Italian Wars: History of the Habsburg-Valois Wars during the 16th Century

The Italian peninsula at the close of the fifteenth century presented a complex tapestry of independent city-states, duchies, kingdoms, and papal territories that had flourished during the Renaissance but whose very prosperity and division made them irresistible targets for the emerging European powers seeking to expand their influence and wealth. The political fragmentation that had allowed Italian states to develop innovative forms of government, banking, and culture also created fatal weaknesses that would be ruthlessly exploited by foreign monarchs who possessed the resources and military organization that the divided Italians could not match when acting separately. The stage was thus set for a series of conflicts that would transform not only Italy but the entire European political landscape over the course of more than six decades.

The Kingdom of Naples in the south represented one of the most coveted prizes in Italy, as it controlled vast agricultural lands and strategic ports while generating substantial revenues that could fund military campaigns throughout the Mediterranean. The Aragonese dynasty that ruled Naples faced persistent challenges to their legitimacy from French claimants who argued that the Angevin house had never properly relinquished their rights to the southern Italian kingdom. This dynastic dispute provided the legal pretext for French intervention, though the real motivations were clearly strategic and economic rather than merely genealogical. The weakness of the Neapolitan monarchy and its dependence on Spanish support made it vulnerable to foreign conquest while ensuring that any conflict over Naples would necessarily involve the major European powers.

The Duchy of Milan represented another crucial strategic prize, controlling as it did the routes between northern Europe and the Mediterranean while generating enormous wealth from its textile industries and agricultural production.