In the late fifteenth century in Italy the social and cultural phenomenon known as the Renaissance - the "rebirth" - was in full swing. Like most "revivals" it was a self-conscious imitation of some earlier culture, which then in practice turned out to be something else entirely. Loudly proclaimed as a rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture, the Italian Renaissance was in fact the early stages of the development of a modern, pan-European and, by extension, world, culture.

     Most of us, when we think of Renaissance Italy, immediately think of the great artists: Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael and others. Others, of a more classical bent, remember this period as an awakening of interest in classical literature, stimulated by the flood of refugees from Byzantium which had fallen to the Turks in 1453. The refugees had brought with them a host of Greek texts, allowing scholars to consult in the original languages texts which had been known previously only known through Latin or Arabic translations or, worse still, abridgments.

     The Renaissance was, of course, also a time of civil affairs. Italy consisted of a number of states, some large, others small, and they related to each other in ways which ranged from alliances to open warfare, and changed "with the weather". Political life there and then gained a certain reputation, having been discussed in less than glowing terms by a certain Niccolo Machiavelli; but, human nature hasn't changed much since then.

     The fifteenth century was a time of great change. A quick list of inventions and discoveries should suffice: effective siege artillery and hand guns; the caravel as a sailing-ship design; effective plate armor; moveable-type printing; the New World; perspective drawing; double-entry bookkeeping; and too many other changes to count. Some of these, it is true, were improvements; but the improvements had the effect of new discovery. Italy was the center of most of these discoveries.

     The main weakness of Italy was her political institutions. Italy consisted of a number of city-states, most of which had been republics at one time; some still were.

     The Early History of Milan and Northern Italy     

     Milan itself is something of a special case - but, then, so was every other case. Milan, shortened from Mediolanum, was a Lombard city of at least Roman date; the MD mintmark appears suitably early. It was in fact of vital strategic importance, controlling the passes into Gaul across the Alps. As a frontier town it also made an ideal conference-center; hence the famous edict, by which Constantine and Licinius granted official tolerance to the Christian Church, was promulgated at Milan in 313.

     Roman Milan's finest hour comprised the episcopal tenure of its patron saint, Bishop Ambrose. Son of the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, he was appointed governor of Aemilia and Liguria. When the bishop died in 374, he presided over the conclave for the election of a successor. He found himself nominated and elected, despite not even being baptized. His subsequent career was memorable, not least for his diplomacy and staunch Catholic Christianity. On the coins of Milan he is shown enthroned, holding a book, symbolizing his writings, and a whip, symbol of his untiring zeal against the Arians and the pagans.

St. Ambrose as bishop. AR Pegione of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. Lot 491.

     During Lombard and Frankish times the city remained important, due to its location. Despite being a Carolingian, then a Imperial, mint-town Milan was merely one of many more-or-less independent towns. The collapse of imperial power allowed the towns a considerable degree of self-government. Until finally in 1042, a murder during a local quarrel sparked a revolt of the townspeople. After a bitter war the popolani forced the emperor Henry III to recognize their independence as the new "Ambrosian Republic". By 1200, Milan was one republic among many.

     The Italian communes quarreled with each other about the usual trifles: land, trade-routes, ports, control of this or that village, and the like. Milan's main rival was Pavia; her allies were Crema and Tortona. Faction-fighting was rampant in these towns; but as the distinction between "noble" and "plebeian", was based on being able to afford armour, the distinctions became based on wealth rather than on ancestry. In theory, any citizen could change status. The Visconti, so important a little later, owed their rise to successful maritime trading.

     The Lombard city-states (which included Milan) had formed an alliance against their neighbors in 1168. They also resisted imperial pretensions, with varying success. Emperor Fredrick II crushed the army of the Lombard League at Cortenuova in 1237. The Lombard cities asked for peace but Frederick refused and decided to make an example of Milan. The Milanese fought back and with Papal backing they held out against him. The Emperor, it seems, could win battles, but not the war. His death in 1250 removed all threat from that quarter.

     Due as much to this as anything else, Italian politics, whether local or otherwise, began to split into two factions based entirely on alignment with either the Emperor (the Guelphs; theoretically the merchants) or the Papacy (the Ghibellines; the nobility). Each was involved in constant attempts to strengthen its own position at the expense of the other.

     To this factional strife we owe one of the world's great works of literature. The Divine Comedy of Dante was a production of his years of exile from Florence; as a staunch moderate, and when the extreme Guelphs overthrew the moderate government Dante was exiled. Another beneficiary of the factional fighting was Matteo Visconti, who at Milan had been repeatedly elected captain-General, and the emperor Henry VII had named him Imperial Vicar for life in 1311.

     Milan under the Visconti     

     Matteo Visconti, though not much of a soldier, had sons who were. Matteo was a first-rate statesman and diplomat, but as an adherent of the emperor he was the enemy of the Pope. On his death in 1322 the Pope proclaimed a crusade against his heirs. For a while the Visconti saw their power weakened, but Giovanni, installed as archbishop, had little trouble reversing that trend. He extended his power into the Romagna (feudal possessions of the Church around Rome), but the more powerful he became, the larger the coalition against him. His successor, his nephew Bernabo, was able to trade some of Giovanni's conquests for internal stability.

     In 1385 Gian Galeazzo Visconti, whose subsequent career brought Milan well on her way to (brief) glory, came to power. He succeeded initially as partner of his uncle Bernabo, but in 1385 he treacherously seized his uncle. As Gian was well versed in all sorts of dissimulation this was not too difficult. He purchased the title of duke in 1395 from an emperor who was only too happy to accept his cash.

     Gian's cash bought him several of his neighbors; Pisa and Siena in particular His armies soon swept the Florentines and the defenders of the papal states before them. His ambition to be king of all Italy seemed reasonable, until he died, probably of the plague, at Melegnano in 1402.

Pegione of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, showing the Biscia. Lot 491.

     One consequence of his rule was his policy of alliance with France; he married his daughter Valentina to Louis, later duke of Orleans, in 1387. But the dynastic advantages of this marriage soon backfired. The marriage provided the French with a convenient excuse to claim Milan, and it did Gian little good. So little, in fact, that when the Genoese, worn out with factional fighting, called in a foreign overlord, it was to the king of France they turned despite Gian's best efforts at bribery.

     Gian's son Giovanni Maria was entirely unable to hold his duchy together; he found that hiring condottiere mercenaries meant that they set themselves up as petty tyrants in cities nominally under his control. Added to this were the depredations of foreigners, especially the Swiss. His successor, Filippo, to all appearances a total loser, and all but a prisoner in Pavia, none-the-less managed to regain all that Giovanni had lost, and then some. Genoa had revolted from the French in 1409; after brief independence it fell to Milanese conquest in 1425. Charles VII of France could do nothing about it, as his army had essentially ceased to exist at Verneuil the year before.

     Milan under the Sforzas     

     Meanwhile the breakup of Italy into states ruled in fact [if not in name] by mercenary captains proceeded unabated. The Italian commanders established their own "schools"; one product was one Muzio Attendolo, nicknamed Sforza, who founded both a school and a dynasty.

     The control of Genoa meant that Filippo took over the old quarrel with Venice. In general the Venetians had the better of the war which followed, although neither side performed outstandingly well. The Milanese general, Francesco Sforza, was rewarded by two years in a dungeon; the Venetian, Carmagnola, by execution as a traitor.

     The warfare dragged on for several years, and was marked by the usual double-dealing practiced by all sides. Eventually Filippo tried to double-cross Sforza who, with Venetian assistance, defeated his erstwhile employer. Sforza who was married to Filippo's daughter, later came to realize that he had more to gain by diplomacy than by warfare.

     Filippo died unexpectedly in 1447, when Sforza was away in his own little fief near Ancona. The citizens seized the opportunity to proclaim the Second Ambrosian Republic. They quickly dealt with domestic opposition; but all their neighbors were hostile. The Milanese hired Sforza for their defense. When the Republic tried to dismiss him, he changed sides. For a moment Milan and Venice were allied against Sforza, but he baffled their efforts, and when the Republic collapsed in disorder in 1450 he had the city under siege. A committee of citizens offered Sforza the lordship of the place, and he did not have to think twice.

     Sforza's diplomacy was strained to the utmost in the ensuing few years. He managed to deflect the French claims to Milan by persuading the French to prefer the Angevin claim to Naples; and his alliance with Cosimo de Medici, lord of Florence, nearly resulted in a lasting peace treaty between all the major powers. Peace with Venice in 1454 made the later Peace of Lodi possible, as nobody dared oppose it; even Alfonso of Naples signed the twenty-five year defensive alliance of Lodi.

          Unfortunately for Italy the peace was not to last. Cosimo died in 1464 and Francesco Sforza in 1466; Piero, Cosimo's son, did not last long, and Francesco's son Gian Galeazzo was self-absorbed and incompetent. Piero died in 1469, replaced by Lorenzo, another great diplomat; but the peace of Lodi was being persistently undermined, not least by the French.

     By 1478 the peace was in ruins. A conspiracy resulted in the assassination of Giuliano de Medici in the Florence cathedral; Lorenzo escaped. As Pope Sixtus IV was seen as promoting, if not causing, the assassination, the resulting war involved most of the major powers in Italy, and as Naples had Spanish backing and Milan had French, and they combined against Sixtus and his allies, it helped give Milan and Naples a liking for foreign assistance.

Galeazzo Maria Sforza. AR Testone. Lot 495.

     Gian Galeazzo, himself insignificant, was married to the daughter of Ferrante, king of Naples. His uncle, Lodovico, called "il Moro", the Moor, from his dark complexion, was his regent. Il Moro wasn't content with this position, although he kept his ambition in the background for some time. He was supported by the Neapolitans, as better than the (French) alternative. Although Lorenzo wanted the title, he kept his ambition in check for the moment.

     The year 1492 is memorable for a number of events, most notably the first voyage of Columbus. In Italy, the year was important as well. Two events started the troubles there: first, the death of Lorenzo, "Il Magnifico", who was the great peacemaker of Italy; and second, the death of a bad Pope and the election of Roderigo Borgia, a much worse one, as Alexander VI.

     Meanwhile in France the ever-cautious and ever-intriguing "Spider King", Louis XI, had died in 1484. His son and successor, Charles VIII, was one of those "knight-errant" types looking for a way to prove himself; as the last feudal power in France, namely Brittany, had been crushed, by himself being married to the heiress, there seemed little for him to do in that regard. So he decided, for that and similar reasons, to press French claims in Italy, or at least the Angevin claim to Naples.

     To digress: the Angevin claim to the kingdom of Naples was based on a complex chain of events in Sicily. Frederick II, the emperor, was also king of Sicily. His illegitimate son Manfred, who was installed as regent for Frederick's legitimate son Conrad, seized the throne in 1258 and from there conquered much of Italy by the 1260s. The Pope, Urban IV, was alarmed so he offered the throne of Naples and Sicily [in theory Papal, not imperial fiefs] to Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX, who made short work of Manfred and Conrad's son Conradin in 1268.

Charles of Anjou, as king of Naples. AR Saluto. Lot 500.

     Angevin rule was unpopular in Sicily. When Charles set his sights on the Byzantine Empire he found that Michael Paleologus was a true Byzantine diplomat. He fanned the flames of discontent, and when in 1282 a French soldier at Palermo insulted a woman on her way to mass, that was all it took. When the "Sicilian Vespers" finally ended Pedro II of Aragon, Manfred's son-in-law, had gained control. Naples took a little longer. It passed to Joanna II in 1414, who adopted Alfonso of Aragon and Sicily as her heir in defiance of Louis III of Anjou. Later she regretted her folly, but Alfonso gained control. Charles VIII inherited the Angevin claim, as Ferrante inherited that of Alfonso.

     Lodovico was beginning to look for allies as well. Ferrante was at best ambivalent, as Lodovico was in the process of displacing his daughter's husband. Lorenzo de Medici's incompetent son, Piero, seemed to be anxious to stir up as many petty squabbles as possible, and the Venetians wanted to get rid of their Genoese rivals.

     As usual, pretexts abounded. On the accession of Pope Alexander, Lodovico proposed that all the congratulatory embassies perform as a single group, if for no other reason than to suggest to the Pope that they were united against any possible enemy, including him. Piero wanted to make a grand display, which wouldn't be possible in such a group. Ferrante went along with Piero, since he had become more hostile to Lodovico after the election of Alexander; one of the latter's primary supporters was Lodovico's brother Cardinal Ascanio.

     The pretexts followed thick and fast, none of them in itself sufficient, but to the sort of prickly egos ruling these states, minor problems got blown out of proportion. The flash point was nearly reached with the purchase of some minor castles in the Papal States by a kinsman of Ferrante,. This action was regarded, not unreasonably, as another attempt by the king of Naples to restrict the Pope's freedom of action.

     The result was another of those shifting of alliances so common among these states, and Lodovico found himself nearly isolated, with only the pope still friendly, and Alexander was more slippery than a greased eel at the best of times. So Lodovico began to threaten to use the French alliance.

Ferrante, king of Naples. AR Coronato. Lot 503.

     France and Ludovico (il Moro)     

     This time the French decided to come when called. Charles responded with enthusiasm. He had the sense to mend fences with his neighbors, in particular with the emperor Maximilian, before finally setting out in 1494.

     Ferrante saw all this with alarm. On paper he had quite sufficient power to deal with trouble, and he put on a bold face; but in private he was more than simply worried. Without any real friends he had to rely on his own resources. The Neapolitans hated his rule. Accordingly he tried every possible diplomatic expedient, with varying success ; but Charles invaded anyway.

     Lodovico continued casting about for allies. He married his niece Bianca Maria to the new emperor Maximilian; the latter wanted cash, which Lodovico had. Maximillain also conferred the title of dike of Milan on Lodovico on the death of Gian Galeazzo. Nonetheless he refrained from actually seizing the duchy. Although his unfortunate nephew died not long after (October 1494), there are no grounds for considering his death anything other than natural. On the death of Gian, Lodovico produced his diploma and installed himself as the new duke.

     In 1494, the last of the old peacekeeping triumvirate, Ferrante, died. For all his dubious diplomacy Ferrante realized the value of moderation; his son and heir Alfonso, however, was a hothead who preferred military action as the means of settling disputes. This, combined with Alfonso's "haughty and immoderate personality" (as Alexander translates Guicciardini) made it impossible for him to concede any point for good-will.

     Accordingly Alfonso looked for allies, and found that the Spanish pope was willing to cut any deal with anyone for the benefit of his children. Alfonso and Alexander settled affairs to their mutual liking. When the French ambassadors subsequently approached Alexander requesting that Charles VIII be invested with Naples, the reply of that pope was evasive. The French also requested alliance with Florence; but the son of Lorenzo believed that the French were merely making noise. Everyone wanted to remain neutral, and wait for the outcome.

     Not waiting for the French to arrive, the Neapolitan naval commander, Don Frederigo, set out to attack Genoa, the main Italian port supporting the French. He hoped to surprise the city, but wasted so much time preparing that the Genoese were ready. As a result he accomplished nothing, and sailed back to Naples.

Charles VII of France. AR Blanc Karolus of Romans. Lot 470.

     Charles's army set out for Italy, arriving at Asti in September. With his army he brought one thing with which the Italians were unfamiliar: namely, field artillery. Siege cannons the Italians knew well; but small, mobile field guns were another matter. These were described with shock by chroniclers as "the new plague of artillery" (Guicciardini), mainly because they were effective. After all, what made field artillery possible - cast guns with trunnions - were a French innovation of the 1460s.

     Alfonso preferred to take the war into someone else's territory, so his troops spent their time attacking potentially hostile elements in the Romagna. As the Pope was not universally admired - the most notorious of his opponents was Cardinal Della Rovere, later the warrior-Pope Julius II - many of the castles were in the hands of opponents, who had to be dealt with.

     Charles's first target was Florence. Led on by the promises of help from various exiles he invaded Florentine territory, and very quickly frightened Piero de Medici, who panicked and ran to the French camp, begging for peace and conceding everything in his power. Meanwhile Alfonso was finding the Romagna much more difficult to conquer than he had expected, and wasting much time and energy getting nowhere.

     Charles next marched on Rome by way of Siena, where his entry was unopposed, as it had been left in the lurch by both Piero and Alfonso. His ambassadors browbeat Alexander into giving the army free passage through the Papal States and, in theory, the investiture of Naples.

     In response to the French advance from Rome, district after district in Naples went over to them. Aquila, Abruzzo and others rallied to them, and the Collona, allies of Charles because enemies of the Aragonese, occupied other territories. Alfonso panicked and fled to Sicily, leaving the French to mop up a few scattered garrisons under the nominal command of his son Ferrante. Those few places which resisted, like Monte de St. Giovanni, were demolished with artillery and their defenders massacred.

     Ferrante also fled the kingdom, as his army disbanded itself, and by the end of February 1495 Naples completely acknowledged Charles as its king.

     Throughout Italy the main result was confusion. Piero de Medici was overthrown in a revolution; the resulting republic is best known for the career of Girolamo Savanarola, whose preaching of reform was initially quite popular, but made him enemies in high places.

Galeazzo Maria Sforza. AR Testone. Lot 495.

     All was well for the French; but several things intervened to overthrow them. Lodovico began to have second thoughts about his alliance as the French also had their old claim to Milan through the Visconti. The French were much stronger than Alfonso ever was. Alfonso in exile was formidable; Ferdinand and Isabella were his cousins, and they came out in his support.

     Worst of all for Charles was his own incompetence. His misgovernment of Naples convinced his new subjects that the change was for the worse. The French treated the natives with arrogance, and the natives, who had fought poorly out of hatred for their rulers rather than out of cowardice, resented it.

     To top it off Charles became bored with Italian affairs and decided to leave. He traveled to Rome to demand the promised investiture with Naples, to find that Alexander had escaped to Orvetio. Charles followed for some time, but ultimately decided that he'd had enough. Lodovico Sforza, having turned his coat openly, allied with the Venetians who had also come out against him, decided to try to stop the French retreat. Meanwhile general discontent was simmering, and incidents such as the sacking of Toscanelly by the French army after the citizens had refused the soldiers lodging indicated trouble ahead.

     Leading his army through Florentine territory, Charles was approached by embassies from Florence, which requested that some places the French held, notably Pisa, should be handed over. The Pisans requested to be granted independence from Florence. The French king agreed to both, which endeared him to nobody. Then he marched out, planning to take the direct route across the Apennines.

     Meanwhile the Aragonese had landed in Naples, and the Genoese fleet had destroyed that of the French, so Charles's situation was rapidly becoming serious. The Italian League, under the Duke of Mantua, was on the move, and as the League army outnumbered the French three to one, Charles was anxious to retreat with both speed and, if possible, dignity.

     The two armies met at Fornovo on 6 July 1495. The result, claimed by both sides as a victory, was indecisive. Indeed, the French and Swiss infantry, contrary to the usual custom, spared none of their opponents whom they captured, but slaughtered them, much as knights tended to slaughter infantrymen whenever they could. At one point Charles himself, with only one soldier, "a little man, and ill-armed" as de Commines describes him, was attacked by a group of enemy horsemen. Whoever won the battle, the French lost the war, but the Italians were in the end the ultimate losers.

     After the French left there were of course the usual scores to settle. Everyone miraculously became an old enemy of the French, and the French were slowly driven out of what remained of their conquests.

      The French were gone, for the moment. Charles was planning a return when he hit his head on a door-frame and died a few days later. Meanwhile Lodovico Sforza had been learning that he was the target of more than a little suspicion; he insists that he called the French in, and he expelled them, and thus he was the biggest man in Italy. This alarmed all the other "big men", who began to plot, and Lodovico found himself once again trying to play the French card.

     This time he was in a much worse position. The French did not trust him, whereas the Italian states regarded him as the worst of traitors. He sent appeals to the French, who told him off, so he appealed to Maximilian. The emperor readily agreed, since he had his eyes on Naples. Ferrante had just died, leaving his kingdom to his uncle Federigo. Maximillian's plans came to nothing, however, and he left for Germany empty-handed.

     Charles VII died in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis of Orléans, as Louis XII. This king was older and wiser, and had a very strong claim to Milan. Lodovico, supposing that Louis had too much to do in France, took no notice. The Venetians, ever quick to shift position when it suited them, and the Pope, anxious to trade benefits for his son Cesare for help for Louis's matrimonial arrangements, offered alliance.

     In any event, allied with Florence, Venice and the Pope against Milan, Louis invaded Italy in 1499. Once again the French cut through their target quickly; the Milanese had no stomach for fighting for Lodovico, and this "master of Italy" had to flee for his life to Maximilian.

     The next year Louis, believing his rule secure in Milan, returned to France. Lodovico, with some small help from Maximilian, then returned to Milan, engineering a revolution against the French garrison. He then besieged the French garrison in Novara. Unfortunately for Lodovico, king Louis mobilized quickly, and to make matters worse the Swiss mercenaries in the French army intrigued with those in his, and shut him up in Novara. Attempting to escape through the enemy lines disguised as one of the Swiss, he was captured.

     Lodovico was brought a prisoner to Lyon, where he tried in vain to plead his case with king Louis. Instead he was taken to prison, where, according to Giovio, he spent the remainder of his life confined to the Tower of Loches "senza dargli comodita alcuna di scrivere".

     "Il Moro" was a typical, if unusually talented, product of his time. Guicciardini sums him up well: eloquent and skillful, mild and clement, with only his nephew's death as a blemish (and he didn't cause that event), but also vain, ambitious, untrustworthy and overconfident. In the end he was trapped in his own web of deceit, and he found himself delivered into the hands of one who, unlike most of those with whom he dealt, held a grudge.