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VISCONTI

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 129 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VISCONTI , the name of a celebrated See also:

Italian See also:family which See also:long ruled Milani they claimed descent from See also:King See also:Desiderius, and in the 11th See also:century possessed estates on Lakes See also:Como and See also:Maggiore. A certain OTTONE, who distinguished himself in the First Crusade, is mentioned in 1078 as See also:viscount of See also:Milan. The real basis for the family's dominion was laid, however, by another OTTONE, a See also:canon of Desio, appointed See also:archbishop of Milan by See also:Pope See also:Urban IV. in 1262 through the See also:influence of See also:Cardinal Ubaldini. The Della Torre family, who then See also:con-trolled the See also:city, opposed the See also:appointment, and not until his victory at Desic in 1277 was Ottone able to take See also:possession of his see. He imprisoned Napoleone Della Torre and five of his relatives in See also:iron cages, and directed his later efforts toward the See also:advancement of his See also:nephew Matteo. He died on the 18th of See also:August 1295, aged eighty years. MATTEC, See also:born at Invorio on the 15th of August 1255, succeeded his See also:uncle as See also:political See also:leader of Milan, and although an uprising of the. Della Torre in 1302 compelled him to take See also:refuge at See also:Verona, his steadfast See also:loyalty to the imperial cause in See also:Italy earned him the gratitude of See also:Henry VII., who restored him to Milan in 1310 and made him imperial See also:vicar of See also:Lombardy. He brought under his See also:rule See also:Piacenza, See also:Tortona, See also:Pavia, See also:Bergamo, See also:Vercelli, See also:Cremona and Alessandro. An able See also:general, he yet relied for his conquests more on See also:diplomacy and See also:bribery, and was esteemed as a See also:model of the prudent Italian See also:despot. Persevering in his Ghibelline policy, and quarrelling with Pope See also:John XXII. over an appointment to the archbishopric of Milan, he was excommunicated by the papal See also:legate See also:Bertrand du See also:Puy in 1322. He at once abdicated in favour of his son Galeazzo, and died at Crescenzago on the 24th of See also:June of the same See also:year.

He See also:

left besides Galeazzo several sons: Marco, Lucchino, Giovanni and Stefano. GALEAllO I. (1277-1328), who ruled at Milan from 1322 to 1328, met the See also:Holy See also:Army which the pope had sent against the Visconti at Vaprio on the See also:Adda (1324), and defeated it with the aid of the See also:emperor See also:Louis the Bavarian. In 1327 he was imprisoned by the emperor at See also:Monza because he was thought guilty of 'making See also:peace with the See also:church, and was released only on the intercession of his friend Castruccio Castracane. By his wife See also:Beatrice d'See also:Este he had the son Azzo who succeeded him. His See also:brother MARCO cornmanded a See also:band of Germans, conquered See also:Pisa and See also:Lucca and died in 1329. Azzo (1302-1339), who. succeeded his See also:father in 1328, bought the See also:title of imperial vicar for 25,000 florins from the same Louis who had imprisoned Galeazzo I. He-conquered ten towns, murdered his uncle Marco (1329), suppressed a revolt led by his See also:cousin Lodrisio, reorganized the See also:administration of his estates, built the octagonal See also:tower of S. Gottardo, and was succeeded in turn by his uncles Lucchino and Giovanni. LuecHINO made peace with the church in 1341, bought See also:Parma from Obizzo d'Este and made Pisa dependent on Milan. Although he showed ability as general and See also:governor, he was jealous and cruel, and was poisoned in 1349 by his wife See also:Isabella See also:Fieschi. GIOVANNI, brother of the preceding, archbishop of Milan and See also:lord of the city from 1349 to 1354, was one of the most notable characters of his See also:time.

He befriended See also:

Petrarch, extended the Visconti sway over See also:Bologna (135o), defied Pope See also:Clement VI., annexed See also:Genoa (1353), and died on the sth of See also:October 1354 after having established the rule of his family over the whole of See also:northern Italy except See also:Piedmont, Verona, See also:Mantua, See also:Ferrara and See also:Venice. The Visconti from the time of Archbishop Giovanni were no longer See also:mere rivals of the Della Torre or dependants on imperial caprice, but real sovereigns with a recognized See also:power over Milan and the surrounding territory. The See also:state was partitioned on the See also:death of Giovanni among his brother Stefano's three sons, Matteo II., Galeazzo II. and Bernabo. MATTEO II., who succeeded to Bologna, See also:Lodi, Piacenza and Parma, abandoned himself to the most revolting immorality, and was assassinated in 1355 by direction of his See also:brothers, who thenceforth governed the state jointly and with considerable ability. GALEAllO II., who held his See also:court at Pavia, was handsome and distinguished, the See also:patron of Petrarch, the founder of the university of Pavia and a gifted diplomat. He married his daughter Violante to the See also:duke of See also:Clarence, son of See also:Edward III. of See also:England, giving a See also:dowry of 200,000 See also:gold florins; and his son Gian Galeazzo to Isabella, daughter of King John of See also:France. He died in 1378. BERNABO, who held his court at Milan, was involved in See also:constant warfare, to defray the expenses of which he instituted very oppressive taxes. He fought Popes See also:Innocent VI. and Urban V., who proclaimed a crusade against him. He fought the emperor See also:Charles IV., who declared the See also:forfeiture of his See also:fief. He endeavoured to exercise See also:sole power in the state after the death of his brother, but his See also:young nephew Gian Galeazzo plotted against him and put him to death (1385). GIAN GALEAllO, the most powerful of the Visconti, became See also:joint ruler of the Milanese territories on the death of his father in 1378 and sole ruler on the death of his uncle seven years later.

He founded the See also:

cathedral of Milan, built the Certosa and the See also:bridge across the See also:Ticino at Pavia, improved the university of Pavia and established the library there, and restored the university at Piacenza. His bureaucratic See also:government was excellent; he was an able and economical See also:administrator, and was reputed to be one of the wealthiest princes of his time. He was ambitious to reduce all Italy under the sway of the Visconti. He conquered Verona in 1387; and in the following year, with the aid of the Venetians, took See also:Padua. He plotted successfully against the rulers of Mantua and Ferrara, and now that the whole of Lombardy See also:lay prostrate before him he turned his See also:attention to See also:Tuscany. In 1399 he bought Pisa and seized See also:Siena. The emperor See also:Wenceslaus had already conferred on him the title of duke of Milan for roo,000 florins, reserving only Pisa, and refused to take arms against him. Gian Galeazzo took See also:Perugia, Lucca and Bologna (143o-I), and was besieging See also:Florence when he died of the See also:plague (3rd of See also:September 1402) at the See also:age of fifty-five years. His sons, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria, were mere boys at the time of his death, and were taken under the See also:protection of the celebrated See also:condottiere Facino See also:Cane de Cesale; but most of Gian Galeazzo's conquests were lost to his self-seeking generals. GIOVANNI MARIA was proclaimed duke of Milan in 1402, displayed an insane See also:cruelty, and was killed in 1412 by Ghibelline partisans. FILI'Po MARIA, who became nominal ruler of Pavia in 1402, succeeded his brother as duke of Milan. Cruel and extremely sensitive about his See also:personal ugliness, he nevertheless was a See also:great politician, and by employing such powerful condottieri as See also:Carmagnola, See also:Piccinino and See also:Francesco See also:Sforza he managed to recover the Lombard portion of his father's duchy.

From his See also:

marriage with the unhappy widow of the above-mentioned Facino Cane he received a dowry of nearly See also:half a million florins. He died in 1447, the last of the Visconti in See also:direct male See also:line, and was succeeded in the duchy, after the shortlived Ambrosian See also:republic, by Francesco Sforza, who had married his daughter Bianca in 1441 (see STORZA). VALENTINA (1366—1408), a daughter of Gian Galeazzo and a See also:sister of the preceding, married Louis of See also:Orleans in 1387, and it was from her that Louis XII. of France derived his claims to the duchy of Milan. GABRIELE, an illegitimate brother, gained possession of Pisa and other towns, but was despoiled and beheaded (1407) by Charles VI.'s governor of Genoa, under whose protection he had placed himself. Among See also:collateral branches of the Visconti family were the See also:counts of Saliceto, counts of Zagnano, lords of Brignano, See also:marquis of See also:San Giorgio di Borgoratto, marquis of lnvorio and Marquis Della Motta. Other branches attained to some prominence in the See also:local See also:history of See also:Bari and of Tarento. Tebaldo Visconti of Piacenza became Pope See also:Gregory X. in 1271. Among the Visconti lords of Fontaneto was Gasparo, who died in 1505 archbishop of Milan. An See also:Ignatius Visconti was sixteenth general of the See also:Jesuits (1751-55). There is a contemporary history of the See also:principal members of the family by See also:Paolo Giovio, See also:bishop of Nocera, which may be had in several See also:editions. See J. See also:Burckhardt, The See also:Civilization of the See also:Renaissance in Italy, trans. by S.

G. C. Middlemore (See also:

London, 1898); J. A. See also:Symonds, Age of the Despots (New See also:York, 1888) ; C. See also:Magenta, I Visconti e gli Sforza nel See also:Castello di Pavia (1883); A. Medin, I Visconti nella poesia contemporanea (Milan, 1891); F. Mugnier, " Lettres See also:des Visconti de Milan " in Memoires et documents de la societe savoisienne d'histoire et d'archeologie, vol. x. of the second See also:series (1896). (C. H. HA.) VISCONTI-VENOSTA, EMILIO, MARQUIS (1829— ), Italian statesman, was born at Milan on the 22nd of See also:January 1829. A See also:disciple of Mazzini, he took See also:part in all the See also:anti-See also:Austrian conspiracies until the ineffectual rising- at Milan on the 6th of See also:February 1853, of which he had foretold the failure, induced him to renounce his Mazzinian See also:allegiance.

Continuing,nevertheless, his anti-Austrian propaganda, he rendered See also:

good service to the See also:national cause, but being molested by the Austrian See also:police, was obliged in 1859 to See also:escape to See also:Turin, and during the See also:war with See also:Austria of that year was appointed by See also:Cavour royal See also:commissioner with the Garibaldian forces. Elected See also:deputy in 186o, he accompanied See also:Farini on See also:diplomatic See also:missions to See also:Modena and See also:Naples, and was subsequently despatched to London and See also:Paris to acquaint the See also:British and See also:French governments with the course of events in Italy. As a recompense for the tact displayed on this occasion, he was given by Cavour a permanent appointment in the Italian See also:foreign See also:office, and was subsequently appointed under-secretary of state by See also:Count Pasolini. Upon the latter's death he became See also:minister of foreign affairs (24th See also:March 1863) in the See also:Minghetti See also:cabinet, in which capacity he negotiated the September See also:Convention for the evacuation of See also:Rome by the French troops. Resigning office with Minghetti in the autumn of 1864, he was in March 1866 sent by La See also:Marmora as minister to See also:Constantinople, but was almost immediately recalled and reappointed foreign minister by See also:Ricasoli. Assuming office on the morrow of the second See also:battle of See also:Custozza, he succeeded in preventing Austria from burdening Italy with a proportion of the Austrian imperial See also:debt, in addition to the' Venetian debt proper. The fall of Ricasoli in February 1867 deprived him for a time of his office, but in See also:December 1869 he entered the See also:Lanza-See also:Sella cabinet as foreign minister, and retained his See also:portfolio in the succeeding Minghetti cabinet until the fall of the Right in 1876. During this long See also:period he was called upon to conduct the delicate negotiations connected with the Franco-See also:German War, the occupation of Rome by the Italians, and the consequent destruction of the temporal power of the pope, the See also:Law of Guarantees and the visits of See also:Victor See also:Emmanuel II. to See also:Vienna and See also:Berlin. Upon the occasion of his marriage with the daughter of the marquis See also:Alfieri di Sostegno, See also:grand-niece of Cavour, he was created marquis by the king. For a time he remained a member of the See also:parliamentary opposition, and in x886 was nominated senator. In 1894, after eighteen years' See also:absence from active political See also:life, he was chosen to be Italian arbitrator in the See also:Bering See also:Sea question, and in 1896 once more accepted the portfolio of foreign affairs in the Di Rudini cabinet at a juncture when the disasters in See also:Abyssinia and the indiscreet publication of an Abyssinian See also:Green See also:Book had rendered the See also:international position of Italy exceedingly difficult. His first care was to improve Franco-Italian relations by negotiating with France a treaty with regard to See also:Tunis.

During the negotiations See also:

relating to the Cretan question and the Graeco-See also:Turkish War, he secured for Italy a worthy part in the See also:European See also:Concert and joined Lord See also:Salisbury in saving See also:Greece from the loss of See also:Thessaly. Resigning office in May 1898, on a question of See also:internal policy, he once more retired to private life, but in May 1899 again assumed the management of foreign affairs in the second See also:Pelloux cabinet, and continued to hold office in the succeeding See also:Saracco cabinet until its fall in February 1901. During this period his attention was devoted chiefly to the See also:Chinese problem and to the See also:maintenance of the See also:equilibrium in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. In regard to the Mediterranean he established an Italo-French agreement by which France tacitly undertook to leave Italy a See also:free See also:hand in See also:Tripoli, and Italy not to interfere with French policy in the interior of See also:Morocco; and, in regard to the Adriatic, he came to an understanding with Austria guaranteeing the status quo in See also:Albania. Prudence and sagacity, coupled with unequalled experience of foreign policy, enabled him to assure to Italy her full portion of influence in international affairs, and secured for himself the unanimous esteem of European cabinets. In recognition of his services he was created See also:Knight of the Annunziata by Victor Emmanuel See also:Ill. on the occasion of the See also:birth of Princess Yolanda Margherita of See also:Savoy (1st of June 1901). In February 1906 he was Italian delegate to the Morocco See also:conference at See also:Algeciras. An See also:account of Visconti-Venosta's See also:early life (down to 1859) is given in an interesting See also:volume by his brother Giovanni Visconti-Venosta, Rieordi di Gioventd (Milan, 1904).

End of Article: VISCONTI

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