History History

Originally, Milan was only a small village inhabited by Celtic populations, the Bituriges. It is not clear why this unhealthy and swampy area attracted human settlement. Between 616 and 579 B.C., under the rule of the Tarquins, Belloveso, son of an insubrious Gallic king, made it a very active center, which did not fail to attract the attention of the Romans who, in 222 B.C., invaded the lower Padana plain. Occupied in 196 B.C., Milan took the Latin name of Mediolanum (from medio half and lanum plain, that is to say city located in the middle of the plain) and became an important crossroads of communications between Rome and its Gallic possessions.

After the Roman victory of Clastidium in 222 B.C., the consul Claude Marcel undertook a slow and effective peaceful penetration of the Roman cultural and economic models in Cisalpine Gaul, of which Mediolanum was proclaimed capital. The Gallic Padanian populations were granted the possibility of minting their own money. Moreover, the status of colony allowed Mediolanum to keep its laws, its legal system and the right to trade freely. Several expansion works were undertaken around the original core of the city; the current ring structure of Milan dates from this period. Mediolanum consolidated its position in 286, when the city became capital of the Western Roman Empire. It remained so until 404, when it was replaced by Ravenna

In 313, the emperor Constantine proclaimed the freedom of Christian worship in the whole Empire with the Edict of Milan. Mediolanum converted to Christianity and Saint Ambrose, one of the fathers of the Church and who was to become the patron saint of the city, became bishop of Milan in 374.

Mediolanum was not spared by the barbarian invasions. Between the^5th and the middle of the 6th century AD, the city was coveted by several barbarian populations such as the Huns and the Goths (539). After 150 years of war, the Lombards(Longobardi) won over the other invaders. Between 568 and 774, they established their capital in Pavia; for Milan then began a period of tranquility but also of decadence, especially politically. It is worth mentioning the figure of the Lombard queen Theodolende who, a fervent Catholic, obtained with the help of Pope Gregory the Great the conversion of her court established in Monza. The end of the Lombard kingdom began in 773 when Charlemagne, king of the Franks, undertook a campaign of conquests in Lombardy against King Desire. Throughout the Carolingian Empire, while the Arabs controlled the Mediterranean, Milan pursued an intense commercial activity in the Adriatic, between East and West. Several religious orders, such as the Benedictines and the Cistercians, built important abbeys, cleaning up the Milanese countryside and developing agricultural activity, which is still one of the most important in the country today.

Between 962 and 1266, the political scene was dominated by quarrels between civil and religious power. In the eleventh century, Milan was governed by the bishops, but internal struggles forced them to refocus their power in the religious domain, leaving the field free for the birth of the communes. At the beginning of the 12th century, Milan was already a powerful commune, and its influence was such that it was able to gather around it a large part of the forces hostile to the imperial expansion policy of the Hohenstaufen. Occupied by Frederick I in 1162, it was in 1176, near Legnano, that the troops of the Lombard League, guided by the condottiere Goffredo da Giussano, won the victory over the imperial troops, consecrating the role of leader of Milan in the whole Po plain. Fierce internal disputes were necessary to put the commune in crisis and to prepare the passage to the regime of the seigniory.

Having succeeded in gaining power over the Torriani family, the Viscontis ruled Milan until the mid 15th century. Their rise began with the appointment of Ottone Visconti by Pope Urban IV. With Gian Galeazzo (1351-1402) appointed duke by the emperor, the Duchy of Milan, which united up to 35 cities including Genoa, Bologna, Pisa and Siena, became one of the most prosperous and powerful in Europe. In 1386 the construction of the cathedral, the Duomo, began; the houses of the city were built in stone and the guilds of merchants developed and grew rich.

In 1447, the duke Filippo Maria Visconti having died without an heir, Milan gave itself for a short period a republican constitution, the Ambrosian Republic. It became the prey of a condottiere, Francesco Sforza, who, after marrying the daughter of a Visconti, established a dynasty that would last until 1535. During the reign of Ludovico "il Moro" (1452-1508), the court of the duchy of Milan shone artistically and intellectually. The city was enriched with numerous monuments and welcomed the greatest artists of the time, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Bramante. In 1499, the descent into Italy of the French kings Charles VIII and Louis XII marked the end of this golden era. The French domination continued until 1529. The return of Sforza was short-lived, until 1535.

In 1535, after the death of the last Sforza, the Duchy of Milan was annexed by the Spanish Empire following the numerous battles between France and Italy for control of the territory. This domination lasted for almost two centuries and left a negative mark on the history of the city. High taxes, violence and irresponsible economic management condemned the city to misery and caused the spread of crime. Milan also suffered from famine and epidemics. The population of Milan was reduced by a third in fifty years. The only relief for the Milanese in this period came from the Borromeo family. The Borromeo family had settled in Milan in the 14th century and had begun a flourishing banking business. Saint Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan until 1584, and Frederick Borromeo, a great patron of the arts to whom we owe the creation of the Ambrosian Library and Picture Gallery, were the main representatives of this family.

The war of succession of Spain and the treaty of Utrecht of 1713 between Philip V of Spain and the emperor Charles VI of Austria precipitate the end of the Spanish domination. After a period of Franco-Piedmontese government, between 1733 and 1736, Milan definitively came under Austrian rule. Thanks to the reforming action of Maria Theresa of Austria, the city recovered its aura. The reforms of the empress made Milan one of the most advanced cities in Europe. Milan then had 100,000 inhabitants, who crowded inside the ramparts limited by the Navigli. Despite several works that completely changed the urban structure of the city, Milan still preserved many of its narrow streets, characterized by the presence of many mansions belonging to aristocratic families.

The French Revolution received immediate support in Italy, especially among the bourgeois classes. Napoleon, after defeating the Piedmontese and Austrians in 1796 and conquering Lombardy in a "blitzkrieg" at the age of only 27, created the Cisalpine Republic, which encompassed most of northern Italy, with Milan as its capital. Napoleon's advance did not stop there; after numerous conquests, on May 26, 1805 he proclaimed himself King of Italy and crowned himself with the Iron Crown (the treasure of the Lombard Queen Theodolende, kept in Monza) in the Duomo of Milan. Milan experienced a profound urban renewal. The Foro Bonaparte and the Arco della Pace built in 1814 are the best example. However, the kingdom of Italy was not destined to last long. On May 14, 1814, Napoleon was forced to surrender, and Milan was once again occupied by the Austrians, who established a reactionary government. This brief Napoleonic experience awakened the nationalism of the Italians, especially among the Milanese bourgeoisie, who were imbued with the spirit of the Age of Enlightenment. This was the beginning of the Risorgimento, the revolutionary movement that would lead to the unity of Italy

The Congress of Vienna, in 1815, decided to create the "Lombardo-Veneto" kingdom under Austrian authority. The repressive government of the Austrians provoked the reaction of the Italian independents; Milan became the center of the Italian nationalist revival. In 1848, the "Cinque Giornate di Milano" (the Five Days of Milan) marked a glorious stage for the city in the struggle for independence. On the morning of March 18, liberal bourgeois demonstrated against General Radetzky. The demonstration turned into a popular revolt, which lasted until March 23 and reached its peak with the assault on Porta Tosa (today Porta Vittoria). The Austrians, fearing a Piedmontese and French intervention, abandoned Milan and several Lombard cities. After the Crimean War of 1855, the Piedmont of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy and his Prime Minister Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, and the France of Napoleon III signed the Plombières agreements (1858), which allowed the first Italian Unity War to begin. On June 8, 1859, Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II entered Milan after the bloody battle of Magenta.
From 1861 onwards, after the creation of the new Italian state under the authority of Victor Emmanuel II, the history of Milan was to merge with that of the peninsula. The situation of the Milanese administration did not undergo any significant changes because it remained in the hands of the bourgeois conservatives who launched the industrial development of the city. The Piedmontese cleaned up the historical center, forcing the poorer classes to move to the suburbs. During this period, the publishing activity, one of the strong points of the Milanese economy, took off with the creation of several publishing houses (Hoepli, Rizzoli, Mondadori). In 1856 the Corriere della Sera appeared, which is still the main Italian daily newspaper today. The mechanical, chemical and textile industries (birth of the Pirelli and Alfa industries) made their appearance and the luxury industry (carriages, jewelry, arts and crafts) and the food industry strengthened their presence. In 1883, the first power plant in Europe was built in Milan.

In the 20th century, it was clear that if Rome was the political center of Italy, Milan was the economic center. The powerful Milanese bourgeoisie was involved in an insane real estate development: the city was transformed according to Haussmannian patterns and was surrounded by industrial suburbs. The First World War brought this development to a halt. Italy and Milan were going through a period of great political and social unrest. The CGL (General Confederation of Labor) and the League of Entrepreneurs appeared in 1906. Cars from the Fiat factory in Turin were circulating in large numbers in the city. An international exhibition was organized in the Sempione Park around the Sforza Castle. In this atmosphere of effervescence, the Futurist Movement of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was born in 1908, whose manifesto was also published in Le Figaro. Milan thus became the city symbol of this movement propelled towards the future. Between the wars, the city became one of the most active centers of the veterans. In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded the Fasci di Combattimento in Milan, the forerunner of the Fascist Party, to which most of the veterans belonged. Following the March on Rome in 1922, Milan, like the rest of the country, entered the Mussolini era, an era of contrasts, because it was a source of both pain and progress for the country. The Central Station, the modern buildings of Piazza Affari (the Milan Stock Exchange), the San Siro stadium and the redevelopment of the historic center with the concrete covering of the Navigli were all built during this period. Milan's population quickly reached one million.

Destroyed by war and bombardment, the scene of courageous military and civil resistance (Milan was the coordinating center of the Resistance in northern Italy), Milan emerged from the Second World War a battered city: the La Scala theater was partly destroyed and all the city's green spaces were made available to the inhabitants for the cultivation of livelihoods. By the 1950s, however, thanks to the Fiera trade fair, Milan was once again Italy's most dynamic city. In 1953, Milan hosted the country's first attempt at television broadcasting. The 1970s and 1980s saw the transformation of the Lombardy capital into the creative capital of the peninsula. This change culminated in the city being named "World Capital of Design and Fashion". At the same time, Milan also became a prime target for terrorism. On December 12, 1969, it was hit by the first terrorist attack: a bomb exploded inside the Banca dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, a stone's throw from the Duomo(Strage di Piazza Fontana). The death toll was 16, with 90 injured. However, the Milanese penchant for business continued unabated. The 1980s and 1990s were marked by undisputed financial and economic development, increasing the desire of the city's inhabitants to compete with Rome's centralism as an administrative and political capital. It was during this period that the Lega Lombarda was born, later transformed into the Lega Nord, whose motto was "Roma ladrona" (thieving Rome). In 1992, it was in Milan that a group of Milanese magistrates launched "Operation Clean Hands", exposing a corrupt and degraded political system. The response to the collapse of this system was Silvio Berlusconi's announcement of his entry into politics - la discesa in campo ("the descent into the field") - and the founding of a new party, Forza Italia. This political initiative met with great success in Milan, to the point of guaranteeing an uninterrupted period of center-right governance for almost 18 years. The victory of center-left candidate Giuliano Pisapia in 2011 marked an unprecedented turning point in the city's administration, while at the same time the 2015 Universal Exhibition helped to reinforce Milan's role as a major European metropolis, from an economic, social and cultural point of view. The administrative elections of 2016 and 2021 confirmed Milan's leftward trend, with the victory of Partito Democratico candidate Giuseppe Sala. A municipal leadership that has to cohabit with a regional government that is resolutely right-wing; since 2018, Attilio Fontana, an emeritus member of the Lega Nord party, has headed the Lombardy region. Against all odds, in February 2020, Codogno, a small town in the province of Lodi, becomes the epicenter of the Coronavirus pandemic in Italy and Europe. The European Union's first containment will take place in Lombardy, and the region has been terribly affected by the pandemic.