Castle-holding families of the Gulf of La Spezia and the lower Vara, vassals of the count-bishop of Luni.
The Vezzano sold Portovenere to Genoa (1113 or 1139), and the Vezzano and Arcola lords sold their shares of the hill of Lerici to Genoa in 1152. In 1198 members of the Vezzano family and their vassals, urged on by Pisa, attacked Portovenere; they were beaten off, Genoa took their refuge at Vesigna (on the Marinasco hill above Spezia), and the prisoners were taken to Genoa and made to swear loyalty. The lords of Carpena hold the hill castle above the villages of Spezia, which grow by salt and trade.
On 1 January 1200 these lords are under oath to Genoa but are not its subjects: Genoa takes Carpena into its orbit only in 1224 and Vezzano in 1253.
Who he is
- Name
- not pinned (the lineages of Vezzano, Arcola and Carpena)
- Title
- Lords (domini de Vethano), vassals of the bishop of Luni
- Since
- not pinned
- Family
- Vezzano; Arcola; Carpena (della Turca and other lineages later)
- Confidence
- low
it.wikipedia (Vezzano Ligure, Storia della Spezia, Lerici, Portovenere).
Overlord
The bishop of Luni (Otto I gave Vezzano castle to the count-bishop in 963); forced to swear to Genoa in 1198
What it holds
- Vezzano (upper and lower) and the pass from the gulf to the Magra
- Arcola (bought by Sarzana in 1245) [the Arcola lineage's holdings in 1200 not pinned]
- Carpena and the villages of Spezia (the Poggio, salt pans) [the Carpena lineage]
How it was acquired
Fiefs of the bishop of Luni since the 10th century.
Allies and rivals
Pisa (which encouraged the 1198 attack); the bishop of Luni; Genoa (sworn under compulsion in 1198); the Malaspina.
How things stand that morning
Holding their castles under oath to Genoa after the defeat of 1198; Vesigna lost to Genoa.
Wealth
The gulf's salt and small ports; tolls on the pass from the gulf to the Magra.
Military
Small castles; Vesigna lost in 1198.
Threats
- Genoa
- the bishop of Luni and the Malaspina, who settle the Lunigiana between them in 1202
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.
- 13 May 1202The Terrarossa agreement settles disputes between the bishop of Luni and the Malaspina on one side and the Vezzano nobles on the other.Depends on: The bishop's and the Malaspina's peace of 1202. Stopped by: Renewed war.
Places of note
- Vezzano: Castle on the pass
- Carpena: Hill castle above Spezia
- Arcola: Castle of the Arcola lineage
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The 1198 raid, the 1152 sale and the 1202 agreement are reported in Italian Wikipedia; the family heads are not named.
On the map: The three lineages are drawn together; the line between them 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.