Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani

Who was Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani?

Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani was a member of the Milanese nobility and an assassin of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan.

The Lampugnani family was a high-ranking family in Renaissance Milan, and Giovanni served in several government positions, often working quite closely with the Duke. Under the Duke, Giovanni's brothers leased some valuable land from a rural abbey. Upon the death of the abbot, the inheriting cleric nullified the lease and evicted the Lampugnani brothers from the property. Although the family appealed to the Duke, there was no government intervention on the matter, resulting in utter contempt on the part of Giovanni.

The Duke, although popular as a patron of the arts, was known to be rather ruthless in his rule and something of a womaniser, traits which encouraged more enemies to emerge amongst the government ranks. Two other officials, Carlo Visconti and Gerolamo Olgiati soon joined Giovanni in a conspiracy to assassinate the Duke.