Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/828

Rh 804 E M E [HISTORY, on the stairs of the Capitol This proved the end of the banderesi and of the liberties of Rome. The government was again directed by an alien senator together with three conservators, but the latter were gradually deprived of their political attributes, and became mere civil officers. The militia, regions, guilds, and other associations now rapidly lost all political importance, and before long were little more than empty names. Thus in 1398 the Romans submitted to the complete sway of the pope, and in July of the same year the senator chosen by him was Mala- testa dei Malatesti of Rimini, one of a line of tyrants, a valiant soldier, who was also temporal vicar and captain general of the church. Boniface continued to appoint foreign senators during the rest of his life ; he fortified Castle St Angelo, the Vatican, and the Capitol; he stationed galleys at the mouth of the Tiber, and proved himself in all things a thoroughly temporal prince. He aggrandized all his kindred, especially his brother, and, with the aid of his senator, his armed force, and the protection of Ladislaus, succeeded in keeping down all the surviving nobles. In 1400, however, these made an attempt to upset the Government* Niccol6 Colonna forced his way into the city with cries of " Popolo, popolo ! death to Boniface ! " But the Romans had grown deaf to the voice of liberty; they refused to rise, and the senator, a Venetian named Zaccaria Trevisan, behaved with much energy. Colonna and his men had to beat a swift retreat to Palestrina. A charge of high treason was immediately instituted against him, and thirty-one rebels were beheaded. The pope then proclaimed a crusade against all the Colonna, and sent a body of two thousand men and some of the Neapolitan soldiery to attack them. Several of their estates were seized and devastated, but Palestrina con- tinued to hold out, and on the 7th January 1401 the Colonna finally made submission to the pope. Neverthe- less they obtained advantageous terms, for Boniface left them their lands, appointed them vicars of other territories, and made similar agreements with the Gaetani and Orsini. In this way he became absolute master of Rome. One chronicler remarks that " Romanis tanquam rigidus imperator dominabatur," and the same tone is taken by others. But he did not succeed in putting an end to the schism of the church, which was still going on when he died in the Vatican on the 1st October 1404. Innocent VII. (1404-6) was the next pope. He too was a Neapolitan, and on his election the people again rose in revolt and refused to acknowledge him unless he consented to resign the temporal power. But Ladislaus of Naples hastened to his help, and an agreement was made which, under the cover of apparent concessions, really riveted the people's chains. Rome was recognized as the seat of the temporal and spiritual sovereignty of the pope, and the pope continued to appoint the senator. The people were to elect seven governors of the city, who were to swear fealty to the pope and carry on the government in conjunction with three other governors chosen by the pontiff or Ladislaus. The stipulations of Boniface IX. concerning ecclesiastical immunities were again confirmed. The barons were forbidden to place more than five lances each at the service of the people, and which was the real gist of the covenant the people were henceforth forbidden to make laws or statutes without the permission of the pope. The captain of the people, deprived of his political and judicial functions and reduced to a simple judge, was also to be chosen by the pope. But this treaty, drawn up on the 27th October 1 404, was not signed at the time, and many difficulties and disturbances arose when its terms were to be put into effect. The Romans nominated the seven governors, but, without waiting until the pope had chosen three more, placed the state in their hands, and styled them governors of the liberty of the Roman republic. They were in fact banderesi or reformatori under a new name. But the attempt proved inefficacious, for, at the pope's first threat of departure, the Romans made their submission, and the treaty of October was sub- scribed on the 15th May 1405. Nevertheless, as it only bears the signatures of the "seven governors of the liberty of the Roman republic," the pope would seem to have made some concessions. His position was by no means assured. Ladislaus was known to aspire to absolute dominion in Italy, and, although willing to aid in sup- pressing the republic, tried to prepare the way for his own designs, and frequently held out a helping hand to the vanquished. On the 6th August fourteen influential citizens of Rome boldly presented themselves at the Vatican, and in a threatening manner called the pope to account for giving his whole attention to worldly things, instead of endeavouring to put a stop to the schisms of the church. But, on leaving his presence, they were attacked by Luigi Migliorati, the pope's nephew, and notorious for his violence, who killed eleven of their number, including several heads of the regions and two of the governors. An insurrection ensued, and the pope and his nephew fled to Viterbo. The Colonna tried to profit by these events, and applied to Ladislaus, who, hoping that the moment had come to make himself master of Rome, sent the count of Troia thither with a troop of three thousand horse. But the people, enraged by this treachery, and determined not to fall under the yoke of Naples, awoke for an instant to the memory of their past glories, and bravely repulsed the Colonna and the Neapolitans. And, on the speedy arrival of the Orsini with some of the papal troops, the people voluntarily restored the papal govern- ment, and, assembling the parliament, besought the pope to return on his own terms. Accordingly, after first naming Francesco Panciatichi of Pistoia to the senatorship, the pope came back on the 13th March 1406, bringing his whole curia with him, and also the murderer Migliorati, who, triumphing in impunity, became more arrogant than before. Here indeed was a proof that the Romans were no longer worthy of liberty ! And now, by means of the Orsini, Innocent had only to reduce the Colonna and other nobles raised to power by Ladislaus ; nor was this very difficult, seeing that the king, in his usual fashion, abandoned them to their fate, and, making terms with the pope, was named gonfalonier of the church and again protected her cause. Innocent, dying in 1406, was succeeded by Gregory XII., a Venetian, who, as we shall presently see, resigned the chair in 1415. On his accession, finding his state firmly established, he seemed to be seriously bent on putting an end to the Great Schism, and for that purpose arranged a meeting with the antipope Benedict XIII. at the congress of Savona in 1408. But Gregory and Benedict only used the congress as a pretext for making war upon each other, and were urged on by Ladislaus, who hoped by weakening both to gain possession of Rome, where, although opposed by the Orsini, he had the support of the Colonna. Gregory, who had then fled from Rome, made a momentary attempt to win the popular favour by restoring the govern- ment of the banderesi ; but Ladislaus marched into Rome Ladislai in June 1408 and established a senator of his own. master < Meanwhile the two popes were continuing their shameful Rome- struggle, and the council of Pisa (March 1409), in attempt- ing to check it, only succeeded in raising up a third pontiff, first in the person of Alexander V. (1409-10), and then in the turbulent Baldassare Cossa, who assumed the name of John XXIII. The latter began by sending a large contingent to assist Louis of Anjou against Ladislaus. But the enterprise failed, and, seeing himself deserted by all, Pope John next embraced the cause of his foe by