Editing Scaliger (section)

== History ==
=== Reign of the Scaligeri in Verona 1259 - 1387, 1404===
When [[Ezzelino III da Romano]]<!-- Changed from IV --> was elected ''[[podestà]]'' of the commune in 1226, he was able to convert the office into a permanent lordship. Upon his death in 1259 the Great Council elected as [[podestà|podestà del popolo]] [[Mastino I della Scala]], who succeeded in converting the ''signoria'' (seigniory) into a family inheritance, governing at first with the acquiescence of the [[Communes of Italy|commune]], then, when they failed to re-elect him in 1262, he effected a [[coup d'état]] and was acclaimed {{lang|it|capitano del popolo}} ("people's captain"), at the head of the commune's troops. In 1277 Mastino was killed by a faction of the nobles. The reign of his brother, [[Alberto I della Scala]] as ''capitano'' (1277–1302) was an incessant war against the counts of [[San Bonifacio]], who were aided by the [[House of Este]]. Of his three sons, [[Cangrande I della Scala]] inherited the podestà position in 1308, only the last shared the government (1308) and made a name as warrior, prince and patron of [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]], [[Petrarch]] and [[Giotto di Bondone|Giotto]]. By war or treaty he brought under his control the cities of [[Padua]] (1328), [[Treviso]] (1329), and [[Vicenza]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Storia di Verona: la famiglia della scala |url=https://www.verona.net/it/storia/la_famiglia_della_scala.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=www.verona.net |language=it}}</ref>

[[Image:Scaligeri1336.png|thumb|250px|left|Territories held by the Scaligeri in 1336]]
Cangrande I was succeeded by his nephews [[Mastino II della Scala]] (1329–1351) and [[Alberto II della Scala]]. Mastino, the richest and most powerful prince of his generation in Italy, continued his uncle's policy, conquering [[Brescia]] in 1332 and carrying his power beyond the [[Po (river)|Po river]]. He purchased [[Parma]] (1335) and [[Lucca]] (1339). A powerful league was formed against him in 1337: Florence, Venice, the [[Visconti of Milan|Visconti]], the Este and the [[House of Gonzaga|Gonzaga]] all joined, and [[Scaliger War|after a three-year war]], the Scaliger dominions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza.

Mastino II's son [[Cangrande II della Scala]] (1351–1359) was a cruel and suspicious tyrant; not trusting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with German mercenaries, but was killed by his brother [[Cansignorio della Scala]] (1359–1375), who beautified Verona with palaces, provided it with [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]]s and bridges and founded the state treasury. He also killed his other brother, [[Paolo Alboino della Scala]]. [[Fratricide]] among the Scaligeri continued when [[Antonio della Scala]] (1375–1387), Cansignorio's natural son, slew his brother Bartolomeo. This aroused the indignation of the people, who deserted him when [[Gian Galeazzo Visconti]] of Milan made war on him. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight (19 October 1387), thus ending the Scaliger domination.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gli Scaligeri: origine e ascesa - Storia di Verona |url=http://www.veronissima.com/sito_italiano/html/storia-di-verona-gli-scaligeri.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=www.veronissima.com}}</ref>

[[File:Fürstengang Bischöfe 41 - Nikodemus della Scala.jpg|thumb|right|{{ill|Nicodemo della Scala|it}}, portrait from the episcopal gallery of the [[Freising Cathedral]]]]
His son [[Canfrancesco della Scala]] attempted fruitlessly to recover Verona (1390) and is believed to have died in 1392. [[Guglielmo della Scala]] (died 1404), natural son of Cangrande II, was more fortunate: with the support of the people, he drove out the Milanese, but he died ten days thereafter, and Verona then submitted to Venice in the [[War of Padua]] (1405).

===Later Scaligeri===
The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular uprisings. After the Scaligeri had been ousted, two self-proclaimed members of the family, [[Giulio Cesare della Scala]] (also known as [[Julius Caesar Scaliger]]) and his son [[Joseph Justus Scaliger]], made a reputation as [[humanism|humanist]] scholars, though their relationship to the historic Scaliger family is disputed.<ref name=":0" /> Guglielmo's sons dispersed widely: {{ill|Brunoro della Scala|it|lt=Brunoro}} went to Germany, while {{ill|Nicodemo della Scala|it|lt=Nicodemo}} followed an ecclesiastical career, becoming [[Bishop of Freising]]; most of the siblings died and were buried in [[Vienna]].{{sfn|Mennini Ippolito|1986|loc=cols. 677–678}} {{ill|Paolo della Scala|it|lt=Paolo}} married Amalia von Frauenberg and founded the Bavarian {{lang|de|von der Leiter}} branch of the family, which survived until 1598.{{sfn|Mennini Ippolito|1986|loc=col. 678}}

===Tombs===
The church of ''[[Santa Maria Antica]]'' in Verona is surrounded with the [[Scaliger Tombs|tombs]] (''arche'') of the Scaligeri in the form of Gothic shrines, or ''tempietti'', enclosing their sarcophagi: Cangrande della Scala is memorialized with an equestrian statue; Cansignorio by a marble [[Gothic art|Gothic]] monument by Bonino da Campione, 1374.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Della Scala |url=https://www.storiarinascimentale.it/dinastie/della-scala/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=Storia Rinascimentale |language=it-IT}}</ref>