Giovio, Paolo (1483-1552):
[ Vitae duodecim Vicecomitum Mediolani Principum] Pauli Iovii Novocomensis Vitae Duodecim Vicecomitum Mediolani Principum: Ex Bibliotheca Regia. - Lutetiae: Ex officina Rob. Stephani, 1549. - 199 pp. : ill. ; 4o. - Type area 19 x 10,4 cm - Call number: Sch 046/389
Note:
For basic information on the author please see the English Wikipedia article Paolo Giovio. The Milanese rulers of the Visconti family (1277-1447) are listed in the article House of Visconti.
Giovio in his dedication to the French Dauphin Henri (1519-1559), dated Rome, March 29, 1547, says that he had promised this work to Henri's brother Charles (1522 - 1545). Charles, however, died before Giovio had finished this work. In 1544, King François I had negotiated a settlement (Peace Treaty of Crépy) that stipulated the succession of Charles, duc d'Orléans, to the Visconti's rule of Milan (cf. ‚Argumentum Devolutae hereditatis ad Aurelianorum principum domum', the final section of the present edition). But Henri who succeeded his father (deceased on March 31, 1547) was not able to attain to the rule of Milan upon the death of the last Visconti, Filippo Maria (August 13, 1547).
In his preface, Giovio, dismissing the claims of Roman and Langobardian descent fabricated by scholars of the Visconti court, gives a brief account of notable ancestors of the Visconti rulers that starts with a certain Eriprando who in 1037 defended Milan attacked by Emperor Conrad II, and with Otho who distinguished himself in the first crusade (1096-1099).
After Azzone (d. 1339), the enlarged dominion of the Visconti was sometimes divided among leading members of the family. In the following list, in order to indicate this case we use the words ‚shared in the rule'.Table of Contents:
(Title page) pag. 1
(Author's Dedication) pag. 3
(Author's Preface) pag. 5
Otho Archiepiscopus (Portrait of Ottone Visconti, Archbishop of Milan, who ruled from 1277 to 1294) pag. 7
Matthaeus Magnus (Portrait of Matteo I Visconti who ruled from 1294 to 1302 and from 1311 to 1322) pag. 72
Galeacius Primus (Portrait of Galeazzo I Visconti who ruled from 1322 to 1327/28) pag. 83
Actius (Portrait of Azzone Visconti who ruled from 1328/29 to 1339) pag. 109
Luchinus (Portrait of Luchino I Visconti who shared in the rule from 1339 to 1349) pag. 128
Ioannes Archiepiscopus (Portrait of Giovanni Visconti who shared in the rule from 1339 to 1354) pag. 135
Matthaeus Secundus (Matteo II. Visconti who shared in the rule from 1349 to 1354) pag. 143
Galeacius Secundus (Portrait of Galeazzo II. Visconti who shared in the rule from 1349 to 1378) pag. 146
Barnabas (Portrait of Bernabò Visconti who ruled from 1349 to 1385) pag. 155
Ioannes Galeacius (Portrait of Gian Galeazzo Visconti who shared in the rule from 1378 and ruled from 1385 to 1402) pag. 164
Ioannes Maria (Giovanni Maria Visconti who ruled from 1402 to 1412) pag. 175
Philippus (Portrait of Filippo Maria Visconti who ruled from 1412 to 1447) pag. 182
Argumentum Devolutae hereditatis ad Aurelianorum principum domum, brevissima narratione ex historiis explicatum. pag. 190