History of S. Italy.

Cue (NZERS), Issue 5, 15 August 1944, Page 19

History of S. Italy.

•'ll HE purpose of this article the third of a series of four 5 .VA S to give a brief but accurate survey of Italy from Rome to all the land that lies to the south. v

7. PERIOD OF THE HOUSE OF ANJOU, 1266 TO 1442. . fin the struggle between the Emperor and the Church, the Pope called in Charles of Anjou, the brother of the King of France, to fight the Hohenstaufens whom he defeated in 1266. Charles promptly lost the island of Sicily to Peter of Aragon. He made Naples the capital of his kingdom of 4 N a Pl es Robert of Anjou even envisaged a .united Italy and attempted to unify it but the idea was premature, although it was about this time that real Italian surges, apart from Latin, were being felt. Dante was to write his « Divine Comedy,» Boccaccio to pen « Decameron » and Giotto paint his famous frescoes. , Much of the reign of this family is contemporary with the early part of the huge renewal of inter--est in the arts known as the Renaissance, the centre of which was mostly cities of the north, notably Florence, and this great intellectual ' activity was also reflected in the south. Churches and castles were built. The adjective to edifices of this house is « Angevin,» such as • describes the Castel N uovo at Naples. Sculpture and painting flourished. 1350 A.D. Black Death. . 1350 A.D. Arrival of the Great Fleet in New Zealand. 8. PERIOD OF THE HOUSE OF ARAGON, 1442 TO 1496. The House of Anjou was followed by the House of Aragon in 1442, when Alphonse was recognised as King. The family already had connections with Sicily so, fortunately, the two were united.

Alfonso the Magnanimous preferred Italy to Aragon and a great development went on round Naples. He supported the Academy of (Naples, composed chiefly of young poets. *' The influence of the major Renaissance movement from the north encouraged ’ the development of the fine arts s which is reflected in pieces of sculpture in the churches and also by the Triumphal Arch of Alfonso of Aragon in the Castel Nuovo. Apulia was almost unaffected by the Renaissance. 1 • Culturally, the 14 and 15 hundreds were the greatest period in Italy. The Turkish Conquests culminating in the, capture" of Constantinople in 1453 dispersed the Byzantine scholars. Many fled to a most receptive Italy, a country where the people were already /intellectually curious. They appreciated the vast store of classical knowledge revealed to them. Art, during the Renaissance, in Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, reached its highest state of perfection. Science found Galileo. The Age of Discovery produced Columbus, the Cabots and Amerigo Vespucci. . The Discovery of the New World and development of the India Route were to alter completely the commerce routes into Europe. These new seaways were to take over the trade that once passed through Italy. For a time the North, organised in city states,, continued to flourish, even to expand, their merchant and banker princes finding it an honour to patronise artists and authors whose works, are ,some of the most brilliant in history.

But this was a condition that could last only as long as they enjoyed their wealth. Finally, they were living on their accumulated capital. The course of events was drawing Italy inevitably into the quarrels of Europe, which were eventually to impoverish the country. For the next 300 years Italy, politically, was to be the cockpit of Europe/ and Southern Italy as the Kingdom of jNaples fared even worse than the other four major

ask the French King Charles VIII to press his Angevin claims on .Naples. He made a triumphal march through Italy. Alfonso, the Aragonese ruler, fled to Sicily, but the situation was not consolidated. This first intervention of France was important for it' helped to disseminate the art and learning ci Italy through Western Europe. In the- meantime an alliance had been made between France and Aragon to press the Angevin

states, Venice, Milan, Florence and the Papal Territories of Central Italy. ' ' t No sense of nationalism permeated them and they were imperialistic to the point of calling in the foreigner. Florence and Naples attempted to despoil Milan and the Milanese— the Sforza family—were only too pleased to

claims again this time successfully — but the two allies fell out and the Spaniards took control oi Sicily and South Italy by defeating the French at - Garigliano in 1503 and at Gaeta in 1504. 1455 A.D. Wars of the Roses.

(To be continued