Editing Padua (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}

=== Antiquity ===
[[File:Tomba di Antenore.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tomb of Antenor]]]]
Padua claims to be among the oldest cities in northern Italy. According to a tradition dated at least to the time of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' and to [[Livy]]'s ''[[History of Rome (Livy)|Ab Urbe Condita]]'', Padua was founded around 1183&nbsp;BC by the [[troy|Trojan]] prince [[Antenor (mythology)|Antenor]].<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe condita libri]]'', I.1.</ref>

After the [[Fall of Troy]], Antenor led a group of Trojans and their [[Paphlagonia]]n allies, the Eneti or [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]], who lost their king [[Pylaemenes]] to settle the Euganean plain in Italy. Thus, when a large ancient stone sarcophagus was exhumed in the year 1274, officials of the [[medieval commune]] declared the remains within to be those of Antenor. An inscription by the native [[humanist]] scholar [[Lovato Lovati]] placed near the tomb reads:
{{Blockquote|This sepulchre excavated from marble contains the body of the noble Antenor who left his country, guided the Eneti and Trojans, banished the Euganeans and founded Padua.<ref name="virtualtourist">{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Padova-146843/Things_To_Do-Padova-Tomb_of_Antenor-BR-1.html |title=Tomb of Antenor, Padova, Italy: Reviews, Photos plus Hotels Near Tomb of Antenor – VirtualTourist |publisher=virtualtourist.com |access-date=2015-08-16 |archive-date=12 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712162721/http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Padova-146843/Things_To_Do-Padova-Tomb_of_Antenor-BR-1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
However, more recent tests suggest the sepulcher dates back to between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Nevertheless, archeological remains confirm an early date for the foundation of the center of the town to between the 11th and 10th centuries B.C. By the 5th century BC, Padua, rose on the banks of the river Brenta, which in the Roman era was called ''Medoacus Maior'' and probably until AD 589 followed the path of the present-day Bacchiglione (''Retrone''). Padua was one of the principal centers of the [[Veneto|Veneti]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

The [[Rome|Roman]] historian [[Livy]] records an attempted invasion by the Spartan king Cleonimos around 302&nbsp;BC. The Spartans came up the river but were defeated by the Veneti in a naval battle and gave up the idea of conquest. Still, later, the Veneti of Padua successfully repulsed invasions by the [[Etruscans]] and [[Gauls]]. According to Livy and [[Silius Italicus]], the Veneti, including those of Padua, formed an alliance with the Romans by 226&nbsp;BC against their common enemies, first the Gauls and then the Carthaginians. Men from Padua fought and died beside the Romans at [[Battle of Cannae|Cannae]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

With Rome's northwards expansion, Padua was gradually assimilated into the [[Roman Republic]]. In 175&nbsp;BC, Padua requested the aid of Rome in putting down a local civil war. In 91&nbsp;BC, Padua, along with other cities of the Veneti, fought with Rome against the rebels in the [[Social War (90–88&nbsp;BC)|Social War]]. Around 49 (or 45 or 43) BC, Padua was made a Roman ''[[municipium]]'' under the ''Lex Julia Municipalis'' and its citizens ascribed to the Roman tribe, ''Fabia''. At that time the population of the city was perhaps 40,000.<ref name="google">{{cite book |title=Settlement, Urbanization, and Population |author1=Bowman, A. |author2=Wilson, A. |date=2011 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780199602353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yf5b50KuibQC |page=148 |access-date=10 October 2014 }}</ref> The city was reputed for its excellent breed of horses and the wool of its sheep. In fact, the poet [[Martial]] remarks on the thickness of the tunics made there.<ref>Epist. xiv.143</ref> By the end of the first century BC, Padua seems to have been the wealthiest city in Italy outside of Rome.<ref name="B.O. Foster 1919">B.O. Foster, "Introduction", in Livy, ''Books I and II'', The Loeb Classical Library (New York, 1919), page x.</ref> The city became so powerful that it was reportedly able to raise two hundred thousand fighting men. However, despite its wealth, the city was also renowned for its simple manners and strict morality. This concern with morality is reflected in Livy's ''Roman History'' (XLIII.13.2) wherein he portrays Rome's rise to dominance as being founded upon her moral rectitude and discipline.<ref>B.O. Foster, "Introduction," in Livy, ''Books I and II,'' The Loeb Classical Library (New York, 1919), xxi.</ref> Still later, Pliny, referring to one of his Paduan protégés' Paduan grandmother, Sarrana Procula, lauds her as more upright and disciplined than any of her strict fellow citizens (Epist. i.xiv.6).<ref name="B.O. Foster 1919"/> Padua also provided the Empire with notable intellectuals. Nearby [[Abano Terme|Abano]] was the birthplace, and after many years spent in Rome, the death place of Livy, whose Latin was said by the critic Asinius Pollio to betray his ''Patavinitas'' (q.v. Quintilian, ''Inst. Or.'' viii.i.3).<ref>B.O. Foster, "Introduction," in Livy, ''Books I and II'', The Loeb Classical Library (New York, 1919), xxiii.</ref>

Padua was also the birthplace of [[Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus|Thrasea Paetus]], [[Asconius Pedianus]], and perhaps [[Gaius Valerius Flaccus|Valerius Flaccus]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Christianity was introduced in Padua and in most of the Veneto region by [[Prosdocimus|Saint Prosdocimus]]. He is venerated as the first bishop of the city. His deacon, the Jewish convert [[Daniel of Padua|Daniel]], is also a saintly patron of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Back |first1=Get |last2=laurettadimmick |date=14 September 2019 |title=Padova, a lovely historic town in the Veneto (Padua, part 1) |url=https://getbacklauretta.com/2019/09/14/padova-a-lovely-historic-town-in-the-veneto/ |access-date=6 June 2023 |website=get back, lauretta! |language=en |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606121457/https://getbacklauretta.com/2019/09/14/padova-a-lovely-historic-town-in-the-veneto/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


===Late Antiquity===
The history of Padua during [[Late Antiquity]] follows the course of events common to most cities of north-eastern Italy. Padua suffered from the invasion of the [[Huns]] and was savagely sacked by [[Attila the Hun|Attila]] in 450. A number of years afterward, it fell under the control of the [[Goths|Gothic]] kings [[Odoacer]] and [[Theodoric the Great]]. It was reconquered for a short time by the [[Byzantine Empire]] in 540 during the [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic War]]. However, depopulation from plague and war ensued. The city was again seized by the Goths under [[Totila]], but was restored to the Eastern Empire by [[Narses]] only to fall under the control of the [[Lombards]] in 568. During these years, many Paduans sought safety in the countryside and especially in the nearby lagoons of what would become [[Venice]]. In 601, the city rose in revolt against [[Agilulf]], the Lombard king who put the city under siege. After enduring a 12-year-long bloody siege, the Lombards stormed and burned the city. Many ancient artifacts and buildings were seriously damaged. The remains of an amphitheater (the ''Arena'') and some bridge foundations are all that remain of Roman Padua today.{{Dubious|date=July 2012}} The townspeople fled to the hills and later returned to eke out a living among the ruins; the ruling class abandoned the city for the [[Venetian Lagoon]], according to a chronicle.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} The city did not easily recover from this blow, and Padua was still weak when the [[Franks]] succeeded the Lombards as masters of northern Italy.

===Frankish and Episcopal Supremacy===
At the Diet of Aix-la-Chapelle (828), the duchy and [[Marches|march of Friuli]], in which Padua lay, was divided into four counties, one of which took its title from the city of Padua.

The end of the early [[Middle Ages]] in Padua was marked by the sack of the city by the [[Hungarian people|Magyars]] in 899. It was many years after Padua recovered from this ravage.

During the period of [[Roman Catholic Church|episcopal]] supremacy over the cities of northern Italy, Padua does not appear to have been either very important or very active. The general tendency of its policy throughout the [[Investiture Controversy|war of investitures]] was Imperial ([[Ghibelline]]) and not Roman ([[Guelphs|Guelph]]); and its bishops were, for the most part, of Germanic extraction.

===Emergence of the Commune===
Under the surface, several important movements were taking place that were to prove formative for the later development of Padua.

At the beginning of the 11th century, the citizens established a constitution, composed of a general council or [[Legislative Assembly|legislative assembly]] and a ''credenza'' or executive body.

During the next century, they were engaged in wars with Venice and Vicenza for the right of water-way on the Bacchiglione and the Brenta. The city grew in power and self-confidence and in 1138, the government was entrusted to two consuls.

The great families of [[Camposampiero]], [[House of Este|Este]] and [[Alberico da Romano|Da Romano]] began to emerge and to divide the Paduan district among themselves. The citizens, in order to protect their liberties, were obliged to elect a [[podestà]] in 1178. Their choice first fell on one of the Este family.

A fire devastated Padua in 1174. This required the virtual rebuilding of the city.

[[File:Duomo (Padua) - Facade.jpg|thumb|The unfinished façade of [[Padua Cathedral]] ]]

The temporary success of the [[Lombard League]] helped to strengthen the towns. However, their civic jealousy soon reduced them to weakness again. In 1214–1216, Padua was involved in [[War of the Castle of Love|a conflict with Venice]], which it lost. In 1236 [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] found little difficulty in establishing his vicar [[Ezzelino III da Romano]] in Padua and the neighbouring cities, where he practised frightful cruelties on the inhabitants. Ezzelino was unseated in June 1256 without civilian bloodshed, thanks to [[Pope Alexander IV]].

Padua then enjoyed a period of calm and prosperity: the basilica of the saint was begun; and the Paduans became masters of Vicenza. The [[University of Padua]] (the second university in Italy, after Bologna) was founded in 1222, and as it flourished in the 13th century, Padua outpaced Bologna, where no effort had been made to expand the revival of classical precedents beyond the field of jurisprudence, to become a center of early [[Renaissance humanism|humanist researches]],<ref>"The linear ancestor of [[Renaissance humanism]]" according to Roberto Weiss, ''The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity'' (Oxford: Blackwell) 1973:17.</ref> with first-hand knowledge of Roman poets that was unrivalled in Italy or beyond the Alps.<ref>Guido Billanovich, "'Veterum Vestigia Vatum' nei carmi dei preumanisti padovani", ''Italia Medioevale e Umanistica'' I 1958:155–243, noted by Weiss 1973:17 note 4.</ref>

However, the advances of Padua in the 13th century finally brought the commune into conflict with [[Cangrande I della Scala|Can Grande della Scala]], lord of Verona. In 1311 Padua had to yield to the Scaligeri of Verona.

===Emergence of the Signoria===
[[Jacopo I da Carrara|Jacopo da Carrara]] was elected lord (''signore'') of Padua in 1318, at that point the city was home to 40,000 people.<ref name="google2">{{cite book |title=People, Land, and Politics: Demographic Developments and the Transformation of Roman Italy 300&nbsp;BC-AD 14 |author1=de Ligt, L. |author2=Northwood, S.J. |date=2008 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004171183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4toKjuTLOQUC |page=150 |access-date=10 October 2014 }}</ref> From then till 1405, nine members of the [[Carraresi family]], including Ubertino, Jacopo II, and Francesco il Vecchio, succeeded one another as lords of the city, with the exception of a brief period of [[House of Scaliger|Scaligeri]] overlordship between 1328 and 1337 and two years (1388–1390) when [[Gian Galeazzo Visconti|Giangaleazzo Visconti]] held the town. The period of the ''signoria'' is covered down to 1358 in the chronicle of [[Guglielmo Cortusi]].

The Carraresi period was a long period of restlessness, for the Carraresi were constantly at war. Under Carraresi rule the early humanist circles in the university were effectively disbanded: [[Albertino Mussato]], the first modern [[poet laureate]], died in exile at [[Chioggia]] in 1329, and the eventual heir of the Paduan tradition was the Tuscan [[Petrarch]].<ref>Weiss 1973:21.</ref>

In 1387 [[John Hawkwood]] won the [[Battle of Castagnaro]] for Padua, against [[Giovanni Ordelaffi]], for [[Verona]]. The Carraresi period finally came to an end as the power of the Visconti and of Venice grew in importance.

===Venetian rule===
[[File:Clock tower and Lion of St. Mark in Padova - just like the ones in Venice.jpg|thumb|left|Clock tower and [[Lion of St. Mark]], symbol of the [[Republic of Venice|'Most Serene Republic']]]]

Padua came under the rule of the [[Republic of Venice]] in 1405, and mostly remained that way until the [[fall of the Republic of Venice|fall of the republic]] in 1797.

There was just a brief period when the city changed hands (in 1509) during the wars of the [[War of the League of Cambrai|League of Cambrai]]. On 10 December 1508, representatives of the Papacy, France, the [[Holy Roman Empire]], and [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand V of Castile]] concluded the League of Cambrai against the Republic. The agreement provided for the complete dismemberment of Venice's territory in Italy and for its partition among the signatories: [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I]] of the House of Habsburg was to receive Padua in addition to Verona and other territories. In 1509 Padua was held for just a few weeks by Imperial supporters. Venetian troops quickly recovered it and successfully defended Padua during [[Siege of Padua|its siege]] by Imperial troops.

The city was governed by two Venetian nobles, a podestà for civil affairs and a captain for military affairs. Both of them were elected for sixteen months. Under these governors, the great and small councils continued to discharge municipal business and to administer the Paduan law, contained in the statutes of 1276 and 1362. The treasury was managed by two chamberlains; and every five years the Paduans sent one of their nobles to reside as [[nuncio]] in Venice, and to watch the interests of his native town.

Venice fortified Padua with new walls, built between 1507 and 1544, with a series of monumental gates.

===Austrian rule===
In 1797 the Venetian Republic [[Fall of the Republic of Venice|came to an end]] with the [[Treaty of Campo Formio]], and Padua, like much of the Veneto region, was ceded to the [[Habsburgs]]. In 1806 the city passed to the French puppet [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]] until the fall of [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]], in 1814, when the city became part of the newly formed [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]], part of the [[Austrian Empire]].

Austrian rule was unpopular with progressive circles in northern Italy, but the feelings of the population (from the lower to the upper classes) towards the empire were mixed. In Padua, [[Revolutions of 1848|the year of revolutions of 1848]] saw a student revolt which on 8 February turned the University and the [[Pedrocchi Café|Caffè Pedrocchi]] into battlegrounds in which students and ordinary Paduans fought side by side. The revolt was however short-lived, and there were no other episodes of unrest under the Austrian Empire (nor previously had there been any), as in [[Repubblica di San Marco|Venice]] or in other parts of Italy; while opponents of Austria were forced into exile.

Under Austrian rule, Padua began its industrial development; one of the first Italian [[rail tracks]], Padua-Venice, was built in 1845.

In 1866 the [[Battle of Königgrätz]] gave Italy the opportunity, as an ally of [[Prussia]], to take [[Veneto]], and Padua was also annexed to the recently formed [[Kingdom of Italy]].

===Italian rule===
Annexed to Italy during 1866, Padua was at the centre of the poorest area of [[Northern Italy]], as [[Veneto]] was until the 1960s. Despite this, the city flourished in the following decades both economically and socially, developing its industry, being an important agricultural market and having a very important cultural and technological centre like the University. The city hosted also a major military command and many regiments.

===The 20th century===
When Italy entered [[World War I]] on 24 May 1915, Padua was chosen as the main command of the [[Italian Army]]. The king, [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|Vittorio Emanuele III]], and the [[Commander-in-chief|commander in chief]], Cadorna, went to live in Padua for the period of the war. After the defeat of Italy in the battle of [[Kobarid|Caporetto]] in autumn 1917, the front line was situated on the river Piave. This was just {{cvt|50|-|60|km|0}} from Padua, and the city was now in range of the Austrian artillery. However, the [[Military of Italy|Italian military]] command did not withdraw. The city was bombed several times (about 100 civilian deaths). A memorable feat was [[Gabriele d'Annunzio|Gabriele D'Annunzio]]'s flight to [[Vienna]] from the nearby San Pelagio Castle air field.

A year later, the threat to Padua was removed. In late October 1918, the Italian Army won the decisive [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]], and the Austrian forces collapsed. The [[Armistice of Villa Giusti|armistice was signed at Villa Giusti]], Padua, on 3 November 1918.

During the war, the industry grew rapidly, and this provided Padua with a base for further post-war development. In the years immediately following World War I, Padua developed outside the historical town, enlarging and growing in population, even if labor and social strife were rampant at the time.

As in many other areas in Italy, Padua experienced great social turmoil in the years immediately following World War I. The city was shaken by strikes and clashes, factories and fields were subject to occupation, and war veterans struggled to re-enter civilian life. Many supported a new political way, [[fascism]]. As in other parts of Italy, the [[National Fascist Party]] in Padua soon came to be seen as the defender of property and order against revolution. The city was also the site of one of the largest fascist mass rallies, with some 300,000 people reportedly attending one speech by [[Benito Mussolini]].

New buildings, in typical [[fascist architecture]], sprang up in the city. Examples can be found today in the buildings surrounding Piazza Spalato (today Piazza Insurrezione), the railway station, the new part of City Hall, and part of the Bo Palace hosting the University.

Following Italy's defeat in the [[Second World War]] on 8 September 1943, Padua became part of the [[Italian Social Republic]], a [[puppet state]] of the Nazi occupiers. The city hosted the Ministry of Public Instruction of the new state, as well as military and militia commands and a [[Military airbase|military airport]]. The Resistenza, the [[Italian resistance movement|Italian partisans]], was very active against both the new fascist rule and the Nazis. One of the main leaders of the Resistenza in the area was the University vice-chancellor, Concetto Marchesi.

From December 1943 to the end of the war, [[Bombing of Padua in World War II|Padua was bombed 24 times by Allied aircraft]]; the heaviest raids were the ones on 16 and 30 December 1943 (each of which caused 300 victims), 7 February 1944 (300 victims), 11 March 1944 (over 300 tons of bombs dropped by 111 bombers), 22 and 23 March 1944, 20 April 1944 (180 victims), 22 February and 12 March 1945.<ref name="giuliocesaro.it">{{Cite web |url=http://www.giuliocesaro.it/pdf/storici/012%20Bombardamenti%20aerei%20Padova.pdf |title=Bombardamenti aerei sulla città di Padova e provincia, 1943–1945 |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304235909/http://www.giuliocesaro.it/pdf/storici/012%20Bombardamenti%20aerei%20Padova.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mattinopadova.gelocal.it/padova/cronaca/2013/03/11/news/11-marzo-69-anni-fa-il-bombardamento-che-distrusse-gli-eremitani-1.6679035 |title=11 marzo, 69 anni fa il bombardamento che distrusse gli Eremitani |date=11 March 2013 |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=12 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412192227/https://mattinopadova.gelocal.it/padova/cronaca/2013/03/11/news/11-marzo-69-anni-fa-il-bombardamento-che-distrusse-gli-eremitani-1.6679035 |url-status=live }}</ref> The worst-hit areas were the railway station (the target of most raids) and the northern district of Arcella, where 96% of all buildings were destroyed; overall, 950 homes were destroyed and 1,400 damaged.<ref name="Enciclopedia Treccani">{{Cite web |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/padova_res-8da8cd0a-87e6-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/ |title=Enciclopedia Treccani |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=12 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412192238/http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/padova_res-8da8cd0a-87e6-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_(Enciclopedia-Italiana) |url-status=live }}</ref> During one of these bombings, the [[Church of the Eremitani]], with frescoes by [[Andrea Mantegna]], was destroyed, considered by some [[History of art|art historians]] to be Italy's biggest wartime cultural loss. The [[Padua Cathedral|Cathedral]] and the [[University of Padua|University]] also suffered damage.<ref name="Enciclopedia Treccani"/> Some 2,000 inhabitants of Padua were killed by the raids.<ref name="giuliocesaro.it"/>

On 26 April 1945, the partisans started the final insurrection against the Germans and Fascists; in the subsequent fighting, 224 partisans and 497 Germans were killed. 5,000 German troops, including three generals, surrendered to the partisans in Padua, and another 10,000 in the surrounding area; on 28 April New Zealand troops (2nd New Zealand Division) of the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]] entered the city.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wUMQBQAAQBAJ&dq=generale+arnim+padova&pg=PT712 I nemici di Mussolini: Storia della Resistenza armata al regime fascista]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mattinopadova.gelocal.it/padova/cronaca/2017/04/24/news/quel-28-aprile-1945-ecco-come-fu-liberata-padova-1.15244441 |title=Quel 28 aprile 1945, ecco come fu liberata Padova |date=24 April 2017 |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=19 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219092339/https://mattinopadova.gelocal.it/padova/cronaca/2017/04/24/news/quel-28-aprile-1945-ecco-come-fu-liberata-padova-1.15244441 |url-status=live }}</ref> A small [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|Commonwealth]] War Cemetery is located in the west part of the city, commemorating the sacrifice of these troops.

After the war, the city developed rapidly, reflecting Veneto's rise from being the poorest region in northern Italy to one of the richest and most economically active regions of modern Italy.