New guide of Milan [antikvár]

Milán was fotmded by the Insubrian Celts around 400 b.c. After constant wars with the Gauls, the Romans succeeded in conquering it and thencefoward it became known as Mediolanum which means in the middle of the plain . Its inhabitants rebelled, having made an alliance with Hannibál, but in 196 b.c. the city was compelled to subjugate itself to the Román dominion and from that time onward it became the main industrial and commercial centre of northern Italy. It thus benefitted from the laws promulgated by the capital of the Empire and became very prosperous. Between the end of the first century and the beginning of the second, Milán became Christian and a century later saw the founding of the Diocese with its first bishops who had an ihcreasingly important role in the life of the city, especially at the time of Saint Ambrose. It was the temporary seat of the Emperors and maintained its pre-eminence until the time of Theodosius, but with the advent of Onorius in 404, the priviledge passed to Ravenna. In the period of the barbarian invasions it feli prey to the Burgundians and in 539 suffered the wrath of Witigis. During the Lombard domination between 568 and 774 Milán lost much of its former importance and was placed second to Pavia which the Lombards preferred. Even with the arrival of the Franks things did not change much, however, the activities of its bishops helped the recovery to a certain extent. Towards the middle of the tenth century, the clergy and the wealthy classes had gained political supremacy and succeeded in ~putting the city in order, and in making her commerce flourish once again. The religious conflicts and the political and social contrasts between 1018 and 1045 caused the Milanese to side either with one or the other Emperor from the other side of the Alps in order to gain supremacy in Italy, until the age of the free cities. During the second half of the eleventh century and the first half of the following century, Milán was involved in the tremendous struggle between the Empire and the Papacy and this situation continued until the founding of the code of the free cities, a code which was developed very rapidly and enabled the city to face the terrible consequences of the Emperor Frederick, who destroyed the city in 1162. Within a few years the Lombard League was förmed, reversing the situation by conquering the Emperor at Legnano. Thus there followed a period in which the city settled down, despite desperate factional strife, until in the second