A history of Italy from the fall of the Roman Empire to the present
After the untimely death of the first duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the duchy is thrown into turmoil as the widow, Caterina Visconti attempts to hold onto the realm of her sons, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria through internal intrigue and external military pressure from Florence, Venice and many others trying to take advantage of Milan’s moment of weakness.
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While everyone (the Pope, the king of France, Milan, Verona, Venice, Florence etc.) is manoeuvring in northern Italy along comes an unexpected king, John of Luxembourg, king of Bohemia. Will he be able to unite the northern cities?
We follow the descent into Italy of Holy Roman Emperor Luis IV to visit with the Visconti in Milan, the Dalla Scala in Verona, the Este of Ferrara, the Castracani in Lucca and the Gonzaga in Mantua. At the same time we see the struggle between emperor and pope and get a reminder fo the situation in Naples and Sicily.
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We have a look at the opus magna of Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy, before seeing him off to the end of his days and beyond, with the adventures of his corpse
Before saying goodbye to the 13th century, we take a quick tour of the peninsula to tie up some loose ends, such as the maritime republics, Piedmont and the situation with the communes.