Chronology xxiv
1439 Council of Union of Western and Eastern Christian Churches is
established in Florence.
1443 Alfonso V the Magnanimous of Aragon and Sicily becames king
of Naples, ending Angevin French rule and unifying Naples and
Sicily under Spanish control.
1444 Medici Palazzo begins in Florence; Palazzo Ducale begins in
Urbino.
1447–1450 Milan becomes Ambrosian Republic.
1450–1500 Sforza family control Milan after Francesco’s coup.
1453 Ottoman Turks conquer Constantinople (Istanbul); Greek
scholars migrate to Italy.
1454 Printing press is invented in Germany; Peace of Lodi ends
major wars in Italy for a generation.
1455 Italic League formation lays out spheres of influence of Rome,
Naples, Venice, Florence, and Milan.
1458 Sicily splits from Naples, ruled by the Aragonese Juan and
Ferrante, respectively.
1465 First printing press in Italy is established, at Subiaco near Rome.
1469–1492 Lorenzo de’Medici, Il Magnifico, controls Florence.
1478 Pazzi Conspiracy in Florence murders Giuliano de’ Medici.
1487 After two-year rebellion, Ferrante of Naples slaughters barons
at Castelnuovo in Naples.
1490 Aldine Press is established in Venice; Isabella d’Este settles in
Mantua, becoming a major cultural patroness.
1492 Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain, lands in the West
Indies.
1494–1498 Friar Girolamo Savonarola’s reform in Florence; ends with his
burning.
1494 French King Charles VIII invades Italy, beginning
Habsburg-Valois or Italian Wars that end in 1559; Charles
conquers Naples temporarily.
1495 French retreat from Naples, fighting League of Venice at
Fornovo.
1497–1498 Portuguese Vasco da Gama opens sea route around Africa to
Indian Ocean.
1502 Reestablished Florentine Republic makes Piero Soderini
Standardbearer of Justice for life, essentially doge.
1504 Aragonese reestablish control in Naples, replacing king with a
viceroy; Michelangelo’s David is erected in Piazza Signoria.
