Three valleys below the Lucomagno and the Gotthard: the Leventina, the Blenio valley and the Riviera round Biasca.
They form one unit of lordship under the canons of Milan cathedral, who govern through a podestà, usually Milanese, holding the administration and courts for a fixed yearly rent; Blenio and Leventina share one podestà until the mid-thirteenth century. By the mid-twelfth century the Leventina is a single valley commune of eight neighbourhoods (vicinanze), about thirty degagne and seventy vicinati, with a general parliament meeting every year and a council for business and justice; Blenio is organised the same way. The two valleys cooperate in politics and war: in 1182, backed by Milan, they swore the Pact of Torre, which curbed the da Torre lords, gave the communities the right to authorise castles, and led to the siege and dismantling of the da Torre castle at Curtero.
The Riviera's own organisation round Biasca and Claro is not clear. Their advocates (avogadri) are named by the chapter: Henry VI's appointee Guido da Torre was displaced by the chapter's Vilfredo Orelli (date not pinned).
Who holds it
- Name
- The valley parliaments and councils; the chapter's podestà (usually a Milanese, one for both valleys) is not named for 1200
- Title
- The valley communities of Leventina and Blenio, under the lordship of the canons (ordinari) of Milan cathedral
- Since
- Valley communities by the mid-twelfth century; the Pact of Torre, 1182
- Confidence
- medium
HLS: Leventina; Tre Valli Ambrosiane; Torre; Torre, Guido da; Ticino.
Overlord
The cathedral chapter of Milan (the ordinari), lord of the three valleys since Bishop Attone of Vercelli's gift of about 948 (a Church map record). The emperors (Frederick I, Henry VI) tried to take the valleys back into the Empire through advocates; Frederick II will give Blenio to the lords of Sax in 1220.
What it holds
- The Leventina from Airolo to Giornico
- The Blenio valley from the Lucomagno to Malvaglia
- The Riviera round Biasca
- The road over the Lucomagno, the most used pass before the thirteenth century, and the Gotthard road, opening to through traffic in the first decades of the thirteenth century
How it was acquired
Gift of about 948 to the church of Milan; the communities' self-government grew through the twelfth century.
Allies and rivals
Milan backs them; rivals are the noble advocates (da Torre, da Giornico, da Lodrino), who lose part or all of their holdings between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, and the emperors' attempts to recover the valleys.
How things stand that morning
The chapter's lordship and the valley communities hold the ground. South of the Riviera, Bellinzona is the bishop of Como's; east over the passes the Misox (Sax) and the upper Rhine valley (Disentis) are on the Rhineland sheet; north of the Gotthard, Urseren and Uri (Rhineland sheet); west Locarno's valleys (imperial).
Wealth
Cattle and alpine pastures; the transit traffic of the Lucomagno and the Gotthard.
Military
Valley levies under the parliaments, strong enough to besiege a castle (Curtero, after 1182). No figures.
Threats
- A German king reviving the imperial advocacy
- Noble advocates seeking lordship
- The Sax of the Misox (Frederick II's grant of Blenio in 1220)
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- first decades of the thirteenth centuryThe Gotthard opens to through traffic, raising the Leventina's value.Depends on: The road works in the Schöllenen gorge north of the pass. Stopped by: Not a single event; slow change.
Places of note
- San Nicolao, Giornico: Romanesque church built 1110-20 with a small Benedictine house.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The communities' institutions are dated to the mid-twelfth century and the joint action to 1182; no joint act of 1199-1200 itself was found.
On the map: Modern district boundaries.
Primary sources for Milan
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
- The Lombard city annals of Piacenza, Milan, Cremona, Parma, Mantua and Verona (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries). The communes' own year lists. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.