Intermission: the Situation in Italy
Before I discuss the major period of the Brabantese civil war (the period from 1578-1585), I feel that it is a pertinent time to discuss what Louis XII’s motivations for going into the war were. I have discussed earlier what others (the Hugenots in particular) saw as Louis’ motivations, but I haven’t discussed what he was trying to get out of the war from his own perspective, and his actions deserve explanation.
Louis XII in 1580. His powdered wig, which he wore after a horrid burn to his scalp incurred in battle, soon became popular throughout Europe
The histiography of Louis XII is, to put it mildly, split. From some perspectives, Louis was a fool who embroiled himself in wars that he shouldn’t have, and who created the imperial structures which led, eventually, to France’s downfall. In the view of many, though, Louis was a visionary, and Kissinger calls Louis the second ‘great practitioner’ of realist thinking after Machiavelli. The idea of Louis as a realist, who ignored sectarian divisions to fight for French interests, still begs the question though—why did he support the Dutch rebels, who ended up turning into one of France’s greatest regional rivals?
The answer is that Louis was indeed a visionary, but though his ideas coincided to some degree with what became 20th century realism, they could more accurately be described as nationalist. The book which he was writing near the end of his life, The Nations of Europe, has recently been found when the French national archives opened up and catalogued their works from the Ancien Regime. In it, he expresses ‘solidarity’ with all the peoples of Europe, and he expresses the belief that all the nations of Europe deserve self-governance and the sovereignty that comes with self-governance.
What is often forgotten about the 1530s is that France was at the center of the Hapsburg Empire before the rise of Louis Bourbon. Had Matthias I married the crown-princess it is likely that France would have been integrated into the Arch-duchy of Austria as the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary were. This fear, of French subjugation, colored Louis’ view of international relations: he saw with a sympathetic eye the plights of the anti-Hapsburg rebels, and thought that his support for these rebel movements would lead to an amicable relationship between France and the newly liberated country. Though this led to abject failure in Switzerland and Brabant, perhaps we should consider a success of his—the example of Naples and the Neapolitan rebels.
A Modenan statue of Giadomenico di Sforza, first king of the new Kingdom of Naples
Remy-Louis de Bourbon paid a large amount of money out of his own pocket to fund the Neapolitan rebels. His personal interest in the whole region of Italy came from his time as ambassador to Modena (a position which afterwards became a sign that its holder was on the fast track to a higher position in the government), where he had often met with the major groups in the Neapolitan resistance, which fashioned itself as the ‘Army di Napoli’.
The Siege of Calabria. Burgher and peasant rebels consistently attacked Spanish holdings in Naples, killing tax collectors and harassing provincial governors.
He spent, perhaps, 400,000 Livres out of his own personal fortune on the Army di Napoli. He went further still, making sure that his personal artillerists were trained in Venice and were able to build cannons with the Venetian coat of arms, in order to avoid the ardor of his Spanish allies.
A great breakthrough came in 1577—the Spanish King, his fund strapped and his army stretched thin by campaigns in southern Germany and a failed campaign in the Rhineland, decentralized his enforcement authority in his Italian holdings, allowing Italian aristocrats to raise and fund their own armies. This was a huge boon to the rebel movement, as many members of the Neapolitan aristocracy supported the rebellion but were not willing to attack the Spanish kingdom on their own. With this act, they would be able to fund their own armies and take control themselves.
Within a year, the armies of the Neapolitan aristocracy outnumbered Spanish garrisons 2-1, and when the aristocracy announced that they would side with the Army di Napoli, Spanish rule of Naples crumbled within 2 months. The head of the aristocrat revolt and the Army di Napoli’s major connection with the outside world, a Cambrian nobleman of northern descent by the name of Giadomenico Sforza, became the first king of the New Kingdom of Naples, and the new kingdom announced alliances with France and Modena by the spring of 1580. This is a great example of one of Louis’ huge successes, and an example where Louis’ nationalist and anti-imperial instincts proved correct.
The new Kingdom of Naples, separate from the Republic of Sicily
Regardless, Louis’ concept of liberation—that a liberated people would naturally see their liberator fondly—didn’t hold up in the Brabant. The biggest mistake he made was thinking that the Brabantese Hugenots were merely attempting to break free of the Hapsburg Empire; that their religious difference was of little import. This proved wrong.
