City (pop, 2001 prelim.: 156,172), Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy. Located on the Parma River, the site was founded by the Romans in 183 BC; it became an episcopal see in the 4th century AD. Parma was destroyed by the Ostrogoths under Theodoric I but was rebuilt in the Middle Ages. Made part of the duchy of Parma and Piacenza in 1545, it was held by the Farnese family and later passed to the Austrians. In 1815 Napoleon gave the city to his second consort, Marie-Louise. In 1861 it became part of united Italy. It was badly damaged during World War II but was rebuilt. It is the commercial centre of an agricultural region and is famous for its Parmesan cheese. Sites of interest include the 12th-century Romanesque cathedral, the 13th-century baptistery, and the university (founded in the 11th century)
born Aug. 27, 1545, Rome died Dec. 3, 1592, Arras, France Regent of the Netherlands (1578-92) for Philip II of Spain. He was educated at the court of Madrid, where he had been sent to prove his father's loyalty to the Habsburgs. In 1578 Philip II appointed him governor-general of the Netherlands, where his mother, Margaret of Parma, had been regent earlier. His great achievement was the restoration of Spanish rule in the southern provinces and perpetuation of Roman Catholicism there. He succeeded by astute statesmanship and military operations against the alliance of rebellious Protestant provinces led by William the Silent. In 1586 he succeeded his father as duke of Parma and Piacenza, but he never returned to Italy to rule
born 1522, Oudenaarde, Spanish Netherlands died Jan. 18, 1586, Ortona, Kingdom of Naples Duchess of Parma, Habsburg regent, and governor-general of the Netherlands (1559-67). The illegitimate daughter of Emperor Charles V, she was married first (1536) to Alessandro de' Medici, who was murdered in 1537, and then (1538) to Ottavio Farnese, duke of Parma. Appointed to govern the Netherlands by her half brother, Philip II of Spain, Margaret tried to appease the nobility with more moderate treatment of Protestants, but she brought in an army in 1567 after Calvinist extremists attacked Catholic churches. Philip then sent the duke of Alba, who assembled a Spanish army and enforced stern measures against dissident Protestants, precipitating open revolt. Margaret resigned when Alba assumed power