Editing Pisa (section)

===Decline===
[[File:Nuremberg chronicles f 45v 1.png|thumb|Idealized depiction of Pisa from the 1493 ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]''.]]
The decline is said to have begun on August 6, 1284, when the numerically superior fleet of Pisa, under the command of [[Albertino Morosini]], was defeated by the brilliant tactics of the Genoese fleet, under the command of [[Benedetto I Zaccaria|Benedetto Zaccaria]] and [[Oberto Doria]], in the dramatic naval [[Battle of Meloria (1284)|Battle of Meloria]]. This defeat ended the maritime power of Pisa and the town never fully recovered;<ref name=":0" /> in 1290, the Genoese destroyed forever the Porto Pisano (Pisa's port), and [[salting the earth|covered the land with salt]]. The region around Pisa did not permit the city to recover from the loss of thousands of sailors from the Meloria, while Liguria guaranteed enough sailors to Genoa. Goods, however, continued to be traded, albeit in reduced quantity, but the end came when the Arno started to change course, preventing the galleys from reaching the city's port up the river. The nearby area also likely became infested with [[malaria]]. The true end came in 1324, when Sardinia was entirely lost to the [[Aragon]]ese.

Always Ghibelline, Pisa tried to build up its power in the course of the 14th century, and even managed to defeat [[Republic of Florence|Florence]] in the [[Battle of Montecatini]] (1315), under the command of [[Uguccione della Faggiuola]]. Eventually, however, after a long siege, Pisa was occupied by Florentines in 1405.<ref name=bantam/> Florentines corrupted the ''capitano del popolo'' ("people's chieftain"), Giovanni Gambacorta, who at night opened the city gate of San Marco. Pisa was never conquered by an army. In 1409, Pisa was the seat of a [[Council of Pisa|council]] trying to set the question of the [[Western Schism|Great Schism]]. In the 15th century, access to the sea became more difficult, as the port was silting up and was cut off from the sea. When in 1494, [[Charles VIII of France]] invaded the Italian states to claim the [[Kingdom of Naples]],<ref name=bantam>{{cite book |last1=Machiavelli |first1=Niccolò |title=The Prince and Selected Discourses |year=1981 |publisher=Bantam Books |location=New York |isbn=0-553-21227-3 |edition=Bantam Classic |pages=128–29}}</ref> Pisa reclaimed its independence as the Second Pisan Republic.

[[File:Comune di Pisa 1875.jpg|thumb|Bonus certificate of Pisa, issued July 19, 1875]]

The new freedom did not last long; 15 years of battles and sieges by the Florentine troops led by [[Antonio da Filicaja]], [[Averardo Salviati]] and [[Niccolò Capponi]] were made, but they failed to conquer the city. [[Vitellozzo Vitelli]] with his brother [[Paolo Vitelli (condottiero)|Paolo]] were the only ones who actually managed to break the strong defences of Pisa and make a breach in the Stampace bastion in the southern west part of the walls, but he did not enter the city. For that, they were suspected of treachery and Paolo was put to death. However, the resources of Pisa were getting low, and at the end, the city was sold to the Visconti family from Milan and eventually to Florence again. [[Livorno]] took over the role of the main port of Tuscany. Pisa acquired a mainly cultural role spurred by the presence of the [[University of Pisa]], created in 1343, and later reinforced by the [[Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa]] (1810) and [[Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies]] (1987).

Pisa was the birthplace of the important early physicist [[Galileo Galilei]]. It is still the seat of an [[archbishopric]]. Besides its educational institutions, it has become a light industrial centre and a railway hub. It suffered repeated destruction during [[World War II]].

Since the early 1950s, the US Army has maintained [[Camp Darby]] just outside Pisa, which is used by many US military personnel as a base for vacations in the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wiesbaden.army.mil/hunion/Travel/CampDarby.htm |title=A traveler's oasis in Italy |publisher=Wiesbaden.army.mil |access-date=March 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219055854/http://www.wiesbaden.army.mil/hunion/Travel/CampDarby.htm |archive-date=February 19, 2013  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usag.livorno.army.mil/OutAbout.asp |title=Darby Military Community, Camp Darby, Italy, Top Picks |publisher=Usag.livorno.army.mil |date=April 30, 1945 |access-date=March 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202055352/http://www.usag.livorno.army.mil/OutAbout.asp |archive-date=February 2, 2013  }}</ref>