Lombardy

Lombardy, regione of northern Italy. It is bordered on the north by Switzerland and by the Italian regioni of Emilia-Romagna (south), Trentino–Alto Adige and Veneto (east), and Piedmont (west). Administratively, Lombardy consists of the provincie of Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Mantova, Milano, Monza e Brianza, Pavia, Sondrio, and Varese. The capital is Milan.

Lombardy is divided physically into three parts from north to south—a mountainous Alpine and pre-Alpine zone; a zone of gently undulating foothills; and a zone of alluvial plains sloping gently to the Po River in the south. The Alpine division reaches a height of 13,284 feet (4,049 metres) in the Bernina. The foothill zone is partly composed of morainic material and contains a number of scenic lakes. The regione is drained southward by many rivers, all of them tributaries of the Po, including the Ticino, the Adda, and the Oglio, with its affluents the Mella and Chiese, and the Mincio. The regione abounds in lakes and contains all or part of Lakes Garda (Italy’s largest lake), Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo, Idro, and Varese and the lakes of the Brianza (Pusiano, Annone, Alserio, and Segrino). The climate is generally continental, with hot summers and cold winters, and rainfall varies from about 24 inches (610 mm) annually in the area near the Po River to 80 inches (2,032 mm) in the mountainous regions.

Lombardy was inhabited by Celtic peoples from the 5th century bce and was conquered by Rome after the Second Punic War (218–201 bce), upon which it became part of Cisalpine Gaul. The region suffered heavily in the barbarian invasions that ended the western Roman Empire, and from 568 to 774 ce it was the centre of the kingdom of the Lombards, a Germanic people who gave their name to the region. The Lombard kingdom ended in 774, and Lombardy became part of the empire of the Frankish king Charlemagne. Frankish rule continued until 887, and after the breakup of the Carolingian empire a number of independent units, mostly towns ruled by counts or bishops, emerged in Lombardy.

These towns’ growing prosperity by the 11th century was based on the role of the middle Po River valley as a transit point for trade between the Mediterranean and the trans-Alpine lands. A number of Lombard towns—Milan, Cremona, Brescia, Bergamo—were able to throw off their feudal rulers and evolve into communes (self-governing municipalities) that became the commercial leaders of Europe at the time. The Lombard communes reached the height of their power in the 12th century, when, in an effort to resist encroachments by the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, they formed the Lombard League; the league defeated the emperor at the Battle of Legnano in 1176 and forced him to recognize its members’ autonomy in the Peace of Constance (1183).

Conflicts within the Lombard communes between Guelfs and Ghibellines were only resolved in the 13th and 14th centuries by the rise of overlords or despots, some of whom, such as the Visconti and Sforza in Milan and the Bonacolsi and Gonzaga in Mantua, founded local dynasties. Milan became the strongest city in Lombardy early in the 14th century and went on to establish its rule over most of the neighbouring towns, though it had to yield Brescia and Bergamo to Venice and the city of Mantua remained independent. Lombardy lost territory to the Swiss, Venetians, and other neighbours in the early 16th century, and in the chaotic wake of the French invasions of Italy, the duchy of Milan came under Spanish Habsburg rule in 1535. Mantua managed to remain independent until 1713, at which time both it and Milan passed to the Austrian Habsburgs. Austrian rule yielded to that of France from 1796 to 1814. In 1815 Lombardy was restored to Austria as part of a newly created Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. In 1859 a Franco-Piedmontese army expelled the Austrians from Lombardy, which joined newly unified Italy.

Lombardy has the largest population of any Italian region, though it covers less than one-tenth of the country’s area. The population is concentrated in the industrial cities of the upper plains and foothills, with secondary concentrations in the rich farmlands in the south. Lombardy is the leading industrial and commercial regione of Italy. Milan, the chief city, is one of the largest industrial centres of Italy. It makes iron and steel, automobiles and trucks, and machinery and is also a centre of banking and wholesale and retail trade. Lombardy’s other major cities include Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, Pavia, Como, Mantua, and Monza. Their varied manufactures include electrical appliances, textiles, furniture, processed foods, chemicals, and leather.

Lombardy is also Italy’s leading agricultural area. The region’s highly productive agriculture is centred on the irrigated plains of the Po River valley, which produce rice, wheat, corn (maize), sugar beets, and fodder crops for beef and dairy cattle. The higher plains produce cereals, vegetables, fruit trees, and mulberries. The foothill region produces fruit, vines, and olives, and the Alps afford excellent grazing for cattle, pigs, and sheep.

Milan is the hub of northern Italy’s rail network and has direct rail links with Switzerland, France, and Germany via passes and tunnels through the Alps. Lombardy is linked to other regions of Italy by an excellent system of railroads, highways, and expressways. Area 9,211 square miles (23,857 square km). Pop. (2011) 9,704,151.