Florentine–Milanese Wars

[2] He gained the backing of Pope Urban IV and concluded an alliance with the Republic of Venice, which in 1387 allowed him to conquer the cities of Verona and Vicenza, putting an end to the Scaliger lordship there.

When mercenary bands formerly in the Milanese lord's employ had raided into Tuscany in 1387, the Republic suspected them to be acting on Visconti's behalf,[5] and the latter's attack on Padua only served to confirm suspicions of his ultimate designs.

[8] Soon, Florence and its environs became a haven for the anti-Visconti opposition: Bernabò Visconti's son Carlo and Antonio I della Scala, the former lord of Verona,[9] as well as Francesco Novello and his family.

[10] Francesco Novello joined the Florentine and Bolognese efforts to find support against Visconti among the German princes who had married Bernabò's numerous daughters, especially the Dukes of Bavaria.

[1][16] At the same time, Florence and Bologna tried to secure a nonaggression treaty with Gian Galeazzo; through the mediation of Pietro Gambacorta, lord of Pisa, an agreement was reached on 9 October 1389, demarcating the Milanese from the Florentine zones of influence in Italy, but it merely delayed the inevitable drift to war.

[24] Over the following years, the pro-war faction led by Maso degli Albizzi and Rinaldo Gianfigliazzi won the upper hand in Florence, even exiling the more moderate leaders, leading to the resumption of hostilities in March 1397.