In the first part of his reign, abandoning the careful policy of balance held by his father, he conquered Brescia (1332), Parma (1335) in Lombardy and Lucca (1335) in Tuscany.

In the first year of the subsequent war, he managed to resist, but in 1337 the League was joined by Azzone Visconti of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, the Gonzaga of Mantua and the Papal States.

Surrounded by every side, he could only ask for a treaty of peace through the intermediation of Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria, which he obtained in 1339.

His territories were restricted to Verona and Vicenza, the remaining part split among the victorious enemies.

An attempt to recover part of his lands with the German mercenaries that had remained in Vicenza after the war, led by Lodrisio Visconti, was unsuccessful.