Introduction

Abstract

The fate of civilians during the Italian Wars (1494–1559) has sometimes been overshadowed by the historical attention paid to high politics, diplomacy, and military manoeuvres. A balanced picture of the Italian Wars ought to bring the experiences of civilians to the fore, and in this way help to illuminate broader debates about war and violence in the period after c.1450. The mass murder of civilians in the Italian Wars was a regular and significant event, which may be compared with the violence of subsequent conflicts, including the Thirty Years War (1618–48). This behaviour could be justified and often served a tactical or strategic goal, and it was far from being simply pathological or the expression of soldierly brutishness or northern barbarianism as it was presented by Francesco Guicciardini and other Italian observers.