Luchino Visconti

Luchino Visconti (1287 or 1292 – 24 January 1349), son of Matteo I Visconti, was left out of the succession and chose a soldier's life. In 1339 he led Milan's army to victory at Parabiago over Lodrisio's mercenaries, and when Azzone died that August he and his brother Archbishop Giovanni were chosen lords of Milan, with Luchino holding real power.

He took Bellinzona in 1340 and Locarno in 1341 and in 1346 forced the Este to sell him Parma. His rule was harsh: a noble's plot ended with the plotter and his sons beheaded, and he later exiled his three nephews.

When plague reached Milan in 1348 he had the first infected houses walled up, and the city was spared the worst. In January 1349, after reportedly threatening his wife Isabella Fieschi with burning at the stake, he died of poison.