L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano I ts advanced culture and economy during t h e R e n a i s s a n c e m a d e t h e I t a l i a n p e n i n s u l a such a desirable place that it also became an ongoing theater of war. Italian soil became a laboratory for a continental struggle that embroiled the numerous, divided Italian c i t y - s t a t e s a n d m o s t o f W e s t e r n E u r o p e , w i t h France and the Habsburg territories locked in a never- ending conflict. T h e I t a l i a n W a r s (1494-1559) were a lengthy struggle for hegemony. And they were very bloody. Until t h e P e a c e o f C a t e a u - Cambrésis was signed in 1 5 5 9 , e a c h p o p u l a t i o n c o u n t e d m a n y d e a d . T h e magnitude of damage was a reflection of new forms of warfare. The art of war underwent an enormous transforma- tion. Infantry was revived and advanced together with w e a p o n t e c h n o l o g i e s . Cannon use rose in popular- ity in the second half of the 15th-century, a time that also saw the advent of the arquebus, the first gun fired from the shoulder, which would be superseded by the larger musket in the mid- 16th century. Gunpowder had reached Europe from China shortly before 1300 and firearms appeared during the 14th century. The use of gunpow- d e r e n d e d t h e m e d i e v a l s u p e r i o r i t y o f k n i g h t s i n warfare. As modern warfare r e p l a c e d f e u d a l w a r s , knights gave way to the con- dottieri, war professionals, and mercenary troops. Europe in the 1600s counted some 12 million soldiers. " T h e g u n p o w d e r w a s c o m p o s e d o f s a l t p e t e r (potassium nitrate), sulfur, and charcoal in the ratio of 4- 1-1 when used for can- nons and 6-1-1 when used for arquebuses," explains historian Andrea Zagli. "In nature, saltpeter was not abundant. Therefore, larger quantities were needed. For example, to throw an explo- s i v e c a n n o n b a l l , 1 0 k g o f gunpowder was necessary, a n d t h a t m e a n t 6 . 5 k g o f saltpeter. Often saltpeter had to be obtained artificial- ly by mixing nitrogen waste - - mainly sheep feces -- with earth. Then urine and lime were added. The compound would be filtered with water later to be transformed by repeated distillations." I n S i e n a , t h e r e a r e records of a nitriary back in 1423. They often made salt- peter or potassium nitrate artificially. Local farmers brought rotting wood from the forest. " I n t h e W e s t , t h e f i r s t recorded document to men- tion the use of gunpowder w a s i s s u e d b y t h e c i t y o f Florence on February 11, 1326," says Marco Merlo, curator of the Museo delle A r m i " L u i g i M a r z o l i " i n Brescia. "In Florence, they needed two 'maestri di bom- barde' to build bombards and make them work." The bombard was a large-caliber, muzzle-loading metal can- non that was used in sieges. A couple of months later, Rinaldo da Villamagna and h i s p a r t n e r , n e w l y h i r e d e m p l o y e e s , w e r e f i r e d b e c a u s e t h e y w e r e t o o e x p e n s i v e . T h e n a n o t h e r note was issued: "Many oth- ers in Florence know how to practice the said science, and they do it at a lower cost in exchange for the use of gunpowder." It was not rare t h a t c r a f t s m e n c a s t b o t h bronze cannons and bells. We can talk in terms of a military revolution as theo- rized by renowned historian G e o f f r e y P a r k e r ( a n Andreas Dorpalen Professor of Early Modern History at the Ohio State University) in h i s b e s t - k n o w n b o o k Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800. Over three centuries, war tactics evolved with the effective use of infantry and artillery o n t h e b a t t l e f i e l d . A l s o , naval warfare became sys- tematic. The military revolu- tion changed the cost of war- fare to such a degree it had an economic impact on soci- ety in terms of costs, financ- ing, and the growth of the bureaucratic state. In the O t t o m a n - V e n e t i a n W a r (1570-1573) Venice spent 2.5 m i l l i o n d u c a t s . T h e w a r expenses of the Papal State increased by almost forty percent in 1480. While in the Middle Ages wars were dominated by the cavalry, during the endless c a m p a i g n s o f t h e I t a l i a n Wars, Swiss pikemen and the Spanish tercios, both infantry formations, distin- guished themselves as for- m i d a b l e t r o o p s . T h e n e w warfare implied more orga- nization, discipline, efficien- cy, and reliability. " I n I t a l y , s t a t e a r m i e s g r e w w i t h t h e t r a n s i t i o n from commune to signoria," s a y s M e r l o . I n E u r o p e , armies became permanent when European monarchs consolidated power, central- izing their states during the y e a r s 1 4 5 0 - 1 6 4 8 . B o t h Italian states and absolute European monarchies relied on mercenary troops as well. They helped fight wars and maintain order within their realms. Often Italian city-states w e r e r u n b y m e r c e n a r i e s themselves who hired the best foreign freelance con- d o t t i e r e t o a r m m e n a n d conduct hostilities within the Italian states. Merlo says that it is diffi- c u l t t o d e t e r m i n e w h e r e f i r e a r m s f i r s t d e b u t e d i n battle. "I believe that at first rioters used them," he notes. However, it seems the first battles actually decided by f i r e a r m s w e r e f o u g h t o n Italian soil during the Italian Wars, specifically combat between French and Spanish troops early in the 16th cen- tury. Battle sites included Marignano (1515), Bicocca (1522), and above all Pavia (1525). Historian Zagli says that several authors of the time grasped the extent of mili- tary innovations and accept- ed them as inevitable. "They included them in a general reflection on the more com- plex tasks that belonged to politicians," he says. "Both Machiavelli in the Art of War and Guicciardini in t h e H i s t o r y o f I t a l y s e t a period date for a change in MARIELLA RADAELLI 16th century weapons (Photo courtesy of the Museo delle Armi di Brescia) Continued to page 32 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Italian soil: giants and geniuses of the military revolution

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