Giovanni Andrea Doria: Citizen of Genoa, Prince of Melfi, Agent of King Philip Ii of Spain

CHAPTER THREE

GIOVANNI ANDREA DORIA: CITIZEN OF GENOA, PRINCE OF MELFI, AGENT OF KING PHILIP II OF SPAIN

Thomas Kirk

Giovanni Andrea Doria (1539–1606) was a prominent citizen of the Republic of Genoa as well as Prince of Melfi in the kingdom of Naples. A subject of King Philip II of Spain, King of Naples, Doria was also bound to the Spanish crown through a contractual relationship as naval condottiero, hiring out a number of his vessels to the Spanish and commanding a squadron of galleys on behalf of the king. In this capacity he was very clearly an agent of the King of Spain. Given the importance of the term ‘agent’ in this as in all the contri- butions to this volume, a clear definition of just how the word is used here is in order. Clearly the standard definition of ‘one (. . .) who acts for another’ applies to Doria’s contractual relationship with Philip II; Doria provided, commanded and equipped a naval squadron on behalf of the king, following the king’s orders regarding the use of the squad- ron.1 Much honing of that general definition of the agent is necessary, though, regarding both the mechanisms through which agents were able to perform the tasks assigned to them and by which they main- tained or furthered their social condition at the same time. As outlined by Marika Keblusek, both of these things depended on the agent’s abil- ity to develop and fruitfully use a network or networks.2 Such networks are usually associated with the gathering of information, although, as we will see in the case of Giovanni Andrea Doria, they could also per- form an exquisitely political function as well. In fact, an examination of the role played by Doria in the sixteenth-century Spanish system of states in the Mediterranean, coupled with the analysis of the wide variety of types and examples of agency presented in this volume,

1 OED at the entry ‘agent’: ‘4.a. Of persons: One who does the actual work of anything, as distinguished from the instigator or employer; hence, one who acts for another, a deputy, steward, factor, substitute, representative, or emissary’. 2 Keblusek 2006, pp. 13–14. 60 thomas kirk could lead to an appreciation of the phenomenon of agency perme- ating early modern society, perhaps even the fundamental organiza- tional principle of that society. Giovanni Andrea Doria’s great uncle, the famous Genoese admi- ral and naval condottiero Andrea Doria, had designated his nephew, Giannettino Doria (Giovanni Andrea’s father), as his heir and suc- cessor. The position to be inherited was a multi-faceted one; not only did Andrea Doria control a private squadron of naval vessels which he kept hired out to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, but the clout that accompanied control of the fleet and the relationship with Charles V gave Doria a prominent position in Genoese politics. An attempted coup in 1547, however, altered the elder Doria’s plans. In that year Gian Luigi Fieschi, exponent of a rival noble Genoese family, attempted to gain control of the city with the intention of ousting the Doria and placing the city under the protection of Francis I of France. The coup attempt failed and Fieschi drowned. Fully clad in armor, he slipped into the waters of the port while trying to take possession of the Doria warships. Giannettino Doria, however, was also killed in the fighting. Thus Giannettino Doria’s son, Giovanni Andrea Doria, also known as Gian Andrea, became the designated heir to his great uncle Andrea Doria. Andrea Doria’s relationship to Charles V, as mercenary naval commander, had enabled him to bring the Republic of Genoa into the orbit of the Holy Roman Empire and to become guarantor for the city’s allegiance to Habsburg, Spain. Giovanni Andrea Doria would perform the same role during the reigns of Philip II and Philip III. Since the initial system and web of relationships used by Giovanni Andrea Doria was a development of the one created by Andrea Doria, let us examine briefly the network created by the elder Doria. Born into one of the less influential branches of a powerful family, Andrea Doria gained notoriety as a mercenary and eventually as a naval commander. During the tumultuous Italian Wars of the early sixteenth century, Doria commanded vessels and then squadrons of galleys for the Republic of Genoa and for the Papacy before entering the service of Francis I of France. The defining move of his political career, however, came when his contractual relationship with Francis I expired during Francis’ bid to reconquer Naples in 1528. Doria left the service of the French and entered that of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, thus depriving Francis of naval coverage and dooming his Neapolitan campaign to failure. Doria then occupied his native Genoa and enforced a series of political reforms, thus creating a newfound