The old and new nobles now intrigued with such success as to destroy the spirit of popular liberty; and Coronato, whom Lercaro though of the opposite faction praises so highly, lost his head on the scaffold. On the other hand, Prince Giovanni Andrea Doria, who had dyed his sword so often in the blood of his fellow citizens, was called, “_Preserver_ of the liberties of his country.” To this day he holds that rank in history; but our history must be re-written. We have seen that the reforms of Andrea destroyed the popular constitution, placed all political power in the hands of the patricians, and opened the doors of the Republic to Spanish supremacy. When the city of Finale, exasperated by the lust and avarice of Alfonso Del Caretto, shook off his yoke, the dispossessed lord appealed as an imperial vassal to the Diet of Augusta; and the emperor, far from favouring the Republic, which had taken part in the fall of Alfonso, decided that the marquis should be restored to his feud, compelled Genoa to pay him for the damage he had suffered. The Republic clamoured against the sentence, it is true; but when a few years later Gabrielle Della Cueva, duke of Albuquerque, and governor of Milan, garrisoned Finale, Genoa had not courage to oppose the measure, and suffered a foreign power to intrench itself in the very heart of Liguria. At the death of Marquis Francesco (1598), the line of Carretto became extinct, and the Senate allowed Finale to pass into the possession of Spain, who, not content with this, assassinated Ercole Grimaldi, in order to become master of the principate of Monaco, (1614.) Conquests and wars were finished, and Genoa had scarcely strength to keep down domestic revolt, and resist the aggressions of immediate neighbours. The greater part of the conspiracies which for almost a century disturbed the dreams of our masters, had no other object than to restore the popular constitution. The free systems were falling throughout the Peninsula. The people hoped when the council of Trent was opened that it would not only correct the gross abuses of the Papal court, but restore the church itself to its ancient democratic forms. But when the council closed, it was found that no innovation had been effected, that a few vices had been forbidden; but the Church remained a monarchy, as Gregory VII. and Innocent III. had left it. Not content with this, the Papacy, with its famous bull _In cœna domini_ (1567), endeavoured to attach all the powers of the world to its triumphal car. The fall of the communes was complete, and the Latin principle was strangled by the monarchial and foreign element.