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 450 ITALY ly assumed the name of Gnelphs (from the Ba- varian dynasty of the Welfs, the most power- ful opponents of the imperial rule in Ger- many), while the partisans of the emperors were known under the name of Ghibellines (a corrupt form of Waiblingen, one of the seats of the Swabian or Hohenstaufen dynasty). A long continued struggle ended in the victory of the Guelphs, the emperor Frederick I. being compelled to recognize the autonomy of the cities belonging to the league. As an offset to these reverses he obtained the kingdom of the Two Sicilies by the marriage of his son with the daughter of the last Norman king. When, by internal dissensions and bloody civil wars, the power of the free cities in upper Italy seemed to be exhausted, Frederick II. made another effort to obtain complete mastery; but his successes were only temporary, and the German dynasty was completely overthrown in upper Italy (1254), while the kingdom of the Two Sicilies was wrested from them by Charles of Anjou. In the mean time muni- cipal liberty in the free cities of upper and central Italy had been gradually subverted by petty dynasties, and the second half of the 13th century witnessed a long series of fierce party struggles, the designations of Guelphs and Ghibellines being kept up, the former by the popular or democratic party, the latter by the aristocratic. The aristocracy was defeated in Venice, Genoa, and in Florence, whence all noblemen were banished (1282) ; but soon af- terward the victorious popular party was torn into hostile factions, and, though still able to frustrate the efforts of the German emperor Henry VII., who attempted to regain the do- minion of Italy (1312), they succumbed in the different states to petty tyrants. Thus Pisa fell under the rule of Uguccione della Faggiola (1314), and Lucca under that of Castruccio Castracani (1316); Padua became a principal- ity under the Carrara dynasty (1318), Alessan- dria, Tortona, and Cremona under the Vis- contis, Mantua under the Gonzagas (1328), and Ferrara under the Estes. The Polenta family ruled in Ravenna, the Scala family in Verona, the Pepoli family in Bologna. Genoa expelled the leading families of the Guelph and Ghibel- line parties, and elected its first doge, Simone Boccanegra (1339). In Rome the democratic party, led by Cola di Rienzi, was successful for a brief time (1347). Besides all the miseries en- gendered by these feuds and dissensions, armies of robbers, consisting of discharged soldiers, plundered the country, a terrible famine (1347) decimated the population, and a plague, the most horrible of which we have any account, mowed down two thirds of the inhabitants of the peninsula. Yet in the midst of these in- flictions, science, literature, and the fine arts flourished as they had never done before, and the very plague which made Italy a vast ceme- tery furnished the dark background on which Boccaccio drew the light fantastical pictures of his Decamerone. In lower Italy, Charles of Anjou, having lost the island of Sicily by a popular outbreak (the Sicilian vespers, March 30, 1282), consolidated his dynasty in Naples, and the country enjoyed comparative tranquil- lity. In 1382 Queen Joanna was dethroned and assassinated. The usurper, Charles of Duraz- zo, shared her fate in 1386, and her grandson maintained himself for 28 years. Toward the latter half of the 14th century and during the 15th five states were predominant: Naples, the Papal States, Florence, Milan, and Venice ; while the smaller states gradually dwindled down to utter insignificance. From Milan the Visconti dynasty threatened all the neighbor- ing princes, and gradually subjected Lombardy to their rule. Having become extinct in 1447, they were succeeded by the Sforza dynasty. In Florence the Medici family rose by their wealth and prudence to supreme power. Ven- ice, under a strong oligarchical government, conquered Padua, Verona, Vicenza, and a por- tion of Dalmatia, established colonial govern- ments in the Grecian archipelago and on the shores of the Black sea, and remained victori- ous in many struggles with the Turks and with Naples. Its former powerful rival Genoa had, after a feud of centuries, been compelled to acknowledge the superior power of Venice. About the beginning of the 16th century Italy became the theatre of desolating wars between the rival French and Austrian dynasties. The struggle was opened in 1494 by the attempt of Charles VIII. of France to conquer Naples ; after many vicissitudes French hopes were finally crushed by the defeat of Pavia in 1525. From that time Italy enjoyed comparative peace for over 150 years, during which period its ter- ritorial and political relations became more and more consolidated. In Florence the Medici obtained hereditary power ; the principality of Montferrat fell to the Gonzagas of Mantua (1536) ; Parma and Piacenza to the Farnese family, descendants of Pope Paul III. ; Milan and Naples were secured to Spain by the em- peror Charles V. ; in the extreme N. W. por- tion of Italy the ducal house of Savoy obtained Piedmont. Venice, whose naval and commer- cial supremacy had declined after the discovery of the passage around the cape of Good Hope, lost the island of Candia in 1669, but recon- quered the Peloponnesus, which it had for- merly held. New troubles and changes were caused by the wars of France under Louis XIV. Savoy and Piedmont were repeatedly occupied by France. In l706-'7 Austria con- quered Milan, Mantua, and Montferrat, and ceded the last to Piedmont; by the peace of Utrecht (1713) she obtained Sardinia and Na- ples, hut in 1720 exchanged the former for Sicily, which had been given to Piedmont. The Farnese family having become extinct, Parma and Piacenza were given to the Span- ish prince Charles in 1731, hut fell to Aus- tria -in 1V38, when Charles ascended the throne of Naples. In Tuscany the Medici family be- came extinct in 1737, and was succeeded by