The cities of northern Italy owed their prosperity, as we
have learned, to the commerce with the Orient. It was this which gave them the
means and the strength to keep up a long struggle for freedom against the
German emperors. The end of the struggle, at the middle of the thirteenth
century, saw all North Italy divided into the dominions of various independent
cities. Among them were Milan, Pisa, Florence, Genoa, and Venice.
MILAN
Milan, a city of Roman origin, lay in the fertile valley
of the Po, at a point where the trade routes through several Alpine passes
converged. Milan early rose to importance, and it still remains the commercial
metropolis of Italy. Manufacturing also flourished there. Milanese armor was
once celebrated throughout Europe. The city is rich in works of art, the best
known being the cathedral, which, after St. Peter's at Rome and the cathedral
of Seville, is the largest church in Europe. Though the Milanese were able to
throw off the imperial authority, their government fell into the hands of the
local nobles, who ruled as despots. Almost all the Italian cities, except
Venice, lost their freedom in this manner.
