Italy

The son of a fisherman's revolt against Spanish taxes on fruit in Naples, on 7 July 1647, was part of a wider challenge to Spanish overlordship throughout the Habsburg domains.

Richard Cavendish describes the brief rule of Cola di Rienzi following his coup d'etat on May 20th, 1347.

Edward Coleman weighs up Modern Italy's Northern League against its medieval Lombard inspiration.

Richard Hodges wanders through the medieval village of Rocca in Tuscany.

Diana Webb looks into the pleasures and pitfalls of an early tourist experience.

A look at a new exhibition in Venice, which shows the flow of culture between East and West in early Greece.

David Ellwood discusses America's cultural take-over of Europe in a seemingly innocent Italian 1950s comedy called "Un Americano a Roma". The comedy features a hapless hero whose attempts to Americanise himself mirror Italy's struggle to handle a clash of cultures after World War II.

Harry Hearder argues that Metternich got it wrong - Italy's sense of unity is the oldest and most deeply rooted in Europe.

The celebrated King of the Franks may have become the first Holy Roman Emperor, but what other impact and legacies did he leave Dark Age Italy? Ross Balzaretti investigates.

David Elliott looks at how Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler used culture to their own ends and how the ramifications of this has continued to the present.