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The Italian city states were a remarkable political phenomenon of small independent states in the northern Italian peninsula between the tenth and fifteenth centuries. Th Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (Penisola italiana or Penisola appenninica) is one of the three Peninsulas of Southern Europe

After the fall of Roman Empire there was a strong continuity of urban awareness in northern Italy which had virtually disappeared in the rest of Europe. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Some cities and their urban institutions had survived in Italy since the Dark Ages. This article is about the phrase "Dark Age(s" as a characterization of the Early Middle Ages in Western Europe Many of these towns were survivors of earlier Etruscan and Roman towns which had existed within the Roman Empire. Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy The republican institutions of Rome had also survived. Some feudal lords existed with a servile labour force and huge tracts of land, but by the 11th century, many cities, including Venice, Milan, Florence and Genoa, had become large trading metropolises, able to conquer independence from their formal sovereigns. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Genoa ( Genova, ˈdʒɛːnova in Italian; Zena in Genoese and Ligurian; Genua in Latin and archaically in English

In fact Italy between 12th and 13th centuries was vastly different from feudal Europe north of the Alps. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The Peninsula was a melange of political and cultural elements rather than a unified state. Melange is the name of the Fictional drug (also known as spice) central to the Dune series of Science fiction Novels Marc Bloch and Fernand Braudel have argued that geography determined the history of the region. Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( July 6, 1886 – June 16, 1944) was a French Historian of medieval France in the Fernand Braudel ( August 24 1902 &ndash November 27 1985) was the foremost French historian of the postwar era Within the Italian peninsula there is great physical diversity. Italy is cut into numerous small regions by mountains, which could make inter-city communication very difficult. The Po plain, however, was an exception; it was the only large contiguous area, and most city states which fell to invasion were located there. Po RiverThe Po Valley (Pianura Padana or Val Padana is a major geographical feature of Italy. Those that survived longest were in the more rugged regions, such as Florence (or Venice defended by her lagoon). Because an attack across the Alps was very difficult, German princelings could not exert sustained control over their Italian vassal states, and thus Italy was substantially freed of German political interference. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. So no strong monarchies emerged as they did in the rest of Europe; instead there emerged the independent city-state. A monarchy is a Form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual who is the Head of state, often for life or A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty.

While those Roman, urban, republican sensibilities persisted, there were many movements and changes afoot. Italy first felt the changes in Europe from the 11th to the 13th centuries. Typically there was:

It is estimated that the per capita income of northern Italy nearly tripled from the 11th century to the 15th century. Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. This was a highly mobile, demographically expanding society, fueled by the rapidly expanding Renaissance commerce. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere By the 13th century, northern and central Italy had become the most literate society in the world. More than one third of male population could read in the vernacular (an unprecedented rate since the decline of the Roman Empire), as could a small but significant proportion of women. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial

During the 11th century in northern Italy a new political and social structure emerged― the city-state or comune. In Italy, the comune, (plural comuni) is the basic Administrative division of both provinces and regions and may be properly approximated in The civic culture which arose from this urbs was remarkable. In most places where communes arose (e. g. Britain and Flanders) they were absorbed by the monarchical state as it emerged. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Almost uniquely, they survived in northern and central Italy to become independent and powerful city-states. The breakaway from their feudal overlords by these communes occurred in the late 12th century and 13th century, during the Investiture Controversy between the Pope and the Emperor: Milan led the Lombard cities against the Holy Roman Emperors and defeated them, gaining independence (battles of Legnano 1176 and Parma 1248 see Lombard League). The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was an 11th century dispute between Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Gregory VII over Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. The Battle of Legnano was fought on May 29 1176 between the forces of the Holy Roman Empire, led by emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and the This article is about the 1248 Battle of Parma For the Battle of 1734 see the Battle of San Pietro. The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1167, which at its apex included most of the cities of Northern Italy (although its membership changed in Meanwhile Venice and Genoa were able to conquer their naval empires on the Mediterranean sea (1204 Venice conquered one-fourth of Byzantine Empire see Fourth Crusade). The Fourth Crusade (1202&ndash1204 was originally designed to conquer Muslim Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt.

By the late 12th century, a new and unique society had emerged; rich, mobile, expanding, with a mixed aristocracy, interested in urban institutions and republican government. But many city-states housed also a violent society based on family, confraternity and brotherhood, who mined their cohesion (see Guelphs and Ghibellines). The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting respectively the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy

By 1300, most of these republics had become princely states dominated by a Signore. A Signoria (from Signore or Lord) was an abstract noun meaning (roughly 'government governing authority de facto sovereignty lordship in many of the The exceptions were Venice, Florence, Lucca, and a few others, which remained republics in the face of an increasingly monarchic Europe. The Most Serene Republic of Venice ((Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia Serenissima Repubblica Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near (but not on the Ligurian Sea

During 14th century and 15th century the most powerful of these cities (Milan, Venice, Florence) were able to conquer the other weaker city-states, creating regional states. Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany The 1454 Peace of Lodi ended their struggle for the hegemony in Italy and started the policy of balance of power (see Italian Renaissance). The Treaty of Lodi, also known as the Peace of Lodi or the Treaty of Venice was a peace agreement between Milan and Venice signed on April 9 The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th

At the beginning of 16th century, apart some minor city-states like San Marino, only Venice was able to preserve her independence and to match the European monarchies of France and Spain and the Ottoman Empire (see Italian Wars). The Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino is a country in the Apennine Mountains. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish

See also

References and sources

The Web Gallery of Art (WGA is a virtual Art gallery website It displays historic European paintings and sculptures from the Baroque,
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