The Conspiracy of Gianluigi Fieschi, or, Genoa in the sixteenth century.Celesia, Emanuele
History
The Conspiracy of Gianluigi Fieschi, or, Genoa in the sixteenth century.
Celesia, Emanuele
Fiéschi, Gian Luigi, conte di Lavagna, 1522-1547; Genoa (Italy) -- History
The Doria fleet suffered grave damages in that night pillage, the
furniture and rigging being reduced to a mass of ruins. These disorders
originated with the liberated slaves, and the bad example was followed
by the convicts who afterwards carried confusion and alarm into the
city. Many of the lowest class of the people penetrated into the
foundries and shipyards of Doria, and what they could not carry away
they threw into the sea. During the following days, the convicts were
hunted out in every quarter of the city and taken back to their oars,
and some of the equipments of the ships were recovered by the zealous
efforts of Adamo Centurione whose pecuniary interests were united to
those of Doria.
It is worth while to observe that the storm of this conspiracy broke
over the ships of Andrea. The government issued a proclamation that
whoever should have taken or should find anything belonging to the
galleys of the prince, as arquebuses, pikes, halberds, visors, helmets,
corselets, axes or any other arms or tool belonging to these vessels,
should within three days consign them to the justices in the Riviera,
or to the agents of Doria in Genoa, or deposit them in the churches of
San Vito and Annunziata.
Our historians have neglected to describe one of the galleys of Doria
which was a wonderful specimen of Genoese naval architecture. She
was built by Doria in 1539 for the personal use of Charles V. in his
expedition to Tunis, and surpassed all other galleys by fifteen palms
in length and four palms in breadth[47]. She bore three standards of
crimson damask, each twenty-three palms in length and beautifully
embroidered in gold. The one in the midst had in the centre a star
with golden rays and appropriate inscriptions; that at the stern bore
the figure of an angel and the one on the prow a shield, a helmet and
a sword. Besides, there were three flags at the poop also of damask
and thirty palms in length, and another banner of white damask was
embroidered with chalices, pontifical keys and red crosses, with
fitting inscriptions. There were two flags of red damask bearing the
imperial columns and the device--_plus ultra_--invented by the Milanese
Marliano, physician to Charles V. and an excellent mathematician.
The vessel also had twenty-four other flags of yellow damask and
appropriate devices. The saloon was adorned with beautiful arabesques
in blue and gold, and the sides were tapestried with cloth of gold and
silver, hung so as to represent pavillioned domes. The castle on the
poop was covered with exquisite carvings and there were two carpets for
the deck, one of scarlet cloth for daily use and another, for state
occasions, of crimson velvet and brocade of gold. The crew wore satin
jackets. The gun carriages, rigging and other furniture were all in
the most perfect style and finish of the naval art of that period. The
slaves and convicts ruined all these splendid equipments and furniture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account