The Tre Pievi ("three

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

", in German historically ''Drei Pleven'') are a historical territory on the shores of

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

, consisting of the villages of Dongo,

Sorico Sorico (Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northeast of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,188 and an area of .All demogra ...

and

Gravedona Gravedona was a comune of Como Province, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory large ...

, now part of the

Province of Como The Province of Como ( it, Provincia di Como; german: Provinz Como; Comasco: ) is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Le ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The villages were owned by the city-state of

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

from the early medieval period, and along with Como passed to the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

in 1335. In 1512, the three villages sought the protection of the

Three Leagues The Three Leagues, sometimes referred to as Raetia, was the alliance of 1471 of the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, and the Grey League, leading eventually to the formation of the Swiss canton of Graubünden (Grisons) ...

. From this time, the villages were administrated by a

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

designated by the Three Leagues. After the Swiss defeat at the

Battle of Marignano The Battle of Marignano was the last major engagement of the War of the League of Cambrai and took place on 13–14 September 1515, near the town now called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan. It pitted the French army, composed of the be ...

in 1515, the three villages again declared their allegiance to the Duchy of Milan, but the Three Leagues refused to recognize this and sent an occupying force. In

Perpetual Peace ''Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch'' (german: Zum ewigen Frieden. Ein philosophischer Entwurf) is a 1795 book authored by German philosopher Immanuel Kant. In the book, Kant advances ideas that have subsequently been associated with demo ...

of 1516 between France and Switzerland, the villages were not named so that their ''de jure'' affiliation remained uncertain, and the king of France (as duke of Milan) demanded that the Three Leagues return the villages to Milan. The Milanese steward of Musso occupied Sorico and Gravedona, resulting in the armed conflict known as ''Müsserkrieg''. The Three Leagues were forced to abandon their claim on the territory in 1526, and it remained part of the Duchy of Milan during the Early Modern period.

References

* *Mariuccia Zecchinelli, ''Ricerche su la Repubblica delle Tre Pievi nel Medioevo'', Como, Società storica comense, 1954. {{Authority control Province of Como History of Lombardy History of Graubünden Duchy of Milan