Reggio di Lombardia

Reggio di Lombardia stands on the Via Aemilia, the Roman road across the southern Po Valley. Founded as Regium Lepidi, it became a medieval commune and a bishop's seat.

Reggio passed through the hands of the Gonzaga and Visconti before Nicolò III d'Este became its lord in 1409. The city kept its own laws and coinage under the Este family of Ferrara. In 1452 Emperor Frederick III made Borso d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio. The poet Ludovico Ariosto was born here in 1474. Este rule continued, with interruptions, until 1796, when the ducal garrison was driven out and the city's senate claimed authority.