 | |
| Context | Conflict between theDuchy of Milan and theRepublic of Venice with their respective allies. |
|---|---|
| Signed | 9 April 1454 |
| Location | Broletto Palace, Lodi,Duchy of Milan (present-dayLombardy,Italy) |
| Parties | |
TheTreaty of Lodi, orPeace of Lodi, was a peace agreement which brought to an end theWars in Lombardy between theVenetian Republic and theDuchy of Milan, signed in the city ofLodi on 9 April 1454.[1]
The historical relevance of the treaty lies in having guaranteed the Italian Peninsula 40 years of stable peace, consequently favoring the artistic and literary flowering of theRenaissance.[2]
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After the death of the Duke of MilanFilippo Maria Visconti in 1447, theGolden Ambrosian Republic was proclaimed in Milan. The rulers decided to entrust the defense of the newborn state toFrancesco I Sforza. The latter, after three years, proclaimed himself duke of Milan. In fact, for some time Venice had not abandoned its ambitions to expand intoLombardy and thus forged an alliance withAlfonso V of Aragon, king of Naples, and the emperorFrederick III of Habsburg, against Francesco Sforza and his allies. But thefall of Constantinople endangered the safety of the Venetian possessions in theAegean Sea, so the Serenissima decided to put an end to its wars in the peninsula.[citation needed]
Venice and Milan concluded the final peace on April 9, 1454 at the residence of Francesco Sforza in Lodi. The Venetian signatories wereSimone da Camerino andPaolo Barbo.[3] The treaty was ratified by the most powerful Italian states, first of allFlorentine Republic, which had sided with Milan thanks to the long-standing relationship betweenCosimo de' Medici and Francesco Sforza.[4]
After the treaty, Northern Italy was practically divided between the two states, despite the fact that some other powers persisted: theHouse of Savoy, theRepublic of Genoa, theHouse of Gonzaga and theHouse of Este. It also established the succession of Francesco Sforza to the Duchy of Milan, the movement of the frontier between the aforementioned states on the Adda river, the affixing of border signs along the entire demarcation line and the beginning of theItalic League.[5] The lands ofAsola,Lonato andPeschiera came under the dominion of the Venetian Republic, disappointing the expectations of the Gonzagas, who had always aimed for these places.[6]
The importance of the Treaty of Lodi consists in having given the peninsula a new political-institutional structure which - by limiting the particular ambitions of the various states - ensured abalance of power for 40 years and the development of theRenaissance.[7]
Some scholars have argued that the treaty provided a proto-Westphalian model of an inter-city-state system (as opposed to an inter-nation-state system) following a century of warfare in Northern Italy. The Treaty functioned to temporarily institutionalize a regional balance of power in which outright warfare gave way to diplomacy.[8][9]
Lorenzo the Magnificent - in the second part of the fifteenth century - became the guarantor of this political equilibrium, implementing his famous "equilibrium policy".[10]
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