"Therefore Louis made these five errors: he destroyed the minor powers, he increased the strength of one of the greater powers in Italy, he brought in a foreign power, he did not settle in the country; he did not send colonies. "
When January of 1492 opened, the first task at hand for the league of Italia was to decide on a location for a capital. Previously the location had been rotated among the cities of the league, but this proved impractical. It had been narrowed down to two choices: Florence (then known as Firenze), or Milan. Merchants and supporters of the navy favored Firenze, as it had a capable harbor for building a new shipyard. Milan was favored by those who wanted to see Italia focus on territorial expansion, such as the minor princes of cities. In the end, the merchants (with support from the queen of the Mediterranean, Venice) won out, and Firenze was the capital.
After this occurred, the first moves on the part of the new government were the construction of tax collectors on the Venetian isles, motions to encourage merchants to Thrace, and consider an offer from a Genoan named Christopher Columbus.
Christopher’s origins are obscure to this day. Some records claim he was a Norseman; others a Portuguese nobleman’s bastard. Most likely, he was the son of a mildly prosperous wool trader of Genoa, and began sailing when he was 15 years old. By 1492, he had already sailed to the Gold coast of Africa, and to the North Sea. He realized the potential value of the spice trade, but he saw another way to get to it.
Citing the Bible, Marco Polo, and Greek natural philosophers, he proposed that it was possible to sail west to reach the Indies, in a far shorter time than the Portugues route. Despite the fact that he was Genoan, the Italian Senate voted to fund him with 5 ships, and he set sail towards the Indies. What he didn’t expect to find, however, were two giant continents in his way.
Columbus ended up off the shore of modern day Brazil, where trading posts were established by his men. Thus accomplished, he returned to Italia, with only two ships, to report what he had discovered.
The Senate in general, and the Venetians in particular, were estatic at the news. Not only had they found a route to the Indies which lay around their hated enemies, the heathen Turks, but Columbus had also discovered land that was ripe for sugar plantations, which was a rare and valued crop in Europe at the time. The merchants of Venice were given free reign, and vast swaths of territory had been claimed by 1500.
Meanwhile, the senate had decided to take a more hostile stance towards Muslims, a gesture that was, in essence, thumbing its nose at the Ottomans. The Ottomans were infuriated by the Italian attitude, but were currently in a war with the Tribe of the White Sheep, and so did nothing.
Also on the diplomatic front, Italia joined the Polish alliance, with consisted of Poland, Lithuania, and Brandenburg. It was hoped that they would now be able to counteract the alliance of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, and the hostile city of Genoa, which surrounded the nation of Italia.
France disliked Italia, as it refused to consider French claims to land in its territories, as did Austria, but Spain and Portugal liked it, due to personal gifts of silk and spices sent by the Doge of Senate. Relations with Poland were very warm, and the rest of Europe was more or less neutral. This would change over time, as Italia proved to be the only nation or league, which could halt the Ottoman threat, with its unrelenting attack on Christianity.
Clearly, then, Italia’s major competition was Austria and France. Spain, of course, was also a threat, but as the two nations had warm relations (and Spain was busy killing rebels which continuously arose in Granada) there was no actual problem. The flashpoint of Italia’s first war as a league would come in 1494, when Poland, seeing a chance to strike while the Austrians were distracted by the war with France, invaded Bohemia.
Italia was forced to choose between honoring the alliance, or going its own separate way. Either way would cause unrest in the nation, but in the end, it was decided to declare war on Austria, as the northern princes were casting covetous eyes upon the gold mines of Steiermark.
Suprisingly, the Austrians and their foes were able to field an impressive number of troops, despite losing control of the Low Countries to the French. Bohemian, Austrian, and Hungarian troops poured into Dalmatia, with over seventy thousand laying siege to the coastal province. They starved to death in short order, of course, but Italia was still forced to spend 500 ducats (almost all of its budget) to raise the condoterri necessary to meet the Austrians on the field of battle.
The generals of Italia, however, proved victorious (thanks more to the incompetence of the Austrian generals than any Italian bravery). Two armies were able to take control of Steiermark and Tirol, while the unexposed flanks of Bohemia were ravaged by the Polish forces. Seeking a separate peace, Italia made a treaty with the Emperor, in which he ceded all claims on Steiermark to the Italians. Who then, naturally, proceeded to quarrel in the Senate over who gained control over it.
Although the war had been relatively easy for Italia, several things had come to light during the course of the war. Firstly, Italia’s naval approach may be all well and good if it was fighting the Ottomans for dominance in the Mediterranean, but if Italia wanted to ever pursue a landbased pursuit of territory, it would have to focus on a less naval oriented approach. This was debated in the Senate, but in the end, the government decided that a slight strengthening of the central government would be more valuable.
France, meanwhile, was continuing its conquest of the Netherlands, gaining Artois, Brabant, and the center of trade Flandern. The Senators recognized the danger that an unopposed France represented, so they left their alliance with Poland in 1495, after the Polish declaration of war against Denmark, and sent a series of diplomatic letters to the Spanish crown, including offers of royal marriage and alliance.
1496 passed swiftly, with little of consequence, save for the unrest caused by the cities demanding former rights, and the successful mapping of most of the coast of Brazil by Columbu and another explorer, an Arab by the name of Milkwlak. By this point, a small settlement of some 700 hardy souls, known as New Veneto, had been developed, and the discovery of a crop known as tobacco, with its intoxicating effects, was also reported by Columbus.
The foundations of the league of Italia were to be shaken once again, when, in 1497, Savoy, a protectorate of France, annexed Genoa. This caused shockwaves throughout the League, as it was yet another sign of France’s threats of domination. Savoy was already, after all, an ally of France with blood ties. How long would it be before they became part of France itself?
Moreover, Italia had a substantial trading presence in Genoa. It was possible now that Savoy would drive out their merchants, under directions from the King of France. With such a threat to the league, the senators agreed to declare war relatively quickly (before 1498) and the war of the wool began.
King Charles of France personally led an army to the south against Spain, which sent 30 thousand battle-hardened troops to Languedoc and Rousillon, which were promptly besieged. The duke of Savoy, meanwhile, was forced to defend against 40 thousand Italian troops marched into Genoa, Piemonte, and Savoy. As the French were currently waging war with the Germanic princes to the North (as well as dealing with revolts at home from the wars against fellow Catholic natins) they had a mere 9 thousand troops at hand to come to the aid of Savoy. The Duke, with his protector unable to help him, had no choice but to return Liguria to the Italians, who reinstated the Doge and Senate of Genoa.
Of course, the fact that the Genoan Senate chose to join the Italian league was caused by their joy at being free once again, according to the Senate. Despite this, relations between Italia and theo ther states of Europe declined slightly, although not to a great deal.
Thus, Italia had become a key supporter of the balance of power. Although a small state, in the constant shadow of the Austrian Hapsburgs, it was nevertheless capable of using its wealth and location to ensure its freedom. Not unlike the Dutch, who were to form a loose coalition of cities and merchants in the 16th century.
The Italian merchants were now able to increase the pace of colonization, as the Genoans eagerly joined in the efforts. The profits were to such an extent that the trade conducted in Genoa alone doubled between 1492 and 1505, and this, in turn, led to expansion into other markets. By 1510, Italia had a substantial present in markets as distant as Muscovy and Danzig, where the amber trade still thrived.
Meanwhile, to the east, the Ottomans were stirring. Having at last defeated the Mameluke Empire, and annexing it, Selim turned his gaze westward.
Europe before the Ottoman attack on Italia
