With the Frankish conquest of the territory at the hands of Charlemagne, dating back to the 9th century, feudal struggles began (first between bishoprics and then between communes) and Pontevico found itself placed in an important strategic position along the course of the Oglio River.

[6][7] Also by the end of the 12th century, the fortress was one of the most important in the Brescian area, so much so that in the same period it was further renovated and enlarged as part of the grandiose military measures of the Commune of Brescia to deal with the growing threat from Cremona.

[11][12][13] The following year, with the defeat suffered in the siege of Brescia, Frederick was forced to leave Pontevico (which he set on fire on the way to the town), which returned to the hands of the Brescians.

The armies of the League, formed by the Lords of Verona, Ferrara, Mantua and Carrara, with the support of the local population (the fortress did not contain any inhabitants of Pontevico), besieged the castle with 28 companies of knights and a large number of foot soldiers.

Meanwhile, the besiegers, not knowing what aid the Visconti had sent, ended up putting the conquest of the fortress on the back burner; thus, the castellan warned Bernabò, who had arrived near Pontevico, of the Guelphs' lack of vigilance.

By day, the army broke out of the fortress and attacked the League, who responded in large numbers with the support of the people of Pontevico, armed with stones and spears.

The Serenissima erected and renovated the main fortresses on the Oglio River, therefore those of Orzinuovi, Asola and precisely Pontevico, entrusting their care to a provveditore and a castellan.

According to a description from this period, the castle was surrounded by walls and ditches and equipped with bastions and watchtowers, while the town stretched around it, around the provincial road and the ancient parish church named after St.

[21][26] In the early stages of the conflict, no major events are recorded near Pontevico: despite being used by many generals as a base for military operations, its size and armament discouraged captains of fortune, who hesitated to besiege its fortress.

On June 8, 1452, following a two-day siege, Francesco Sforza succeeded in bringing the fortress back under the control of the Duchy of Milan, being able to rely on a large number of men and the use of bombards.

Thus, Piccinino on the morning of the 29th incited the people to the undertaking, who, by moving all their weapons in the direction of a single bulwark, succeeded in opening a breach there and penetrating the castle.

The occupiers (especially the Transalpines) were particularly ruthless toward the vanquished: having carried out looting, marked by brutal cruelty against civilians, the town, including the castle, was burned and razed to the ground.

On the contrary, they headed for the fortresses of Ghedi, Bagnolo, Montechiaro and Asola, which were conquered, albeit briefly; the Venetian army regained the lost castles and, by building a bridge across the river at Pontevico, invaded the Cremona countryside.

[33] In 1498, because of Louis XII's dynastic claims on the Duchy of Milan, Duke Ludovico il Moro decided to send 400 men inside the Cremonese castles in order to defend Robecco d'Oglio.

[35] That same year, because of the oppressive behavior of the Milanese government toward the Cremonese, several times the latter came to Pontevico to talk with the castellan or chaplain about a hypothetical Invasion of Cremona, for the latter's passage to the Serenissima.

The invasion took place, however, not starting from Pontevico but rather from Soncino, and quite smoothly the entire County of Cremona became part of the Serenissima, to the point that on September 10, 1499, the raising of the gonfalon of Saint Mark in the city is remembered.

The favorable moment was short-lived and, in January 1500, the Duke explicitly declared that he wanted to retake Cremona; in prompt response, however, the Rectors of Brescia sent 22,000 soldiers to Pontevico, ready to march to the city if necessary.

Meanwhile, as a result of the formation of the Holy League (formed by the Papal State, the Republic of Venice, the Spanish Empire and the Swiss Cantons), the fortunes of the war reversed and France found itself in defensive position, placing the bulk of its army just inside the fortress of Pontevico.

Pontevico, again, was used by the Serenissima as a base for the reconquest of Brescia, to the point that the commander Leonardo Emo regrouped 2,000 infantrymen and 500 cavalrymen there, to which the entire army of the Seignory was later added.

[...]For three years Pontevico was under Spanish rule, when in May 1516 the Venetians, led by Odet of Foix (sent by King Francis I of France), reconquered Brescia and with it its territory, which had been completely abandoned by the occupants.

The Prince had connected with Don Cozzoli, a Cremonese parish priest, for him to signal the right moment to move his attack toward the city, with the aim of annihilating the French.

When the right moment came, the parish priest sent one of his trusted men to Pontevico, placing the letter directed toward Eugene inside the seam of his shoes, prepared for the occasion.

On either side of the medal, a figure of a spearman resting his right foot on the globe and a swaddled woman holding in her hands a cornucopia facing the ground are depicted.

An imperial eagle holding a bundle of lightning in its talons surmounts the medal, while on the iron plate is the inscription: TO THE UNCONQUERED AND IMMORTAL NAPOLEON P.F.A - EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH - KING OF ITALY - DEITY OF INDEPENDENCE AND CREATOR - G.P.

CADOLINO CREMONESE - FIRST WHO DARED TO RECAST IRON IN ITALY - FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE KINGDOM - THIS UNIQUE INSCRIPTION - DEDICATES AND CONSECRATESCurrently, the slab is stored in the Museums of the Sforza Castle.

[46]During the 1840s, after the foundry ceased operations at the end of the following decade, the German Kewmüller purchased the castle, which he had completely demolished in the spring of 1844; during the demolition work, the old secret passageway that passed under the bed of the Oglio River was obstructed.

In particular, in the Second Postwar period, Abbot Giuseppe Miglioli had a series of two-story buildings erected, expanding the structure with the aim of accommodating residents suffering from TB and creating new spaces dedicated to services.

Under the presidency of Angelo Crescenti, in 1962 the pavilion erected by Miglioli was replaced with a more spacious one, circular in shape and on three floors; it was designed to be completely autonomous from the other wards and is still equipped with radiology, clinical analysis laboratory, physical therapy room and E.E.G.

Inside, the main decoration consists of an altarpiece, by Brescian painter Vittorio Trainini, depicting the blessed nun in prostration before Mary holding the child to her.

A trifora provides access to the crypt, whose illumination is made possible by a stained-glass window, on which are two angels bearing a ribbon on which is the inscription Deus caritas est.