Contra et adversus dominum ducem Mediolani. Percorsi, pratiche e protagonisti della diplomazia fiorentina all'alba delle guerre antiviscontee del Quattrocento

Based on a large corpus of archival sources, and on an extensive bibliography, this research sheds a light on several innovative elements regarding the study of political and diplomatic exchanges in Italy during the first Quattrocento. Through the three parts of the thesis, the analysis of the sources (from the point of view not only of the contents, but also a linguistic one) has clarified the meanings of the war between Florence and Venice against Philippe Marie Visconti. The importance of this work remains first and foremost in the chronological range analyzed: the 1420s are almost absent in the historiography on Italian diplomacy during the Renaissance, a vacuum that can certainly be alleged at a documentary polarization (archives sources become richer from the second half of the century). Secondly, the documentary basin included more than 60 archive collections, which gave the research a solid basis for continuing the historical inquiry, as well as the dialogue established between the different sources. As for the results, beyond the strictly event-oriented plan, from the phenomenon point of view, we have been able to identify the political-territorial evolution of the Italian powers during the first part of the century, long before the crucial moment of the 'Lega Italica' 1455), which is usually the starting point of any diplomatic analysis. It has been possible for us, for example, to go back to the source of the links between Eugene IV and the Medici; or to show the reasons and the issues of the rise of Savoy in Italy; or, finally, to highlight, within Italian political life, the evolution of the papal presence, which shifted from neutrality to the management of diplomatic alliances.