Pierleoni

Who he is

Name

Giovanni Pierleone (Iohannes Petri Leonis), former senator

Title

Roman magnates; leaders, with the Capocci, of the party of an independent senate

Since

Senator in the 1190s, after Benedetto Carushomo's fall (1193)

Born

Not pinned

Family

The house of Pierleone, converted Jewish bankers of the eleventh century, kin of the antipope Anacletus II (1130-1138); a Gregorio Pierleone is senator in the troubles of 1203-1205 (Gregorovius)

Confidence

medium

Gregorovius and Luchaire: Giovanni Pierleone and Giovanni Capocci were senators after Carushomo's sole senatorship (1191-1193) and lead the party of municipal independence; in 1203-1204 they head the revolt against the pope's senate. Their twelfth-century fortress by the theatre of Marcellus and San Nicola in Carcere is standard in the histories of the city; their holdings outside Rome in 1200 are not pinned.

Overlord

The commune, and through it the pope.

What it holds

• Towers and houses by the theatre of Marcellus and San Nicola in Carcere, near the Tiber island (twelfth-century seat)
• Castles outside Rome: not pinned

How it was acquired

Banking wealth of the eleventh century.

Allies and rivals

Allies: the Capocci and the communal party. Rivals: the pope's senators and kin; of old, the Frangipani.

How things stand that morning

Out of power; no open action recorded that winter.

Wealth

Roman property and old banking wealth.

Military

Their towers and armed followers; no numbers.

Threats

• The pope's control of the senate

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.

1. 1203-1204 (beyond 1200)With Giovanni Capocci, leads the rising for an independent senate against the pope's men (Riccardo Conti, Pandolfo della Suburra).Depends on: The Poli affair and the Orsini feud inflaming the city. Stopped by: The pope's concessions or a strong papal senator.

Places of note

• Theatre of Marcellus: Twelfth-century Pierleoni fortress

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Named as a former senator and party leader in Gregorovius and Luchaire; their property in 1200 is not documented in the sources checked.

On the map: An urban family: shown as a point in Rome.

Primary sources for Rome

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 Montecassino; Annals of Ceccano (Fossanova) (12th and early 13th centuries; Ceccano to 1217). Two sets of annals from either side of the papal and Sicilian frontier. Read online
• Chronicle of Richard of San Germano, Richard of San Germano (first version about 1216, enlarged to 1243). The fullest southern narrative of the Hohenstaufen kingdom, written by a notary on the border of the Terra di Lavoro. Read online
• The Deeds of Innocent III, Anonymous (a curial official, perhaps Peter of Benevento) (about 1208 to 1209). The curia's own account of the pontificate's first decade, with letters copied in. Read online
• The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. 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