Giacomo Robustelli

Portrait of the knight Giacomo Robustelli with the Order of Saint Mauritius and Lazarus

Giacomo Robustelli (approx. 1583 Grosotto ; † approx. 1646 Domaso ) was the leader of the Spanish party in Valtellina during the Graubünden turmoil between 1618 and 1639.

Robustelli was a wealthy landowner from Grosotto in the Valtellina, which had been under the rule of the Three Leagues since 1512 . His family came from the local nobility. After studying law and literature in Italy, he proved himself as a mercenary in the service of Duke Charles Emanuel I of Savoy and was therefore made a Knight of St. Mauritius and the Order of Lazarus . After his return to Valtellina, he married a niece of Rudolf von Planta , the leader of the Catholic-Spanish-Habsburg party in the Three Leagues, and became the head of the anti-Bündner party in Valtellina. Therefore he was punished by the Thusner Criminal Court in 1618 with a fine of 3000 ducats and an expulsion from the country.

He became known beyond the national borders as one of the leaders of the Veltliner Protestant murder on 18./19. July 1620. He then became governor of the Valtellina and ruled the valley together with other nobles during the Spanish and papal occupation until the French invaded in 1624. He returned in 1627 after the conclusion of the Treaty of Monsonio and the transfer of the Valtellina to a papal administration returned to the country and served again as governor of the Valtellina until 1630.

After the Valtellina was recaptured by the Bündner and the French in 1635, Robustelli fled to the Duchy of Milan and settled in Domaso. He tried in vain to intrigue against a peace between the Three Leagues and Spain.

Web links

• Martin Bundi: Giacomo Robustelli. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .