Visconti

Visconti (Italian “viscounts”), Italian family that ruled Milan and the surrounding region from the 13th century until 1447.

The family assumed importance in the city when Pope Urban IV made Ottone Visconti archbishop of Milan in 1262. After defeating the dominant Della Torre family in 1277, Ottone held de facto power. His grandnephew, Matteo I, established himself as ruler of Lombardy as well, and his successors continued to increase their power. Galeazzo II was an important patron of the arts and letters, a friend of the poet Petrarch, and founder of the University of Pavia; he shared sovereignty with his brother, Bernabò.

Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the first Duke of Milan, extended his rule further than any other of his family. The son and successor of Galeazzo II, he deposed and imprisoned his uncle Bernabò, seized his lands, and united all the territory he then held into one state; to that he later added other lands until he ruled most of north and central Italy. Holy Roman Emperor Wenceslas created him Duke of Milan in 1395. Gian Galeazzo founded the cathedral of Milan, built the Certosa at Pavia, and married his daughter to Louis I, duc d'Orléans, thus providing the French with a claim to the duchy. Two of his sons ruled after him until 1447. The Italian film and opera director Luchino Visconti was a descendant of the family.