Transcript A Brief History of Italy

The Renaissance
Italian City States
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Constantinople was conquered by the
Ottoman Empire in 1453.
 States grew because of loyalty to
individual lords and the power achieved
through trade.
 People had no allegiance to a single ruler.

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Rise of the Italian City-States

Control by wealthy families:
– Florence
– Ferrara
– Mantua
– Milan
– Rimini
– Venice
– Valencia
the Medici (on and off)
the Este
the Gonzaga
the Sforza and the Visconti
the Malatesta
wealthy families elected Doges
the Borgias
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The Borgia family were enemies of the
Medicis and the Sforzas.
 Marriages were regularly used as trades
for power and allegiance.
 Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) was
pope from 1492-1503.
-Accused of crimes like adultery,
simony, theft, and bribery. (IMPORTANT)
-Had his daughter marry a Sforza son.

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Firenze and the Medici
Panorama of Firenze
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The Gonzaga family in Mantua
La Piazza: Mantova
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The Sforza family in Milan
Castello Sforzesco
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Wealthy families of Venice elected the Doge
The Doge’s Palace
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Europe: 1378
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The Renaissance: 1400-1600
Rebirth of all the arts and culture begins
in the City-States of Italy
 Wealthy bankers and merchants support
artists, architects, intellectuals, etc.
 Italian ideals set enduring standards for
art in the Western world, influenced
writers & architects, and encouraged
intellectual pursuits

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Renaissance Cities
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The end of the Renaissance

Political stress:
– France and Spain’s rivalry over Italy
– City-states passed among various European
rulers through war, marriage, treaty, death
– The Papacy held on to the Papal States
– Spain the chief power in Italy: 1559-1713
– House of Savoy rules Piedmont & Sardinia
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Italy: 1494
Rivalry of Spain
and France over
territories in Italy
By 1544: Spain ruled
Sicily, Naples & Milan
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Europe: 1500
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1600-1815
Italy remains split
into a dozen
separate states
while European
nations are
forming
 The feudal system
lingers on in the
south

Europe 1648
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Napoleon conquers Italy in the 1790’s

After his defeat in 1815,
most Italian states go
back to their former
rulers:
 Lombardy-Venetia to Austria
 Naples and Sicily to Spain
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Napoleonic
expansion
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1815:
Italy after
Napoleon
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The Risorgimento
Hatred of foreign rule increases
Liberation movement begun by
Giuseppe Mazzini in
Piedmont with the support of
Charles Albert, king of
Sardinia-Piedmont (House of
Savoy)
Giuseppe Mazzini
Scattered revolts in 1848 were
unsuccessful
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Expansion begins

Under King Victor
Emanuel I, son of
Charles Albert, Count
Camillo Cavour, the
prime minister, made a
treaty with France
against Austria.
Count Camillo Cavour
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1859: Austria defeated

Italy gained
Lombardy,
but Austria
kept Venetia
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Expansion continues

1859: Plebiscites held in Tuscany, Modena,
Parma and Emilia. They voted to join
Sardinia-Piedmont.

Napoleon III consented, but only after
Nice and Savoy voted to join France.
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 General
Garibaldi
drives out the
Bourbons from Sicily
and Naples
General Giuseppe Garibaldi
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Unification of Italy
1861: Victor
Emanuel II
crowned King
of Italy
 1866: Venetia
regained from
Austria

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1870: Papal States captured

The French army was assigned to protect
the Papal States, but was called to join the
fighting in the Prussian War.

The Italian army took the opportunity to
capture the Papal States, thus adding
central Italy to the union.
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Steps to
Unification
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Constitutional Monarchy: 1870 - 1922

Birth of modern Italy
– Heavy taxation to pay war debts
– Parliamentary government new and strange
to many Italians
– Economic growth supported the changes
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