DELLA SCALA, FAMIGLIA. – It held lordship over Verona from 1259 (officially from 1277) to 1387 and died out in Germany in the sixteenth century. Its origins are obscure; nevertheless, it seems certain that it was not of German nationality, as some late scholar asserted.
It is remembered as early as the eleventh century and appears in the events of the early commune (a Balduino was consul in 1147), but it did not stand out among Verona’s great communal families. From the twelfth century onward it obtained in fief from the monastery of S. Maria in Organo lands in Valpolicella, and in the following century it joined the party of the Monticoli and Quattrovinti against the counts of Verona and in favor of Ezzelino da Romano. This did not prevent Ezzelino from having certain members of the house, Ongarello and Bonaventura in 1246, Federico and Bonifacio in 1257, executed as traitors. On the other hand, a Lonardino called MASTINO, descended from another branch of the house, continued to enjoy Ezzelino’s favor. This branch traced its line to a Jacopino, vassal of S. Zeno for lands at Castelrotto (1216), and father of Mastino, Alberto, and Federico called Bocca. In 1259 Mastino was elected
podestà of Verona by Ezzelino. At the tyrant’s fall (27 September 1259), as head of the popular faction, which had asserted itself during Ezzelino’s rule against the aristocratic party of the counts, he was elected podestà of the people, organized into the «Trades»; but in the same year a Venetian, Andrea Zeno, is subsequently found as podestà. Nevertheless, from 1261 onward he was podestà of the Domus Mercatorum and therefore of all the Trades (1261-1269). In 1262 he was appointed captain of the people. He was not yet officially lord of Verona, but he was its arbiter. His government was tendentially Ghibelline; he therefore supported Corradino di Svevia’s enterprise against Carlo d’Angiò, bringing upon his house and Verona the excommunication of Clement IV (18 November 1267). Once Mastino had been made podestà of Verona, the office of podestà of the Domus Mercatorum passed to his brother ALBERTO (1269-77), who on 12 November 1276, aided by the bishop fra Timidio, seized Sermione, a stronghold of the patarines. No fewer than 166 of them were captured and brought to Verona. Mastino, however, contented himself with keeping them in prison. He was assassinated on 26 October 1277, and his brother Alberto was elected Capitanus et Rector gastaldionum misteriorum et tocius populi, thus becoming legally the administrative head of the Arts and, at the same time, the political head of the Commune (1277-1301). The Scaliger lordship thus arose officially. One of Alberto’s first acts was the trial of the heretics of Sermione, many of whom were burned in the amphitheater on 13 February 1278. For this reason Niccolò III absolved him from the excommunication into which his house had fallen ten years earlier and granted him the castle of Illasi. Verona too was absolved from the interdict, which Niccolò III himself had confirmed the previous year. A contemporary chronicler praised Alberto as «sublime in spirit, excellent in conduct, prudent in counsel, pious, merciful, and sensible». His successor BARTOLOMEO I, his firstborn, perhaps associated with him as early as 1291, is likewise praised because during his brief years as captain of the people (3 September 1301–8 March 1304) he «always thought of governing his people in perpetual peace». He appears to have been the «great Lombard» who hosted Dante (Par., XVII, 70-75), whereas Dante speaks quite differently (Convizio, IV, 16) of his brother and successor ALBOINO (3 March 1304–29 November 1311). In 1308 Alboino associated his brother CANGRANDE with him; that same year Cangrande married Giovanna di Svevia, daughter of Corrado di Antiochia. Arrigo VII appointed them his vicars (7 March 1311). With Alboino’s death, Cangrande remained sole lord and vicar (29 November 1311–22 July 1329). In the interests of his house he consistently followed the Ghibelline side, which was perpetually at war with the Guelphs of northern Italy, especially the Paduans. He took Vicenza from them, and in February 1312 was made its imperial vicar. On 16 December 1318, at Soncino, the assembly of the Ghibellines elected him captain general of the Ghibelline league. Defeated near Padua (23 August 1320) and simultaneously excommunicated by Giovanni XXII for refusing to relinquish the title of imperial vicar, he did not lose heart. He occupied Feltre and Belluno (1321), Padua (10 September 1328), and the following year Treviso as well (18 July 1329). At the height of his power, he died there a few days later (22 July 1329). Dante admired his intellect and achievements (Par., XVII, 76-93). Without doubt, he was the most eminent figure among the Ghibelline leaders of his time. He surrounded Verona with new walls and, in fulfillment of a vow, erected S. Maria della Scala. Since he had no legitimate children, his successors were his nephews ALBERTO II and MASTINO II, the sons of Alboino.
In reality, it was Mastino II who held the government (23 July 1329–3 June 1351): he occupied Brescia, taking it from Giovanni di Boemia (1332), and Parma and Lucca (1335). Jealous, Venice and Florence formed a coalition against him (21 June 1336). The following year the Visconti, the Estensi, the Gonzaga, Carlo di Boemia, and others also joined the league. It was then that the suspicious Mastino personally slew his cousin Bartolomeo, bishop of Verona (27 August 1338); struck by excommunication, he was absolved only after lengthy negotiations and a heavy fine. The long war (1336-39) was disastrous for the Scaliger lordship, which was reduced to possession of Verona, Vicenza, Parma, and Lucca (1339), and then only Verona and Vicenza (1342). The fortunes of the house declined irreparably, despite the marriage of Beatrice (d. 1384), Mastino’s firstborn, to Barnabò Visconti (27 October 1350), and that of his son Cangrande to Elisabetta, daughter of Ludovico di Baviera. When Mastino II died on 3 June 1351, he was succeeded by his sons Cangrande II, Cansignorio, and Paolo Alboino, of whom in reality only CANGRANDE II (3 June 1351–14 December 1359) was capable of governing. He did so with a cruelty and rapacity that earned him from a contemporary the epithet «canis rabidus». During one of his absences, Fregnano, his natural brother, was able to raise the city against him (14 February 1354); for the time being Cangrande II saved his life and power, which he lost five years later, when his brother CANSIGNORIO killed him with his own hand and succeeded him in the lordship (14 December 1359–19 October 1375). Of Cangrande II’s sons, all illegitimate, Tebaldo died in prison; Guglielmo, released from it, took refuge in Venice, where Fregnano had also fled. Cansignorio preferred the glory of the builder to that of the condottiero, thereby earning Verona the name «marble-clad». But the heavy expenses forced him to confiscate a large part of the Church’s property and tithes. He therefore incurred ecclesiastical censures, from which he was absolved only after his death, in a strange ceremony, by the bishops of Padua and Verona (1376). They could not, however, erase the other stain, that one
d'aver fatto assassinare, proprio sul letto di morte, il fratello Paolo Alboino (ott. 1375), allo scopo di assicurare la successione ai due figli bastardi BARTOLOMEO ed ANTONIO. Cansignorio morì qualche giorno dopo a soli 36 anni (19 ott. 1375). Tenne la reggenza per i due minorenni Guglielmo Bevilacqua, che restituì al clero i beni incamerati. L'assassinio del fratello Bartolomeo (12 luglio 1381) e il matrimonio con la prodiga Samaritana da Polenta, che si circondò di Ravennati, alienarono ad Antonio l'animo dei veronesi. Antonio affrettò la fine della signoria alleandosi con Venezia nella lotta contro Padova, a sua volta alleata con Gian Galeazzo Visconti. Questi, favorito dagli amici che aveva nella città, il 19 ott. 1387 occupò Verona. Antonio fuggì a Venezia e morì l'anno dopo lasciando i suoi in tanta miseria che Venezia dovette soccorrerli di denaro. Pietro D. S., vescovo di Verona, fu trasferito a Lodi (1388) e dovette consegnare ai Visconti anche gli ultimi beni scaligeri. Il tentativo, favorito dai Carraresi, di restaurare la signoria scaligera con CAN FRANCESCO, figlio di Antonio, fallì (25 ag. 1390). Morto costui, non restava dei D. S. che il sunnominato GUGLIELMO, figlio naturale di Cangrande II. Questi con l'aiuto di Francesco Novello da Carrara e del marchese d'Este la notte dell'8 apr. 1404 s'impadronì di Verona. Per poco tempo però, che morì appena 10 giorni dopo (18 apr.). Prima che i suoi figli maggiori Brunoro e Antonio fossero proclamati signori, il Carraresi li arrestò accusandoli di tradimento, e li tradusse a Padova. Da un PAOLO, terzo figlio di Guglielmo, derivò il ramo bavarese degli Scaligeri, l'ultimo ad estinguersi.
Testimoniano lo splendore della casa e della signoria scaligera a Verona i manoscritti degli statuti albertini del tempo di Mastino e di Alberto I e di quelli di Cangrande I, ancora inediti, oltre che gli statuti delle Arti (1319); il castello merlato (Castelvecchio) e il ponte sull'Adige a tre arcate (distrutto nella seconda guerra mondiale) e, innanzi a S. Maria Antica, il cimitero scaligero, con le arche di cui le più belle son quelle di Cangrande I, Mastino II e Cansignorio. Quest'ultima scolpita da Bonino da Campione. - Vedi tav. LXXXVIII.