Jews of Milan
The wealthy and strategically important duchy of Milan was the cockpit of
French-Spanish rivalry in Italy. It was under French influence from 1512 but,
after years of conflict, was recognised as being in the Spanish zone of
control in 1559. It passed to the Austrian branch of the Hapsburg family in
1714, at the end of the War of Spanish Succession.
Milan was at one end of the “Spanish Road” – the land route connecting
Spanish territory in Flanders with Spanish territory in Italy. The sea route
from Spain to Flanders was faster, but the land route safer. Between 1567
and 1620, 123,000 Spanish troops travelled north by the “Spanish Road”,
compared to only 17,600 by sea.
I have not seen evidence of New Christians merchants in the duchy of Milan,
but I am sure that a number were there in Spanish army. The Jewish
Encyclopedia says that, under Spanish rule, Jews were expelled from a number
of cities in the duchy, notably Alessandria and Cremona. Probably these were
Italian rather than Sephardic Jews. There were no Jews in Milan, but some
lived in Padua and Lodi.