Milan

Type of Government

The city-state of Milan came to dominate much of northern Italy during the medieval era as both a flourishing center of trade and a stronghold of the local nobility. Early in this period Milan tried a form of communal republicanism, but after 1277 it became one of Italy’s signori-ruled cities, in which the reins of government were held by a local aristocratic family.

Background

Milan is the gateway to the Italian peninsula and the first important city south of the Alps, which kept it relatively isolated from northern Europe during the early centuries of human history. The Celts who lived in the area, which the Romans called Mediolanum, became part of the Roman Empire province Gallia Cisalpina by 194 BC. In early Christian times, Milan emerged as an important ecclesiastical center, and its first bishop, Saint Ambrose (339–397), eventually became the city’s historic patron. The area was later subdued by the Lombards, followed by a period of Carolingian rule, which passed to the Germans and then the Holy Roman Empire. However, a corrupt clergy came to dominate the city, and their control incited deep resentment among Milan’s growing class of merchants and tradesmen. In 1176 the Lombard League forces of Milan and other northern Italian city-states defeated an army of the Holy Roman Empire, and seven years later the cities won their right to self-rule in the Treaty of Constance.

Government Structure

The terms of the 1183 Treaty of Constance included a provision that granted Milan and other Italian city-states within the Holy Roman Empire the right to be governed by their own laws and under magistrates of their own choosing. They also secured the right to go to war, conclude peace treaties, and form military alliances. The former office of consul—a local authority placed in charge by the Holy Roman emperor—evolved instead into the credenza, a twelve-member executive council, which controlled the city’s patronage appointments and finances. The members of the credenza were drawn from the local nobles, but chosen by a general assembly of merchants, artisans, and tradesmen for one-year terms. Not surprisingly, some credenza officials tried to remain in office longer, but their disregard for the rules led to a popular uprising in 1221 in which the nobles were driven out of the city; a subsequent agreement specified that all government offices were to be divided equally between members of the nobility and the popolo (people).

At this point in Milanese history, both nobles and commoners began forming internal alliances and societies to further their cause, and then forming cross-alliances. The merchants formed Motta, a type of guild, and eventually allied with the nobles to establish the Podestà Sorresina. Meanwhile, the tradesmen formed the Credenza de St. Ambroglio. These two entities appointed their own magistrates and abided by their own laws. Finally, another general assembly was called and a Credenza candidate, Martino della Torre (d. 1263), was chosen to rule as the podestà (unofficial mayor). The della Torre family’s tyrannical reign ended in 1277, when Ottone Visconti (1207?–1295), the archbishop of Milan, was named lord of the city, and the Viscontis remained in firm control for the next 173 years. In the 1450s the Sforza noble family seized power in Milan and held it for another century.

Political Parties and Factions

The Visconti and Sforza families governed Milan for nearly three centuries. The former group came from Pisa, and went on to add large amounts of territory to Milan’s holdings, but the Viscontis were known as a rather vicious, unstable bunch. Kidnappings, imprisonment, and even fatal poisonings among Visconti brothers, uncles, and nephews marked their years in power. One of their more respectable members, however, was Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1351–1402), who expanded Milan’s holdings to include nearly all of northern Italy. Under him, Milan became a duchy, thanks to his purchase of a ducal title from the Holy Roman emperor Wenceslas (1361–1419) in 1395. The Sforzas were a more estimable clan and emerged as one of the leading families of the Italian Renaissance. They were great patrons of the arts and initiated many building projects in Milan. They also prided themselves on their administrative skills. Under the Sforza dukes, the system of local and ducal offices were reformed and became a model of efficiency. The Sforza era was also notable for the formation of one of the first permanent armies in Europe.

Major Events

In 1330 Azzo Visconti (1290–1354) was made the perpetual lord of Milan. He was succeeded by an uncle, who annexed the Republic of Genoa in 1353 and gave Milan access to that seaport city’s maritime trade. In 1454 the Peace of Lodi was signed between Milan and Venice, which ended their long battle for regional dominance, but war erupted again in 1508 in northern Italy with the onset of the War of the League of Cambrai, which lasted eight years and involved the Holy Roman Empire, the Papal States, Venice, France, and several other powers. It ended with French control of Milan.

Aftermath

The duchy of Milan existed as an independent territory of the Holy Roman Empire until 1797, when Napoléon I (1769–1821) invaded; it later became part of Austria and was folded into the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, which lasted until the unification of the Italian peninsula in 1866. The city never again regained the regional dominance of its medieval period, but it did return to influence as one of Europe’s leading financial services centers in the modern era.

Abulafia, David, ed. Italy in the Central Middle Ages: 1000–1300. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Brougham, Henry Peter. Political Philosophy. Whitefish, Mont: Kessinger Publishing, 2004.

Lubkin, Gregory. A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.