In Gian Galeazzo that passion for the colossal which was common to most of the despots shows itself on the largest scale. He undertook, at the cost of 300,000 gold florins, the construction of gigantic dykes, to divert in case of need the Mincio from Mantua and the Brenta from Padua, and thus to render these cities defenceless. It is not impossible, indeed, that he thought of draining away the lagunes of Venice. He founded that most wonderful of all convents, the Certosa of Pavia, and the cathedral of Milan, “which exceeds in size and splendour all the churches of Christendom.” The palace in Pavia, which his father Galeazzo began and which he himself finished, was probably by far the most magnificent of the princely dwellings of Europe. There he transferred his famous library, and the great collection of relics of the saints, in which he placed a peculiar faith. His whole territories are said to have paid him in a single year, besides the regular contribution of 1,200,000 gold florins, no less than 800,000 more in extraordinary subsidies.[g]
The plague broke out anew in Tuscany, and deprived the free states of all their remaining vigour. The magistrates, on whose prudence and courage they relied, in a few days sank under the contagion, and left free scope to the poorest intriguer. This happened at Lucca to the Guelf house of Guinigi, which had produced many distinguished citizens, all employed in the first magistracies. They perished under this disease nearly about the same time. A young man of their family, named Paulo Guinigi, undistinguished either for talent or character, profited by this calamity, on the 14th of October, 1400, to usurp the sovereignty. He immediately abjured the Guelf party, in which he had been brought up, and placed himself under the protection of Gian Galeazzo. At Bologna, also, the chief magistrates of the republic were in like manner swept away by the plague.
Giovanni Bentivoglio, descended from a natural son of that king Enzio so long prisoner at Bologna, took advantage of the state of languor into which the republic had fallen, to get himself proclaimed sovereign lord, on the 27th of February, 1401. He at first thought of putting himself under the protection of the duke of Milan; but Gian Galeazzo, coveting the possession of Bologna, instead of amicably receiving, attacked him the year following. Bentivoglio was defeated at Casalecchio, on the 26th of June, 1402. His capital was taken the next day by the Milanese general, he himself made prisoner, and two days afterwards put to death. Another general of Galeazzo, in May, 1400, took possession of Assisi; the liberty of Genoa, Perugia, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, and Bologna had, one after the other, fallen a sacrifice to the usurper. The Cancellieri, in the mountains of Pistoia, the Ubaldini, in those of the Mugello, had given themselves up to the duke of Milan. The Florentines, having no longer communications with the sea, across the territories of Siena, Pisa, Lucca, and Bologna, saw the sources of their wealth and commerce dry up. Never had the republic been in more imminent danger; when the plague, which had so powerfully augmented its calamities, came to its aid. Gian Galeazzo Visconti was seized with it at his castle of Marignano, in which he had shut himself up, to be, as he hoped, secure from all communication with man. He was carried off by the pestilence, on the 3rd of September, 1402.[e]
[1402-1412 A.D.]
By his will he divided the greater portion of his dominions between his two legitimate sons; to the elder, Gian Maria, he bequeathed the duchy of Milan; to the second, Filippo Maria, the county of Pavia; but Pisa, Sarzana, and Crema were bestowed on his favourite bastard, Gabriello Visconti.
Torch Holder, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
As the heir to the duchy had barely attained the age of fourteen, his father entrusted the government to his widow Caterina, to Francesco da Gonzaga, and to the principal commanders of his forces. But as these soldiers of fortune were interested only in their own advancement, the utmost confusion prevailed in Milan, and the duchess and her son were compelled to seek security in the citadel. The long-forgotten names of Guelf and Ghibelline again resounded through Lombardy; and in a short space of time the duchy was stripped of all its dependent cities. Some, indeed, maintained a nominal submission; but the rulers were too intent on their own interest to be relied on; and the pontifical army had little difficulty in procuring the restitution of Bologna and Perugia to the pope. Siena revolted from the ducal vicar; Cremona gave herself to Ugolino Cavalcabò; Parma and Reggio were seized by the condottiere Ottobuono de’ Terzi; Brescia, by another adventurer, Pandolfo Malatesta. Vercelli, Novara, and other towns in Piedmont fell into the hands of the marquises of Montferrat and Saluzzo. Verona, after an obstinate resistance, surrendered to Francesco da Carrara; and Vicenza escaped his power by being ceded, together with Feltre and Belluno, to the Venetians. Besides these heavy losses, domestic strife aggravated the misfortunes of Milan; and a fierce quarrel between the duchess and her son was terminated by her imprisonment and death. In the meantime the flame spread to Pavia, and the young count Filippo was consigned to a dungeon. The dominion of the bastard Gabriello over Pisa and Sarzana was of brief duration; and he was compelled to sell the former city to the Florentines, to the great indignation of her citizens.
[1412-1432 A.D.]