Spanish Milan, 1535–1706
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
chapter 2 Spanish Milan, 1535–1706 Stefano D’Amico At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the State of Milan suffered a period of turmoil and instability as France and Spain continued to challenge one another for imperial domination over the area. Occupied in 1500 by the army of Louis XII, who deposed Ludovico Sforza, the state was ruled by the French until 1512, again from 1515 to 1521, and briefly between 1524 and 1525.1 After the defeat of Francis I at the battle of Pavia, Francesco II Sforza resumed his role as the Duke of Milan, although he remained under the supervision of the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Spain, Charles V. In November 1535, after the death of the Sforza, who left no legitimate heirs, the state, as an imperial fief, returned juridically under the rule of Charles V. With the creation of the Spanish branch of the Habsburg dynasty, Charles established a new system of control and feudal legitimation that depended not on Vienna, but rather on Madrid as his center of power.2 The control over the State of Milan had enor- mous strategic implications, especially from a Spanish perspective. Already in 1529, Margaret of Austria, aunt of the emperor, had defined Milan as “the key to Italy, by which the kingdom can be preserved.”3 A few years later, an anony- mous observer explained the complex geo-political function of the State of Milan, describing it as “a ring that connects the states of his majesty, especially Germany with Italy, and Spain with Germany (. .) also Germany with Naples and Sicily that is of great importance.”4 1 On the period of French rule see Stefano Meschini, La Francia nel Ducato di Milano. La polit- ica di Luigi XII, 1499–1512 (Milan, 2006); Letizia Arcangeli, ed., Milano e Luigi XII. Ricerche sul primo dominio francese in Lombardia, 1499–1512 (Milan, 2002). 2 Cinzia Cremonini, “Considerazioni sulla feudalità imperiale italiana nell’età di Carlo V,” in L’Italia di Carlo V. Guerra, religione e politica nel primo Cinquecento, eds. Francesco Cantù, Maria Antonietta Visceglia (Rome, 2001), p. 260. 3 Federico Chabod, Storia di Milano nell’epoca di Carlo V (Turin, 1961), p. 5. 4 Mario Rizzo, “Porte, chiavi e bastioni. Milano, la geopolitica italiana e la strategia asburgica nella seconda metà del XVI secolo,” in Mediterraneo in armi (secc. XV–XVIII), ed. Rossella Cancila (Palermo, 2006), pp. 470–1. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���5 | doi ��.��63/9789004�84��8_004 Spanish Milan, 1535–1706 47 Difficult Beginnings The early stages of the Italian wars had substantially reduced the territories of the State of Milan: the lands of Bellinzona and Lugano were lost to the Swiss, Valtellina and Chiavenna to the Grisons, and the wealthy towns of Parma and Piacenza to the Papacy.5 The new state, organized in nine provinces centered around the main towns (Milan, Como, Cremona, Pavia, Lodi, Novara, Vigevano, Tortona and Alessandria), comprised an approximate total of 16,000 square kilometers and a population of 1,200,000 people.6 Weakened by decades of warfare, famines and the terrible plague of 1525–6, Lombardy could be seen as yet another burden on the already strained finances of Charles V. The Spanish ambassador in Genoa, Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, reporting on the condition of the state in 1537, wrote that the needs of Milan were so great that “seven Perus would not be enough to provide for them.”7 Indeed, the idea of dispos- ing of Milan was entertained several times during the initial years of Charles’ rule: in 1543, Duke Ottavio Farnese offered two million golden scudi for pos- session of the State of Milan, and the year after, in 1544, there was some dis- cussion to cede Milan to Charles, Duke of Orleans, through his marriage with either Charles’ daughter, Mary, or his niece, Anne.8 Maintaining and sustaining Lombardy and Flanders far exceeded the available resources of Charles V, and at court a lively debate raged on the costs and benefits of each area. Within this discussion, Milan found valiant supporters within the emperor’s closest circle. The Duke of Alba considered Milan to be one of the major crossroads of imperial communications in Europe and in the Mediterranean as well as the gateway to Germany and Flanders.9 The preservation of imperial rule over Milan would allow for the more facile creation of a diplomatic network with other Italian states as well as for a more formidable defense of the peninsula. Control over the State of Milan helped to assure control of Italy and was essen- tial for the role of Spain in Mediterranean politics. Italy represented a barrier against the Turks and stood as a logistical font of support for the battles in northern Africa. After 1546, the discussions over dispensing with Milan faded away and, as a sign of the growing significance of the State within the grander 5 Chabod, Lo Stato di Milano, p. 10. 6 Domenico Sella, Crisis and Continuity. The Economy of Spanish Lombardy in the Seventeenth Century (Cambridge, Mass., 1979), p. 3; Luigi Faccini, La Lombardia fra ’600 e ’700 (Milan, 1988), p. 29. 7 Federico Chabod, Lo Stato e la vita religiosa a Milano nell’epoca di Carlo V (Turin, 1971), p. 53. 8 Chabod, Storia di Milano, p. 71. 9 Rizzo, “Porte, chiavi e bastioni,” p. 472..