History of Verona - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Pre-Roman Verona

The origins of Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

are unclear.

According to some theories it was a city of the Euganei
Euganei
The Euganei is a semi-mythical proto-Italic ethnic group that dwelt an area among Adriatic Sea and Rhaetian Alps...

, who were obliged to cede the city to the Cenomani
Cenomani (Cisalpine Gaul)
The Cenomani , was an ancient tribe of the Cisalpine Gauls, who occupied the tract north of the Padus , between the Insubres on the west and the Veneti on the east. Their territory appears to have extended from the river Addua to the Athesis...

circa 550 BC.
Other scholars link its foundation to the presence of the Arusnati
Arusnati
The Arusnati were an ancient people inhabiting the eastern shores of Lacus Benacus , northwest of Verona, at the time of contact with the Romans. The Romans named the territory Pagus Arusnatium which roughly corresponds to the modern Valpolicella district of Italy...

in the area, a people of uncertain origins, perhaps taped to the Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...

s: the name would have meant "Venetian city on the river" in the Etruscan language.
Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

attributed the foundation of Verona to the Raetians instead.

The relationship between Verona and Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

was usually one of friendship or alliance. In the 1st century BC the citizens fought alongside the Romans against the Teutones and Cimbri

Cimbri

The Cimbri were a tribe from Northern Europe, who, together with the Teutones and the Ambrones threatened the Roman Republic in the late 2nd century BC. The Cimbri were probably Germanic, though some believe them to be of Celtic origin...

invaders. The city derived importance from possessing the main ford in the area, situated on the Adige river.

Roman Verona

Verona became a Roman colony in the year 89 BC, receiving the franchise in 59 and became a municipium
Municipium
Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...

in 49 BC. The former ford was replaced by two bridges, one of which, the Pothumius Bridge, also functioned as an aqueduct, as well as a dam for setting naval battles in the Theater. The city also had a forum, not far from the current Piazza delle Erbe (45°26′36"N 10°59′50"E) and, outside the walls, the famous Arena

Verona Arena

The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind....

. Its strategic importance lay in its position at the junction of four main roads: the Via Gallica

Via Gallica

The Via Gallica was an ancient road of northern Italy which connected the Roman municipia of the Pianura Padana. It started from the Via Postumia next to Verona, and connected Brescia , Bergamo and Milan , passing near the Lake Garda.In the first trait of the road in Verona, existed a Christian...

, from Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

to Aquileia

Aquileia

Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...

; the Via Claudia Augusta

Via Claudia Augusta

The Via Claudia Augusta is an ancient Roman road, which linked the valley of the Po River with Rhaetia across the Alps. Since 2007, the Giontech Archeological Site, in Mezzocorona/Kronmetz serves as the Via Claudia Augusta International Research Center, directed by Prof...

, from Modena

Modena

Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....

to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

; the Via Postumia

Via Postumia

The Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the consul Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus.It ran from the coast at Genua through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia and Cremona, just east of the point where it crossed the Po River...

, from Liguria

Liguria

Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

to Illyria

Illyria

In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....

; and the Vicum Veronensis, which connected the city to Ostiglia

Ostiglia

Ostiglia is a comune in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about southeast of Mantua....

.

Due to its leading position in northern Italy, Verona was often involved in civil Roman wars. Famous figures who fought here include Vespasian

Vespasian

Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

and Vitellius

Vitellius

Vitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...

(AD 69); Philip the Arab

Philip the Arab

Philip the Arab , also known as Philip or Philippus Arabs, was Roman Emperor from 244 to 249. He came from Syria, and rose to become a major figure in the Roman Empire. He achieved power after the death of Gordian III, quickly negotiating peace with the Sassanid Empire...

and Decius

Decius

Trajan Decius , was Roman Emperor from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until they were both killed in the Battle of Abrittus.-Early life and rise to power:...

(249); Carinus

Carinus

Carinus , was Roman Emperor 282 to 285. The elder son of emperor Carus, he was appointed Caesar and co-emperor of the western portion of the empire upon his father's accession...

and Sabinus Iulianus

Sabinus Iulianus

Marcus Aurelius Sabinus Iulianus was a Roman usurper against Emperor Carinus or Maximian...

(283); and Constantine the Great, who defeated Ruricius Pompeianus

Ruricius Pompeianus

Ruricius Pompeianus was Praetorian prefect and Commander of cavalry and infantry under Maxentius, Western Roman Emperor. While guarding the Adige and Po Rivers with the ample and well-directed forces of the province of Venetia, Pompeianus was killed by Constantine I's troops during the desperately...

here after a long siege in 312. The city was also the residence of emperors on a frequent basis. In 265 the emperor Gallienus

Gallienus

Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...

, to improve safety, extended the walls to include the Arena.

In the first centuries of the Christian Era, Verona slowly converted to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

; sometimes the beliefs of its citizenry aligned closely with unorthodox theories such as those of Arius

Arius

Arius was a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt of Libyan origins. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead, which emphasized the Father's divinity over the Son , and his opposition to the Athanasian or Trinitarian Christology, made him a controversial figure in the First Council of...

or Fotinus. Under bishop St. Zeno, the orthodox doctrine was definitively imposed. (see Ecclesiastical history of Verona)

Early middle ages

In 403 the king of the Visigoth

Visigoth

The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...

s, Alaric I

Alaric I

Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....

, invaded northern Italy from Dalmatia

Dalmatia

Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

. After setting himself up in Verona, he was defeated by the Roman general Stilicho

Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of Vandal birth. Despised by the Roman population for his Germanic ancestry and Arian beliefs, Stilicho was in 408 executed along with his wife and son...

. In 452 the Hun confederation leader Attila was stopped, after a series of ravages, not far from Verona by an imperial embassy led by Pope Leo I

Pope Leo I

Pope Leo I was pope from September 29, 440 to his death.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy...

.

After the definitive fall of the Western Roman Empire

Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....

in 476, Verona was one of the strongholds of Odoacer

Odoacer

Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...

, whose government was well entrenched in the city. At Verona, Odoacer implemented his last stand against the Ostrogoth

Ostrogoth

The Ostrogoths were a branch of the Goths , a Germanic tribe who developed a vast empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established a Kingdom in Italy....

army sent against him by the Eastern emperor, which was led by Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...

.

With the taking of Verona in 489, the Gothic domination of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

began; Theodoric built his palace in the city. In Germanic legend

Legends about Theodoric the Great

The Gothic King Theodoric the Great was remembered in Germanic legend as Dietrich von Bern . Dietrich figures in a number of surviving works, and it must be assumed that these draw on long-standing oral tradition...

the name of Verona is linked with that of Theodoric. The city remained in the hands of the Goths all through the Gothic War, with the exception of a single day in 541 when an Armenian officer effected an entrance. The Goths were able to regain possession of the city, due to disagreements which arose among the Byzantine generals with respect to booty. In 552 the Byzantine general Valerian vainly endeavoured to gain an entrance, and only the complete overthrow of the Goths brought about the city's surrender.

In 569 it was taken by Alboin, King of the Lombards

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

. Verona became, for all intents and purposes, the second-most important city of his kingdom. Alboin was killed by his own wife at Verona in 572.

The dukes of Treviso often resided there. At Verona in 774, Adalgisus, son of Desiderius, made his last desperate stand against Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

, who had destroyed the Lombard kingdom.

Verona

Verona

was then the ordinary residence of the kings of Italy

Italy

. The government of the city became hereditary in the family of Count Milo, progenitor of the counts of San Bonifacio. From 880 to 951 the two Berengarii resided there: Berengar II

Berengar II of Italy

Berengar of Ivrea , sometimes also referred to as Berengar II of Italy, was Margrave of Ivrea and usurper King of Italy from 950 until his deposition in 961, the last before Italy's incorporation into the Holy Roman Empire...

made the city the seat of a frontier March

March of Verona

The March of Verona and Aquileia was a vast march in northeastern Italy during the Middle Ages, centered on the cities of Verona and Aquileia. Except for Venice, it included the territories of the modern-day regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia as well as Istria and Trentino up to the Adige...

, which replaced the March of Friuli

March of Friuli

The March of Friuli was a Carolingian frontier march against the Slavs and Avars in the ninth and tenth centuries. It was a successor to the Lombard Duchy of Friuli....

. At various times, the March of Verona was under the control of the Duchy of Carinthia

Duchy of Carinthia

The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....

and at other times not. From 951 to 975, both Carinthia and Verona were under the control of the Duchy of Bavaria

Duchy of Bavaria

The Duchy of Bavaria was the only one of the stem duchies from the earliest days of East Francia and the Kingdom of Germany to preserve both its name and most of its territorial extent....

High middle ages

Medieval Verona was dominated by its forty-eight towers. The increasing wealth of the burgher families eclipsed the power of the counts, and in 1100 Verona was organised as a free commune. The San Bonifacio could at most hold the office of podestà

Podestà

Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...

of the city now and then. Verona, at first undecided, was forced by Vicenza

Vicenza

Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...

to join the Veronese League (see also Lombard League

Lombard League

The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1167, which at its apex included most of the cities of northern Italy , including, among others, Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Padua, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Venice, Vercelli, Vicenza, Verona,...

). This, however, gave rise to the factions of Guelphs and Ghibellines

Guelphs and Ghibellines

The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...

in Verona

Verona

. In 1221 the famous Guelph Rambertino Buvalelli

Rambertino Buvalelli

Rambertino di Guido Buvalelli , a Bolognese judge, statesman, diplomat, and poet, was the earliest of the podestà-troubadours of thirteenth-century Lombardy. He served at one time or other as podestà of Brescia, Milan, Parma, Mantua, Genoa, and Verona. Ten of his Occitan poems survive, but none...

was elected podestà but died within months. When Ezzelino III da Romano

Ezzelino III da Romano

Ezzelino III da Romano was an Italian feudal lord in the March of Treviso who was a close ally of the emperor Frederick II and ruled Verona, Vicenza and Padua for almost two decades...

was elected podestà, in 1226, he was able to convert the office into a permanent lordship, and in 1257 he caused the slaughter of 11,000 Padua

Padua

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

ns on the plain of Verona (Campi di Verona). Upon his death the Great Council elected as podestà Mastino I della Scala

Mastino I della Scala

Mastino I della Scala , born Leonardo or Leonardino, was an Italian condottiero, who founded the Scaliger house of Lords of Verona....

, and he converted the "signoria" into a family possession, though leaving the burghers a share in the government. Failing to be re-elected podestà in 1262, he effected a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

, and was acclaimed capitano del popolo, with the command of the communal troops. It was not without long internal discord that he succeeded in establishing this new office, to which was attached the function of confirming the podestà. In 1277, Mastino dello Scala was killed by the faction of the nobles.

The reign of the son of Mastino, Alberto

Alberto I della Scala

Alberto I della Scala was lord of Verona from 1277, a member of the Scaliger family.The son of Jacopino della Scala, he was podestà of Mantua in 1272 and 1275. In 1277, after the assassination of his brother Mastino, inherited the seigniory of Verona.Alberto died in Verona in 1301. His son...

, as capitano (1277–1302) was one incessant war against the counts of San Bonifacio, who were aided by the House of Este. Of his sons, Bartolomeo, Alboino and Can Grande I, only the last shared the government (1308); he was great as warrior, prince, and patron of the arts; he protected Dante

DANTE

Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...

, Petrarch

Petrarch

Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...

, and Giotto. By war or treaty he brought under his control the cities of Padua

Padua

(1328), Treviso

Treviso

Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...

(1308), and Vicenza

Vicenza

Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...

.

Cangrande was succeeded by Mastino II

Mastino II della Scala

Mastino II della Scala was lord of Verona. He was a member of the famous Scaliger family of northern Italy.He was the son of Alboino I della Scala and Beatrice da Correggio. At the death of Cangrande I, he and his brother Alberto II were associated in the rule of Verona. Soon, however, Mastino's...

(1329–51) and Alberto II

Alberto II della Scala

Alberto II della Scala was lord of Verona from 1329 until his death. He was a member of the famous Scaliger family of northern Italy....

, sons of Alboino. Mastino continued his uncle's policy, conquering Brescia

Brescia

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

in 1332 and carrying his power beyond the Po

Po River

The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...

. He purchased Parma

Parma

Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....

(1335) and Lucca

Lucca

Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...

(1339). After the King of France, he was the richest prince of his time. But a powerful league was formed against him in 1337 — Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

, Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, the Visconti

House of Visconti

Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...

, the Este

Este

The House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches; the elder is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf historically rendered in English, Guelf or Guelph...

, and the Gonzaga

House of Gonzaga

The Gonzaga family ruled Mantua in Northern Italy from 1328 to 1708.-History:In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua, and in 1530 Federico II received the title of Duke of Mantua. In 1531, the family acquired the Duchy of Monferrato through marriage...

. After a three years war, the Scaliger dominions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza

Vicenza

Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...

. His son Cangrande II

Cangrande II della Scala

Cangrande II della Scala was Lord of Verona from 1351 until his death.In 1351, after the death of his father Mastino II della Scala, he inherited the lordship of Verona and Vicenza, initially under the regency of his uncle Antonio...

(1351–1359) was a cruel, dissolute, and suspicious tyrant; not trusting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with Brandenburg mercenaries. He was killed by his brother Cansignorio

Cansignorio della Scala

Cansignorio della Scala was Lord of Verona from 1359 until 1375, initially together with his brother Paolo Alboino.-Biography:...

(1359–1375), who beautified the city with palaces, provided it with aqueducts and bridges, and founded the state treasury. He also killed his other brother, Paolo Alboino

Paolo Alboino della Scala

Paolo Alboino della Scala was a lord of Verona of the Scaliger dynasty.In 1351, after the death of his father Mastino II della Scala, he inherited the lordship of Verona and Vicenza, nominally together his brothers Cangrande and Cansignorio although soon Cangrande stripped them of all effective...

. Fratricide seems to have become a family custom, for Antonio (1375–1387), Cansignorio's natural brother, slew his brother Bartolomeo

Bartolomeo II della Scala

Bartolomeo II della Scala was lord of Verona from 1375 until his death, together with his brother Antonio I della Scala.The illegitimate son of Cansignorio della Scala, he obtained the power in Verona after the latter's death by assassinating Cansignorio's brother, Paolo Alboino...

, thereby arousing the indignation of the people, who deserted him when Gian Galeazzo Visconti

Gian Galeazzo Visconti

Gian Galeazzo Visconti , son of Galeazzo II Visconti and Bianca of Savoy, was the first Duke of Milan and ruled the late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance...

of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

made war on him. Having exhausted all his resources and having been defeated at the Battle of Castagnaro

Battle of Castagnaro

The Battle of Castagnaro was fought on March 11, 1387 at Castagnaro between Verona and Padua. It is one of the most famous battles of the Italian condottieri age....

, he fled from Verona at midnight (19 October 1387), thus putting an end to the Scaliger domination, which, however, survived in its monuments.

Antonio's son Can Francesco attempted in vain to recover Verona (1390).

Verona was ruled by the Carraresi of Padua

Padua

from 1402. Guglielmo

Guglielmo della Scala

Guglielmo della Scala was the son of Cangrande II della Scala. He assassinated his father in 1359, but was edged out of power by his uncle Cansignorio....

(1404), natural son of Can Grande II, drove out them with the support of the people, but died ten days after. Verona therefore submitted

Devotion of Verona to Venice

The Devotion of Verona to Venice was a feudal oath of loyalty made by Verona to Venice, via Veronese ambassadors to Venice, pronounced on June 24 1405...

to Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

(1405). The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular risings.

From 1490 to 1516, the city was in the power of the Emperor Maximilian I, who aimed to made it the capital of the renewed German kingdom in northern Italy. In that period Verona also suffered for a plague (1511–1512), who killed 13,000 inhabitants. With the treaty of Brussels

War of the League of Cambrai

The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and by several other names, was a major conflict in the Italian Wars...

(December 1516), Maximilian gave the city to his grandson Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

of Spain, who in turn ceded it to France. The latter finally gave it back to Venice, who started a program of fortifications that made Verona their main stronghold on the mainlaind, its garrison including half of their troops.

The peace led to a period of economic, cultural and artistic splendour for Verona. The city was embellished by a great number of palaces, churches and convents, many designed by architect Michele Sanmicheli. The population rose to the 55,000 of 1626, but another plague in 1630 reduced it again to some 20,000.

18th century

Verona was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, but on Easter Monday – in the Veronese Easters

Veronese Easters

The Veronese Easters were a rebellion during the Italian campaign of 1797, in which inhabitants of Verona and the surrounding areas revolted against the French occupying forces under Antoine Balland, whilst Napoleon Bonaparte was fighting in Austria...

– the populace rose and drove out the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It was then that Napoleon put an end to the Venetian Republic. Verona became Austrian territory when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio on October 12, 1797. The Austrians took control of the city on January 18, 1798.

19th century

It was taken from Austria by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy

Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)

The Kingdom of Italy was a state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional statutes:...

, but was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia.

In 1866, on the anniversary of the defeat of Königgrätz

Battle of Königgrätz

The Battle of Königgrätz , also known as the Battle of Sadowa, Sadová, or Hradec Králové, was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire...

, the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

ns evacuated Verona, their strongest fortress in Venetia, which thus became Italian

Italy

. In 1882 the city was struck by a large flood, which led to the construction of banks that changed the face of the ancient city, sweeping away the mills and the landing places on the river.

20th century

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

Verona was one of the most bombed cities in the area, due to its strategic position and the presence of ministries of the Republic of Salò. In April 1945 the fleeing Germans destroyed all the bridges. Verona was awarded a Gold Medal for Military Value for its support to the partisan war during the conflict.

Pre-Roman Verona

Roman Verona

Early middle ages

High middle ages

18th century

19th century

20th century

See also