Complex sentence: As a Venetian inland province, Crema obtained numerous privileges and was safe from the economic decline of the near Duchy of Milan under the Spanish rule: it kept a substantial autonomy which permitted a program of new buildings.
Split into simpler sentences: As a Venetian inland province, Crema obtained numerous privileges and was safe from the economic decline of the nearby Duchy of Milan under the Spanish rule. It kept a substantial autonomy, which permitted a program of new buildings.