On May 17, 1371, Feltrino Gonzaga, lord of Reggio and leader of the anti-Visconti league, after being defeated, was forced to sell the city and the county to Bernabò Visconti for 50,000 gold florins.

[1] Feltrino was succeeded by his son Guido, who immediately proceeded with the construction of the fortress of Novellara, but the state coffers were so empty that only the foundations could be built.

The lordship of Novellara and Bagnolo drew great profits from the duties placed along the roads and canals that connected Reggio to the Po and effectively blocking trade between the Emilian city, Mantua and Venice.

Upon the death of Filippo Alfonso Gonzaga, on 12 October 1728, the dynasty, through the male line, became extinct, and the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VIrefused to follow up on the deceased count's will in favour of his sister Ricciarda, who nevertheless administered the county during the interregnum.

The county was therefore considered a vacant imperial fief, which was then invested, in 1737, by the duke of Modena Rinaldo d'Este in recognition of the services rendered during the war of the Polish Succession.

The Tassone canal still flows through the territories of the ancient county today, which, in the past, allowed the arrival of goods from the Po to Reggio, in the hands of their eternal enemies, the House of Este.