A signory adverse to Giano having been elected, he was driven into exile in 1295.
It is from this epoch that the supremacy of the Visconti, hitherto the unsuccessful rivals of the Guelphic Torriani for the signory of Milan, dates.
They conferred the signory upon him for life; and, had he not mismanaged matters, he might have held the city in his grasp. Italy was settling cown and turning her attention to home comforts, arts and literature.
We use the term "domination" rather than "signory" inasmuch as, strictly speaking, Petrucci was never lord of the state, and left its established form of government intact; but he exercised despotic authority in virtue of his strength of character and the continued increase of his personal power.
These were the famous Ordinamenti della Giustizia of 1293, by which all who were not of the arti were definitely excluded from the signory.