So all during this time that Charles is struggling against the Reformation in Germany, he's also

fighting a protracted and bloody series of conflicts for control over Italy, attempting

to expand Habsburg Imperial domination into the Italian peninsula.

Where a ton of the money was, this is where the early trade networks of medieval Europe

were built, the early fortunes, the early commercial fortunes are built.

And this conflict over those resources is part of why that center of gravity shifts northward

to the Rhine-Lindon to the low countries because it is essentially destroyed in this contest.

This will become more important later, but one of the critical geographic formations here

is known as the Habsburg Road that's literally the Spanish Road.

The Spanish Road is like a series of passes that basically directs money upwards from the

Italian peninsula up through the Alps and into the low countries.

That also provides the key transportation infrastructure for sending troops from Spanish

garrisons in Spain and northern Italy through Switzerland and into the low countries.

Right.

So this north-south axis of power, that's why that's critically important and why

Charles is focused on it.

The Habsburgs-Magnereivals here are the Valois kings of France and the conflict between

these two dynasties is going to be one of the main engines of European politics way

into the next century.

The Italian Wars continue off and on for over 60 years and have an insane series of victories,

defeats, alliances, and double crosses from all sides.

The king of France gets captured in battle and held in Spain at one point.

...