Here we are for the second part of this tetralogy. If you need help finding the first one, please check before proceeding. Have a nice one!
A German-born Roman magistrate, the Patron of the city
As the age of the catacombs and persecution of the Christians was finally over, citizens and leaders of this group began to enter public life and take on political and civil offices of the Roman Empire.
Following the zeitgeist, Ambrosius, son of a Roman prefect stationed in Gaul, was elected and became a brilliant magistrate in his thirties. Born in Trier (Germany), Ambrose was baptized (in the baptistery recently discovered under the Cathedral) and consecrated bishop. He was also appointed governor of the city and the territories of Lombardia and Aemilia-Liguria.
Ambrose carried out the difficult task of administering a community divided into two confessions: Arians and Catholics. As a man above the parties, he proved himself a great conciliator and a man of faith and personality. With him began the struggle for the supremacy of the Church over the Empire, which would last throughout the Middle Ages. Among many feats, he built churches, converted the African Saint Augustine, and tracked down the remains of Christian martyrs executed under the emperor Diocletian.
After Ambrose’s passing, Milan entered the darkest days of its history. The wealthy citizens have fled, moving their armies to Constantinople. Although Christianity is the state religion, the Western Empire is in ruins and unprotected. Difficult times were coming…
Fun with Symbols
The famously known Flag of England (or the cross of St George) was introduced in England in the 13th century. But the association of a red cross on a white field and a city dates back to the 4th century, when Saint Ambrose was the bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. Before being the flag of England, this was the flag of Milan.
Germanic tribes, degradation and later prosperity
The Roman Empire knew how to bring in immigrants from Northern Europe wherever a workforce was needed. For centuries, Rome had administrative structures capable of welcoming, putting to work, and slowly assimilating the Germanic people they would call barbarians—following the Greek term, a sarcastic allusion to the phonetics used by foreign brutes (“Bar, Bar, Rr”). However, as the Western Empire declined, its processes failed due to the massive movement of people.
The so-called Barbarian Invasions represent this phase in which an increasingly weak Roman government could no longer guarantee a path of integration and citizenship. After this point, foreign people were no longer interested in merging among the empire’s population but instead remained compact under their leaders, preserving their culture.
The Lombards, named after their long spear (longo barda), occupied almost all of Italy and made Milan the capital of their reign. One of the many Germanic tribes who invaded the Empire between the end of antiquity and the Middle Ages, they were the last people to settle in the West in 568.
It turns out that the barbarian kings were not well-equipped to govern Western communities. They didn’t have the mental or economic resources to do so. Sewer systems in the cities, aqueducts, canals in the countryside, and roads were no longer maintained. The barbarian kings didn’t even know how to collect taxes. To wrap up this era of decay, the attempts of reconquest from the Roman emperors from Constantinople were just as disastrous as the invasions themselves.
With time, the degraded region, which still belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, began to dream about Emancipation from the German emperors descending from the Eastern Empire. Rich in its rights and a strong military, Milan started to contest imperial power.
Finally, in the 11th century, the feudal Milan became a free commune due to the pressure of the Church, Urban Growth, and Economic Prosperity. The city has just escaped from the Frankish rule of Charlemagne, yet another foreign conquistador made king.
Sources: Portrait of Lombard Fashion, The Lombards: People Who Changed History, I Londobardi in Italia (Italian podcast, Alessandro Barbero).
Coming Next
Next, in the two next chapters on the History of Milan, we’ll explore the medieval Lombardy and the Sforza, the Visconti, and Leonardo da Vinci. Make sure to come back for more, and let me know your thoughts on the comments. Arrivederci!