Italy: Political History (inc. Notable States and Notable Ruling Families) and Notable Figures (inc. Political and Military)

Excludes Rome / Papal States / Church History but only politically | Organized chronologically by end date of reign / death

400s / 697 - 1797 - Republic of Venice (All Facts)

• First of the Italian City-States and First of the Italian Maritime Republics

  • It was set among the coastal lagoons of the Po River in Italy, built on many tiny islands

  • It was founded initially within the Byzantine Empire as a refuge for families fleeing the Hun invasions of Europe in the 400s and 500s

  • It developed into one of the world’s greatest trading centers by 700

  • It gradually gained autonomy from the Byzantines when its citizens elected their own ruler, the “Doge” (derived from the Latin word for “duke”), the first of whom reigned in the latter of the two namesake beginning dates

  • Its buildings, each shored up by great wooden piles, were connected by a network of canals

• Its inhabitants

  • benefited from the ideal position their city occupied, in that it was linked by sea to Constantinople and the east and by land and the Po River to wealthy northern Italy

  • capitalized on the local environment, which provided an abundance of fish and water-fowl

  • traded in locally-produced salt and exotic goods like spices and silks imported from the east

• It established itself as one of the major European commercial and naval powers

  • Its wealth had rested on the trade which flowed through the namesake city on its way from the east and Constantinople to markets in Europe and northern Italy

    • In order to protect these routes from piracy, they had been pushed south and east and ships have even broken into the Black Sea

  • Owing to its participation in the Crusades, the namesake Italian city-state and republic increasingly penetrated into eastern markets and, between the 1100s and 1200s, managed to extend its power into numerous eastern emporiums and commercial ports

  • Controlled the sea and the world’s most important trade routes by the time Christianity had been driving ever deeper into Muslim lands

    • Vied for the cereals, salt, metal, coral, and slaves of Corsica and Sardinia

    • Vied for the grain of Sicily

  • Its support of the Christians in the Crusades secured valuable commercial positions for its traders, leading to increased wealth and power, its people

    • sent relief fleets during the First Crusade into the Holy Land, and were, in towns they conquered, rewarded with

      • Quarters

      • Warehouses

      • Markets

      • Churches

    • helped the Crusaders to capture ports in south Lebanon and were granted trading privileges as a result

    • helped the Christian Crusader fleets dominate the Mediterranean

    • attacked the Tunisian coast and extracted taxes from the Emir of Kairouan

    • gained wool and leather exports from the Muslims

• It was governed by a narrow oligarchy of merchants who consolidated their power by crushing both popular and patrician revolts, especially that arose in the 1300s

• They had an extensive historical relationship of trade and war with the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople, especially during the Komnenos Restoration, in which

  • They allied with Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos

  • Their trading privileges were restored by Byzantine Emperor John Komnenos after having been previously taken away

  • They were arrested on mass and their goods and property were immediately seized by Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos

  • Their trading privileges were restored by Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos not too long after his previous actions

  • Durazzo and Corfu was taken from them by Despot of Epirus Theodore Angelos Komnenos

• They gradually gained footholds in the markets of Alexandria, Antioch, and Tripoli

• During the Fourth Crusade, their entrepreneurs backed the pillaging of Constantinople carried out by the French Catholic Crusaders, doing so in the name of religious unity

  • In fact, it was a short cut to repayment of a loan to fund the Fourth Crusade to the Holy Land

  • Boniface, the marquess of Montferrat, agreed to pay them handsomely for their efforts of support

• After the Fourth Crusade, their leaders formed a commission to allot some of the old empire to the new emperor and other shares to the namesake crusaders

  • By this means, they collected the Adriatic east coast, both shores of the Gulf of Corinth, islands such as Andros, and swathes of Albania

• After the 1261 Siege of Constantinople, a fleet of theirs took off with hundreds of women and children who cried for help as their shops and homes burnt behind them

  • Its fleet had rescued Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Paleologos

• In 1400, it seized Vicenza, Padua, and Verona to become the dominant power in northern Italy

• They lost Dalmatia to Louis of Hungary

• They established a Holy League alongside the Duchy of Milan, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Papacy against King Charles VIII of France after he had seized the Kingdom of Naples; prompting the Italian Wars

• By 1500, it

  • was still the most important center of Mediterranean trade

  • had merchants ships which brought in great wealth

  • had a navy which ensured its security from the attacks of greedy rivals

  • had merchants which dominated every trade route, as it was ideally positioned between Western Europe and Asia

  • had bankers, insurers, and accounts which were unrivalled throughout Europe, master of the continent’s most commercial sophisticated and successful area

  • had its powers undermined by Portugal’s discoveries of the New World by that time, but its expertise of traders and overall experience continue to ensure that it continued to dominate the established Eastern trade routes

  • had no rivals on its monopoly of Asia’s luxury goods except for Portugal in Asia’s spice trade, which became its main rival at that time

• In 1509,

  • it was excommunicated by Pope Julius II during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai / War of the Holy League

• By 1510,

  • its prior excommunication by Pope Julius II ended, during the Fourth Italian War / War of the League of Cambrai / War of the Holy League

697 - 717 - Paolo Lucio Anafesto (All Facts)

• First Doge and Founder of the Republic of Venice

• He was elected by the people, hence his being the head of a republic

958 - 1137 - Duchy of Amalfi (All Facts)

• Its support of the Christians in the Crusades secured valuable commercial positions for its traders, leading to increased wealth and power, its people

  • sent relief fleets during the First Crusade into the Holy Land, and were, in towns they conquered, rewarded with

    • Quarters

    • Warehouses

    • Markets

    • Churches

  • helped the Crusaders to capture ports in south Lebanon and were granted trading privileges as a result

  • helped the Christian Crusader fleets dominate the Mediterranean

  • attacked the Tunisian coast and extracted taxes from the Emir of Kairouan

  • gained wool and leather exports from the Muslims

962 - 1801 - Kingdom of Italy (All Facts)

• Initially a part of the Holy Roman Empire, it eventually broke away and became its own kingdom, but the exact date at which this occurs varies depending on who is asked

• It was one of the constituent kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire, along with the kingdoms of Germany, Bohemia, and Burgundy

• It originally comprised large parts of northern and central Italy

• Its original capital was Pavia until the 1000s

• It was politically distinct from entities like the Kingdoms of Sicily, Naples, etc., since its rulers did not always rule the namesake and Sicily, Naples, etc. simultaneously historically as well as distinct from entities like the Republics of Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Milan, Florence, etc. - the so-called namesake “city-states” but nonetheless grouped in with them due to their current-day political linkage

961 - 973 - Otto the Great, as King of Italy (All Facts)

• First King and Founder of the Kingdom of Italy, as it was in the Holy Roman Empire and First King and Founder of his namesake Dynasty of Italy as it was in the Holy Roman Empire

  • First Emperor and Founder of the territorial / geographic Holy Roman Empire and First Emperor and Founder of his namesake Dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire

  • After an appeal by Pope John XII for aid against King Berengar of Italy, the namesake’s Holy Roman Emperor predecessor, he invaded Italy a second time and overthrew his Holy Roman Emperor predecessor there as new Holy Roman Emperor to become the new King of Italy, and by which he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII in St. Peter’s

  • He did this to legitimize his claim to the lands of Lotharingia / Middle Francia (which included Italy, Burgundy, and eastern Gaul at the time) by being crowned emperor in Rome by the Pope, like the previous rulers of the Kingdoms of Lotharingia and Francia

• He then proceeded to starve Rome into surrender

• He declared that in the future no papal election would be valid until an oath of allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor had been taken

  • He also determined the outcome of the election of future popes by deposing and exiling Benedict V

  • He did this in order to reinstate his own nomination for the papal throne, Leo VIII

  • After Leo VIII died, he nominated and had elected Leo VIII’s papal successor, John XIII

  • Shortly after this, he was temporarily imprisoned by the Romans who disliked the emperor for his foreign influence on the papacy

  • However, he was soon released and marched on Rome with an enormous army to reinstate John XIII

• His rule proved to be very unpopular, but it laid down the foundations for the Holy Roman Empire and Kingdom of Italy

980 - 983 - Otto II (All Facts)

• 2nd King of Italy and 2nd King of the Ottonian Dynasty

  • He was the 13th Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

  • He was nicknamed “The Red”

• He and his forces were defeated by the Fatimid Caliphate in the Battle of Stilo after they had provoked the conflict by calling a Holy War against him and his empire

• He

  • Demanded that Pope Benedict VI, imprisoned by the Roman people after the death of the namesake’s father and predecessor who had installed the pope, be released

  • Installed Pope Benedict VII to replace the Roman-backed antipope Boniface VII

  • Installed Pope John XIV once Pope Benedict VII died, without the consultation of the Roman people

• He suddenly died of malaria and was succeeded by his infant son

996 - 1002 - Otto III (All Facts)

• 3rd King of Italy and 3rd King of the Ottonian Dynasty

  • He was the 14th Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

• As an infant, the empire was ruled by his mother Theophano and his grandmother Adelaide (of Burgundy, also kidnapped by Berengar, King of Italy) as regents, with the help of clerics

• He was only three when his father and predecessor died

• His succession was disputed by Henry “The Troublemaker,” Duke of Bavaria, who kidnapped him as an infant

  • Theophano and Adelaide, ruling as regents, forced Henry “The Troublemaker”, Duke of Bavaria, to return the child

• Under his reign, there was a power struggle between the magnates

• During this power struggle, the East Slavs took advantage of the turmoil and recovered their independence east of the Elbe River

• Eventually, at 16 years of age, he was crowned emperor with the dreams of making Rome the capital of a universal empire, at that point in the form of the Holy Roman Empire and sought to restore the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne

• Interestingly, he was a child of both East and West

  • His mother Theophano was the niece of Emperor John Tzimiskes of the Byzantine Empire, showing his Eastern side

  • His father was his predecessor, showing his Western side as a Saxon

  • He was thus half-Byzantine, half-Saxon

• He was schooled by bishops and described as “the wonder of the world”

• His visions of grandeur, however, were considered unrealistic, even at the time as his empire, upon his assumption to the throne, lacked an educated ruling class, a bureaucracy, and a network of communication

• Like his two direct predecessors of the same name, he faced a struggle to impose unity on strong provincial barons who were hostile to notions of a world empire which would diminish their local power

• He was a strong and able leader who inherited from his predecessor grandfather the capacity to form wide political conceptions

• He was responsible for the succession of a number of Popes in the attempt that one would crown him Holy Roman Emperor

  • Pope John XV died before he could crown the namesake

  • He installed his cousin Bruno as Pope Gregory V, but after his installment, a band of disgruntled Roman patricians drove him out of the office and replaced him with antipope John XVI

    • So the namesake marched on Rome and deposed and mutilated antipope John XVI, reinstalling Pope Gregory V, until he died suspiciously shortly afterwards

  • He then installed his former tutor Gerbert, already the Archbishop of Ravenna, as Pope Sylvester II (a name that was chosen to evoke the grandeur of Ancient Rome as Pope Sylvester I baptized Constantine the Great)

• His political restoration of the (Holy) Roman Empire led to a revival of arts and literature

  • Under his reign, classical texts were translated into the language of administration

  • The deeds of his namesake dynasty up his reign were chronicled in the “Res Gestae Saxionae,” produced during his reign

  • Under his reign, huge basilicas were built and decorated by artists from the great monasteries

• He established friendly relations with Poland when he went to the Polish city of Gniezno and visited the grave of St. Wojciech

• He settled in Rome, restored its palaces, and struck seals proclaiming “Renovatio Imperii Romani”

  • However, the people of Rome revolted against his interference with papal matters

  • He was besieged in his palace and forced to leave for Paterno

  • Thus, while preparing to retake his capital of Rome at 22 years old, he died of malaria in the town of Paterno in Italy

  • He was buried beside Charlemagne, his hero, whose body he had disinterred so that he could pray before it, a truly romantic feat

1000 - 1406 - Republic of Pisa (All Facts)

• One of the well-known “Maritime Republics” of Italy

• It was an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century, before being surpassed and superseded by the Republic of Genoa

  • Controlled the sea and the world’s most important trade routes by the time Christianity had been driving ever deeper into Muslim lands

    • Vied for the cereals, salt, metal, coral, and slaves of Corsica and Sardinia

    • Vied for the grain of Sicily

  • Its support of the Christians in the Crusades secured valuable commercial positions for its traders, leading to increased wealth and power, its people

    • sent relief fleets during the First Crusade into the Holy Land, and were, in towns they conquered, rewarded with

      • Quarters

      • Warehouses

      • Markets

      • Churches

    • helped the Crusaders to capture ports in south Lebanon and were granted trading privileges as a result

    • helped the Christian Crusader fleets dominate the Mediterranean

    • attacked the Tunisian coast and extracted taxes from the Emir of Kairouan

    • gained wool and leather exports from the Muslims

• 1001 - Muslims plundered it

• 1011 - Muslims plundered it

• 1015 - Muslims attack the northern shores of the Mediterranean but were defeated by its fleets and the fleets of the Genoans

• One time, a convoy of Genoese ships, sailed into the namesake’s trap, trusting in the emblem of the Crusades which they flew to give them immunity, having carried two cardinals and many bishops as well as large sums of money

  • The Genoese ship was destined for Rome where Pope Gregory IX awaited them, having called a council seeking support against Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II

  • The Genoese ship never reached Rome, however, and was attacked and overwhelmed by a pro-imperial fleet off Tuscany from their namesake rivals

  • Many of the Genoese sailors onboard were slaughtered and many of the Genoese churchmen onboard were thrown into prison

  • The conflict represented the ongoing conflict in Italy between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, which was at each other’s throats since the accession of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick II

    • The Emperor’s hostages contributed to the Pope’s failure to win the supported he desperately needed at that time

• It ended when it was bought by the Republic of Florence

1004 - 1024 - Henry II (All Facts)

• 4th King of Italy and 4th and Final King of the Ottonian Dynasty

  • He was the 15th Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the Final Emperor of the Ottonian Dynasty

  • He was the son of Henry “The Troublemaker,” Duke of Bavaria

  • Another King, an outsider of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled Italy alongside him named “Arduin” until about halfway through the namesake’s reign <for my purposes, “Arduin” also will be designated the “4th” King of Italy>

• He responded to the various threats facing his reign and empire by seeking the support of the Church

  • He sought to make the Church servants to the Holy Roman Emperors

  • He granted land and titles to bishops and abbots lavishly to persuade them to submit to the Holy Roman Empire

• He travelled to Rome to have himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor on the steps of St. Peter’s by Pope Benedict VIII

  • The Pope asked him if he would be a faithful defender of the Church, to which he responded in the affirmative

  • The Pope placed in his hand a golden orb surmounted by a cross, symbolic of his rule over the world’s empire

  • After his coronation at Pavia, a quarrel developed between those who accompanied him and the people of Pavia, which grew into a full-scale battle in which much of the city of Pavia was burnt and hundreds of citizens were slaughtered

  • He married Cunigunde, the daughter of the count of Luxembourg

    • He and his wife were admitted into the church and anointed

  • He was pious, well-meaning, but had poor health

  • He was destined for the Church when his predecessor died without children and when the Bavarians and Franks called

  • When Pope Benedict VIII was deposed by antipope Gregory VI, he had Gregory VI deposed and Pope Benedict VIII reinstated

• Upon his assumption to the throne, he faced endless struggles to contain rebellions and feuds by powerful nobles

  • Via concessions and favors, he won the dubious allegiance of Saxons, Lotharingian, Thuringians, and Swabians

  • He also faced multiple wars on every frontier in which

    • Boleslaw of Poland seized lands to his east

      • This conflict began after he invaded Poland with the hopes of recreating the Frankish Carolingian Empire, backed by his nobles

      • However, he was unable to defeat Boleslaw and Poland was forced to sign the unfavorable treaty, the Peace of Bautzen, in which Boleslaw’s gains were consolidated

    • The Count of Flanders moved to seize Lotharingia

• When he died, the Lombards revolted against the Holy Roman Empire

1026 - 1039 - Conrad II (All Facts)

• 5th King of Italy and First King and Founder of the Salian Dynasty

  • He was the 16th Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and he was the First Emperor and Founder of the Salian Dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire

  • He marched onto Italy to claim his rightful crown of Lombardy, coming up against stiff opposition from the inhabitants of

    • Pavia, who closed the city gates to his army

    • Ravenna, where his men hacked down people running to safety

  • He ordered survivors of these conflicts to parade before him in hair shirts, barefoot, with unsheathed swords hung around their necks, and to beg for forgiveness

  • He was crowned emperors in the presence of two other crowned heads, Rudolf of Burgundy and Canute the Great of England and Denmark (and Norway) amid imperial pomp and religious infighting

  • During his coronation, two archbishops (of Milan and Ravenna) vied for the honor of leading the king to the altar, exchanging harsh words and even punches in the process outside St. Peter’s

  • He married Queen Gisela

• He incorporated the Kingdom of Burgundy into the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of their heirless King Rudolf III, becoming its first Holy Roman Emperor

• He oversaw the construction and completion of the Speyer Cathedral

1039 - 1056 - Henry III (All Facts)

• 6th King of Italy and 2nd King of the Salian Dynasty

  • He was the 17th Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and 2nd Emperor of the Salian Dynasty

• He

  • forced the abdication of Pope Gregory VI on the grounds of simony

  • confirmed the deposition of Pope Sylvester III and Pope Benedict IX

  • had installed Pope Clement II after the depositions and abdications of his corrupt papal predecessors

  • had installed Pope Damasus after he and his Holy Roman forces militaristically drove Pope Benedict IX out of the papal office after ignoring his original deposition against him and serving a third term

• He died at Pfalz Bodfeld

1071 - 1101 - Roger (All Facts)

• First Grand Count and Founder of Sicily

  • He was Norman and the brother of Robert Guiscard

• He came to dominate Malta and southern Italy

  • He took Sicily from the Arab Muslims

• Died at Mileto in Calabria

1056 - 1105 - Henry IV (All Facts)

• 7th King of Italy and 3rd King of the Salian Dynasty

  • He was the 18th Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and 3rd Emperor of the Salian Dynasty

  • His mother Agnes of Poitou ruled as regent when he assumed the throne at the age of six

  • Another King, an outsider of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled Italy alongside him named “Conrad II” until near the end of the namesake’s reign <for my purposes, “Conrad II” also will be designated the “7th” King of Italy>

• Oversaw the beginning of the “Investiture Controversy” with Pope Gregory VII, the first of many popes to curb and eventually eliminate the Holy Roman Emperors from having the power and authority to appoint bishops, abbots, and popes

  • His reign marked the transition from the Holy Roman Emperors controlling the Popes, to the Popes controlling the Holy Roman Emperors, due in part to Pope Gregory VII’s “Gregorian Reforms” / “Dictatus Papae”

  • In this clash with Pope Gregory VIII, the namesake was the first Holy Roman Emperor to bow down to the authority of the Pope

  • He did this by standing barefoot in the snow for three days, penitent in sackcloth, at the gate of the Castle of Canossa in the Alps

  • As a result, Pope Gregory VII, the pope at the time, chose to pardon him and withdraw the excommunication order imposed on him

  • This all came after Pope Gregory VII’s decisions via his “Gregorian Reforms” / “Dictatus Papae” which caused a clear power struggle between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, since the Pope sought to elevate the papacy’s power and authority above the Holy Roman Empire’s through the Pope’s reforms and philosophy

  • Thus, he engaged in a difficult power struggle with Pope Gregory VII

  • He rebelled against the pope by persuading his bishops to renounce their obedience to the pope in the 1076 Synod of Worms

  • Pope Gregory VII responded to this by releasing the Pope’s subjects from their allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor, which had already been unhappy about the increase in the Holy Roman Emperor’s power since the defeat of the Saxons and territorial establishment of the Holy Roman Empire

  • This got his nobles under him to eventually force him to submit to the pope

  • However, he eventually decided to bow down to his authority after he had released the nobles from their authority to Henry IV

  • After all this, his power struggle with Pope Gregory VII continued

    • After he dealt with his rivals in his home country, he besieged, and conquered a part of Rome as a part of his attack on Pope Gregory VII

    • However, Pope Gregory VII held out in the Castel Sant’Angelo until he was rescued by Robert Guiscard and the Normans

    • When he realized he was outnumbered by the Norman invaders, he fled from Rome and took his antipope Clement III with him

• Oversaw the expansion of the Speyer Cathedral, making it the tallest in Europe at 107 feet

• Defeated his rebellious son Henry V, but was refused a proper burial by Pope Paschal lI, who had him excommunicated

• He died at Liege

1098 - 1125 - Henry V (All Facts)

• 8th King of Italy and 4th and Final King of the Salian Dynasty

  • He was the 19th Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and 4th Emperor of the Salian Dynasty

• He presided over the Concordant of Worms, in which he made a compromise with Pope Callixtus II which ended the “Investiture Controversy” between the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire

• Died without an heir, leading to a civil war within the Holy Roman Empire

1099 - 1797 - Republic of Genoa (All Facts)

• One of the well-known “Maritime Republics” of Italy

  • Prior to its formation as a state, its people defeated the Muslim fleets near the northern shores of the Mediterranean along with the Pisans

  • Upon the death of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, they introduce gold currencies into their republic and their bankers flourished

• It was a major commercial power in both the Mediterranean and Black Sea during the Middle Ages and one of the major financial centers of Europe between the 1500s and 1600s

  • Its wealth came from its people being great traders and bankers, who imported spices from the Far East, traded with Muslims states, and had helped reestablish the Byzantine Empire

  • It controlled the sea and the world’s most important trade routes by the time Christianity had been driving ever deeper into Muslim lands

    • Vied for the cereals, salt, metal, coral, and slaves of Corsica and Sardinia

    • Vied for the grain of Sicily

  • Its support of the Christians in the Crusades secured valuable commercial positions for its traders, leading to increased wealth and power, its people

    • sent relief fleets during the First Crusade into the Holy Land, and were, in towns they conquered, rewarded with

      • Quarters

      • Warehouses

      • Markets

      • Churches

    • helped the Crusaders to capture ports in south Lebanon and were granted trading privileges as a result

    • helped the Christian Crusader fleets dominate the Mediterranean

    • attacked the Tunisian coast and extracted taxes from the Emir of Kairouan

    • gained wool and leather exports from the Muslims

• Its leaders signed the “Treaty of Nymphaeum” with Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, which essentially provided it the same trading privileges already granted by the Byzantine Empire to the Republic of Venice

• One time, a convoy of their ships, sailed into disaster, trusting in the emblem of the Crusades which they flew to give them immunity, having carried two cardinals and many bishops as well as large sums of money

  • The ship was destined for Rome where Pope Gregory IX awaited them, having called a council seeking support against Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II

  • The ship never reached Rome, however, and was attacked and overwhelmed by a pro-imperial fleet from the rival Republic of Pisa off Tuscany

  • Many of the sailors onboard were slaughtered and many of the churchmen onboard were thrown into prison

  • The conflict represented the ongoing conflict in Italy between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, which was at each other’s throats since the accession of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa

    • The Emperor’s hostages contributed to the Pope’s failure to win the supported he desperately needed at that time

1115 / 1434 - 1569 - Republic of Florence / Lordship of Florence (All Facts)

• The political faction of the Guelphs were based here

• They struck their first namesake currency after the death of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and the temporary collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, which had retained the imperial right and privilege of minting its own coins / currency

• There were known for their banking culture, houses and families including the

  • Peruzzi

  • Acciauoli

  • Bardi

• In Tuscany and Lombards, their bankers had capitalized on European trade in the 1200s and early 1300s, their firms having been represented throughout Europe

• Their bankers collectively lost 1.7M in their namesake currency after having lent that money over time to King Edward III of England, who, despite having borrowed extensively to finance his wars against the Scots and French, he repudiated debt of up to 800K of the namesake currency and effectively imprisoned the namesake banking agents for not collecting on their loans

  • All three aforementioned banking houses / families declared bankruptcy after this

• In 1382, constitutional reform marked the beginning of its power

• In 1405, it won access to the sea by buying out the Republic of Pisa

• By 1530, the Medici Family was restored to power here by Holy Roman imperial troops

1125 - 1555 - Republic of Siena (All Facts)

• The political faction of the Ghibellines were based here

1130 - 1816 - Kingdom of Sicily (All Facts)

1128 - 1135 - Conrad III (All Facts)

• 9th King of Italy and First King and Founder of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty, as he was the brother of Frederick Hohenstaufen

  • When he seized Saxony and Bavaria, civil war ensued

• He led the Christian Crusaders in the Second Crusade along with King Louis VII of France

1105 - 1154 - Roger II (All Facts)

• First King and Founder of the Kingdom of Sicily, First King of Sicily of the Hauteville Dynasty

  • He was the 3rd Count of Sicily and 3rd Count of the Hauteville Dynasty

  • He was the nephew of the great Norman conqueror Robert Guiscard

  • He was crowned king of Sicily and anointed by the special envoy of the antipope Anacletus II

  • This coronation was particularly special to the namesake, who gained respectability, but more so to antipope Anacletus II, who gained an influential supporter in his struggle for the true papacy against Pope Innocent II

  • He was the son of his father and Adelaide

• He

  • inherited Sicily from his father and grand-predecessor who had initially driven out the Muslims

  • fought the Muslims in North Africa

  • claimed his inheritance on the death of his cousin, Duke William of Apulia

  • defeated Pope Honorius II at Benevento

  • became Duke of Apulia himself

  • used Sicily as a base to conquer southern Italy

• His kingdom stretched from the Abruzzi to Malta and from Tripoli to Kabylia

• His Byzantine administration included Greeks, Arabs, and many other races

• He took Corfu from the Byzantines

• He pillaged Corinth, Athens, and Thebes within the Byzantine Empire

• He took Susa and Sfax in Ifriqiyah (Tunisia)

• He had the intention of establishing an empire in Africa

• In keeping with Norman tradition, he established a feudal power structure

  • His court was based on the French feudal system

• In his highly organized civil service and extravagant court, there was a strong Egyptian and Byzantine influence with rich costumes, a mosaic-encrusted private chapel, and a harem

• He oversaw the construction of the Cathedral at Cefalu

• He died at Palermo

• He was succeeded by his youngest son

• He was one of the greatest rulers of his generation

• Just 4 years after he died, the Arabs retook Tunisia from him and his kingdom

1154 - 1166 - William (All Facts)

• 2nd King of Sicily and 2nd King of the Hauteville Dynasty

  • He was nicknamed “The Bad”

  • He was the 4th Count of Sicily and 4th Count of the Hauteville Dynasty

• He and his forces defeated the Byzantines, backed by Pope Hadrian IV, who capitulated at Benevento afterwards in the Battle of Brindisi

1166 - 1189 - William II (All Facts)

• 3rd King of Sicily and 3rd King of the Hauteville Dynasty

  • He was the 5th Count of Sicily and 5th Count of the Hauteville Dynasty

• He fought against the Byzantines until he and his forces were defeated in the Battle of Mosinopolis

• He aided the Byzantines (Latins) against the Saracens

1155 - 1190 - Frederick Barbarossa (All Facts)

• 10th King of Italy and 2nd King of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty

  • He was the 21st Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and First Emperor of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty

  • He was the nephew of his predecessor

  • When he was chosen as emperor, he united the two factions of the empire that emerged after the death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V

  • He was crowned by Pope Hadrian IV

    • However, their relations soured when the namesake refused what he regarded as an act of vassalage, involving the comedic tradition in which the kind held the stirrups on the pope’s horse for as far as he could throw a stone as a mark of respect for the head of the church; and in turn Pope Hadrian IV refused to give the namesake the traditional papal kiss of peace

    • However, he eventually gave in and duly led the namesake pope for a short distance and holding his stirrup

    • Upon his coronation,

      • Rome rebelled against him after their delegation said that they would accept him as Emperor for 15K pounds of silver, which he proceeded to refuse

        • When he arrived at Rome he found the gates of the city closed to him, so he had to trick his way into the Vatican in which a troop of soldiers entered the city by a secret gate and occupied St. Peter’s Basilica

      • His imperial coronation took place on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, with the soldiers in the congregation whispering their joy rather than shouting it and letting the Romans know what was going on

      • However, news got out of what was happening and a riot ensued

• Upon his coronation, the Romans revolted and crowds streamed across the Tiber River, killing two guards on St. Peter’s b ridge

  • As a result, he ordered his army to hack their way out of Rome, killing more than 1,000 Romans

• He

  • signed a charter for the University of Bologna, which secured its privileges from the namesake

• He

  • led the siege of Crema, in which he

    • sought to end Crema’s status as one of the many powerful independent Italian city-states

    • cruelly ordered

      • prisoners, including children, to be tired to huge siege machines and hurled at the walls of Crema

      • the heads of decapitated prisoners to be thrown around by his troops

      • the mass hanging of prisoners, only to see his own soldiers swinging from gallows as a result

      • child hostages to be brought to the front line

      • his troops to raze the city of Crema to the ground after it had opened its gates

  • seized and destroyed Milan; its inhabitants were dispersed between four villages

  • seized Rome, forcing Pope Alexander III to flee

  • helped assemble troops for the Third Crusade along with Henry II of England and Philip Augustus of France

• He organized the Third Crusade on the orders of Pope Gregory VIII in which he

  • helped assemble troops for the Third Crusade along with Henry II of England and Philip Augustus of France

  • fought in the Third Crusade and died as he would have wished, on the battlefield on a crusade to save the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem

    • During the Third Crusade, his army had been harried by Turkish tribesmen and suffered badly from hunger and intense heat from the moment they left the Dardanelles straits

• He

  • long sought to establish his antipope Victor IV over Pope Alexander III himself, or the antipope successor to Victor IV, Paschal III

    • He sought support from King Henry II of England and King Louis VII of France

    • He succeeded in driving Pope Alexander III into exile in Sicily, although he failed in his attempt to win a decisive victory over his forces in Italy

  • was defeated by the Lombard League in the Battle of Legnano, in which he concluded the terms of the peace treaty at Agnani with Pope Alexander III of whom he kissed the feet to symbolize his acceptance of and submission to papal authority as thousands watched him do so in St. Mark’s Square

• He

  • once said that “you men of Rome make large demands on our emptied treasury”

• He died on the battlefield of the Third Crusade where he was eventually drowned as his body was found on a river bank as a result

  • His men believed he was thrown from his horse and sunk by his weighty armor

  • His army approached the port of Seleucia, nearly exhausted after crossing the Taurus mountains, when he died

  • After he died, his demoralized commanders turned back around, thus the Third Crusade failed

1186 - 1197 - Henry VI (All Facts)

• 11th King of Italy and 3rd King of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty and 6th King of Sicily, from the Hohenstaufen Dynasty

  • He was the 22nd Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and 2nd Emperor of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty

  • He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Celestine III at Palermo

• He granted wide concessions to win Pope Celestine III’s cooperation in the preservation of the union of the Holy Roman Empire with the Kingdom of Sicily

• He imprisoned Richard Lionheart of England after the Third Crusade and demanded a ransom from England of 150K gold for his release, most of which he secured

  • He was threatened to be excommunicated by Pope Celestine III for this act

• He died at Messina

1192 - 1205 - Enrico Dandolo (All Facts)

• Doge of Venice

• For the Fourth Crusade, he contracted to supply ships for 30K men, but only 10K men volunteered

  • Thus, the decision by the Crusaders was to attack and establish new crusader states in the Byzantine Empire rather than in Palestine under the Ayyubid Sultanate

1208 - 1212 - Otto IV (All Facts)

• 12th King of Italy and sole ruler of the House of Welf

  • He was the 23rd Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and sole imperial ruler of the House of Welf

• Upon his assumption to the throne, he fought over the throne with Philip of Swabia, the typical Hohenstaufen successor and civil war ensued

• He was eventually recognized and crowned as emperor by Pope Innocent III after the murder of his rival Philip of Swabia

1212 - 1250 - Frederick II (All Facts)

• 7th King of Sicily, from the Hohenstaufen Dynasty

• 24th Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, from the Hohenstaufen Dynasty

• He was not King of Italy, but he held control over Italy

  • He was crowned with papal backing by Pope Innocent III

  • He was officially crowned by Pope Honorius III after he promised to go to the aid of the Fifth Crusade

    • However, he was excommunicated twice by Pope Honorius III for his delayed crusading

      • The first time he vowed to fight for the Holy Land, he did not succeed in getting away as expected

      • The second time he vowed to fight for the Holy Land, he said he would be ready to sail, but then got distracted by domestic problems and the Mongol invasions

        • This was the first time was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX

      • The third time he set a date to fight for the Holy Land, his troops did indeed sail from Brindisi but went without him for he was unwell in Otranto and without him, many of his troops were demoralized

        • This was the second time he was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX, for crusading while excommunicated

      • When he did eventually arrive in Jerusalem for the Sixth Crusade, having arrived in the Christian port of Acre, he did not have much of an army with him

  • As King of Germany, he paid little to no attention to it, leaving it instead in the hands of the nobles, and thus led to it a period of political instability

    • He instead concentrated on the reorganization of Sicily and northern Italy, which led the Vatican to suspect that it was his potential target in the middle

• His delayed efforts to fight in the Fifth and Sixth Crusades were explained by his clandestine diplomatic contact with the Ayyubid Sultan Al-Kamil, in which he tried to negotiate with the “infidel” to organize a bloodless coup

  • He had Al-Kamil and the Ayyubid Sultanate sign the Treaty of Jaffa to end the Sixth Crusade, resulting in a bloodless coup, a novelty in the history of the Crusades, whose protagonists usually preferred to do things the hard way

• He experienced significant disgrace for his choice to negotiate with Al-Kamil and the Ayyubid Sultanate that culminated in the Treaty of Jaffa

  • He was publicly denounced as the Antichrist

  • He was excommunicated a third time for dealing with an infidel

• Under his reign

  • His son and vice-regent of the Holy Roman Empire Henry revolts against him and makes an alliance with the Lombard League

  • He then had his son and vice-regent Henry deposed and imprisoned

  • He then defeated the armies of the Lombard League

  • The University of Padua was founded

  • The University of Rome was founded

  • The University of Siena was founded

• He and his forces fought against and defeated Pope Gregory IX and the Papacy in the War of the Keys

• In the (First) Council of Lyon, he was condemned, deposed, and found guilty of sacrilege and suspected of heresy, and a crusade was called against him as a result by Pope Innocent IV

• He was a scholarly king with a scientific curiosity and a serious student of natural science

  • He wrote a treatise on falconry that is a model of natural history for its combined learning and observation

  • In one experiment he conducted, he raised children in silence in an effort to discover what language was spoken by Adam and Eve

    • This, of course, was extremely cruel to those children

• He died at Castel Fiorentino near Lucera

  • There were sighs of relief throughout the Vatican afterwards given how much they had to excommunicate him

• After his deposition, there was an interregnum of nearly 30 years

  • He thus left his heirs the task of sorting out a chaotic Europe

  • Following his death, rebellions broke out in northern Italy against the feudal lords there

1254 - 1258 - Conradin (All Facts)

• 10th King of Sicily, from the Hohenstaufen Dynasty

• He and his forces (and the Ghibellines) were defeated after his attempted invasion of Italy by King Charles of Anjou of Sicily and the Guelphs in the Battle of Tagliacozzi

1258 - 1266 - Manfred (All Facts)

• 11th King of Sicily, he was the final ruler of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen Dynasty

• He and his forces were defeated and he was killed defending the throne from his namesake successor and his namesake successor’s forces in the Battle of Benevento

1266 - 1282 - Charles of Anjou (All Facts)

• 12th King of Sicily and sole ruler of the House of Anjou of Sicily

  • As Count of Anjou, Maine, and Provence, he

    • was the younger brother of King Louis IX of France

    • subjugated Piedmont

    • was groomed by Pope Urban IV for the role of papal champion against Holy Roman influence in Italy

    • was elected Senator for life by the Romans

  • He and his forces defeated and killed his namesake predecessor and his forces in the Battle of Benevento

  • He was then invested with the crown of Sicily by Pope Clement IV

    • From there, he entered the Kingdom of Naples and ruled over it

• He founded his namesake dynasty in Sicily, of which he was the sole ruler; but which derives from the Capetian Dynasty of France

• He and his forces defeated Conradin (the final ruler of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty and the namesake’s namesake grand-predecessor) in the Battle of Tagliacozzo

  • From there, he became “Master of Tuscany”

• He died losing Sicily and failing to realize his hopes of conquest in the east

  • His heir, Charles “The Lame” was being held captive in Aragon by Peter III, who would become his real successor

• Upon his death, the War of the Sicilian Vespers broke out

1277 - 1447 - Visconti Family (All Facts)

• Italian Noble Family that ruled the Duchy of Milan

• Their power grew during the early 1300s

• They won a victory over Mastino delle Scala, the ruler of Verona

1282 - 1806 - Kingdom of Naples (All Facts)

1282 - 1285 - Peter I / Peter III of Aragon (All Facts)

• 13th King of Sicily, and First King and Founder of the House of Barcelona in Sicily

  • He notably co-ruled with Constance II, daughter of his grand-predecessor King Manfred of Sicily

1285 - 1295 - James / James II of Aragon (All Facts)

• 14th King of Sicily, and 2nd King of the House of Barcelona in Sicily

• He renounced the throne and his namesake brother succeeded him

1295 - 1337 - Frederick III (All Facts)

• 15th King of Sicily, and 3rd King of the House of Barcelona in Sicily

• Upon giving up his claims of Sicily to the Pope, the Pope gave him Corsica and Sardinia in exchange

• When Charles of Valois of France invaded his kingdom of Sicily, with papal support, he agreed to Charles of Valois’s terms and thus under his reign, the War of the Sicilian Vespers ended

1311 - 1313 - Henry VII (All Facts)

• 13th King of Italy, from the House of Luxembourg

• He died near Siena, not having fulfilled his ambition to revive Holy Roman imperial power in Italy

1327 - 1347 - Louis IV of Bavaria (All Facts)

• 14th King of Italy, from the House of Wittelsbach

• He was “deposed” de facto by Pope Clement VI and replaced by his successor, but kept ruling de jure over most of Italy that supported him

• When he was killed in an accident, his successor took full control of the Kingdom of Italy

1347 - 1354 - Cola di Rienzo (All Facts)

• Italian Politician and Leader, who styled himself as the "tribune of the Roman people"

  • He was a demagogue whose ambition to revive Rome’s classical role as the capital of Italy led him to be given power by the people as he took the aforementioned title

  • He attempted to set up a Roman Republic independent of the papacy

• He was an innkeeper’s son who dreamt of freeing Rome and uniting Italy

• He had succeeded in convening an assembly of the people which elected him tribune and expelled the ruling nobles from the city

• He then went on to challenge papal authority

• He was imprisoned, but quickly regained favor and once again ruled Rome

  • Prison did much damage to his charisma, however, in which he emerged fat and flabby with a huge paunch, his eyes wild and bloodshot from heavy drinking

  • It did not help his image with the sober Romans that he even washed in wine

• When he ruled Rome a second time after prison, he lost favor when he tried to introduce tax increases

  • Thereafter, a mob surrounded the Capitol, calling “death to the tyrant” and stoning him when he appeared on the balcony and tried to convince them that he, too, was a plebeian

  • When he tried to escape, using tied tablecloths as a rope, that ruse failed, and he resorted to cut off his beard and disguise himself as a woman before the crowed fell on him

• He was stabbed to death by his former supporters

• During his lifetime, he advocated for the unification of Italy

  • This led to the namesake’s re-emergence in the 19th century as an iconic figure among leaders of liberal nationalism for Italy and for Italians

1355 - 1378 - Charles IV (All Facts)

• 15th King of Italy, from the House of Luxembourg

• Elected at the instigation of Pope Clement VI, who “deposed” the namesake’s predecessor

• He arrived in and left Rome in one day, crowned Holy Roman Emperor by a papal legate

  • His haste was mocked by the Italians, demonstrating that he has abandoned any pretensions to real imperial authority in Italy

1321 - 1394 - John Hawkwood (All Facts)

• English Mercenary Leader of Italians

• His troops were a force to be reckoned with in the politics of northern Italy

• He died and was buried in an elaborate cathedral tomb

1378 - 1402 - Gian Galeazzo Visconti (All Facts)

• First Duke and Founder of the Duchy of Milan

  • He bought this title from King Wenceslas IV of Germany, which gave the namesake the status of a legitimate prince

• Italian Statesman

  • He was a Lombard noble whose military prowess was outshone by his diplomatic skill and ruthless cunning

  • He could have been “King of Italy” had it not been for Florence’s resistance to his rule

• He dominated Northern Italy in his day

  • He inherited the lordships of Pavia (was tyrant of Pavia) and other northern Italian cities

  • He married Isabel of Valois, the daughter of the king of France

    • When she died, he married the daughter of his powerful uncle Bernabo, whom he imprisoned to acquire all the Visconti lands

    • He tricked his uncle Bernabo, the ruler of Milan, into captivity, and reunited the Visconti Family’s lands, which had been divided between his father and uncle Bernabo

  • He then took possession of Perugia, Spoleto, and Assisi

  • He married his daughter to Louis of Orleans, the brother of the king of France

  • He made more judicious alliances and, with a minimum of military effort, won control of almost every important city in northern Italy

  • He was recognized by Wenceslas as Duke of Milan and Lombardy

1395 - 1796 - Duchy of Milan (All Facts)

• Founded by Gian Galeazzo Visconti

• Controlled by the

  • Visconti Family

  • Sforza Family

• They established a Holy League alongside the Republic of Venice, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Papacy against King Charles VIII of France after he had seized the Kingdom of Naples; prompting the Italian Wars

1400s - 1700s - Medici Family (All Facts)

• Ruling Family which supported Pope John XXIII

• Family of bankers and wool merchants

• They took Florence and made it a lordship by 1434

1360 - 1429 - Giovanni de Medici (All Facts)

• Founded the Medici Bank

• Father of Cosimo de Medici

1431 - 1437 - Sigismund (All Facts)

• 16th King of Italy, from the House of Luxembourg

• He helped secure unity amongst the Catholic Church, for political reasons

1370 - 1442 - Rinaldo degli Albizzi (All Facts)

• He was the main political opponent of Cosimo de Medici within the Republic of Florence

• He had Cosimo de Medici exiled at one point

1412 - 1447 - Filippo Maria Visconti (All Facts)

• 3rd Duke of Milan

• He subjugated the Republic of Genoa as part of his campaign to restore the duchy of Milan, which fragmented into city-states after the death of his predecessor as Duke of Milan

• Upon his death, the last of the male line of the Visconti family, a republic is proclaimed by the citizens

1423 - 1457 - Francesco Foscari (All Facts)

• Doge of Venice (the Republic of Venice)

• He signed a treaty with Sultan Mohammed II of the Ottoman Empire on terms generous to (the Republic of) Venice

1442 - 1458 - Alfonso V of Aragon / Alfons I (All Facts)

• King of Naples

  • He conquered the town

• 22nd King of Sicily

• He died, leaving the Kingdom to his bastard son and successor

1434 - 1464 - Cosimo de Medici (All Facts)

• First Lord and Founder of the Lordship of Florence

  • He was the “Pater Patriae” (“Father of the Republic”)

  • He became manager of the namesake family bank prior to his lordship

  • He was exiled by his rival Rinaldo d’Albizzi, but eventually returned to Florence and seized power in the city

  • Although strictly he remained a private citizen within an independent Republic of Florence, in effect his power was complete

• He founded Florence’s “Platonic Academy”

  • He saw only the first fruits of Marsilio Ficino’s translations of Plato from Greek to Latin

1450 - 1466 - Francesco Sforza (All Facts)

• 4th Duke of Milan

  • He was hired by its citizens to be their general, after its citizens proclaimed the duchy a Republic, but it continued under his reign as a duchy after he staged a coup and took the title of duke

1464 - 1469 - Piero de Medici (All Facts)

• 2nd Lord of Florence

• He was driven out of Florence by Savonarola

1444 - 1478 - Francesco de Pazzi (All Facts)

• He led the Pazzi Conspiracy, in which he and his confederates stabbed Giuliano de Medici 19 times and attempted to assassinate his brother and co-ruler Lorenzo de Medici

1453 - 1478 - Giuliano de Medici (All Facts)

• 3rd Co-Lord of Florence

• He was stabbed to death in the Pazzi Conspiracy

1474 - 1489 - Caterina Cornaro (All Facts)

• Queen of Cyprus from Venice

• She married King James II of Cyprus, only for him to die just a few months after the wedding

• She was entangled in a web of intrigue as she endeavored to exercise her authority

  • Her young son, King James III, was taken from her by the council of regency

  • Her cousin and uncle were both murdered

  • When she regained power for her son King James III, he died of malaria, leaving her to rule alone

• Under her reign,

  • Cyprus prospered, despite the ongoing military threat at the time from the Ottoman Turks

• She was born into a family with financial interests in Cyprus

  • She was taught by her brothers

• When she died, the Venetians / Republic of Venice purchased Cyprus from her, ending several centuries of Frankish sovereignty

1469 - 1492 - Lorenzo de Medici (All Facts)

• 3rd Lord of Florence

  • He was nicknamed “The Magnificent”

  • He began his rule at the age of 20, shortly after his brother was murdered in the Pazzi Conspiracy, which he survived from but in which he nearly died

  • He showed his nerve and wisdom in pacifying Florence after the crisis that was the Pazzi Conspiracy, and there were no more uprisings thereafter

• He exhausted the stagnant economy with his flamboyant foreign policy

• He

  • himself was a leading lyric poet in vernacular Tuscan

  • delighted in carnivals, for which he wrote songs to be sung in the streets by his own “Company of the Star”

  • loved antiquities including Greek and Roman busts, cameos, and coins; which were collected for him throughout the Mediterranean

  • welcomed scholars to his library of 1,000+ books

  • loved architecture, submitting his own design for the cathedral facade

  • loved women, who found him attractive despite his harsh nasal voice and swarthy complexion

• He was considered the greatest patron of the arts, having sponsored the work of

  • Sandro Botticelli

  • Angelo Poliziano

  • Antonio Squarcialupi

  • Filippino Lippi

  • Andrea del Verrocchio

• He was a patron of philosophers as well, whom he debated with himself in the Florentine Platonic Academy, where he funded the work of Marsilio Ficino, whom he befriended

• It was said of him that “it would be impossible to find a better tyrant”

• He died at the age of 44

1452 - 1493 - Frederick III (All Facts)

• 17th King of Italy, from the House of Habsburg

1458 - 1494 - Ferrante (All Facts)

• King of Naples

1494 - 1498 - Girolamo Savonarola (All Facts)

• 5th Lord (de Facto Ruler) of Florence

  • He was nicknamed the “Black Friar”

  • He was a Dominican Friar and Preacher from Ferrara

  • He was a short, slender man with a hooked nose, deeply-lined brow, and thick lops

  • His burning gray-green eyes mesmerized people

  • When he became prior at the Basilica of San Marco, he was already known as / considered to be a prophet

  • He drove out Piero de Medici

• He railed against the corruption of both church and secular leaders

  • His sermons criticizing aristocratic and papal corruption eventually led to his death at the stake

• He claimed the art of Florence and the Renaissance was immoral

• He charged Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli with sodomy

  • Although those figures were both acquitted, Botticelli stopped painting nudes and Da Vinci moved to (the Duchy of) Milan

• He revealed his vision of the destruction of Florence by flashes of lightning in a dense black sky

  • His congregation trembled when he drew vivid pictures of “barbers armed with gigantic razors” invading Florence

• He drove out the ruling Medici family of Florence, partly on a wave of popular frenzy and with the help of King Charles VIII of France

  • He then set up a form of religious dictatorship, in which he turned Florence into a “puritanical republic” in which he burned “vanities” such as books and picture

  • He established city rule free from corruption and along democratic lines

• He was excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI

• He then openly defied Pope Alexander VI

  • He had celebrated Mass three times that morning in the Basilica of San Marco

• He died at the stake

1494 - 1499 - Ludovico Sforza (All Facts)

• 7th Duke of Milan

  • He seized power from his predecessor and nephew, the youthful grandson of Francesco of the same namesake family

  • He took the title “Duke of Milan” after allying with King Charles VIII of France

• He renewed the Duchy of Milan’s alliance with France in order to

  • pre-empt France’s exercising a claim through marriage to Milan

  • secure an ally against the Kingdom of Naples

• He fled the Duchy of Milan after King Louis XII of France had claimed his right of succession to the Duchy of Milan after him

  • After his reign, the French seized Milan, during the Italian Wars, and were backed by the Republic of Venice as well as the Papacy and the Swiss cantons

• In the Battle of Novara against the French during the Second Italian War, he

  • took advantage of the revolt against Gian Giacomo Trivulzio and the French forces in the Duchy of Milan and attacked the French in the battle

  • However, he was eventually deserted by his troops, who handed him over to the enemy, and imprisoned him in France

1475 - 1507 - Cesare Borgia (All Facts)

• Italian Deacon and Condottiero

  • He was a head taller than most men of his age who had massive shoulders and blazing blue eyes

• His quest for political power inspired Machiavaell’s “The Prince”

  • He became archbishop of Valence at 16 years of age

  • He became a cardinal

  • He was appointed duke of Valence

  • He had his main enemies murdered, including his brother and second sister’s husband

  • He ruthlessly supported his father Rodrigo, Pope Alexander VI, having lured his father’s enemies to the Sinigaglia Castle and had them murdered

  • He organized corridas so that he could show off by beheading a bull with one stroke of his sword

• He died in Spain while fighting alongside his brother, the king of Navarre

1440 - 1518 - Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (All Facts)

• Italian Military Leader and Mercenary who led the French forces and seized the Duchy of Milan, forcing the usurper Ludovico Sforza to flee

1480 - 1519 - Lucrezia Borgia (All Facts)

• Duchess of Ferrara

  • She was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI

  • She was beautiful and intelligent

• She led a life of family intrigue and several broken marriages

  • She was essentially a pawn in her father Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia)’s many power games

  • She

    • was first betrothed to Juan de Centelles, a Spaniard

    • was then betrothed to Don Gasparo, the Count of Aversa

    • was then married to Giovanni Sforza, the Lord of Pesaro

      • She soon left him

    • was then married to Alfonso d’Aragon, the Duke of Bisceglie

      • This was her first true love

      • This also made for a more politically favorable marriage

      • However, Alfonso d’Aragon became an embarrassment to her father when he pursued the French alliance and was murdered on the orders of her brother Cesare Borgia

    • was then married to Alfonso d’Este, the Duke of Ferrara

  • She was appointed governor of Spoleto

    • In the same year she was appointed, she was able to buy the castles of the Gaetani Family, located on the frontier between the Papal States and Kingdom of Naples, after they were effectively confiscated by Pope Alexander VI (her father); for 80K ducats

    • A year later, Sermoneta was added to her dominions

    • She then was involved in a debauched party involving her father and brother, which led to her being married one more time

• She had fulfilled her “dynastic function” by having a son, which she named Rodrigo

1501 - 1521 - Leonardo Loredan (All Facts)

• 75th Doge of Venice

• He was one of the most important doges in the history of Venice as a wartime ruler

1521 - 1535 - Francesco Sforza II (All Facts)

• Final Duke of Milan of the House of Sforza

• Upon his death, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V succeeded him

1532 - 1537 - Alessandro de Medici (All Facts)

• Ruler of Florence

  • (First) Duke of Florence

  • He was the first Medici to rule Florence as a hereditary monarch

  • He was the last Medici from the senior line of the family to lead the city

• He was married to Margaret of Parma by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

1530 - 1556 - Charles V (All Facts)

• 18th King of Italy, from the House of Habsburg

  • First Habsburg Duke of Milan

• He married off his daughter, Margaret of Parma, to Alessandro de Medici

  • He thus made Alessandro de Medici the Duke of Florence

• He and his forces defeated Hayreddin Barbarossa and his Ottoman forces in the Conquest of Tunis during the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars

• He occupied the Duchy of Milan following the death of Francesco Sforza II

1547 - 1586 - Margaret of Parma (All Facts)

• Duchess of Parma

  • She was the sister of King Philip II of Spain

  • She was the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

• She was married off by her father to Alessandro de Medici

• As 6th (Italian) Governess of the (Spanish) Netherlands and Regent of the Netherlands,

  • She used newly-arrived funds from Spain to build up an army despite the accord (agreement) she signed with William of Orange and the Dutch Calvinists, which guaranteed suspension of persecution provided that the Dutch Calvinists lay down their arms and allow Catholics to worship unmolested

    • She was humiliated by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, who forced her to demobilize the army which she had raised to counter the Dutch Revolt

    • He assumed many of her powers until she left for Italy

  • Under her reign,

    • In compliance with an undertaking given to her, she had Spanish troops leave the Netherlands

    • A papal bull was published which proposed the creation of 14 new bishoprics in addition to the four existing ones, which alienated many nobles whose relatives were thus excluded from the ecclesiastical sinecures

    • The “Sea Beggars” petition her to demand the abolition of the Inquisition of the Netherlands

      • She promised to send a message to King Philip II of Spain, the Lord of the Netherlands at the time