The del Bosco are an Aleramic house whose lands ran from Bosco (in the plain, now in Alessandria's orbit) over the Apennines to the coast at Varazze and Celle.
Anselmo del Bosco's lordship took in Bosco, Ovada, Ussecio, Pareto, Mioglia, Rossiglione, Ponte dei Prati, Giovo, Stella, Celle and Varazze; his sons divided it, Guglielmo Pixaloira taking Celle, Sanda and parts of Stella and Varazze. The marquises of Ponzone (pie) share Varazze and hold Sassello. Savona has begun to buy them out (land acquired in 1198); the cession of their coastal fiefs to Savona is ratified by Otto IV in 1209.
Who he is
- Name
- not pinned: the sons of Anselmo del Bosco, Manfredo I and Guglielmo called Pixaloira, and their heirs
- Title
- Marquises del Bosco
- Since
- not pinned
- Family
- Aleramici (del Bosco line); Elena del Bosco, Anselmo's daughter, was Boniface of Montferrat's first wife (about 1172)
- Confidence
- low
it.wikipedia (Marchesato del Bosco, Ovada, Varazze).
Overlord
The emperor
What it holds
- Ovada (passed from the marquises of Gavi to the del Bosco) and Rossiglione
- Varazze (the marquises keep their court there, shared with the Ponzone) and Celle
- Stella, Mioglia and the hills behind Savona
- Tiglieto lies in their land (the Cistercian abbey of 1131, a Church map record)
How it was acquired
Aleramic inheritance.
Allies and rivals
Montferrat (kin); Savona (buyer of their coast); Genoa and Savona rivals over Varazze; Alessandria in the plain.
How things stand that morning
Hold their castles; Savona has started to buy their coastal rights.
Wealth
Shipbuilding at Varazze; tolls on the roads from the coast to Ovada.
Military
Castles at Ovada, Rossiglione, Varazze, Celle.
Threats
- Savona and Genoa buying them out
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.
- 1209Otto IV ratifies the cession of their coastal fiefs to Savona.Depends on: Savona's purchases going on. Stopped by: Genoese pressure on Savona.
Places of note
- Ovada: Castle and market on the Orba and Stura
- Varazze: Their coastal court and shipyards
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The family's lands are listed without dates; who led it in 1200 is not pinned.
On the map: Drawn from the lands named in the family history; the share of each branch is 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.