Editing Calabria (section)

===Early modern period===
In the 15th century, [[Catanzaro]] was exporting both its silk cloth and its technical skills to neighbouring [[Sicily]]. By the middle of the century, silk spinning was taking place in Catanzaro, on a large scale.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sakellariou |first1=Eleni |title=Southern Italy in the Late Middle Ages: Demographic, Institutional Change in the Kingdom of Naples, c.1440-c.1530 |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-900-422-4063 |page=407}}</ref> In the 15th century, Catanzaro's silk industry supplied almost all of Europe and was sold at large fairs to Spanish, [[Venice|Venetian]], Genoan, [[Florence|Florentine]], and [[Netherlands|Dutch]] merchants. Catanzaro became Europe's silk capital with a large silkworm farm that produced all the lace used in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]]. The city was famous for its manufacture of silks, [[Velvet|velvets]], [[Damask|damasks]] and [[Brocade|brocades]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Rubino |first=Angela |title=La seta a Catanzaro e Lione. Echi lontani e attività presente |publisher=Calabria Letteraria |year=2006 |language=it |trans-title=Silk in Catanzaro and Lyon. Distant echoes and present activity}}</ref> In 1519, Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] formally recognized the growth of Catanzaro's silk industry, allowing the city to establish a consulate of silk crafts, charged with regulating and controlling the various stages of a production that flourished throughout the 16th century.<ref name=":5" />

In 1442, the Aragonese took control under [[Alfonso V of Aragon]] who became ruler under the [[Crown of Aragon]]. In 1501 Calabria came under the control of [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]], whose wife Queen Isabella of Castille is famed for sponsoring the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Calabria suffered greatly under Aragonese rule with heavy taxes, feuding landlords, starvation and sickness. After a brief period in the early 1700s under the Austrian Habsburgs, Calabria came into the control of the Spanish Bourbons in 1735.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> It was during the 16th century that Calabria would contribute to modern world history with the creation of the [[Gregorian calendar]] by the Calabrian doctor and astronomer [[Luigi Lilio]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/gregorian-calendar.html |title=The Gregorian Calendar |website=www.timeanddate.com |access-date=2 July 2019 |archive-date=26 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626042652/https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/gregorian-calendar.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sussexvt.k12.de.us/science/The%20History%20of%20the%20World%201500-1899/Gregorian%20Calendar%20Adopted.htm |title=Gregorian Calendar Adopted |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-date=5 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605110751/http://www.sussexvt.k12.de.us/science/The%20History%20of%20the%20World%201500-1899/Gregorian%20Calendar%20Adopted.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naplesldm.com/lillo.html |title=Luigi Lillo, the Gregorian Calendat & the Carafa Castle |first=Jeff |last=Matthews |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401173802/http://www.naplesldm.com/lillo.html |archive-date=1 April 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1466, King [[Louis XI]] decided to develop a national silk industry in [[Lyon]] and called a large number of Italian workers, mainly from Calabria. The fame of the master weavers of Catanzaro spread throughout France and they were invited to Lyon to teach the techniques of weaving.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rossi |first1=Cesare |last2=Russo |first2=Flavio |date=2016 |title=Ancient Engineers' Inventions: Precursors of the Present}}</ref> In 1470, one of these weavers, known in France as Jean Le Calabrais, invented the first prototype of a [[Jacquard machine|Jacquard]]-type loom.<ref>{{cite book |language=it |last=Rubino |first=Angela |date=2006 |title=La seta a Catanzaro e Lione. Echi lontani e attività presente |publisher=Calabria Letteraria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kOGJKQAACAAJ&q=seta+catanzaro |isbn=8875741271 |trans-title=Silk in [[Catanzaro]] and Lyon. Distant echoes and present activity |access-date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=27 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227163907/https://books.google.com/books?id=kOGJKQAACAAJ&q=seta+catanzaro |url-status=live }}</ref> He introduced a new kind of machine which was able to work the yarns faster and more precisely. Over the years, improvements to the loom were ongoing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.handweaving.net/DigitalArchive/books/wp_Chapter_01.pdf |title=Chapter 1: A Brief History of Figured Textile Production |pages=11–20 |access-date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=14 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514220658/http://media.handweaving.net/DigitalArchive/books/wp_Chapter_01.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V of Spain]] formally recognized the growth of the silk industry of [[Catanzaro]] in 1519 by allowing the city to establish a consulate of the silk craft, charged with regulating and check in the various stages of a production that flourished throughout the sixteenth century. At the moment of the creation of its guild, the city declared that it had over 500 [[loom]]s. By 1660, when the town had about 16,000 inhabitants, its silk industry kept 1,000 looms, and at least 5,000 people, busy. The silk textiles of [[Catanzaro]] were not only sold at the [[Kingdom of Naples|kingdom]]'s markets, they were also exported to Venice, France, Spain and England.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sakellariou |first1=Eleni |title=Southern Italy in the Late Middle Ages: Demographic, Institutional Change in the Kingdom of Naples, c.1440-c.1530 |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-900-422-4063}}</ref>

This period also saw the migration of entire communities of [[Albanians]] to many towns in northern Calabria, called by the king of Naples himself in recognition of the services that the Albanian leader [[Skanderbeg|Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg]] had rendered to the crown against the Angevins. After 1478 the sovereign allowed these refugees fleeing from the Turkish advance in Albania after Skanderbeg's demise to occupy abandoned villages for the purpose of repopulating them, also granting them numerous royal privileges and franchises: hence the [[Arbëreshë people|Arbëreshë]] community was born.<ref name=":37">{{Cite book |last=Caligiuri |first=Mario |title=Breve storia della Calabria. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri |publisher=Newton & Compton |year=1996 |isbn=88-8183-479-0 |location=Rome |language=it |trans-title=Brief history of Calabria. From its origins to the present day}}</ref>

In the 16th century, Calabria was characterized by a strong demographic and economic development, mainly due to the increasing demand of silk products and the simultaneous growth of prices, and became one of the most important Mediterranean markets for silk.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Galasso |first1=Giuseppe |title=Economia e società nella Calabria del Cinquecento |language=it |date=1975 |publisher=L'Altra Europa}}</ref>

After the relative pacification, Calabria followed the historical and political events of the [[Kingdom of Naples]], also becoming the scene of struggles between the great powers of the time, France and Spain, for territorial control of the Italian peninsula. For example, on June 28, 1495, the [[Battle of Seminara]], north of Reggio Calabria, took place, where French troops that had occupied the Kingdom of Naples beat the Hispano-Napolitan army under the command of [[Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba]] and [[Ferdinand II of Naples]], who, however, managed to take revenge and drive out the French the following year. A few years later, in 1502, Córdoba himself conquered Reggio, subjecting it to the rule of the Ferdinand II.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |title=Storia della Calabria |publisher=Gangemi Editore |year=1988 |isbn=88-7448-703-7 |editor-last=Placanica |editor-first=Augusto |volume=II: La Calabria moderna e contemporanea. Età presente; approfondimenti |location=Rome-Reggio Calabria |language=it |trans-title=History of Calabria}}</ref>

From then on, Calabria was placed under Spanish rule for two centuries and was administratively divided into two parts: {{ILL|Calabria Ulteriore|it}} and {{ILL|Calabria Citeriore|it}}, initially governed by a single governor, then, from 1582, by two separate officials. The administrative capital of Calabria Citeriore was Cosenza, which during the 16th century went through an impressive artistic and humanistic flowering, so much so that it was called the “[[Athens]] of Calabria”.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caruso |first=Luigi |title=Storia di Cosenza |publisher=Edizioni di Storia Patria |year=1970 |language=it |trans-title=History of Cosenza}}</ref> In fact, the city, in addition to being, until 1557, one of the most important cities of the realm in the head of law, became, after Naples, the second city to have a school of cartography, while in 1511 the [[Accademia Cosentina]] was born, founded by [[Aulo Giano Parrasio]], followed by the philosopher [[Bernardino Telesio]], defined by [[Francis Bacon]] as the first of the "new men". Instead, Calabria Ulteriore had two different administrative headquarters: the first was Reggio Calabria, which held the role of capital for 12 years, from 1582 to 1594, losing it due to [[Turkish people|Turkish]] raids that sacked it several times; for this reason, from 1594 the seat of the administrative offices of the governorate was transferred to Catanzaro, which maintained this role for more than 220 years.<ref name=":6" /> In 1563 philosopher and natural scientist [[Bernardino Telesio]] wrote "On the Nature of Things according to their Own Principles" and pioneered early modern empiricism. He would also influence the works of Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Giordano Bruno, Tommaso Campanella and Thomas Hobbes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boenke |first=Michaela |title=Bernardino Telesio |url=https://stanford.library.sydney.edu.au/archives/spr2008/entries/telesio/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727063710/https://stanford.library.sydney.edu.au/archives/spr2008/entries/telesio/ |archive-date=27 July 2020 |access-date=15 June 2019 |website=stanford.library.sydney.edu.au}}</ref><ref name="colorado.edu">{{Cite web |title=Notes for Bacon Session (7/27 and 7/28) |url=http://www.colorado.edu/neh2015/sites/default/files/attached-files/baconnotes.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306173158/http://www.colorado.edu/neh2015/sites/default/files/attached-files/baconnotes.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2016 |access-date=6 March 2016 |website=colorado.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garber |first=Daniel |title=Telesio among the Novatores: Telesio's Reception in the Seventeenth Century |url=http://www.colorado.edu/neh2015/sites/default/files/attached-files/garbertelesio.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306164500/http://www.colorado.edu/neh2015/sites/default/files/attached-files/garbertelesio.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2016 |access-date=6 March 2016 |website=colorado.edu}}</ref> In 1602 philosopher and poet [[Tommaso Campanella]] wrote his most famous work, "[[The City of the Sun]]" and would later defend Galileo Galilei during his first trial with his work "A Defense of Galileo", which was written in 1616 and published in 1622.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homepage |url=http://undpress.nd.edu/books/P00091 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220100335/http://undpress.nd.edu/books/P00091 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref> In 1613 philosopher and economist [[Antonio Serra]] wrote "A Short Treatise on the Wealth and Poverty of Nations" and was a pioneer in the Mercantilist tradition.<ref>{{cite book |author=Antonio Serra |title=A 'Short Treatise' on the Wealth and Poverty of Nations (1613) |date=1 January 2011 |isbn=978-1-84331-770-8 |editor=Sophus Reinert |doi=10.7135/UPO9781843317708}}</ref>

Calabria was important to the Spanish monarchs since the reign of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles V of Habsburg]], who also held the title of King of Naples, as when the sovereign granted numerous royal privileges to the city of Catanzaro, which had valiantly resisted on August 28, 1528, the siege by a French army supported by some Calabrian and Apulian nobles of [[Francophile]] tendencies. In gratitude, Charles V granted the city the right to use the imperial eagle as its symbol, exempted it from royal tributes and gave it the power to mint coins worth one carlin. In addition, the emperor personally visited the region in 1535 on his return from the victorious capture of [[Tunis]], where, at the command of a fleet of as many as 500 ships, he had defeated the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] army and freed 20,000 Christian slaves. After the African conquest, Charles V landed in Sicily and then in Calabria, where, having passed [[Aspromonte]], he visited [[Nicastro]], [[Martirano]], [[Carpanzano]],{{efn|An inscription from 1605, under the portico of the Shrine of the Virgin of Grace in Carpanzano, still commemorates its passage: ''Carolus V Imperator Maximo Capta Tuneti Brutiam Repetes Carpanzano ... anno 1535.''}} [[Rogliano]],{{efn|Another inscription of Charles V's passage is also found in the Ricciulli Palace in Rogliano.}} Tessano and Cosenza. From here the monarch passed through [[Bisignano]], [[Castrovillari]] and [[Laino]], and then continued on to Naples. During Spanish rule in Calabria, many towns tried to defend themselves from Saracen raids, for example Gioja (current [[Gioia Tauro]]), which was fortified with city walls reinforced by watchtowers to defend against incursions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=La Storia di Gioia Tauro - dalle Origini al Settecento |trans-title=The History of Gioia Tauro - from the Origins to the Eighteenth Century |url=https://www.comune.gioiatauro.rc.it/index.php?action=index&p=278 |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=Comune di Gioia Tauro |language=it}}</ref> Several Calabrian cities such as [[Palmi, Calabria|Palmi]] (where the Saracen Tower still stands today<ref>{{Cite web |title=Torre saracena Palmi, 1565 - 1565 |url=https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/ArchitecturalOrLandscapeHeritage/1800157583A |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=catalogo.beniculturali.it |language=it}}</ref>) and Reggio Calabria were fortified with towers.<ref name=":6" />

Despite the heavy taxation and the growth of baronial power, the population never ceased to show loyalty to the sovereign, seen as a defender of the poor people against the abuses of the powerful. The behavior of the people of Catanzaro in 1647-1648, when, exasperated by the excessive tax burden, they stormed the offices of the tax collectors (known as ''arrendatori''), subsequently setting fire to their houses, must be framed in this light. The governor then intervened, who had the leaders of the revolt hanged, causing the rest of the rebels to flee.<ref name=":6" />