Ten Days of Brescia
Encyclopedia
The Ten Days of Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

was a revolt which broke out in the northern Italian city of that name, which lasted from March 23 to April 1, 1849.

In the early 19th century Brescia was part of the Austrian
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

 puppet state called Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. The revolt, headed by the patriot Tito Speri
Tito Speri
Tito Speri was an Italian patriot and hero of the Risorgimento.-Life:Speri was born in Brescia.He began his military career as a volunteer in the First Italian Independence War in 1848 and after that war ended in an armistice he returned to Brescia, where he gave clandestine assistance to...

, began on the same day as the Battle of Novara
Battle of Novara (1849)
The Battle of Novara or Battle of Bicocca was one of the battles fought between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia during the First Italian War of Independence, within the era of Italian unification...

 (though news of Austria's victory there had not yet reached Brescia).

The Austrian troops under general Nugent, were initially surprised and retired to the castle, from which they heavily cannonaded the city, damaging many of Brescia's historical monuments. A total encirclement of Brescia was established by the Austrians beginning on the 8th day of the revolt, when reinforcements arrived. The following day General Haynau
Julius Jacob von Haynau
Julius Jacob von Haynau was an Austrian general.The illegitimate son of the landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, William I and Rebecca Richter, a Jewish woman, he entered the Austrian army as an infantry officer in 1801 and saw much service in the Napoleonic wars...

, later nicknamed "The Hyena of Brescia", came and demanded the unconditioned surrender of the Bresciani. As the latter refused, the fighting continued until late night, when the heads of the revolt decided to surrender. The following day (April 1), however, the Austrian troops sacked the city and massacred numerous inhabitants before the surrender could be signed.

Some 1,000 citizens were killed during the battle. For its fierce resistance, the city of Brescia earned the surname Leonessa d'Italia (Lioness of Italy).
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