Short history of Verona

There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence-banished is banish'd from the world,
And world's exile is death: then banished,
Is death mis-term'd: calling death banishment,
Thou cutt'st my head off with a golden axe,
And smilest upon the stroke that murders me.

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene III

VERONA: PREHISTORY AND ORIGIN OF THE NAME

It is difficult to exactly establish the time of the first settlement, however it is certain that Verona was already inhabited in prehistoric times for a specific reason: the Adige river which crosses the city of Verona provides the best fording point, in the very place where the Roman bridge (Ponte Pietra) stands to this day. Therefore the first settlements in Verona were concentrated on the hill which rises above the Adige river in this point: Saint Peter's hill.
Many theories exist in regard to the populations of the first settlements in Verona: Rhaetians, Etruscans, Paleovenetians, Cenoman gauls and even Romans. As the ford was used by all, the first settlements in Verona were very probably formed by the peoples of all the populations which lived in the zone in the pre-Roman epoch.
Various theories also exist about the origin of the name Verona, two of which are best known.
Legend has it that the city of Verona owes its name to an imprecation by the chief of the Brenno Gauls "Vae Roma", i.e. “Damned Rome", which he often pronounced against his Roman enemies.
Instead, the most reliable theory dates back the origin of the name Verona to a combination of expressions of various origins: VE (an Etruscan word indicating the Veneto peoples), RO (from the Greek verb reo, to run, to designate the Adige river) and NA (another Etruscan word, a syllabic root, indicating an inhabited centre). According to this theory therefore, the name Verona would literally mean: A Veneto city on the river.

ROMAN VERONA

The first contacts and relations between Verona and Rome began in about the III century BC.
The populations that lived in Verona (the Arusnates in the north, the Cenoman Gauls in the south, and the Veneti and Rhaetians) joined forces and fought beside Rome against the Gauls in 225 BC, against the Carthaginians in 216 BC, against the Teutons and Cimbrians in the 1st century BC. Verona became a Roman colony through the Lex Pompeia of 89 BC, with relevant extension of Roman citizenship to the local populations. After participating in Caesar's campaign against the Gauls in 42 and 41 BC, Verona became a Municipium. This is how, from many points of view, a blooming period began for Verona. Verona was almost fully rebuilt inside the loop of the Adige river. Two bridges were also built: the Pietra Bridge (to this day Verona's most beautiful bridge) and the Postumio Bridge (unfortunately not preserved). The Roman Forum stood where Piazza Erbe is located today. The Roman amphitheatre and the Roman theatre stood outside Roman Verona. They are splendidly preserved to this day and are still used for many cultural activities.
In the Roman period, Verona was the meeting point of four important Roman roads: Gallic, from Turin to Aquileia; Claudia Augusta, from Modena to Germany; Postumia, from Liguria to Illyria; Vicum Veronesium, from Verona to Ostiglia. The increasingly strategic and important position Verona was acquiring as a Municipium led it to be often at the centre of Roman civil wars. Verona was often elected, for long periods too, as a place for Roman emperors to stay. For these reasons the walls were fortified and extended, until they contained the amphitheatre in the 1st century AD. The extra cost for safety made the city a less flourishing one.
Verona's changeover to Christianity was slow, and often the city found its position close to the first heresies. The definitive affirmation of Catholic Christianity did not occur until the epoch of Saint Zeno the bishop. After the Roman epoch, Verona was governed by barbarians allies of Rome, by invading barbarians, and, for a certain period, also by the Byzantines. However, the many changes of power in Verona were hardly ever violent.

BARBARIAN VERONA

In the IV century AD, the barbarians were present everywhere in what remained of the western Roman empire. Verona too had its barbarians: Alaric the 1st; king of the Visigoths, resided in Verona, and Attila, king of the Huns, was defeated by the troops of Pope Leon 1st a few kilometres from Verona, in Salionze di Valeggio sul Mincio. Odoacre, chief of the Erulians and Turcilings, after causing the end of the western Roman empire in 476 AD, through the downfall of Romulus Augustus, guaranteed peace and security to the Italian areas. In 489 he barricaded himself in Verona, in the vain attempt to stop the Ostrogoths of Theodoric II the Great, emissaries of Zeno, Roman emperor in the east.
Under Theodoric, Verona became the capital of the Goths from 493 to 526 AD reconquering its ancients splendour, scratched by the barbaric invasions. When Theodoric died, Verona was governed for a brief period by the Byzantines, who were soon thrown out by Alboin, king of the Lombards in 568 DC.
The first twenty years of Lombard dominion in Verona were marked by violence and destruction: then the Lombards gradually converted to Christianity and behaved more moderately. The capital of the Lombard kingdom was moved from Verona to Pavia on about 730 AD.
In Verona, the troops of Charlemagne defeated the last king of the Lombards, Adelchi on about 774 DC. Pipino, son of Charlemagne, lived in Verona for a long time, and had the Basilica of Saint Zeno built there, on the remains of a Paleochristian church, where he was also buried.
After the end of the Carolinian epoch, Verona came under foreign domination, first of all included in the Bavarian Marches, and then in the Carinthian Marches. In 959 the Veronese March was created, and the dominion of the San Bonifacio Counts began in Verona, lasting for as many as two centuries.

VERONA BECOMES A MUNICIPALITY

It was not until 1136 that the first consuls were appointed in Verona, and the city thus became a municipality. In the period when Verona became a municipality, an oligarchy of a few families formed and, in the following centuries, gave Verona consuls, rectors and podestas.
When Fredrick the Redbeard came to Italy, at first Verona was on his side, but, after some actions considered unjust by the Veronese, Verona rebelled against his authority in 1174 and, together with Vicenza, Padua and Treviso, formed the Veneto League, which later became the Lombard League. In 1174 Redbeard attacked the League's cities, but was defeated by the Veronese in Legnano. After long periods of battles, the emperor recognised the independence of Verona and the other municipalities only in 1183, when he signed the peace treaty of Costanza.
Between 1181 and 1185, the Papacy had its seat in Verona, where the Synod and Conclave of 1184 were held, electing Pope Urban III after the death of Pope Lucio III, buried in Verona. The Verona citizens increasingly feared the uneasiness between the Papacy and the Empire, and forced the Pope to move to Ferrara.
At about 1200, the dominion of the Ezzelini family began, and in 1205 battles between this family and other families for the control of Verona broke out. There was a brief pause in the battles after Count Rizzardo da San Bonifacio came to power in 1220 - he guaranteed a decade of peace and prosperity for the city of Verona. The conflicts resumed in 1230 and did not finish until 1259, when Mastino della Scala became podestà, and brought back peace and prosperity to Verona, confiscating all the municipal assignments.

VERONA UNDER THE SCALIGERI AND VISCONTI

Verona became a Dominion and was governed by the Della Scalas, a ghibelline family, from 1262 to 1387. The early days of the Scaligeri dominion were bloody: In 1267 Mastino della Scala signed in Verona an alliance with Corradino of Svevia, following which Pope Clement IV excommunicated the city of Verona. Mastino obtained the revocation of the excommunication in the next year, capturing and burning on the stake 170 heretic Catari priests and bishops.
In spite of this beginning, the Scaligeri period was characterised by relative peace and democracy. The basis of the citizens' government was the Greater Council, composed of 500 citizens nominated by the Lord of Verona. After Mastino della Scala, Alberto I della Scala succeeded Mastino in guiding the Verona Dominion. Alberto I and his wife had three children, who came to power in succession after him: Bartolomeo della Scala, Alboino della Scala and Cangrande della Scala. In this period Dante Alighieri stayed in Verona for the first time from 1301 to 1306.
Cangrande della Scala, chief of the Ghibelline League, was an enlightened and loved Lord, and made Verona a place of exile for political refugees and a sanctuary for men of literature and science. He once again welcomed Dante Alighieri to Verona, who, by way of thanks, reserved a place for him in the XVII canto of the Paradise. When Cangrande died, Verona came under the dominion of Mastino II della Scala, and this marked the decline of the Scaligeri city, because it lost the support of the island family. In 1337 a league of the Venetian Islands, Florence, Mantua, Milan and Este declared war on Verona. Mastino II della Scala managed to finish the war and salve the dominion at the price of an alliance with Ludovic the Bavar and huge territorial modifications. The power of the della Scalas diminished, but, in that very period Castelvecchio, the Scaligero bridge and arks were built.
In 1351 the dominion passed into the hands of Cangrande II della Scala, who governed Verona like a real and proper dictator. His brother Cansignorio succeeded him by force in 1359, with the help of the family da Carrara of Padua. In 1375 it was the turn of Bartholomew II, killed by his brother Antonio in 1381. Years of battles between condottieri followed, supported by Verona or Padua, which even led Gian Galeazzo Visconti to intervene. Antonio della Scala escaped, and Verona fell under the unyielding rule of the Visconti for about fifteen years.
The Visconti era terminated in 1402 and, after a brief period of rule by the da Carrara of Padua, in 1405 Verona came under the dominion of the Venetian Republic.

VENETIAN VERONA

With the beginning of the Venetian period, Verona lost its role as an important city in Italy, which it had had in previous centuries as the capital or seat of the Papacy. Verona was part of the Venetian Republic for a long time, with the exception of brief interruptions. Venice brought peace to Verona, but took away its economic well being and political importance.
The first century of Venetian domination in Verona was interrupted only by three days of occupation by the Visconti in 1493 during a war.
At the end of 1400, an alliance between various European sovereigns, as an anti-Venetian force - the so-called League of the Cambrai - was established. The League also influenced the life of Verona. In fact, in 1509, in agreement with Venice, Verona was handed over to emperor Massimiliano I. Verona remained under German occupation until 1516. It was a very difficult period for the city of Verona, because the German domination was particularly ferocious and, in the same period, there was a plague epidemic, which cost the life of 13,000 Verona inhabitants.
In 1516, after a long siege by the Venetian troops, Massimiliano I made a gift of Verona to his nephew Carlo V, who passed it on to the French, who, in turn returned it to Venice. After these vicissitudes, Venice turned Verona into a military city, deploying half of its troops there.
Three centuries of peace followed for Verona, when monuments, churches, and palaces were built, and academies and cultural activities flourished. Verona's population increased reaching 50,000 inhabitants, but dropped to 20,000 following the plague of 1630.

FRENCH AND AUSTRIAN VERONA

During the wars between the French and the Austrians of 1700, Venice declared itself neutral and disarmed. This exposed Verona to the mercy of the warring parties and, in fact, it passed many times from the dominion of one party to the other. During the period of the French occupation, up to 50,000 soldiers were deployed in Verona, which led to logistic problems.
Napoleon, stayed in Verona several times, won two very important battles in the Verona province (Rivoli and Arcole) and experienced the only episode of armed resistance in Veneto: the Veronese Easters. On 17 April 1797, there was an uprising of the Verona citizens who, deep down, still felt they were Venetians (the battle cry was "Viva San Marco"). The rebellion lasted seven days and was followed by bloody repression.
In 1801, following the Lunéville peace treaty, Verona was split in two and shared by the Austrians and French. In 1805 it became part of the Italian kingdom, but soon enough in 1814 it returned under Austrian domination until 1866, the year of the definitive annexation by the kingdom of Italy.
Under Austrian occupation, Verona became a highly important centre, in terms of logistics and communications. In fact, Verona was the centre of the famous defensive Austrian quadrilateral, composed of four fortified cities: Verona, Mantua, Peschiera del Garda and Legnago. To this day, there are numerous testimonies of the Austrian presence in Verona: the fortresses and blockhouses around the city; the Arsenal in the centre of Verona, the Austrian walls which surround Verona.
In 1822 Verona was the venue of the Congress of the Saintly Alliance and for two months hosted the sovereigns of Austria, Russia, Prussia, England, Sardinia, Tuscany, Naples, Modena and Parma. A strong Carboneria movement also developed in Verona, culminating in 1850 in the foundation of the revolutionary Committee against the post-Napoleonic Austrian restoration. Its leader was Carlo Montanari, and the discovery of the movement led to the arrest and execution of many Veronese citizens (some well known such as the Martyrs of Belfiore).
Due to the Austrian Quadrilateral, the troops of the Italian Kingdom had to launch three waves of attacks to annex Verona to Italy. There were many bloody battles: Peschiera del Garda, Pastrengo, Rivoli, S. Lucia, Custoza (1848), San Martino and Solferino (1859, while observing this battle, Henry Dunant decided to found the International Red Cross), followed by the armistice of Villafranca, and the last battle, fought in Custoza in 1866.

ITALIAN VERONA

On16 October 1866, the troops of the Kingdom of Italy entered Verona through Porta Vescovo, and on 22 October, a plebiscite confirmed the annexation of Verona to the Kingdom of Italy.
In 1822, Verona was hit by very serious flooding which devastated the city. Following this disaster, high river banks were built, the flow of the river Adige was diverted, and the still water branch was closed: Verona's appearance changed profoundly, it lost the charm of a city that lives with water, and became an ordinary city crossed by a river.
The First World War involved Verona only very slightly, but the second world war involved it deeply. Due to its strategic and logistic importance, and due to the presence of numerous ministries of the Italian Social Republic (the fascist Republic of Salò, founded after the armistice of 1943), Verona was heavily bombed and seriously destroyed. In1945 the Nazis fled, destroying all Verona's bridges. Some of the last episodes of fascism took place in Verona, the famous Verona Trial was held there, and the firing squad executions were carried out in this city.
Verona was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valour for the sacrifices and the widespread partisan participation in the war of liberation.
During the post-war period, in view of the presence of NATO and FATSE bases, Verona remained a military city for a long time, but in the last few years it has been losing this characteristic, giving more space to the city's social soul.

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