Twelfth century italian communes eventually developed into
independent city-states
feudal estates
kingdoms ruled by strong monarchs
monasteries

Well, Italy was a loose collection of city states. France and Spain fought for control over them in the Italian Wars, which France lost. Yet Italy is not a unified nation until 1861. And the reason it is is because during the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon proclaimed himself King of Italy (which is what prompted Austria to declare war in 1805) This led to a feeling of Italian Nationalism, and so a group of people called the Red Shirts rose up, and started the Italian Wars of Unification