DBWI: Disunited Italy

Northern Italy unified only in the early 15th century by Gian Galeazzo Visconti and grew to eventually encompass the whole peninsula, but what if he died before he united his domain into a single state?
Would Italy remain disunited for centuries more, eventually brought into order by HRE or conquered by France?
 
I think that the most likely timeline would see northern italy and southern Italy each remain under different foreign domination for quite some time. Northern under either HRE or French domination. Southern either Spanish or French. However I don't think we would ever see them unify unless the same power dominated both. If each dominated by a different power the two cultures would drift further and further apart until they were seen as two similar but different cultures. Like Aragonese and Castilian. If the HRE kept its nominal control over north Italy I could see it paradoxically weakening it, as the rebellious northern italians would defy and undermine imperial power. This could lead to it slowly disintegrating instead of the empire centralizing like in otl.
 
I think that the most likely timeline would see northern italy and southern Italy each remain under different foreign domination for quite some time. Northern under either HRE or French domination. Southern either Spanish or French. However I don't think we would ever see them unify unless the same power dominated both. If each dominated by a different power the two cultures would drift further and further apart until they were seen as two similar but different cultures. Like Aragonese and Castilian. If the HRE kept its nominal control over north Italy I could see it paradoxically weakening it, as the rebellious northern italians would defy and undermine imperial power. This could lead to it slowly disintegrating instead of the empire centralizing like in otl.

Sicily and Sardinia were Aragonized OTL despite a unified kingdom controlling the peninsula so I don't see why that wouldn't happen here.

Would a divided Italy affect the unification of Portugal and Castille into Spain?
 
The butterflies might have. I wonder if Aragon managed to control southern Italy they would have been seen as a more advantageous partner than Portugal resulting in a union between Isabella and an Aragonese prince instead of a Portuguese one like otl. O think the added manpower from Aragon and southern Italy could have allowed Spain to hold onto more of its colonial possessions than just Hispaniola and Cuba and a few other islands. Also without a union between Brazil and the Castilian south American colonies we might not have the federated viceroyaltys of america be the superpower it is today. There also might not have been the war between the viceroyaltys since all of the Castilian colonies abolished slavery upon independence but only Portuguese colonies kept the institution. There would be some serious butterflies. The biggest question I have is whether the holy Roman empire would have unified into the holy german empire without the unification of Italy.
 
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