Ascoli (Roman Asculum) is the southern bastion of the March, a city of noble towers (some two hundred) at the meeting of the Castellano and the Tronto, on the Via Salaria from Rome to the sea.
Its bishops held the count's power before the citizens formed a commune in 1183-1185, and its noble families feud inside the walls. Its land lies on both banks of the Tronto, against the kingdom of Sicily's frontier. Ascoli is not named in Ancona's league of 1198 or among the towns that dealt with the legates, and its stance in 1198-1199 is not pinned; Markward was besieging Ripatransone, north of its land, on 28 August 1198.
On 1 January 1200 it is a self-governing city that the pope counts as his; no war is recorded. Its great wars with Fermo begin in the 1250s.
Who holds it
- Title
- The commune of Ascoli (consuls), beside its bishop
- Since
- 1183 or 1185 (commune)
- Confidence
- low
Italian Wikipedia dates the commune to 1183, the Enciclopedia Italiana to 1185; the bishops' temporal power came first. No officer is named for 1199-1200, and Ascoli's stance toward Markward and the papal legates in 1198-1199 is not documented in the sources read.
Lord in 1200
The commune, with the bishop's old comital rights behind it.
Overlord
The pope, presumably, as lord of the March (not documented for Ascoli).
Allies and rivals
Rival: Fermo (open war from the 1250s). Neighbours: the kingdom's frontier lords across the Tronto; Farfa's castle of Offida.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing; papal overlordship assumed, not documented. Across the Tronto, beyond its own land on the right bank, lie the kingdom's Abruzzo castles (Civitella del Tronto and the Vibrata valley: Abruzzi records).
Wealth
The Salaria traffic, salt and the lower Tronto valley.
Military
Walls, towers and the frontier castles of the upper Tronto (not pinned individually).
Threats
- The kingdom's frontier and its German captains
- Fermo's rivalry
- Feuds of its tower families
Council
Consuls and a council (names not pinned).
Communities
Not documented.
Militia
Citizen militia and the tower families' retainers.
Walls and castle
Walled city on a river-bound spur; about two hundred family towers (almost half pulled down in 1242).
Trade and crafts
The Via Salaria from Rome to the Adriatic, salt and the Tronto valley's grain; its later port at the mouth of the Tronto is not yet granted.
Where the sources disagree
- Italian Wikipedia gives 1183 for the commune, the Enciclopedia Italiana 1185.
Evidence: No source read documents Ascoli's position in 1198-1200.
On the map: A guessed contado of the middle Tronto on both banks; its southern edge against the kingdom is not pinned.
Primary sources for Papal State
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
- Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
- Chronicle of Andres, William of Andres (about 1220 to 1234). The chronicle and cartulary of a small abbey between Guines and Ardres, near the border of Flanders and Boulogne. 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 Robert of Auxerre, Robert of Auxerre (Robert of Saint-Marien) (about 1190 to 1211; continued at Saint-Marien to 1227). A universal chronicle whose last twenty years are contemporary and well informed from Burgundy and the Auxerrois. Read online
- Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
- Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
12 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.
Sources and studies
- Ascoli Piceno, Enciclopedia Italiana (1929)
- Ascoli Piceno (it.wikipedia)
- Ancona, Enciclopedia Italiana (1929), for the siege of Ripatransone
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.