Mrs. G. Gretton

The writer's motives for not having dwelt minutely on political or historical subjects—Antiquity of Ancona—Its reputation under the Roman Empire—Its celebrated resistance to the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa—Stratagem employed by its deliverers—Continues to be a free city till 1532, when it is surprised by Gonzaga, General of Pope Clement VII., and subjected to the Holy See—Flourishes under Napoleon—Restoration of the Papacy—Pontifical possessions—Explanation of the terms, legations, and Romagna—Bologna conquered in 1506, by Julius II., but retains a separate form of government—Ferrara, Urbino, &c.—Dates of their annexation.

The foregoing pages were written solely with the view of describing the social and domestic condition of a part of Italy little visited by travellers, but which presents features of quaintness and originality not easily met with in this era. Even in the Marche these peculiarities risk speedy annihilation. Should they be fortunate enough to be included in the emancipation from Pontifical government, of which the neighbouring Legations now seem secure, these sketches in ten years' time will be looked upon as monstrous caricatures. Should they on the contrary undergo no change of rÉgime, what I have said will be as applicable a hundred years hence as it was six months ago.

The fear of compromising my friends was one great motive of my avoidance of political subjects, further than in the exact measure necessary to illustrate the life and conversation of the Ancona and Macerata societÀ. I have been guilty of no breach of confidence in quoting their sentiments or anecdotes; for even if the veil of fictitious names were seen through, the expressions attributed to them are to be found in the mouths of every man or woman in the Papal States, who combines intelligence with honesty. It is no want of charity to say that no member of the anti-liberal party unites both these qualities. I know and esteem a great many Codini, but their mental capacity is undeniably limited. It is only those whom no one esteems who are really clever.

Any historical retrospections I also purposely left aside, as out of keeping to the purpose I had in hand, and not likely to interest the generality of readers, overdone with “the Italian question.” The condition of the Roman States, however, has of late been so widely discussed and inquired into, that I believe an outline of the history of Ancona, and the provinces adjoining it, will now be found interesting, though with reference to the events of last summer and autumn, much minuteness of detail is purposely avoided. The consequences might be fatal to many, were I to give publicity to their revelations, their sufferings, and their hopes.

Ancona, as already observed, lays claim to high antiquity. It is supposed to have been founded by a Doric colony, and its Greek name is derived from the angular, elbow-like form of the promontory on which the town is situated. In the time of CÆsar it was a celebrated port; and its importance under Trajan is attested by the magnificent works undertaken by that emperor, upon which more than seventeen centuries have scarce left a trace. The mole he built at the entrance of the inner harbour is a monument of true Roman durability, formed of huge stones, bound together by iron, and rising to a considerable height above the level of the sea. The triumphal arch which bears his name was erected by his wife and sister in his honour. Considered by many as the finest marble arch now extant, it stands on the old mole, more vigorous in its decay than aught of the present which surrounds it.

During the dark ages the city sustained many vicissitudes, and was successively ravaged by Totila, the Saracens, and the Lombards. The latter placed over it a governor, whose title, Marchese, gave rise to the general term of Marchesato to the provinces under his rule. Hence the abbreviation of La Marca, or Le Marche, still in use. In the latter part of the eleventh century, the March of Ancona was bequeathed to the Church by the famous Countess Matilda, whose sway extended over a considerable part of central Italy, but the town was not comprehended in this donation. It maintained itself as a free city, flourishing in trade, and steadily opposed to the Ghibeline, or imperialist, faction. For this Frederic Barbarossa, in 1174, brought it to a deadly reckoning, and jointly with the Venetians, who were jealous of its commercial prosperity, entered upon the famous siege which is one of the most brilliant episodes in Italian mediÆval annals.

Then, as now, the harbour had no adequate defences, and the Venetian galleys were able to moor themselves in the very face of the quays, establish the most strict blockade, and harass the town by their military engines, while the German army ravaged the country, and hemmed the garrison within the narrow compass of the walls. Time had failed the inhabitants to lay in supplies before the approach of the enemy, and the pressure of famine early made itself felt. Ere long they were reduced to such grievous straits, that the skins of animals, whose flesh is commonly rejected as unclean, as well as sea-weed, and the wild herbs growing on the ramparts, were all eagerly devoured. A young and beautiful woman, of the noble class, bearing an infant at her breast, one day remarked a sentinel who had sunk upon the ground at his post. To her rebuke for his neglect, he answered that he was perishing from exhaustion. Her reply has been preserved as worthy of a Roman matron. “Fifteen days”, she said, “have passed, during which my life has been barely supported by loathsome sustenance, and a mother's stores are beginning to be dried up from my babe. Place your lips however upon this bosom, and if aught yet remains there, drink it, and recover strength for the defence of our country.”

Dauntless courage, as well as sublime endurance, was displayed by the besieged. On one occasion the Venetians took advantage of the garrison's attention being drawn off by an assault of the imperialists on the land side, to effect a disembarkation. They already thought the town their own, when they were charged by the inhabitants, who drove them back in confusion; and a woman rushing forward with a blazing torch, under a shower of stones and arrows, set fire to a lofty wooden tower which was the most formidable of their beleaguering works. The daring of a priest inflicted another loss of equal importance upon the Venetians. Among their ships employed in the blockade, was one distinguished for its enormous bulk, bearing towers on its deck, and known by the name of Il Mondo. To destroy this was the brave priest's aim. Carrying an axe in his teeth, he swam across the harbour, and succeeded in cutting the cable which moored the vessel to her anchorage. Il Mondo drifted among the rest of the shipping, and caused the loss of seven galleys ere it could be secured, at the cost moreover of its cumbrous engines, and much of its stores.

The hardness and arrogance of Christian, the Arch-chancellor of the Empire, to whom Frederic had delegated the chief command, contributed to the Anconitans' obstinate resistance. His disdainful rejection of their proposals to treat on honourable terms, nerved them to face the deadliest extremity ere they yielded to his mercy. Help came at last from the Guelphs of Ferrara and Ravenna. Much inferior in numbers to the enemy, a classical stratagem adopted by their leader, Marcheselli, deceived even the astute Christian. It was night when they reached the heights of Falconara, whence Ancona is plainly seen. To give notice of his approach to the besieged, and at the same time strike terror into the German host, he ordered every soldier to bind to the head of his lance as many lighted torches as he could dispose around it, and extending his ranks, deployed slowly from the mountain.

Dismayed at the long and glittering lines of light bearing down upon him, the Arch-chancellor imagined a force was marching to the relief of the city, of such magnitude as his own troops, already jaded and dispirited at their want of success, were in no condition to encounter. He precipitately broke up his camp, and retired upon Spoleto. The Venetians at the same time raised the blockade, and Ancona remained a memorable example of what may be borne and done by a free people in the preservation of their freedom.

Ancona enjoyed its independence until 1532, when it was surprised by Gonzaga, general of Clement VII., who, under the pretence of defending it against the incursions of the Turks, erected a fort, and filled the city with Papal troops. The magistrates, or Anziani, were expelled, the principal nobles beheaded or banished, and the absolute dominion of the Holy See was established beyond the power of the inhabitants to resist the usurpation. From that time Ancona remained in subjection to the Church until the wars of the French Directory, when the Roman States were occupied by Napoleon; and subsequently, incorporated by him with the rest of Central and Northern Italy into the Regno d'Italia, under the viceroyalty of EugÈne Beauharnais, enjoyed a brief season of unaccustomed prosperity.

The pacification of Europe placed Italy on its former footing. The award of the Congress of Vienna restored the successor of St Peter to the possessions of which he had been stripped by the French Revolution. By conquest, cession, or inheritance, these possessions had increased from the original scanty and barren territory, bestowed by Pepin and Charlemagne to a State containing three millions of inhabitants, and extending from the shores of the Adriatic to those of the Mediterranean.

In 1815 the pontifical dominions were divided into twenty provinces, six styled Legations, governed by cardinals; thirteen Delegations, under prelates; and the Comarca of Rome. I shall merely name those on the Mediterranean:—the legation of Velletri, and the delegations of Perugia, Spoleto, Rieti, Viterbo, Orvieto, Civita Vecchia, Frosinone and Benevento. It is on the provinces lying on the other side of the Apennines that at the present moment general interest is concentrated. The most important of these are the four legations of Bologna, Ferrara, Forli, and Ravenna, lying between the Po and La Cattolica,[8] and usually known as the Romagne;—the legation of Urbino and Pesaro; and the delegation of Ancona. The delegations of Macerata, Camerino, Fermo and Ascoli, are of less extent and less political importance. The collective designation of Le Marche is applied to the entire tract between La Cattolica and the Neapolitan frontier.

Most of these territories and towns do not belong to the Holy See by the ancient tenure commonly supposed. We have seen how the city of Ancona became annexed in 1532. Nearly thirty years before, Bologna had been conquered from its Signori, the Bentivogli, by the soldier-pontiff, Julius II., who, however, allowed it to continue, except in name, almost independent of his authority. The same pope also extended his victories over Ravenna, which he obtained from the Venetians; and compelled CÆsar Borgia to yield up the Holy See, Forli, Cesena, Rimini, and other smaller towns of the Romagne that he had wrested from their petty princes, and of which the sovereignty had been conferred on him by Alexander VI. Ferrara was attached to the Church in 1598 by Clement VIII., after the extinction of the direct line of the house of Este in the person of Duke Alfonso II., on the plea that CÆsar D'Este, the representative of the family by a collateral branch was disqualified by illegitimacy. The provinces of Urbino and Pesaro were ceded in 1626 by their last duke, Francesco Maria della Rovere, to Pope Urban VIII., along with Senigallia, an appanage of the same family. The towns which give their names to the four delegations last enumerated, besides Osimo, Recanati, Tolentino, &c., were acquired at different times, under similar circumstances. Camerino was given up by the treaty; others which had been taken under the special protection of the German emperors, who in the Middle Ages claimed a sort of suzerainship over Italy, reverted to the popes on the decline of the Ghibeline influence; the rest were governed by their own Signori till subjugated by CÆsar Borgia, who, while shaping out his own ambitious ends, did Rome good service by bringing these elements of feud and bloodshed into the recognition of one supreme authority.