Ponzone

Who he is

Name

The brothers Enrico, Giacomo and Ponzio of Ponzone

Title

Marquises of Ponzone (held in common)

Since

Active in 1186; Ponzio is still alive in 1214

Born

not pinned

Family

Aleramici of the line of Ugo II: nephews of Aleramo II, founder of the Ponzone line (attested 1131 and 1135). Their cousins the marquises del Bosco hold Bosco, Ovada, Belforte, Pareto, Mioglia and Rossiglione; Boniface of Montferrat's first wife Elena came from the del Bosco.

Confidence

medium

it.wikipedia Marchesato di Ponzone.

Overlord

The emperor; bound to Savona's sworn association (compagna) since 1186, with alliance pacts with Genoa.

What it holds

• Ponzone and Spigno on the Piedmont side
• Sassello, part of Stella, Celle, Varazze and shares of the Albisole (Ligurian ground; lig sheet)

How it was acquired

Division of the Aleramic lands of Ugo II's line after 1131.

Allies and rivals

Savona and Genoa (sworn); neighbours of Acqui, Alessandria and the Del Carretto.

How things stand that morning

Hold their hill castles under Savonese and Genoese influence; no event of 1199-1200 recorded.

Wealth

Hill dues, the roads from Acqui to the coast, salt and cattle tolls at Varazze (kept back when Ponzio sells Varazze to Savona in 1214).

Military

Castles; no figures.

Threats

• Debt (Savona paid off their pledges to the monastery of Latronorio)
• Genoa's expansion (conquest of the Ligurian places 1221-51)

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. 1209 and 1214 (beyond 1200)Sale of their share of Albissola (1209) and of Ponzio's Varazze holdings (1214) to Savona.Depends on: Debt. Stopped by: Money from elsewhere.

Places of note

• Ponzone castle: Seat of the marquises above Acqui.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Names and the 1186 oath are dated; their state in 1200 is inferred.

On the map: Rough block on the Piedmont side only.

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.