Italy

Mussolini casts a long shadow. R J.B. Bosworth describes how Italians of both the left and the right have used memories of his long dictatorship to underpin their own versions of history and politics.

Richard Cavendish charts the life of the Italian nationalist Guiseppe Mazzini.

The Roman emperor abdicated on May 1st, 305.

Richard Cavendish charts the events leading up to the execution of Marin Falier, Doge of Venice, on April 18th, 1355.

The self-styled tribune of the Roman Republic, Cola di Rienzo, was murdered by an angry mob, on October 8th, 1354.

The future king was born on 15 September 1904.

The King of Sicily died on February 26th, 1154.

France ceded Naples to Spain on January 31st, 1504.

Jon Cook identifies the mix of factors that helps explain the Florentine Renaissance.

Peter Furtado previews a new exhibition devoted to J.M.W. Turner’s visits to the historic city in the first half of the 19th century.