The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 09 : $b Italy
History
The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 09 : $b Italy
World history
Ghibellines called the people on all sides to arms and liberty. On the
1st of July, 1288, Ugolino was besieged in the palace of the signoria;
the insurgents, unable to vanquish the obstinate resistance opposed to
them by himself, his sons, and his adherents, set fire to the palace;
and, having entered it amidst the flames, dragged forth Ugolino, two of
his sons, and two of his grandsons, and threw them into the tower of the
Sette Vie. The key was given to the archbishop, from whom was expected
the vigilance of an enemy, but the charity of a priest. That charity,
however, was soon exhausted; the key after a few months was thrown into
the river; and the wretched count perished in those agonies of hunger,
and of paternal and filial love, upon which poetry, sculpture, and
painting have conferred celebrity.
The victory over Count Ugolino, achieved by the most ardent of the
Ghibellines, redoubled the enthusiasm and audacity of that party, and
soon determined them to renew the war with the Guelfs of Tuscany.
Notwithstanding the danger into which the republic was thrown by the
ambition of the last captain-general, it continued to believe, when
engaged in a hazardous war, that the authority of a single person over
the military, the finances, and the tribunals was necessary to its
protection; and it trusted that the terrible chastisement just inflicted
on the tyrant would hinder any other from following his example.
Accordingly Guido de Montefeltro was named captain. He had acquired a
high reputation in defending Forlì against the French forces of Charles
of Anjou; and the republic had not to repent of its choice. He recovered
by force of arms all the fortresses which Ugolino had given up to the
Lucchese and Florentines. The Pisan militia, whom Montefeltro armed with
crossbows, which he had trained them to use with precision, became the
terror of Tuscany. The Guelfs of Florence and Lucca were glad to make
peace in 1293.
FLORENCE; THE FEUD OF THE BIANCHI AND THE NERI
[Sidenote: [1292-1300 A.D.]]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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