Bartolomeo Colleoni (c. 1395/1400 – November 2, 1475) was an Italian condottiero. Events 1570 - A Tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1000 The' Italian people' are a Southern European Ethnic group located primarily in Italy, Switzerland, France and by virtue of a wide-ranging Condottieri (singular condottiero, rarely condottiero) were Mercenary leaders employed by the Italian City-states from the Late Middle

Biography

Colleoni was born at Solza, in the countryside of Bergamo (Lombardy), where he prepared his magnificent mortuary chapel, the Cappella Colleoni, in a shrine that he seized when it was refused him by the local confraternity, the Consiglio della Misericordia. Solza is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 35 km northeast Bergamo ( Bèrghem in Lombard, antiquated Wälsch-Bergen in German) is a town in Lombardy, Italy, about Lombardy (Lombardia Latin: Langobardia, Western Lombard: Lumbardìa, Eastern Lombard: Lombardia) is one of the The Cappella Colleoni (Colleoni Chapel is a church/mausoleum in Bergamo, northern Italy. The family was a noble one, exiled with the rest of the Guelphs by the Visconti. The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting respectively the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy Bartolomeo's father Paolo seized the castle of Trezzo by wile and held it by force, until he was assassinated by his cousins, probably acting on order of Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan. Filippo Maria Visconti, ( September 23, 1392 &ndash August 13, 1447) was ruler of Milan from 1412 to 1447 Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy.

The young Colleoni trained at first in the retinue of Filippo d'Arcello, the new master of Piacenza. Piacenza ( Placentia in Latin and old-fashioned English, Piasëinsa in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo) is a Then he entered the service of various condottieri, beginning with Braccio da Montone, who was skirmishing in Apulia, profiting from the struggles between Alfonso of Aragon and Louis of Anjou during the weak sovereignty of Queen Joanna by taking Alfonso's cause, and then of Carmagnola. Braccio da Montone, born Andrea Fortebracci, and also known as Braccio Fortebraccio ( 1 July 1368 &ndash 5 June 1424) was Joan II (23 June 23 1373 &ndash 2 February 1435 was Queen of Naples from 1414 to her death Francesco Bussone, often called Count of Carmagnola (c 1382 – May 5, 1432) was an Italian Condottiero. After the latter was put to death at Venice (1432), Colleoni passed to direct service of the Venetian republic, entering on the major phase of his career. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Although Gianfrancesco Gonzaga was namely commander-in-chief, Colleoni was in fact the true leader of the army. Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga (1395 &ndash 23 September, 1444) was marquess of Mantua from 1407 to 1444 He recaptured many towns and districts for Venice from the Milanese, and when Gonzaga went over to the enemy, Colleoni continued to serve the Venetians under Erasmo da Narni (known as Gattamelata) and Francesco Sforza, winning battles at Brescia, Verona, and on the lake of Garda. Erasmo of Narni (1370 &ndash January 16 1443) better known as "Gattamelata", (The nickname means "The Honeyed Cat" was among Francesco I Sforza ( July 23, 1401 - March 8, 1466) was an Italian Condottiero, the founder of the Sforza dynasty in Brescia ( Lombard: Brèsa) is a city in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy.

The famous equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni by Verrocchio, in Venice.

When peace was made between Milan and Venice in 1441, Colleoni went over to the Milanese, together with Sforza in 1443. Although well treated at first, Colleoni soon fell under the suspicion of the treacherous Visconti and was imprisoned at Monza, where he remained until the duke's death in 1447. Monza ( Munscia in Western Lombard) is a city on the river Lambro, a tributary of the Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy Milan then fell under the lordship of Sforza, whom Colleoni served for a time, but in 1448 he took leave of Sforza and returned to the Venetians. Disgusted at not having been elected captain-general, he went over to Sforza once more, but Venice could not do without him; by offering him increased emoluments, Venice induced him to return, and in 1455 he was appointed captain-general of the republic for life. Although he occasionally fought on his own account, when Venice was at peace, he remained at the disposal of the republic in time of war until his death.

Colleoni was perhaps the most respectable of all the Italian condottieri. Although he often changed sides, no act of treachery is imputed to him, nor did he subject the territories he passed through to the rapine and exactions practiced by other soldiers of fortune. When not fighting, he devoted his time to introducing agricultural improvements on the vast estates with which the Venetians had endowed him, and to charitable works. At his death in 1475, he left a large sum to the republic for the Turkish war, with a request that an equestrian statue of himself should be erected in the Piazza San Marco. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish An equestrian statue is a Statue of a Horse -mounted rider The term is from the Latin " eques," meaning " Knight Piazza San Marco, often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal square of Venice, Italy. The statue was made by Verrocchio: however, as no monument was permitted in the famous Piazza, it was placed opposite the Hospital of St. Mark. Andrea del Verrocchio, born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, (c The Scuola Grande di San Marco is a building in Venice, Italy.

Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni

In 1930 the Italian Regia Marina launched a cruiser of the Condottieri class named after Bartolomeo Colleoni. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Regia Marina ( Italian Royal Navy) dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification. See also List of shipwrecks in 1940 The Condottieri class was a sequence of five different Light cruiser classes of the Regia Marina, although these classes show a clear line of evolution

References

• Rendina, Claudio (1994). I capitani di ventura. Rome: Newton Compton.  
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone