Renaissance and Decline

The surge of creative activity known as the Renaissance began in Italy in the 14th century. It was accompanied by an era of expansion by the city-states. Venice, Genoa, Milan, Florence, and the Papal States were major participants in the territorial warfare that developed. There was no central authority in Italy. The emperors had abandoned their effort to rule Italy, and during the so-called Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1305–77) there was a succession of French popes, living in Avignon, France. During the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), there were rival popes in Rome and Avignon. In the late 14th century, the Hapsburgs of Austria seized the Italian Tyrol and Trieste.

In the mid-15th century the Angevin kingdom in southern Italy fell to Aragon. In 1494 the French invaded southern Italy in support of the Angevins. More than 30 years of warfare followed. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, a Hapsburg and the ruler of Austria and Spain, emerged victorious in 1529. All of Italy except the free states of Venice and Genoa and the Papal States fell under Spanish rule or influence. A mid-century effort by the French to dislodge the Spanish was unsuccessful, and in the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) the French recognized Hapsburg rule of Italy.

The 17th century was a period of continual decline. Spanish monarchs had little concern for the welfare of Italy. During the first half of the 18th century, Italy was a battleground in various wars of succession. By mid-century, Italy had been divided among Austria, France, and Spain, except for Sardinia and the Papal States, which had remained independent. In northwestern Italy the House of Savoy founded the Kingdom of Sardinia, composed of Sardinia, Savoy, Nice, and Piedmont.