With Chirurgical Precision
The Genua-Florence War
(And two other not-so-important wars)
1437-1452
“Florence had three periods in the first half of the 15th century in which it waged war. The first period saw the Papal War, the second started with the Genua-Florence war and had the first foreign invasion of middle Italy. The third and most devastating period of war started with…
…During the Genua-Florence war, the outcome may have been different if Milan didn’t make two mistakes. First, they negotiated with Cosimo about a treaty. Second, they didn’t crush their southern rebellion. Combined, these two oversights proved to be advantegous to Florence…”
from
Une histoire des guerres Italiennes 1400-1500
Cosimo the Elder
March the 2nd, 1437, in the office of Cosimo
“This is most unfortunate.”
Cosimo said in his chair, rubbing his forehead. His son Piero, now 21 years old, sat in front of his father, leaning slightly forward.
“Yesterday, pope Eugene declared war on Modena and Genua.”, Cosimo added.
His son looked puzzled. “Forgive me father, but I don’t see how we could gain from a war with them.”
Cosimo smiled wryly.
“Neither do I, boy.”
“But father, isn’t the pope more or less our puppet? You told me that you practically installed him.”
“True, but now it seems he’s less of a puppet than I thought.”
His son looked worried.
“On the other hand”, his father continued, “it doesn’t come as a complete surprise. While I control most of the council of the city of Rome, the pope is still the head of state of the Papal States. His rule is absolute, there is no one that can veto his decisions. That’s why I can do nothing to change this.”
“Why didn’t you change that after the Papal War? You took half the pope’s domain and Rome’s council. Why didn’t you go further?”
“Heh, don’t think that I didn’t want to”, Cosimo said. “But taking control of the cities was an entirely different matter than changing the way the Papal States were ruled. Most of the States were controlled by local noblemen. While the pope was nominally in control, in truth most cities ruled themselves. During the war I was able to take control over those cities, by coercion and bribes. If I wanted to dispose of the pope, I would have a populair rebellion on my hand. The pope’s influence on the Italians is not to be underestimated.
Cosimo took a sip of wine.
“When pope Martinus died, I was able to push Eugene forward as pope. As the cardinals didn’t have anything against him, they were easy to convince that he should be pope.”
“That’s why we have this situation. While I have a lot of control over the Papal States, the pope is still able to do as he wishes. And he knows that I have to support him as an ally, or I will lose face. So, I suspect he wants to expand his domain at our cost. He knows that when he declares war, I would have to honour our alliance.“
“So what do we do now, father?”
“We will wage war and see what we can get out of this mess.”
At march the first, 1437, the Papal States declared war on Genua and Modena. Florence honored its alliance with the Papal States and declared war a week after the Papal States. Within 8 months, Modena’s capital city Romegna had fallen to the Florentine troops, while Napels, property of Genua, was captured soon after that by the soldiers of the pope.
In january 1438 Cosimo negotiated with Milan about Military acces for Florence’s armies through Milanese territory. It was another policial victory for Cosimo, as Milan agreed. The week after Florence got its military acces, its armies laid siege to the capital of Genua.
The Military Acces treaty from Milan was key in the Genua-Florence war, as it enabled Florence’s forces to reach the heartland of Genua. Invasion from sea was impossible because of the superior Genuese fleet. In 1440, the city of Genua fell. After some heated negotiations, Genua agreed to surrender Napels to the Papal States.
The war with Modena continued. While the city itself was captured by Florence, it still held Provence. The weak Florentine fleet could invade this province, so Cosimo waited for an opportunity to present itself. And it did. Twice.
In december 1442, the city of Siena declared independence from the Milanese. As they were surrounded by the Florentine Alliance, had no allies themselves and were at war with Milan and Tyrol, Cosimo ordered his armies to besiege Siena, under the pretense of restoring order. Needless to say, after two grueling years of siegethe troops of Florence occupied the city. Cosimo’s demands were simple: he wanted the sole power of appointing members of Siena’s city council, effectively making it part of the Florentine Duchy. Meanwhile, Modena lost Provence to Burgundy, enabling Cosimo to negotiate a large amount of gold for peace. Modena agreed and Florence was at peace once again. It proved to be a costly peace for Modena, as it became a vassal to Burgundy to pay its debts.
During this time, the Byzantine Empire was annexed by the Ottomans. May the 21st 1443 Constantinople fell to
the Turkish armies, , marking the end of the Middle Ages.
For more than two years, Florence was at peace. Cosimo concentrated on economical development and granted support to numerous artists. All was well until war reared its ugly head once more.
Towels were a hot topic in those days
March the 3rd, 1447
“Who declared war on us, condottiero*?”
Condottiero Malatesta looked at his parchment.
“Tunesia and Tlemcen, my lord.”
Cosimo looked at a map of the Mediterranean.
“They’re on the other side of the sea. Why in the world do they want to attack us? We haven’t done anything against them.”
“Our spies tell us that the new pope Nicolaus the fifth isn’t very popular with the Islamic states.”
“Ah yes, his inauguration speech last month. The “towelhead” part particulary did the trick. I guess the letter from Tlemcen states something like that making fun of their headgear will cost us our heads?”
“Yes, my lord. Also, Tlemcen have just finished a war with Modena, so maybe they were just looking for another war in Italy. Probably they just want to loot our rich cities.
Cosimo sighted.
“Very well. You get your army ready for any invasions. You have permission to use any force necessary to kick them out.”
“My lord, aren’t we going to invade them? A plundering rampage on enemy soil is the best defense.”
“Until we have a fleet that can do any damage, I’m not risking soldiers’ lifes by crossing the sea. Just make sure that if they land troops on our soil, they’ll regret it.”
“Of course, my lord. Those towelheads will pay for their insolence.”
With his head in his hands Cosimo mutters “Why do I have so many idiots around me…”
* Condottiero was the title given to mercenary generals in 15th and 16th century Italy. Standing armies didn’t exist in that time, so the Italian city-states hired condottieri and their armies to wage war.
A number of battles took place at Italian soil, all decisively won by the Florentine armies. After 15 months, Tlemcen and Tunesia offered peace and paid indemnities. The following 4 years were peaceful, at least for Florence. Cosimo further increased his control over the territory of Florence and increased spending on the army.
During this time, Miland became a vassal of Genua. Together with Tyrol and Switzerland they formed an alliance that covered almost all of Italy north of Florence. At July the 7th of 1452 this alliance declared war on Modena, which was unimpressed by yet another declaration of war from an overwhelmingly strong alliance. Much more south to Florence more important events took place, even if they were less visibile to the public. Events that changed the history of Italy…
July the 7th, 1452, Cosimo is a guest of the pope Nicolaus V.
“So tell me, lord De Medici, why are you here?”
“Your holiness, I have a matter to settle with you.”
“And what matter is that, my son?”, the pope asked, a tone of worry entering his voice.
“The matter of the Papal States.”
“What do you want from the Papal States?”, the pop said, more and more bewildered.
“All of it. I’m annexing it.”
The pope jumped from his seat.
“What!? You can’t do that!”
“I’m doing it now.”
Nicolaus looked at Cosimo with barely contained anger.
Cosimo leaned forward.
“Face it, Nicolaus. I already control the majority of the city counsels of Rome and Napels. I’ve bribed most of the influential rural nobles. There is little you can do.”
“You will have to fight for it if you want it!”
“Go ahead, call your military commander.”
The pope called for his condottiero. After a few silent minutes, the condottiero entered the room.
“Ah, my fine condottiero. I have orders for you. You are to prepare your forces to defend against Florence.”, the pope said smugly.
“Forgive me, Your Holiness, I cannot follow that order.”, the condottiero answered. “Lord Cosimo has offered me much more than you. Even if I wanted to obey you, my officers wouldn’t. Most of them are paid by lord Cosimo.”
The pope turned to Cosimo. “What treachery have you committed, you swine!”
“Not treachery, my dear Nicolaus. Insurance. I couldn’t let you have an army to ruin my plans, could I?”
“You’ve planned this, all of it. You are despicable.”. The pope sat down. “You have your victory, De Medici. But don’t think you can get away with this. I will excommunicate you. I will turn the Italians against you. And I will try with all my might to have a crusade waged on you. You will go down, I assure you.”
Cosimo smiled. He threw a document on the table.
“Here. Have a look at this. I’m certain you will change your plans.”
“What is it? More of your lies?”
“Evidence, Your Holiness. Damning evidence, I may add.” Cosimo looked at the pope with a serious face. “Have you never wondered why the Papal armies were rebuild so quickly after the Papal Wars? While the treasury was empty? I convinced your predecessor, pope Eugene, to raise the armies with money earned from the sale of indulgences.”
The pope was astonished.
“You didn’t know, did you?”, Cosimo continued. “It is a well-kept secret. What Eugene also kept secret was that indulgence earning were also transmitted to my bank. I believe he also put a generous amount in his own pockets.”
The pope looked more and more horrified.
“You seem to understand the situation. The squandering of church money to armies and personal gain by a pope will not be received well by the public. It would be very damaging to you, Nicolaus. Maybe even more damaging than my excommunication.”
“You wouldn’t dare…”, Nicolaus weakly said. “This is blackmail.”
“Of course it is. Effective blackmail. If you start attacking me with proclaims and sermons, I will publish this. We will see who will go down.”
The pope looked at the floor in despair. “You win, Cosimo, you win.”
Cosimo raised from his chair. “Now, you will make an announcement to the public. You will tell them Florence is the protector of the church and will take command of your forces and cities to ensure no one will harm the church. Add a bit about how I defended the church from the Tunesian infidels and such, the people love that.”
The pope and the banker left the room. The Papal States were no more.
A month later, on august the 12th 1452 the Papal States were annexed by Florence. In november, Florence started a war, that turned out to a turning point in history. It was called
The War for Italian Dominance
Italy before the War for Italian Dominance
