Milan Decree, issued Dec., 1807, by Napoleon I of France in an attempt to enforce the Continental System. Designed to strengthen the Berlin Decree, it authorized French warships and privateers to capture neutral vessels sailing from any British port or from countries occupied by British armies. It also declared that neutral ships that submitted to search by British authorities on the high seas were to be considered lawful prizes if captured by the French or their allies. The British government issued replies by orders in council.

Milan (Milan Obrenović), 1854-1901, prince (1868-82) and king (1882-89) of Serbia; grandnephew of Miloš Obrenović. He succeeded his cousin Michael Obrenović as prince. He was educated in Paris, and a regency, which undertook constitutional reform in 1869, ruled for him until 1872. Under Russian influence he declared war (1876) on the Ottoman Empire in support of the rebellion in Bosnia and Herzegovina (see Russo-Turkish Wars). At the Congress of Berlin (1878) he secured Austrian support and obtained European recognition of the full independence of Serbia from the Ottoman Empire. In 1882 he took the title king of Serbia after signing a secret treaty granting Austria considerable influence. Heavy taxation, his pro-Austrian policy, his scandalous private life, and his unsuccessful campaign (1885) against Bulgaria aroused bitter opposition. After proclaiming (1889) a liberal constitution, he abdicated in favor of his son, Alexander (Alexander Obrenović), and went abroad. He returned in 1897 and became commander in chief of the army but resigned upon his son's marriage to Draga Mašin.

Milan, Ital. Milano, Lat. Mediolanum, city (1991 pop. 1,369,231), capital of Lombardy and of Milan prov., N Italy, at the heart of the Po basin. Because of its strategic position in the Lombard plain, at the intersection of several major transportation routes, it has been since the Middle Ages an international commercial, financial, and industrial center. Today Milan is Italy's second largest city after Rome and its economic heart. It has the highest per capita income in Italy. Manufactures include textiles, clothing, machinery, chemicals, electric appliances, printed materials, motor vehicles, airplanes, and rubber goods. The city has a large construction industry, and it is one of the most important silk markets in Europe.

Points of Interest

The most striking feature of the city is the Duomo, the large, white-marble cathedral (1386-1813), which shows traces of many styles (especially Gothic). It is elaborately ornamented, with 135 pinnacles and more than 200 marble statues. A statue of the Madonna is on the highest pinnacle (354 ft/108 m). Other points of interest in Milan include Brera Palace and Picture Gallery (17th cent.), which includes major works by Mantegna, Bellini, Piero della Francesca, and Raphael; the Castello Sforzesco (15th cent., with 19th-century additions), which houses a museum of art; the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (1465-90), containing the famous fresco, the Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci; the Basilica of Sant' Ambrogio (founded in the 4th cent., rebuilt in the 11th-12th cent.); the Ambrosian Library, which houses a rich collection of paintings; the Church of Sant' Eustorgio (9th cent.); the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology; the gallery of modern art; and the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, with paintings by Boticelli, Pollaiuolo, Mantegna, and Piero della Francesca. Long a center of music, Milan has a conservatory and a famous opera house, Teatro alla Scala (opened in 1778). Between the Duomo and La Scala is the 130-year-old Galleria, an enclosed four-story glass-roofed arcade that contains shops and eateries and is a popular gathering place. The city also has three universities and a polytechnic institute.

History

Probably of Celtic origin, Milan was conquered by Rome in 222 B.C. In later Roman times it was the capital (A.D. 305-402) of the Western Empire and the religious center of N Italy. In 313 Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan, which granted religious toleration. From 374 to 379 the city's bishop was St. Ambrose, known for the liturgy he wrote and for his eloquence. Milan was severely damaged by the Huns (c.450) and again by the Goths (539) and was conquered by the Lombards in 569.

In the 12th cent. it became a free commune and gradually gained supremacy over the cities of Lombardy. From the 11th to the 13th cent. Milan suffered from internal warfare between rich and poor, from the Guelph and Ghibelline strife, and from the enmity of rival cities, which assisted Emperor Frederick I in destroying it (1163). As a member of the Lombard League, Milan later contributed to the defeat of Frederick I at Legnano (1176). The city's independence was recognized in the Peace of Constance (1183). In the 13th cent. Milan lost its republican liberties; first the Torriani, then the Visconti (1277) became its lords. Galeazzo Visconti received (1395) the title of duke of Milan from the emperor, and under him the duchy became one of the most important states in Italy. After the death of the last Visconti (1447) the Sforza became dukes of Milan. The city flourished until it became involved in the Italian Wars and passed under Spanish domination (1535).

At the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, Austrian rule of Milan was established (1713-96). Napoleon I made the city the capital of the Cisalpine Republic (1797) and of the kingdom of Italy (1805-14). In 1815 Milan again came under Austria. It was a leading center throughout the Risorgimento; after five days of heroic fighting in 1848 the citizens of Milan succeeded in expelling the Austrians, who returned, however, a few months later. In 1859 the city was united with the kingdom of Sardinia. Its industrial importance grew after it was incorporated (1861) into Italy. In World War II Milan suffered widespread damage from Allied air raids; many significant buildings were damaged beyond repair.

Kundera, Milan, 1929-, Czechslovakian-born novelist and essayist. His first novel, The Joke (1967, tr. 1974), brought him government disapproval and resulted in the loss of his citizenship. This, coupled with the 1968 Soviet invasion, prompted him to flee Czechoslovakia; he settled (1975) in France, where he became a citizen in 1980. Often set against a totalitarian backdrop yet usually apolitical in tone, his widely translated fiction looks ironically at love, sex, and the possibility of spiritual fulfillment in the modern age. His works frequently treat themes of exile and return, memory and forgetfulness, nostalgia and regret. Kundera's most acclaimed novels are The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (tr. 1980, 1996) and The Unbearable Lightness of Being (tr. 1984). Among Kundera's other novels are Life Is Elsewhere (tr. 1974, 2000) and Immortality (1990, tr. 1991), both written in Czech; and Slowness (1995, tr. 1996), Identity (1997, tr. 1998), and Ignorance (2000, tr. 2002), all originally in French. He has also written plays, short stories, poetry, and essays. Among the latter are three collections containing his reflections on fiction, The Art of the Novel (1986, tr. 1988), Testaments Betrayed (tr. 1995), and The Curtain (2005, tr. 2007).

(born April 1, 1929, Brno, Czech.) Czech-born French writer. He worked as a jazz musician and taught at Prague's film academy, but he gradually turned to writing. Though a member of the Communist Party for years, his works were banned after he participated in Czechoslovakia's short-lived liberalization movement (1967–68), and he was fired from his teaching positions. He immigrated to France in 1975 and was stripped of his Czech citizenship in 1979; he became a French citizen in 1981. His works combine erotic comedy with political criticism. The Joke (1967), his first novel, describes life under Stalin. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979), a series of wittily ironic meditations on the modern state, and the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984; film, 1988) were banned in his homeland until 1989. His later books include Immortality (1990) and Slowness (1994).

Learn more about Kundera, Milan with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Italian Milano

Capital (pop., 2007 est.: 1,303,437), Lombardy region, northern Italy. The area was settled by the Gauls circa 600 BC. Known as Mediolanum, it was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC. Attacked in AD 452 by Attila and in 539 by the Goths, it fell to Charlemagne in 774. Milan's power grew in the 11th century, but it was destroyed by the Holy Roman Empire in 1162. Rebuilt as part of the Lombard League in 1167, Milan achieved independence in 1183. In 1450 Francesco Sforza founded a new dynasty there; after 1499 it was ruled alternately by the French and the Sforza family until 1535, when the Habsburgs obtained it. Napoleon took power in 1796, and in 1805 it became the capital of his Kingdom of Italy. Milan was incorporated into unified Italy in 1860. It was heavily damaged during World War II but was rebuilt. It is Italy's most important economic centre, noted for its fashion industry as well as finance, retail and wholesale trade, media and publishing, and other services. Its historic sites include the medieval Duomo, Europe's third largest cathedral; the Palazzo di Brera (1651); the monastery that houses Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper; and La Scala opera house.

Learn more about Milan with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born April 1, 1929, Brno, Czech.) Czech-born French writer. He worked as a jazz musician and taught at Prague's film academy, but he gradually turned to writing. Though a member of the Communist Party for years, his works were banned after he participated in Czechoslovakia's short-lived liberalization movement (1967–68), and he was fired from his teaching positions. He immigrated to France in 1975 and was stripped of his Czech citizenship in 1979; he became a French citizen in 1981. His works combine erotic comedy with political criticism. The Joke (1967), his first novel, describes life under Stalin. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979), a series of wittily ironic meditations on the modern state, and the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984; film, 1988) were banned in his homeland until 1989. His later books include Immortality (1990) and Slowness (1994).

Learn more about Kundera, Milan with a free trial on Britannica.com.