Piedmonte
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A map of Piedmonte. The red line indicates the borders of the Duchy of Piedmonte. The yellow lines signal the borders of the various parts of Piedmonte. 1 - the Valley and County of Aosta; 2 - the Signoriate of Vercelli; 3 - Piedmonte proper; 4 - the Marquisate of Montferrat; 5 - the Signoriate of Asti; 6 - the Marquisate of Saluzzo; 7 - “Southern-Piedmonte”, also known as the “Piedmontese plains”, also known as “Villafranca Piemonte”, centered around Mondovì and Cuneo; 8 - the County of Nizza; 9 - the Principality of Monaco.
--- Facts in Brief ---
Name: Piemont (Piedmontese), Pedemontium (Latin), Piémont (French), Piemonte (most Italian dialects)
Practiced religions: Roman Chatolic Christianity, Judaism, Waldens heresy
Languages of nobility: Piedmontese, Burgundian, Franco-Provençal
Spoken languages: Piedmontese, Franco-Provençal, Rheto-Romance, Lombard, Ligurian
Ruling cultures: Piedmontese, Burgundian
Significant minority cultures: Provençal, Ligurian, Lombard
Capital: Torino
Major cities: Aosta, Cuneo, Mondovì, Nizza, Susa, Vercelli.
Major port: Nizza
The name “Pedemontium” (that word comes from the Piedmontese “piè 'd mont” or from the French “pied de mont” - “foot of the mountain”) appeared for the first time in the early 13th century, referring to the territory bordered by the Pò and Sangone rivers and the Alps (no.3 on the map above). Later, with the progress of the Savoyard conquest, the name spread to the plains around Mondovì (no.7 on the map), the Signoriate of Vercelli (no.2), the Marquisate of Saluzzo (no.6), and nowadays even Asti (no.5) and Montferrat (no.4) are considered to be parts of the geographical area known as Piedmonte. Note that the Valley of Aosta and the coastal area around Nizza are excluded; moreover, these areas are considered separate states, the County of Nizza and the County of Aosta, with different languages, different customs and even different laws.
[anchor=piemhist]
Brief History[/anchor]
The Roman Republic conquered the subalpine region that is Piedmonte in around BC 200. Populated by various Gallic people, the area was fully Romanized during the 700 years long Roman reign. The important cities of today, Susa, Aosta, Torino, Cuneo were all founded in the first century, BC. Following the fall of Rome the territory, known as Eastern-Sabaudia or Lower-Sabaudia since around the 5th century, was part of the Kingdom of Ostrogoths, and was reconquered to Rome by Belisarius for a brief period of time - Turin was the first Italian city Iustinian lost, lost to his allies, the Burgundians. But in 576 the Kingdom of the Lombards seized power in the area, and the Duchy of Turin was created under the rule of a certain Aymone (Aimonius; “Edmond”) - the name Aimone is unduly popular in the region ever since. The Franks conquered the Piedmont in 772. As elsewhere, the territory was divided into counties. After the partition of the Empire of Charlemagne, the Piedmont went to Lotharingia, more precisely to the Kingdom of Italy.
Berengar, Duke and Margrave of Friuli, King of Italy, conqeuered Ivrea from one of his reluctant vassals, and added “Count of Ivrea” to his titles. His son, Anscario (Anscarius), after whom the family is often called “House Anscarici”, conquered Torino and the Valley of Susa, and thus dominated Piedmonte proper. Anscario styled himself “Marquis of Ivrea”, and his family became extremely influental not only in Italy (where his descendants became the Dukes of Spoleto), but also in Iberia (where his descendants became the Counts of Barcelona, and later Kings of Aragon), and in Burgundy (where his descendants became prominent nobles in the Franche-Comté). His Marquisate of Ivrea, however, was divided into three parts: Ivrea, Torino, Susa. These Marquisates were ceaselessly fighting, really. The Marquisate of Torino was able to dominate the Marquisate of Susa, and - for two long years - even Ivrea, when Olderico Manfredi (descendant of Manfredo Friuli d’Ivrea) conquered it from his cousin, Ardunio I. This Olderico left the rule to his daughter, Adelaide. Adelaide married Marquis Enrique of Montferrat of the House Aleramici, but he died very early on, failing to produce a heir, and in 1446 (48?) she was married to Oddone of Savoy, son of Umberto Biancamano, and her right was transferred onto the house of Savoy, already lords of the County of Aosta. Thus became the House of Savoy a major power in the Piedmont region.
[anchor=longstory]But there was another storyline going on: Arduino II, Marquis of Ivrea, son of Ardunio I (the one ousted by Olderico Manfredi) reclaimed his rightful inheritance. As Marquis of Ivrea, Duke of Spoleto, closely related the Kings of Aragon and the Counts of Provence, he was clearly the most powerful noble in the Kingdom of Italy. At this time, Italy was subjugated: Emperor Otto re-introduced the strong Imperial authority not only in Germany, but in Italy as well. His successors, however, abused their power, they used it to extend their personal demesne at the Italian nobility’s expense, they levied high taxes, and finally taxed the nobles. Quite unhappy about this turn of events, the Italian aristocracy revolted against the Emperor, and in 1002 they elected Arduino Friuli d’Ivrea king of Italy, and so began a long, confused, tiresome and entirely futile struggle between Emperor Henry II and King Arduino, during which the Emperor sometimes recognized Arduino’s rule as legal, sometimes not. The Kings of Burgundy were siding with Arduin, probably on the urge of Count Umberto of Savoy, who was a friend of Ardunio’s - though this may be just a legend built up by the heroist historians of the 19th century. Indeed, since we know practically nothing about Umberto, it’s somewhat odd that some historians describe his personal relationship with Arduin in-depthly. But either way, it is a fact that the House of Savoy did claim that Arduin was not only fond of Umberto, but also that the heirless Ardunio made Umberto his successor by adopting him. And this is where the infamous claim on the Iron Crown of the Lombard Kings really comes from.[/anchor]
From Oddone of Savoy, Count of Savoy, Marquis of Turin and Susa, the Piedmont was ruled by the Counts of Savoy, and was ravaged by the constant wars between Savoy, Montferrat, Saluzzo and Genoa. The first one to use the term “Signore del Piedmonte” (= “Lord of the Piedmonte”) was Tomaso II, son of Tomaso I. This Tomaso II partitioned his realm amongst his sons: Savoy proper went to the second, Amadeo; Vaud went to the youngest, Louis; and Piedmonte went to the eldest, Tomaso (III). Tomaso’s line ruled the Piedmont from 1259 to 1418, obtaining the title Prince of Achaia [anchorlink=princeofachaia]
[/anchorlink], and from then on they were known as “Princes of Piedmonte, Achaia and Morea”, practically elevating the Piedmont to the rank of Principality, though acknownledging the suzeranity of Savoy. During their reign, major territories were lost to and reconquered from Montferrat, resulting in a complete stalemate. Saluzzo, however, losing Cuneo and the plains, surrounded by Savoyard realms from almost every sides, became fatally liable to Savoy and the Piedmont.
The House di Savoia-Acaia failed in 1418, with the death of Ludovico di Savaoia, and Amadeo VIII of Savoy reinherited the Piedmont. He invested his firstborn, the future Amadeo IX, with the title “Prince of Piedmont”, intending to make it the traditional title of the heir of Savoy (in the way “Prince of Wales” is the title of the Crown Prince of England).
In 1427, following Amadeo’s madness, the House di Savoia-Vercelli [anchorlink=dpdfsavpiem]
[/anchorlink] seized power in the Piedmont with Genovese assistance. Riccardo di Savoia [anchorlink=rick]
[/anchorlink] styled himself Duke, and his son and successor, Antonio [anchorlink=toto]
[/anchorlink], recieved the Ducal title from Emperor Joachim in 1439, this way the area known as Piedmonte became an independent state, an Imperial Principality on its own for the first time.
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Rulers of the Piedmont
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Counts of Savoy
House di Savoia
Oddone........................1051-1060
Pietro I......................1060-1078
Amadeo II.....................1078-1080
Umberto II....................1080-1103
Amadeo III....................1103-1148
Umberto III the Holy..........1148-1189
Tomaso I......................1189-1233
Lords and Princes of Piedmonte
House di Savoia-Acaia
Tomaso I (II).................1233-1259
Tomaso II (III)...............1259-1285 (1st Prince, 1301)
Filippo I.....................1285-1334
Giacomo.......................1334-1367
Filippo II....................1367-1368
Amadeo........................1368-1402
Ludovico......................1402-1418
Dukes of Savoy
House di Savoia
Amadeo VIII the Peaceful......1418-1427 (1st Duke, 1416)
Amadeo IX the Landless........1427
Princes and Dukes of Piedmonte
[anchorlink=dpdfsavpiem]House di Savoia-Piemonte[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=rick]Riccardo......................1427-1437[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=toto]Antonio the Lame Duke.........1437-1447 (1st Duke, 1439)[/anchorlink]
[anchorlink=gio]Gioacchino....................1447-[/anchorlink]
[anchor=piemgeo]
Geography, Climate[/anchor]
A topographical map of Piedmonte and environs.
The Piedmontese Alps are huge. They soar to over 3000, 4000 metres high. The Mount Monviso, near Saluzzo, is 3841 metres high. The Gran Paradiso - to the southeast from Aosta and to the north from Susa - is 4061, the Monta Rosa - northeast to Aosta - is 4633, the Mont Blanc, on the border of Piedmonte and Savoy proper, is 4807 metres high. No one ever reached the top of these mountains, supposedly the highest ever mountains in the world. Save for St. Mary the Virgin who - according to the Piedmontese tale - went to the heaven from the top of the Mount Blanc.
And in the middle of the circle of the magnificient Alps, there are the flat plains that indeed lie at the “feet of the mountains”. The contrast between the snow-peaked mountains of the Alps and the summer fields of the plains is shocking indeed, often making the first-time visitors feel uncomfortable, irresolute, and this feeling is just more intense in the Alpine valleys.
The plains of Piedmonte can be divided into two main areas: the upper plains, close to the mountain slopes, around the cities of Cuneo, Mondovì and Saluzzo (ca.300-400 metres above the sea-level) and the lower plains of the East, in reality parts of the lowlands of the Pò, around the city of Vercelli (as low as 100-120 metres above sea-level).
The climate is not Mediterranen. Well, it is in the County of Nizza, but that area is separated from Piedmonte proper by the so-called “Maritime Alps” or “Ligurian Alps”, and thus Piedmonte itself has an own, very distinct climate. And this climate is --- crazy. As in every valleys, the weather-patterns are insanely confused in the Piedmont, in this oversized valley, the climate is extreme at best, with high seasonal and daily ranges of temperature. The winters are cold and long, snow is not rare at all. The summers are hot and sultry in the flatlands. The spring and the autumn are terribly rainy. In the wettest areas (in the north), the rainfall reaches 2000-2500 mm./year. The wind is often very strong.
As for waters: the Piedmont is in reality but the catchment basin of the Pò, all Piedmontese rivers are the tributaries of that river. The Pellice, Chisone, Sangone, Dora Riparia, the Little Stura, Orco, Dora Baltea, Sesia and Agogna rivers flow into the Pò from the left (from the north), the Varaita, Maira, Tanaro, Bormida and Scrivia rivers from the right (from the south). From amongst these, the Dora Riparia (coming from the Valley of Susa) and the Dora Baltea (coming from the Valley of Aosta) are really noteworthy, the others often go dry in the summer.
[anchor=piemculture]
Culture[/anchor]
The first thing to remember about the Piedmontese people:
they are not Italians. Their culture is very different from that of the Mediterranean people, and they themselves are very different from the stereotypical Italian, even regarding physical appearance: their Gallic and Germanic heritage still shows itself, the light-brown or blonde hair is quite frequent, so are the blue eyes. Their culture and traditions are typical to those of the Alpine countries. Usually classified as “pre-Alpine” or “sub-Alpine” culture, it is dominant in the Piedmont proper and the Valley of Aosta.
As opposed to the open nature of the Mediterranean people, the Alpine and sub-Alpine communities are rather closed: they rarely let outsiders in, the strangers are often treated in a highly unfriendly way: travellers are mistrusted, rarely given food or shelters. Being accepted in such a community is more or less impossible: if someone settles down in a Piedmontese village, even his grandson will be called “that vagabond”. Due to this, and due to the seclusion of the mountain villages, the inbreeding is an everyday problem; miner-villages solve it by getting (practically: buying) wives from the lowlands, but in the more self-sustaining settlements the ratio of inbred children is very high.
A typical Piedmontese is morose, somehow sad, speaks rarely. Haste is generally frowned upon. Joy is considered something of a private matter that is not to be shared with anybody else. Complaining is considered as a polite thing: discussions of any kind start with a series of complaints, usually about the various hardnesses of life. Feasts and celebrations, however, tend to be very lively. “Don’t think about the troubles,” they shout, and from then on there’s no limit on merriment.
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Folklore
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The tales and legends often refers to the long and icy winters, and to the mountains, populated by demons, witches, goblins, dwarves - these myths are typical to the Germanic peoples. The legends often draw on historical events: the Arduino-legends that write up the life of King Arduin of Italy are of Piedmontese origin. There are several tales about Aleramo, the first Marquis of Montferrat, about Anscario, Marquis of Ivrea, about the various Savoyard rulers.
These epic folk-songs are more narrative than lyric, and all of them are heavy with a sense of destiny and full of an existential sadness that often turns into fatalism. In the Piedmontese tales, the heroes rarely win. Children lost in the woods are imprisoned and finally eaten by the dragon; the third son is defeated by the demon, and is bound to serve it until the Day of Judegement; the dwarves defeat the miners and raze the village to the ground. Also, the Piedmontese tales never distort the historical facts so that it could fit their ideals better: while the Hungarian tale about the defeat at Augsburg shamelessly says that the Hungarian leader killed Emperor Otto (while he actually lived for some good twenty years more), there is no such thing in the Piedmontese legends. Also, probably this subalpine culture is the only one not to produce legends about the “returning” hero. Barbarossa will return, King Arthur will return, but the noble and brave King Arduino irrevocably dies, his cause is lost, the just Red Count of Savoy is killed and “the justice was lost forever”. The similarly depressing story of the [anchorlink=toto]
Lame Duke[/anchorlink] will most probably take its place amongst the Piedmontese legends.
Concerning the traditional Piedmontese cuisin, the unconditional love of garlic, fish and mushrooms (especially truffles), and the love of beer is noteworthy. Very much unlike the rest of Italy, the beer is just as popular here as the wine. A traditional Piedmontese meal is the Bagna Cauda (= Hot Sauce), made of a lot of garlic, anchovies, cooked and melted in nut’s oil. It’s eaten while still hot (hence the name), and to keep it hot it’s kept inside a tureen with a little fire below. A common tureen in the middle of the table is used. The Bagna Cauda is eaten by dipping all sorts of raw and cooked vegetables (thus it’s eaten not with pasta). This is a meal for a group of friends, classical in the Autumn (its origin is the celebration of the end of vintage). According to Dr. Carlo Demichelis, the only problem with the Bagnma Cauda is that the table-companions will dreadfully smell for a coulpe of days.
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Languages
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There are many languages spoken in the Duchy of Piedmonte. The Burgundian dialect of the French is the tongue of the court. The Ligurian dialect of the Italian is spoken in Nizza. The Rheto-Romance is the language of the people living in the Valley of Aosta. In Vercelli, the Lombard dialect of the Italian is dominant. And in the Piedmonte proper, the special dialect called “Piedmontese” is spoken.
The Piedmontese can’t be classified as a dialect of the Italian - though it has been indeed influenced by the Italian languages, influenced so greatly that the people of Northern Italy could indeed understand the Piedmontese, even though only with major difficulties. And the Piedmontese can’t be classified as a dialect of the French either - though it is very similar to the Provençal dialect of the French, so similar that a Frenchmen may understand it without too much problems. In reality the Piedmontese represents a transition point between the Gallo-Italian dialects of Northen Italy and the Gallo-Romance languages, and it is clearly an independent language with its very own developement from Latin, having been heavily influenced by Langobard (in the times of the Kingdom of Lombardy), Arabic (in the times when the Nizza region was occupied by Muslims), and Teutonic (in the times of the Frankish ivansion) languages.
The first document written in Piedmontese was a book of prayers, written in around 1150. For masochists, here is the Our Father in Piedmontese:
O Nostr Pare che të ses an cel, tò nòm a sia santificà. Tò regno a vena, toa volontà a sia faita su la tera com al ciel. Dane ancheuj nòst pan cotidian, e përdonene ij nòstri debit, com noi i përdonoma a coj ch’a l’han offendune, e lassane nen tombé an tentassion, ma libererene d’ogni mal. Përchà a l’é a ti ch’a aparten ël regno e la potensa e la gloria per semper. Amen.
Pronounciation guide.
Dante Alighieri declared that the Piedmontese is a language “dreadful and barbaric” that cannot be considered Italian - this underlines the deep difference from the Italian, and also that its very early isolation from the Italan dialects was well noted by contemporary observers.
The Piedmontese is spoken in the entire Piedmonte region, including Monferrato and Asti, but excluding the Signoriate of Vercelli, and the Counties of Aosta and Nizza. Though rarely used on the official level, it’s the everyday language, the mothertongue of everyone here around, of peasant and noble alike.
The official language is still strictly the Latin, mostly due to the number of languages spoken throughout the Duchy. But the Piedmontese is a written language anyway: poets, scholars, writers do use this language.
[anchor=piemren]
The Renaissance
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Approaching. Slowly, but approaching indeed. Because of the strong feudal authority and the lack of a strong burgeoisie in the Saluzzo-Montferrat-Piedmonte triangle, the Renaissance and the humanism here is strictly the business of the aristocracy and of the clergy. And indeed, from Prince Ludovico di Savoia-Acaia of the Piedmonte through Marquis Tomaso III of Saluzzo to Bishop Giovanni Cavaliere of Ivrea, there have been many patrons of arts and sciences. Still, the medieval thinking is dominant over the Renaissance one in the Piedmont: the poets are writing about medieval topics in medieval style, the scholars rely more on the Bible than on the Classics. Furthermore, and this is the most important, the
general way of thinking is medieval; the society is stagnating, not advancing. The people are resigned, they percieve the life as a pointless and dangerous thing… and even though there is indeed the striving for something better, this yearning is deeply undermined by the fear that nothing would come of it at all.
Saluzzo is one centre of the Piedmontese Renaissance: the city is called “the Siena of the North” since the times of Marquis Tomaso III. But Turin is also becoming something of a Renaissance city; the Ducal Palace, for example, is clearly a Renaissance building, though the Burgundian fashion of overdecoration still shows itself.
The University of Turin
It was founded in 1404, when wars made it impossible to continue the lectures at the universities of Bologna, Pavia and Piacenza and the fleeing professors obtained permission from Ludovico di Savoia-Acaia, the only Italian prince not involved in the wars of Lombardy, to continue the courses in Turin. The new university was created officially in 1405, when the Pope of Avignon, Benedict XIII (a.k.a. Cardinal Pedro de Luna, a.k.a Peter the Lunatic) gave his approval for a
studium generale. In 1412, the Imperial approval was likewise granted by Sigismund.
The Chancellor of the University is always the Bishop of Turin [anchorlink=bishopturin]
[/anchorlink]. The rector, just like in Bologna, is elected by the students.
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Religion[/anchor]
[anchor=piemcatholics]
The Catholic Church
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The dioceses of Piedmonte proper and that of Aosta are under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Milan. However, due to the growing population and the growing importance of the Duchy of Piedmonte, the need for making one of the Piedmontese bishop archbishop is more and more apparent - there are talks about this since the 1350s. The only difficulty is the rivalry between the bishops of Turin and Ivrea - a war of intrigues is being fought by the two bishops since a century, a war that resulted in a complete stalemate so that neither of the dioceses are elevated to the rank of archdiocese. The diocese of Nizza is the suffragan of the Archdiocese of Aix (Marseille?).
Bishoprics in the Duchy of Piedmonte
- Dioecesis Eporediensis - Ivrea
- Founded: 5th century
- Bishop: Giovanni Cavaliere
- Territory: the Marquisate of Ivrea
- Others: the bishops are also Counts of the Holy Roman Empire, claiming the mundane rule over the Marquisate of Ivrea. Since the edict of Duke Antonio di Savoia, the Bishop of Ivrea is one of the two bishops crowning the Dukes of Piedmonte.
- Dioecesis Taurinensis - Torino
- Founded: 4th century
- Bishop: Ignasco Oglivi
- Territory: the Marquisates of Torino and Susa, parts of the Marquisate of Saluzzo
- Others: the bishops are also Chancellors of the University of Torino. Since the edict of Duke Antonio di Savoia, the Bishop of Ivrea is one of the two bishops crowning the Dukes of Piedmonte.
- Dioecesis Vercellensis - Vercelli
- Founded: 3rd century
- Territory: the Signoriate of Vercelli
- Others: also Counts of the Empire, claiming princely rights over the city and Signoriate of Vercelli.
- Dioecesis Augustanus - Aosta
- Founded: 5th century or earlier
- Territory: the Valley of Aosta
- Others: owns large fiefs in the valley.
- Dioecesis Montis Regalis in Pedemonte o Montis Vici - Mondovì
- Founded: 1388
- Territory: the “Southern-Piedmonte”, parts of the Marquisate of Saluzzo
- Dioecesis Nicensis - Nizza
- Founded: 3rd century
- Territory: the County of Nizza, parts of the Marquisate of Saluzzo
Other dioceses in the Piedmont region, but not within the Duchy of Piedmonte: Alba, Acqui, Asti and Novara.
[anchor=piemsaints]
Popular Saints
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In Aosta and the northern regions of Piedmonte,
St. Maurice is clearly the most popular saint. Mauricianus, this early Christian, General of the Theban Legion, was born in Upper Egypt, in the 3rd century. The exact details of his martyrdom are uncertain: the modern Church claims that he and his army refused to participate in pagan sacrifices before a battle. The popular belief, however, says that Maurice and the Theban Legion refused to murder fellow Christians when they were ordered to quell a rebellion. Either way, Maurice and his entire army of 6600 men were massacred en masse at Agaunum - this Swiss town is nowadays called St. Maurice.
St. Maurice is the patron of soldiers (knights and infantrymen alike), swordsmiths, clothmakers (and dyers and weavers). He’s said to protect from cramps. He is widely regarded as the patron saint of Piedmonte, generally the Alps, and also of the House of Savoy. His memorial day is September 22nd, his body and other relics are kept at the place of his martyrdom, at the abbey of St. Maurice, in the town of St. Maurice, in the Duchy of Savoy.
In the southern areas of Piedmont and in Nizza,
the Blessed Virgin Mary is the most popular. The Lady Day (March 25th) is a very important feast there.
[anchor=waldenses]
The Waldenses
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On the contrary to what the Catholic Church claims, the Waldensian heresy was not started by Peter Waldo. Rather than that, the story of the Waldenses certainly goes back to 9th centuries, to the times of Claude (widely venerated as saint in the Piedmont, though never canonized), Bishop of Torino, later Archbishop of Milan, a follower of the Ambrosian Liturgy: this Claude removed images from churches, denied purgatory, denied the holiness of relics and the use or beneficial nature of pilgrimages. There are a number of witty remarks attributed to Claude, like this: “If people wish to adore a cross because Jesus hung on it, they ought also to adore mangers because He lay in one, or donkeys because He rode on one.” The Ambrosian Liturgy and thus Claude preached that “the Catholic Church erred in accepting temporal property. They [followers of Claude] believed in only two sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist, rejected indulgences, fasts and all ceremonies of the Church; made no distinction between mortal and venial sins; claimed the veneration of sacred images to be idolatry.”
According to J.A. Wylie, the Waldenses claimed “that purgatory was a fable; that relics were simply rotten bones; that to go on a pilgrimage served no end, save to empty one's purse; that holy water was not a whit more efficacious than rain water, and that prayer in a barn was just as effectual as that offered in a church.”
The doctrines of Claude and the beliefs of the Waldenses are almost identical. Even the greatest enemies of the Waldenses admit the age of the Waldensian tradition: “this is the most dangerous of all heresies, because it is the most ancient,” said Reynerius the Inquisitor in the 13th century. The most logical of the theories offered to explain this longetivity is that while Northern Italy accepted the Papal supremacy in 1059, the people living in isolation in the Alpine valleys of Piedmonte could continue their practices further.
In 1173, Peter Waldo was converted. This Waldo made quite a scandal when he distributed all his money amongst the poor, and began preaching the Waldensian faith. He was excommunicated in 1183, and his teachings were officially declared heresy by the Fourth Lateran Council, along with the Albigensianism. And during the great crusades against the various kinds of heretics in the Languedoc, many of the survivors fled to the safety of the Alpine valleys, mingling their own heresies with the Waldensian one, so that now, in the 15th century, the Waldensianism has great many different branches. The majority denies private property altogether (claiming that the Bible commands poverty), and also that people may baptized only as adults.
Save for one or two notable exceptions, the Counts of Savoy were surprisingly tolerant toward the Waldenses. Most probably they realized how futile it would be to attack their valleys - as the complete disaster of the crusade led by Count Filippo I, also Archbishop of Lyon, showed.
[anchor=piemecon]
Economy[/anchor]
Piedmontese trade. The blue squares stand for the major Alpine passes: 1 - Tenda; 2 - Moncenisio (Mt. Cenis); 3 - Little St. Bernard; 4 - Great St. Bernard. The red dots are centres of trade: 1 - Nizza; 2 - Mondovì; 3 - Turin; 4 - Ivrea; 5 - Susa; 6 - Aosta; 7 - Cuneo; 8 - Saluzzo. The yellow lines are the trade routes.
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Trade
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The Piedmont is the gateway of Italy. The Duchy controls all the three major mountain passes of the Western and of the Maritime Alps, this way taxing the all the trade routes between Italy and France.
The most important of such routes is the famous
Pathway of Heaven: the way taken by pilgrims on their way toward Rome or Jerusalem. The route begans in France, crosses the Alps at the Moncenisio (Col No. 2 on the map above), descends into the Susa Valley, reaches the city of Susa (city No. 5 on the map), and, following the river Dora Riparia, it reaches Turin (No. 3 on map). From Turin, the way continues through Asti, toward the city of Alessandria (in the Duchy of Milan), and from then on, toward Rome.
[anchor=piemecon2]
Production
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Wine is produced at the foothills of the Alps, mainly in the Saluzzo and Mondovì regions, but also around the plateau of Montferrat. Various crops, mainly wheat, are grown in the flatlands of the “Southern-Piedmont”. In the Piedmont porper, nut’s oil is used instead of olive oil, the production of the latter is significant only in the County of Nizza. Of livestock-breeding, the husbandry of cattle is dominant. There are extensive mining activities in the Alps: iron and stone is produced.
Concerning the industry, the dying and clothmaking facilities are noteworthy.
STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION
