In 1494, Italy remained politically fragmented into numerous competing states, creating the complex territorial mosaic that would invite foreign intervention and transform the peninsula into Europe's primary battleground during the Italian Wars.
Italy was dominated by five principal states following the Peace of Lodi (1454) balance system. The Kingdom of Naples controlled southern Italy under Aragonese rule, while the Papal States stretched across central Italy from Rome to Bologna, wielding both temporal and spiritual authority. Venice commanded northeastern territories extending from the Adriatic to Lombardy through its terraferma expansion. The Duchy of Milan controlled the Po Valley's strategic crossroads under the Sforza dynasty. Florence, though smaller, wielded influence throughout Tuscany and maintained its republican institutions despite periodic Medici dominance.
Numerous smaller entities complicated Italian politics: the Republic of Genoa controlled Liguria and maritime trade networks; the Duchy of Savoy governed Piedmont and trans-Alpine territories; Mantua, Ferrara, and other city-states maintained independence through diplomatic maneuvering. The Republic of Siena remained Florence's traditional rival in Tuscany.
Each Italian state maintained distinct governmental structures: Naples operated as a feudal monarchy with Spanish influence, while Venice governed through its unique oligarchic republic with elected doges and councils. The Papal States combined ecclesiastical and temporal administration through cardinals and papal legates. Milan functioned as a typical Renaissance despotism under ducal authority, while Florence alternated between republican institutions and Medici patronage networks.
French claims to Naples through Angevin inheritance and to Milan through Visconti connections created pretexts for intervention. Spanish control of Sicily and Aragon's Neapolitan interests established Iberian influence. The Ottoman Empire's naval presence in the Eastern Mediterranean added another destabilizing factor.
Charles VIII of France's invasion preparations in 1494 would shatter this delicate balance, transforming Italy into the cockpit of European power struggles for the next sixty years.
