The following is a list of rulers of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ( la, links=no, Regnum Langobardiae et Venetiae), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" ( it, links=no, Regno Lombardo-Veneto, german: links=no, Königreich Lombardo-Venetien), was a constituent land ...
by the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
.
Before elevation to duchy
Until 1259, Milan was a
free commune
Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup.
C ...
that elected its own ''
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 ...
''. The
Torriani 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 origina ...
family gained sustained power in 1240, when Pagano Della Torre was elected ''podestà''. After Pagano's death, Baldo Ghiringhelli was elected ''podestà'' in 1259, but at the end of his tenure
Martino della Torre Martino della Torre (died 1263) was an Italian condottiero and statesman.
Early life
Martino della Torre was a son of Jacopo della Torre and a nephew of Pagano I, who established the power of the della Torre family (also known as Torriani) in Mila ...
, Pagano's nephew, perpetrated a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
, seizing of power of his family over the commune, establishing the first ''
Signoria
A signoria () was the governing authority in many of the Italian city states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
The word signoria comes from ''signore'' , or "lord"; an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government; governing authority; ...
'' (Italian for "Lordship") of Milan.
During their tenure, the Torriani family, aligned with French
Charles of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...
, started a strong rivality with
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 ...
family, loyal to the German
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
. In 1262,
Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time hav ...
appointed
Ottone Visconti
Ottone Visconti (1207 8 August 1295) was Archbishop of Milan and List of rulers of Milan#Before dukedom, Lord of Milan, the first of the Visconti of Milan, Visconti line. Under his rule, the medieval commune, commune of Milan became a strong Gue ...
as
Archbishop of Milan
The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has lon ...
, to Martino della Torre's disappointment. In 1273, a civil war started between the two families, ended with Torriani's defeat in 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 ...
of 1277.
On June 1302,
Guido della Torre
Guido della Torre (27 September 1259 – summer 1312) was a Lord of Milan between 1302 and 1312.
Biography
He was the son of Francesco della Torre (brother of Napoleone della Torre) and Giulia Castiglioni,
As part of the factional turmoil betw ...
forged a coalition with anti-Visconti cities and marched on Milan, deposing Visconti. However, in 1308 Guido started a quarrel with his cousin, the Archbishop
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 ...
. After an assault on
Milan Cathedral, Cassone fled to
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
and solicited an imperial intervention. Taking advantage of a chaotic situation in Northern Italy, King
Henry VII of Germany
Henry VII ( German: ''Heinrich''; c. 1273 – 24 August 1313),Kleinhenz, pg. 494 also known as Henry of Luxembourg, was Count of Luxembourg, King of Germany (or '' Rex Romanorum'') from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first em ...
descended into Italy with an army, and in Autumn 1310 he marched on Milan to restore both Cassone and the Visconti. After the fall of Milan, he was crowned
King of Italy
King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...
in the city's Cathedral.
After elevation to duchy
House of 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 ...
In 1395,
Gian Galeazzo Visconti was titled Duke of Milan by
King Wenceslaus, who sold the title under the payment of circa 100,000
florins
The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
. Since that moment, all the following rulers of Milan were styled as dukes.
House of Sforza (1st rule)
After the death of Filippo Maria in 1447, the main line of Visconti went extinct. Benefited by political chaos, a cabal of wealthy citizens, academics and clerics declared the Duchy dissolved and proclaimed the oligarchical
Golden Ambrosian Republic.
The republic was never recognized and the neighboring states of
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
and
Savoy tried to expand their fiefdoms in Lombardy, as well as
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Taking advantage of the state's weakness and the resurgent Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, the commander-in-chief of the Milanese forces,
Francesco I Sforza, defected from Milan to Venice in 1448, and two years later, after several side switches and cunning strategies, Sforza entered the city during
Annunciation. He was then declared the new Duke of Milan by the City Council, using as a claim his marriage with
Bianca Maria Visconti
Bianca Maria Visconti (31 March 1425 – 28 October 1468) was Duchess of Milan from 1450 to 1468 by marriage to Francesco I Sforza. She was regent of Marche during the absence of her spouse in 1448. She served as Regent of the Duchy of Milan du ...
, illegitimate daughter of Filippo Maria.
House of Valois
The Capetian house of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589 ...
(1st rule)
In 1494, Ludovico Sforza usurped the throne of Milan, after probably poisoning his nephew Gian Galeazzo. After Venetian's threats, Ludovico solicited French king
Charles VIII to descend into Italy, starting the
First Italian War
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number 1 (number), one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, D ...
. After Ludovico's betrayal and alliance with
League of Venice
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
in 1495, French were defeated in the
Battle of Fornovo and unabled to expand in Italy. Charles VIII's top general and cousin,
Louis II, Duke of Orléans (future Louis XII), was humiliated and due to his personal hate toward Ludovico Sforza, started to claim the Duchy of Milan for himself, quoting his paternal descendance from
Valentina Visconti and Gian Galeazzo's last will. After Louis XII's ascension to the French Throne in 1499, he started the
Second Italian War
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
to conquer Milan and Naples. With French armies near Pavia, Ludovico and his loyalists left Milan on 17 September 1499 to flee toward Germany. This left Louis XII as only Duke of Milan, entering in city on 6 October 1499.
House of Sforza (2nd rule)
Ludovico Sforza was captured on February 1500, dying in hard prison in 1508. His son
Massimiliano
Massimiliano is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Massimiliano Alajmo (born 1974), Italian chef
*Massimiliano Allegri (born 1967), Italian footballer and manager
*Massimiliano Ammendola (born 1990), Italian foo ...
became the Sforza claimant to the Milanese Throne, finally re-gained in January 1513, six months after the Swiss army entrance in Milan.
House of Valois
The Capetian house of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589 ...
(2nd rule)
After their defeat in the
Battle of Marignano
The Battle of Marignano was the last major engagement of the War of the League of Cambrai and took place on 13–14 September 1515, near the town now called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan. It pitted the French army, composed of the be ...
in 1515, the Swiss retired from Milan and Massimiliano was imprisoned by the returning French troops. He waived his rights to Milan for the sum of 30,000 ducats and continued to live in France.
House of Sforza (3rd rule)
By November 1521, the French situation had deteriorated considerably.
Emperor Charles V,
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
, and the
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
signed an alliance against Francis on 28 November.
Odet de Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, the French governor of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, was tasked with resisting the Imperial and Papal forces; he was outmatched by
Prospero Colonna
Prospero Colonna (1452–1523), sometimes referred to as Prosper Colonna, was an Italian condottiero in the service of the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Kingdom of Spain during the Italian Wars.
Biography
A member of the ancient ...
, however, and by late November had been forced out of Milan and had retreated to a ring of towns around the
Adda River
The Adda (Latin ''Abdua'', or ''Addua''; in Lombard ''Ada'' or, again, ''Adda'' in local dialects where the double consonants are marked) is a river in North Italy, a tributary of the Po. It rises in the Alps near the border with Switzerlan ...
. For the third time and last time, Sforza were restored to power.
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
In 1535, after the death of the heirless Francesco II Sforza, Emperor Charles V annexed the Duchy as a vacant imperial state in order to avoid other claims by the French or the collateral branches of Sforza.
House of Habsburg-Spain
In 1540, the Duchy was secretly given as a gift to Charles V's son
Philip, Prince of Asturias. This was made official at the abdication of Charles V in 1555. In 1556, Philip became
Philip II of Spain and Milan entered in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
with the
Spanish Crown
, coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg
, coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain
, image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg
, incumbent = Felipe VI
, incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
.
House of Bourbon-Anjou
The Spanish royal family consists of King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, their children (Leonor, Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía of Spain), and Felipe's parents, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía. The royal family lives at Zarzuela Palace ...
In September 1700, Charles became ill; by 28 September he was no longer able to eat and Portocarrero persuaded him to alter his Will in favour of Louis XIV's grandson,
Philip of Anjou. When Charles died on 1 November 1700, the throne was offered to Philip, who was proclaimed King of Spain on 16 November 1700. This was accepted by Britain and the Dutch Republic among others but disputes over division of territories and commercial rights led to the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
in 1701.
House of Habsburg-Austria (then
Habsburg-Lorraine
The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary, Queen of ...
)
After the
Treaty of Rastatt
The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between France and Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between both countries. The treaty followed the Treaty of Utrecht of 11 A ...
of 1714, Emperor
Charles VI officially gained the Duchy of Milan, a possession considered vital to the security of Austria's southern border.
Since that moment, Milan was a permanent possession of Austrian branch of Habsburg Monarchy.
See also
*
List of Governors of the Duchy of Milan
*
List of mayors of Milan
The mayor of Milan ( it, sindaco di Milano) is the first citizen and head of the municipal government of the city of Milan, Lombardy, Italy.
The current office holder is Giuseppe Sala, a centre-left independent who has been in charge since 2016 l ...
*
List of consorts of Milan
*
Timeline of Milan
References
Bibliography
*
*
* {{cite book, last=Baumgartner, first=Frederic J., title=Louis XII, editor=St.Martin's Press, date=1996, isbn=0-312-12072-9
History of Milan
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
Rulers
A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines.
Variants
Rulers have long ...