Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 | Page 3

Duke
of Gandia--Cesare and his Advancement--The Death of
Alexander--Julius II.--His violent Temper--Great Projects and
commanding Character--Leo X.--His Inferiority to Julius--S. Peter's
and the Reformation--Adrian VI.--His Hatred of Pagan
Culture--Disgust of the Roman Court at his Election--Clement
VII.--Sack of Rome--Enslavement of Florence P. 371.

CHAPTER VIII
.
THE CHURCH AND MORALITY.
Corruption of the Church--Degradation and Division of Italy--Opinions
of Machiavelli, Guicciardini, and King Ferdinand of Naples--Incapacity
of the Italians for thorough Reformation--The Worldliness and Culture
of the Renaissance--Witness of Italian Authors against the Papal Court
and the Convents--Superstitious Respect for Relics--Separation
between Religion and Morality--Mixture of Contempt and Reverence
for the Popes--Gianpaolo Baglioni--Religious Sentiments of the
Tyrannicides--Pietro Paolo Boscoli--Tenacity of Religions--The direct
Interest of the Italians in Rome--Reverence for the Sacraments of the
Church--Opinions pronounced by Englishmen on Italian
Immorality--Bad Faith and Sensuality--The Element of the Fancy in
Italian Vice--The Italians not Cruel, or Brutal, or Intemperate by
Nature--Domestic Murders--Sense of Honor in Italy--Onore and
Onesta--General Refinement--Good Qualities of the People--Religious
Revivalism P. 447.

CHAPTER IX
.
SAVONAROLA.
The Attitude of Savonarola toward the Renaissance--His Parentage,
Birth, and Childhood at Ferrara--His Poem on the Ruin of the
World--Joins the Dominicans at Bologna--Letter to his Father--Poem
on the Ruin of the Church--Begins to preach in 1482--First Visit to
Florence--San Gemignano--His Prophecy--Brescia in 1486--Personal
Appearance and Style of Oratory--Effect on his audience--The three
Conclusions--His Visions--Savonarola's Shortcomings as a patriotic
Statesman--His sincere Belief in his prophetic Calling--Friendship with
Pico della Mirandola--Settles in Florence, 1490--Convent of San
Marco--Savonarola's Relation to Lorenzo de' Medici--The death of
Lorenzo--Sermons of 1493 and 1494--the Constitution of
1495--Theocracy in Florence--Piagnoni, Bigi, and Arrabbiati--War
between Savonarola and Alexander VI.--The Signory suspends him

from preaching in the Duomo in 1498--Attempts to call a Council--The
Ordeal by Fire--San Marco stormed by the Mob--Trial and Execution
of Savonarola P. 497.

CHAPTER X
.
CHARLES VIII.
The Italian States confront the Great Nations of Europe--Policy of
Louis XI. of France--Character of Charles VIII.--Preparations for the
Invasion of Italy--Position of Lodovico Sforza--Diplomatic Difficulties
in Italy after the Death of Lorenzo de' Medici--Weakness of the
Republics--Il Moro--The year 1494---Alfonso of Naples--Inefficiency
of the Allies to cope with France--Charles at Lyons is stirred up to the
Invasion of Italy by Giuliano della Rovere--Charles at Asti and
Pavia--Murder of Gian Galeazzo Sforza--Mistrust in the French
Army--Rapallo and Fivizzano--The Entrance into Tuscany--Part played
by Piero de' Medici--Charles at Pisa--His Entrance into Florence--Piero
Capponi--The March on Rome--Entry into Rome--Panic of Alexander
VI.--The March on Naples--The Spanish Dynasty: Alfonso and
Ferdinand--Alfonso II. escapes to Sicily--Ferdinand II. takes Refuge in
Ischia--Charles at Naples--The League against the French--De Comines
at Venice--Charles makes his Retreat by Rome, Siena, Pisa, and
Pontremoli--The Battle of Fornovo--Charles reaches Asti and returns to
France--Italy becomes the Prize to be fought for by France, Spain, and
Germany--Importance of the Expedition of Charles VIII. P. 537.
* * * * *
APPENDICES.
No. I.--The Blood-madness of Tyrants 589
No. II.--Translations of Nardi, 'Istorie di Firenze,' lib. l. cap. 4; and of
Varchi, 'Storia Fiorentina,' lib. iii. caps. 20, 21, 22; lib. ix. caps. 48, 49,
46 592
No. III.--The Character of Alexander VI., from Guicciardini's 'Storia
Fiorentina,' cap. 27 603
No. IV.--Religious Revivals in Mediæval Italy 606
No. V.--The 'Sommario della Storia d' Italia dal 1511 al 1527, by
Francesco Vettori 624

RENAISSANCE IN ITALY.

CHAPTER I
.
THE SPIRIT OF THE RENAISSANCE.
Difficulty of fixing Date--Meaning of Word Renaissance--The
Emancipation of the Reason--Relation of Feudalism to the
Renaissance--Mediæval Warnings of the Renaissance--Abelard, Bacon,
Joachim of Flora, the Provençals, the Heretics, Frederick II.--Dante,
Petrarch, Boccaccio--Physical Energy of the Italians--The Revival of
Learning--The Double Discovery of the World and of
Man--Exploration of the Universe and of the Globe--Science--The Fine
Arts and Scholarship--Art Humanizes the Conceptions of the
Church--Three Stages in the History of Scholarship--The Age of
Desire--The Age of Acquisition--The Legend of Julia's Corpse--The
Age of the Printers and Critics--The Emancipation of the
Conscience--The Reformation and the Modern Critical
Spirit--Mechanical Inventions--The Place of Italy in the Renaissance.
The word Renaissance has of late years received a more extended
significance than that which is implied in our English equivalent--the
Revival of Learning. We use it to denote the whole transition from the
Middle Ages to the Modern World; and though it is possible to assign
certain limits to the period during which this transition took place, we
cannot fix on any dates so positively as to say--between this year and
that the movement was accomplished. To do so would be like trying to
name the days on which spring in any particular season began and
ended Yet we speak of spring as different from winter and from
summer. The truth is, that in many senses we are still in
mid-Renaissance. The evolution has not been completed. The new life
is our own and is progressive. As in the transformation scene of some