Milan is an Italian city of armorers, Imperial and Ghibelline in allegiance, said to be “full of devils, of demons”, and reached by canals from Padua that “are entrances to hell”.
| Type | Place |
| Allegiance | Emperor, Ghibellines |
| Spanish entry | Milán |
Landmarks
- The cathedral (“the Duomo of Milano where the Cathedral was”), built “around the 1300s” with materials “brought from China”, is a powerful magical device. At its door stands the altar boy touched by the prismatic wall.
- The castle (recorded as “Castelo Forcesco”) bears the Visconti symbol also found in Sforza heraldry, “a serpent as if eating a baby” (the Biscione). Inside is a secret ten-by-ten-foot chamber: a study with two pianos, one white and one black, cushions, a desk and “a kind of place where you could sleep”.
Trade and war
Milan’s smiths are the best. It is a commercial rival of Florence and is listed with Naples among Italy’s great markets. In the Imperial war it sides with the Emperor and the Ghibellines. After Filippo Maria’s death, republicans seeking an Ambrosian republic rebel against the Sforza.
The canals to Padua run through black-poplar country and carry travelers to distant coasts; the waters are “entrances to hell”, associated with the journey of Aeneas.
Fate
Divination gives Milan’s fate as a closed choice: “get rich or perish”. Itineraries list it among the cities that “must be razed” and also as the city “to liberate”.
The contact
A non-human represents the city, with bluish skin “like someone who has been traveling in the desert”, very black hair, heavy Italian garments, a good Italian accent.
Conflicting accounts
- The altar boy is said to be petrified; the same voice holds that he “was not petrified because for some reason he managed to be stored”.
- Razed or to be liberated may be two moments of the cycle or two versions.
Open questions
- What the cathedral does, and who uses the piano chamber, is not recorded.
- Who occupies Milan, and against whom it would be liberated?
- Do the demons relate to the hell-entrances on the Padua route?
- The contact’s people and role are unknown.