Guide to the city

Soncino became the main garrison on the northeastern border, often disputed and occupied by the nearby Venetian Republic. With the re-establishment of the Sforza authority, Soncino passed to the Dukedom of Milan, ensuring a period of peace and prosperity. The economic activity became flourishing with the manufacture and trade of the “pannilana”, the foundation of the Collegio dei Notai and the opening of a pawnshop with the call of the Jews from the near- by Orzinuovi in 1454. The new walls, started by the Venetians, were completed by the Dukes of Milan, while the new fortress was begun in 1473 and com- pleted in 1475. Despite the huge expenses to make Soncino a formi- dable fortress, the village capitulated in 1499, occupied by the Ve- netians. After a decade of peaceful government of the Serenissima, Soncino passed to the French and, after different events, in 1525, with the battle of Pavia and the imprisonment of Francis I of France, first to the Empire and then to the Spanish monarchy. With the imperial diploma (5th November 1536), Charles V, succes- sor to the Milanese Dukedom, enfeoffed Soncino to Massimiliano Stampa. The Stampas will remain marquises of Soncino until 1876. 7 THE HISTORY OF SONCINO