VALTELINE. 



j diftion of the bilhop of Como. They are not refponfible 

 ' to the ordinary courts, their immunities being fo exor- 

 ; bitant as to render tliem ahnoll independent of the civil 

 I authority ; they are only amenable to the court of the 

 bifhop of Como. If a prieft is guilty of any mifde- 

 meanour, his perfon cannot be fecured without the con- 

 currence of the bifhop and governor of the diftrift in 

 x«hich the crime was committed. It is therefore extremely 

 I difficult to bring an ecclefiaftic to juftice ; as impunity is 

 eafily purchafed, either by fecuring the favour of the bifliop's 

 vicar or of the magiftrate. Nor are thefe pernicious pri- 

 [ vilegcs confined merely to the clergy, but extend to all pcr- 

 fons wearing an ecclefiaftical drefs, with the permifiion of 

 the bifhop of Como. 



All civil caufes of the clergy, below the value of two 

 hundred livres, are decided by the vicar of the bifhop of 

 Como : above that fum, they are brought before the bifhop. 

 An appeal from his decifion lies to the pope's nuncio at 

 Lucern, from him to the ecclefiatlical tribunal at Aquilea, 

 and from thence to Rome. 



The whole country is divided into three dill;ncls or 

 terzeros, called Sopra, Mezzo, and Solto, or Upper, Middle, 

 and Lower. Tirano is the capital of the firlt, Sondrio of 

 the fecond, and Morbegno of the lail. It is divided into 

 five governments ; viz. thofe of the upper diftricl ; of the 

 middle diftrift, called alfo the government of Sondrio ; of 

 Teglio, of Morbegno, and of Traona. 



Each of thefe five governments is fubjeft to a magiftrate 

 appointed by the Grifons, who is changed every two years. 

 The magiftrate over the middle dil^rift is called governor 

 of the Valteline, and puffeffes in fome refpeft a fuperior 

 degree of authority to the others, who are ftyled podejlas ; 

 he is alfo captain-general of the Valteline. 



All pubhc concerns, which do not fall under the jurifdic- 

 tion of the Grifons, are difcuffed and determined by a 

 council compofcd of five reprefentatives, one from each dif- 

 trift, which meets as occafion requires at Sondrio. 



The Valteline, together with the counties of Chiavenna 

 and Bormio, (which had long been the conftant fourcc of 

 hoftility between the bifhops of Como and Coire,) came, 

 in the year 1336, under the dominions of Azzo Vifconti, 

 fovereign of Milan, who quietly tranfmitted them to his 

 fuccellors. Upon the death of John Vifconti, one of 

 ■Azzo's fuccefTors, his territories were divided between his 

 nephews Galeazzo and Barnabas. Upon the demife of 

 Galeazzo, his fon, Jo!m Galeazzo, fecured the perfon of his 

 uncle Barnabas, and having confined him in the caftle of 

 Trevio, until his death, which happened in 1395, an- 

 nexed his dominions to his own, and became by this union 

 the greateft and moft powerful prince in Italy. Maftino, fon 

 of Barnabas, took fhelter, upon his father's imprifonment, 

 with Hartman, bifhop of Coire, and died in exile, without 

 recovering any fhare of his inheritance. Previous to his 

 death, he formally ceded all his right and title over the Val- 

 teline, Chiavenna, and Bormio, to the bifhop of Coire, as 

 a mark of gratitude for his protetlion. To this celfion, at 

 that time ot no avail, the Grifons owe the pofteflion of thefe 

 provinces. The claim lay dormant for above half a cen- 

 tury, until fome difcontents arifing in the Valtehne, in 

 1487, the Grifons made an irruption into that country, in 

 fupport of the biftiop's rights, but their arms not being at 

 that time attended with fuccefs, they purchafed a peace by 

 renouncing all pretenfions to the Valteline. They renewed, 

 however, their claim in 15 1 2, when Ludovico, called the 

 Moor, duke of Milan, was taken prifoner by Louis XII. ; 

 and the whole Milanefe, comprifing the Valtehne, occupied 

 by that monarch. Upon this revolution, the Grifons, in 



conjunaion with the bifiiop of Coire, entered the Valteline. 

 and havmg expelled the French troops, took poffefhon of 

 the country : they were received with joy by the inhabitants, 

 who did homage to their new fovereigns, and in return ob- 

 tamed from them the confirmation of all their privilege..' 

 A compromife was immediately entered into between th- 

 bifhop of Coire and the three leagues to ftiare between them 

 the iovcreignty of this country. In the following year 

 Maximilian Sforza, raifed to the ducal throne of Milan 

 upon the expulfion of the French, ceded in perpetuity the 

 pofTeffion of the Valteline, Chiavenna, and Bormio, to the 

 bifhop of Coire, and the Grifons ; and this ceifion was ra- 

 tified by Francis I. in the treaty of peace which he con- 

 cluded vith the Swifs and their alliej, the Grifons, ini5i6, 

 when he obtained poffefrion of the Milanefe. In 1530, the 

 repubhc of the Grifons acquired the whole dominion of 

 the Valtehne, to the exclufion of the biftiop of Coire, under 

 pretence that the latter had not furniflied his quota of men 

 and money in the war with James of Medici, in defence of 

 thefe ceded countries ; accordingly they compelled the 

 bifhop to fell his fhare of the fovereignty over the Valte- 

 line, Chiavenna, and Bormio, for a yearly income of 57c 

 florins, to be paid to the biftiop and his fuccefTors out of tlie 

 cuftoms of Chiavenna. From that period, thefe provinces 

 were poft'effed by the Grifons without moleftation, until the 

 rival intercfts of France and Spain, the intrigues of the 

 pope, religious enthuliafm, the zeal of party, and the ex- 

 aftions of the Grifon governors, kindled an infurredtion, 

 which commenced with a maffacre of the Proteftants, and 

 raged for a fcries of years with the moft favage and un- 

 remitting fury. 



During the conftant wars, which from the accefiion of 

 Philip II. the reftiefs ambition of the Spanifti court entailed 

 upon Europe, the German and Spanifti branches of the 

 Houfe of Auftria were infeparably united ; and the councils 

 of Vienna were directed by the cabinet of Madrid. Under 

 thefe circumftances, the Valteline, which, by connefting the 

 Tyrol and the Milanefe, aftbrded the only fecure paffage for 

 the jundfion of the Auftrian and Spanifti troops, became of 

 fignal importance. 



The fame reafons which rendered the Spaniards defirous 

 to fecure the Valteline, induced the French to obftruft theii- 

 defigns. The Spaniards, however, purfued their proje6is 

 upon the Valtehne without pppofition, when they were 

 freed from their moft formidable rival, the count of Fuentes, 

 governor of Milan, by affaftination, and availed themfelves 

 of the domeftic diffentions between the Grifons and the in- 

 habitants. When all the Proteftants were either deftroyed 

 or driven out of the country, the remaining inhabitants re- 

 nounced their allegiance to the Grifons, and framing a new 

 form of government, tlirew themfelves under the protertion 

 of the king of Spain, who fent an army to their fupport. 

 The people of Bormio followed the example of the Valte- 

 line, with this difference, that they did not maffacre, but 

 only expelled the Proteftants. Having entered into an 

 ofFenfive and defenfive alliance with the inhabitants of 

 the Valteline, they alfo formed an independent common- 

 wealth. 



The Grifons, divided among tiiemfelves, were totally un- 

 equal to the chaftifement of their revolted fubjefts. Tlie 

 Catholics were defirous of employing the mediation of 

 Spain, for the purpofe of recovering the Valteline ; the 

 Proteftants, inclined to vigorous meafures, propofed an ap- 

 plication to the Swifs cantons, Venice, and France. After 

 violent diffentions, which were not tcrminat-cd witliout blood, 

 fhed, the Proteftant interefl prevailed, and a deputation was 

 fent to thofe powers. 



Wltfn 



