Kingdom of Italy
Contents
Dark Medieval Italy
By the middle of the 13th century, Italy is a geographical location and nothing more. Kinship comes from cities, which bloom under the pressure of constant immigration from the surrounding countryside, creating a new and complex layered society where both kine and Cainite thrive. As the towns become the centers of commerce, artisans, and traders group into guilds to protect their business from papal and imperial taxing, forming close-knit self-support networks which can be formidable foes – or excellent opportunities for the shrewdest of Cainites. Mimicking the human political structure and taking advantage of its independence, many ancillae have claimed their role as primus inter pares in their city’s area, in open defiance of the larger power structures.
The City-States
Taking advantage of the power struggle between the Pope and the Emperor, some of the largest cities have obtained their independence or act de facto as city-states in their own right, with their own laws, tribunals, and currency. One of the most popular solutions to deal with the litigious families and guilds is to appoint an external podestà, a temporary ruler kept separate from the populace to guarantee their impartiality. As they stand at the apex of their might, some communes are starting to crack under the pressure of internal conflict, but the collapse brought by the Black Death is still to come. With famine and fear will also come the need for absolute rulers, transforming the podestà into signori and destroying the republican nature of the communes.
The Papal States
Depending on who you ask, the Papal States are a province of the Empire or the absolute manifestation of the spiritual power of the Pope in territorial form. The conflict between the Emperor and the Pope has been raging on for centuries, and the two sides are starting to identify as Ghibellines and Guelfs, respectively. The struggle contin- ues all over the northern and central areas of the Italian peninsula, and excommunication is a constant threat. The Emperor, Frederick II, fuels the gridlock by holding the papacy hostage, sending his agents all over central Italy to instigate anti-papal sentiments and support rebellious communes – as long as they will subject to his authority.
Rome -- medieval
Rome is, quite literally, a city in ruins. The majestic city that once ruled the Mediterranean bears the mem- ory of its glorious past as a scar. The decaying buildings and infrastructures that once supported over a million inhabitants bear the ubiquitous traces of invasions, sacks, and popular riots. The Romans now number barely over 30,000, less than half of the Venetians, Milanese, or the Bolognese, and the presence of the Pope makes the political stability of the newborn commune an im- possible dream.
The death of pope Gregory IX in 1241 and the brief papacy of Celestine IV (who died, apparently, of wear and old age after just two weeks) have left the Church without a head. The cardinals will remain locked in conclave for the entire year of 1242 and well into the summer of 1243, desperate to solve the problem of how to deal with the Emperor.
During Rome’s long downward spiral, most Cain- ites have left for other cities considered safer and more promising. Nonetheless, there is still a sizable community of Nosferatu and Malkavians, including some elders who still remember the glories of the Roman Republic. With its abandoned buildings and vast networks of underground tunnels, Rome offers protection to many Cainites looking for a place to lay low. On the other hand, many ancillae drunk with power have seen their dream of becoming Princes of Rome vanish in the shadows of a sudden Final Death. As a result, nobody controls the city, but someone is certainly protecting this status quo.
Places of Interest
- Carceri Piranesi -- The Wizard's Gaol
Florence and Tuscany
The Republic of Florence experienced a magnificent growth over the past century. Once a minor town in Tus- cany overshadowed by the powerful maritime Republic of Pisa, Florence has risen to the fore thanks to the booming commercial success of its wool industry. Its corporations have become the model for similar institutions all over Italy, as the members of the various Arti control their own trade in order to guarantee specific standards and control their market as cartels. The power struggle between the Arts and the clash between Guelfs and Ghibellines are fueling each other and turning the city into a powderkeg. The next decades will bring constant changes in power structures, leaving room for the creation of a new finan- cial market for the up-and-coming banking and trading families.
While the Guelfs rule the Republic of Lucca, the Ghibelline Republics of Siena and Pisa prepare for war against Florence. Siena sits on the heavily trafficked Via Francigena, becoming the foremost commercial rival to Florence. Meanwhile, Pisa, through its Northern African territories, is a crucial entry point for the advanced Arabic sciences in Europe: its foremost mathematician, Leonardo Fibonacci, grew up in the sophisticated culture of the Almohad Caliphate and brought their number system back to Pisa, but not without some protest and accusation of employing devilish techniques.
Tuscany’s rapid growth has kept it off the radar of most older Cainites. Its internal clashes and contradictions have attracted a panoply of ancillae eager to prove their worth to their sires and make a name for their clan, or simply for themselves. While the port of Pisa is home to Lasombra, Assamites, and even a few Followers of Set, Florence and Siena have a rising Cappadocian presence, through their young and recent Italian bloodline.
Milan -- medieval
Comfortably surrounded by fertile land and popu- lated by a sophisticated middle class, Milan is a great and prosperous city. Its textile trade makes its wealthy merchants show off their luxurious clothes, much to the dismay of traveling and resident preachers pushing for legislative enforcement of limits to clothing styles. At the same time, the recent introduction of buttons has led to an explosion of creative mixing and matching, with the most advanced trendsetters showing off a different pair of buttoned-on sleeves every day.
On the other hand, the secular order of the Humiliati is gaining traction. Its members hail from merchant fam- ilies, abandoning all luxury and wealth to live piously in self-supporting communities. The status of the Humiliati is a thorny issue; their widespread presence makes them a significant pillar of the community, while their tenets brush very close to heretical thought.
Politically, Milan has traditionally sided with the Pope, and is constantly rebuking assaults for imperial domination. Its close ties with Genoa have brought the commune to appoint Luca Grimaldi, a Genoese troubadour, as podestà.
The Milanese fashionista avant-garde attracts young Toreador to the scene, while some Ventrue still remain from Longobard times. Right now, the Ventrue are deal- ing with their own internal struggle on both sides of the conflict between Guelfs and Ghibellines. But Milan isn’t a safe place for Cainites; the Inquisition is fast on the rise and ruthless on heretics and Cainites alike.
Bologna -- medieval
Sitting at the ever-shifting boundary of the Empire and the Papal states, Bologna is the largest center of textile production and the fifth-largest city by population in Europe. For years the Emperor and the Pope fought for its control, but the Bolognesi achieved substantial independence over a century ago after the death of the powerful countess Matilde di Canossa. Its center boasts dozens of towers built by its merchant families, rising to the sky in a constant competition for the boldest architectural feat, while a network of artificial canals serve the productive districts.
The contested political climate attracted scholars of the law from all over the continent, forming a University that has been a major power in town for the last 150 years. There is a constant influx of clerici vagantes, monks without affiliation, who live at the edge of society in open defiance of religious structures and social customs. The Nosferatu in particular enjoy their company, as the clerici bring news and rumors relatively unfettered by propaganda.
Verona -- medieval
Venice -- medieval
While the rest of Italy is torn along the ever-shifting allegiance lines to the Emperor or the Pope, the Republic of Venice has kept a carefully neutral stance — a proven tactic that has led to unmatched success. The Italian communes call upon the Venetians to provide podestà that govern above the internal city struggles, and with the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa locked in a constant state of conflict over the Thyrrienian Sea, Venice dominates the Adriatic and with it, the door to the East. Everything passes through Venice: silk, spice, pilgrims, merchants, and crusaders.
Between the sack of Constantinople and the ubiquitous lodging facilities, the Crusades have been a lucrative business to the Venetians.
The Republic celebrates its connection to the sea every year. The Doge – the elder ruler elected by the city’s council – sails out of the port to throw a wedding ring in the waters, declaring the wedding of Venice to the sea. The Doge’s ship, the bucentaur, is the most ornate galley produced in the Arsenale, the industrial shipyard of the Republic. This sprawling shipyard, unparalleled in Europe, attracts hundreds of skilled laborers and the finest engineering minds, and boasts the ability to produce a ship a day — for the right price.
While the natural features of Venice aren’t friendly to most Cainites, the opportunities are too good to ignore, and the city sees a constant flux of Cainites of all Clans and stations. As an excellent port of entry and neutral ground, Assamite, Lasombra, and Ventrue leaders choose Venice to debate their very rare and brief truces. The recent Venetian deal with the Mongols opened the doors to vampires from the wealthy eastern lands, while the Cappadocians ensure safe travels to their Erciyes strong- hold, mostly through their young bloodline of the Giovani.
Kingdom of Sicily
Until recent years, southern Italy had been the domain of the Normans, who had taken the land from the former Arabic and Byzantine dominance. By means of conquest and political marriage, the Kingdom of Sicily is now part of the Holy Roman Empire, fueling the Emperor’s dream of controlling the entire peninsula and reconnecting it to the central European territories. The Papal State and the free Cities are in the way, which brought Frederick II to wage war all over Italy on several fronts.
Now that his son Conrad is King of Germany, Frederick is free to devote all of his attention to Italy. From his castle in Andria, the polymath Emperor has reformed the concept of state by creating a constitution that forbade the creation of communes, cut the power of barons and bishops, outlawed the possession of unauthorized weapons, and instituted a tribunal system based on logic and laws instead of ordeals and battles. To enforce his control over the land, Frederick commands a Saracen army, and his closest bodyguards are all Muslim. His respect of Muslim culture, his ex- cellent relationship with the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, and his fluent Arabic have made him the target of a wide range of accusations, from atheism to being the Antichrist himself.
To poets and scientists, Frederick’s court is the place to be. Sicilian poetry becomes a cultural staple, while the medical school of Salerno (founded, as the legend goes, by a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim doctor) is recognized as the only school of medicine of the Empire. The university produces countless medical treaties, but the most popular are still the treaties on women’s health and cosmetics, detailing practices derived from Arabic medicine and authored by Trotula, one of the many female professors of the school.
The Cainite society in southern Italy is the most stable in the peninsula. The Ventrue have almost aban- doned all hopes to regain the territory from the grasp of Montano, who acts on behalf of his sire, the Lasombra Antediluvian. The elder elite, deeply nested in the so- phisticated Palermitan Muslim community, is a haven for all research-minded Cainites of the Mediterranean, harboring runaway Assamite scholars and a sizeable number of Cappadocians.
The Wild Places of Italy
Places of Interest
- Castel d'Ombro -- The Castle of Shadows is the primary residence of the Lasombra antediluvian and his most loyal childe and seneschal Montano.
