ANY TOPIC (WRITERS CHOICE) YourFirstName YourLastName Course Title November 22, 2014 1 The Italian Wars Introduction During the middle centuries the mainland of Italy got increasingly dominated by five countless powers which were Milan, Venice, Naples, the Papal States and Florence. None of them has the capability to defeat the rest. All of them are interested in balancing of power. However this was achieved largely after the year 1454 when Milan and Venice resolved their long lasting differences after signing a treaty at Lodi. This was an example that inspired others and later during the same year Florence formed a defensive union with Venice and Milan. Earlier in the year 1455 the Naples King and the Pope formed an alliance which was known as the League of the Italians whereby all the five pledged a non-aggression that was mutual. Peace in Italy hold surprisingly very well given its record in the past of having permanent warfare. There are a few lapses that have been noted like the compliance of pope Sixtus IV when he sponsored the attempt to assassinate Lorenzo de’ Medici and the attacks that ensured thereafter by Naples on Florence. However there is common tension between Naples which is in the south and Milan which is situated on the Peninsula’s northern extreme. The reason why chaos returned to Italy from the year 1494 was partly due to this kind of hostility. Charles VIII who was the king to France was urged by Milan’s duke to go to Italy and make claims to Naples. The young French king needed little encouragement. In September 1494 the French king crossed the Alps with a huge army which was of about 30,000 men. They passed peacefully through the Milan’s territory and were without doubt that they expected to conduct themselves that way even through the Tuscan lands of Florence .France clashed only with Naples. However Florence was identified to be having allies with Naples. After Piro de’Medici sensed a crisis in this he imitated the 2 famous tactics of individual diplomacy from his father opting to make a visit to Naples king in the year 1479(Finlay, 2008). He did this without keeping the government of Florence informed hence made his way through to the French king’s camp. During the encounter of these two rulers who were inexperienced and young, the French man had the better part of the bargain. Charles VIII emphasized that all he wanted was assurance of good will of Florence although he added that a token of that would deliver into the hands of the French several major castles in addition the ports of Livorno and Pisa. The records suggested that the French were surprised when Piero agreed. The Florentines made a protest that Piero had no authority to give away the possessions of Florence though it was already too late. The French entered Florence and occupied Pisa before they moved to the south. Charles VIII accompanied with his army reached Rome toward the end of the year 1494. While Alexander VI who was Pope was powerless enough to resist them took shelter in Angelo’s Castel Sant. On the 22 of February while still unopposed the French entered Naples and two month later Charles was crowned the King in his newly acquired city on the 12 of May(Springer,2010). But due to his lack of experience, he left his withdrawal line undefended. In March other powers of Italy together with the pope formed the Venice League against the intruder. Charles withdrew north while being confronted at Fornovo in the month of July by the Leagues army. It was a confused and indecisive battle which got Charles and his army escaping to France for safety. Charles had left French garrisons in the Naples however they soon lost the kingdom for the second time to Aragon. Nonetheless Charles was preparing another expedition to Naples when he died due to an accident that occurred at Amboise in the year 1498. Though the Neopolitan adventure did not bear fruit, it however gave the kings in France a reason to campaign in Italy. They recovered some part of Naples ‘kingdom in 3 1501-3. But their ambitions focused greatly on the north of Italy which in the beginning of the 16th century becomes nearly a permanent battleground internationally. Due to a series of unstable alliances which were often brokered by the pope and ending in battles that were inconclusive, redrew Italy’s map during the initial years of 16th century. Between the Cambrai treaty of the year 1529 and the Cambrai league of the year 1508, the territories of Venice, Naples, Milan and papal states grew or shrinked and abruptly suffered changes of loyalty. Resulting to short-term effect such as Agnadello of the 1509, Marignano of the year 1515, Pavia of the year 1525 and the raid of Rome by magnificent troops in the year 1527 The end result of the mayhem brought a disaster to France and triumph to Spain . In the year 1529 during the Cambrai treaty, Francis I renounced rights of the French in Milan and Naples. From the year 1540 Milan was directly seized to the crown of the Spanish; the duchy remained to be a possession of the Spanish until the war of the succession of the Spanish after which it was moved to the branch in Austria of the family of Habsburg in the year 1713.Naples was ruled as a viceroyalty of the Spanish. It also is moved to the Habsburgs Austria in 1713 - but not like Milan it afterwards returns to Spain after the Polish succession was in the year 1738. In this game among those players from Italy who gain is the Medici who were restored with the support from Spain to their Florence rule. Venice who was an early loser when it was single-handedly against the rest in the year 1508 later recovered most of the territory that belonged to them and retains their independence. The papacy that was responsible for the calculating alliances that fostered most of the conflicts appeared to receive what they ought to when Rome was sacked in 1527. It however also emerged with strength after two decades. Once the reformation of the catholic was on-going, Spain and 4 Rome allied in severity that was spiritual being properly equipped to use strict control on the whole peninsula not including the republic of Venice. Italy’s partition got settled in the middle of the 16th century remaining the elementary pattern for over 200 years, although regions in Milan, Sicily and Naples remain to be hostages in the conflicts in Europe. The Spanish succession war slightly changed the alignment. Till the 1700 the Habsburgs of Spanish dominated the peninsula. Afterwards the Spanish throne under a new dynasty, the quarrel was between Austrian Habsburgs and Spanish Bourbons. The final resolution, following the Vienna peace of the year 1738 was that Spain ruled Sicily and Naples while Austria ruled northern Italy. In spite of the upheavals in the 18th century, Italy was a sleepy place; Venice was a pleasantly corrupt offshore Island until the arrival of Napoleon dramatically in the year 1796. The Italian wars brought with them a number of impacts one of them being the downfall of the Medici house following the attempted expansion to the French Valois Empire by the French king Charles VIII. His influence over Florence allowed it to redesign the makeup of its government, based on the model of Venice with Savonarola’s help. This helped to turn Florence to embrace Renaissance while it blossomed into a liberal state more than it was while under the Medici family oppressive regime. Italy altogether incurred huge losses in terms of wealth, power, military forces and not the least natural resources which in turn brought damage to its self –sufficiency that was vital in case the republics had to maintain their independence. The wars in Italy had an impact on the shape of the empire of the Spanish – Habsburg since the downfall of Pavia in the year 1525 which forced France to abandon her claims to the rest of the Italian republics together with its Burgundian inheritance which brought a major blow to the Empire of the French and the moral conduct of the 5 French. The wars also brought with them some indirect effects, like the cognac League construction which was due to the Charles V’s rising power. It consisted of Florence, the papacy, Milan and Venice which united the republics that were remaining against an enemy that was common hence bringing back stability to a nation that was divided while at the same time going on with Habsburg-Valois rivalry. Another effect that was indirect was that the wars led to the spread of the culture of Renaissance from Venice and Florence across Europe through merchants, troops and diplomats moving around the empires that were united (Taylor, 2010). This movement had an effect on the way fashion, culture and art was seen in Europe and it was also spread to France through the attempts of expansion of Valois by Kings Louis XII, Charles VIII and the merchants who came via Venice. Although the diplomacy of Renaissance was unprincipled and vicious, the city states of Italy established foundations and practices that continue to exist. They presented a system whereby there were permanent ambassadors their role was to represent their state’s interests by making observations, making reports and negotiating. A foreign office was created from each state which evaluated the reports that were written by the ambassadors, directed instructions, helped in policy formulations and keeping vast records. While organized they established a protocol system, diplomats immunities and privileges that were elaborate. Freedom of transit access and any time exit was granted to ambassadors together with their staffs. Local laws were not able to hinder ambassadors in carrying out their duties, however ambassadors were held accountable if they committed crimes like murder or theft (Bindman, 2010). The extraterritoriality concept was established and with this principle an embassy that was in any state put up on its 6 homeland’s soil and anything or anyone that was within the compound of the embassy was subjected to the laws of its country only. In conclusion the wars of Italy were as a result of the rivalry that was between the Austrian Habsburg and the French Valois who made use of Italy as a scene to carry out their policies of expansion in order to make display of their power to the other, just like peacocks would make display of their plumage to the others for them to chase away a mate completion. The downfall of the Roman Empire did not aid this in the latter decades of the 16th century, because it was the Emperors who were holy that held over Italy’s control. Therefore, leaving it split and vulnerable to invasion by its neighbours. The Italian republic wars had some effects that were beneficial as they guarantee the Renaissance movement continentally, brought about the downfall of the Florence Medici family hence allowing it to be able to flourish as a major power among other powers of Italy. These wars also brought about the downfall of the empire of Valois while aiding the rise of the empire of Habsburg which continued to control a large part of Europe. 7 References Finlay, R. (2008). Venice besieged: Politics and diplomacy in the Italian wars, 1494-1534. Aldershot: Ashgate. Taylor, F. L. (2010). The art of war in Italy, 1494-1529: Price consort prize essay 1920. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Springer, C. (2010). Armour and masculinity in the Italian Renaissance. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Bindman, D. (2010). The image of the black in western art. Cambridge Mass: Harvard Univ. Press.