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PISA , a See also:town, archiepiscopal see and See also:capital of a See also:province of the same name, See also:Tuscany, See also:Italy, on the See also:Arno, 7 M. from the See also:sea' PISA tions of the See also:cathedral were laid in 1063, and its See also:consecration took See also:place in 1118; the See also:baptistery was begun in 1152, and the campanile (the famous leaning See also:tower) in 1174. And all three magnificent structures were mainly the See also:work of See also:Pisan artists, who gave new See also:life to See also:Italian See also:architecture, as they afterwards renewed the See also:art of See also:sculpture. It is asserted by some writers, especially by Tronci, that in the 12th See also:century Pisa adopted a more democratic See also:form of See also:government. But in fact the See also:chief authority was still vested in the nobles, who, both in Pisa and in See also:Sardinia, exercised almost See also:sovereign See also:power. They formed the real strength of the See also:republic, and kept it faithful to the See also:empire and the Ghibelline party. The See also:Guelph and popular See also:element which constituted the force and prosperity of See also:Florence was hostile to Pisa, and led to its downfall. The See also:independence of the former See also:city was of much later origin, only dating from the See also:death of Countess See also:Matilda (1115), but it rapidly See also:rose to an ever-increasing power, and to inevitable rivalry with Pisa. Owing to the See also:political and commercial interests binding Florence to the See also:Roman See also:court, the Guelph element naturally prevailed there, while the growth of its See also:trade and See also:commerce necessarily compelled that See also:state to encroach on See also:waters subject to Pisan See also:rule. And, although Pisa had hitherto been able to oppose a glorious resistance to See also:Genoa and See also:Lucca, it was not so easy to continue the struggle when its enemies were backed by the arms and political See also:wisdom of the Florentines, who were skilled in obtaining powerful See also:allies. The chroniclers ascribe the first See also:war with Florence, which See also:broke out in 1222, to a most ridiculous See also:motive. The ambassadors of the See also:rival states in See also:Rome are said to have quarrelled about a lapdog. This merely shows that there were already so many See also:general and permanent reasons for war that no See also:special cause was needed to provoke it. In 1228 the Pisans met and defeated the See also:united forces of Florence and Lucca near Barga in the Garfagnana, and at the same See also:time they despatched fifty-two galleys to assist See also:Frederick II. in his expedition to the See also:East. Shortly after this they renewed hostilities with the Genoese on See also:account of Sardinia. The See also:judges who governed the See also: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 See also:blood, and the war burst out again and again, down to 1259, when it terminated in the decisive victory of the Pisans and the consolidation of their supremacy in Sardinia. But meanwhile Florence had made See also:alliance with Genoa, Lucca and all the Guelph cities of Tuscany against its Ghibelline rival. The See also:pope had excommunicated Frederick II. and all his adherents. And, as a crowning disaster, the death of Frederick in 1250 proved a mortal See also:blow to the Italian Ghibelline cause. Nevertheless, the Pisans were undaunted. Summoning See also:Siena, See also:Pistoia and the Florentine exiles to their aid, they boldly faced their foe, but were defeated in 1254. Soon 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 (anziani) ; besides the See also:podesta, there was a See also:captain of the See also:people; and there was a general See also:council as well as a See also:senate of See also:forty members. The rout of the Tuscan Guelphs on the See also: For the republic had always sided with the empire and favoured See also:Conradin, whose cruel end struck terror into the Ghibelline See also:faction. The pope hurled an See also:edict against the Pisans and tried to deprive them of Sardinia, while their merchants were driven from See also:Sicily by the Angevins. The See also:internal See also:condition of the city was affected by these events. Owing to the increasing See also:influence of the Guelph and popular See also:side, to which the more ambitious nobles began to adhere for the furtherance of See also:personal aims, the aristocratic Ghibelline party was rapidly losing ground. The first See also:man to step to the front at this moment was See also:Count Ugolino della Gherardesca of the powerful house of that name. He had become the virtual See also:head of the republic, and, in See also:order to preserve its independence and his own sway, inclined to the
See also:brother and son, or, as some authorities aver, a wife and son, prisoners in their hands. Sardinia continued to be governed by native " judges " who were like See also:petty sovereigns, but were now subject to the sway of Pisa. This was the See also:primary cause of the See also:jealousy of the Genoese, and of the See also:wars afterwards made by them upon Pisa and carried on until its power was crushed. Meanwhile the Pisans flourished more and more, and continued hostilities against the See also:Saracens. In 1062 their See also:ships returned from See also:Palermo laden with spoil. Thus it is not surprising that Pisa should already have had its own See also:code of See also:laws (Consuetudini di See also:mare), which in 1075 were approved by See also:Gregory VII., and in io8i confirmed by a patent from the See also:emperor See also: Thus, while the See also:commune of Pisa was still under the rule of the marquises of Tuscany, all negotiations with it were carried on as with an See also:independent state officially represented by the See also:archbishop and consuls. The aristocrats were the dominant party, and filled the highest offices of the republic, which, in the 12th century, rose to See also:great power, both on sea and See also:land, by its wars with the Lucchese, Genoese and Moslems. In 1110 Pisa made See also:peace with Lucca after six years of continuous hostilities. And in the years 1113 and i i i it achieved a still greater enterprise. The Pisan See also:fleet of three See also:hundred See also:sail, commanded by the archbishop Pietro Moriconi, attacked the Balearic Isles, where as many as 20,000 Christians were said to be held See also:captive by the Moslems, and returned loaded with spoil and with a multitude of See also:Christian and Moslem prisoners. The former were set at See also:liberty or ransomed, and among the latter was the last descendant of the reigning See also:dynasty. The chief See also:eunuch who had governed See also:Majorca perished in the See also:siege. Immediately afterwards the fourteen years' war with Genoa broke out. The two republics contested the dominion of the sea, and both claimed supreme power over the islands of See also:Corsica and Sardinia. A papal edict awarding the supremacy of Corsica to the Pisan See also: They aided in the vigorous See also:defence of the city of See also:Naples, and twice attacked and pillaged See also:Amalfi, in 1135 and 1137, with such effect that the town never regained its prosperity. It has been said that the copy of the See also:Pandects then taken by the Pisans from Amalfi was the first known to them, but in fact they were already acquainted with those laws. The war with Genoa never came to a real end. Even after the retaking of Jerusalem by the Moslems (1187) the Pisans and Genoese again met in conflict in the East, and performed many deeds of valour. They were always ready to come to blows, and gave still more See also:signal proofs of their enmity during the Sicilian War in behalf of the emperor Henry VI. From that moment it was See also:plain that there could be no lasting peace between these rival See also:powers until the one or the other should be crushed. The greatness and See also:wealth of the Pisans at this See also:period of their See also:history is proved by the erection of the See also:noble buildings by which their city is adorned. The founda-
It must be remembered that the Pisans and Florentines dated the beginning of the year ab incarnatione, i.e. from the 25th of See also: He was supported by his kinsman Giovanni See also:Visconti, See also:judge of Gallura; but almost all the other great families vowed eternal hatred against him, and proclaimed him a traitor to his party, his See also:country and his See also:kin. So in 1274 he and Visconti were driven into See also:exile. Both then joined the Florentines, took part in the war against their native city, and laid See also:waste its surrounding territories. In 1276 the Pisans were compelled to agree to very grievous terms—to exempt Florentine merchandise from all See also: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 See also: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 of See also:August 1284 the great battle of See also:Meloria took place. Here seventy-two Pisan galleys engaged eighty-eight Genoese, and See also: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—" To see Pisa, you must now go to Genoa." This defeat crushed the power of Pisa. She had lost her dominion over the sea, and the Tuscan Guelphs 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 See also:release of the prisoners, lest these should all prove more or less hostile to himself. This excited a See also:storm of opposition against him. The archbishop Ruggieri, having put himself at the head of the nobles, was elected podesta by the Lanfranchi, See also:Sismondi and Gualandi, and a See also:section of the popular party. The city was plunged into See also:civil war. The great See also:bell of the commune called together the adherents of the archbishop; the bell of the people summoned the partisans of the count. After a See also:day's fighting (See also:July 1, 1288) the count, his two sons and his two grandsons were captured in the palazzo del popolo (or town See also: In addition to these privileges the Genoese also held Corsica and part of Sardinia; and through-out the island of See also:Elba they were exempted from every tax. They likewise received a See also: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 See also:hearts of the Pisans, but his sudden death in 1313 again over-threw their hopes. He was interred at Pisa, and Uguccione della Faggiuola remained as imperial See also:lieutenant, was elected podesta and captain of the people, and thus became virtual See also:lord of the city. As a Ghibelline chief of valour and renown he was able to restore the military See also:prestige of the Pisans, who under his command captured Lucca and defeated the Florentines at See also:Montecatini on the 29th of August 1315. So tyrannical, however, was his rule that in 1316 he was expelled by the popular fury. But
lords or tyrants, of whom the most renowned was Castruccio Castracane, a political and military adventurer of much the same See also:stamp as Uguccione himself. With the help of See also: Aided by their Milanese, Mantuan and Paduan allies, they gave battle to their rivals, put them to rout at Altopascio (Oct. 2), and then again excluded them from their port. Thereupon the Florentines obtained See also:Porto Talamone from Siena and established a See also:navy of their own. By this means they were enabled to capture the island of See also:Giglio, and, attacking the Pisan harbour, carried off its chains, See also:bore them in triumph to Florence, and suspended them in front of the baptistery, where they remained until 1848. Then, in See also:pledge of the brotherhood of all Italian cities, they were given back to Pisa, and placed in the Campo Santo.
The war was now carried on by the See also:free companies with varying See also:fortune, but always more or less to the hurt of the Pisans. In 1369 Lucca was taken from them by the emperor See also: In the year 1278 they had entrusted the erection of their fine Campo Santo to Niccola and Giovanni See also:Pisano, by whom the architectural part of it was completed towards the end of the century. In the following year the first artists of Italy were engaged in its decoration, and the celebrated frescoes attributed to See also:Orcagna (q.v.) were painted on its walls. Others were after-wards supplied by Benozzo See also:Gozzoli and men of lesser See also:note, and the labour of ornamentation was only discontinued in 1464. Meanwhile, in 1406, the Florentines made another attack upon Pisa, besieging it simultaneously by sea and land. Owing to the starving condition of its defenders, and aided by the treachery of Giovanni Gambacorti, they entered the city in triumph on the 9th of See also:October, and sought to " crush every germ of See also:rebellion and drive out its citizens by See also:measures of the utmost harshness and See also:cruelty." Such were the orders sent by the Ten of War to the representatives of the Florentine government in Pisa, and such was then the established policy of every Italian state. Consequently for a See also:long time there was a continual stream of See also:emigration from Pisa. The See also:Medici pursued a humaner course. In 1472 Lorenzo the Magnificent tried to restore the See also:ancient renown of the Pisan university. To that end he filled it with celebrated scholars, and, leaving only a few chairs of letters and See also:philosophy in Florence, compelled the Florentines to resort to Pisa for the See also:prosecution of their studies. But nothing could now allay the inextinguishable hatred of the conquered people. When Charles VIII. made his descent into Italy in 1494, and came to See also:Sarzana on his way to Tuscany, he was welcomed by the Pisans with the greatest demonstrations of joy. And, although that monarch was ostensibly the friend of Florence, they did `not hesitate, even in his presence, to assert their own independence, summoned a council, the former to Cividale (in See also:Friuli), the and, casting the Florentine See also:ensign, the Marzocco, into the Arno, made instant preparations for war. Between 1499 and 15o5 they heroically withstood three sieges and repulsed three attacking armies. But their adversaries always returned to the See also:assault, and, what was worse, yearly laid waste their territories and destroyed all their crops. See also:Soderini, who was perpetual gonfalonier of Florence, and See also:Machiavelli, the secretary of the Ten, urged on the war. In 1509 Florence encamped her forces on three sides of the distressed city, which at last, reduced to extremity by See also:famine, was compelled to surrender on the 8th of See also:June 1509. Thenceforth the Florentines remained lords of Pisa. But now, mainly owing to the efforts of Soderini and Machiavelli, the conquerors showed great magnanimity. They brought with them large stores of provisions, which were freely distributed to all; they tried to succour the suffering populace in every way, and gave other assistance to the wealthier classes. Nevertheless, emigration continued even on a larger See also:scale than in 1406, and the real history of Pisa may be said to have ended. In Naples, in Palermo, in all parts of Italy, See also:Switzerland and the See also:south of See also:France, we still find the names of Pisan families who quitted their beloved See also:home at that time. The Florentines immediately built a new citadel, and this was a great bitterness to the Pisans. The Medici, however, remained well disposed towards the city. See also:Leo X. was an active See also:patron of the university, but it again declined after his death. The See also:grand See also:duke Cosmo I., a genuine statesman, not only restored the university, but instituted the " uffizio dei fossi," or drainage See also:office for the reclamation of See also:marsh lands, and founded the See also:knighthood of St See also:Stephen. This order played a noble part in the See also:protection of Tuscan commerce, by fighting the See also:Barbary pirates and establishing the prestige of the grand-ducal navy (see MEDICI). Under the succeeding Medici, Pisa's fortunes steadily declined. See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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