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for delaying the implementation of domes-
tic reforms so desperately needed, many
European politicians regarded her as among
those remarkable stateswomen, such as
Maria Theresa of Austria, the empresses
Elizabeth and Catherine of Russia, and
France's Madame de Pompadour, who
dominated the international scene during
the mid-18th century. There is no doubt,
however, that the narrow focus of her con-
cerns left the application of enlightened
policies both at home and in the colonies to
a time when it was probably too late for
Spain to benefit from them.
military operations; however, in 1529 his
mother, Queen Louise, and M
ARGARET
OF
A
USTRIA
, the aunt of Charles I, signed the
so-called Ladies' Peace, which seemed to
augur a permanent settlement. The French
king resumed hostilities within a few years,
drawing in a variety of allies, including the
Turks and continued to clash with Spain
virtually until his death in 1547.
During the reign of Henri II, son and
successor of François I, France continued
to stir up trouble for the Spanish monarch,
not only in Italy but also with the Turks in
the Mediterranean and the Balkans and
with the German Protestants. These end-
lessly multiplying issues contributed to the
exhaustion and to the abdication, in 1556,
of the Spanish ruler, who left his domin-
ions in central Europe to his brother and
his Spanish inheritance to his son, P
HILIP
II.
The latter monarch delivered the decisive
blow to France in 1557 at the B
ATTLE
OF
S
T
.
Q
UENTIN
, near the Franco-Flemish border.
The final settlement of the I
TALIAN
W
ARS
came in 1559 with the Treaty of Cateau-
Cambresis. Henri II was killed in a jousting
accident shortly thereafter, and France
sank into 30 years of civil war. Philip II led
Spain on to the long-sought mastery of
Europe and the extension of her world-
wide empire.
Italian Wars
(1494-1559)
A protracted conflict between Spain and
France that spanned the years 1494 to
1559, this struggle for mastery in Europe
was actually a single war periodically inter-
rupted by truces and rearrangements of
alliances. Charles VIII of France invaded
Italy in 1494, claiming certain hereditary
rights and was opposed by F
ERDINAND
V,
who intervened to support his Neapolitan
kinsfolk. The struggle was interrupted by
the death of Charles in 1498 but recom-
menced in 1500 under his successor, Louis
XII. During the next 15 years the war spread
to other parts of western Europe, drawing
in such countries as Germany and England.
Although Louis XII had accepted his defeat
shortly before his death in 1515, his succes-
sor, François I, soon took up arms. A decade
of struggle with Spain culminated in his
loss of the Battle of Pavia (northern Italy) in
1525. Conveyed as a prisoner to Spain by
C
HARLES
I (Holy Roman Emperor Charles
V), François signed the Treaty of Madrid in
1526, abandoning his claims in Italy. Upon
his release he almost immediately resumed
Italy, Spain in
Spain's involvement in Italy grew out of
the geographical proximity of the two
Mediterranean peninsulas to each other.
The lands of the Crown of A
RAGON
were
particularly involved with Sardinia and
Sicily, and as early as the 13th century
Aragon had established its authority on
both islands. The southern third of Italy,
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