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And no, for Italy the Romans and/or Odoacer don't count:p

I vaugley remmeber reading some time ago that in the Middle ages, through dynastic marriges the Milanese came very close to this (minus the Papal states and Venice), but could they have realisticly done it? Or anyone else for that matter (thats actually a power in the Italian peniniuslar).

As for Romania, I think thats the far bigger challenge (I may be completley wrong). I don't know enough myself to really input, only could eor any other Romanian sta have somehow achived this while Hungary was suffciently weakend? I'm pretty sure whence/if the Ottomans role into the region the chances of such drasticly decrease.
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