Medieval Towns — their B^isiness and Buildings 521 they opposed, who were likewise hired for the occasion, the fight was not usually very bloody ; for the object of each side was to capture the other without unnecessarily rough treatment. It sometimes happened that the leader who had conquered a town for his employer appropriated the fmits of the vic- tory for himself. This occurred in the case of Milan in 1450. The old line of despots (the Visconti) having died out, the citizens hired a certain captain, named Francesco Sforza, to assist them in a war against Venice, whose possessions now extended al- most to those of Milan. When Sforza had repelled the Venetians, the Milanese found it impossible to get rid of him, and he and his succes- sors became mlers over the town. Fig. 194. Tomb of an Italian Despot The family of the Visconti maintained them- selves many years as despots of Milan. Gian Galeazzo Visconti began in 1396 a magnificent Carthusian monastery not far from Milan, one of the most beautiful structures in Italy. Here, long after his death, a monument was erected to him as founder of the monastery. The monu- ment was begun about 1500 but not completed for several decades
