Out Of Italy: Two Centuries of World Domination and Demise, Braudel - B+

               Throughout the history of Italy, there have been times of extraordinary greatness, and the years between the mid-fifteenth to the mid-seventeenth centuries qualify as one of those times. It was "an age of vigorous expansion, an age of active exploitation of the Mediterranean, by shipping, by regular traffic, by a form of capitalism, with strings of solidly attached trading posts." They established a trading supremacy over Byzantium, Islam and western Europe. There also "was one of the most dazzling sequences of displays of intelligence since the the world began."

              In 1450, Italy's city-states dominated the peninsula. The Venetians and Genoese controlled trade with Constantinople from 1204 until its fall in 1453, and continued to do so after the Muslim conquest. They traded up and down the Atlantic coast connecting those markets with those from the east. Milan and Florence joined Venice and Genoa as the paramount city-states.  They were able to keep the coalescing nation states of England, France, and Spain at arms length. The second half of the century was a time of peace throughout Italy, and Florence took the lead in the flourishing world of the arts. The poorer but burgeoning nations of Europe attacked the wealth of Italy beginning in 1494 and war would dominate the peninsula until 1559. The wars were spread out over time and place, and did not materially disturb Italy's prosperity.  Returning soldiers and traveling artisans brought the Renaissance north.  

           Peace returned to Italy in 1559 and remained for a century while the rest of the continent tore itself apart over religion. "Italy derived  substantial advantages from its religious unity and  fidelity to Rome." As the European powers developed their Atlantic navies, their ships slowly replaced the galleys from the Italian cities that had previously dominated the Mediterranean. "A prosperous Mediterranean meant a prosperous Italy." As the century ended,  Genoa reaped a fortune as the banker to Spain and its Latin American empire. "Prosperity and unquestionable wealth was the noticeable feature in Italy, as the sixteenth century turned into the seventeenth." The word 'Baroque' has been used by historians to denote the spread of Italy's influence in the seventeenth century and beyond 1650. Rome now became the center of  the widespread distribution of cultural goods. "All artists went to Rome." The paintings of the era turned from religious and mythological to realistic scenes of life in Europe. 

           By leading the Counter-Reformation, Rome took steps that imposed a heavy hand on the peninsula. The Inquisition, book burnings, and prosecuting men like Galileo all led to the end of a period of glory.  "What was now missing from the newly intolerant Italy was not only science, but economic preponderance." Economic supremacy was lost as trade moved north to Amsterdam, the economic focal point of the Protestant north. Italy was no longer competitive. "What happened in Italy is that a long, catastrophic industrial crisis followed on the heels of a long, catastrophic shipping crisis."

          Braudel is considered one of the greats of the 20th century, and is very enlightening to read. The depth of his knowledge and the breadth of his analysis can be a bit of a challenge.