Territory and history

Bedizzole is located in a rich and varied territory at the crossroads of several areas: it stretches on both banks of the middle course from the Chiese River to the western foothills of the Garda morainic amphitheater, on the borders of the Valtenesi, at the foot of the Valle Sabbia, and touches the eastern Bassa plain to the south. Projected toward nearby Lake Garda, it is 8 km from the lake and 15 km from the city of Brescia.

The great Garda morainic amphitheater is an environment formed by hilly circles with small flat areas in between, originating from rocky debris carried by the great Garda glacier two million years ago.

The hills of Bedizzole originated in the Quaternary era during the Midellian Glaciation II, the moraines deposited by the Mindel glacier formed an arc of gentle hill elevations shaped by long degradation, thus with intensely fertilized dark-red soil, extended along the left bank of the Chiese as far as Bedizzole, Montichiari and Carpenedolo

The earliest certain archaeological evidence of a permanent settlement in the territory of Bedizzole dates back to Roman times.

At the time, the municipal territory was at the center of the main Roman roads that connected Cisalpine Gaul to the rest of the Empire.

Bedizzole arose along the Via Gallia (which connected Verona with Brescia) specifically at the “Ad Flexum” route that passed through the ancient Pontenove bridge and connected Rezzato (Reciatum) to Desenzano (Decentionum).

Numerous Roman-era artifacts found in the municipal area, it is reasonable to think that Bedizzole was a “Vicus”: an aggregate of rural houses and land that did not have a civil administration like the municipium or Roman colony. Or even that it constituted a “Pagus” a rural territorial district, outside the city limits, centralized on pagan cult logos (probably Jupiter or Minerva).

The barbarian invasions of the fifth and sixth centuries involved in a major way the whole territory of northern Italy, these great upheavals brought the people of the cities (plebs urbana) to the rural centers the Pagi (pagus). This process went to intercept the gradual spread of Christianity in the countryside as well. The slow transition from Pagus to Plebs and finally to Pievi was made possible by the power vacuum of political authority. The Brescian territory counted 58 Pievi, and that of Pontenove had a wide jurisdiction over the surrounding territory; in addition to Bedizzole it also controlled Calcinato, Carzago, and Calvagese.

A good part of the early Christian churches arose on the site of Roman villas, the Pieve di Pontenove was not an exception, the first building being constructed around the 6th century.

Between the 9th and 10th centuries, to defend themselves against Hungarian raids, the inhabitants of the Bedizzolo countryside built the present castle.

During the 12th century municipalities took shape, the first source testifying to the existence of the Municipality of Bedizzole being a document dated 1184 between the municipality and Abbot Alberto, of the monastery of S. Pietro in Monte di Serle. So, the foundation of our Commune can be dated between 1175 and 1180.

During the late Middle Ages the Commune became embroiled in the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, a decisive battle between the two sides was fought in Bedizzole in 1201 at Albusago, today’s San Vito.

Later, in 1277, a pro-Ghibelline revolt directly involved Bedizzole, and on that occasion the demolition of the castle was ordered.

In 1320 Ghibelline outcasts from Brescia, of which the Garda Riviera was one of the main poles, offered the city to Cangrande della Scala. Veronese rule over Bedizzole lasted until 1336 when it briefly became a Venetian protectorate from 1336 to 1349 and finally passed into the hands of the Visconti dynasty.

In 1391 Bedizzole was the scene of an important battle between Gian Galeazzo Visconti and Giovanni Acuto (John Hawkwood) the “Battle of Pontenove” ended in an unexpected defeat of Gian Galeazzo thanks to Acuto’s cunning machinations.

In 1423 many Brescian nobles conspired in Gussago against the Viscontis by offering power to Venice, Pasino de Zechis from Bedizzole was part of the delegation that recognized Venetian sovereignty over the Riviera on March 23, 1426, and despite Milan’s continued attempts to regain control over the Brescia area, the Peace of Lodi in 1454 sanctioned the beginning of the long Venetian rule over our municipality.

By far the most significant military episode took place in August 1485 when the Castle of Bedizzole was besieged by Alfonso Duke of Calabria, head of an anti-Venetian coalition, who for 3 days attempted to storm the castle, which was valiantly defended by Palamede and Simone Averoldi.

For more than 3 centuries Bedizzole was part of the “Community of the Brescian Riviera of Lake Garda” also called “Magnifica Patria della Riviera di Salò” a confederation of 34 municipalities of the Brescian Riviera of Lake Garda and part of the Valle Sabbia partially independent from Brescia with its own laws and statutes and a Provveditore chosen from the Venetian nobility.

Specifically, Bedizzole was part of the “Campagna” quadra consisting of 8 municipalities and 6 minor communities that sent 6 councilors to the Riviera Community Council and 4 deputies per year, respectively.

Considering the mostly mountainous terrain of the Lake the Campagna quadra, which was purely hilly, was involved in the cultivation of wheat, although it could only cover the internal consumption of the Riviera for four months of the year.

The 18th century was plagued by constant raids in the area by imperial troops on the one hand and the French on the other, both engaged in the War of the Spanish Succession.

The new parish church of St. Stephen was built in the 1700s by a decision made almost unanimously in the Vicinia on December 28, 1720 on the initiative of Archpriest Emigli.

Bedizzole and the Riviera followed the course and decline of Venice, with the arrival of Napoleon’s troops in Salò on August 17, 1796 the end of the Serenissima and the birth of the Brescian Republic on the model of the French Revolutionary Republic was announced.

Despite attempts by the rivieraschi to maintain their political independence from Brescia on May 20, 1796 the Magnifica Patria was dismantled and subjugated to the city of Brescia.

In 1815 with the end of the Napoleonic era the Republic of San Marco was not restored and Bedizzole became part of the “Lombardy-Venetia Kingdom” a subsidiary state to the Austrian Empire. During the Risorgimento struggles several Bedizzolese distinguished themselves, including the Chiodi brothers, Pietro and Battista, who fell on the barricades of the Ten Days of Brescia during the First War of Independence in 1849.

Another important name was that of Giuseppe Capuzzi who participated in the Second War of Independence in 1859 among the Cacciatori delle Alpi first and then in the Expedition of the “Mille”.

In 1861 Bedizzole became part of the Kingdom of Italy.

Bedizzole’s participation in the Resistance against Nazi-Fascism was intense. In the winter of 1943 a small resistance nucleus was formed on the initiative of the curate Don Riccardo Vecchia and Ragioni Giampietro Siboni, who, having established links with the city center, became the point of reference for the entire area. Despite reprisals and arrests, the underground movement grew. Two clashes in particular occurred on April 26, 1945 on the Montecolo high ground when the partisans lost Gino Cocchi, Pietro Bottarelli, Dante Marchini, Giuseppe Carli, Battista Poli, Carlo Lodetti, and Luigi Malagnini.

Starting in the 1970s the population increased significantly and The purely agricultural economy was complemented by numerous small and medium industries. Slow but sure was also the social progress in the countryside where, in some places, electricity did not arrive until 1951. Stages in this development were marked by the founding in 1885 of a “Catholic agricultural workers’ federative society of mutual aid,” thanks especially to Don Francesco Gorini. It was joined by the “Rural Deposit and Loan Bank” in 1895.