Bartolomeo Colleoni
Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian condottiero who served as the captain-general of the Republic of Venice. Colleoni gained a reputation as one of the foremost tacticians and disciplinarians of the 15th century. He is also credited with refurbishing the Roman baths at Trescore Balneario.
Biography
Background
Colleoni was born in Solza near Bergamo, which was then part of the Duchy of Milan. In Bergamo Colleoni later built himself a mortuary chapel, the Cappella Colleoni. The Colleoni family was noble, but had been exiled with the rest of the Guelphs by the Visconti of Milan. Bartolomeo's father Paolo Colleoni had seized the castle of Trezzo, until he was assassinated by his cousins, probably acting on the orders of Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan.Career
The young Colleoni trained as a soldier, first in the retinue of Filippo d'Arcello, the new master of Piacenza. 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 Joan II and taking Alfonso's cause, then that of Carmagnola. After the latter was put to death in Venice, Colleoni entered the direct service of the Venetian Republic, which represented the major phase of his career.Although Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua was nominally commander-in-chief, Colleoni was in fact the real leader of the army. 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 of Narni and Francesco I Sforza, winning battles at Brescia, Verona, and on the Lake of Garda.
When peace was made between Milan and Venice in 1441, Colleoni joined the Milanese, together with Sforza, in 1443. Although well treated at first, Colleoni soon fell under the Visconti's suspicion and was imprisoned at Monza, where he remained until the duke's death in 1447. The Milanese then proclaimed the Golden Ambrosian Republic with Sforza as commander-in-chief, whom Colleoni served for a time, but in 1448 he took leave of Sforza and returned to the Venetians until 1451. Disgusted at not having been elected captain-general, he once more went over to Sforza in 1452, but Venice could not do without him; by offering him greater emoluments, the Venetians induced him to return in 1453, and in 1455 he was appointed captain-general of the Republic of Venice 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.