The Blood of the Biscione in the History of the Ventura

The Visconti house has been one of the most ancient and illustrious Italian noble families since the end of the 10th century in Lombardy. The Visconti derive their name from the initial office of “vice comites,” meaning vassals of the Holy Roman Empire. Initially lords of several strategic locations near Lake Maggiore and the Ticino River, they became lords of Milan from 1277 to 1395 through their struggles against the Guelph della Torre family. Later, under the Count of Virtù Gian Galeazzo, they became Dukes of Milan when Emperor Wenceslaus of Luxembourg conferred that title upon them (following a payment of 100,000 gold florins). The end of the signoria occurred with Duke Filippo Maria, who died without heirs in August 1447. From then on, the history of the duchy continued first with the birth of the Ambrosian Republic, only to end two and a half years later with the rise to power of the condottiero Francesco Sforza (February 1450), the master who now commanded by virtue of his sword.

The Visconti house is immediately recognizable by the presence of a serpent in its coat of arms, the so-called “Biscione,” which underwent numerous variations over time. This was especially true under Gian Galeazzo, whose new ducal title led to an enrichment of the coat of arms; alongside the Biscione, the imperial eagle now stood out with the motto “A bon droit,” coined for the occasion by the poet Francesco Petrarca.

The coat of arms features a gold background, on which stands out an azure serpent with a human figure in its mouth, representing either a naked man or a child. Various legends attempt to explain this symbol. Among the most well-known accounts is one reported by Petrarch, according to which the Lord of Milan Azzone Visconti does not notice that a viper has entered his helmet while he is sleeping; the animal exits without biting him at the moment when he tries to put on the headpiece. Another legend concerns another lord of the house, Archbishop Ottone Visconti: the prelate allegedly participated in the First Crusade, during which he supposedly killed a Saracen king in front of a gate of Jerusalem and seized his crest adorned with the viper insignia. (Image source: Museum of Sant’Eustorgio)

The coat of arms features a gold background upon which a blue Biscione stands out with a human figure in its mouth, representing a naked man or a child. Various legends attempt to explain this symbol. Among the best-known tales is the one reported by Petrarca, according to which the Lord of Milan Azzone Visconti did not notice that a viper had entered his helmet while he was sleeping; the animal emerged without biting him the moment he tried to put on the headgear. Another legend concerns another lord of the house, Archbishop Ottone Visconti: the prelate is said to have participated in the First Crusade, during which he killed a Saracen king before a gate of Jerusalem and seized his crest adorned with the insignia of the viper.

The name of the Visconti represents a strong presence in Italian military history between the 14th and 16th centuries due to numerous conquests across many regions of Northern and Central Italy: from Piedmont to Liguria and Veneto; from Emilia-Romagna to Tuscany and Umbria. The natural formation of alliances between signories and republics against such actions provoked, on one hand, the hiring of ruthless militias necessary to sustain the coveted territorial expansion—an expansion destined to provoke endless conflicts. Evidence of this assertion is found in the two tables below, based on our processing of data from the site, which report the number of conflicts involving major Italian states from 1330 to 1530 and the number of years for those same states in which there was no type of internal or external struggle.

Tab. 1 NUMBER OF CONFLICTS RELATED TO MAJOR ITALIAN STATES

As can be noted, the Milanese state—subject first to the Visconti and subsequently to the Sforza (with the brief parenthesis of the Ambrosian Republic)—was involved in 131 wars in the period 1330–1400, 139 between 1401 and 1500, and 12 between 1501 and 1530, when powers such as France, Spain, and the Empire intervened in national history. The second table highlights that for Milan, during the first period, there was only one year of peace; this rose to 6 between 1401 and 1500 (thanks to the policy of Francesco Sforza) and fell back to 4 in the years 1501–1530. On the other hand, all the major condottieri of these two centuries served, for a longer or shorter period, for the Visconti, beginning with Giovanni Acuto (John Hawkwood) and Lucio Lando (Lutz von Landau), and continuing with Ceccolo Broglia, Alberico da Barbiano, Facino Cane, Carmagnola, Luchino dal Verme, Jacopo da Verme, Luigi dal Verme, Niccolò da Tolentino, Niccolò Piccinino, Angelo della Pergola, Guido Torelli, Ottobono Terzi, Bartolomeo Colleoni, and, naturally, Francesco Sforza. Alongside these mercenaries in the service of the house, one must include the condottieri of the Visconti family itself, which proved to be a prolific forge of men-at-arms. Seventeen biographies are reported on the site: Scaramuccia, Sacramoro I, Sacramoro II, Pietro Francesco, Otto, Marco, Luchino Novello, Lodrisio, Giannotto, Ettore, Ettore (Monsignorino Visconti), Carlo, Bruzio, Bernabò, Anchise, Ambrogio, and Alberto.

Tab. 2 REGIONAL STATES: NUMBER OF YEARS WITHOUT ANY TYPE OF CONFLICT

Part I: The Rebels and the Founders. The Fourteenth Century

Marco Visconti (known as Balatrone)

He emerges as one of the most complex figures of the early 14th century. Son of Matteo Visconti, Captain of the People and first Lord of Milan, his life was dominated by relationships with his brothers Galeazzo, Luchino, and Giovanni, with his cousin Lodrisio, and with his nephew Azzone. An ambitious Ghibelline captain, he possessed great ability but little reason. Giovanni Villani writes in his Nova Cronica: “This Sir Marco was a handsome knight and large of person, fierce and bold, and brave in action and more fortunate in battle than any Lombard in his days; he was not too wise, but had he lived, he would have brought great novelties to Milan and Lombardy.” In summary, this condottiero proved to be a fundamental armed wing for the Visconti signoria and, for the same reason—thanks to his ambition—also a strong element of instability within it. Of a different tone is the legend regarding him, which sees him as the protagonist in the namesake novel by Tommaso Grossi and in the melodrama set to music by Enrico Petrella. In these works, he is exalted both as a romantic hero due to his unhappy love for Bice del Balzo and as a victim of the “force of destiny.” Between 1909 and 1941, four films were dedicated to him, and in the 1970s, a television miniseries. Too well-loved by the population, he was invited to a dinner held in the Palazzo del Broletto Vecchio, attended by his brothers Luchino and Giovanni. Called back into a room by his nephew Azzone under the pretext of a private conversation, he was strangled and thrown from a window of the palace by his nephew (the son of his brother Galeazzo) and, likely, also by his brother Luchino.

Lodrisio Visconti

Lodrisio Visconti, son of Pietro Visconti and cousin of Galeazzo I (Lord of Milan) and Marco, represents the archetype of the “snake relative.” His life was defined by rebellion. Devoted to intrigue, he combined this trait with the charisma of a great fighter—astute and audacious. However, one should not see in this condottiero only the desire for revenge against his kinsmen; his actions also held the resentment of the minor branches of the house, who saw only the crumbs of power, a few privileges, and, at times, an annuity. After serving as podestà of Bergamo, he conspired against his relatives, sacking Monza in 1322. During his exile in Verona, he transformed military technique by founding the Company of Saint George in 1339, a force of over 2,500 knights and thousands of infantry of German and Swiss origin. With this army, he challenged Milan in the Battle of Parabiago: despite a victorious night assault that led to the capture of his uncle Luchino Visconti, victory eluded him due to the indiscipline of the troops intent on looting. After twelve years spent in an iron cage, he was rehabilitated by his uncle, the Archbishop and Lord of Milan, Giovanni Visconti. He was called to serve the house. At Casorate Primo (1356), he defeated the anti-Visconti League with a revolutionary maneuver, hiding the infantry in the vineyards to strike the enemy horses. He died of natural causes in 1364, honored with a state funeral. On that occasion, Bernabò Visconti, to honor him, suspended a previously scheduled tournament.

Bruzio Visconti

Illegitimate son of Luchino Visconti, Bruzio Visconti embodied the figure of the natural son used as a tool of power—a condottiero and armed wing of his father. Lord of Lodi, with a ferocious soul, he focused on suppressing dissent and territorial expansion, distinguishing himself in the siege of Tortona (1346–1347) and the expedition against Genoa (1348). His fortune was tied to his father’s: after his kinsman’s death, he was forced to withdraw from Lombardy due to the extortionate nature of his rule in Lodi. In the service of the Lord of Bologna, Giovanni Visconti da Oleggio, he organized a conspiracy to hand the city over to the Lord of Milan, Bernabò Visconti. This event marked his political end. Stripped of all his possessions, he died in poverty in 1357 in the Paduan area, on the Euganean Hills—the same hills where Francesco Petrarca would also die a few years later. From his biography, this character appears as a curious type between the learned and the criminal—a “consummate scoundrel,” as defined by some commentators. Arrogant and envious, he revealed himself particularly in his polemic with Petrarca through an anonymous pamphlet ridiculing the poetic laurel the latter had previously obtained in Rome. An author of verses himself, Bartolomeo da Bologna dedicated a panegyric in the vernacular to him titled “La canzone delle virtù e delle scienze“; Luca Mannelli addressed a treatise on moral philosophy to him, now preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

Luchino Novello Visconti

Officially the natural son of Luchino Visconti and thus the brother of Bruzio; in reality, he was born from an affair between Galeazzo II Visconti and Isabella Fieschi, the third wife of the Lord of Milan. Forced by his kinsmen to flee Milan and take refuge in Genoa, Luchino Novello Visconti chose the path of opposition to his Milanese cousins. He began his career in 1362 at the command of a contingent of Genoese militias in aid of the Marquis of Montferrat, Giovanni, who was engaged in Piedmont against his father (?) Galeazzo. Years later, an attempt of his to enter Milan failed. This act, through its failure, cost the life of a vice-abbot of the Order of the Humiliati, who was burned alive by Bernabò Visconti, Galeazzo‘s brother. Still opposing the Visconti, his hostility led him to serve Florence and the Church, to participate in the War of the Eight Saints, and to collaborate in his late years with Giovanni Acuto in an offensive in Lombardy. In old age, he reached an agreement with the Count of Virtù, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and was confined to Udine. He thus lived his final years between Venice and Friuli, honored by the Patriarch of Aquileia and the most illustrious lords of the region. He left many legacies to religious orders in his will.

Ambrogio Visconti

The natural son of Bernabò Visconti and brother of Carlo, he was a true “son of the ventura.” His career was short and stood halfway between that of a condottiero of fortune and that of a son of an exponent of one of the most relevant houses of medieval Italy. For some years, having joined Giovanni Acuto, he formed one of the most important companies of fortune (the Company of Saint George), which brought grim experiences to Liguria, Tuscany, and Umbria with a ferocity that earned them papal excommunication. After separating from his companion, his military strength became more vulnerable. After putting the Abruzzi to fire and sword, he sought in vain to obtain the hand of the Queen of Naples, Joan of Anjou. Papal and Angevin forces, commanded respectively by Gomez Garcia (nephew of Cardinal Egidio Albornoz) and Giovanni Malatacca, defeated him at Sacco del Tronto. Wounded and taken prisoner, he was dragged to Naples to be locked in Castel dell’Ovo. Only 2,700 men under his command managed to escape capture; another 600, falling into the hands of adversaries, were led to Rome. Of these, after two years, few survived in prison; many were hanged, beheaded, or (about half) imprisoned in the fortress of Montefiascone. There was a collective escape attempt by them which concluded with the execution of numerous adventurers. After three years of imprisonment, Ambrogio Visconti killed the castellan and escaped with all those imprisoned with him. According to another version, he managed to escape after bribing the guards. He returned to fight on behalf of his father. His trajectory ended abruptly in August 1373, when he was killed in an ambush by insurgent peasants in the San Martino Valley, in the Bergamo area, while riding with a small escort. In retaliation, Bernabò Visconti had the Abbey of Pontida, where the rebels had gathered, set on fire: fires, massacres, tortures, and harsh taxation of the local population were the revenge of the father, the Lord of Milan.

Giannotto Visconti

A brave captain. Also known as Giannotto da Milano, his career was divided between attempted coups, such as the one in Pisa (on behalf of Emperor Charles of Bohemia) in 1369, and regular service for the Lord of Milan, Bernabò. During the disastrous defeat of Crevalcore (1373) against papal troops, he was captured while trying to flee with a few men-at-arms across the Panaro. He nevertheless demonstrated great resilience, eventually holding the role of Captain General of Bergamo. While he was Governor of Alessandria, the city rebelled against the Milanese. He shut himself in the citadel, where he died from an excess of bile.

Carlo Visconti

Carlo Visconti, the legitimate son of Bernabò and brother of Ambrogio, represented the legitimist resistance against the rise to power of his cousin Gian Galeazzo, Count of Virtù. Defined by contemporary chroniclers as an unwise and cowardly man, he harbored hopes of recovering the lost domains following the deposition and imprisonment of his father by his kinsman. He did not find the support of the population in this aspiration. He transformed into a condottiero of fortune, allying himself with the Imperials (Rupert of Bavaria), Florentines, and the da Carrara family to achieve his goals. He was also aided in his maneuvers by his brother-in-law Giovanni Acuto. His life was a succession of plots and dangers, including attempted poisonings in Cortona. Joining the Lord of Padua, Francesco Novello da Carrara, and Guglielmo della Scala, he took part in the action aimed at conquering Verona, a city then in Visconti hands. He died in suspicious circumstances in April 1404, ending hopes for a restoration of the branch tied to his father. There was talk of an apoplectic stroke following an argument with the physician Daniele Nicholesa, who had answered him with too much energy; according to other sources, he was poisoned by the da Carrara family.

Part II: The Faithful and the Officials. The Fifteenth Century. In the Service of the Sforza

Pietro Francesco Visconti

A descendant through an illegitimate line of Bernabò and son of Leonardo, Pietro Francesco Visconti embodied the transition of the last Visconti into pillars of the Sforza administration. He belonged to the Brignano Gera d’Adda branch, like his brother Sacramoro I. A man-at-arms not very experienced, he was part of the secret council and the inner circle that shared pastimes and confidences with Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza. It was Pietro Francesco who girded the sword onto the new Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, in 1450, and it was he, years later, who raised the banner of Captain General to be delivered to William of Montferrat. His participation in the military campaigns of the period featured no particularly remarkable warlike actions, whether against the Venetians commanded by Bartolomeo Colleoni or against the Savoyards of Duke Philip of Bresse. As a guarantor of the stability of the Sforza state, he immediately handed over his own relative Carlo to the authorities, who—along with Gerolamo Olgiati and Gian Andrea Lampugnani—was responsible for killing Duke Galeazzo Maria on the day after Christmas (December 1476) in the Milanese church of Santo Stefano.

Sacramoro I Visconti

Brother of Pietro Francesco, Sacramoro I Visconti became the operational arm of the new Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza. Knighted after the victory, he served as lieutenant in Genoa, managing the city with blunt but effective methods. He distinguished himself in the conquest of Lerici (1468) and in the defense of the Alpine valleys from the incursions of the Grisons. He is remembered as a noble man of sharp intellect. His fame is tied to his conduct inspired by a sense of patience and benevolent humanity. His specialty lay in his ability to inspect borders to gather elements for evaluating both the state of defenses and the sentiments of the local population.

Alberto Visconti

Father of Anchise. Lord of Torricella in Salento and of other lands in the Novara area. One of the most expert condottieri of the Milanese duchy, cultured and skilled. Alberto Visconti was the protagonist of the Visconti opening toward Southern Italy. Sent to the aid of the King of Naples, Ferrante of Aragon, in the war against Charles of Anjou, he distinguished himself in the Battle of Troia (1462), earning the right to add the surname “d’Aragona” to his own. Upon returning to Lombardy, he held prestigious roles such as Governor of the Lance Spezzate and Master of the Camp. He died in Milan in 1493.

Part III: The Crisis and the Diaspora. The Sixteenth Century

Sacramoro II Visconti

This second Sacramoro, from the same Brignano Gera d’Adda branch and brother of Bernabò, Otto, and Ettore, was a mirror of the mercenaryism devoid of ideals that occurred during the Italian Wars of the early 16th century. His career was marked by constant changes of sides between the Empire, Venice, Milan, and France. His double-dealing during the siege of the Sforza Castle—where at night he supplied provisions for a fee to the enemy he fought by day—also revealed the political decadence of the period. Awarded the Order of Saint Michael by the French, he died in 1513 at the Battle of Creazzo, where he fought the Spaniards while in the service of the Venetians commanded by Bartolomeo d’Alviano.

Bernabò Visconti Brother of Sacramoro II, Bernabò Visconti instead chose consistency by linking himself to the French. In victorious moments, he was reciprocated by them with the appointment as Marquis of Brignano Gera d’Adda, the signoria of Varese, and the conferment of the collar of the Order of Saint Michael. He fought in the bloodiest battles of the century, such as Ravenna and Pavia, suffering imprisonments and confiscations without ever betraying the Valois. Married to Margherita Visconti and a daughter of Gian Giacomo da Trivulzio, he died in exile in the Dauphiné, France, in 1552—a symbol of the Italian nobility ousted by the new Spanish order.

Otto Visconti

Like his brothers Bernabò, Ettore, and Sacramoro, he belonged to the Visconti of Brignano Gera d’Adda branch. “He is a gentle person” was the definition given to him by an ambassador of the Serenissima to the Venetian Senate. This quality found its justification in an event that occurred when he, along with his brother Ettore (Monsignorino), was involved in a night brawl in Milan during which a Spanish captain was killed and the Marquis of Pescara, Ferdinando d’Avalos, was wounded in the head. Captured by the Spaniards at the Battle of Creazzo, the Marquis himself prevented his officers from killing him, as he remembered the courtesies received from Otto Visconti the previous year. Forced to flee to France following the return of Francesco II Sforza to the Duchy of Milan, his assets were confiscated for having attempted the Duke’s life.

Ettore Visconti (Monsignorino)

As a young man, unlike his brothers Bernabò, Otto, and Sacramoro II, Ettore was directed by his family toward an ecclesiastical career. Pope Julius II appointed him Abbot of San Celso, which led to his nickname “Monsignorino.” Ambitious, arrogant, and a squanderer of family assets, he was also gifted with a pleasant way of expressing himself and a munificence of courtesies; thus, it was easy for him to be, according to the circumstances, angry or clement, ruthless or merciful, proud or humble. His temperament led him to constant excesses, such as when he and his brother Otto killed a Spanish captain in a night brawl, or when his men killed the ally Pietro Buso Scotti over the division of loot. He tormented the Duke of Milan, Francesco II Sforza, with constant requests for money caused by a lifestyle beyond his economic means. Consequently, his assassination was decided: it took place in the early hours of the morning when he was surprised in a street by Gian Giacomo dei Medici and dal Pozzo, assisted by three other hitmen. He sustained multiple wounds to the head, neck, and arms; one blow passed through his chest from side to side.

Anchise Visconti

Son of Alberto, of the Visconti d’Aragona branch. A celebrated condottiero, Anchise Visconti moved, according to circumstances, from the service of the Sforza to that of the French and finally to that of the Empire of Charles V. With his continuous realignments, he represented the necessity of survival for the lords of the time. He died in Milan.

Ettore Visconti

Born around 1528, this later namesake of Ettore Visconti (the Monsignorino) closes the review of the Visconti house condottieri. To demonstrate how situations had changed, he operated predominantly only outside Italian borders. He fought in the wars of religion in Germany and later for Venice in Dalmatia against the Turks. His defense of Sebenico and the capture of Scardona against these latter adversaries (1571) demonstrated that Visconti valor was still alive, although by then spent in the service of powers external to the Milanese duchy. He died in Rome in 1592.