ITALIAN GOTHIC. 405 iv. Religion. — The real power of the Pope as head of the Western Church died with Gregory X. (1271-1276). The succeeding Popes were under the influence of the King of f>ance, and for nearly seventy years (1309-1376) resided at Avignon, losing authority and influence during their absence from Rome. Rival Popes existed untU a settlement was arrived at by the Council of Constance, in 1415. The factions of the Guelphs and Ghibel- lines (pages 230, 259) distracted Italy from 1250 to 1409, a sub- ject dealt with by Mr. Oscar Browning in his " Mediaeval Italy." V. Social and Political. — Italy at this period was cut up into small principalities and commonwealths, in which political life was full of rivalry and activity, and small wars were of constant occurrence. The erection of the Cathedrals of Siena, Orvieto, Florence, Milan and Lucca was largely due to the civic pride of the various rival cities, while the numerous Town Halls attest the growth of municipal institutions. Tasso has a line to the effect that each holiday they blew trumpets, and proceeded to sack the adjoining town. Yet other countries looked to Italy as the head in arts, learning and commerce. The poet Dante (1265-1321) has in his great poem presented a summarized picture of the age. The revival of learning took place in Italy nearly a century in advance of northern Europe. vi. Historical. — To the Latin conquest of Constantinople, in 1203, is mainly attributed the sudden development of the formative arts in the thirteenth century in Europe, for the citizens being dispersed during the sixty years of Latin occupation, all commerce was transferred to the cities of Italy, and many Greek artists were established at Venice, Pisa, Siena and Florence. In the thirteenth century successive members of the Visconti family ruled as Dukes of Milan, and were very powerful in consequence of the wealth and industry of the cities over which they held sway. The maritime commonwealth of Genoa considerably reduced the power of Pisa in 1284, and the latter was conquered by Florence in 1406. Florence became one of the chief states of Italy under the powerful family of the Medici (page 447). 2. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER. The influence of Roman tradition, as shown in the Classic forms of construction and decoration, was so great that the verticality which marks the Gothic architecture in the north of Europe does not pervade the Italian examples to the same extent. The churches are especially noticeable externally for (a.) the flatness of the roofs (Nos. 181, 182) ; (b.) the tendency to mask the aisle roofs by a mere screen wall forming the west facade, without
