The Siege of Mantua

Eight-month blockade gave Napoleon control of northern Italy

French painter Hippolyte Lecomte's depiction of 
Austria's surrender to the French at the end of the siege

Troops led by one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s top generals laid siege to the city of Mantua on this day in 1796 in what would unfold as the defining hub of the French military leader’s victorious First Italian Campaign.

Following two months of lightning aggressive actions by Napoleon’s forces,  Austria’s allies in Piedmont were forced to surrender, the Austrians themselves were driven out of Milan and then fled into the mountains of Tyrol to the north.

But a garrison of 14,000 Austrian soldiers remained in Mantua, a fortress city largely surrounded by water that was key to control of northern Italy.

The Austrian retreat meant Mantua was isolated, at which point French divisions under General Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier moved to force Austrian outposts to withdraw into the city, which on June 4 was completely surrounded. 

The Mantua garrison had been Austria’s insurance against invasion by Napoleon from Italy, meaning any attempt to do so was a risk he could not take. But isolating it proved to be an act of strategic genius on his part. 

It led the Austrians to make repeated attempts to relieve their stranded garrison, each one leaving them weaker.

The first, led by forces under the command of Count Dagobert von Wurmser, was crushed by Napoleon’s army in defeats at the Battles of Lonato and Castiglione, south of Lake Garda.

The second, again led by Wurmser, suffered another defeat at the Battle of Bassano, after which the Austrian field marshal decided against retreating towards his own territory in favour of continuing towards Mantua, almost 120km (72 miles) south. 

Napoleon at the Battle of Arcole by
French artist Antoine-Jean Gros

Napoleon’s forces chased them all the way, eventually forcing them inside the city. It swelled the garrison to almost 30,000, but the siege remained in place and there was not enough food to go round. Meanwhile, malaria - spread by mosquitoes from the surrounding lake and swamps - was rife. Within six weeks, some 4,000 Austrians had died, either from untreated wounds, disease or malnutrition.

After that, it was the turn of another Austrian commander, Baron Jozsef Alvinczi, to attempt to break the siege and re-establish Austrian control. 

Against an army of 24,000, Napoleon’s outnumbered army was stretched. It suffered heavy losses but somehow managed to win a long, attritional fight at the Battle of Arcole, southeast of Verona, before his brilliant tactics routed Alvinczi’s forces at the Battle of Rivoli, 50km (30 miles) to the northwest.

With Alvinczi's army destroyed, no hope of rescue left, and the Mantua garrison devastated by disease, in February, 1797, Wurmser finally capitulated. The French captured over 13,000 prisoners and 500 artillery pieces.

With no major Austrian army left in Italy, Napoleon could now march towards Vienna. Austria, exhausted and isolated, sued for peace, leading to the Treaty of Campo Formio, which controversially saw Napoleon hand control of Venice to Austria, spelling the end of the Venetian Republic after 1,100 years.

Thus, Austrian rule in northern Italy was ended, at least temporarily. They would regain it less than 20 years later.

Mantua's Basilica of Sant'Andrea, 
which was built in the 15th century

Travel tip: 

Mantua is an atmospheric city in Lombardy, about 150km (90 miles) to the southeast of Milan. In the 6th century BC it was an Etruscan village, its name deriving from the Etruscan god Mantus. It was in turn ruled by Romans - the poet, Virgil, was born near the city in 70BC - Byzantines, Longobards and Franks, before passing through the hands of the Canossa, Bonacolsi and Gonzaga families. The Renaissance Palazzo Ducale was the seat of the Gonzaga family between 1328 and 1707. The Camera degli Sposi is decorated with frescoes by Andrea Mantegna, depicting the life of Ludovico III Gonzaga and his family, who ruled Mantua for 34 years in the 15th century. The nearby 15th century Basilica of Sant’Andrea was originally built to accommodate the large number of pilgrims who came to Mantua to see a precious relic, an ampoule containing what were believed to be drops of Christ’s blood mixed with earth. The basilica, in Piazza Mantegna, houses the tomb of Andrea Mantegna, who was buried in the first chapel on the left, which contains a picture of the Holy Family and John the Baptist that had been painted by him. Elsewhere, the Palazzo Te is a fine example of the Mannerist school of architecture, the masterpiece of the architect Giulio Romano. The name for the palace came about because the location chosen had been the site of the Gonzaga family stables at Isola del Te on the edge of the marshes just outside Mantua’s city walls.

Stay in Mantua with Hotels.com

One of Bassano del Grappa's main squares is
the Piazza Libertà, pictured here at night 

Travel tip:

Bassano del Grappa is an historic town at the foot of Monte Grappa in the Vicenza province of the Veneto, famous for inventing grappa, a spirit made from the grape skins and stalks left over from wine production, which is popular with Italians as an after dinner drink to aid digestion. The town’s main attraction is the Ponte degli Alpini, also known as the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge across the Brenta river designed in 1569 by Andrea Palladio. It has been rebuilt several times after being damaged or destroyed by wars but always to the original design. The wooden bridge was the site of farewells for Alpini soldiers heading to the front in World War One, and Bassano still honours the thousands who never returned. Next to the bridge is the Grapperia Nardini, founded in 1779 and said to be Italy’s oldest distillery. Visitors can taste classic grappa, the local liqueur Tagliatella, and the signature cocktail Mezzo e Mezzo. The two main squares, which link to one another, are the Piazza Libertà and Piazza Garibaldi. Bassano developed as a medieval trading centre, later flourishing under Venetian rule, which shaped its architecture and craft traditions.

Find accommodation in Bassano del Grappa with Expedia

More reading:

Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Rivoli

Napoleon crowns himself King of Italy

The execution of Joachim Murat, key aide of Napoleon

Also on this day:

1463: The death of historian Flavio Biondo

1604: The birth of Claudia de’ Medici, Archduchess of Tyrol

1895: The birth of Fascist politician Dino Grandi

1966: The birth of soprano Cecilia Bartoli

1970: The birth of Olympic skiing champion Deborah Compagnoni

Home

Boldrino da Panicale - condottiero

Fierce fighter murdered in act of treachery

Boldrino da Panicale grew up
in violent times in Italy

The soldier of fortune known as Boldrino da Panicale, one of the most feared yet respected of Italy’s many condottieri in the second half of the 14th century, was killed on this day in 1391 near the town of Macerata in what is now the Marche region.

He had been lured to a banquet, thought to have been staged at the Castello della Rancia, a castle about 13km (8 miles) west of Macerata, by Andrea Tomacelli, brother of Pope Boniface IX and Rector of the Duchy of Spoleto.

During an era when towns and neighbouring land changed hands regularly as rival leaders fought for territorial gains, Boldrino had been employed by Boniface IX to retake some captured parts of the Marche for the Papal States.

He handed back some of the papal territory but decided to keep other areas for himself, using the threat of violence to extract payments from local governors and hoping that he would be allowed to rule the area and be granted a marquisate.

Boniface IX had sent Tomacelli to bring peace to the region. While there was no love lost between him and Tomacelli, Boldrino accepted the invitation to the banquet, perhaps hoping that the occasion would be some sort of investiture, giving him the title he craved. Tomacelli had already agreed to impose a new tax on the area Boldrino controlled, essentially to enrich Boldrino himself.

But the occasion was not what Boldrino expected, far from it. During a break between courses, when washing his hands, he was attacked from behind and repeatedly stabbed, perhaps by Tomacelli himself, or somebody acting on his behalf. Some accounts say Boldrino was also beheaded.

Boldrino is thought to have been murdered
during a banquet at Castello della Rancia

Boldrino, originally named Giacomo Paneri, came from a lower middle class family in Panicale, a town in what is now Umbria, near Lago Trasimeno. The Panieri were said to be bakers, in the service of the Tarlati of Arezzo and the Casali of Cortona, two important and rich Ghibelline families.

He was born in around 1331, when fighting between rival factions in the area around Panicale was common. Boldrino was used to witnessing bloodshed from an early age. Nonetheless he looked set to have a life in farming until everything changed when his father, Ambrogio, was murdered. 

Determined to take revenge, Boldrino abandoned farming and embarked on a path of violence and warfare. He moved to Perugia to train at a military college. In 1351, he learned the names of his father’s killers, returned to Panicale, found where they lived and killed them both. 

Convicted in absentia for the crime by the municipal authorities in Panicale, he was forced to flee. He initially found refuge in the small church of Santa Maria La Querciolana, just outside the town, before encountering a  company of mercenaries who were looking for recruits, and deciding to join them. 

Quickly emerging as a highly-skilled condottiero both in combat and strategy, Boldrino’s prowess earned him a place in the company of the legendary Sir John Hawkwood, also known as Giovanni Acuto, an English mercenary who dominated Italian warfare at the time. 

Boldrino fought for many years
alongside Sir John Hawkwood

Boldrino fought in numerous battles, including the Battle of Cascina, where Hawkwood’s forces, representing Pisa, were outnumbered and defeated by an army defending Florence, but from which Hawkwood and Boldrino both escaped.

In 1376, after about 14 years of service alongside Hawkwood, Boldrino established himself as an independent leader, commanding his own forces and securing territories. 

He became Lord of Civitanova Marche, Arquata del Tronto, and other feudal holdings. His reputation as a ruthless yet effective commander grew, and he was frequently employed by powerful factions, including the Papal States under Pope Urban VI. His campaigns left devastation in their wake, particularly in Tuscany and the Marche region. He accumulated great wealth in the process.

His own soldiers became fiercely loyal to him, responding to his death by mounting a campaign of massacre against the people of Macerata, which ended following the intervention of mediators from Florence only when the body of Boldrino was returned to them, along with a sum of 12,000 florins as compensation.

His troops had the body embalmed and placed in an artistically made coffin, around which the troops swore never to disband. The company went on to fight successfully under the leadership of the Perugian condottiero, Biordo Michelotti.

Panicale is notable for its layout of streets in
concentric ovals leading to the main square

Travel tip:

Panicale, in Umbria, is a mostly medieval walled town. Located on the eastern slope of Monte Petrarvella, in the southeast of Valdichiana, it overlooks Lago di Trasimeno and is about 35km (22 miles)from Perugia. It is notable in that its streets form concentric ovals that lead to the main square, Piazza Umberto I, at the centre of which is the 15th century fountain, the Fontana Maggiore. For such a small town - it has fewer than 6,000 inhabitants - Panicale has some remarkable art including two works by Pietro Perugino, one a magnificent fresco, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, in the church of San Sebastiano. The 18th century Teatro Cesare Caporali is one of the smallest in Umbria. Just off Piazza Umberto I, in a small square at the start of Via Paolo Corsetti, is a 13th century building which was the birthplace of Boldrino Paneri. It carries a plaque bearing words which translate to “Boldrino, very proud leader, always crowned by victory, generous to friends, ominous to enemies.”

Macerata's 16th century
Loggia dei Mercanti

Travel tip:

The city of Macerata, home to about 43,000 people, is situated in an inland area of Marche, about 48km (30 miles) south of Ancona and 30km (19 miles) from the coastal town of Civitanova Marche. Not a well-known tourist destination, its older part nonetheless has a charming hill town feel, with a maze of narrow cobblestone streets and one of Italy’s oldest universities, dating back to 1290. It is the setting each summer for a month-long opera festival at the atmospheric Arena Sferisterio, which has attracted some of the world’s biggest stars.  Other notable attractions are the Torre Civica, which offers panoramic views, and Piazza della Libertà, the heart of the historic centre, with its 16th century Loggia dei Mercanti, where travelling merchants once sold their wares. The Basilica della Misericordia and the church of Santa Maria della Porta are also worth visiting.

Also on this day: 

1603: The birth of painter Pietro Paolini

1678: The birth of painter, sculptor and architect Domenico Antonio Vaccaro

1751: The birth of Naples priest the Blessed Vincent Romano

1977: The death of film director Roberto Rossellini

Home

 

Manfredo Fanti - military general

Risorgimento hero who founded Royal Italian Army

Manfredo Fanti's battlefield skills
were vital to the unification campaign

The Italian general Manfredo Fanti, a key figure in the Italian Wars of Independence in the mid-19th century and the founder of the Royal Italian Army, was born on this day in 1806 in Carpi, a town about 20km (13 miles) northwest of Modena in what is now Emilia-Romagna.

Although he ultimately had a disagreement with Giuseppe Garibaldi, the figurehead of the Italian Unification movement, Fanti is still regarded as one of the heroes of the Risorgimento, as a result of the military victories he engineered against the Austrians in the second war of independence, which liberated Lombardy from foreign control, and against the Papal States and the Bourbons in the final push for unification in 1860.

Between the second and third wars of independence, after he had been appointed Minister of War in the Cavour government, Fanti organised the absorption of the army of the League of Central Italy into the Royal Sardinian Army, which he was later able to decree would take the name of the Royal Italian Army.

He also played a key role in freeing Italy from foreign domination and completing unification. As Garibaldi was leading his Expedition of the Thousand in the conquest of Sicily, Fanti led the simultaneous campaign in central Italy, winning significant victories against the armies of the Papal States and in the northern territories of the Bourbon-controlled Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Fanti grew up as a citizen of the Duchy of Modena and, in 1825, was admitted into the Pioneer Corps of the army of Duke Francesco IV d'Este. He studied at the military college in Modena, where he obtained a degree in engineering.

The Battle of Castelfidardo saw Fanti
lead one of several key victories

Already drawn towards the vision of revolutionaries such as Giuseppe Mazzini and the growing Risorgimento movement, he took part in the uprising of 1830-31 in Modena before it was put down by the Austrian army, who condemned Fanti to be hanged. He escaped to France and later assisted the exiled Mazzini in his failed attempt to invade and capture the territories of Savoy.

He then moved to Spain, where he served in the army during a battle for power between the regent, Maria Cristina of Bourbon, and the supporters of Don Carlos, who felt he was the legitimate heir to the late King Ferdinand VII, before returning to Italy in 1848 to fight against the Austrians, who controlled most of northern Italy at the time. 

Assisted by French troops, he commanded a Lombard brigade of the Sardinian-Piedmontese Army, distinguishing himself on the battlefield with courage and tactical astuteness to win key victories at Palestro, Magenta, and Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence, which ended with the Armistice of Villafranca and the return of Lombardy to Italian rule, along with most of the northern Italian states, although the Austrians initially retained control of Venetia.

Fanti supported but later had a
disagreement with Garibaldi

Fanti then organised the army of the Central Italian League, which included Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Romagna, and prepared it for the annexation by Piedmont, the leading state of the Italian unification movement. 

In January 1860 , Camillo Count of Cavour, who returned to his position as prime minister of Sardinia-Piedmont after resigning following the Villafranca armistice, made Fanti his Minister for War and the Navy.

When the Expedition of the Thousand began in May, Fanti was appointed head of the army corps in central Italy. He again was an important figure on the battlefield, playing a significant part in the Battle of Castelfidardo and in the conquest of Perugia, which led to the Piedmontese annexation of Papal State territories in Marche and Umbria. 

He then became general of the army and chief of staff of the army in southern Italy, defeating the Bourbons at Mola and organising the successful siege of the fortress at Gaeta. 

Fanti's opposition to the admission of  5,000 officers of Garibaldi's volunteers into the new Royal Italian Army, with no loss of rank, was one of the reasons for his resignation from the army and government in June 1861, although the death of Cavour was also a factor.

He agreed to return the following year, taking command of an army corps in Florence, but fell ill soon afterwards. He died in Florence in April 1865 at the age of 59. His body was returned to Carpi, where he is buried in the Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta.  There is a monument to Fanti in Piazza San Marco in Florence by the sculptor Pio Fedi, erected in 1873.

The Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta
in Carpi, where Manfredo Fandi is buried 

Travel tip:

Carpi, which sits in the Padana plain, the area of flat and fertile land through which the Po river flows, became a wealthy town during the era of industrial development in Italy as a centre for textiles and mechanical engineering. Its historic centre, which features a town hall housed in a former castle, is based around the Renaissance square, the Piazza Martiri, the third largest square in Italy, which is surrounded by historical buildings such as the Palazzo Pio di Savoia, the Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, and the Teatro Comunale. The Palazzo Pio di Savoia houses the Museum of the Deportation, dedicated to the victims of the Nazi concentration camps, and the Museum of the City, which displays artworks and artefacts from Carpi’s past. Carpi was a major centre of the Italian Resistance movement in World War Two and there is a memorial at the site of the former Fossoli concentration camp, where thousands of Jews, political prisoners, and resistance fighters were detained and deported.

Stay in Carpi with Booking.com

The monumental sculpture in Castelfidardo
that commemorates the 1860 battle 

Travel tip:

Castelfidardo, which can be found about 21km (13 miles) south of the port of Ancona in the Marche region, is a charming hill town with a historical significance. It is renowned as the home of the accordion, which was actually patented in Austria in 1829 but underwent substantial redesign in Castelfidardo, where production of the instrument began in the late 19th century with the establishment of a factory opened by Paolo Soprani, who had bought one of the Austrian models after realising its potential. At one time 51,000 accordions were manufactured in the town in a single year, although production declined after World War Two as musical tastes changed. Nonetheless, it is still home to half of the accordion factories in the whole of Italy. There is inevitably an Accordion Museum, while the Monument of the Battle of Castelfidardo is commemorated with a dramatic monumental sculpture in the town’s Parco delle Rimembranze, by the Venetian sculptor Vito Pardo, which depicts in bronze a charge of infantrymen led by a figure on horseback descending from a mountain of white travertine boulders. 

Find accommodation in Castelfidardo with Booking.com

More reading:

How the Battle of Solferino led to the founding of the Red Cross

Why Mazzini was the ideological inspiration for Italian unification

The Frenchman who called for Italians to unite as a single people

Also on this day:

1507: The death of Renaissance painter Gentile Bellini

1821: The death in Rome of English poet John Keats

1822: The birth of archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi

1834: The birth of ill-fated Sicilian banker Emanuele Notarbartolo 

1910: The birth of painter Corrado Cagli

(Picture credits: Carpi basilica by Attilios; Castelfidardo sculpture by Ermanon; via Wikimedia Commons)

(Painting of Battle of Castelfidardo by Giovanni Gallucci, Palazzo Comunale, Ancona)

Home

Tiberius – Roman Emperor

The decline of a leader who ruled from a beautiful place of exile

The Death of Tiberius, perhaps attended by Caligula,
imagined in an 1864 painting by Jean-Paul Laurens

After starting his reign in glory, the Emperor Tiberius slowly deteriorated and is reputed to have become steadily crueller and more debauched until he died on this day in 37 AD in Misenum, now Miseno, in Campania.

Tiberius had become the second Roman Emperor, succeeding his stepfather, Augustus, in 14 AD. As a young man, he had been a successful general, but at the age of 36 he chose to retire and go and live in Rhodes because he was determined to avoid getting involved in politics. 

However, after the deaths of both grandsons of Augustus, his ailing stepfather had no choice but to make Tiberius his heir.

Tiberius inherited the throne at the age of 54 and was at first a hardworking ruler, trying to pass sensible and far-seeing laws. He stopped pointless, costly conflicts and the waste of the empire’s money and was said to have left the imperial coffers much fuller than when he inherited them.

But he was constantly at odds with the Senate, who claimed he gave vague orders to them and that they had to debate the orders among themselves so that they could decide what to do and therefore some of his legislation was never passed.

Tiberius left Rome after 13 years
and never returned to the city

After 13 years, Tiberius decided he had had enough and he went to live in a magnificent villa on the island of Capri in the Bay of Naples. He never visited Rome again and delegated his power over the Senate to the commander of his guard.

As the years passed by, Tiberius became increasingly paranoid and brooded constantly on the loss of his son, Drusus Julius Caesar, who was said to have died in mysterious circumstances.

Many historians have claimed that Tiberius became steadily more cruel and vindictive as he grew older, and that he enjoyed torturing his victims, the people he perceived to be his enemies. He then liked to kill them by having them thrown off the cliffs at a spot on Capri that has become known as Salto di Tiberio - Tiberius’s Leap.

One senator was allegedly condemned to death just for having carried a coin, with the head of Tiberius on it, into a public lavatory with him.

The Emperor Tiberius was also reputed to have become a paedophile, bringing in young boys and girls to take part in imperial orgies at his villa on Capri.

When he was 71, Tiberius brought his 18-year-old great-nephew, Caligula, to live on Capri and subsequently named him as heir to the empire. For six years Caligula remained docile and obedient towards Tiberius, although he was said to occasionally display signs of the sadism that would subsequently blight his years as emperor.

Early in AD 37, Tiberius travelled to what was then Misenum to take part in military games. After injuring his shoulder throwing the javelin, he became seriously ill. He eventually lapsed into unconsciousness and doctors declared that his death would be imminent. Caligula then took the imperial ring from his great uncle’s finger and showed himself to a local crowd as the new Roman emperor.

Then Tiberius apparently woke from his coma and demanded food, which terrified Caligula. However, one of the heir’s quick-thinking allies rushed into the bedroom of Tiberius and finished him off by smothering him in a blanket. Tiberius was 77 when he died and he had been in power for 22 years.

The historian Tacitus wrote that people in Rome cheered when they heard that Tiberius was dead, only to panic when they heard he had recovered. Then they rejoiced again when they heard that the debauched emperor’s life had finally ended.

Modern Miseno, looking towards Capo Miseno, 
which offers views across the Bay of Naples

Travel tip:

Misenum, where Tiberius was injured and died, is now known as Miseno and is one of the frazioni of Bacoli in the province of Naples. Nearby Capo Miseno marks the north western end of the Bay of Naples, from where there are incredible views of Capri, Ischia, Sorrento, and Mount Vesuvius. For centuries, Misenum was the biggest naval base in the Roman empire and housed thousands of sailors.  Its beautiful natural setting and proximity to the nearby Roman cities of Puteoli - modern Pozzuoli - and Neapolis (Naples), Misenum also became a popular location for Roman luxury villas.

Villa Jovis, as it might have looked in the time of
Tiberius. Today, there are only ruins

Travel tip:

Tiberius ruled his empire from the Villa Jovis on Capri and the sheer cliff beside the villa, known as the Salto di Tiberio - Tiberius’s Leap - is said to be the precipice from which the Emperor had his victims hurled to their deaths. The biggest of 12 residences Tiberius had built on Capri, Villa Jovis occupies a spectacular position at the top of Monte Tiberio on the north east corner of the island. With an elevation of 334m (1,096ft), Monte Tiberio is the second-highest peak on the island, topped only by Monte Solaro (589m; 1,932ft) in Anacapri. Access to the remains of the villa is only possible on foot, and involves an uphill walk of about two kilometres from Capri town along Via Tiberio.

Also on this day:

1820: The birth of tenor Enrico Tamberlik

1886: The birth of athlete Emilio Lunghi - Italy’s first Olympic medallist

1940: The birth of film director Bernardo Bertolucci

1978: The kidnapping of former Italian PM Aldo Moro

Home