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Felizzano
Comune
Comune di Felizzano
Felizzano Location of Felizzano in Italy Felizzano Felizzano (Piedmont)
Coordinates: 44°54′01″N 8°26′01″E
Country	Italy
Region	Piedmont
Province	Province of Alessandria (AL)
Area
• Total	25.2 km2 (9.7 sq mi)
Elevation	250 m (820 ft)
Population  (Dec. 2004)
• Total	2,750
• Density	110/km2 (280/sq mi)
Demonym	Felizzanesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	15023
Dialing code	0131

Felizzano (Flissan in Piemontese) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Turin and about 15 kilometres (9 mi) west of Alessandria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,405 and an area of 25.2 square kilometres (9.7 sq mi).

Felizzano borders the following municipalities: Altavilla Monferrato, Fubine, Masio, Oviglio, Quargnento, Quattordio, Solero, and Viarigi.

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History

Ancient Age

The name Felizzano is a clear example of a predial toponym, used during the Roman era to indicate a landholding. The use of the cognomen Felix instead of a gentilic, however, suggests a late antique origin.

Medieval Age

The first historical mention dates back to the year 880, when the cortem de filiciano was donated to the abbots of the Milanese monastery of Saint Ambrose by Charlemagne, on the occasion of his coronation as King of Italy. Having passed under the Aleramic domain, in the second half of the 11th century (by 1085) the manor of Felizzano was exchanged by Marquis Boniface del Vasto for the castle of Dego, land of Ardizzone, son of Otto II of Montferrat. Before 1125, Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor affirmed the sole supremacy over "possessions, goods, and dignity of the sons of Ardizzone" to Marquis Rainier. The concession became a cause of discord in 1135 when William V enforced it against his eldest son Ardizzino, who, in response, donated his part of Felizzano to the commune of Asti. William V gained control of the town in 1155, after the destruction of Asti by Frederick Barbarossa; the Marquis decided to fortify the town with a strong city wall and to endow it with a domus hospitalis entrusted to the Knights Hospitaller, later consecrated to Saint Peter according to the bull of April 17, 1160, by Pope Alexander III. The Marquis's supremacy over Felizzano was repeatedly reaffirmed by imperial diplomas until 1172, when the Marquis surrendered to the Lombard League, which was besieging him in his castle of Mombello; among the conditions imposed was the return of the Felizzano castle to the Asti people. The fates of the town and Marquis William crossed for the last time in 1186 when the men of Felizzano swore allegiance to him in his last public appearance before his journey to the Outremer, from which he would never return.

Anonymous drawing of the walls of Felizzano, 14th century

In 1213, Marquis William VI, to finance his war against Alessandria, sold half of the castle of Felizzano to the commune of Asti. The first certain news of a communal organization dates back to around 1266 when the commune de Filiçano, represented by Mayor Giacomo Carraria, was engaged in a dispute with the Felizzano church of San Salvario, the Hospitallers, and the monastery of San Bartolomeo of Azzano. In 1292, following the death of Marquis William VII at the hands of Alessandria, the castle was fully occupied by Asti until 1303, the year in which John I of Montferrat subjugated Asti. The military tower, which dominated the entire circuit of the walls from the central square, dates back to this period. Following the political instability created by the extinction of the Aleramici of Montferrat, in 1370 Felizzano passed, along with Casale, under the domain of the Visconti; in 1395, with the birth of the Duchy of Milan, it was included in the County of Alessandria. In this period, the Strada Franca of Montferrat originated, which, passing through Felizzano, allowed for duty-free connections between the two distinct areas into which the marquisate was divided.

In 1412, the Alessandrian territory was occupied by the company of venture of the condottiero Facino Cane; following his death, his subordinate Giorgio Valperga proclaimed himself lord of Felizzano. It was probably Valperga, often in the company of Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg, who brought ten finely crafted Syrian tiles to Felizzano, now preserved in the choir of the Church of Saint Peter. In 1447, Filippo Maria Visconti died without children, and the citizens of Milan proclaimed the Ambrosian Republic. Charles of Orléans, Count of Asti, claimed the duchy and ordered Rinaldo of Dresnay to attack Milanese lands; the Franco-Astigian troops plundered and set fire to the castle of Felizzano, before being defeated at Bosco Marengo. With the Peace of Lodi of 1454, the town was ceded as a fief to William, brother of Marquis John IV of Montferrat.

The Strada Franca of Felizzano on a 17th-century map.

Modern Age

Feudal investitures to the marquises of Montferrat were renewed until 1533, the year in which the dynasty of the Paleologus of Montferrat became extinct. Felizzano then returned to the Duchy of Milan, which by the end of the century would become a province first of the Holy Roman Empire and then of the Spanish Crown.

On September 2, 1617, during the first war of succession of Montferrat, the fort, occupied by a garrison of 1500 Trentino mercenaries in the service of Spain, was stormed, plundered, and set on fire by the French troops commanded by François Lesdiguières, allied with the Duchy of Savoy. The annexation to the Duchy of Savoy, however, occurred by imperial concession in 1707, during the War of Spanish Succession.

For much of the modern age, Felizzano was immediate land, that is, a place not enfeoffed, directly dependent on the jurisdiction of the prince. However, in 1744 Felizzano was granted as a marquisate fief to Francesco Sibaldi, a member of an Alessandrian decurional family. In 1752 he alienated his fief to the Alessandrian patrician Leonardo Colli, from whom descended General Luigi Colli di Felizzano and Minister Vittorio Colli di Felizzano.

Contemporary Age

From 1802, Piedmont came under French rule. During this period, the Canton of Felizzano was established, incorporating the municipalities of Castello di Annone, Cerro Tanaro, Masio, Quargnento, Quattordio, and Solero. With Napoleon's defeat and the subsequent return of the Savoys, Felizzano became the capital of a mandamento.

As a Savoy domain, it was first incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1847, and later into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. In 1849, to reduce the costs of the Turin-Genoa railway, the Sardinian government decided to divert the course of the Tanaro rather than build two bridges, thus distancing the river from the town center. The reclamation of the so-called Dead Tanaro was managed by engineer Emanuele de Ferrari.

Deputy Paolo Ercole, who served as mayor and alderman of the municipality for most of his life, contributed to the development of Felizzano through the allocation of state funds for the construction of a number of major works, including the paving of the Strada Maestra and the Piazza del Mercato (which were later named after Ercole), the construction of the bridge over the Tanaro River and the school building.

Demographic evolution

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References

Category:Cities and towns in Piedmont