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20-632: The name Melatum appeared for the first time in the 4th century; it may be derived from the Greek for black/gloomy/dark because of the presence of woods, or from the Italian for apple (mela): an important fruit from the region. During the fighting between the Torriani and the Visconti families for the supremacy of Milan , Merate (in particular the castle) suffered considerable damage. It recovered during

40-625: The German and Austrian nobility , they were not to be confused, as they are related only through the female line, and as such, were not agnatically part of one same noble House. Their cognatic cousins , the House of Thurn und Taxis were raised to the dignity of Reichsfürst in 1695 by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor , only to be mediatised in 1806 after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire . Capitano del popolo Captain of

60-706: The Guelph faction in Italy. Napoleone , son of Pagano, gained power in Milan in 1265, but was defeated by the Visconti in 1277; he died the following year, imprisoned. His brother Francesco was podestà of Brescia , Alessandria , Bergamo, Lodi and Novara, and was killed in the Battle of Desio (1277), against the Visconti. With that victory, the Visconti acquired power in Milan. In 1302 they were in turn ousted. Corrado Mosca , who had already been signore between 1277 and 1281,

80-582: The Second World War . The population passed to 9,000 inhabitants in 1951, and is 14,000 today. Merate received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree in 1991. Starting from the end 19th century light pollution from Milan disturbed the activities of the Brera astronomical observatory . However, the idea to construct a new observatory outside the City was not realized until the 1920s with

100-506: The communal administration of various Italian city-states, and needed a municipal officeholder able to counter the political power of the nobles (called potentes ), represented usually by the podestà (a title used for chief magistrates and other top administrators in medieval Italian cities). One of the first capitani del popolo was created in Bologna in northern Italy, appointed in 1228. The capitano del popolo exercised control of

120-650: The family seat . In 1552 they obtained the post of hereditary marshal in the County of Gorizia , where their ancestral nobility had been recognized in the person of Valveno della Torre in 1329. A later member of the Torriani, Girolamo, was named Count of Valsassina by Emperor Charles V , and held possessions in Moravia until his death in Venice in 1530. Francesco Torriani was counsellor of Emperor Ferdinand I and baron of

140-476: The podestà , sometimes flanked by two autonomous councils with representatives of local guilds of artisans and craftsmen ( Italian : arti e mestieri ) and the gonfalonieri , leaders of military units connected with city's parishes. In the Republic of Florence , a capitano del popolo existed from 1250 as part of the attempt to free the city from the rule of Frederick II . Such office also existed in

160-428: The 17th century after being decimated by the plague ; finally becoming one of the richest towns of the region, after Lecco . At the beginning of the 16th century an academic institute was constructed: at the end of the 18th century the young writer/poet Alessandro Manzoni studied at this school, and after his death the school took on his name. After the unification of Italy Merate grew as an industrial centre with

180-625: The Canton Ticino, whose main body was the county of Valsassina, with the fortified village of Primaluna in the center. The first notable member was one Martino, nicknamed Il Gigante ("The Giant"), who fought in the Holy Land during the Crusades . His son Jacopo married Berta Visconti , and was captain of Milan . His nephew Raimondo was bishop of Como in 1262–1273 and Patriarch of Aquileia (1273–1299), while another nephew, Salvino,

200-540: The De La Tour di Borgogna, of whom two members moved around the year 1000 in Val Sassina to marry two daughters of Count Tacius. The De La Tour in turn are said to be descendants of Anscario I, count of Oscheret (kingdom of Burgundy) and later marquis d'Ivrea, related to the imperial family of Charlemagne. The Della Torre family had been enfeoffed by the archdiocese of Milan with vast territories reaching as far as

220-549: The Holy Roman Empire: he was ambassador to Venice (1558). Carlo Torriani was governor of Trieste in 1666. Other families took on the name della Torre (or German von Thurn ) without being male descendants of the Milan family (like the countess Alexandrine von Taxis in 1650, changing her family name to Thurn und Taxis , or cardinal Carlo Rezzonico, who in 1758 became Pope Clement XIII ). Although both of these two families had similar names and both later belonged to

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240-502: The acquisition of the villa San Rocco: this used to be a Capuchin monastery before becoming a private villa and then a psychiatric clinic following the First World War . Today Brianza is one of the most densely populated regions of Italy and the light pollution is considerable. Nonetheless, the observatory is still used for research activities (leader in the production of X-ray optics), as well as course- and thesis-work for

260-467: The development of the banking and textile industries. At the end of the 19th century, it became one of the first Italian towns to have electricity, gas and piped drinking water. The interwar period saw considerable development of the mechanical and textile industries. In 1926 the astronomical observatory was constructed, and in the same year the municipality was enlarged, incorporating many neighbouring communities. Industry continued to increase after

280-418: The early stages of the Republic of Genoa , that elected Guglielmo Boccanegra as its first capitano del popolo in 1257. Towards the second half of the 13th century, however, the communal title of capitano del popolo became a breeding ground for despotism and hereditary lordship. By gaining control of the election process for choosing the title-holder, many influential families (including aristocrats that

300-535: The house would descend from the imperial family of Charlemagne. Over the centuries, different branches of the family have acquired numerous titles: barons, counts, marquesses and even dukes and princes. Many members of the Society have also been awarded various titles related to orders of knightly. An ancient family of the Milanese aristocracy from Milano Porta Nuova, according to the tradition of descendant line of

320-606: The people ( Italian : capitano del popolo ) was an administrative title used in Italy during the Middle Ages , established essentially to balance the power and authority of the noble families of the Italian city-states . It was created in the early 13th century when the populares , the increasingly wealthy classes of commoners (merchants, professionals, craftsmen and, in maritime cities, ship-owners) began to acquire roles in

340-509: The students of Milan University . Torriani The House of Della Torre ( Torriani or Thurn ) was an Italian noble family of Swiss descent who dominated Lombardy and much of northern Italy between the 12th and 14th centuries. They owned the Lordship of Milan, before being expelled by the Visconti. They were members of the Guelph party. According to the linealogy of the family,

360-454: Was podestà of Vercelli . Jacopo's son, Pagano, became capitano del popolo of Milan in 1240, holding the position until his death in 1247. His brother Martino (III) imposed his personal power over the city, beginning the Torriani lordship, which lasted some 50 years. He died in 1259 and was succeeded by another brother, Filippo . Torriani possessions included Bergamo , Lodi , Novara and Vercelli. The Torriani were staunch members of

380-596: Was podestà of Como and Senator of Rome . Lodovico della Torre was also Patriarch of Aquileia (1359–65). Salvino della Torre's descendant Eriprando married Eurilla, daughter and heiress of the Count of Valsassina. Made Barons zum Creutz by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1532, the Carinthian branch, called von Thurn und Valsassina , became Imperial counts in 1541, acquiring Bleiburg castle in 1601, still

400-557: Was returned to power, which he held until 1307 when he was succeeded by his son Guido . Having tried to incite the people against Emperor Henry VII , Guido was forced to flee and died in 1312. Florimondo della Torre, son of Corrado Mosca, attempted in vain to regain power in Milan. His son Pagano was bishop of Padua and Patriarch of Aquileia from 1319 to 1332. Another member of the family, Cassono (or Gastone), had been Archbishop of Milan from 1308 to 1316 and patriarch of Aquileia from 1317 to 1318. Paganino, Corrado's youngest son,

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