94-785: Insubria is a historical-geographical region which corresponds to the area inhabited in Classical antiquity by the Insubres ; the name can also refer to the Duchy of Milan (1395–1810). For several centuries this name stood for an area stretching approximately between the Adda river in the east and the Sesia river in the west, and between the San Gottardo Pass in the north and the Po river in
188-434: A res publica as long as it continued to use Latin as its official language. Rome acquired imperial character de facto from the 130s BC with the acquisition of Cisalpine Gaul , Illyria , Greece and Hispania , and definitely with the addition of Iudaea , Asia Minor and Gaul during the 1st century BC. At the time of the empire's maximal extension during the reign of Trajan (AD 117), Rome controlled
282-633: A French army under Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it, and it ceased to exist a year later as a result of the Treaty of Campo Formio , when Austria ceded it to the new Cisalpine Republic . After the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna of 1815 restored many other states which he had destroyed, but not the Duchy of Milan. Instead, its former territory became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia , with
376-553: A braised meat dish cut very thin and cooked in wine and fennel seeds , historically obtained by stripping leftover meat. In particular the dish is widespread in the province of Varese ( Lombardy ), in the Alto Milanese area (Lombardy; particularly in the area of the city of Busto Arsizio , where it originates), in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola ( Piedmont ) and in lower Ticino ( Switzerland ). Classical antiquity Classical antiquity , also known as
470-671: A few other lands. Defeated and taken prisoner in Novara in 1500, he was deported to France , to the Castle of Loches , where he died on 27 May 1508. Louis XII remained Duke of Milan until 1512, when the Swiss army expelled the French from Lombardy and placed Maximilian Sforza , son of Ludovico il Moro, on the Milanese throne. Between 1512 and 1515 the Swiss cantons de facto controlled
564-468: A headpiece and helped on the right hand by Peace, who places the Phrygian cap onto Insubria's head. Insubria is led by a putto and has a horn of plenty at her feet. In the 1930s, a review called Insubria was published, whose aim was promoting tourism and culture of the pre-Alpine lakes area. The term fell into oblivion until the 1990s, when Insubria came into favour again because of a series of events,
658-533: A much smaller extension than present-day Lombardy. The government of the Habsburgs of Austria was characterized by significant administrative reforms, which the sovereigns of the Austrian house - inspired by the principles of the so-called enlightened absolutism - also introduced in their Lombard territories: for example, the rearrangement of the land register , the suppression of ecclesiastical censorship and
752-445: A new question for the succession to the throne. In this period, to be precise in 1532, Francesco II Sforza requested and obtained from Pope Clement VII the elevation of Vigevano , a city to which his family had always been deeply linked, to the capital of Vigevanasco , after it had obtained in 1530 the title of city and bishopric according to the same methods. The King Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor claimed
846-720: A niece of the King of Naples, who took the side of the legitimate heir. Ludovico il Moro responded by encouraging King Charles VIII of France to reclaim the Kingdom of Naples, as until 1442 the Neapolitan throne had belonged to Charles ancestors, the Capetian House of Anjou . In 1494 Charles VIII conquered Naples, upsetting the balance between the various Italian states and starting the Italian Wars . In 1495 Charles VIII
940-761: A result of the crisis of the third century . During Late antiquity Christianity became increasingly popular, finally ousting the Roman imperial cult with the Theodosian decrees of 393. Successive invasions of Germanic tribes finalized the weakening of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century, while the Eastern Roman Empire persisted throughout the Middle Ages , in a state called Romania by its citizens, and designated
1034-643: A series of conflicts of the 4th and 3rd centuries, the Samnite Wars , Latin War , and Pyrrhic War . Roman victory in the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars established Rome as a super-regional power by the 2nd century BC, followed by the acquisition of Greece and Asia Minor . This tremendous increase of power was accompanied by economic instability and social unrest, resulting in the Catiline conspiracy ,
SECTION 10
#17327733151931128-474: Is often considered to begin with the earliest recorded Epic Greek poetry of Homer (8th–7th-century BC) and ends with the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. Such a wide span of history and territory covers many disparate cultures and periods. Classical antiquity may also refer to an idealized vision among later people of what was, in Edgar Allan Poe 's words, "the glory that was Greece, and
1222-477: Is to say, a synthesis of environmentalism and requests for the protection of Insubrian cultural identity; it promotes the project of an Insubrian Confederation, based on the Swiss state model. "Domà Nunch" could be translated from Insubric language as "Only Us" or "Only Our", "El Dragh Bloeu" as "The Blue Dragon". Common in the whole Insubria area are bruscitti , originating from Altomilanese , which consist in
1316-561: The Byzantine Empire by later historians. Hellenistic philosophy was succeeded by continued development of Platonism and Epicureanism , with Neoplatonism in due course influencing the theology of the Christian Church Fathers . Many writers have attempted to name a specific date for the symbolic "end" of antiquity, with the most prominent dates being the deposing of the last Western Roman Emperor in 476,
1410-615: The Byzantine Papacy . The Eastern Roman empire's capital city Constantinople remained the only unconquered large urban site of the original Roman empire, as well as being the largest city in Europe. Yet many classical books, sculptures, and technologies survived there along with classical Roman cuisine and scholarly traditions, well into the Middle Ages, when much of it was "rediscovered" by visiting Western crusaders. Indeed,
1504-524: The Catholic Church in particular maintained Latin language, culture, and literacy for centuries; to this day the popes are termed Pontifex Maximus which during the classical period was a title belonging to the emperor, and the ideal of Christendom continued the legacy of a united European civilization even after its political unity had ended. The political idea of an Emperor in the West to match
1598-610: The Cispadane Republic in 1797 to form the Cisalpine Republic , of which Milan became the capital. After the defeat of Napoleon, on the basis of the decisions taken by the Congress of Vienna on 9 June 1815, the Duchy of Milan was not restored but became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia , a constituent land of the Austrian Empire . The kingdom ceased to exist when the remaining portion of it
1692-574: The Emperor of Austria as its king. In 1859, Lombardy was ceded to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia , which became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The fate of the city of Milan was intertwined since the 13th century with that of the Visconti family , who resumed the policy of territorial expansionism inherited from the city's municipality. One of the first Visconti exponents to lead the Lombard city
1786-616: The Gotthard Pass to the gates of Como (today's Canton of Ticino ). The Treaty of Noyon of 1516 confirmed the possession of the Duchy of Milan to the French. Francis of Valois governed the duchy until 1521, when Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor , raised Maximilian's young brother, Francesco II Sforza , to the throne of the duchy. After the decisive French defeat in the Battle of Pavia on 24 February 1525, which left
1880-578: The Habsburg Empire as a result of the Treaty of Baden in 1714 or, better said, of the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797), which marks the end of the first Austrian domination. The word "Insubria" was considered for long a mere synonym of Lombardy , especially in the Ducal age, that is, from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance. From the 14th to the 17th century, among the men of letters at
1974-508: The Milan Ducal Court, the terms "Insubre" and "Insubria" were used to give awareness of unity and a higher national identity to the still vital autonomous communes. "Insubria" thus denoted the core of the then extensive Duchy of Milan, as attested in the writings of Benzo d'Alessandria , Giovanni Simonetta , Thomas Coryat , Bernardino Corio and Andrea Alciato . In the 17th century Gabriele Verri reaffirmed that concept using
SECTION 20
#17327733151932068-578: The Muslim conquests of the 7th century finalized the irreversible loss of all the largest Eastern Roman imperial cities besides the capital itself. The emperor Heraclius in Constantinople , who reigned during this period, conducted his court in Greek, not Latin, though Greek had always been an administrative language of the eastern Roman regions. Eastern-Western associations weakened with the ending of
2162-805: The Ottoman Turks , however, endangered the structure of the Venetian possessions in the Aegean Sea and after 4 years of war the Peace of Lodi was signed in 1454. With this document Francesco Sforza and Alfonso of Aragon were recognized respectively as Duke of Milan and King of Naples, the Republic of Venice extended its dominion up to the Adda and the Holy Italian League against the Turks
2256-607: The Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, resulting the integration of Latins and Sabines. Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the Roman Forum in the mid-8th century BC, though settlements on the Palatine Hill may date back to the 10th century BC. According to legend, the seventh and final king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus . As the son of Tarquinius Priscus and
2350-724: The Social War and the First Triumvirate , and finally the transformation to the Roman Empire during the latter half of the 1st century BC. The precise end of the Republic is disputed by modern historians; Roman citizens of the time did not recognize that the Republic had ceased to exist. The early Julio-Claudian Emperors maintained that the res publica still existed, albeit protected by their extraordinary powers, and would eventually return to its earlier Republican form. The Roman state continued to term itself
2444-615: The Tabula Peutingeriana . The symbol of Insubria (when conceived as the Duchy of Milan) is the Milanese Ducal flag , the Visconti child-swallowing serpent quartered with the Imperial eagle . For further details, see the Duchy of Milan . At present, the meaning of the term Insubria is perceived as more restricted, as it indicates the territory of the cross-boundary cooperation community Regio Insubrica , which
2538-653: The classical era , classical period , classical age , or simply antiquity , is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome known together as the Greco-Roman world , centered on the Mediterranean Basin . It is the period during which ancient Greece and ancient Rome flourished and had major influence throughout much of Europe , North Africa , and West Asia . Conventionally, it
2632-536: The classical orders of architecture. The philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas was derived largely from that of Aristotle , despite the intervening change in religion from Hellenic Polytheism to Christianity . Greek and Roman authorities such as Hippocrates and Galen formed the basis of the practice of medicine even longer than Greek thought prevailed in philosophy. In the French theater , playwrights such as Molière and Racine wrote plays on mythological or classical historical subjects and subjected them to
2726-533: The license to quarter the Visconti's biscione with the imperial eagle in the new ducal flag. The duchy, as defined in the diploma of 1395, included the territory surrounding Milan, between the Adda and Ticino rivers, but the dominions of Gian Galeazzo Visconti extended beyond, including 26 towns and spanned from Piedmont to Veneto and from present-day Canton of Ticino to Umbria . Milan thus became one of
2820-620: The red-figure style , developed by the Andokides Painter in about 530 BC. Greek colonisation refers to the expansion of Archaic Greeks , particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BC , across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea . The Etruscans had established political control in the region by the late 7th-century BC, forming the aristocratic and monarchial elite. The Etruscans apparently lost power in
2914-484: The 18th and 19th centuries. The earliest period of classical antiquity occurs during a time of gradual resurgence of historical sources after the Late Bronze Age collapse . The 8th and 7th centuries BC are still largely protohistorical , with the earliest Greek alphabetic inscriptions appearing during the first half of the 8th century. The legendary poet Homer is usually assumed to have lived during
Insubria - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-566: The 19th century. John Milton and even Arthur Rimbaud received their first poetic educations in Latin. Genres like epic poetry, pastoral verse, and the frequent use of characters and themes from Greek mythology affected Western literature greatly. In architecture, there have been several Greek Revivals , which seem more inspired in retrospect by Roman architecture than Greek. Washington, DC has many large marble buildings with façades made to look like Greek temples , with columns constructed in
3102-932: The 8th or 7th century BC, and his lifetime is often considered as the beginning of classical antiquity. During the same period is the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games , in 776 BC. The Phoenicians originally expanded from ports in Canaan , by the 8th century dominating trade in the Mediterranean . Carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had established strongholds in Sicily , Italy and Sardinia , which created conflicts of interest with Etruria . A stele found in Kition , Cyprus commemorates
3196-653: The Dark Ages). In pottery, the Archaic period sees the development of the Orientalizing style , which signals a shift from the geometric style of the later Dark Ages and the accumulation of influences derived from Egypt, Phoenicia and Syria . Pottery styles associated with the later part of the Archaic age are the black-figure pottery , which originated in Corinth during the 7th-century BC and its successor,
3290-610: The Eastern Roman capital ( first in 674–78 and then in 717–18 ) severed the economic, cultural, and political links that had traditionally united the classical cultures around the Mediterranean, ending antiquity (see Pirenne Thesis ). The original Roman Senate continued to express decrees into the late 6th century, and the last Eastern Roman emperor to use Latin as the language of his court in Constantinople
3384-583: The Emperor in the East continued after the Western Roman Empire's collapse; it was revived by the coronation of Charlemagne in 800; the self-described Holy Roman Empire ruled central Europe until 1806. The Renaissance idea that the classical Roman virtues had been lost as a result of medievalism was especially powerful in European politics of the 18th and 19th centuries. Reverence for Roman republicanism
3478-420: The Forum on the Milanese Language in April 2007 in Nerviano , which reconciled the biggest linguistic associations of the region; the summit Olona: A Broken Valley in March 2008 in Gorla Minore ; the three-day Olona Valley Festival in June 2008; and the rallies against the Pedemontana highway project in November 2009 and February 2010. Domà Nunch draws its inspiration from the principles of eco-nationalism , that
3572-418: The Great in 323 BC. In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Hippias , son of Peisistratos . Cleomenes I , king of Sparta, established a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by Isagoras . The Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC), concluded by the Peace of Callias ended with not only the liberation of Greece, Macedon , Thrace , and Ionia from Persian rule , but also with
3666-470: The Greeks. Fathers had great power over their children, and husbands over their wives. In fact, the word family, familia in Latin, actually referred to those who were subject to the authority of a male head of household. This included non-related members such as slaves and servants. By marriage, both men and women shared property. Divorce was allowed first during the first century BC and could be done by either man or woman. The Roman Empire began to weaken as
3760-422: The Italian-Swiss region of the three pre-Alpine lakes (i.e., Lake Como , Lake Lugano and Lake Maggiore ). From an ethnolinguistic viewpoint, Insubria also comprises the provinces of Novara , Lecco , Milan , and Lodi , that is, those areas in which the Western Lombard or Insubrian variety of Lombard language is spoken and which correspond to the territory of the former Duchy of Milan until its takeover by
3854-553: The Lombard cities of Como , Crema , Lodi and the Valtellina in 1335, Bormio (Lombardy) and Piacenza (Emilia) in 1336, and Brescia and the Val Camonica in 1337. The brothers Luchino and Giovanni Visconti added Bellinzona (present-day Switzerland in 1342, Parma (Emilia) in 1346 and several territories in southwestern Piedmont in 1347: Tortona , Alessandria , Asti , and Mondovì . Bernabò conquered Reggio Emilia in 1371 and Riva del Garda in 1380, and Gian Galeazzo greatly expanded Milan's dominions, first eastwards, with
Insubria - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-402: The Mediterranean by Republic of Genoa to the south. The duchy was at its largest at the beginning of the 15th century, at which time it included almost all of what is now Lombardy and parts of what are now Piedmont , Veneto, Tuscany , and Emilia-Romagna . Under the House of Sforza , Milan experienced a period of great prosperity with the introduction of the silk industry, becoming one of
4042-619: The Milanese declared the so-called Golden Ambrosian Republic , which soon faced revolts and attacks from its neighbors. In 1450 mercenary captain Francesco Sforza , having previously married Filippo Maria Visconti's illegitimate daughter Bianca Maria, conquered the city and restored the duchy, founding the House of Sforza . The Venetian republic had not abandoned its desire to expand into Lombardy and therefore entered into an alliance with Alfonso V of Aragon , King of Naples , and with Emperor Frederick III , against Francesco I Sforza and his allies. The fall of Constantinople , conquered by
4136-598: The Republic of Venice which ceded the entire Apulian coast ( Brindisi , Monopoli , Gallipoli , Polignano , Lecce , Bari and Trani ) in exchange for the withdrawal of imperial claims on Milan, also due to the fact that Charles V did not want to clash with the Venetians, and he knew he didn't have the means to succeed, because the Venetians were too concerned that Milan not fall into the hands of foreigners powers, given that they did not consider themselves "capable of occupying it nor proportionate to be able to hold it". Francesco II Sforza died without heirs in 1535, opening
4230-413: The Senate and had Superbus and the monarchy expelled from Rome in 510 BC. After Superbus' expulsion, the Senate in 509 BC voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a republican government . The classical period of Ancient Greece corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, in particular, from the end of the Athenian tyranny in 510 BC to the death of Alexander
4324-412: The area by the late 6th-century BC, and at this time, the Italic tribes reinvented their government by creating republics , with greater restraints on the ability of individual rulers to exercise power. According to legend, Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas , Romulus and Remus . As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited
4418-401: The closing of the last Platonic Academy in Athens by the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I in 529, and the conquest of much of the Mediterranean by the new Muslim faith from 634 to 718. These Muslim conquests, of Syria (637), Egypt (639), Cyprus (654), North Africa (665), Hispania (718), Southern Gaul (720), Crete (820), and Sicily (827), Malta (870), as well as the sieges of
4512-408: The conquest of the Venetian cities of Verona (1387), Vicenza (1387), Feltre (1388), Belluno (1388) and Padua (briefly, from 1388 to 1390), and later southwards, conquering Lucca , Pisa and Siena in Tuscany in 1399, Perugia in Umbria in 1400, Bologna in Emilia in 1402, and Assisi in Umbria also in 1402. When the last Visconti duke, Filippo Maria , died in 1447 without a male heir,
4606-455: The creation of a new Greek state in 1832. After the capture of Constantinople in 1453, the Russian Czars (a title derived from Caesar) claimed the Byzantine legacy as the champion of Orthodoxy ; Moscow was described as the " Third Rome ", and the Czars ruled as divinely appointed Emperors into the 20th century. Despite the fact that the Western Roman secular authority disappeared entirely in Europe, it still left traces. The Papacy and
4700-494: The cultures of Persia , the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah , Central Asia and Egypt . Significant advances were made in the sciences ( geography , astronomy , mathematics , etc.), notably with the followers of Aristotle ( Aristotelianism ). The Hellenistic period ended with the increase of the Roman Republic to a super-regional power during the 2nd century BC and the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. The Republican period of Ancient Rome began with
4794-422: The development of the silk industry. Following Napoleon Bonaparte 's victorious campaign in northern Italy in 1796, the duchy, entrusted to an interim government junta, was ceded to the French Republic by the Habsburgs with the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. But already in 1796 the French had established the vassal state of the Transpadane Republic on the territories of the Duchy of Milan, which merged with
SECTION 50
#17327733151934888-421: The disappearance of imperial authority in the west. This tendency reached its maximum when Charlemagne was crowned "Roman Emperor" in the year 800, an act which resulted in the formation of the Holy Roman Empire . The notion that an emperor is a monarch who outranks a king dates from this period. In this political ideal, there would always be a Roman Empire, a state the jurisdiction of which extended through
4982-412: The dominance of Athens in the Delian League , which resulted in conflict with Sparta and the Peloponnesian League , resulting in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), ending with a Spartan victory. Greece began the 4th century with Spartan hegemony , but by 395 BC the Spartan rulers dismissed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost its naval supremacy. Athens , Argos , Thebes and Corinth ,
5076-445: The duchy by making war. The latter, claiming it as an imperial fief upon the extinction of the Sforza, obtained control of the duchy and installed his son Philip II there with an imperial diploma signed in Brussels on 11 October 1540 and made public in 1554. Philip's possession of the duchy was finally recognized by King Henry II of France in 1559, with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis . The duchy, having lost all forms of independence,
5170-401: The duchy. Under the reign of King Francis I , the French Crown managed to re-establish its sovereignty over the Milanese duchy. In 1515, after the bloody Battle of Marignano , which saw the defeat of the Swiss army, the French sovereign deposed Maximilian and installed himself on the ducal throne. Despite the defeat, the Swiss managed to retain the territories along the road that leads from
5264-411: The entire Mediterranean as well as Gaul, parts of Germania and Britannia , the Balkans , Dacia , Asia Minor, the Caucasus , and Mesopotamia . Culturally, the Roman Empire was significantly Hellenized , but also incorporated syncretic "eastern" traditions, such as Mithraism , Gnosticism , and most notably Christianity . Classical Rome had vast differences within their family life compared to
5358-465: The entire civilized western world. That model continued to exist in Constantinople for the entirety of the Middle Ages, where the Byzantine Emperor was considered the sovereign of the entire Christian world. The Patriarch of Constantinople was the Empire's highest-ranked cleric, but even he was subordinate to the emperor, who was "God's Vicegerent on Earth". The Greek-speaking Byzantines and their descendants continued to call themselves " Romioi " until
5452-403: The event of the extinction of the Visconti dynasty, the title of Duke of Milan went to Valentina's descendants. Louis XII, claiming to be the legitimate heir of the Viscontis, invaded the Milanese state in 1499, driving out Ludovico il Moro. The former Sforza ruler tried in vain to counter the transalpine troops, even asking the Emperor for help, but only managed to briefly recapture the capital and
5546-431: The first of which was the founding (in 1995) of the above-mentioned "Regio Insubrica", a cross-boundary cooperation community whose aim is to promote the cultural, economic and social elements which draw Italian Switzerland and the border provinces together. The newspaper La Prealpina , followed by others, added a daily page headed "Insubria" reporting local political news. In 1996 the Terra Insubre Cultural Association
5640-528: The five major states of the Italian peninsula in the 15th century. The House of Visconti had been expanding their dominions for nearly a century, under the reigns of Azzone Visconti , Luchino Visconti , Giovanni Visconti , Bernabò Visconti and Gian Galeazzo Visconti: during the rule of Azzone Visconti, the Ossola in Piedmont had been conquered in 1331, followed by Bergamo and Pavia (Lombardy) and Novara (Piedmont) in 1332, Pontremoli (Tuscany) in 1333, Vercelli (Piedmont) and Cremona (Lombardy) in 1334,
5734-441: The following elections in the same year, though he had been originally elected in 1999 among the Greens. The president of the movement in the Insubrian Graubünden was Giancarlo Gruber . Following internal party problems and Nussbaumer's arrest on 22 May 2003, the group disappeared from the political scene. The activities of Domà Nunch opinion group, the promoter of the "El Dragh Bloeu" online review, started in 2005. The movement
SECTION 60
#17327733151935828-411: The following motto, which he placed as a heading in all his works: "Insubres sumus, non latini" ("We are Insubrians, not Latins"). In 1797, following the occupation of the Duchy of Milan by the French, Napoleon I had the Milan mint strike a commemorative medal with the dedication "All'Insubria Libera" ("To Free Insubria") and an allegory of the French Republic, which was represented as a woman wearing
5922-404: The forces of Charles V in a strong position within the Italian peninsula, Francesco II Sforza joined the League of Cognac against Charles: together with him, the Republic of Venice , the Florentine Republic , Pope Clement VII and the Kingdom of France . The Duke was quickly overwhelmed by Charles troops, but managed to maintain control over some cities and strongholds of the duchy. Thanks to
6016-425: The fringes of India . The classical Greek period conventionally ends at the death of Alexander in 323 BC and the fragmentation of his empire, which was at this time divided among the Diadochi . Greece began the Hellenistic period with the increasing power of Macedon and the conquests of Alexander the Great . Greek became the lingua franca far beyond Greece itself, and Hellenistic culture interacted with
6110-451: The grandeur that was Rome". The culture of the ancient Greeks , together with some influences from the ancient Near East , was the basis of art, philosophy, society, and education in the Mediterranean and Near East until the Roman imperial period . The Romans preserved, imitated, and spread this culture throughout Europe, until they were able to compete with it. This Greco-Roman cultural foundation has been immensely influential on
6204-439: The inhabitants of Constantinople continued to refer to themselves as Romans, as did their eventual conquerors in 1453, the Ottomans (see Romaioi and Rûm .) The classical scholarship and culture that was still preserved in Constantinople were brought by refugees fleeing its conquest in 1453 and helped to begin the Renaissance (see Greek scholars in the Renaissance ). Ultimately, it was a slow, complex, and graduated change of
6298-412: The language, politics, law, educational systems, philosophy , science, warfare, literature, historiography, ethics, rhetoric, art and architecture of both the Western , and through it, the modern world. Surviving fragments of classical culture helped produce a revival beginning during the 14th century which later came to be known as the Renaissance , and various neo-classical revivals occurred during
6392-417: The latter two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the Corinthian War , which ended inconclusively in 387 BC. Later, in 371 BC, the Theban generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas won a victory at the Battle of Leuctra . The result of this battle was the end of Spartan supremacy and the establishment of Theban hegemony . Thebes sought to maintain its dominance until it
6486-408: The lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family , which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, it included twenty-six towns and the wide rural area of the middle Padan Plain east of the hills of Montferrat . During much of its existence, it was wedged between Savoy to the west, Republic of Venice to the east, the Swiss Confederacy to the north, and separated from
6580-430: The ordinary income of 1,200,000 gold florins , another 800,000 in extraordinary subsidies. The duchy was officially established on 11 May 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti , the Dominus Generalis of Milan, obtained the title of Duke of Milan by means of a diploma signed in Prague by Wenceslaus of Bohemia . The nomination was ratified and celebrated in Milan on 5 September 1395. Gian Galeazzo Visconti also obtained
6674-424: The overthrow of the Monarchy c. 509 BC and lasted more than 450 years until its subversion through a series of civil wars , into the Principate form of government and the Imperial period. During the half millennium of the Republic, Rome increased from a regional power of the Latium to the dominant force in Italy and beyond. The unification of Italy by the Romans was a gradual process, brought about by
6768-541: The socio-economic structure in European history that resulted in the changeover between classical antiquity and medieval society and no specific date can truly exemplify that. In politics, the late Roman conception of the Empire as a universal state, commanded by one supreme divinely appointed ruler, united with Christianity as a universal religion likewise headed by a supreme patriarch , proved very influential, even after
6862-640: The son-in-law of Servius Tullius , Superbus was of Etruscan birth. It was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the Tarpeian Rock , enraging the people of Rome. The people came to object to his rule when he failed to recognize the rape of Lucretia , a patrician Roman, by his own son. Lucretia's kinsman, Lucius Junius Brutus (ancestor to Marcus Brutus ), summoned
6956-521: The south, thus it was a synonym of the Milan region and the surrounding countryside corresponding with Lombardy in modern Italy. Polybius claims the Insubres founded the city of Milan around 600 BC. They were a Celtic or Ligurian people which dwelt in the 4th–5th century BC in the area of pre-Alpine lakes (the Italian Lakes ) and Milan . The name Insubres is visible in the middle portion of
7050-778: The state, as can be seen in the architecture of the Panthéon , the Arc de Triomphe , and the paintings of Jacques-Louis David . During the revolution, France transitioned from kingdom to republic to dictatorship to Empire (complete with Imperial Eagles) that the Romans had experienced centuries earlier. Classical antiquity is a general term for a long period of cultural history . Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many rather disparate cultures and periods. "Classical antiquity" often refers to an idealized vision of later people, of what was, in Edgar Allan Poe 's words, "the glory that
7144-484: The strict rules of the classical unities derived from Aristotle's Poetics . The desire to dance in a manner allegedly similar to the manner of the ancient Greeks caused Isadora Duncan to create her brand of ballet . Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( Italian : Ducato di Milano ; Lombard : Ducaa de Milan ) was a state in Northern Italy , created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti , then
7238-577: The victory of King Sargon II in 709 BC over the seven kings of the island, marking an important part of the transfer of Cyprus from Tyrian rule to the Neo-Assyrian Empire . The Archaic period followed the Greek Dark Ages , and saw significant advancements in political theory , and the beginnings of democracy , philosophy , theatre , poetry , as well as the revitalization of the written language (which had been lost during
7332-647: The wealthiest states during the Renaissance . From the late 15th century, the Duchy of Milan was contested between the forces of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of France . It was ruled by Habsburg Spain from 1556 and it passed to Habsburg Austria in 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession as a vacant Imperial fief . The duchy remained an Austrian possession until 1796 when
7426-596: Was Greece , the grandeur that was Rome !" During the 18th and 19th centuries AD, reverence for classical antiquity was much greater in Europe and the United States than it is now. Respect for the ancient people of Greece and Rome affected politics , philosophy , sculpture , literature , theatre , education , architecture , and sexuality . Epic poetry in Latin continued to be written and circulated well into
7520-548: Was Ottone Visconti , elected archbishop in 1262 and who defeated the Della Torre family in the Battle of Desio in 1277. In the first half of the following century, his nephews and great-grandsons who came to govern Milan: Matteo I , Galeazzo I , Azzone and the Archbishop Giovanni , expanding the area of Visconti influence over the surrounding regions. An equal policy of enlargement and consolidation
7614-472: Was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. Under the Spanish viceroys from 1535, Milan became one of the contributors to the Spanish king's army. At the time Lombardy had the most developed manufacturing and commercial economy anywhere in the world, making it a valuable tool for the Spanish military: an armory of paramount strategic importance. In addition to resources, Milan also provided soldiers. During
7708-527: Was concluded. The political balance achieved with the Peace of Lodi lasted until the death of Lorenzo de' Medici , ruler of the Florentine Republic , and the incursion of King Charles VIII of France into Italy in 1494, except for some Swiss incursions which resulted in the Peace of Lucerne. Galeazzo Maria , son of Francesco Sforza, due to his government considered by many to be tyrannical,
7802-644: Was constituted in the Ticino Canton, and later in the Graubünden Canton. It was led by Werner Nussbaumer , a physician from Gravesano, former member of the Greens and known for his actions aimed at promoting Cannabis indica for therapeutical purposes. The "Indipendenti Insubrici" had Nussbaumer as their representative in the Gran Consiglio of the Ticino Canton from January 2003 to
7896-718: Was emperor Maurice , who reigned until 602. The overthrow of Maurice by his mutinying Danube army commanded by Phocas resulted in the Slavic invasion of the Balkans and the weakening of Balkan and Greek urban culture (resulting in the flight of Balkan Latin speakers to the mountains, see Origin of the Romanians ), and also provoked the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 in which all the great eastern cities except Constantinople were lost. The resulting turmoil did not end until
7990-717: Was expelled from the Peninsula by a League composed of many Italian states, the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of England , but only three years later, in 1498, the Duke of Orléans, who had become King of France with the name of Louis XII , assert his claims on the Duchy of Milan: one of his ancestors, Louis of Orleans , had in fact married Valentina Visconti , daughter of Duke Gian Galeazzo, in 1389, whose marriage contract established that, in
8084-721: Was finally ended by the increasing power of Macedon in 346 BC. During the reign of Philip II , (359–336 BC), Macedon expanded into the territory of the Paeonians , the Thracians and the Illyrians . Philip's son, Alexander the Great , (356–323 BC) managed to briefly extend Macedonian power not only over the central Greek city-states but also to the Persian Empire , including Egypt and lands as far east as
8178-629: Was murdered in a conspiracy. His son, Gian Galeazzo , governed under the regency of his mother Bona of Savoy , until his uncle, Ludovico il Moro usurped the throne of the duchy. Ludovico il Moro, son of Francesco Sforza, managed to obtain the guardianship of his nephew Gian Galeazzo and confine him to the Visconti Castle of Pavia , where in 1494 he died in such mysterious circumstances that many suspicions gathered around Ludovico himself. Relations between Ludovico and Ferdinand II of Aragon therefore deteriorated: Gian Galeazzo had in fact married
8272-757: Was officially presented in Piazza Insubria, Milan, on 6 February 2006. Domà Nunch has no institutional representatives, but it mainly organizes conferences, rallies and popular fairs; among them the annual Insubrian National Day every 5 September, to celebrate the foundation of the Duchy of Milan ; the Forum on the Environmental Emergencies in Insubria, which took place in March 2007 in Uboldo ;
8366-576: Was officially set up in Varese ; its purposes are the spreading and promotion of the history and natural environment of the Insubrian territory to a vast audience. At present (2006) the association has about 1500 members and two detached branches (Milan and Marcallo con Casone), as well as a quarterly review also named Terra Insubre . In those same years (i.e. 14 July 1998) the University of Insubria
8460-463: Was pursued in the second half of the century by their successors: Matteo II , Bernabò and Gian Galeazzo . After a period marked by tensions between the various members of the powerful family, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, nephew of Bernabò, came to power with a coup in 1385 and gradually unified the vast family domains scattered across Northern Italy . It is said that the territories subject to his dominion earned Gian Galeazzo in one year, in addition to
8554-455: Was set up as the university pole of the towns of Varese and Como . In recent years, some politicians have begun to debate the possibility of institutionally constituting Insubria and/or gaining its political autonomy. However, as of today there exist no political parties striving for that goal, but only some cultural and opinion movements. At the beginning of 2002 the "Movimento degli Indipendenti Insubrici" ("Insubrian Independence Movement")
8648-713: Was set up in 1995 by the Italian provinces of Varese , Como , Verbano-Cusio-Ossola together with the Swiss Canton Ticino : that is to say, the lakes area between Italy and Switzerland where the Italian language is spoken. The Regio Insubrica was recently extended to the territories of the provinces of Novara and Lecco . It is a Euroregion (complying with the Madrid Agreement by the Council of Europe ) which promotes cross-boundary cooperation in
8742-749: Was strong among the Founding Fathers of the United States and the Latin American revolutionaries; the Americans described their new government as a republic (from res publica ) and gave it a Senate and a President (another Latin term), rather than use available English terms like commonwealth or parliament . Similarly in Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, republicanism and Roman martial virtues were promoted by
8836-470: Was then reduced to a regional state subjected to foreign domination. With the Treaty of Baden , which ended the War of the Spanish Succession , the Duchy of Milan was ceded to the Austrian Habsburgs . During the 18th century, the surface area of the duchy - despite its unification in 1745 with the Duchy of Mantua , which however had strong autonomy from Milan - was further reduced, reaching
#192807