The Venetian republic - v. 2 Author:William Carew Hazlitt Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER XXXI A.d. 1441-1457 Venetian Affairs from 1441 to 1447—Venetian Policy during that Period—Death of Filippo-Maria (Aug. 1447)—His Person and Character... more »—His Four Wills- War of the Succession—Sforza's Fortunes—Sforza, Duke of Milan (March 1450)—League between Venice and Naples against Sforza and Florence (1452) —Desultory Nature of operations—Attempt on the Life of the Duke under the Sanction of the Ten—Treaty of Lodi (April 1454)—Conquest of Constantinople by the Turks (1453)—Treaty between Venice and Mohammed II. (April 1454) —Great Italian League of 1455—Review of Venetian Progress and Civilisation —Story of the Two Foscari (1445-56)—Deposition and Death of the Doge (Oct.-Nov. 1457)—Foscari and his Times. Fbom the date of the conclusion of the Fourth War against Filippo-Maria Visconti, which had borne some resemblance to an extended duel between the two commanders, till 1447, Italian politics continued to present a precarious and fluctuating aspect. The governing aim of Visconti in these later years of his life was to alienate Sforza from his employers by alternate threats and caresses, by insinuations against Venetian honour and magnificent proposals. Such a purpose, if realised, was infallibly fraught with extreme peril, and the Republic energetically strove to thwart it. Venice, while she judiciously refrained from hurrying into a war in the absence of any serious aggression upon Italian liberty, gave the Bolognese and Florentines assurances of her intention to support them in case of necessity ; and in the autumn of 1443, a defensive league against Milan for five years was subscribed by Florence, Genoa, Bologna, and the Signory, the last Power offering to place 2000 horse at the disposal of Count Francesco, should he be attacked. In 1445, by a treaty between the ...« less