de facto a small autonomous state (with its own civil and criminal law), but inserted in the largest Duchy of Milan. Spanish domination With the fall of the Duchy of Milan, Lecco passed to Spanish dominium and, under Charles V, was transformed into a military stronghold. In this period, it suffered, as all Milanese territory, from plagues and famines, which Manzoni admirably described in The Betrothed. In 1714 Lombardy passed to the control of Habsburgs of Austria. Austrian domination In 1784 Joseph II of Austria visited the city and decided to destroy the walls. With the descent of Napoleon and the birth of the Cisalpine Republic in 1797, the Riviera di Lecco is part of the ephemeral Mountain Department. In 1814, after the final defeat of Napoleon, the Austrian army regains possession of the region and permanently brings Lecco back to the province of Como in 1816 (from which it will become independent only in 1995) and definitively divides the city into many small municipalities that will be re-established in 1923, during the Fascist 20th anniversary. In the period of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto, Lecco experienced positive effects: numerous interventions of modernization and development of the territory, such as the introduction of an efficient bureaucracy, the increase of the cadastre and industrial development that led to widespread well-being. From Risorgimento to the post-war periods In the 19th century Lecco became one of the beating hearts of Italian culture: the Scapigliati, a famous group of Milanese writers made Maggianico one of their favorite meeting places. The cultural ferment of the period was also associated with political ferment, and Lecco and its inhabitants played a very important role in the Lombard Risorgimento. When the Milanese insurrection against Austria started in March 1848, a priest, Don Antonio Mascari, incited rebellion from the pulpit, but the insurrection that took place on the night between 18th and March 19 was unsuccessful. By decree of June 22, 1848, the provisional government of Lombardy (the Austrian government had lapsed following the Five Days of Milan insurrection) promoted Lecco to the rank of City, thanks to the contribution that the city was making to the Cause of Risorgimento. However, Lecco was again downgraded to Borgo in 1859. In 1859, with the Second War of Independence, Lecco and Lombardy were conquered by the Kingdom of Sardinia and, in the same year, it re-entered the title of City. In 1923