas too acute not to perceive hi
critical his situation was ; the fickleness of the populace, i
whom almost entirely the rebellion was supported, the discoih|
tent of the middle classes, tlie danger of the blockade, luid ibt
want of union amongst the leaders. He determined to oppose
as quickly as possible these united evils. The repubhc of
14'aples was solemnly rect^niaed in San Gennaro, and the Cw
dinal Archbishop, who had long broken off from Spain, pivj
sented the new chief of the republic with a consecrated eworsH
Nothing serious could be detennined upon till the Spaniaidfl
were driven from their positions in the town. An atiaA 4
upon tha'ie, which in the first onset was successful, waa afUi^ I
wards repulsed with great bloodshed. Discouraged by llui |
failure. Guise now turned his aim upon Aversa with the if
agn of breaking through the line of blockade. But befbn
the combat began, he wished lo try a negotiation with the
barons. It took place in the convent of the Capuchins situated
between San Giuliano and Aversa. The Duke of Andria,
Don Carlo CaraiU, was the spokesman selected by the feudtl
nobility. He rode thither from Aversa witL nine noblemoi!
Henri de Guise arrived there at the same time with an eqwl
number of followers. When they perceived eaeh other in the
distance, they galloped their horses, greeted and embraced one
another. The interview lasted long- The French prince n-
minded Carafa of the times of the Angevins, from whidi fae
was descended by his molher. Cara& declared that the tianiM
would never waver in their fidelity towards Spain. They se{M-
rated, personally satisfied with each other, tltough the o
ference led to no result.

The battle b^an again soon afterwards, and although U
attack of Guise's upon the cavalry of the barons, at the br>dK>
of Frignano not far from Aversa, faile4) nevertheless the war
took a favourable turn for the people in all direcUous. De-
cided leaden of the populace, some of them old banditd-chie^

I BATTLE NEAR AVERSA. 373

gained ground everywhere. Ippolito Paslena took Salerno,
;*nd chastised the city for its fidelity by a fearful pillage ;
^t&olo di Napoti surprised Avelliuo, aiid made almost as much
Bavoc there as the other had done ; Domenico Colessa, of Roc-
nserra, caOed Papone, took San Gennano and Sesaa, and
TOreatened Montecaasino with pillage ; Giuseppe d'Areazo, of
3tri, garrisoued this place with Pondi and Sperlonga. Thus
in a short space of time were the roads to the States of the
K/hurch, those towards Apulia, wich the exception of that of
bAriano, strong from its high position, and those of Calabria,
na^re in the power of the rebels, when a still harder blow hit
^le royalists. The Barao de Modene, the most skilful warrior
m the followers of Guise, besieged Avei^a. Tuttavilla, cut
iifff from almost all sides, believed it to be impossible to hold
In 3 council of war it was determined to evacuate the
« and retire to Capua ; but the undisciplined troops changed
e retreat into a flig;ht, and the unfortunate general readied
lapua with only two men, whilst the barons with their irre*
r bands were dispersed on all sides. Modene garrisoned
rsa; the garrison of Noia evacuated the place. The
^ole of the Terra di Lavoro, with the exception of Capua, was
wt Don Vincenzo Tuttavilla, who throughout this cam-
ftign had met with more misfortune than success, was soon
■fier replaced by Don Luigi Foderico, who had acquired fame
In the war with the Catalans, in the Netherlands, and in bring*
pig relief to Orbetello. " You come to revive a corpse," said
|he general on his departure to his successor. He replied,
•* Greatly as the bad condition of the royal cause afflicts me,
X rejoice that the conqueror's good fortune cannot prevent me
Bom dying with arms in my hands."

' A French fleet under the orders of the admiral Duke of
^chelieu soon appeared off the Neapolitan shores. It tried
^ seize Bajce and Castellammare, began a battle with the ships
pi Don John of Austria, was separated from them by stormy
BathM, and loft the gulf without performing anything of im-
nce. Fortune was not more favourable to the French
e Naples this time than it hod been formerly. But Ma~
was not inclined to do anything for the Duke of Guise;
i Duke of Guise acted against the French rather than sup-
nrted them, and they laid upon one another the blame of the

374 THE CAKAFAS OP MADDALOSl,

Thus the unfortunate year of 1647 closed.

The bcsiiiiniiig of the follow! r^ year was sad. but a i^ao^
could be iuiticipated in the stAte of thiugs. Six months of the
revolution were over. Notwithstanding some partial sueceaes
in arms, the revolution had gained but little solid footing
the castles and strong positions of the capital continned
still in the hands of the Spaniards. The faction
the people was diminished, and divided, for all who
still anything to lose had long wished for peace even
Spain, and the war was only conlinned l^ the mob
its crafty leaders. The condition of the lown was depldblK
When on the 1st of January, the LamaH, a. name thai canB
into use at this time, and remains in use amongst the lowest
of the populace, went to Borgo de' Vergini to congratit'
late the substantia) citizens on the new year, and aa usnaL
to ask for a present, they replied to them, " Wliat shall i»
give you, when you have taken everything &om us, even l»
the last farthing i'" Then so bloody a tray arose betwe«n thsh
that the Duke of Guise hastened thither to protect the citiMK
^;ainst the populace, whom lie liad long hated. There eoaU
not fail to be dissensions between the Duke and the leadiosot
the people ; they wanted to keep the power eutii«)y in tbaip
own hands ; he wanted to retain it for his own purposoifc
Both sides managed ill. The Duke of Guise was a seekerrf
pleasure, frivolous, full of foolish self-oonfidence, extravagn^
and rash ; he estranged som« by intrigues with wooien, wio*
by the indulgence which he exercised towards some of ItM d»
pendents, others again by the contempt ivhich he niHtrifart«f
towards the plebeian leaders, who cnioed him many hunuU^
tions in consequence. Gennaro Annese, who from tfaefint
moment had been an uncertain fritaid, and nas jenlous of dtf
popularity and tlie rank of the ioreigner, which erlip^d tfatt
of tlie rougli captain^^eral of the pec^le, was his wont
enemy. Eaohattempted the lifBoftheodker,and the announit
impelled by hatred as well as covetousne^s, entered into m^
liations with Spain. Thus, aa the worst divisions had p(s*-
trated into the camp of the iiisui^nts, it was of no avail t*
G uise that he had hit upon some good arrai^ementa ; Uwl ks
had repressed witli energy the perpetual pillage and dUtmfc-
ancea in the town ; that he had stopped the cruel miinler df
the prisoners of war, and had introduced the usual militaiJT

CHANGES m THE. SPAMSS HBAD QUARTERS. 375i.

that he had received a fonnal oath of alleeianceifiDOiii;
^mblic, and had had coins stamped with the & P. Q; N..
lis- naone^ with the, addition Beip. iN^eap« Dux, whieh were
nt even towards the end of the Austrian dominioa in.
fis* Many of tiiese measures only increased^ the hatred of.
Jehoans to the Duke, whose interests were by no means-:
Doed by a second unsuccessful attack upon the. Spanish*
Lona in the town^ as well as by the unprofitable si^e of ^

eanwhile great changes had happaied in.the head-quartersi
e Spaniards. The Duke of Arcos had for. long lost: all Ida
orityj and all confidence in him was gone^ Bven- thosa*
>n8 ^^ho were fkithful to the royal party^.and principallyi
», aeknowledged that his presence was the great impedt*^
t to an agreement as well as to the tranquillity of the
itry:- the whole of the government council were of this
LoB.. Thea Don Boderigo Ponce da Leon placed the
sr which had been delegated to him by the king two years^
re. in the hands of Don John of Austria, and left Naples
tie 26th of January, 1648. The king's son undertook the:
armnent. provisionally at a moment when everything was
for change. The rebellion had exhausted itself i the: re*
jc> was an empty name ; the fortune of war- changed:
Hyr; the Prince of Eocca Bomana defeated Papone's.
p at Teano between Garigliano and Yoltumo, took Sesem
Mondragone, and restored the communication, betweass
oountry and the. fortress of Gaeta. In this last. town,,
sh it never seems to have occurred to the rebels to besiege^
whidb continued the strongest bulwaik of the: kingdom'
Ub^ as in' many other wars, the Duke of Maddaloni- had
«d since the misfortune at Aversa and the dij^r8i0n>Q£
ftfiees of the barons. Now he marphed out with four hunr
I inft ntr y and took A^, which, although its fortificatioBft
) weald, yet by its position on the top of a steep hill, cmBfr
ding the narrow road between the mountain and the deep
ant in the wood, was not without importance. After, thtt
nly accomplished stroke, Don Martin, de Yerrio,. th[»
smoi of Gaeta,. brought him six. hundred Spaniarda and
pieces of artillery; The enemy did not dare to guasd tfa*
ntain^pass belween Atri and Foodi, which is: so easily^ dm*

376

THE CABAFAB OF MADDALONL

1

fended, against the regular troops, who capttired Fundi n
out difRcuIty, H.nd soon afterwnrds Sperlonga, and so cle
all the western part of the Terra di Lavoro. Wliilst Diw
Carafa was thus active, the fortune of war often changedi^
Apulia. Once all tlie towns were lost, with the exceptioniC
Lucera and Manfredonia, but two noblemen, often metitio
in this history, obtained at last a complete victory : these ir
the Prince of Montesarchio and the Count of Conversa
With disproportioned forces they brought the whole provinfl
into subjection — Acquaviva as commander of the roy^ b
D'Avalos with merely his own vassals. When, after a
liant feat of arms, Foggia, where once the great Hoheostai
Emperor Frederick built his palace, opened its gates to t
and paid amply for their rebellion by money, the oews of A
rebellion being at an end reached the capital. Both noblen '
made great sacrifices to their king and theirduty. Conver
saw one of his sons, Boa Giulio, fall at his side
and Montesarehio lost his health for ever, so that he I
scarcely strength to hold his sword when he rode back at tk
head of his vassals.

The crisis was at hand — caused by a man who e
a decided influence upon the form of the internal circul
stances of Naples during the Inst half of the century 4
the Spanish dominion. Wheji the news of the departure ■
the Duke of Arcos reached Madrid, the suspicious policy ■
Spain was alanned. Such a stretch of authority could i
be overlooked either in the king's son or in the govenuna
council of the kingdom. It might be a matter of rejoicing ■
be rid of the old viceroy, but with the king alone rested A
choice of a new one. After a long hesitation it fell upoo It
ambsasador at Home, the Count of Onate, whom we ha
often mentioned. Don Inigo Yelez de Guevara y Tasua li
followed up the progress of the disturbances at Maples, ri
well as of tlie negotiations and intrigues, witli indefat^aUl
attention. He had baffled the plans of the French paitylM
Rome with great dexterity, and liad materially aansted tf'
success of the underiakings of the royalists in the provf
adjoining the States of the Churcii, especially in the Abr
Acute, cold, determined, wary, he was the right man t
difticuit position, in which indeed hia coldness degeii

b.

ISLAND OF NISIDA. 3T7

into cruelty and hb wariness into cunning. His fatiier had
once during the thirty veare' war in Gennany, especially during
the Wallenslein business, done good service, but these services
were quite surpassed by those of his son.

Scarcely had the Count of Onate received the meas^e from
Don Luis de Ha,ro when he left Rome. First he repaired lo
Gaeta, then to Bajs. He entered the harbour of Naples with
five galleys. He was saluted by the artillery of the castles,
that of the fort of the Carmul killed two galley-slaves in hia
vessels. Both signs of the condition of the town. It waa the
2Dd of March, 1640. Don John of Austria immediately gave
up the command to the new viceroy. The Collateral Council
arranged that he should take possession of his office the same
day. The count brought with him nioney, aomiunition, and
fresh troops ; he immediately visited the fortresses and the
lines, increased the pay of the soldiers, sent reinforc«meuta to
Ischia, Calabria, and the papal territories, and continued the
negotiations begun by his predecessors. Whilst he thus daily
gained ground Henry of Lorraine lo9t it in the same propor-
tion by his caprice and arbitrariness, and by the quarrels of
those who were hostUe to him even amongst the party of the
people. A conspiracy, of which he was fixed upon as the victim,
on the 25th of March, on the feast of the Aiinunciation, was
fiiistrated merely by an accident ; but he himself soon gave
not only the conspirators but the viceroy an opportunity of
putting an end to his dominion which every day rendered more

When you reach the end of the magnificent street of Posi-
lipo, which has already been described in an earlier chapter of
tms history, and which ascends gently under the name of Strada
Nuova, amidst villas, vineyarda, and gardens, touches tlie
&rtliest promontory, descends iiito the plain of Bagnoli, and
joins the road leading to Pozzuoli, you look down upon the
charming gulf of Bajte. Cape Miseno, and the whole coast,
which, long before our era, was the object of Grecian emigrants,
and during the last century of the republic was the boasted
CMuntry residence of rich Romans. Close before you, or, to
Bpeak more correctly, below you, you perceive the little island
of Nisida, only separated by a small arm of the sea from the
point of Posilipo, the round tower of its prison shining from
&r, which occupies the place upon the rocky point whwe n —

378 THE CAItAFAS OF ILADDALOSI.

stood a. villa of Queen ,Toaiin9.'s, then a Spanish fortress, whillb

detached upon a. rook projecting out uf the sea i

tine establishment founded by the Duke of Ali-a in tlJe yet

1624.

Ttiis island Guise wanted to take, whether it was to re»i*
tiie drooping martial ardour of liis countrymen, or that b
hoped to oppress Pozzuoli. His artillery ftred upon the Ai
from the commaQdiDg point of the peninsula ; he himself M
in the cantp, to be present at the expected surrender.

But Henry of Lorraine miscalculated. The Count <A
Onate had a nobler prize in view than a rooky island. Do*"
Alonzo had brought hiiu from Spain a reinforcement of fin
hundred men : now he resolved to be on the ofiensive. On til
nigfht of the 5th of April, everything was prepared for ■
. attack. Don John of Austria made his trnops confesi, i
receive the sacrament At morning dawn, tlie Maestro t
Campo, Don Manuel Carafa, took possession of Porta AV
which is situated above the square of the Holy G-host, n
formed tLe entrance to the quarters of the town occupied by It
people, and the bastions to the Porta di Coastautina|Ml
Thus the quarters of the rebels were encompassed by a hd
circle, wheu the Viceroy moved out of Caatelnuovo, Do
Diego de Portugal with the v^iguard of three hundred sd
diers, Don John of Austria leading- the rear-guard, with I
guard of nobles of fifty men under the orders of the Doke ■'
Andna. The Yiceroy marched quite the last with the CBVali
from Burgundy, The Princes of Avellino and ToreUa, tj
Marquis of Torrecuso, Don Vincenzu Tuttavilla, and n
other most illustrious nobles, were present. The n
the people at the garrisoned posts was insignificant.
much trouble, the Spaniards, Germans, and Walloons, i
the strong positions by storm. The more they pu^ed for
the more tlieir numbere inoreBsed ; for from all sides, i
men of the better classes hastened lo join than. An b
as the junction of the detaehed corps was effected, t
marched at the same time, without stopping;, thconati ill
different streets lo the great market-place. Here the rebdBM
had be^n, here it whs ended.

A contemporary artist, it may have been Micoo 8.
or Carlo Coppola, has represented in a picture whidi ia- 1.
seen in the museum of Naples, the moment in whidi. ]

CAPTURE OF THE CAl'ITAL. 379

itohn of Austria g;arrisone(l the market-place, which had been
Sie scene of so many disturbances and so much bloodshed. A

Slendid array of ooblemea, all on hoiseback, in suraptuoits
athes, with waving plumes, amongst tbem the archbishop
bi his cardinal's dress, surround the sod of King Philip, to
whom the keys of the town arc presented. His troopa are
BD»rching from all sides ; the steady infantry, the arquebusiers
with tfaeir sunburnt faces, tlieir erect carriage, proceeding in a
■bsight line, fixing their arquebuses on the ground, still
prepared for the attack of an enemy who lias long given
up all thonghts of resistance, whilst the melancholy remains
of the victims of the rebellion disappoar from the place, to
leave room for the chiefe of the victima of the reaction against
the sway of the multitude. One single leader of the people
alone, appears still unwilling to submit himself, Geiinaro
Annese. He trusts in the strraigth of his fortress, but the
Ticeroy causes a couple of petards to thunder againnt the
gatee, and the armoui-er appears trembling. Don Carlo dellu
Gatta garrisons the tower with ISpaniards and Germans, from
Ihe top of which the royal banner is soon seen waving. Th?
Castle of Capuano, and the tower of San Lorenzo, and the
gate of Nolano, were already taken, arid soon the remainder
of the rebels were driven also out of Chiaja and the heights of
Saamro, At the ninth hour of the day, the Spaniards were
masters of tlie whole of this great city. A Te l>Ltim was
song in the cathedral, tiie houses w^-e adorned with tApeetrr,
white flags and handkerchiefs waved from the windows. In
many places the image of the king was set up, and huled with
great rejoicings. Bvery one appeared to r^ice in (ha restwa-
tton of peace ; the citizens embraced eauh other in tlw MfeeM.
Mine months of mob doniinirin, the intieoiirity, tfaa war, ih*
oonhnion and lawleasnass, liad made neb an iiniiuisiiii, ttM*
the party of "Peace at any price" carried off the rteWwy
'without any struggle.

The thmider of tiie aitillcTy at the afiitsl rvmni liui*m
Soon the news of the vJcUiry of Ibe Sfianiarfk rex-h**! Mm*
He mounted on horseback, and mte «ttl> a fcw nrifAfitmi M>
Aversa, in the hope llial the treaifM win »«•« hl« » K>''lf
Capua, would liujd toeetiitT, and UmI. ha «(nU hi irfi^ f*
lesume the war with thrai. UM at I
happened, theM imditripHnaiJ t

TUE CARAFAS OF MADDAI.ONI.

£tiU made an attempt to reach the papal frontiere ; bat D«
Lulgi Poderigo seut his cavalry ihere after him. Wkai ItuT
had reached the fugitive, he drew his sword and defenM
himself valiantly; but his wounded iiorse threatened tu^
way under him, and he vrae obliged to surrender, fie jal4
at any rate he lost nothing of his own. Many French no"
men shared his captivity. At first Foderign detained
under arrest as a cavalier at Capua, then he was brought
the Castle of Volturuo. His tatc was long a subject of ff
at Naples. The Viceroy and the Collateral Couucil coodi
him to death. Don John of Austria prevailed with thi
resolve that the King's will and opinion should first be tntnrn
The prisoner was brought under a strong escort to the net)
fortress of Gaeta, till the order came that he was to be sent
Spain. He did not obtain his freedom till the disturbanca
the Fronde took place, when it was vainly hoped tbai I
might 1>e made use of to strengthen the Spanish party
France. But the levity of Henrj- of Guise was not of tl
load which would have seduced him into treason to his
even though the infetuated Prince of Conde, led by the vi
lence of party, and persecutions, gave him so melancholy ■
example.

Never had France had so fine an opportunity to snalt
from the crown of Spain her richest Italian possesion .
The old jealousy against the house of Guise prevenud
any advantage being taken of it. It was one of the great
faults which Mazarin committed, for in the condition iB
which Spain then was, it would have been ei
French to establish themselves firmly at Naples. Wliea
the mistake was perceived, it was too late. In June iC
the same year, 1648, a second expedition was underlaJno
^^nst the kingdom under Prince Tliomas of Savoy. Jt hid
no other result than to cause numerous imprisonments of thote
piersnnH who were inclined, or suspected to be so, to the Prendi'
party. Amongst others, Gennaro Annese was also impn*
BOn«i and executed. It was said, that he was surprised if
the act of forming a conspiracy in favour of tlie French. S'
one pitied him. Many executions followed, and Onate's ia
eiorableness terrified all. Years afterwards, under tlie go-
vernment of the Count of Castrillo, the Duke of Guise appeanit
n these shores. It was in November, l(jS4, ' "

DEPABTXJBE OF THE FRENCH. 381

he arrived with no inconsiderable French fleet before Castel-
lammare. The place was soon taken, and Guise called him-
self Viceroy to the King of France, and Captain-General of
Naples. But the defensive measures taken by the Spaniards
put an end to his progress ; no one stirred at Naples, and the
French soon weighed anchor.

They never set foot again in Naples till the great war, in
consequence of the revolution which convuls^ Europe in
1789.

382 XBECAHAFAS OF MADVAUCXSL

CHAPTER m.

LAST YEABS OF DIOHED GABAFA.

Condition of Naples after fho return of the SpaniardB — Atfhl
policy of the Count of Onate — Measures against the distmi
the peace — Corn-law system and laws — Abuses of the con

— Measures of finance — Expedition against Piombino and I
Be-conquest of Porto Lungone — Departure of Don John of J

— Disposition of the Neapolitan people — Conduct of the '^
towards the nobility — Secret motives — Kumoiu: of a oonnii
Impiisonment of the Prince of Montesarchio and the Prior of S

— Transactions with the banditti — New proceedings agafa
nobility — Measures against the Coimt of Celaiio, the Prinoes od
lino and Forino, and the Duke of Maddaloni — Persecution of I
Carafa — Vain attempts at reconciliation — The Duchess of]
loni and the Viceroy — Diomed Carafa presents himself, ajid
doned — Condition of the provinces — Don Francesco Oipe
in Calabria — Familv life of Diomed Cara& — Grasper

— Construction of the palace of Maddaloni — FestivitieB
the Coimt of Onate — The influence of Spain upon
literature, morals, and the way of life — Marini, Grongon
vator Rosa — The Spanish power during the second piut
17th century — Recall of the Count of Onate — The Coi
Castrillo Viceroy in 1653 — Donatives and feast — Maddalo
Cardinal Filomarino — Renewal of the robbery system •
Count of Conversano — Imprisonment of Diomed Carafa
departure for Spain, and his death, 1660 — The Carafas of ]
loni in later times — Results of the Neapolitan revolutions -
sequent viceroys — "Weakness and decline of the aristocr
Extinction of the Spanish line of Hapsburg — Attempt at as
rection by the Prince of Massa — Charles III., King of Naplc

— His system of government — Bernardo Tanucci — The i
during the revolutions of the year 1799 — Dissolution of the
and or the old constitution — The Spanish era with reference
present time.

" Ejectos procul a regno hostes, pacem urbi, urbem c
restitutam, locupletatum eerarium, amplificatam anno
These words, inscribed upon a marble tablet in the cou
of the vicarial court of the former castle of Capuano, dc
the services of the Count of Onate. It cannot be denie<
Don Inigo de Guevara, next to Don Pedro de Toled
more for this country than any other Viceroy. The ^

ANARCHY OF THE KINGDOM. 383

•of&e Duke of Guise, and the reeonquest of the capital, was
-only the beginning of his achievements, and the moGt brilliant,
if not the most difficult, of them. He found ihe kingdom in
ia. dreadful state of aasrehy. It y/aa almoat woi<se thau it had
'been in tlie year 1530, because it had been now more than
'heretofore severely lacerated by civil war. The Bfririt of , the
^revolution bad blazed everywhere. For a time the Spanish
i^ovemment, in its weakness, had imagined that, in order to
"coantcract the causes of disorder, it should adopt the tone of
•condescenmon and popularity. When the emancipation of
'fauman posaions had set at defiatice its policy, civil aed eccle-
wiastical, it had recourse to violence and had been defeated.
It lost all the efBcacy of its humiliations and condesceneiona :
"it only r^ained its snperiority by a concurrence of circum-
iBtancea, a »bare in the merits of which hardly belonged to it,
-■when the ittcreafing tide of the desires and passions of demo-
cratical materialism had so oyerfl.owed all biiunds, that it lost
"■rtts or^nal power and was ex.hftust«d. The consequence of
■«11 which was, a complete end of the order which ei^isted in
■the land. To restore this was the task of the Count of Onate.
He set to work with great energy ; the kingdom was filled
-^th banditti and va^bond^, the remains of the dispened
'bands of the people. With tfaeee. Frenchmen and adventurers
ibom the States of the Church, hod united themselves in the
iihruari, so that it was necessary for Don Luigi Poderigo to
.■end considerable forces against them. The armed rebels
made a last attempt to defend themselves in Salerno. But
-these partial disturbances were soon crushed, and the governors
>8ont into the provinces succeeded by degrees in restoring them
to u oonditioji bordering on tranquillity. Great prud«ice was
'necessary in the capital, especially as long as the coasts were
'aUll threatened by the French fleet. On the smallest occasion
the storm was ready to burst out again. The conmion people,
mrho during the last month? bod supported the revolution
^dmoet entirely, were fuU of perpetual suspicion and on the
-watch. The reinforcement of the Spanish garritiou, Ihe itn-
. provement of the fortifications, tlie removal of the town artil-
lery from the towpr of San fjorenzo, and transplanting it to
tCastelnuovo ; the imprisonment of many of the leaders of the
people in tpite of tlie amnesty, all this kept up su.<picion. A
new insurrection was threatened more than once upon the

J

384 THE CARAFAS OF M4DDAL0N1.

market-place and the Lavinaro ; the Viceroy tranquilliied
masses by great wisdom and circumspection. The oob
especially the young- men, proud of the success
treated the people haughtily, and were constantly
this ofience ; he censured them for this conduct, in which bsi
supported by muny sensible men. He often rode inio _^
town with Don John of Aut^tria, and expressed himedfiB
friendly manner to the citizens.* He punished with wvai
abnses of power on the part of the soldiers aiid otherB. Hei
ported com, not only from Apulia, but from the north,
relieve thediatress. The people in Naples again made an am
upon the barons, that they kept these provisions secret: I
barons offered to import wheat out of their Apulian Gefi
8 lower price than what it cost to bring it ft^m the porl»
the Netherlands ; but they would not submit to an arbitrt
tax. Thus new subjects of misunderstajidings arose whilst
old ones still remained.

At the present day, people are often surprised when ll
read of such repeated famines in countries formerly so fart
But the fault lies, with the exception of some ca^^es in yan|l
when the crops have entirely &ilcd, not with the soil and ti»l
climate, but mmnly with the inhabitants and their anaiiB^I
ments. The capital often suffered from pressing want, wUhI
in thd provinces it was not known what to do v»ith the sin "
of proTisinns. The means of intercourse were deficient,
the expenses of carriage considerable in the same d
whilst the economical r^ulations about trade placed as
impediments in the way. The store-office (Annona) of L_,
capital was always to be provided with com and flour for ft
year ; and the government, who fixed the price, believed
they could compel the great proprietors to write down i.
names and the sum total of the provisions, or the expecUi
harvest. The proprietors, especially the great feudatoria
disputed this claim, and so it happened that the store-. ~
often fell into the hands of speculators, who quoted the
according to their pleasure; and then when it came
charging their engagements, they were not able to fulfil
Consequently every opportunity was opetied to the .
poly that it was wished to avoid, for the com-dealera i

' Capecelatn), Oioiio, part iii MS.

FAHDEE or THE ASJTOTA. 383

together to goTem the inari:et. It oftai happened that the
Annona was bought at very high prices, or what was bought
was procured at great expease. to be difpo^ of again at ■
low rate, at the conunaud of a viceroy, when threatened by
an insurrection, or when other un&vourable circumstances
occurred, or thkt the goverDraent, as was easy for it, liked to
be generous and magnanimous at the expense of the city ad-
ntinistration. Hence the immense debt of the slore-oflice,
which amounted in the year 1680 to more than eleven millions
of ducats,' so that it was compelled to strike into another way
to stop complete ruin.* In Some, where a similar system
was pursued, the Annona failed in the year 179S, afier con-
stant losses for two and twenly years, with 3,298,865 scudi.f
How little the Count of Onate, with all his acuteness and bis
good will towards the country, entertained sensible views, with
reference to the system of corn laws, is proved by the single fact,
that he not only fixed generally an arbitrary price on com,
but modified the same in the different provinces, so that in
Capitanata and Molise, the price of the bushel was twenty
carlina ; in Terra d' Otranto and di Ban, in Basilicata and
Principato Citra, eig'hteen ; in Calabria, seventeen ; in Prinei-
pato Ultra, Apulian wheat of the first quality was five and
twenty, and more. It was thought by such rides to prevent
the fluctuations of the prices, which often were very consider^
able. But this was playing into the usurers' hands instead nf
checking them, or compellmg the adoption of niinoiis expe-
dients, such as buying in foreign countries and abating IIm
prices, to produce relief by this means from temporary failann.
Moreover, that men of the highest rank had no scntptfs in
making dishonest gains by traffic in com. is but too certain.
The Prince of Montesarchio, Don Giovanni d'Asalos. be-
longing to a rich family, had, as prendenr nt the Annnrat
under the Count of Monterey, made a fijreat dpal of m»>ii''y ;
but he did not long rejoice in his ill-t^oiten irealih.J A ("pt^
brated warrior of the same nation, who was d*!»''i?indM from
the D'Avalos, had long a^ ■«*: a hud ^rvampte. '' Sn May :'tTuf
June of the year 1505, relatas the oM chronicler who ha*

• BianchuiL, roL Li. p. iS7.

t Nimlai, Hmurie noilB Camfoifat * aell' Atin-inn lii Rnrrtff, Kfitn*,
18u3, VoL iii. p. 1 M- 1 :;9.
{ Capecelairo, Aana^, p. 13%^ ^^^^^^^^^

386 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOKI.

gxven us so many interesting details, ^ there was a
scarcity of bread in Naples and throughout the Idiigd
that the price of a bushel of com rose to one ^eat, an
fifteen carlins, so that the bread in the houses was cut :
many thin slices as there were persons in them, and as
to be found in the town. For tins, Paolo Tcdosa was to
who had concluded a contract till the ^od of July, to
two hundred thousand bushels, at the price of five carlk
ject to a penalty of a thousand ducats for the ooo-luAfik
the contract. When the deputies found that Paolo i
fulfil his engagement, they wanted to fine bim aeoori
the sum stipulated. But the iHustrioos Crran^Capitna
repaired to San Domenico, to advise with his comuMBei
the matter, said that the decision rested with hia^ aaii i
exempted Paolo fi*om the Une, Paolo had IxM^ilil i^
eom everywhere in the country. Then k was pereera
the previously mentioned noble, the Gran-CapitaBO,
hand in the business, and had made above for^ ^
ducats profit by it.*^ Compared to sudi a trajBoactioa'0(
salvo de Cordova's, that of Ives d' All^gre appears less
though highly imprudent ; when he, on 'account of the pi
want of money of the French army in Apulia, sold the
stores of com at Foggia, to Venetian merchaiits, and
quently supplied the enemy with provisions.

After that the Count of Onate had procured bread,
necessary to regulate the system of finance. The gabell
been abolished by a concession of Don John's ; but ho
the government to be (Carried on? The treasury w
only empty, but most of the private individuals were
ruined. For almost all the public revenues, let them be
by what name they would, were, as we have seen, partly £
and partly aligned to the state creditors. If afiairs m
in their present state, it was a state of bankruptcy in
form. From the first mon^nt that the payments had st
the evil was so terrible, that the Sediles, without even c
ing that of the citizens, interfered. They applied i
Viceroy, and a provisional measure was had recourse to
every hearth a tax of two and forty carlins was coUecte
the gabelles were reduced to one-half their former amount

* Cronaca di Notar Giacomo, p. 277,

EXPULSION OP THE FEESCH FROM PIOMBINO ASD ELBA. 387

the esception of those on fruits, vegetables, German wheat,
maize, ivhich remained entirely abolished. The diuiiniition
i< of the tax upon hearths hsm been mentioned in an earlier
i^pter. Bather alxive half the pmoeeds flawed into the trea-
eury, the remainder was made o^'er to the fuudholders. Thus
I the tiiuuices of the state w«re icgslated for the exigencies
I of the moment. The preceding d>apter ended with a new
' Attempt of the French to effect a laiuiiiig on the shores ui
I Naples, and their entire failure.

I AAer the departure of tlie hostile fleet, Don John of Austria
bad also sailed away. The Neapolitans liad seen him depart
with reluctance, for his presence appeai'ed to them a kind of
1 guarantee for the niaintenanee of the promists made to them,
uid his mild and benevolent character was a conuterpoiae to
th&t of the severe and stifl' Viceroy. But Don John had been
oomtaifluoned to go to ^cily, where the rebelltcHi mentioned in
the narrative (rf the Maaauiello djaturbances first began. From
thence be returned oaee move, to effect, in coromou with the
f Count of Ouale, another not unimportant euterprise — the
[ expaliioR of the Freach from Fiorabiuo and Elba. Like
[everything that he did, the Coant set aliuul it with equal
caution anJd energy.

On the 3rd of Ifey, 1650, the Spanish fleet assembled in
the harbour of Gaeta. The mag^ifii^nt bay is o£ wide extent,
in ita recess lies in its ever green zone. Mala, with its villas
'and mansioDB, and the rich phun with its orange and citron
groves, whilst the gigantic maEacH of tock of the promontorr
Kgainst which is built the fortress e>f Gaeta offer a secure pro-
tection to the shipe ^;ainst the south aod east wind. Here
Don John of Austria met the Viceroy. Three and thirty
great ships and thirteen galleys anchorel in the deep and stilt
water, where, two handred years later, a still greater commo-
tion was produced by vessels sailing iu and out. When the
fcead of Catholic Chidstendom had diret^ted the eyes of the
fast and west upon thb his place of reluge, once more the
pobility of the kingdom had streamed hitlier to devote thcm-

Klves to the service of the crown. It wus equally lionourable
id a l«ss melancholy battle than the earlier one. On the
21st of May, the Beet sailed into the channel of Piombino,
irhere oa the left are the shores of Elba, intersected by steep
little bays; to the right are the marshy, and in general

J

388 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOSI. I

flat shores of the Maremiiia. Before lie blow was struck
against Porto Longune, it was desirable to secure Pionibino.
One thousand five hundred infanlry, -with four hundred cavaliy, .
and seven pieces of ajlillery, were landed : the Count of Coo- J
vereano, as general of the cavalry, undertook the comnuDd^
Gian Girolamo Acquaviva had raised out of his own resonrcttf^
three hundred infantry, eig-hty cavalry and six tartanes, f« '
this campaign ; he received a reinforcement from the soldiery
of Niccold Ludovisi, the governor of the town. Scarcdj
had the Count reconnoitred the place, when he led his followen
to the Btonning of it. This was not without difficulty ; forif ibl <|
works were not strong the position was secured by the sea ai '
the nmrsh. The ro)^ troops attacked witli great valour, b
Conversano was master of the town in a, few hours. Only A
email castle still held out. The Count of Onate himself DOV "
landed with iresh troops, and orders were given to storm the
fort. Then the French garrison hoisted the white flag. Thej
obtained leave to retire, with all the honours of war, to one a J
the harbours of Provence.

Meanwhile the Spaniards had effected thur landing at 1
Scarcely was Piombino taken, when the Viceroy passed (
to the island. He had with him seven thousand men, am
them a German re^ment, brought to him from Lombardy, ij I
Ennes Visconti. The siege of Porto Longone coat nulij
men. Afler a violent stru^le the assailants got pos
of the place, and of some detached outworks; but a e
attack upon the fort, undertaken in the night, a
with great loss. The discharge of one mine by the ]
did great harm to the besiegers ; but this did not prerrait tl
from opening the trenches. The works were but UtA
damaged, but the men had suffered much more. De Noi
who commanded the fortress, still tried to hold t
insubordination of the troops compelled him to ca|)itu
The same conditions were granted to them as had been allowf
to the defenders of Piombino ; the French were even permilH
to take away some pieces «f artillery. Still a certain di '
was reserved, in case succours sliould arrive meanwhile. '
the 15th of August, the fort surrendered. The Spanish ■
stood arranged in two rows from the outworks to the .
headed by the Count of Onate and Don John of Austria. 1
French governor had a short conference wilh the Vice

MEASCKB AG^ESST TEE AMBTOCMACT. 809

after wludi he waanked put tke TietaB, vhk dr^M b«Uli^.
About ae^en l umdre d imb eaibaffked whli libi ; at tlie begin*
ning of the siege he had fifteen hondred. But the btnegers
bad not s uffe re d leas dnrii^ the fltmggle of two months and
a half; the losKSy especially amoi^st the Neapditans of offiofm
as well as men, were so ooDsiderable, that it waa said that the
Viceroy had eiqioeed his people intentionally to the filing, to
get rid of the caTaliers, and to punish the people fbr their nant
rebellion ! So well known was his inexorable aeveiityi Don
Inigo Gnevaia m^t justly be proud of his suociM, whpu h^
ordered the Te Deum to be sung in the church of Porto L^ifi*
gone. Don Juan returned with his galleys to the Mborm of
Sicily; the Count of Conversano visited the townn Ui V^mf
Italy, and sailed from Venice to Apulia, where he wmi U$ Uk
own estates. The Viceroy caused the fortifieatiofM to h^ Ufi'
proved, and returned to Naples. His energetic mmmftm hti4
long ago restored tranquillity in the city, itumsh at i\m «»%imnm
of much bloodshed. The people were a$ iffi^mimti Uy t(M«
numerous imprisonments and executions* Nmr r«$Mlim}ii w*^»
not to be thought of, the people had been iimrmt4f aii4 tftn^
were stationed everywhere ; you miffht \mlUf¥» ytmrntlf in »
conquered country. But as the band of th« Vimmy Ml mmk
heavier upon the barons than upon the \pw6f eUmmf m}4 Im
maintained order with the utmost severity, ttmm U^ boTis Ihk
severity patiently, because the others mmr^ fivm mmf^ ttmu
themselves. << The people of Napliss/^ say# a ofmUmpf^ffMrY
writer, " began to consider as a favour from bm^m wml km
formerly appeared to them as a great imii(QfUum--tim fsni^B.-
tion of the Spanish dominion. Tbe^ eowMefnd mly ^hw
own momentary interests, and cared Imk for f^itumfg m ajW
to the general evils of the kiogdom^^*

Already before the campaign ag)ikliMt EUw m4 VU^^Mm,
the Count of Onate had ondertaipeu a smitf 4^ wmim^^ ^^^
the aristocracy, which had growo into a systew, wbick ^Jf^r-
cised great influaioe upon the uJierior progreiit^ <rf Umi^iii^
aSahs. The historiani of that tiaae have dw^Jt auMsh upon *jx-

temal appeaianoei, ao that we ajw the more oblig^ t/) i^iw of
th«n, when he relates the events of the day* of tiui Duke of
Arcos, and of the Count of Onate, the bwawj attthor, wlioae

• G. B. Pisceote.

390 THE CAEAFAS OF MADDALONI.

volumes upon Ihe revolutions of Naples Lave often given m
matter for detailed accounts, wlien he givea us an ii)3%ht iaU
the internal motives whieh prompted tbe Spanifih policy.*

" Because the Count of Onate," says onr author, " wished
to maintain lie interests of the crown, aiid to destroy llie
sources of new disturbances, he laboured above ail things is
counteract the Becret conspiracieB. Tl>e flrat coaclusioa tlitl
he drew, was, that the origin of the last rebellion was to be
found in nothing elite than the overgrown authority of tk
barons, who, takang advantage of the ready compliance of tk
officials, had, in contempt of all justica, trampled under foot ■
nich a manner the liberties of the unhappy people, thai, nor coo-
tent with tlie natural privileges of their Inrth, they iiad changed
their dependents from a state of vaasaJ^e into tnieof slaver;.
He likewise considered that the Berriees tJiat they had ;gf
6ered dniing' the war, and the glory of the victory, -wrndd
increase the liaugbtiness and the demands ot tiie uobfe^ **
such a degree, that the concession of vhole provinces mull
hardly appear ta them an adequate reward, since, nat wdf
had many of their number &l!en in the service cd the Ui%
but they had also suSered considerable loss of propotj;
Many, not content with repeatedly asking the YieerOT W
proofs of bis gratitude, had even presumed so &r, when lim)
perceived his hesitation, as |)ublicly to declare that Ibe* n-
pent«d havii^ served his majesty so fiuthfully and zetdoiMif
during his past exigencies. The Vicesay, ta win tfa« &vns
of the pojmlace, had made use of the authority of the crown to
cher.k the extravagant claims of the nobility ; bat he had ^
taken into consideration the services of some individualu m
reward them. Nevertheless, men's minds were so little trwi-
quiliized that he feared to drive the barons to rebellion, if lit
proceeded against them with severity ; on the other aide, he
foresaw the discontent of the populace if he yielded to ihcir
demands. To avoid both dangers he resolved I
and to wait for a convenient opportniaity. Ei
from the first, that it waa easier, by the prospect of t
rewards, to preserve the nobles in their allegiauea, thu ll
fickle populace, he had internally resolved to gain ov«t ll
bst first of all by favOHSs."

L.

• G. B. Piacente

PLAN OF THE COUST OF OKATE. 391

Before long the Count of Onate had two occasions of
piittiiL|j;' into execution ]iis plan against the barons. Towards
the eud of December of the year 1648, the Prince of Mon-
tesarchio, so often mentioned in the foregoing pa^es, who
had assisted so actively the prosperous issues of the opera-
tions ill Apulia, was imprisoned on board a galley. The ship
was just going to weigli anchor, to proceed to Messina, whai
the auditor-general arrived and announced the impri^nment
•f the Prijoce in tie king's name. Andrea d'Avalos landed at
Sta. Luda, he was conveyed to the Castle dell' Uovo, and
tbere Icept in etrict custody. All hid household were inipri-
SMied. His fieft were garrisoned by roya! troops. The whole
town racked tlieir brains to find out the cause ; the Prince had
perfonned so prominent a part in the last war, tltat every one
eympathiiied in this unexpected event At the same lime his
Inotber, the Prince of Troja, received an order not to leave
the town, under pain of a fine of thirty thousand ducats. Not-
withstaDding, as January 1649 drew near, it was perceived
that Troja bad escaped. Tlie mother and wife of the pri-
soner, ttie first a Sangro and the other a Guevara, arrived :
everything uas in excitement. The fugitive as usual liad
hastened to fienevento. By the way, he iiad reposed at the
Castle of Arienzo, belonging to tlie Duke of Maddaloni, and
Iiad dined with him-*

■ Soon afterwards il: was whispered in Napleii, tliat a conspi-
sacy had been discovered, which had for its object lo make
Don John of Austria king of Naples. Philip IV. had no
sons. Don John was beloved bytbe people and the nobility ;
the o[q)resgive position of a province had long been felt by all.
The ol^ect of Montesarchio's journey lo Hessina was lo
persuade the king's son to enter into the plan. We may
vemember the ditlerences between the Prince and the Viceroy,
because he claimed the right to garrison Jschia after the death
of his aunt Isabella d'Avalos del Vasto. A number of im-
prisoiiments amongst the barons increased the agitation.

Neverthele^, the Prince of Troja soon appeared after his
flight ; he was imprisoned first in the Castle of Manfredonia,
bat even in Aftfil he was brought to Maples, and not long
«fierwarda set at liberty. His broliier was lyii^ sick in the
■ Report of the TuBi^aa agent, ViaceDza M«di '■^ .

1648, 2<ith Jqd. (uul 2nd tab., IM». ,""

892 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

castle ; nobody dared go to him ; the most alarmingTeporti
were circulated about him. In June the prior of Kondk
Carafa was arrested, whose wonderful escape during theMi-
saniello insurrection has been related. The coDstematioD «■
the greater, because it was perceived that inquiries werectnM
on with the utmost severity. Even the women of the ho«
were put to the torture ; all the domestics were imprisoned If
three months. Montesarchio was conveyed to Spain. Qi
mother died of grief; his wife wavered long between hofi
and fear. At last, at the end of the year 1651, DonLoi
de Haro gave her in writing a decided hope of the libentioi
of the Prince. But it was long before he, although exad-
pated, could return to his country. A duel with a Spanini
of the House of Anduada led him to Tangiers. Only in F^
bruary, 1653, he and Roccella, who had li^kewise been sentti
Madrid, were allowed to kiss the king's hand. He obtuned
the permission, or rather he was desired, to serve in the raial
army in Portugal, where the Spaniards suffered one loss after
another, and where a few days later the same Don John d
Austria, that a part of the aristocracy of Naples had wished
for as their ruler, lost the bloody battle of Alme3^Tial, agaiiat
Villaflor and Schomberg, which put an end to his favour with
the king, and was only a prelude to the defeat at Villa Yi9on,
which secured the independence of Portugal, where an order of
knighthood was established in honour of the victory. Towards
the beginning of April, 1658, after a banishment of nearir
ten years, the Prince of Montesarchio returned to Naples with
the title of a General of the .Galleons.*

Such was the first kind of interposition of the Count of
Onate's against the nobility. But soon afler the beginniog
of these proceedings against Montesarchio, other opportunities
occurred of taking measures against many of the nobles.
Giovan Battista Piacente expressly remarks the excitement
in which the breaking out of the disturbances of the Fronde
placed France, and that the power of the government was
weakened thereby, which had caused the Viceroy uneasiness at
the intermixture of Frenchmen in the administration, and had
summoned him to decisive action. The disturbances by the
banditti and bravoes, and the protection granted them by tbe

* Reports of the Tuscan agents, Medici and Lorenzo del Bosso, of the
yean 1649-1658. MS.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNT. 393

iMffo^, were the ostensible reasons; but the Viceroy's real
Wbject, in the meantime, was to destroy entirely the authority of
liie aristocracy, to change the condition of the vassals into that
ef subjects, and to annihilate for ever the authority of the
great families. He had already therefore begun to summon
the barons one after another to the capital. The pretext was,
that by this measure he would prevent acts of tyranny, and a
eollision of interests between them and the peasantry ; but, in
fii€t, Onate wanted to watch the great nobles closely, wMlst
jbis officers in the provinces could act with greater authority.
Agostino Mollo was nominated judge of the open country, for
the purpose of making strict inquiries about the doings of the ban-
ditti, and especially whether any understanding existed between
them, and the noblemen and peasants, and the oorporalsof militia.
With this view the militia was also changed. The soldiers in
Terra di Lavoro were sent into the Abruzzi, and a detached
corps, under known leaders, who some of them had been for-
merly chie& of banditti, and consequently knew the people
and their hiding places. A formal search was commenced.
The steep mountain which separates the gulf of Naples from
that of Salerno was, notwithstanding its vicinity to the capital,
filled with 'vagabonds; the highwaymen, not terrified by the
warlike preparations, appeared rather to seek than to avoid
battle. Not one house was secure at La Cava. At Gra-
gnano, behind Castellammare, the bands of a chief, called
Brennacotta (for then, as is the case now in these countries
and in the States of the Church, all these people had nick-
names), killed by a sudden surprise twenty Spanish soldiers.
It was said that the Coimt Celano Ficcolomini, to whom the
place belonged, harboured these packs of robbers on his
estates.

The viceroy availed himself of the opportunity. Celano
received an order to appear within three days. Not he only^
but many of the other barons who were reported to give shelter
to the banditti, and had protected them, especially during this
last time, from the pursuit of the royal t]X)ops, were called upon
to justify themselves. The Princes of Avellino and Forino,
and their cousin the Duke of Maddaloni, were amongst these.
Piccolomini, older and more sensible than the others, obeyed,
and was sent into exile for some time in the Terra di Bari^
At first both the Carraccioli refused to appear ; they declared

■984

THE CAKAFAS OF MADDALONI,

"I

it was unworthy of tlieir hijjh rank to present themselres Ai
GO trivial a cause as dealings with baiiditti. Tlie Duke H
Jelzi, one of their relations^ persuaded tbeiu to give way ;
came, were imprisoned, and aent to Castelnuovo. But t
imprisonment lasted only a few days, and it was so al^ht tl
tliey were present at a pl^y wldi^ wa^ acted in the catti
the viceroy was satisfied wiili keeping them at Naples foe

Diomed Caraia did not present himself: he would DotM
turn as a prisoner to the town, where he hoped to i
victor and to avenge the murder of his brother. He »
scioua that he had contributed more tJiaii almost aoy a
person to the success of the royal cause ; he had
dozens (rf letters of gratitude and commendation I
Duke of Arcoa and Don John: the king- iiimaelf, even i
year 1648, bad commended the zeal, the fidelity, and the k
with which he had been one of the first to asEist in subdi ~
the rebellion, and thus had reminded him of the old attacfai
and services of the Carafaa, and had placed before 1
grateful acknowledgments as a reward for him and hisfamili
Don John had, in July of the year mentioned, i
Cara£i personally to the king, who with his i^ily had b
in Rome since the end of the rebellion. None had felt n
heavily the vengeance of the people than Diomed Caraia «!
reg;apd to the membra^ of his family and his own posaeaaOL
even now his portion was more perplexing than that of 4
other noblemen, for the lower class of people did aot tn
him, as they suspected him of meditating revenge :| 1
majesty also might be graciously pleased to protect thed '
Whilst Maddalooi stood thus with reference to the p
saw that the viceroy was no less disinclined t
returned to his country in the autumn, but without v
the capital. He lived upon his fie& principally iti J
the situation of which between the mountains aud the raaAf
BeiieTentD seemed to him more secui^ When the I
aflair broke out, suspiciou fell upon faira immediately, b
of his former mode of life, Nevertheless he had done buid
avert suspicion. He caused a robber chief t(»j|
'ho harl ded to Arienza ; be set at liberty I

* AldiioKni, voL ii., flikd ia ouiAy plno6i'

tXUL

^hrf^

PQBUKBf » IMDlffiD GABAFA. 395

Mpk, a ridi GrCDoese, and Ins tons, wham, tiie mob IumI dragged
ia hiai in kapes of * laige nmsoni; tkm k was said that ke
inmsdf had a kaad in iL Tims ke knev kov bolk partial
were afiaeted towaids kiai : ke refnaad to ai^ear.

It ma tke beginning of April, 1649i» when Don Dioniflio
^ Grnsnan B ee a vad orders to pioeeed against Maddaloni,
FiTB hudrad Spanisk infimtiy, as auuiy Genoans^-iMir eonft-
panies of kscsemen, eompriaing together tkzee fanndred iMn
and eigkt pieces of artillery — such iorees were summoned
againat one feodatory. One might suppose that the times of
Fodinaad I. were eome faad^. It was and thatDioBied Carafii
Imd' ibitified the castle of Arienip, and intended to defend him-
adf there; but when he becaone aware of the march of each
anpeiior royal forces against him, he gave up the idea of de-
fsnding kimsel£ He 1^ the eastle and went to the moontain
of Airola. The Spanisli commander entered Arienzo quietly,
with two counseUors and other officers. An inventCMry was
made of everything that was found in the pakce, and in the
casde a quantity o£ arms and powder were seised. The de-
pendents of the duke and many others were examined : one
part of the soldiery and half of the artillery returned within a
lew days to Naples, the remainder were quartered in Arienzo
and Maddaloni. In both places many of the duke's rassals
were imprisoned ; the troops were maintained at the expense
of Caiafii; his revennes were sequestered: the jurisdiction
was entirely m the hands of the royal officers. At fint it was
aaid that the fugitiye would present himself to answer the
accusations nosed against him. With tins expectation tke
troops were recalled in the beginning of May. But Diomed
Carafa was too proud to submit: the Spaniards had still a
great deal to do he&sfre they could make Inm humble and sub-
Miissive.

Meanwhile intelligence reached the comndwaoner against
the banditti system, Agostino Mollo, that the duke was quietly
staying m the vicinity of his place Cerreto. In all haste he
caused it to be broken into by two hundred men ; but wlien
they arrived they found the nest empty. A report was i^ead
that Maddakmi intended to leave the country. To prevent
him the viceroy commanded tlie duchess, who had remained
in Arienzo, to come to the capital under a pain of a fine of
i% thousand ducaU. Antonia Carracciok) was tenderly loved

t'896 TDE CARAFA8 OF ItADDALONI.

by iier husband, who often found means to vifflt her unw
nised. At the beginning; of July she obeyed the order,
afterwards attempted, by means of her friends, an adjiuti
of the affair. The Prince of AveUino and the Duke of i
dria repaired to Arienzo, wliere a conference took place
tweenthem and Maddaloni. He was to present himself, i
might feel certain of pardon ; but they found him deaf to
their entreaties and remonstrances. Scarcely had they
him when Spamsh soldiers surrounded the Capuchin coiT
into which the fugitive had retired : but he was soon over
mountmn agun. Ouce more four companies of Boldiera i
sent to Arienzo, and as the duke, notwithstanding, ventl
to visit the place, he only narrovfJy escaped his pursuen;
wife was in full possession of her liberty at Naples,
laboured to arrange the matter, but every day made it D
<fifficult

Thus passed the year 1649 and a great part of the
ing one. In the autumn it was said that Diomed Carafo
resolved to repair to Madrid : he had actually applied to I
Philip to implore the iavoar of being allowed to justify i
self personally to his sovereign. A royal letter granted
what he desired. Two ships belonging to the armada wei
sail to Spain; he wished to profit by the opportunity. Sfd
over he had four feluccas freighted for tins purpose. Howe*
he didnotgo,andforwhat reason is unknown: he wasfined^'
thousand ducats for this new fault. The garrisons np«
baronies were reinforced. If this state of things continued
must be quite ruined. He offered to compound for
thousand ducats, but it was not accepted : the Count ot '
wished at all events to have him in liis power-

The duchess at last succeeded in bringing about a i
ciliation ! at the end of December she had given birth V>
daughter. In February, 1652, a ball was given in the pah
by Girifalco to celebrate the marriage of the only daugh
of the Marquis of Gioiosa, Giulia Carraccioto, with her ooo^
Niccolo Maria Duke of Alella. From this marriage spni
the younger branch of the Dukes of Giri&lcu, from whoa
descended Gennaro Curracciolo, who from jealousy causvd
wife Ulimpiu Colonna, the aunt of the present princes af ]
lestrina, Barberini Colonna, to be shut up in the dungvqp
bia castle of Giri£ilco in CaJafaria, after he had aunouneed

FATE OF THE BANDITTI. 397

4ea.th and attended her funeral. The Capuchins heard her
Igrodns through the thick walb of a remote part of the castle,
(■ud the governor of the province, by virtue of a royal order,
fibrced open by violence the doore of her prison, an event
fwiiich has iiirnished materials for many Italian plays and
QPrencb romances. The Count of Onate also made Ms appear-
fauce at that wedding-feast ; his grave and severe character
fdid not prevent him from taking pleasure in social meetingB,
tin inaHjuerades and plays, and he not only gave brilliant en-
I tertainments at the palace, but vraa accustomed also to visit the
I bouses of the aristocracy. He danced witti the bride and with
Ijnany other noble ladies, amongst others with the Duchess of
'Uaddaloni. Not long afterwards the duchess obtained the
I'pardon of her husband on condition that he surrendered him-
[■elf voluntarily ns a prisoner. It was during the first days of
April tiiat Diomed Carafa one evening entered the dark gate-
way of Castelnuovo. His wife repaired at the same time to
the palace to inform the viceroy of his arrival. Soon after-
wards the order for his freedom was issued. He was to pay
twenty thousand ducats, and not leave the capital. After all
that had happened he got off easily, but his affmis continued
Id disorder for two years, and the soldiery had made great
havoc in his villages. Immediately after he had received the
order for his freedom from the viceroy he proceeded in a car-
riage to the Madonna del Carmine to offer a thanksgiving for
his liberation. Everywhere the people thronged the way from
the castle through the streets through which he had once ridden
in very different circumstances. AJmost five years had elapsed,
and what years ! The populace was curious to see the man
who had caused himself to be so much talked of. From the
church be went to the palace to thank the viceroy. The last
time he had descended those steps it was to tranquillise tlie
frantic masses, whose leader was the Fisherman of Amaffi.
The revolution had injured few only as it had the life, house
and £unily of Diomed Carafa.*

When these last events took place the neighbourhood of lliA
capital had long been quiet. The energy of ihe ('mwl lit
Onate had produced its results ; the nobility dared no \<iiit[tf
grant protection to the banditti ; they were everywhrrfinWi^Wl

* G. B. Piacmte. Reporta of the Tuscan sfpnt, firm Ihn fllli Afitrl,
1E49, till t^ 30th April, lii5L>. MS.

TIIE CASAfAS OF MADDA1.0NI.

1

to seek for reAige amongst tlie most impassable iiioantaii(l
where maDy perished froui cold and butig-er; others di9giiH|H
themselves imd entered the seifice, the misersUe tenftin'
were easily destroyed by th« sbirri and the royal troops.
long- as Ouate remained at Naples the town and it» via
remained quiet ; but the labour which it coat to reston B
quillity tu the provinces, and the general condition of il
country after the war, is most clearly described Iwr D*a R»
coco CapeceJatro, who at the end of 1648 was Appsid
governor on this side of Calabria. •'Handed," he say*,* "d
a prosperous voyage at San Lucido, and repaired fivm tlm
to Cosenza, where I toc^ poese^oa according to the M
eeremouies, whilst I swore to maintain the privileges of ill
town. The province wad still full of agitation and ctmfuMI
In Cosenza, a wicked enmity prevailed between the Boia!if
and the pec^le, and the noblemen, notwithstaoding the oidM
of the vioeroy, would not be reconciled to the Popolai "*"
district of San Dooato, the lord of which had been n
shortly bi^ore, wa^ now in open rebellion, and would naihi
obey the royal oHficera nor the daughter and heiress. In tl'
town of RoBsano the chief of the populace, Pirro Malaa
kept up the ineurrection, not without blame to the ArcbknU
Carafa, wlio granted protection and admission to him and U
pariigans in the cathedral and the bishop's palace. The il'
bitaats of Cassano had rebelled, and were iu conunu
with the French ambassadOT at Rome, The whole j
refused to pay the new tax of forty-two caritns whidi
supplied the place i^ the earlier fiscal impost. In the fi
inhabited by the Albanesi Cosal dell' Ungaro the coOeci
had met with a bloody opposition. After that I had itdbn
the viceroy of all this, I endeavoured to restore order:
the pride of the noUes of Cosenza stood in my wajabcnred
things; they hindered my work of peace, as well as the h*
lection of the tax, as this last was not to be thought of m 1m
as the internal dissensions continued, and Cosenza set the ■
ample to the province. Whilst I was reflecting bow to n^M
this opposition, I liad a man hanged who, after tbe aiiMi
had entered into a criminal understandLig with the Fi«
After I had collected two companies of Spauish i

THE REBELLION BUPPaESSED. 399

■larched to HossarM, wliere the chief of the people had in-
trenched himself in the cathedral and belfiy. Instead of
kwaiting my arrivaJ, he lied, whereupon I imprisoned his sods,
Boafiscflted his property, seat seven men tu the gallows and
ouire to tfie galleys which compJeiely restured the town to
Innqnillity. I sent the Spaniards ifflmediately tu San Douato,
Bod the fame of my severity, as well as tite threat to level the
place to the ground, ^read such tt terror that the rebek sub-
ittecl, haiiiiiLed thirty uf the ringleadera and paid port of the
ix. After my return to Cosenaa I succeeded, although with
lucti ditficulty, in bringii^ about au agreement between the
aUlity and the people. A notarial act staled the peace, with
■rhidi the viceroy was much pleased.

" Now I began to collect the tax : the people were willing,
Lt not so tlie nobility. The noblemen made a thomand dif-
because, for the first time, they were to pay an equal
tre, and it required all my steadiness, as well as the dexterity
the royal ofifcers of the exchequer, to conquer their oppo-
ioB. The payment of the ta.<tes went on qoite regularly,
when suddenly the rebels of San Donato retook the place, and
the <d(l dialurbances began. On Christmas night I sent with
^ secrecy a captain and ninety good soldiers. The rebels
feared no aur])nse during the lestival ; the place was not
rded : about forty were made prisoners, of whom the half
id tbrar death in prison. After a second esecution on the
Bdlowiiig day, the rebellion was at an end ; and as I discovered
MMtapiiacy of several respectaLile inhabitants of Cassano,
hidt had for its object to favour a lauding of the French on
Ihe coast, which was known lo many of the baroni in Rome,
" caused the ringleaders to be seized and condemned to death.
{One of them, Gosimo Granito, bad during the past disturb-
■ancGS governed the town as one af the leaders of the people ;
ie had a gallows erected at the gate to liaug those who were
irell affected towards the royalists, but afterwaida he changed
jiis mind aiid had them shut. The bishop, Doii Gregory
Cbiu&, sought to save him because he had claimed the privi-
lege of the clerical state ; but I did not mind him, and be
coded bis lt& on the same gallows that he had pr^tared far
otitecs. Many shared his fnte, ami their heads were left for
long over the gates of Cosenza as a warning from similar
' luings, AAer tliat I had iu this manner exercised a

i

400 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONI.

lis

wholesome severity and established peace eyeiywhere, ni 1^

put into good train the payment of the taxes, I caused annUl ||^
tablet to be erected under the portico of the governor's pilM 1^
with an inscription, and over it the royal arms, as well as tbM ||^
of the Count of Onate and mine." And this inscriptifln b K
forms us of '^Don Franciscus Capitius Latro ordims moA ly
Jacobi de spata," how he, '^ concreditam provintiam ham K
omnibus acdamantibus prudentia et iustitia, ad totam secifr ||
tatis tranquiUitatem coodfirmavit, oppidorum aliquot orta leA* L
tione repressa motisque sedatis, auctoribus cesb, profligiiii L
estoribus ceterisque ad deditionem dedectis noviter molientilMi ||
solerter detectis et in eos severe vindicatum demum Begi ||
militari aerario restaurato onmia pads presidio munita comittf
cunctando restituit." So wild was the time that the go v ernor
of a province ruled in such a sanguinary and despotic nuumo^
and wrote down an account of Ms own acts with entire cob-
posure of mind and with many more details than ane boa
given — not a man of a rough and hard disposition, bat on
who had spent the greater part of his life in peaceful concem
and employments, one of the most esteemed poets of his day,
as well as one of the best historians of Naples, whose worki,
from the earlier centuries till the death of Charles I. of Anjou,
are of inestimable value for the knowledge they give us of
his own times. This was the condition of a province after
the Masaniello rebellion, in which, even in later days, manj
insurrections have taken place, and even to the last Tevdto'
tions of the years 1847-48 an attempt has always been made
to excite the hot Calabrian blood, and to change the deeds of
tlie banditti into revolutionary acts.

After such long and violent storms Diomed Carafii now
enjoyed repose for a season. The viceroy appeared quite to
have taken him into favour again. In November, 1662, he
took him as a guest to the Carthusian convent of S. Martino.
The prior entertained them ; the Princes of Cariati and Gel-
lammare, the Duke of Girifalco, the castellan of the adjacent
castle of Sant' Elmo, and others, were amongst the guests.
Sons were bom to him during the next two years. Tbe
youngest was baptized in the church of the Madonna delT
Arco at Sant' Anastasia at the northern foot of Vesuvius,
which, like most of the religious festivals, became a festal pro-
cession for the people, and is known in foreign countries by

OASrAIt ROMER. 401

the picture of Leopold Kobert, which represents it. He ex-
changed his palace in the Borgo de' Vei^ini and iiia villa at
Poaiiipo called L'Aulelta for a dwelling' on the Toiedo. His
great-grandfather, Don Marzio, the third duke, built the
palace at the end of the sixteenth century ; but the recollec-
tion of the scenes which took place there during the revo-
lution, and the desolation caused by the Vandalism of the
people, may have disgusted his grandson of the place. Gaspor
Bomer, a merchant of Antwerp, took the palace and villa in
exchange for his own beautiful house in the above-mentioned
principal street of Naples, whicii the MarquL; del Vasto built
upon a piece of ground that had originally belonged to Pigna-
telli. Formerly it had been a villa, and was called Jl Biaiico
Mangiare (blancmanger), for many of the small streets out of
the Toledo remind us, by their names Caro Gkgelh, Pignasecca,
&c., of the time when these ridges of bills from Mont-
olivelo, where the large gardens of the convents were situated,
to the heights of Sant' Elmo, were covered with villas and
gardens, which were destroyed by the building of the Toledo.
Gaqrar Romer, with whom Maddaloni exchanged the ground,
has occupied too considerable a position in Naples not to
be mentioned here. A native of Antwerp, he had gone to
Italy as a mercliant, and made an immense fortune. He
liberal use of his wealth. His house was quite a
About twelve rooms and saloons were filled with
■works of art, and especially with pictures, by tlie most dis-
tinguished painters of Naples ; Spagnoletto, M^aimo Stanzioni,
Aniello Ftjcoue, Carracciolo, and others that we have already
mentioned, were employed by him. Whilst new works were
perpetually arriving for him from Flemish artists, amongst
which those of Vandyke were not wanting, he coUected the
works of the older and later Italian masters, and at his house

Swere to be seen the creations of Zingaro, Bassano, Carlo
Cagliari, and many others. One of liis iavouiite painters waa
^ Aoiello Falcone, whom he frequently visited not only for the
^ sake of his pictures, but because he was amused by the lively
^ and witty conversations of the master, who, as has before been
mentioaed, had seen much in the world. He painted for the
^ Fleming a great picture of the tormenls of St. Januarius,
^ which Joachim uf Sandrart mentions " magna cum laude,"
M^>^<Ie« ^ number of battle-pieces, partly histories from the
H 2d

J

402 IRE CARAFA3 OF MADDALOXI.

Oltl Testnmeiit, many of which went lo Flanders,
Bonier saw at Aniello'^ any piotnre b<^n wliich pleased h
he wisked to possess it. Tliist happened so often, that at b
the painter inserted this clause into the contract^ tjiat hewn
finish the woric ordured at the time Gxed, supposing that ijl^
Gaspar Komer did not desire to have it. lie not only vna a£i
acnte connoisseur, but a generous man. The whole town knm
it. Was it a question of luiy important suin of mooBy^Att^
KeajKilitans were accustomed to say, " How now, do you ^|t>
me for Gaspar Romer?" He spent profiisely, not onlyb
works of art, and in magnifi-cent fiimiturB, of wliich his rocnoi
were full, but he was beiiavolent to an unusual dearee, and '
the nunnery of Sta. Maria Maddalena is indebted to him (br
its rich endowments. Hie conduct was iiill of modesty and
nobleness, and his cunversation was a» refined as it was kind.
Thus Gaapar Romer left behind him a' bleaised memory, when
he died at an advanced age in the year 1647.*

Diomed Carafa bt^an immediately to build the palace
which is situated on the upper part of the Toledo, not for from
the former king's gate, separated by a narrow street from the
palace of Doria of Angrir a bi'aitch of tJie princes of Melfi |
transplanted to Rome, to whicJi Luigi Vauvitelli in the lisi
century gave its beautifiil form, conquering with dexterity tJtf
difficulties of the locality, a wedge which stands between hre
steep ascending streets, Toledo and Mont' OliTeto. Tta
former dwelling of tiie Caraltui of MaddaJoni is one of tbe
great palaces of Naples, and preserves to this day, ii
midst of neglect and decay, many traces of its former a
dour. We have before us b. real palace, the dwelling of H
illustrious nobleman, not simple and elegant in style, but at
culated by-its plan and extent for a large household, taab i
was required in the seveuteenth century. The extsrio '
Iieavy and massive. Cosimo Fansaga, who has so often I:
mentioned in this history, built the lai3:e portal, whieh wc _
have had an important effect, if it had not been turned ta ti
aide of one of tlie narrow dark streets. Ou the wiudowaM
cornices we find the same heavy projectioiiB and stroH
ir^rked profiles, the never- failing characteristics of tiat ti
and its stjie. Over the windows are the devices oi i

p. 8U2, 1

PALACE OF DIOMED CABAFA. 403

Cm&a, DOW partially de^ed. Under the portal on the
are the huge arms of the Carafas, three silver horizontal
oil a red field in fresco, with genii and emblems ; the
also are ornamented with paintings belonging to the
of Diomed's son Marzio. Now spoilt by neglect, now
~ z not deserted, for a hundred inhabitants have divided
large house — the Supreme Court of Justice has taken the
story,, a printing-office, schools, and other branches of
indBBtry are followed up in it. But the brilliant mode of life
^the time that we have been describing has vanished — the
Mmhnrlrnn servants in their embroidered liveries, the armed
fortere, thtt gUt carriages with the richly-caparisoned horses
and running footmen, all have disappeared. It is a house, the
p M >pii etMB of which have long forsaken it.

H we ascend the staircase, we look upon the Piano Nobile,
aod we may still form some idea of the way and taste of
those times* A number of high rooms, out of which now
6verything has disappeared, without excepting the silk stuff
hmgingp. The great saloon, in the middle^ of these rooms,
still always attracts our attention. It has two floors, which
aie frequently to be seen in Italy : a gallery above the high
ndadows with gilti carved work and open parapet surrounds all
the four walls,, and the upper part is lighted upon two sides by
two small windows. The roof reminds us strongly of the
glaries of the house of Carafa. A gigantic fresco-painting
which covers the whole of it, represents King Alphonso's so-
lemn eaxtraDoe into Naples. You see the town and ite neigh-
bourhood, with Vesuvius and the shores of Portici ; the Bang
e£ Aragon, with his suite and army^ riding on ; at the gate of
the church of the Carmelites he is received by the deputies of
the town and many knights and citizens. Banners are waving,
trumpets blow: ail is life, motion, and jubilee. Thus the
"viaulted roof is adorned by the hand of the painter Francesco
di Maria ; it is supported by painted Caryatides, whilst orna-
mented arches connect it with the gallery. Here, where at
present the superior Court of Justice holds its sittings, where
SO' many an eye is fixed on the movement of the lips from which
proceeds the fearful word '^ guilty," where so many a heart de-
sponds,, where so many pulsations become stationary or else beat
feverishly,' took place for almost a century and a half splendid
entertainments worthy of the rank, of the wealth, and love of

2 D 2*

404 TLffi CARAFAS OF MADDALOSL

pomp of the foundeT, whose Tovenuee had been diminished by ni
volution And extravagance, but who would not therefore all — '
Itimself to be disturbed in his lusurious ways. Adjoining
saloon is a larg^e terrace with a loggia ornamented with mai
liillars, on the sides two fountains, one with a N'eptune, the ot
with an Auadyomene ; near them several sculptures, Ro
busts, and modern ornamental flourishes and sbellwork.
the remaining' parts of the great house every trace of spli
has disappeared before the insignificant claims of evi
life. Only in one of the rooms are hung several great
portraits, which do not however represent the former p
sors, but the Carracciolos of Avellino in the dress of
high chancellors.

Tlie Count of Onate was, as we have said, as little av
to feasts and amusements as most of his predecessors. At
accession to the government he could not tal:e formal poe
siou of it : now that peace was restored, lie did so. He
a room built in the palace merely for the purpose of gii
balls and acting filaye in it. At the end of the year 16S3^
made preparations for luxurious festivities to celebrate
suppression of the insurrection in Catalonia, then he wis
to finish the decoratioa of the palace. Massimo Stanzioni
to paiut in the great saloon tlie pictures of all the vicei
who had governed the kingdom since the times of Ferdini
the Catholic, a plan which was only carried out by the t
cessors of Onate. He relHiilt the principal st^rcaae of
palace, as well as the covered way lading to the arsenal. .
meant to beautify the shore of Chiaja by plantiDg trees, '
tins was likewise reserved for one of his successors. Thai
demies revived again under the protection of the nobility,
OJio evening, when the viceroy was present at a splendid en
tainment given by the Duke of Maddaloni, an Italian com
was introduced of Don Francesco Zaccone's, a member of
Academy of travellers (Erranti), containing many chan^_^
scenes. But the most magnificent feast was given by DioM
Carafa, which took place during the carnival of the year ISi
long after Onate had left Naples. The viceroy, the Coi
of Castrillo with his wife, his son Don Gaspar de Avelli
y Haro, and hia son-in-law the Marqub de Cortez, and
wives, were present, together with the most, illustrious.
ofKaplea. i'irst a comedy was acted, then supper waa

r

INFLUENCE OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE. 403

The \'iceroy and his family had a table tothemselves, of which
the master and mistress of the bouse did the honours. The
masnificence of the plate, of the crystals and the china, the
table-linen, aiid the silk stuffs astonished every one, and when
the entertainment ended all the guests received presents that
were worthy of a royal futc."

In the years which we have here deserihed Spain governed
Italy not only withreference to her political relations — the way
of living, literature, and art were more or less under tlie same
influence, and more or less in the same style. In many cases
reaprocal relations took place, the advantag^es as well as the
honours were generally on the Spanish side. Even the lan-
guage itself, at least that which was used in society, narrowly
escaped the foreign influence. It must, to be sure, be owned
that this was the case in a large portion of Europe. Spanish
literature, not only the dramatic but romance and lyric poetry,
bad filtered the classical period of French literature ; a Spanish
model flitted before Corneille when he composed the Cid, and
the intrigues of French comedy originated from the Spanish
school. With reference to literature, Italy has in some degree
preserved great independence. After it had received much
from the ruling nation, and had cultivated in its own way
what it had received, it returned again to its own character.
Giovan Battista Marini, the composer of Adone and of the
Murder of the Innocents at Bethlehem, a man who appeared
endowed with the richest abundance of poetical imagination
only for the corruption of taste and the mockery of sound
human understanding, not only governed all Italy but was
also the teacher and type of his contemporary Luis de Gon-
gora and his followers in the so-called Eslilo cuUo, which
could not be destroyed by Lope de Vega's criticism and ridi-
cule. The Spaniaid was some years older than the Neapoli-
tan—the first bom in 1561, and the other in 1669; but
Grongora's true poetical character only developed itself in his
later years, when he came to the all-powerful Count of
lierma ; the afiectation and extreme exaggeration of this
kind of poetry bears more affinity to the errors in taste of
mature years tlian to the extravagances of youth. Marini,
with bb voluptuous pomp of imagery, his oppressive number
of epithets, his perpetual play of antithesis, with which he
endeavours immediately to destroy ttie effect of what he has

• Vine. Mqdici, report of thc32od February, 163H,

406 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

jost said, whilst he fixes a hundred artificial omaments (
mere ^^ concetto," with an impetuosity which exceeds all n
and despises it as commonplace — Marini and his schcx
just representatives of the time, and obtained large pe
because they described love as a lynx deprived of sight
a blindfolded Argus, old men as babies, and old boys, ig
scholars, naked warriors, dumb orators, rich beggars, an
Imows what besides,* have not only exercised an im{
nfiuence upon the Spanish poetry of the seventeenth cc
that in itself ofiers a fertile field for an excess of &l9e j
but they have also given a riotous tendency to the cc
and fbrm of Hofiinan's Waldau and Lohenstein, whid
is only the more disgusting whether we consider its afife<
of foreign manners, or its native prejudice. Some grea*
pendent spirits have understood how to keep themselvi
from this pernicious influence, but still it pervades the
time, that must be considered connectedly and not in se
parts. Can it be supposed that a bold revolulionaiy
like Salvator Rosa's, could withstand this influenee?
his satires, and especially his miserable criticism on 18
angelo's Last Judgment, and you will be convinced, tc
horror, that this painter of romantic, rocky desierts, and 1
battlenscenes would have become a worse ** maker of cl(
than Daniel of Vol terra, so praised by him, if he had a
his ready hand and his narrow spirit to the gigantic ^
God the Father in allonge, the Madonna in a stifle re
in&nt Christ in a rose-coloured skirt, are all among
representations of those times.

And the mode of life was completely Spanish. If ii
cany, where democracy everywhere prevailed, which re
its own and, even with all their vices, its national
which tried from time to time, however vainly, to ex
itself from Spanish bondage and to strike into an indep
way of its own ; if in Tuscany the old republican m
were obliged to yield to a ceremonial pathos and the doi
of etiquette which oppressed all nations, and which dej

* Marino's Adone, canto vi. 173.

Lince privo di lume, Argo bendato,
Vecchio lattanie, e pargolletto antico,
Ignorante erudito, ignudo armato,
Mutulo parlator, rieco mcndico.

t Salvator Eo&a*a^a^diQiii., La Httanu

MAKNEHS AND DRESa 407

the masses without improving the condition of the nobles ;
which coerced mind and body in stays, and made the neck
rigid by stiff collars, whilst even the beautiful diction of the
lang^oage was spoilt by artificial ornaments, it may be sup-
posed how much more this was the case in servile Naples,
where all tliis system found a &r fitter and more fertile
floaL Everything was Spanish. If we look at the higher
tdasses, the Gastilian gravity, with the pomp that had arisen
from the conscious dignity of a ruling and victorious nation,
had become more and more an empty mask, had long since
mppressed the easier, natural, and therefore pleasanter man-
ners of the Italians. The Spanish court-dress had become the
comonon dress of the cavaliers, who most of them belonged
to orders of knighthood. The graceful and well-covered dress
of the women in the times of the Joannas had given place to
stays like coats of mail ; disfiguring frills, cocked up dressed
hair. A number of Spanish words, indeed whole dialogues,
were used to express that kind of civility which differs essen-
tially from courtesy, whilst it reminds us, in a manner unplea-
-tant for both parties, of an existing dependent connexion, or^
what is worse, it pretends to do so. In Spain itself the nobi-
lity of that time were not better in this respect. From the
great shipwreck of the free condition of the middle ages the
nobles had saved nothing but pompous forms, and had sought
&r a compensation in placing this pomp at the head of every-
thing. In the privilege of having their heads covered in the
presence of their sovereign, the plundered descendants of the
conquerors of the Moors saw the Palladium of their rank.
Valour degenerated always more into bullying ostentation,
the spirit of enterprise into the love of adventure, courtesy
into ^servility, dignity into false pathos, elegance into de-
mding luxury. It was long before Italy disentangled itself
Srom these influences — it has never been entirely free from
them.

The Spanish system in those, as well as the character of the
Spanish power generally in the seventeenth century, has been
only too truly expressed in that colossal bronze statue of King
Philip IV. whidi stands under the portico of Santa Maria
Maggiore at Rome, a work of the year 1692, when the Duke
of Medina Celi, afterwards Viceroy of Naples, was ambas-
sador there to Pope Innocent XII. Inflated, unnatural, fuU

408 THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

of fiilse majesty y a restless agitation about it without taloitift
the attitude, the right hand stretched out imperiously Imt
without power, the left placed upon the top of the Rwoid,
which is in the sheath ; the &ce with a threatening ud
imperious expression which does not excite fear — the statue ii
a type of the Spanish kingdom at this era, as the last but m
of the House of Hapsburg, who, after a mischievous goven-
ment of four-and-forty years, is buried in the vault of tk
£scurial; who, alas I leaves behind him such a diminwhmi
future empire of the world to his widow as r^^ent for Ik
in&nt child, who, when four years old, had tasted nothing bit
asses' milk, and in whose veins the blood of the Spanish kingi
was quite exhausted.

But from these general considerations that have led us to
the year 1666 we must retrace our steps, and turn to the iih
temal afiairs of Naples and the £ite of Diomed Caiafii in hk
last years, and those of his family. We left the Duke of
Maddaloni in reveb and riots ; but the un&vourable stsD
which had shone at his birth were not conquered.

The Count of Onate had been recalled from his govenuneDt
in November, 1653. He had performed such briUiant 8e^
vices for the House of Hapsburg that this measure excited
universal astonishment ; he himself had had no idea of it, and
appears to have considered it as a disgrace. It is said that
lus excessive strictness, and especially the severity with which
he proceeded against the nobility, excited the displeasure of
Spain ; that the barons were constantly complaining of him, and
that their complaints found an advocate in Don John of Austria,
who was not on good terms with the viceroy. The Goont
of Onate resigned to his successor, Don Garcia de Avellanda
y £[aro, Count of Castrillo, the government of the country
which he had undertaken at a moment when it seemed lost to
the crown of Spain, in a better and more tranquil state than
it had been for some time. The administration of justice was
well regulated; the highways were cleansed from banditti;
the communities were less burdened with taxes; the taxes
were more equally distributed than had been the case since
the days of Toledo. The aristocracy had felt the power
of Onate; they had not received the reward which they
had hoped for and claimed. They caused the recall of the
viceroy, a measure which had so often been tried in Sicily;

THE SERPEST DWCE. 409

but they benefited little by the chaog^. Their part was

The Count of Caatrillo arrived on the 10th of November,
1653. Not long afterwards the new attack of the French on
the coast took place which has been mentioned at the end of
the preceding chapter. Scarcely were they rid of them when
that terrible pestilence began which laid the capital and the
country desolate during the years 1656-58, perliaps the most
horrible plague of mSlem times. Thus was the unfortunate
caaatTj constantly visited first by one evil and then another;
and when war and sickness left it in peace, the government
again tried to have recourse to the earlier exorbitant rates and
exactions. It availed nothing that thb or that tax was
abolished. Upon an average little less money was paid than
in the year 1658 ; there was again a question of the donative,
which had not been mentioned since the revolutionary year of
1647. The birth of an heir to the throne in Prosper Philip
occasioned a. present to the king of 350,000 ducats, the half
of which was raised by a new tax on bread. Thus were the
closed doors again broken open, and the old customs prevailed
till the end of the Austrian -Spanish dominion, whether the
viceroys were Spanish or German,

During the festivities of the carnival which took place in
1658 to celebrate the event which had been so long vainly
expected, Diomed Carafa appeared once more according to
«arlier times. Ue was now seven-and-twenty years old, and
the &lher of a numerous family ; but he took a part with the
most brilliant knights iu carousals and tournaments. Under
the guidance of the Duke of Girifalco they formed one qua-
drille amongst others called the serpent Qxadd), first inter-
twining themselves together and then separating themselves,
and thus with great rapidity and dexterity executing a laby-
rinth of quickly -changing figures. The scene was the square
before the royal palace, which was surrounded with bars and
with scafibldit for the ladies, and after that the evolutions and
the touraamenls had been performed, the knights repaired to
the great saloon, where the dancing went on all night. Mad-
daloni's life had not been a quiet one even in thes^ years.
Duriug a dispute which had arisen between the cavaliere of
the sedile of Capuana and the Cardinal Filomarino. with regard
to the prrrilcges of the cavaliers on the occafdcmcf the festival

410 THE CARAFAB OF MADDALONL

of the flowing of the blood of St Januarins, he gave wot to
his old enmity against the archbishop. The cavaliers hadd^
sired their notary to put up on the spot a protest agaiut tke
restriction of their privileges, but Filomarino had torn tte
paper from the hands of die notary and hidden it in the ftUi
of his purple robe. Then Diomed Gara&i went to the cantial,
took away the writing from him by violence, and amongst ottar
passionate speeches had alluded to tlie low marriage of FSkH
marino's father : it was natural that the son of a waaherwoHa
should be ignorant of the customs of the nobility. The hd
terms which the cardinal had long been on with Spain, especiiSy
since the year 1647, caused Diomed's conduct to be overlooked:
but other occasions of quarrel were not "wanting. At the
beginning of January, 1655, the duke was fined 40,000 dnoati:
the reason for this was not known at Naples. At the begn-
ning of the next April an inquisitor with thirty men was eent
to Arienzo to examine the vassals of Cara&, who had oon-
plained of oppression; but Maddaloiii lived apparently oq
good terms witli the Spanish rulers whilst this inqpiiy wh
going on. The severe inquisition to which the Count of
Onate had subjected many of the great nobility, and, amongirt
others, the Count of Conversano, who died at Tairagooa some
years af^er his return from Spain, had been relaxed under the
Count of Castrillo, who in his general government neither
showed the energy nor was gladdened by the results which had
made that of his successor so remarkable. Amongst other
evils the banditti again increased to a great degree : contribu-
tions were levied upon the districts and towns in the neighboia^
hood of the capital, on Somma, Nola, and many others only i
few miles distant. Persons of distinction were seized in the high-
ways, and obliged to ransom themselves. When the Canhul
Buoncompagno repaired to Sora he bought a safe conduct from
the leaders of the banditti. Some of the barons were conoened
in the matter, and a man belonging to an illustrious fionilf,
afler a trial of many months, had his head cut off in the square
of Castel Capuano. In the banning of April, 1658, a oertaiD
Luigi Biancardo, who for various crimes it had long been
wished to apprehend, was imprisoned and condemned to deatit
in contumacium. He had wandered about in different eountriei;
taking first one name and then another, had appeared at seveial
courts with money and servants, and had committed many Irud-

DIPRISONMENT OF MADDALONI. 411

tdeiit transactions. He had reached Rome only a few days
l>efore his imprbonment. He was brought from the prison of
the vicarial court to Castel dell' Uovo, where he was tried
towards evening by several civil officers of high rank. On
the same night, at about the fiflh hour, the Dudke of Madda-
looi was imprisoned and conducted to the castle ; he was im-
mediately brought before the same junta, which had assembled
there since the dawn of day. Here he was confronted with
Biancardo, then be was put into one of the segrete, secret
prisons, ainl kept under the strictest guard. On the following
morning it was reported that Luigi Biancardo had been
strangled for " Materia di Stato." The Duchess of Madda-
loni hastened immediately to the viceroy; she wa& not ad-
mitted. The profoundest secrecy was observed upon the cause
of the duke's imprisonment — no one durst go to him. Three
Spanish captains kept guard before his prison. Each of them
received a doubloon a day at the expense of the prisoners.
Thus weeks elapsed without the veil being lifted up. In July it
was said that the duke would be sent to Spain, to be confronted
with the Count of Conversano, whose great services to the
erown had not protected him from a state trial. Meanwhile this
was still considered as only a threat ** to fleece him properly."
On the evening of the 5th of August, six galleys and
thirteen tartanes weighed anchor under the command of the
Marquis of Torrecusa. Two thousand men, Spanish and
Italian, were conveyed to Finale by this flotilla, where the
troopB for Lombardy were usually disembarked. On board
one of the galleys, called San Giovanni, was Don Luigi Po-
derico, the former commander-in-chief of the troops of the
harons, destined to be captain-general in Catalonia, and besides
him, under a strong guard, Diomed Carafa, Duke of Madda-
kmi. He had a large sum of money with him ; and it was
liiought in Naples, that he would not fail in his intention, but
would obtain a trial for his defence. For a time the affair
appeared to take a favourable turn. In November of the
same year he wrote to his wife, to send him as soon as possible
his finest carriage, and a magniflcent sedan chair. It was said
to be for a present to the king.*

* Bcports of the Tuscan agents, Lorenzo del Kosso, Andrea Pandbl-
flni, and Paolo Popi, of the 9th, 16th, 23rd April, 23rd July, 6th August,
3id December, 1658.

412 THE CABAFAS OF MADDAI^M.

Yet the aflhir did not pi aa as Maddaloni had boptd.
Little is known about him : he was kept a prisoner in n fn^
tress in the vicinity of Madrid. Here, as Don FrancMA
Capecelatro expresses it, he ended his days io misery, ioAl
month of September, IGGO.'

Such was the end of the stormy life of Diomed Carah. B
WEks in youth and in manhood a genuine representative of U
Neapolitan nobility, brilliant and extravagant, reMsting i
restraint, despising every law, only recognizing- his own p
vileges; but sacriiicing himself readily in the service nftl
crown. His la^t fiite and his death were amongst the mn
waminga that Spain fi^m henceforward would share &
sovereignty with none, that it respected no privileg«s, truit
no one, remunerated no services. Whether the countrr*
the people fared better, when the politick power of the*
tocracy was entirely annihilated? The condition in wh
the kingdom of Naples was left after the breaking up ctf ll
monarchy at the extinction of the Sptmisli Uouse of H
may answer the question.

The t)uchess of Maddaloni survived her husband m
years. Her eldest son, Maraio, inherited the dignitie* ■
possessions. " The present Duke of Maddaloni," sayt I
historian of the Carafas,f " is a perfect cavalier, ^orned «1
the sublime high order of the Golden Fleece, which had bM
granted to him by his majesty Charles H,, and with all A
valiant qualities that belong to the character of a true n "*
man. He is noble in manner, obliging, friendly, i
nunous, generons. and therefore beloved by liis equals t
respected by his inferiors. He is a ftiend to the virtna
whether they are distinguished for the fine arts or for tlifiS
of mail. He is learned in ancient and modem history, a
has drawn from the study of it, in what manner authority it
be obeyed, and vassals to be commanded. His library U vi
large, and he always delights to spend a ^wrtion of tL,
day in reading. He has with nobleness of mind imitated I
example of foreign grandees, as he has travelled througli
considerable part of Italy and Spain, with the view of learm
s and way of thinking of foreigners, in order
te them to his neighbours. In short, he U
d vassal of the king's and a worthy scion of an IT
), AnnoJi, p. !T6. t AldJmari, vol. iL

DEATH AND FAMILY OF DIOMED. 4l3

■

trious &inily ought to be. His beautiful possessions are in
TTerra di Lavoro, not far from Naples. And although his
£ief suffered very much from the earthquake on the 5th of
June, 1688, he is nevertheless one of the greatest and richest
nobles in the kingdom."

Besides Marzio, Diomed Carafa left several children, of
whom two daughters went into a convent. Marzio's eldest
•on, Diomed, (tied before his father in the year 1696^ and
bia other son, .Carlo, succeeded him in 1702. He had
by his wife Emilia Carafa of Andria, Charles, who had
the title of Prince of La Guardia, and married Teresa
Carlotta Colonna of the line of Sonnino. He died in the
year 1716; his son, Domenico Marzio, in 1760; and his
socoessor, Carlo, in 1765. One only son of this last re-
mained, who was again called Domenico Marzio. As he was
imbecile, towards the end of the seventeenth century, and
when he attained his majority, his uncle Diomed, under the
name of the Marquis of Arienzo, was summoned by a sentence
of the great vicarial court to the enjoyment of the Maddaloni
estates, which was confirmed by King Ferdinand IV. on the
7th of April, 1790. When the Marquis of Arienzo died, in
1805, his rights went to Francesco Saverio, Prince of Colo-
brano, great-grandson of the unfortunate Giuseppe Carafa,
and at his death to his brother Diomed^ who was succeeded in
the year 1824 by his son Marzio Gaetauo. Domenico Marzio,
with whom had remained the title and a rental of twelve thou-
sand ducats, died first in 1829, since which Marzio Gaetano
Carafe imited the title of a Prince of Colobrano to that of
])uke of Maddaloni. But how little remains of the splendid
inheritance of Diomed Carafa, the friend and counsellor of
Ferdinand of Aragon, king of Naples !

We are approaching the end. But before we finish this
historical narrative, in which the destinies of a kingdom and
a nation during three centuries have been interwoven with
that of one family, we must introduce a short survey and cur-
sory description of the transition of Naples from the condition
of a province, into a powerful and once more a fioiirishing
kingdom. Revolutions seldom profit those who make them —
a truth, often repeated, that has never prevented a single revo-
lutionary spirit fix)m beginning again the dangerous game.
This was the case with the revolution of 1 647. The chie&

414 THE CABAPA3 OP MADDALONI.

disappeared from the stage, some during the stni^le, mm
soon afterwards. Tlie fiukleDess of the populace ruined some)
others were destroyed by the axe of the executioner, fiw
er«a the people did not profit by the revolution. We mutf
not be deceived by the fact, that many of the taxes we«
lessened, and others abolislied. It nas scarcdy more then an
apparent advantage. For the wel&re of the town and of the
country was at a very low ebb ; and if it was long before tb«
wounds grew stiff, which the insurrection had inflicted npoa
both, the government meanwliile contrived to draw the reins
tighter in again. The donative, as we have already renmrkedt
was reintroduced in the year 1658- And enfeofimcnts, soIes
of offices, underselling, and dishonesty, went on in the same
way OS ever, indeed tiiey wei'e worse. Messina's bloody rebd-
liou of four years, from 1674 — 7S, cost Naples seven ntillion)
of ducats ia ready money. The viceroy, the Marquis d'A»-
torga, was accused of having enriched himself by sordid Iraos-
actions ; and his immediate predecessor, Don Pedia Aiitooia
d'Aragona, continued publicly and shamelessly in the nni
course, in all ways, as had once been followed by Montetqf
and Medina ; aud the banditti, the insecurity of the coaiSij
and of (he capita!, usury, and the traffic with false
that which went on even in convents, and extended
copper money, did not diminisji. Of all the changes in the:
vernment of the town and the representation, that were d<
by the democratical spirit, and gpraiited by an enfeebled
power in a moment of oppression, not one was really ;
duced. The only result with reference to the repr«seiilatit%j
was a giHiat mixture in the government, by weaJceDina tkl'
power of the nobility.

Did the people gain by this? Hardly. The Count
Onale was, if we may compare a large with a li uiitea ,
sphere of action, the Richelieu of Naples. JAke him hV-
sought to strengthoi (he c«ntral power at the expenie at
the other powers. But wbilst the Frenchman organind I
mighty state, aud laid ttie foundation for the uufoLdii^ rf
its ample resources, which scarcely reached their full i^n-
lopment even in the next generation, the Spaniaid iM
able to do nothing. The fault of this is less to be ■!■■
buted to him than to the rapidly increasing feebleness of itl
nuMtaochr. He ooiiqiiared the uanibf of : "

TRANSITION OF NAPLES INTO A KINGDOM. 415=

lementi! of which had at first helped him to the victory.
Whilst he eould not give that compensation to the nobility for
lie loss oi their territorial power and influence, which the
Pomch finmd under the glorious government of Lewis XIY.,
A did not raise the people ; he educated no able citizen class ;
created nothing that, under more favourable circumstances,
light have been introduced — ^neither he nor his successors
Naples had nine more viceroys from the Spanish House of
lapeburg), although two among them were men of talent
nd o£ upright will. It was tiie curse of the Spanish admi-
dstration to make the present miserable, and sow no seed for
he fiiture. This administration was an example of what a
government should not be. It neither developed nor improved
he- moral and intellectual powers, but supported itself solely
ipan material force, and sought to secure itself by stirring up
he paasions of party spirit. It never thought of the particular
Djbarests of the country and of the people ; but only how to
fffntAJn their connexion with Spain, and only had in view the
iivantage of that country. For the space of two centuries,
Naples sacrificed men and money in the service of a foreign
lOfwer — ^what did it receive in exchange ? Tyranny, humilia-
ion, misery.

IlYom the years 1647-48 there was a marked decline in the
Booal character of the Neapolitan aristocracy. They retained
«it few of their finer qualities ; some individuals sacrificed their
Lves on foreign battle-fields for a foreign cause ; most of them
essed their time in idleness, without political influence or
ther consideration ; the great fortunes disappeared more and
lore ^ many had not recovered from the blow given th^n at
be time of the revolution. The forms of the citizen adminis-
ration remained, but many new families, some of them Spanish,
rexe enrolled amongst the sediles, and the viceroys were
Iways acquiring more absolute power. No social improve-
lent of any importance took place till the Spanish monarchy
ma ruined and Naples again obtained its' own kings. Two
undred and thirty years had elapsed since the fall of the col-
iteral brandi of the Aragonese, when Charles III. conquered
is kingdom. The principle of legitimacy may be said to have
onquered in the year 1501, when the illegitimate posterity of
Uphonso I. made way for the lawful heirs of his brother ;
>at unfortunately Naples paid for this victory by a slavery of
wo hundred years.

416 THE CAKAFAS OF MjiDDALONI.

Before the soutli of Italy regained a dynasty, which although
of foreign origin became a nKtional one like that of I.-orraine
in Tuscany, the nobility made one isola.ted attempt to recover
ttieir political importance, and to extricate the country front
the condition of a province, to which Ferdinand the Caliiolic
had degraded it. It is a peculiar coincidence that this last
design, of the conspiracy called after the Prince of Macchio,
vas brought about by Providence precisely in an opposite inf
from that which had been proposed, A fraction of the New
pohtan nobility attached themselves to the German Hap»-
burgs, and especially to the Archduke Charles, because, under
Fhilip Y., who afler the death of the last descendant of
Charles Y. had ascended the Spauish throne tu the year 1700,
the object of so many intrigues and protracted struggles, thej
feared to remain dependant on him as they had been on bu
predecessors. Carlo (li Sangro, belonging to the family
so often mentioned of the Princes of San Severo, and Ga-
etano Gambacorta, Prince of Macchia, were the heads of the
conspiracy. This last was descended from that fitmily of ibe
Gamtiacortas of Pisa, who towards the eud of the fourteenth
century had for a short time ruled tiieir native country, after
the loss of Fisa's principalities in the Tuscan mouotaiiKMit
country of Casentino and in Eomagnaj they had obta
some imperial Jiefs of the widely ramiiying race of i
Count Palatine of Guidi, and had lost them again before tl
middle of the fifteenth century, because they had taiien p
with the Yiscontis' and King Alphonso against the repti"
of Florence. They had afterwards settled in Naples, Ot
belonging to well-known famUies had entered into the plan a
those two — a Carafa, Ceva-Griraaliii Capece, &c. On t' '
21st of September, 1701, the murder of the Duke of Medii
Celi, the last viceroy of the house of Hapshurg, the fir*
the Bourbons, was to give the signal. The plao was, h
ever, discovered ; but the conspirators did not give up n ' "
a struggle. They summoned together the people in
streets, but no one stirred with the esception of i
bands of the lowest of the populace and some of the mob i
had run in from the neighbourhood, who only did mischief ■
the undertaking, by pillage and acts of cruelty. In the upp
part of Kaples the troop of the Prince of Maccliia fbr M
moment established and maintained itself in the vicinitjtL
the Mercatello aud by the church of Sau Pielro a Mi^jdllfl

CHARLES m. 417

3eaten there, the last remains of it defended itself in Santa
IShiara and San Lorenzo, where in the year 1647 so much
dood flowed. The artillery first put them completely to
ligpht. Gambacorta escaped with great difficulty; Sangro
WTBS made prisoner and beheaded; a number of the others
nrere killed in battle, or else ended their days in prison or on
the gallows : the estates of many of them were confiscated.
The Duke of Ascalona succeeded Medina Coeli ; Philip Y.
oonfiseated all the efiects of the Prince of Macchia, who died
at Vienna in the year 1703 : his cousin the Duke of Limatula,
who in this attempt at insurrection fought on the Spanish side,
was the last of the family. All this happened six years before
the conquest of the country by Field-Marshal the Count of
Daun, fifteen years before the man was bom to whom Naples
owed its r^eneration.

Charles III. conquered Naples in the year 1734. The
Austrian government, who under Charles VI., and especially
under Maria Theresa, acquired a good name throughout Italy,
had already begun to rescue the kingdom from its state of
roiuy and would have done more, if it had not been for the
war, in which the House of Hapsburg was entangled, for the
uncertainty with regard to the future political form of the
peninsula, which must be essentially altered by the extinction
of the Medicis of Florence, and for the necessarily inherent
&ults of a viceregal government. Charles III. has been
the creator of a new government in Sicily. The energy,
he spirit of enterprise, and the caution of this monarch,
^ho was scarcely eighteen years old when he won his king-
loin by the sword, eight-and-twenty when he secured the
lOBsession of it by the victory at Velletri, three-and-forty
^hen he resigned it to his son Ferdinand, excite the astonish-
lent even of those who do not agree with his principles of
ovemment. The mania, and precipitate haste to reform,
ras an evil which all the energetic princes of the time
ufiered from, and which, by a general want of prudence,
ssisted almost as much as the many notorious abuses to
ffect the revolution, and indeed left behind it bad seeds
jT ftiturity. The gradual diminution of the aristocratical,
nd especially of the feudal privileges, and the centralisation
f authority, formed part of the system of King Charles and
is ruling minister, Bernardo Tanucci, formerly a jurist of

2 £

418 THE CAKAFAS OF MADDALONL

I

PisR, as they had grown ■ up in the wiaxim.i of most of tlie
sovereigns of the eighteenth century, who did not pooave
that by pulling down all the institutions of the states, wUek
ought to have been reformed and not annihilated, they thoh
selves laid bare the foundations of their own thrones, andtUr
posterity have to thank them, for the present very inoonvenial^
unorganised, narrow constitutions. The fidelity of the Nfr
politan nobility to their sovereigns upon all occasions, wliiek
was especially proved during the war against Austria ii
1741-44, pre\'ented the government from carrying out tiiar
T)lans, particularly after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748^
which secured to the House of Bourbon not only both tlw
Sicilies, but Parma and Piacenza.*

The persecutions which took place after the attempted ii-
surrection of the Prince of Macchia desUwyed the aflfectioB of
the Neapolitans for King Philip V. ; the oppression at tiie
nobility under Charles III. gave occasion to one of the most
remarkable, although highly lamentable, sights in the yeut
1798 and 1799. Some of the illustrious nobles took partii
the events which led to the formation of the ephemeral Ffe^
thenopeian republic. Already before the royal family had
lied to Palermo inquiries had been instituted against memhen
of the families of Colonna, Serracassano, Medici, &c. After
tlie departure of King Ferdinand the deputies of the peopk
would not recognise the authority of the governor, Grenend
Prince Francesco Pignatelli-Strongoli. They appealed to the
constitutions of the Emperor Frederick of Hohenstaufen and
of Kinp: Ladislaus, to the edicts of Philip Y. and Charles IIL;
they daimed, as representatives of the kingdom and of the
town, the sovereign power; they issued orders and decreed
the establishment of a guard of citizens. The divisions called
forth thereby were increased by the quarrels between citizens
and the populace, as well as by the conduct of some actual
republicans, and were the real cause of the anarchy which brdce
out in January, 1799, which afler a wild, irregidar, and un-
fortunate battle of the Lazzaroni against the French, ended in
Championet's conquest of Naples. The defence of the town,
as well as the reconquest of it by the Cardinal Fabrizio Buffiiy

* P. Colletta, Storia del Beomc di Napoli. Capolago^ 1834. YoL i.
p. 122, &c (1 vol. p. 57, &c.)

THE ABOLITION OF THE SEDILfiS. 419

only be paralleled by the insurrection of the year 1647.
Two Filomarinos, the Duke della Torre and his brother,
met their death during* these first disturbances, whilst their
kooses and effects, like their unfortunate possessors, were sacri-
Ihed to the flames : and amongst those who, after the return
of the king, were executed for high treason, were Giuliano
Cblonna Stigliano, Gennaro Serra Cassano, five Pignatellis,
one Biario, Francesco Caracciolo, the admiral of the Neapo-
litan fleet, and many others, not to mention that Ettore Carafa,
Count of Rufo, with the strength of a lion, who as a leader of
a body of republican troops had joined the French, stormed
and set fire to the town of Andria, a fief belonging to his own
&mily. Notwithstanding a spirited defence on the side of the
royalists, he met his death by the hand of the executioner with
the same wild courage which he had shown on the field of
taatde.*

The municipal council of the town of Naples was dissolved
by a royal edict in July, 1799 ; the sediles and the ancient
representation of the town and kingdom were entirely abo-
liEihed ; the privileges of the city were materially diminished.

Wi^out the knowledge of the epoch already described,
the present state of Naples is hardly to be understood. To
esq)lain the modern evik it is requisite to go back to their
first causes. These causes were in most cases the Spanish
dominion. Not only had it completely developed the
bod elements of the national character of the inhabitants
of southern Italy, it had also added to it foreign agents no
less bad than the existing ones. Heavy and perpetual op-
piession, tyranny, sometimes violent, sometimes underhand,
increasing the old enmity between unequally privileged classes,
extravagant dynastic pretensions, all this and many other
canses worked together. Then the people tried once more
to shake ofi* the enervating habit of political helotism ; thus
they fell into the excesses that are inseparable from the libe-
ration of uneducated masses, and appear so much the more
formidable to posterity because they do not keep in mind the
irhole of the time, or hold in their hands the right mea-
suring rule. Meanwhile in the midst of all the extrava-

* Colletta, pp. 273, 277, 308, 31 3, 317, 413, 420. Coppi Annali d'ltalia
(edition Home, 1848), vol. IL p. 292, vol. iii. p. 93, &c.

2 iL 2

420 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

gasces one prominent characleristic lias remained with ihe
Neapolitan people — their respect J'or what they considewd
legality, their dread of what appeared to them rebellion. In
both the revolutionary periods of the sixteenth and seventeenlfi
centuries this peculiarity is obvious during; the struggle agaiiut
the inquisition, and in the £ir bloodier one against the gabeUes.
Tliis lasted for long, till the dammed up waters of democrswy,
in tlie year 1647, burst through the mighty barrier of respect
for loyalty ; but when it was ouee burst, the waves carried
away everytliiug'. It could not be otherwise. Fidelity in oii-
heriiig to tiie principle of the divine right, a fidelity to destruy
which the Spanish government did their utmost, however little
it may have been their inteation, is to this day unchanged-
it is the palladium of royal power. On numberless occasion!
the Neapolitan people, who are reproached for their many n-9
bellions, have shown a devoted attachment to the reigniiffl
&mily.

Good and bad are connected in this ; all tendeucies e
degenerate into excesses. Tiie passionate constitution of the I
inhabitants of the south, together with centuries of ancient
habits, make a mixed government diBcult if not impossibk i
The latest events liave added new to the old proofs. Comti> J
tutional ideas occur to many speculative persons wlio '
tice altogether mistake the right proportion, have m
right aim, and in 1799, as in 1820 and 1848, have, partly b
republican caprice, partly by precipitation, as well as by is
potence, failed in producing something really natioaal, Ian
brought discredit upon their theories, and liave mined Ukb'
selves and their cause. The multitude adhere firmly ton
abHolut« monaruliy, an if they had an obscure consciousneH d
menacing dangers from a change, dangers that are in gi ~*
measure to be ascribed to on innate n'ant of moderation ;
the masses have never arrived at real discernment. We mad
take the Neapolitan people as they are, with tiieir good ai
bad qualities and habits: their sensitive religious views gl
hand in hand with their political ideas. It would be diltieur
and at the same time hazardous, it would be dangerous or in
defensible, without a complete change in the cimstitulioD tt
things, without an improvement in the moral principles ta^
sentiments, to undertake an effectual transformation in botli.

But however this may be, the comparison between NapltfJ

THE BOURBONS. 421

mider Spain and under the Bourbons is the best pan^^c
upon the last. If we represent to ourselves the decline which
became gradually more visible and more terrible from the
time of the Emperor Charles Y. to that of King Charles II.,
from Don Pedro de Toledo to the Duke of Medina Coeli, it
inclines us, even without denial of the actual, and some of
tliem, alls ! deep-rooted evils, to be just towards Charles III.
and his family.

APPENDIX.

I. Genealogical Table of the Boyal Line of Anjou.
II. — — ^— — — Younger Line of Anjon.

III. ■ Aragonese.

IV. : Carafas of Maddaloni.

V. The Spanish Viceroys of Naples.

VI. Authorities and Kcfcrcnccs.

APPENDIX. — I.

425

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THE CABAFAS OF MADDALONL

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( 429 )

v.— THE SPANISH VICEROYS OF NAPLES.

►01. D. Gonsalvo de Cordova, Viceroy of Apulia and Calabria (Louia

d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, French Viceroy of Naples.)
07. D. Juan d*Aragona, Count of Ripacorsa.
09. Bon Ramon de Cardona.
22. Charles de Lannoi.
27- D. Ugo de Moncada.
•28. Philibert of Ch&lons, Prince of Orange.
•29. Cardinal Pompeo Colonna.

•32. D. Pedro Alvarez y Toledo, Marquis of Villafiranca.
•53. Cardinal Pacheco.

•55- D. Fernando Alvarez y Toledo, Duke of Alva.
•59. D. Perafan de Rivera, Duke of Alcalli.
>71. Antoine Perenot Cardinal Granvella, Bishop of Arras.
•75- D. Inigo Lopez Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Mondejar.
;79. D. Juan de Zuniga, Prince of Pietrapersia.
182. D. Pedro Giron, Duke of Ossuna.
»86. D. Juan de Zuniga, Count of Miranda.
>95. D. Enrique de Gusman, Count of Olivares.
)99. D. Ferrante Ruiz de Castro, Count of Lemos.
»03. D. Juan Alfonso Pimentel d'Herrera, Count of Bcnavente.
310. D. Pedro Fernandez de Castro, Count of Lemos.
516. D. Pedro Giron, Duke of Ossuna.
320. Cardinal D. Gaspar Borgia of Gandia.

Cardinal D. Antonio Zapata.
622. D. Antonio Alvarez y Toledo, Duke of Alva.
629. D. Ferrante Afaa de Ribera, Duke of Alcaic,
631. D. Emanuel de Giisman, Count of Monterey.
637. D. Ramiro Felipe de Gusman, Duke of Medina las Torres.
644. D. Juan Alfonso Enriquez de Cabrera, Admiral of Castille.
646. D. Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, Duke of Arcos.
648. D. Juan of Austria, Govemor-GeneraL

D. Inigo Velez Guevara y Tassis, Count of Onate.

430 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

1653. D. Garcia de Avellaneda y Haro, Count of Castrillo.

1659. Don Gaspar Bragamonte y Gusman, Count of Ponnaranda.

1 664. D. Pascale Cardinal d' Aragona.

1666. D. Pedro. Antonio d' Aragona.

1672. D. Antonio Alvarez, Marquis of Astorga.

1675. D. Ferrante Joaquin Fajardo, Marquis de los Velez.

1683. D. Gaspar de Haro, Marquis del Carpio.

1687. D. Francisco Benavides, Count of S. Estevan.

1697. B. Luis della Cerda, Duke of Medina Coeli.

( iSl )

VT.— AUTHORITIES A^D REFERENCES.

A SDcaNCT review and description of the materials mode use
L the compuaition of this book, in maDuscript as well as in
print, is the Biore necessary because thetanaeKed uutes are
merely short references, and do not contain the same infonna-
tion.

But first I cannot help gratefully mentioning; the friendly
aesisiaiice I have received during- my work ftojn many persons ;
a fresh proof of what 1 have experienced for twenty years;
the readineffi of tiie Italian literati to assist to the utmost the
investigations of those foreigners who are actuated by a real
love for their country and its history.

In Naples, the Prince of Betiiionte, director of tlie royrf
archives; Don Scipione Yolpic«]la; Michele Baldacchioi;
Tntncesco Palermo, the present librarian of the Paletina at
Horence; Stanislao d'Aloe, secretary-general of the Museo
Borbonico— all in Naples. Professor Bonaini, formerly libra-
nan of the University of Pisa, and Filippo Maine. keepOT-
of the'Medecian archives, at Florence; PietroErcole Visoonti,
etmimissioner of antiquities and president of the Capitolinian
:!&[useum at Rome — have especially assisted me in every way,
both by their advice and by their actions. To none am I so
indebted as to S. Volpieella, who, versed as few are in the local
history of hia couutry, has assisted me with the greatest kiud-
uesB and sacrifice of his own time in procuring materials, and
has placed at my disposal liis manuscripts aud his own large
lib/ary diuing the whole of my stay at Naples.

I. Ukpbinted Authokitieb.

Diumali di Scipione Gueira, con aggiunte, by S.Volpicella.
These notes, which give us shorter or longer notices of every
day, begin with the government of Cardinal Borgia in 1620.
The later parts are ascribed to Ferdinand Bucca, of the family
of the Marquises d' Alfidena and the Dukes di Montenegro, who

THE CA11AFA3 OF MAIlDALONr. 1

^^^Lere relaled by marriage to that of the Guerras. Tte C
^^^fpucca journals are particularly valuable for the kiia
l^^l^y L'o'ntaiJi of tJie morals and customs of the times, ar
IC* sapplied a great many of the materials, especially for th
Cluipter of this book. Volpieella has often made use i
in liis Jiescrizione xtoria de alcuni principati ediJiEt
mtlo di Napoli, of which we shall speak later.

Diario di Francesco Capeeelalro, contenente la slor
nte awenute nel reame di Napoli negli atmi 1647~1
The first part of thiB Diary, the principal work for th
hition of Masaniello and its consequences, has in th<
time been published by tlie Prince of Belnioute (^Angei
aito, Naples, 1850, xv. 266 & 144, S. Gr. 8), whilst ll
Ptinuation is to be printed. Don Francesco Capecelan
bia literary fame especially to a work which, useful ae
not at all equal in importence to his writings abotit i^
time, which have remained unpublished till our time, r
tlie Hisioria della citta e regno di Napoli detto di Cit
che pervenne sotlo il dominio dei re, tlie tirst part of win
printed in 1640, and which, as far as the autlior iiaa i
till the death of Charles I. of Anjun, lias often been rq
lastly by G. Kossini at Pisa m 1820, and at Naples ii
With T^;ard to the autlienticity as well as the form, thi
shows important pn^^ress, when we compare it on o
with Pandolfo ColleHucdo and on the other with Svm
and if we consider how limited the knowledge, for instt
the Norman era was, when Angelo di Costanzo publb
first part of his history (1572), But whilst Capeodi
the work mentioned, with regard to form falls into the
of the time, and still leaves the critic much to wish fi:
judge and narrator of contemporary events he is of
greater importance. Prom these lost writings, cspecie
' Diario ' and the ' Annali,* of which we shall speak Ik
become perfectly acquainted with the people he associatt
Francesco Capecelatro was of illustrious birth, tlioroug
atructed in jurisprudence, in politics, and in history. ]
attained to mature age, he had uo small share in the c
of public events, in which it was necessary, above all
to steer properly between tiie viceroys, the nobility, i
people. In the citizen wars afler the Masaniello l^r
he took up arms on the side of the Barons i"" * '~^'^

inello io^r

F

APPENDIX VI. 433

(rovemed important provinces for many years ; first Calabria
Citra, then Terra di Bari, antl <lied at the age of seventy-five,
on the 27th May, 1670, two and twenty years after the cessa-
tion of the disturbances, which he has described more esactly,
and upon the whole more calmly and faithfully, than any other
ebronicler. Broug^lit up under a despotic and avaricious go-
▼emment, Francesco Capecelatro could not keep himself en-
•tirely free from its disadvantageous influences. In the midst
of the oppression of the Spaniards, of the dissensions not only
l>etween the nobility and the people, but also between the dif-
ibrent factions of nobles, lastly of the disturbances caused by a
Ind government, but which the tyranny practised by the barons
Erst occasioned, he showed himself an aristocrat in the full
meaning' of tlie word; but according to the tendency of tiie
kriatocracy in those times, trying mostly for external insigni-
^caiit honours and speedy gains, he showed little consistency
political principles and a public career, whilst he submitted
>re to absolute power, and even supported it more than v/aa
gompatlble with his intellectual character, with the opinions
irluch he often expressed, and his position as a citizen. In his
foutfaful years he opposed the encroachments of the Spaniards
rith a determination which drew upon him persecution and
Kile; in his later yeara he even submitted to be, to a certain
l^ree, their tool. This change in his views and his career,
rfaich moreover those who live theniselves in a period of
lolent transitions, and of melancholy proofs of the insuffi-
■ncy of theoretical policy, will not judge too severely, is
aly to be perceived in both the works that are now under
r consideration : the Annals which treat of the years 1631
1640, viz. the lime of the Viceroys Monterey and Medina j
d the Diary of the disturbances "in the years 1647, 1648.
)th (Uie first written in Capecelatro's youth, the other in
iced age) are invaluable for the information they contain
tiont the condition of Kaples in the seventeenth century.
We do not become acquainted with this condition by rending
rough Parrino's Teatro dei Vicert, or from the last volume
'Giannone's, which are nothing but a compendium of those
t mentioned ; but Capecelatro & writings give us a tolerably
ciplete insight, not only into the political relations, but also
> the stale of morals. With reference to the last, the Annals
far more important than the Diary ; but the last surpasses

434 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONL

all the narratives of events and their consequences in tke tiaie

of Matauiiello. if not in liveliness of description (for in tlv

respect it is surpassed by the accounts of persons beloogiog to

the popular party), yet by its exactness, and in general by tk

justness of its criticisin. Capecelatro wrote this history twiot

He begun it at Cosenza in Calabria, in the year 1649, and

finished it at the same place. The viceroy, the Count of Fei-

naranda, took with hun the manuscript, consisting of thne

parts, to Spain, in September, 1644 ; and the author once mon

applied himself in the following year to the tedious work, and

finished his second history at Montefuscoli in 1666, whoi he

was governor of the Principato Ultra, (province of Avellino.)

The original work was brought back to Naples later, and ii

at this time in the library of the Filippini (Priests of the On-

toire) of that town. Only the second part of the later iustoiy

seems to be extant, wludi differs widely from the other in the

greater and lesser details, as well as in liveliness of description

It relates the events from the 18th of Septonber, 1647, to the

20th of ApriU 1648. It is in the possession of ScipioM

Volpicella. The edition arranged by the Prince of Bdmonte

renders the first text fidthfully, with numerous deeds, advortiN-

ments (l>andi), proclamations, letters, and notes, out of ood-

temporary autiiors. The put which has appeared hitherto

takes in from June to September, 1647. At the end is FinH»

di copiare in Cosenza li 10 di Giugno^ 1649, govermmtk

detta prorincia. A detailed account of Capecelatro's life and

works, great part of the same in his own words, is contained

in the industrious memoir of Volpicella, which deserves our

thanks : Delia Vita e delle Opere di Fr. C. (Naples, 1846,

74 G. 8). in which mention is made of a small yet unpublished

historical work, a narrative of the valiant defence of OrbeteUo

and the Tuscan shores, by Carlo della Gatta i^inst Prince

Thomas of Savoy, who commanded the French troops, which

is mentioned in the fourth chapter of this book (1,310).

Le RevoUtzioni del Regno di Napoliy di Gio. JBat. PiacenU.
The author was from Somma, at the foot of Vesuvius ; and at
the beginning of the Masaniello revolution he was governor
of the place Lauro, for the Marquis Scipione LanceUotti,
to whom the book is dedicated, dated Nola, 4th Deoembefi
1648. The work, in six volumes, contains a descriptioo
of the revolutions of Naples till the reconquest of Porta

APPETNDIX — ^VI. 435

Xiongone at Elba. The parts of particular importance, which
describe the battles in Terra di Lavoro and the Principata,
about which the author could obtain exact information, and
which he describes clearly. Although an ofRcial of the Barons,
still he is upon the whole little inclined to the party of the
Barons. He gives us a great insight into the policy of the
Count of Onate. There is a beauti^l copy of the work in
the large library of the Prince of Cimitile (Albertini), and
another, by which I have profited very much, in that of S.
Volpicella.

. Carteggio degli Agenti del Granduca di Toscana in Napoli.
In the archives of the Medici at Florence, several volumes of
the correspondence of the Tuscan agents under the govern-
ments of Ferdinand I., Ck)smo II., and Ferdinand II. Francesco
Palermo has given us (see later), in the Narrazioni e Documenii
mdla Storia del Regno di Napoli^ from these despatches a
aeries of extracts which serve to illustrate the statistics and the
liiatory of Naples during the years from 1582 to 1648. In
this book the unprinted despatches of Vincenzo de' Medici
(during the pestilence of 1656) and his successors till the end
of 1658, are especially useful for giving us an account of the
last years of Diomed Carafa.

JUemoriedi Tiberio Carafa, Principe diChiusano. — Tiberio
Carafii was a follower of the Spanish King Charles III. (Em-
peror Charles VI.), and took an active share in the intrigues
which, during the dispute about the throne between the Houses
of Hapsburg and Bourbon, excited a great part of the nobility.
The complete manuscript of the Memoirs is to be found
at Naples, in the possession of S. Volpicella. Amongst
the Foscarini manuscripts at Vienna the first and third
volumes, which contain an account of^he years 1669 to 1701,
1705—1712. Tommaso Gar. I Codid i&borici dellaCollezione
JFoicarini, conservata nella 1. Bihlioteca di Vienna, (In the
Appendix to the Foscarini is yet to be mentioned the Storia
arcana, p. 384.) A fragment from these Memoirs (which was
well worth printing, as well on account of the restless cha-
racter of the times as of that of the wild author, who himself
oonfesses his " sfrenate passioni " and " vanita ") was pub-
lished by Volpicella in the Neapolitan Pocketbook, Piori
d* Invemo, 1850. It concerns a duel fought in the Prater at
Vienna (1,361).

1y1

436 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

II. Printed Authorities.

For the purpose of judging of the internal circun

Naples at the end of the fifteenth and the begini

sixteenth centuries, and the causes of the terrible :

illegitimate Aragonese, as well as the rapid ruin of i

power, next to the well-known French memoirs a

historians, (Commines and Guicciardini may be me

of the greatest value, before all others,) the Cronac.

Gmcomo^ puhlicata per cur a di Paolo Garzilli (Na

360 S. gr. 8). The manuscript is to be found in the

library at S. Angelo a Nilo in Naples. Camillo 1

in the seventeenth century wrote upon the constitu

tory of the city, knew the value of this Chronicle, j

it frequently. Till the middle of the fifteenth centi

only simple notices and extracts out of other chror

when we approach the time of the author himself, tl

tion gains in life and description, and often gives ai

criticism on political relations, and is interesting

simple national language that it is written in. Ou

jurist, makes us understand much more of the munic

and the relations between the nobility and the peo]

instance, in 1787, the printed journals of the $

Giuliano Passero. The inquiries about the pers

author have led to no result ; and it is merely a

that he is called, in the books of the Camera Notari

time, Giacomo della Morte. Smaller in size, but e

portant in the way just suggested, are the Dimmali d

Gallo (Naples, 1846. 54 S. 8), published by S. ^

They reach from the 25th January, 1494, to the

1496 ; and thus embrace the period from the first

of the Aragonese sovereignty and the expulsion of t

by King Fernandino. The industrious Tutini has j

these Diurnali ; and there is a copy of them in the

library, written by his hand. In perspicuity and inl

are at least equal to the Chronicle of the notary ; a

vival of the popular element during the first appt

the French, and after the return of the Aragonese

not understand how to derive any advantage from i

prevented from the storms which burst over Italy fr

- 437

ing by it, is shown m this simple narrative better tlian by
other learned or brilliant liistorians of tlioae times, and of
those whicb inimediately followed them, who in general
have overlooked this important moment in judging these re-
markable events. Giacomo Gall» sprung from an lioQourable
&mily in Amalli ; hia mothet was a Florentine, Giulia della
-Bella. He waH intimately acquainted with the famous Marquis
-of Fescara. Ferdinand d' Avalos. Hia Notes reach from 1494
>liO 1536; but it appears tliat only the part mentioned above
bas been preserved, and that the original is entirely lost.

A few words will suffice about Pietro Nores' Storia della

'Guerra di Paolo IV. sommo ParUifice conlro gli Spagnuoli

Florence, 1847, xxxiii. and 512 S. gr. 8, as vol. xii. of

Vieusaeux' Archivio Storico Italiano), as the book belongs

more to tlie Roman than to the Neapolitan history. It has

been, with the added documents, the principal authority for

tAe narrative of the f&te of the Carafas of Montorio, in the

tbird chapter of tlie first volume of this liistory. Ranke (7^

" mum Popes, ^c, vol. i. p. 290, 3rd edit.) mentions it once

BronuLto'a authority for the History of the War of the

Carirfeiki against Aha. Nores was bom at Nicosia in

Cyprus, after the loss of the island to the Turks. Tn 1 570 he

with his father to Venice, lived at Padua and Mantua,

to Borne, and entered into the service of the Aldo-

llirandini nephews of Clement VIII. He finished the volume

Kbout Paul IV. in 1644, and must have died not long after-

iraids. If he is not to be considered amongst tlie actual eon-

tnnporary autliors, lie knew more than the generality from

lay and persons to be depended upon. His exactness

ot be called in question, aud is confirmed by every in-

MBiy, historical or local. He hardly does fitting justice to

Uiepope, who, however great in mind, was poor in means for

S execution of his unhappy undertaking.

The TOlume of Fr. Palermo's already mentioned — Narra-

om t Jiocumenti sulla Storia del Regno di Napoli daW

mo 1522 al 1667, raccolti e ordinati con Ulustrazioni

JFlorence, 1846, xxwiii. and G9S S. gr. 8) — contains an

idless abundance of materials. It forms the nintii volume

'the ^rr/itVin Storico Italiano. Tlie most important time

the Spanish sovereignty is explained in this volume by a

luantity of documents and papers of every kind ; and the

L

438 THE CARAFAS OF MADDALOSL

mass which is comnmnicated is as important as the selectiwi
of what is characteristic is skilfully chosen. The priiicipd] .
parts are as follows : — 1. The Government of Don Ptdro dt^
Toledo, 1532-1 553. According to a manuscript of the FiB*
pini, the life of Toledo, composed by Seipione Miccio, :
published, which Giannone has followed almost throughn
Without mentioning it. It will be difficult to agree wA
Miccio in his opinions, stated in many places ; he wrote H
1600, and dedicated hia work to the Count of Lemos, f"
elder of the name; but his plain account, founded uj
authentic dates, is deserving' of all our attentiou, fat 1
mentions that he had borrowed the materials from his fathd
papers, who was also a contemporary of the great viceroj'
But a stUl greater insight into the details of the events n
time in which the Spanish government established a G
footing in Naples, and took a decided form, is g^ven by *
despatches of the agents of the Duke Cosmos of Florence,
the years 1538-1550. 2. Docttmenli concertiing the Jfio
t^jpal Constitution of Naples, and the Claims of the difftrt
Familiet to a thareofthe same. Instructions and despatd
of the years 1S57, 1558, at which period a later attempt H
renewed to obtain from King PhiUp II. an extension of t
noble aediles, for the purpose of admitting those families «*
■were not enrolled in them, and consequently excluded ft
the municipal government, of which the second ehapler <^ti
present book (i. 168) expressly treats. 3, Bxtracta fr<Mt\
Despatches of the Resident Consuls and Agents of Tittrt
and Vrbino, on the Administrative, Moral, and j&immmA
Relations, eompreltending from the time it/" 1563/0 1648.
manuscripts, full of information of the Florentine Cart
have already been mentioned. The materials ai
which are here ofiered ; and these Reports from the emba
assist more than many other boobs to the knowled^ of I
cwidition of the country and of the people. Much thkt n
concealed was known to these diplomatic agents ; for to Ibl
same persons were entrusted besides financial matters, beM
their lords had fiefe and money transactions in the kingdoi
thus one obtains, with reference to these, many partioutw
besides, those in Dianchini's book have always value, thttdtl
being drawn from official sources. 4. Materials frrr fh* S
tory {if the Disturbances in the year 1647. Amidst U>* Bl

L.

APPEXDIX — V[.

439

i already existing of the time of Masanicllo, it

I here to limit ourselves to a few of the most cha-

he most important are the seven letters of the

n Filomarino, from the 8th of July to the 27th

p Pope Itmocent X. They were first published

' a of the RiDucciniana in Florence, G. Ajucci,

nrinted for the trade, but for private circulation.

e historical do<:uments, for the cardinal was one

romineot individuals in the drama of Ihe fislier-

, whose name is always mentioned first, and

:, when -the revolutions of 1647 are spoken of,

f acted a short part in them. They describe

• history represents him ;— ^Imprudent ; easily

B uudeceiveil in one instance immediately &11-

|r deception ; building upon the submission and

Bople, like the bad politicians of 1848; pra-

M^ief by his hardly concealed hatred of the

e nobility than he did good by his undeniable

^8 are conducted through the wildest and most

'if the rebellion, during the battle in the streets ■

(Tof Don Francesco Toraldo (vol. ii, p. 194), I

•(now mutilated since the death of the last '

ft communicated likewise by tlie librarian of the

a otherwise unknown Hermes Stampa, of the

HG47 (not September, as it is printed at p. 401).

f" (A« jffi*(ory qflhe System ofSpiriluii/ Jinti-

of the Nm

uf (!,.■

440 THE CARAFA3 OF MADDALONT.

as tlie often discuBsed quarrels with Venice are concerned
L. Bmike haa explained with hia accustomed acutene^, a
lias described with rare clearness, these Journals are of li
value than they are for tiie knowledge they give us of I
cuBtoms, the way of life, and of events, which are dow so dil
cult to prove, that if the authorities were not cited it would
easy to suspect exaggeration. In the printed work the va
improprieties have ^ready been omitted, whilst in the vohii
in question, there is a great deal in print, as well as in t
manuscripts mentioned, wliich, even if characteristic, con
not, with propriety, be turned to accaunt.

JJegli Annali della Citta di Napoli di Don Francesco C
pecelalro, parti due (1631-1640, Naples, 18-19, 252, S. gr.
occupy a higher place than the journals of Zazzera.
above, mention has been made of this work, which was ed
by S. Volpicella, from a manuscript in the library of
Duke of Forli Carafa di Policaatro. Here we have twC
full and comprehenave history, the events follow one
other without internal connection and chain of cauacB. ]
as politics and also social circumstances and family hietDiy
represented in a detailed and in a lively maimer, we gMn t
a tolerably complete view of tlie grievous condition of
country and of the people under both the viceroys aire
mentioned, who more than others caused the outbreak of If
We see that in these annals, composed from memory and a
dental notices under Medina's government, two yeatv
unfortuimtely wanting. The later revision of the year li
has perhaps added much to the strictly historical part u
retrospeetion of earlier events; fortunately the impresfflU
and criticisms of tiie author, which must have been mixG

modified after the revolution of 1647, have been left unefibcnl-
No contemporary author has left behind him a more true »ai
efffective picture of Naples, with its government and socie^l
no other book places us in an equal degree in a eonditJon tt
form a right judgment upon the events at Naples at that tlM
[In a memoir, Napoli nel Seicento, in the Florentine At Mmi
storico Ilaliano, Appendice, vol. viii., pp. 217-232, I
made express mention of this and of o^er works on the
politan history of the seventeenth century.]

Great use has been made of two accounts of Napli
the latter jmrt of the sixteentli century ; the one ts.

lonn
tiw

3

APPENDIX — VI. 441

iazione di Napoli del Senatore Girolamo Lippomano, ritor^
nato AmhascicUore dal Serenissimo D^ Giovanni d^ Austria
Vanno 1676 ; {Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti al Senato
rctccolte, da E. Alberi, vol. v. [Serie ii. vol. ii.] pp. 265-
311, Flor. 1841); of Banke's (Princes and Nations of the
SotUh of Europe vol. i. 2nd edition, pp. 266-432). Like
most of the ambassador's reports, it gives a comprehensive and,
on the whole, a just and very clear description of the country,
the people, and the government. Of another kind is the JRehi'
zione del Regno di Napoli al Marchese di Mondesciar di
CamiUo Porzio, 1577-1579 (first printed by Agostino Ger-
vasio at the expense of the Accademia Pontaniana, published
from posthumous writings of Porzio's L'Istoria d^ Italia nelU
anno mdxlvii. (Naples, 1839, p. 133-171) ; then in the
Opere di Camilla Porzio per cura di C. Monzani^ Florence,
1846, pp. 275-i312). Not an historical-political history, like
that of the Venetian, but simple, unadorned information for a
new viceroy, a kind of geographical-statistical compendium,
in which now the only real interest is in the characteristic
peculiarities of the different provinces and their inhabitants
(compare 1, 181), whilst the financial dates appear to depend
in g^eat measure upon accidental acceptances.

About the history of the Masaniello insurrection and its
eoDsequences, the memoirs of two foreigners come under our
consideration who 'both acted important parts in this whirl of
a revolution. They are the Menioires du Comte (ou Baron)
de Modcne (a new edition of Miel, Paris, 1827), and the Me-
moires defeu Monsieur le Due de Guise (2nd edition, Paris,
1668). The memoirs of Modene had, in the original edition,
the title of Uistoires des Revolutions de la Ville H du Roy-
aume de Naples, Paris, 1666. Esprit de Raymont de Mor-
matron Comte de Modene was born in the year 1608, at Sarri-
ano, near Carpentra, in the papal territory Venaissin, and
belonged to one of the most considerable families of the pro-
vince. He was in his youth page to Monsieur, the brother of
Louis XIIL (Gaston of Orleans) ; he attached himself to
Henry of Lorraine during his Neapolitan expedition, became
Maestro-di-campo Generale of the army of the people, re-
mained in prison at Castelnuovo for the space of two years
after the fall of Guise, and returned in April, 1650, to France,
where he died in 1670. Modene united military knowledge

r

442 THE CARAF.\S OF MADDALONI

to political arutenesB, and judged of Neapolitan affairs is
general, and particularly nf Ouise's position and the eausK li
hia ruin, with equal impartiality and accuracy- He had qnuk
relied with the duke loag before the reconquest of Naples hf
the Spaniards, and iras impeached for high treason and b
been brought before the tribunal of the vicarial court, so tl
he only e^cchang'ed one prison for another. The Memoirs of 1
Duke of Guise give us a very detailed, lively, and amoR
description of the whole tranaaotion : if we take into conaide
tion the condition of the country, the embarrassments of Spaii
the old claims of France, and of the house of Lorraine in
ticular, he is not so adventurous as he appears at first.
narrative begins with the intrio;ue3 at the court of Rome,
ends with his liberatitHi from, the fortress of Gaeta, where
duke, as he is going away, sees the corpse of the Com
of Bourbon ; " Qui est debout dans une caisse ^-i»4-Tis de
ciiapelle, appuye snr un baton de comsiandement, avee si
chapeau siir sa tete, bott4 et revestu d'une ca^aque de veloa
vert avec du galon d'or. II est fort bien conserve. H est)
de fort belle taille et des plus grands hommes de son ten^
Ton remarque tous les traits de son visa^ et il paroit d'n
mine fort fitre et telle que la pouvait avoir un honune d'aa
grand m^te et d'un courage aussi in^branlable qu'il le
parottre a sa mort." For any one who undertakes to nanl
in detail the rebellion of the years 1647-1648, the tnenuHra
Guise are of the greatest importance. Nothing, for instano
is more picturesque than the description of hia reception tl
Naples, and of the first nigtt spent in the tower of the Ctr-
mine with Gennaro Annese, foul in mind and body, " Jent
couchai le plus promptement que je pua ; Genuare atiaritMo
vint mettre aupres de moy, etmettant une chaudelle sar lelici
et se debandant une jambe pour la panser, je lui dnnaiMU d
c'etait quet(|ue blessure. II me repondit quYtant replet Dal»
rellement et charge d'humeurs un medecin de ees ami» In?
avoit ordonne de se servir d'un remMe que je ne nouune poi*
de peur de donner autant de d^ofit qu'il me fit inal au cnmr."
Not less clear b the description of his arrival at Gaeta, ati
the difference of opinion between the Count of Onate, " fin tf
habile," whose principle " que le temps et la pntienaB ■
gfitent jamais les af&ires, ce que fait ordinairement la pn)d^
tation ; and Don John of Austria, "jeune prince bran tfj

* APPENDIX— VI. 443

g^nereux, se laissent emporter anx mouvements de son coeur
et prenant le parti le plus beau et le plus honorable." I am
indebted for the Memoirs of the Duke of Guise to the friend-
ship of Paul Grimblot, the publisher of the Letters of William
III, and Louis XIV. and of their Ministers, 1697 to 1700
(2 vols. London, 1848); Ren6 de Bouillon's detailed His*
toire des Dues de Guise, upon ^hieh Alexis de Saint Priest,
in the Remie des Devx Mondes (year 1851), has writt«i a re-
markable memoir ; the last part of it, which is applicable to
this present work, was not known to me til) I had finished it.

Had it been my aim in this present work to consider more
closely Naples in its state of transition from Spain to Austria,
and the period which came to a sudden end with Charles III.
(VI.), I should particularly have mentioned the Storia Arcana
of the Doge Marco Foscarini (Florence, 1843, xli.. Intro-
duction of T. Gar, and 505 S. gr. 8, as the fifth volume of the
Archivio Storica Italiano), which investigates and explains
the causes of the disaster of the house of Hapsburg in Italy,
and the loss of Naples, with the view of a statesman, and i^
therefore a useful addition to historical literature, however
objectuHiable the form of the book. The Venetian ambassa-
dors in Vienna in the years 1732-1735, consequently just
during the time when the confusion about the throne of Poland
rekindled a war between the house of Hapsbui^ and Bourbon,
and Naples and Sicily were given to the Infant Don Carlos,
Duke of Parma and presumptive heir of Tuscany, Foscarini
had many opportunities of studying persons and things, and
availed himself of them with that judgment and dexterity in
which the Venetians have never been wanting, even to the last,
when it was a question of foreign policy. Foscarini was of
opinion that the many Spaniards who followed the archduke,
afterwards emperor, to Vienna, had there attracted to them-
selves the guidance of Italian affairs, and had introduced inve-
terate dissension into the whole government, and were the
principal cause of the Austrian supremacy in Italy.

Two authors of the seventeenth century are yet to be men-
ti(Mied ; both are of no small worth for their knowledge of that
time. First, Camillo Tutini, with his book, Dell* Origine e
Fundazione de Seggi di Napoli (^nt edition, Naples, 1644).
The best and most fundamental work upon the old constitution
of the kkigdom, and the extremely peculiar municipal coneti-

r

444 THE CARAFA3 OF MADDALbST.

tution of the capital as it existed in essentials till tbe Freuch
revolution. Unfortunately it contabs loo much archffiologicsl
ostentation and unprofitable erudition ; whereupon practical
things, especially political relationa, are too easily left out of
consideration. What Tutini ^ves is often rather materials ftt
the worli than the work itself, but, as the materia], it is '
valuable. This work is founded upon great study of
archives, like most of the books of that period. We only wiik
the conclusions were dearer and better revised. The polemit
against other authors, especially Suramonte, helps the buB(K4
little or nothing. The new materials for the bistory uf tf
8^^ or Sediles in Palermo's book have already been poinU
out. Without an accurate knowledge of the system and for
of these Sediles, an actual ini^ight into the condition of Najd
under the Spanish dominion is not possible. Another book
this kuid is It Forastiero, Dialoghi di Giulio Cesare C
paecio, Academico otioso (Naples, 1634, a quarto of not
than 1110 pages !). The form of it is as crude and dimg
able as possible, but it b full of notices of all kinds about
town of Najiles as it was under the viceroy Monterey
the topography, as well as about the administration, f
families, and now and then aJso upon the way of life.
tliis Capaccio, who was, however, a learned man and tutor
the Prince Federigo della Bovere, son of tbe last Duke
Urbino, has written besides — amongst other works, bis PttI
lana Historia, which contains an epitaph on Lucretia compa
in Latin of the time of Augustus, (that, it sounds incrcdiMel
been reproiiuced with all gravity by an author of our dajrl
his descriptions of the lives of some of the viceroys, of
three have been given by the cardinal, Mai Spicileffium S^
'. viii., is as unreadable as his ForantieTO.

III. SouscES OP Information.

We can here only desi^iate the most important, historioJ,
geneali^ea), topc^raphicul works which we have made
or less use of in composing; tliis book.

First we will cite the general descriptive histories of ,
in the time of the Aragouese and of tlie viceroys. .Sunu
four thick quarto volumes, ( Istoria della Cilia e SeffTto '

. historioJ,
madeiM^L

sofNapfl

APPENDIX — ^VI. 445

poli, 2nd edition, 1675,) which contain from the banning to
the first Duke of Ossuna, are generally known ; and notwith-
standing the imperfect criticism and a heavy style, are indis-
pensable for the period mentioned. Since we are here only
taking a passing view of the Aragonese era, we do not con-
sider the detail and works of detail (and amoiigst the new ones
especially that of Domenico Tomacelli, Duca di Monasterace,
Storia del Reame di Napoli dal 1458 a/ 1464, Naples, 1840).
The principal work for the viceroys is still the Teatro eroico
e politico d^ Governi d^ Viceri del Regno di Napoli, di Do-
menico Antonio Parrino (published first at Naples in 1683,
then in 1730, and in the Gravier collection of Neapolitan
chroniclers and historians, which for southern Italy is still the
best Corptcs Scriptorum, because the collection begun by G.
del Re soon came to an end) ; a very dull book, and ridiculously
devoid of taste, without. a touch of real historical writing, but
for external facts in general, true and useful from its quantity
of notices. Parrino wrote upon the occasion of Don Francisco
de Benavides Davila y Corella, Count of Sant' Esteban, Mar-
quis de Las Navas, Count of Cocentayno, " Caudillo Major "
of the kingdom of Faen, and Governor of the royal'alcazarey,
and whatever may be all the remaining titles of this Spanish
grandee, who governed for the unhappy Charles II. and the
poor Neapolitans, whose nod appeared to the author " like a
naild rustling of a mighty witchcraft." Pietro Giannone has,
as we have said, in that part of his Istoria civile del Regno di
Napoli which treats of the Spanish time, done nothing but make
an extract from Parrino, to which he attaches his juridical ac-
count. Only the last parts are of value, and full of erudition
and acuteness; otherwise this book has been greatly over-
estimated. There is no historical spirit in the narrative part ;
it is a dry, heavy, unattractive description, .without grace in
the style or liveliness in the recital ; it is tedious, and mono-
tonous, and does not enter deeply into the circumstances of the
times, and is of no value for general historical references. How
far behind this author of the eighteenth century, who only
takes a legal view in his book, is to the historians of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries, who are statesmen, even if Machiavelli
and Guicciardini, both master spirits, are left out of the se-
ries ! The widely-spread fame of the Storia civile is only to
be explained by the excellence of that part which treats of
jurisprudence, and above all for its spirit of hostility to ^i^al

446 THE CAEATiS OF MADDALONI.

dominion, that in the former century 'was sure to make 3
prosper, and the melancholy fute of the author, who ended
life in ttie citadel of Turin.

Lodovico Biauchini'a book, Delia Storia delle Ftnamt
Regno di Napoli, libri sette (3 vob. Naples, 1833-1H35], dli
cusses Id his second volume the gtivemineut with reference '
the administration of finance, industry, commerce, and tj
system of coinage, during' the time before mentioned, ti
Gxaa 1441 till the partition of the Spanish monarchy, Ii
portant study of the archives is the foundation of the wo
especially in later times: but it is a Eerious evil thai I
authoritios are not mentioned ; that in a nork of this a
ought to be known, what Cibrario was well aware of in i
writings of the same kind upon the finances of Savoy, a
the admiiustration of finance in the middle ages, espetai]
important for the north of Jtaly, The last part, contato'
from the time of Charles III. till our time, is, besides,
worse for being too long. The work is useful in n
respects; meanwhile we must always feel grateful to
audior fur his laborious work. It is a striking phenomoM
that precisely a country like the kingdom of Naples, what
the principles of finance have been understood so late and oilf
in part, should have produced such distinguished ecoRomictti
amongst them the Calabrian Antouio Serra, who already in di
year 1613 established the causes of true wealth upon reaaou^
principles, andshowed that the source of it is not in gold-nuaai
Carlo Antonio Broggio, to whom lately Ft. Falemio has ftt
tribute in the periodical paper of VtiliConoimnee, voL ii, mi
who explained the system of tases in the year 1743, was »»
understood, and rewarded with prison and banbhment ; laadj',
Galiaiii Genovesi, far better known and more influeotial IHB
the other, assisted actively in spreading right views upon liM
coinaga As ui Tuscany under llie benevolent rule ctf lli
house of Lorraine, the economical condition of the couoUf
was very different when the principles of Salustio BaiidimM
free trade farced tlieir way, and gave an impulse to that M/t
tem which was more and more complete under tiie iliiiiiliilM
of Leopold I., at this very day, after an existence uf a ho*
dred years and a most beneficial effect, it appears expuMjl B
dangers which we are willing to hope are more iniufdnM
than real ; tbi.s was also the cane in Naples under Charltn uL
I and Ferdinand in the years preceding the French revulution >^l

APPENDIX— VL i47

I die Italian conTulsions : the last system was iulopted gradually
})ttxd more successrully. If at tliat time many believed that

!tbe salvation of the country depended upon tlie destruction of
what reraahied of the feudal system, this w«s surely an error
to which futurity soon put an end. For the history of the
feudal system, which was more firmly established in the king'
4oin of !Naples than in any other part of Italy, D. Winspeare's
uSloria degti Abusi feudali (vol. i., Naples, ISll) is of im-
ll^rtauce : although unfinished and full of prejudices, it is of
(more use from the quantity of materials collected in the notes
Sthan from the tejtt itself. (The different ramifications of the
[dissolution of tiie feudal rights in Kaples, as well as in the
rest of Italy, are represented by A. Coppi, abstractedly and
briefiy, in Us small memoir, Discorso suUe Servitk e sttlla
fibera Proprielhdei Fundi in Italia, edition, Kome, 1842.)
One of the episodes during' the Spanish ^remmeiit has been
piscusBed by several authors. Poets and writers of romance
nught to outdo historians, and everything has, so to ex-
it, been forgotten for the person of Masaniello. To
psaigD to the Fbherman of Amal^ his right place in the his-
tory of Naples has been one of the objects of tliis work. Ab-
lAnictedly &om the older and mostly contemporary accounts,
ire have two newer ones to take into consideration — the Storia
Tfapolitana dell' anno 1647, seritta da Michele Baldacchini
Italia, Lugano, 1836, 162, S. 12), and the Sublevacion de
Vapolei eapitanaeda por Masanielo, eon stta amlccedent y
■Mseeuenelas kasta el Testcd/leeimiento del ffoberfto EspaiM ;
studio hislorico de Don Aaffel de Saavedra, Duque de Rivoi
(Madrid, 1848, 2 vols. xvi. and 523, S. 8) ; lastly, a French
work by the Baron L^on d'Hervey de Saint-Denys (Paris,
1S49), and in German (Leipzig, 1^50). Baldacchiiii's book
I concise, vigorous, clear, not leaving out of consideration the
fleet of foreign policy upon Neapolitan events ; and it would
le perfectly satisfactory in every respect if it did not show too
rbiitle an inclinatjon to wrong judgment, which is ochlocracy
D the worst sense of the word. But the revolution of -1647
I precisely calculated to place in a right light the horrors of
IK>b Bover^nty, with which no other tyranny of the worst
:ind is lo be compared. The detailed historical work of the
i)uke of Bivas shows his warm interest in a country in which
le was first envoy, then ambassador fi-om 1 844 till the summer

l|g THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

of ISJiO, when tie was recalled on account of a. quarrel about
the marriage of the Coiiiit of Montemoliti with a Neapoli
princess. The author was well known as a romance-wr
before this hiatorical work appea.red, which does credit bi
talent for narrative. His impartiality does him qo le^ hono
the treatment of the subject was doubly dilficult for a Spauii
for it was to det^cribe Spanish sins in a foreign land,
book tells us nothing new ; i t ia only a repetition of the
version ; a perfectly well-written account, a careful use ha?
been made of the printed authorities, A searching inqi
into the internal condition of the country, of the conned
of these events with general liistory, a. description of thewl
neig'hbuurhood, as well as the locality upon a. knowledge
which here so much depended to give pictures of life aM
make the details intelligible, will be sought for in vain,
account from a Spanish point of view, the means for wl
were not wanting, the Duke of Rivas has not given. Hk
torical narrative, moreover, does not stop with the death
Masaniello, but comprises aliio the later events under Torald
Annese's, and Guise's command, till the re-capture of the i
in April, 1648.

If we wish to make a comparison with another Spanish I
vince in Italy, there are many new and old works wiiicb
scribe the condition of Lombardy in the seveDteenth eentn
works which have otten been of use in writing Has pni
account. Ripamonti's history, Manzoni's novel and storjf'
the infamous Colonna, Cesar« Cantii's excursion to the bt
may be mentioned amongst many. In another place, ii
survey of the history of Milan in the book Milamo e if.
territorio (2 vols. Milan, 1844), Cantii has given a livdf
scription of the Spanish dominion in Lombardy, tliat
here stand as a parallel to the contemporary Neapoli
" The constitution of the dukedom of Milan," he si ^
existed under the last of the Sforzas, lasted till the Emi
Joseph II. ; considered in itself it was good enough for
for it depended upon local custom. The use made of it
shameful : kings, who lived hundreds of miles o^
remedi»» every time whwi it was too late, and never
the measure uf their actual wants. Tlie govemoi
to our customs, ruled with extreme tyranny, like i
conquered country. They changed almost every tJi

APPENDIX.— VI. 449

Bix-and-thirty in a century and a lialf, whilst thirty yturs waa
scarcely sufRcient to understand the complicated machine.
One proverb of the time shows of what sort they were. It
waasoid, ' the Spanish minister giiawa in Sicily, eata in Kaples,
devours in Milan.' And when llie cuurt had once reversed a .
decision given by one of them, he aiiewered, 'The king'
commands in Madrid, I command in Milan !' " A privy-
council consisting of twenty members was added to the
governor-general, and supplied hia place in cases when he was
absent. The new eonstitutiou was a corrosive poison for
commerce and the arts and sciences ; the sources of the public
'{irosperity were dried up; after it had become a prijjciple th&l
MHnmerce was incompatible with nobility, the nobility deprived
ticmimerce of its capital, and instead of the abundance pro-
duced by traffic and cultivation, poverty and a reduced popula-
tion were the results. The inhabitajits tied and gave up iJhe fields
^ the insatiable treasury ; the money cunceutraled in the
liands of a few rich persons, who left tlieir &llow estates to
th^ eldest sons, whilst the other sons devoted themselves to
the life of the cloister or to degrading service. The taxes
were mtHistrous ; those of the city of Milan amounted to two
million pounds, its revenues to one and a half. In the instruc-
tions imparted by the king to one of his ambassadors in 1660,
the yearly expenses of the living of one single individual were
talculated at sixty-five pounds. This was repeated in the year
i690, with the remark lltat the air the poor subjects breathed
a the only thing untaxed. The poor knew that the rich
I golden bread ; they trembled before the esecutionera placed
all tlie squares with their instruments of torture ; they
Kmbled before the bravoes which the nobles liad taken into
ay; before the inquisition, before the witches, the number of
'luch increased with the number of funeral piles — enervat-
lg terror and degrading sutfering extinguished even the
emonbrance of a fearful past. The subjects saw the names
their kings on the pardons, at t he head of which they were
they uere reminded of their rulers by the occasional
^ jf a tax when they wished to give splendour to their
fanuiistration by war or building. Ferdinand Gonzaga, who
bveived that this district was not secured from its neighbours
' protected by the attachment of the people, surrounded the
burbs with a wall, wliich still exists, and so remunerated

450 TOE CAEAFA3 OF MADDALONI.

the builders that they presented him with the SimooeUa, a
villa famous for its echo. The Count of Fuentes kept i
Btaiiding army which threateiied the independence of hi* nei^
hour. The Duke of Sessa would have presented us with llie
Spaniah inqubition if our people had not averteii this tie
greatest of evils. Don Gonealvo de Cordova was so belovoi
that at hb departure by the Porta Ticinese he was pe1t«d witL
cabbage-stalks, which he bore with lieroio iudilFereiict^. Tbc
soldiers wanted pay, Sladrid sent none, therefore Don P«dm
<le Toledo allowed them to reimburse themselves from Ht
property of the peasants. The Duke of Feria forbade the ei-
pnrtation of arms, and thus gave the death-bluw to tite ihw
great manufactory of the sword -cutlers. And so things vea
on till tlie time of tlie Prince of Vaudemout, wlio establi^ed
himlelf at La Beliingera, in a vllleggiatura, the luxury of
which and the festivities held there, engendered discontsili
and at the same time a feeling of envy. The only evenB
which interrupled the monotony of tlie sufferings of the pecqih
were the feasts lield at the births, marriages, journeys, n
accidental deaths of members of the royal family.

In a book which lias at least the external form of o faailr
history we must consider genealogical books and such kin
of works. First of all, Biagio Aldimari's prolix f/iitarit
getiealogiea delta Caaa Carafa (3 folio vols., Kaples, 1(91)'
written by the desire of the Prince of liocella and BiMei%
nephew of tiie grand ma.?ter of the knights of St. Aoha, Pi*
Gregorio Carata. Notwithstanding its size, murh im jio iM I
information is left out in this book. For the history of KoBif
Duke of Maddaloni (vol. iii.). there ore many letters addiMM'
to him from the Duke of Arcus. Don Juan, aiid oib«n; btf
it omits any explanation of his last fate and tbo CMM
of it. Jacob Willtetm Imhof ha^ given us, in His
Sistoria Genealogicrc Italia el Hispattue (Nuremberg, V
a useful genealogical summary of the numerous btKitc'
the Carufas till the end of the seventeenth century, with
we must be satisfied till Pompeo Litta has inserted tl
his Faniiglie celebri, that tiU now' contains of Neat
&milies only tlie Cautelmi and Cavaniglia, both extiM.
Simouetta (Calabriaii), and tlie Acquaviva; then of
some brandies of which have become Neapolitans — the "
Colonna, Picculomini, and Gambacorta,

APPENDIX. — ^VL 451

The numberless memoirs upon the Neapolitan noble families
contain a great many accounts which are often tiresome from '
their genealogical tales, as well as by useless polemical con-
troversy — most of them are full of incredible bad taste.
Amongst the better ones are, Giuseppe Campanile's NoHzie di
Nchilita (Naples, 1672) ; Carlo Borrelli's Vindex Neapolitafue
Ncbilitatis (Naples, 1653), with a supplement about the
barons of the kingdom under the Normans and Hohenstaufens
till the time of Charles I., &c. How the fear of the great
feudal families lasted even into the last century is shown by a
simple bibliographical fact. Giovan Bernardino Tafuri (bom
atNardo in Apulia, 1695, died in 1760), in his printed book
completed only a short time ago— ( Opere di Angela, Stefano,
Sartolommeo Bonaventura, Gio. Bernardino e Tommaso
Tajura di Nardby ristampate da Michele Tafuri, Naples,
1848, vol. i. pp. 325 ; DelV Origine, Sito, ed Antichita di
Nardb, libri due) — did not dare to relate the fearfully violent
deeds of Gian Girolamo d'Acquaviva of Conversano, men-
tioned in the book before us (vol. ii. p. 201), but passed them
over entirely to dwell upon the glorious deeds of the count,
of whom he says in conclusion that he, '^ to the unspeakable
grief" of all who knew him, and ^^also of the inhabitants of
Naido," ended his days in Spain.

In looking over monographies, local accounts, as well as
general works of history at the end of this summary, we may
'point out the authors which we have made most use of when
describing Neapolitan art and topography. Bernardo de
Dominici's Vite dei Fittori, ScuUcri, ed Architetti I^apolitani
(8 vols., Naples, 1743-1745, and a new, but unfortunately not
an improved, edition of the same, 1840-1846) are the first to
be named. The Yasari of Naples, but without the spirit, the
diann, and the beautiful language of the Tuscan — not to be
depended upon for ancient times, but from the sixteenth cen-
tury, and especially for the seventeenth century useful, al-
though prolix and uncritical. He produces some old mate-
rials, especially records of a notary that he calls Eriscuolo,
^•nd the well-known painter Marco da Siena, and Massimo
'Stailzioni. But his book is of the least use for the thirteenth,
^fimrteenth, and indeed fifteenth centuries, and the dreadfully
^Beglected history of Neapolitan art filled with tales, and ima-
f^inary personages, still requires a critical sifting of doc\ucci^\!^%

^ Q. ^

452 THE CAEAFAS OF MADDALONI.

Dr. Henry William SciiuUy at Dresden has long proinisal b
tio this, and liaa even aunoimced it for many years. W
lie may at lost find time to publish the result of his long n
searches. The number of Neapolitan topographies is ve"
important. I only mention Celano's detailed Notizie t
Bella, deir Antico, e del Curiosn drlla Citth di Napoli; Gl
lanti's Napoli c Contoma C&rst 1792, then 1829); and j
ticularly the magnificent edition published by the literu
soclety, Napoli e i Luogki celebri delle sue Viciname (2 vol
542 and 624, S. 8 grs., with views and maps). Aloe, AyJ^
Bonucci, Quaranta, and others have assisted in this workwhii
though it shows unequal and evident traces of haste, new
theless it deserves all gratitude, as a large collection of v\
is worth knowing in the eity and iu the country, as well a
the admirable manner in which many parts of it are discU!
The Deivrisione Storica di alcuni principali JSdificii i __
Citid di Napoli, of the sa crften named Scipione Volpicd
whose labours to acquire a knowledge of the history of J
country cannot be sufficiently praised ; the book is a modd
accuracy and industry. The work (Naples, 1850, 487,-^
grs, 8, with prints), forming a part of the Storta dei Mai
menti del Eeame delle £ue Sicilie, worked at by i
authors, contains unfortunately only a small number of b
lugs. The Porta Capuairia, the cathedral, the grottv^
Pozzuoli, the palace of Donna Anna, San Domentco Hi
giore, and Fontana Medina ; the store of historieal notifl
whether we consider the political history, genealogy, Btn
ture, and art in the text and in the notes is so great, that 4
worthy to be better known. Of Stauislao d'Aloe, wb
never-fiuling courteousness is tried by the many visitors of 1
Museo Borbonico, we must lastly mention the Tesoro IM
dario Napolitaao, the first volume (1836, 320 S. 4) aai
present the only one, which every one will regret wb*
aware of the light which inscriptions of all kinds throw
history and topography.

These are the manuscripts and books which have anf
the principal materials for this histoiy.

( 453 )

INDEX.

^i»»^^»V%^^^^^i^^^^»^^^^Mi

Abruzzi, character of tbe people
of, 106; their hatred of the
Walloons, 167.

Acciajuoli, Nicholas, a celehrated
Florentine, 244.

Acerra, capture of, 360.

Acqaaviva, Anna, marriage of, 230.

Acquayiva, Girolamo, Count of
Conversano, his quarrel with the
Duke of Noja, 207 ; prevents an
unequal marriage of his niece,
231 ; his cruelty to the people
of Nardo, 352 ; his death, 410.

Alarbes, a company drilled by
Masaniello, 303.

Alcalk, Duke of, Spanish Viceroy,
opposes the Pope's claims on
Naples, 44.

Alphonso of Arragon, 5 ; becomes
King of Naples, 6. See Al-
phonso I.

Alphonso, Duke of Calabria, his
treachery, 7.

Alphonso I., King of Naples, his
peaceful reign, 6 ; his remains
removed to Spain, 20.

Alphonso II., Kme of Naples, his
brief reign, and abdication, 9;
his vile character, 10 ; his build-
ings, 255, 257 ; his death, 11.

Alva, Duke of, Spanish Viceroy,
his march on Rome, 125 ; how
induced to retreat, 126.

Amalfi, grant of to Ottavio Picco-
lomini, 85 ; set aside, 85 *, Masa^
niello styled the fisherman of
Amalfi, 301.

Amantea, gallant' defence of its
privileges by, 85.

Andrew of Hungary, murder o^
5; his sepulchre, 241.

Anello, Tommaso, of Sorrento, an
insurgent, his life saved by Fer-
dinand Carafa, 35.

Angevin princes, their brilliant
court, 244.

Aniello, Tommaso. See Masaniello.

Anjou, house of, the representa-
tive of the Guelphic or Papal
principle, 4; expulsion, 6; its
claims revived, 6; its nde in
Naples, 62.

Annese, Gennaro, an insurgent,
344; is appointed Commander-
in-chief of the Neapolitans, 349 ;
receives Henry of Guise, 372;
quarrels with him, 374; his
treachery, 374 ; obliged to sur-
render, 379 ; executed, 380.

Annona(or public granary), failure
of the, 385.

Apulia, character of the people of^
106.

Aquila, treacherous attack on, 7.

Arcos, Duke of, Spanish Viceroy,
his financial difficulties, Idl ;
Masaniello's insurrection, 304;
his life in danger, 307 ; escapes
to the castle of St Elmo, 311 ;
treats with the insurgents, 328 ;
procures the murder of Masa-
niello, 337 ; fresh treaty with
the people, 343; his conduct to
the noUes, 353; retires from
the Government, 375.

Arienzo, a castle belonc^in^ to the
Carafas, occupied by the Spa-
niards, 395.

r

THE CARAT AS OF MADDAr.0^a.

Arrendamenti, or prohibitory

rigbcs, tanning of, Ifil,
Artists, ItBliaa, jealousies among,

AacoCiao, an early holder of the

fief of Maddoloni, 109.
Aajlum, right of, 169 ; qnarrels

of the civil and eccleeiastical

powers concerning it, 170.
Autborilies and referEnres, 431.
Avellino and its neigbbourbood ,

deecriptioD of, 23.'>.
Aiellino. Marino, Prince of, his

taste fbr the arts, 234 ; quarrel

for hi« corpse, 335.
Avellino, Pnnce of, charged with

harbouring bandit^, and impri-

Aversa, capture of, by the barons,
361 ; is taken from Ihem by the
BarOB de KlodSne, 373.

Banditti, daring of the, 163; their
kiuga, 163; noble leaders of,
163; often taken into the ser-
vice of the state, 166; hired
bv the nobility to attack Mass.-
niello and his party, 323 ; tuea.-
snres nf the Count of Onaie
against the nobles who favoured

410.

a, 393; 1

H their

ravages,

t of Parliamentary de-
puties, 81.

Banks, Genoese and others, their
usurious practices, 9 1 ; arbitrary
pr[>eeediQga against, 92,

Ban, character ofthepcopleoi^lOG.

Barons,irarof the, 353; the feudal
anay, 3ST; success against the
peasants, 360; mutual excessen,
861: joined by r^rnlar troops,
362; dissensions, 369 ; dispersed
by Henry of Guise, 373 ; agaiu
make head, and put dovn the
rebellion in the provinces, 376.
See Nobility.

Barons and vassals, rehlions br-

Iweeii, regulated by the Eai-

peror Charles V., SB.
Basilicata, obamcter of the people

of, los.
Beatrice of Arragon, letter of

Diom«d Cara& to, 117.
Bedmar, Marquis of, bit pM

sgunst Venice, 51.
Ifenevento, occupation of the ICT-

rllory of, by the Spanianli, 311.'
Bergama, Cosimo Pansiga ^, tn

architect, 287.
Bemazzano, Giovan BBItilta, k

poetical barber, 234.
Bernini vindicated, S8T.
Biaucardo, Luigi, an BdventnnTt

410; imprisoned and ' '

411.

isngni, Spanish troops so ctUc^.

and why, 1'17.
Boccocio, his sojunrn at NaplM^

243.
Bonatenenia, a kind of

rent, 15S.
Bouifccio, Robert, Man]au of OttS

his Palace of the Sirem, 333.
Boi^ia, Cscsar, crowns Predeij^

King of Naples, 17.
Borsia, Frg^iceEco, Duke of Ci

dia,S5.
Borgia, Cardinal Caspar, eip

Oasuna from Naplec, 54 j I

own bad government, SSj 1

pereeded, 56.
Bourbon rule in Naples prefinrf

to that of the Spaniards, 4SD,
Brancaccio, Col' Antonio, OMCtt-

tion of, 3U,
Brancaccio, Marcanlonio, ■ le(4«

□fthe Neapolitan inenrRMits34S.
Bravoes, employment of S09.
Brennacatla. a lamous bandit. WV
Bronze horse's bead, at the palM*

of Maddaloni, its ori^a, IM.
Burial-places of the vaiiona

houses of Naples, 30.

INDEX.

455

Caivano, Dake of, his corrapt
conduct, 343.

Calabria, conditioii of, in 1648,
398 ; character of the people of,
105; their hatred of the Wal-
loons, 167.

Calixtus III., Pope, favoars the
cause of John of Anjou, 6.

Campanella, his reflections on the
Spanish monarchy, 25.

Capecelatro, Don .Francesco, ad-
ventures of, 366 ; his account
of the state of Calabria, 398 ;
his writings, 432.

Capitanata, character of the inha-
bitants of the, 106.

Capua, storm and piUage of, by
the French, 18; occupied by
the barons, 354.

Capuano, Castel, a Neapolitan
royal palace, 254. "

Caracciolo, Antonia, Duchess of
Maddaloni, procures the pardon
of her husbsind, 397.
^Caracciolo, Don Carlo, endeavours
to appease the insurgents of
1647, 306; is wounded, 307;
saves the life of the Viceroy,
308.

Caracciolo, Ciccio, his quarrel
with the citizen-deputies, 211.

Caracciolo, Francesco, Duke of
Airola, his marriage, and early
death, 233.

Caracciolo, Francesco, execution
of, 419.

Caracciolo, Gennaro, his cruelty
to his wife, 396.

Caracciolo, Giovan Battista, a
painter, 295.

Caracciolo, Giovan Francesco, an
insurgent, condemned to death,
but escapes, 39.

Caracciolos of Avellino, their early
history, 233.

Carafa family, its ori^n, 110
division into two houses, 110
zealous Arragonese, 15, 113
their power in Rome, 128 ; their
exile, 129; domestic tragedy.

131 ; condemnation, 134; their
honours restored, 136 ; banished
from Naples, 343 ; return, 378 ;
present state, 413.

Carafa, Alessandro, Archbishop,
crowns Ferdinand II., 9; cele-
brates his return to Naples, 17.

Carafa, Andrea, Count of Santa
Severina, 269.

Carafa, Antonio, sumamed Ma-
lizia, invites Alphonso of Arra-
gon to Naples, 111.

Carafa, Antonio, Duke of Mon-
dragone, 223.

Carafa, Anna, Princess* of Stig-
liano, 221 ; her numerous suitors,
224 ; her marriage, 225 ; her
rapacity, and ill-treatment of
her vassals, 227; her death,
228 ; her estates sold to pay her
debts, 228.

Carafa, Cardinal Alphonso, a fa-
vourite with Paul IV., 129 ; his
cruel treatment, and early death,
137.

Carafa, Cardinal Carlo, his early
life, 128; his military activity,
124; is unjustly condemned,
and executed, 134.

Carafa, Cardinal Olivieri, 122,
137; his early life, 138; his
popularity, 139 ; the beautiful
confessional in the cathedral of
Naples built by him, 140.

Carafa, Carlo, Duke of Andria,
his interview with Henry of
Guise, 372.

Carafa, Carlo, Duke of Madda-
loni, 413.

Carafk, Carlo, Duke of Madda-
loni and Prince of La Guardia,
413.

Carafa, Diomed, first Count of
Maddaloni, 112; his favour at
Court, 112; his writings, 117;
his palace, 118; his posterity,
121; his death and burial, 116.

Carafa, Diomed, first Duke of
Maddaloni, 183; his descend-
ants, 183.

456

TilE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

Carafii, Diomed, Duke of Madda-
looi, early life of, 165; hia nu-
merous duels, 219i his TJolence,
230; his marriage, 133 ; his im-

, prisoDmenl, 315; is employed
by the Viceroy to Ireat with the
popalace, 315-318; is captared
by them, 318; escapee, 319;
his palace plimdored, 3ST; Ma-
saLielln's hklrod to him, 335; is
exiled, 343; retuniB lo Capna,
35i; takes the field against the
insurgents, 357 ; his actititj',
363; charged with harbouring
banditti, D<>4 ; refuses to answer
the charge, 394 ; troops sent
against him, and his estates se-
questered, 395; attempts to cap-
ture htm. 39(1; submits to the
Viceroy, au^ is pardoned, 3S7 ;
his domestic life, 400; hia palace,
402; qnarrela with the Arch-
Mshop of Naples, 4 10 ; isimpri-
soned, and sent to Spain, 41 1 ;
dies in priHm there, 412; his
family, 413.

Carafe, Diomed, Marquis of Ari-
enio, 413.

Camfa, Domenico Marzio, Duke
uf Maddoloni, 413.

Cars fa, Etiure, Count of Rufo, hia
republi<9nism aud death, 41!l.

Carafa. Fabriiio, murfers Camillo
Soprano, 212; his Subsequent
career, 214.

Carafe, Ferdinand, saves Tom-
maao Anello from the hands tpf

Carafa, Filippo, son of Serriua, the
last Greek Duke of Naples, 110.

Carafii, Fraocraeo, his duel with
Giulio Acquayiva, 207.

Carafa, Frauc^sco, Prince of Colo-
brano, 120.

Carafit, Francesco Maria, Duke of
Nocera, his life in danger from
hisvaisals,352; his revenge, 353.

Cara&, Frederick, Duke of Can-
oellara, in danger from popular

Carafii, Gian Antonio. Count of

Montorio, 122; his death, 1!8.
Carafa, Gian Pietro, his hoidlit;

to the Spaniards, 122; beeomei

Pope, 123. See Paul IV.
Carafe, Gian TomBso. Count of

Maddaloni, his fiefa and titln

forfeited, 121.
Carafa, Giovanni, Duke of Pagli-

Buo, murders the pararooor d

his wife, 132; also pals llit

wife to death, 133; is execntd,

134; his letter to his son, 134,
Carafa, Giuseppe, bis imprion-

ment, and letease, 315; lut

murder, 325.
Carafa, Greg;orio, Endeavouit

procure the release of the Dake

of Maddaloni from the

genia, 313.
Carafa, LodoTico, Duke of SilM-

netta, 233 ; his death snd Im-

rial, 224.
Carafe, Lnigi, Prince of Slulinl

223. ^

Carafe, Marzio, Duke of IbdA

loni, 184.
Carafit, Marzio, Duke of MnUi

loni, 412.
Carafa, Marzio Ciaetano, Dnke I

Maddaloni, and Prince otOM

brano, 413.
Carafa, Pietro, defends CadcUai

mare in the barons' wbtb, 3M,
Carafa, Roberta, prineess ofAtltJ

lino, 233. '

Carofa, Tiberio. Prince of B

nano, endeavours ti

outbreak of MaMmiello, a

his death, 305.
Carafa, Tiberio. Prioce of C

sano, hia duel with the DoktS

Telese, 208; his MeiDdn.4f^
I Carafa, Prior of Hocella, 1

escape from the insurgenll, tf
, is sent to Spain, 392 ; '-^
-392.
Caravaggio, Michael Aogelotrfl

of hia elarople on iheK —

tan school, 231.

INDEX.

457

Cardine, Don Leonardo di, an
accomplice in the murder of the
Duchess of Pagliano, 133; is
executed, 134.

Cardona, Spanish Viceroy of Na-
ples, 21.

Caserta, Palace of, 109.

CastelnuoYO, its siege by the in-
surgents, 350.

Castrillo, Count of, Spanish Vice-
roy of Naples, 408.

Catalonia, insurrection in, 148.

Cattaneo, Salvatore, cuts off the
head of Masaniello, 337.

Census of the kingdom of Naples,82.

Ceremony, quarrels on points of,
216.

Charles V., the Emperor, 21 ; pri-
vileges granted hj, demanded
by the insurgents m 1647, 305 ;
granted to them, 334.

Charles I., King of Naples, 3 ; his
rule, 62.

Charles II., King of Naples, 4;
his buildings, 241.

Charles III., King of Naples and
Hungary, 3.

Charles III. (Bourbon), King of
Naples, regenerator of the coun-
try, 417; his system, 417; op-
presses the nobles, 418.

Charles V., King of France, 5.

Charles VIII., King of France, his
invasion of Italy, 13; his retreat,
16.

Charles, Count of Maine, trans-
fers his claims on Naples to
Lewis XI. of France, 15.

Charles, Duke of Calabria, 4.

Charles of Durazzo, 5.

Charles, Prince of Salerno, 63.

Charles Martel, King of Hun-
gary, 5.

Chiaja, Riviera di, 266.

Churches of Naples, description of
several, 240.

Citizens, the Neapolitan, their pri-
vileges, 7 1 ; demand equality
with the nobility, 72.

Clement V., Pope, 5.

Clergy, licentious life of the, 169.

Clerical orders, establishment of
various, in Naples, 45.

Coinage, debasement of the, 93.

Collateral Council, establishment
of the, 39.

Colonna &mily join the Spaniards
against Paul IV., 124; their
fie& given to the Carafas, 128.

Colonna, Cardinal of, Spanish
Viceroy of Naples, 24 ; his
death, 256.

Colonna, Mark Anton, dissuades
the Duke of Alva from his attack
on Rome, 124.

Communities allowed to emanci-
pate themselves from feudal
tenures, 83 ; again sold by the
Crown to feudal lords, 84.

Conca, Princes of, profligate lives,
and deaths of the, 203, 204.

Condottieri, extinction of the, 163.

Conrad, King of Sicily, 3; cap-
tures Naples, 255.

Constance, heiress of Sicily, her
marriage to the Emperor, Henry
VI., 3.

Convents, visits to, an especial
amusement of noble ladies, 21 7 ;
sacked by the insurgents in 1647»
327.

Conversano, Count of. See Ac-
quaviva, Girolamo.

Cordova, Gonsalvo de, assists Fer-
dinand II. of Naples, 16; his
treachery, 18 ; falls into dis-
grace, 21 ; his dishonest dealing
in com, 386.

Corn-law system, in Naples, 384;
dishonest gains in consequence,
385.

Correnzio, Belisario, attempts to
assassinate Guido Reni, 289;
character of his works, 292.

Council of Italy, constitution of
the, 40.

Courtesans, their number, in Na-
ples, 201.

Courts, spiritual and temporal,
contests of the, 172.

458

TIIE CABAFAa OF MADDALONL

CoDTis of jnsiice, tbe SpauiGh, in

Naples, 41,
CuEtom-hODSe at Naples, Mown

Customs and toU-hniises deatroyed,
342.

Danie, allusionE in IiU works to
the bistory of Naples, 343.

D'Aabigae etomiB and pillages
Capua, 18.

Death Alliance, the, its proceed-
ings, 332.

Deputies of the Neapolitan <
ieaE,34, SSj refuse to acknow-
ledge the anlhority of the Go-
yernor.in 1798, 418; theiroffice
abolished in the folloniug year.
419.

55.

Divine right of kings, still recog-
nised by the Neapolitans, 420,

Domeaichino, his pereecntion b;
the Neapolitan arllats, 390; his
works, 291.

Dominica Mnggiore, Sau, coffins
of the Arragonese kings in the
Churoh of, 20.

Donatives, tases so called, 32, 1 53.

Dramatic representations at th«
vieeregal coart, 195 1 in churches
and coQvents, 19S.

Eboli, murder of nobility at, 351.

Elba, capture of, by the French,

ISO ; retaken by the Spaoiarda,

Eleonora, Princess of Este, tettcT
of Diomed Carafk to, 117.

Eletli, the, the repreaentativeB of
the nobility and towns of the
kingdom, U9: mode of eleotioQ,
74; abolished, 419.

False witnesses, tb^r pmualuiieiit

Famine and insnrrection in Ni-
ples, in 1623, 57 ; frequeot eaue
of famines, 384.

Fansagu, Cosimo, his works U
Naples, 287.

Ferdinand I., King of Naples, f |
civil wars. (1; his cruelty, 8j
his death and cltaracter, 9.

Ferdinand 11. (or Femandii
King of Naples, expelled I7
French, 14; retoniE, 16;
death, 17.

Ferdinand the Catholic, King t
Spain, his trcacheruna aUiaoM
with Lewis Xll. of Francr, itl
visits Naples, 21 ; his dealh,>L

Ferdinand, Doke of Calabria,"
death in Spun, 2D.

Femandino. See Ferdiuand U«
King of Naples,

Feudal system iu Naplea, Bli
Bttemptfl to modify, by CI ""
v., 8(i.

Feudal teaures, 82;

Filomaiino, Ajntnio, CaidinaUa
Archbishop of Naples, his qM
rels with the Viceny^ IU
acts as pacificator in tl ' ^
rection of 1647, 809;
negotiations with the pmfk
3I9-S2B ; becomes a panjom'
the Duke of Guise, 3TS;
quarrel with the noblei, 411
his letters, 439.

Finance, oppressive system oC 111

Florentines, emioeDt, at the Jl'
geria Cunrt, 243.

Foix, members of tbe hmiti
cut oS in the Italian wan. Ml,

Fontana, Domenico, bis ■ "'

Fracauaano, Franoesoo, >

death of, 333.
Frederick BarbaroBso, Ein,_...
Frederick II., Eiapcror, 3t

lawn limit the feudal power,
Frederick. Siag of T '

r'^

INDEX.

459

amiable character, 17; ex^lled
by the French and Spaniards,
19; his death, 19.

Frederick, Count of Altamura,
his popularity, 7 . See Frederick,
King of Naples.

French, invasion of Italy by the,
tinder Charles VIII., 13 ; league
with the Spaniards to conquer
Naples, 18 ; quarrel with them,
21 ; intrigues in the 17th cen-
tury,' 370.

Fruit, tax on, 181,300; the rebel-
lion of Masaniello occasioned
by the, 303.

Fucillo, a rioter, execution of, 32.

Fuorusciti,^ or Calabrian banditti,
163.

Gabelle, a tax, 32 ; insurrection
occasioned by its imposition, 32 ;
its oppression, 161; abolished,
386 ; partially reimposed, 386.

Gaeta occupied by the Doke of
Maddaloni, in the barons' wars,
375.

Gaming, excess to which carried
by the Neapolitan nobles, 200 ;
public gaming-houses, 201.

Garloni, Ferdinand, Count of
Alife, puts his sister to death for
adultery, 133; is executed, 134.

Gatta, Don Carlo della, refuses the
command of the Neapolitan in-
surgents, 342.

Genoese, character of the, 90;
farmers of tolls and bankers in
Naples, 90; their usury, 91;
Genoese families settled in Na-
ples, 91.

Genuino, Giulio, a tool of the
Duke of Ossuna, 53 ; obliged to
go into exile, 54; returns to Na-
ples, 302; said to have insti-
gated Masaniello's insurrection,
302; accompanies the mob in
disguise, 305; counsels their
proceedings, 314; comes to
terms with the Viceroy, 336 ; is
banished, and dies, 341.

Giotto, paintings of the school of,
24.5.

Giron, Don Pedro, career of, 48 ;
his severity and injustice as
Viceroy of Naples, 49 ; attempts
to make himself independent,
53 ; fails, 54 ; his death, 55.

Gonzaga, Vespasian, founder of
Sabioneta, 223.

Guaimar, Prince of Salerno, 2.

Guelphic or papal principle repre-
sented by the house of Anjou, 6.

Guerra-Bucca journals, value of
the, 432.

Guise, Henry of, his views on Na-
ples, 370; is received in the
city, 372 ; attacks the Spaniards
unsuccessfully, 372 ; becomes
hated hj the populace, 374;
plot against his life, 377 ; flies
from Naples, 379; is captured,
380; released, 380; again visits
Naples, 380.

Hearth-tax, the, in Naples, 32, 158,
386.

Henry of Guise. See Guise, Henry
of.

Hereditary great offices, 100; re-
duced to mere titles by the Spa-
niards, 100.

Hohenstaufens, cause of their ruin,
3 ; spirit of their rule in Italy, 61.

Holy Council of Santa Chiara, its
functions, 41.

Honorius IV., Pope, arbitrates be-
tween Charles I. of Naples and
his subjects, 62.

Innocent VIII., Pope, leagues with
the Neapolitan barons against
Ferdinand of Arragon, 8.

Inquisition, attempt to introduce
the, into Naples, 33.

Insurrection at Messina, 48, 414 ;
of 1547, in Naples, 34; in 1622,
57; in 1647, 299; fresh insur-
rection, 341 ; in Palermo, in
1647, 300; at Rome, in 1559, 130.

Interest of money, 92.

460

THE CARAFAS OF MADDALONI.

Isabella, widow of Frederick, King
of Naples, her distress, 19,

Italian artists, jealousies and con-
tentions among, 288, 289 ; turn
bravoes, 332; tJ^e Death Society,
333.

Italy, its miserable state in the
second half of the 1 5th century,
11 ; reflections of Campanella
on its foreign rulers, 25 ; its po-
litical condition in the middle
of the 17th century, 151 ; fur-
ther reflections, 419.

Jews, expulsion of, from Naples,
72.

Joanna I., Queen of Naples, 4;
her tomb, 242.

Joanna II., Queen of Naples, 5 ;
her burial-place, 20.

John of Anjou clsdms the king-
dom of Naples, 6 ; gains a vic-
tory, 7 ; defeated, 7.

John of Austria, son of Charles V.,
entry of, into Naples, 43.

John of Austria, son of Philip IV.,
his unsuccessful attack on Na-
ples, 345; attempts to negotiate,
370; takes the government, 375;
is superseded, 376 ; saves the
life of the Duke of Guise, 380 ;
his popularity, 387; expels the
French from Elba and Piom-
bino, 387 ; proposal to make him
king, 391; is defeated at Al-
meyrial by the Portuguese, 392.

Jurisdiction, criminal, not granted
to the nobles after the time of
Alphonso I., 102.

Justice, courts of, in Naples, 41 ;
mal-administration of, 168.

Justices, establishment of ten chief,
by King Roger, 60.

Kings of the Italian banditti, 163.

Ladislaus, King of Naples and
Hungary, 5 ; monument of, 247.

Lannoi, Charles de, Spanish Vice-
roy of Naples, 21.

Lautrec, Marshal, his Italian cam-
paign and death, 22.

Lavoro, character of the people ot
105.

Lazzari, origin of the name, 374.

Lemos, Count of, Spanish Viceroy,
his patronage of learning, 46;
builds the royal palace at Na-
ples, 191.

Leon, Don Juan Ponce de, 177.

Lepanto, victory of^ 43.

Lewis of Anjou, 5; his adoption
by Joanna II., 5.

Lippomano, his description of the
administration of justice in Na-
ples, 41.

Lodges, or associations. See Se-
diles.

Lombardy, its condition under the
Spaniards, 448.

Longone, Porto, capture of, by the
French, 180; retaken by the
Count of Onate, 388.

Lorenzo, San, parliament in, 77;
description of the apartment in
which it was held, 78.

Lorenzo, Marco di, a merchant,
his dishonesty, 327; his lands
ravaged in consequence, by Dio-
med Carafa, 327.

Loyalty to the reigning fiimily a
distinguishing feature of the
Neapolitans, 420.

Lutheran opinions, spread of, in
Naples, 33.

Macchia, Prince of, his conspiracy

against the Spaniards, 416.
MaddalonifCastle and village o^l08.
Maddaloni, Counts and Dukes of.

See Cara^
Malizia. See Carafa, Antonio.
Manfred, King of Sicily, 3.
Manfredonia sacked by the Turks,

55.
Mangone, Benedetto, a bandit, 164.
Mantuan succession, war of the,

151.
Marcone, the king of the banditti,

163.

INDEX.

461

Marra, Vincenzio della, a knight
of Malta, murders Camillo So-
prano, 212; his subsequent
career, 214.

Masaniello, birth and condition of,
301 ; his ^ife imprisoned, 302 ;
his Alarbes, 303; heads the in-
surgents, 305; destruction of
palaces, 316; the insurrection
organised, 322 ; his insane
cruelty, 326; his dress and ap-
pearance, 301, 328; his inteiv
view with the Viceroy, 330;
named captain-general of the
people, 330; his administration,
331 ; his madness, 335 ; is mur-
dered, 337 ; his public funeral,
338.

Masquerades at Naples, 195; grand
masquerade and ,ball in honour
of Donna Maria d'Austria, 217.

Massa, Francesco Toraldo d'Ara-
gona, Prince of, appointed cap
tain-general by the people m
the insurrection of 1647, 342;
suspicions entertained of him,
344 ; is murdered, 348.

Mazarin, Cardinal, his dubious
policy with regard to Naples,

371.

Medici, Lorenzo di, his alliance
with Ferdinand I. of Naples, 8.

Medina Celi, Duke of, the last
Spanish Viceroy of Naples, 416.

Medina de la Torres, Duke of,
Spanish Viceroy of Naples, his
extortions, 154; his plunder of
works of art, 226 ; his &mily,
228.

Mergellina, Sannazzaro's yilla at,
222.

Messere, a title of the nobility in
the middle ages, 100.

Messina, insurrections at, 48, 414.

Milan, its condition under the Spa-
niards, 449.

Military system of Naples, 45;
wretched condition of the troops,
46 ; military senrioe of the no-
bility, 155.

Militia, the Neapolitan, its strength
and turbulence, 45.

Miranda, Count of, Spanish Vice-
roy of Naples, 47.

Mod^ne, Baron de, captures
A versa, 373 ; his memoirs of the
Duke of Guise, 441.

Molise, province of, 1 66.

Mollo Agostino, a judge employed
against the bandits, 393, 395.

Moncada, Spanish Viceroy of Na-
ples, 22.

Mondejar, Marquis of, his pomp,
47; his tyranny, 81.

Monterey, Count, Spanish Viceroy
of Naples, his extortions, 154 ;
his fondness for actors, 1 99.

Monterey, Countess o^ her violent
conduct, 218.

Montesarchio, Prince of, his acti-
vity in the barons' wars, 357,
360, 376: his dishonest gains,
385; is imprisoned, 391; sent
to Spain, 392 ; released after a
time, 392.

Montorio, Alphonso, Count of, his
death in a duel, 137.

Montorio, Diomed, Count of, his
early death, 136.

Montpensier, Gilbert, French Vice-
roy of Naples, 16.

Monuments, remarkable, in the
churches at Naples, 241, 246,
247, 248.

Mormile, Cesare, an insurgent,
condemned to death, but escapes,
37.

Municipal institutions of Naples,
63 ; government of the towns, 69.

Murat, Joachim, King of Naples,
inquiry into feu<&l burdens
under, 87.

Murders, frequency of, in Naples,
209.

Naclerio, Andrea, deputy of the
people, endeavours to appease
the tumult caused by the fruit-
tax, 304 ; is obliged to flee from
the rioters, 307.

462

THE CARAFAS OF JUDDALONI.

1

Naples, city oE beauty of its situa-
tion, 23S ; eariimt settlement,
239; DDder tiie Nomiass, S39 ;
Qoder the Angesins, 240 ;
churches, 241 ; remains of the
Uth and IStb centuries, 249;
the Arrsgonese period, 250 ;
walla and bastions, 253; royal
and private palaces, 254, 283;
poputatioo audtaxei,261 ^ fbrm
and extern in the middle of th«
17th century, 365 ; insurrection
and civi) war, 31)3, 349; enlarge-
ment of the Buburbs, 2S1 ; deco-
ration of churches, 285; punt-
ing and sculpture, 274, 287 ; its
municipal inGlitations, 65; sup-
posed 10 represent all the towns
of the kin^om, 69; the elelti,
69 ; its privileges materially'
dimiuished, 419.

Naples, kiogdom of, under the
Normans, 3, 6U ; the HohenstBu-
fens, 3, 61 ; the Angevins, fl, E2 ;

. the AiTBgonians, 6, 250 ; ■ vice-
Toyally, 39; Bgain a kingdom,
415; the Bonrbou preferred to
the Spanish rule, 420.

Nardo, rebellion at, 362; cruflllj
of the Count of ConYers»no,35a.

Natitntlistic school of paioting,
291.

Neapolltati school of art not suffi-
ciently known, 27B; the later
school, 295.

Nicholasll., Pope, his gifts to Ro-
bert Gniseard, 3.

Nisida, island of, described' 377.

Nobility, the Neapolitan, two
classes of, 67, 103; compact with
thepeople.71; sale of titles, 87 ;
number of Che, 99; orders, 102;
humbled bj the Spanish Vice-
roys, 1S9; smusements, 194^
profligacy, 201 ; duels, 21)5; em-
ployment of bravoes, 209; vio-
lence towards the dtiaens, 210;
oppresHOQ of Tsasals, 215; do-
mestic life, 216; tlidr conduct
during Masaniello's insurrec-

butcheries, 351 ; the bftmni' irat, 1
353; measurea of the Coast of
Onate, 389; obliged to repairtt
tliecapital,393; oppressed ondet
the Bourbons, 41g,

Noja, Dnke of, quarrel of; n
the Count of Conversano, 10

Nola, Giovanni da, his wotfa
Naples, 27B.

Norman power in Italy, growth (
the, 3. ^

Olivarez, Connt-Duke of, hii
licy baffled by Richelieu, ).
hia trea-traeiit of the Cauls
149.

Oliveto, monks of, tbeir kindiMi
to the family of the eipellt'
king. Ferdiannd, 30.

Onate, Count of, Spanish ViceN
of Naples, his character, an
recovers the city from the tl
surgenCs, 379 ; his erucllr, SH
369 ; bis measures tu iMtM
order, 383; recaptures Elba ^
Piombino, 3SS j his matan^^
ugninsl the nobles, 3S9; H
fi^ivities, 404 ; is reolW
408. ^

Opposition in the Neapolil
liamenl, punished by the:
Vioeroysj 81.

Orange, Pnnee of, Viceroy oTHt-
pies, 23; his death, 24.

Orbetello, ausucc^ssfolly heti^d
bj the Frencji, 179.

Orsiui palace, at Naples, why IcA
unfinished, 259.

Ossuna, Duke of] his raouMi
charge for secret expensrs.
his viceroysliip,49; his^el
enlerUiuments, IS4; his pl__,
51; his death; 55. ■

Ottinen, popular colleges in N^H
pies, (i9. -H

Otranlo. character of the tubalitfV

Pagliaiio, Duchess 0^ her inlrignes
and tiealh, 133.

Palace, viccrepal, at Naples, ISl ;
BWrmed by the populace, .107.

Palaces, Neapolitan, destruction
of, by the insurgents, in 1647,
316.

Palantieri, Alefsandro, an advo-
ca.te, his Creacheroun iM>aduct to
Cardinal Carafa, 1:14.

Palermo, inaurrection in, 300.

Pandoae, Camilla, an ambsisador,
13.

Parliaments, early, in the Neapo-
litan dominions, 60, 63 ; super-
seded by the Sediles, G3 ; under
the SpaDish Viceroja, 76; par-
liament in San Lorenzo, 77 ;
cqipoEltion ponisbed, 81 ; abo-
lished by Ferdinand I., 419.

Parliament, exlraordinary, of no-
-■ i»nly, r

able to the. 4

Paul IV., Pope, his hatred of the
Spaniards, 1S3; Alia marches
on Bome, VH; peace, 1S5 ; ba-
nishes hie kindred, 123; his
death, 130.

People, Neapolitan, deprived of
their privileges by Alphonio I.,
69; these restored by Charles
Vlll, of France, 70', compact
with the noblcs,7l i grants of the
Spanish kings, 73; their moral
qualities and pecnliaritieB, 104.

Perjury, the btwetiing sin of the
Neapolitans, li9; seTCre hnt in-
effectual laws against ^9.

Perrone, Domenico, a leader of
the inaurr«ctioD of 1647, 314 ;
bis treachery and death, 323.

Petrarch, his sojourn at Naples,
243.

Philip n.. King of Spain, his po-
licy, 142.

Philip !II., King of Spam, death

Philip iV., King of ^lain, ruin of j Reai, the good king, 5.

£X. 463

the Spanish monarchy under,

148 ; his character, 407.
Philip v., King of Spain, 417.
Piccolumlni, Alfonso, besieged at

Torre dell' Annunziala, 3S8;

his escape, 3,^9,
Piccoiomini, Count Celano , charged

with harbouring banditti, and

Piccoiomini, Otiavio, Amalfi grant-
ed TO, S5.

Pilgrims, Nonnan, at Salerno, 9.

Piombino, captured by the French,
IBO; recaptured by the CooDt
of Conversano, 38S.

Pisa, Berardina, vife of Masa-
niello, 301; is imprisoned, 30S ;
her speech 111 the TJce-queeo, 835.

Pius n.. Pope, favonrs the cause
of Ferdinand I. of Naples, 7.

Pius v.. Pope, reverses the sen-
tence against the Carafaa, 136 ;
favours Cardinal Alphonso Ca-
rafe, 137.

Piuolklcnue, the hill of, 269 ; cip-

Inred by insnrgenlB, 342.
Poderigo, Don Luigi, captures the

Duke of Guise, 3S0 ; appointed

to the government of Culalonift,

407.
Poison, Maslniello's dread of, 33(i.
Poisoning of springs at Naplra,

supposed, 323.
Portugal throws off the Spanish

yoke, 149.
Pozznoli, tomult at, 304.
Pragmatrca, or set laws, of the

Viceroy Toledo, their purpose,

98,
Preti, Hattia, a Neapoliian pointer,

his eventtiil life, 996.
Principato, characler of the iuha-

bitants of the, 106.
Public debt, formatian of a, 89.

Bavaschieri, a Genoese family, en-
nobled In Naples, 91.
Bedouts, licensed garni ng-bonses,

464

THE CARAFA3 OF MADDALOSL

Item, Gaidn, cabali sgainBl, 389.

Uepublic, Naples dednred a, 349 i
recogniBed by the Duke of Guise,
372; the P&rthtnnpeiBn, IIS.

Ri?iolIBguiiEttlie nobles, 361. See

Einacorso, Count of, Viceroy of
Naples, ai.
I Bobert, King of Naples, 4 ; Mb

tomb, 20.
Bobert GuiEcnrd, his Italian poj-

ri great (

jtCountofScily, 3.
. ^Dg of Sicily, 3; hhi par-
liameat, GO; establishmeiit of
chief jnBCices, 60.

Bomer, Gaspar, a Flemish mer-
chant, his love of the fine arts,
401.

BoBB, SalYator, his adventurous
life, 33a.

Royal Chamber, court of the, 41.

Bnflb, Cardinal Fabrizio, recap-
tures Naples, 418; executions
for high treasoii, 419.

Salerno, the Saracens driven from,

SolvaCichi, disorderly clergy so

called, les.
Sangro, Placido di, his embassy to

Charles V., 35.
Sonnaxiaro, Giacomo, Ms villa a(

Mergellina, 222.
Sanseverini, the fimuly of, zealons

Angeving, 24.
Sanseverino, Don Ferdinand, his

emba^ lo Charles V., 3b ; his

rebellion and death, 3S.
Santis, Miohele de, an insurgent,

murders Giuseppe Carafa, 325 ;

rewarded by Mosaniello, Sib;

is defeated in an attack on a

Spanish post, 34S.
Saracens driven from Salerno by

the Normans, 2.

Saverio, Francesco, PHnce of 0>-
lolirano. 413.

Savoy, Prince Thomas c
an attack od Orbetello,
expedition against Naples, 380.

Sca&li, defeat of the insargHb

Sciarra, Marco, a bstidit, 161.
Sediles, their origin, li3; privt-

leges, G5i admission (a, l)5-9Tr<

polilica! importance, fiC; a (nl>-

stitate for the parliaments, TS):

foreign nobles enrolled in Ibr

96 ; their privileges violated 1(

the Spanisfa viceroys, ISS; "^

body abolished, 410.
Serpent-dance, the, a qnadriUft

409. ^

Sessa, Giovanni, an iosm

coudemned to death, bnt evi

37.
Severino, San, church and w

tery at, 257.
Sforsa, l.odovico, Dake of Hfluii

B ; causes the invasion of Inlj

by Charles VIII. of Ftanoc, 8.
Sirens, house of the, 323; iU ft~

tune of many of its [

aas; its ruin, safl.
Soldiers. Italian, otlen IHtle bi

than banditti, 166; SpliniB]l,tll
Soprano, Camillo, murder of, til
Spagnoletio, vorlis o^ at Naph^

293; protects his brother pvaVh

ers, 333; Ms mode of lilb. XM)

bis family, 294; his death, SH;
Spaniards gain possesuoa of H*-

ples, 21; character of thrar nkv

25; eipelled, 415,
Spanish families setTled in NmIM'

101 ; langaage, influence orlki^

4tl5; manners and ilt«S^ 407. '
Spanish monarchy, its stMe n '"

Philip II. and III., 143; n

Phiiip IV,, 146.
Spiritual jurisdiction, dinmltf

aboQt, between Rome nod lb-

pies, 44.
Springs, reported poiMniug nt, M

Naplea, 328.

INDEX.

465

Starace, Giano Vincenzo, death
of, 47.

Taboada, Don Antonio, saves the
life of the Duke of Arcos, 307.

Tancred of Hauteville, ancestor of
the Norman rulers of Naples^ 3.

Tancred of Lecce, a usurper in
Sicily, 3.

Tanucci, Bernardo, the minister of
Charles III. of Naples, 418.

Taxation, system of, under the
Spanish Viceroys, 157; its op-
pression, 162, 181, 300.

Taxes, &rming of, 89.

Theatrical representations at Na-
ples, 197 ; in churches and con-
vents, 198.

Titles, sale of, 87; legal restric-
tions on, disregarded by the
Spaniards, 99.

Toledo, strada, the principal street
of Naples, 271.

Toledo, Don Antonio, Spanish
Viceroy of Naples, his adminis-
tration, 152.

Toledo, Don Pedro de, Spanish
Viceroy of Naples, 24 ; his legis-
lation, 28; his severity, 30; his
public works, 31, 271; attempts
to introduce the Inquisition, 33;
insurrection, 34 ; cabals agidust
him, 38 ; his death, 38.

Toledo, Don Pedro de. Governor
of Milan, his plot against Ve-
nice, 51.

Tolosa, Paolo; a speculator in com,
386.

Toraldo. See Massa.

Trivulzio, Cardinal, appeases a
sedition at Palermo, 300.

Troja, Prince of, his imprison-
ment, 391. *

Turks, aid from, solicited by Fre-
derick, King of Naples, 13 ; ra-
vage Southern Italy, 31 ; destroy
Manfredonia, 55.

Tuttavilla, Don Vincenzo, ap-
pointed general of the barons'
army, 362 ; is unsuccessful, and
is recalled, 373.

Urban VIII., Pope, his quarrel
with the Spaniards, 214.

Vassals, oppression of, By the Nea-
politan nobility, 215; rebellion
of, 35 1 . See Barons, war of the.

Vaudemont, Count of, claims the
throne of Naples, 22.

Venice, Spanish conspiracy against,
51.

Vicariat, court of the, 41.

Viceroys, Spanish, list of, 429 ;
men of merit and good inten-
tions among them, 43; character
of several, 46; their court, 174;
their profligacy, 218; rapacity
of some, 414.

Waldenses in Calabria, ruthless
butchery of the, 47.

■Walloons, their excesses, and ven-
geance of the peasants, 167.

William the Bad, King of Sicily, 3.

William the Good, King of Sicily,
3.

Zampieri. See Domenichino.

Zapata, Cardinal Antonio, his ad-
ministration in Naples, 56 ; fa-
mine and insurrection, 57.

Zazzera, Francis, his account of
the Duke of Ossuna, 439.

Zingaro, lo, and his school, 275.

THE END.

2 H

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