I can trace this family back to the beginning to Jacapino Della Scala, my 23rd great grandfather, who died in 1215. He was a wool trader that eventually received the title of Imperial Vicar at Ostiglia.
Alberto I della Scala (died 3 September 1301) was lord of Verona from 1277, a member of the Scaliger family.
The son of Jacopino della Scala, he was podestà of Mantua in 1272 and 1275. In 1277, after the assassination of his brother Mastino, inherited the seigniory of Verona.
Alberto died in Verona in 1301. His son Bartolomeo succeeded him. His other sons Alboino and Francesco (Cangrande) were also lord of Verona from 1304 and 1312, respectively. His daughter Costanza married Obizzo II d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara, as his second wife.
Della Scala family, also called Scaliger, Italian Scaligeri, Latin Scaligerus, noted family that ruled Verona during the late 13th and the 14th centuries. Although the family had been prominent in Verona since the 11th century, the founder of the ruling dynasty was Mastino I della Scala (d. 1277), who became podesta (chief magistrate) shortly after the defeat and death (1259) of Ezzelino da Romano, tyrant of Verona. A new election in 1262 gave Mastino the added authoritative office of captain of the people. He was succeeded in 1277 by his brother Alberto (d. 1301), who was followed by his son Bartolomeo (d. 1304), the “gran Lombardo” (Dante, Paradiso), in whose reign (according to tradition) Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet loved and died.
Bartolomeo’s brother Can Francesco, called Cangrande I (d. 1329), was the greatest figure of the family and protector of the exiled Dante. He first ruled Verona jointly with his brother Alboino, and together they gained the title of imperial vicar from the Holy Roman emperor Henry VII (1311). After Alboino’s death (Oct. 28, 1311), Cangrande became the sole ruler and began a series of successful wars against Vicenza (1312–14) and Padua (1317–18). In 1318 he became captain general of the Ghibelline League and extended his control over Fetre and Belluno. In 1327 he was named imperial vicar of Mantua, reaching the apex of his power. His successor and nephew, Mastino II (who ruled with his brother Alberto II), tried to continue the expansionist policies of his uncle. His aggressiveness, however, provoked a rival Florentine-Venetian coalition and the loss of allies and territories, and by the end of his reign he was left with only Verona and Vicenza.
The della Scala rule in Verona finally came to a close after the brief successive reigns of Mastino’s sons and grandsons, ending in 1387 with the annexation of the city by the Visconti, under Gian Galeazzo Visconti, duke of Milan.
Mastino II 20th Great Grandfather
Mastino II della Scala (1308 – 3 June 1351) was lord of Verona. He was a member of the famous Scaliger family of northern Italy.
He was the son of Alboino I della Scala and Beatrice da Correggio. At the death of Cangrande I, he and his brother Alberto II were associated in the rule of Verona. Soon, however, Mastino’s independent attitude overshadowed the brother’s presence. In the first part of his reign, abandoning the careful policy of balance held by his father, he conquered Brescia(1332), Parma (1335) in Lombardy and Lucca (1335) in Tuscany.
However, the extension of Mastino’s power spurred the creation of League of all the other local powers (Florence, Siena, Bologna, Perugia and Venice). In the first year of war he managed to resist, but in 1336 the League was joined by Azzone Visconti of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, the Gonzaga of Mantua and the Papal States. Surrounded by every side, he could only ask for a treaty of peace through the intermediation of Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria, which he obtained in 1339. His territories were restricted to Verona and Vicenza, the remaining part split among the victorious enemies.
An attempt to recover part of his lands with the German mercenaries that had remained in Vicenza after the war, led by Lodrisio Visconti, was unsuccessful.
He died in Verona in 1351. He is buried in the Gothic mausoleum near the church of Santa Maria Antica, in one of the Scaliger Tombs.
Beatrice 20th Great Grandmother
Beatrice Regina was born in Verona in 1331,[2] the youngest child and only daughter of Mastino II della Scala and Taddea da Carrara. She had three older brothers, and five illegitimate half-siblings. Her father, who was a member of the Scaliger family of Northern Italy, was Lord of Verona, Vicenza, Brescia, Parma, and Lucca.[2] Her paternal grandparents were Alboino I della Scala and Beatrice, daughter of Gilberto III da Correggio of Parma, and her maternal grandparents were Jacopo I da Carrara and Anna Gradenigo, daughter of Pietro Gradenigo, Doge of Venice and Tommasina Morosini.
On 27 September 1350 in Verona, Beatrice Regina was married to Bernabò Visconti, son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. She was nineteen years of age and he was twenty-seven. The marriage welded a powerful political alliance between Milan and Verona. He assumed power as Lord of Milan in 1354, henceforth, Beatrice Regina was styled as Lady of Milan.
It has been claimed that Bernabò was a cruel and ruthless despot, and an implacable enemy of the Church. He seized the papal city of Bologna, rejected the Pope and his authority, confiscated ecclesiastical property, and forbade any of his subjects to have any dealings with the Curia. He was excommunicated as a heretic in 1363 by Pope Urban V, who preached crusade against him.[3] When Bernabò was in one of his frequent rages, only Beatrice Regina was able to approach him.[4] She reportedly had a strong will, and her influence upon Bernabò – and thereby upon the policy of Milan – was recognized: Catherine of Siena used her as an intermediary every time she had a political request to Bernabò.[1]
Beatrice Regina died on 18 June 1384 at the age of fifty-three years. She was buried in Milan. A year and a half later, her husband was deposed and later poisoned by his nephew and son-in-law Gian Galeazzo Visconti, who in 1395 became the first Duke of Milan.
She gave her name to the church of Santa Maria alla Scala in Milan, and by extension, the La Scala opera house (Teatro alla Scala) which was built on the same site four hundred years later.
Scaliger Tombs
The Scaliger Tombs (Italian: Arche scaligere) is a group of five Gothic funerary monuments in Verona, Italy, celebrating the Scaliger family, who ruled in Verona from the 13th to the late 14th century.
The tombs are located in a court outside the church of Santa Maria Antica, separated from the street by a wall with iron grilles. Built in Gothic style, they are a series of tombs, mostly freestanding open tabernacle-like structures rising high above the ground, with a sarcophagus surmounted by an elaborate baldachin, topped by a statue of the deceased, mounted and wearing armour. According to the French historian Georges Duby, they are one of the most outstanding examples of Gothic art.
The tombs are placed within an enclosure of wrought iron grilles decorated with a stair motif, referring to the name of the della Scala family, meaning “of the stairs” in Italian. The stone pillars of the enclosure have statues of saints. The tombs are those of the following notable members of the Scaliger dynasty:
- Cangrande I. This was the first tomb built, in the 14th century, according to the will of the deceased, the most famous Scaliger ruler of the city. The designer was the architect of the church of Sant’Anastasia, who planned it in the shape of a Gothic tabernacle, supported by richly harnessed dogs (Cangrande meaning “Big dog” in Italian). Unlike the later tabernacles, it is built out from the church wall, over a doorway, rather than being free-standing. On the sarcophagus lies a recumbent effigy statue of the lord, characterized by an unusual smile. The sarcophagus is decorated on each side by high reliefs with religious themes and low reliefs with military themes. On the summit of the baldachin is an equestrian statue of Cangrande, now replaced by a copy (the original is in the museum of Castelvecchio).
- Mastino II. Begun in 1345, this tomb was modified during its construction. It was originally painted and gilt, and is enclosed by a railing with four statues of the Virtues at the corners. The faces of the funerary urn are decorated by religious motifs; on the sepulchre cover lies again the deceased’s statue, guarded by two angels. The baldachin has religious themes sculpted on the pediment, and is also surmounted by an equestrian statue of Mastino II.
- Cansignorio. Dating from 1375, and the most richly decorated. It was designed by Bonino da Campione, and has sculptures portraying warrior saints, Gospel figures, the Virtues and the Apostles, and a large equestrian statue of Cansignorio.
- Alberto II. Unlike the others, it has no baldachin but only a sarcophagus, though richly decorated. It dates from 1301.
- Giovanni. This monument is built into the wall of the church. It was finished in 1359 by Andriolo de’ Santi, and until 1400 it was located in the church of San Fermo Maggiore, before being moved to join the others.
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