In ancient times the area of southern and eastern Switzerland was inhabited by a group of tribes known as the Rhaetians. The Rhaetians were the descendants of Etruscans who had settled in the Alps after being driven out of Italy by Gallic invaders in the 4th century BC. The Rhaetians derived their name from Retus or Rhetus, an Etruscan leader from ancient Tuscany who led his people into exile across the Rhaetian Alps. The area inhabited by the Rhaetians included what is today the Canton of Grigioni, part of the Canton of Ticino, Trentino, Tyrol, and other Alpine areas stretching from northeastern Italy to southern Germany.
The names of the tribes that inhabited what is now Grigioni included the Calucones in Val Calanca, the Rugusci in the Upper Engadine Valley, the Suanetes in Valle di Schams, who are also said to have lived in Val Soana in Piedmont, and the Vennoneti, who are also said to have lived in Valtellina, Lombardy. They all belonged to the Rhaetian family of tribes.
Grigioni was Romanized by the time of Augustus and most of its territory was part of the Roman province of Rhaetia. The Romans founded minor towns such as Magia (Maienfeld), Lapidaria (Andeer) and Tinetione (Tinizong), and major cities such as Curia (Chur), which is today the capital of Grigioni. Ever since the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180), the province of Rhaetia was defended and governed by the Legio III Italica, a legion of the Roman army composed of Italian legionaries. In 292 AD Rhaetia officially was made part of Italy by Emperor Diocletian, who divided the province into Raetia Prima and Raetia Secunda and incorporated them into the Diocese of Italy. Rhaetia became part of Italy during the same time period as the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Malta.
The area of what is now Grigioni remained part of Italy for the next several hundred years. Even after the fall of Rome, Grigioni remained part of Italy during the Gothic period (5th-6th century). In this period Grigioni formed part of Raetia Curiensis (the old Raetia Prima), which was nominally part of the Kingdom of Italy under the Ostrogoths.
In 536 Grigioni with the rest of Raetia Curiensis was conquered by the Franks and became separated from Italy. However — due to its isolation — Roman law, language, culture and identity prevailed in the region throughout the Middle Ages. In the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries the most powerful family of Raetia Curiensis was the Victorids (also known as the Zacconi), an ancient Roman aristocratic family who ruled the region and kept Raetia Curiensis in a state of de facto independence from the Frankish Empire. The Victorids were both secular and religious rulers, simultaneously occupying the bishopric of Chur and holding political power in Raetia Curiensis, using the title of Praeses.
In 806 Charlemagne ordered the separation of the bishopric from the political office and appointed a count to rule Raetia Curiensis. The Carolingian counts began to encroach and usurp authority in the region, leading to a struggle between the Carolingians and the Victorids. After the death of the last Victorid (Victor III, bishop of Chur) in c. 833, ancient Roman power in Raetia Curiensis was finally broken.
Ecclesiastically, Grigioni was still linked to Italy. Christianity had spread to Rhaetia from Italy as early as the 2nd century, and the bishopric of Chur was under the territorial jurisdiction of the archdiocese of Milan since at least the 5th century. It was not until 843 — about a decade after the death of the last Victorid — that the bishopric of Chur was detached from Milan and became a suffragan of the archdiocese of Mainz.
Politically, Raetia Curiensis remained a separate county within the Carolingian Empire and later East Francia, ruled by Alemannic counts. In 917 it was attached to the Duchy of Swabia by Burchard II, Duke of Swabia and Count of Rhaetia. In 962 Raetia Curiensis became part of the Holy Roman Empire and remained subject to the Dukes of Swabia.
Between the 10th and 11th centuries Raetia Curiensis was divided into three new counties and ceased to exist. Although formally belonging to the Duchy of Swabia, for the next few centuries political power in the region was split between various feudal lords, barons, counts, abbots and the Prince-Bishop of Chur. The Duchy of Swabia was dissolved in 1268 and local feudal lords fought for control over the territory. In the 14th century the citizens of the valley communities in Grigioni began to create alliances to defend themselves from local and foreign rulers.
By the 15th century Grigioni was divided into three independent leagues: the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions and the Grey League (from which Grigioni takes its name; grigio means gray in Italian). In 1471 these three leagues joined together to form the Free State of the Three Leagues, which was de facto independent from the Holy Roman Empire. The alliance was formed primarily to resist the power of the Habsburgs, the Prince-Bishopric of Chur and local feudal lords. In 1524 the Three Leagues formalized its independence. The Three Leagues became an associate or ally of the Swiss Confederacy, but remained independent of the Swiss Confederacy for the next three centuries.
The Three Leagues was conquered by Napoleon in 1798 and lost its independence; it was renamed the Canton of Raetia and annexed to the Helvetic Republic — a client state of Napoleon's French Empire. With the Act of Mediation in 1803, the canton was renamed Grigioni (Graubünden in German; Grisons in French) and became part of the restored Swiss Confederation — another client state of Napoleon's French Empire. Modern Switzerland was created in 1848 as a federal state, with Grigioni as one of its 25 cantons, after the end of the Sonderbund Civil War of 1847. Since that date Grigioni has remained part of Switzerland and has come to be regarded as "Swiss".
Grigioni Italiano
The southern valleys of Grigioni (Val Bregaglia, Val Calanca, Val Mesolcina and Val Poschiavo) form part of a sub-region known as Grigioni Italiano or Italian Grigioni. These southern parts of Grigioni are geographically separated from the rest of Grigioni by the Lepontine Alps, and also have a different political history than the rest of Grigioni. These parts of Grigioni remained linked to Italy for a significantly longer period of time before becoming part of the Three Leagues in the 15th and 16th centuries.
A summarized history of some of the most notable towns of Grigioni Italiano:
• Poschiavo was part of ancient Italy since the 1st century BC and was included in the 11th region of Italy, known as Transpadana. It was part of the Kingdom of Italy since the 5th century and belonged to the territory of Como. In the 10th century it was separated from Italy and became a subject of the Bishop of Chur. In the 11th and 12th centuries it was disputed over by Como, Chur and the lords of Mazia. In 1175 the rights of Como were recognized by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. By 1200 Poschiavo was a free commune. It returned to Como from 1306-1338. It was part of the Duchy of Milan from 1350-1406. In 1408 it became a subject of the Prince-Bishop of Chur. After 1494 it joined the League of God's House and became part of the Three Leagues.
• Brusio was part of ancient Italy since the 1st century BC and was included in the 11th region of Italy, known as Transpadana. It was part of the Kingdom of Italy since the 5th century and belonged to the territory of Tirano. By 1212 it was a free commune. It was part of the Duchy of Milan from 1350-1406. In 1408 it became a subject of the Prince-Bishop of Chur. After 1494 it joined the League of God's House and became part of the Three Leagues.
• Campocologno was part of ancient Italy since the 1st century BC and was included in the 11th region of Italy, known as Transpadana. It was part of the Kingdom of Italy since the 5th century and belonged to the territory of Tirano. It was part of the Duchy of Milan from 1350-1521. In 1521 it was annexed to Brusio and became part of the Three Leagues.
• Bregaglia was part of ancient Italy since the 1st century BC and belonged to the prefecture of Como (included in the 11th region of Italy, known as Transpadana). After 350 it was administratively transferred to Raetia Prima. It was part of the Kingdom of Italy since the 5th century. In the 9th century it was separated from Italy and became a district of Raetia Curiensis. In 960 it became a subject of the Bishop of Chur. By 1100 Bregaglia was a free commune. In 1367 it joined the League of God's House, which later formed the Three Leagues, but the Prince-Bishop of Chur retained strong political power. In 1546 Bregaglia made Italian the official language and aspired towards independence, but remained part of the Three Leagues.
• Calanca, Mesocco, Soazza and Roveredo were part of ancient Italy since the 1st century BC and were included in the 11th region of Italy, known as Transpadana. They were part of the Kingdom of Italy since the 5th century. By 1137 Calanca, Mesocco, Soazza and Roveredo were fiefdoms of the De Sacco family. In 1480 the De Sacco sold their rights to Gian Giacomo Trivulzio of Milan. Also in 1480 Mesocco and Soazza joined the Grey League with the permission of Trivulzio and became part of the Three Leagues. In 1496 Calanca likewise joined the Grey League and became part of the Three Leagues. The towns of Calanca, Mesocco, Soazza, Roveredo and the surrounding territory remained locally ruled by the Trivulzio family until 1549.
Germanization of Grigioni
Together with the Italian-speakers, the Romansh are the native peoples of Grigioni. The Romansh are an Italian people by origin, descended from the ancient Rhaetians (Etruscans) and Italian colonists who settled the Alps during the Roman period. But instead of standard Italian or Lombard dialect, which is spoken by the natives of Grigioni Italiano and the neighboring Canton of Ticino, they speak Romansh, a set of Latin dialects that developed after the fall of Rome. Romansh is part of the Rhaeto-Romance language subgroup and is closely related to the Ladin and Friulian dialects of Italy.
Romansh territory historically extended as far as Lake Constance and even included parts of the modern cantons of Schwyz, Glarus and St. Gallen, Liechtenstein and western Austria (Tyrol and Vorarlberg). Migrations of Germans during the High Middle Ages (11th-13th centuries) together with German political domination (Carolingian Empire and Holy Roman Empire) and German ecclesiastical control (Prince-Bishops and Imperial Abbeys) caused the Germanic-Latin boundary to move farther south at the expense of Latins. Today — and for the last few centuries — Romansh territory is limited only to Grigioni.
Until the 13th century the only languages spoken in Grigioni were Italian and Romansh. However, in the 13th and 14th centuries Walser and Alemannic Germans immigrated to Grigioni, especially to the areas of Scanavico (Schanfigg) and Prettigovia-Tavate (Prättigau-Davos), which were Germanized between the 14th and 16th centuries. As a result of these migrations, in the course of the next few centuries Romansh territory within Grigioni gradually shrank. This can be observed in the history of several towns:
• Tavate (Davos) was a Romansh town until the arrival of Walser Germans around the year 1280.
• Maiavilla (Maienfeld) was also historically a Romansh town. In the 14th century Walser German immigrants arrived and founded several villages. Initially the German migrants were not granted the rights of citizenship, but by the 16th century the entire town was Germanized.
• Tosana (Thusis), in the Tumleastga Valley, was a Romansh town, but became German in the 16th-17th centuries. Several other towns of the Tumleastga Valley became Germanized in the 19th century.
• The city of Chur was a Romansh city until the 16th century, but was governed by German Prince-Bishops who held both ecclesiastical and temporal power since the 9th century. In 1464 the city was nearly completely destroyed by fire. After the fire, a large number of German immigrants from Vorarlberg and Liechtenstein moved to Chur. Formerly the most important Romansh city and capital of the Three Leagues, the Romansh became a minority in Chur and it became Germanized following the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
• San Maurizio (St. Moritz), located in the Upper Engadine Valley, was entirely a Romansh village until recent times. In the 19th century German immigrants moved into the village. By 1880 only 50% of the population in San Maurizio still spoke Romansh as a first language. By 1941 only 20% spoke Romansh. The number declined to 8% in 1970, 6.23% in 1990 and 4.72% in 2000. Italian was also a prevalent language in San Maurizio, but has likewise declined. In 1900 Italian was spoken by 31% of the population. The number of Italian-speakers declined to 27.25 % in 1980, 21.32% in 1990 and 22.83% in 2000. German is now the official language.The most severe Germanization of Grigioni took place in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is still continuing today. The official censuses of Grigioni reveal radical changes in population in the 209 years between 1803 and 2012. There is a sharp decrease in the Romance-speaking population and an overwhelming increase of German-speakers, due in part to German immigration, and in part to Italians and Romansh people abandoning their native languages and adopting German. This can be seen in the population statistics:
• In 1803 the overall population of Grigioni was about 64% Romance and about 36% German (36,700 Romansh-speakers; c. 10,276 Italian-speakers; c. 26,424 German-speakers).
• In 1910 the overall population of Grigioni was 50% Romance and 50% German (37,147 Romansh-speakers; 20,963 Italian-speakers; 58,465 German-speakers).
• In 2012 the overall population of Grigioni was 26% Romance and 74% German (27,955 Romansh-speakers; 23,506 Italian-speakers; 143,015 German-speakers).Over the years, attempts have been made by the Swiss government to Germanize the Italian cantons and eliminate the Italian-Romansh character of Ticino and Gigioni. Historically, the Old Swiss Confederacy established in the 13th century was composed only of German-speaking cantons. But over the course of the next few centuries, the German cantons expanded and conquered Francophone, Italian and Romansh territories. The Germans formed much of the ruling political class and the majority of the federal government; they favoured the centralization of the state and German immigration to the Romance cantons, and in the the 20th century assured that German became the dominant language of the mass media, business and popular culture in Switzerland.
Unlike Ticino, which has retained its Italian heritage and identity, Grigioni has been subjected to a slow and steady process of Germanization over the last few centuries, and a rapid Germanization in the last two centuries. As proven by official censuses, the Canton of Grigioni, up until the early 19th century, was primarily Romance-speaking (Romansh and Italian). However, a wave of immigration of Germans to Grigioni, which caused German to become the language of industry, together with strict enforcement of the German language by the government and education system, caused the Romance population of Grigioni to drop from 64% in 1803, to 50% in 1910, and to only 26% in 2012 (less than 1% of the total Swiss population), while German-speakers today dominate Grigioni at 74%.
Despite the overwhelming majority of the population being Italian and Romansh at the time of its creation, the official language of government in the Three Leagues was German from about 1524 until 1794, although Italian and Romansh were used in law and courts in places where it was locally spoken. In 1794 Italian and Romansh were finally recognized as official languages by the Three Leagues. German intellectuals and politicians in the 18th and 19th centuries ridiculed Romansh as a "peasant language" and encouraged the Germanization of Grigioni. In the 19th century, after Grigioni became part of Switzerland for the first time, German public schools were often opened in Romansh towns, forcing Romansh children to receive a German education. In the second half of the 19th century the Romansh population began to form organizations to resist Germanization and defend local Romansh language and culture. But as recently as the 1930's children were publicly punished and ostracized for learning Romansh and attending privately-funded Romansh schools.
Romansh was not recognized as a national language by the Swiss government until 1938. However, the government made a distinction between "national" and "official" languages: declaring Romansh a "national language" was merely a symbolic act and did not carry any official status in law. As recently as the 1980's it was still considered insulting and degrading to speak Romansh in parliament. Not until 1996 was Romansh finally partially recognized as an official language with limitations. That is to say, its use was recognized "when interacting with Romansh-speaking people". It was not until 2004 that Romansh became an official language of legally equal status with the other official languages in the Canton of Grigioni.
Although Italian and Romansh are both official languages in Grigioni today, German is also an official language, making Grigioni the only trilingual canton in Switzerland. Even though the three languages now have equal status, German still takes precedence over the native Italian and Romansh languages due to social stigmas following decades of Germanization policies by the government, and due to German-speakers now being the majority of the population. The German language also continues to permeate business, politics and the mass media. The German language also continues to permeate business, politics and the mass media. As demonstrated by the surnames, much of the population of Grigioni is still of ethnic Romansh origin, but now speaks Germans instead of Romansh.
Due to recent immigration, several foreign languages are now more prevalent in Switzerland than the Romansh language: Serbo-Croatian, Albanian, Portuguese, Spanish, English and even Turkish are all more widely-spoken in Switzerland today than Romansh.
Germanization of Grigioni Italiano
Grigioni Italiano is comprised of four valleys (Val Bregaglia, Val Calanca, Val Mesolcina, Val Poschiavo) and the town of Bivio in Val Sursette. The population is over 85% Italian. The inhabitants traditionally speak a local Italian dialect of Lombard instead of Romansh. Grigioni Italiano has not suffered Germanization as strongly as the rest of Grigioni. However, attempts have been made for a long time to Germanize the region.
In 1869-1870 the towns of Brusio and Poschiavo — the last-remaining parts of Grigioni which were still part of the Catholic Church in Italy — were detached from the Italian diocese of Como and placed under the Swiss-German diocese of Chur, thereby officially ending the millennial ecclesiastical link between Grigioni and Italy, and granting to Chur the jurisdiction over the entire region which they had ambitiously sought for centuries.
Pro Grigioni Italiano, an Italian cultural association, was founded by Arnoldo Marcelliano Zendralli in 1918 to defend the Italianity of Grigioni and oppose the Germanization of the Canton.
Bivio was historically an Italian city and remained Italian until very recently. In 1860, Italian was spoken by 80% of the population. In 1980, 42% of Bivio still spoke Italian. By 2000 the Italian-speaking population decreased to 29.41% and the German-speaking population rose from 36.97% in 1980 to 55% in 2000. In 2005 the German-speaking community — now a majority for the first time — changed the official language of Bivio from Italian to German, replacing the ancient language of the town.
Grigioni Italiano is in danger of losing its Italian heritage. Although Italians still make up about 85% of the population, Italians were formerly 100% of the population, and the current Italian population amounts to less than 15,000 people. The ancient Italian populace is gradually disappearing, and a combination of cultural Germanization and foreign immigration is threatening them with eventual extinction or absorption into the larger German and Germanized population.
A similar fate which has befallen Grigioni has also happened to the Canton of Valais, which was once entirely Romance in population. The very name 'Valais' (Wallis in German) shares the same origin as the terms 'Walloon', 'Welsh' and 'Vlach', each deriving from the proto-Germanic term walhaz, a name which the Germanic invaders applied to the local Roman populations. Although formerly inhabited only by Latin-speaking people, now the eastern half of Valais is almost entirely German. Both Grigioni Italiano and the larger Canton of Grigioni are facing the same eventual fate as Valais.
Notable Italians
Like the neighboring Ticino, many Italian artists, architects and craftsmen came from Grigioni. Many of them worked in Germany and Austria. Below are some of the most important Italians from Grigioni:
• Carlo Angelini - Architect
• Giacomo Angelini - Architect
• Giovanni Albertalli (Giovanni Albertallo) - Architect
• Giovanni Battista Artari - Sculptor
• Giovanni Bonalino - Architect
• Alberto Camesina - Stuccoist
• Giovanni Battista Camessina - Architect
• Tommaso Comacio - Architect
• Guido Fanconi - Pediatrician and one of the founders of modern pediatrics
• Gabriele de Gabrieli - Architect
• Francesco de Gabrieli - Architect and stuccoist
• Paganino Gaudenzi - Theologian
• Giovanni Rigalia the Elder - Architect
• Giovanni Rigalia the Younger (Giovanni Pietro Rigaglia) - Architect
• Antonio Riva - Architect
• Domenico Maria Sala - Architect
• Lorenzo Sciascia - Architect
• Giovanni Serro - Architect
• Elda Simonett-Giovanoli - Journalist
• Giovanni Simonetti - Architect and stuccoist
• Giovanni Antonio Viscardi - Architect
• Giorgio Genatio (Jenatsch) - Politician and military commander
(Giorgio Genatio was of Romansh origin. His native language was a Romansh dialect known as Putér. He learned multiple languages, but wrote primarily in Italian and consistently called himself Giorgio in his letters. His original surname was Genatio or Jenatz — he used both the Italian and Romansh forms in his signatures. His name has been popularly Germanized to "Jürg Jenatsch" due to the influence of a 19th century novel by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, who changed his name from Giorgio to Jürg in order to appeal to German readers.)
There have also been several prominent families from Grigioni:
• Barbieri Family - The Barbieri were a family of architects and builders from Roveredo. In the 17th and 18th centuries the family produced five architects: Alberto Barbieri (c. 1580-1645); Martino Barbieri (1583-1633); Giulio Barbieri (c. 1610-1681); Domenico Barbieri (c. 1615-1686); and Giovanni Domenico Barbieri (1704-1764).
• Giacometti Family - The Giacometti were a family of artists and architects in the 19th and 20th centuries. The most notable members of the family were: Giovanni Giacometti (1868-1933), a painter; Augusto Giacometti (1877-1947), a painter; Zaccaria Giacometti (1893-1970), a professor of constitutional law; Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), a sculptor, painter, draughtsman and printmaker; Diego Giacometti (1902-1985), a sculptor and designer; Bruno Giacometti (1907-2012), an architect.
• Planta Family - The Planta family is one of the most ancient families of Grigioni. The family is of Roman origin and likely belonged to the senatorial class. Their oldest recorded ancestor is Julius Planta, a friend and emissary of Emperor Claudius, whose name is recorded on the 1st century Tabula clesiana, discovered near Cles in Trentino, Italy. Another ancient member of the family, Pompeius Planta, is mentioned on an inscription discovered in Balbura, Anatolia. Pompeius Planta was the Roman Procurator of Asia Minor under Emperor Vespasian. A second Pompeius Planta (perhaps the same as the first) was the Roman governor of Egypt from 98-100 AD and was a friend of Emperor Trajan. A third Pompeius Planta, mentioned by Probus, was a Roman historian in the 2nd century. Lucius Avilius Planta, another ancient member of the family, is commemorated on an inscription in Rome from the year 90 AD. The oldest Planta recorded in Grigioni's history is Orsicinus or Ursicinus, bishop of Chur in the 5th century. Another bishop of Chur, also named Ursicinus, is venerated as a saint. He was the founding abbot of Desertina (Disentis) in the 8th century and also belonged to the Planta family. An Angelina Planta was abbess of the Abbey of Monastero (Müstair) in 1110. The modern history of the Planta family began in 1139, when they obtained feudal rights in the Upper Engadine. The Planta family was later one of the co-founders of the Three Leagues. A branch of the family lived in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Planta family still exists today in Switzerland.
• Salis Family - The Salis or De Salis family first appeared in Grigioni at the end of the 13th century. The founder of the family was Rodulfus de Salice de Solio (died in 1300). He was a descendant of the Salici, an Italian patrician family from Como. The Salis family became ministeriales of the Prince-Bishops of Chur and occupied many political offices, becoming mayors and governors in Bregaglia and Valtellina. They were also squires and knights, and held many castles in Grigioni. A branch of the family later moved to Britain and adopted the title Count de Salis-Soglio. Another branch of the family adopted the title Count de Salis-Seewis. Descendants of the Salis family still exist today. The most prominent member of the family was Colonel Giovanni Ulrico di Salis-Soglio (Johann-Ulrich von Salis-Soglio), commander of the Sonderbund in the Swiss Civil War of 1847.
• Victorid Family - The Victorid or Zacconi family were bishops of Chur and independent rulers of Raetia Curiensis between the 7th and 9th centuries. The founder of the family was Zacco, a 6th century military commander whose descendants married into the Victorids, a local family of Roman origin. The first member of the family to hold religious office was Victor I, bishop of Chur in c. 614. His brother Jactatus was ruler of Raetia Curiensis. Tello was the first Victorid to simultaneously hold the office of bishop of Chur and ruler of Raetia Curiensis (759-765). The last Victorid ruler was Victor III, bishop of Chur. He died in c. 833.
• Zuccalli Family - The Zuccalli were a family of architects and builders from Roveredo. The most notable member was Enrico Zuccalli (1642-1724), who was the official architect of the Bavarian court and one of the major architects who introduced Italian Baroque architecture to Germany. Other members were Gaspare Zuccalli (1629-1678), Domenico Cristoforo Zuccalli (1650-1702) and Giovanni Gaspare Zuccalli (1661-1717).
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