During the Thirty Years’ War, the State of Milan lived dramatically through the continental conflicts, due to its crucial role in the strategies of the Spanish crown and in the defence of Catholic Europe. Information about political and military events was stimulated by government and religious authorities, but they also controlled it through censorship. So the great majority of avvisi, relazioni and early gazzette, whether in Italian or Spanish, emphasized – as did public celebrations and rituals – the Hapsburgs’ sacral mission and their victories. The Malatesta family, appointed official government printers, played a leading role in the circulation of this propaganda. But we must consider that urban and rural communities were directly involved in the war: they were mobilized to sustain the army, repeatedly forced to provide military billets, and subjected to the invasions of enemy troops. Part of the political communication of the time reflects this reality. It does not assent to the crown’s point of view, and expresses objections to the costs of the war as well as an increasing sense of mistrust in the providential destiny of the Hapsburgs. Integration in the system of the Spanish monarchy also involved practices of resistance and negotiations which acquired institutional legitimacy. Public opinion of the time inquired and debated the protests and conflicts, not only the battles and relevant events of the sovereigns.