Nascita di un territorio: La vicenda del monte di Brianza tra Trecento e Quattrocento

Between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, some communities and families of the northern contado of Milan chose to side with the Visconti, not only ensuring their support to the latter's effort to frame the various forces of the area, but also reinforcing the defenses along the river Adda. As a reward, Bernabò, Gian Galeazzo and their successors granted these communities and families an advantageous tax exemption. It was indeed to defend such considerable privilege that the restless and diversified people of the Brianza hills grouped themeselves together, drawn by the centripetal influence of the most powerful families, who dubbed themselves Ghibellini. The granting of such tax exemption and the important role played by these bonds contributed to the birth of a new sense of identity in Brianza, built primarily upon the institutional structure of the granted privilege. A new sense of identity that was strengthened, on the one hand, by the newborn territorial – Universitas Montis Briantie – and, on the other hand, by the power of the Lords of Milan.