The Dance Of The Lion And The Serpent: A Renaissance Milan-Venice TL. Updated 24-04-2017

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Introduction
  • Index

    • Lucius Verus

    Banned
    Summary: This is an Italo-centric techno-economic Tl starting in the 14th century, the Visconti duchy was perhaps the last pre-modern chance of a prosperous Italian state and this tl will delve into that. The POD will be revealed into the story.

    The Dance Of The Lion And The Serpent: The Story Of The Milanese-Venetian Alliance.
    lion_and_the_serpent_by_tom_jt-d4nccn6.jpg

    An artistic depiction of the Venetian-Milanese alliance, symbolized by their respective coat of arms.    ​

    Nervos belli, pecuniam infinitam
    "The sinews of war are infinite money" Cicero

    Gian Galeazzo Visconti "The Great Serpent", the conquer , the spymaster, the lawgiver, and the Duke of Lombardy was dead.[1]

    Much to the relief of the Florentines and its city-state coalition the duke's untimely death seemed to be divine providence, for it was universally believed that despite four decades of intermittent war the duke would nonetheless conquer the Tuscans with the North. But now without the firm hand of the Great Serpent the vultures and jackals are coming out of hiding.[2]

    Whether out of ambition, loyalty, or the simple need to keep their soldiers fed the dozens of condottiero captains that carved out the Duchy of Milan are left to their own means as they begin to seize their own private domains. In every commune, old rivalries are resurfacing as the distant authority of Milan grows ever more faint. Emboldened by the duke’s death countless old enemies in Italian & Swiss city-states began to assert themselves at the duchy’s expense. At the heart of the mess the bankrupt and impoverished city of Milan is forced to witness the bitter struggle between the heirs and condottiero captains of the late duke.[3]

    In contrast to the miasma of uncertainty, fear, and greed that loomed over Milan the city of Florence was enraptured with jubilation and relief as victory celebrations began. Without the Great Serpent, the independence of Florence seemed assured; for Naples was still involved in dynastic squabbles, Rome nothing more than a romantic legacy masking a collection of disunited baronies, Genoa a shadow of glories past, and Venice was as reclusive as ever.

    But fate it seems has a cruel sense of humor. A day into the festivities a courier came bearing portents of doom. The 14-year-old heir of the Great Serpent Giovanni Maria Visconti had sealed an alliance to Venice with a marriage to Anzola Pisani, granddaughter of the savior of the Republic. With clock-work punctually, Venetians Soldos and Ducats found their way into the purses of the Condottieri.[4][5]


    The dance begins.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    ​


    Footnotes

    [1]Gian Galeazzo Visconti (born 1351, died Sept. 3, 1402) died of the plague just as OTL
    Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gian-Galeazzo-Visconti

    [2]Since killing his uncle Bernabò Visconti and gaining power in 1387 Gian Galeazzo Visconti consolidated his power in Milan and expanded throughout the Po Valley.
    Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gian-Galeazzo-Visconti

    [3]Just as OTL, while loyalty to one's contractor was no doubt a lucrative asset to any mercenary's pay honor was a conditional thing and considered null and void when one's employer was unable to pay. Like OTL the Condottieri became warlords in the absence of pay and authority.
    Source: The Condottieri Soldiers of Fortune by Geoffrey Trease (p233-234). Thames and Hudson, London.

    [4]Giovanni Maria Visconti IOTL was 13 at the time of his father's death. By the time of his marriage to Anzola he would be 14 under his mother Caterina Visconti's regency.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian_Maria_Visconti

    [5]Anzola is the first ITTL character, as granddaughter of the legendary Vettor Pisani savoir and Doge of the Venetian Republic she welds great esteem and informal power within Venice but has lived her life under the shadow of her grandfather's reputation.
     
    Last edited:
  • Index

    • Yanez de Gomera

    This looks very promising, although I am a bit wary of Giovanni Maria Visconti, given his tendencies iotl, which made him quite similar to a GRR Martin character (a real life Ramsay Bolton). Therefore I suggest you eliminate the captain of ventura Facino Cane, who had a dreadful influence upon the youth.

    That said, I am really looking forward to this, given how much I liked your Venetian TL.
     

    LordKalvan

    Irene said:
    Summary: This is an Italo-centric techno-economic Tl starting in the 14th century, the Visconti duchy was perhaps the last pre-modern chance of a prosperous Italian state and this tl will delve into that. The POD will be revealed into the story.

    The Dance Of The Lion And The Serpent: The Story Of The Milanese-Venetian Alliance.
    lion_and_the_serpent_by_tom_jt-d4nccn6.jpg

    An artistic depiction of the Venetian-Milanese alliance, symbolized by their respective coat of arms.    ​

    Nervos belli, pecuniam infinitam
    "The sinews of war are infinite money" Cicero

    Gian Galeazzo Visconti "The Great Serpent", the conquer , the spymaster, the lawgiver, and the Duke of Lombardy was dead.[1]

    Much to the relief of the Florentines and its city-state coalition the duke's untimely death seemed to be divine providence, for it was universally believed that despite four decades of intermittent war the duke would nonetheless conquer the Tuscany with the North. But now without the firm hand of the Great Serpent the vultures and jackals are coming out of hiding.[2]

    Whether out of ambition, loyalty, or the simple need to keep their soldiers fed the dozens of condottiero captains that carved out the Duchy of Milan are left to their own means as they begin to seize their own private domains. In every commune, old rivalries are resurfacing as the distant authority of Milan grows ever more faint. Emboldened by the duke’s death countless old enemies in Italian & Swiss city-states began to assert themselves at the duchy’s expense. At the heart of the mess the bankrupt and impoverished city of Milan is forced to witness the bitter struggle between the heirs and condottiero captains of the late duke.[3]

    In contrast to the miasma of uncertainty, fear, and greed that loomed over Milan the city of Florence was enraptured with jubilation and relief as victory celebrations began. Without the Great Serpent, the independence of Florence seemed assured; for Naples was still involved in dynastic squabbles, Rome nothing more than a romantic legacy masking a collection of disunited baronies, Genoa a shadow of glories past, and Venice was as reclusive as ever.

    But fate it seems has a cruel sense of humor. A day into the festivities a courier came bearing portents of doom. The 14-year-old heir of the Great Serpent Giovanni Maria Visconti had sealed an alliance to Venice with a marriage to Anzola Pisani, granddaughter of the savior of the Republic. With clock-work punctually, Venetians Soldos and Ducats found their way into the purses of the Condottieri.[4][5]


    The dance begins.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    ​


    Footnotes

    [1]Gian Galeazzo Visconti (born 1351, died Sept. 3, 1402) died of the plague just as OTL
    Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gian-Galeazzo-Visconti

    [2]Since killing his brother Bernabò Visconti and gaining power in 1387 Gian Galeazzo Visconti consolidated his power in Milan and expanded throughout the Po Valley.
    Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gian-Galeazzo-Visconti

    [3]Just as OTL, while loyalty to one's contractor was no doubt a lucrative asset to any mercenary's pay honor was a conditional thing and considered null and void when one's employer was unable to pay. Like OTL the Condottieri became warlords in the absence of pay and authority.
    Source: The Condottieri Soldiers of Fortune by Geoffrey Trease (p233-234). Thames and Hudson, London.

    [4]Giovanni Maria Visconti IOTL was 13 at the time of his father's death. By the time of his marriage to Anzola he would be 14 under his mother Caterina Visconti's regency.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian_Maria_Visconti

    [5]Anzola is the first ITTL character, as granddaughter of the legendary Vettor Pisani savoir and Doge of the Venetian Republic she welds great esteem and informal power within Venice but has lived her life under the shadow of her grandfather's reputation.
    Click to expand...
    Interesting: since I am both a Visconti loyalist and a loyal supporter of the Serenissima (not to mention having argued that there are huge potential synergies in an alliance between Milan and Venice).
    However my loyalty to the Visconti cannot hide the fact that Giovanni Maria was a dangerous psychopath (@Yanez compares him to Ramsey Bolton, and truly there are a lot of similarities), but unfortunately never showed even a hint of being smart enough (or even interested in the governance of the duchy other than for fomenting wars and repressing insurrections). You've not singled out a POD for TTL (I would say that the marriage to Anzola Pisani is a consequence of a "different" Giovanni Maria and possibly a more solid regency council as well as the need for a sure source of money. Maybe Gian Galeazzo left a better an more detailed will, or he took some more interest in the grooming of the young Giovanni Maria).
    I have to disagree with Yanez on his characterization of Facino Cane: he was certainly not a nice man (which condottiere was? Maybe Carlo Malatesta was a better man, but his loyalty and his interests were devoted to the pope, rather than to the Visconti)), but he remained always faithful to the duchy of Milan and to give him the responsibility for the cruelty of Giovanni Maria is unfair. Other condottieri (Ottobono Terzi, Filippino dal Verme and the already mentioned Carlo Malatesta) proved much less reliable, because of personal ambition or because the treasury of the duchy was almost empty (Gian Galeazzo had been expecting to replenish it after taking Florence).

    Just a nitpick on note 2: Barnabo' Visconti was the uncle of Gian Galeazzo and brother to Galeazzo Visconti
     

    Yanez de Gomera

    Florence is so screwed if a true stable alliance between Milan and Venice is formed!

    It will be difficult to keep together the aristocratic republic and a state that to be viable must become more and more monarchical (unless you have something like the Aurea Repubblica Ambrosiana sort of federating with Venice when the Visconti fall, but that would be beyond the scope of ttl).

    What could be interesting would be coopting the Swiss mercenaries in a similar way to what France did, by signing a strong "Soldbundnis" after a military defeat of the Swiss by a Venetian-Milanese force (not impossible given the right circumstances).
     
    Chapter 1: The State of Milan
  • Index

    • Lucius Verus

    Banned
    Chapter 1: The State of Milan

    "How do you tell if a mercenary is dead?
    He stops collecting paychecks."

    Mercedes Lackey

    Six months ago (1402)

    When Gian Galeazzo Visconti died the Queen Regent and her council of advisers were heartbroken at the loss of such a great man, nonetheless they were optimistic for the future. That is all except for one named Francesco Barbavara. Chosen by the late duke for his financial acumen and loyalty Barbavara was the only one who knew of the late duke's plan to hire the condottieri with loans and to repay them with the looted treasury of Florence. Privately Barbavara had worked out the numbers between the duke and himself, a secret they kept to themselves least news of such a gamble frightened their creditors.

    Unfortunately the late duke's unexpected death threw everything into disarray, without the duke's reputation the creditors suddenly found excuses against new loans and started collecting existing loans, draining what remained of the treasury. The condottieri that conquered the Po valley required massive sums of money beyond even the capabilities of the once prosperous city of Milan. Of course the duchy still had most of the Po for income but taxes, tolls, and the late duke's personal income came in fits and spurts based on local conditions and customs whereas the condottieri, the new bureaucracy, the sprawling network of patronage, and the extensive network of spies had to be paid consistently.[1]

    Without money, the duchy was falling apart and the council's power withered until it barely controlled the streets of Milan. It was at the from their lowest point that that man was invited. Rehired on the promise of future payment as the closest condottiero near Milan the regency council could not believe their luck in finding Facino Cane, a former condottiero of the duchy. Ruthless and a capable general Facino Cane quickly regained control of Milan under his iron grip and restored the duchy's income. In lieu of payment the council instead offered him the position of marshal, as he was in de facto control of the troops anyways.[2]

    The disagreements soon followed, the council complained of the banditry of Cane's men while Cane retorted at the lack of payment and the need to maintain order. Absent in all of this was the young duke himself, it seemed no one but the tight-lipped duchess regent Caterina knew where he was. Exasperated the council finally prevailed to Caterina to put Cane in his place with the young duke's authority.

    Then it all went to hell.

    Calculating and pragmatic Cane quickly gained the confidence of the teenage heir and his de facto control became backed by the legitimacy of the young duke. From his position Cane began to consolidate his position by killing or imprisoning his rivals and potential claimants.[3]

    Meanwhile the young duke was revealed to be the antithesis of his father. Whereas his father was cunning and a smooth operator Maria Visconti was blunt, reckless, and for a lack of a better word dumb as a sack of hammers. While his father took great pains to consult and involve city counsels in his decisions Maria threw off the veil of the "popolo" (people) and renamed the counsel the "Council of Giovanni Maria Visconti, Lord of Lombardy". While his father preferred to bleed his opponents dry through economic warfare Maria simply tore them apart with his dogs with an unnerving passion for bloodletting. [4][5]

    In one particularly notorious incident the young duke was confronted by a crowd chanting "Pac! Pac!" (peace! Peace!) to which he responded by setting his men and dogs upon the crowd. Hundreds were dead and it was said that the young duke bathed in their blood with glee.[6]

    By the end of two months most of Cane's rivals were dead or hiding at the cost of two thousand or so bystanders, the young duke's reputation was irreparably tarnished, and Cane found that people preferred audiences with him instead of risking it with the young duke. Cane was no fool, he knew the young duke's days were numbered and sought to give himself the best position when the duke's demise came. Taking precaution Cane imprisoned Gian Maria's nephew Filippo and schemed while the young duke squandered his inheritance to Cane's benefit.[7]

    Kept alive for his financial usefulness Barbavara despaired at the prospect of watching his life's work crumble Barbavara resolved to save his late friend's legacy, even if his wished to piss it away. In his quest he found the Duchess regent as an ally, for she was perhaps the only person that prayed for the young duke's well being.

    Summoning what was left of their influence Francesco and the duchess regent Caterina exercised the what little power they had left. As mother regent the choice of the young duke's bride was still her prerogative.[8]

    How could it get any worse?



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ​


    [1]IOTL the Viscontis constructed a proto-modern bureaucracy similar to that of the Venetian Republic or Imperial China and well ahead of its time.
    [2]Similar to OTL Facino Cane was an opportunist in the wake of Gian Visconti's death. Poorly paid and sometimes unpaid Facino Cane took matters into his own hands.
    [3]Just like OTL
    [4]Maria was IOTL a petty psychopath who loved to torture abuse. He was the inspiration for this TL.
    [5]The word "Popolo" meant the people, but in practice it meant select groups of the middle-class artisans and shopkeepers. Divided heavily along lines of family, occupation, wealth, guild, militia, ancestry, blood debts, and more they were rarely united except in opposition. Depending on the region of Italy at the time they ranged from 20%-70% of the urban population. Milan was special in the fact that despite the massive concentration of industry the nobles also keep up their numbers and power. All of this of course did not include the poor labourers that easily accounted for the majority of an Italian city's population.
    [6]Just as OTL Maria was blood thirsty, IOTL he would often personally chase down and rip apart curfew breakers with his dogs terrifying Milan.
    [7]Filippo Maria Visconti was IOTL the nephew of Maria and just like OTL Facino Cane imprisoned him as a liability and a spare.
    [8]IOTL Maria was married to Antonia Malatesta of Cesena, daughter of Carlo I lord & condottiero of Rimini in Romagna for an alliance as well as much needed troops.


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  • Index

    • LordKalvan

    Filippo Maria Visconti was the younger brother of Giovanni Maria Visconti, both being sons of GG and Caterina Visconti.
    They have both "Maria" as second name because Giovanni was born it was very much touch and go, both for him and his mother: GG (who had already lost two sons to disease) vowed to build a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary if the birth would go well. It did, and the name "Maria" (Mary) was also added to the name of the boy, and also to the name of his younger brother when he was born a few years after (I am not sure if the tradition started with the birth of Filippo Maria, but it is a fact that boys in Lombardy had often the name "Maria" added to the first name as late as the 1950s).
    The young duke is formally addressed as "Giovanni Maria", or possibly "Giovanni", but never "Maria" which on its own would be a girl name.

    Barbavara was a very able and effective treasurer for GG, and also during the first years of the regency. However he was also hated with a vengeance, since he had to bleed the duchy dry to find enough money to finance the wars. He was also accused to line his pockets, and those of his family: it is quite possible, but in the middle age it was also a perquisite of the position.

    You are randomly using both "Cane" and "Kane" as family name for Facino, the condottiere and actual warlord of the duchy: in Italian "K" is never used other than in foreign names.
    As far as his alleged penchant for cruelty, I believe it is a legend born after his death: Facino Cane was a condottiere, not a job for men with a queasy stomach, but his behavior toward the house of Visconti was unimpeachable and stands to contrast with the usual readiness of condottieri to betray their allegiances.
     

    Lucius Verus

    Banned
    LordKalvan said:
    snip...
    Click to expand...

    Good to know, the subtleties of the Italian language are lost on anglophones like me.

    LordKalvan said:
    As far as his alleged penchant for cruelty, I believe it is a legend born after his death: Facino Cane was a condottiere, not a job for men with a queasy stomach, but his behavior toward the house of Visconti was unimpeachable and stands to contrast with the usual readiness of condottieri to betray their allegiances.
    Click to expand...

    I thought I was very careful in portraying Cane as a man who can be cruel as is the profession of the condottieri, but was never cruel for its own sake unlike the young duke... I'll review what I wrote. As I understood it Cane served well, but he never bothered to advise the Visconti family and mostly did as he was paid/told to do looking out for himself and his men.
     
    DanMcCollum

    DanMcCollum

    I don't know a great deal about Italy during this time frame, but I'm really enjoying the story - it flows well and is easy to understand for neophytes such as myself. Great job!
     

    Yanez de Gomera

    It will also be interesting to see how Milan reacts to Ladislaus of Naples (who could be a great anti-Florentine ally early on, but whose ambitions seem quite dangerous) and how and when the Western Schism gets solved.
     

    LordKalvan

    Yanez de Gomera said:
    It will also be interesting to see how Milan reacts to Ladislaus of Naples (who could be a great anti-Florentine ally early on, but whose ambitions seem quite dangerous) and how and when the Western Schism gets solved.
    Click to expand...
    It would be certainly interesting - in the Chinese sense: both Ladislao and Giovanni Maria are peculiar men, probably at least borderline psychopath both.
    I don't think the duchy of Milan has the strength to pursue the same expansionist strategy of Gian Galeazzo, but an alliance of convenience against Florence might work.
    I've even considered the possibility of a marriage between Giovanni Maria and Giovanna (I know that Giovanna is 17 or 18 years older than Giovanni, but some of the royal marriages in the middle age and renaissance were no less strange); there are however big political risks involved (bot France and the HRE would not be enthused by the possibility of creating a dynastic link between Milan and Naples, and also Venice and Florence would be aghast) and the fact that Giovanna had not had any child with her first husband, and could be quite possibly barren.
     

    The Undead Martyr

    Well a link between Naples and Milan would be opposed to a degree, yes, except... well, who could intervene? France is busy getting trounced by England, the Emperor is busy with the Hussites, the Papacy has a little something called the Schism... IMHO the best solution would be to split Naples and keep Sicily with Milan, for the wealth and the royal crown. This could be achieved, and would if played well lead to a hegemonic peace, where the other three powers (Florence, Venice, Papacy ( are balanced against Milan-Sicily-Naples.
     

    general

    An interesting idea, but I am curious as to what is in it for Venice? For most of her history she actively avoided entanglements in the Terra Firma, and when that changed it was largely in opposition to Milan. Granted you have a marriage between a Venetian noble family and the Visconti, but would'nt this lead to other,rival families being concerned about a Venetian dog being wagged by a Milanese tail?
     

    Lucius Verus

    Banned
    general said:
    An interesting idea, but I am curious as to what is in it for Venice? For most of her history she actively avoided entanglements in the Terra Firma, and when that changed it was largely in opposition to Milan. Granted you have a marriage between a Venetian noble family and the Visconti, but would'nt this lead to other,rival families being concerned about a Venetian dog being wagged by a Milanese tail?
    Click to expand...

    Ahhh, well that would be interesting wouldn't it? What do the Venetians want in such an alliance? Are the Venetian Patricians the same as OTL? Let's find out.

    As for the entanglements on Terrafirma you are right, though I would argue that the need to secure trade access to continental Europe and agricultural hinterlands were major considerations. But those are the visible and stated reasons. If you were to just examine the Venetian Patricians you would notice a particular trend in the poor patricians supporting expansionist policies on Terrafirma, not for ideology, not for security, not even with a clear idea of what its intended to accomplish; instead it seems as if the only reason was to inflate the number of bureaucratic positions there was for personal income.

    Power-wise Milan is more powerful, at least in the long run. Not right now though.
     

    general

    Thanks. I look forward to seeing exactly what price Venice charges - or at least asks. They say if you sup with the Devil,you need a long spoon; which one here is the Devil and which will need the spoon?
     

    LordKalvan

    What Milan needs is easy to identify: money, lots of money since the expansionism of Gian Galeazzo has almost bankrupted what was one of the richest states in Europe.
    What Venice needs is good communication with center and northern Europe, safety for her traffics and avoiding a lot of two-penny barons putting a tax over each and every bale which transits in their territory.
    The best way to move good to the north is via the Po river, which offers a number of alternatives through its northern tributaries which connect to the subalpine great lakes: Lake Garda, then the Brenner pass; Lake Como, then either the St. Gottard pass or the Valtelline; Lake Maggiore, and then again the St. Gottard pass or west toward the Lake Costanza or Ivrea, the Aosta valley and Savoy.

    After their successful bid for the throne of Milan the Sforzas completed in a couple of generations the system of artificial canals that enhanced and simplified the flow of the goods to and from the north: however a large parts of these canals had already been built under the Visconti (another major expenditure, but certainly better justified in terms of investment) and without the crisis brought forward by the sudden death of Gian Galeazzo the canal system would have been completed at least a couple generations earlier, and would provide an enormous increase to the revenues of the dukes of Milan.

    So maybe neither Venice nor Milan play the role of the devil in TTL: it may be a marriage of convenience, but successful marriages have been built on shakier foundations.
     

    LordKalvan

    There is no terrafirma party yet, although IOTL Venice made a nonsensical move in the east by accepting the petition of Andronikos Paleologos for Thessaloniki to be annexed by Venice: since the city was already invested by the Ottomans, there was no benefit in this move.
     
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