This article is about the specific polity Duchy of Milan and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was a signoria, and then a duchy, centered in Milan, modern-day Lombardy. It was one of the largest Italian states of the middle ages, controlling vast regions of northwestern Italy and for short periods of time also territories in Tuscany, Umbria and Piedmont. From the late 15th century, the Duchy of Milan was contested between the forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France, and despites nominally existing until 1796, it ceased to exist as an independent state in 1535.
Establishment
May 1395: The Duchy of Milan was created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Expansion during the rule of Amadeus VIII in the County of Savoy.
January 1397: Mondovi is acquired by the dukes of Savoy.
January 1437: The March of Monferrato reconquers Acqui.
Were a series of conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan and their respective allies, fought in four campaigns in a struggle for hegemony in Northern Italy.
2.1.First Lombard War
Was the first of a series of conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan over the hegemony in Northern Italy.
February 1424: Imola was stormed by Milanese forces on February 14, 1424.
January 1425: Filippo Maria Visconti, the ambitious Duke of Milan, waged war against Florence, defeating it at Anghiari and Faggiuola.
March 1426: On March 17, 1426, Brescia revolted against Filippo Maria Visconti and became loyal to the Republic of Venice.
January 1427: In 1425, Florence allied with Venice against Milan. In 1426, Venetian troops marched on Brescia, forcing the Duke of Milan to sign a peace treaty. Florence regained the territories occupied by Milan in 1425.
January 1427: Visconti, who had already ceded Forlì and Imola to the Pope to gain his favour, called a mediation.
2.2.Second Lombard War
Was the second of a series of conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan over the hegemony in Northern Italy.
June 1427: Previously a peace treaty was signed but it did not last very long. Under advice by the emperor Sigismund, Visconti refused to ratify it and the war broke out in May 1427. The Milanese were initially victorious, taking Casalmaggiore.
July 1427: The Venetian commander pushed him back and conquered Casalmaggiore.
January 1428: Visconti managed to be reconciled with Amadeus by ceding him Vercelli and marrying his daughter, Marie of Savoy.
April 1428: Cremona became part of the Venetian Mainland in 1426 with the peace of Ferrara.
2.3.Third Lombard War
Was the third of a series of conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan over the hegemony in Northern Italy.
January 1432: Valtellina had been invaded by the Serenissima in 1431.
November 1432: In November 1432 a Venetian army was crushed by Piccinino at the Battle of Delebio by a joint army of Milan and Valtellina.
2.4.Fourth Lombard War
Was the fourth of a series of conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan over the hegemony in Northern Italy.
November 1441: By the terms of the treaty ending the Fourth Lombard War, Venice was able to keep the Adda River as the boundary between its mainland possessions and the Duchy of Milan. Venice also gained Riva di Lago from Milan, as well as Lonato, Valeggio sul Mincio, Asola.
Expansion during the rule of Francesco Foscari in the Republic of Venice.
January 1427: Casalmaggiore fell under the rule of the Republic of Venice. In 1426, a Superintendent was appointed.
January 1429: Bergamo finally became part of the Serenissima Republic of Venice on 6 May 1428, following the victory of the Count of Carmagnola in the battle of Maclodio.
Were a series of conflicts covering the period between 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the Valois kings of France, and their Habsburg opponents in the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.
4.1.Italian War of 1499-1504
Was the second of the so-called Italian Wars. The first phase of the war was fought for control of the Duchy of Milan by an alliance of Louis XII of France and the Republic of Venice against Ludovico Sforza, the second between Louis of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon for possession of the Kingdom of Naples.
4.1.1.French conquest of Naples
Was a military campaign by French king Charles VIII against the Kingdom of Naples.
September 1494: Charles VIII of France laid siege to the fortress of Sarzanello.
4.1.2.French conquest of Milan
Was a military campaign by French king Charles VIII against the Duchy of Milan.
September 1499: Milan was conquered by King Louis XII of France, leading to the downfall of Ludovico il Moro, the Duke of Milan. Ludovico fled to Germany to seek refuge after losing control of the Duchy of Milan in 1499.
March 1500: In 1500, Ludovico Sforza regained control of Milan with the help of mercenaries.
April 1500: On 10 April 1500, Ludovico Sforza, also known as Ludovico il Moro, who was the Duke of Milan, was besieged in Novara, and then handed over to the French by his own Swiss mercenaries. The Duchy of Milan fell under French control.
4.2.Italian War of 1494-1498
Was the first of the so-called Italian Wars. The war pitted Charles VIII of France, initially aided by Milan, against the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and an alliance of Italian powers led by Pope Alexander VI, known as the League of Venice.
4.2.1.Expulsion of the French from Italy (1495)
Was the expulsion of the invading French army from the italian peninsula during the Italian War of 1494-1495.
May 1495: On May 2, 1495, the French fleet (seven galleys, two fustas and two galleons), commanded by the Sire de Molans, collided with the Genoese squadron of Francesco Spinola and Fabrizio Giustiniani (eight galleys, two arrows and a carrack). The clash took place at dawn, and it was a total defeat for the French: all the ships were captured, and, simultaneously, a contingent of troops landed by the Genoese fleet under the command of Gian Ludovico Fieschi and Giovanni Adorno, aided by the Rapallini , they routed the transalpines who had remained on the ground, taking control of the town.
4.3.War of the League of Cambrai
Was one of the so-called Italian wars.
4.3.1.Third Phase - The Holy League
Was the third phase of the War of the League of Cambrai, one of the so-called Italian Wars.
October 1512: Novara conquered by Duchy of Milan.
January 1513: In 1512 Massimiliano Sforza regained the government of Milan.
4.3.2.Fourth Phase - Alliance between Venice and France
Was the fourth phase of the War of the League of Cambrai, one of the so-called Italian Wars.
May 1513: At the end of May 1513, a French army commanded by Louis de la Trémoille crossed the Alps and advanced towards Milan, conquering it.
June 1513: The Swiss army, led by General Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, was defending Novara against the French forces commanded by Louis XII. The Swiss were outnumbered and lacked artillery, leading to a fierce siege as the French sought to reclaim the territory.
June 1513: On 6 June, the Swiss defeated the French army in the battle of Novara, forcing French general Trémoille to abandon Milan.
August 1515: The French avant-garde surprised the Milanese cavalry in Villafranca Piemonte, capturing the leader Prospero Colonna.
4.4.Italian War of 1521-1526
Was one of the so-called Italian wars. The war pitted Francis I of France and the Republic of Venice against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Henry VIII of England, and the Papal States.
April 1522: Battle of Bicocca.
November 1523: In October 1523, a French army of 18,000 men, under the command of Bonnivet, advanced through Piedmont towards Novara, where they were joined by a similar force of Swiss mercenaries. The French forces occupied the area of Romagnano Sesia.
April 1524: The French, defeated at the battle of the Sesia, where Bayard fell while commanding the French rearguard, once again demonstrated the power of arquebusiers against traditional troops; the French army withdrew beyond the Alps in disarray.
4.4.1.Pavia Campaign
Was a French military campaign by Francis I in Lombardy.
October 1524: French king Francis I crossed the Alps and advanced on Milan at the head of an army of over 40,000 men.
October 1524: Charles of Lannoy, who had concentrated around 16,000 men to resist the 33,000 French troops in Milan, decided that the city could not be defended and withdrew to Lodi on 26 October. Milan was subsequently occupied by the French army.
October 1524: The French troops, led by King Francis I, arrived in Pavia in October 1524 during the Italian War of 1521-1526. The city was a strategic location in the conflict between France and the Holy Roman Empire, ultimately leading to the Battle of Pavia in 1525.
April 1525: After the battle of Pavia, the disbanded remnants of the French forces, retreated across the Alps.
4.5.War of the League of Cognac
Was one of the so-called Italian Wars. It was fought between the Habsburg dominions of Charles V —primarily the Holy Roman Empire and Spain— and the League of Cognac, an alliance including the Kingdom of France, Pope Clement VII, the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of England, the Duchy of Milan, and the Republic of Florence.
January 1530: Lombardy was reconfirmed to the Sforzas.
4.5.1.Imperial Annexion of Lombardy
Was the invasion of Lombardy by the Imperial and Spanish forces during the War of the League of Cognac.
July 1526: Holy Roman emperor Charles V sends an army under the command of the Constable of Bourbon to Italy. He comes to lay siege to Milan, which capitulates.
4.6.Italian War of 1536-1538
Was one of the so-called Italian Wars. It was a conflict between King Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. The objective was to achieve control over territories in Northern Italy, in particular the Duchy of Milan.
October 1535: Francesco II Sforza, the duke of Milan had no children and died of a long and painful illness in 1535. Because he had no heirs, Francesco’s dynasty was brought to an end by Holy Roman emperor Charles V, whose niece, Christina of Denmark, was Francesco’s wife. There were no protests when Charles V took over the Duchy of Milan from either the people or other Italian states.
Was an armed conflict between the federation of the Three Leagues, which functioned as an associate state of the Old Swiss Confederacy, and the Duchy of Milan early in the 16th century.
January 1532: In the Milan Wars from 1512 to 1531, the Three Leagues under Conrad von Planta succeeded in conquering Cläven together with Bormio (Worms) and the Veltlin (Valtellina).
January 1533: The League forces were able to drive the Milanese out of the Valtellina. In a peace treaty concluded the next year, Chiavenna and the Valtellina were granted to the Three Leagues. Only the tre pievi came under the control of Milan.
February 1399: The Visconti Dynasty if Milan extended its control to the Republic of Siena.
February 1399: Milan conquers Pisa and Siena.
January 1401: Brescello was a Venetian colony from 1400 to 1427.
January 1403: Upon the death of Gian Galeazzo Visconti in 1402, Franchino II Rusca attempted to establish a personal lordship in Como.
January 1403: Gabriele Maria Visconti (1385 - December 15, 1408) was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo Visconti. He was Lord of Pisa from 1402 to 1405.
January 1403: Milan conquers Perugia and Assisi.
January 1403: Milano conquers Bologna.
August 1403: Reggio Emilia is conquered by Ferrara.
January 1404: Bologna indipendent again.
January 1404: Biasca was occupied in 1403 by troops from the cantons Uri and Obwalden.
January 1404: Cremona was reestablished as an independent lordship by the Cavalcabò family.
January 1404: Milan conquers Perugia and Assisi.
January 1404: When Gian Galeazzo died, Assisi reverted to a independent commune.
February 1404: Visconti ruled in Siena lasted just five years (1399-1404).
April 1404: Forces fromthe Duchy of Milan besieged Vicenza in March 1404.
April 1404: In 1404, the Milanese regent Caterina Visconti asked Doge Steno of the Republic of Venice for help, offering to sell the cities of Vicenza. As a result, on April 24, the territory of Vicenza was dedicated to the Republic of Venice.
May 1404: Venice conquers Belluno.
June 1404: In May 1404, Ottobuono reconquered and brought Reggio back under the insignia of Giovanni Maria Visconti, from whom it had been taken by the Este family.
June 1404: Venice conquers Feltre.
January 1405: The Paduans took Verona.
January 1405: Venice conquers Bassano del Grappa.
January 1405: Between 1404 and 1421, the city of Brescia was under the rule of Pandolfo III Malatesta, a prominent Italian condottiero and lord of Rimini. Malatesta was known for his military prowess and political influence in the region during the Renaissance period.
January 1405: In 1404 ownership of the village of Pontremoli passed to the Genoese Fieschi family.
January 1407: Poschiavo was able to free itself by force from the Duchy of Milan in 1406.
January 1407: In 1406 the lordship passed to Filippo Maria Visconti, who made it hereditary. Cremona with this deed entered the Duchy of Milan and followed its fortunes until the unification of Italy.
January 1408: The city of Bergamo was conquered by Pandolfo III Malatesta in 1407.
January 1410: During June Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara, took possession of the lands of Parma and Reggio with his army, managing to keep them until the times following the killing, in 1412, of Giovanni Maria Visconti and the succession to power in the Duchy of Milan of his brother, Filippo Maria.
January 1412: Separation from the municipality of Vercelli with Lodovico I Tizzoni.
January 1413: Milano conquers Novi.
January 1417: Como surrendered to Filippo Maria Visconti, Signore of Milan.
January 1420: The Swiss tried several times to undermine the Visconti power of Bellinzona and to take possession of the city and manors to control the transit routes south of the Alpine passes. They succeeded in 1419 not by force of arms, but with the purchase of castles of the Bellinzona from the De Sacco lords, who had owned them since 1403.
January 1420: A Ghibelline revolt brought Bergamo back under the influence of Milan.
January 1422: Domain of Milan over Genoa 1421-1435.
January 1422: Brescia is acquired by the Duchy of Milan.
June 1422: The battle of Arbedo, fought on 30 June 1422, once again at the Campi Canini, and the harsh defeat of the Swiss confederates, sanctioned the definitive reconquest of Bellinzona by the Milanese Duchy.
January 1428: Milan conquers Spigno.
January 1428: Brescello is conquered by the Duchy of Milan.
January 1432: Milan conquers Acqui.
January 1433: Genoa conquers Torriglia.
January 1434: Milan conquers Jesi.
January 1434: Milano conquers Macerata and San Severino.
January 1436: Francesco Sforza conquers Ascoli Piceno.
January 1436: End of the domain of Milan over Genoa.
January 1436: Francesco Sforza of Milan conquers Assisi.
January 1436: Milan conquers Fabriano.
January 1439: Casalmaggiore fell under the rule of the Duchy of Milan in 1438.
January 1440: Uri temporary occupies the region of Blenio (in modern-day Ticino, Siwtzerland).
January 1441: Uri leaves the region of Blenio.
January 1445: Assisi returns independent.
January 1446: The Papal States submit Fabriano, Macerata and San Severino.
January 1446: Pesaro falls under the domain of the Milanese Sforza Dynasty.
August 1447: Repubblica Ambrosiana is the name given to the republican government created in Milan in 1447 by a group of nobles and jurists from the University of Pavia following the power vacuum created with the death of Filippo Maria Visconti.
March 1450: Proclamation of Francesco Sforza as Duke of Milan.
January 1451: Uri leaves the region of Blenio.
January 1451: From 1447 to 1450, Como experienced a brief period of independence with the establishment of the Republic of Sant'Abbondio. This territory was governed by local leaders and operated as a separate entity from the surrounding regions.
January 1464: In the period 1463-1478 Genoa was part of the Sforza domains.
January 1467: Uri temporary occupies the region of Blenio (in modern-day Ticino, Siwtzerland).
January 1468: Submission of Sarzana to Florence.
January 1470: Uri leaves the region of Blenio.
January 1479: Uri temporary occupies the region of Blenio (in modern-day Ticino, Siwtzerland).
January 1480: Uri leaves the region of Blenio.
January 1480: From 1479 Genoa was again independent from Milan.
January 1483: The Papal States submit Ascoli Piceno.
January 1489: Genea was part of the Sforza domanis between 1488 and 1499.
January 1495: Genova conquers Sarzana.
January 1495: Santo Stefano d'Aveto is conquered by Fieschi.
January 1496: Biasca was probably annexed to the Old Swiss Confederacy together with the Blenio valley starting from 1495.
January 1514: Francesco Maria I Della Rovere becomes Signore of Pesaro.
October 1515: Francis I's superior cavalry and artillery, coupled with the timely arrival of Alviano (who had successfully evaded Cardona's army at Verona) on the morning of September 14, resulted in a strategically decisive victory for the French and Venetians , allowing the king of France to take back the entire duchy of Milan. Francis advanced on Milan, capturing the city on 4 October and removing the Sforza from the throne.
April 1531: Charles V of Habsburg gave the County of Asti as a gift to Beatrice of Portugal, wife of Charles II of Savoy. From that moment on the County of Asti followed the destinies of the House of Savoy.
Disestablishment
October 1535: Francesco II Sforza, the duke of Milan had no children and died of a long and painful illness in 1535. Because he had no heirs, Francesco’s dynasty was brought to an end by Holy Roman emperor Charles V, whose niece, Christina of Denmark, was Francesco’s wife. There were no protests when Charles V took over the Duchy of Milan from either the people or other Italian states.
Selected Sources
Guasti, C. (1866): I Capitoli del comune di Firenze: inventario e regesto, Volume 1, Florence (Italy), p. 731
Stivieri, N. (1870): Storia di Venezia: dalla sua origine fino ai giorni nostri, Milan (Italy), p. 100
Stivieri, N. (1870): Storia di Venezia: dalla sua origine fino ai giorni nostri, Milan (Italy), pp. 100-101
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, p.162
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Duchy of Milan
