This is a pioneering examination of the impact of the crucial central phase of the Italian Wars on the society, politics and culture of Italy, and how the experience of these campaigns and their consequences affected the combatants and the way they saw Italy and the Italians. The essays cover a broad range of subjects from fortifications and military organization to civic and royal ritual, music and musicians to universities, political society and diplomacy to the history of ideas. Together they throw light on the complex effects of the wars, how Italians tried to explain and to react to the dramatic changes these brought, and how the European powers who conquered and occupied Italian states dealt with their new subjects.