Cangrande I Della Scala - Legacy

Legacy

With the exception of Vicenza, Cangrande's military conquests did not survive the reign of his successor Mastino II. However, his victories did have far-reaching effects on neighbouring cities. For example, Vicenza's political future was now permanently linked to that of Verona. As well, he had played a decisive role in the rise to power of the Carraresi family in Padua. In Verona itself, he reformed and expanded the legislature, introducing few new laws and regulations but clearing up obscurities, omissions and inconsistencies in the existing manuscripts so efficiently that his statutes lasted with little significant alteration to the end of the Scaligeri period. The innovations he did make unsurprisingly tended to invest more power in his own position as absolute ruler. Despot though he was, Cangrande's rule was generally pragmatic and tolerant in marked contrast to Ezzelino III da Romano, the last warlord to hold comparable territories in eastern Lombardy. He normally allowed subject cities to keep their own laws and made efforts to ensure his appointed officials acted with impartiality and that taxation was kept to acceptable levels. Cangrande undertook few building projects of any significance with the exception of improvements to city walls and the erection of castles such as the magnificent example still to be seen at Soave.

As a military commander Cangrande was a brilliant opportunist tactician rather than a great strategist. His bravery sometimes bordered on recklessness, usually leading his men from the front when attacking enemy troops or assaulting the walls of a fortress, although after his defeat by the Paduans in 1320 this boldness gave way to a more cautious approach. In weaving his way through the complex political scenarios of his time he showed energy and decisiveness similar to that on the battlefield. He had a reputation as a persuasive speaker and took many an opportunity to add to his territories by political means or win an influential ally to his cause.

Cangrande was a noted patron of the arts and learning in general. Poets, painters, grammarians and historians all found a welcome at Verona during his reign and his personal interest in eloquent debate is reflected by his addition of a professorship of Rhetoric to the six academic chairs already provided for in the Veronese statutes. However, his patronage of the poet Dante Alighieri is now undoubtedly his chief claim to fame as a patron of the arts. It is generally accepted that Dante was a guest at Verona between 1312 and 1318, although the details of his time in the city are unrecorded.

As might be expected, Dante is lavish in his praise of his patron wherever he has occasion to mention him, most notably in Paradiso, Canto XVII of the Divine Comedy, lines 70–93. These to some extent reflect Cangrande's fame in his own time when, as Dante remarked "even his enemies would be unable to keep silent about him". The comments of the historian A.M. Allen, written at the beginning of the 20th century, remain apposite: "whatever might be thought now of his land hunger, ostentation and imperious temper, to his contemporaries he appeared little short of perfect."