Conflicts
This final stage of the Italian Wars is not as climactic as the previous war because of the fact that at this point both sides had exhausted themselves from the warfare. Also, the wars during this time period were not exclusively fought in Italy, which the ones previously took place for the most part in Italy. Because of this, the wars that will be talked about here will not be as in depth as the focus of these posts was on the conflicts in Italy not in Europe as a whole, so this post will attempt to see how the remaining conflicts affected Italy.
The short war from 1536-1538 focused mostly on Francis I trying to reclaim Milan, as the Duke of Milan had died with no heir leaving Francis as a prime candidate to claim the title, however, Charles V was committed to diminishing French influence in Italy. Francis launched an invasion into Italy in 1536 and Charles V launched his own invasion into France that same year however his invasion was less successful. After inconsistent fighting throughout the remaining two years, Charles V began to seek a peace agreement as conflict with the Ottoman Empire was occurring in the eastern part of the Habsburg Empire as the Ottomans had been allied with France. This was a very big deal at the time for a Muslim nation such as the Ottoman Empire to be allies with Catholic France given the history between the two religions. At any rate, peace negotiations secured the Truce of Nice in 1538 where both France and the Habsburg Empire kept the status quo with no major harm done to both powers. In a side note that was interesting, during the peace negotiations Charles V and Francis I refused to be in the same room together because of the mutual hatred that they had for each other, which was emblematic of the rivalry between the Habsburg and Valois dynasties.
The next war from 1542-1546 involved even more world powers with the Ottoman Empire and England becoming involved in the wars with France and the Habsburgs, the Ottomans joining France and England with the Habsburgs. This is important in showing just how much the wars have expanded in scope as the bulk of this war was not fought in Italy but was fought in France, the Low Countries, and in Mediterranean. There was an attempted invasion into southern Italy but that was repulsed by Imperialist forces and an invasion into France by the English and Habsburg forces was intially successful but ultimately failed to take Paris. This lead to another peace treaty that returned the countries to their pre-war status with the conflict proving to be another inconclusive war, which was a common theme of the Italian Wars.
Finally, there was the Italian War of 1551-1559 this being the culmination of the Italian Wars although with a different ruler from France with Francis I dying in 1547 leaving the throne to his son Henry II. Like his father and previous French monarchs, Henry II had his eyes set on French control of Italy but would have to contend with the powerful Habsburg Emperor Charles V. The French would launch offensives against the Holy Roman Empire in 1551 and also in Italy where their invasion was successful until an Imperial Italian army defeated the French at the Battle of Marciano in 1554. However, Charles V abdicated the Empire to his younger brother Ferdinand and the Kingdom of Spain to his son Philip II splitting the Habsburg Empire in 1556 making the Habsburgs not as united as they had once been. Both sides were quickly ground into another stalemate with Henry II of France seeking peace with the Habsburgs, which was agreed to in 1559 with the Peace of Cateau-Cambresis.
Peace of Cateau-Cambresis
The peace that was concluded stipulated a fair amount of major provisions that both the French and Habsburgs agreed to. One of the first major clauses was that Henry II renounced French claims to northern Italy, a seminal moment for the fact that the instigator of the first Italian War desired the Duchy of Milan. Spain, under Philip II, was recognized as having control of the Kingdom of Naples and dominated control of southern Italy. Northern Italy including Milan, Genoa, Savoy, and Florence were under the protection and influence of the Holy Roman Empire under Ferdinand I, leaving Italy under the domination of the Habsburg dynasty having driven the French out. This peace agreement would leave the Habsburgs as the true victors of the Italian Wars as, unlike the French, they had gained total hegemony over Italy while the French were confined to the territory that they had acquired previously. An explanation for France’s loss is possibly because of the Habsburg dynasty’s ability to have family members in many European monarchies, this strategy culminating in Charles V who was able to surround France and use the Empire’s resources to defeat the French.
The Italian Wars During the Renaissance 