On This Day in Italy

May

​May Ist
​1555: Death of Pope Marcellus II, who reigned for only 22 days. Marcello Cervini degli Spanocchi was the last pope not to change his name.  
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1572: Death of Pope Pius V (r. 1566-72). 
Pope Pius V by Scipione Pulzone
Pope Pius V by Scipione Pulzone
May 2nd
​1660: Birth, in Palermo, of the Baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti (d. 1725). 
May 3rd
​1469: Birth, in Florence, of the writer Niccolo Macchiavelli (d. 1527), best known for his political treatise Il Principe. 

1758: Death of Pope Benedict XIV (r. 1740-58).  
Portrait of Benedict XIV (1746) by Pierre Subleyras
Portrait of Benedict XIV (1746) by Pierre Subleyras
May 4th
​1655: Birth, in Padua, of the instrument-maker Bartolomeo Cristofori (d. 1731), who is credited with inventing the piano. 
May 6th
​1527: Sack of Rome by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. 
​May 8th
​1785: Death of the Venetian painter Pietro Longhi (b. 1701).

1906: Birth of the film director Roberto Rossellini (d. 1977).  
May 9th
1946: Abdication of Vittorio Emanuele III (r. 1900-46), the third king of Italy. 
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1978: Assassination of former prime minister Aldo Moro (b. 1916) by the Brigate Rosse (Red Brigades). 
​May 10th
​1482: Death, in Pisa, of the Florentine mathematician and astronomer Paolo del Pozzo Toscanelli (b. 1397). 
May 12th
​1700: Birth of the Neapolitan architect Luigi Vanvitelli (d. 1773). 
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1797: Fall of the Republic of Venice. Ludovico Manin entered history as the last Doge of Venice.  

1820: Birth of Florence Nightingale (d. 1910) in Firenze, the city that is known in the Anglosphere as Florence, hence her name. ​
Lodovico Manin, last Doge of Venice
Lodovico Manin, last Doge of Venice
May 13th
​1804: Birth of the Venetian politician Daniele Manin (d. 1857), who, in 1848, led a short-lived insurrection against the city's Austrian rulers. 

1981: Attempted assassination, in Rome's Piazza San Pietro, of Pope John Paul II (r. 1978-2005). 
Monument to Daniele Manin by Luigi Borro, Venice
Monument to Daniele Manin by Luigi Borro, Venice
May 14th
1725: Birth of Ludovico Manin, the last Doge of Venice. 
May 15th
​1567: Baptism, in Cremona, of the composer Claudio Monteverdi (d. 1643). 
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1734: Death, in Venice, of the artist Sebastiano Ricci (b. 1659).  ​
The composer Claudio Monteverdi (c.1630) by Bernardo Strozzi
Claudio Monteverdi (c.1630) by Bernardo Strozzi
May 16th
​1926: Death, in San Remo, of Mehmed VI (b. 1861), the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. 
Mehmed VI (1918), last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Mehmed VI (1918)
May 17th
​1510: Death of the Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli (b. 1445), who is buried in the Chiesa di Ognissanti, in Florence.  
Tomb of Sandro Botticelli, Chiesa di Ognissanti, Florence
Tomb of Sandro Botticelli, Chiesa di Ognissanti, Florence
May 22nd
​1762: Inauguration of the Trevi Fountain by Pope Clement XIII (r. 1758-69). 

1873: Death, in Milan, of the writer Alessandro Manzoni (b. 1785), who is most famous for his novel I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed).
Trevi Fountain, Rome
Trevi Fountain, Rome
May 23rd
​1498: Girolamo Savonarola (b. 1452), the Dominican friar and preacher, was burnt at the stake in Piazza della Signoria, in Florence. 
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1915: Italy entered the First World War. 
Death of Savonarola, Piazza della Signoria, Florence
Death of Savonarola
May 26th 
1595: Death, in Rome, of St Philip Neri (b. 1515), who is buried in the Chiesa Nuova. 
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1805: Coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte as king of Italy, in the cathedral of Milan.     
Tomb of St Philip Neri, Chiesa Nuova, Rome
Tomb of St Philip Neri, Chiesa Nuova, Rome
May 28th
1606: The artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) killed Ranuccio Tomassoni in a row over a woman. 
May 31st
​1594: Death of the Venetian painter Jacopo Robusti (b. 1518), better known as il Tintoretto, who is buried in the church of the Madonna dell' Orto, in Venice.  
Tomb of Tintoretto, church of Madonna dell' Orto, Venice
Tomb of Tintoretto, Madonna dell' Orto, Venice
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