Rolando de' Rossi

Rolando de' Rossi (c. 1285–1345) tried to make Parma his family's lordship while papal, Scaliger and Visconti power pressed on Emilia. In 1322 he imprisoned his rival Sanvitale, and in 1325 the legate made him captain of the Church. In 1328 he expelled the papal government, allied with Cangrande della Scala and was given supreme power by the general council, becoming Parma's effective signore.

The legate arrested him at Bologna in 1329. Freed in 1331, he submitted Parma to John of Bohemia and was made a count. With no help from Avignon or the Visconti, Parma surrendered to the Scaligers in June 1335, ending its self-rule.

In exile he commanded Venice's army against them until the 1339 peace, which restored his estates but not his city. He died at Padua in May 1345.