Early Middle Ages
The Western Roman Empire started disintegrating in the 5th century AD, and in 476 AD Rome was captured by Odoacer, who crowned himself as King of Italy. In 493 his reign came to an end when Theoderic of the Ostrogoths defeated Odoacer at the Battle of Ravenna. The Ostrogothic Kingdom spanned across Italy and Dalmatia and surrounding lands, but lasted only until 553 after a long war with the Byzantine Empire.
In 568 the Lombards invaded Italy and conquered large parts of the Italian peninsula. In 774 Charlemagne of the Franks conquered northern Italy. The Papal States were formed out of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna in 754 and the Lombards retreated to the south (Duchy of Benevento) and to Sicily. Sicily became an Arab Emirate in 831.
The Frankish Empire fell apart after Charlemagne's death in 841, and Northern Italy became part of the Holy Roman Empire in 916, but many local states were formed that were effectively independent.The Republic of Venice evolved out of the Byzantine-influenced areas on the northern Adriatic coast, and would play a large role as a wealthy independent state until its dissolution in 1797. Its competitor was the Republic of Genua, officially part of the HRE but practically independent. The Genovese had trade deals with the Ottoman Empire, allowing for unique trade routes between Western Europe and the Black Sea ports.
In Southern Italy the same fragmentation happened with Byzantines, Lombards, Arabs and Normans competing for power. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Normans would conquer Sicily and the southern peninsula and establish the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples. These two kingdoms lasted until 1815, when they merged into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the largest Italian state before the unification.
Late Middle Ages
From 1494 until 1559 the Italian Wars saw the involvement of France, the Habsburg Empire and the Ottoman Empire with the affairs of the many states in Italy. The Habsburgs were victorious and most Italian states were brought under their influence.
Italy in 1494 before the onset of the Italian Wars.
18th century
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) changed the political landscape in Italy drastically. Austria became a dominant force in Italy controlling many of its smaller states. From 1735 there was some consolidation. The Kingdom of Sardinia entered a personal union with the Duchy of Savoy, and the same happened between the kingdoms of Sicily and Naples.
Italy in 1789.
The Corsican Republic, which was part of the republics of Pisa and Genua before, existed from 1755 until 1769, when it was annexed by France. Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island that same year.
French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (1789-1815)
The ideology of the French Revolution quickly spread to Italy and it caused French involvement. Several French client republics were founded, such as the Roman Republic (1798-1799) on Papal territory, and more importantly the Italian Republic (1802-1805) in Northern Italy, which became the Kingdom of Italy (1805-1814) after merging with Venice. Naples, Sicily and Sardinia were controlled by the French but remained independent kingdoms.
Italy in 1803, which shows many of the French client states that existed in the period. Piedmont was already annexed to France in 1802.
Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. The Kingdom of Italy was formed out of the Cisalpine Republic and Veneto, which was gained from Austria in 1806.
The road towards the unification of Italy (1815-1870)
The Congress of Vienna (1815) mostly restored the situation from before 1789. The Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia was made an Austrian crown land, which became a focus of Italian nationalism and the war of independence. With French help the Italians were able to drive the Austrians out in 1866. However, the Italians had to give up the city of Nice (Nizza) in return.
Italy in 1843.
The kingdoms of Sicily and Naples, already in personal union, were joined into one country in 1815. The Kingdom of Sardinia included the Duchy of Savoy including former territory of the Republic of Genua.
From 1859 the process of unification accelerated. Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of the Italian reunification, led the Sardinian troops against Austria in the Second War of Italian Independence. Aided by France, Sardinia annexed Lombardy, but had to cede the city of Nice to France in return.
Garibaldi again played a role in the campaigns in southern Italy in 1860, where he conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Meanwhile in the central north, several smaller Italian states had merged into the United Provinces of Central Italy in 1859, and were united with the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860. That same year the Kingdom of Sardinia annexed most parts of the Papal States except Rome.
In 1861 the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, with Florence as its capital. In 1866 Veneto was added after the French and Germans had defeated Austria. In 1870 Rome was taken from the Papal States and made the capital of Italy. It would take until 1929 before the Vatican City would be established as a sovereign state, which is somehow a successor of the Papal States.
Currency
Many different currencies were used in the Italian states, but most were based on the Carolingian system of 1 Lira = 20 Soldi = 240 Denari, which was the same as the pre-decimal system used in the UK until 1970. The Italian Liras however had been debased a lot from the original specifications and was worth around 5-6 grams of silver by the 18th century.
While the Lira system was the prime unit of account, other denominations developed over the centuries. In the 13th century, Venice started minting the Grosso (from Groat or Groschen) of 2.18 grams of silver, which made it worth 26 Denari, later adjusted to 4 Soldini or 48 Denari. The silver content was reduced in the 14th century to 1.25 grams. The Grosso was copied by the Byzantine Empire known as the Basilikon, in use until 1367.
The Scudo was a large silver coin of varying weights of around 23 grams. It became the currency of the Papal States in 1815, divided in 100 Baiocchi, each of 5 Quattrini. In Austrian Lombardy-Veneto, the Scudo was equal to a Conventionsthaler or 6 Lira.
The Baiocco was used primarily in Central Italy. It was originally equal to a Soldo but later fluctuated. Later it was divided in 5 Quattrini. A Quattrino was worth 4 Denari or 1/3 Soldo.
The most important gold coinage from Italy were the Fiorino d'Oro from Florence and the Ducat from Venice. They were both close to 3.5 grams of pure gold (a Fiorino was slightly more) and minted from the 13th century. The Fiorino became the most widely used gold coin in Western Europe, but also the Ducat continued to be widely used in international trade. The Fiorino formed the basis of the Gulden (though it was a silver coin) which was used in the Dutch Republic and many German states, and also the Polish Złoty and Hungarian Forint are originally based on the Fiorino. The Ducat also continued to be produced as trade or bullion coinage even up to present day.
Selection of Italian pre-Napoleonic coinage:
Republic of Genoa
Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Mantua
Kingdom of Sardinia
Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca
Republic of Venice
Republic of Lucca
Duchy of Modena
Papal States
Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Sicily
French Franc (1789-1815)
During the Napoleonic Wars many of the Italian States either switched to French Francs directly or pegged the Lira, decimalised into 100 Centesimi, to it. This peg would last through the establishment of the Latin Monetary Union and formed the basis of the Italian Lira itself when it became the currency of a unified Italy.
Coins from Napoleonic Italy (1796-1815):
Genua - Ligurian Republic (1797-1805)
Piedmontese Republic - Scudo (1798-1799)
Piedmont (Subalpine Republic) - Franc (1800-1802)
Cisalpine Republic - Franc (1800-1802)
Kingdom of Italy - Lira (1806-1815)
Tuscany - Kingdom of Etruria (1801-1807)
Principality of Lucca - Franc (1805-1815)
Roman Republic - Scudo (1798-1799)
Two Sicilies - Lira (1812-1815)
Restoration (1815-1861)
After 1815, Sardinia kept the Lira. Lombardy-Veneto used the Scudo until 1857, followed by a decimalised Fiorino when Austria did the same. The Papal States restored Scudo and the Two Sicilies unified their Piastras into the Ducat.
Coins from 1815 until 1870:
Sardinia (1815-1861)
Lombardy-Venetia - Scudo (1815-1862)
Lombardy-Venetia - Fiorino (1862-1866)
Parma - Lira (1815-1859)
Tuscany - Fiorino (1826-1859)
Papal States - Lira (1866-1870)
Two Sicilies - Ducat (1815-1860)
Coins from the 1848 revolutions:
Venice - San Marco Republic (1848-1849)
Mantua - Austrian Siege Coinage - Tallero (1848-1849)
Roman Republic - Scudo (1848-1849)
Coins from the Second War of Independence (1859-1861):
Tuscany (1859)
United Provinces of Central Italy (1859-1861)
General link to catalog:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/italie_etats-1.html
(this is a joke, but if interested for at least a provisional support, feel free to apply)