Prehistory Parma was already a built-up area in the
Bronze Age. In the current position of the city rose a
terramare. The "terramare" (marl earth) were ancient villages built of wood on piles according to a defined scheme and squared form; constructed on dry land and generally in proximity to the rivers. During this age (between 1500 BC and 800 BC) the first
necropoleis (on the sites of the present-day Piazza Duomo and Piazzale della Macina) were constructed.
Antiquity The city was most probably founded and named by the
Etruscans, for a
parma or
palma (circular shield) was a
Latin borrowing, as were many Roman terms for particular arms, and the names
Parmeal,
Parmni and
Parmnial appear in Etruscan inscriptions.
Diodorus Siculus reported that the Romans had changed their rectangular shields for round ones, imitating the Etruscans. Whether the Etruscan encampment acquired its name from its round shape, like a shield, or from its metaphorical function as a shield against the Gauls to the north, remains uncertain. The
Roman colony was founded in 183 BC, together with Mutina (
Modena); 2,000 families were settled. Parma had a certain importance as a road hub over the
Via Aemilia and the Via Claudia. It had a forum, in what is today the central Garibaldi Square. In April 43 BC the city was destroyed. Subsequently
Augustus rebuilt it. During the
Roman Empire, it gained the title of
Julia for its loyalty to the imperial house.
Attila sacked the city in 452, and the Germanic king
Odoacer later gifted it to his followers. During the
Gothic War, however,
Totila destroyed it. It was then part of the
Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna (changing its name to
Chrysopolis, "Golden City", probably due to the presence of the imperial treasury) and, from 569, of the
Lombard Kingdom of Italy. During the Middle Ages, Parma became an important stage of the
Via Francigena, the main road connecting Rome to Northern Europe; several castles, hospitals and inns were built in the following centuries to host the increasing number of pilgrims who passed by Parma and Fidenza, following the Apennines via Collecchio, Berceto and the Corchia ranges before descending the Passo della Cisa into Tuscany, heading finally south toward Rome. The city had a medieval Jewish community. The
Palatine Library houses the largest collection of Hebrew manuscripts in Italy, and the second-largest in the world after the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
Middle Ages , 1196–1270 Under
Frankish rule, Parma became the capital of a county in 774. Like most northern Italian cities, it was nominally a part of the
Holy Roman Empire created by
Charlemagne, but locally ruled by its bishops, the first being Guibodus. In the subsequent struggles between the
Papacy and the Empire, Parma was usually a member of the Imperial party. Two of its bishops became
antipopes: Càdalo, founder of the cathedral, as
Honorius II; and Guibert, as
Clement III. An almost independent
commune was created around 1140; a treaty between Parma and
Piacenza of 1149 is the earliest document of a
comune headed by
consuls. After the
Peace of Constance in 1183 confirmed the Italian communes' rights of self-governance, long-standing quarrels with the neighbouring communes of
Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and
Cremona became harsher, with the aim of controlling the vital trading line over the
Po River. The struggle between
Guelphs and Ghibellines was a feature of Parma too. In 1213, her was the Guelph
Rambertino Buvalelli. Then, after a long stance alongside the emperors, the Papist families of the city gained control in 1248. The city was besieged in 1247–48 by Emperor
Frederick II, who was however defeated in
the battle that ensued but imperial forces revenged the loss soon afterwards and heavily defeated the Parmese. Frederick II recovered before his death in 1250, with Parma suing for peace. By 1328,
Rolando de' Rossi was made
signore of Parma. In 1331, the city submitted to King
John of Bohemia. Parma fell under the control of
Milan in 1341. After a short-lived period of independence under the Terzi family (1404–1409), the
Sforza imposed their rule (1440–1449) through their associated families of
Pallavicino, Rossi, Sanvitale and Da Correggio. These created a kind of new
feudalism, building towers and castles throughout the city and the land. These fiefs evolved into truly independent states: the Landi governed the higher
Taro's valley from 1257 to 1682. The Pallavicino seignory extended over the eastern part of today's province, with the capital in
Busseto. Parma's territories were an exception for Northern Italy, as its feudal subdivision frequently continued until more recent years. For example, Solignano was a Pallavicino family possession until 1805, and
San Secondo belonged to the Rossi well into the 19th century.
Modern era Between the 14th and the 15th centuries, Parma was at the centre of the Italian Wars. The
Battle of Fornovo was fought in its territory. The
French held the city in 1500–1521, with a short Papal parenthesis in 1512–1515. After the foreigners were expelled, Parma belonged to the
Papal States until 1545. In that year the
Farnese pope,
Paul III, detached Parma and
Piacenza from the Papal States and gave them as a duchy to his illegitimate son,
Pier Luigi Farnese, whose descendants ruled in Parma until 1731, when
Antonio Farnese, last male of the Farnese line, died. In 1594 a constitution was promulgated, the
University enhanced and the Nobles' College founded. There was also an important Jesuit college in Parma: it was the largest owned by the order in the entire region of Emilia-Romagna and it acquired a strong reputation in the scientific field, given that Fathers
Giuseppe Biancani,
Niccolò Cabeo and
Mario Bettinus, all members of the order, taught there. The war to reduce the barons' power continued for several years: in 1612
Barbara Sanseverino was executed in the central square of Parma, together with six other nobles charged of plotting against the duke. At the end of the 17th century, after the defeat of Pallavicini (1588) and Landi (1682) the Farnese duke could finally hold with firm hand all Parmense territories. The castle of the Sanseverino in
Colorno was turned into a luxurious summer palace by
Ferdinando Bibiena. In the Treaty of London (1718) it was promulgated that the heir to the combined
Duchy of Parma and
Piacenza would be
Elisabeth Farnese's elder son with
Philip V of Spain,
Don Carlos. In 1731, the fifteen-year-old Don Carlos became Charles I Duke of Parma and Piacenza, at the death of his childless great uncle Antonio Farnese. In 1734, Charles I conquered the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, and was crowned as the King of Naples and Sicily on 3 July 1735, leaving the Duchy of Parma to his brother
Philip (Filippo I di Borbone-Parma). All the outstanding art collections of the duke's palaces of Parma,
Colorno and
Sala Baganza were moved to
Naples. Parma was under French influence after the
Peace of Aachen (1748). Parma became a modern state with the energetic action of prime minister
Guillaume du Tillot. He created the bases for a modern industry and fought strenuously against the church's privileges. The city lived a period of particular splendour: the
Biblioteca Palatina (Palatine Library), the Archaeological Museum, the Picture Gallery and the Botanical Garden were founded, together with the Royal Printing Works directed by
Giambattista Bodoni, aided by the
Amoretti Brothers as skilled and inspired punchcutters.
Contemporary age During the
Napoleonic Wars (1802–1814), Parma was annexed to
France and made capital of the
Taro Department. Under its French name, Parme, it was also created a ''
duché grand-fief de l'Empire'' for
Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, the Emperor's Arch-Treasurer, on 24 April 1808 (extinguished in 1926). After the restoration of the Duchy of Parma by the 1814–15
Vienna Congress, the
Risorgimento's upheavals had no fertile ground in the tranquil duchy. In 1847, after
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma's death, it passed again to the
House of Bourbon, the last of whom was stabbed in the city and left it to his widow, Luisa Maria of Berry. On 15 September 1859 the dynasty was declared deposed, and Parma entered the newly formed province of Emilia under
Luigi Carlo Farini. With the
plebiscite of 1860 the former duchy became part of the unified
Kingdom of Italy. The loss of the capital role provoked an economic and social crisis in Parma. It started to recover its role of industrial prominence after the railway connection with
Piacenza and
Bologna of 1859, and with
Fornovo and
Suzzara in 1883.
Trade unions were strong in the city, in which a notable General Strike was declared from 1 May to 6 June 1908. The struggle with
Fascism had its most dramatic moment in August 1922, when the regime officer
Italo Balbo attempted to enter the popular quarter of Oltretorrente. The citizens organized into the
Arditi del Popolo ("The people's daring ones") and pushed back the
squadristi. This episode is considered the first example of Resistance in Italy. in Piazza della Pace. The rebuilt part on the right is where once was the church of St. Peter. During
World War II, Parma was a strong centre of
partisan resistance. The train station and marshalling yards were targets for high altitude bombing by the Allies in the spring of 1944. Much of the
Palazzo della Pilotta, situated not far (half a mile) from the train station, was destroyed. Along with it the
Teatro Farnese and part of the
Biblioteca Palatina were destroyed by Allied bombs; some 21,000 volumes of the library's collection were lost. Several other monuments were also damaged: Palazzo del Giardino, Steccata and San Giovanni churches, Palazzo Ducale, Paganini theater and the monument to
Verdi. However, Parma did not see widespread destruction during the war. Parma was liberated from the German occupation (1943–1945) on 26 April 1945 by the partisan resistance and the
Brazilian Expeditionary Force. While modern city politics has been dominated (as in much of Emilia-Romagna) by the left, in 1998 Parma elected centre-right candidate Elvio Ubaldi as mayor, again in 2002, and in 2007 elected the centre-right candidate Pietro Vignali. During their terms, Parma suffered from fiscal mismanagement, Vignali left office in 2011 with the city's debts amounting to over 600 million euros. In 2012, the city elected Federico Pizzarotti as mayor, making him the first mayor of a provincial capital to hail from
Five Star Movement. == Geography ==