Gian Galeazzo Visconti purchases ducal title

1395

The Milanese signore paid Emperor Wenceslaus a vast sum for the title of Duke of Milan, formalizing his rule over a domain stretching from Piedmont to the Veneto. The Visconti court at Pavia and Milan patronized early humanist scholarship and commissioned the monumental Certosa monastery. Gian Galeazzo nearly united northern Italy before plague took him in 1402.