The Pallavicino are the great marquises of the plain between Piacenza, Parma and Cremona, heirs of the Obertenghi county of the Aucia around the Arda, the Ongina and the Stirone.
Frederick I entrusted Borgo San Donnino to them in 1162 and gave Soragna and other lands to Oberto Pallavicino about 1189. In 1198 the fief of Soragna was divided: the borgo on the left bank of the Stirone went to the Lupi, the right bank with Castellina stayed with the Pallavicino. On 1 January 1200 the head of the house is Guglielmo, whose infant son Oberto will become the greatest lord of Lombardy two generations on.
Their lands lie across the Parma and Piacenza war zone: Borgo San Donnino, once theirs by imperial grant, has passed through Piacenza's hands to Parma in 1199.
Who he is
- Name
- Guglielmo Pallavicino
- Title
- Marquis (marchese), head of the Lombard branch
- Since
- not pinned (after the death of his father Oberto, given as about 1196 in one account)
- Born
- about 1170 (one account; not checked)
- Family
- Pallavicino, a branch of the Obertenghi marquises. His son Oberto (Uberto), the future imperial vicar, was born probably in 1197, at Polesine according to it.wikipedia, of Solestella (Solusta) of the Platoni, lady of Monte Sidolo. Other sons named in the sources: Pelavicino (later marquis of Pellegrino) and Manfredo (later of Scipione); Guido, later first marquis of Bodonitsa in Greece (1204), and Rubino are called his sons in some accounts and his brothers in others.
- Confidence
- medium
The Dizionario Biografico calls Guglielmo, father of Uberto (born probably 1197), the founder (capostipite) of the Lombard branch, with very wide lands in the countryside of Cremona, Piacenza and Parma; it.wikipedia gives his death as 1217. The genealogy of the generation before him is muddled in the sources read (en.wikipedia's family page contradicts itself), so the succession date is not pinned. No other branch head of weight was found for that winter.
Overlord
The emperor, from whom the family holds its fiefs (Barbarossa's grants of 1162 and about 1189); for its old courts in the Parmesan it has been a vassal of the commune of Piacenza since 1145.
What it holds
- Busseto, the family's chief castle (it.wikipedia says the Pallavicino have held Busseto's lands since the 10th century)
- Polesine (where Oberto was born in 1197) and Zibello on the Po (held by the family; date of first holding not pinned)
- The right bank of the Stirone at Soragna, with Castellina, kept in the division of 1198
- Scipione and the salt springs of the Salsomaggiore hills, and Pellegrino: the later seats of Guglielmo's sons Manfredo (Scipione) and Pelavicino (Pellegrino); held by the family in 1200 but not pinned castle by castle
- Claim: Borgo San Donnino, entrusted to the family by Frederick I in 1162; now held by Parma
How it was acquired
Obertenghi inheritance; Oberto Pallavicino (died 1148) had his fiefs around the Arda confirmed; in 1145 he surrendered his Parmesan courts to Piacenza and took them back in fief; Frederick I entrusted Borgo San Donnino to the family in 1162 and assigned Soragna and other lands to Oberto about 1189; the 1198 division of Soragna with the Lupi.
Allies and rivals
Bound to Piacenza by the vassalage of 1145; Parma has taken their old charge of Borgo San Donnino; Cremona, in whose diocese Busseto lies, is the third city pressing on their lands. Kin: the Lupi of Soragna; the Platoni of the Val Ceno and the upper Taro (Guglielmo's wife). Their side in the 1199 war was not found.
How things stand that morning
Guglielmo Pallavicino holds Busseto, Polesine, Zibello, the right bank at Soragna and the hill castles towards Salsomaggiore and Pellegrino, between the Parmesan and Piacentine contadi and under the shadow of both, as an imperial vassal with his own lordship. Borgo San Donnino is lost to Parma.
Wealth
The salt springs of the Salsomaggiore hills, the farms and woods of the lower plain, river landings on the Po, tolls on the roads between the three cities.
Military
Castles at Busseto, Scipione and Pellegrino, a following of vassals and knights; no figures in the sources read.
Threats
- Parma's advance west of the Taro after the conquest of Borgo San Donnino
- Piacenza's claim to their service
- Cremona's reach across the Po
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.
- 1203-1204 (beyond 1200)Guido Pallavicino joins the Fourth Crusade and in autumn 1204 follows Boniface of Montferrat to Thessaly, where he becomes marquis of Bodonitsa.Depends on: The crusade going ahead under Boniface (elected leader only in summer 1201). Stopped by: The crusade's collapse or Guido staying at home.
- 1217 (beyond 1200)Guglielmo dies; his lands are divided among his sons, the beginnings of the Scipione and Pellegrino lines.Depends on: Natural death. Stopped by: Play that changes his circumstances.
Places of note
- Busseto castle: Chief seat of the Lombard branch
- Scipione castle: Hill castle above the salt springs
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The head of house and his son are in the Dizionario Biografico; the castles held castle by castle in 1200 and the family's side in the 1199 war are not pinned, and the Wikipedia genealogies conflict.
On the map: The blocks follow the later Stato Pallavicino's core; which castles the family held on 1 January 1200, beyond Busseto and the Soragna share, 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
- Pallavicino, Uberto (Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani)
- Pallavicino (it.wikipedia)
- Oberto II Pallavicino (it.wikipedia)
- Soragna (it.wikipedia)
- Busseto (it.wikipedia)
- Fidenza (en.wikipedia)
- Guy Pallavicini (en.wikipedia)
- Pallavicini family (en.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.