The Fall of Siena
In the 1550s, writes Judith Hook, one of the last of the independent Italian republics was overwhelmed by the forces of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1842 the editors of the newly founded Archivio Storico Italiano saw the period covering the events that occurred in Siena, ‘from the expulsion of the Spanish guard to the surrender of the city to the armies of Charles V’ as of ‘such great importance not only in Sienese history, but also in the history of the whole of Italy’ that they decided to print accounts of them.
These documents were made available, but seem to have been little noticed. There is no account of the last Sienese republic, comparable to Cecil Roth’s Last Florentine Republic, although the defence of Siena was as courageous as the final struggle for Florentine liberty.
Indeed, were it not for the fact that that defence of Siena was, for a time, conducted by the French military historian, Blaise de Monluc, it is possible that the way in which Siena was incorporated into the Duchy of Tuscany, by force of Spanish arms, would now be forgotten.
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