The chief lords of the Versilia, the coastal strip between Lucca's plain and the Apuan Alps: a kin group of Lombard descent holding the castles of Corvaia and Vallecchia above the coast road and a share in the castles round Camaiore.
They lean to Pisa, which makes them Lucca's enemies on the Via Francigena and the road to Lucca's port of Motrone. Lucca will break them in its offensive of about 1225 and found Pietrasanta in 1255 on the land below their castles; Pietrasanta does not exist in 1200.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned (the consortium's members in 1200 are not named in our sources)
- Title
- Viscounts (vicecomites), a consortium of castle lords
- Family
- The nobles of Corvaia and Vallecchia
- Confidence
- low
Treccani, Versilia: the medieval Versilia was the feudal domain of several lords, chiefly the lords of Corvaia and of Vallecchia; it.wikipedia, Camaiore: the 'vicecomites di Corvaia e Vallecchia' among the lords of the Camaiore castles.
Overlord
The Empire; Lucca claims the Versilia.
What it holds
- Corvaia and Vallecchia, above the coast road
- Shares in the castles of the Camaiore hills
- The upland villages of the Versilia toward Stazzema [extent not pinned]
How it was acquired
Inherited lordship.
Allies and rivals
Allies of Pisa; enemies of Lucca; neighbours of the bishop of Luni and the marquises of Massa to the north.
How things stand that morning
They hold their castles; Lucca's claim is not made good until about 1225. No war is attested that winter.
Wealth
Tolls on the coast road; the lead and silver of the Versilia mountains (the Bottino mines are later famous); woods and pasture.
Military
Hill castles over the coast road. No numbers.
Threats
- Lucca
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.
- Beyond 1200: about 1225-26Lucca attacks the Camaiore castles allied with Pisa and organises the Versilia under its own vicars.
Places of note
- Corvaia: Castle of the lords of Corvaia [coordinates approximate]
- Vallecchia: Castle of the lords of Vallecchia [coordinates approximate]
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Named as the chief lords of the Versilia, with no dated member for 1200.
On the map: Drawn as the later Pietrasanta, Seravezza and Stazzema; the lords' exact holdings in 1200 are not pinned.
Primary sources for Empire
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.
- Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.