Oscar Avatare

Independent Research
Spanish influence on Italy politically from 1282 to 1860
1. Introduction
Power once acquired was maintained by force, and the history of the ruling families is one long
catalogue of crimes. J.A. Symonds
When there is a power vacuum, history and political realism dictates that it will be filled.
In our classes, we choose to examine the art and culture of premodern Italy, but the truth is that
there was just as much warfare as artwork. Power at this time is conceived in a Machiavellian
manner, where power and violence existed in a quid pro quo relationship with each other. It is no
surprise that by our modern standards Machiavelli is so brutal, because he saw the reality of how
Italy would have to unify through war. Sadly, for the Italian people between 476 and 1870, Italy
was a broken nation, only able to reminisce about the glory of Rome, while being divided
between great powers and petty city-states. Yet during this time, Italy was the heart of an
incredible revolution of art and culture which had a profound effect on Western civilization.
Looking beyond this, I am curious to explore how Spain and Spanish influence affected political
developments in Italy. This topic will be difficult to tell in one coherent narrative due to the many
influences on Italian history during this time, thus many tangents will have to be taken to fully
tell this story of Spanish influence. Therefore, I will divide this paper up into four different parts.
The first part will tell the story of Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire until 1282. The second
part will tell the story of Spanish influence before the Italian Wars and after 1282. The third part

will examine the Italian Wars and Spains role in it. Finally, the fourth part will examine Spanish
influence post-Italian Wars.
2. The history of Italy before 1282
The history of Italy before 1282 is the story of the fall of Rome. Since its fall, Italy was
under the hegemon of other powers or empires until it was unified in the 1860s. Franks,
Lombards, Normans, Byzantines, Arabs, and barbarians all had control of most of Italy for about
800 years after the fall of the Roman Empire. After the abdication of the last Roman Emperor in
476, the empire was ruled by Odoacer, a barbarian leader. Rome had been in decline for a while,
relying on foreign mercenaries to do their fighting compounded by the civil decay occurring
within the empire.1 Thus, the fall wasnt a sudden occurrence, but rather the culmination of
centuries of Roman decline. With the fall of Rome, European history is said to have entered the
Dark Ages, an era characterized by the lack of a single unifying empire in the manner of Rome.
The Pax Romana was over and an era of chaos and decentralization would define Europe before
the rise of the great empires of the 16th and 17th century. After barbarian rule, the main events in
Italian history would be the invasion of the Lombards and the rise of the power of the Papacy.
The Lombard invasion took place in 568 and would strive to conquer all of Italy, only failing due
to their numerical superiority and the intervention of a truly influential pope.2 This was Pope
Gregory I, who in addition to being a talented administrator, was also able to prevent a siege of
Rome and cement the power of the Pope over all Christians.3 This arrangement of the Papacy
and the Lombards would persist until the emergence of the Franks in the 8th century. While the
1 Symonds, John Addington. Renaissance in Italy. New York: Modern Library, 1935. Print. 29.
2 Symonds, 30.
3 Symonds, 31.

arrangement worked, the Papacy preferred to be less constrained by another power in Italy. Thus,
they realized that an arrangement with a more distant foreign power would be much more
preferred to a nearby foreign power. Therefore, in 754, with the blessing of Pope Stephen II,
Pepin the King of the Franks invaded Italy and fought the Lombards.4 Pepins son Charlemagne
would complete this task, expelling the Lombards and splitting up the territory between them and
the Church.5 This relationship between the Franks and the Church would culminate in the
creation of the Holy Roman Empire and the crowning of Charlemagne as the Emperor on
Christmas Day in 800 AD.6 While it was famously said by Voltaire that the Holy Roman Empire
was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire, it still was extremely influential for both Italy and
Europe. It linked together the church and the state in a fundamental manner and made the church
the guide of matters of religion and culture in Europe. German and French monarchs had a
conceivable claim to the Italian throne and this would cause many wars later on in the 15th and
16th centuries. It was also extremely influential for Italy as it linked its fate to other nations,
preventing its political development from taking its own course.
After the creation of the Holy Roman Empire, the next 400 years would be marked by
Arab7 and Norman8 invasions of the southern parts of Italy, such as Sicily and Naples. During
this time, the northern part of Italy continued to be ruled by the Holy Roman Empire, but its
structure allowed for independent states to exist within it, and thus develop on their own. The
4 Symonds, 32.
5 Symonds, 32.
6 Symonds, 33.
7 Symonds, 34.
8 Symonds, 38.

empire was a decentralized, limited monarchy with hundreds of parts. The power of the emperor
was limited, and he had numerous vassals who owed the emperor their allegiance, yet possessed
privileges that gave them de facto independence within their territories. This would be extremely
important in northern Italy as it allowed for the development of the city-states like Genoa,
Florence, and Venice. Their development was also aided by an issue known as the Investiture
Controversy of 1075 to 1122, which was over who had the authority to appoint bishops and
abbots.9 This conflict between the Church and the Holy Roman Empire had the eventual impact
of weakening the authority of the emperor and strengthen the forces in Italy that desired selfgovernment.10 Thus, it was no surprise that the 11th and 12th centuries marked the rise of maritime
republics and city-states. The maritime republics included Venice, Genoa, and Pisa and there
were other prosperous city-states as well including Milan and Verona, which lay on important
trade routes.11 They all had in common the importance of commerce, which was due to Italys
central location in the Mediterranean, its relative urbanization compared to other parts of Europe,
and the continuation of the Roman idea of civic life.12 Now that the cities had begun to
agglomerate wealth, they began to start to exert independent political and cultural influence,
forming the Veronese League and Lombard League in the 12th century to defend their liberties
that they had gotten from the Holy Roman Empire.13 This would culminate in the Battle of
Legnano in 1176, when the Lombard League defeated the forces of the legendary Holy Roman
9 Symonds, 40.
10 Symonds, 47.
11 Symonds, 44.
12 Symonds, 43.
13 Symonds, 45.

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. However, there would be another important chapter to tell in
Italian history before Spanish influence and that would be that of the Guelfs and the Ghibellines.
This conflict was between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, with the Lombard League on
the side of the Pope. The Guelf victory through the Lombard League would prove to maintain the
Italian urban way of life characterized by the importance of commerce and the value of the
liberties won from the Holy Roman Empire.14 However, this victory would prove to both be a
blessing and a curse for the Italians. While it established the independence of the city-states, it
also brought in a new foreign power into Italian politics that would eventually cause it to fall
under the total domination of Spain. This foreign power would be the French under Charles of
Anjou and the Italian reaction to it would mark the first instances of Spanish influence on Italy.
Overall, it must be understood that Italy was an extremely chaotic area after the fall of the
Roman Empire. It became a chessboard for larger powers until Italian unification in 1870. Thus,
it is in this post-Roman context that we must understand Italy and see why it was possible for a
foreign power like Spain to have so much influence on Italy.
3.Spanish influence before the Italian Wars and after 1282
While Charles of Anjous intervention in Italy in 1264 would be the catalyst that provoked
Spain into intervening into Italian politics, it must be understood that in the 13th century there
wasnt a unified Spain as it exists today. Rather it was a collection of Christian and Muslim
kingdoms that spanned the Iberian Peninsula and that had been at war for hundreds of years. It
was also right during the middle of the period known as the Reconquista in Iberian history.15 This
14 Symonds, 50.
15 Zabel, Gary. "End of Europe's Middle Ages - The Reconquista." Faculty.umb. University of Calgary,
n.d. Web. 12 July 2016.

was the 800 year process of the Christian kingdoms reconquering the peninsula from the
Moorish invaders that had conquered almost the entire peninsula in the 8th century.16 Thus,
Spanish influence in Italy in the 13th century cannot really be called Spanish influence, but it
must be called Aragonese influence to accurately portray what occurred in Italy after the
intervention of Charles of Anjou in Italy in 1264.
The Crown of Aragon was a dynastic union of autonomous Christian kingdoms that included
the Kingdom of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia, and the
Kingdom of Majorca before overseas expansion started.17 The King's possessions outside of the
Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands were ruled by proxy through local elites as petty
kingdoms, rather than subjected directly to a centralized government. Therefore, they were more
an economic part of the Crown of Aragon than a political one.18 This is why the control of
territories outside Italy was so tenuous and why it was so hard for the Crown of Aragon, and
Spain as a whole, to unify. Up until 1282 the Crown of Aragon didnt venture outside of Spain in
their conquests, but that year the troops of Pedro III intervened in Sicily at the invitation of the
native Sicilians, who were furious at their occupation at the hands of the troops of Charles of
Anjou, the French king (Appendix 1).19 This be the first of hundreds of years of direct influence
in Italy by monarchs based in Spain. Yet for the time being, Italy was a sideshow in the Crown of
Aragon. The main focus was still on the Reconquista that would take another 200 years to
complete. Yet even while focusing on the Reconquista, the Crown of Aragon became an
16 "End of Europe's Middle Ages - The Reconquista."
17 Chaytor, H. J. A History of Aragon and Catalonia. London: Methuen, 1933. Print. 98.
18 Chaytor, 99.
19 Symonds, 51.

extremely successful thalassocracy, stretching from Athens to Barcelona at one point in the 14th
century. However, due to the fact that these territories were part of a dynastic union as opposed
to a kingdom, the unity and coherence of these separate territories was often limited. For the
Crown of Aragon, Pedros intervention in Sicily wasnt even close to the end of their struggle
there. That same year, Pope Martin IV excommunicated Pedro, placed Sicily under Charles of
Anjous jurisdiction, and encouraged an invasion of Aragon.20 While Pedro managed to fight off
the invasion, he had to make significant concessions to his nobles to remain in power.21 This was
a massive accomplishment for Pedro to have fought off the French and the Catholic Church at
the same time. After Pedro, his second son James succeeded him and a state of war existed
between France and Aragon over Sicily until the Peace of Caltabellotta,22 which was concluded
in August 1302 and ended the War of the Vespers.23 Through this peace, James was able to place
a claim upon Sardinia and his son Alfonso began the process that would culminate in the
conquest of Sardinia by 1324 with Pisa ceded the sovereignty of most of the island to Aragon.24
Yet the Sardinians wouldnt accept their conquest so easily, with revolts breaking out against
Aragon in 1329 with Genoa at the center of the disturbance.25 This led to Aragon and Genoa
carrying out inconclusive naval raids against each other until the death of Alfonso IV in 1336.26
20 Chaytor, 104.
21 Chaytor, 105.
22 Chaytor, 139.
23 Chaytor, 142.
24 Chaytor, 140.
25 Chaytor, 162.
26 Chaytor, 163.

Upon his death, he was succeeded by his son, Pedro IV, whose officer, Ramon de Cardona, had
defeated the Genoese and pacified the island in the 1330s (Appendix 2).27 Yet while most of
Pedros reign would be dealing with war and intrigue in Spain, Sardinia would again emerge as a
thorn in Aragons side. Another revolt broke out in 1347 and again it was backed by Genoa, but
mainly driven by the Giudicato of Arborea, the only Sardinian state that remained independent of
foreign domination.28 This would cause Pedro to make an alliance with Venice in 1351 against
Genoa and this would be extremely fruitful, culminating in several naval victories in the next
three years until Pedro himself went to the island in 1354 to deal directly with the Giudicato of
Arborea.29 While his forces were able to siege and capture the town of Alghero, this did little to
improve the general situation and Pedro would return to Barcelona thereafter.30 In fact, from
1368 to 1409, it appeared that Aragon was on the verge of losing total control of Sardinia.
Because so much of Pedros reign was one of incessant warfare in Spain, Sardinia was seen was
a failure and a sideshow, an island generally thought to be not worth the trouble it had caused.
During Pedros rule, the island of Sicily had left the orbit of the Crown of Aragon, and he was
determined to restore it to his empire. Therefore, in 1378, avoiding all the complexities and
issues of a succession dispute, Pedro himself went to Sicily and gained control of Sicily as well
as the dukedoms of Athens and Neopatria.31 By 1391, all this had changed with the death of
Pedro IV and his son John I was a fairly incompetent ruler compared to Pedro, losing control of
27 Chaytor, 168.
28 Chaytor, 180.
29 Chaytor, 181.
30 Chaytor, 182.
31 Chaytor, 191.

Sicily, Athens and Neopatria, and Sardinia. His reign was short and he died by 1395, bringing his
brother Martin I into power.32 Martins reign lasted 15 years and he was able to win significant
victories in both Sardinia and Sicily that allowed the Crown of Aragon to consolidate their
control over both these territories and make them integral parts of the empire.33 After Martins
death there was chaos, with several different claimants to the throne and unruliness until the
emergence of Alfonso V of Aragon.34 Renowned as a great ruler, he was able to exploit a volatile
political situation in Naples to be able to amass power there. This started in 1421 when Queen
Juana II of Naples needed assistance in fighting the Duke of Anjou and said that in exchange for
Alfonsos help, she would name him her heir.35 He intervened there for the next two years against
the Duke of Anjou, winning multiple battles until a coalition of the Dukes of Milan and Najou,
the Pope, and Juana formed after it became apparent that Alfonso was accumulating too much
power in Naples.36 Thus, Alfonso was pushed back in Naples and forced to retreat to Spain,
where he had to deal with intrigues and wars between the petty kingdoms around him, especially
with Castille, Aragons main rival in Spain.37 Yet this failure didnt dissuade Alfonso, who made
an alliance with Venice so he could again focus on launching his campaigns in Southern Italy and
he bided his time until it would be favorable to invade again.38 Alfonso got his chance in 1434
32 Chaytor, 197.
33 Chaytor, 203.
34 Chaytor, 212.
35 Chaytor, 216.
36 Chaytor, 217.
37 Chaytor, 219.
38 Chaytor, 222.

when Louis III of Anjou and Juana II died, meaning there was no heir to the kingdom of
Naples.39 Therefore, in May 1435, Alfonso landed his troops in Naples and began his campaign
against Rene of Anjou.40 The campaign had the natural ebb and flow of any campaign, with
successes and failures, but by 1442 he had conquered Naples.41 Thus, Alfonso had vanquished all
his enemies in Italy other than the Pope, whom he threatened by saying that if the Pope didnt
bless his conquests that he would support the antipope. Despite Alfonso being from Spain, he
loved Naples and saw himself as more of the King of Naples than the king of his other
possessions. It got to the point where Alfonso regarded Aragon as a colony and wanted to move
the seat of Aragonese government to Naples.42 Alfonsos reign would be a shift in Spanish
influence on Italy. It would mark the beginning of more than Aragonese and Spanish invasions
and raids upon Italian territory, but the beginning of hundreds of years of direct Spanish
influence upon Italy. Spain would also for a short time take on a vital role in becoming a patron
of the arts in Italy. While this tradition had started under Alfonso IV with humanists like Petrarch
and Giotto, Alfonso V valued art even more and had obscene amounts of it even compared to his
contemporaries.43 Alfonso V had a fascination by Italian humanistic culture and styled himself as
the successor to Spanish Roman Emperors such as Trajan.44 Politically, he negotiated with the
Pope to recognize him as the one true head of the Church and in exchange was declared the ruler
39 Chaytor, 223.
40 Chaytor, 223.
41 Chaytor, 225.
42 Chaytor, 227.
43 Najemy, John M. Italy in the Age of the Renaissance: 1300-1550. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
224.
44 Najemy, 219.

of Naples by him.45 He also agreed to help the Pope Eugene IV fight Francesco Sforza of Milan
as well as Florence and Venice.46 Alfonso lost the war, but the Duke of Milan died in 1447,
appointing Alfonso as his heir.47 He held Milan for a while, but seeing the general instability of
the situation, decided to fight against Tuscany instead.48 However, this would be futile and the
war was ended in 1450, by the mediation of Pope Nicholas V, who secured a general peace
(Appendix 3).49 This would lead to further developments that secured a general balance of power
that would culminate in the agreements of the Peace of Lodi and the Italic League, which would
maintain a balance of power between Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States, and the Crown
of Aragon.50 This was a major factor in Italy failing to coalesce into a nation-state, yet brought
almost 50 years of general peace to Italy until 1494. While Alfonso was a great leader, he was
also a renowned patron of the arts whose court at Naples which was distinguished as a center of
literature and learning.51 After Alfonsos death in 1458, his brother Juan II took power and under
his twenty reign, the affairs of Aragon in Spain would be disastrous with wars and revolts on
every front, but the marriage of his son Ferdinand to Isabelle of Castile was the catalyst that
would lead to the kingdom of Spain.52 It seemed at the time an unruly and in many ways a
45 Chaytor, 228.
46 Chaytor, 228.
47 Chaytor, 228.
48 Chaytor, 228.
49 Chaytor, 229.
50 Najemy, 235.
51 Chaytor, 232.
52 Chaytor, 243.

strange union. Aragons theaters were foreign and Mediterranean, while Castiles were domestic
and Atlantic. Yet this unruly union would become a world empire that was the standard bearer of
Catholicism in Europe, as well as completing the Reconquista.53 The reign of Ferdinand and
Isabelle, the Catholic Monarchs, would mark the beginning of the Kingdom of Spain through
uniting the Crowns of Castile and Aragon. The conquest of Grenada and the discovery of
America in 1492 along with his involvement in the Italian Wars would be epoch altering events
that would transform the face of the world and Italy. This Aragonese influence would have
effects on Italy at that time and even up until the modern day. The south of Italy and the north of
Italy were different places both in terms of their forms of government and their ability to
develop. The North was land of freedom and individualism, characterized by cities like Venice
and Milan, where the South was the lands of conquest and subjugation from the Normans to the
Aragonese.54 It was less urbanized than the North and it was used primarily for natural resources
through a feudalistic Aragonese and later Spanish system, as opposed the North where commerce
and trade was the heart of the economy.55 This simultaneously stunted societal development and
caused the South to be much less developed and poorer even up until the modern day (Appendix
4).
4. The Italian Wars
The Italian Wars of 1494 to 1559 took place with the backdrop of the general peace of the past
50 years in Italy, the unification of Spain, and the entrance of the Hapsburgs into the Spanish
monarchy. Just like the initial Aragonese intervention in Italy, again it was France that brought
53 Chaytor, 244.
54 Najemy, 208.
55 Najemy, 211.

Spain into Italian intrigues. Since the Peace of Lodi in 1454, Florence and Milan had dropped
their historic enmity and had both successfully achieved economic growth and success. Yet in
this case, the Italian Wars wouldnt start due to the actions of any participants of the Peace of
Lodi. Rather it would be through the actions of an irredentist France that would cause the war.56
France had historic claims on Naples and since it was in the south of Italy it would have to pass
through northern and central Italy to get there. This meant that the northern states would have to
pick sides, if the French ever decided to attack. In 1494, the French decided to move and invaded
under Charles VIII (Appendix 5). While they were initially successful and advanced almost
unopposed to conquer Naples, the Italian states along with the Pope and Aragon realized quickly
that French influence would disturb the balance of power in Italy and formed the League of
Venice against Charles VIII.57 Eventually, the French were expelled from Naples with the
legendary Spanish general Gonzalo de Crdoba.58 By 1498, Charles VIII had died and the initial
French invasion had been a total failure and had turned all of Italy against it. The next year
France invaded again under the new French king Louis XII who was again initially very
successful, seizing Milan.59 However, his fatal mistake was his invitation to the Catholic
Monarchs to partition Naples between them in 1500.60 As I explained earlier, the composite
monarchy that made up what I am calling Spain for the purposes of this essay wasnt yet
united at this and succession laws were fairly complex. Therefore, in 1500 the Catholic
56 Knox, Skip. "The Italian Wars." Europeanhistory.boisestate.edu. Boise State University, n.d. Web. 12
July 2016.
57 "The Italian Wars."
58 "The Italian Wars."
59 "The Italian Wars."
60 Najemy, 222.

Monarchs didnt control Naples, but rather had one of their close relatives ruling there. After the
initial conquest by Alfonso V, the rule of Naples went to one of his sons while Aragon was ruled
by his brother. Thus, when I refer to control, I am referring to direct control, and in 1500 the
Catholic Monarchs certainly had a massive amount of influence, but not direct control in Naples.
Louis XII and the Catholic Monarchs abided by the agreement, but disagreements over the
partition led to open warfare between Spain and France.61 By 1503, Spain had won a total victory
in Naples with the help of Gonzalo de Crdoba and the Catholic Monarchs had control over
Naples.62 Thus, another phase of the war had ended and there would be another 5 years between
wars broke out again. In this case, the war actually wasnt the result of French aggression, but
rather due to the paranoia of Pope Julius II who was convinced Venice was becoming too
powerful in north Italy. Thus, in 1508 he assembled a coalition of France, Spain, and himself to
attack Venice.63 Yet he would end up betraying the French in 1510 once France was being
extremely successful and ally with Spain and Venice against France.64 The situation got even
more chaotic in 1512-1513, when France allied with Venice and they were able to successfully
partition northern Italy between them by 1516.65 During this time, the Catholic Monarchs and
Louis XII had died. Thus, a new generation of monarchs would fight in the next stages of the
Italian Wars. In Spain, the country had been totally unified and Isabelles extremely well planned
arranged marriages were bearing fruit, as their successor in 1516 ruled over vast swaths of
61 "The Italian Wars."
62 Najemy, 222.
63 "The Italian Wars."
64 "The Italian Wars."
65 "The Italian Wars."

Europe.66 This successor would be Charles V, who was the grandson of Ferdinand II. He was the
heir of three of Europes leading dynasties in the Houses of Valois-Burgundy, Habsburg, and
Trastmara.67 This meant he was the first true King of Spain as well as the ruler of the Low
Countries, the Austrian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and all the lands in the New World and
Mediterranean that his forces would conquer.68 With his election as the Holy Roman Emperor in
1519, this would kick off another series of wars in Italy that would finally reveal that at this
point, the conflict ceased to be a conflict between Italians and foreigners, but rather a contest
between Spain and France for control of Italy.69 Francis I was worried that he was surrounded by
the possessions of Charles V on all sides and thus invaded both Spain and Italy in 1521.70
However, this war would end in disaster for him as he was captured and forced to relinquish his
conquests in northern Italy in 1526. That same year a grand coalition was formed by Pope
Clement VII against the Charles V, who now had by far the most influence in Italy.71 Yet the
coalition fizzled with a lack of enthusiasm from the Venetians and other Italian city states to fight
against Charles.72 This failure of the coalition led to the sack of Rome by Imperial and Spanish
troops in 1527 and while the conflict would continue with gaps until 1559, the Spanish
domination of Italy was complete with them having total control of Milan, Naples, Sicily, and
66 "The Italian Wars."
67 "The Italian Wars."
68 "The Italian Wars."
69 Najemy, 305.
70 "The Italian Wars."
71 "The Italian Wars."
72 "The Italian Wars."

Sardinia as well as being the leading power in Italy and the world.73 These wars would have more
of an effect than simply ensure Spanish domination of the country, it would mark the end of the
Italian Renaissance and the end of the city-states of Italy as significant international powers.
5. Spanish influence post-Italian Wars
After the subjugation of Italy in the 1550s, Spain would reach the zenith of its power in
both Italy and the world. Now as an integral part of the Spanish Empire, the fate of much of Italy
would determine depend on Spain. In many ways the 16th century could be called the Spanish
century. With control over a vast swath of Europe and the Americas as well as being the defender
of Catholicism, Spain under Charles V occupied a special place in Europe that no ruler at the
time would ever come close to. However, after his abdication in 1556, the power of his
successors and the House of Hapsburg would decline slowly but surely. While Spain was surely
still the greatest power on the Continent, they would never return to its glory under Charles V.
His empire was now split up between different branches of the House of Hapsburg and this
would mean that the influence that his successors could exert was lessened. Also, the massive
amount of territories that Charles V had accumulated would end up being a double edged sword.
It would make him a huge amount of enemies as well and his successors would have to deal with
wars throughout Europe in Germany, France, and the Mediterranean. Because of the sheer size
and complexity of the empire, its constituent parts were ruled by viceroys, which was the case in
Naples and other areas of Italy.74 However, this massive size coupled with ceaseless warfare all

73 Najemy, 305.
74 Payne, Stanley G. A History of Spain and Portugal. Madison, Wisc.: U of Wisconsin, 1973. Print.
256.

around Europe meant that as early as 1575, Spain went bankrupt.75 This along with the failure of
the Spanish Armada and continued struggles in holding onto their possessions in the Low
Countries meant that the second half of the 16th century certainly wasnt as glorious as the first
half.76 At the start of the 17th century, Spains confidence in itself was beginning to wane, and
inflation was starting to become a problem despite the massive amount of bullion arriving from
the New World.77 The 17th century would largely be a century defined by Spains decline on the
world stage with losses in the Eighty Years War and Thirty Years' War as well as massive debts
from their worldwide wars in which lost their preeminent position in Europe to France under
Louis XIV. While this wouldnt have much of a practical political effect on Italy, a backwater in
the Spanish Empire, it would have an effect on Italy economically as it was linked with Spain.
Spain was underdeveloped compared to other parts of Europe and this would cause it and the
parts of Italy it controlled to fall behind politically and economically compared to much of
western Europe in the coming centuries. However, the event that would shake Spains grip on
Italy would be the War of the Spanish Succession from 1702 to 1714. This would be between
those who would succeed the childless Charles II. This would come down to a battle between the
candidate of the House of Bourbon, supported by Louis XIV, and candidate of the House of
Habsburg, supported by virtually the rest of Europe.78 The candidate of the House of Bourbon,
Philip V, won the war, but was forced to cede the Italian possessions of the Spanish Empire to the

75 Payne, 260.
76 Payne, 262.
77 Payne, 264.
78 Payne, 352.

Austrian Empire and the Duchy of Savoy in 1714 in order to take the throne (Appendix 6).79
Surprisingly, despite Spains overall weakness, many of these territories would be recovered over
the course of the 18th century, due to the reforms done by the Bourbons. Naples and Sicily would
be recovered from Austria in 1734.80 These territories were ruled by Spain directly until 1759, at
which point they were ruled by different monarchs related to the Spanish kings to satisfy the
agreements that brought the War of the Spanish Succession to an end.81 This situation of Bourbon
monarchs related to the King of Spain in Naples and Sicily would be interrupted by Napoleon,
but would persist up until 1860, when it was invaded by the forces of Giuseppe Garibaldi who
was in the process of unifying Italy.

6. Conclusion
When I started this project, I would have never imagined how much of what we call
Italian history is really the story of foreigners controlling Italy. It was shocking to see how
Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire was irrelevant as a great power for more than a
millennium. More importantly, I never realized how much the influence of Spain perpetuated this
situation. The effects of the Crown of Aragon, the Spanish Empire, and the later rulers of Naples
and Sicily who were of Spanish descent would have the effect of stunting the countrys political
and economic development for hundreds of years, especially in southern Italy. This explains why
Italy was unified so late compared to other Western European nations and also why relatively

79 Payne, 354.
80 Payne, 359.
81 Payne, 360.

speaking, it is less wealthy. However, Spanish influence had positive effects on Italy as well,
allowing it to escape much of the devastation that plagued the Europe in the 17th and 18th century.
While it ended the Renaissance, the rule of Aragonese monarchs in Naples launched an age of
cultural enlightenment there and allowed it to become one of the biggest cities in Europe.
Overall, I focused on the political effects of Spanish influence, but I ended up finding that this
political influence permeated all throughout Italian society and even nowadays affects the
country. After seeing Milan and comparing it to Rome, the effects are obvious. Milan is much
more of a traditional European city, whereas Rome is its own animal. Thus, Spain is inseparable
from Italy, yet like many things in Italy, it gets lost among the cacophony of influences, people,
and ideas that have flowed through Italy.
Word Count: 5509

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

Appendix 5

Appendix 6

Bibliography
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