The History of Milan, Italy

Originally a Celtic settlement, Milan or Mediolanum as it was known, was seized by Rome in 222 B.C. It became the seat of the vicar of Italy and the residence of the emperors of the west in the 4th century A.D. By the Edict of Milan (313), freedom of worship was granted all religious groups in the empire, including the Christians. Saint Ambrose was bishop of Milan from 373 or 374 to 397. The Ambrosian liturgy he developed is still used in the city.
 
Though destroyed by the Goths in 539, the city revived in the 9th century. By the 12th century it was a free commune. It was sacked by Frederick I Barbarossa in 1158 and 1162, but survived and contributed to the Lombard League cities' defeat of Frederick at Legnano in 1176. At the Peace of Constance (1183) the emperor recognized Milanese independence. In spite of internal strife between Guelphs and Ghibellines and struggles with neighboring cities, Milan continued to grow.
 
The Torriani, leaders of the popular party, gained control, and in 1259, Martino della Torre became lord of Milan. The Torriani were replaced by the Visconti, leaders of the aristocratic party, in 1277. Matteo Visconti was made imperial vicar in 1311. Under Gian Galeazzo Visconti, made duke of Milan in 1395 by Emperor Wenceslas, the family reached its greatest strength. When Filippo Mario Visconti died without male issue in 1447, the Ambrosian Republic was proclaimed. It lasted just three years. In 1450 the condottiere Francesco Sforza, who had married an illegitimate daughter of Filippo, succeeded in gaining power. Under the Sforzas, the duchy of Milan became one of the most powerful states in Italy, playing a leading role in the peninsula's politics. The most famous of the Sforzas was Ludovico il Moro (1451–1508). He and his wife, Beatrice d'Este, presided over a brilliant court, to which they drew such distinguished artists as Leonardo da Vinci and Donato Bramante.
 
Others, however, laid claim to the duchy, including Louis XII of France, who seized the city in 1500 and imprisoned Ludovico. Milan changed hands several times, a pawn in the rivalry between France and Spain. After the death of Francesco II Sforza in 1535, Milan came under Spanish domination. Ruled by incompetent Spanish governors, the city went into a long period of decline. At the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) assigned it to Austria. It fell to the troops of Napoleon and was part of Napoleon's puppet Italian republics and kingdom (1797–1814). In 1805, Napoleon was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral.
 
Austrian rule was restored in 1815, but political repression soon became intolerable. In 1848 the people chased the Austrians from the city, but they returned a few months later. Only in 1859 was Milan liberated from foreign rule and incorporated into the kingdom of Sardinia, which in 1861 became the kingdom of Italy.
After World War I, Milan became the center of the Fascist movement. The Fascist party had been founded in the city by Benito Mussolini in 1919. During World War II it was the headquarters of the anti-Fascist underground Committee of National Liberation for Upper Italy. Since World War II, the Communist party has drawn great strength from this economically thriving city.

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