Editing Lombardy (section)

===Late-Middle Ages, Renaissance and Enlightenment===
[[Image:1807KingdomItaly.jpg|thumb|The [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy]] in 1807, having Milan as its capital, with [[Istria]] and [[Dalmatia]], shown in yellow]]

After the [[Battle of Pavia]], the Duchy of Milan became a possession of the [[Habsburgs]] of Spain; the new rulers did little to improve the economy of Lombardy, instead imposing a growing series of taxes to support their lengthy series of European wars. The eastern part of modern-day Lombardy, including the cities [[Bergamo]] and [[Brescia]], was controlled by the [[Republic of Venice]], which had begun to extend its influence in the area from the 14th century onwards. Between the mid-15th century and the [[battle of Marignano]] in 1515, the northern part of east Lombardy from [[Airolo]] to [[Chiasso]] (modern [[Ticino]]), and the [[Valtellina]] valley came under possession of the [[Old Swiss Confederacy]].

[[1629–1631 Italian plague|Pestilence]]s like that of 1628–1630,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.storiadimilano.it/Personaggi/Milanesi%20illustri/mora.htm|title=Storia di Milano - Gian Giacomo Mora|website=Storiadimilano.it|access-date=6 February 2024|language=it}}</ref> which [[Alessandro Manzoni]] described in his ''[[The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)|I Promessi Sposi]]'', and the general decline of Italy's economy in the 17th and 18th centuries halted further development of Lombardy. In 1706 the [[Austrian Empire]] came to power, and introduced some economic and social measures that allowed a degree of recovery to occur.

Austrian rule was interrupted in the late-18th century by the French; under [[Napoleon]], Lombardy became the centre of the [[Cisalpine Republic]] and of the [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]], both of which were [[puppet state]]s of France's [[First French Empire|First Empire]], with Milan as capital and Napoleon as head of state. During this period, Lombardy regained Valtellina from Switzerland.