Italy 476-526

With the demise of the Roman hegemony, the political unity of Italy effectively ended, not to return until the time of the Risorgimento. The ensuing medieval period, from the late fifth to about the fourteenth century, has traditionally been passed over by historians, partly because of the paucity of sources. However, there has also been a tendency to acquiesce tacitly to the view which Renaissance scholars propounded in order to glorify their own period: that these 900 or so years were somehow an unfortunate and uncivilised break between the two culturally superior epochs of classical antiquity and the Renaissance. This view grossly belittles the Middle Ages in Italy which were in a number of ways a period of great significance to the development of Italian society.

First of all, it saw the emergence of the Catholic Church and the Papacy as an independent and significant, if often corrupt, force, spawning some of the most interesting characters of the time. Secondly, and perhaps in the long run most crucially, it saw the development of the cities, initially as extensions of the settlements which had been established by the Romans, the Etruscans and the Greeks, and then as the great city-states of the early Renaissance. Associated with this was the consolidation and development, which took place during this period, of the regional and local cultures and identities which play such a crucial part in Italian history, and which still so centrally characterise the Italy of today. Thirdly, the medieval period was one in which Italy was exposed to a variety of foreign influences, mainly in the form of conquests and migratory movements, which have greatly influenced the shape and nature of present-day culture. Economically, the period is notable for the development, as was the case elsewhere in Europe, of a feudal pattern of land ownership, and, critically, for the emergence of the merchant capitalism which we now tend to associate with great city states such as Venice. Artistically, the second part of the period of course saw the beginnings of the Renaissance, and has bequeathed to us painting, architecture and literature of great importance and sensitivity.

Politically, the immediate post-Roman centuries were characterised by the gradual division of Italy into two parts: much of the centre-south largely remained under the control of the Greek eastern kingdom, from its seat of power at Ravenna, and of the Church; while the north was gradually invaded and settled by 'barbarian' tribes of Franks, Goths and Lombards.

Germanic Kings
The 'first blow' for the barbarians in the north was struck by Odoacer who overthrew Romulus Augustulus and installed himself as king in 476. Although this event is seen as the end of the Roman empire in the West, the rise of Odoacer made very little real difference to the status quo in Italy, apart from the fact, of course, that an Arian was now king. Odoacer respected Roman ways and traditions and to a large extent perpetuated the political life of Italy along Roman lines, courting the support of the old ruling elite such as the senatorial class in Rome. He even sought, unsuccessfully, to have himself recognised as a viceroy by the eastern emperor Zeno in Constantinople. Odoacer was overthrown by the Ostrogoth invader Theodoric in 493 after four years of bitter warfare, and there followed sixty years (493-552) of Gothic control of the kingdom of Italy. During this time a considerable number of Goths settled in Italy, notably around Verona, Pavia, the central Apennines, Picenum and Samnium (today the Marche and Abruzzi), as well as in Rome and Ravenna and the area north of the River Po. Theodoric himself was to prove perhaps the greatest of the Germanic kings. He basically continued the policy of ruling through Roman institutions, including the senate, and he seems to have been an efficient and strong ruler who managed to preserve internal peace, and to facilitate the relatively harmonious co-existence of Goths and Romans during his reign, not least by administering justice in a racially unbiased fashion. He was also a distinguished builder, developing Rome and Ravenna, and constructing for himself palaces in Verona and Pavia, as well as in Ravenna itself. Perhaps his most significant legacy is the superb unfinished monumental tomb in Ravenna, where the most magnificent mosaics in Europe, which also date from this period, can be found. On the debit side, he executed the philosopher Boethius (480-524), 'the last of the Romans' , who wrote his famous work, De Consolatione Philosophiae, while in prison.

This article is based on material taken from A Traveller's History of Italy (© Valerio Lintner), published by The Windrush Press, and is by kind permission of its author Valerio Lintner.