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Milan to 1535

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Dec 18th, 2015
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  1. Introduction
  2.  
  3. Thanks to the prestige and temporal power of its church, Milan in 1000 already exercised influence well beyond the borders of the diocese, and was able to consolidate this further in the communal era, when the Ambrosian city was at the head of the leagues opposed to the emperors Frederick I and Frederick II. Yet it was only in the 14th century, after the establishment of Visconti lordship over the city, that Milan became the center of a wide-reaching regional state, which by 1402 occupied a large part of northern and central Italy, but which would shrink during the 15th century and the Italian Wars. A European marketplace of primary importance, but also the seat of a munificent and generous lordly and then ducal court, which attracted some of the greatest artists of the 14th and 15th centuries, from Giotto to Leonardo and Bramante, Milan found it difficult to reconcile its dual roles as a great metropolis and as capital of the state. In fact, if in the beginning of the Visconti adventure the Milanese had broadly supported the dynasty, from which they received offices and resources, the progressive entrance into the state bureaucracy of foreign personnel and the advent of a nonnative dynasty, the Sforza, inclined to promote newcomers from outside Milan, eventually compromised relations between the dukes and the Ambrosian elites, who never became the governing class of the state. This dual nature of Milan, as a great European city (100,000 inhabitants at the end of the 15th century) and the capital of a regional state, is also reflected in the following notes, which contain references for both aspects, although the emphasis is very much on the first (as in the articles on Florence and Venice). Much room will be given to printed works above all, but as far as possible, space will also be given to all those instruments available (including online) to provide guidance on archival resources to researchers.
  4.  
  5. General Overviews
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  7. A glance at the works of synthesis on Milan reveals a preponderance of collective works, as opposed to monographs by individual authors. The latter, in general rather dated, can certainly provide an initial point of entry for the reader who is not an expert in the history of Milan, even if it would be preferable to have recourse to the collective works, which have greater depth and are more up-to-date historiographically.
  8.  
  9. Collections of Studies
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  11. There are not many collective works on Milan with a multidisciplinary scope, ranging from art and culture to politics and society, and none are in English. For this reason the Storia di Milano of the Fondazione Treccani degli Alfieri is still essential, in conjunction with some more recent works, such as Della Peruta 1995–1996 (addressed to general learned audience), Gamberini and Somaini 2001 (also aimed at catering the needs of a nonspecialistic public), and especially Gamberini 2015, which expresses the state-of-the-art of the field. It should be noted that in all these works, the focus is never on the city of Milan alone, but also on the territory that it was able to draw into its own political orbit: this is so for the contado (roughly covering the same area as the diocese) for the communal era, and of a proper state of regional dimensions, even if these changed over time, from the early decades of the Trecento. In conclusion, two other collective works are worth mentioning: L’età delle signorie, which includes chapters by very distinguished scholars, and Gli Sforza a Milano (1978), which focuses on the Sforza’s period only.
  12.  
  13. Della Peruta, Franco, ed. Storia illustrata di Milano. 6 vols. Milan: Elio Sellino, 1995–1996.
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  15. Written by the major scholars of Milan and Lombardy, this work offers the reader—especially one approaching the history of the city of Milan for the first time—a helpful and thorough guide. There are no notes, but a detailed bibliography concludes each chapter. The book, as its title suggests, is exceptionally well illustrated.
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  17. Gamberini, Andrea, ed. A Companion to Late Medieval and Early Modern Milan: The Distinctive Features of an Italian State. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill: 2015.
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  19. The contributions to this volume examine the story of the city and state from the establishment of the Visconti in the 1330s through to the 150 years of Spanish rule and down to its final absorption into Austrian Lombardy in 1706. Twenty chapters by qualified and distinguished scholars offer a new and original perspective, with themes ranging from society to politics, music to literature, the history of art to law, the church to the economy.
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  21. Gamberini, Andrea, and Francesco Somaini. L’età dei Visconti e degli Sforza: 1277–1535. Milan: Skira, 2001.
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  23. Conceived as an accompaniment to the exhibition of the same name held in Milan in 2001, the book provides a rapid synthesis not only of political and institutional, but also of economic, social and ecclesiastical affairs. Some maps produced for the exhibition (for example, of ecclesiastical institutions, or of political boundaries, such as those of podestarie and vicariates) provide a useful accompaniment to the text.
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  25. Gli Sforza a Milano e in Lombardia e i loro rapporti con gli Stati italiani ed europei, 1450–1535: Convegno internazionale Milano, 18–21 Maggio 1981. Milan: Cisalpino-Goliardica, 1982.
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  27. This volume publishes the acts of an international conference held in 1981. The breadth of the subjects treated makes it an important point of reference for the history of the state of Milan and of the Sforza dynasty in the second half of the Quattrocento. It has an interdisciplinary character that renders it useful not only to those studying political history, but also the history of art and culture.
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  29. La Lombardia delle signorie. Milan: Electa, 1986.
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  31. Ten contributions concerning the early Milanese Renaissance, with chapters ranging from the arts to fashion, politics to culture, welfare to architecture. Perhaps the first attempt at a general synthesis after the monumental Storia di Milano published in the 1950s by the Fondazione Treccani. Some essays still present excellent syntheses (for example, those by Mainoni and Chiappa Mauri).
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  33. Storia di Milano. 18 vols. Milan: Fondazione Treccani degli Alfieri, 1953–1996.
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  35. This was an extraordinary scholarly enterprise, which came to represent a model for the history of many other cities. Although it is now dated, the work remains an essential point of departure, above all for the Visconti era (early 1300s–1447), whose events are set out by Francesco Cognasso on the basis of exceptional archival research.
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  37. Single- or Dual-Authored Works
  38.  
  39. Among the limited number of syntheses available, Visconti 1936 and Bosisio 1958 can be singled out, although both are really rather dated. These are well-informed books, even if they offer interpretations of important problems and questions that are not now accepted by historians. Worthy of mention among the older books are the monumental late-18th century work Giulini 1771–1774, which covers only part of the period of interest here, but which draws on documentary sources now lost, and the roughly contemporary Verri 2009, which is more ideological.
  40.  
  41. Bosisio, Alfredo. Storia di Milano. Milan: A. Martello, 1958.
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  43. In a pleasing style, the author traces the history of the city of Milan from its origins to the threshold of Italian unification. The volume does not have notes, but the ample bibliography testifies to the diligent reading of Bosisio.
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  45. Giulini, Giulio. Continuazione delle Memorie spettanti alla storia, al governo, ed alla descrizione della città, e della campagna di Milano ne’ secoli bassi. 3 vols. Milan: Giovan Battista Bianchi, 1771–1774.
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  47. As indicated by the title, these three volumes continue the work in nine volumes that appeared in 1760–1765, and cover the period between 1311 and 1447, the year of the death of Filippo Maria Visconti. The author was able to use documents that are not found in the archives today, hence the importance of the work.
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  49. Verri, Pietro. Storia di Milano. Edited by Renato Pasta. Milan: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 2009.
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  51. Published in four volumes from 1773, it recounts the story of the city from its origins to the siege of Pavia by the French king, Francis I, in 1524–1525. At the center of the work are the problems of the relations between church and state, and those between man and nature, with the idea that human labor can transform and improve the environment.
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  53. Visconti, Alessandro. Storia di Milano. Milan: Ceschina, 1936.
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  55. This volume, as Gioacchino Volpe observes in the introduction, filled a gap that was centuries old: that relating to a civic history written in “modern style,” as many cities, beginning with Florence, could already boast. Despite the overall tone of the work, inclined to seek out and exalt the unifying vocation of Milan, it is interesting to read, and historiographically in line with the status questionis of the time.
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  57. Guides to Collections
  58.  
  59. There are very useful sources (and guides to sources) available online. Some deal with single archives and libraries, such as the portals of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana and of the Archivio di Stato di Milano, whereas some others concern specific projects (La memoria degli Sforza and Censimento dei manoscritti). Of exceptional utility is the portal of Regione Lombardia, which provide an overview of the Lombard local archives.
  60.  
  61. Archivio di Stato di Milano.
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  63. Contains the link to the online inventories of the archive. Not all the series have a digital inventory as of yet. Among those already online are two of particular importance for the period considered here: the Notarile and the Carteggio Visconteo-Sforzesco.
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  65. Biblioteca Ambrosiana.
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  67. Founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo in 1609, it was immediately opened to the public. With its vast collections and its many precious codices, the Ambrosiana is undoubtedly one of the first libraries of Italy, and of the world. The portal allows access to the online catalogue of manuscripts, and interrogation of the database with indices of the 12,000 parchments (Catalogo/sezioni speciali).
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  69. Censimento dei manoscritti medievali della Lombardia.
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  71. This offers a list of historical and literary manuscripts, dating from before 1500 and held in libraries and other cultural institutions in the region. It also makes possible searches of online catalogues, guides, and lists.
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  73. La Memoria degli Sforza.
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  75. The project La memoria degli Sforza plans digital publication of the first sixteen registers of the letters of Francesco I Sforza (1450–1466), held in the Archivio di Stato of Milan. The initiative is intended to make available a documentary heritage of great interest for the history of Lombardy, Italy, and Europe, guaranteeing scholars easy consultation of the volumes and rapid research of the material thanks to indices of persons and place names. The project is now underway. In Italian only.
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  77. Regione Lombardia.
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  79. This website allows access to the online inventories of a great number of public archives and libraries (mostly communal) in the region, as well as the guides, indices, and digital editions that they have produced.
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  81. Chronicles
  82.  
  83. There is a rich tradition of chronicles for the city of Milan, from the central Middle Ages up to the late Cinquecento (Fiamma 1938; Fiamma 1727; Cantù 1842). In fact, despite the emergence at the turn of the 14th century of new related literary genres (such as biographies and commentaries) better suited to examine the role of the lords of Milan (e.g., Azario 1926–1939), the past and contemporary history of the city did not cease to attract attention and generate passion in the Milanese, whether they were members of ancient noble families, such as Andrea Biglia (Biglia 1731) and Bernardino Corio (Corio 1978), or members of the middle classes, coming from the mercantile sector, such as Burigozzo (Cantù 1842).
  84.  
  85. Annales Mediolanenses ab anno 1230 usque ad annum 1402. In Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. Vol. 16. Edited by Muratori, Ludovico Antonio. Mediolani (Milan), 1723.
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  87. What Muratori published with the title of Annales Mediolanenses is in reality only a part of a longer Milanese chronicle held in the Biblioteca Capitolare di S. Maria in Novara (Codice LVII detto El Valison, ff. 257r-270v). The focus gradually shifts from the city of Milan to the Visconti lordship and their expansion on a regional scale.
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  89. Azario, Pietro. “Chronica gestorum in partibus Lombardiae.” In Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. 2d ed. Edited by Francesco Cognasso. Bologna, Italy: Zanichelli, 1926–1939.
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  91. The Novarese notary Pietro Zario composed this work when he was in the service of the Visconti, of whom he offers interesting biographical sketches. There are also numerous references to Milan, often the setting for the events recounted.
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  93. Biglia, Andrea. “Mediolanensium rerum historia.” In Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. Vol. 19. Edited by Ludovico Antonio Muratori. Mediolani (Milan): Stamperia Reale, 1731.
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  95. Written in humanist Latin, this work by the Augustinian friar Andrea Biglia covers very important years, including those following the death of the first duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo (1402), for which this represents a most valuable source. Divided into two parts, the first up to 1406, the second up to 1431, it breaks off at the imminent descent into Italy of the Emperor Sigismund, which for the author marked the beginning of a third phase of history.
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  97. Cantù, Cesare, ed. Cronache milanesi scritte da Giovan Pietro Cagnola, Giovanni Andrea Prato e Giovan Marco Burigozzo ora per la prima volta pubblicate. Archivio storico italiano 3. Florence: Vieusseux, 1842.
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  99. This volume of the Archivio storico italiano contains editions of some Milanese chronicles of the early 16th century: those of Giovan Marco Burigozzo, Giovan Pietro Cagnola, and Giovanni Andrea Prato.
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  101. Corio, Bernardino. Storia di Milano. Edited by Anna Morisi Guerra. 2 vols. Turin, Italy: Utet, 1978.
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  103. Under the title of Historia Patria (changed by the modern editor), Corio traced the profile of the history of Milan from its origins to 1503. Although Corio did not always use his sources critically, the work offers a most interesting examination of Milanese history, with complete or partial transcriptions of archival documents that cannot be found today, but that Corio consulted thanks to his role at court. The work is written in the vernacular.
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  105. Fiamma, Galvano. Manipolus Florum. In Rerum Italicarum scriptores. Vol. 11. Edited by Ludovico Antonio Muratori, 537–740. Mediolani (Milan), 1727.
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  107. Several chronicles are attributed to the Dominican Galvano Fiamma, chaplain and scribe of Archbishop Giovanni Visconti, beginning with the Manipolu Floru, which goes from the foundation of Milan up to 1335, and therefore offers a historical account of the period which saw the ascent of the Visconti dynasty.
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  109. Fiamma, Galvano. Opusculum de rebus gestis ab Azone, Luchino et Johanne Vicecomitibus ab anno MCCXXVIII usque ad annum MCCCXLII. In Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. Vol. 7. 2d ed. Edited by C. Castiglioni. Bologna, Italy: Zanichelli, 1938.
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  111. The Opusculum—which is part of the longer Chronicon Maius, which is still unpublished—is another of the chronicles written by the Dominican Galvano Fiamma, and is particularly rich in references to the history of Milan and its territory in crucial years for the constitution of the regional state.
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  113. Edited Documents
  114.  
  115. The impetus given by late-19th-century positivism to the publication of documents relating to the history of Milan did not diminish in subsequent decades, so that scholars have access to a wide range of documentary sources, some in summary, others in extensive transcriptions. Many have been published in the Archivio Storico Lombardo (cited under Journals and Serials), but the majority were published separately. Besides the old (but still useful) works of Morbio (Morbio 1846), and of Osio (Osio 1864–1872), it is worth mentioning those encouraged in the mid-20th century by Caterina Santoro (see Politics and Governance: Sources). Altogether, these constitute a vast and heterogeneous publishing output. In more recent times, a list of notaries active in the contado of Milan has been published (Lunari and Scharf 2009), while mention should also be made of the transcription of medieval and Renaissance inscriptions from Milan, the work of Forcella (Forcella 1889–1893).
  116.  
  117. Forcella, Vincenzo. Iscrizioni delle chiese e degli altri edifici di Milano dal secolo VIII ai giorni nostri. 12 vols. Milan: Tipografia Bortolotti, 1889–1893.
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  119. A transcription of all the epitaphs and inscriptions from ecclesiastical and civil buildings in Milan from the 8th century.
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  121. Lunari, Marco, and Gian Paolo G. Scharf. Notai del contado milanese in età viscontea (1347–1447). Milan: Unicopli, 2009.
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  123. A very useful list of notaries active in the contado of Milan in the Visconti era. It has information on individual notaries and their files, as well as indices of personal and place names.
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  125. Morbio, Carlo. Codice Visconteo-Sforzesco. Milan: Tipografia de’ Classici Italiani, 1846.
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  127. This volume gathers together a very wide selection of letters and decrees promulgated by the lords, then dukes of Milan between 1390 and 1497. It is of notable importance, in that the legislation of the Visconti and Sforza provides a window onto the most diverse aspects of Milanese society.
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  129. Osio, Luigi, ed. Documenti diplomatici tratti dagli archivj milanesi. 5 vols. Milan: Tip. G. Bernardoni di Giovanni, 1864–1872.
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  131. To the initiative of Luigi Osio, director of the government archives of Milan just after the Unification of Italy (1861), is owed the publication of an ample selection of documents drawn from Milanese archives and attesting the activity of ducal government up to 1535.
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  133. Journals and Serials
  134.  
  135. Among the periodical publications dealing with the history of Milan, two deserve particular mention: Archivio Storico Lombardo, which is rich in articles, but also in learned notes and editions of documents on Milan in the era of the lords and dukes; and Ricerche storiche sulla chiesa ambrosiana (see Archivio Ambrosiano below), which is more concerned with the history of the church, its institutions and the Ambrosian liturgy.
  136.  
  137. Archivio Ambrosiano. 1949–.
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  139. Published from 1949 on the initiative of Mons. Enrico Cattaneo, a renowned scholar of the history of the Ambrosian church, it alternates the publication of miscellaneous volumes with that of a journal, entitled Ricerche storiche sulla Chiesa ambrosiana. It is published by the Centro Ambrosiano.
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  141. Archivio Storico Lombardo.
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  143. Founded by Cesare Cantù in 1874 as the Journal of the Società Storica Lombarda, it is now issued annually. The indices can be consulted online. The older volumes, not covered by authors’ copyright (which in Italy lapses only after 75 years), can be consulted online via the Emeroteca Digitale della Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense. It is necessary to install a free plug-in on your computer, which can be downloaded from the site.
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  145. Politics and Governance
  146.  
  147. Despite the obstacles posed by the dispersion of the civic archive, from which only a few registers (see Politics and Governance: Sources) survive, historians have paid a good deal of attention to the study of the relations between the city of Milan and the dynasty in power, making evident the progressive distancing of the local elites from the dukes. If the expansionist policies of the first Visconti found firm support from the powerful Milanese merchant class, the ever more authoritarian behavior of the dukes, and then the coming to power of a dynasty from outside Milan (one, furthermore, inclined to surround itself with parvenus), created increasing disengagement and disaffection among the Milanese, unable (unlike the citizens of Florence and Venice) to form the governing class of the state (see Chittolini 1996, cited under Territorial State), or even to find political representation in the communal councils, whose members between the early Visconti era and the early French era were nominated by the duke (Arcangeli 2004). Both the constitution of an ephemeral republic in the city in 1447–1450 (Spinelli 1998), and the assassination of two dukes—Giovanni Maria Visconti in 1412 (Zimolo 1955) and Galeazzo Maria Sforza in 1476 (Fubini 1994)—should be read in the light of these tensions.
  148.  
  149. Arcangeli, Letizia. “Milano nelle guerre d’Italia (1499–1529): Esperimenti di rappresentanza e identità cittadina.” Società e Storia 104 (2004): 225–266.
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  151. The ascent of the Visconti in the early 14th century was accompanied by a series of transformations of the institutions of the commune of Milan, which were deprived of all autonomy, even in the election of council members. Long desired, the restitution of a form of institutional political representation came only at the beginning of the Cinquecento, thanks to concessions by the king of France.
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  153. Fubini, Riccardo. Italia quattrocentesca: Politica e diplomazia nell’età di Lorenzo il Magnifico. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 1994.
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  155. In this volume, which brings together essays first published elsewhere, Fubini reconstructs the conspiracy against Galeazzo Maria Sforza against the background of the wide-ranging political and diplomatic maneuvering of the day.
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  157. Milano nell’età di Ludovico il Moro: Atti del Convegno internazionale, 28 febbraio–4 marzo 1983. 2 vols. Milan: Archivio Storico Civico e Biblioteca Trivulziana, 1983.
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  159. Conference proceedings, in two volumes, with wide-ranging analyses of the politics and diplomacy of a crucial era, that of Ludovico il Moro. Due emphasis is given to the dramatic financial crisis of the state in this period.
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  161. Spinelli, Marina. Milano nel Quattrocento: La città, la società, il ducato attraverso gli atti dei notai milanesi. Milan: CUEM, 1998.
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  163. A collection of essays whose common thread is Milanese society and institutions in the Quattrocento. A pair of chapters consider the history of the Repubblica Ambrosiana.
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  165. Zimolo, C. G. “Il ducato di Giovanni Maria Visconti.” In Scritti storici e giuridici in memoria di Alessandro Visconti, 389–440. Milan: Cisalpino, 1955.
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  167. A long and detailed essay on the politics of Giovanni Maria Visconti. One section is dedicated to the events that brought members of the Pusterla, Aliprandi, Trivulzio, and del Maino families to assassinate the young duke.
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  169. Sources
  170.  
  171. Thanks to the worthy efforts of Caterina Santoro, not only is the surviving documentation of the commune of Milan in the Visconti era available in summary form (Santoro 1929–1932), but it is also possible to consult lists of all the communal officials (Santoro 1968). Together, these are sources of particular importance for the study of social mobility, concessions of citizenship, and the role and composition of the leading social groups of Milan.
  172.  
  173. Natale, Alfio Rosario, ed. Acta Libertatis Mediolani. Milan: Camera di Commercio, 1987.
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  175. Alfio Rosario Natale, formerly director of the Archivio di Stato of Milan, in this volume gives extensive transcriptions of Registers 6 and 7 of the Archivio dell’Ufficio degli statuti of Milan, containing the acts and proclamations issued by the Difensori della libertà, the highest magistracy of the Repubblica Ambrosiana (August 1447 and January 1450).
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  177. Santoro, Caterina, ed. I registri dell’Ufficio di provvisione e dell’Ufficio dei sindaci sotto la dominazione viscontea. 2 vols. Milan: Castello Sforzesco, 1929–1932.
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  179. The records of the commune of Milan in the Visconti era have survived only in part. In this work, Caterina Santoro gave a summary of the acts transcribed in the existing registers, as well as others for which she found indirect evidence. Among the many acts summarized or transcribed, there are letters of citizenship granted to those from outside Milan.
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  181. Santoro, Caterina, ed. Gli offici del comune di Milano e del dominio Visconteo-Sforzesco 1216–1515. Milan: A. Giuffrè, 1968.
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  183. This volume lists, city by city, the holders of all municipal offices. It has indices, and is a most useful reference work.
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  185. Milanese Society
  186.  
  187. Although very dynamic and stratified, because of its lively economy and the presence of the court, Milanese society knew clear class divisions. The presence of Jews was generally well tolerated, apart from episodes in the late Quattrocento, despite the hostility of the Observant friars.
  188.  
  189. Nobles and Citizens
  190.  
  191. Besides a great landed aristocracy, holding castles and jurisdiction in the contado (Arcangeli 2003), there was another, more numerous, nobility in Milan, represented by the members of around 150 lineages listed in the Matricola della cattedrale of 1377. In theory a list of families eligible to a cathedral canonry, it was in fact a veritable membership roll of the nobility (Besozzi 1984). The recent work of Del Tredici (Del Tredici 2013) has shown that the idea of nobility expressed by the Matricola did not apply only to the city. In fact, all the members of the huge and complicated families listed were nobles, irrespective of whether they lived in the city or the contado, or of their relative riches and power. The case study of the Piatti family is deeply studied in Covini 2002.
  192.  
  193. Arcangeli, Letizia. Gentiluomini di Lombardia: Ricerche sull’aristocrazia padana nel Rinascimento. Milan: Unicopli, 2003.
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  195. The common theme of this collection of essays, which appeared in different places at different times, is the territorial aristocracy, or the “gentlemen of Lombardy,” as Machiavelli defined them, the holders of lands, men, and castles in the contado—a social group whose vitality, persisting into the 16th century, the author brings out.
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  197. Arcangeli, Letizia. “Alle origini del Consiglio dei sessanta decurioni: Ceti e rappresentanza a Milano tra Massimiliano Sforza e Francesco I di Valois (maggio 1515–luglio 1516).” In Con la ragione e con il cuore: Studi dedicati a Carlo Capra. Edited by Stefano Levati and Marco Meriggi, 33–75. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2008.
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  199. A reconstruction of the genesis of the civic Council of the Sixty, traditionally considered as the palladium of the Milanese nobility. The analysis of its composition, open as it was to the middle classes, and sometimes to eminent popolari families, shows it to be—according to Letizia Arcangeli—a reflection of the composite character that the Milanese patriciate preserved throughout the Cinquecento.
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  201. Besozzi, Leonida. “La ‘matricula’ delle famiglie nobili di Milano e Carlo Borromeo.” Archivio storico lombardo 110 (1984): 273–330.
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  203. To this pioneering research is owed our understanding that the Matricula del duomo of 1377 was something more than a simple list of families admitted to the major benefices of the cathedral. Even in the early modern era, this was still regarded as a veritable register of the Milanese nobility.
  204. Find this resource:
  205. Covini, Nadia. “Essere nobili a Milano nel Quattrocento: Giovanni Tommaso Piatti tra servizio pubblico, interessi fondiari, impegno culturale e civile.” Archivio storico lombardo 128 (2002): 63–155.
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  207. A humanist, holding offices in the dominion, and a member of the governing council of the Ospedale Maggiore, Piatti represented one of the possible types of Milanese nobility, the urban and civic kind.
  208. Find this resource:
  209. Del Tredici, Federico. Comunità, nobili e gentiluomini nel contado di Milano del Quattrocento. Milan: Unicopli, 2013.
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  211. Thousands of links bound together city and contado at the end of the Middle Ages: among them—as Del Tredici notes—the sharing of the same idea of nobility, which rested on belonging to one of around 150 lineages listed in the matricola of the cathedral of Milan.
  212. Find this resource:
  213. Jews
  214.  
  215. Although, thanks to the research of Samuel Simonsohn (Simonsohn 1956—and Simonsohn 1982–1986 and Simonsohn 1987, cited under Jews: Sources), there is a notable array of edited sources available, the history of the Jews in the duchy of Milan is far from having been studied as a whole, and many aspects concerning the life of the Jewish community, its economy, relations with Christians. and so on still remain unexplored. Attention has been drawn above all to the proceedings against Jews initiated in 1488 (Antoniazzi Villa 1985). Still useful is Milano 1965, dedicated to the Jewish presence in Italy, but with many references to the area and period of concern here.
  216.  
  217. Antoniazzi Villa, Anna. Un processo contro gli ebrei nella Milano del 1488: Crescita e declino della comunità ebraica lombarda alla fine del Medioevo. Bologna, Italy: Cappelli, 1985.
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  219. The author analyzes the record of the proceedings initiated in 1488 against the Jewish community of Milan, accused of holding books offensive to the Christian religion. She also provides a reconstruction of the affairs of the Jews in Milan and Lombardy from the end of the Trecento.
  220. Find this resource:
  221. Milano, Attilio. Storia degli ebrei in Italia. Torino: Einaudi, 1965.
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  223. A fundamental portrayal of the history of the Jewish community in Italy from the late Antique era to modern times. It includes important references to the state of Milan at the end of the Middle Ages.
  224. Find this resource:
  225. Simonsohn, Shlomo. “Un privilegio di Francesco II Sforza agli ebrei del ducato di Milano.” In Scritti in memoria di Sally Mayer. Edited by Umberto Nahon, 308–324. Milan and Jerusalem: Fondazione Sally Mayer, 1956.
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  227. An analysis of the privilege granted by the last duke of Milan, Francesco II Sforza, to the Jews of the duchy in 1533. The wretched economic condition of the duchy, devastated by the wars, induced Sforza to make extensive concessions in favor of the Jews, to attract them in great numbers.
  228. Find this resource:
  229. Sources
  230.  
  231. Research on the Jews in the state of Milan has been greatly facilitated by the monumental work of archival exploration conducted by Shlomo Simonsohn (Simonsohn 1982–1986), thanks to which documents very useful for the study of political, social, and economic history have been published. The criteria adopted in the research were clarified by the author in a subsequent article (Simonsohn 1987).
  232.  
  233. Simonsohn, Shlomo, ed. The Jews in the Duchy of Milan. 4 vols. Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1982–1986.
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  235. A work in 4 volumes, in which are transcribed the sources relating to the Jewish presence in the duchy (state) of Milan, from 1387 to 1788. The author has drawn not only on public sources (e.g., ducal letters, privileges), but also notarial archives. The last volume contains a valuable index of personal and place names.
  236. Find this resource:
  237. Simonsohn, Shlomo. “Metodologia e risultati della ricerca per The Jews in the Duchy of Milan.” La Rassegna Mensile di Israel 52 (1987): 335–344.
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  239. In this article, Simonsohn explains and discusses the methodology adopted in his monumental research on the Jews in the state of Milan.
  240. Find this resource:
  241. Urban Spaces, Cartography
  242.  
  243. The relation between urban spaces, civic society, and political power has been explored with reference to the situation in Milan. The first reconnaissance of the construction of the urban spaces was in an old work by Franca Sinatti D’Amico, drawn mostly from literary sources and regulations (Sinatti D’Amico 1979). The piazze of the cathedral and of the Arengo have been the object of detailed research (Grossi 1997, Soldi Rondinini 1990–1991, Spinelli 1990–1991), as have the material aspects of the city’s buildings (Saita 1997). Boucheron 2006 sheds light on the extent of the suburbs that grew up in the 14th and 15th centuries outside the walls: the sign of an expanding city, hungry for space. The oldest maps of Milan are studied and reproduced in Gambi and Gozzoli 1982.
  244.  
  245. Boucheron, Patrick. “Milano e i suoi sobborghi: identità urbana e pratiche socio economiche ai confini di uno spazio incerto (1400 ca.–1550 ca.).” Società e Storia 112 (2006): 235–252.
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  247. The extraordinary growth of later medieval Milan not only profoundly changed the urban fabric within the walls, but brought about the birth of a plurality of new settlements outside the walls—veritable suburbs—of which Boucheron reconstructs the history.
  248. Find this resource:
  249. Gambi, Lucio, and Maria Cristina Gozzoli, eds. Milano. Rome: Laterza, 1982.
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  251. The book addresses the theme of urban space in relation to its cartographic representations, of which it offers a detailed list (with relative photographs), beginning with the oldest.
  252. Find this resource:
  253. Grossi, Ada. Santa Tecla nel tardo Medioevo: La grande basilica milanese, il paradisus, i mercati. Milan: Edizioni ET, 1997.
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  255. A careful reconstruction of a large part of the present Piazza del Duomo, with its urbanistic and architectural conformation, and the commercial activities carried on there.
  256. Find this resource:
  257. Saita, Eleonora. Case e mercato immobiliare a Milano in età visconteo-sforzesca (secoli XIV-XV). Milan: C.U.E.M., 1997.
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  259. The buildings and materials of houses in the city in the 14th and 15th centuries are presented here. There is also a reconnaissance of the Milanese property market and the ways in which houses were managed.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Sinatti D’Amico, Franca. Per una città: Lineamenti di legislazione urbanistica e di politica territoriale nella storia di Milano. Todi, Italy: Tipografia Tiberina, 1979.
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  263. The book recounts the history of the development of the city of Milan and the organization of civic space, from regulations. The work, if somewhat dated, still represents an important point of departure.
  264. Find this resource:
  265. Soldi Rondinini, Gigliola. Saggi di storia e storiografia visconteo-sforzesche. Bologna, Italy: Cappelli, 1984.
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  267. In this collection of essays, held together with a little artifice by the Visconti-Sforza frame, the theme of civic urban structures occurs in at least two chapters, concerning, respectively, the Fabbrica del Duomo and the aspect of the city in the time of Ludovico il Moro.
  268. Find this resource:
  269. Soldi Rondinini, Gigliola. “Una piazza in costruzione: La platea ecclesiae maioris Mediolani.” In La piazza del Duomo nella città medievale (nord e media Italia secoli XI-XVI), Bollettino Istituto storico artistico orvietano. Edited by Lucio Riccetti, 333–354. 1990–1991.
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  271. The construction of the new cathedral at the end of the Trecento profoundly altered the surrounding urban space. The author follows the various stages of this process, showing how the piazza was not just a place for sociability, but also a space for economic activities.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Spinelli, Marina. “Una piazza in costruzione: La “platea curie arenghi Mediolani.” In La piazza del Duomo nella città medievale (nord e media Italia secoli XI-XVI), Bollettino Istituto storico artistico orvietano. Edited by Lucio Riccetti, 355–363. 1990–1991.
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  275. Adjacent to the piazza of the cathedral is the piazza of the Arengo, the civic heart of the city, where once stood the Broletto vecchio (the old palace of the commune), and where in the 14th century, Azzone Visconti had the palace of the lord built. Spinelli reconstructs the origin and transformations of this piazza.
  276. Find this resource:
  277. Urban and Princely Rituals
  278.  
  279. Alongside the previous theme, another has arisen, the investigation of the connection between urban spaces and ritual. In the Visconti era, the city became the theater in which rituals that were really municipal and those inspired by the prince became entwined. In particular, the appropriation by the Visconti of civic rituals for the purposes of legitimation has been well described (Boucheron 2003, Boucheron 2008, Cariboni 2008), as has the subsequent disengagement (Cengarle 2010), in the attempt to find a basis for Visconti power that owed nothing to communal traditions, but which also reflected aspirations to regional government (Chittolini 1990).
  280.  
  281. Boucheron, Patrick. “Tout est monument: Le mausolée d’Azzone Visconti à San Gottardo in Corte de Milan (1342–1346).” In Liber Largitorius: Études d’histoire médiévale offertes à Pierre Toubert par ses élèves. Edited by Dominique Barthélemy, 303–326. Geneva, Switzerland: Droz, 2003.
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  283. The famous mausoleum of Azzone Visconti, on which are represented the cities of Lombardy (each personified by its patron saint) in deferent homage to Milan and Saint Ambrose, is the object of this stimulating study, in which the theme of the legitimization of the new dynasty is intertwined with that of the recovery and new significance of civic rituals.
  284. Find this resource:
  285. Boucheron, Patrick. “Palimpsestes ambrosiens: La commune, la liberté et le saint patron (Milan, XIe-XVe siècles).” In Le passé à l’épreuve du présent: appropriations et usages du passé du Moyen Âge à la Renaissance. Edited by Chastang Pierre, 15–38. Paris: Presses de l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2008.
  286. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  287. The long survival and the fortunes of the image of Ambrose, the symbol of liberty, is reconstructed by Boucheron, who takes his research up the mid-15th century, to the time of the Repubblica Ambrosiana.
  288. Find this resource:
  289. Cariboni, Guido. “Comunicazione simbolica e identità cittadina a Milano presso i primi Visconti (1277–1354).” Retimedievali Rivista 9 (2008).
  290. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  291. Cariboni explores the legitimating function of the recuperation of the civic cults and traditions, beginning with the veneration for Saint Ambrose.
  292. Find this resource:
  293. Cengarle, Federica. “I Visconti e il culto della Vergine (XIV secolo): Qualche osservazione.” Annali di storia moderna e contemporanea (2010): 215–228.
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  295. As Cengarle observes, at a certain moment of their history, the Visconti recognized the need to take their distance from the cult of Saint Ambrose, seen as really a civic one. Alongside the old municipal tradition, the lords of Milan accordingly placed a new cult, that for the Virgin, following a regal model that can be observed in France, a kingdom with which the Visconti had strong dynastic links.
  296. Find this resource:
  297. Chittolini, Giorgio. “Civic Religion and the Countryside in Late Medieval Italy.” City and Countryside in Late Medieval and Renaissance Italy: Essays presented to Philip Jones. Edited by Trevor Dean, and Chris Wickham, 69–80. London: Hambledon, 1990.
  298. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  299. If in that era it was the communities of the contado that presented an offering to the cathedral of Milan once a year, as a sign of obedience to the metropolis, the same ritual was then performed on the day of the Assumption by the cities of the dominion, who in this way recognized their subjection to the Visconti.
  300. Find this resource:
  301. Marriage, Family, and Household
  302.  
  303. In Quattrocento Milan, the duke exercised great influence over the matrimonial choices of the elites, so as to control concentrations of property and alliances (Leverotti 2005). Even the transformations of the way in which inheritances were passed down during the 15th century seem to find an explanation in the political and institutional context (Arcangeli 2012). The impression that the entire court was a network of families linked with one another, now by marriage, now by relations of godparenthood, is evident from the book of memoirs of the jurisconsult Bartolomeo Morone (Covini 2010), which with the Memoriale of Sozzone Suardi (Mainoni and Sala 2003) constitutes one of the few surviving examples of such memoirs. In this panorama, the numerous studies of individual lineages deserve mention: apart from the bibliographic references that can be found in Arcangeli 2012, see also the instances indicated in Tallone 1998 and Vaglienti 1995. A dated survey of the Milanese patriciate is offered in Calvi 1875.
  304.  
  305. Arcangeli, Letizia. “Ragioni di stato e ragioni di famiglia: Strategie successorie dell’aristocrazia milanese tra Quattro e Cinquecento (Visconti, Trivulzio, Borromeo).” Mélanges de l’École française de Rome 124.2 (2012).
  306. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  307. Through the analysis of some case studies (Borromeo, Visconti, Trivulzio), the author traces the transformations in the system of transmission of the patrimonies of the elites, observing an incipient trend in the 15th century toward primogeniture, thanks to individual concessions by the dukes.
  308. Find this resource:
  309. Calvi, Felice. Il patriziato milanese: Secondo nuovi documenti deposti negli archivi pubblici e privati. Milan: A. Mosconi Libraio, 1875.
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  311. A learned work containing documents that it is no longer possible to find in the archives. Useful for the reconstruction of the genealogies of the major Milanese families.
  312. Find this resource:
  313. Covini, Maria Nadia, ed. Il libro di ricordi di Bartolomeo Morone, giureconsulto milanese (1412–1455). Milan: Unicopli, 2010.
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  315. A unique example of a book of memoirs, written by the jurist Bartolomeo Morone. It opens up an interesting view of Milanese political life in crucial years, such as those that saw the last Visconti duke, the Repubblica Ambrosiana, and the advent of Francesco Sforza.
  316. Find this resource:
  317. Leverotti, Franca. Famiglia e istituzioni nel Medioevo italiano: Dal tardo antico al Rinascimento. Rome: Carocci, 2005.
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  319. A broad synthesis, ranging from the high to the late Middle Ages, embracing all of Italy. Some parts are devoted to Milan and Lombardy, offering important elements for understanding the role of the prince in elite marriages.
  320. Find this resource:
  321. Mainoni, Patrizia, and Arveno Sala, eds. I Registri litterarum di Bergamo, 1363–1410: Il carteggio dei signori di Bergamo. Milan: Unicopli, 2003.
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  323. Among the registers from Bergamo transcribed here, there figures the extraordinary memoir of Sozzone Suardi, a soldier (with the rank of provvigionato) in the service of Bernabò Visconti. A most valuable source for the study of the noble mentality in Lombardy.
  324. Find this resource:
  325. Tallone, Claudio, ed. Cairati, Castiglioni, Martignoni ed altri casati locali nel Medioevo. Varese, Italy: Lativa, 1998.
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  327. The volume gathers the papers of a conference dedicated to some important families with roots in Milan and its contado. Their ascent and strategies are reconstructed.
  328. Find this resource:
  329. Vaglienti, Francesca Maria. “Non siando may puniti de li excessi fati, ogni dì presumono fare pegio”: Violenze consortili nella Legnano di fine ’400.” In L’Alto Milanese nell’età del ducato. Edited by Claudio Tallone, 143–170. Varese, Italy: Lativa, 1995.
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  331. Examines the social role of the Crivelli and Lampugnani families in the Legnano at the end of the Quattrocento. In some ways a pioneering essay, which first identified the social role of feuding in the area in question.
  332. Find this resource:
  333. Gender
  334.  
  335. Partly because of the relative scarcity of sources, above all diaries or letters, the theme of gender cannot boast a conspicuous tradition for Milan: certainly not comparable to that of cities such as Venice and Florence. There have been two poles of recent research: the relation of women to power (Arcangeli and Peyronel 2008, Covini 2012), and the role of women in the world of work, as worker or as entrepreneur (Zanoboni 1997).
  336.  
  337. Arcangeli, Letizia, and Susanna Peyronel, eds. Donne di potere nel Rinascimento. Rome: Viella, 2008.
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  339. The proceedings of an important conference on powerful women in Renaissance Italy. The geographical and chronological span is wide, but there are some important contributions on Lombardy in the 15th and 16th century. The preface outlines the state of the historiographical debate in Italy.
  340. Find this resource:
  341. Covini, Maria Nadia. Donne, emozioni e potere alla corte degli Sforza: Da Bianca Maria a Cecilia Gallerani. Milan: Unicopli, 2012.
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  343. The volume brings together some essays already published elsewhere, with a common theme: the women of the court of the Visconti and Sforza (duchesses, princesses, lovers, etc.). The historiographical strand of gender history is fruitfully meshed with political history, and with the history of the emotions.
  344. Find this resource:
  345. Zanoboni, Maria Paola. Produzioni, commerci, lavoro femminile nella Milano del XV secolo. Milan: CUEM, 1997.
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  347. In a historiographical panorama characterized by attention to the relation of women to power (or politics), the book by Zanoboni stands out as a collection of essays in which, for the first time, the role of women within the world of work is examined.
  348. Find this resource:
  349. The Territorial State
  350.  
  351. The panorama of studies on the Milanese territorial state has been enormously enriched in recent decades, beginning with the pioneering research of Giorgio Chittolini, who was among the first to refute the applicability of the concept of the modern state to Renaissance political formations (Chittolini 1979, Chittolini 1996). In the wake of this research a true school has developed, which in dialogue with Chittolini has revisited some of his theses—from the ducal feudal politics (Cengarle 2006) to the political roles of cities (Gamberini 2009)—and developed new themes of research: from factions (Gentile 2005) to political languages (Gamberini 2005, Gamberini 2009).
  352.  
  353. Cengarle, Federica. Immagine di potere e prassi di governo: La politica feudale di Filippo Maria Visconti. Rome: Viella, 2006.
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  355. The author has returned, with original intuitions, to a theme already treated by Chittolini (Chittolini 1979), that of the feudal policy of Filippo Maria Visconti. Cengarle’s analysis not only deals with practice, but also with the ideas and juridical thinking that guided and sustained the duke’s actions.
  356. Find this resource:
  357. Chittolini, Giorgio. La formazione dello stato regionale e le istituzioni del contado: Secoli XIV–XV. Turin, Italy: Einaudi, 1979.
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  359. In this collection of essays, which had already appeared individually in other publications, Chittolini identified in the crisis of the commune the premise for the advent of the signoria. The organization of the territory between the 14th and 15th centuries became the testing ground for the new regulatory attitude of the signorial state, contending with the opposed territorial claims of the cities and the many rural lordships that still prospered in the countryside.
  360. Find this resource:
  361. Chittolini, Giorgio. Città, comunità e feudi dell’Italia centro-settentrionale (XIV–XVI secolo). Milan: Unicopli, 1996.
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  363. The growth of the regulatory capacity of the state was constructed—Chittolini observes—not through the elimination of the many territorial bodies present in the dominion, but rather though pacts and agreements with them: townships, great and small; quasi-cities; valley communities; rural federations, and so on.
  364. Find this resource:
  365. Del Tredici, Federico. “Lombardy under the Visconti and the Sforza.” In The Italian Renaissance State. Edited by Gamberini Andrea and Lazzarini Isabella, 156–176. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
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  367. The most up-to-date synthesis in English of the history of the state of Milan from the Visconti foundation up to 1535. The author also analyzes the various historiographical orientations on the subject.
  368. Find this resource:
  369. Gamberini, Andrea. Lo stato visconteo: Linguaggi politici e dinamiche costituzionali. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2005.
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  371. The volume, which brings together previously unpublished and already published essays, weaves the traditional strand of institutional history with the much more recent one of political languages. Political and social conflict and confrontation within the dominion are thus traced to the opposing material interests of the protagonists, but also to the often divergent political cultures.
  372. Find this resource:
  373. Gamberini, Andrea. Oltre le città: Assetti territoriali e culture aristocratiche nella Lombardia del tardo medioevo. Rome: Viella, 2009.
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  375. Compared to a historiographical mainstream inclined to identify in cities the principal interlocutors of the duke, this book restores a prominent role to the territorial aristocracies, and also investigates the ideas and political culture that guided them.
  376. Find this resource:
  377. Gentile, Marco, ed. Guelfi e ghibellini nell’Italia del Rinascimento. Rome: Viella, 2005.
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  379. An important volume that points to the strength and significance that the Guelf and Ghibelline factions still maintained between the 14th and 16th centuries. In the duchy of Milan—to which several contributions are dedicated—the factions were in fact recognized by the prince as an element of order and a regulator of society and political conflict.
  380. Find this resource:
  381. Somaini, Francesco. “Processi costitutivi, dinamiche politiche e strutture istituzionali dello Stato visconteo-sforzesco.” In Storia d’Italia. Vol. 6, Comuni e signorie nell’Italia settentrionale Edited by G. Galasso, 681–825. Turin, Italy: Utet, 1998.
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  383. A lucid and detailed synthesis of the history of Milan in the age of the Visconti and Sforza, with a very full bibliography.
  384. Find this resource:
  385. The Bureaucracy, The Army, Finance, and Diplomacy
  386.  
  387. From the beginning, the historiography on Lombardy in the early Renaissance has devoted great attention to the structures underpinning the state. The researches of Federico Chabod on the age of Charles V have in fact emphasized the role of the central and peripheral bureaucracy of the state in the 14th and 15th centuries; hence a series of prosopographies and lists of officials, summaries, and transcriptions of ducal letters (see Bureaucracy, The Army, Finance, and Diplomacy: Sources), and hence, too, a series of studies of the army (Covini 1997), of justice and the role of jurists (Leverotti 1994b, Covini 2007), of officials on the periphery (Leverotti 1994a) and at the center (especially the chancery: Baroni 1984, Leverotti 1997), and of diplomacy (Margaroli 1992, Senatore 1998).
  388.  
  389. Baroni, Maria Franca. “La cancelleria e gli atti cancellereschi dei Visconti, signori di Milano dal 1277 al 1447.” In Landesherrliche Kanzleien im Spätmittelalter. Referate zum VI: Internationalen Kongreß für Diplomatik, München, 1983. Vol. 2. Edited by G. Lisagi. Munich: Arbeo-Gesellschaft, 1984.
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  391. The functioning of the Visconti chancery and its staff are the subject of this detailed study, the point of departure for all future research on this topic.
  392. Find this resource:
  393. Covini, Maria Nadia. L’esercito del duca: Organizzazione militare e istituzioni al tempo degli Sforza (1450–1480). Rome: ISIME, 1997.
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  395. A detailed study of the ducal army in the Sforza era. From it emerges a picture not only of the military, but also the social aspects: the origins of the military commanders, their family and clientage networks, access to court, and so on.
  396. Find this resource:
  397. Covini, Maria Nadia. “La balanza drita”: Pratiche di governo, leggi e ordinamenti nel ducato sforzesco. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2007.
  398. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  399. The role of the jurists—the experts enrolled in the college, and the teachers in the university—is examined in this book that recalls the importance of the formal aspects of justice, as distinct from the emphasis placed by many recent studies on judicial bargaining.
  400. Find this resource:
  401. Leverotti, Franca. “Diligentia, obedentia, fides, taciturnitas . . . cum modestia. La Cancelleria segreta nel ducato sforzesco.” Ricerche Storiche 24.2 (1994a): 305–336.
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  403. An examination of the composition, functioning, and transformation of the chancery in the Sforza era. Great attention is also paid to the individual chancellors.
  404. Find this resource:
  405. Leverotti, Franca. “Governare a modo e stillo de’ Signori”: Osservazioni in margine all’amministrazione della giustizia al tempo di Galeazzo Maria Sforza duca di Milano (1466–76). Florence: Olschki, 1994b.
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  407. Although Leverotti’s principal aim was to focus on the arbitrary judicial policy of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, who was prompted by the wish to make justice a rich source of revenue, the essay also includes much material on Milanese families and their relations with the court. From the prosopographical analysis conducted by the author, the mesh of links binding together the major actors of the time clearly emerges.
  408. Find this resource:
  409. Leverotti, Franca. “Gli officiali nel ducato sforzesco.” Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore 4.1 (1997): 17–77.
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  411. A very detailed analysis of officialdom at the center and the periphery in the Sforza era. The study has as its point of departure a questionnaire (geographical origin, education, salary, etc), and draws a profile of all the major offices of the duchy.
  412. Find this resource:
  413. Margaroli, Paolo. Diplomazia e stati rinascimentali: Le ambascerie sforzesche fino alla conclusione della Lega italica (1450–1455). Florence: La Nuova Italia Editrice, 1992.
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  415. A key instrument for the affirmation of the new Sforza dynasty on the international plane, diplomacy (its men, how it functioned, etc.) is carefully analyzed in this study by Margaroli, who concentrates on the years immediately preceding the Italian League (1455).
  416. Find this resource:
  417. Senatore, Francesco. “Uno mundo de carta”: Forme e strutture della diplomazia sforzesca. Naples: Liguori, 1998.
  418. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  419. In the 15th century, the Sforza duchy of Milan stood out for the efficiency of its diplomatic organization. The defusion of resident ambassadors brought a marked increase in correspondence, which Senatore analyzes from the perspective of writing, form, and language.
  420. Find this resource:
  421. Sources
  422.  
  423. From the early 20th century, attention to the growth of the bureaucratic apparatus and of government in ducal Lombardy led to a series of editorial initiatives, intended to list the letters issuing from the Visconti chancery (Società Storica Lombarda 1911–1937), to provide a summary of the fiscal and financial documents of the Visconti era (Santoro 1976–1983), and census of the offices and officials of the duchy (Santoro 1948, Leverotti 1992). In consequence, all the feudal investitures granted by Duke Filippo Maria have been summarized (Cengarle 2007), and fiscal and financial documents, tangible testimony of the efforts of the government of the lords and then the dukes of Milan, have not been overlooked (Santoro 1976–1983). Diplomatic reports, whether those sent by Milanese ambassadors in France and Burgundy (Kendall and Ilardi 1970), at the papal court (Battioni 2013), in Neaples (Senatore and Storti 1997) or those sent by Venetian and Mantuan ambassadors in Milan (Lazzarini 1939, Leverotti 1999–), have been revealed as particularly rich and useful sources for the study of the state of Milan. Even the ciphers used in the Sforza diplomacy have been studied (Cerioni 1970).
  424.  
  425. Battioni, Gianluca, ed. Carteggio degli oratori sforzeschi alla corte pontificia: 1. Niccolò 5. (27 febbraio 1447–30 aprile 1452). 2 vols. Rome: Roma nel Rinascimento, 2013.
  426. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  427. An edition of the dispatches of Milanese ambassadors at the papal court in years 1447–1452. It has a useful index of place and personal names.
  428. Find this resource:
  429. Cengarle, Federica, ed. Feudi e feudatari del duca Filippo Maria Visconti: Repertorio. Milan: Edizioni Unicopli, 2007.
  430. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  431. The fruit of careful bibliographical and archival research, this volume provides a list of the fiefs and fiefholders of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti. It has an index of place and personal names.
  432. Find this resource:
  433. Cerioni, Lydia. La diplomazia sforzesca nella seconda meta del Quattrocento e i suoi cifrari segreti. 2 vols. Rome: Il centro di ricerca, 1970.
  434. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  435. A work in two volumes, the first containing a historical introduction on communications in cipher in the Sforza ambit, as well as some biographical notices of Milanese ambassadors, the second some ciphers used in Sforza diplomacy.
  436. Find this resource:
  437. Kendall, Paul M., and Ilardi Vincent, eds. Dispatches with Related Documents of Milanese Ambassadors in France and Burgundy, 1450–1483. 3 vols. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1970.
  438. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  439. An important publishing initiative, comprising an edition of the dispatches of Milanese ambassadors at the courts of France and Burgundy in years (1450–1483) crucial for the dukes of the Milan, in need of international affirmation. Unfortunately, they only got up to 1466.
  440. Find this resource:
  441. Lazzarini, Vittorio, ed. Dispacci di Pietro Cornaro: Ambasciatore a Milano durante la guerra di Chioggia. Venezia, Italy: R. Deputazione, 1939.
  442. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  443. A little-known work of Milanese historiography, but very rich in information on the lords of Milan (Bernabò and Gian Galeazzo Visconti) and their entourage in the years of the War of Chioggia (1379–1381).
  444. Find this resource:
  445. Leverotti, Franca. Governo dello stato e organizzazione diplomatica: I “famigli cavalcanti” di Francesco Sforza (1450–1466). Pisa, Italy: Pacini, 1992.
  446. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  447. Introduced by an examination of the office of the famigli cavalcanti (mounted couriers), the volume provides a careful prosopography (in the form of biographical notices) of those who filled this office.
  448. Find this resource:
  449. Leverotti, Franca, ed. Carteggio degli oratori mantovani alla Corte Sforzesca 1450–1500. 10 vols. Rome: Mibac, 1999–.
  450. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  451. In the Archivio Gonzaga, now held in the Archivio di Stato of Mantua, are preserved the rich series of reports sent to their lord by Mantuan ambassadors at the Sforza court. A very valuable source not only for the history of Milan and the duchy, but more generally for Quattrocento society and politics. The edition of these sources is still in progress.
  452. Find this resource:
  453. Santoro, Caterina, ed. Gli uffici del dominio sforzesco (1450–1500). Milan: Fondazione Treccani degli Alfieri per la storia di Milano, 1948.
  454. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  455. The volume, still very useful, gives information on the holders of all the offices of the Sforza dominion, as well as references to how the offices functioned.
  456. Find this resource:
  457. Santoro, Caterina, ed. La politica finanziaria dei Visconti: Documenti. 3 vols. Milan: Giuffré, 1976–1983.
  458. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  459. Profound knowledge of the archives of the cities and centers subject to the dominion of the Visconti allowed Caterina Santoro to publish hundreds of fiscal and financial documents, which are still an indispensable point of departure for those studying the Visconti era, from 1329 to 1447. The book has indices.
  460. Find this resource:
  461. Senatore, Francesco, and Francesco Storti, eds. Dispacci sforzeschi da Napoli. 4 vols. Salerno, Italy: Carlone, 1997.
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  463. An ongoing edition of the dispatches of the Milanese ambassadors at the court of Naples. So far, four volumes have been printed, but some others have been scheduled.
  464. Find this resource:
  465. Società Storica Lombarda. Repertorio diplomatico visconteo: Documenti dal 1263 al 1402. 3 vols. Milan: Hoepli, 1911–1937.
  466. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  467. A search of a mass of archival material led the team coordinated by the Società Storica Lombarda to publish a list of letters issuing from the Visconti chancery and addressed to recipients within and outside the dominion. Still a work of fundamental importance.
  468. Find this resource:
  469. The State Seen from the Periphery
  470.  
  471. The dispersal of the Visconti archive, of which just a few registers survive, has induced historians to look in the archives of the subject cities for sources for the study of the workings of government in the 14th and 15th centuries. This is a way to work around the gaps in the archive of the duke of Milan, and also to try a fresh historiographical approach, from below, so as not to reduce historical reconstruction solely to the initiative of the lords and dukes. Among the most interesting examples, are Parma (Gentile 2001), Bergamo (Mainoni 1997), Brescia (Pagnoni 2013), Reggio (Gamberini 2003), and the Valtellina (Della Misericordia 2006). The city of Pavia has been studied in relation to its memory as a royal capital in the Lombards’ period (Majocchi 2003).
  472.  
  473. Della Misericordia, Massimo. Divenire comunità: Comuni rurali, poteri locali, identità sociali e territoriali in Valtellina e nella montagna lombarda nel tardo Medioevo. Milan: Unicopli, 2006.
  474. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  475. The birth of rural communities in the mountains of Lombardy that the dukes tended to incorporate in feudal structures, in order to facilitate relations with them, is the subject of this analytical study, which is a model for every investigation of such themes.
  476. Find this resource:
  477. Gamberini, Andrea. La città assediata: Poteri e identità politiche a Reggio in età viscontea. Rome: Viella, 2003.
  478. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  479. Surrounded by rural lordships, Reggio at the end of the 14th century was a small city, almost without its own district, yet precious for the Visconti, to whom it represented a bridgehead for an expansionist policy in the direction of Bologna. Despite this, the author shows how the favor of the prince was bestowed not on the city, but on the lordships of the contado, whose support was necessary for guarding the border.
  480. Find this resource:
  481. Gentile, Marco. Terra e poteri: Parma e il Parmense nel ducato visconteo all’inizio del Quattrocento. Milan: Unicopli, 2001.
  482. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  483. A prime example of a city governed by factions headed by powerful lineages of the contado, with whom the Visconti, willingly or not, had to deal. The foundations of the legitimacy of signorial power in the countryside are also investigated.
  484. Find this resource:
  485. Mainoni, Patrizia. Le radici della discordia: Ricerche sulla fiscalità a Bergamo tra XIII e XV secolo. Milan: Unicopli, 1997.
  486. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  487. The relations of the Visconti and a subject city (Bergamo) are analyzed by Mainoni through a study of taxation and the repercussions it provoked, including in the relation of the city to the contado.
  488. Find this resource:
  489. Majocchi, Piero. Pavia città regia: Storia e memoria di una capitale medievale. Rome: Viella, 2003.
  490. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  491. The memory of Pavia as a royal capital (it had in fact been capital of the kingdom of the Lombards) was revived after the Visconti conquest to support the royal ambitions of the new dynasty, in particular of Gian Galeazzo.
  492. Find this resource:
  493. Pagnoni, Fabrizio. Brescia viscontea (1337–1403): Organizzazione territoriale, identità cittadina e politiche di governo negli anni della prima dominazione milanese. Milan: Unicopli, 2013.
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  495. Although in the time of Venetian rule everything was done to eliminate the memory of its Visconti past, Brescia was one of the prinicipal subject cities of the Visconti dominion. The author examines the relations between the Visconti and the major Brescian families, as well as the policy of the lords of Milan.
  496. Find this resource:
  497. The End of Independence and the Italian Wars
  498.  
  499. Although it is a long time since Italian historians saw in the Italian Wars and the subsequent foreign occupation the beginning (and the cause) of a centuries-long crisis in the peninsula, the advent of Louis XII in the duchy of Milan continues to represent an important subject for reflection, only partially satisfied by conferences in 1998–1999 that commemorated the anniversary of the French expeditions and whose proceedings were subsequently published (Abulafia 1995, Arcangeli 2002, Contamine and Guillaume 2003). Alongside these, the researches of Meschini on the duchy of Milan in the age of Louis XII (Meschini 2004), and on the French dominion (Meschini 2006) are worthy of mention. A case apart is that of the extraordinary figure of Leon G. Pélissier, who at the end of the 19th century not only reconstructed in detail the diplomatic and military relations between Ludovico il Moro and Louis XII (Pélissier 1896), but also began publishing entire series of documents on the period (see End of Independence and the Italian Wars: Sources). Finally, the recent interest of historians in the artistic patronage linked to the arrival of the French in the duchy should be noted (Elsig and Mauro 2013).
  500.  
  501. Abulafia, David, ed. The French Descent into Renaissance Italy, 1494–95: Antecedents and Effects. Aldershot, UK: Variorum, 1995.
  502. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  503. This volume, an interdisciplinary miscellany of papers, investigates the causes of the descent of the French into Italy, and the political and diplomatic context.
  504. Find this resource:
  505. Arcangeli, Letizia, ed. Milano e Luigi XII: Ricerche sul primo dominio francese in Lombardia (1499–1512). Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2002.
  506. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  507. The first French dominion in Lombardy is at the center of this miscellaneous volume, which examines the subject free from preconceptions about foreign domination.
  508. Find this resource:
  509. Contamine, Philippe, and Jean Guillaume, eds. Louis XII en Milanais: XLIe Colloque international d’études humanistes, 30 juin–3 juillet 1998. Paris: H. Champion, 2003.
  510. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  511. The proceedings of a conference on the government of Louis XII over Milan, with contributions not only on politics and diplomacy, but also on the arts and literature.
  512. Find this resource:
  513. Elsig, Frédéric, and Natale Mauro, eds. Le Duché de Milan et les commanditaires français (1499–1521). Rome: Viella, 2013.
  514. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  515. A substantial, interdisciplinary volume. The role of French artistic and architectural patronage is investigated, together with the influence of Leonardo in France.
  516. Find this resource:
  517. Meschini, Stefano. Luigi XII duca di Milano: Gli uomini e le istituzioni del primo dominio francese (1499–1512). Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2004.
  518. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  519. A painstaking examination of the structures of the duchy of Milan in the age of Louis XII. Particular attention is given to the institutional apparatus, in which a lasting innovation, the Senate, stands out.
  520. Find this resource:
  521. Meschini, Stefano. La Francia nel ducato di Milano. 2 vols. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2006.
  522. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  523. Two volumes dedicated to a careful and minute examination of the diplomatic and military events from the advent of Louis XII as duke of Milan to his fall in 1512.
  524. Find this resource:
  525. Pélissier, Léon-G., ed. Louis XII et Ludovic Sforza (8 avril 1498–23 juillet 1500): Recherches dans les archives italiennes. 3 vols. Paris: Thorin-Fontemoing, 1896.
  526. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  527. A monumental work of research on the diplomatic and military relations between Ludovico il Moro and Louis XII. Very rich in information, even if the tone is clearly pro-French.
  528. Find this resource:
  529. Sources
  530.  
  531. To Léon-Gaston Pélissier is owed the publication in the late 19th century of an enormous quantity of documentary sources on the French domination of Milan and its establishment. Among his major editorial enterprises were a collection of diplomatic documents concerning Louis XII’s dukedom (Pélissier 1891) and the edition of the ducal decrees relating to the French period (Pélissier 1897).
  532.  
  533. Pélissier, Léon-G., ed. Documents pour l’histoire de la domination française dans le Milanais, 1499–1513. Toulouse, France: Imprimerie et librairie E. Privat, 1891.
  534. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  535. A collection of diplomatic documents and acts of government relating to the years of Louis XII’s dukedom. Still fundamental.
  536. Find this resource:
  537. Pélissier, Léon-G., ed. Registres Panigarola et le Gridario generale de l’Archivio di Stato de Milan: Pendant la domination française (1499–1513). Paris: Librairie Émile Bouillon, 1897.
  538. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  539. The Panigarola registers were those in which the commune of Milan traditionally copied all the edicts and decrees of the dukes. Those relating to the French period (1499–1513) are transcribed here.
  540. Find this resource:
  541. The Court
  542.  
  543. Little studied for the 14th century (above all for lack of sources), the subject of the court has, by contrast, been much analyzed for the Quattrocento, especially with reference to the courts of Galeazzo Maria Sforza (Lubkin 1994) and Ludovico il Moro (Malaguzzi Valeri 1915–1929). Of the many figures at the Milanese court, the authoritative astrologers have been the subject of the most recent research (Azzolini 2012), whereas the doctors have been studied by Marylin Nicoud (Nicoud 2014). An essay of Bueno De Mesquita focuses on the privy council (Bueno de Mesquita 1989).
  544.  
  545. Azzolini, Monica. The Duke and the Stars: Astrology and Politics in Renaissance Milan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012.
  546. DOI: 10.4159/harvard.9780674067912Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  547. This book is a cultural study of astrology at the Sforza court. The author emphasizes the prestige of astrology (it was taught at the University of Pavia), as well as the varying influence it had in the court of the different dukes of Milan.
  548. Find this resource:
  549. Bueno de Mesquita, D. M. “The Privy Council in the Government of the Dukes of Milan.” In Florence and Milan: Comparisons and Relations; Acts of Two Conferences at Villa I Tatti in 1982–1984. Edited by Craig Hugh Smyth and Gian Carlo Garfagnini, 135–156. Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1989.
  550. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  551. The essay focuses on the genesis and development of the councils of the prince, the heart of the court and the center of gravity for all those who sought social ascent.
  552. Find this resource:
  553. Lubkin, Gregory. A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
  554. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  555. An exhaustive study of the court of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, who aimed to promote his own princely image through the splendor of his court.
  556. Find this resource:
  557. Malaguzzi Valeri, Francesco. La corte di Lodovico il Moro. 4 vols. Milan: Hoepli, 1915–1929.
  558. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  559. A work in four volumes, in which a large part is dedicated to the arts and literature. The first volume, above all, provides very useful information on the splendid court of Ludovico il Moro.
  560. Find this resource:
  561. Nicoud, Marylin. Le prince et les médecins: Pensée et pratiques médicales à Milan (1402–1476). Rome: Ecole Française de Rome, 2014.
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  563. A detailed investigation into the relationship between the dukes, their doctors, and the University of Pavia, with a special focus on the medical thought of the day. It includes a list of medical manuscripts.
  564. Find this resource:
  565. Banking and Merchant Enterprises
  566.  
  567. An analysis of the costs and strategies of Milanese commerce is offered by Frangioni (Frangioni 1982), who also studied the units of measurement used in Milan and Lombardy (Frangioni 1993). But Milan was not only a center of production of the first order, where people promoted innovation (Zanoboni 2005), it was also one of the major marketplaces of Italy, in which a lively group of bankers and financiers were active, as pointed out in Del Bo 2010). What the role of the Visconti (and then the Sforza) was in this has been much debated: if in the past some research emphasized their support for merchants and manufacturing (Barbieri 1938, Barbieri 1961), today more attention is paid to the economic circumstances of the time (Mainoni 1994). The activities of some Milanese merchants in Barcelona and Valencia are investigated in Mainoni 1982, whereas a summary introduction to Milanese Arts is provided by Ambrosioni 1997.
  568.  
  569. Ambrosioni, Annamaria, ed. Le corporazioni milanesi e Sant’Ambrogio nel medioevo. Milan: Camera di Commercio, Industria e Artigianato di Milano, 1997.
  570. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  571. A short history of the craft corporations in medieval and Renaissance Milan. Includes a useful bibliography and an anthology of sources relating to the Milanese corporations.
  572. Find this resource:
  573. Barbieri, Gino. Economia e politica nel ducato di Milano (1386–1535). Milan: Vita e Pensiero, 1938.
  574. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  575. A lucid analysis of the principal Milanese sectors of production and of the economic provisions issued by the Visconti and Sforza; still fundmental today.
  576. Find this resource:
  577. Barbieri, Gino. Origini del capitalismo lombardo. Milan: Giuffrè, 1961.
  578. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  579. An important collection of essays first published elsewhere, which started the debate on the originality of the case of the Lombard economy compared with a more general negative trend.
  580. Find this resource:
  581. Del Bo, Beatrice. Banca e politica a Milano a metà Quattrocento. Rome: Viella, 2010.
  582. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  583. The first systematic research on the profile of the bankers active in Milan in the later Middle Ages. The principal source for this book is constituted by around two hundred examples of the dishonoring of letters of exchange between 1441 and 1454.
  584. Find this resource:
  585. Frangioni, Luciana. Milano e le sue strade: Costi di trasporto e vie di comunicazione dei prodotti milanesi alla fine del Trecento. Bologna, Italy: Cappelli, 1982.
  586. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  587. The main source is the documentation of businesses operating in Milan, from which emerges a map of commercial itineraries starting from the metropolis.
  588. Find this resource:
  589. Frangioni, Luciana. Milano e le sue misure: Appunti di metrologia lombarda fra Tre e Quattrocento. Naples: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1993.
  590. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  591. A valuable book with information on the units of measurement used in Milan and Lombardy in the 14th and 15th centuries. Very useful for the conversions into metric and decimal systems.
  592. Find this resource:
  593. Mainoni, Patrizia. Mercanti Lombardi fra Barcellona e Valenza nel basso medioevo. Bologna, Italy: Cappelli, 1982.
  594. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  595. Arriving in Barcelona and Valencia in the late Trecento, Milanese merchants established a flourishing trade, which in the early Quattrocento derived particular benefit from the friendship between the duke of Milan and the king of Aragon.
  596. Find this resource:
  597. Mainoni, Patrizia. Economia e politica nella Lombardia medievale: Da Bergamo a Milano fra XIII e XV secolo. Cavallermaggiore, Italy: Gribaudi, 1994.
  598. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  599. An important collection of essays, tracing the origin in the communal era of the extraordinary growth of nonagricultural production (for example, the production of woolen cloth) in the 14th and 15th centuries. The book analyzes the economic policy of the Visconti, presented as the outcome of a number of different factors, not all under the control of the signoria.
  600. Find this resource:
  601. Zanoboni, Maria Paola. Rinascimento sforzesco: Innovazioni tecniche, arte e società nella Milano del secondo Quattrocento. Milan: CUEM, 2005.
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  603. In the great workshop that was the city of Milan in the late Quattrocento, where the most diverse manufacturing and entrepreneurial activities flourished, there was only one watchword: experiment. This, according to Zanaboni, was the key to success.
  604. Find this resource:
  605. Sources
  606.  
  607. Among the very few mercantile documents that have escaped destruction can be numbered those that found their way into the archives of charitable or ecclesiastical bodies. This is the case of the papers of a merchant from Prato, Francesco Datini, whose letters relating to the Milanese market are published in Frangioni 1994, and those of Donato Ferrario, the founder of the Luogo Pio della Divinità, in whose archive the account book of Ferrario finished up (Gazzini 1997). As for the trade corporations, the registers of the merchants of fine wool (Santoro 1940) and of the goldsmiths (Romagnoli 1977) have been published.
  608.  
  609. Frangioni, Luciana. Milano fine Trecento: Il carteggio milanese dell’Archivio Datini di Prato. 2 vols. Florence: Opuslibri, 1994
  610. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  611. With expert knowledge of the archive of the celebrated merchant from Prato, Francesco di Marco Datini, Frangioni analyzes the very rich documentation concerning trade with Milan. There emerges a detailed picture that provides information on a number of aspects, from the prices prevailing on the Milanese market to the times and costs of the postal service, from the itineraries to the units of measurement used in the city.
  612. Find this resource:
  613. Gazzini, Marina. Dare et habere: Il mondo di un mercante milanese del Quattrocento (con l’edizione del libro di conti di Donato Ferrario da Pantagliate). Milan: Camera di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura, 1997.
  614. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  615. An edition of and commentary on the account books of the merchant Donato Ferrario da Pantigliate. Preceded by an introductory essay that puts the figure of Ferrario into context.
  616. Find this resource:
  617. Romagnoli, Daniela. Le matricole degli orefici di Milano: Per la storia della Scuola di S. Eligio dal 1311 al 1773. Milan: Associazione Orafa Lombarda, 1977.
  618. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  619. An edition of the registers of the goldsmiths of Milan from 1311 to 1377, accompanied by a brief historical introduction.
  620. Find this resource:
  621. Santoro, Caterina. La matricola dei mercanti di lana sottile di Milano. Milan: A. Giuffre, 1940.
  622. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  623. An edition of the register of merchants of fine wool, with a historical introduction by the editor.
  624. Find this resource:
  625. Agricultural Production and Livestock Rearing
  626.  
  627. Although the historiography on Milan has been mainly concerned recently with manufacturing and finance, agriculture was an important pillar of the Milanese and Lombard economy, and was in the midst of change at the end of the Middle Ages, as Chiappa Mauri has put it (Chiappa Mauri 1990, Chiappa Mauri 1997). She has also focused on the relevance of the water mills in Milan and its territory (Chiappa Mauri 1984). Complementary to agriculture was livestock rearing, which from transhumance had passed to stalling, thanks to the increasing cultivation of irrigated pasture in the territory of the lower Milanese plain (Chittolini 1978). Research has shown how the countryside near to the city represented an investment opportunity for the most active urban groups (Roveda 2012), able to exploit the huge patrimonies of ecclesiatical bodies, which they often took under management for a fixed term of years (Chittolini 1973, Chittolini 1978).
  628.  
  629. Chiappa Mauri, Luisa. I mulini ad acqua nel Milanese, secoli X–XV. Florence: Dante Alighieri, 1984.
  630. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  631. The book examines the history of water mills in the territory of Milan and its contado between the 10th and 15th centuries, including the regulations and social and economic aspects.
  632. Find this resource:
  633. Chiappa Mauri, Luisa. Paesaggi rurali di Lombardia, Secoli XII-XV. Rome: Laterza, 1990.
  634. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  635. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the Milanese and Lombard rural landscapes changed profoundly, with the transformations following on from the plague. The documentation from ecclesiastical sources, which has survived in great quantity, allows the author to follow these changes in detail.
  636. Find this resource:
  637. Chiappa Mauri, Luisa. Terra e uomini nella Lombardia medievale. Rome: Laterza, 1997.
  638. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  639. The transformations that took place in the agricultural economy between the 13th and 15th centuries are at the center of this collection of essays. Attention is also paid to the growth of townships and communities in the Milanese contado in the later Middle Ages, where a new hierarchy of settlements was created.
  640. Find this resource:
  641. Chittolini, Giorgio. “Un problema aperto: La crisi della proprietà ecclesiastica fra Quattro e Cinquecento: Locazioni novennali, spese di migliorie ed investiture perpetue nella pianura lombarda.” Rivista storica italiana 85 (1973): 353–393.
  642. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  643. This important study by Giorgio Chittolini disputes the idea advanced by Carlo Maria Cipolla that ecclesiastical property was in crisis in the late Middle Ages. In fact, the lands of ecclesiastical bodies were the object of much experimentation by city entrepreneurs who took on its management for nine-year terms.
  644. Find this resource:
  645. Chittolini, Giorgio. “Alle origini delle ‘grandi aziende’ della bassa lombarda.” L’agricoltura dell’irriguo fra XV e XVI secolo, Quaderni storici 39 (1978): 828–844.
  646. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  647. By the second half of the 14th century, much of the countryside to the south of Milan had already been turned over to irrigated pasture. This tendency continued in the Quattrocento, permitting the rearing of livestock in stalls and the provision of dairy products to the urban market.
  648. Find this resource:
  649. Roveda, Enrico. Uomini, terre e acque: Studi sull’agricoltura della “Bassa lombarda” tra XV e XVII secolo. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2012.
  650. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  651. The lower Lombard plain in the later Middle Ages and the early modern era is the focus of this collection of essays. Far from being about just agricultural history, it examines a broad social microcosm made up of farmsteads, tenants, transhumant livestock rearers, petty rural capitalists, great citizen investors, and so on.
  652. Find this resource:
  653. Sources
  654.  
  655. As the catalogue of a fine exhibition on the Lombard economy (Barbieri 1958) shows, the sources for the study of this subject are scattered, and generally do not form a series. Consequently, two publications are worthy of mention: the statute of roads and waterways of Milan of 1346 (Stella 1992), valuable for reconstructing the itineraries on land around Milan, as well as the network of canals and channels; and a book of tolls of the commune of Milan, with the tariffs in force in the Quattrocento, and with transcriptions of the commercial accords with Venice from the Trecento (Noto 1950).
  656.  
  657. Barbieri, Gino, ed. Aspetti dell’economia lombarda durante la dominazione visconteo-sforzesca: Rassegna di documenti. Milan: Giuffrè, 1958.
  658. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  659. This volume is, in reality, an exhibition catalogue, and it contains a valuable selection of sources for the study of the Lombard economy in the 14th and 15th centuries.
  660. Find this resource:
  661. Noto, Antonio, ed. Liber datii mercantie Communis Mediolani: Registro del secolo XV. Milan, Università Bocconi, 1950.
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  663. The transcription of a register of the commune of Milan, with the tariffs of tolls in force in the Quattrocento, and of a series of commercial treaties going back to the 14th century (with Venice, for example). A most useful source, not only of information on the products traded in the Milanese market, but also on the economic policy of the commune and its lords.
  664. Find this resource:
  665. Stella, Angelo, ed. Gli statuti delle strade e delle acque del contado di Milano. Milan: LED, 1992.
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  667. An edition of the statutes of 1346 concerning the administration of the roads and waterways in the territory of Milan. A precise and detailed map emerges. The volume has a place-name index.
  668. Find this resource:
  669. Charity and Welfare
  670.  
  671. Great attention has been paid to the many charitable and welfare foundations—both the hospitals that were founded in large numbers from the 11th century to care for the poor, the sick, and pilgrims; and the associations (also called colleges or confraternities) that arose especially from the 14th century on the initiative of laymen, which gave alms (but did not offer accommodation). A good point of entry, with detailed accounts and references to sources, is provided by Aiello, et al. 2008. But see also Alberzoni and Grassi 1989). An inventory of the works of art accumulated over the centuries by those institutions, thanks to legacies and donations, is provided in Bascapè, et al. 2001. Attention has been lavished on the large new hospital founded in mid-15th century and designed by Filarete (Leverotti 1981, Albini 1993). The scene was further enriched when, at the end of the Quattrocento, a Monte di Pietà was instituted in Milan (Albini 2002). Separate strands of research deal with the plague in Milan, to which are linked studies of the health measures adopted and the demographic effects (Albini 1982, Cattaneo and Vaglienti 2013), and with the world of confraternities (Gazzini 2006).
  672.  
  673. Aiello, Lucia, Marco Bascapè, and Sergio Rebora, eds. Milano: Radici e luoghi della carità. Turin, Italy: Allemandi, 2008.
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  675. A valuable book examining the affairs of all the Milanese hospitals and charitable institutions, grouped by city districts. A bibliography is supplied for each.
  676. Find this resource:
  677. Alberzoni, Maria Pia, and Onorato Grassi, eds. La carità a Milano nei secoli XII-XV: Atti del convegno di studi, Milano, 6–7 novembre 1987. Milan: Jaca Book, 1989.
  678. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  679. The proceedings of an important conference on charity in Milan in the later Middle Ages. In the various contributions, the role of the archbishop, of laymen, and of the clergy (Umiliati, monasteries, etc.) are investigated.
  680. Find this resource:
  681. Albini, Giuliana. Guerra, fame, peste: Crisi di mortalità e sistema sanitario nella Lombardia tardomedioevale. Bologna, Italy: Cappelli, 1982.
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  683. The effects of the three medieval scourges (war, famine, and pestilence) are analyzed in this volume dedicated to Milan and Lombardy. A fundamental work for information on the fluctuations in population and on public health measures.
  684. Find this resource:
  685. Albini, Giuliana. Città e ospedali nella Lombardia medievale. Bologna, Italy: CLUEB, 1993.
  686. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  687. The many charitable institutions in communal and post-communal Milan, the now competing, now converging initiatives of clerics and laymen, and the reforms of the 14th and 15th centuries are at the center of this important volume.
  688. Find this resource:
  689. Albini, Giuliana. Carità e governo delle povertà: Secoli XII–XV. Milan: Unicopli, 2002.
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  691. A collection of essays, many of them concerned with welfare in the city of Milan; in particular, the affairs of some Milanese merchants engaged in charitable works, the foundation and running of the Ospedale Maggiore, and the birth of the Monte di Pietà are brought to the fore.
  692. Find this resource:
  693. Bascapè, Marco, Paolo Galimberti, and Sergio Rebora, eds. Il tesoro dei poveri: Il patrimonio artistico delle Istituzioni pubbliche di assistenza e beneficenza (ex Eca) di Milano. Cinisello Balsamo, Italy: Silvana, 2001.
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  695. The many almsgiving charitable institutions of Milan were incorporated at the end of the 18th century into a single entity, which still administers its historic and artistic patrimony today. The book provides a history of the charitable institutions and a census of the works of art accumulated over the centuries, thanks to legacies and donations.
  696. Find this resource:
  697. Cattaneo, Cristina, and Francesca Vaglienti, eds. La popolazione di Milano dal Rinascimento: Fonti documentarie e fonti materiali per un nuovo umanesimo scientifico. Milan: Biblioteca Francescana, 2013.
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  699. The proceedings of a conference held in Milan, on 29 June 2012, prompted by the discovery in the crypt of the Ospedale Maggiore of an ossuary going back to its foundation. By comparing written records (the books of the dead, drawn up in the second half of the Quattrocento) and material sources, the editors propose a new approach to demographic research.
  700. Find this resource:
  701. Gazzini, Marina. Confraternite e società cittadina nel Medioevo italiano. Bologna, Italy: CLUEB, 2006.
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  703. The volume brings together essays already published elsewhere, linked by an interest in the world of the confraternities. Some are specifically dedicated to Renaissance Milan and investigate the history of some instutitions founded by laymen, including their relations with the political and religious powers.
  704. Find this resource:
  705. Leverotti, Franca. “Ricerche sulle origini dell’ospedale Maggiore di Milano.” Archivio Storico Lombardo 107 (1981): 77–113.
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  707. The essay recounts the events leading to the administrative unification of the many Milanese hospitals and the constitution of the new great hospital, at the behest of Francesco Sforza.
  708. Find this resource:
  709. Sources
  710.  
  711. The Ospedale Maggiore and the almsgiving charitable institutions represented the framework of the system of charity and welfare in early Renaissance Milan. The deliberations of the former are published in summary form in Albini and Gazzini 2011, while the documents of the latter for the Visconti and Sforza era are in Noto and Viviano 1980).
  712.  
  713. Albini, Giuliana, and Marina Gazzini. “Materiali per la storia dell’Ospedale Maggiore di Milano: le Ordinazioni capitolari degli anni 1456–1498.” Retimedievali 12 (2011).
  714. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  715. A valuable resource, with the registers of the provisions of the council of the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan from its foundation to 1498.
  716. Find this resource:
  717. Noto, Antonio and Bruno Viviano. Visconti e Sforza fra le colonne del Palazzo Archinto: Le sedi dei 39 Luoghi pii elemosinieri di Milano (1305–1980). Milan: A. Giuffrè, 1980.
  718. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  719. A register of the documents of the Visconti and Sforza era relating to the Milanese charitable institutions. Notes with a historical profile are provided for each of these.
  720. Find this resource:
  721. The Church
  722.  
  723. The Lombard church in the age of the Visconti and Sforza has been given great attention. Hence a series of studies on the functioning of institutions: friaries and cloisters (Francescanesimo in Lombardia, Monasteri e conventi), bishoprics, episcopal vicariates, and cathedral chapters (Rocca and Vismara 2012). An initial point of entry for the reader is provided by Storia religiosa della Lombardia (Caprioli, et al. 1986), a multivolume work devoted to the history of the Lombard bishoprics. Rather useful also is Majo, 1987–1994, a dictionary of the Ambrosian church (in Italian).
  724.  
  725. Caprioli, Adriano, Antonio Rimoldi, and Luciano Vaccaro, eds Storia religiosa della Lombardia. 11 vols. Brescia, Italy: La Scuola, 1986.
  726. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  727. Begun in 1986, this multivolume work provides an introduction to the religious history of the Lombard region. Each volume, entrusted to specialists in different epochs and subjects, is dedicated to a single diocese, with a final rich bibliography and useful maps.
  728. Find this resource:
  729. Il francescanesimo in Lombardia: Storia e arte. Milan: Silvana, 1983.
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  731. A miscellaneous volume, dealing with history, art, and architecture. It covers the whole of Lombardy—but with particular attention to the diocese of Milan—with a wide chronological range from the 13th century, the era of the first Franciscan foundations, up to the 17th century and beyond.
  732. Find this resource:
  733. Majo, Angelo, ed. Dizionario della Chiesa ambrosiana. 6 vols. Milan: NED, 1987–1994.
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  735. A collective work of indubitable utility, although its various parts are of unequal value. Some entries in this dictionary, which embraces the fields of history, liturgy, and religiosity, are not as accurate as others.
  736. Find this resource:
  737. Monasteri e conventi in Lombardia: Ricerca e documentazione dalle origini ai giorni nostri. Milan: Mazzotta, 1983.
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  739. A summary census of all the Lombard convents and monasteries of the following religious orders: Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, Carmelites, the Servants of Blessed Mary, and the Carthusians. The section dedicated to each order is preceded by a brief historical introduction, followed by notes on each institution arranged by province.
  740. Find this resource:
  741. Rocca, Alberto, and Paola Vismara, eds. Prima di Carlo Borromeo: Istituzioni, religione e società agli inizi del Cinquecento. Milan: Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 2012.
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  743. The proceedings of a conference held at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana of Milan on 24–25 November 2011, this volume provides a detailed panorama, ranging from institutions to religiosity, and from the secular to the regular clergy, in Milan in the 15th and 16th centuries. The essays constitute the most recent and up-to-date synthesis available, and its utility to the reader is enhanced by the wealth of bibliiographical references provided.
  744. Find this resource:
  745. The Lombard Church, Political Power, and the Papacy
  746.  
  747. Interest in the relations between the prince and the papacy has been a rich strand of inquiry in the historiography on the Visconti (Dale 2007) and Sforza (Chittolini 1989). Benefices and ecclesiastical offices, taxes, political and military support—all this and more entered into the incessant diplomatic negotiations between Milan and Rome, in which powerful members of the curia and eminent lineages from the duchy, pursuing their own interests, often succeeded in inserting themselves, such as in the case-studies of cardinal Arcimboldi (Somaini 2003) and Cardinal Ascanio Sforza (Pellegrini 2002).
  748.  
  749. Chittolini, Giorgio, ed. Gli Sforza, la Chiesa lombarda, la corte di Roma: Strutture e pratiche beneficiarie nel ducato di Milano (1450–1535). Naples: Liguori, 1989.
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  751. Comprising four essays and the editor’s introduction, this volume made clear for the first time the complexity of the links between the Roman curia and the new Sforza dynasty, showing that a characteristic of the period was the treatment of benefices as a subject for diplomacy.
  752. Find this resource:
  753. Dale, Sharon. “Contra damnationis filios: The Visconti in Fourteenth-Century Papal Diplomacy.” Journal of Medieval History 33.1 (2007): 1–32.
  754. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmedhist.2007.01.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  755. A perceptive reappraisal of the relationship between the Avignon papacy and the Visconti lords of Milan during the 14th century. In contrast to historiographical orthodoxy inclined to emphasize the conflictual nature of such relations, Dale shows how papal policy toward the lords of Milan was not uniform or coherent at all, alternating between moments of conflict and phases of alliance.
  756. Find this resource:
  757. Pellegrini, Marco. Ascanio Maria Sforza: La parabola politica di un cardinale-principe del Rinascimento. Rome: ISIME, 2002.
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  759. A biography of Cardinal Ascanio Maria Sforza, the fourth son of Duke Francesco and a protagonist of crucial years, those of the Italian Wars. An interesting book, though the bibliography is a little careless at times.
  760. Find this resource:
  761. Somaini, Francesco. Un prelato lombardo del XV secolo: Il card. Giovanni Arcimboldi vescovo di Novara, arcivescovo di Milano. 3 vols. Rome: Herder, 2003.
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  763. An exemplary biography of a high-ranking ecclesiastic of the Quattrocento, the exponent of a family originally from Parma, which grew in prestige and power thanks to relations with the Visconti. The work is enriched by a highly detailed index, which occupies the entire third volume.
  764. Find this resource:
  765. Ecclesiastical Institutions and Religious Life
  766.  
  767. The ecclesiastical institutions of the Milanese church at the end of the Middle Ages have been much studied, both with respect to the birth of parishes (Andenna 1987), and to the unchanging network of deaneries (del Tredici 2012). Relations between society and the religious orders have also been studied (Pellegrini and Varanini 2011), as have the forms of religiosity in the Quattrocento, with the growing popularity of the Observant movement (Fasoli 2011). As for nunneries, a good point of entry is provided by Sebastiani 1989. A general synthesis on the ecclesiastical institutions of the Ambrosian church is to be found in Somaini 2003.
  768.  
  769. Andenna, Giancarlo. “Alcune osservazioni sulla pieve lombarda tra XIII e XV secolo.” In Pievi e parrocchie nell’Italia nel basso Medioevo (secoli XIII-XV). Vol. 2, 677–704. Rome: Herder, 1987.
  770. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  771. The author, an expert in this field, traces the history of the deaneries and parishes in the Lombard region.
  772. Find this resource:
  773. del Tredici, Federico. “Dalle persone ai luoghi: Alcune osservazioni attorno alla geografia delle pievi milanesi tra Quattro e Cinquecento.” Quaderni Storici 139 (2012): 47–75.
  774. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  775. The network of deaneries in the diocese of Milan remained unchanged until the advent of Carlo Borromeo, who adapted it to the demographic and economic realities of the territory, transferring the seat of many deaneries. The author shows that the real reasons are to be sought in the role that extended families exercised in the territory until the early 16th century.
  776. Find this resource:
  777. Fasoli, Sara. Perseveranti nella regolare osservanza: I Predicatori osservanti nel Ducato di Milano (secc. 15.–16.). Milan: Biblioteca Francescana, 2011.
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  779. A collection of essays originally published elsewhere, centered on the role of the Observant Preaching Friars. Their relations with society are examined, as well as those with the political powers, starting with the dukes.
  780. Find this resource:
  781. Pellegrini, Letizia, and Gian Maria Varanini, eds. Fratres de familia: Gli insediamenti dell’osservanza minoritica nella Penisola italiana (sec. XIV-XV). Verona, Italy: Cierre, 2011.
  782. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  783. Although the volume covers the whole peninsula, some of the contributions (by Elisabella Canobbio, Edoardo Rossetti, and Giorgio Chittolini), investigate the area of Milan and Lombardy, examining both male and female Franciscan observance.
  784. Find this resource:
  785. Sebastiani, Lucia. “Monasteri femminili milanesi tra Medioevo e età moderna.” In Florence and Milan: Comparisons and Relations. Vol. 2. Edited by Craig Hugh Smith and Gian Carlo Garfagnini, 3–15. Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1989,
  786. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  787. A lucid synthesis of the situation of Milanese monasteries between the Middle Ages and the early modern era. The analysis is not limited to the cloistered institutions, but includes all those religious communities—widespread until the Borromean era—whose separation from secular life was not so accentuated.
  788. Find this resource:
  789. Somaini, Francesco. “Strutture ecclesiastiche e configurazione del clero nella diocesi di Milano del secondo Quattrocento: Note ed appunti.” In Per il Cinquecento religioso italiano: Clero, cultura, società. Edited by Sangalli, Maurizio, 557–606. Rome: Edizioni dell’Ateneo, 2003.
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  791. A contribution full of facts and information on the diocese of Milan in the second half of the Quattrocento. The borders, changes over time, different roles of the regular and secular clergy, and the profile of the Ambrosian prelates are all carefully examined.
  792. Find this resource:
  793. Ecclesiastical Records
  794.  
  795. The role of episcopal notaries in the production and sometimes in the preservation of the records of the churches (beginning with cathedrals) has been well studied since the early 1990s. Hence a series of studies on the writings produced by these institutions, of value for understanding how they worked. On Milan and the role of notaries, at least two works are worth a mention: Belloni 2003 and Lunari 1995. On Como, see Della Misericordia 2003 and Canobbio 2012.
  796.  
  797. Belloni, Cristina. “Dove mancano registri vescovili ma esistono fondi notarili: Milano fra Tre e Quattrocento.” In I registri vescovili dell’Italia settentrionale (Secoli XII-XV). Edited by Attilio Bartoli Langeli and Antonio Rigon, 43–84. Rome: Herder, 2003.
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  799. An examination of the possibilities offered by the many files of notaries in the service of the Ambrosian church, to compensate for the almost total disappearance of the registers of documents that were kept in the episcopal archives, and of which only some fragments remain.
  800. Find this resource:
  801. Canobbio, Elisabetta. “‘Quod cartularium mei est’: Ipotesi per una ricomposizione del sistema documentario della Chiesa di Como (prima metà del XV secolo). In Medioevo dei poteri: Studi di storia per Giorgio Chittolini. Edited by Nadia Covini, Massimo Della Misericordia, Andrea Gamberini, et al., 119–148. Rome: Viella, 2012.
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  803. The article addresses the subject of the documentary system of the episcopal Church of Como in the first half of the 15th century. Through analysis of the surviving sources, the author investigates the role of records in registers and notarial cartularies.
  804. Find this resource:
  805. Della Misericordia, Massimo. “Le ambiguità dell’innovazione: La produzione e la conservazione dei registri della Chiesa vescovile di Como (prima metà del XV secolo).” In I registri vescovili dell’Italia settentrionale (Secoli XII-XV). Edited by Attilio Bartoli Langeli and Antonio Rigon, 85–139. Rome: Herder, 2003.
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  807. An exemplary investigation of the modes of production and conservation of the records pertaining to the episcopal Church of Como. The author provides a very lucid account of them, which brings out, for example, the evolution of the notary from bishop’s scribe to functionary of the curia.
  808. Find this resource:
  809. Lunari, Marco. “‘De mandato domini archiepiscopi in hanc publicam formam redigi, tradidi et scripsi’: Notai di curia e organizzazione notarile nella diocesi di Milano (sec. XV).” Rivista di Storia della Chiesa in Italia 49 (1995): 486–508.
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  811. Inspired by the intuitions of Giorgio Chittolini, this work covers the role of notaries in the organization of the Milanese archiepiscopal curia and in the production and conservation of the documents produced on behalf of the archbishops.
  812. Find this resource:
  813. Sources
  814.  
  815. The sources for the study of the Milanese and Lombard church appear to be divided up between local archives (state archives and ecclesiastical archives) and the very rich Vatican Archive. The collection Materiali di storia ecclesiastica, directed by Giorgio Chittolini and published by Unicopli, is intended to make known to scholars these rich materials (both those in Rome and those held locally), through the publication of analytical inventories, and of series of documents published in full or in summary. All the references listed below belong to this collection. Belloni and Lunari 2004 offers a list of notaries who acted for the Ambrosian church Camera Apostolica (Chittolini 1994–2006) is a sub-series devoted to the edition of the Libri annatarum concerning Lombard dioceses Canobbio and Del Bo 2007 gathers together the petitions presented to Pope Pius II by clerics, laymen, and communities of the duchy of Milan. Crotti and Majocchi 2005 summarizes the documents drawn up by the notary Griffi, who was in the service of the bishop of Pavia at the end of the 14th century. In conclusion, Fonti e repertori per la storia Milanese, an online work by Belloni and Chittolini, lists the canons of the major collegiate churches in Milan.
  816.  
  817. Belloni, Cristina, and Marco Lunari, eds. I notai della Curia arcivescovile di Milano (secoli XIV-XVI): Repertorio. Rome: Tipografia Mura, 2004.
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  819. Because of the dispersal of the registers of the episcopal Mensa, the only possible way to reconstruct the activities and functioning of the Milanese archiepiscopal curia rests on the study of the files of the notaries who acted for the Ambrosian prelate. Belloni and Lunari (and their team) have drawn a most useful list, organized in biographical notices for each notary, with alphabetic and chronological indices.
  820. Find this resource:
  821. Canobbio, Elisabetta, and Beatrice Del Bo, eds. “Beatissime Pater”: I registri supplicationum di Pio II (1458–1464). Milan: Unicopli, 2007.
  822. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  823. The volume includes a total of 1,736 petitions presented to Pope Pius II by clerics, laymen, and communities of the duchy of Milan. Very rich materials, not only for ecclesiastical and religious history, but more generally for the social history of the time. The work includes an index of personal and place names, of institutions, and of ecclesiastical benefices.
  824. Find this resource:
  825. Chittolini, Giorgio, ed. Camera Apostolica. 4 vols. Milan: Edizioni Unicopli, 1994–2006.
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  827. The series Camera Apostolica forms part of the much fuller collection, Materiali di storia ecclesiastica lombarda, and is devoted to the publication of the Libri annatarum relating to the dioceses of the duchy of Milan in the second half of the Quattrocento. It is made up of four volumes, which cover the pontificates of Pius II and Paul II (ed. Michele Asani), Sixtus IV (ed. G. Battioni), Innocent VIII (ed. P. Merati), and Alexander VI (M. De Luca).
  828. Find this resource:
  829. Chittolini, Giorgio, and Cristina Belloni, eds. Fonti e repertori per la storia milanese: i canonici delle principali collegiate in età sforzesca.
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  831. An edition—provided with a bibliography and biographical notices—of the lists of names of those belonging to the chapters of the principal “collegiate” churches of the city of Milan in the second half of the Quattrocento (Duomo, S. Tecla, S. Ambrogio maggiore, S. Lorenzo maggiore, S. Giorgio al Palazzo, S. Nazaro in Brolo, S. Stefano in Brolo, S. Maria della Scala, S. Maria Fulcorina).
  832. Find this resource:
  833. Crotti, Renata, and Piero Majocchi, eds. La rubrica degli atti di Albertolo Griffi notaio e cancelliere episcopale di Pavia (1372–1420). Milan: Unicopli, 2005.
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  835. This index offers a detailed synthesis of all the documents drawn up by the notary Griffi, opening up an extraordinary view not only of the activities and functioning of the episcopal curia, but also of the local society. In fact, Pavia was, with Milan, one of the two capitals of the Visconti dominion and there were not a few dignitaries, especially ecclesiastics, who turned to the services of Griffi.
  836. Find this resource:
  837. Intellectual Culture
  838.  
  839. The arrival of Francesco Petrarch in Milan, where he came at the invitation of the archbishop and lord of the city, Giovanni Visconti, left a deep impression on Milanese and Lombard culture, which from that moment was ever more open to the classicizing taste of humanism (see Humanism). Throughout the period, the strand of chronicles also thrived, with the many works of the Dominican Galvano Fiamma, some of them destined for very wide diffusion and translation into Italian, being especially important (see Chronicles). In the field of intellectual culture there seems to have been a turning point with the arrival of the Sforza dynasty, which was associated with the birth of a historiography closely focused on very recent events, with the evident aim of legitimation for the new dukes (see Political Thought, Law, and Historiography). In the time of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, printing with moveable type was introduced (1471) and Milan rapidly became the third most important center for printing, after Rome and Venice (see Printing and the Book). But Milan was not the only pole of intellectual life in the dominion. In 1361 a Studium Generale was founded in nearby Pavia, the only university in the dominion, and as such destined to become an important center of cultural life (see Education).
  840.  
  841. Humanism
  842.  
  843. The origins of Lombard humanism were indissolubly linked to the arrival of Petrarch in Milan and to the diffusion of a new sensibility toward the classics, above all the Latin classics (Società Storica Lombarda 1904, Frasso, et al. 2005). At the end of the Trecento, the Petrarchan inheritance found important imitators, many of them active in the Visconti chancery itself. And it was some of these men who became the protagonists of a celebrated literary duel with Florentine humanists, as a background to the military conflict that opposed Milan to Florence (Baldassarri 2012, Valeri 1942—cited under Political Thought, Law, and Historiography). In the Visconti era also, courtly literature in the vernacular flourished (Albonico, et al. 2014). Dominating the stage in the 15th century were figures such as Francesco Filelfo, much appreciated by Duke Filippo Maria, and Pier Candido Decembrio, the author of a Vita Philippi Mariae, which was balanced between encomium and veiled criticism (Zaggia 2010). On the theme of language and culture in the Sforza era Bongrani, Pyle (Pyle 1997) and the collective work Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere 1995 provides a lot of detailed information, as well as a perspective analysis. As for the Library of the Visconti and the Sforza, Pellegrin 1969 provides an informative account.
  844.  
  845. Albonico, Simone, Marco Limongelli, and Barbara Pagliari, eds. Valorosa vipera gentile: Poesia e letteratura in volgare attorno ai Visconti fra Trecento e primo Quattrocento. Rome: Viella, 2014.
  846. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  847. The proceedings from a seminar held at the Università di Losanna, 22–23 June 2012 on the courtly literature in the vernacular language. The chronological scope covers almost the entire Visconti’s era.
  848. Find this resource:
  849. Baldassarri, Stefano Ugo. La vipera e il giglio: Lo scontro tra Milano e Firenze nelle invettive di Antonio Loschi e Coluccio Salutati. Rome: Aracne, 2012.
  850. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  851. A rapid historical contextualization and, above all, an edition of the texts of the renowned exchange of invectives between Antonio Loschi, chancellor of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and Coluccio Salutati, chancellor of the Florentine Republic.
  852. Find this resource:
  853. Bongrani, Paolo. Lingua e letteratura a Milano nell’età sforzesca: Una raccolta di studi. Parma, Italy: Università degli studi-Istituto di filologia moderna, 1986.
  854. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  855. Among the greatest experts on the Milanese literary Renaissance, Bongrani gathers in this volume a series of essays that cover some of the principal themes and moments of the history of the language and literature of the Sforza era.
  856. Find this resource:
  857. Frasso, Giuseppe, Giuseppe Velli, and Marurizio Vitale, eds. Petrarca e la Lombardia: Atti del Convegno di Studi, Milano, 22–23 maggio 2003. Rome: Antenore, 2005.
  858. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  859. A miscellaneous volume that, beginning with its title, recalls the collective enterprise of the same name of 1904, bringing it up to date, but not superceding it. The contributions tackle themes of cultural, political, and literary history.
  860. Find this resource:
  861. Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere. Politica, cultura e lingua nell’età sforzesca. Milan: Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere, 1995.
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  863. The acts of a study day held in 1994 at the Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere. As well as contributions on politics, there are others centered on the theme of language and culture.
  864. Find this resource:
  865. Pellegrin, Elisabeth. La bibliothèque des Visconti et des Sforza ducs de Milan au XVe siècle: Supplément. Paris: Librairie F. De Nobele, 1969.
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  867. The history and inventory of the library of the Visconti and the Sforza, enriched in the course of time by the library that had belonged to Petrarch (which had passed to the Carrara, and, after the Visconti conquest of Padua, to the lords of Milan), as well as relics and precious objects. Original edition published in 1955 (Paris: CNRS).
  868. Find this resource:
  869. Pyle, Cynthia M. Milan and Lombardy in the Renaissance: Essays in Cultural History. Rome: La Fenice Edizioni, 1997.
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  871. A collection of seven essays, previously published elsewhere, on Milanese and Lombard culture in the mid- and late Quattrocento. In particular, the biographies and activities of two protagonists of literary Milan in the Sforza era, Gasparo Visconti and Baldassarro Taccone, are reconstructed.
  872. Find this resource:
  873. Società Storica Lombarda. F. Petrarca e la Lombardia: miscellanea di studi storici e ricerche critico-bibliografiche. Milan: Società Storica Lombarda, 1904.
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  875. A pioneering work, which for the first time systematically confronted the implications of the arrival of the great Petrarch in Milan. The volume is a miscellany: among the various essays, that of Francesco Novati on the relations of the Visconti with Petrarch deserves to be singled out.
  876. Find this resource:
  877. Zaggia, Massimo. “Linee per una storia della cultura in Lombardia dall’età di Coluccio Salutati a quella del Valla.” In Le strade di Ercole. Itinerari umanistici e altri percorsi: Seminario internazionale per i centenari di Coluccio Salutati e Lorenzo Valla. Edited by Luca Carlo Rossi, 3–125. Bergamo, Italy, and Florence: SISMEL, 2010.
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  879. Informative, in-depth analysis of all the major features of the Lombard culture and literature, both in Latin and vernacular.
  880. Find this resource:
  881. Political Thought, Law, and Historiography
  882.  
  883. The search for legitimacy on the part of the lords of Milan certainly did not end with the grant of the ducal title to Gian Galeazzo Visconti in 1395. Indeed, the prince and the territorial entities of the duchy engaged in an almost continuous contest over the extent of the duke’s powers, the limits of his legislative authority, and the relation of ducal decrees to civic statutes (Storti Storchi 2007, Leverotti 2003). The establishment of the new Sforza dynasty in 1450—its ducal pretensions officially recognized only in 1494—renewed and widened problems and questions already debated in preceding decades. In this picture, the reflections of jurists close to the lords and dukes (Black 2009) was only one part, if a very valuable one, of a broader effort to find the foundations of Visconti and Sforza power, which also took place on the planes of philosophy and politics (Cengarle 2014), art (see Art and Power) and even of historiography, which was given—especially in the Sforza era—the task of supporting up the shaky dynasty (Ianziti 1988). For published histories and chronicles, see also the citations under Chronicles. A very interesting case is represented by the historiographical activity of Bernardino Corio, examined in Meschini 1995.
  884.  
  885. Black, Jane. Absolutism in Renaissance Milan: Plenitude of Power under the Visconti and the Sforza 1329–1535. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
  886. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565290.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  887. A careful and detailed reconstruction of the process of the growth of signorial, later ducal, power, in light not only of the claims of the Visconti and of the Sforza, but above all of contemporary juridical thought.
  888. Find this resource:
  889. Cengarle, Federica. Lesa maestà all’ombra del biscione: Dalle città lombarde ad una monarchia europea (1335–1447). Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2014.
  890. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  891. Through a careful reading of pragmatic sources (proclamations of decrees, preambles to statutes), the author demonstrates the importance of political philosophy in providing a basis for the prerogatives of Visconti rule.
  892. Find this resource:
  893. Ianziti, Gary. Humanistic Historiography under the Sforzas: Politics and Propaganda in Fifteenth-Century Milan. Oxford: Clarendon, 1988.
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  895. This book provides a broad and organic reconstruction of the role that court historiography had in seeking to sustain the legitimacy of Francesco Sforza and his heirs.
  896. Find this resource:
  897. Leverotti, Franca. “Leggi del principe, leggi della città nel ducato visconteo-sforzesco.” In Signori, regimi signorili e statuti nel tardo Medioevo. Edited by Rolando Dondarini, Gian Maria Varanini, and Maria Venticelli, 143–188. Bologna, Italy: Pàtron, 2003.
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  899. The problematic relation of the laws of the prince (decrees) and the laws of the city (statutes) is analyzed in this long article, which covers not only some long-term trends, but also specific local situations.
  900. Find this resource:
  901. Meschini, Stefano. Uno storico umanista alla corte sforzesca: Biografia di Bernardino Corio. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 1995.
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  903. In this volume Stefano Meschini gives an account the life of Bernardino Corio, and his relations with the duke and with the court, offering a contextualization of his most famous work, the Storia di Milano.
  904. Find this resource:
  905. Storti Storchi, Claudia. Scritti sugli statuti lombardi. Milan: Giuffrè, 2007.
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  907. The volume gathers various writings of the author, already published elsewhere, that have in common a discussion of statutes in the Lombard area. The preface describes the status questionis, and there is a useful bibliography.
  908. Find this resource:
  909. Valeri, Nino. La libertà e la pace: Orientamenti politici del Rinascimento italiano. Turin, Italy: Società subalpina, 1942.
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  911. The conflict between Florence and Milan at the end of the Trecento is investigated through the opposing ideologies of the two regimes, which Valeri examines by drawing primarily on the literary duel between the Milanese and Florentine chanceries.
  912. Find this resource:
  913. Printing and the Book
  914.  
  915. Although the printing press arrived in Milan only in 1471 (that is, two years later than in Venice and six later than in Subiaco, which was the first place in Italy to know the new craft), Milan rapidly became one of the major centers of book production on the peninsula (Rogledi Manni 1980). The attempt by Galeazzo Crivelli in 1469 having failed, it was only with the arrival from Venice of the printer Antonio Zarotto (Ganda 1984) that printing with moveable type could take hold, helped by the presence in the city of important editors (such as the humanist Pietro Minuziano) and of many schools, which nourished the market and favored the arrival of new master printers, including some from France and Germany (Ganda 1988, Ganda 2006). An inventory of printers and editors active in Milan in the early decades of the 16th century is provided in Sandal 1977–1981).
  916.  
  917. Ganda, Arnaldo. I primordi della tipografia milanese: Antonio Zarotto da Parma (1471–1507). Florence: L. S. Olschki, 1984.
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  919. A reconstruction of the events that brought the printer Antonio Zarotto and the doctor Panfilo Castaldi to leave Venice to open the first printing press in Milan. Having later split from Castaldi, Zarotto continued the work with other partners.
  920. Find this resource:
  921. Ganda, Armando. Niccolò Gorgonzola editore e libraio in Milano, 1496–1536. Florence: Olschki, 1988.
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  923. In the lively panorama of printing workshops in early Renaissance Milan, editors had a not unimportant role; among them the name of a priest, Niccolò Gorgonzola, stands out. Nearly a hundred editions (mostly liturgical) can be attributed to him, published with the collaboration of various printers.
  924. Find this resource:
  925. Ganda, Armando. Filippo Cavagni da Lavagna editore, tipografo, commerciante a Milano nel Quattrocento. Florence: Olschki, 2006.
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  927. The book traces the history of Filippi Cavagni, who was the first competitor of Antoni Zarotto in Milan.
  928. Find this resource:
  929. Rogledi Manni, Teresa. La tipografia a Milano nel XV secolo. Florence: Olschki, 1980.
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  931. The volume provides a synthetic view of the world of printers and editors active in late Quattrocento Milan. The author also provides a catalogue of 15th-century Milanese editions.
  932. Find this resource:
  933. Sandal, Ennio. Editori e tipografi a Milano nel Cinquecento. 3 vols. Baden-Baden, Germany: V. Koerner, 1977–1981.
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  935. A work in three volumes, offering an inventory of printers and editors active in Milan from 1501 to 1525. The last volume also includes the indices (chronological, by author, and by title).
  936. Find this resource:
  937. Education
  938.  
  939. The subject of schools and education in Milan in the 14th and 15th centuries has been somewhat neglected in the historiography. Sporadic (if valuable) investigations have been made, into the schools of the corporations (Gazzini 2001), into masters in the contado (Del Tredici 2012), and into the pedagogy that inspired the education of the Sforza princes. More recently, attention has also been given to the sector of education for the professions, beginning with engineering (Repishti 2012). As for university education, Pavia was the only state university throughout the Middle Ages (and into the modern era). For the vast bibliography on this, see Mantovani 2012–2013.
  940.  
  941. Del Tredici, Federico. “Maestri per il contado: Istruzione primaria e società locale nelle campagne milanesi (secolo XV).” In Medioevo dei poteri: Studi di storia per Giorgio Chittolini. Edited by Nadia Covini, and others, 275–300. Rome: Viella, 2012.
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  943. The world of schoolmasters active in the contado, completely neglected in the historiography, was investigated for the first time in this fine essay by Federico Del Tredici, who analyzes, above all, the territory of the upper Milanese.
  944. Find this resource:
  945. Gazzini, Marina. “Scuola, libri e cultura nelle confraternite milanesi fra tardo Medioevo e prima Età moderna.” La Bibliofilia 103.3 (2001): 215–261.
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  947. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the educational opportunities in Milan were enriched by the activities of the Milanese confraternities. Their character, functioning, and purposes are investigated in this article.
  948. Find this resource:
  949. Grendler, Paul F. Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning, 1300–1600. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.
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  951. A synthesis, covering the whole peninsula. Nevertheless, there is no lack of references to the case of Milan, above all for the Cinquecento.
  952. Find this resource:
  953. Mantovani, Dario ed. Almum Studium Papiense: Storia dell’università di Pavia. Vol. 1, Dalle origini all’età spagnola. 2 vols. Milan: Cisalpino, 2012–2013.
  954. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  955. This monumental work, of which the first two volumes have been published, represents the most up-to-date reconstruction of the history of the university of Pavia (founded by Galeazzo II Visconti in 1361), and provides a detailed account of academic life, and of relations with society and the political powers, as well as a profile of the magistri who taught there.
  956. Find this resource:
  957. Repishti, Francesco. “Sufficienza, experientia, industria, diligentia e solicitudine: Architetti e ingegneri tra Quattro e Cinquecento in Lombardia. In Formare alle professioni: Architetti, ingegneri, artisti (secoli XV–XIX). Edited by Alessandra Ferraresi and Monica Visioli, 41–58. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2012.
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  959. Well before the universitas of the engineers was formed in 1563, the masters who practiced architecture and engineering in Milan had to be enrolled in a public register, following a period of professional education, of which the author describes the principal stages.
  960. Find this resource:
  961. The Arts
  962.  
  963. “Venite, dico Athene oggi Milano, ove è il nostro Parnaso Ludovico” (Come, I say Athens is now Milan, where is our Parnasus, Ludovico). In the exuberant words of the poet Bernardo Bellincioni (1493), Milan in the late Quattrocento was compared with Athens, no less, while Duke Ludovico il Moro was the new Parnaso, patron of the Muses. Words, certainly, which nevertheless sum up the cultural climate of the end of the Quattrocento, when the greatest artists and architects of that time—from Leonardo to Bramante—converged on Milan and were active on the principal building projects of the city (from Santa Maria delle Grazie to the Castello Sforzesco, and some luxurious aristocratic houses). Milan, which had (thanks to the court of the lord, and later the duke) from the late 14th century seen the arrival of famous artists (Giotto, for instance), became one of the major centers of the Italian Renaissance, where all the arts flourished, from painting to the illumination of manuscripts, from architecture to music.
  964.  
  965. Painting
  966.  
  967. An initial, summary, but effective introduction to Milanese painting in the early Renaissance can be found in the two volumes on La pittura in Lombardia in the 14th and 15th centuries. Some classics overviews are still relevant, such as Toesca 1912 and Longhi 1958. In addition, some other, more recent, works, with exhaustive studies of individual artists, such as Rossi 1995 (on Giovannino de Grassi), Agosti, et al. 2003 (on Vincenzo Foppa), and Syson 2011 (on Leonardo) are also worth exploring. As for Leonardo’s influence in Lombardy, Bora, et al. 1998 is very relevant. On the whole, what emerges is an especially lively panorama, which certainly restores to Milan in the 14th and 15th centuries a role at the forefront of the Italian Renaissance, as Romano 2011 puts it.
  968.  
  969. Agosti, Giovanni, Mauro Natale, and Giovanni Romano, eds. Vincenzo Foppa. Milan: Skira, 2003.
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  971. The fruit of research and studies conducted in preparation for the exhibition held at the Brera in 2002, as well as the further research and comparisons to which it gave rise, this volume dedicated to Vincenzo Foppa provides a truly complete panorama of the artistic career of the Lombard master.
  972. Find this resource:
  973. Bora, Giulio, David Alan Brown, and Marco Carminati. I leonardeschi: L’eredità di Leonardo in Lombardia. Milan: Skira, 1998.
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  975. Leonardo’s time in Milan left a fertile inheritance, destined to exercise a profound influence on Lombard painting in the Cinquecento. The book analyzes the different components of this legacy, emphasizing the role of the many imitators of the master.
  976. Find this resource:
  977. La pittura in Lombardia. 2 vols. Milan: Electa, 1993.
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  979. A work without a specified editor, in two volumes—the first devoted to the Trecento, the second to the Quattrocento—presenting an accurate description of the works and of the full range of studies. Each volume is divided into geogrpahic areas, corresponding to the modern provinces.
  980. Find this resource:
  981. Longhi, Roberto, ed. Arte lombarda dai Visconti agli Sforza. Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 1958.
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  983. The catalogue of the memorable exhibition curated by Roberto Longhi in 1958 still provides a useful aid, thanks to the detailed cards concerning the paintings and art objects exhibited.
  984. Find this resource:
  985. Romano, Giovanni. Rinascimento in Lombardia: Foppa, Zenale, Leonardo, Bramantino. Milan: Feltrinelli, 2011.
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  987. A collection of essays first published elsewhere by Romano between 1977 and 2009, and here partially revised. From Foppa to Bramantino, the author links a series of moments of Renaissance painting in Lombardy, tackling tricky problems of attribution and chronology.
  988. Find this resource:
  989. Rossi, Marco. Giovannino de Grassi: La corte e la cattedrale. Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 1995.
  990. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  991. A findamental work on one of the major miniaturists active in Milan and at the Visconti court in the years around the turn of the 14th century.
  992. Find this resource:
  993. Syson, Luke. Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan. London: National Gallery, 2011.
  994. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  995. This volume—the catalogue of an exhibition held in the National Gallery of London in 2011—examines a particular but crucial aspect of the many-sided and eclectic Tuscan genius: his activity as a painter at the Sforza court, where he arrived in 1482 and remained for nearly twenty years.
  996. Find this resource:
  997. Toesca, Petro. La pittura e la miniatura nella Lombardia: Dai più antichi monumenti alla metà del Quattrocento. Milan: Hoepli, 1912.
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  999. A now classic volume, whose arguments and insights are still stimulating, so much so that in 1987 it was reprinted by the publisher Cisalpino.
  1000. Find this resource:
  1001. Architecture and Sculpture
  1002.  
  1003. In Renaissance Milan, the arrival of the great Bramante and then of Leonardo brought a wave of innovation, which would combine with local tradition to produce a highly original synthesis, particularly apparent in the architecture of the Ambrosian city between the 15th and 16th centuries (see Frommel, et al. 2002). This profound renewal was first examined long ago, so that research is now concentrated on the major personalities, beginning with Bramante (Frommel, et al. 2002, Patetta 2001), or the major building projects in the city, such as the castle and the cathedral (Fiorio 2005). In this panorama of studies, two works of a more general character merit special mention: Patetta 1997, which covers all the principal buildings of late medieval Milan, and Fiorio 2005, on the Milanese churches.
  1004.  
  1005. Cavazzini, Laura. Il crepuscolo della scultura medievale in Lombardia. Florence: L. S. Olschki, 2004.
  1006. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1007. This book analyzes, in particular, the epoch of international Gothic sculpture in Milan, which flourished in the city with the building of the cathedral from 1386, with master craftsmen and artists coming from all over Europe.
  1008. Find this resource:
  1009. Fiorio, Maria Teresa, ed. Le Chiese di Milano. Milan: Electa, 1985.
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  1011. Ordered topographically, by porta, the book provides entries on the history and architecture of all the churches of the city of Milan, from those of ancient foundation to the most recent ones. Very useful as an initial guide.
  1012. Find this resource:
  1013. Fiorio, Maria Teresa. Il Castello Sforzesco di Milano. Milan: Skira, 2005.
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  1015. Built in the late Trecento in the Porta Giovia zone of the city, destroyed during the Ambrosian Republic, and then quickly rebuilt by Francesco Sforza, the castle of Milan has a complex history, investigated in this miscellaneous volume from several perspectives: architectural, artistic, and historical.
  1016. Find this resource:
  1017. Frommel, Cristoph L., Luisa Giordano, Richard Schofield, eds. Bramante milanese e l’architettura del Rinascimento lombardo. Venice: Marsilio, 2002.
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  1019. At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries, the traditional Gothic cuture of Milan encountered for the first time architects representing the most advanced current of the Renaissance, such as Bramante and Leonardo. The studies gathered in this volume show how the result was extremely fertile, and evident in the development of a specifically Lombard architectural identity.
  1020. Find this resource:
  1021. Patetta, Luciano. L’architettura del Quattrocento a Milano. Milan: Città Studi Edizioni, 1997.
  1022. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1023. A very full synthesis of Milanese architecture between the epochs of Gian Galeazzo Visconti and that of Ludovico il Moro. Divided in three parts: religious buildings, lay buildings, and poorly documented works. For each building the author provides a bibliography with a commentary, and sometimes also plans and sketches/designs.
  1024. Find this resource:
  1025. Patetta, Luciano, ed. Bramante e la sua cerchia a Milano e in Lombardia (1480–1500). Milan: Skira, 2001.
  1026. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1027. A miscellany, in which Bramante and his work are placed in the wider context of the Milan of Ludovico il Moro.
  1028. Find this resource:
  1029. Sources
  1030.  
  1031. The cathedral and the castle are still today the symbols of Milan. It is not by chance, therefore, that in the late 19th century the sources relating to these two great building projects should have been published (Duomo di Milano 1877–1885 and Beltrami 1894). In more recent times, there has been considerable archival research into another protagonist of the Milanese and Lombard Renaissance, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo (Schofield, et al. 1989).
  1032.  
  1033. Beltrami, Luca. Il castello di Milano. Milan: Hoepli, 1894.
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  1035. Although dated, this valuable volume (of which there has been a reprint: Milan: Lampi di stampa, 1982) recounts the history of the castle at Porta Giovia, including its destruction during the Ambrosian Republic and its reconstruction at the behest of Francesco Sforza. The narrative is enriched by the transcription of a great number of documentary sources.
  1036. Find this resource:
  1037. Duomo di Milano. Annali della fabbrica del duomo di Milano, dall’origine fino al presente. 7 vols. Milan: C. Brigola, 1877–1885.
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  1039. A collection of all the documents relating to the fabric of the cathedral. Not only privileges and legal documents are transcribed, but also administrative documents and accounts. A valuable source for the study of the major Milanese building project and of the artists and craftsmen who worked on it.
  1040. Find this resource:
  1041. Schofield, Richard, Janice Shell, and Grazioso Sironi. Giovanni Antonio Amadeo: Documents. Como, Italy: New Press, 1989.
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  1043. A reference work—thanks also to copious citations of the sources—on a key figure of the Milanese and Lombard Renaissance, Amadeo, head architect of the cathedral for many years, as well as being employed on the major building projects in Milan and of the duke (the Certosa di Pavia, for example).
  1044. Find this resource:
  1045. Luxury Trades
  1046.  
  1047. The presence of the court made Quattrocento Milan an important center for the production (and the consumption) of luxury goods. Such magnificence enabled Milan under the Visconti and the Sforza to rival the splendour of the ultramontane courts and to be regarded with wonder and admiration by other Italian lords. Only in recent times, however, have historians paid attention to this subject, thanks especially to the studies of Paola Venturelli on gold, enamels, damask cloth, and velvets (Venturelli 1996, Venturelli 2003, and Venturelli 2008). But see also Venturelli 2011, the catalogue of an exhibition held in Milan. As for textile, Buss 2009 is a truly fundamental point of entry.
  1048.  
  1049. Buss, Chiara, ed. Silk, Gold, Crimson: Secrets and Technology at the Visconti and Sforza Courts. Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2009.
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  1051. The catalogue of an exhibition held at the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, which still has some examples of the most precious textiles of the Milanese Renaissance. Various essays help to reconstruct the social and political context, as well as focusing on the character of the rich market in precious textiles.
  1052. Find this resource:
  1053. Venturelli, Paola. Gioielli e gioiellieri milanesi: Storia, arte, moda (1450–1630). Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 1996.
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  1055. The book, provided with a fine set of illustrations, is an investigation of Milanese goldsmiths and jewellers from various perspectives: social (who they were, in what part of the city they lived), technical (how they worked and with which materials), regulatory (to see in the mirror of legislation how luxury was perceived and regulated), and so on.
  1056. Find this resource:
  1057. Venturelli, Paola. Smalto, oro e preziosi: Oreficeria e arti suntuarie nel Ducato di Milano tra Visconti e Sforza. Venice: Marsilio, 2003.
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  1059. This study represents the first true organic research on the luxury trades in the duchy of Milan, and as such constitutes a pioneering work, and one of great utility. The essays published here have previously appeared elsewhere.
  1060. Find this resource:
  1061. Venturelli, Paola. Esmaillée à la façon de Milan: Smalti del Ducato di Milano da Bernabò Visconti a Ludovico il Moro. Venice: Marsilio, 2008.
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  1063. The subject of Venturelli’s research here is a particular area of the wide world of goldsmiths’ work: that of enamels, that were so popular at the court of the Visconti first, and then of the Sforza, too.
  1064. Find this resource:
  1065. Venturelli, Paola, ed. Oro dai Visconti agli Sforza: Smalti e oreficeria nel ducato di Milano. Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2011.
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  1067. The catalogue of the exhibition of the same name held at the Museo Diocesano of Milan, 30 September 2011–29 January 2012, including, with the entries on the exhibits, some essays that give an introduction to the world of Milanese production of luxury goods at the end of the Middle Ages.
  1068. Find this resource:
  1069. Art and Power
  1070.  
  1071. The extraordinary period of studies of Lombard political history that began in the 1970s has in recent times had a new corollary in the strand of research that investigates political communication through art. At the center of attention has been, first and foremost, the role of the ducal dynasty, investigated by Welch 1995 and Boucheron 1998, and of individual dukes, Such as Francesco II Sforza (Sacchi 2005), but there has also been attention to the role of the minor (but still powerful) branches of the Visconti, that in the Sforza era continued to be among the most influential lineages in Milan and the contado (Rossetti 2013). The meaning of the dynastic emblem of the viper investigated in Zaninetta 2013.
  1072.  
  1073. Boucheron, Patrick. Le pouvoir de bâtir: Urbanisme et politique édilitaire à Milan (XIVe–XVe siècles). Rome: École française de Rome, 1998.
  1074. DOI: 10.3406/efr.1998.239Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1075. Far from being a study of architectural history or of the artistic patronage of the lords of Milan, Boucheron’s volume investigates the political use the Visconti and Sforza made of urban space, which was profoundly transformed by their invasive actions.
  1076. Find this resource:
  1077. Rossetti, Edoardo. Sotto il segno della vipera: L’agnazione viscontea nel Rinascimento; Episodi di una committenza di famiglie (1480–1520). Milan: Nexo, 2013.
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  1079. In the late Quattrocento and early Cinquecento, the Visconti clan was still rich and powerful. Despite the extinction of the ducal branch, many collateral branches remained, rooted in the city and in the contado. In this book, Rossetti examines their artistic patronage, putting it in the frame of social and political history.
  1080. Find this resource:
  1081. Sacchi, Rossana. Il disegno incompiuto: La politica artistica di Francesco II Sforza e di Massimiliano Stampa. Milan: LED, 2005.
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  1083. In this two-volume work, Rossana Sacchi examines the artistic commissions of Francesco II Sforza, the last duke of Milan (Volume 1), as well as his relations with Massimiliano Stampa (Volume 2), a close friend of the duke, and the beneficiary of his largesse.
  1084. Find this resource:
  1085. Welch, Evelyn S. Art and Authority in Renaissance Milan. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995.
  1086. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1087. The relation of the lords of Milan to art (in its various guises: architecture, painting, sculpture, etc.) is recounted by Welch in a book that offers a synthesis from the early Visconti era to the late Sforza era.
  1088. Find this resource:
  1089. Zaninetta, Paolo. Il potere raffigurato: Simbolo, mito e propaganda nell’ascesa della signoria viscontea. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2013.
  1090. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1091. At the center of the book are two of the major propagandistic images of Visconti lordship: the cycle of paintings of the Triumph of Ottone Visconti (over Napoleone della Torre), in the fortress of Angera, and the dynastic emblem of the viper, mentioned by Dante, among others.
  1092. Find this resource:
  1093. Music
  1094.  
  1095. The era of the Visconti and the Sforza represented, from the point of view of music, a season of prosperity and innovation, which has been well covered in the historiography. While the glorious, centuries-old tradition of Ambrosian chant, which had been capable of resisting the affirmation of Gregorian chant, continued into the 14th and 15th centuries, there were at the same time significant innovations in musical techniques in both forms and repertory. A rapid synthesis is provided in Gallo 1992. Moreover, the Visconti court, in part because of its links with France, showed itself to be receptive to every novelty and fashion coming from over the Alps (Strohm 1989, Huck 2007). And yet the creation of the chapel of cathedral musicians at the beginning of the Quattrocento marked a particularly important moment in the development of music in Milan: the beginning of a tradition that would culminate in the course of several decades in the foundation of the ducal chapel musicians, able to surpass those of the cathedral in numbers and quality (Merkley and Merkley 1999).
  1096.  
  1097. Gallo, Alberto F. Musica nel castello: Trovatori, libri, oratori nelle corti italiane dal XIII al XV secolo. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 1992.
  1098. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1099. Despite its broad scope and chronological range, which embraces the whole world of Italian lordships, this book provides a first important synthesis (even if a little outdated) on music in the ambience of the Visconti and Sforza.
  1100. Find this resource:
  1101. Huck, Oliver. “Music for Luchino, Bernabò and Gian Galeazzo Visconti.” In Kontinuität und Transformation in der italienischen Vokalmusik zwischen Due- und Quattrocento. Edited by Sandra Dieckmann, Inhalt Vorwort, and Oliver Huck, 247–258. Hildesheim, Germany: Georg Olms Verlag, 2007.
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  1103. An up-to-date fresco of the lively musical world of the Visconti in the era of Luchino and Bernabò and Gian Galeazzo. This study, with its many bibliographical references, is the obligatory point of reference for all research on music in the Visconti age.
  1104. Find this resource:
  1105. Merkley, Paul A., and Lora L. M. Merkley. Music and Patronage in the Sforza Court. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1999.
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  1107. A careful examination of music in the Sforza court, providing a good profile of the main musicians, as well as of the patronage of the ruling dynasty. Galeazzo Maria Sforza (1466–1476), above all, gave every favor to the ducal chapel musicians, making it a center of excellence in the musical panorama of the time.
  1108. Find this resource:
  1109. Strohm, Reinhard. “Filippotto da Caserta, ovvero i francesi in Lombardia.” In In cantu et sermone: For Nino Pirrotta on His 80th Birthday. Edited by Fabrizio Della Seta and Franco Piperno, 65–74. Florence: Olschki, 1989.
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  1111. An essay that is in many ways classic, dealing with the subject of the influence of French musical culture on the Visconti court in the late Trecento, which was evident not only in the language of the texts set to music (old French, in preference to Italian or Latin), but in the diffusion of polyphony, unknown until then in Lombardy.
  1112. Find this resource:
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