During his exile he stayed in Savoy before eventually being invited to return to Milan and share rule over the city with his relatives, Bernabò and Matteo II Visconti.

He forged ties with Holy Roman emperor Charles IV, who granted him and his two brothers, the shared title of imperial vicar.

Although Visconti military activities in North Italy allowed Galeazzo II to set up his base of operations in Pavia, it also drew him into conflict with the Papacy.

His death on August 4, 1378, allowed his son Gian Galeazzo Visconti to expand the influence of the family as signore.

However, this agreement would be revoked when Bernarbò's alliance with Florence, who had also held a longstanding struggle against the papacy, pulled the Visconti family back into battle during the War of Eight Saints in 1375.

On top of his political legacy, Galeazzo II is often remembered in conjunction with his patronage of intellectuals and writers, from his sponsorship of Petrarch to the founding of the University of Pavia.

Galeazzo's ancestors, Azzone and Ottone Visconti both held legitimate claims to be considered the founder of their house.

[4] Though he was temporarily ousted from power by a rebellion, Matteo later received the position of imperial vicar general during his second period of rule.

[5] Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV then eventually appointed Matteo as Lord of Milan, thirty years after he first obtained a position in the secular government.

[4] In this way, Matteo aided in establishing an enduring lordship over Milan; this moment in time significantly contributed to the hereditary quality of Visconti power.

Following his exile and Luchino's death, Galeazzo returned to Milan in 1349 at the behest of his remaining uncle, Giovanni Visconti.

He married his daughter off to Lionel of Antwerp, son of Edward III of England, and gave a dowry of 200,000 gold florins.

[9] During the reign of the three brothers, they wanted to increase their privileges and governing powers, so they decided to re-establish good relations with Holy Roman Empire so they could acquire the status of imperial vicars.

[12] Galeazzo II encountered more conflicts with the Papacy during his rule as signore due to his own policy of expanding Visconti influence with his brother Bernabò in North Italy.

Furthermore, persuaded by the Papacy, Charles IV revoked the vicariate that he granted to the Visconti family in 1361, although he returned the title to them four years later on the condition that they remained loyal and obedient to the Holy Roman Empire and its emperor.

[14] On August 4, 1379, Galeazzo II Visconti died, leaving Bernabò as the last of the three co-ruling brothers of Milan.

These military operations allowed him to come into control of densely populated areas and to, therefore, amass a significant amount of power that would be passed down to his son Gian Galeazzo Visconti.

[17] Galeazzo II was granted this title as was his brother, Bernabò Visconti, once they gained territory in northern Italy.

Galeazzo II was drawn into warfare with Pope Gregory XI when serving an alliance with his brother, Bernabò V; the papacy became his biggest military opponent during his reign of northern Italian city-states.

[21][20] Galeazzo stood to lose Angevin cities in Piedmont after pope Gregory attempted to suppress his army by forming alliances with local and international powers such as Genoa, Amedeo of Savoy, the Marquis of Monferrato, Niccolo D’Este, Albert, Duke of Austria, Gerald, the elector of Nuremberg and Charles, the Holy Roman Empire.

By doing so, Gregory XI looked to gain territory regionally and to deprive the Visconti brothers of international mercenary support.

[23] The financing of military expeditions was dependent on the taxation of Galeazzo's city-states, some of which included Milan and Pavia, which he claimed in 1359 and made the primary residence of the Visconti family.

In order to weaken the Visconti influence, emperor Charles IV gave vicariate of Pavia to Giovanni Palaeologus II.

After a rebellion led by the Augustinian friar Jacopo Bussolari broke out, calling for the city's independence, Galeazzo recognized Pavia's vulnerability and seized the city-state for himself.

Military figures such as John Hawkwood and Amadeo of Savoy were hired to attack the Visconti brothers and their city-states, Pavia and Piacenza.

[citation needed] The first, and most commendable legacy of Galeazzo II is his commitment to both the sponsorship and patronage of scholars and intellectual institutions.

One step beyond establishing the University of Pavia, Galeazzo II Visconti personally entertained scholarly figures at his court, and offered patronage to them while they remained there.

Rather than one method of torture, this marathon of depravity lasted for forty days with the express intention of resulting in the death of the individual, who, by undergoing this regimen, had already been branded a traitor by the state, and marked for execution.

[39] The prescribed tortures included: the Rack, the Wheel, Flaying, Eye-gouging, the cutting off of facial features and limbs, as well as the Strappado; a form of torture where the subject's hands were bound behind his back, and then hoisted off the ground and repeatedly dropped with the intention of dislodging the shoulder joints, resulting in immense pain.

It is thought that this torture protocol was proclaimed in an edict upon the ascent to the rulership of Milan by both Galeazzo II and Bernabò, likely as a means of intimidating the populace in order to cement their new-found rule.