Guido della Torre (27 September 1259 – summer 1312) was a

Lord of Milan The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. Before elevation to duchy Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that elect ...

between 1302 and 1312.

Biography

He was the son of Francesco

della Torre The House of Della Torre (Torriani or Thurn) 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. History The family originall ...

(brother of Napoleone della Torre) and Giulia Castiglioni, As part of the factional turmoil between the

Guelphs and Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, ri ...

, the conflict of Guido’s Guelph family with the Ghibelline

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

, led by

Ottone Visconti Ottone Visconti (1207 8 August 1295) 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. Biography Ea ...

, dominated much of his childhood. In 1277, after the

Battle of Desio 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 It ...

, in which he lost his father, he was taken prisoner with his uncle Napoleone, and imprisoned in the castle of Baradello at Como. He escaped from this castle in 1284, with the help of Loterio Rusca, the Lord of

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

and

William VII, Marquess of Montferrat Guillaume VII de Montferrat. William VII (c. 1240 – 6 February 1292), called the Great Marquis ( it, il Gran Marchese), was the twelfth Marquis of Montferrat from 1253 to his death. He was also the titular King of Thessalonica. Biography ...

. He fled with his uncle Raimondo della Torre, who was the

Patriarch of Aquileia The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate (bishop), primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholicism, Independent Catholic Chur ...

. In 1287 Guido became

Podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

. After his escape from the castle Baradello, Guido led the Guelphs in the riots that took place in Milan in the last years of the thirteenth century. In 1302, a group of Guelphs, including the Lords of

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

and

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, Alberto Scotti and Ghiberto da Correggio, compelled the Visconti to leave Milan. After twenty-five years of exile, Guido della Torre and his family regained their power in Milan. Rimska jizda

Guido then sought to forge new alliances through marriages: Guido married the daughter of Count Filippo Langosco; his eldest son, Francesco, married a niece of Alberto Scotti; finally, his second son, Simone, married a daughter of Pietro Visconti. Being the head of the della Torre family helped Guido in his election to Milan’s Captain of the People in 1307. The following year Milan elected him as a perpetual ''

capitano del popolo Captain of the People ( it, Capitano del popolo, Lombard: ''Capitani del Popol'') was an administrative title used in Italy during the Middle Ages, established essentially to balance the power and authority of the noble families of the Italian ...

''. However, in 1311 Guido entered in conflict with his cousin

Cassone della Torre Cassone della Torre (or ''Casso'', ''Cassono'', ''Castone'', ''Gastone''), also called Mosca (died 20 August 1318) was an Italian medieval condottiero and feudal lord. A member of the Torriani family, he was Archbishop of Milan from 1308 to 1316 ...

, archbishop of Milan: after an unsuccessful revolt against king Henry VII, he was forced to flee, first to Lodi, then to

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

where Guido died in the summer of 1312.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Della Torre, Guido

Guido Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

1259 births 1312 deaths 13th-century Italian nobility 14th-century Italian nobility Rulers of Milan Date of death unknown