Lord of Milan
Napoleone della Torre
(died 16 August 1278), also known as
Napo della Torre
or
Napo Torriani
, was an Italian nobleman, who was effective
Lord of Milan
in the late 13th century. He was a member of the
della Torre
family,
[1]
the father of
Corrado della Torre
and the brother of
Raimondo della Torre
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Napoleone was the son of
Pagano I della Torre
. In 1260 he was
podesta
of
Piacenza
.
He took power in Milan in 1265, succeeding his cousin Filippo as
Anziano del Popolo
("Elder of the People") and, at the same time,
podesta
of
Como
,
Novara
,
Bergamo
and
Lodi
. He continued the family policy of support of
Charles of Anjou
and the
Guelph
party against the
Ghibellines
and the
Kingdom of Sicily
.
The Angevin
victory at Benevento
of the following year meant a triumph of the Guelphs in Italy; in 1267 the main members of the party met in Milan to renew the league against the new Ghibelline leader, the German
Conradin
. Napo was named commander of the league together with his brother
Raimondo
and
William VII of Montferrat
. Napo however did not attack Conradin who was in
Pavia
, perhaps due to personal problems with the Papacy. After Conradin's death in the
battle of Tagliacozzo
(1268) and his definitive conquest of southern Italy, Charles of Anjou tried to extend his power to the whole peninsula: Napo refused to support his moves, provoking Angevin revenge in the form of rebellions against him.
In 1269 his brother Raimondo, bishop of Como, was captured by Conrad Venosta von Matsch (a minor vassal of
Valchiavenna
); Napo intervened and freed him in 1273. In the same year, after the election of
Rudolph of Habsburg
as
Holy Roman Emperor
, Napo switched to the imperial party in order to counter the dominance of Charles of Anjou. His reward was the title of imperial vicar in Lombardy (1274).
At this point
Ottone Visconti
(who had been named
archbishop of Milan
in 1262 but had never been able to enter his seat), and now the main exponent of the opposition in Milan and in
Brianza
against the Della Torre, waged war against him. Napo initially defeated Visconti's troops in the battle of Guazzera (near
Lake Maggiore
), but, on 21 January 1277, he was beaten and captured in the
battle of Desio
together with his son
Corrado
and his nephew
Guido
. His imprisonment marked the end of della Torre rule in Milan, replaced by the Visconti, who held it until the 15th century.
Napo della Torre was held in a cage hanging outside the tower at
Castel Baradello
at Como, where he remained for 19 months until his death in 1278. He was buried in the church of St. Nicholas in the castle.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]