Castello di Ghedi

About

The Ghedi Castle, which initially consisted of a wall built around the primitive settlement of Ghedi, was built in the early medieval age although the exact date of its construction is unknown. It was also remodeled several times over the centuries, partly because of the numerous sieges it suffered and the new war armaments implemented by rival armies.

In the absence of historical documents that can report the dating of a first building, and the development of the primitive walled enclosure, its construction is conventionally circumscribed around the twelfth-thirteenth century: in fact, it was in this period that the town of Ghedi, recognized as a Communitas, and therefore no longer as a small group of individuals, began to assume importance in the chessboard of the Brescian territory. The juridical, economic-administrative, and political organization of the town became increasingly consolidated, so much so that, from the work of the Ghedi archivist Angelo Maria Franchi, the Annals, several purchases of houses, land, water rights, and large plots of arable fields are noted. Since, therefore, the town of Ghedi was in full growth, a clash between the newborn municipality and the influential abbey of Leno, about the management of some state-owned lands, was configured as inevitable; the querelle was finally amicably resolved in 1366 also thanks to the mediating activity of the nobleman from Brescia Giovanni Chizzola.

Parallel to this rise of the medieval village, the city walls certainly had to grow in importance as well: it can certainly be said that the castle in 1319 had been armed and tested for quite some time. It was precisely its active function as a fortress and its strategically favorable position that attracted the attention of the city of Brescia, which, in a move to consolidate its influence in the territory, sought to subdue the city of Ghedi as well. The smaller rural municipalities, after all, ensured the mother cities a supply of labor for the construction of city buildings, the completion of public works, the collection of taxes and fees, as well as the supply of men-at-arms for their armies. No surprise, then, that in 1302 a small armed contingent, offered by Ghedi, helped the Brescian capital quell some revolts in the Camonica Valley, just as, if in 1310, a handful of soldiers were made available to resist the siege of Brescia [ it ] of Emperor Arrigo VII.

Despite Ghedi's subordinate relationship to the city acts of rebellion certainly did not lack: in 1306 the lord-bishop of Brescia Berardo Maggi [ it ] imposed on the commune the payment of a fine of ten thousand pounds, being guilty of having offered shelter to Tebaldo Brusato [ it ] and his subordinates; it was perhaps because of the failure to pay the large fine that in 1307 the Brescians attacked the Ghedi castle, which in the meantime had turned to the city of Cremona in search of protection, and whose troops had barricaded themselves in the military structure. Nevertheless, their defeat came in short order, and the Brescian capital imposed an even harsher fine, this time of twenty thousand Brescian liras. Brescia's desire to keep Ghedi under its dominion is thus evident, and, if for the other rural municipalities of the Bassa Bresciana the reasons were purely economic and territorial, the Ghedese constitutes precisely a case apart: given the presence of the castle, which constituted a potential outpost for Brescian troops, Ghedi was configured as a particularly desirable town. This is evidenced by an episode from 1319 narrated by Abbot Zamboni, who reports thus:

Intrinsic Brescians, who were Guelphs, assisted by the Bolognese, and the Florentines, besieged Ghedi, and beating it with machines, took it back, leading prisoners in Brescia one hundred and fifty of the principal Gibellini, who watched the prisons for seven years.

— B. Zamboni, Report on the Solemn Entrance of the Most Reverend Archpriest and Rural Dean Don Giuseppe Tedoldi, made in Ghedi, 1770, p. XV

Also reported by Zamboni in his work, in January 1320, there was another episode of retaliation against the Mother City, Brescia, which was nevertheless determined not to lose its hegemony over the Ghedese municipality:

- The exiles from Brescia, together with the Veronese, surprise the castle once again... they kill forty men and take seventy prisoners to Verona, who are forced to regain their freedom by paying a hefty ransom.

— B. Zamboni, Report on the Solemn Entrance of the Most Reverend Archpriest and Rural Dean Don Giuseppe Tedoldi, made in Ghedi, 1770, p. XV

The city walls, in its first very modest construction, during the 14th century must surely have been quite different and much more similar to a real castle surrounded by mighty walls; the moats, already certainly existing in the early 14th century, were later enlarged and made more obstructive to passage: throughout the century, as already pointed out, the municipality of Ghedi had the opportunity to develop and grow in prestige both economically and militarily, and also from a purely demographic point of view. Thus arose the first settlements outside the walls, and with them also the traditional four villages, the so-called “quadre,” of which today only the name is remembered:

- Borgo Gazzolo, also called Contrada Palazzo (probably following the construction of Palazzo Orsini ), which reached as far as the western moat of the castle;

- Borgonuovo, so called perhaps because it arose last (it was also called Borgo della Serriola della Fossa or Borgo di S. Lucia, due to the presence of a church named after St. Lucy) in the northern part of the walls;

- Malborgo or via di Montechiaro, which extended to the east. As already pointed out, the municipality of Ghedi was involved, during the 14th century, in numerous bloody clashes between the ranks of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, then the Visconti and the Scaligeri, respectively; precisely because of these wars that took place over a short period, the castle and its walls suffered several sieges and were thus destroyed several times. One of the many events is again reported by Abbot Zamboni:

- 1361 – Lord Can, Lord of Verona, launched an attack on the territory of Brescia and took Ghedi along with several other castles, which, once they were recaptured by Barnabò Visconti, were left demolished.

— B. Zamboni, Report on the Solemn Entrance of the Most Reverend Archpriest and Rural Dean Don Giuseppe Tedoldi, made in Ghedi, 1770, p. XV

The military vocation of the town of Ghedi therefore remained central to the dynamics of the community, so much so that in 1436 the latter was exempted by the captain general of the Serenissima and Marquis of Mantua Francesco Gonzaga from paying extraordinary contributions, so that already the town was able to offer accommodation to more than 300 army horses and that the walls of the village needed reconstruction ex novo; we also know from the Diary of Pandolfo Nassino, citizen of Brescia and Vicar of Ghedi, that on April 8, 1437: “fo messa la prima preda del fabricar del castello de gedi."Among other things, Nassino had occasion to note inscriptions that formed a “memoria notata et scripta sotto la logetta che è nella parte de sera alla piazza de gedi a mezzo dì alla porta del castello,” reported in turn in 1666 by the Ghedese notary Mamentino: “1437 - La terra di Ghedi trovandosi assai populata, e doviziosa fece fabbricar il castello nel mezzo d'essa Terra con le sue fosse e terrapieni molto bello, essendo Doge di Venezia Pietro Candiano.”

In 1438, however, the walls must not have been ready at all when the Visconti troops, in the pay of Niccolò Piccinino, imposed themselves on the Venetian troops of Gattamelata, reflexively conquering Ghedi as well; the town would return to Venetian hands a short time later, in 1440, thanks to the then captain general of the Republic, the condottiere Francesco Sforza. Because of the extensive damage the castle suffered, on June 16, 1438, Ghedi was granted 200 imperial liras per year for four years and exemptions for another four years from the contribution for the fortresses of Bresciano, having to provide for its castle.”: It was indeed in the interest of the Serenissima to protect the city of Ghedi and its delicate position as an important outpost and crucial junction in the chessboard of the Lombard territory.

It was precisely under the Venetian republic that Ghedi took on a role of extreme importance in the war events of the time, partly because of an ever-increasing Venetian commitment to protecting its western front threatened especially by the Duchy of Milan : in fact, an episode narrated by the Brescian historian Cristoforo da Soldo [ it ] is memorable, namely the siege waged against Ghedi between June 29 and July 6, 1453, in the so-called Battle of Ghedi ; Francesco Sforza himself, who had become Duke of Milan, had formed an alliance with the Marquis of Mantua and aimed to expand his possessions, in line with the previous Visconti policy. The castle was therefore besieged and attacked at a weak point, a bastia (which the Venetian republic had had filled in knowing it to be a possible breach, but evidently to no avail), and thereafter the bombards were lined up: the walls were continually hit by powerful shells, a total of 295, for a total of five days; the Ghedese finally asked for a day's truce to meditate on what to do. They therefore surrendered only on the condition that their lives were saved and their property remained intact. Cristoforo da Soldo's account of this event is therefore an important source to refer to:

- The next night, they rose from that place and came to Gaido to encamp, with this order: that Count Francesco also rose that night and came to camp. And thus again, he left Seniga and came to Gaido to join him. Seeing the army of the Signoria (of Venice) that Count Francesco had raised, they immediately rose from Pontevico and came to position themselves in Porzano, after Count Francesco, four miles from Ghedi. Immediately, Count Francesco set up the bombards, and on the 30th of June, he took the bastion that had been constructed by those of our Signoria near the castle…

Returning to the matter of Count Francesco, he bombarded the town of Gaido until the 5th of July. On that day, they came to parley and agreed upon a one-day truce, which was set for the 6th of July, with the condition that both goods and persons would be spared. And so it was done on the said day at the 22nd hour.