Place:Treviglio, Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy

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Treviglio (Bergamasque: ) is a town and comune (i.e. municipality) in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Northern Italy. It lies south of the province capital, in the lower territory called "Bassa Bergamasca".

It's also part of the geographic area named "Gera d'Adda", included among the rivers Fosso Bergamasco to the North, Adda to the West and Serio to the East.

With approximately 30,000 inhabitants, the comune is now the second most populous town in the province.

It is rarely called "The tractor town" for the presence of the SAME Deutz-Fahr headquarters or seldom "The town of courtyards" for their preponderant presence in the Old Town.

It is subdivided in five main quartiers: Old town, West zone, North zone, the recent built East zone and the PIP (Industrial Zone). Northward lie four frazioni (subdivisions): Geromina, Castel Cerreto, Battaglie and Cascina Pezzoli; once the village of Castel Rozzone was also a frazione of Treviglio.

The coat of arms is composed of a crenellated tower, which represents the city with its Ghibelline past; flanked by two golden lions rampant, for its free and valiant citizenry and topped by an eagle, symbol of the privileges obtained by the Holy Roman Empire, which is holding a pig aloft, symbol of the achieved prosperity.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The area where Treviglio lies was firstly inhabited by Celtic tribes, in particular Insubres.

During the conquest of the Cisalpine Gaul (Gallia Cisalpina) by the Romans a castrum was built to guard an important trading crossway and the near villages.

Afterward a Roman settlement was founded and grew through trade and local goods manufacture.

After the arrival of the Lombards the territory was included in the Fara Gera d'Adda (Fara which was an administrative division of the Lombard system) and, after the fall of the Kingdom of the Lombards it became part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Treviglio was founded in the Early Middle Ages as a fortified town, unifying three preexisting settlements: Cusarola (Celtic), Pisignano (Roman) and Portoli (Lombard). Thus the original town was divided into three districts, called 'portae' (Latin for "gates"), each headed toward one of the settlements: "Porta Torre" to the village of Cusarola; "Porta Zeduro" (named originally "Zelute") to Portoli and "Porta Filagno" to that of Pisignano.

The first official document found citing the new town dates back to November 964 D.C.

Around the year 1000 Treviglio harbored the inhabitants of Oriano, a commune near Brescia, which had been destroyed in the course of the struggle between Arduin of Ivrea and Henry II who were warring for the Imperial crown. During the wars that had taken place in Northern Italy the city of Treviglio grew harboring refugees in the new fourth district of "Porta Nova", originally called " Porta Oriano".

The Rozzoni family, at that time powerful, tried in vain a coup d'état, and was as a consequence temporarily exiled in its property near Treviglio, "Castel Rozzone" (in Italian "Rozzoni's Castle") that nowadays is a village independent from the city itself.

In 1167 Treviglio joined the first Lombard League, which had the aim of preserving local jurisdiction and droit de régale, a purpose that was achieved with the victory over emperor Frederick I 'Barbarossa', at the Battle of Legnano. Treviglio sent soldiers to help the League winning the decisive battle.↵The Statute, a copy of which dated 1392 is currently housed in the city's museum, describes a government held by sixty Consuls- initially twenty each for everyone of the original ethnic communities, thereafter fifteen for each district - these remaining in office for six months. The leading member of the Council and chief of Treviglio was the Chancellor (Cancelliere), similar to an actual mayor. This statute also required that no noble could be allowed to live within the city walls - and therefore to be elected Consul - so as to prevent their possible involvements in the power strifes of the town and the town involvement in their struggles for power.

In 1395 Treviglio gained formal autonomy from the Empire, which it held as a "Separate Land of the Duchy of Milan", excepting several brief Venetian occupations (1431-1433; 1448–1453 and 1499–1509). These occupations are mentioned in The Betrothed, a renowned Italian novel by Alessandro Manzoni. At the last withdrawal in 1509, the city was burnt down by the departing Venetian troops. The French king Louis XII who witnessed the event, claimed to vindicate it in the subsequent Battle of Agnadello.

On 28 February 1522 General Odet de Foix Viscount of Lautrec, leading the French army through Northern Italy on its way to the South, came to punish the town for the insolence shown by denying supplies to the French troops and resisting them. The chronicles tell of the general refusing the surrender of the city and the appeals of mercy of the parish priest and of the Duke of Milan himself; therefore - so the story - the inhabitants took refuge in the churches and, when the French troops entered the town, a fresco of Our Lady in front of which the inhabitants were praying, appeared to weep. Warned of this portentous event, the General did check the building and its walls to verify the veracity of the miracle and, finally persuaded, deposed helmet and sword at the feet of the fresco and left the city. Helmet and sword are still preserved in the Sanctuary, built with donations of the Treviglio's families only, and in which was transferred the miraculous fresco over which were added, crowns forged with the jewels of the virgins of Treviglio. This episode is celebrated every year with a re-enactment, an historical parade and a novena (nine days of prayers). A popular song about the event is still famous in the town.

After many long years of war, the French sold Treviglio to the Spaniards, albeit the town was formally still under the aegis of the Holy Roman Empire.

During this last domination the town as well as the whole region, knew an initial period of prosperity followed by a gradual decline, aggravated in the 17th century by an epidemic of plague. The Spanish period ended transforming Treviglio in fief and auctioning it off to meet the debts of the Duchy [ of Milan ], but the town people fiercely opposed the measure and, after losing a lawsuit against the Senate of Milan, self-taxed themselves to reclaim the fief and its independence.

After the French Revolution in 1796, Treviglio became part of the Transpadane Republic, the following year of the Cisalpine Republic and, in 1805, of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It was during these years that many of the religious buildings were looted and a detailed official map of the town was drawn.

The local dialect - like almost everywhere in Lombardy - preserves words and sounds, reminiscent of the frequent French occupations

After the Congress of Vienna the town was included in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, then temporarily attached to the Kingdom of Sardinia during the first Italian War of Independence and, finally, the town joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1860.

On 17 December 1915 Benito Mussolini married in civil union Rachele Guidi in Treviglio, after the future Duce had recovered in the local hospital.

With a Presidential Decree of January 8, 1960, Treviglio was declared a City, as promised by King Victor Emanuel II in 1860, due to its historical involvement in the achievement of the Italian Independence.

Survived family names dating back to Treviglio are Bornaghi, Facchetti, Butinone (and variants), Carioli, Gatti (and variants), Manenti and Rozzoni.

Others, like Aresi, Cortesi, Conti, Colombo, Merisi and Monzio Compagnoni; are very widespread, but originate from neighboring villages or others places. For instance, Merisi is from Caravaggio and Aresi from Brignano Gera d'Adda.

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