WI: Duke Ludovico Il Moro dies early?

Hello all. I've always been interested in the Borgias and its impossible to read about them without learning about the Italian Wars. In most books I've read they say that Duke Ludovico Il Moro Sforza is the one who encouraged King Charles VIII of France to invade Italy to press he claims to Naples, thus starting a 65 year long series of conflicts that tore Italy apart and ended both Italian independence and any hope at unifying the Peninsula. So what if Ludovico died early, like say 1490 or 1492, before he usurped the Ducal throne of Milan? Was the Italian Wars inevitable or could the Italian States retain their independence?
 

Artaxerxes

Banned
Without a strong central state or sense of identity the wars were probably inevitable. Sooner or later one of Italian cities is going to annoy one of the larger countries (Venice might just about be able to hold out if its them) and after that people will realise that "oh hey, they cant afford an army as big as ours, plus they are rich!"

It probably ends up all the Popes fault, it usually is :(
 
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