Italians Before Italy

Today we think of Italy as a unified nation, an ancient civilization with roots in the Roman Empire. But is the idea of Italian unity anything other than a myth? In this opening lecture, Professor Bartlett introduces the idea of Italy as a mosaic of distinct cultures and traditions, exemplified in its ancient city-states.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, power on the Italian peninsula was assumed by those who could assert it. Over time, this led to the development of two theories of political sovereignty and the two competing factions that supported them: the Guelfs, who gave supreme authority to the pope, and the Ghibellines, who allied themselves with the Holy Roman Emperor.

The crusade to win the Holy Land back from Islamic conquerors was more than a spiritual quest for medieval Christians; it also supplied a rallying cry to unify the disparate European states and provided occupation for the idle knightly class. For the Italian city-states, it served as a crucial impetus for the development of trade relationships, seamanship, and banking.

The Crusades made the Italian maritime cities rich, but Venice benefited most. This lecture examines Venice's unique origins and circumstances, and explores the remarkable rise of the city's ruling class and prominence in international trade.

For the first part of its history, Venice remained aloof from politics on the Italian peninsula, retaining its ties to the Byzantine Empire in the east. But as the city expanded, it needed new territories to support its growing population. In this lecture, we explore Venice's expansion into a land-based empire through the conquest of its neighbors.

Remembered mostly as the city of Christopher Columbus, Genoa also boasts a rich and vibrant, if often chaotic, history. We delve into the city's early history as a maritime power that equaled the might of Venice and learn why it took the nickname of <em>La Superba</em>, &#34;the proud.&#34;

Genoa initially built a maritime empire that rivaled even the greatest Italian cities of its day, but factional instability and internal political weakness led to its decline on the high seas. This lecture examines two key institutions that filled the void created by Genoa's political instability: the mighty Bank of St. George and a new political office, that of the Genovese <em>Doge</em>, or Duke.

An ancient city, Pisa was also a major competitor with Venice and Genoa for the position of chief maritime empire on the peninsula. But repeated conflicts with neighboring city-states and a variety of strategic errors ultimately led to the loss of Pisan independence, first to Milan and then to Florence.

After the second half of the 15th century, the Mediterranean became the battleground between east and west, Christianity and Islam, Turks and Europeans. The increasing power of the Turkish empire led to a decline in Mediterranean trade, and with it, the decline of Italian wealth and independence.

As headquarters for the pope, Rome served as a religious center for Europe. But it was also a secular state with political ambitions served by the earthly exercise of power. In this lecture, we explore the impact of the church's often chaotic history on the development of Rome as an Italian city-state.

As a papal state, Rome's identity as a city-state was deeply influenced by the ambitions of the various popes who took power over its long history. This lecture traces the careers of several popes who sought to expand papal power, sometimes through progressive civic and religious policies, and sometimes through conspiracy and conquest.

The Council of Trent had profound effects on not just the Roman Church but on the city of Rome and the political office of the papacy itself. In addition to responding to a call for spiritual and moral regeneration, this effort at reform reaffirmed the idea of papal monarchy.

Naples and its island territory of Sicily represent a completely different kind of government from that found in central and northern Italy: a feudal kingdom ruled almost exclusively by foreign monarchs. In this lecture, we trace the troubled reign of the houses of Anjou and Aragon as they attempted to rule this most unruly of regions.

European rivalries continue to be played out in Naples through the competing foreign factions that claimed sovereignty over the kingdom, culminating in the Treaty of Blois in 1505, which transferred Neapolitan authority to the Spanish kingdom of Aragon.

A rich and ancient city, Milan eventually became a center for artistic innovation and a skilled producer of armaments. In this lecture, we explore the early success of Milan under the rule of a powerful family, the Visconti, including one of its most renowned members, Giangaleazzo, who dreamed of uniting all of Italy.

The review of Milanese history continues with an examination of the powerful Sforza family and their influence on the city-state's development. The lecture highlights the reign of Lodovico il Moro who, with his wife Beatrice d'Este, transformed the court of Milan into a celebrated cultural center renowned for its elegance, learning, and intelligence.

Under the rule of the powerful and ambitious Gonzaga family, the fertile region of Mantua was transformed into a center of art and culture, and Gonzaga rulers came to be known for their skill as <em>condottieri</em>, or mercenary captains. But maintaining the Gonzaga taste for art, music, and intellectual activity ultimately emptied the treasury.

Like Mantua, Urbino was a small <em>condottiere</em> principality that achieved recognition for its military prowess and its patronage of art and culture. This small mountainous region experienced political ups and downs, and the glittering court of its ruling family, the Montefeltro, lives on in the one of the classics of Renaissance literature, Baldassare Castiglione's <em>The Book of the Courtier</em>.

As a principality, Ferrara was a city-state whose history reflects the character and interests of its ruling dynasty. Ferrara's rulers, the Este, were professional military captains and patrons of the fine arts. Like the rulers of Urbino and Mantua, the Este of Ferrara sought to combine these two spheres, and as a result, produced some of the most notable princes of the Italian Renaissance.

Although Florence is more often vaunted as the greatest Italian republic, Siena provided an earlier example of republican rule, one celebrated for its opulent art and wealth, but also known for its chronic instability.

Before slipping into monarchy in the 16th century, Florence stood as model of republican rule that would be a fundamental force in the creation of the Italian Renaissance. In this lecture, we examine the growth of this remarkable republic and determine how it managed to achieve success when so many of its fellow republics, as well as many of the other states of Italy, fell into despotism.

In this lecture, we explore the influence of one of the most renowned families of the Italian Renaissance, the Medici. Through canny leadership, brilliant diplomacy, and the artful use of strategy, the cultivated Medici family built Florence into a glittering capital of culture and statesmanship.

The most striking aspect of these independent states of Italy is their political, social, economic, and cultural variety. In this lecture, we step back to view this variety in the context of the Italian character and explore how the competition among states helped create the most illustrious period of cultural brilliance since the time of ancient Greece.

In this final lecture, Professor Bartlett summarizes the course by explaining campanilismo, the Italian sense of connection to one's homeland. It is this sense of pride of place that unifies the diverse cultural perspectives that make up the mosaic that is Italy.