Oldrado da Tresseno was an Italian politician, podestà

Podestà

Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...

 (mayor) of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 in the 13th century. He is responsible for restructuring Piazza dei Mercanti (former city center of Milan in the Middle Ages, located next to what is now Piazza del Duomo

Piazza del Duomo, Milan

Piazza del Duomo is the main piazza of Milan, Italy. It is named after, and dominated by, the Milan Cathedral . The piazza marks the center of the city, both in a geographic sense and because of its importance from an artistic, cultural, and social point of view...

) and ordering the construction of Palazzo della Ragione

Palazzo della Ragione (Milan)

The Palazzo della Ragione is a historic building of Milan, Italy, located in Piazza Mercanti, facing the Loggia degli Osii. It was built in 13th century and originally served as a broletto as well as a judicial seat...

, a prominent historic building of Milan, which served as a broletto

Broletto

Broletto is an ancient Italian word, from medieval Latin "broilum, brogilum", which probably derives from a Celtic word. Its first meaning is "little orchard or garden"; hence the meaning "field surrounded by a wall"...

 (government seat) in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. He is also remembered as a fierce prosecutor of the Cathar heretics.

Biography

Details of Oldrado's life are largely missing. Although he is referred to in medieval texts as "a citizen of Lodi

Lodi

-Places:In Canada:* Lodi, Ontario, a community in North Stormont, OntarioIn Italy:* Lodi, Lombardy, in the Province of Lodi of the Lombardy region** The Treaty of Lodi, 1454 between Italian city-states** The Battle of Lodi, 1796 in Lodi...

", it is disputed whether he was born there or in Dresano

Dresano

Dresano is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 20 km southeast of Milan. As of 31 October 2010, it had a population of 2,987 and an area of 3.5 km²...

 (a small town near Melegnano

Melegnano

Melegnano is a town and comune in Italy, in the province of Milan, region of Lombardy. The town lies 16 km southeast of the city of Milan...

). He was a close friend to inquisitor

Inquisitor

An inquisitor was an official in an Inquisition, an organisation or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things frowned on by the Roman Catholic Church...

 Pietro da Verona and actively collaborated with the Inquisition in prosecuting heretics, especially the believers of the Church of Concorezzo, a very active Cathar group of that was supported by the bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Concorezzo

Concorezzo

Concorezzo is a comune in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 20 km northeast of Milan. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on September 25, 1989....

 (a town North-East of Milan, near Monza

Monza

Monza is a city and comune on the river Lambro, a tributary of the Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy some 15 km north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza. It is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.On June...

) and by local feudatory

Vassal

A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

 Filippo Confalonieri.

A Romanesque

Romanesque art

Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...

 relief

Relief

Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...

 representing Oldrado is found on one of the columns of Palazzo della Ragione

Palazzo della Ragione (Milan)

The Palazzo della Ragione is a historic building of Milan, Italy, located in Piazza Mercanti, facing the Loggia degli Osii. It was built in 13th century and originally served as a broletto as well as a judicial seat...

 in Milan; it bears a Latin inscription that reads: