Valtelline

Valtelline (Val Tellina, Ger. Veltlin), the rich and fertile valley of the upper Adda down to its influx into the Lake of Como. In a wider sense the term covers the whole of that part of Lombardy which includes this valley, as well as Chiavenna and Bormio, corresponding to the modern province of Sondrio. The 120,000 inhabitants speak a dialect of Italian akin to the Romansch (q.v.). In the 16th century the district became subject to the Swiss canton of Grisons (q.v.); the latter, however, steadily resisted the efforts of the Valtellines to secure citizenship, which resulted in the bloody Valtelline war (1620). The Grisons were victorious, and governed the Valtelline more oppressively than ever, till at the petition of the inhabitants Napoleon incorporated the country with the Cisalpine republic, and the Valtelline has since shared the fortunes of Lombardy and Italy.