FIESCHI

fieschi, giuseppe marco (1790-1836), the chief conspirator in the attempt on the life of louis philippe in july 1835, was a native of murato in corsica. he served under murat, then returned to corsica, where he was condemned to ten years' imprisonment and perpetual surveillance by the police for theft and forgery. after a period of vagabondage he eluded the police and obtained a small post in paris by means of forged papers; but losing it on account of his suspicious manner of living, he resolved to revenge himself on society. he took lodgings on the boulevard du temple, and there, with two members of the societe des droits de l'homme, morey and pepin by name, contrived an "infernal machine," constructed with twenty gun barrels, to be fired simultaneously. on the 28th of july 1835, as louis philippe was passing along the boulevard to the bastille, accompanied by his three sons and a numerous staff, the machine was exploded. a ball grazed the king's forehead, and his horse, with those of the duke of nemours and of the prince de joinville, was shot; marshal mortier was killed, with seventeen other persons, and many were wounded; but the king and the princes escaped as if by miracle. fieschi himself was severely wounded by the discharge of his machine, and vainly attempted to escape. the attentions of the most skilful physicians were lavished upon him, and his life was saved for the stroke of justice. on his trial he named his accomplices, displayed much bravado, and expected or pretended to expect ultimate pardon. he was condemned to death, and was guillotined on the 19th of february 1836. morey and pepin were also executed, another accomplice was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment and one was acquitted. no less than seven plots against the life of louis philippe had been discovered by the police within the year, and apologists were not wanting in the revolutionary press for the crime of fieschi. see _proces de fieschi, precede de sa vie privee, sa condamnation par la cour des pairs et celles de ses complices_ (2 vols., 1836); also p. thureau-dangin, _hist, de la monarchie de juillet_ (vol. iv. ch. xii., 1884). fiesco (de' fieschi), giovanni luigi (c. 1523-1547), count of lavagna, was descended from one of the greatest families of liguria, first mentioned in the 10th century. among his ancestors were two popes (innocent iv. and adrian v.), many cardinals, a king of sicily, three saints, and many generals and admirals of genoa and other states. sinibaldo fiesco, his father, had been a close friend of andrea doria (q.v.), and had rendered many important services to the genoese republic. on his death in 1532 giovanni found himself at the age of nine the head of the family and possessor of immense estates. he grew up to be a handsome, intelligent youth, of attractive manners and very ambitious. he married eleonora cibo, marchioness of massa, in 1540, a woman of great beauty and family influence. there were many reasons which inspired his hatred of the doria family; the almost absolute power wielded by the aged admiral and the insolence of his nephew and heir giannettino doria, the commander of the galleys, were galling to him as to many other genoese, and it is said that giannettino was the lover of fiesco's wife. moreover, the fiesco belonged to the french or popular party, while the doria were aristocrats and imperialists. when fiesco determined to conspire against doria he found friends in many quarters. pope paul iii. was the first to encourage him, while both pier luigi farnese, duke of parma, and francis i. of france gave him much assistance and promised him many advantages. among his associates in genoa were his brothers girolamo and ottobuono, verrina and r. sacco. a number of armed men from the fiesco fiefs were secretly brought to genoa, and it was agreed that on the 2nd of january 1547, during the interregnum before the election of the new doge, the galleys in the port should be seized and the city gates held. the first part of the programme was easily carried out, and giannettino doria, aroused by the tumult, rushed down to the port and was killed, but andrea escaped from the city in time. the conspirators attempted to gain possession of the government, but unfortunately for them giovanni luigi, while crossing a plank from the quay to one of the galleys, fell into the water and was drowned. the news spread consternation among the fiesco faction, and girolamo fiesco found few adherents. they came to terms with the senate and were granted a general amnesty. doria returned to genoa on the 4th thirsting for revenge, and in spite of the amnesty he confiscated the fiesco estates; girolamo had shut himself up, with verrina and sacco and other conspirators, in his castle of montobbia, which the genoese at doria's instigation besieged and captured. girolamo fiesco and verrina were tried, tortured and executed; all their estates were seized, some of which, including torriglia, doria obtained for himself. ottobuono fiesco, who had escaped, was captured eight years afterwards and put to death by doria's orders. there are many accounts of the conspiracy, of which perhaps the best is contained in e. petit's _andre doria_ (paris, 1887), chs. xi. and xii., where all the chief authorities are quoted; see also calligari, _la congiura del fiesco_ (venice 1892), and gavazzo, _nuovi documenti sulla congiura del conte fiesco_ (genoa, 1886); e. bernabo-brea, in his _sulla congiura di giovanni luigi fieschi_, publishes many important documents, while l. capelloni's _congiura del fiesco_, edited by olivieri, and a. mascardi's _congiura del conte giovanni luigi de' fieschi_ (antwerp, 1629) may be commended among the earlier works. the fiesco conspiracy has been the subject of many poems and dramas, of which the most famous is that by schiller. see also under doria, andrea; farnese. (l. v.*) fiesole (anc. _faesulae_, q.v.), a town and episcopal see of tuscany, italy, in the province of florence, from which it is 3 m. n.e. by electric tramway. pop. (1901) town 4951, commune 16,816. it is situated on a hill 970 ft. above sea-level, and commands a fine view. the cathedral of s. romolo is an early and simple example of the tuscan romanesque style; it is a small basilica, begun in 1028 and restored in 1256. the picturesque battlemented campanile belongs to 1213. the tomb of the bishop leonardo salutati (d. 1466). with a beautiful portrait bust by the sculptor, mino da fiesole (1431-1484), is fine. the 13th-century palazzo pretorio contains a small museum of antiquities. the franciscan monastery commands a fine view. the church of s. maria primerana has some works of art, and s. alessandro, which is attributed to the 6th century, contains fifteen ancient columns of cipollino. the inhabitants of fiesole are largely engaged in straw-plaiting. below fiesole, between it and florence, lies san domenico di fiesole (485 ft.); in the dominican monastery the painter, fra giovanni angelico da fiesole (1387-1455), lived until he went to s. marco at florence. here, too, is the badia di fiesole, founded in 1028 and re-erected about 1456-1466 by a follower of brunelleschi. it is an irregular pile of buildings, in fine and simple early renaissance style; a small part of the original facade of 1028 in black and white marble is preserved. the interior of the church is decorated with sculptures by pupils of desiderio da settignano. the slopes of the hill on which fiesole stands are covered with fine villas. to the s.e. of fiesole lies monte ceceri (1453 ft.), with quarries of grey _pietra serena_, largely used in florence for building. to the e. of this lies the 14th-century castle of vincigliata restored and fitted up in the medieval style.