Fancomic and fanart: Regional strips 11: Ferrara and the Italian Wars
Title: "Regional strips 11: Ferrara and the Italian Wars"
Author: J.J.
Warning: I might have failed in portraying correctly the regions involved. If that's the case just tell me. Those were done out of love for the Italian regions, not with the intent to offend someone.
Notes: After drawing the characterization for the Italian regions I ended up having ideas for them and drawing LOT of strips about them so... here there's one. It's nowhere near to the APH standards but well, I'm not Himaruya-san...
Characters: North Italy Veneziano (Feliciano Vargas), South Italy Romano (Lovino Vargas), Ferrara/Duchy of Ferrara (Ginevra Vargas), Lazio/Papal State (Lucio Vargas), Mantova/Duchy of Mantova (Virgilio Vargas), Romagna (Laura Vargas), Veneto/Republic of Venice (Mario Vargas), England (Arthur Kirkland), Switzerland (Basch Zwingli), France (Francis Bonnefoy) and Spain (Antonio Fernandez Carriedo).
Time: 1512.
Disclaimer: "Axis Powers Hetalia" belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz.
Hey, do I own something here? Oh yes, I own the plot and a sensible heart which would surely break if you give me harsh reviews... so please be honest but nice ok? Oh and the representation of the Italian regions are mine as well
Summary: Italian War: the battle of Ravenna.
Old:
Regional strips 01: Meet Lombardia!
Regional strips 02: Magical Sicilia
Regional strips 03: Molise's fight
Regional strips 04: Seborga's boss, Liguria
Regional strips 05: Basilicata? Who would he be?
Regional strips 06: Basilicata And "That Guy"
Regional strips 07: Talk About Yourself, Valle d'Aosta!
Regional strips 08: Who knows Lazio's job?
Regional strips 09: Lombardia's Love Song (Part 1) - (Part 2)
Regional strips 10: A Dangerous Game
New:
What inspired this
Well, the main inspiration was an awesome book about the Italian Wars. Honestly I wanted to turn this into a full historical long strip like I did with Barbarossa e la lega lombarda but to traspose the Italian Wars in comic version using just Veneziano and Romano is impossible.
At the time north Italy was divided in assorted states that were in war one against the other... either I would have to basically make up history or it would be impossible to portray him in episodes like this one, in which he would have to be basically an ally of France against... himself.
In short... considering those Italian states a single entity would be as absurd as considering Europe a single entity during the 2 world wars. Or during that time, really. -_-
As for the historical background... here there's a very short version.
Italian states had always been fighting among them but according to some rules that stopped them from damaging each other too much. However, thanks to Lorenzo il Magnifico, they had reached some sort of balance between them that allowed them to live more or less in peace.
France, who'd just ended the war of 100 years beating England, expanded his territory absorbing all the principalities and was feeling pretty strong (he organized his army and he's also tacing his people so he got the money to support a war is one of the two biggest state in Europe and basically the first military power), decided he was going to expland his land further and Italy was the perfect ground for this because:
- its states are small and lack his resources
- Italy is considered the 'door' to the holy land and the key to control the Mediterranean Sea
- they were the previous owners of the crown of south Italy, now owned by Spain (sort of... actually it was autonomous by it), and wanted it back.
Although France often allied with an Italian state to attack another his approach to war was judged similar to the one of the Barbarians from the Italian states as he destroyed way too much and in an apparently unnecessary way (actually he aimed to scare his opponents so they wouldn't fight him).
Anyway no one takes well the fact that France is trying to expland so Italian and not-Italian states try to stop him... however at the same time, as they're all greedy, they try as well to expand their land to the expense of other Italian states...
So starts a game of alliances, in which the ally of today is the enemy of tomorrow and land keeps changing its owner with everyone trying to use everyone else for its own gain.
In this mess (that will involve HRE and Spain as well) the one that had the most to lose were the smallest Italian states as they were turned into battle grounds, their city saked or destroyed and passed from hand to hand be it of a nearby Italian state or of a foreign power. After all there were more or less 8 wars in Italy in a time that went from 1494 to 1559.
Anyway, the previous strip is placed in 1512 when the Papal State had just decided that allying with France, Spain and HRE in a Holy League against Venice to get Venice's land had been a bad idea and decided to ally with Venice, Spain, England and HRE in another Holy League against France.
France decided then to attack Romagna, a territory inside the Papal State and point of connection with it and the republic of Venice. In order to do so he allies with the Duchy of Ferrara, which is bordering with Romagna and that, at the time, was famous for its wonderful cannons (Alfonso D'Este, Ferrara's boss was a cannon lover) who were possibly the best available.
Ferrara, which was a small duchy, held no love for France, whom she viewed as a threat because yes, France would have liked to have her, but the same could be said for the Papal States or Venice, both aiming to get her land.
Allying with the Pope would mean that she would be the first target of France's attack so she chose France, who was at the time the strongest and supported him with her cannons in the battle of Ravenna, a city in Romagna that had been the last capital of the Roman Empire before its fall. Spain and the Papal State were in numerical disadvantage and would have done better to avoid the fight but France knew that to protect Ferrara they would have to accept battle and so it was.
Ferrara's powerful and precise cannons allowed to France's cavallery to get close to the enemy's positions, a thing that otherwise would have been way too risky to be profitable (the Holy League was in a hard to attack, easy to defend position against a cavalry attack. Ferrara managed to stop France's enemies from regrouping in a formation and caused total chaos among them, scarying their horses and generating a mess in which men didn't know what to do anymore, as well as hopening the way from France's attack.
However... at that point France was fighting/defeating his enemies at close contact inside their camp... way too close to not be hit as Ferrara, was still shooting at it no stop and, actually refused to stop.
As said before for Ferrara both factions were actually enemies to her independence so her best option was to make sure they both would become too weak to attack her.
France insisted in its attack regardless, aiming to fully destroy his enemies. Due to this imprudence, his commander, one of the best France had, ended up being killed and the dead count rose further.
In the end France won and saked Ravenna but depleted his forces enough he realized he had to retreat or when the Holy League prepared to attack him again.
If you're wondering about the reference about poisoning, the wife of Ferrara's boss, Alfonso D'Este, was Lucrezia Borgia, who was accused to be a poisoner. As of now it seems the accuse was merely a false gossip though.
Mantova, or better the Duchy of Mantova, was, at the time, a neighbour of Ferrara with which she had good relations.
Giulia, or better 'La Giulia', Ferrara's cannon, really existed. Ferrara, or better her boss, Alfonso D'Este, made it using the metal from a statue of Pope Iulius II made by an unwilling Michelangelo Buonarroti and placed in front of the church of Saint Petronius in Bologna that Annibale Bentivoglio, de facto ruler of Bologna (which was actually in the Papal States) tore to piece and sent to him when he got back the control of Bologna in 1511.
Officially it was called as such in 'honour' of Iulius II... who around that time excommunicated him (he's the first of the 3 popes that will excommunicate him...)
Sadly La Giulia got lost, along with the head of the statue (that Alfonso conserved) and another cannon that was 8 meters long and considered a wonder of those times.
Alfonso D'Este's quote of the day
Sparate senza timore di fallare ché sono tutti nemici nostri.
Shoot without fear of making mistakes because they all are our enemies.
Alfio Finetti - Al Condominio
A funny Ferrarese song in Ferrarese language about life in condominium. Sort of fitting if you consider the Italy of that time as some sort of condominium...
Don't grumble silently, please let me know what you're thinking of this!
Send me your comments!
Author: J.J.
Warning: I might have failed in portraying correctly the regions involved. If that's the case just tell me. Those were done out of love for the Italian regions, not with the intent to offend someone.
Notes: After drawing the characterization for the Italian regions I ended up having ideas for them and drawing LOT of strips about them so... here there's one. It's nowhere near to the APH standards but well, I'm not Himaruya-san...
Characters: North Italy Veneziano (Feliciano Vargas), South Italy Romano (Lovino Vargas), Ferrara/Duchy of Ferrara (Ginevra Vargas), Lazio/Papal State (Lucio Vargas), Mantova/Duchy of Mantova (Virgilio Vargas), Romagna (Laura Vargas), Veneto/Republic of Venice (Mario Vargas), England (Arthur Kirkland), Switzerland (Basch Zwingli), France (Francis Bonnefoy) and Spain (Antonio Fernandez Carriedo).
Time: 1512.
Disclaimer: "Axis Powers Hetalia" belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz.
Hey, do I own something here? Oh yes, I own the plot and a sensible heart which would surely break if you give me harsh reviews... so please be honest but nice ok? Oh and the representation of the Italian regions are mine as well
Summary: Italian War: the battle of Ravenna.
Old:
Regional strips 01: Meet Lombardia!
Regional strips 02: Magical Sicilia
Regional strips 03: Molise's fight
Regional strips 04: Seborga's boss, Liguria
Regional strips 05: Basilicata? Who would he be?
Regional strips 06: Basilicata And "That Guy"
Regional strips 07: Talk About Yourself, Valle d'Aosta!
Regional strips 08: Who knows Lazio's job?
Regional strips 09: Lombardia's Love Song (Part 1) - (Part 2)
Regional strips 10: A Dangerous Game
New:
What inspired this
Well, the main inspiration was an awesome book about the Italian Wars. Honestly I wanted to turn this into a full historical long strip like I did with Barbarossa e la lega lombarda but to traspose the Italian Wars in comic version using just Veneziano and Romano is impossible.
At the time north Italy was divided in assorted states that were in war one against the other... either I would have to basically make up history or it would be impossible to portray him in episodes like this one, in which he would have to be basically an ally of France against... himself.
In short... considering those Italian states a single entity would be as absurd as considering Europe a single entity during the 2 world wars. Or during that time, really. -_-
As for the historical background... here there's a very short version.
Italian states had always been fighting among them but according to some rules that stopped them from damaging each other too much. However, thanks to Lorenzo il Magnifico, they had reached some sort of balance between them that allowed them to live more or less in peace.
France, who'd just ended the war of 100 years beating England, expanded his territory absorbing all the principalities and was feeling pretty strong (he organized his army and he's also tacing his people so he got the money to support a war is one of the two biggest state in Europe and basically the first military power), decided he was going to expland his land further and Italy was the perfect ground for this because:
- its states are small and lack his resources
- Italy is considered the 'door' to the holy land and the key to control the Mediterranean Sea
- they were the previous owners of the crown of south Italy, now owned by Spain (sort of... actually it was autonomous by it), and wanted it back.
Although France often allied with an Italian state to attack another his approach to war was judged similar to the one of the Barbarians from the Italian states as he destroyed way too much and in an apparently unnecessary way (actually he aimed to scare his opponents so they wouldn't fight him).
Anyway no one takes well the fact that France is trying to expland so Italian and not-Italian states try to stop him... however at the same time, as they're all greedy, they try as well to expand their land to the expense of other Italian states...
So starts a game of alliances, in which the ally of today is the enemy of tomorrow and land keeps changing its owner with everyone trying to use everyone else for its own gain.
In this mess (that will involve HRE and Spain as well) the one that had the most to lose were the smallest Italian states as they were turned into battle grounds, their city saked or destroyed and passed from hand to hand be it of a nearby Italian state or of a foreign power. After all there were more or less 8 wars in Italy in a time that went from 1494 to 1559.
Anyway, the previous strip is placed in 1512 when the Papal State had just decided that allying with France, Spain and HRE in a Holy League against Venice to get Venice's land had been a bad idea and decided to ally with Venice, Spain, England and HRE in another Holy League against France.
France decided then to attack Romagna, a territory inside the Papal State and point of connection with it and the republic of Venice. In order to do so he allies with the Duchy of Ferrara, which is bordering with Romagna and that, at the time, was famous for its wonderful cannons (Alfonso D'Este, Ferrara's boss was a cannon lover) who were possibly the best available.
Ferrara, which was a small duchy, held no love for France, whom she viewed as a threat because yes, France would have liked to have her, but the same could be said for the Papal States or Venice, both aiming to get her land.
Allying with the Pope would mean that she would be the first target of France's attack so she chose France, who was at the time the strongest and supported him with her cannons in the battle of Ravenna, a city in Romagna that had been the last capital of the Roman Empire before its fall. Spain and the Papal State were in numerical disadvantage and would have done better to avoid the fight but France knew that to protect Ferrara they would have to accept battle and so it was.
Ferrara's powerful and precise cannons allowed to France's cavallery to get close to the enemy's positions, a thing that otherwise would have been way too risky to be profitable (the Holy League was in a hard to attack, easy to defend position against a cavalry attack. Ferrara managed to stop France's enemies from regrouping in a formation and caused total chaos among them, scarying their horses and generating a mess in which men didn't know what to do anymore, as well as hopening the way from France's attack.
However... at that point France was fighting/defeating his enemies at close contact inside their camp... way too close to not be hit as Ferrara, was still shooting at it no stop and, actually refused to stop.
As said before for Ferrara both factions were actually enemies to her independence so her best option was to make sure they both would become too weak to attack her.
France insisted in its attack regardless, aiming to fully destroy his enemies. Due to this imprudence, his commander, one of the best France had, ended up being killed and the dead count rose further.
In the end France won and saked Ravenna but depleted his forces enough he realized he had to retreat or when the Holy League prepared to attack him again.
If you're wondering about the reference about poisoning, the wife of Ferrara's boss, Alfonso D'Este, was Lucrezia Borgia, who was accused to be a poisoner. As of now it seems the accuse was merely a false gossip though.
Mantova, or better the Duchy of Mantova, was, at the time, a neighbour of Ferrara with which she had good relations.
Giulia, or better 'La Giulia', Ferrara's cannon, really existed. Ferrara, or better her boss, Alfonso D'Este, made it using the metal from a statue of Pope Iulius II made by an unwilling Michelangelo Buonarroti and placed in front of the church of Saint Petronius in Bologna that Annibale Bentivoglio, de facto ruler of Bologna (which was actually in the Papal States) tore to piece and sent to him when he got back the control of Bologna in 1511.
Officially it was called as such in 'honour' of Iulius II... who around that time excommunicated him (he's the first of the 3 popes that will excommunicate him...)
Sadly La Giulia got lost, along with the head of the statue (that Alfonso conserved) and another cannon that was 8 meters long and considered a wonder of those times.
Alfonso D'Este's quote of the day
Sparate senza timore di fallare ché sono tutti nemici nostri.
Shoot without fear of making mistakes because they all are our enemies.
Alfio Finetti - Al Condominio
A funny Ferrarese song in Ferrarese language about life in condominium. Sort of fitting if you consider the Italy of that time as some sort of condominium...
Click to viewDon't grumble silently, please let me know what you're thinking of this!
Send me your comments!