The Venetian troops under Giorgio Corner had invaded the Valtellina in 1431, in order to secure the Republic's northern borders and favour their trades towards Germany. On 18 November 1432 the army of Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, with more than 400 horse and an unspecified infantry under the condottiero Niccolò Piccinino, marched alongside the Lake Como to defy the Venetians. Among the commanders of the Venetian troops was Bartolomeo Colleoni, which later became one of the most famous condottiero.