alternatehistory.com

In the 1500's, Italy

-Was very urbanized

-Had an economy that, much more than most other places in Europe, depended on trade, banking, finance, etc.

-Had a lot of universities and, in general, was a center of scholarship and the arts.

-Was divided into a number of small states, many of which had conflicts with the Pope at one point or another

-Had had some religious dissidents (most notably Savonarola) in the 1400's

All of these things would seem to suggest that Italy should have been receptive to Protestantism...but it wasn't. It not only didn't wind up becoming Protestant, but, to my knowledge, there wasn't even a significant Protestant movement in Italy. No large underground body that needed to be shown the error of its ways by the Jesuits/Inquisition, no group of protestant nobles who needed to be pressured back into the fold by their lords, no France-style potracted religious conflict.

Why was this, what PODs might make Italy more receptive to Luther and Calvin, and what might some of the butterflies be?
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