Conclusion

Abstract

The political and socio-economic impact of the Italian Wars, including massacres, was uneven across Italy. Lombardy, which was the wealthy setting for many key battles or sacks, suffered greatly with stagnant or declining populations for much of the sixteenth century. The impact of sacks and massacres could also vary according to religion and gender. Overall, the sacks and massacres are comparable in scale with such events during the Dutch Revolt and the Thirty Years War and these examples taken together suggest that the supposed state monopolization of power and military revolution did not restrain military violence and that many of the traditional justifications for war continued to operate. In some respects, the Renaissance massacre was an example of ‘total war’ and may also be said to constitute an example of ‘genocidal violence’, but in other respects it fails to fit these models of conflict.