At that time, it included twenty-six towns and the wide rural area of the middle Padan Plain east of the hills of Montferrat. During much of its existence, it was wedged between Savoy to the west, Venice to the east, the Swiss Confederacy to the north, and separated from the Mediterranean by Genoa to the south. The duchy was at its largest at the beginning of the 15th century, at which time it included almost all of what is now Lombardy and parts of what are now Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany, and Emilia-Romagna.[2]
Under the House of Sforza, Milan experienced a period of great prosperity with the introduction of the silk industry, becoming one of the wealthiest states during the Renaissance.[3]
The Viscontis' dominions in the 14th century, before the foundation of the Duchy of Milan
The fate of the city of Milan was intertwined since the 13th century with that of the Visconti family, who resumed the policy of territorial expansionism inherited from the city's municipality. One of the first Visconti exponents to lead the Lombard city was Ottone Visconti, elected archbishop in 1262 and who defeated the Della Torre family in the Battle of Desio in 1277.[6]
In the first half of the following century, his nephews and great-grandsons who came to govern Milan: Matteo I, Galeazzo I, Azzone and the Archbishop Giovanni, expanding the area of Visconti influence over the surrounding regions. An equal policy of enlargement and consolidation was pursued in the second half of the century by their successors: Matteo II, Bernabò and Gian Galeazzo. After a period marked by tensions between the various members of the powerful family, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, nephew of Bernabò, came to power with a coup in 1385 and gradually unified the vast family domains scattered across Northern Italy.[7][8]
It is said that the territories subject to his dominion earned Gian Galeazzo in one year, in addition to the ordinary income of 1,200,000 gold florins, another 800,000 in extraordinary subsidies.[9]
The duchy was officially established on 11 May 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the Dominus Generalis of Milan, obtained the title of Duke of Milan by means of a diploma signed in Prague by Wenceslaus of Bohemia. The nomination was ratified and celebrated in Milan on 5 September 1395. Gian Galeazzo Visconti also obtained the license to quarter the Visconti's biscione with the imperial eagle in the new ducal flag.[10][11]
The duchy, as defined in the diploma of 1395, included the territory surrounding Milan, between the Adda and Ticino rivers,[12] but the dominions of Gian Galeazzo Visconti extended beyond, including 26 towns and spanned from Piedmont to Veneto and from present-day Canton of Ticino to Umbria.[13][14] Milan thus became one of the five major states of the Italian peninsula in the 15th century. The House of Visconti had been expanding their dominions for nearly a century, under the reigns of Azzone Visconti, Luchino Visconti, Giovanni Visconti, Bernabò Visconti and Gian Galeazzo Visconti: during the rule of Azzone Visconti, the Ossola in Piedmont had been conquered in 1331, followed by Bergamo and Pavia (Lombardy) and Novara (Piedmont) in 1332, Pontremoli (Tuscany) in 1333, Vercelli (Piedmont) and Cremona (Lombardy) in 1334, the Lombard cities of Como, Crema, Lodi and the Valtellina in 1335, Bormio (Lombardy) and Piacenza (Emilia) in 1336, and Brescia and the Val Camonica in 1337.[15]
The brothers Luchino and Giovanni Visconti added Bellinzona (present-day Switzerland in 1342, Parma (Emilia) in 1346 and several territories in southwestern Piedmont in 1347: Tortona, Alessandria, Asti, and Mondovì. Bernabò conquered Reggio Emilia in 1371 and Riva del Garda in 1380, and Gian Galeazzo greatly expanded Milan's dominions, first eastwards, with the conquest of the Venetian cities of Verona (1387), Vicenza (1387), Feltre (1388), Belluno (1388) and Padua (briefly, from 1388 to 1390), and later southwards, conquering Lucca, Pisa and Siena in Tuscany in 1399, Perugia in Umbria in 1400, Bologna in Emilia in 1402, and Assisi in Umbria also in 1402.[16]
When the last Visconti duke, Filippo Maria, died in 1447 without a male heir, the Milanese declared the so-called Golden Ambrosian Republic, which soon faced revolts and attacks from its neighbors.[17] In 1450 mercenary captain Francesco Sforza, having previously married Filippo Maria Visconti's illegitimate daughter Bianca Maria, conquered the city and restored the duchy, founding the House of Sforza.[18]
First Sforza's rule (1450–1499)
The Venetian republic had not abandoned its desire to expand into Lombardy and therefore entered into an alliance with Alfonso V of Aragon, King of Naples, and with Emperor Frederick III, against Francesco I Sforza and his allies. The fall of Constantinople, conquered by the Ottoman Turks, however, endangered the structure of the Venetian possessions in the Aegean Sea and after 4 years of war the Peace of Lodi was signed in 1454. With this document Francesco Sforza and Alfonso of Aragon were recognized respectively as Duke of Milan and King of Naples, the Republic of Venice extended its dominion up to the Adda and the Holy Italian League against the Turks was concluded.[19]
Galeazzo Maria, son of Francesco Sforza, due to his government considered by many to be tyrannical, was murdered in a conspiracy. His son,Gian Galeazzo, governed under the regency of his mother Bona of Savoy, until his uncle, Ludovico il Moro usurped the throne of the duchy. Ludovico il Moro, son of Francesco Sforza, managed to obtain the guardianship of his nephew Gian Galeazzo and confine him to the Visconti Castle of Pavia, where in 1494 he died in such mysterious circumstances that many suspicions gathered around Ludovico himself.[21]
Relations between Ludovico and Ferdinand II of Aragon therefore deteriorated: Gian Galeazzo had in fact married a niece of the King of Naples, who took the side of the legitimate heir. Ludovico il Moro responded by encouraging King Charles VIII of France to reclaim the Kingdom of Naples, as until 1442 the Neapolitan throne had belonged to Charles ancestors, the Capetian House of Anjou. In 1494 Charles VIII conquered Naples, upsetting the balance between the various Italian states and starting the Italian Wars.[22][23]
First French rule (1499–1512)
In 1495 Charles VIII was expelled from the Peninsula by a League composed of many Italian states, the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of England, but only three years later, in 1498, the Duke of Orléans, who had become King of France with the name of Louis XII, assert his claims on the Duchy of Milan: one of his ancestors, Louis of Orleans, had in fact married Valentina Visconti, daughter of Duke Gian Galeazzo, in 1389, whose marriage contract established that, in the event of the extinction of the Visconti dynasty, the title of Duke of Milan went to Valentina's descendants. Louis XII, claiming to be the legitimate heir of the Viscontis, invaded the Milanese state in 1499, driving out Ludovico il Moro. The former Sforza ruler tried in vain to counter the transalpine troops, even asking the Emperor for help, but only managed to briefly recapture the capital and a few other lands. Defeated and taken prisoner in Novara in 1500, he was deported to France, to the Castle of Loches, where he died on 27 May 1508.[24][25]
Second Sforza's rule (1512–1515)
Louis XII remained Duke of Milan until 1512, when the Swiss army expelled the French from Lombardy and placed Maximilian Sforza, son of Ludovico il Moro, on the Milanese throne. Between 1512 and 1515 the Swiss cantonsde facto controlled the duchy.[26]
Second French rule (1515–1521)
Under the reign of King Francis I, the French Crown managed to re-establish its sovereignty over the Milanese duchy. In 1515 , after the bloody Battle of Marignano, which saw the defeat of the Swiss army, the French sovereign deposed Maximilian and installed himself on the ducal throne. Despite the defeat, the Swiss managed to retain the territories along the road that leads from the Gotthard Pass to the gates of Como (today's Canton of Ticino). The Treaty of Noyon of 1516 confirmed the possession of the Duchy of Milan to the French. Francis of Valois governed the duchy until 1521, when Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, raised Maximilian's young brother, Francesco II Sforza, to the throne of the duchy.[27][28]
Third and last Sforza's rule (1521–1535)
After the decisive French defeat in the Battle of Pavia on 24 February 1525, which left the forces of Charles V in a strong position within the Italian peninsula, Francesco II Sforza joined the League of Cognac against Charles: together with him, the Republic of Venice, the Florentine Republic, Pope Clement VII and the Kingdom of France. The Duke was quickly overwhelmed by Charles troops, but managed to maintain control over some cities and strongholds of the duchy. Thanks to the Republic of Venice which ceded the entire Apulian coast (Brindisi, Monopoli, Gallipoli, Polignano, Lecce, Bari and Trani) in exchange for the withdrawal of imperial claims on Milan, also due to the fact that Charles V did not want to clash with the Venetians, and he knew he didn't have the means to succeed, because the Venetians were too concerned that Milan not fall into the hands of foreigners powers, given that they did not consider themselves "capable of occupying it nor proportionate to be able to hold it".[29][30][31]
Francesco II Sforza died without heirs in 1535, opening a new question for the succession to the throne. In this period, to be precise in 1532, Francesco II Sforza requested and obtained from Pope Clement VII the elevation of Vigevano, a city to which his family had always been deeply linked, to the capital of Vigevanasco, after it had obtained in 1530 the title of city and bishopric according to the same methods.[32][33]
Spanish Habsburg rule (1556–1707)
Emperor Charles V held the duchy from 1535, eventually granting it to his son King Philip II of Spain from 1556. The possession of the duchy by Habsburg Spain was finally recognized by the French in the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559.
The duchy remained in Austrian hands until it was overrun by the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1796. The duchy was ceded by Austria in the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, and formed the central part of the new Cisalpine Republic.
Military
Under the Spanish viceroys from 1535, Milan became one of the contributors to the Spanish king's army. At the time Lombardy had the most developed manufacturing and commercial economy anywhere in the world, making it a valuable tool for the Spanish military: an armory of paramount strategic importance.[34] In addition to resources, Milan also provided soldiers. During the 1635–1659 Franco-Spanish War, Milan sent and paid for on average 4,000 soldiers per year to the Spanish crown, with many of these men serving in the Low Countries against the Dutch States Army.[35]
Francesco I Sforza was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) duke from 1450 until his death.
The House of Sforza was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. Sforza rule began with the family's acquisition of the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th century and ended with the death of the last member of the family's main branch, Francesco II Sforza, in 1535.
Vigevano is a comune (municipality) in the province of Pavia, in the Italian region of Lombardy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing agricultural district. Vigevano received the honorary title of city with a decree of Duke Francis II Sforza on 2 February 1532. It is famed for its Renaissance Piazza Ducale in the centre of the town.
Ludovico Maria Sforza, also known as Ludovico il Moro, and called the "arbiter of Italy" by historian Francesco Guicciardini, was an Italian nobleman who ruled as the Duke of Milan from 1494 to 1499.
The Visconti of Milan are a noble Italian family. They rose to power in Milan during the Middle Ages where they ruled from 1277 to 1447, initially as Lords then as Dukes, and several collateral branches still exist. The effective founder of the Visconti Lordship of Milan was the Archbishop Ottone, who wrested control of the city from the rival Della Torre family in 1277.
Filippo Maria Visconti was duke of Milan from 1412 to 1447. Known to be cruel and paranoid, but shrewd as a ruler, he went to war in the 1420s with Romagna, Florence and Venice in the Wars in Lombardy, but was eventually forced to accept peace under Pope Martin V. He would return to the offensive again where another peace agreement was required to end the fighting. He married twice, the second in 1428 to Marie, daughter of his ally Amadeus VIII. When he died, he was the last of the Visconti male line and was succeeded by Francesco Sforza, husband to his daughter.
Isabella of Aragon, also known as Isabella of Naples, was by marriage Duchess of Milan and suo jure Duchess of Bari.
The First Italian War, or Charles VIII's Italian War, was the opening phase of the Italian Wars. The war pitted Charles VIII of France, who had initial Milanese aid, against the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and an alliance of Italian powers led by Pope Alexander VI, known as the League of Venice.
The Italian Wars of 1499–1504 are divided into two connected, but distinct phases: the Second Italian War (1499–1501), sometimes known as Louis XII's Italian War, and the Third Italian War (1502–1504) or War over Naples. The first phase was fought for control of the Duchy of Milan by an alliance of Louis XII of France and the Republic of Venice against Ludovico Sforza, the second between Louis and Ferdinand II of Aragon for possession of the Kingdom of Naples.
Gian Galeazzo Sforza, also known as Giovan Galeazzo Sforza, was the sixth Duke of Milan.
Bona of Savoy, Duchess of Milan was Duchess of Milan as the second spouse of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. She served as regent of Milan during the minority of her son 1476–1481.
Francesco (Cicco) Simonetta was an Italian Renaissance statesman who composed an early treatise on cryptography.
Lucrezia Landriani was the mistress of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, and the mother of his renowned illegitimate daughter, Caterina Sforza, Lady of Imola, Countess of Forlì. Lucrezia had three other children by the Duke, and two by her husband.
Agnese Visconti also known as Agnes was a daughter of Bernabò Visconti and his wife Beatrice Regina della Scala. She was the consort of Mantua by her marriage to Francesco I Gonzaga.
Galeazzo da Sanseverino, known as the son of Fortuna, was an Italian-French condottiere and Grand Écuyer de France; Marquis of Bobbio, Count of Caiazzo, Castel San Giovanni, Val Tidone and Voghera. He was first the favorite of Ludovico il Moro and Beatrice d'Este, then of Louis XII and Francis I of France, as well as a sworn enemy of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio.
On the other hand the Duke of Milan called and gave the general cane to Maria Galeazo, and captain did it of his people on the saddle, who riding then from hand to hand, with the banner in the wind of the snake, honor and glory of Lombardy, with many great gentlemen in company.
The Visconti-Sforza Castle is a mediaeval castle located in the centre of the city of Vigevano, Lombardy, Northern Italy. In the 14th and 15th centuries, members of the Visconti and Sforza houses, lords and dukes of Milan, transformed a previous fortification into a vast family resort. The castle was part of a wider plan of urban development for Vigevano, which included the erection of other buildings and the construction of the central Piazza Ducale.
The House of Arese is the name of a prominent Italian family of the Milanese nobility.
Leonardo is a historical drama television series created by Frank Spotnitz and Steve Thompson. The series was produced by Italian Lux Vide in collaboration with Rai Fiction, Sony Pictures Entertainment, with Frank Spotnitz's Big Light Productions and Freddie Highmore's Alfresco Pictures in association with France Télévisions and RTVE.
The Visconti Castle of Pavia is a medieval castle in Pavia, Lombardy, Northern Italy. It was built after 1360 in a few years by Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan, and used as a sovereign residence by him and his son Gian Galeazzo, first duke of Milan. Its wide dimensions induced Petrarch, who visited Pavia in the fall of 1365, to call it "an enormous palace in the citadel, a truly remarkable and costly structure". Adjacent to the castle, the Visconti created a vast walled park that reached the Certosa di Pavia, a Carthusian monastery founded in 1396 by the Visconti as well and located about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the north.
↑ Gregory Hanlon. "The Twilight of a Military Tradition: Italian Aristocrats and European Conflicts, 1560–1800." Routledge: 1997. p. 54.
↑ Gregory Hanlon. "The Hero of Italy: Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma, his Soldiers, and his Subjects in the Thirty Years' War." Routledge: May 2014. pp. 116–117.
Sources
Black, Jane (2009). Absolutism in Renaissance Milan. Plenitude of power under the Visconti and the Sforza 1329–1535. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780199565290.
Bueno de Mesquita, Daniel Meredith (1941). Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan (1351–1402): a study in the political career of an Italian despot. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521234559. OCLC837985673.
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