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172-695: The city was a major political centre in the medieval period, being the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from 540 to 553, of the Kingdom of the Lombards from 572 to 774, of the Kingdom of Italy from 774 to 1024 and seat of the Visconti court from 1365 to 1413. Pavia is the capital of the fertile province of Pavia , which is known for a variety of agricultural products, including wine , rice , cereals, and dairy products. Although there are

344-433: A "Land of passage" in his Codex Atlanticus , by virtue of its crucial geographical location. This strategic location would influence the history of Piacenza significantly at several times. Piacenza integrates characteristics of the nearby Ligurian and Piedmontese territories added to a prevalent Lombard influence, favored by communications with the nearby metropolis, which attenuate its Emilian footprint. Piacenza

516-610: A Roman officer. Pavia was the seat of an important Roman mint between 273 and 326. The reign of Romulus Augustulus (r. 475–476), the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire ended at Pavia in 476 CE, and Roman rule thereby ceased in Italy. Romulus Augustulus, while considered the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was actually a usurper of the imperial throne ; his father Flavius Orestes dethroned

688-485: A banquet meant to negotiate a peace between the two rulers. With the establishment of the Ostrogoth kingdom based in northern Italy, Theoderic began his vast program of public building. Pavia was among several cities that Theodoric chose to restore and expand. He began the construction of the vast palace complex that would eventually become the residence of Lombard monarchs several decades later. Theoderic also commissioned

860-544: A bloody, but crushing, Gothic victory. Odoacer fled to his capital at Ravenna , while the larger part of his army under Tufa surrendered to the Goths. Theodoric then sent Tufa and his men against Odoacer, but he changed his allegiance again and returned to Odoacer. In 490, Odoacer was thus able to campaign against Theodoric, take Milan and Cremona and besiege the main Gothic base at Ticinum ( Pavia ). At that point, however,

1032-625: A business supplying electrical materials, the Einstein. The Einsteins lived in the city in the same building ( Palazzo Cornazzani ) where Ugo Foscolo and Ada Negri had lived. The young Albert came to the family several times between 1895 and 1896. During his time in Italy he wrote a short essay with the title "On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field". In 1943 Pavia

1204-546: A campaign to recover Pannonia and the strategically important town of Sirmium , formerly parts of the praetorian prefecture of Italy , which were now occupied by the Gepids . The campaign was successful, but it also led to a brief conflict with imperial troops, where the Goths and their allies were victorious. Domestically, the Acacian schism between the patriarchates of Rome and Constantinople, caused by imperial support for

1376-675: A central position among the barbarian states of the West. As Jordanes states: "...there was no race left in the western realms which Theodoric had not befriended or brought into subjection during his lifetime." This was in part meant as a defensive measure, and in part as a counterbalance to the influence of the Empire. His daughters were wedded to the Visigothic king Alaric II and the Burgundian prince Sigismund , his sister Amalfrida married

1548-743: A close collaborator of William the Conqueror and, after the Norman conquest of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, reorganizer of the English church. Pavia remained the capital of the Italian Kingdom and the centre of royal coronations until the diminution of imperial authority there in the 12th century. In 1004, Holy Roman Emperor Henry II bloodily suppressed a revolt of the citizens of Pavia, who disputed his recent coronation as King of Italy . In

1720-597: A coin from the sixteenth century (that is displayed to the right) declares that by featuring the motto: Placentia floret ("Piacenza flourishes") on one of its sides. Also in the course of that century a new city wall was erected. Piacenza, as part of the Duchy of Milan , was ruled, at alternate times, by the Sforza and by France until 1521, when, under Pope Leo X , it became part of the Papal States . From 1545, following

1892-472: A collection of clay votive offerings donated by Pope Pius XI ) and Roman (some from Pompeii ). The Natural History Museum of the University (Kosmos), housed inside Palazzo Botta Adorno , is one of the oldest in Italy, it was in fact founded by Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1771 and which preserves a naturalistic heritage of high scientific and historical value, including nearly 400,000 finds divided between

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2064-469: A crosier in elephantine ivory carved, painted and gilded made by a Sicilian workshop by the hand of Arab craftsmen and dating back to the end of the 12th century), sculptures and paintings, such as the panel of the Madonna della Misericordia by Lorenzo Fasolo . The history of the municipality of Pavia, from the tenth to the twentieth century, can be told through the amount of documentation collected within

2236-569: A culturally rich period due to the presence of leading scientists and humanists like Ugo Foscolo , Alessandro Volta , Lazzaro Spallanzani , and Camillo Golgi , among others. In 1796, after the Jacobins demolished Regisole (a bronze classical equestrian monument), the inhabitants of Pavia revolted against the French and the revolt was quelled by Napoleon after a furious urban fight. In 1814, it again came under Austrian administration. In 1818

2408-464: A garrison town. Its importance grew with the extension of the Via Aemilia from Ariminum (Rimini) to the river Po (187 BCE), which it crossed at Placentia ( Piacenza ) and there forked, one branch going to Mediolanum ( Milan ) and the other to Ticinum, and thence to Laumellum where it divided once more, one branch going to Vercellae – and thence to Eporedia and Augusta Praetoria – and

2580-570: A legacy of the city's prestigious past, divided into several museums. The Pavia Civic Museums (located, in the Visconti Castle ) are divided into various sections: Archaeological, which preserves one of the richest collections of Roman glass in northern Italy and important artifacts and archeological finds of Lombard period, such as the plutei of Teodota and the collection (the largest in Italy) of Lombard epigraphs, some of which belong to

2752-639: A life of dissipation and excess, which would send him to a premature death. Eventually, a conspiracy started among the Goths to overthrow her. Amalasuntha resolved to move against them, but as a precaution, she also made preparations to flee to Constantinople, and even wrote to Justinian asking for protection. In the event she managed to execute the three leading conspirators, and her position remained relatively secure until, in 533, Athalaric's health began to seriously decline. Amalasuntha then turned for support to her only relative, her cousin Theodahad , while at

2924-600: A method to demonstrate their piety and their wealth by extravagantly decorating these structures which in many cases would become the site of that person's tomb, as in the case of Grimoald (r. 662–671) who built San Ambrogio in Pavia and buried there after his death in 671. Aripert I had the basilica of Santissimo Salvatore built in 657, which became the mausoleum of the kings of the Bavarian dynasty . Perctarit (r. 661–662, 672–688) and his son Cunicpert (r.679–700) built

3096-575: A number of industries located in the suburbs, these tend not to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the town. It is home to the ancient University of Pavia (founded in 1361 and recognized in 2022 by the Times Higher Education among the top 10 in Italy and among the 300 best in the world), which together with the IUSS (Institute for Advanced Studies of Pavia), Ghislieri College , Borromeo College , Nuovo College, Santa Caterina College, and

3268-516: A nunnery and a church at Pavia during their reigns. Lombard churches were sometimes named after those who commissioned their construction, such as San Maria Theodota in Pavia. The monastery of San Michele alla Pusterla located at Pavia was the royal monastery of the Lombard kings. One of the most famous churches built by a Lombard king in Pavia is the church San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro . This famous church

3440-480: A peaceful disposition, immediately sent envoys to announce his ascension to Justinian and to reassure him of Amalasuntha's safety. Justinian immediately reacted by offering his support to the deposed queen, but in early May 535, she was executed. This crime served as a perfect pretext for Justinian, fresh from his forces' victory over the Vandals, to invade the Gothic realm in retaliation. Theodahad tried to prevent

3612-545: A peasant woman with the few ingredients at her disposal (broth, eggs and cheese) to feed the king of France Francis I after the disastrous defeat at the gates of the city. Ostrogothic Kingdom Timeline The Ostrogothic Kingdom , officially the Kingdom of Italy ( Latin : Regnum Italiae ), was a barbarian kingdom established by the Germanic Ostrogoths that controlled Italy and neighbouring areas between 493 and 553. Led by Theodoric

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3784-408: A position recognized by the new Emperor Anastasius in 497. At the same time, he was the king of his own people, who were not Roman citizens. In reality, he acted as an independent ruler, although unlike Odoacer, he meticulously preserved the outward forms of his subordinate position. The administrative machinery of Odoacer's kingdom, in essence that of the former Empire, was more or less retained by

3956-407: A potential rival. Although it is generally dismissed by historians such as Gibbon and Charles Diehl, Bury (Ch. XVIII, pp. 165-167) considers that the story is corroborated by circumstantial evidence. Piacenza Piacenza ( Italian: [pjaˈtʃɛntsa] ; Piacentino : Piaṡëinsa [pi.aˈzəi̯sɐ] ; Latin : Placentia ) is a city and comune (municipality) in

4128-455: A province in the shape of a bunch of grapes , as it was defined by Gianni Brera , there are many fruits that this land offers and which are the origin of various local dishes. The wealth of springs and waterways have made Pavia, and its territory, one of the main Italian centers for the production of rice, it is therefore no coincidence that there are numerous recipes that allow you to discover

4300-553: A red banner with a white cross. This symbol, probably derived from blutfahne, the original flag of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire , had a clear political meaning: to underline Pavia's belonging to the Ghibelline faction. The coat of arms of the municipality also depicts the cross which, starting from the end of the 16th century, began to be represented in an oval shape and within a rich frame, on top of which there

4472-685: A reputation as a place to have a "good time," as witness the Archpoet 's famous comments of 1163. In the following centuries Pavia was an important and active town. Pavia supported the emperor Frederick II against the Lombard League and the Pavese army took part in numerous operations in the service of the emperor and participated in the battle of Cortenuova in 1237. Under the Treaty of Pavia , Emperor Louis IV granted during his stay in Italy

4644-596: A similarly named Piacentine specialty, is a kind of pasta filled with spinaches and ricotta cheese, or filled with calabash. A similar Piacentine dish is the Panzerotti al Forno, which is made with pasta, ricotta cheese, and spinach. Piacentine staple foods include corn (generally cooked as polenta ) and rice (usually cooked as risotto ), both of which are very common across northern Italy. Cheeses, such as Grana Padano , are produced in Piacenza although nearby Parma

4816-742: A staunch Chalcedonian Christian cultivated close ties to Constantinople. Theodoric perceived this as a threat and intended to campaign against him, but the Franks acted first and invaded Burgundy in 523, quickly subduing it. Theodoric could only react by expanding his domains in the Provence north of the river Durance up to the Isère . The peace with the Vandals, secured in 500 with the marriage alliance with Thrasamund, and their common interests as Arian powers against Constantinople, collapsed after Thrasamund's death in 523. His successor Hilderic showed favour to

4988-463: A widow or caused a fire. They could not legally marry people and were not allowed to be assigned to peasants. Slavery would continue in Italy after the Ostrogoths. ^   a:  The exact date and circumstances surrounding Amalasuntha's execution remain a mystery. In his Secret History , Procopius proposes that Empress Theodora might have had a hand in the affair, wishing to get rid of

5160-537: Is a mask with a crown count and often flanked by two angels holding the shield and the letters CO-PP (Comunitas Papie). The seal of the municipality depicts the Regisole , an ancient late antique bronze equestrian statue originally placed inside the Royal Palace and, probably in the 11th century, placed in the cathedral square. The statue was pulled down by the Jacobins in 1796. The Pavia municipality falls in

5332-662: Is little information, but, again in the eighth century, a Jewish community was also present in Pavia: Alcuin of York recalls a religious disputation that took place in the city between 750 and 766 between the Jew Julius of Pavia and the Christian Peter of Pisa. Emperor Lothair I , king of Italy from 822 to 850, paid attention to schools when in 825 he issued his capitulary by means of which he prescribed that students from many towns of north Italy had to attend

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5504-550: Is located at a major crossroads at the intersection of Route E35/A1 between Bologna and Milan , and Route E70/A21 between Brescia and Turin . Piacenza is also at the confluence of the Trebbia , draining the northern Apennine Mountains , and the River Po , draining to the east. Piacenza hosts three universities, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore , Polytechnic University of Milan and University of Parma . The etymology

5676-618: Is located in the cathedral's crypt. The third and largest tomb of the three located in San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro contains the remains of St. Augustine of Hippo . St. Augustine is the early fifth-century Christian writer from Roman North Africa whose works such as On Christian Doctrine revolutionized the way in which the Christian scripture is interpreted and understood. On October 1, 1695, artisans working in San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro rediscovered St. Augustine's remains after lifting up some of

5848-570: Is long-standing, deriving from the Latin "Placentia" tracing an origin from the verb placēre , "to please". The name means "pleasant" or (as James Boswell reported some of the etymologists of his time to have translated it) "comely abode", and it was given as a good omen. Before its settlement by the Romans, the area was populated by other peoples; specifically, just prior to the Roman settlement,

6020-479: Is more famous for its dairy products. The hills surrounding Piacenza are known for their vineyards. The wine produced in the area is qualified with a denominazione di origine controllata called " Colli Piacentini " ("Hills of Piacenza"). The main wines are Gutturnio (red wines, both sparkling and still), Bonarda (a red wine, often sparkling and foamy, made from Croatina grapes), Ortrugo (a dry white wine), and Malvasia (a sweet white wine). Piacenza

6192-566: Is part of the Parco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino (a Nature reserve included by UNESCO in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves ) and preserves two forests ( Strict nature reserve Bosco Siro Negri and Bosco Grande nature reserve ) that they show us the original state of the nature of the Po valley before the arrival of the Romans, before human settlement. In Roman times, Pavia

6364-408: Is the main men's volleyball team and currently plays in serie A1; its palmares entails a championship, a national cup, a national supercup, and two European cups. River Volley is the main women's volleyball team and won the national championship twice. Rugby is relatively popular compared with Italian standards and Piacenza has a number of rugby teams: Piacenza Rugby Club and Rugby Lyons Piacenza are

6536-601: Is the observance of law. It is this which makes life in communities possible, and which separates man from the brutes. We therefore gladly accede to your request that all the privileges which the foresight of antiquity conferred upon the Jewish customs shall be renewed to you..." and "We cannot order a religion, because no one can be forced to believe against his will." It is in his foreign policy rather than domestic affairs that Theodoric appeared and acted as an independent ruler. By means of marriage alliances, he sought to establish

6708-516: The Henotikon , as well as Anastasius' Monophysite beliefs, played into Theodoric's hands, since the clergy and the Roman aristocracy of Italy, headed by Pope Symmachus , vigorously opposed them. Thus, for a time, Theodoric could count on their support. The war between the Franks and Visigoths led to renewed friction between Theodoric and the Emperor, as Clovis successfully portrayed himself as

6880-541: The Alps and into Italy. The forces of Rome and Carthage ran into each other soon thereafter, and the Romans suffered the first of many crushing defeats at the hands of Hannibal, with the consul himself almost losing his life. The bridge was destroyed, but the fortified camp, which at the time was the most forward Roman military outpost in the Po Valley , somehow survived the long Second Punic War , and gradually evolved into

7052-664: The Burgundians and almost evicting the Visigoths from their last holdings in southern Gaul. The position of predominance which the Ostrogothic Kingdom had enjoyed under Theodoric in the West now passed irrevocably to the Franks. This dangerous external climate was exacerbated by the regency's weak domestic position. Amalasuntha was Roman-educated and intended to continue her father's policies of conciliation between Goths and Romans. To that end, she actively courted

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7224-676: The Consolation of Philosophy . Pavia played an important role in the war between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogoths that began in 535. After the Eastern Roman general Belisarius 's victory over the Ostrogothic leader Wittigis in 540 and the loss of most of the Ostrogoth lands in Italy, Pavia was among the last centres of Ostrogothic resistance that continued the war and opposed Eastern Roman rule. After

7396-693: The Electorate of the Palatinate to his brother Duke Rudolph's descendants. Pavia held out against the domination of Milan , finally yielding to the Visconti family, rulers of that city in 1359 after a difficult siege; under the Visconti Pavia became an intellectual and artistic centre, being the seat from 1361 of the University of Pavia founded around the nucleus of the old school of law, which attracted students from many countries. During

7568-465: The Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy , and the capital of the eponymous province . As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more than 102,000 inhabitants. Westernmost major city of the region of Emilia-Romagna, it has strong relations with Lombardy , with which it borders, and in particular with Milan . It was defined by Leonardo da Vinci as

7740-720: The Expedition of the Thousand . In 1858, the geologist Karl Mayer-Eymar named the Piacenzian Age of the Pliocene Epoch based on deposits close to Piacenza. In June 1865, the first railway bridge over the Po River in northern Italy was inaugurated (in southern Italy a railroad bridge had been built across the river in 1839). In 1891, the first Chamber of Workers was created in Piacenza. During World War II ,

7912-620: The Girolamo Cardano University of Pavia, while, probably in 1511, Leonardo da Vinci studied anatomy together with Marcantonio della Torre , professor of anatomy at the university. In 1597, by the will of Philip II of Spain, the Jewish community of Pavia had to abandon the city. During the Franco-Spanish war , Pavia was besieged from 24 July to 14 September 1655 by a large French, Savoyard and Estense army commanded by Thomas Francis, prince of Carignano , but

8084-538: The Insubres , a Celtic population. The Roman city, known as Ticinum , was a municipality and an important military site (a castrum ) under the Roman Empire . It most likely began as a small military camp built by the consul Publius Cornelius Scipio in 218 BCE to guard a wooden bridge he had built over the river Ticinum, on his way to search for Hannibal , who was rumoured to have managed to lead an army over

8256-626: The Istituto per il Diritto allo Studio (EDiSU), belongs to the Pavia Study System. The 15th-century Policlinico San Matteo is one of the most important hospitals in Italy. Pavia is the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Pavia . The city possesses many artistic and cultural treasures, including several important churches and museums , such as the well known Certosa di Pavia . The municipality of Pavia

8428-400: The Mausoleum of Theodoric displays purely Gothic elements, such as its construction not from the usual brick , but of massive slabs of Istrian limestone, or the 300-ton single-piece roof stone. Maintenance, restoration, and in some cases new construction of functioning water systems in many cities outside of Ravenna also occurred in the Ostrogothic Kingdom. An official, the comes formarum

8600-432: The Pavia cathedral from 1497 is also exhibited inside the picture gallery. The university's museum network is very vast, consisting of the University History Museum of the University of Pavia, divided between the Section of Medicine, where anatomical and pathological preparations, surgical instruments are also exhibited (the surgical paraphernalia of Giovanni Alessandro Brambilla ) and life-size anatomical waxes, made by

8772-415: The Ponte Coperto . The humidity of the area is quite high (75–80% is the annual average), and this causes the typical fog, starting mainly during late autumn and winter. Pavia's most famous landmark is the Certosa , or Carthusian monastery, founded in 1396 and located eight kilometres (5.0 miles) north of the city. Among other notable structures are: Pavia possesses a remarkable artistic treasure,

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8944-417: The Visconti Castle , about 80 m (260 ft) above sea level, and then slowly declines. From an altitude of 80 m (260 ft), you pass to 77 m (253 ft) in about 500 m (550 yd; 1,600 ft). Downstream from Piazza Vittoria, where the cardo and decumanus of the Roman city crossed, the slope becomes more pronounced, up to just under 60 m (200 ft) above sea level near

9116-427: The Visigoths intervened, the siege of Ticinum was lifted, and Odoacer was decisively defeated at the river Adda on 11 August 490. Odoacer fled again to Ravenna, while the Senate and many Italian cities declared themselves for Theodoric. The Goths now turned to besiege Ravenna, but since they lacked a fleet and the city could be resupplied by sea, the siege could be endured almost indefinitely, despite privations. It

9288-442: The diocese of Pavia since the tenth century. The Centro per gli studi sulla tradizione manoscritta di autori moderni e contemporanei (Formerly the "Research Center on the Manuscript Tradition of Modern and Contemporary Authors", also known as the "Manuscript Center"), founded by Maria Corti in 1980, is responsible for the conservation and to the study of modern and contemporary archival and bibliographic heritage. The center, among

9460-439: The university (then the only one of all the Duchy of Milan ) to promising young people, but with scarce economic resources. In 1754, by the will of Empress Maria Theresa , the Biblioteca Universitaria was created, the most important in terms of book heritage in the city, which also preserves 1,404 manuscripts, 702 incunabula , 1,153 parchments (from 1103 to 1787), the 3,592 old prints, and 1,287 old geographical maps. In 1887

9632-406: The 12th century, Pavia acquired the status of a self-governing commune . In the political division between Guelphs and Ghibellines that characterized the Italian Middle Ages, Pavia was traditionally Ghibelline, a position that was as much supported by the rivalry with Milan as it was a mark of the defiance of the Emperor that led the Lombard League against the emperor Frederick Barbarossa , who

9804-409: The 15th century, when Elijah ben Shabbetai, personal doctor of Filippo Maria Visconti and professor at the University of Pavia and, above all, Joseph Colon Trabotto , who was a 15th-century rabbi who is considered Italy's foremost Judaic scholar and Talmudist of his era, and in the same university a Hebrew course was activated in 1490. Also in the fifteenth century, by the will of the Dukes of Milan,

9976-411: The 554 invasion by the Franks and Alamanni . In the same year, Justinian promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction which prescribed Italy's new government. Several cities in northern Italy continued to hold out, however, until the early 560s. The war had its roots in the ambition of Justinian to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire , which had been lost to invading barbarian tribes in

10148-399: The Alps into northern Italy defeating the Lombard army commanded by king Desiderius (r. 757–774). Between the autumn of 773 and June of 774 Charlemagne laid siege to Pavia first and then Verona, capturing the seat of Lombard power and quickly crushing any resistance from the northern Lombard fortified cities. Pavia had been the official capital of the Lombards since the 620s, but it was also

10320-430: The Archivio Storico Civico (established in 1895), which also contains collections containing the archives of many aristocratic families from Pavia and of city personalities, such as Gaetano Sacchi, Benedetto Cairoli and Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti . The Archivio di Stato (founded in 1959) also collect funds from noble archives (Beccaria, Bottigella, Belcredi, Malaspina ) and more, such as the Mori collection, which collects

10492-421: The Biblioteca Civica Carlo Bonetta was established, the main seat of the library system of the city which is divided into eight loan and reading points distributed evenly over the entire municipal area. Among the university libraries we should mention the Library of Humanistic Studies, born from the amalgamation of several libraries of the university's humanistic faculties, such as that of archeology (built in 1819),

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10664-438: The Elder, were retained in the new kingdom's top positions. The close cooperation between Theodoric and the Roman elite began to break down in later years, especially after the healing of the ecclesiastical rift between Rome and Constantinople (see below), as leading senators conspired with the Emperor. This resulted in the arrest and execution of the magister officiorum Boethius and his father-in-law, Symmachus, in 524. On

10836-399: The Florentine ceroplast Clemente Susini and the Physics Section which houses the physics cabinet of Alessandro Volta (where hundreds of scientific instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries are exhibited, some belonging to Alessandro Volta). The University's Museum of Archeology was established by Pier Vittorio Aldini in 1819 and houses prehistoric, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan (including

11008-418: The French Empire. Young Piacentini recruits were sent to fight in Russia , Spain , and Germany , while the city was plundered of a great number of artworks that are currently exhibited in many French museums. The Habsburg government of Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (1816–1847), is remembered fondly as one of the best in the history of Piacenza. The duchess drained many lands, built several bridges across

11180-408: The Goths, and Theodoric was named magister militum praesentalis and consul for 484. Barely a year later, Theodoric and Zeno fell out, and again Theodoric's Goths ravaged Thrace . It was then that the thought occurred to Zeno and his advisors to direct Theodoric against another troublesome neighbour of the Empire - the Italian kingdom of Odoacer . In 476, Odoacer , leader of the foederati in

11352-422: The Great , the Ostrogoths killed Odoacer , a Germanic soldier and erstwhile leader of the foederati . Odoacer had previously become the de facto ruler of Italy following his deposition of Romulus Augustulus , the final emperor of the Western Roman Empire , in 476. Under Theodoric, the Ostrogothic kingdom reached its zenith, stretching from modern Southern France in the west to the modern western Serbia in

11524-418: The Holy Roman Emperor had shifted to one between a French party (allied with the Pope) and a party supporting the Emperor and King of Spain Charles V . Thus, during the Valois - Habsburg Italian Wars , Pavia was naturally on the Imperial (and Spanish) side. The defeat and capture of King Francis I of France during the battle ushered in a period of Spanish occupation. In the same years, he studied at

11696-412: The Italian coast still received their trade from North Africa and places on the Eastern Mediterranean. In the Ostrogothic Kingdom chattel slavery was practiced with it primarily being seen in the rural areas. Slaves had a harsh life enjoying little rights or privileges and "could be transferred at will from one estate to another." A slave could be killed by their owner if they had sexual relations with

11868-456: The Library of Science and Technology, where the library also merged of the Botanical Garden (established in 1773), the Law Library (1880), The Science Library, which also houses the volumes of the Medical and Surgical Society of Pavia (founded by Camillo Golgi in 1885), the Area Library Medica Adolfo Ferrata, the Political Science Library (built in 1925), the Economics Library and the Giasone del Maino College Library (born in 2000). Capital of

12040-417: The Middle Ages and the modern age without interruption, until about 1970. Pavia was important as a Military site ( near the city , in 271, the emperor Aurelian defeated the Juthungi ) because of the easy access to water communications (through the rivers Ticino and Po ) up to the Adriatic Sea and because of its defence structures. In 325 Martin of Tours came to Pavia as a child following his father,

12212-475: The Nicaean Christians, and when Amalfrida protested, he had her and her entourage murdered. Theodoric was preparing an expedition against him when he died. Theodoric's relations with his nominal suzerain, the Eastern Roman Emperor, were always strained, for political as well as for religious reasons. Especially during the reign of Anastasius, these led to several collisions, none of which however escalated into general warfare. In 504-505, Theodoric's forces launched

12384-399: The Ostrogothic kingdom was overwhelmingly of those who had lived prior to the Ostrogoths arriving with a minority being Ostrogothic. Little Ostrogothic settlement appears to have happened in Italy south from Rome and Pescara . Picenum and the northern part of Samnium were areas of heavy Ostrogothic settlement while the same was true of places west of Ravenna near Milan and Pavia along with

12556-428: The Ostrogoths. According to the analysis of Jonathan J. Arnold, Theodoric presented himself - and was more or less accepted as - a Roman Emperor. But despite this rhetoric, Italy had undergone significant structural changes in the fifth century, which required that Roman administrative traditions had to be adapted by Theodoric's court. The Senate continued to function normally and was consulted on civil appointments, and

12728-478: The Piacenza region (although also enjoyed in nearby Cremona ) is mostarda di frutta , consisting of preserved fruits in a sugary syrup that is strongly flavored with mustard. Turtlìt ( tortelli dolci in standard Italian), or fruit dumplings, are filled with mostarda di frutta , mashed chestnuts , and other ingredients, and they are served at Easter. Turtlìt are popular in the Ferrara area as well. Turtéi ,

12900-487: The Risorgimento museum, dedicating particular space to the social, economic and cultural life of Pavia between the 18th and 19th centuries, the collection of African objects collected by Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti during his explorations and the numismatic collection, which houses more than 50,000 coins, most of them belonging to Camillo Brambilla, which cover a chronological period between the classical Greek issues and

13072-538: The Roman church, although questions of relative jurisdiction, especially in controversies involving clerics, remained potentially fraught. Jews in Theoderic's kingdom were both disadvantaged and protected as they had been under Roman law, which among other things, provided legal protections for their places of worship. Theodoric's view was clearly expressed in his letters to the Jews of Genoa : "The true mark of civilitas

13244-683: The Trebbia and the Nure and created educational and artistic activities. Austrian troops occupied Piacenza until, in 1860, a plebiscite marked the entrance of the city into the Kingdom of Sardinia . When 37,089 voters out of 37,585 voted for the annexation, Piacenza was declared Primogenita dell'Unità di Italia ("First-born of the Unification of Italy ") by the monarch. The Piacentini enrolled en masse in Giuseppe Garibaldi 's army for

13416-455: The University of Pavia experienced a phase of great development: it began to attract students from both Italy and other European countries and taught teachers of great fame, such as Baldo degli Ubaldi , Lorenzo Valla or Giasone del Maino . The Battle of Pavia (1525) marked a watershed in the city's fortunes, since by that time, the former schism between the supporters of the Pope and those of

13588-825: The Vandal king Thrasamund , while he himself married Audofleda, sister of the Frankish king Clovis I . These policies were not always successful in maintaining peace: Theodoric found himself at war with Clovis when the latter attacked the Visigoth dominions in Gaul in 506. The Franks were rapidly successful, killing Alaric in the Battle of Vouillé and subduing Aquitania by 507. However, starting in 508, Theodoric's generals campaigned in Gaul, and were successful in saving Septimania for

13760-626: The Visconteo Sforzesca Library, established in the second half of the fourteenth century by Gian Galeazzo Visconti in the Visconti Castle , where the precious illuminated manuscripts of the dukes of Milan were kept. In 1499, with the fall of Ludovico il Moro , the king of France Louis XII took most of the manuscripts from the castle and they are now kept in the Bibliothéque Nationale de France in Paris . Of

13932-470: The Visigoths, as well as extending Ostrogothic rule into southern Gaul ( Provence ) at the expense of the Burgundians. There in 510 Theodoric reestablished the defunct praetorian prefecture of Gaul . Now Theodoric had a common border with the Visigothic kingdom, where, after Alaric's death, he also ruled as regent of his infant grandson Amalaric . Family bonds also served little with Sigismund, who as

14104-594: The West, had staged a coup against the rebellious magister militum Orestes , who was seeking to have his son Romulus Augustulus recognized as Western Emperor in place of Emperor Julius Nepos . Orestes had reneged on the promise of land in Italy for Odoacer's troops, a pledge made to ensure their neutrality in his attack on Nepos. After executing Orestes and putting the teenage usurper in internal exile, Odoacer paid nominal allegiance to Nepos (now in Dalmatia) while effectively operating autonomously, having been raised to

14276-574: The area of the ancient city, so that primitive Pavia found itself on an almost isolated and difficult to reach trunk or stump of terrace, almost triangular in shape, which Ticino had to the south, the Calvenza and then the Navigliaccio to the north-west and the Vernavola to the north-east. From an elevation point of view, the city has various heights. The highest point is located in the area of

14448-516: The beginning of Alps. Small amounts of Ostrogothic settlement happened in Dalmatia , west Pannonia and some areas of Tuscia . Villas that existed in the countryside would be abandoned or repurposed. Agriculture also became more diversified with woodland crops and animal husbandry becoming more common. Inland cities during the Ostrogothic period became more cut off from the outside world and became more reliant on local production areas. Cities along

14620-602: The besiegers were unable to conquer the city. The Spanish period ended in 1706, when Pavia was occupied, after a short siege, by the Austrians led by Wirich Philipp von Daun during the War of the Spanish Succession and the city remained Austrian until 1796, when it was occupied by the French army under Napoleon . During this Austrian period the university was greatly supported by Maria Theresa of Austria and oversaw

14792-628: The building of the Certosa , built at the end of the Visconti Park, which connected the Certosa to the castle of Pavia. The church, the last edifice of the complex to be built, was to be the family mausoleum of the Visconti. In 1389, by the will of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, some families of German Jews settled in Pavia, mainly active in financial activities. The Jewish community of Pavia grew in

14964-633: The building of the Roman-styled amphitheatre and bath complex in Pavia; in the seventh century these would be among the few still functioning bath complexes in Europe outside of the Eastern Roman Empire . Near the end of Theoderic's reign the Christian philosopher Boethius was imprisoned in one of Pavia's churches from 522 to 525 before his execution for treason. It was during Boethius's captivity in Pavia that he wrote his seminal work

15136-530: The building of the city. Piacenza must have been walled immediately, as the walls were in place when the Battle of the Trebia was fought around the city in December. There is no evidence either textual or archaeological of a prior settlement at that exact location; however, such a site would have been obliterated by construction. Piacenza was the fifty-third colony to be placed by Rome following its foundation. It

15308-485: The capital implies the residence of the royal court, the presence of the central administrative structure of the kingdom, and the city's pre-eminence over the other urban centres in the military organization of the seasonal wars. The city of Pavia played a key role in the war between the Lombard Kingdom of Pavia and the Franks led by Charlemagne. In 773, Charlemagne king of the Franks declared war and invaded across

15480-460: The capitulation of the Ostrogothic leadership in 540 more than a thousand men remained garrisoned in Pavia and Verona dedicated to opposing Eastern Roman rule. Since 540 Pavia became the permanent capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom , stable site of the court and the royal treasury. The resilience of Ostrogoth strongholds like Pavia against invading forces allowed pockets of Ostrogothic rule to limp along until finally being defeated in 561. Pavia and

15652-494: The champion of the Western Church against the "heretical" Arian Goths, gaining the Emperor's support. This even led to the dispatch of a fleet by Anastasius in 508, which ravaged the coasts of Apulia . With the ascension of Justin I in 518, a more harmonious relationship seemed to be restored. Eutharic , Theodoric's son-in-law and designated successor, was appointed consul for the year 519, while in 522, to celebrate

15824-467: The city always recovered and by the sixth century Procopius was calling it "the principal city in the country of Aemilia". The first Bishop of Piacenza (322–357), San Vittorio, declared Saint Antoninus of Piacenza , a soldier of the Theban Legion (and not to be confused with the sixth-century Antoninus of Piacenza ), the patron saint of Piacenza and had the first basilica constructed to honor

15996-475: The city between 6,000 and 13,000 Piacentini died from famine and plague. The city and its countryside were ravaged by bandits and French soldiers as well. Between 1732 and 1859, Parma and Piacenza were ruled by the House of Bourbon . In the eighteenth century, several edifices that belonged to noble families such as Scotti, Landi , and Fogliani were built in Piacenza. In 1802, Napoleon 's army annexed Piacenza to

16168-471: The city easily accessible from the Adriatic ports, which improved trade and the prospects for timely defense. The Liver of Piacenza , a bronze model of a sheep's liver for the purposes of haruspicy was discovered in 1877 at Gossolengo just to the south of Piacenza. It bears witness to the survival of the disciplina Etrusca well after the Roman conquest. Although sacked and devastated several times,

16340-472: The city on April 30, 1945. At the institutional referendum of 2 June 1946 Pavia assigned 67.1% of the votes to the Republic, while the monarchy obtained only 38.2%. The symbols of Pavia are the coat of arms, the banner and the seal, as reported in the municipal statute. The banner used by the modern city of Pavia faithfully reproduces the one used by the municipality of Pavia at least since the 13th century:

16512-561: The city was heavily bombed by the Allies because of its strategic elements. The important railway and road bridges across the Trebbia and the Po and the railway yards were destroyed. The historic centre of city suffered collateral damage. In 1944, the bridges over the Po became vital for the supply from Austria of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring 's Gothic Line , which protected the withdrawal of Kesselring's troops from Italy. Foremost among these were

16684-558: The collections of zoology, comparative anatomy and paleontology. Then there is the Golgi Museum, located in the same environments in which both Camillo Golgi and his students worked, rooms and laboratories that preserve both the original furnishings and the scientific instruments of the time, in order to allow the visitor to enter inside a 19th-century research center; while the Museum of Electrical Technique, built in 2007, illustrates

16856-407: The command of one of his officers named Odoacer , rebelled and killed Orestes in the city of Pavia in 476. The rioting that took place as part of Odoacer's uprising against Orestes sparked fires that burnt much of Pavia to the point that Odoacer, as the new king of Italy, had to suspend the taxes for the city for five years so that it could finance its recovery. Without his father, Romulus Augustulus

17028-537: The court of Constantinople. The period 477-483 saw a complex three-way struggle among Theodoric the Amal, who had succeeded his father in 474, Theodoric Strabo, and the new Eastern Emperor Zeno . In this conflict, alliances shifted regularly, and large parts of the Balkans were devastated by it. In the end, after Strabo's death in 481, Zeno came to terms with Theodoric. Parts of Moesia and Dacia ripensis were ceded to

17200-425: The creation of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza by Pope Paul III to his son Pier Luigi Farnese , the city was ruled by the House of Farnese . Piacenza was the capital city of the duchy until Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma (1547–1586), moved the capital to Parma. The city underwent some of its most difficult years during the rule of Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma (1622–1646). Out of the population of 30,000 in

17372-522: The dominion of the Huns . After the collapse of the Hunnic empire in 454, large numbers of Ostrogoths were settled by Emperor Marcian in the Roman province of Pannonia as foederati . Unlike most other foederati formations, the Goths were not absorbed into the structure and traditions of the Roman military but retained a strong identity and cohesion of their own. In 460, during the reign of Leo I , because

17544-465: The emperor's representative. Theodoric with his people set out from Moesia in the autumn of 488, passed through Dalmatia and crossed the Julian Alps into Italy in late August 489. The first confrontation with the army of Odoacer was at the river Isonzo (the battle of Isonzo ) on August 28. Odoacer was defeated and withdrew towards Verona , where a month later another battle was fought, resulting in

17716-492: The fall of Ravenna and the apparent reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines. With the fall of Ravenna, the capital of the kingdom was brought to Pavia , which it became the last centres of Ostrogothic resistance that continued the war and opposed Eastern Roman rule. During the second phase (540/541–553), Gothic resistance was reinvigorated under Totila and put down only after a long struggle by Narses , who also repelled

17888-629: The feudal class of the countryside. In 1095, the city was the site of the Council of Piacenza , in which the First Crusade was proclaimed. From 1126, Piacenza was a free commune and an important member of the Lombard League . In this role, it took part in the war against Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor and in the subsequent battle of Legnano (1176). It also successfully fought the neighbouring communes of Cremona , Pavia , and Parma , expanding its territory. Piacenza also captured control of

18060-506: The first steamships began to operate in the Pavia dock and, between 1854 and 1859, the Österreichischer Lloyd organized a regular navigation line, again using steamships, between Pavia, Venice and Trieste . With the Second War of Italian Independence (1859) and the unification of Italy one year later, Pavia passed, together with the rest of Lombardy, to the Kingdom of Italy . In 1894 Albert Einstein 's father moved to Pavia to start

18232-563: The fortified city of Pavia. Paul the Deacon 's History of the Lombards written more than a hundred years after the Siege of Ticinum provides one of the few records of this period: "The city of Ticinum (Pavia) at this time held out bravely, withstanding a siege more than three years, while the army of the Langobards remained close at hand on the western side. Meanwhile, Alboin, after driving out

18404-517: The gold medal for Valour in Battle. There was a prisoner of war (POW) camp located in Piacenza, Veano Camp PG 29. Climate in this area is humid subtropical with no dry season, constantly moist. Summers are hot and sultry. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is " Cfa " ( Humid subtropical climate ). Piacenza boasts a great number of historical palaces, often characterized by splendid gardens. Many inhabitants of Piacenza and

18576-558: The healing of the Acacian schism, Justin allowed both consuls to be appointed by Theodoric. Soon, however, renewed tension would result from Justin's anti-Arian legislation, and tensions grew between the Goths and the Senate, whose members, as Chalcedonians, now shifted their support to the Emperor. The suspicions of Theodoric were confirmed by the interception of compromising letters between leading senators and Constantinople, which led to

18748-523: The history of electrical technology within five sections. Then come the Museum of Chemistry, that of Physics and the Museum of Mineralogy, founded by Lazzaro Spallanzani. Next to the Cathedral , inside the crypt of the ancient cathedral of Santa Maria del Popolo (11th century), is the Diocesan Museum of Pavia , inaugurated in 2023, which collects silverware and liturgical objects (among which

18920-467: The imprisonment and execution of Boethius in 524. Pope John I was sent to Constantinople to mediate on the Arians' behalf, and, although he achieved his mission, on his return he was imprisoned and died shortly after. These events further stirred popular sentiment against the Goths. After the death of Theodoric on 30 August 526, his achievements began to collapse. Since Eutharic had died in 523, Theodoric

19092-416: The inner workings of the Gothic state. Boethius is another prominent figure of the period. Well-educated and also from a distinguished family, he wrote works on mathematics, music and philosophy. His most famous work, Consolatio philosophiae , was written while imprisoned on charges of treason. In Germanic languages, King Theodoric inspired countless legends of questionable veracity. The population of

19264-532: The kingdom successfully and was finally captured when the capital Ravenna fell. The Ostrogoths rallied around a new leader, Totila , and largely managed to reverse the conquest, but were eventually defeated. The last king of the Ostrogothic Kingdom was Teia . The Ostrogoths were the eastern branch of the Goths . They settled and established a powerful state in Dacia , but during the late 4th century, they came under

19436-457: The kingdom's capital, Pavia in the late seventh century also became one of the central locations of the Lombards' efforts to mint their own coinage. The bust of the Lombard king would have been etched on the coins as a symbolic gesture so that those who used the coins, mostly Lombard nobles, would understand that king had the ultimate power and control of wealth in the Kingdom of Pavia. The role of

19608-545: The language has experienced a steady decline during the twentieth century due to the growing standardization of the Italian language in the national educational system. Piacenza Calcio 1919 is the main and most supported football team and played in Serie A for eight seasons. They play at the Stadio Leonardo Garilli . The city's other club, Pro Piacenza 1919 , declared bankruptcy in 2019. Volley Piacenza

19780-469: The laws of the Empire were still recognized as ruling the Roman population, though Goths were ruled under their own traditional laws. Indeed, as a subordinate ruler, Theodoric did not possess the right to issue his own laws ( leges ) in the system of Roman law , but merely edicts ( edicta ), or clarifications on certain details. The continuity in administration is illustrated by the fact that several senior ministers of Odoacer, like Liberius and Cassiodorus

19952-542: The lectures in the school of Pavia. In 924, the Hungarians, led by the deposed Lombard king, Berengar I , besieged but did not conquer the city. With Otto II Pavia become the stable site of the court, first with queen Adelaide of Italy and then with the wife of Otto II Theophanum . During the Ottonian period Pavia enjoyed a period of well-being and development. The ancient Lombard capital distinguished itself from

20124-607: The main residence for the Lombard rulers. Under Lombard rule many monasteries, nunneries, and churches were built at Pavia by the devout Christian Lombard monarchs. Even though the first Lombard kings were Arian Christians, sources from the period such as Paul the Deacon have recorded that the Arian Lombards were very tolerant of their Catholic subjects' faith and that up to the 690s Arian and Catholic cathedrals coexisted in Pavia. Lombard kings, queens, and nobles would engage in building churches, monasteries, and nunneries as

20296-572: The many colonies that had been co-founded by Rome and towns of Latium . The reaction of the region's Gauls was swift; they drove the colonists off the lands. Taking refuge in Mutina , the colonists sent for military assistance. A small force under Lucius Manlius was prevented from reaching the area. The Senate then sent two legions under Gaius Atelius. Collecting Manlius and the colonists, they descended on Piacenza and Cremona and successfully placed castra there of 480 square metres (0.12 acres) to support

20468-687: The minting of the modern period. The Pinacoteca Malaspina (which is part of the Pavia Civic Museums) established by the Marquis Luigi Malaspina di Sannazzaro (Pavia 1754– 1834), houses works by important artists of the Italian and international scene, from the 13th to the 20th century, such as Gentile da Fabriano , Vincenzo Foppa , Giovanni Bellini , Antonello da Messina , Bernardino Luini , Correggio , Paolo Veronese , Guido Reni , Francesco Hayez , Giovanni Segantini and Renato Gottuso . The monumental wooden model of

20640-738: The most important of its kind in Italy, preserves collections of documentary material (manuscripts, typescripts, letters, first editions, libraries, photographs, drawings, furnishings, paintings and other objects) relating to writers, intellectuals, publishers, artists and scientists of the past two centuries. Among the archival collections preserved we remember those of Alberto Arbasino , Riccardo Bacchelli , Romano Bilenchi , Emilio De Marchi , Ennio Flaiano , Alfonso Gatto , Tonino Guerra , Claudio Magris , Luigi Meneghello , Eugenio Montale , Indro Montanelli , Salvatore Quasimodo , Mario Rigoni Stern , Amelia Rosselli , Umberto Saba and Roberto Sanesi. The library tradition of Pavia among its origins from

20812-715: The most important. Piacenza and its province are known for the production of seasoned and salted pork products. The main specialities are pancetta (rolled seasoned pork belly, salted and spiced), coppa (seasoned pork neck, containing less fat than pancetta , matured at least for six months), and salame (chopped pork meat flavoured with spices and wine, and made into sausages ). Bortellina (salted pancakes made with flour, salt, and water or milk) and chisulén ( torta fritta in Standard Italian; made with flour, milk, and animal fats mixed together and then fried in hot strutto , or clarified pork fat) are considered

20984-684: The nearly one thousand manuscripts that made up the library, only one codex remained in Pavia: I Trionfi di Francesco Petrarca kept in the Biblioteca Universitaria. In the second half of the 16th century, three historic libraries arose in the city: that of the Episcopal Seminary and the libraries of the Borromeo and Ghislieri Colleges, founded respectively by Charles Borromeo and Pope Pius V to allow access to

21156-532: The orographic system of the Po Valley formed after the alluvial filling of the wide of the gulf occupied by the Adriatic Sea before the Quaternary . A large part of the historic city center is located on the edge of the river Ticino . The city occupies an area of 62.86 km (24.27 sq mi) west of Lombardy , located along the so-called " Karst spring 's belt", where there is the meeting, in

21328-611: The other cities of the Po Valley for its fundamental function as a crossroads of important trade, both in foodstuffs and in luxury items. Commercial traffic was favored above all by the waterways used by the emperor for his travels: from Ticino the Po was easily reached, a direct axis with the Adriatic Sea and maritime traffic. Furthermore, with the advent of the Ottoni, Milan again lost importance in favor of Pavia, whose pre-eminence

21500-448: The other hand, the army and all military offices remained the exclusive preserve of the Goths. The Goths were settled mostly in northern Italy, and kept themselves largely apart from the Roman population, a tendency reinforced by their different faiths: the Goths were mostly Homoian Christians (' 'Arians") , while the people they ruled over were adherents of Chalcedonian Christianity . Despite this fact, Theoderic enjoyed good relations with

21672-439: The other to Valentia – and thence to Augusta Taurinorum ( Turin ). The town was built on flatted ground with square blocks. The " cardo Maximus " road corresponded to the current Strada Nuova up to the Roman bridge while the " decumanus " road corresponded to corso Cavour-corso Mazzini. Under most of the streets of the historic center there are still the brick ducts of the Roman sewer system which continued to function throughout

21844-819: The papers of Cesare Mori . Also preserved in the archive are the acts of the notaries of Pavia (1256–1907), the maps of the Teresian Cadastre of the Pavia area (18th–19th centuries), and the archives of the university (1341–1897), of the San Matteo Hospital (1063–1900), the Prefecture, the Police Headquarters and the Court. Equally important is the Archivio Storico Diocesano, which houses the documentation of

22016-492: The patronage of Theodoric and Amalasuntha, large-scale restoration of ancient Roman buildings was undertaken, and the tradition of Roman civic architecture continued. In Ravenna, new churches and monumental buildings were erected, several of which survive. The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo , its baptistry , and the Archiepiscopal Chapel follow the typical late Roman architectural and decorative motifs, but

22188-583: The paving stones that compose the cathedral's floor. Liutprand was a very devout Christian and like many of the Lombard kings was zealous about collecting relics of saints. Liutprand paid a great deal to have the relics removed from Cagliari and brought to Pavia so that they would be out of the reach and safe from the Saracens on Sardinia where St. Augustine's remains had been resting. Very little of Liutprand's original church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro consecrated by Pope Zacharias in 743 remains today. Originally

22360-487: The payment of annual sums had ceased, they ravaged Illyricum . Peace was concluded in 461, whereby the young Theodoric Amal , son of Theodemir of the Amals , was sent as a hostage to Constantinople, where he received a Roman education. In previous years, a large number of Goths, first under Aspar and then under Theodoric Strabo , had entered service in the Roman army and were a significant political and military power in

22532-520: The peninsula of Italy did not remain long under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire, for in 568 CE a new people invaded Italy: the Lombards (otherwise called the Longobards). In their invasion of Italy in 568, the Lombards were led by their king Alboin (r. 560–572), who would become the first Lombard king of Italy. Alboin captured much of northern Italy in 568 but his progress was halted in 569 by

22704-420: The perfect coupling of pancetta , coppa , and salame , but they are also considered good with cheeses, particularly Gorgonzola and Robiola . Pisarei e faśö is a mixture of handmade pasta and borlotti beans. This is served with a sauce made of tomato puree, extra virgin olive oil, onion, salt, and pepper. The dish typically is consumed with grated Parmigiano on top. Among the culinary specialties of

22876-426: The period. Scoto's government ended when the Visconti of Milan captured Piacenza, which they would hold until 1447. Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti rewrote Piacenza's statutes and relocated the University of Pavia to the city. Piacenza then became a possession of the House of Sforza until 1499. Chiefly due to the expansion of agriculture in the countryside surrounding Piacenza, the city progressed economically and

23048-477: The place upon where the Lombard Kingdom in Italy ended. Upon entering Pavia in triumph, Charlemagne crowned himself king of the lands of the former Kingdom of Pavia. The Lombard kingdom and its northern territories from then onwards were a sub-kingdom of the Frankish Empire, while the Lombard southern duchy of Benevento persisted for several centuries longer with relative independence and autonomy. There

23220-489: The previous century (the Migration Period ). By the end of the conflict Italy was devastated and considerably depopulated. As a consequence, the victorious Byzantines found themselves unable to resist the invasion of the Lombards in 568, which resulted in the loss of large parts of the Italian peninsula. Because of the kingdom's short history, no fusion of the two peoples and their art was achieved. However, under

23392-399: The previous emperor, Julius Nepos , and raised the young Romulus Augustulus to the imperial throne at Ravenna in 475. Though being the emperor, Romulus Augustulus was simply the mouthpiece for his father Orestes, who was the person who actually exercised power and governed Italy during Romulus Augustulus' short reign. Ten months after Romulus Augustulus's reign began, Orestes's soldiers under

23564-679: The public baths in Spoleto . Some older works were copied in Greek and Gothic (e.g. the Codex Argenteus ), and the literature is solidly in the Greco-Roman tradition. Cassiodorus , hailing from a distinguished background, and himself entrusted with high offices (consul and magister officiorum ) represents the Roman ruling class. Like many others of his background, he served Theodoric and his heirs loyally and well, something expressed in

23736-494: The railway and road bridges at Piacenza, along with supply depots and railway yards. In Operation Mallory Major, July 12–15, allied medium bombers from Corsica flew 300 sorties a day, knocking out 21 bridges east of Piacenza and then continued to the west for a total of 90 by July 20. Fighter-bombers prevented reconstruction and cut roads and rail lines. By August 4, all the cities of northern Italy were isolated and had suffered heavy bombing, especially Piacenza. Transport to Genoa to

23908-413: The rank of patrician by Zeno. Odoacer retained the Roman administrative system, cooperated actively with the Roman Senate , and his rule was efficient and successful. He evicted the Vandals from Sicily in 477, and in 480 he occupied Dalmatia after the murder of Julius Nepos . An agreement was reached between Zeno and Theodoric, stipulating that Theodoric, if victorious, was to rule in Italy as

24080-430: The regency of Galeazzo II and Gian Galeazzo the memory of the capital's role and the Lombard traditions of Pavia jointly entered the "propaganda" of the new masters of Pavia: Galeazzo II moved his court from Milan to Pavia and between 1361 and 1365 Galeazzo II built a large palace ( Visconti castle ) with a major Park ( Visconti Park ), which became the official residence of the dynasty. In 1396 Gian Galeazzo commissioned

24252-448: The region on the right bank of the Po River between the Trebbia River and the Taro River had been occupied by the Ananes or Anamari, a tribe of Cisalpine Gauls . Before then, according to Polybius , "These plains were anciently inhabited by Etruscans " before the Gauls took the entire Po Valley from them. in May 218 BC, Piacenza and Cremona were founded as Roman military colonies . The Romans had planned to construct them after

24424-467: The region, in stone, brick and lime. In Pavia, Ibrāhīm al-Turtuši, was very impressed by the equestrian statue of Regisole , which he places near one of the doors of the Royal palace and by the 300 jurists working inside the palace. Also at the turn of the tenth and eleventh centuries, the city was the birthplace of Liutprand of Cremona , bishop, chronicler and diplomat in the service of Berengar II first and then of Otto I and Otto II and of Lanfranc ,

24596-418: The richest cities in Europe. This is reflected in the construction of many important buildings and in the general revision of the urban plan. Struggles for control were commonplace in the second half of the thirteenth century, similarly to the large majority of Medieval Italian communes. The Scotti family , Pallavicini family and Alberto Scoto  [ it ] (1290–1313) in that order, held power during

24768-449: The roof of its apse was decorated with mosaics, making San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro the first instance of mosaics being used to decorate a Lombard church. It is now a modern church with the only significant link to its antiquity being its round apse. The Lombards built their churches in a very Romanesque style, with the best example of Lombard churches from the period of Lombardic rule being the Basilica of San Michele still intact at Pavia. As

24940-418: The saint in 324. The basilica was restored in 903 and rebuilt in 1101, again in 1562, and is still a church today. The remains of the bishop and the soldier-saint are in urns under the altar. The theme of Antoninus, protector of Piacenza, is well known in art. Piacenza was sacked during the course of the Gothic War (535–554) . After a short period of being reconquered by the Roman emperor Justinian I , it

25112-403: The same time sending ambassadors to Justinian and proposing to cede Italy to him. Justinian indeed sent an able agent of his, Peter of Thessalonica , to carry out the negotiations, but before he had even crossed into Italy, Athalaric had died (on 2 October 534), Amalasuntha had crowned Theodahad as king in an effort to secure his support, and he had deposed and imprisoned her. Theodahad, who was of

25284-409: The soldiers, took possession of everything as far as Tuscany except Rome and Ravenna and some other fortified places which were situated on the shore of the sea." The Siege of Ticinum finally ended with the Lombards capturing the city of Pavia in 572. Pavia's strategic location and the Ostrogoth palaces located within it would make Pavia by the 620s the main capital of the Lombards' Kingdom of Pavia and

25456-422: The south or through Turin to the north was impossible; nevertheless, Kesselring continued to supply his men. On the hills and the Apennine Mountains, partisans were active. On April 25, 1945, a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement broke out and on 29 April, troops of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force entered the city. In 1996, president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro honoured Piacenza with

25628-427: The southeast. Most of the social institutions of the late Western Roman Empire were preserved during his rule. Theodoric called himself Gothorum Romanorumque rex 'King of the Goths and Romans', demonstrating his desire to be a leader for both peoples. Under Justinian I , the Byzantine Empire embarked on a campaign to reconquer Italy in 535. Witiges , who was the Ostrogothic ruler at that time, could not defend

25800-416: The subsoil, between geological layers with different permeability, an aspect that allows the deep waters to resurface on the surface. The fluvial terrace on which Pavia stands appears engraved by two deep furrows due to the erosive action of two postglacial rivers, represented today by the Navigliaccio (originally occupied by the Calvenza) and by the Vernavola. The two valleys tend to converge just behind

25972-417: The successful conclusion of the latest war with the Gauls ending in 219 BC. In the spring of 218 BC, after declaring war on Carthage , the Senate decided to accelerate the foundation and gave the colonists 30 days to appear on the sites to receive their lands. Each colony was to be settled by 6,000 Roman citizens, but the cities were to receive Latin Rights ; that is, they were to have the same legal status as

26144-453: The support of the Senate and the newly ascended Emperor Justinian I , even providing him with bases in Sicily during the Vandalic War . However, these ideas did not find much favour with the Gothic nobles, who in addition resented being ruled by a woman. They protested when she resolved to give her son a Roman education, preferring that Athalaric be raised as a warrior. She was forced to discharge his Roman tutors, but instead Athalaric turned to

26316-441: The surrounding province still use Piacentino, which is a variety of the Emilian dialect the Emilian-Romagnol language . Emilian-Romagnol is a member of a different Romance subfamily ( Gallo-Italic ) than Standard Italian (which is an Italo-Dalmatian language ) and its distinct grammar and phonology make it mutually unintelligible with that language. Although there have been a number of notable poets and writers using Piacentino,

26488-408: The thousand faces of this cereal. such as the Carthusian risotto, according to the legend created by the monks of the Certosa , based on crayfishes , carrots and onions, risotto with eye beans or the one with sausage and bonarda and risotto with common hops (ürtis in pavese dialect). Among the first courses, in addition to rice, the pavese soup also stands out, created, according to tradition, by

26660-533: The tombs of kings or queens. Then there is the Romanesque and Renaissance section which exhibits sculptural, architectural and mosaic. The Romanesque collection is very rich, one of the largest in northern Italy, which also preserves important oriental architectural dishes from the Islamic and Byzantine East that adorned the facades of churches and buildings. Works by Jacopino da Tradate , Giovanni Antonio Amadeo , Cristoforo and Antonio Mantegazza and Annibale Fontana are also exhibited. The Civic Museums also house

26832-466: The trading routes with Genoa , where the first Piacentini bankers had already settled, from the Malaspina counts and the bishop of Bobbio . In the thirteenth century, despite unsuccessful wars against Frederick I, Piacenza managed to gain strongholds on the Lombardy shore of the Po. The preliminaries of the Peace of Constance were signed in 1183 in the Saint Antoninus church. Agriculture and trade flourished in these centuries and Piacenza became one of

27004-399: The victorious Romans restored the city and managed to recover 2,000 of its citizens. In 198 BC, a combined force of Gauls and Ligurians plundered the whole region. As the people had never recovered from being sold into slavery, in 190 BC, they complained to Senate of underpopulation; in response the Senate sent 3,000 new settlers. Construction of the Via Aemilia in the decade of the 180s made

27176-453: The war, sending his envoys to Constantinople, but Justinian was already resolved to reclaim Italy. Only by renouncing his throne in the Empire's favour could Theodahad hope to avert war. The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom was fought from 535 until 554 in Italy , Dalmatia , Sardinia , Sicily and Corsica . It is commonly divided into two phases. The first phase lasted from 535 to 540 and ended with

27348-472: The works on the Naviglio Pavese were completed: the canal, conceived as a waterway between Milan, Pavia and Ticino and as an irrigation canal, contributed to the development of the city, so much so that a few years after its construction, in 1821, Borgo Calvenzano was built behind the Visconti Castle , a long series of arcaded buildings where there were warehouses, taverns, shipping and customs offices, hotels, stables, all in support of inland navigation. In 1820

27520-434: The writings of the period. In his Chronica , used later by Jordanes in his Getica , as well as in the various panegyrics written by him and other prominent Romans of the time for the Gothic kings, Roman literary and historical tradition is put in the service of their Gothic overlords. His privileged position enabled him to compile the Variae Epistolae , a collection of state correspondence, which gives great insight into

27692-406: Was appointed to oversee the kingdom's aqueducts , which were of particular importance to Theodoric. Public bathing culture also continued in earnest under Ostrogothic administration, and there are numerous instances of Theodoric encouraging the practice through the restoration and construction of bathhouses in cities such as Verona and Pavia , and even subsidization of admission fees in the case of

27864-468: Was attempting to reassert long-dormant Imperial influence over Italy. Frederick I celebrated two coronations in Pavia (1155 and 1162) in the basilica of San Michele Maggiore and resieded in a new imperial palace near the royal monastery of St. Salvatore . Several times the Pavia army fought with the emperor against the forces of the Lombard League , participating in the sieges of Tortona , Crema and Milan and in other military operations. The city also had

28036-470: Was called Ticinum . It began to be called Papia , whence Pavia , only since Lombard times, one of the very few Roman municipia in Italy that changed their names during the early Middle Ages . The origin of the modern name is still uncertain today. Dating back to pre-Roman times, the town of Pavia was said by Pliny the Elder to have been founded by the Laevi and Marici , two Ligurian , or Celto-Ligurian, tribes, while Ptolemy attributes it to

28208-433: Was commissioned by king Liutprand (r. 712–744) and it would become the site of his tomb as well as two other famous Christian figures. In building San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro the unit of measurement used by the builders was the length of Liutprand's royal foot. The first important Christian figure interred at San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro was the previously mentioned philosopher Boethius, author of The Consolation of Philosophy , who

28380-430: Was conquered by the Lombards , who made it a duchy seat. After its conquest by Francia in the ninth century, the city began to recover, aided by its location along the Via Francigena that later connected the Holy Roman Empire with Rome . Its population and importance grew further after the year 1000. That period marked a gradual transfer of governing powers from the feudal lords to a new enterprising class, as well to

28552-405: Was not until 492 that Theodoric was able to procure a fleet and capture Ravenna's harbours, thus entirely cutting off communication with the outside world. The effects of this appeared six months later, when, with the mediation of the city's bishop, negotiations started between the two parties. An agreement was reached on 25 February 493, whereby the two should divide Italy between them. A banquet

28724-406: Was occupied by the German army. In September 1944, the US air forces carried out several bombings on the city with the aim of destroying the three bridges over the Ticino, strategic for supplying men. Weapons and provisions the German units engaged along the Gothic line . These operations led to the destruction of the Ponte Coperto and resulted in the deaths of 119 civilians. Allied troops entered

28896-412: Was organised in order to celebrate this treaty. It was at this banquet, on March 15, that Theodoric, after making a toast, killed Odoacer with his own hands. A general massacre of Odoacer's soldiers and supporters followed. Theodoric and his Goths were now masters of Italy. Like Odoacer, Theodoric was ostensibly a patricius and subject of the emperor in Constantinople, acting as his viceroy for Italy,

29068-474: Was powerless. Instead of killing Romulus Augustulus, Odoacer pensioned him off at 6,000 solidi a year before declaring the end of the Western Roman Empire and himself king of the new Kingdom of Italy. Odoacer's reign as king of Italy did not last long, because in 488 the Ostrogothic peoples led by their king Theoderic invaded Italy and waged war against Odoacer. After fighting for 5 years, Theoderic defeated Odoacer and on March 15, 493, assassinated Odoacer at

29240-422: Was sanctioned, among other things, by the minting of the Pavia mint. The importance of the city in those centuries is also highlighted by the account of the Arab geographer Ibrāhīm al-Turtuši, who traveled to central-western Europe between 960 and 965 and visited Verona, Rocca di Garda and Pavia, which he defined the main city of Longobardia, very populous, rich in merchants and entirely built, unlike other centers in

29412-410: Was succeeded by his infant grandson Athalaric , supervised by his mother, Amalasuntha , as regent. The lack of a strong heir caused the network of alliances that surrounded the Ostrogothic state to disintegrate: the Visigothic kingdom regained its autonomy under Amalaric, the relations with the Vandals turned increasingly hostile, and the Franks embarked again on expansion, subduing the Thuringians and

29584-427: Was the first among the Gauls of the Po valley. It had to be supplied by boat after the Battle of Trebbia, when Hannibal controlled the countryside, for which purpose a port (Emporium) was constructed. In 209 BC, Hasdrubal Barca crossed the Alps and laid siege to the city, but he was unable to take it, and he withdrew. In 200 BC, the Gauls sacked and burned the city, selling the inhabitants into slavery. Subsequently,

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