Child Safety In Medieval Milan (As Told By Two Silver Pegiones)

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Spence Moderator United States 34427 Posts	Posted 09/01/2017 4:44 pm I've been thinking a bit lately about a couple of medieval coins that I have from Milan. They show some sort of convoluted ribbony thing as a design element. Upon closer inspection, it looks like a snake, perhaps with something in its mouth. As with so many numismatic subjects, this one has already been covered to some extent here on CCF. When t360 posted his newly-acquired Milanese Teston, @sap had this to say about the biscione: Quote: The coat of arms of the House of Visconti, which ruled Milan, was a serpent eating an infant. A bit of Googling revealed the legendary background: an ancestor of the house supposedly killed a child-eating serpent/dragon sometime in the 800's AD. The Italian automobile brand Alfa Romeo uses the same symbol on it's badge. This http://www.homdrum.net/alfa/alfahistory_logo.html illustrates this and gives some other theories on the origin of the Visconti serpent. Note to parents: don't let your children play with hungry snakes. Additionally, @DagonX has done a great job preparing a biography of Gian Galeazzo Visconti here: http://goccf.com/t/44095). I believe that Gian was the first to use this image of a convoluted snake eating someone on the coins of Milan. However, there is at least some evidence that the snake isn't eating a baby, but rather an Saracen (Ottoman Turk). Here is what Kuenker had to say about the origin of the arms of the House of Visconti in a recent auction catalog: Quote: Towards the end of the 14th Century, Gian Galeazzo commissioned a pedigree. Tracing the origins of this family back to the counts of Angera, whom Gregor the Great supposedly granted the royal courts in Milan, Monza, Treviglio, and Angera, mythological figures such as Ottone who during the first Crusade reputedly killed a Saracen king before the gates of Jerusalem, taking his serpent emblem, and also Galvano, whose signoria and comital dignity were taken from him by Frederick Barbarossa for his role in defeating Milan and who was degraded to vicecomes - visconte - should be considered legendary. In 1397 the first duke of Milan obtained the recognition of his noble descent and comital dignity of Angera from Emperor Wencesles on the grounds of his pedigree. This version of what the snake is devouring is also mentioned on the Alfa Romeo link above. Finally, here are the two coins that got me thinking about this subject. The first is a Pegione that dates between 1385 and 1395 AD. The obv inscription is GALEAZ COMES VIRTVTVM and the rev inscription is DOMINVS MEDIOLANI 3 C' GZ. It is attributed as Biaggi 1472. In this coin, the detail of the snake's victim has held up very nicely. Ouch! The second is a slightly larger coin, a Grosso o Pegione. It dates to between 1395 and 1402 (when Gian was the Duke of Milan). The obv inscription is GALE HZ VICECOES D MEDIO LANI 3 C GZ and the rev inscription is S ABROSIV MEDIOLAN. It is attributed as Biaggi 1475 and you can see that this snake also has a victim being consumed. So is the snake eating a child or a Saracen? It seems like a claim could be made for either legend. Please feel free to post your similarly adorned Milanese coins. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff

echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 09/01/2017 6:07 pm Very interesting thread and coin. I'm presently reading a book about the Borgia Pope Alexander VI and his on going wars with Milan and Naples at the end of the 15th century. Report this Post to the Staff
Kamnaskires Pillar of the Community United States 7066 Posts	Posted 09/01/2017 6:51 pm The House of Visconti coat of arms, from Wiki: And here's a medal that sports the gruesome motif: The medal is from the Italian Baroque period but depicts Caterina Sforza Riario (1462 - 1509) of the High Renaissance. I see on Wiki that Visconti rule in Milan ended in 1447, and the Sforza's took power not long thereafter. (I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to tour the Sforza Castle back in '09...quite a place!) Interesting that the serpent motif continues in the depiction of a Sforza. I don't know if, over time, it simply became associated with Milan more so than the House of Visconti, or whether the Sforza's essentially claimed it as their own. There was apparently an initial familial tie, by marriage, between the two families at the time of the transition in power. Maybe that had something to do with its continuity? Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34427 Posts	Posted 09/01/2017 7:33 pm Thanks Ron--I'd be interested to hear if there is any mention of this snake. @bob, great additions to this thread. It does seem clear that at some point the snake and Milan became...er, well intertwined. At least at the start of this dynasty, I don't think that the house of Sforza embraced the snake though. See below for a Denaro of Milan that dates to between 1447 and 1450 AD (Biaggi 1517). No snake... "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 09/01/2017 10:39 pm Haven't seen any mention of it. Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34427 Posts	Posted 09/04/2017 08:41 am Having now spent an evening curled up with my copy of Elio Biaggi's Monete e Zecche Medievali Italiane, it looks to me like the first Milanese coin with the snake design element was issued under the co-rule of Luchino and Giovanni Visconti between 1339 and 1340 AD. Prior to then (and going back as far as Carlo Magno 774-814 AD), there are the usual crosses, saints, temples, and monograms. Following Luchino and Giovanni Visconti, virtually all rulers from the houses of Visconti and Sforza include the snake. The piece that I posted most recently comes from the short-lived Second Republic, which seems to have been a transition from one ruling family to the next. In 1450 AD, Francesco I Sforza picked up right where the last Visconti left off. This is now a little clearer in my mind--and hopefully yours. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
Kamnaskires Pillar of the Community United States 7066 Posts	Posted 09/04/2017 4:10 pm Good info, Dave. In going back through some old photos I took of the Sforza Castle, I see that the child-devouring serpent appears twice on the Sforza coat of arms, which is displayed on some of the exterior walls of the building. In checking Wiki, I see that Francesco, who you mention, married Bianca Maria Visconti. This was the family tie (between the Visconti's and Sforza's) via marriage that I wrote about previously. From Wiki: "This coat of arms is formed combining the imperial eagle with a depiction of a basilisk (commonly referred to as a "serpent") devouring a child (which was Visconti's arms) after Francesco Sforza married Bianca Maria Visconti, the last female heir of the main branch of the House of Visconti." Quote: I don't think that the house of Sforza embraced the snake though. See below for a Denaro of Milan that dates to between 1447 and 1450 AD (Biaggi 1517). No snake Well, perhaps it became a sporadic motif? Here's a slightly later coin, a grosso of Galeazzo Maria Sforza from c.1470, with the hungry snake image...I don't know if this was its last appearance. Report this Post to the Staff
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