Cremona
Cremona
Cremùna (Lombard) | |
---|---|
Comune di Cremona | |
Homobonus | |
Saint day | 13 November |
Website | Official website |
Cremona (
History
Ancient
Celtic origin
Cremona is first mentioned in history as a settlement of the
Roman military outpost
In 218 BC the
Cremona quickly grew into one of the largest towns in northern Italy, as it was on the main road connecting
Destruction
The city's prosperity continued to increase until 69 AD, when it was sacked and destroyed in the Second Battle of Bedriacum by the troops of Vespasian under command of Marcus Antonius Primus, fighting to install him as Emperor against his rival Vitellius. The sacking was described by Tacitus in Histories.[8]
Cremona was rebuilt with the help of the new emperor Vespasian, but it seems to have failed to regain its former prosperity as it disappeared from history.
Re-emergence
In the 6th century, it resurfaced as a military outpost of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire during the Gothic War.
Early Middle Ages
When the Lombards invaded much of Italy in the second half of the 6th century AD, Cremona remained a Byzantine stronghold as part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. The city expanded towards the north-west, with the creation of a great trenched camp outside the walls.
Lombard Possession
In 603 AD, Cremona was conquered by the Lombard King Agilulf and again destroyed. Its territory was divided between the two duchies of Brescia and Bergamo.
However, in 615 AD, Queen Theodelinda, a devout Roman Catholic intent on converting her people, had Cremona rebuilt and re-installed a bishop there.
Holy Roman Vassal
Control of the city fell increasingly to its bishop, who became a Holy Roman Empire vassal after Charlemagne's conquest of Italy. In this way, Cremona increased its power and its prosperity steadily and some of its bishops had important roles between the 10th and 11th centuries. Bishop Liutprand of Cremona was a member of the Imperial court under the Saxony dynasty and Olderic gained strong privileges for his city from emperor Otto III. Its economy was boosted by the creation of a river port out of the former Byzantine fortress.
However, the two bishops Lambert and Ubaldo created discord with the city's people. Emperor Conrad II settled the quarrel by entering Cremona in 1037 together with the young Pope Benedict IX.
Medieval Commune
Under Henry IV, Cremona refused to pay the oppressive taxes requested by the Empire and the bishop. According to a legend, the great gonfaloniere (mayor) Giovanni Baldesio of Cremona faced the emperor himself in a duel. As Henry was knocked from his horse, the city was saved the annual payment of the 3 kg (7 lb) golden ball, which, for that year, was instead given to Berta, Giovanni's girlfriend, as her dowry.
Anti-Empire
The first historical news about a free Cremona is from 1093, as it entered into an anti-Empire alliance led by
After that time, the new commune warred against nearby cities to enlarge its territory. In 1107 Cremona conquered Tortona, but four years later its army was defeated near Bressanoro.
As in many northern Italian cities, the people were divided into two opposing parties, the
Pro-Empire
When Frederick Barbarossa descended into Italy to assert his authority, Cremona sided with him in order to gain his support against Crema, which had rebelled with the help of Milan. The subsequent victory and its loyal imperial stance earned Cremona the right to create a mint for its own coinage in 1154. In 1162, Imperial and Cremonese forces assaulted Milan and destroyed it.
Lombard League
However, in 1167 the city changed sides and joined the Lombard League. Its troops were part of the army that, on 29 May 1176, defeated Barbarossa in the Battle of Legnano. However, the Lombard League did not survive this victory for long. In 1213, at Castelleone, the Cremonese defeated the League of Milan, Lodi, Crema, Novara, Como and Brescia.
In 1232, Cremona allied itself with Emperor Frederick II, who was again trying to reassert the Empire's authority over Northern Italy. In the Battle of Cortenuova, the Cremonese were on the winning side. Thereafter Frederick often held his court in the city.
In the
In 1301 the troubadour Luchetto Gattilusio was podestà of Cremona. During this period Cremona flourished and reached a population of up to 80,000, larger than the 69,000 of 2001.
Seignory Lords
In 1266,
In 1276 the Signoria passed to marquis Cavalcabò Cavalcabò; in 1305 he was succeeded by his son Guglielmo Cavalcabò, who held power until 1310. During this period many edifices were created or restored including the belfry of the Torrazzo, the Romanesque church of San Francis, the cathedral's transepts and the Loggia dei Militi. Moreover, agriculture was boosted with a new network of canals.
After some foreign invasions (notably that of Emperor
Thus
In 1441 the city hosted the marriage of
In 1446, Cremona was encircled by the
Foreign occupations
Republic of Venice
From 1499 to 1509 Cremona was under Venetian control.
The victory of the Italian League at Agnadello gave it back to the Duchy of Milan.
Spain
However, Cremona was assigned to
During Spanish rule, Cremona saw the famine of 1628 and the
Austria
The duchy, after a short-lived French conquest in 1701 during the War of the Spanish Succession, passed to Austria on 10 April 1707.
For later history, see Lombardy
Government
Architecture
Churches
The
Other churches include:
- Sant'Agata
- Sant'Agostino
- San Facio
- San Girolamo
- San Luca
- Santa Lucia
- San Marcellino
- San Michele
- San Pietro al Po
- Santa Rita
- San Sigismondo
Buildings
- The Torrazzo, the third highest brickwork bell tower in Europe
- Loggia dei Militi
- Palazzo Cittanova
- Palazzo Fodri
- Palazzo Comunale
- Teatro Ponchielli
- Museo Berenziano
- Museo della Civiltà Contadina
- Museo Civico Ala Ponzone
- Museo del violino
Economy
The economy of Cremona is deeply linked to the agricultural production of the countryside. Food industries include salted meat, sweets (
" (candied fruit in spicy mustard-flavored syrup, served with meats and cheese). Heavy industries include steel, oil and one electric plant. The river-port is a base for the barges transporting goods along the Po river.Music
Cremona has a distinguished musical history. The 12th-century cathedral was a focus of organized musical activity in the region in the
Beginning in the 16th century, Cremona became renowned as a centre of musical instrument manufacture, with the violins of the
Cremona had a band tradition linked to the Guardia nazionale founded under Napoleonic influence. In 1864, native son Amilcare Ponchielli became its leader and created what might be considered one of the greatest bands of all time. In his role as capobanda, Ponchielli founded a band school and a tradition that waned only at the onset of World War I.
Transport
Cremona railway station, opened in 1863, is a terminus of six railway lines, all of which are regional (semi-fast) or local services.
Main destinations are
.Sport
Cremona's favourite sport is
Cremona, by the 1980s, had built a strong basketball tradition, now brought on by
Cremona has also a
Twin towns — sister cities
Cremona is
- Alaquàs, Spain, since 2004
- Krasnoyarsk, Russia, since 2006
- Füssen, Germany, since 2018
Notable people
Notable people born in or associated with Cremona include:
- Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BC – AD 9), Roman general and politician
- Marcus Furius Bibaculus (103 BC – ? BC), a Roman poet.[14]
- Liutprand of Cremona (c. 920 – 972), bishop of Cremona, historian, and author.[15]
- clothworkers
- Gerard of Cremona (ca.1114 – 1187), translator of scientific books from Arabic into Latin.[16]
- Sicard of Cremona (1155–1215), prelate, historian and writer
- Bernardino Ricca (1450-?), painter[17]
- Filippo de Lurano (ca.1475 – after 1520), an Italian composer of the Renaissance.
- Marco Girolamo Vida (ca.1489 – 1566), scholar, Latin poet and bishop.[18]
- Altobello Melone (ca.1490 – pre-1543) an Italian painter of the Renaissance.
- Francesco and Giuseppe Dattaro (ca.1495 – 1576) & (ca.1540 – 1616), father and son team of architects
- Girolamo del Prato (16th C.), sculptor and craftsman
- Gianello della Torre (ca.1500 — 1585) Italo-Spanish clockmaker, engineer and mathematician.
- Giulio Campi (1500–1572), painter.[19]
- Andrea Amati (1505–1577), luthier.[20]
- Bernardino Campi (1522–1592), painter.[21]
- Costanzo Porta (ca.1528 – 1601), an Italian composer of the Renaissance
- Sofonisba Anguissola (ca.1532 – 1625), painter of the Renaissance.[22]
- Benedetto Pallavicino (ca.1551 – 1601), an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance.
- Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras.[23]
- Giulio Calvi (ca.1570 – 1596), an Italian painter of the Renaissance.
- Luca Cattapani (born ca.1570) an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance
- Gaspare Aselli (1581–1626), physician.[24]
- Tarquinio Merula (1595–1665), an Italian composer, organist and violinist of the early Baroque era.
- Nicolò Amati (1596–1684), luthier.[25]
- Francesco Rugeri (ca.1628–1698), luthier
- Antonio Stradivari (c.1644–1737), renowned luthier.[26]
- Vincenzo Rugeri (1663–1719), luthier
- Luigi Guido Grandi (1671–1742), monk, priest, philosopher, theologian, mathematician, and engineer
- Giuseppe Guarneri (1698–1744), luthier
- Francesco Bianchi (1752–1810), an Italian opera composer.
- Giovanni Pallavera (1818–1886), painter
- Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–1886), composer.[27]
- Eugenio Beltrami (1835–1900), mathematician
- Arcangelo Ghisleri (1855–1938), an Italian geographer, writer and Socialist politician.
- Leonida Bissolati (1857–1920), leading exponent of the Italian socialist movement at the turn of the 19th C.
- Primo Mazzolari (1890–1959), priest and writer
- Roberto Farinacci (1892–1945), fascist politician
- Aldo Protti (1920–1995), an Italian baritone opera singer
- Ugo Tognazzi (1922–1990) , actor, director, and screenwriter
- Mina (born 1940), singer (nicknamed the Tiger of Cremona)
- Giovanni Lucchi (1942–2012), bowmaker
- Franco Mari (born 1947), an Italian actor and comedian.
- Sergio Cofferati (born 1948), member of European Parliament and former mayor of Bologna
- Massimo Capra (born 1960), Italian-born Canadian celebrity chef.[28]
- Sandrone Dazieri (born 1964), crime writer
- Alessandro Magnoli Bocchi (born 1968), Italian economist
- Chiara Ferragni (born 1987), blogger, businesswoman, fashion designer and model
- Quartetto di Cremona (formed 2000), Italian string quartet
Sport
- Oreste Perri (born 1951), sprint canoeist in the 1970s and mayor of Cremona from 2009 to 2014
- Antonio Cabrini (born 1957), footballer and manager
- Gianluca Vialli (1964–2023), footballer and manager
- Manolo Guindani (born 1971), retired footballer and manager
- Giacomo Gentili (born 1997), world rowing champion
References
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- Istat
- ^ "Cremona". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ "Cremona". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ "Cremona". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-03-22.
- ^ Yin, Steph (20 December 2016). "Science behind Stradiveri violins". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
- ^ "VIA BRIXIANA" (in Italian).
- ISBN 978-0-140-44964-8.
- ^ This is the legend promulgated by the sweets industry in Cremona, although there is no historical evidence of its veracity.
- ^ Yin, Steph (20 December 2016). "Stradivari violin wood". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
- ^ "Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona". UNESCO (in English, French, and Spanish). Archived from the original on 2017-01-07. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
- ^ "Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 7.COM 11.18". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
- ^ Colombo, Sergio. "The dark future for the world's greatest violin-makers". www.bbc.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 849. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 800. .
- Beazley, Charles Raymond (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). p. 764. .
- '^ Abecediario biografico dei pittori, scultori ed architetti Cremonesi (1827), by Giuseppe Grasselli and Giovanni Valle. Omobono Manini, publisher. Pages 222-223.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 47. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 136. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 783. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 136. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 44. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 778. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 724. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 783. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 977. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 59. .
- ^ Maher, Michelle (November 25, 2011). "Chef Massimo heats it up at Eight Words Café". SaskToday.ca. Archived from the original on 2023-03-05. Retrieved 2022-08-07.