The Vicariate of Valpolicella was an administrative entity created under the Venetian Republic following Verona's devotion to Venice in 1405, encompassing the Valpolicella territories that already constituted the County of Valpolicella established in the previous century by the Scaligers.
Throughout its existence, the Vicariate was able to enjoy an advantageous tax system, administrative autonomy, and certain privileges, such as being able to elect its own vicar. These concessions were made both because of the wealth of the territory and because of the need to be able to count on its loyalty being a border land. During the four centuries of the entity's existence, the territory was able to prosper, as evidenced by the many Venetian villas that were built there, and it was only marginally affected by the events of war that took place in neighboring territories. Even the underprivileged classes enjoyed relative affluence, when compared to the average of the time, but there was no shortage of epidemics and cases of malnutrition. Population growth was more or less constant, excluding the years when the region was affected by exceptional plague epidemics, such as the one in 1630 that caused the death of two-thirds of the inhabitants.
At the head of the vicariate was a vicar elected annually from among the patrician citizens of Verona, who took office on the first day of February, after a procession starting from Porta San Giorgio in Verona. He was assisted in his office by, among others, two notaries, an auditor, and four officers. The government was governed by the Council of Eighteen, this one elected for three years. Initially the Vicariate did not have a clearly defined seat, but from 1452 onward it is certain that it was established in the Domus Valli Pulicelle in San Pietro in Cariano.
With the final fall of the Venetian Republic and the subsequent Peace of Pressburg, on May 1, 1806, Veneto returned under the rule of the French, who abrogated the vicariates, including the Valpolicella one. Along with it disappeared the autonomies and privileges the territory had enjoyed for over four centuries.
Sources
There are several primary sources that allow us to reconstruct the administrative and judicial organization of the Vicariate of Valpolicella. One of the most important ones is the essay Privilegia et iura Communitatis et Hominum Vallis Pulicellae by the Negrarese jurist and poet Giangiacomo Pigari. Published in 1588, in it the author offers a detailed analysis of the Vicariate through a collection of all pre-existing legal material organizing it by subject. The text is accompanied by a dedication to the vicar Orazio Marani, as well as a carmen entitled Ad Nimphas Pulcellidas. Inside there is also a valuable miniature traditionally attributed to the painter Giovanni Caroto, although there are doubts about this...
Another primary source is a collection of rules and institutes called Ordini, e Consuetudini, che si osservano nell'Offitio del Vicariato della Valpolicella. Four editions were produced with updates occurring in the years 1635, 1676, 1678, and finally 1731.The 1731 edition can be viewed at Wikisource.
At the State Archives of Verona the original archival fund of the Vicariate is preserved. Substantially in good condition, it is, however, lacking the documents related to the 15th century, probably because in those early years a fixed location for the institution had not yet been chosen. The earliest available records, although chronologically fragmentary, date from 1491..
In addition, news about the ecclesiastical organization and the status of churches and parishes in the area can be reconstructed through the accounts of pastoral visits conducted in the valley by Veronese bishops Ermolao Barbaro (mid-15th century) and Gian Matteo Giberti (16th century).
History
Origins: the County of Valpolicella
When the bloody rule of Ezzelino III da Romano ended, the city of Verona appointed in 1259 Leonardino della Scala as its podestà and, the following year, captain of the people. This was the beginning of the city's seigniory of the Scaligeri family..
In the following years, the della Scala family greatly expanded their possessions, reaching its greatest extent with Cangrande, who came to rule over almost the entirety of today's Veneto, part of Emilia Romagna and Lombardy. As a result of the power they acquired, the Scaligers often faced internal struggles and opponents from the Guelph faction.
Beginning in 1276 Valpolicella, which was then divided into several feudal estates, thus found itself under the rule of the Scaligeri, becoming part of the seven "Colonels" into which the District of Verona was divided, namely, Gardesana, Montagna, Valpantena, Tione, Zosana, Fiumenovo and, precisely, Valpolicella, each of which was governed by a different apparatus... In 1311 Vallis Pulicella gained further autonomy, both administratively and judicially, by being granted the rank of county..
Many of the Valpolicella fiefdoms confiscated from the Sambonifacio, Guelph enemies of the Scaligeri, were entrusted to Federico della Scala, at that time podestà of Verona. They included the localities of Volargne, the Ceraino Sluice, Ponton (which boasted a harbor on the Adige River), and Marano with its castle. Federico, a staunch supporter of Emperor Henry VII, received confirmation of his powers over these fiefdoms from the latter on February 11, 1311, while on September 15 of the same year he was granted dominion over more or less the entire territory of today's Valpolicella.
Settling in the castle of Marano, which he had in the meantime restored and fortified, Federico began to administer the county assisted by the nobleman Ottonello da Ponton.. On January 24, 1314, the two lords entered into a treaty regulating relations between the county and the city of Verona to protect their mutual interests..
After participating in an unsuccessful conspiracy against Cangrande della Scala, lord of Verona, Federico fell into such ruin that on September 14, 1325, he was forced to flee into exile in Trent. With his demise, the era of the County of Valpolicella also came to an end and its territories were incorporated into the District of Verona, partially losing their independence.
The arrival of the Republic of Venice
With Antonio della Scala the seigniory of the Scaligeri fell, and on October 20, 1388, the Visconti rule of Gian Galeazzo Visconti began, during which the Valpolicella became a Colonel again; however, it was granted some tax concessions and partial independence of government.. With the death of Gian Galeazzo (1402) the Visconti seigniory in Verona also fell, and power briefly passed to Francesco da Carrara. Taking advantage of the discontent of the Veronese with the new lord and the continuing unrest in the city, the army of the Venetian Republic, aided in part by the people, entered Verona and put the Carraresi to flight..
With the passage under Venetian rule, followed by the devotion of Verona to Venice on June 24, 1405, Valpolicella became a vicariate. A golden bull issued on July 16, 1405 confirmed the previous boundaries and all the rights already acquired to which new ones were added, including the right to be able to appoint its own vicar independently. However, several years had to pass before a stable arrangement was reached, which was necessary to overcome some of the ancient feudal customs that were still observed. The first vicar who ruled over Valpolicella is believed to have been Francesco Brognolino, elected for the year 1414, but there is certainty of names only from 1420 onward with vicar Ruffino Campagna..
Among the other vicariates into which the Veronese territory was divided, the Valpolicella vicariate was the one that enjoyed throughout its history greater autonomy and a better economic and social environment.. Also in terms of territorial extension, the Valpolicella vicariate excelled among the others although the exact boundaries, which were the subject of continuous disputes with the Habsburgs of Austria, were established with exactitude only in the middle of the 18th century, when the Treaty on the Differences of Boundaries was signed by Francesco Morosini for the Republic and by Paride Wolkenstein for Austria; the document was then published in Rovereto on September 5, 1753.. More than 100 boundary markers were placed to indicate the border to the north; it began on the left bank of the Adige north of Ossenigo and then climbed to Corno d'Aquilio and arrived at Dosso Sparvieri on the Lessinian plateau after crossing Passo delle Fittanze, Castelberto, and Podesteria..
The four centuries under the Serenissima
Throughout the entire span of Venetian rule, Valpolicella went through a period of particular splendor, evidenced also by the numerous Venetian villas that were built as country residences for the wealthy Veronese patrician families, who went there on holiday or to follow their landed estates..
Despite being a border territory, in those four centuries Valpolicella was never the scene of bloody war events, apart from rare exceptions. In 1509, in the context of the War of the League of Cambrai, Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg crossed the Valpolicella with his troops on his way to conquer Verona, but without causing any particular problems. In contrast, seven years later, the same troops retreating northward indulged in looting and violence..
The religious wars of the 16th-17th centuries, such as the Thirty Years' War, did not directly involve Valpolicella, but the population had to cope with the catastrophic epidemics brought by the soldiers and fostered by the poor sanitary conditions that afflicted the poorer classes.. Malnutrition facilitated the spread among the peasants of diseases such as pellagra, which only the introduction of corn into agriculture could stem.. As in most of Europe, the plague of 1630 also raged in Valpolicella, killing about two-thirds of the entire population..
Although Venice had declared itself neutral, the War of the Spanish Succession brought harsh battles to its territory. While the population was not particularly harmed, Valpolicella was the protagonist of an important military operation: in 1701 Prince Eugene of Savoy, in an attempt to outflank the French troops commanded by Nicolas Catinat, barricaded on the slopes of Mount Baldo to bar their way south, led his army from Ala to the heights of the Lessini Mountains, reaching Verona on June 5 via the roads of Valpolicella..
The demise of the Vicariate
In 1796, during the first Italian campaign, Napoleon's armies conquered Verona, placing Valpolicella under their rule as well. Although the French provisional government wanted to appear as a promoter of freedom and continuity, the reality proved to be quite different, condemning the Venetian institutions to set off toward an inexorable decline... On April 17, 1797, there was a rebellion, which went down in history as the "Veronese Easter," in which many Valpolicella nobles and commoners took part. After a few days the revolt was suppressed in blood; the village of Pescantina alone saw the killing of as many as eighteen of its inhabitants who had tried to defend their boats from French soldiers who wanted to take possession of them...
With the Treaty of Campo Formio of 1797, which decreed the demise of the Venetian Republic, the centuries-old Vicariate of Valpolicella was also suppressed, however briefly reestablished following the subsequent cession of Veneto to the Austrians. The latter took steps to ensure that "the Laws in force at the time of January 1, 1796, concerning the good government and economy of the communes..." were fully executed..