Background

Lodrisio Visconti set out for Lombardy in the late January 1339, defeating the Milanese in Rivolta d'Adda

Rivolta d'Adda

Rivolta d'Adda is a comune in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 26 km east of Milan and about 58 km northwest of Cremona....

, and later conquering Cernusco sul Naviglio

Cernusco sul Naviglio

Cernusco sul Naviglio is a town and comune in the province of Milan, Lombardy, Italy.-History:Until the 19th century the town was known as Cernusco Asinario, from the tomb of the Roman functionary Caius Asinius found in its territory...

, Sesto di Monza and Legnano

Legnano

Legnano is an Italian town and comune with 59.147 inhabitants in the province of Milan, about from Milan.It's crossed by the river Olona, and it's the 13th town for inhabitants in Lombardy....

, where he was joined by the Scaliger

Scaliger

The noble family of the Scaliger were Lords of Verona. When Ezzelino III was elected podestà of the commune in 1226, he was able to convert the office into a permanent lordship...

 troops. Luchino set off to meet the Compagnia with his citizen militia and 700 knights from Savoy under the Bolognese Ettore da Panigo. Azzone, suffering from gout

Gout

Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...

, remained in Milan.

The battle

On 20 February 1339, with high snow on the ground, Lodrisio's army attacked one of the two corps in which the Milanese army had divided, and which was camping near what is now the Canale Villoresi

Canale Villoresi

Canale Villoresi is a canal in Italy; it was the brainchild of Lombardy engineer Eugenio Villoresi.It originates from the River Ticino near the village of Somma Lombardo, and runs westwards for 86 km to the Adda River....

, near Parabiago. The Milanese were routed and retired to Milan with Lodrisio's troops in pursuit. Here the two main corps met and the Milanese were again defeated with Luchino captured. However, the Milanese militia did not retreat completely and offered a confused but effective resistance. In the meantime da Panigo's knights joined with some fugitives at Rho

Rho

Rho is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 100. It is derived from Semitic resh "head"...

 and moved to Parabiago where they defeated the 400 men-at-arms left by Lodrisio and freed Luchino.

In the meantime, news of the initial defeat reached Azzone, who ordered his men to move in and prepared to besiege Lodrisio's army. When the German mercenaries were attacked by da Panigo's men they were completely routed, and Lodrisio captured in turn.

Total casualties amounted to some 6,500-7,000.

Lodrisio Visconti was imprisoned in an iron cage in San Colombano al Lambro

San Colombano al Lambro

San Colombano al Lambro is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 40 km southeast of Milan. It is an exclave of the province, completely surrounded by territory of the Province of Lodi or the Province of Pavia...

 until 1349, when Azzone and Luchino died and Giovanni Visconti freed him.

Legend

According to a legend, St. Ambrosius

Ambrosius

Ambrosius Ambrosius Ambrosius (a Latin adjective derived from the Ancient Greek word ambrotos (divine, immortal)This word might refer to:* Saint Ambrose (Aurelius Ambrosius), bishop of Milan* Ambrosius Alexandrinus, a Latinization of the name of Ambrose of Alexandria...

himself had appeared in the battle from a white cloud, riding a horse and leading the Milanese in the decisive moments. To celebrate the event, Giovanni Visconti had a church and an abbey built, called Sant'Ambrogio della Vittoria ("St. Ambrose of the Victory"). Until 1581, every February 21 a procession was held from Milan to Parabiago to remember the victory.