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historical state in Northern Italy
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The Lordship of Milan was a state in Northern Italy created in May 1259 following the election of Martino della Torre as lord of Milan. From 1259 to 1277 it was governed by the Della Torre family until, following the Battle of Desio, Napo della Torre was forced to yield his position to Ottone Visconti. The domination of the Visconti dynasty led to a series of territorial conquests that led the family to achieve the title of Dukes of Milan in 1395.
Like many Italian medieval communes, starting from the 12th century, Milan also equipped itself with a consular government. The consuls constituted an oligarchic government in which the most important families of Milan had a say. In 1130 Milan was governed by twenty-three consuls and already at that time the Della Torre and Visconti families were represented. The consuls were divided into two main orders: that of the captains, the most noble class, and that of the valvassors, who had already organised themselves in the corporation of the Motta in 1035. Following a protest in 1198, the captains and the Motta were joined by the Credenza di Sant'Ambrogio, an assembly composed of members of the bourgeois and popular classes. Following the formation of the Credenza, the three factions began to become increasingly quarrelsome and began a long series of battles which culminated in 1225 with the victory of the Credenza and the decisive reduction of the power of the captains.
By now in crisis in 1240 the noble faction suffered a split led by Pagano della Torre, who decided to merge with the Credenza di Sant'Ambrogio which appointed him Podestà. Already coming from an important family, della Torre gained greater popularity when in 1237 he gave refuge in his possessions in Valsassina to what remained of the Milanese army that had been defeated in the Battle of Cortenuova. Della Torre governed the city until his death on 6 January 1241. In this short period of government he was able to form alliances with the powerful maritime republics of Venice and Genoa, and also extended the Milanese land registry, managing to lower taxes and calm the constant discontent of the citizens.
In 1246 the clashes between the popular faction and that of the captains resumed, thus making the regular administration of the commune impossible. Following the riots, on 26 May 1247 the Papal legate Gregorio di Montelongo conferred the position of Elder of the Credenza to Pagano's nephew, Martino della Torre, who reorganised the municipal powers. In a short time the fights between the Credenza and the aristocrats resumed and in 1253 Manfred II Lancia was called to govern the city, but after three years he decided to pass to the Ghibelline party, leaving Milan. With the power vacuum the war resumed and on 5 April 1257 before coming to a new clash the captains and the Motta, allied against the Credenza still led by Martino della Torre, agreed to the truce of Parabiago which was followed by the Peace of Sant'Ambrogio on 4 April 1258.
In the meantime also in Como the struggle between the popular class, represented by the Vittani, and the noble class, led by the Rusconi family, resumed. Thus in June 1258, only three months after the Peace of Sant'Ambrogio, the captains of Milan rushed to the aid of the Rusconi and this intervention provoked the prompt reaction of the Credenza which, by sending its troops, led the Vittani to victory who appointed Martino della Torre as podestà of Como. Following these events in July the peace agreement was broken. To avoid further disorder, on March 30, 1259, in the Basilica of Santa Tecla, the election of a leader was proposed: Martino della Torre was a candidate on the side of the Credenza, Azzolino Marcellino for the Motta, and finally Guglielmo da Soresina for the nobles. Numerically, the candidate of the Credenza won, but the Motta rebelled against the choice and decided to ally itself with the captains and support Guglielmo da Soresina.
Despite the election of Della Torre, the Motta allied itself with the nobles and acclaimed Guglielmo da Soresina as leader. At that point, the stalemate was broken by the papal legate, the archbishop Embrun Enrico da Susa, who invited Soresina and della Torre to leave the city to find an agreement. Della Torre went to Como where he was podestà, gathered an army and entered Milan, and as a result, the Credenza named him lord of Milan, thus establishing the Signoria of Milan.
Martino della Torre thus became the first lord of Milan in May 1259, as a first measure he decided to banish the da Soresina family from the city so as not to have any opposition to the government. A few days later, on 17 September, he decided to ally himself with the Papal States to defeat the major supporter of da Soresina family, Ezzelino III da Romano, who was killed on 8 October 1259 following the Battle of Cassano. After eliminating his enemies, della Torre thought about finding new allies, so on 11 November Oberto Pallavicino was appointed captain general of Milan for five years despite the papal excommunication and as a result, the following year Pope Alexander IV decided to excommunicate Martino della Torre as well. Despite the centralization of powers, della Torre was unable to have his cousin Raimondo, a direct descendant of Pagano, elected bishop, who was instead assigned to the Diocese of Como. Ottone Visconti took office as Archbishop of Milan on 22 July 1262, provoking the wrath of the lord of Milan, who forced Visconti, with the help of Pallavicino, to take refuge in Montefiascone in the Papal States. A few months after Visconti's retreat, on 20 November 1263 Martino della Torre died in Lodi. Due to his excommunication, he was buried near the Chiaravalle Abbey and not inside it.
The Credenza di Sant'Ambrogio elected Filippo della Torre, brother of Martino, as the new lord of Milan. In December 1263 Filippo annexed Como to the lordship of Milan thanks to the support of the local Vittiani family, and on 11 December 1264, following the expiration of his mandate, Oberto II Pallavicino was expelled from Milan, effectively becoming an enemy of the Della Torre family. In 1265 della Torre offered military aid to the Papal States in exchange for the election of his cousin Raimondo and the deposition of Ottone Visconti, but the proposal was again rejected by Pope Clement IV, who had recently taken office on the papal throne. On 24 September 1265 Filippo della Torre died, leaving the conflicts with the church unresolved. Despite this, Filippo managed to form a united front led by Milan and followed by the cities of: Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Lodi, Monza, Novara, Varese, Vercelli and Brescia, thanks also to the alliances and family connections with the powerful Maggi family.
In 1265, following the death of Filippo, the Lordship of Milan passed to Napo della Torre, son of Pagano, who was supported by his brothers Francesco and Paganino. Francesco was named lord of Seprio, while Paganino became podestà of Vercelli. Pallavicino's revenge was not long in coming and on 29 January 1266 Paganino was assassinated by a band of proscribed Milanese nobles aided by some Pavia men employed by Pallavicino. Following the killing of his brother, Napo della Torre had the thirteen conspirator nobles beheaded and also gave the order to behead twelve nobles locked up in Milanese prisons following the battle of Tabiago and another twenty-eight nobles locked up in the prisons of Trezzo sull'Adda. To avoid further intrusions by his now former ally Oberto II Pallavicino, on 23 March 1266 Napo decided to summon the representatives of the cities of the Lombard League. Once the Pallavicino problem had been resolved, Napo also had to deal with the long-standing dispute regarding the archbishopric of Milan which had begun in 1259. Under pressure from the Pope, on 7 December 1266 Milan decided to accept the nomination of Ottone Visconti, following which all the Milanese were absolved from excommunication, but as a precaution Ottone remained in Viterbo.
From 1267 to 1274 the lordship of the della Torre family was established, and for the following years Napo and his brother Francesco managed to govern the Lordship in relative tranquility. During this period there was an improvement in relations with the Kingdom of France, who stipulated better agreements with Milan regarding the wool trade. In April 1270 Milan waged war on Lodi which fell 3 months later, under the siege of Napo, who became lord of the city. In 1271 due to the continuous wars and the increase in taxes, countless revolts against Milanese rule followed: first Brescia and then Lodi, Como, Crema, Cremona and Novara. After having directed his troops again against Pavia, on 6 June 1274 Napo signed a peace treaty with Pavia and Novara.
The rivalry with Ottone Visconti increased and Napo Della Torre decided to send 6000 men to defend the city of Milan. In this period in fact there are episodes of guerrilla warfare by Pavia and rebel factions. Della Torre, however, managed to defeat the Pavia army and kill their commander Goffredo di Langosco. Della Torre also managed to take several prisoners including Teobaldo Visconti, nephew of the archbishop Ottone and father of Matteo I Visconti. Ottone then decided to occupy Castelseprio, but was put to flight by Napo. After having won the important battle of Guazzera in 1276, near Ranco in the Varese area, and subsequently lost the battle of Germignaga, fought for the possession of the fortress of Angera, which however remained in the hands of the Della Torre family.
Napo della Torre was defeated and captured in the Battle of Desio on 21 January 1277 by Archbishop Ottone Visconti. He died the following year in captivity in the Castle of Baradello near Como. His brother Francesco was killed during the same battle. His son Corrado, known as "Mosca", and Guido, son of Francesco, were also taken prisoner, but managed to escape from the castle in 1284. With the arrival of the Visconti in Milan, the possessions of the della Torre were plundered. From this moment on, the della Torre organized a relentless guerrilla warfare against the Visconti, aided by Friuli and the cities of the Po Valley loyal to them.
Under the rule of Napo della Torre, Milan was modernized by a large program of public works that radically transformed it, making it the true metropolis of Northern Italy. Construction began on a church where the Church of San Bernardino alle Ossa now stands, and two years later construction began on the church of Santi Simone e Giuda. On May 20, 1271, Napo ordered the main streets to be paved, starting with Porta Nuova and Porta Orientale, and in the same year the stretch of canal between Milan and Abbiategrasso was completed. In May 1272, the construction of a tower in the new Palazzo della Ragione was decided.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Lordship of Milan”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.