Editing History of Italy (section)

===Warfare===
In the 14th century, Northern Italy was divided into warring city-states, the most powerful being [[Milan]], [[Florence]], [[Pisa]], [[Siena]], [[Genoa]], [[Ferrara]], [[Mantua]], [[Verona]] and [[Venice]]. High Medieval Northern Italy was further divided by the long-running battle for supremacy between the Papacy and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Warfare between the states was common, and invasion from outside Italy was confined to intermittent sorties of [[Holy Roman Emperors]]. Since the 13th century, as armies became primarily composed of [[mercenaries]], prosperous city-states could field considerable forces despite their low populations. Over the 15th century, the most powerful city-states annexed their smaller neighbours: Florence took [[Pisa]] in 1406, Venice captured [[Padua]] and [[Verona]], while the [[Duchy of Milan]] annexed nearby areas including [[Pavia]] and [[Parma]].

The early Renaissance saw almost constant warfare on land and sea as the city-states vied for preeminence. On land, these wars were primarily fought by armies of mercenaries known as ''[[condottiere|condottieri]]'', bands of soldiers drawn from around Europe (especially Germany and Switzerland) led largely by Italian captains.<ref>Jensen, De Lamar. ''Renaissance Europe''. 1992, p. 64.</ref> Decades of fighting saw Florence, Milan and Venice emerge as the dominant players. These three powers agreed to the [[Peace of Lodi]] in 1454, which saw relative calm brought to the region for the next forty years. At sea, the main contenders were Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, but after a long conflict, the Genoese succeeded in reducing Pisa. Venice proved to be a more powerful adversary, and with the decline of Genoese power during the 15th century Venice became pre-eminent on the seas.

Foreign invasions of Italy (the [[Italian Wars]]) began with the 1494 invasion by France that wreaked widespread devastation on Northern Italy and ended the independence of many of the city-states. Originally arising from dynastic disputes over the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples, the wars rapidly became a general struggle for power and territory. The French were routed by Holy Roman Emperor [[Charles V of Habsburg|Charles V]] at the [[Battle of Pavia]] (1525) and again in the [[War of the League of Cognac]] (1526–30). After years of inconclusive fighting and involvement by multiple countries, with the [[Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis]] (1559), France renounced its claims in Italy, while the south of Italy remained under Spanish rule.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/99311/Peace-of-Cateau-Cambresis |access-date=4 December 2014}}</ref>

Much of Venice's hinterland (but not the city itself) was [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1499–1503)|devastated by the Turks]] in 1499 and plundered by the [[League of Cambrai]] in 1509. Worst of all was the 6 May 1527 [[Sack of Rome (1527)|Sack of Rome]] by mutinous German mercenaries that all but ended the role of the Papacy as the largest patron of Renaissance art. The long [[Siege of Florence (1529–1530)]] brought the destruction of its suburbs, the ruin of its export business and the confiscation of its citizens' wealth. Italy's urban population halved; ransoms paid to the invaders and emergency taxes drained the finances. The wool and silk industries of Lombardy collapsed when their looms were wrecked by invaders. The defensive tactic of scorched earth only slightly delayed the invaders, and made the recovery much longer.<ref>John Julius Norwich, ''The Italians: History, Art and the Genius of a People'' (1983) p 165-66.</ref>