These setbacks were compounded by divisions within the citystate. In 1499 Milan rebelled against Duke Ludovico Sforza, who fled with his nobles only to be captured in 1500 by the French. He spent the rest of his life imprisoned in France, reading works by the Italian poet Dante and drawing on his dungeon walls. Meanwhile, Milan remained subject to the rule of outsiders, a state of affairs that would continue for some time. In terms of Italian history, then, The Tempest, which features an independent duke of Milan and the king of Naples, most aptly fits into the 1400s, even though the story is set in an indefinite time and was influenced by England's colonial efforts of a later era.
Italian city-states. Not a unified nation but a region of different city-states, Italy was ruled by various leaders who governed and made shifting alliances with one another in struggles for power. The era gave rise to the despot, or one-man ruler, who assumed control over a city-state. If a despot, or signore, was strong enough, he might even seize power over a whole region because of the alliances he made with nearby cities.
