Episode Overview

Having raced through the early 1500s following the Italian Wars, the Medici popes, Leonardo da Vinci, and the creation of the Medici duchy in Florence, it’s time to slow down and look at the parts of Italy we’ve left slightly out of focus.

In this episode, we take a tour of the Italian peninsula’s two great islands — Sardinia and Sicily — and the Kingdom of Naples’ wider Mediterranean context. Though often treated as peripheral, these territories were central to Spanish power in Italy and deeply affected by war, rebellion, piracy, and imperial ambition.

A Geographic Reset: Italy Beyond the Mainland

1. Italy consists of the mainland “boot” and two major islands: Sardinia (to the west) and Sicily (to the southwest).
2. Both islands are today among Italy’s 20 administrative regions, along with many smaller islands such as Capri, Elba, and Stromboli.
3. Unlike many mainland states, these islands experienced a very different political and social evolution under Spanish rule.

Sardinia Under Spanish Control

1. By the early 1400s, Sardinia was firmly under Aragonese—and later Spanish—control, remaining so until 1720.
2. The island was governed by a viceroy, often drawn from powerful local feudal families.
3. Two families, the Carroz and Cubello, dominated nearly half of the island’s feudal income.

Power, Cities, and Administration

1. Unlike mainland Italy, Sardinian cities never achieved full autonomy.
2. Urban centers such as Cagliari, Sassari, Alghero, Iglesias, and Oristano developed influential merchant and professional classes.
3. Only Cagliari and Sassari possessed formal statutes, inherited from earlier Pisan and Genoese influence.

Stability and Growth

1. Ferdinand and Isabella restored parliamentary assemblies and introduced a lottery-based electoral system that allowed limited participation by non-nobles.
2. Sardinia enjoyed a period of relative peace and modest economic growth.
3. Charles V visited only briefly, leaving governance largely to the viceroy.

A Quiet Role in the Italian Wars

1. Sardinia was mostly spared the violence of the Italian Wars, with one brief French occupation of Sassari in 1527.
2. The island served primarily as a strategic logistical hub between Spain and Italy.

Sicily: A More Volatile Island

1. Sicily had a larger population than Sardinia but remained under tight noble control.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary episode, which coincided with the 8th anniversary, we decided to hear from you, dear constant listener to create a special episode to celebrate this great milestone with many more hopefully to come.

As well as greetings, we'll hear about:

Sieges vs Battles

Moving Michelangelo artwork

An influential writer at the court of pope Leo X

The legend of the heart of bricks hidden among the alleyways of Venice

A warning from the lovely town of Carpi

The story of the unsung police hero Salvatore and his role in the notorious 1984 train bombing by the Sicilian Mafia and far-right terrorist organisations

Enjoy!

With Giovanni dalle Bande Nere gone, we return to Florence to witness the dramatic collapse of the centuries-old Florentine Republic and the emergence of Medici princely rule. Against the backdrop of the Sack of Rome, religious extremism, political infighting, and imperial intervention, this episode follows Florence’s final republican experiment and introduces one of its most controversial rulers: Alessandro de’ Medici, the first Duke of Florence.

1. Pope Clement VII’s humiliation after the Sack of Rome by mutinous imperial landsknechts and the blow to Medici prestige.
2. The pope’s political failures, including his looming clash with Henry VIII and the broader collapse of Medici papal authority.
3. Florence’s growing disillusionment with Medici “informal rule” and the sense that the moment for change had arrived.

1. Early unrest during the passage of imperial troops and the damage to Michelangelo’s David.
2. The fall of Cardinal Silvio Passerini’s authority after the Sack of Rome.
3. The decisive confrontation involving Clarice de’ Medici and Filippo Strozzi that triggered the Medici flight from the city.
4. The rise of a new republican government under Gonfalonier Niccolò Capponi.
5. Factional divisions among the anti-Medici forces, from aristocratic moderates to radical, Savonarola-inspired religious extremists.
6. The extraordinary moment when Jesus Christ was proclaimed King of Florence in February 1529.

1. The Treaty of Barcelona (1529) between Clement VII and Charles V, sealing Florence’s fate.
2. The imperial siege of Florence and Michelangelo’s role—brief and reluctant—in strengthening the city’s defenses.
3. Internal betrayal and wavering leadership under Malatesta Baglioni.
4. Florentine defiance through ritual and sport: frozen-Arno games, Carnival football in Santa Croce, and cannon fire aimed at celebration.
5. Capitulation in August 1530 after famine and plague, and Clement VII’s intervention to prevent a sack.
6. The definitive death of the Florentine Republic.

1. Alessandro’s appointment as Gonfalonier for life and later Duke of Florence, with authority imposed by imperial decree rather than civic choice.
2. Competing theories about his parentage and his nickname il Moro.
3. The...