Biasca is a town of the district of Riviera in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
History
Biasca is first mentioned in 830 as Aviasca in the Liber viventium of Pfäfers Abbey. In 1119 it was mentioned as Abiasca.
Early history
In 948, the Bishop of Vercelli donated the area around Biasca to the Bishop of Milan. This led to the spiritual and secular domination of the valley north of Bellinzona. During the Bishop's conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire over the Lombardy provinces, Biasca and the surrounding region suffered from armies marching through the valley.
A branch of the Orelli family of Locarno was given the castle above Biasca, near the chapel of S. Petronilla, in the 12th century. They were also given the rights of high justice over the village. However, in 1292 the village was able to push through an agreement that allowed them to elect some local leaders, giving them limited self-government. The Orelli family ruled until the middle of the 14th century, when their territory was incorporated into the dominion of the Visconti. They granted the village along with the Blenio valley to the Bolognese Pepoli family. In the second half of the 14th century, Biasca as was granted the right to choose the Console who had the right to call courts. This right was confirmed in 1422 and subsequent years. In 1403, after the death of Gian Galeazzo, the Visconti Duke, Biasca was conquered by the two Swiss cantons of Uri and Obwalden and incorporated into the Italian bailiwicks of the two towns. In 1422 the Visconti troops of Milan attacked and at the Battle of Arbedo defeated the Swiss and reestablished Milan's borders.
Under the Swiss Confederation
In 1439, the town was attacked by Uri once again. The Duke of Milan reinforced Biasca and in 1441 made it a bulwark against the Leventina valley which had been conquered by Uri. It was again attacked and occupied by Uri in 1449. The town reached an agreement in 1450 with the new Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, which confirmed the previously extended rights. Other raids took place after the death of Francesco Sforza in 1466 and during the campaign of 1478. It was probably annexed in 1495 along with the rest of the Blenio valley by the Swiss. After 1500 it was part of the Bailiwick of Riviera.
In 1512, a landslide from Monte Crenone created a dam across the Brenno river north of the village. The dam created a long lake above the village, until 1515 when the dam burst causing heavy damage. Due to its location on a major Alpine road traffic, the local economy gradually recovered from this disaster. However, at the end of the 16th and at the beginning of the 17th century, at least three major plague epidemics hit the town. After repeated searches, Charles Borromeo chose Biasca as the center to spread the reforms of the Council of Trent to the Tre Valli region.
Located at the entrance to the Alpine valleys, Biasca as has always played an important role in regional and trans-Alpine trade, even after the Gotthard route opened in the early 13th century. The Orelli family collected tolls on the roads after 1352. In the following years, the existence of a Sust or transshipment warehouse for the transit of goods is mentioned in Biasca. Starting in 1434, the municipality collected a fee, known as forletto on the transport of goods over the passes. In addition to transportation, the main income sources were, forestry, agriculture in the valleys and livestock which spent their summers in alpine pastures and migrated in the winter to the valley.
Early Modern Biasca
The construction of the road network in 1815 and the construction of the Gotthard tunnel led to an economic and demographic change in Biasca as it lost its rural character. A feature of the history of Biasca from the middle of the 19th century into the early 20th century is the large number of atheists living in the town as well as a number of anti-clerical acts. In 1980, it became the town in Switzerland with the highest proportion of non-religious. The cause of this phenomenon is probably the influence of immigrants and the railway workers in the 19th century.
For a few decades, the silkworm industry flourished in Biasca. Also, the granite mining industry is important to the whole region, and it reached its peak in Biasca in 1900. In the wake of industrialization, the first economic class battles in Ticino broke out in Biasca. There remains a strong Socialist Party core in the town.