Wars of Castro

The Wars of Castro describe a series of events in the mid-seventeenth century revolving around the ancient city of Castro (located in present-day Lazio, Italy), which eventually resulted in the city's destruction on September 2, 1649. The conflict was a result of a power struggle between the papacy — represented by members of two deeply entrenched Roman families, the Barberini Pope Urban VIII and then the Pamphili Pope Innocent X — and the Farnese dukes of Parma, who controlled Castro and its surrounding territories.

Papal politics of the mid-seventeenth century were complicated, with frequently shifting military and political alliances across the Catholic world. While it is difficult to trace the precise origins of the feud between the duchy of Parma and the papacy, its origins can be looked for in political maneuverings occurring in the years or even decades preceding the start of military action. The duke of Parma and his immediate family had narrowly escaped a planned mass assassination of the Farnese in 1611, for which ten high-born conspirators were executed in the main square of Parma in May of the following year.