Pagano della Torre


Pagano della Torre was Patriarch of Aquileia from 1319 until 1332.

Biography

The son of Florimondo della Torre, he was a member of a family which had moved to Friuli after the Visconti had ousted them from Milan. Pagano was bishop of Padua in 1302–1319, and succeeded his uncle Cassono as secular patriarch of Aquileia at the latter's death, after having been candidate to the same position also in 1302. In 1318, he was also made capitano in Trieste.
Pagano participated in the crusade against the Visconti, which was financed by selling indulgences in Trieste. However, he was defeated first at Bassignana and then at Vaprio. The della Torre renounced to Milan forever, and Pagano established his residence in Udine. However, the taxes he imposed to replete the statal treasury led to the secession of several cities during the 1330s, in favor of the Republic of Venice. The patriarch replied ordering the sack of Venetians territories in Istria, but he was captured by the enemy commander Giovanni Corner. The situation was set with a treaty of peace with the mediation of Pope John XXIII.
In the same year, Pagano had to face also an invasion of Friuli by emperor Louis IV's troops, which he was able to stop with the help of Mastino II della Scala, lord of Verona. He died late in 1332, and was buried in the basilica of Aquileia.