Franchino I Rusca

Franchino I Rusca (died 1339), of the Rusconi family, was the Ghibelline lord of Como and a son of Pietro, lord of the city. In October 1301 Matteo I Visconti of Milan gave him his daughter Zaccarina in marriage, allying Como with the Visconti.

In 1313 Franchino crushed the rival Guelph Vitani family and became captain and lord of Como, ruling from 1327 as imperial vicar over the city and its countryside. The Visconti, into whose house he had married, then took the city from him.

In 1335 the Rusca, besieged by Bishop Benedetto da Asinago and barely able to defend themselves, turned again to Azzone Visconti: Franchino offered him the lordship of Como in return for Bellinzona, and Azzone entered the city that July. Franchino kept Bellinzona until he died in 1339; the Visconti took it a year later.