Confienza is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the Province of Pavia

Province of Pavia

The Province of Pavia is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Pavia is the capital.It has an area of 2,965 km², and a total population of 493,753...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, located about 50 km southwest of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 and about 50 km northwest of Pavia

Pavia

Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...

.

Confienza borders the following municipalities: Casalino

Casalino

Casalino is a comune in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km northeast of Turin and about 11 km southwest of Novara...

, Granozzo con Monticello

Granozzo con Monticello

Granozzo con Monticello is a comune in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 kilometres northeast of Turin and about 10 km southwest of Novara.-References:...

, Palestro

Palestro

Palestro is a town and comune in the province of Pavia. It is located on the banks of the river Sesia.-History:Although located in area settled by Celts, Etruscans, Romans and Lombards, Palestro is mentioned for the first time in 999 AD, when it was given to the bishop of Vercelli by emperor Otto...

, Robbio

Robbio

Robbio is a city and comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km southwest of Milan and about 45 km west of Pavia...

, Vespolate

Vespolate

Vespolate is a comune in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km northeast of Turin and about 12 km southeast of Novara...

, Vinzaglio

Vinzaglio

Vinzaglio is a comune in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km northeast of Turin and about 15 km southwest of Novara. It is an agricultural borough in the rice-growing plain of Vercelli....

.

History

Confienza's name derives most likely from the Latin confluentia, referring to a confluence of two rivers which have now changed their course. It belonged to the bishop of Vercelli from 999, then to the lords of the nearby Robbio

Robbio

Robbio is a city and comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km southwest of Milan and about 45 km west of Pavia...

. Pavia

Pavia

Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...

 obtained it through the intervention of emperor Frederick II

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...

. Later it was under the Visconti (who gave it as a fief to Alberico da Barbiano

Alberico da Barbiano

Alberico da Barbiano was the first of the Italian condottieri. His master in military matters was the English mercenary John Hawkwood, known in Italy as Giovanni Acuto...

 together with Belgioioso

Belgioioso

Belgioioso or Belgiojoso is a town and comune in the Province of Pavia, region of Lombardy , with a population of 5,914 .It is 12 km east of the city of Pavia, between the Olona River and the Po River...

) and the Sforza of Milan. Under the French domination of the Duchy of Milan, it was held by Gian Giacomo Trivulzio

Gian Giacomo Trivulzio

Gian Giacomo Trivulzio was an Italian aristocrat and condottiero who held several military commands during the Italian Wars.-Biography:...

. Later it was returned to the Barbiano of Belgioso, to which it belonged until 1797.