[5] Magenta is the birthplace of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla (1922–1962) and film producer Carlo Ponti (1912–2007).

In the Middle Ages, it was destroyed twice, in 1162 by Frederick Barbarossa and in 1356 by the troops opposing the Visconti rule of Milan.

In 1310, according to a legend, the emperor Henry VII was stopped here by a snowstorm during his march to Milan.

In 1398 Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated the town territories to the monks of the Certosa di Pavia.

The Franco-Piedmontese victory in the fight gave them the chance to conquer Austrian Lombardy.