Lodrisio Visconti

Lodrisio Visconti (c. 1280–1364), son of Pietro Visconti, was a Milanese condottiero who fought both for and against his own house. He first backed Matteo Visconti in winning Milan from the Torriani, then helped his cousin Marco arrest Galeazzo I at Monza. He fled to his Seprio fief, but Azzone destroyed it, and he took service with Mastino II della Scala.

In 1339, backed by Mastino, he raised the Compagnia di San Giorgio, remembered as the first mercenary company led by an Italian. He invaded the Milanese and was defeated and captured at Parabiago in February. With his son Ambrogio he spent ten years in an iron cage in San Colombano castle, until Archbishop Giovanni freed him.

He later led troops for Galeazzo II and fought in the 1356 victory over the anti-Visconti league. He died in 1364.