''The Viper of Milan'' is a 1906

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

by the British writer Marjorie Bowen.Vinson p.90 Written when she was sixteen it received a number of rejections from publishers before its eventual publication. It proved a bestseller and launched her on a prolific career involving many popular successes. It is set in Renaissance Italy during the

fourteenth century As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was a century lasting from 1 January 1301 ( MCCCI), to 31 December 1400 ( MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and n ...

. It portrays the relentless rivalry between

Gian Galeazzo Visconti Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Milan (1395) and ruled the late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò. He was the foundi ...

Duke 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 ...

and Mastino della Scala, a dispossessed ruler of Verona. It was republished in 1960 with a

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the ...

by Graham Greene.

References

Bibliography

* Vinson, James. ''Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers''. Macmillan, 1982. 1906 British novels 1906 debut novels Novels set in Italy British historical novels Novels by Marjorie Bowen Novels set in the 14th century {{1900s-hist-novel-stub