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Article: Italian Wars (1494–1559)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
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ITALIAN WARS (1494
–
1559)
ITALIAN WARS (1494
–
1559).
Renaissance Italy lacked a strong institutional framework that enjoyed a broad consensus. The medieval wars pitting proponents of imperial supremacy (the Ghibellines) against those who advocated papal supremacy (the Guelfs) were fought to a stalemate. Neither the emperor nor the pope enjoyed much real power over the mosaic of city-republics, territorial principalities, or fiefs in central and northern Italy. In the kingdom of Naples, which was theoretically a fief of the church, control passed from a French (Angevin) dynasty to one linked to Arag
ó
n without much interference from the rest of Italy. Much internecine ...