Print of Bergamo in 1450
Bergamo is said to have been founded by the Ligurians or by the Etruscans. It is however more certain that Gauls, Cenomani and Senones settled there, before Bergomum became a Roman city of the republic in 49 BCE.
After the fall of the Empire, Bergomum was pillaged many times, until the arrival of the Lombards in 569, who established a duchy there. Dispossessed in 774 by the Franks, the city was controlled by a caste of “bishop-counts”.
From 1098, Bergamo was a free commune, and after a few wars against Brescia it joined the Lombard League against Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Empire.
From the thirteenth century, in the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, Bergamo fell under the influence of the Visconti of Milan.
From 1428 Bergamo joined the Republic of Venice, where it experienced a peaceful and prosperous period. The Venetians rebuilt the city centre and erected massive defensive walls. Venetian domination continued until the Napoleonic era.
After the brief experiences of the Republic of Bergamo, the Cisalpine Republic and the Kingdom of Italy, Bergamo fell under Austrian domination which extended over Lombardy and Venetia. The Austrians were supporters of the industrialization of Bergamo, for textiles.
Bergamo took an active part in the Risorgimento, it joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, then the Italian Republic.
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