Early Modern Italy

The history of Italy in the Early Modern period was partially characterized by foreign domination. Following the Italian Renaissance Wars (1494–1559), only the Savoyard state, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Florence and the Papal States remained independent, while the rest of Italy was under direct or indirect control of Habsburg Spain.

The Duchy of Savoy preserved sovereignty at the Peace of Cateau Cambrésis due to the role played by the duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy in the battle of St Quentin during the Italian War of 1551-1559. The House of Medici kept ruling Florence, thanks to an agreement signed with Charles V in 1537, and was later recognized as the ruling family of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany by Pope Pius V. The same Pope arranged the Holy League, a coalition of Venice and other maritime states that defeated the invading Ottoman forces at the naval battle of Lepanto (1571).

The Papal States launched the Counter-Reformation, which lasted from the Council of Trent (1545-1563) to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. This period coincides with the European wars of religion and saw numerous Italians active in other catholic nations, including de facto rulers of France (such as Catherine de Medici, Mary de Medici, Concino Concini and Jules Mazarin) and military generals serving under the auspices of the Holy Roman Empire or Spain (such as Torquato Conti, Raimondo Montecuccoli, Ottavio Piccolomini, Ambrogio Spinola and Alexander Farnese).