tugal was partially resolved by the Treaty
of Tordesillas in 1494, by which the two
nations divided the world into two spheres
of colonization.
At home, Isabella was transforming
Spain into a purely Christian state. Ferdi-
nand and Isabella had established the In-
quisition in 1478 to investigate charges of
false conversion and heresy. The 1492 De-
cree of Alhambra called for all Jews to ei-
ther convert to Christianity or leave the
kingdom. In 1502, after a revolt, Muslims
were subject to forced baptism or exile.
Isabella also vigorously pursued a policy
of strengthening Spain’s ties to other Eu-
ropean realms through marriage. She al-
lied Spain with the Habsburg monarchy
by arranging the marriage of her son Juan
and daughter Joanna into the Habsburg
dynasty. She also engaged her daughter
Isabel to the king of Portugal, Manuel, and
after the death of Isabel engaged her sec-
ond daughter Maria to the same king. Her
grandson Charles became king of Spain as
Charles I and Holy Roman Emperor as
Charles V. Her astute marital diplomacy
raised Spain’s importance in European af-
fairs, while her sponsorship of Columbus
established a realm of overseas colonies
that would enrich the Spanish treasury for
the next two centuries.
SEEALSO: Charles V; Columbus, Christo-
pher; Ferdinand II of Aragon; Inquisition
Italy .................................................
Italy was no more than a peninsula at the
time of the Renaissance. It had no central
authority or king, and no national iden-
tity, either cultural or political. As in the
rest of Europe, the fall of the Western Ro-
man Empire in the fifth century had left it
fragmented into a patchwork of small, in-
dependent states. In the Middle Ages, three
major regions had emerged in the penin-
sula. Northern Italy, the most prosperous
region, was dominated by a few wealthy
city-states, including Milan, Florence, and
Venice. Smaller cities, such as Lucca, Pisa,
and Siena, fought for any independence
they could win from their more powerful
neighbors. In the center of Italy lay the
Papal States, cities and principalities nomi-
nally ruled by the pope. In the south were
the kingdoms of Sicily and Naples, which
were united under the Spanish rulers of
Aragon in the mid-fifteenth century.
Through the Middle Ages, Italy had
been open to many different influences
through the invasion and assimilation of
foreigners, including Normans in the
South, Lombards and later Germans in the
north, and the Byzantine Empire, which
fought for control of the Adriatic coast. As
secular heads of Christendom, the Holy
Roman Emperors claimed sovereignty in
Italy, and contended with the popes for
the loyalty of city governments. Through-
out Italy two political factions, the Guel-
phs and Ghibellines, supported the cause
of the pope and the emperor, respectively.
The prosperity of the later medieval pe-
riod allowed the cities some independence
from foreign rule in northern Italy. Flo-
rence became a center of banking, while
Venice established a Mediterranean mari-
time empire. These cities expanded their
control to the surrounding regions, be-
coming powerful states in their own right,
fighting for control of trade and territory,
and using mercenary armies recruited
from the poor regions of the Appenines.
During the Renaissance, leading fami-
lies emerged to take control of the cities.
The Medici dynasty ruled Florence, the
Visconti and later the Sforza in Milan, and
the Bentivoglio in Bologna. Throughout
the period, Venice kept its status as a re-
public, governed by a doge and a councilItaly