Editing History of Italy (section)

==Middle Ages==
{{Main|Italy in the Middle Ages|Italian city-states}}
Odoacer's rule ended when the [[Ostrogoths]], under the leadership of [[Theodoric the Great|Theodoric]], conquered Italy. Decades later, the armies of Eastern Emperor [[Justinian]] entered Italy with the goal of re-establishing imperial Roman rule, which led to the [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic War]] that devastated the whole country with famine and epidemics. This ultimately allowed another Germanic tribe, the [[Lombards]], to take control over vast regions of Italy. In 751 the Lombards seized [[Exarchate of Ravenna|Ravenna]], ending Byzantine rule in northern Italy. Facing a new Lombard offensive, the Papacy appealed to the [[Franks]] for aid.<ref>Cristina La Rocca, ed. ''Italy in the Early Middle Ages: 476-1000'' (2002).</ref>

[[File:BattagliaLegnano.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The defense of the [[Carroccio]] during the [[battle of Legnano]] by [[Amos Cassioli]] (1832–1891)]]

In 756 Frankish forces defeated the Lombards and gave the Papacy legal authority over much of central Italy, establishing the [[Papal States]]. In 800, [[Charlemagne]] was crowned emperor of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. After the death of Charlemagne (814), the new empire disintegrated under his weak successors, resulting in a power vacuum in Italy and coinciding with the rise of Islam in North Africa and the Middle East. In the South, there were attacks from the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] and the [[Abbasid Caliphate]]. In the North, there was a rising power of [[Medieval commune|communes]]. In 852, the Saracens took [[Bari]] and founded an [[emirate]] there. Islamic rule over Sicily was effective from 902.

In the 11th century, trade slowly recovered as the cities started to grow again and the Papacy regained its authority. The [[Investiture controversy]], over whether secular authorities had any legitimate role in appointments to ecclesiastical offices, was resolved by the [[Concordat of Worms]] in 1122, although problems continued in many areas of Europe until the end of the medieval era. In the north, a [[Lombard League]] of communes launched a successful effort to win autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire, defeating Emperor [[Frederick Barbarossa]] at the [[Battle of Legnano]] in 1176. In the south, the [[Normans]] occupied the Lombard and Byzantine possessions.<ref>Holger Berwinkel, "Legnano, Battle of (1176)." in Gordon Martel ed ''The Encyclopedia of War'' (2011) ch 27.</ref>
The few independent city-states were also subdued. During the same period, the Normans ended Muslim rule in Sicily. In 1130, [[Roger II of Sicily]] began his rule as the first king of the Norman [[Kingdom of Sicily]]; he had succeeded in uniting all the Norman conquests in Southern Italy into one kingdom with a strong centralized government. In 1155, Emperor [[Manuel Komnenos]] attempted to regain Southern Italy, but the attempt failed and in 1158 the Byzantines left Italy. The Norman Kingdom lasted until 1194 when Sicily was claimed by the German [[Hohenstaufen Dynasty]].

Between the 12th and 13th centuries, Italy developed a peculiar political pattern, significantly different from feudal Europe north of the Alps. The oligarchic [[city-state]] became the prevalent form of government. Keeping direct Church control and Imperial power at arm's length, the many independent city-states prospered through commerce, ultimately creating the conditions for the artistic and intellectual changes produced by the [[Renaissance]].<ref>Rodney Stark, ''The Victory of Reason'' (Random House, 2005).</ref><ref>Skinner, Quentin, ''The Foundations of Modern Political Thought'', vol I: ''The Renaissance''; vol II: ''The Age of Reformation'', Cambridge University Press, p. 69</ref> Northern cities and states were notable for their [[merchant republics]], especially the [[Republic of Venice]].<ref>Martin, J. and Romano, D., Venice Reconsidered, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, 2000</ref> Compared to feudal and absolute monarchies, the merchant republics enjoyed relative political freedom.<ref name="ReferenceA">Ferguson, Niall, ''The Ascent of Money: The Financial History of the World''. Penguin, 2008</ref>
[[File:Marco Polo Mosaic from Palazzo Tursi.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Marco Polo]], explorer of the 13th century, recorded his 24 years-long travels in the ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo|Book of the Marvels of the World]]'', introducing Europeans to Central Asia and China.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marco Polo – Exploration |url=http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/marco-polo |access-date=9 January 2017 |publisher=History.com}}</ref>]]

During this period, many Italian cities developed republican forms of government, such as the republics of [[Republic of Florence|Florence]], [[Republic of Lucca|Lucca]], [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Siena|Siena]]. During the 13th and 14th centuries these cities became major financial and commercial centres.<ref>{{Cite book |last=de Sismondi |first=Simonde |title=Storia delle Repubbliche Italiane nel Medioevo. |date=1968 |publisher=Avanzini e Torraca Editori |language=it}}</ref> Milan, Florence and Venice, among other city-states, played a crucial innovative role in financial development, devising the main instruments and practices of banking and new forms of social and economic organization.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

During the same period, Italy saw the rise of the [[Repubbliche Marinare|Maritime Republics]]: [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], [[Republic of Pisa|Pisa]], [[Duchy of Amalfi|Amalfi]], [[Republic of Ragusa|Ragusa]], [[Republic of Ancona|Ancona]], [[Duchy of Gaeta|Gaeta]] and [[Republic of Noli|Noli]].<ref>Armando Lodolini ''Le repubbliche del mare'', Roma, Biblioteca di storia patria, 1967.</ref> From the 10th to the 13th centuries these cities built fleets of ships for their own protection and to support extensive trade networks across the Mediterranean, leading to an essential role in the [[Crusades]]. The maritime republics, especially Venice and Genoa, soon became Europe's main gateways to trade with the East, establishing colonies as far as the [[Black Sea]] and often controlling most of the trade with the [[Byzantine Empire]] and the Islamic Mediterranean world. The [[county of Savoy]] expanded its territory into the peninsula in the [[late Middle Ages]], while Florence developed into a highly organized commercial and financial city-state, becoming for many centuries the European capital of silk, wool, banking and jewellery. Central and southern Italy was far poorer than the north. Rome was largely in ruins, and the [[Papal States]] were a loosely administered region with little law and order. Partly because of this, the Papacy [[Avignon Papacy|had relocated to Avignon]] in France. Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia had for some time been under foreign domination. The [[Black Death]] in 1348 killed perhaps one-third of Italy's population.<ref>Stéphane Barry and Norbert Gualde, "The Biggest Epidemics of History"-La plus grande épidémie de l'histoire, in L'Histoire n°310, June 2006, pp.45–46</ref>

{{Gallery|align=center

|width=160 |File:Lombard (Kingdom of) Italy.png|The [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombard Kingdom]] in 740, under King [[Liutprand, King of the Lombards|Liutprand]]
|File:Aghlabid in 900 ad.png|[[Emirate of Sicily]] (831–1072)
|File:Maritime republics map - IT.png|Location and coat of arms of the [[Maritime republics]]
|File:Republik Venedig Handelswege01.png|Trade routes and colonies of the [[Genoese colonies|Genoese]] <small>(red)</small> and [[Stato da Màr|Venetian]] <small>(green)</small> empires
}}