History of Trento (II)

In the 14^th century Trento became part of the Austrian rule, under the domain of the Habsburg family. This political status will continue for the following six centuries. 

A dark episode in the history of Trento was the Trent blood libel. A three-year-old Christian boy, Simonino, disappeared in the eve of Good Friday, and the Jewish small community of Trento was accused of killing him, for which eight Jews were burned in a stake and the boy was canonized. 

In the 16^th century the city became notable for the Council of Trent (1545-1563) which gave to the rise to the Counter-Reformation. The prince bishops Bernardo Clesio and Cristoforo Madruzzo, both great European politicians and Renaissance humanists, embellished and expanded the city. During this period, and as an expression of this Humanism, Trento was also known as the site of a Jewish printing press. 

Prince-bishops ruled Trento until the Napoleonic era, when it bounced around among various states. Under the reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire in 1802, the Bishopric was secularized and annexed to the Habsburg territories. The Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 ceded Trent to Bavaria, and the Treaty of Schönbrunn for years later to Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy. The population resisted French domination with gunfights. The resistance leader, Andreas Hofer, recovered Trento for the Austrias for a while, but 4000 volunteers from Trentino died and Hofer was executed on the express order of Napoleon.

History of Trento (I)

Hello everybody! As a part of our research work about Trento, in the following posts we will tell you the history of this awesome city, which played a relevant role in Europe's History.

The history of Trento is essential to understand its multicultural society and its relevance.

The foundation of the city of Trento goes back to the 4^th century BC, due to its privileged position on the river track to Bolzano and the low Alpine passes. It was a Celtic village, whose name derives from “Trent”, a tribute to the Celtic god of waters.

Trento was conquered by the Romans in the 1^st century BC. Because of its three mountains and the river Adige, the Romans gave it the name of “Tridentum” as a tribute to the god Neptune. During this period the city started to earn wealth as an important stop on the Roman road that led from Verona to Innsbruck. 

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the independent bishopric of Trento was ruled by Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Lombards and Franks, and it ended up as a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1027, Emperor Conrad II created the Prince-Bishops of Trento, giving the region certain independence, although in the following centuries the power was always held between the Bishopric of Trento and the County of Tyrol (a sort of State of the Holy Roman Empire). Around 1200, Trento became a silver-mining center of some importance.