Founded in a region inhabited from theBronze Age, Castel Goffredo belonged to thecount-bishops of Brescia from the ninth century to 1115, when thecommune was established. When Brescia proved unable to come to the commune's defense, in 1337 it placed itself under the protection ofMantua and theGonzaga. From 1348 to 1404 it was governed fromMilan by theVisconti and returned to the Gonzaga in 1441.
Castel Goffredo became the seat of an autonomousfeudo of marquis Aloysio Gonzaga in 1511. At his death, his fiefs of Castel Goffredo,Castiglione delle Stiviere andSolferino were divided among his three sons. The eldest, Alfonso, who gained Castel Goffredo, was assassinated in 1592 by members of the household of his nephew Rodolfo Gonzaga of Castiglione, brother of the saintlyAloysius Gonzaga; Alfonso, publicly tried for murder but acquitted, was murdered in turn, 31 January 1593, occasioning a popular uprising that re-established theMagnifica Comunità. The territory was annexed in 1603 by theduchy of Milan following a bitter suit heard before the Emperor, and remained Milanese territory until 1707. In 1707, theAustrians took over the region and theHabsburgs then ruled the area until 1859, save only for a decade or so ofFrench rule during the time ofNapoleonic Wars. After the Battle ofSolferino, the town was briefly part of the Kingdom ofPiedmont-Sardinia, until that kingdom itself developed, in 1861, into the unitedKingdom of Italy.
The town of Castel Goffredo has been involved intextile production since medieval times. The original source material waswool, but in the 1700s, the leading family of the town, theAcerbi, introducedsilk-worm farming andsilk-production became an important sector.Cotton weaving was also introduced around this time. The production of cotton and silk was revolutionised by the industrial processes of the twentieth century, which also saw the introduction of the newsynthetics into the business.During the 20th century, the area underwent a period of sustained and steady economic development and growth. In 2002, Castel Goffredo was recognised as a titular 'città', though it remains acomune and not a city in the general sense. The first modern textile-factory was built in 1925 and others soon followed. They took great advantage of the post-war boom and began to specialise, in particular, in the manufacture of hosiery. The area is now a centre of expertise in the production of socks and of lingerie:[3]
^"Together, the businesses of Castel Goffredo and its neighboring towns produce 70 percent of all women's hosiery sold in Italy and 40 percent of all hosiery sold throughout Europe", Stuart A. Rosenfeld,Competitive manufacturing: new strategies for regional development, 1992:
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