Italian

The Italian group gathers the peoples of the Italian peninsula and its islands: Neapolitans, Sicilians, Venetians, Lombards, Tuscans, Piedmontese, Ligurians, Friulians and Sardinians. In 1337 the peninsula was divided among the Papal States, the Kingdom of Naples and republics such as Venice, Genoa and Florence.

The Black Death struck in 1348, and the Medici made Florence a centre of Renaissance art. The Peace of Lodi of 1454 gave some balance until the French invasion of 1494 began the Italian Wars, which ended in 1559 with Spain dominant in the south and in Milan. Napoleon's armies entered Italy in 1796 and swept away the old republics.