brother Charles. The resulting political instability, combined with the sudden demobilisation of thousands of largely unpaid troops, led to the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion in 1562 that would consume France for the next thirty years. At the end of the conflict, Italy was divided between viceroyalties of the Spanish Habsburgs in the south and the formal fiefs of the Austrian Habsburgs in the north. The imperial states were ruled by the Medici in Tuscany, the Spanish Habsburgs in Milan, the Estensi in Modena, and the House of Savoy in Piedmont. The Kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia were under direct rule of the Spanish Habsburgs. The situation continued until the European wars of succession of the 18th century, when northern Italy passed to the Austrian house of Habsburg-Lorraine, and southern Italy passed to the Spanish Bourbons. The Papacy, in central Italy, maintained major cultural and political influence during the Catholic Reformation that was initiated by the conclusion of the Tridentine Council, which was resumed by the treaty's terms. See also Elizabeth I of England Franco-Ottoman alliance States of Italy in 1559 Footnotes References Bibliography Baumgartner, Frederic J. Henry II, King of France 1547–1559 (Duke Univ Press, 1988). Haan, Bertrand, Une paix pour l’éternité. La négociation du traité du Cateau-Cambrésis, (2010). Madrid: Casa de Velázquez. Oman, Charles W. C. A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century (1937). Pepper, Simon, and Nicholas Adams. Firearms & Fortifications: Military Architecture and Siege Warfare in Sixteenth-century Siena (University of Chicago Press, 1986). Romier, Lucien, Les guerres d'Henri II et le traité du Cateau-Cambrésis (1554–1559), in: MAH 30 (1910), p. 1–50. Setton, Kenneth M. The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571) (American Philosophical Society, 1984). External links The original French-language Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis between France and Spain 1550s conflicts 1550s in Italy 1551 in Italy 1556 in law 1559 in Italy 1559 in law 1550s in the Ottoman Empire 16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England 16th-century military history of France 16th-century military history of Spain Italian Wars Wars involving England Wars involving the Ottoman Empire