IlitcrottY. Milan. the ancient Mediolanum, ap pears first definitely in history in n.c. 222. when it was taken by the consuls Scipio and Marcus Slareellus from the (lank 1t rose to great prom inence at the close of the third century A.1),. when Diocletian made it the capital of Italy. There after Milan was frequently a favorite imperial residenee. it was from Milan that Constantine issued in 313 the famous edict by which Chris tianity was recognized. Milan became the seat of a bishop. and from 374 to 397 this oflive was held by the celebrated Anilm.e (9-v.). lie es tablished a ritual, which in some points varied consideroldy from the Roman, and for a time Milan was the religious metropolis of Northern Italy. and almost entirely independent of Rome. This first era of prosperity was destroyed by the barbarian it:VI:NI:MS; in 539 the city was laid waste by the Cloths. and only in the tenth century did it begin to recover.
During the greater part of the 'Middle Ages the population of Milan was divided into great nobles (rapilanri), petty knights (ralrassores), and the general populave. For a long time the history of the city turns upon conilicts these various hi 1036 the Aribert sought to make himself independent of all eeelesiastieal and temporal control. and for this purpose united with the eapilanri. Ile was however, opposed by the Emperor Conrad IL, who was aided by the ralcassores. The Emperor in 1037 gave his allies the full inheritance of their feudal holdings, for which they had been struggling; Aribert was overthrown, but the sudden death of Conrad in 1039 put au end for a time to the conflict. Henry III. (1039-56) ruled the whole Empire (Italy included) with a firm hand, but during his reign the forces developed which resulted in the great conflict of the Pataria after his death. According to the Anibrosian rules priests were permitted to marry, but Ililde brand (later Pope Gregory VII.), whose influ ence at Rome began about 1043, urged the sup pression of this, and also sought to connect the Church of Milan more closely with that of Rome. He was aided in this attempt by the lower classes of the populace, w110 were known as patarini, i.e. ragamuffins, and were in reality infected with the Manichean heresy. Opposed to this whole movement will; the Archbishop and his party. supported by the Empire, which, under Henry IV. 0038-1106), was also at war with the Papacy. The conflict was violent, and in 1066 the Archbishop Guido himself was assassinated. The struggle terminated with a compromise, by which marriage of priests was forbidden for the future. hut those who were married might retain their wives. The independent position of the archbishops, however, was gone forever, and the way was clear for the establishment of a repub lican commune, especially as a very powerful ar tisan class had gradually developed.
The city was ruled by consuls elected by the three orders, and it rapidly acquired a hegemony over the other Lombard cities. When, however, Frederick Barharossa became Emperor, he pro ceeded to reestablish the old Imperial power in Italy, and in 1153 began active warfare against Milan. Twice the city was compelled to submit, in 1158 and 1162, and the last time it was razed to the ground. '1'lle cities of Northern Italy, which at first had been glad to witness the destruction of a rival, now, however, saw their own danger, and hastened to the assistance of Milan under the leadership of Pope Alexander III. (1159-81). The Lombard League was formed against the Emperor, and in 1176 Frederick was defeated at Legnano, and in 1183 by the Peace of Constance recognized the independence of Milan and the other cities of Lombardy. After these foreign dangers were averted, intestine strife again broke out between the three parties: between the credenza dri eon soli, a council of 400 members, named by the great nobility; the motta, a council of 100, named by the ralrassores: and the errrdcwv'i rli Sant' Imbrogio, a council of 300, named by the popu lace. Wearied by these continuous quarrels, the
citizens began to call in foreigners to rule and mediate, thus giving rise to the office of the podesni. The first one was Itherto Visconti, who was chosen in 118G, and ruled for a year. lie had several successors. In 1226 the Lombard League was renewed to prevent the aggressions of Fred erick 11., who was finally defeated in 12:37 at the battle of Cortenuova.
In the thirteenth century Milan gradually lost its republican liberties. In 1259 the Guelph laa der della Torre headed the citizens in a struggle against the Offibelline nobles. and assumed the lordship of the city. But in 1277 a revolution was effeeted by the flhibel lines under the Archbishop Ottone Visconti, who in turn became the ruler of the city, and in 1295 the power descended to his nephew Matte() Visconti. From that time the Visconti (q.v.) ruled Milan almost continuously until 1447. Under their su premacy was not only Milan, but the w hole of Lombardy: the arts were fostered and prosperity was general. In 1395 the Emperor Wenceslas granted Gian Galeazzo Visconti the title of Duke of Milan. The last of the Visconti, Filippo :Maria (1412-47), was succeeded in 1450 by his ...On-in-law, the celebrated con dottiere Francesco Sforza (q.v.). The Sforzas were the typical princes of the Renaissance. patrons of art and learning, but at the same time guilty of the great est cruelties. _Milan became involved in the many Italian wars of the period, and finally, in 1494, Ludovico Sforza called in the French. From this time on the history of Milan as such has little in terest. Louis XII. of France, as a descendant of the Visconti. claimed Milan, and the city and duchy for a while changed hands repeatedly be tween the French and the Sforzas, the latter being supported by Spain. In 1535 the last of the male line of the Sforzas died, and Milan became a Span ish posse Sion. In 1713 the Peace of Ctrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession, gave Lombardy to Austria. In 1797 Milan be 'came the capital of the Cisalpine Republic, founded by Napoleon, and in 1805 the capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. The Con gress of Vienna in 1815 gave Lombardy hack to Austria, and Milan shared with the rest of the Hapsburg possessions the oppressions of the :Metternich rdgime. On March 18, 1848, the in habitants rose in insurrection, and on March 23d General Radetzky was compelled to evacuate the city, which was occupied by the Sardinian forces. On August 6th, however. Radetzky reentered Milan. The riots of March, 1849, and Feb ruary 6, 1853, were vigorously suppressed by the Austrian commanders. In 1859, after the battle of Magenta, the Austrians evacuated the city, which was handed over to Napoleon, who sur rendered it to Sardinia with the rest of Lom bardy. In May, 1898, it was the scene of serious bread riots.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Schwarz, Mailancls Lage and Bibliography. Schwarz, Mailancls Lage and Recleaning als Handelsstadt (Cologne, 1890) ; Shaw, Municipal Government in Continental Europe (New York, 1895) : Beltrami, een.-:e di storia e d'arte ne//a cittd d-i Milano (Milan, 1891-92) ; and for the history: Sismondi, Histoire des o'pnbligues (hi mourn fige (Paris, 1840) ; Cusani, Storia di Milano (Milan. 1862-67) ; De Castro. Milano e ht republica !dna (ib.. 1880) Bonfadini, Milano ari suoi nionunionti stop-iei (ih- 1883-86) ; id., Le oriqini del roninne di Milano (ib., 1890) : and Holtz mann, Mail-and, ein (lung (lurch die Stadt and ihre Gesehichte (Leipzig. 1899).