The Great War of the Renaissance: The Italian Wars

During the late 14th century, the Italian peninsula entered an artistic, economic, and cultural golden age known as the Renaissance. Commerce and new areas of human thought exploded onto the scene, making Italy one of the wealthiest regions in Europe and, arguably, the entire world. Because of this, however, the Italian peninsula - divided into many city-states - would soon become prey to the external powers seeking to capitalize off the region’s wealth. Today, we will discuss the latter half of the conflict known as the French-Italian Wars, a series of wars that would embroil Italy and the entire Mediterranean Sea.