From the Roman Empire to the Renaissance

As the capital of the Roman Empire, Rome hosted many of the great figures of early Christianity. In Catholic tradition, the apostle Peter established the Catholic Church as the first Bishop of Rome. After centuries of persecution, Emperor Constantine (306-37 CE) officially legalized Christianity with the Edict of Milan in 313. With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476, Christian religious bodies became one of the few surviving governing institutions in Italy. In 756, the Frankish King Pepin (751-68) secured for the pope control over much of central Italy, establishing the Papal States. His son, Charlemagne (768-814), was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800, but ambiguity over the relative power of Pope and Emperor led to a centuries-long struggle for control of Italy. During this time, northern Italy remained divided into a number of warring city-states, while southern Italy was successively conquered by Eastern Rite Byzantines, Muslim Arabs, and Catholic Normans, each of whom spread their respective faiths in the region. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, the Italian city-states became the center of the Renaissance, which gradually spread throughout Europe, providing the philosophical underpinnings of the future Protestant Reformation. At the same time, Italy became the battleground of a power struggle between France and Spain in the Great Italian Wars (1494-1559). The Habsburg monarchs of Spain eventually secured control over much of its territory, and their dynasty maintained power over Italy through its Austrian branch until 1796, when Napoleon’s France took control.