Everything about Bernab Visconti totally explained
Bernabò Visconti, also called
Barnabò (
1319 –
19 December 1385), was an Italian soldier and statesman, Lord of
Milan in the
14th century.
He was born in
Milan, the son of
Stefano Visconti and Valentina
Doria. From 1346 to 1349 he lived in exile, until he was called back by his uncle
Giovanni Visconti.
In 1350 Bernabò married Beatrice (also known as Regina)
della Scala, daughter of
Mastino II of
Verona, and forged both a political and aesthetic alliance between the two cities. His intrigues and ambitions kept him at war almost continuously with
Pope Urban V, the Florentines, Venice and Savoy. In 1354, at the death of Giovanni, he inherited the power of Milan, together with his brothers
Matteo and
Galeazzo. Bernabò received the eastern lands (
Bergamo,
Brescia,
Cremona and
Crema), who bordered the Veronese territories. Milan itself was to be ruled in turn by the three brothers.
In 1356, after having offended the emperor, he pushed back a first attack to Milan by the imperial vicar
Markward von Raudeck, imprisoning him. In 1360 he was declared heretic and condemned by Emperor
Charles IV. The ensuing conflict ended with a dismaying defeat at San Ruffillo against the imperial troops under
Galeotto I Malatesta (
July 29 1361). In 1362, after the death of his sister's husband,
Ugolino Gonzaga, caused him to attack also
Mantua. Warring on several different fronts, in December of that year he sued for peace with Urban V, through the mediation of King
John II of France. However, having Barnabò missed to return the Papal City of
Bologna and to present himself at
Avignon, on
March 4 1363 he was excommunicated, together with his children, one of which,
Ambrogio, was captured by the Papal commander
Gil de Albornoz. With the peace signed on
March 13 1364, Visconti left the occupied Papal lands, in exchange of the raising of the ban and of 500,000
florins.
In Spring 1368 Visconti allied with
Cansignorio della Scala of Verona, and attacked Mantua, then ruled by
Ugolino Gonzaga. The situation was settled later in the year through an agreement between him and emperor. Two years later he besieged
Reggio, which he managed to acquire from Gonzaga in 1371. The following war against the
Este of Modena and Ferrara raised again the Papal enmity against the Milanese.
In 1373, the pope sent two papal delegates to serve Bernabò and Galeazzo their excommunication papers (consisting of a parchment bearing a leaden seal rolled in a silken cord). Bernabò, infuriated, placed the two papal delegates under arrest and refused their release until they'd eaten the parchment, seal, and silken cord which they served him. He managed to resist, despite also the outbreak of a plague in Milan, whose consequences he suppressed with fanatic energy.
In 1378 he allied with the
Republic of Venice in its
war against Genoa. His troops were however defeated in September 1379 in the Val Bisagno.
Bernabò, whose despotism and taxes had enraged the Milanese, was deposed by his nephew
Gian Galeazzo Visconti in 1385. Imprisoned in the castle of
Trezzo, he was poisoned in December of that year.
The funerary monument of Bernabò Visconti, with an equestrian statue, was made in 1363 by
Bonino da Campione for the church of
San Giovanni in Conca, together with that of his consort. They now stand in the
Castello Sforzesco in Milan.
Children
Bernabò was an ally of
Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria: three of his daughters were married with Stephen's descendants. His issue include:
- Viridis (d.1414) married Leopold III, Duke of Inner Austria and were the parents of Ernest, Duke of Austria the father of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor of Austria.
- Agnes (Executed 1391) married Francesco I Gonzaga
- Taddea (1351-81) married Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria. She was mother to Louis VII of Bavaria and Isabeau of Bavaria.
- Marco (d.1382)
- Valenza (d.1393) married Peter II of Cyprus
- Catherine (d.1404) married Gian Galeazzo
- Lucia (d.1424) betrothed 1. Louis II of Anjou and married 2. Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent
- Maddalena (married Frederick, Duke of Bavaria and was mother of Henry XVI of Bavaria.
- Mastino (d.1404) married Antonia della Scala (d. 1400), daughter of Cangrande II della Scala.
- Anglesia (d.1439) married Janus of Cyprus
- Giammastino married Cleofa (d.1403) daughter of Cangrande II della Scala.
- Elisabetta married Ernest, Duke of Bavaria and was the mother of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria.
- Antonia (1360-1405) married Eberhard III, Count of Württemberg
- Aymonette married Louis I de Berton des Balbes
His illegitimate offspring were as follows:
Sagromoro married Achiletta Marliani.
Donnina married John Hawkwood.
Lancelloto
Soprana wife of Giovanni de Prato
Carlo Visconti (d. 1391 or 1403) married Beatrice daughter of John II of Armagnac.
Lodovico (d.1385) married Violante Visconti.
Ginevra married Leonardo Malaspina (d.1441)
Palamede
Isotta (d. 1388) married Ludwig von Landau (d.1389)
Ambrogio (killed 1373)
Ettore (d.1413) married Margherita Infrascati.
Beroarda wife of Giovanni Suardi
Enrica
Riccarda wife of Bernard, seigneur de La Salle (d.1391).Further Information
Get more info on 'Bernab Visconti'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://bernab___visconti.totallyexplained.com">Bernabò Visconti Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
