HISTORY OF ITALY

TIMELINE

Ancient

734 BC: Founding of Syracuse by Dorian Greeks (Spartans)

??? Founding of Panormus (Palermo) by Carthaginians
(Phoenicians)

753 BC: Founding of Rome

509 BC: Revolt against Tarquinian Kings; Founding of Republic
334-264 BC: Colonization and Conquest of Italy (South of Po)
264 BC: First Punic War against Carthage (Syracuse with Rome)
218-201 BC: Second Punic War; Hannibal Crosses the Alps
202 BC: Scipio Africanus defeats Hannibal at Zama
149-146 BC: Third Punic War; Carthage destroyed
44 BC: Caesar Assassinated
31 BC: Octavian (Augustus) defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra
at Battle of Actium
23-19 BC: Constitutional “Reforms” establish Roman Imperial
System; “Principate” of Augustus: 27-14 BC

312 AD: Constantine re-unites Empire at Battle of Milvian Bridge;

Christianity becomes established religion.
410 AD: Sack of Rome by Alaric the Visigoth
476 AD: End of Roman Empire in West (Romulus Augustulus)
527-565 AD: Justinian attempts to reconquer Italy and Africa
633-655 AD: Arab Conquest of Egypt and invasion of North Africa
1453 AD: Turkish Conquest of Constantinople and End of Roman
Empire in the East
 Medieval

360: The Huns invade Europe, setting off Germanic invasions

(Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Vandals, etc.).
410: Alaric sacks Rome
451: Roman and Visigothic Army defeats Attila at Chalons
476: Romulus Agustulus deposed by Saxons (sent to Naples)
488: Ostrogoths, (Theodoric “The Great”) invade Italy and unifies
Northern and Central Italy as Ostrogothic Kingdom
551: Justinian defeats Ostrogoths
568: Lombards establish Kingdom in Northern and Central Italy
and proceed to drive Byzantines and Ostrogoths out of Italy
590: Pope Gregory Ist attempts to unite Italy against Lombards
but plague prevents it
711: Moors invade Spain and take Sardinia in 720
???: Founding of Venice
756: Donation of Pepin establishes Papal States (recognizing
Papacy as heir to Empire in Italy)
773: Charlemagne defeats Lombards, confirms Donation of Pepin
800: Charlemagne crowned Roman Emperor in the West by Pope
Leo III, thereafter recognized as Holy Roman Emperor when
Byzantines refuse to acknowledge him
827: Arabs invade Sicily from Tunisia, conquer Palermo 831
962: Otto I of Saxony invades Italy, crowned HRE by John XII
982: Otto II attempts to take Apulia and Sicily from Arabs, is
defeated with help of Byzantines
1022: Henry II HRE defeats Byzantines in South
1043: Normans establish Kingdom in Apulia
1071: Robert Guiscard defeats Byzantines at Bari
1072: Robert and Roger Guiscard defeat Arabs at Palermo take
Amalfi and Salerno in 1073
1095: Urban II proclaims First Crusade
1130: Roger II crowned King of Sicily, Calabria and Apulia in
Palermo Cathedral (by anti-pope): the “Regno”
1147: The Second Crusade begins; Roger II declares war against
Byzantines who ally themselves with Venetians
1176: The “Lombard League” defeats Frederick Barbarossa at
Legnano
1194: Henry VI (HRE) conquers Southern Italy and Sicily
1215: Innocent III calls Fourth Lateran Council; The Fourth
Crusade
1250: Death of Frederick II
1262: Charles of Anjou defeats Manfred (Hohenstaufen) at
Benevento and kills Conradin at Tagliacozzo in 1268
1275: Marco Polo arrives at the Court of Kublai Khan
1282: Sicilian Vespers: division of Kingdom of Sicily; Peter of
Aragon invited to take over island while mainland south of
Rome remains Angevin
1293: Ordinances of Justice in Florence
1297: Closing of the Great Council in Venice

Transition

1265-1321: Dante
1304-1374: Petrarch
1313-1375: Boccaccio
1305-1378: Avignon Papacy
1318: Death of Duccio
1337: Death of Giotto
1343-1382: Joanna I of Naples
1347: Cola de Rienzi, “Tribune” of Rome
1378-1415: Great Schism
1347: The Black Death
1370-1444: Leonardo Bruni
1402: Death of Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milan
 Renaissance

1402: Ghiberti wins competition for Bronze Doors of Florence’s

Baptistry
1377-1446: Filippo Brunelleschi
1386-1466: Donatello
1401-1428: Massaccio
Cosimo dei Medici
1404-1472: L.B. Alberti
1407-1457: Lorenzo Valla
1478: The Pazzi Conspiracy
1442: Recognition of Alfonso V (Aragon) as King of Naples
1433-1499: Marsiglio Ficino
1435-1516: Giovanni Bellini
1445-1510: Botticelli
1450-1515: Aldus Manutius
1451-1506: Christopher Columbus
1453: Fall of Constantinople to the Turks
1453-1479: War between Turks and Venice
1480: Turkish Assault on Otranto
1456-1519: Leonardo da Vinci
1469-1527: Niccolo` Machiavelli
1475-1564: Michelangelo
1483-1520: Raphael
1485-1576: Titian
1486: Oration on the Dignity of Man by Pico della Mirandola
1492: Death of Lorenzo dei Medici; Unification of Spain under
Aragon and Castile; Discovery of America

1494: Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII; Savonarola leads Florence

1498: Savonarola burned at stake; Florence more democratic
1500: Kingdom of Naples partitioned between Spain and France
1508-1580: Andrea Palladio
1511-1574: Giorgio Vasari
1518-1594: Tintoretto
1512: Medici restored to Florence
1527: Sack of Rome; Medici removed from Florence
1528-1588: Veronese
1530: Medici restored; Republic abolished.
1530: Charles V crowned HRE at Bologna
1545-1563: The Council of Trent
1556: Philip II becomes ruler of Milan and Naples (Spain in
control of Italy)
1569: Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany
1571: Battle of Lepanto

Transition

1600: Inquisition burns Giordano Bruno at the stake

1607: Monteverdi’s Orfeo
1631: Papal Condemnation of Galileo’s support of Copernican
Theory
1637: First Opera House in Venice
1647: Revolts in Palermo and Venice
1651: Bernini’s Fountain of Four Rivers in Piazza Navona
1668: Revolt of the Barons in Sardinia
1672, 1674: two revolts in Messina
1706-1708: Occupation of Milan, Naples and Sardinia by Austrian
Hapsburgs
1713: Treaty of Utrecht recognizes Austrian Hapsburgs as heirs
to Spanish Hapsburgs in Italy; Sicily ceded to Victor
Amadeus II of Savoy
1720: Savoy forced to exchange Sicily for Sardinia
1725: Giambattista Vico’s La Nuova Scienza
1733: Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona in Naples
1734: Recognition of Bourbons Court in Naples
1735: Naples and Sicily ceded by Austria to Spain
1737: End of Medici dynasty in Florence; Lorraine dynasty
succeeds to Duchy
1759: Charles VII of Naples becomes Charles III of Spain
1764: Beccaria’s Of Crimes and Punishments
 Revolutions

1796: Napoleon invades Italy, establishes separate Republics

1797: Venice ceded to Austria at Campoformio
1800: Napoleon defeats Austrians at Marengo
1804: Napoleon declares himself Emperor
1805: Napoleon King of Italy; deposes Bourbons in Naples and
Sicily, makes Joseph Napoleon King of Naples
1808: French troops occupy Rome; Joseph declared King of
Spain; Joachim Murat named K. of Naples
1809: Papal States annexed to France
1810: Napoleon marries Maria Luisa of Austria
1812: Constitutions adopted in Spain and Sicily; Napoleon
retreats from Moscow
1813: Napoleon defeated at Leipzig; Murat defects
1814: Lombardy and Venetia annexed to Hapsburg Empire;
Victor Emanuel I restored to Sardinia, Pius VII to Rome,
and Ferdinand III to Tuscany; Congress of Vienna
1815: Murat appeals to Italians; Ferdinand IV restored to Naples;
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo, exiled to Elba;
Austria, Prussia and Russia form Holy Alliance
1816: Adminiatrative re-organization of restored states; Kingdom
of the Two Sicilies created
1820: Naples forces Ferdinand I to accept constitution;
Palermo declares independence of Naples; Neapolitan
troops land at Messina; Holy Alliance intervenes
1821: Austrian troops enter Naples; royalists restore monarchy
in Turin
 Risorgimento and Unification

1825: Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi

1831: Modena uprising; Austrian troops invade Modena, Parma
and Papal States; Mazzini founds Young Italy in Genoa;
Bellini’s Norma produced in Milan
1834: Mazzinian insurrection in Piedmont fails
1835: Emperor Francis I dies, is succeeded as King of Lombardy
by Ferdinand I
1840: Manzoni re-writes I Promessi Sposi in Tuscan
1842: Verdi’s Nabucco produced in Milan
1845: Mazzinian uprising in Rimini fails
1846: Pius IX elected; reforms censorship in Papal States
1848: Uprisings in Livorno, and Palermo; Ferdinand of Naples
concedes constitution, followed by Leopold II of Tuscany
and Charles Albert of Sardinia; Uprisings against Austrians
in Milan; Manin declares Republic in Venice; Charles Albert
declares war on Austria and enters Lombardy; Pius IX
denounces it; Ferdinand of Naples suspends Parliament
and withdraws from war against Austria; Piedmontese
defeated; Austria re-occupies Lombardy, Modena, Reggio
Emilia; radical government set up in Tuscany; Pius IX flees
1849: Roman Republic declared; Piedmont resumes war against
Austria, defeated again; Victor Emanuel II signs armistice;
French troops restore Pius IX in Rome; Victor Emanuel
restores Constitution in Piedmont (Statuta)
1850: Massimo D’Azeglio PM; Camillo Cavour Minister of
commerce, agriculture and Navy
1852: Cavour PM of Piedmont
1853: Mazzinian uprising in Milan
1855: Piedmont joins Anglo-French Alliance against Russia
1858: Felice Orsini attempts to assassinate Napoleon III; secret
meeting between Cavour and Napoleon III leading to secret
treaty between France and Piedmont; Austria issues
ultimatum to Kingdom of Sardinia and invades Piedmont;
Leopold II flees Tuscany; Franco-Piedmontese victories at
Magenta and Solferino; armistice signed at Villafranca;
 assemblies elected in Tuscany and elsewhere vote for
annexation to Piedmont
1860: Plebiscites in Tuscany and Emilia confirm annexation, hold
first elections to Parliament; Nice and Savoy ceded to
France; Revolt in Palermo; Garibaldi and his Redshirts land
in Marsala; Bourbon troops defeated at Catalfini; Garibaldi
enters Naples; Piedmontese troops enter Rome; Garibaldi
meets up with Victor Emanuel at Teano; plebiscites
annex Two Sicilies, Umbria and the Marches to Piedmont

1861: First elections to New Italian Parliament; Victor Emanuel of

Savoy II becomes King of Italy; Rural insurrections spread
throughout South (Mezzogiorno); Cavour dies
1862: Garibaldi’s march on Rome halted by new Italian Army;
“brigandage” widespread throughout South
1864: Garibaldi visits England; Pius IX publishes Syllabus of
Errors
1865: Capitol moved from Turin to Florence
1866: Italy secretly allied to Prussia against Austria; Italian army,
navy fare badly in war; Austria cedes Veneto to
Napoleon III to in turn cedes it to Italy
1867: Garibaldi again attempts to invade Papal States, fails
First Vatican Council convened; declares Papal Infallibility
1870: Napoleon III defeated at Battle of Sedan; Italian troops
enter Rome; plebiscites annex Rome and Lazio to Italy
1871: Capital transferred to Rome; Pope forbids Catholics to vote
in elections
 Monarchy to Fascism

1878: Umberto I succeeds Victor Emanuel

1882: Electoral Reform gave all men who could prove their
literacy; Trasformismo results in coalition governments
rather than party governments (broadly left v. right)
Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary
1892: Italian Socialist Party formed
1896: Italian attempt at colonization in Abyssinia fails
1898: Riots in Milan
1900: King Umberto assassinated; Victor Emanuel III succeeds
1904: General Strike
1911: Giolitti introduces bill for Universal Manhood Suffrage
Italy declares war on Turkey and invades Libya
1912: Peace with Turkey
1914: Red Week; Italy declares Neutrality
1915: Treaty of London between Italy and Entente; Italy enters
First World War on side of Entente
1917: Italian Second Army defeated at Battle of Caporetto
1918: Italy defeats Austria-Hungary at Vittorio Veneto;
War ends in Armistice
1919: Fasci di Combattimento formed in Milan
1920: Squadristi active in Po valley
1921: Thirty-five Fascists elected to Parliament; Fascist
Movement becomes Party (PNF)
1922: March on Rome; Mussolini made PM
1923: Giovani Gentile introduces Education Act
1924: Reformist Socialist Deputy Giacomo Matteotti is murdered
by Fascists
1925: Mussolini declares himself Dictator
1929: Lateran Pacts with Vatican closes Roman Question
1934: Mussolini meets with Hitler
1935: Italian troops invade Ethiopia; League of Nations issues
sanctions
1936: Ethiopia conquered; Italian Empire declared; Rome-Berlin
Axis announced
1937: Antonio Gramsci dies; Italy leaves League of Nations
1938: Antisemitic Racial Laws proclaimed
1939: Italy declares “non-belligerence” in Second World War;
Mussolini negotiates Munich Pact
1940: Italy declares war on Great Britain and France; invades
Greece
1943: Workers’ strikes in Northern Italy; Allies invade Sicily
Fascist Grand Council votes Mussolini out of office; King
calls for his resignation as PM; arrested; Fascist Party
dissolved; Armistice signed with Allies; Germany invades
Italy; Allies land at Salerno; Mussolini rescued by German
parachutists; Republic of Salo` puppet regime
1944: Allies liberate Rome and Florence
1945: Insurrections throughout North; partisans execute
Mussolini
1946: Italian referendum: 12 million to 10 million to abolish
Monarchy

Republic

1947: De Gasperi forms government excluding Communists

ending broad tri-partite coalitions of left and center-right
generated by Resistence Movement; beginning of
“imperfect bi-polarism”
1948: Christian Democrats win 48% of vote
1949: Italy joins NATO
1951: Italy joins European Coal and Steel Community as founder
member
1954: Trieste ceded to Italy
1956: Khruschev reveals crimes of Stalin; Hungarian Revolution
suppressed
1957: Socialists split with Communists; form coalition with
Christian Democrats
1958: Italy joins European Economic Community as founding
member; Togliatti outlines polycentric communist world
1962: Fanfani forms Center-Left Coalition
Second Vatican Council opens
Education Act raises minimum school-leaving to 14
1968: Strikes; occupations of universities and high school offices
Paul VI bans contraception; punishment of women for
adultery declared unconstitutional
1970: Regional Governments (promised in 1948 Constitution)
instituted, but powers not fully defined
1974: Referendum on divorce produces 60%-40% vote in favor
1976: Constitutional Court declares government monopoly of
radio and TV unconstitutional; Communist Party wins 34%
of vote, resulting in their incorporation into governing
coalition (national solidarity)
1978: Aldo Moro assassinated by Red Bridades with body left
midway between CD and PCI headquarters
1979: Italy joins European Monetary system; election ends CD-
PCI collaboration
1980: Silvio Berlusconi’s Channel 5 begins broadcasting
1983: Bettino Craxi, PSI, forms government
1989: Fall of Berlin Wall; Communists change name to
Democratic Socialiat Party of the (PDS)
1992: Collapse of old party system; Northern /Lombard League
formed; CD becomes Popular Party; MSI (neo-Fascist)
gains strength
1993: Proportional Representation overhauled
1994: PSI dissolves, most join PDS; Berlusconi’s Forza Italia
becomes largest party