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A 1968 B-side. The post Dan Auerbach’s favourite song by The Beatles: “Bombastic and catchy” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

from Moonbattery: By now, the rest of us have had enough transgenderism rammed down our throats to last until the end of time. But among the moonbat degenerates comprising the entertainment industry, even now it is the height of fashion. Via Breitbart: Transgenderism will play a major role at this year’s Golden Globes Awards on Sunday, […]

  The city of Rome was the beating heart of the Roman Empire, which spanned from the rise of Augustus in around 27 BCE until the last emperor was deposed in 476 CE. During the reign of the Roman Empire, many great structures were erected in Rome, ranging from grand arenas and decadent bathhouses to elaborate tombs and towering temples. Many of the great structures built by the ancient Romans still stand today, largely because they were restored and repurposed by later populations of the city. This article will look at the evolution of five of these incredible buildings, from ancient Roman monuments to modern attractions.   1. Castel Sant’Angelo Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome, built 135 CE. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Looking at this beautiful castle, one might assume that Castel Sant’Angelo, or the Castle of the Holy Angel, used to be a Medieval fortress, before becoming the museum that it is today. While it did serve as a fortress in Medieval times, it is much older, built in around 135 CE during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. He intended it to serve as a colossal mausoleum for himself and his family.   The tomb’s primary architect was Decriannus, who took inspiration from the Mausoleum of Augustus (which one can also still visit today). It in turn was inspired by the tomb of Alexander the Great. This pattern of copying the monuments of one’s predecessors was common in ancient Rome because one wanted to emulate and associate oneself with past great rulers.   Many emperors and their wives were laid to rest in Castel Sant’Angelo after Hadrian, including Marcus Aurelius and Caracalla, but their remains are no longer there.   The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, and a few centuries later, the Pope assumed sole authority over Rome and its neighboring territories. With Hadrian’s Mausoleum in a convenient location on the Tiber River, and with its colossal size and strength, it was a natural point of defense in case of an attack on the papacy. It transformed slowly into a fortress throughout the Middle Ages. It still contains a concealed passageway, called the Passetto di Borgo, which connects the Vatican to the Castle to safely evacuate the papal state in an emergency. A baptismal font in St. Peter’s Basilica is also a repurposed sarcophagus lid from Castel Sant’Angelo, possibly belonging to Hadrian himself.   2. Baths of Diocletian Baths of Diocletian, Rome, built 306 CE. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Roman bathhouses were part of daily life for every person of every class throughout the empire. Their primary purpose was for bathing and relaxing, but they also served as a space for people to mingle, gossip, and discuss business or politics. The Baths of Diocletian were built in 306 CE by the emperor Maximian, who named them in honor of his co-emperor.   Spanning eleven acres of land, they were the largest imperial baths ever built. The three main rooms of the complex were the frigidarium (cold room), tepidarium (room temperature), and the caldarium (hot room). Each room had pools of water corresponding to its name and all three rooms were placed at the center of the complex. Other rooms included the palestra (or gym), changing rooms, libraries, and offices, as well as outdoor gardens. One can still visit this gigantic structure today, but it doesn’t quite look the same.   Parts of the bath complex are still visible in the National Roman Museum. Perhaps the best-preserved part is the Aula Ottagona, or Octagonal Hall. The Aula Ottagona is thought to have been a smaller frigidarium when the bathhouse was functioning. After closing down in 537 CE, it served several other purposes. Throughout the 19th century it was used as a gymnastics school and a film room. In 1928 the baths became part of the largest planetarium in Europe. Metal webbing from this time is still included in the building despite being restored to its original ancient appearance at the start of the 21st century.   The last main part of the structure was turned into a church called Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs). It was built inside the baths’ central frigidarium in the 16th century by Renaissance artist Michaelangelo. Through the baroque interior and Renaissance paintings, visitors can still see the original domed ceiling of the cold room. Michaelangelo wanted to preserve and adapt the ancient structure, which is why much of the church’s architecture remains the same as when it was a bathhouse.   3. Temple of the Deified Hadrian Temple of the Deified Hadrian, Rome, built 145 CE. Source: Wikimedia Commons   In the early Roman Empire, it was common to raise a deceased emperor to the status of a god through a deification process. This often included building a temple dedicated to the new god. The first to do this was Emperor Augustus, who declared Julius Caesar a god and built him a temple in the center of the Roman Forum, the political and religious hub of the city. Hadrian was another emperor who received this honor.   Emperor Hadrian died in 138 CE and his successor, the emperor Antoninus Pius, dedicated a temple to the deified Hadrian in 145 CE located in the Campus Martius, near the Pantheon. Though most of the temple has been destroyed, 11 of the 38 original 15-meter-tall columns remain on its north side, along with one of its original walls, albeit without its marble façade.   Bust of Hadrian, Roman, 130 CE. Source: Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence   After the fall of the Roman Empire, many of Rome’s temples fell into obscurity. For a time, the temple of Hadrian was erroneously referred to as the Basilica or the Temple of Neptune. In 1695, Pope Innocent XII commissioned architect Carlo Fontana to build a new papal palace on the site of the old temple. Fontana was able to incorporate the remains into the building. In the 1830s, the palace became the home of Rome’s stock exchange. Today it serves as a conference and multipurpose building for the Chamber of Commerce of Rome. The ancient façade reminds tourists and locals alike of the rich history of Rome.   4. Colosseum Colosseum, Rome, built 80 CE. Source: Smithsonian   The Flavian Amphitheater, better known as the Colosseum, was completed in 80 CE and was the largest amphitheater in the Roman Empire. Built by emperors Vespasian and Titus, it was constructed to revitalize the city after the turbulent civil war of 69 CE, but also to highlight the power of the new Flavian imperial family. Known around the world for its gladiatorial games, criminal executions, and mock naval battles, the structure stands as a true testament to ancient Roman culture. However, after several invasions and civil wars, Rome fell into financial difficulties, meaning the spectacles ceased and maintenance of the arena was neglected.   The Colosseum saw its last fight in 523 CE. After that, it stood abandoned and unused for some time before later residents of Rome started using it for a number of purposes. The arena floor was used as a burial ground, and then the vaults underneath the stands were converted into commercial and residential spaces. Many stores, workshops, and even stables operated out of these spaces, with small homes interspersed throughout, well into the 12th century.   Citizens also used the dilapidated stone structure as a makeshift quarry. Around the year 1200, the Frangipani family, a wealthy aristocratic Roman family, took control of the Colosseum and turned it into a fortress, even building tunnels to connect it with their other homes in the city. But their control of the former amphitheater did not last long. In the mid-13th century, Pope Innocent IV claimed the site in the name of the Catholic Church. The Church tried and failed to implement several different projects in the Colosseum over the next few centuries, including a hospital, a wool factory, and a bullfighting ring, as well as several small chapels.   By the 17th century, the structure was abandoned yet again, until 1749, when Pope Benedict XIV designated it a place of worship and a shrine to the Christian martyrs who were killed there. Many excavation and restoration projects took place at the Colosseum throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, turning it into a museum and one of the most visited archaeological sites in the world.   5. Pantheon Pantheon, Rome, built 27 BCE. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Located in the heart of modern Rome, the Pantheon is one of the city’s most popular and stunning tourist attractions. Meaning “relating, or common to all the gods,” the Pantheon was a temple dedicated to all the gods in Roman mythology. It was originally built in 27 BCE by Marcus Agrippa, a Roman general, statesman and architect who was Emperor Augustus’ right hand man. He placed cult statues of several gods (including Venus, Mars, and Jupiter) inside the temple, along with statues of himself and Augustus on the outside. The temple was open for public worship. However, the temple was burned down in a fire in 80 CE, rebuilt by the emperor Domitian, and then destroyed again in 110 CE when it was struck by lightning. Due to this, much of its original history is lost.   Bust of Marcus Agrippa, Roman, 25 BCE. Source: Louvre Museum, Paris   We know more about what happened to the Pantheon after the fall of the Roman Empire. In 608, Pope Boniface IV requested the Pantheon be consecrated, and by 613, the Byzantine emperor Phocas granted that request. It was given to the Catholic Church and was the first Roman temple to be converted into a Christian Church. The pope renamed it St. Mary and the Martyrs, a name it still keeps today. Many of its marble decorations were kept or restored, but the cult statues and other pagan objects were removed and replaced with Christian ones. In fitting with its new name, Pope Boniface IV had the remains of martyrs transferred from Christian catacombs to the new church.   Today, the Pantheon continues as a church, but it is also the final resting place of several notable people in Italy’s history, including Vittorio Emanuele II (the first modern Italian king), his son Umberto, Umberto’s wife Margherita, and the Renaissance artist Raphael.   When you visit Rome today, its long and eclectic history feels extremely present in the surrounding architecture. Throughout the history of the city buildings have been adapted, repurposed, and transformed, rather than torn down to make way for new construction. Fortunately for modern history lovers, the Romans have always understood the importance of preserving physical reminders of history, while creatively incorporating them for modern day use.

  The Victorian dead body trade was a key part of the development of anatomy and medicine in the 19th and 20th century, without which a lot of the achievements made today would not have been possible. The history behind the trade, however, is dark and complex. The demand for bodies grew and grew and as a result the dead body trade became, not only more sophisticated, but more dangerous.   Who Wanted Bodies and Why? The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, Rembrandt. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Due to the avid pursuit of progress in the 19th century, anatomists and surgeons wanted more bodies to advance their research. The Murder Act of 1752 had allowed anatomy schools to use the dead bodies of criminals charged with murder, but these were small in number. On average, this was around ten bodies a year from the courts, but private medical schools had no legal source. [1]   Demand was further increased with the 1858 Medical Act which stipulated that all medical students had to study human anatomy for two years before they were granted a license to practice medicine or surgery. Further, the 1885 Medical Act required all doctors to qualify in both medicine and surgery. [2] By the later nineteenth century, student numbers continued to expand and so did the demand for dead bodies.   What Impact Did the 1832 Anatomy Act Have? William Burke and William Hare. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Due to the limited supply of bodies, individuals turned to body snatching (digging up graves) and selling them—these people became known as resurrectionists. The infamous William Burke and William Hare even took body dealing a step further in 1828 by murdering 16 people in Edinburgh and selling the bodies.   In the hopes of putting an end to body snatching, the Anatomy Act was passed in August 1832, ending the use of dissection as a punishment for murder and allowing unclaimed bodies from public institutions to be used instead. This meant the poor became a target as, for example, if they died in a workhouse, their body could be taken and sold as, prior to 1844, no law prohibited the sale of bodies to medical schools.   The Act changed what bodies could be acquired and how but did not solve the shortage. The trade became more sophisticated and more complex as the demand for bodies continued to grow- the pace of the trade quickened, and supply chains were set up involving a number of different people, from anatomists to body dealers. At the peak of teaching cycles, a 72-hour turnover of bodies was typical, body dealers had to be fast in acquiring bodies and fast in selling them. [3]   How Were Bodies Acquired? Engraving of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, circa 1812. Source: Wikimedia   Bodies were acquired in a number of ways-both legal and illegal-even body snatching remained despite attempts to end it. A key customer in the trade was St. Bartholomew’s Hospital which worked with coroners, parish officials and workhouse officials to obtain bodies. Large wicker baskets were even left inside the hospital’s gates for passing body dealers to fill up- this included the bodies of the destitute who died outside the hospital. [4]   Schools also offered deals to parish officials to provide workhouse inmates with free hospital treatments in exchange for corpses from dead houses. Further, coroner’s costs could be recovered by selling on bodies after a standard inquest, especially intact corpses.   The workhouse was one of the most important sources of dead bodies and the relationship with medical schools proved lucrative. In 1858 a scandal came to light involving the St. Mary Newington workhouse where the master Alfred Feist had been working with the parish undertaker, Robert Hogg, to supply bodies to Guys Hospital Medical School instead of burying them as requested.[5]   How Were Bodies Transported Across the Country? Liverpool Street Station. Source: historicengland.org.uk   Growing demand made it necessary to go further afield to acquire bodies. Alexander Macalister, Professor of Anatomy at Cambridge University in 1883, set up a system involving the railway that a number of regional medical schools copied. Attached to the rear carriages of the trains were ‘funeral wagons’ which contained boxes with the bodies inside, carefully sealed to prevent any smells escaping. A train like this left Liverpool Street Station in London, travelling via Cambridge and Doncaster three times a week- this became known as the ‘dead train’. [6]   Oxford University’s human anatomy teacher, Arthur Thomson, adopted this process in 1885 using the railway to acquire bodies from places like Leicester, Reading and Staffordshire. The dead body trade proved to be lucrative for many, but this often came at the cost of everyday people, especially the poor. The Victorian dead body trade was undoubtedly unethical and complex, but it proved vital to the expansion and growth of medicine and anatomy in Britain.   Sources:   [1] Pond, Elizabeth F. “Dissection: a Fate Worse Than Death.” Journal of the Royal Medical Society 21 (2013)   [2] Hurren, Elizabeth. “Whose Body Is It Anyway? Trading the Dead Poor, Coroner’s Disputes, and the Business of Anatomy at Oxford University, 1885-1929.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 82 (2008)   [3] Hurren, Elizabeth. Dying for Victorian Medicine: English Anatomy and its Trade in the Dead Poor, c.1834-1929. Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.   [4] Hurren, Elizabeth. Dying for Victorian Medicine: English Anatomy and its Trade in the Dead Poor, c.1834-1929. Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.   [5] MacDonald, Helen. Possessing the Dead: The Artful Science of Anatomy. Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2010.   [6] Hurren, Elizabeth. Dying for Victorian Medicine: English Anatomy and its Trade in the Dead Poor, c.1834-1929. Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

  The early years of the Renaissance were turbulent in Europe. Few places were safe from the political power struggles that plagued the land. Nowhere was this more apparent than in Italy, where a patchwork of polities jostled for prime position.   Fortunes were shifting, and allegiances were fickle.   When Venice got too powerful, an alliance was created to rein in the reach of the Venetians. The vicissitudes of the European political dynamic meant that such ambitious alliances were doomed.   Such is the story of the League of Cambrai.   Venetian Power Map of areas under Venetian control. Source: Wikimedia Commons   At the beginning of the 16th century, Venetian power had grown considerably, and rival powers in Europe felt threatened. The Venetian Republic was not particularly large, nor did it have a particularly impressive population. What it did have was a prosperous trade network that made it incredibly wealthy. It had a substantial navy and controlled trade throughout the eastern Mediterranean.   The city of Venice was likely, at this point, the richest city in the entire world.   Venice, however, did have its own problems. With the expansion of power came considerable obstacles. The Ottomans’ conquest of Constantinople threatened Venetian trade in the Eastern Mediterranean.   In the Far East, the Portuguese were chipping into the trade market as well after their discovery of a sea route around the Cape of Good Hope.   Thus, Venice found itself having to compete for markets. Its position as the trade leader of Europe began to be threatened, and Venice realized that it had to transform itself into a land power as well.   The Wake of the First Italian War Portrait of Pope Julius II by Raphael, 1511. Source: The National Gallery, London   During the First Italian War from 1494 to 1498, Pope Alexander VI had taken possession of lands in Romagna that had been ruled as a fief by the Bentivoglio family from Bologna. This was done with the help of his son, Cesare Borgia, who was at the head of the Papal armies. Cesare was intent on carving out an independent Borgia state, but his father died in 1503.   This triggered an attempt by both the French and the Spanish to influence who became pope next. They marched armies on Rome. Pius III was elected, only to die 26 days into his tenure as pope. He was replaced by Julius II, who stripped Cesare of his titles.   The lords of Romagna sought to rid themselves of the Borgias, too, and invested in Venice’s help to do so. From one side, the Venetians took control of lands in Romagna, and from the other, the pope had Cesare Borgia arrested and imprisoned.   These actions, however, were not coordinated by any sort of alliance. The pope wanted Romagna returned to papal control, and the Venetians refused to relinquish full control of Romagna to the papacy.   In response, Julius II forged an alliance with France and the Holy Roman Empire against Venice, but the collapse of relations between these entities meant the death of the alliance, and fate granted Venice a reprieve.   A copy of Titian Vecellio’s Battle of Cadore, 1538. Source: arthive.com   In 1507, Julius II once again approached the question of Venetian control over Romagna. He convinced Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire to invade Venetian lands. Under the pretext of traveling to Rome for his coronation (this process was known as Italienzug), Maximilian maneuvered his army into Venetian territory after being crowned and prepared for battle. To the Venetians, it was clear that this move had been orchestrated at the pope’s behest. Imperial troops sacked Ampezzo and captured the Castello di Botestagno and the town of Pieve di Cadore.   The Battle of Cadore as sketched by Rubens after a painting by Titian. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Maximilian’s ambitions, however, were halted when the Venetians won a decisive victory at Cadore on March 2, 1508, and then went on the offensive, driving into imperial territory and capturing Trieste on May 6.   The Venetians and the Holy Roman Empire called an end to the conflict with a truce, and Pope Julius II was humiliated. This did not, however, rein in his desire to see Venice defeated.   Creating the League of Cambrai Miracle of the Cross at the Bridge of San Lorenzo by Gentile Bellini, 1500. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Further humiliating the pope, Venice appointed its own candidate to the bishopric of Vicenza. Julius II would not let this affront go unpunished and used it as a pretext for convening an alliance against Venice. Calling on all Christian nations to dismantle Venice, and with the promise of inheriting parts of the Venetian Republic, France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Duchy of Ferrara entered into the agreement to wage war on Venice and partition it among themselves.   The pope finally had the armies he needed to crush the Venetian Republic and reclaim Romagna as Papal land.   The War Begins Portrait of Louis XII from the workshop of Jean Perréal, c. 1514. Source: Wikimedia Commons   With such a large force arrayed against them, the Venetian prospects did not look good. They tried to appeal to Maximilian who had great prestige but was not overly wealthy compared to other monarchs on the continent. The Venetians tried to pay off Maximilian I with 200,000 Rhenish florins but to no avail. The Holy Roman Emperor was not swayed.   The Venetians suffered grievous defeats at the outset of the war. They won a minor victory against Mantua at Casaloldo on May 10, 1509, but were completely outmatched at Agnadello when 30,000 French soldiers crushed the Venetian army that had been 15,000 strong. The Venetians suffered approximately 10,000 casualties, while the French suffered just 500.   Louis XII of France and his army occupied much Venetian territory, and with little hope of victory, thousands of mercenaries employed by the Venetians deserted. Meanwhile, the towns of Padua, Verona, and Vicenza surrendered to Maximilian’s forces. In the lands of Romagna, Julius II found victory with the help of Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, and captured the city of Ravenna.   Portrait of Alfonso d’Este depicting the Battle of Polesella in the background by Battista Dossi, c. 1530. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Asserting control over Venetian property, however, would not be easy. Imperial forces had captured Padua in June 1509. The Imperials left a garrison of Landsknechts to protect the city, but this garrison proved too small to be able to stop the Venetians from reclaiming the city a month later. Emperor Maximilian responded by laying siege to the city on September 15, but after just two weeks, he lifted the siege, and the Imperial troops retreated to Tyrol.   The Venetians then went on the offensive and made a few gains, recapturing several towns, but without the manpower, they had to retreat in the face of a renewed French advance.   On December 22, 1509, the Ferrarese, under the command of the brothers Cardinal Ippolito d’Este and Duke Alfonso d’Este, defeated the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Polesella on the River Po. With no hope of turning the tide, Venice sought terms with Julius II.   In the treaty that followed, Venice lost its towns in Romagna and the right to appoint clergy in its own territory. In addition, Venice had to pay compensation. One of the major governing bodies of Venice, the Council of Ten, declared in secret that these terms were forced upon Venice under duress and could, therefore, be broken at any time.   War Continues Bologna. Source: tourlane.com   Although the League of Cambrai had lost the central support of the pope, the effects of its existence could still be felt, and the consequences of its actions were still being played out.   Venice was still at war.   France, Ferrara, and the Holy Roman Empire continued to wage war on Venice. This worried the pope and his allegiance began to shift. Venice had been a powerful buffer against Ottoman expansion to the east, and with the weakening of Venice, Christendom would be more under threat. His biggest concern, however, was that of foreign powers controlling Italy. And so, after leaving the League of Cambrai, the pope ended up allying with the Venetians.   This marked an effective end to the League of Cambrai and thus an end to the War of the League of Cambrai. However, the War of the League of Cambrai cannot be discussed without detailing its effects over the following years as it transformed into the War of the Holy League.   From August 1510 to May of the following year, the conflict raged back and forth. Venetian and Papal troops seemed to have gained the upper hand, capturing Modena and Concordia, and repulsing the French at Bologna. After an anti-Papal revolt in Bologna, however, the French were able to recapture the city on May 23, 1511. The French ended up controlling most of Romagna, and the pope called for a new alliance to be formed.   The Holy League The Two Armies at the Battle of Ravenna by Master NA.DAT with the Mousetrap, c. 1512-1513. Source: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC   This alliance was named the Holy League, and joining the Papal States were Venice, Spain, England, and a sizable number of mercenaries from Switzerland. Opposing them were France, the Duchy of Ferrara, and Florence.   At the head of the French armies, Gaston de Foix proved to be a capable general and achieved notable successes against the Holy League, sacking Brescia and winning a significant battle at Ravenna in April 1512 before being killed in combat.   Upon hearing of the defeat at Ravenna, the pope prepared to flee Rome, but upon receiving a letter, he changed his plans. Cardinal de Medici, who was in French captivity, told the pope that the French losses at Ravenna had been substantial and that the French were tired and were suffering low morale. As a result, De Foix’s successor, Jacques de la Palis, was cautious and refused to press any advance until he had received confirmation of his authority from France.   Portrait of Massimiliano Sforza by G.A. Predis in Donatus Grammatica, c. 1496-1499. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Shortly thereafter, the pope announced that the Holy Roman Empire was joining the Holy League. With this development, the pope was also able to command all German mercenaries to return home, leaving the French army significantly smaller.   This and the threat from England meant that the French could not hold their possessions in Italy and abandoned Romagna, retreating far northwards over the Alps. The reversal of French fortunes was aided by Spain and England, who achieved victories closer to France. All was not well within the Holy League, however. There were disputes over territories and the issue of who should be Duke of Milan, resulting in Venice leaving the League and Milan joining it.   In December, an army of Swiss mercenaries installed Massimiliano Sforza on the throne of Milan. The mercenaries remained in Lombardy, and the new duke was accused of being a pawn of the Swiss mercenaries.   By this time, Pope Julius II’s bellicose nature had gained much criticism. One such critic was Erasmus of Rotterdam, who wrote the dialogue Julius Excluded from Heaven in 1513.   Venice Switches Sides Detail from Allegory of the Victory Over the League of Cambrai by Palma Giovane, c. 1590. Source: Web Gallery of Art   On March 23, 1513, Venice allied itself with France and once again found itself at war with the Papal States, which had seen a change in leadership. Julius II had died on February 21 and was replaced with Leo X, who sought a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Leo X, however, did not have full control over the League’s decisions and was powerless to stop the continuation of the war.   This time, Venice had several powerful allies. Along with France, Venice was supported in the field by the Duchy of Ferrara and Scotland. The Holy League arrayed against them was also powerful and managed to win significant victories.   Memorial at Flodden. Source: Wikimedia Commons   After the French crossed the Alps, they were beaten back by the Swiss. Meanwhile, France was attacked on two fronts. Henry VIII of England invaded from the north, and the Spanish attacked the French in Navarre.   On August 16, 1513, English and Imperial forces crushed the French at the Battle of the Spurs. The following month, the Swiss captured the French city of Dijon. While this was happening, the Scottish invaded England and were soundly defeated at the Battle of Flodden Field, losing their king, James IV, in the process.   Pope Leo X and his cousins, cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi by Raphael, 1518. Source: Wikimedia Commons   By October, Spanish troops arrived in the heart of the Venetian Republic but lacked the naval assets to take the city of Venice. The Spanish army then marched on Lombardy where, together with an Imperial army, they defeated the Venetian army at La Motta. Despite this catastrophic defeat, the Spanish failed to capitalize on their victory.   Henry VIII concluded a separate peace with France, pulling England out of the war.   Thus ended a major phase of the war, and the conflict froze for over a year. It would, however, not be an end to the fighting.   The War Starts Up Yet Again and Ends Abruptly King Francis I after Joos van Cleve, c. 1538. Source: St. Louis Art Museum   On January 1, 1515, King Louis XII of France died, supposedly from over-exerting himself in the bedroom after only three months of marriage to Mary Tudor, his third wife. It is more likely he died as a result of gout. Despite three marriages, he left no heir, and the French throne passed to his cousin (and son-in-law), who became Francis I.   Upon his coronation, Francis also declared himself the Duke of Milan and prepared to use force of arms to assert this claim. After marching over the Alps, the French army engaged an army of Swiss mercenaries at Marignano on September 13, 1515. With the fighting expected to continue into the following day, the arrival of a Venetian army convinced the Swiss to abandon the fight.   On October 4, the French entered Milan and imprisoned Massimiliano Sforza. With this move, Venice and France regained the territory they had lost, and it was clear that the League could not continue the fight. In December, peace talks were held, and treaties were signed.   The ultimate result of the War of the League of Cambrai was a status quo ante bellum. Some things did change, however. Venice lost its prestige. Its ambition to transform itself into a land power had been scuppered, and the future had to be navigated via intricate political maneuverings rather than force of arms.   The landscape of Emilia-Romagna. Source: Unsplash / Roberto Gramellini via nomads-travel-guide.com   The complex political scheming in Italy would continue throughout the decades that followed. The War of the League of Cambrai failed to achieve any lasting results in solidifying any kind of lasting peace. Four years later, Italy would become a battleground again as the Italian Wars continued.

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