The House of Della Scala, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

and mainland

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

(except for

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years.

History

Reign of the Scaligeri in Verona 1259 - 1387, 1404

When

Ezzelino III da Romano Ezzelino III da Romano (25 April 1194, Tombolo, Veneto, Tombolo7 October 1259) was an Italian feudal lord, a member of the Ezzelini family, in the March of Treviso (in modern Veneto). He was a close ally of the emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman ...

was elected ''

podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

'' of the commune in 1226, he was able to convert the office into a permanent lordship. Upon his death in 1259 the Great Council elected as podestà del popolo Mastino I della Scala, who succeeded in converting the ''signoria'' (seigniory) into a family inheritance, governing at first with the acquiescence of the commune, then, when they failed to re-elect him in 1262, he effected a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

and was acclaimed ("people's captain"), at the head of the commune's troops. In 1277 Mastino was killed by a faction of the nobles. The reign of his brother, Alberto I della Scala as ''capitano'' (1277–1302) was an incessant war against the counts of

San Bonifacio San Bonifacio () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about east of Verona. San Bonifacio borders the following municipalities: Arcole, Belfiore, Gambellara, ...

, who were aided by the

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

. Of his three sons,

Cangrande I della Scala Cangrande (christened Can Francesco) della Scala (9 March 1291 – 22 July 1329) was an Italian nobleman, belonging to the della Scala family that ruled Verona from 1308 until 1387. He was indeed one of the most important characters at the time ...

inherited the podestà position in 1308, only the last shared the government (1308) and made a name as warrior, prince and patron of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

and

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

. By war or treaty he brought under his control the cities of

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

(1328),

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

(1329), and

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

. Cangrande I was succeeded by his nephews

Mastino II della Scala 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 broth ...

(1329–1351) and Alberto II della Scala. Mastino, the richest and most powerful prince of his generation in Italy, continued his uncle's policy, conquering

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

in 1332 and carrying his power beyond the

Po river The Po ( , ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy, starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is , or if the Maira (river), Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. The headwaters of the Po are forme ...

. He purchased

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

(1335) and

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

(1339). A powerful league was formed against him in 1337: Florence, Venice, the Visconti, the Este and the Gonzaga all joined, and after a three-year war, the Scaliger dominions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza. Mastino II's son Cangrande II della Scala (1351–1359) was a cruel and suspicious tyrant; not trusting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with German mercenaries, but was killed by his brother Cansignorio della Scala (1359–1375), who beautified Verona with palaces, provided it with aqueducts and bridges and founded the state treasury. He also killed his other brother,

Paolo Alboino della Scala Paolo Alboino della Scala (1344 – 17 or 18 October 1375) was a lord of Verona of the Scaliger dynasty. In 1351, after the death of his father Mastino II della Scala, he inherited the lordship of Verona and Vicenza, nominally together with his b ...

Fratricide Fratricide (; – the assimilated root of 'to kill, cut down') is the act of killing one's own brother. It can either be done directly or via the use of either a hired or an indoctrinated intermediary (an assassin). The victim need not be ...

among the Scaligeri continued when Antonio della Scala (1375–1387), Cansignorio's natural son, slew his brother Bartolomeo. This aroused the indignation of the people, who deserted him when

Gian Galeazzo Visconti Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Duchy of Milan, Milan (1395) and ruled that late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò V ...

of Milan made war on him. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight (19 October 1387), thus ending the Scaliger domination. His son Canfrancesco della Scala attempted fruitlessly to recover Verona (1390) and is believed to have died in 1392. Guglielmo della Scala (died 1404), natural son of Cangrande II, was more fortunate: with the support of the people, he drove out the Milanese, but he died ten days thereafter, and Verona then submitted to Venice in the War of Padua (1405).

Later Scaligeri

The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular uprisings. After the Scaligeri had been ousted, two self-proclaimed members of the family,

Giulio Cesare della Scala Julius Caesar Scaliger (; 23 April or August 1484 – 21 October 1558), or Giulio Cesare della Scala, was an Italian scholar and physician, who spent a major part of his career in France. He employed the techniques and discoveries of Renaissance ...

(also known as

Julius Caesar Scaliger Julius Caesar Scaliger (; 23 April or August 1484 – 21 October 1558), or Giulio Cesare della Scala, was an Italian scholar and physician, who spent a major part of his career in France. He employed the techniques and discoveries of Renaissance ...

) and his son Joseph Justus Scaliger, made a reputation as

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

scholars, though their relationship to the historic Scaliger family is disputed. Guglielmo's sons dispersed widely: went to Germany, while followed an ecclesiastical career, becoming

Bishop of Freising The following people were bishops, prince-bishops or archbishops of Freising or Munich and Freising in Bavaria: Bishops of Freising * St. Corbinian (724–730); founded the Benedictine abbey in Freising, although the diocese was not organ ...

; most of the siblings died and were buried in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. married Amalia von Frauenberg and founded the Bavarian branch of the family, which survived until 1598.

Tombs

The church of '' Santa Maria Antica'' in Verona is surrounded with the tombs (''arche'') of the Scaligeri in the form of Gothic shrines, or ''tempietti'', enclosing their sarcophagi: Cangrande della Scala is memorialized with an equestrian statue; Cansignorio by a marble Gothic monument by Bonino da Campione, 1374.

Family tree of della Scala (Scaliger)

References

Sources

* {{Authority control Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire) Italian noble families