Hello All,
I'm working on a homebrew campaign/setting based on the medieval Italian peninsula. I have not yet decided if the game will be set in a direct fantasy copy of the region or be inspired by it. I was wondering if anyone has reading suggestions that would be good sources to mine for such a setting, both history books and RPG sourcebooks would be welcome. There are several history books on the region but I was hoping to get suggestions before diving into material that may not be as useful for my purpose as I hoped they would be.
Thank you!
Which period specifically?
I was thinking the 11th through the end of the 14th century. It's a broad stretch of time but I am hoping to rely on the material to give me an overview to help focus on a smaller era. There have to be a good deal of personalities, betrayals, wars and conspiracies in that section of time. I'm thinking there has to be a stretch of concentrated activity in a hundred year or so span or at least a charismatic personality to center a confluence of events around.
Quote from: Wayfarer on February 03, 2022, 07:06:59 PM
Hello All,
I'm working on a homebrew campaign/setting based on the medieval Italian peninsula. I have not yet decided if the game will be set in a direct fantasy copy of the region or be inspired by it. I was wondering if anyone has reading suggestions that would be good sources to mine for such a setting, both history books and RPG sourcebooks would be welcome. There are several history books on the region but I was hoping to get suggestions before diving into material that may not be as useful for my purpose as I hoped they would be.
Thank you!
This sounds like a cool setting. I would recommend a couple of history books by Carlo Ginzburg: The Cheese and the Worms, and Night Battles. These are more late middle ages, early modern, but pretty interesting. Cheese and the Worms is a ground level view of a miller on trial before the inquisition for holding heretical views on creation. Night Battles is about a group called the Benandanti tried for heresy who believed they fought nocturnal battles with witches (I believe in their dreams but it has been a while since I read it).
You should look into Brancalonia a Spaghetti Fantasy Setting Book.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/343891/Brancalonia--Spaghetti-Fantasy-Setting-Book-ENG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/343891/Brancalonia--Spaghetti-Fantasy-Setting-Book-ENG)
italian here.
try this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condottiero