Galeazzo II Visconti was a lord of Milan and member of the Visconti dynasty in the fourteenth century. Galeazzo II Visconti belonged to House of Visconti. Galeazzo II Visconti is generally dated to 1320–1378.
His rule formed part of the expansion of Milanese power in northern Italy and the dynastic politics that shaped late medieval Lombardy. Galeazzo II Visconti was born in Milan and died in Pavia.
The Italian novels linked to Galeazzo II Visconti use his Milanese court as one of the political centres through which mercenary captains, dynastic marriages and foreign interests intersect. Christian Cameron’s Hawkwood’s Sword places William Gold in the military economy dominated by employers such as the Visconti, while David Gilman’s Rage of Swords connects English war finance directly to Milan through Lionel of Antwerp’s Visconti marriage. In Sword of Justice, The Captain of Venice and The Emperor’s Sword, the power of Milan repeatedly shapes the contracts, alliances and rivalries faced by professional soldiers. Galeazzo’s significance is therefore not decorative court colour: his family’s territorial ambitions help determine which cities fight, which captains are hired and how the wars of northern Italy are financed.
