Milan
Overview
Two Italian states were the target of European ambitions in the late Middle Ages: Naples and Milan. By 1500 both still played that role, but by 1560 that story line was over. Most of the dramatic narrative of Milan therefore covers the first half-century of our course. The short version is that the Sforza lost control of the Duchy of Milan, after which the city settled into its early modern role of a significant manufacturing center of only local political importance.
During the same period, though, Milan emerged as a major cultural center, especially for music.
1500-1525
Louis XII of France vowed to gain control of Milan, an objective that his father had failed to realize. The French claim to Milan dated well back into the Middle Ages, but Charles VII had made it a matter of current policy. Louis continued that.
Louis succeeded, driving Ludovico Sforza from the city in 1499. The French controlled the city until 1513.
Milan after the Battle of Pavia
Milan was no longer an independent state. Despite centuries of claims by the French, it was the Spanish who snagged the city and its territories, and the Spaniards ruled for the remainder of our period.