Overview
Because of the fact that Italy was divided into many different states and the greed of power and land often caused strife and battle between them the Peace of Lodi was issued and accepted by the Italian states in 1454. This ended war for a good time and for a while even the five major state: Milan, Venice, Naples, the Papal States and Florence all got along. This soon ended, however and war soon broke out.
There were several reasons why Italy was a battle ground during the 15th century one of which was the broken governmental, political and territorial state Italy was in at the time. Another was the wealth that northern Italy had acquired during the beginning of the Renaissance. Lastly Spain and France had both grown substantially and both realized and seized the opportunity to take Italy. For all of these reasons Italy soon turned into a battleground for France and Spain.
The exact way in which the French and Spanish were allowed into Italy started with the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. He, for reasons unbeknown to scholars, invited the French to take part in Italian politics. For the reasons mentioned above the French were excited that they had a chance to gain a foothold in Italy, so they, in 1494, marched to Naples with 30,000 men and took the state. Startled by the large army of the French in Italy the other states looked for help and found it in Spain. The Spanish, like the French were also eager to gain a foothold in Italy. So for 15 years fighting ensued. The war was in fact continued by multiple rulers of both Spain and of France. However it was temporarily ended in 1527 when the Spanish took Rome. The sack of the city led to their dominance of Italy for some time.
While it seemed strange that two countries could enter into a third and terrorize it with war for years the Italians didn't simply sit back and let the fighting ensue. In fact they did, in general, have a sense of Italian pride and different between the Italian and the barbarian, or all foreigners. While the Italians had state pride and repealed any French or Spanish troops, which led to Italy being almost characterized by invasion, they didn't develop a sense of unity between the states and therefor didn't achieve unification or nationhood until 1870.
There were several reasons why Italy was a battle ground during the 15th century one of which was the broken governmental, political and territorial state Italy was in at the time. Another was the wealth that northern Italy had acquired during the beginning of the Renaissance. Lastly Spain and France had both grown substantially and both realized and seized the opportunity to take Italy. For all of these reasons Italy soon turned into a battleground for France and Spain.
The exact way in which the French and Spanish were allowed into Italy started with the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. He, for reasons unbeknown to scholars, invited the French to take part in Italian politics. For the reasons mentioned above the French were excited that they had a chance to gain a foothold in Italy, so they, in 1494, marched to Naples with 30,000 men and took the state. Startled by the large army of the French in Italy the other states looked for help and found it in Spain. The Spanish, like the French were also eager to gain a foothold in Italy. So for 15 years fighting ensued. The war was in fact continued by multiple rulers of both Spain and of France. However it was temporarily ended in 1527 when the Spanish took Rome. The sack of the city led to their dominance of Italy for some time.
While it seemed strange that two countries could enter into a third and terrorize it with war for years the Italians didn't simply sit back and let the fighting ensue. In fact they did, in general, have a sense of Italian pride and different between the Italian and the barbarian, or all foreigners. While the Italians had state pride and repealed any French or Spanish troops, which led to Italy being almost characterized by invasion, they didn't develop a sense of unity between the states and therefor didn't achieve unification or nationhood until 1870.