Hello there,
What I know is that Italy, being urbanized since antiquity, had plenty of cities, towns and villages and North-Central Italy excelled in that matter. Being, that geographical region, also economically thriving quickly cities became more and more indipendent from the Empire firstly becoming Comuni, forming alliances with the purpose to fight and repel Barbarossa, then ending in Signorie. That said: I read recently that early rural Cantons and Cities of Switzerland that federalized experienced similar struggles with Asburgs. These "Swiss" polities were extremly inter-dependent regarding pastures, economy and this was one of the factors that lead them to form a bond and mantain sovereignity after seeing part of Austria conquered. They infact become a footmen powerhouse and conquered in turn. Why Northern Italy neved tried to federate or forming more loose but stable confederations or alliances. Does Comuni's various magistrates that eventually become Lord of Signorie opposed it? Correct me if I'm wrong: I guess N.Italy was more culturally diverse than, at least, first federalized Swiss (rural) Cantons and Cities, and Italy was less centralized but more spot-like and with several influneces bubbles. Does early urbanization and middle class rise somewhat stopped the process? I'm quite confused about timeframes, I believe when Comuni started to crumble and Signore rised, Swiss confederalized.
Thanks in advance for the reply.
The Swiss polities were poorer. The fundamental "problem" with Italy is that it was so agriculturally productive and economically vibrant that it could sustain multiple equally balanced, heavily urbanized, polities.
The Swiss, on the other hand, were pushed together by necessity; whereas the Italian polities were fiercely competitive and suspicious towards each other, the Swiss cantons saw interdependence as a means of survival. A peculiar case of maintaining autonomy by compromising sovereignty to each other! Their ability to actively organize military expeditions did not go beyond the repulsion of enemies, and their fearsomeness as soldiers was more a consequence of the fact that the Swiss confederation was for most os its history a series of poor mountainous communities populated by rugged men who knew how to fight, and consequentially became a prime recruiting ground for Italian and French rulers.
Contrast Italy, where only some polities would consider compromising sovereignty; in the twelfth century it took decades to organize Lombard cities into a defensive league, principally because most small cities were perfectly willing to submit from the emperor if it meant they didn't have to submit to Milan. There were also attempts to forcibly unite Italian states; the Scaligeri dynasty built a powerful state centered on the city of Verona, however, the Milanese and Venetians teamed up to defeat them. Then, when it looked like the Sforza dynasty of Milan could become powerful enough to unite Italy in the fifteenth century, Venice hatched a plot with the French to destroy the Duchy of Milan. The Venetians, for their part, saw little point in going through the arduous process of expanding their state beyond Northeast Italy. Italy was just a cauldron of variables that were nearly impossible to align.