Visconti of Milan

House of Visconti
Coat of arms of the Visconti of Milan
Ethnicity	Italian
Founded	1075 (1075)
Founder	Ariprando Visconti
Final ruler	Filippo Maria Visconti
Titles	Lord of Milan (1277–1395) Duke of Milan (1395–1447)
Motto	Vipereos mores non violabo (Latin for "I will not violate the customs of the serpent")
Cadet branches	Visconti of Modrone

Visconti is the family name of important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. The Visconti of Milan rose to power in their city, where they ruled from 1277 to 1447, initially as Lords then as Dukes and where several collateral branches still exist. The effective founder of the Visconti lordship on Milan was Ottone, who wrested control of the city from the rival Della Torre family in 1277.

In the second half of the XI century Ariprando Visconti and his son Ottone were the first family members to obtain the title of viscount, which then became hereditary throughout the male descent. The primary sources show the first evidence of "Ariprandus et Otto Vicecomes" in 1075. In the following years Ottone is shown in the proximity of the sovereigns of the Salian dynasty, Henry IV and his son Conrad. This relationship is confirmed by the circumstances of his death, occurred in Rome in 1111, when he was slaughtered after an attempt to defend Henry V from an assault. In the first documents where they appear, Ottone and his offspring declared to follow the Lombard law and acted in connection with other Milanese families of the noble upper class (capitanei). A relationship with the Litta, a Milanese vavasour family subordinate to the Visconti in the feudal hierarchy, is also documented. These circumstances make evident their participation to the Milanese society in the years before 1075 and ultimately their Lombard origin.

In 1134 Guido Visconti, son of Ottone, received from the abbot of St. Gallen the investiture of the court of Massino a strategic location on the hills above Lake Maggiore, near Arona, where another family member was present from the twelfth century as a guardian of the local archiepiscopal fortress. A royal diploma, issued by Conrad III in 1142, attests their entitlement of the fodrum in Albusciago and Besnate. On the basis of a document from the year 1157 the Visconti were considered holders of the captaincy of Marliano (today Mariano Comense) since the time of the archbishop Landulf; however the available documentation cannot infer such conclusion.