Spinetta Malaspina the Great

Spinetta Malaspina, called the Great (1282–1352), was the son of Gabriele Malaspina of Verrucola and founder of the Malaspina lords of Fosdinovo. In 1311 Emperor Henry VII made him imperial vicar of Reggio, and in 1314 his father-in-law Matteo Visconti named him podestà of Milan.

In 1317 Castruccio Castracani seized Fosdinovo and other fiefs and drove him to Verona; with Cangrande's troops he recovered his lands in 1320, and the struggle ran on until Castruccio died in 1328.

In 1340 he bought out the local nobles and became undisputed lord of Fosdinovo, where he enlarged the castle. He died in 1352 without heirs, passing his state to his nephews. His heirs raised him a cenotaph in Verona, but his own tomb was never found.