Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/130

Rh 120 PISA only dating from the death of Countess Matilda (1115), but it rapidly rose to an ever-increasing power, and to inevitable rivalry with Pisa. Owing to the political and commercial interests binding Florence to the Roman court, the Guelf element naturally prevailed there, while the growth of its trade and commerce necessarily compelled that state to encroach on waters subject to Pisan rule. And, although Pisa had hitherto been able to oppose a glorious resistance to Genoa and Lucca, it was not so easy to continue the struggle when its enemies were backed by the arms and political wisdom of the Florentines, who were skilled in obtaining powerful allies. The chroniclers ascribe the first war with Florence, which broke out in 1222, to a most ridiculous motive. The ambassadors of the rival states in Rome are said to have quarrelled about a lapdog. This merely shows that there were already so many general and permanent reasons for war that no special cause was needed to provoke it. In 1228 the Pisans met and defeated the united forces of Florence and Lucca near Barga in the Garfagnana, and at the same time they despatched fifty-two galleys to assist Frederick II. in his expedition to the East. Shortly after this they renewed hostilities with the Genoese on account of Sardinia. The judges who governed the island were always at strife, and, as some of them applied to Pisa and some to Genoa for assistance against one another, the Italian seas were once more stained with blood, and the war burst out again and again, down to 1259, when it ter minated in the decisive victory of the Pisans and the con- ; solidation of their supremacy in Sardinia, But meanwhile j Florence had made alliance with Genoa, Lucca, and all the j Guelf cities of Tuscany against its Ghibelline rival. The i pope had excommunicated Frederick II. and all his adher ents. And, as a crowning disaster, the death of Frederick in 1250 proved a mortal blow to the Italian Ghibelline cause. Nevertheless the Pisans were undaunted. Summoning Siena, Pistoia, and the Florentine exiles to their aid, they | boldly &quot;faced their foe, but were defeated in 1254. Soon j after this date we find the old aristocratic government of Pisa replaced by a more popular form. Instead of the consuls there were now twelve elders (amiani) ; besides the podesta, there was a captain of the people ; and there was a general council as well as a senate of forty members. The rout of the Tuscan Guelfs on the field of Montaperto (1 260) I restored the fortunes of Pisa. But the battle of Benevento (1266), where Manfred fell, and the rout of Tagliacozzo (1268), sealing the ruin of the house of Hohenstauffen in Italy and the triumph of that of Anjou, were fatal to Pisa. For the republic had always sided with the empire and favoured Conradin, whose cruel end struck terror into the Ghibelline faction. The pope hurled an edict against the Pisans and tried to deprive them of Sardinia, while their merchants were driven from Sicily by the Angevins. The internal condition of the city was affected by these events. Owing to the increasing influence of the Guelf and popular side, to which the more ambitious nobles began to adhere for the furtherance of personal aims, the aristocratic Ghibelline party was rapidly losing ground. The first man to step to the front at this moment was Count Ugolino della Gherardesca of the powerful house of that name. He had become the virtual head of the republic, and, in order to preserve its independence and his own sway, inclined to the Guelfs and the popular party, in spite of the Ghibelline traditions of his race. He was supported by his kinsman Giovanni Visconti, judge of Gallura ; but almost all the other great families vowed eternal hatred against him, and proclaimed him a traitor to his party, his country, and his kin. So in 1274 he and Visconti were driven into exile. Both then joined the Florentines, took part in the war against their native city, and laid waste its surrounding territories. En 1276 the Pisans were compelled to agree to very grievous terms, to exempt Florentine merchandise from all harbour dues, to yield certain strongholds to Lucca, and to permit the return of Count Ugolino, whose houses they had burnt, and whose lands they had confiscated. Thus the count again became a powerful leader in Pisa. Visconti, however, was dead. This was the moment chosen by Genoa for a desperate and decisive struggle with her perpetual rival. For some years the hostile fleets continued to harass each other and engage in petty skirmishes, as if to measure their strength and prepare for a final effort. On the 6th August 1284 the great battle of Meloria took place. Here seventy-two Pisan galleys engaged eighty-eight Genoese, and half the Pisan fleet was destroyed. The chroniclers speak of 5000 killed and 11,000 prisoners; and, although these figures must be exaggerated, so great was the number of captives taken by the Genoese as to give rise to the saying &quot; To see Pisa, you must now go to Genoa.&quot; This defeat crushed the power of Pisa. She had lost her dominion over the sea, and the Tuscan Guelfs again joined in attacking her by land. Count Ugolino had taken part in the battle of Meloria and was accused of treachery. At the height of his country s disasters, he sought to confirm his own power by making terms with the Florentines, by yielding certain castles to Lucca, and by neglecting to conclude negotiations with the Genoese for the release of the prisoners, lest these should all prove more or less hostile to himself. This excited a storm of opposition against him. The archbishop Ruggieri, having put himself at the head of the nobles, was elected podesta by the Lanfranchi, Sismondi, and Gualandi, and a section of the popular party. The city was plunged into civil war. The great bell of the commune called together the adherents of the archbishop; the bell of the people summoned the partisans of the count. After a day s fighting (1st July 1288) the count, his two sons, and his two nephews were captured in the Palazzo del Popolo (or town hall), and cast into a tower belonging to the Gualandi and known as the &quot; Tower of the Seven Streets.&quot; Here they were all left to die of hunger. Their tragic end was afterwards immortalized in the Divina Commedia. The sjnnpathies of Dante Alighieri, the Florentine patriot and foe of Rome, were naturally in favour of the victims of an aristoeratic prelate, opposed to all reconciliation with Florence. The Florentines were now allied with Lucca and Genoa, and a few of their vessels succeeded in forcing an entry into the Pisan port, blocked it with sunken boats, and seized its towers. Their own internal dissensions of 1293 put a stop to the campaign, but not before they had con cluded an advantageous peace. They and all the members of the Guelf league were freed from all imposts in Pisa and its port. In addition to these privileges the Genoese also held Corsica and part of Sardinia ; and throughout the island of Elba they were exempted from every tax. They likewise received a ransom of 160,000 lire for their Pisan prisoners. These were no longer numerous, many having succumbed to the hardships and sufferings of all kinds to which they had been exposed. In 1312 the arrival of the emperor Henry VII. gladdened the hearts of the Pisans, but his sudden death in 1313 again overthrew their hopes. He was interred at Pisa, and Uguccione della Faggiuola remained as imperial lieutenant, was elected podesta and captain of the people, and thus became virtual lord of the city. As a Ghibelline chief of valour and renown, he was able to restore the military prestige of the Pisans, who under his command captured Lucca and defeated the Florentines at Monteca- tini on the 29th August 1315. So tyrannical, however, was his rule that in 1316 he was expelled by the popular