on this day in history archivos

Broletto Palace, the location where the treaty of Lodi was signed. By Arbalete - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11398013

On this day: Treaty of Lodi signed

April 9, 2026April 9, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

9 April 1454 — On this day, five rival Italian powers signed the Treaty of Lodi, on the banks of the river Adda, that gave the peninsula four decades of relative peace.

Lorenzo the Magnificent from the Workshop of Bronzino

On this day: The death of Lorenzo the Magnificent

April 8, 2026April 9, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

8 April 1492 — Lorenzo the Magnificent, the man who made Florence the centre of the Renaissance world, took his last breath at the villa of Careggi, aged just 43.

Gino Severini, in 1913 at the opening night of his exhibition at the Marlborough Gallery, London. By Gino Severini - https://painters-in-color.tumblr.com/post/165802108002/italian-artists-gino-severini-at-the-opening-of, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71736614

On this day: Futurist pioneer Gino Severini born

April 7, 2026April 7, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

The painter and mosaicist Gino Severini was born on 7 April 1883 in the hilltop Tuscan town of Cortona. A leading figure in early 20th-century Italian art, Severini became one of the most internationally connected members of the Futurist movement, bridging artistic developments in Italy and Paris before moving through Cubism and later Neoclassicism.

possibly Maria de' Medici cropped. By Bronzino - Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1226976

On this day: birth of Maria de’ Medici

April 3, 2026April 3, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Born with every gift Florence could bestow, Cosimo I’s brilliant eldest daughter, Maria de’ Medici, was dead at seventeen. Her story casts a long shadow over one of history’s most powerful families.

Gaetano Casanova, father of the famous lothario

On this day: birth of actor Gaetano Casanova

April 2, 2026April 2, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Gaetano Casanova, the Italian actor and ballet dancer best remembered as the father of Europe’s most celebrated seducer, was born on 2 April 1697 in Parma.

Fragment of portrait of Joachim Murat, Prince d’Empire, Grand Duke of Clèves and of Berg, King of Naples under the name of Napoleon in 1808 (1767-1815), Marshal of France in 1804 By François Gérard - [1] See full portrait:[2], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=264241

On this day: Gioacchino Murat issues Rimini Proclamation

March 30, 2026March 30, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

On 30 March 1815, a declaration was made in the Adriatic city of Rimini that would echo through Italian history for generations. “Italians! The hour has come to engage in your highest destiny… From the Alps to the straits of Sicily, there is but one cry — Italian independence.” The words were stirring, visionary, and […]

Francesco I Grand Duke of Tuscany By Alessandro Allori - [2], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99729525

On this day: birth of Francesco I, Grand Duke of Tuscany

March 25, 2026March 25, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

Born in Florence on 25 March 1541, the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco I, left behind a legacy of art, alchemy, political ambiguity, and a death that has puzzled historians for more than four centuries.

Dario Fo in Venice, 1985 By Gorupdebesanez - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31061838

On this day: writer Dario Fo born

March 24, 2026March 24, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

On 24 March 1926, one of the most provocative and prolific figures in twentieth-century theatre was born in the small Lombardy town of Leggiuno Sangiano, in the Province of Varese. Dario Fo would go on to write more than 80 plays, win the Nobel Prize in Literature, be banned from Italian television, and spend a […]

On this day: birth of Lorenzino de’ Medici

March 23, 2026March 23, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

On 23 March 1514, Lorenzino de’ Medici, the man who assassinated his cousin and ruler of Florence, was born in Florence.

On this day: Death of disgraced financier Michele Sindona

March 22, 2026March 22, 2026Deborah CaterLeave a Comment

On 22 March 1986, disgraced banker Michele Sindona died in hospital after being poisoned with cyanide. Just four days earlier, he received a life sentence for ordering the murder of a lawyer investigating his financial empire.