Table of Contents

Rulers of Milan 1287-1535
Introduction
1: Plenitude of Power: Absolutism in the Middle Ages
2: The Early Visconti and the Claim to Plenitude of Power
3: Giangaleazzo's Investiture and its Legacy
4: Lawyers and the Absolute Powers of the Duke
5: Plenitude of Power in Practice: The Problem of Preserving Justice while Infringing Rights
6: Lawyers and the Repudiation of Ducal Absolutism
7: Francesco II and the Surrender of Absolute Power
Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography

Reviews

Black deftly lays out relevant events and official actions with clarity and a level of detail that respects her goal.
*Joseph P. Byrne, History*

Janet Black here offers a careful and detailed account which takes seriously not only the part played by strategy, intimidation, and violence, but also - and perhaps more so - by legal arguments. ... this book is important not only for those aiming to understand the Visconti and Sforza regimes, but for the evolution of government from late medieval tyrannies into early modern absolutism.
*Nicholas Terpstra, The Sixteenth Century Journal*