city state · Italy

Commune of Bergamo

1098 CE – 1332 CE (approx.) · capital Bergamo

An Alpine-foothill city-republic in Lombardy, long torn between Guelph and Ghibelline clans before falling to Milan and then Venice.

Origins

Bergamo's bishops had held much of the city's authority, but consuls are recorded by 1098. The commune grew on wool, iron from the Bergamasque valleys and its position at the mouth of the Alpine valleys, and fought frequent border wars with Brescia.

Rule and society

Consuls and later a podestà governed with a large council. Bergamo joined the Lombard League in 1167 against Frederick Barbarossa, though it often leaned towards the emperors. In the 13th and 14th centuries the city was split between the Ghibelline Suardi and the Guelph Colleoni and Rivola families, whose feuds repeatedly invited outside lords into the upper town.

Decline and legacy

In 1332 Azzone Visconti took Bergamo into the Lordship of Milan. The Republic of Venice conquered it in 1428 and held it until 1797, when it briefly became the Republic of Bergamo.

Connections (3)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Commune of Bergamo. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/commune-of-bergamo
MLA
“Commune of Bergamo.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/commune-of-bergamo. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Commune of Bergamo.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/commune-of-bergamo.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Commune of Bergamo’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/commune-of-bergamo (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻