The strategic partnerships that defined medieval Italian warfare in the early 1300s
Spinetta Malaspina (Spinetta Lancia) of Verrucola. A Ghibelline. Marquis of Lunigiana. Belonging to the branch of the Marquises of Fivizzano, he held lordship over a vast number of territories: Fosdinovo, Marciaso, Sarzana, Pontremoli, Fivizzano, Verrucola, Piolo, Camporgiano, Castelnuovo Garfagnana, Castiglione del Terziere, Filicaia, San Terenzo Monti, Careggine, Vagli Sopra, Vagli Sotto, Roggio, San Michele, Gorfigliano, Castagnola, Albiano Magra, Gragnano, Sant’Anastasio, Cogna, Giancugliano, Sillano, Soraggio, Dalli Sotto, Dalli Sopra, Vigasio, Isolalta, Parona, Arcole, Albaredo d’Adige, Affi, Caprino Veronese, Rivoli Veronese, Avesa, Povegliano Veronese, Cavaion Veronese, Castelnuovo del Garda, Lubiara, Canale, and Vighizzolo d’Este.
Born: 1282 ca.
Death: – 1352, March
| Year, Month | State, Comp. ventura | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ……………… | Piedmont | Has the position of honorary canon of the church of San Germano of Varzi. | |||
| 1311 | |||||
| Jan. | Lombardy | In Milan to attend the coronation as king of Italy of Emperor Henry of Luxembourg (Enrico di Lussemburgo). | |||
| Feb. | Empire | Guelphs | Emilia | Appointed imperial vicar of Reggio Emilia: harshly demands the tribute imposed on the city to maintain a general vicar in Lombardy with 200 soldiers. The da Fogliano, Canossa and Roberti rebel against the order. Spinetta Malaspina is expelled from the city with the da Sesso. Many are killed among the Ghibellines. | |
| Dec. | Tuscany | Mid-month reconciles at Fosdinovo with a local noble, vassal of the Malaspina of Guelph faction. | |||
| 1312 | |||||
| Mar. | Empire | Lucca | Tuscany | ||
| Apr. | Tuscany | Reconquers the castle of Verrucola; occupies Aulla with his brothers. | |||
| ……………….. | Emilia | Returns to Reggio Emilia. | |||
| Oct. | Empire | Florence | Tuscany | With reinforcements prepared by Pisans and Genoese reaches the imperial camp engaged in the siege of Florence. At the end of the month the imperials are forced to retreat. | |
| 1313 | |||||
| Feb. | Tuscany | He is in Pisa when many Florentines are banished by the emperor as rebels. | |||
| Mar. | Tuscany | Occupies most of the lands of the bishop of Luni, the Guelph Gherardino Malaspina. He is solemnly invested by the emperor with a large number of castles and lands of the vicariate of Camporeggiana (Camporgiano) in Garfagnana belonging both to the dioceses of Lucca and Luni: Castelnuovo Garfagnana, Sasso, Gello, Grancilia, Palle-Gragnanella, Filicaia, San Terenzo, Careggine, Vagli di Sotto, Vagli di Sopra, Roggio, Puglianella, Rocca Alberto, Vitolo, Casatico, Cesana Maggiore, Cesana Minore, San Michele, Gorfigliano, Gramolazzo, Castagnola, Albiano Magra, Licciano, Corte, Gragnano, Colognole, Sant’Anastasio, Pontecchio, Magliano, Giancugliano, Cogna, Sillano Giancugliano, Soraggio, Ursignano, Sala, Dalli Sotto, Dalli Sopra, Pugliaro. At the end of the month occupies Pietrasanta with Henry of Flanders (Enrico di Fiandra); also seizes, at the expense of the Lucchese, Castelnuovo, Castello Aghinolfi and Sarzana. | |||
| Apr. | Tuscany | Sides with the lord of Pisa Uguccione della Faggiuola against Pontremoli. | |||
| ……………….. | Malaspina | Bishop of Luni | Tuscany | At the death of Henry of Luxembourg at Buonconvento fights against the bishop of Luni. Seizes his possessions. | |
| 1314 | |||||
| ……………….. | Lombardy | Podestà of Milan on behalf of the lord of the city Matteo Visconti. | |||
| Summer | Pisa | Guelphs | Tuscany | Again supports Uguccione della Faggiuola against the Guelphs of the region. Penetrates into Garfagnana and fights Azzo di Grignano there. | |
| 1315 | |||||
| Aug. | Pisa | Florence | 50 horses and 1000 infantry | Tuscany | Takes part in the battle of Montecatini placed in the vanguard. |
| 1317 | |||||
| June | Parma | Correggio | Captain of war | Emilia | Opposes the troops of Giberto da Correggio. Some disorders arise in Parma between his soldiers and the German mercenaries in service of the commune: operations are interrupted. Many Germans pass directly to his service. The Malaspina is reconfirmed in his position and can continue the conflict. |
| Aug. | Malaspina | Pisa Lucca | Tuscany | Helps Uguccione della Faggiuola against Pisa. Gaddo della Gherardesca and Castruccio Castracani conquer Fosdinovo, Verrucola and Buosi (fractions of Fivizzano) from him. Flees with his family to Verona: in the city lodges in San Benedetto district. | |
| 1320 | |||||
| Sept. | Verona | Veneto | In service of the lord of Verona Cangrande della Scala. He is sent with Aldrighetto di Castelbarco and Pietro di Marano as ambassador to Count Henry of Gorizia (Enrico di Gorizia) to negotiate peace with the Paduans. The negotiations will conclude the following month. | ||
| 1321 | |||||
| Apr. May | Malaspina | Lucca | Tuscany | Although Ghibelline, allies with the Florentines to fight Castracani. Having given some of his family members, probably his sons, as hostages to the allies, receives 300 horses and 500 infantry as aid in Lunigiana with which he regains his possessions. | |
| June | Tuscany | The Florentines recall their troops. Castruccio Castracani can thus recover Pontremoli and the other castles. Spinetta Malaspina is obliged to take refuge again in Verona. | |||
| 1322 | Verona | Lombardy | He is sent to Lodi by Cangrande della Scala to convince the inhabitants to accept the lordship of Henry of Flanders (Enrico di Fiandra), rather than that of the Vistarini more inclined to the Visconti. | ||
| 1325 | |||||
| Jan. | Verona | Padua | Veneto | Obtains Vighizzolo d’Este by terms with a week’s siege: Corrado da Vigonza can leave the locality with all his men. | |
| ……………….. | Malaspina | Pisa | Liguria | Seizes Sarzana. | |
| 1326 | |||||
| Oct. | Malaspina | Lucca | Emilia and Tuscany | Receives reinforcements from the lord of Florence Charles of Anjou (Carlo d’Angiò) (300 horses hired in Lombardy), from the pontificals (200) and from the Scaligeri (100 horses); moves from Parma, crosses the Apennines and besieges the castles of Verrucolette and Buosi. At the same time the Florentines, through the exiles of Pistoia, make the castles of the Pistoiese mountains of Mammiano and Ravignano (Gavinana) rebel against the lord of Lucca. Castruccio Castracani overwhelms the adversaries in less than two weeks. The contemporary successes of the lord of Lucca over Florentines and Angevins convince him to return to the Parmense. | |
| 1327 | |||||
| Jan. | Verona | Padua | Veneto | Seizes Vighizzolo d’Este at the expense of Corrado da Vigonza. | |
| 1328 | |||||
| Jan. | Veneto | He is reported in the lagoon, on the island of San Giorgio in Alga, where he assists with Filippo da Peraga (to seal the cession of Padua by Marsilio da Carrara to the lord of Verona) at the consummation of the marriage between Mastino della Scala, nephew of Cangrande, with Taddea da Carrara. | |||
| Sept. | Verona | Padua | Veneto | Enters Padua; with the surrender of the city he assists in the exercise of his functions the vicar Marsilio da Carrara and the podestà Bailardino Nogarola. | |
| Nov. | Attends in Verona with Marsilio dei Rossi the festivities organized for the arrival in the city of Taddea da Carrara with Mastino della Scala. Has command of the mercenary militias of the Scaligeri. Obtains the lordship of Vighizzolo d’Este. | ||||
| 1329 | |||||
| Apr. | Lombardy | Has from Alberto della Scala the power of attorney to conclude the alliance with the marquises Obizzo and Rinaldo d’Este. He goes, therefore, to Marcaria with 400 horses and links up there with the troops of Emperor Louis the Bavarian (Ludovico il Bavaro) ready to assault the lord of Milan. | |||
| June | Verona | Milan | Lombardy | Supports the emperor’s action against Azzone Visconti; with the reconciliation of the parties participates in peace negotiations with Bailardino Nogarola. | |
| ……………….. | Trentino | In Trento, on diplomatic mission to Louis the Bavarian (Ludovico il Bavaro). | |||
| 1330 | |||||
| Feb. Mar. | Tuscany | Purchases from the noblewoman Oria, daughter of Tommaso da Castello, the part he lacks relative to the castle of Verrucola; also obtains the vicariate of Castiglione del Terziere, a castle on the left bank of the Serchio, which is added to what he already possesses on the right bank, like the vicariate of Camporgiano. | |||
| Apr. May | Lucca | Florence | Tuscany | Cooperates with the lord of Lucca Gherardino Spinola, his relative, in order to face the Florentines. He moves to aid the defenders of Montecatini Alto; conquers the fortress of Uzzano whose defense includes the Lucchese exiles, the Obizzi, with 50 infantry. The 2 condottieri are forced to retreat because the adversaries have surrounded the locality with 12 battifolli integrated by more than 14 miles of palisades and ditches. Both are forced to retreat. A similar result is obtained by them in May. | |
| Oct. | Reggio Emilia | Dallo | Emilia | Seizes Comano and Scandelarola at the expense of the Dallo; of the prisoners, Bonaccorso and Baccarino da Dallo are hanged. With his raids Spinetta Malaspina causes serious damage to the Reggiano. | |
| 1331 | |||||
| Apr. | Emilia | In the episcopal palace of Parma King John of Bohemia (Giovanni di Boemia) invests him with lands and castles that are already in his possession. Present at the ceremony are Louis II of Savoy Vaud (Ludovico II di Savoia Vaud) and Gherardino Spinola. The situation does not satisfy him. | |||
| ……………….. | Florence | Lucca | 400 horses | Tuscany | Does not want to be subjected for his fiefs by Lucca (and therefore by John of Bohemia (Giovanni di Boemia)). He allies, therefore, with the Florentines from whom he obtains the promise of restitution of Castiglione del Terziere and Camporgiano in Garfagnana. He is paid a monthly salary of 150 florins; in exchange he must make available to the ally 200 horses, 200 crossbowmen, 150 infantry with long lances and 50 pavesari. The Bonacolsi, furthermore, have another 200 horses sent to him from Lombardy. |
| Aug. | Veneto | With Marsilio da Carrara, Bonaccio Gangalandi and Ettore di Panigo takes part at Castelbaldo in a meeting where a pact of alliance is signed between della Scala, Gonzaga and Este against John of Bohemia (Giovanni di Boemia). | |||
| Sept. | Tuscany | The troops of John of Bohemia (Giovanni di Boemia), united with the Lucchese, continue to besiege Barga with 800 horses and many infantry. Bastie and battifolli are erected towards the castle. A first attempt by the Florentines to provide aid to the defenders fails. Mid-month Spinetta Malaspina is reported near Barga. A second contingent from Florence moves from Pistoia with 800 horses to seize Vivinaia, Montecarlo. The Lucchese territory is devastated. | |||
| Oct. | Tuscany | Storms Castiglione di Garfagnana. The Lucchese send new troops under the orders of Simone Filippi. The Florentines abandon the castles just conquered to target Barga again. Simone Filippi anticipates their moves by barricading himself so skillfully that the attackers are repelled. Mid-month Spinetta Malaspina is forced to abandon operations with the Florentines. The enterprise cost the latter 100,000 florins. | |||
| 1332 | |||||
| Oct. | Tuscany | Mid-month clashes with the troops of John of Bohemia (Giovanni di Boemia) near the Terre Furiose of Garfagnana. The Florentines reward him for the action performed by recognizing both the expenses incurred due to the mounts that remained wounded or killed during the combat, and for the capture (payment of ransom) of one of his cavalry connestabile who remained wounded in the combat. | |||
| 1333 | |||||
| Apr. | Verona | King of Bohemia Church | Emilia | Confronts the troops of John of Bohemia (Giovanni di Boemia) and Cardinal Legate Bertrando del Poggetto. Camps at Ferrara at the head of 1700 horses (600 Scaligeri, 500 Visconti, 200 of the Gonzaga and 400 Florentines). With Guecellone Tempesta exits from the Porta di Francolino at the head of the Florentine cavalry (Francesco Strozzi and Ugo degli Scali), to which another 150 Scaligeri horses have been added. Assaults the pontifical camps at the point least fortified with ditches and palisades. The Count of Armagnac is forced to retreat after an hour of combat. This is the signal for the general attack. The rest of the troops exit from the Porta del Leone and head towards the bridge of San Giorgio with the aid of ships anchored in the Po. Many enemies drown due to the collapse of the bridge of San Gioso; very many are the prisoners among the barons of Languedoc and the lords of Romagna. | |
| July | Veneto | He is at Peschiera del Garda to negotiate with Marsilio dei Rossi, procurator of John of Bohemia (Giovanni di Boemia), a ten-year truce between Scaligeri and imperials; he is also present at the stipulation of the act that takes place at Modena in the church of Sant’Andrea da Castello. | |||
| 1334 | |||||
| Aug. | Veneto | He is granted first the citizenship of Verona and later those of Vicenza and Padua. | |||
| 1335 | |||||
| Jan. | France | Goes to Avignon in order to accuse before the Pope Rolando dei Rossi and his family members for having always sided in favor of Emperor Louis the Bavarian (Ludovico il Bavaro). | |||
| ……………….. | Emilia | The Dallo sell him all the rights they claimed over Verrucola. The Malaspina purchases the castle of Piolo from Andreolo da Dallo and with his brother Isnardo buys that of Fabrica Curone, in the Alessandrino, from local nobles. | |||
| June | Verona | Parma Pontremoli | Emilia and Tuscany | With Marsilio da Carrara persuades Pietro dei Rossi, besieged in Parma, to cede the locality to the lord of Verona Mastino della Scala rather than to that of Milan Azzone Visconti. Mid-month enters the city, with 1000 infantry and 1000 sappers, to take possession of it with Alberto della Scala. Crosses the Porta di San Bernabò, replaces the guards assigned to surveillance of the gates; in the central square of the city the Scaligeri banners (70) and the da Correggio standards (11) are placed everywhere. During the night 1000 carts loaded with wood, fodder, flour and provisions destined for the occupation troops enter the city. 500 head of cattle for slaughter and carts containing wine, salted meat, cheeses to be sold to the population also arrive. Finally, 4 carts of prostitutes also arrive. | |
| Sept. | Venice | Marsilio da Carrara renounces the position of vicar of Brescia. It is Spinetta Malaspina who assumes this task. | |||
| ……………….. | Tuscany | Supports Mastino della Scala in an action aimed at the occupation of Pisa. The attempt is thwarted by Facio della Gherardesca. | |||
| Dec. | Malaspina | Pisa | Liguria | Obtains from the bishop of Luni, his brother Bernabò, the help necessary to wrest Sarzana from the Pisans. At the beginning of the month, commanding 1000 infantry, he bursts into the city through a gate that some of his supporters have left open for him. He enters the castle and occupies it without encountering much resistance. Once again he becomes lord of the city. | |
| 1336 | |||||
| Apr. | Tuscany | He is appointed by the Scaligeri their vicar in Lucca. He enters the city at the head of 500 horses and 1000 infantry. He settles in the fortress of Augusta. Podestà of the locality is Guglielmo Scannacci. Spinetta Malaspina advises the lord of Verona Mastino della Scala not to sell the city to the Florentines for 360,000 florins as already proposed. | |||
| June | Verona | Pontremoli | Tuscany | Besieges Pietro dei Rossi in Pontremoli. With the help of Simone da Correggio and his brother Bernabò, bishop of Luni, devastates the surrounding territory uprooting vineyards, olive groves and other plantations. Numerous houses are set on fire. | |
| July | Verona | Venice Florence | Veneto | At the head of 1600 horses and 6000 infantry moves from Treviso with Alberto della Scala, Guecellone Tempesta, Marsilio and Ubertino da Carrara in order to reconquer Oderzo, fallen into the hands of Gerardo da Camino. In an assault some mills are set on fire. The wind blows the smoke against the defenders who thus find themselves in difficulty. Gerardo da Camino exits from the walls with his Germans in an attempt to extinguish the fires. The Scaligeri, due to their numerical superiority, easily have the upper hand. The da Camino is captured and led to Treviso. | |
| Oct. | Veneto | Induces Tommasino da Bologna, who serves the Scaligeri, to offer himself to the Venetians to deliver the castle of Mestre to them in exchange for payment of a sum of money. The captain, as guarantee of his intentions, gives his wife and a son as hostages to the adversaries. The Venetians send 600 infantry: Tommasino da Bologna lowers the bridge to introduce them into the castle. 350 infantry are the prisoners captured on the occasion by Spinetta Malaspina and Alberto della Scala (hidden in the vicinity), who came specifically from Padua with many troops. Mestre is set on fire. | |||
| Nov. | Tuscany | Returns to besiege Pontremoli whose defense is left to Andrea and Palamino dei Rossi. The defenders are now reduced to extremity. Rolando dei Rossi, mid-month, exits from Florence with 1300 horses to come to their aid. He arrives too late because, in the meantime, the besieged have surrendered with persons and properties saved. | |||
| 1337 | |||||
| June | Veneto | Targets Vigasio where Luchino Visconti is encamped: notes that the Milanese militias, although superior in number, abandoned the field during the night. In the same month with Guido da Correggio he is knighted by Mastino della Scala. | |||
| 1338 | |||||
| Jan. | Tuscany | Manages to conclude an agreement with the commune of Lucca (however controlled by the Scaligeri). The document is signed in Verona in the parish church of Spinetta, San Benedetto. Lucca grants in fief to the marquis the lands of Camporgiano in Garfagnana. | |||
| ……………….. | Veneto | Obtains in fief from the Scaligeri Avesa, Valpantena, Vigasio, Isolalta, Povegliano Veronese, Arcole, Zerpa, Albaredo d’Adige, Cavaion Veronese, Affi, Caporcia, Rido, Castelnuovo del Garda, Caprino Veronese, Lubiara, Rivoli Veronese, Canale. | |||
| Sept. | Veneto | Moves with Guidoriccio da Fogliano to reach Montagnana. A treaty is opened with a Catalan of the city garrison, so that a gate of the locality is opened for him. He approaches with 500 horses and 1500 infantry. Ubertino da Carrara learns of the initiative from the same deserter; asks for reinforcements from the confederate army. 500 German horses are secretly transferred from Longare and another 200 men-at-arms with many infantry arrive from Padua: to all the provveditore Andrea Morosini promises double pay and complete month. During the night Spinetta Malaspina falls into the ambush placed near a tower of the city walls. 300 Scaligeri are killed in the clash or die drowned in the moat: he too is captured with 200 horses, among whom there are 22 connestabili and 12 members of the da Fogliano families (including Guidoriccio and Giberto) and da Correggio. | |||
| Nov. | Veneto | In Venice with Azzo da Correggio and Ugolino Gonzaga in order to negotiate peace with the allies. | |||
| Dec. | Veneto | Delivers Treviso to the Venetians. | |||
| 1339 | |||||
| Jan. May | Veneto and Tuscany | A separate peace is signed between Venetians and Scaligeri. Spinetta Malaspina is present at the ceremony. In May, with Ugolino Gonzaga, accompanies Mastino della Scala to Lucca. For the rest of the year he is occupied consolidating his possessions in Lunigiana. | |||
| 1340 | |||||
| Jan. | Veneto | Accompanies Mastino della Scala to Pontremoli. | |||
| June | Veneto | He is granted Venetian citizenship by the Serenissima. | |||
| 1341 | |||||
| Aug. | Tuscany | The Scaligeri are attacked in Lucca by the Florentines. Spinetta Malaspina understands that his situation in Garfagnana is also precarious. He sells to the Florentines for 12,000 florins the castles in his possession in that territory: 40 in the vicariate of Camporgiano and 24 in that of Castiglione di Garfagnana. In this agreement it is provided that he continues to enjoy the revenues of the ceded lands, as he remains there as feudatory of the republic. In the same days he refuses (in favor of his nephew Antonio) the command of troops destined for the defense of Lucca. He is, instead, used by Mastino della Scala to deliver the city to the Florentines who purchased it in the same days. | |||
| ……………….. | Veneto | Obtains Parona from the abbot of San Zeno. | |||
| 1342 | |||||
| Oct. | Sends to Romagna, at his expense, 200 crossbowmen and 25 horses to counter the Grande Compagnia of Guarnieri di Urslingen which is threatening the Bolognese. | ||||
| Dec. | Emilia | Goes several times to Ferrara with Giberto da Fogliano and the lord of Bologna Giovanni Pepoli to conclude an alliance with Obizzo d’Este against the da Correggio who have seized Parma. | |||
| 1343 | |||||
| Apr. | Tuscany | Mid-month cedes Sarzana to the Pisans in exchange for 1800 florins drawn from the salt customs. | |||
| 1344 | |||||
| Apr. May | Tuscany | Reconciles with the Pisans; returns Sarzana and some castles of Lunigiana to them; ratifies the agreement in Pisa the following month. He is received there with all honors. | |||
| Dec. | Ferrara | Milan | Emilia | Serves the marquis of Ferrara Obizzo d’Este; escapes at Rivalta from an ambush set for the Estensi by Filippino Gonzaga. To elude the surveillance of the adversaries he escorts the marquis of Ferrara to Lunigiana and to Lucca; from here he accompanies him to Modena. | |
| 1345 | |||||
| May | Tuscany | At the conclusion of peace negotiations between Milan and Pisa the lord of Pisa Ranieri della Gherardesca decides to take away the vicariate of Castiglione di Garfagnana and Camporgiano and give him in exchange that of Massa with the lands of San Vitale, Mirteto, Antona, Lavacchio and Frigido. Furthermore Pisa undertakes to pay him an annual income of 1200 florins. | |||
| 1351 | |||||
| June | Veneto | In the first days of the month, Mastino della Scala dies. On the very day of his brother’s death, Alberto della Scala summons a notary to the palace. In the presence of Spinetta Malaspina and other notables, he has an official record drawn up in which he renounces the succession and has the nineteen-year-old Cangrande della Scala proclaimed Lord of Verona. | |||
| Sept. | Verona | Castelbarco | Trentino | Spinetta Malaspina leaves Verona with Alberto della Scala to lay siege to the strong castle of Avio, where the sons of Guglielmo di Castelbarco have dispossessed their father Guglielmo of his lordship. The siege proves ineffective. | |
| 1352 | |||||
| Mar. | Tuscany | With the failure of the campaign in Trentino, Spinetta Malaspina returns to Lunigiana. He dies in the castle of Fosdinovo. He is buried in Verona, in the church of San Giovanni in Sacco, outside the Porta di San Giorgio. The church was demolished by the Venetians in 1517 and later rebuilt in the district of San Paolo di Campo di Marte, next to the monastery of San Cristoforo. In the church, an equestrian statue was erected in his honor, depicting him with a commander’s staff. The work is attributed to Antonio da Firenze, Piero di Niccolò Lombardi, and Giovanni Martino di Fiesole. In 1887, the funerary monument was sold to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Lacking legitimate male heirs, Spinetta Malaspina, in his will, decrees that the ancestral marquisate of Verrucola should pass to the sons of his brother Isnardo, while the fief of Fosdinovo was to go to the sons of his other brother Azzolino. He establishes his residence in Verona, in a palace in the district of San Benedetto, and founds a hospital in Fivizzano. He marries Beatrice Visconti. |
Sources
-“Presso il magnifico suo ospite (Cangrande della Scala) Dante vide..illustri uomini, feudatari, condottieri, ma soltanto uno rallegra il suo spirito riconoscente: Spinetta Malaspina il Grande, ivi (Verona) rifugiatosi come Uguccione della Faggiuola. Il Malaspina, uno dei capitani di Cangrande nelle vittoriose imprese di Belluno, Padova e Treviso, giunge a Verona nel 1319 e vi stabilì la sua discendenza detta “del ramo fiorito” nel palazzo in contrada S. Benedetto…Famiglia gloriosa i Malaspina per la quale Dante scrisse una lode non inferiore a quella per gli Scaligeri “La fama che la vostra casa onora,/guida i segnori e guida la contrada,/sì che ne sa chi non vi fu ancora./E io vi giuro, s’io di sopra vada,/che vostra gente onorata non si fregia/del pregio de la borsa e de la spada./Uso e natura sì la privilegia,/che, perché il capo reo lo mondo torca,/sola va dritta e’l cammin dispregia.” CARRARA
-“Sempre fedele e riconoscente dimostrossi ai principi della Scala, i quali, apprezzandone la somma fede, in lui pienamente fidavano.” ORTI MANARA
-“Erat is factione Ghibellinus, sed usque a Castruccii (Castruccio Castracani) temporibus lucensi populo infensus.” BEVERINI
-” Nel suo lungo testamento dava disposizione per la sepoltura, che voleva in una “honorabili arca marmorea” (non si tratta del monumento conservato al Victoria and Albert Museum di Londra, certo di molto posteriore alla data della sua morte e voluto dai suoi successori a scopo celebrativo), nella chiesa maggiore della città dove si fosse trovato. Tra le altre disposizioni degne di nota la fondazione di un ospedale a Verrucola Buosi e quella di un ospizio per nobili decaduti presso la chiesa di S. Giovanni in Sacco a Verona, da lui patrocinata…Il giudizio sul Malaspina, celebrato con accenti fortemente emotivi da Umberto Dorini nella sua monografia, deve essere mantenuto entro i ranghi di una personalità rappresentativa soprattutto dell’azione di una feudalità intenta ad avvantaggiarsi di spregiudicati collegamenti per guadagnare ai propri possedimenti grandezza e continuità territoriale. Egli mirò a costituire, più che un potere politico, una fortuna personale e familiare.” RAGONE
-“Il primo marzo del 1352, gravemente ammalato, dettò il suo ultimo testamento ove dispose di essere seppellito, se fosse morto nella sua terra di Lunigiana, nella chiesa di Santa Margherita ubicata a fianco della fortezza della Verrucola, maniero ove era nato e che aveva ampliato. Nel suo lungo testamento diede disposizioni per la sepoltura.. I suoi eredi nel secolo successivo, gli dedicarono un cenotafio all’interno della chiesa di San Giovanni in Sacco, poi demolito: l’artistico monumento sepolcrale.. fu venduto nel 1887 al Victoria and Albert Museum di Londra, dove si trova tuttora.” WIKIPEDIA
Featured image: wikipedia
