VISCONTI, a Lombard family which rose to sovereign rank in northern Italy in the 13th c., and was equally distinguished by the share it took in the political contests of the middle ages, and by the services which it rendered to literature and science. The name Visconti is derived from the Latin vicecomitei, and at first was merely the title of an office, but it gradually became a family surname, though when it came to be applied to this family authentic history fails to explain. The family descended, according to tradi tion, from Desideriw, the last king of the Lombards, and belonged to the feudal nobil ity of northern Lombardy, having large estates near lakes Como and Maggiore. The first who appears prominently in history is OTTONE, who became, in 1078, viscount of the archbishopric of Milan. The great Lombard families having, in course of time, split up into a multitude of lines, each in possession of a petty sovereignty, the Visconti on this account rose into comparative importance, more especially when, in 1262, another OTTONE was appointed archbishop of Milan by pope Urban IV. This appoint ment being considered by the people an infringement of the rights of the chapter, was opposed by them; and their leader, Martino della Torre: and his successors, kept pos session of the property of the see, and forced the archbishop to exile himself for 15 years. At last, the exiled Ottone advanced at the head of a body of exiles and emigrants upon Milan, defeated and captured his rival in a bloody and desperate conflict near Desio (Jan. 21, 1277), and entered the city amid the acclamations of the people, who hailed him as archbishop and perpetual lord of Milan. But he was net permitted to enjoy his newly-acquired dignities undisturbed, for. during the eleven years of his temporal sov ereignty, he was engaged iu almost uninterrupted warfare with the Torriani; and the contest was continued by his grand-nephew MATTED, who was chosen "captain of the people" in 1238. Ottone continuing in the archbishopric till his death in 1295. Matteo proved himself a prudent and temperate ruler, and his influential position was recog nized by the emperor Adolf, who created him imperial vicar in Lombardy. Expelled by the Torriaui and their allies in 1302, he was restored in 1311 by the aid of the em peror Henry VII., and reappointed imperial vicar in consideration of the payment of 40,000 florins; and Pavia, Alessandria, Tortona, Cremona, Bergamo, Lodi, etc., having been forced to acknowledge his authority, the family became more powerful than ever. Unfortunately, however, a quarrel arose with pope John XXII. regarding the appoint ment to the Milan archiepiscopate; and Matteo, obstinately refusing, to yield to the papal pretensions, was condemned as a confirmed heretic, anti himself and his descend ants stigmatized as perpetually infamous (Mar. 14, 1322). The people, despite their pro found esteem and affection for their ruler, were horror-struck at this solemn denunciation; and the that so many of his friends were falling away from him so preyed on Matteo's mind, that he died in June, 1322, three mouths after his excommunication. His son, GALEAZZO I., was chosen his successor, and immediately the pope proclaimed a religious crusade against the heretical Visconti, and the "holy army" under Raymond of Cardona advanced in 1323, on Milan, committing the most horrible ravages during its march. But though the Visconti could not directly oppose such an overwhelming force, Galeazzo's brother Marco, an able and experienced warrior, hovered round the dis orderly host, cutting off detached parties; and the emperor Lewis (of Bavaria) having sent a body of troops to aid the Visconti, the crusaders were driven back, totally defeated at Vavrio on the Adda (1324), and the remnant, with their leader Cardona, captured. Soon after, Galeazzo, by the intrigues of his ambitious brother Marco, was perpetually exiled, yet his eldest son, Azzo V.,•succeeded him, while pope Nicolas confirmed the third son, Giovanni, in the archiepiscopate—events which led pope John XXII., for the sake of maintaining some authority over Milan, to recall the excommunication lie bad pronounced against the Visconti. Azzo was the greatest prince of the race, and ruled Milan wisely and well; devoting his attention to the improvement and esbellish tnent of the city, in which labor he was aided by the painter Giotto (q.v.) from Flor ence, and the sculptor Balducei from Pisa. As great in war as in peace, he extended his sway over almost the whole of Lombardy; and on his death in Aug., 1339, 3,000 citizens of Milan voluntarily assumed the garb of mourning. The council-general of Milan elected his two uncles, the archbishop GIOVANNI and LUCCIIINO, as joint rulers in his stead; and on the latter, who was an able, resolute, and unscrupulous prince, wholly devolved the cares of the temporal sovereignty. Under his sway, Montferrat was added to the dominions of the Visconti; Pisa became tributary; a regular police was estab lished; all offenders were 'punished with impartial severity; and a summary judgeship of appeals (exgravator). open only to foreigners to prevent party bias, was established. But the vices of suspicion, lust, and revenge threw a deep gloom over Lucchino's emi nent qualities, led him into the commission of many cruel and tyrannical acts, and indi rectly caused his own death by poison in Jan., 1349. From this time, the mild and
peaceful archbishop reigned alone, availing himself of the assistance of his nephews in the more arduous tasks of government. Ile purchased Bologna for 200,000 florins in 1350; in 1353 accepted the lordship of Genoa, which had been almost crushed by its rival, Venice; taking up the quarrel of his new subjects, equipped a fleet which, under Pagan ino Dona, gained a complete victory over the Venetians. He was the generous patron and friend of Petrarch, and the last good prince of the Visconti family. His three nephews conjointly succeeded him in Oct., 1354; but in 1355 the eldest had died of poison, and his dominions were shared between the other two, GALEAZZO and BAR mem. Both princes were men of pre-eminent ability, but irreclaimably vicious, the lat ter being a very monster of cruelty. Bologna, which belonged to Barnabo, fell into the hands of the pope, who excommunicated Barnabo for attempting to recover it; but the Visconti prince laughed at the holy father's curse, and swore that he would be both pope and emperor in his own dominions. Innocent VI. then sent legates to him to pro pose terms, but the young savage compelled the unfortunate messengers to tear their master's bulls to fragments, and swallow them piece by piece. One of the legates, on becoming pope as Urban V., took revenge by proclaiming a crusade against Barnabo, which wasjoined by all the principal Italian princes; the Romagna and the borders of Lombardy were desolated by a long desultory strife; and though Barnabo was ultimately forced to accept a sum of money in place of Bologna, he took a humorous revenge on his ecclesiastical antagonists by compelling the clergy in his dominions to pay all the expenses of the war. One act of his, how ever, may be mentioned with commendation; he issued an edict forbidding even the mention of the names of "Guelf " and " Ghibelline" under pain of having the tongue cut owt; and his well-known stern adherence to such promises put an end to this long and mischievous controversy. His brother Galeazzo, who had established his residence at Pavia, was the "Mtecenas" of his time; he steadily befriended Petrarch; founded, under his direction, the university of Pavia; and collected a considerablelibrary. The inven tion known as " Galcazzo's lent," a system of torture calculated to prolong the victim's life for 40 days, stamps him with the family character of cruelty. On Galeazzo's death, his son, GIAN-GALEAZZO, succeeded (1378) him in Pavia and its dependencies; and by treacherously seizing and imprisoning his uncle, Barnabo of Milan, became sole ruler of Lombardy. He had all the great qualities and most of the vices of his race, and openly aspired to the sovereignty of Italy; conquering Padua, Verona, Vicenza; extend ing his dominions to the gates of Florence, which he also attacked; and purchasing from the emperor Wenceslas the absolute sovereignty of his dominions; with the title of duke of Anion, for 100,000 gold florins. This curtailment of the empire, however, displeased Germany, but the palatine Ruprccbt, who invaded Lombardy, received such a lesson from the condotticri of Alberico da Barbiano at Brescia as caused him to gladly seek the n. side of the Alps. Florence, the only remaining obstacle to the accom plishment of the ambitious Visconti's scheme, was on the point of surrender ing, when Ginn died of the plague in 1402. He was a great patron of letters and science, gathered eminent men of all classes around him, reorganized the university of Piacenza, established a magnificent library, constructed the famous bridge over the Ticino at Pavia, and commenced the erection of the cathedral of Milan. His daugh ter, Valentina, married Louis, the younger brother of Charles VI. of France, and became grandmother of Louis XII., who upon this relationship founded his claims to the Milan ese. His sons, GIAMMARIA VISCONTI (Giovanni-Maria) and FILIPPO MARIA VISCONTI, reigned in succession; but the former, who was cowardly, suspicious, and of a cruelty partaking of insanity, was, in the interest of his subjects, stabbed to death, May 16, 1412; and the younger brother, equally timorous and suspicious, and of only average cruelty, became sole ruler. The Venetians on the c., the marquis of Montferrat on the w., and the pope on the s., were rapidly curtailing his dominions, when, by a happy stroke of policy, he espoused Beatrice di Tenda, the widow of a condottieri leader, and thus obtained the services of a veteran band of soldier& His fortunate choice of Carmagnola (q.v.) as his general led to the restoration of the farmer boundary line of his dominions; and on his quarrel with the soldier who had served him so well, he was sagacious enough to supply his place by others as nearly equal in ability as could be obtained. In 1441 he engaged the services of Francesco Sforza, to whom he gave his natural daughter Bianca in marriage; and on his death in 1447,the Visconti family ,was succeeded by that of Sforza (q.v.) in the lordship of the Milanese. Collateral branciaes the Visconti still exist in Lombardy. SeeLilla's Famiglie Celebri Italian, Verri's Storia di Milano, and Muratori's Annali de Italia.