Lord of Milan

Last updated June 19, 2024

The Lord of Milan was a medieval noble title for the dynastic head of state of the city of Milan and surrounding countryside in northern Italy. From 1277 to 1395, the Visconti family held the title, after which they were elevated to Duke of Milan.

Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that elected its own podestà . The Torriani family gained sustained power in 1240, when Pagano della Torre [ it ] was elected podestà.^[1] After Pagano's death, Baldo Ghiringhelli was elected podestà in 1259, but at the end of his tenure Martino della Torre, Pagano's nephew, perpetrated a coup d'état, seizing power for his family and establishing the first Signoria ('Lordship') of Milan.^[2]

Signore	Rule		Affiliation	Podestà(s)
Martino della Torre	8 September 1259	20 November 1263	Guelph	Captain general: Oberto II Pallavicino List 1259: Teodorico, Pietro degli Avvocati 1260: Patrizio da Concesa, Guandaleone da Dovera 1261: Guglielmo Pallavicino 1262: Ubertino Pallavicino
Filippo della Torre	20 November 1263	24 December 1265	Guelph	List 1263: Zavatario della Strada 1264: Oberto II Pallavicino 1st half 1265: Federico Crotta, Tibaldo Volta, Anselmo Lavezzario, Antonio Vistarino 2nd half 1265: Emberra del Balzo
Napoleone della Torre	24 December 1265	21 January 1277	Guelph	List 1266: Emberra del Balzo, Guidotto da Redobio 1267: Beltramo da Greco 1268: Corrado Lavizario 1269: Giovanni degli Avvocati 1270: Giovanni Palastrello 1271: Roberto Roberti 1272: Visconte Visconti 1273: Obizzo del Carretto 1st half 1274: Guglielmo degli Avvocati 2nd half 1274-1275: Venedico dell'Orso 1276: Teodisio di Sanvitale, Goffredo di Langosco

During their tenure, the Torriani family, aligned with the French Charles of Anjou (the Guelph faction), began a strong rivalry with the Visconti family, who were aligned with the German Hohenstaufen (the Ghibelline faction).^[3] In 1262, Pope Urban IV appointed Ottone Visconti as Archbishop of Milan, to Martino della Torre's disappointment.^[4] In 1273, a civil war started between the two families, ending with the Torriani's defeat in the Battle of Desio of 1277, which the Visconti subsequently commemorated with frescoes in the Castle of Angera.^[5]

Signore	Rule		Affiliation	Podestà(s)
Ottone Visconti	21 January 1277	8 August 1295	Ghibelline	Captain general: William VII of Montferrat (1278–81) Matteo I Visconti (1287–95) List 1st half 1277: Ponzio degli Amati 2nd half 1277: Aldobrandino Tangentino, Riccardo di Langosco 1st half 1278: Alberto Fontana 2nd half 1278: Raniero Zen 1st half 1279: Antonio da Lomello 2nd half 1279: Lotterio Rusconi 1st half 1280: Gabrino da Tresseno 2nd half 1280: Tommaso degli Avvocati, Giovanni da Lucino 1st half 1281: Tommaso degli Avvocati, Federico Tornielli 2nd half 1281: Uberto Beccaria 1st half 1282: Rufino Gotoario, Galoteffio da Cesena 2nd half 1282: Giovanni del Poggio 1st half 1283: Uberto Beccaria 2nd half 1283: Jacopo Sommariva 1st half 1284: Baldovino degli Ugoni 2nd half 1284: Guglielmo Rossi 1st half 1285: Alberto Confalonieri 2nd half 1285: Boezio da Lavello 1st half 1286: Ugolino Rossi 2nd half 1286: Pietro Rusconi 1287: Ruffiniano Beccaria 1st half 1288: Matteo Visconti 2nd half 1288: Jacopo de Jacopi 1st half 1289: Uberto Beccaria 2nd half 1289: Baldovino degli Ugoni 1st half 1290: Baldovino degli Ugoni, Bernardino da Polenta 2nd half 1290: Matteo Visconti 1st half 1291: Uberto Guasco 2nd half 1291: Niccolò Merlano 1st half 1292: Antonio Gallizi 2nd half 1292: Rolando Scotti 1293: Amighetto da Martinengo 1st half 1294: Matteo de Maggi 2nd half 1294: Zaccaria Salimbeni 1295: Enrico Tangentino
Matteo I Visconti	8 August 1295	June 1302	Ghibelline	List 1296: Zanazio Salimbene 1st half 1297: Corrado Gambara 2nd half 1297: Fulcieri di Calboli 1st half 1298: Tommaso Rangoni 2nd half 1298: Jacopo del Cassero 1st half 1299: Bisaccia Riccardi 2nd half 1299: Federico Sommariva 1st half 1300: Guelfo Filodoni 2nd half 1300: Federico Sommariva 1301: Bracco Guinizelli 1302: Bernardino da Polenta

In June 1302, Guido della Torre forged a coalition with anti-Visconti cities and marched on Milan, deposing the Visconti.^[6] However, in 1308 Guido quarrelled with his cousin, the Archbishop Cassone della Torre. After an assault on Milan Cathedral, Cassone fled to Bologna and solicited an imperial intervention.^[7] Taking advantage of a chaotic situation in Northern Italy, King Henry VII of Germany invaded Italy, and in Autumn 1310 he marched on Milan to restore both Cassone and the Visconti. After the fall of Milan, he was crowned King of Italy in the city's Cathedral.^[8]

Signore	Rule		Affiliation	Podestà(s)
Guido della Torre	June 1302	6 January 1311	Guelph	List 1303: Antonio Fissiraga 1st half 1304: Anselmo da Palestro 2nd half 1304 – 1st half 1305: Federico Ponzoni 2nd half 1305: Riccardo Langosco 1st half 1306: Francesco degli Avvocati 2nd half 1306: Guido dei Roberti 1st half 1307: Arnolfo Fissiraga 2nd half 1307: Jacopo Cavalcabò 1308: Matteo del Pallio 1309: Tignacca Paravicino 1310: Ghislerio
Matteo I Visconti	6 January 1311	24 June 1322	Ghibelline	List 1311-March 1312: Ugolino da Sesso March 1312-April 1312: Ziliolo Allegri April 1312-September 1312: Azzone Malaspina September 1312-January 1314: Giannazzo Salimbene January 1314 – July 1314: Guidone Pignoli July 1314 – October 1314: Scoto di San Gimignano October 1314 – April 1315: Spinetta Malaspina April 1315 – October 1316: Giacomo da Peschiera October 1315 – January 1316: Ruggero Servadei May 1316 – November 1316: Jacopino da Cornazzano November 1316 – June 1317: Bonifacio da Alice June 1317 – December 1317: Gualtieri di Corte December 1317: Azorino Malaspina 1318: Enrico dei Petrioli 1319: Bonifacio da Cavriago 1320: Paolo Aldigheri 1321: Giacomino da Iseo March 1322 – October 1322: Lanfranco Cavalazzi
Galeazzo I Visconti	24 June 1322	6 August 1328	Ghibelline	List October 1322: Giovanni Lanfranchi November 1322 – December 1322: Ravizza Rusconi January 1323 – February 1323: Alessandro da Bologna February 1323 – September 1323: Calzino Tornielli September 1323 – December 1323: Giacomo Rusconi 1324 – June 1325: Viscontello da Binasco June 1325 – October 1325: Ottorino Mostardi October 1325 – July 1326: Beccario Beccaria July 1326 – December 1326: Gorzera Bonaccorsi 1327–1328: Gozio di Guiderchusen
Azzone Visconti	6 August 1328	16 August 1339	Ghibelline	List 1329-April 1330: Guiscardo Lancia April 1330 – December 1330: Ugolino da Lucino 1331: Lanfranco Cavalazzi 1st half 1332: Lanfranco Tentone 2nd half 1332: Zanotto Fieschi 1333: Giovanni del Mangano 1334: Mirano Beccaria December 1334 – May 1338: Orso Giustiniani May 1338 – May 1339: Isnardo Colleoni
Luchino Visconti	16 August 1339	24 January 1349	Ghibelline	List May 1339 – June 1340: Giovanni Besacci June 1340 – July 1341: Francesco Malaspina July 1341 – July 1342: Alberto Rusconi July 1342 – 13??: Goffredo da Sesso
Giovanni Visconti	16 August 1339	5 October 1354	Ghibelline
Matteo II Visconti	5 October 1354	29 September 1355	Ghibelline	List 1356: Lotario Rusconi 1362: Bernardino Bolghero 1372: Giberto da Correggio 1373: Lotario Rusconi 1385: Carlo Zen
Galeazzo II Visconti		4 August 1378
Bernabò Visconti		6 May 1385
Gian Galeazzo Visconti	6 May 1385	5 September 1395	Ghibelline	List 1390: Prandeparte Pico della Mirandola May 1392 – May 1393: Giberto da Correggio May 1393 – June 1394: Enrico Rivola June 1394 – March 1396: Spinetta Spinola

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References

↑ Motta, Antonio (1931). "Della Torre". Enciclopedia Italiana (in Italian). Treccani.
↑ Fantoni, Giuliana L. (1989). "Della Torre, Martino". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 37. Treccani.
↑ Gallavresi, Giuseppe (1906). La riscossa dei guelfi in Lombardia dopo il 1260 e la politica di Filippo della Torre (in Italian). Vol. 6. Arch. stor. lombardo, 4th section.
↑ Richard, Charles-Louis; Giraud, Jean-Joseph (1822). Méquignon Fils Ainé (ed.). Bibliothèque sacrée, ou, Dictionnaire universel [...] des sciences ecclésiastiques (in French). Vol. 13. p. 301.
↑ Pagnoni, Fabrizio (2023). "Episcopal Lordship and Political Powers in Northern Italy (Thirteenth–Fifteenth Century)". In Antonetti, Antonio; Riccardo Berardi (eds.). The Various Models of Lordship in Europe between the Ninth and Fifteenth Centuries. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-5275-2908-3.
↑ Caso, Anna (1989). "Della Tórre, Guido". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 37. Treccani.
↑ Fantoni, Giuliana L. (1989). "Della Torre, Cassone". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 37. Treccani.
↑ Jones, Michael (2000). The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. 6. Cambridge University Press. p. 533.

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[1] Motta, Antonio (1931). "Della Torre". Enciclopedia Italiana (in Italian). Treccani.

[2] Fantoni, Giuliana L. (1989). "Della Torre, Martino". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 37. Treccani.

[3] Gallavresi, Giuseppe (1906). La riscossa dei guelfi in Lombardia dopo il 1260 e la politica di Filippo della Torre (in Italian). Vol. 6. Arch. stor. lombardo, 4th section.

[4] Richard, Charles-Louis; Giraud, Jean-Joseph (1822). Méquignon Fils Ainé (ed.). Bibliothèque sacrée, ou, Dictionnaire universel [...] des sciences ecclésiastiques (in French). Vol. 13. p. 301.

[5] Pagnoni, Fabrizio (2023). "Episcopal Lordship and Political Powers in Northern Italy (Thirteenth–Fifteenth Century)". In Antonetti, Antonio; Riccardo Berardi (eds.). The Various Models of Lordship in Europe between the Ninth and Fifteenth Centuries. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-5275-2908-3.

[6] Caso, Anna (1989). "Della Tórre, Guido". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 37. Treccani.

[7] Fantoni, Giuliana L. (1989). "Della Torre, Cassone". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 37. Treccani.

[8] Jones, Michael (2000). The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. 6. Cambridge University Press. p. 533.

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