Asti

Asti lies on the Tanaro in the hills of Piedmont. The Roman town of Hasta occupied a road linking Tortona with Turin, and medieval Asti grew into a wealthy commune.

In 1389 Asti formed part of Valentina Visconti's dowry when she married Louis of Orléans, beginning a long connection with the French Valois. Emperor Charles V granted it to Beatrice of Portugal, Duchess of Savoy, in 1531, and it passed to her son. The city endured siege and plague in the seventeenth century; Duke Charles Emmanuel I defended it against Spanish forces in 1616. In 1797 discontent with Savoyard rule produced a short-lived Astese republic, suppressed after only two days.