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Napoleone della Torre (died 16 August 1278), also known as Napo della Torre or Napo Torriani, was an Italian nobleman, who was effective Lord of Milan in the late 13th century. He was a member of the della Torre family, [1] the father of Corrado della Torre and the brother of Raimondo della Torre.
Napoleone was the son of Pagano I della Torre. In 1260 he was podestà of Piacenza.
He took power in Milan in 1265, succeeding his cousin Filippo as Anziano del Popolo ("Elder of the People") and, at the same time, podestà of Como, Novara, Bergamo and Lodi. He continued the family policy of support of Charles of Anjou and the Guelph party against the Ghibellines and the Kingdom of Sicily.
The Angevin victory at Benevento of the following year meant a triumph of the Guelphs in Italy; in 1267 the main members of the party met in Milan to renew the league against the new Ghibelline leader, the German Conradin. Napo was named commander of the league together with his brother Raimondo and William VII of Montferrat. Napo however did not attack Conradin who was in Pavia, perhaps due to personal problems with the Papacy. After Conradin's death in the battle of Tagliacozzo (1268) and his definitive conquest of southern Italy, Charles of Anjou tried to extend his power to the whole peninsula: Napo refused to support his moves, provoking Angevin revenge in the form of rebellions against him.
In 1269 his brother Raimondo, bishop of Como, was captured by Conrad Venosta von Matsch (a minor vassal of Valchiavenna); Napo intervened and freed him in 1273. In the same year, after the election of Rudolph of Habsburg as Holy Roman Emperor, Napo switched to the imperial party in order to counter the dominance of Charles of Anjou. His reward was the title of imperial vicar in Lombardy (1274).
At this point Ottone Visconti (who had been named archbishop of Milan in 1262 but had never been able to enter his seat), and now the main exponent of the opposition in Milan and in Brianza against the Della Torre, waged war against him. Napo initially defeated Visconti's troops in the battle of Guazzera (near Lake Maggiore), but, on 21 January 1277, he was beaten and captured in the battle of Desio together with his son Corrado and his nephew Guido. His imprisonment marked the end of della Torre rule in Milan, replaced by the Visconti, who held it until the 15th century.
Napo della Torre was held in a cage hanging outside the tower at Castel Baradello at Como, where he remained for 19 months until his death in 1278. He was buried in the church of St. Nicholas in the castle.
Robert of Anjou, known as Robert the Wise, was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Italian politics of his time. He was the third son of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary, and during his father's lifetime he was styled Duke of Calabria (1296–1309).
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.
The Battle of Tagliacozzo was fought on 23 August 1268 between the Ghibelline supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen and the Guelph army of Charles of Anjou. The battle represented the last act of Hohenstaufen power in Italy. The capture and execution of Conradin a couple of months after the battle also marked the fall of the family from the Imperial and Sicilian thrones, leading to the new chapter of Angevin domination in Southern Italy.
Martino della Torre was an Italian condottiero and statesman.
Mastino I della Scala, born Leonardo or Leonardino, was an Italian condottiero, who founded the Scaliger house of Lords of Verona.
Ottone Visconti was Archbishop of Milan and Lord of Milan, the first of the Visconti line. Under his rule, the commune of Milan became a strong Ghibelline city and one of the Holy Roman Empire's seats in Italy.
William VII, called the Great Marquis, was the twelfth Marquis of Montferrat from 1253 to his death. He was also the titular King of Thessalonica.
The Della Torre were an Italian noble family who rose to prominence in Lombardy during the 12th–14th centuries, until they held the lordship of Milan before being ousted by the Visconti.
Milan, Italy is an ancient city in northern Italy first settled in about 400 BC by Celtic Insubres. The settlement was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC and renamed it Mediolanum. Diocletian divided the Roman Empire, choosing the eastern half for himself, making Milan the seat of the western half of the empire, from which Maximian ruled, in the late 3rd and early 4th century AD. In 313 AD of Milan, which officially ended the persecution of Christians. In 774 AD Milan surrendered to Charlemagne and the Franks.
The Battle of Desio was fought on 21 January 1277 between the Della Torre and Visconti families for the control of Milan and its countryside. The battlefield is located near the modern Desio, a commune outside the city in Lombardy, Northern Italy.
Guido della Torre was a Lord of Milan between 1302 and 1312.
Henry VII, also known as Henry of Luxembourg, was Count of Luxembourg, King of Germany from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first emperor of the House of Luxembourg. During his brief career he reinvigorated the imperial cause in Italy, which was racked with the partisan struggles between the divided Guelf and Ghibelline factions, and inspired the praise of Dino Compagni and Dante Alighieri. He was the first emperor since the death of Frederick II in 1250, ending the Great Interregnum of the Holy Roman Empire; however, his premature death threatened to undo his life's work. His son, John of Bohemia, failed to be elected as his successor, and there was briefly another anti-king, Frederick the Fair, contesting the rule of Louis IV.
The Castello Baradello is a military fortification located on a 430 m (1,410 ft) high hill next to the city of Como, northern Italy.
Matteo I Visconti (1250–1322) was the second of the Milanese Visconti family to govern Milan. Matteo was born to Teobaldo Visconti and Anastasia Pirovano.
Ruggieri degli Ubaldini was an Italian archbishop.
Raimondo della Torre was an Italian clergyman, who was patriarch of Aquileia from 1273 until his death. He was a member of the della Torre Guelph family.
Corrado della Torre, also called Mosca was an Italian medieval politician and condottiero, a member of the Torriani family.
Cassone della Torre, also called Mosca was an Italian medieval condottiero and feudal lord. A member of the Torriani family, he was Archbishop of Milan from 1308 to 1316 and patriarch of Aquileia from 1317 to 1318.
Conrad of Antioch was a scion of an illegitimate branch of the imperial Staufer dynasty and a nobleman of the Kingdom of Sicily. He was the eldest son of Frederick of Antioch, imperial vicar of Tuscany, and Margherita di Poli. He was thus a grandson of the Emperor Frederick II, a nephew of King Manfred of Sicily (1258–66) and cousin of King Conradin (1266–68). His surname, which is contemporary, comes from his paternal grandmother, a mistress of Frederick II from Antioch. He may be called "Conrad I" to distinguish him from his descendants with the same given name.