Assisi was Conrad of Urslingen's county town, with the Rocca above it where Henry VI's son Frederick spent part of his infancy in the care of Conrad's wife.
In 1198, when Conrad gave up the duchy (he ordered Assisi handed to the pope's cardinals at Narni), the townsmen rose, drove out the imperial men and pulled the Rocca down rather than let anyone hold it over them; by the usual account they used its stones for new walls. The commune then turned on the nobles of the town and the slopes of Monte Subasio: castles were attacked (Sasso Rosso, the castle of the family of Favarone, father of Clare, is the one the later accounts name) and the noble families went into exile at Perugia. Francis, son of the cloth merchant Pietro di Bernardone, is about eighteen in January 1200; Clare is five.
Who holds it
- Name
- The popular commune formed in 1198; consuls' names not pinned
- Title
- The commune (consuls)
- Since
- 1198
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The new commune of Assisi, under the pope's lordship in name, ruling itself after it threw out the duke's men in 1198.
Allies and rivals
Enemies: its own exiled nobles and their patron Perugia. Neighbours: Spello, Foligno, Bettona. Its tie to the pope is loose.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing under the pope in name, with no papal castle left above it. Its exiled nobles are at Perugia; the war with Perugia comes in 1202. Across the borders: Perugia west across the Chiascio and the Tiber, Gualdo and Nocera north-east, Spello and Foligno south-east, Bettona and Cannara south.
Wealth
Cloth and trade; the farmland of the plain below.
Military
New walls; the levy. Defeated by Perugia at Collestrada in 1202.
Threats
- Perugia and the noble exiles
- The pope's rector reclaiming the duke's rights
- Civil strife between nobles and people
Charter
None found for 1198-1200; the commune's peace charter between nobles and people (the Carta pacis) is of 9 November 1210 (later).
Council
Consuls of the new commune (names not pinned).
Communities
The popular party in power; the noble families (Offreduccio and others) in exile at Perugia; a Jewish community not pinned.
Militia
The townsmen's levy, which took the Rocca and the nobles' castles. No figures.
Walls and castle
The Rocca was destroyed in 1198 (rebuilt only by Albornoz in 1356); new town walls going up.
Trade and crafts
Cloth trade (Bernardone's house), the Spoleto valley's farming, the pilgrim cult of San Rufino.
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.
- 1200 (day not pinned)Exiled nobles become citizens of Perugia and put their castles under it; Perugia demands their restoration.Depends on: no settlement inside Assisi Stopped by: a peace between the commune and the nobles
- November 1202 (beyond 1200)Defeat by Perugia at Collestrada; Francis taken prisoner for about a year; peace about 1205; the Carta pacis of 9 November 1210 reconciles nobles and people.Depends on: the war breaking out Stopped by: papal mediation
Places of note
- The Rocca (ruined): Conrad's castle, pulled down by the townsmen in 1198.
Where the sources disagree
- The brief says the citizens destroyed the duke's castle in 1198: confirmed by it.wikipedia (Assisi, Rocca Maggiore). The DBI life of Conrad says only that he ordered Assisi handed over, so the destruction came as the handover happened, against the cardinals' wish to take the castle.
Evidence: The 1198 rising and the Rocca's fall are well attested; the nobles' exile and the date of their submission to Perugia rest on the Assisi historians (Fortini), not read here; the consuls are not pinned.
On the map: Assisi's contado in 1200 is only roughly known; Bastia (Insula Romana) was later disputed with Perugia.
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
- Assisi (it.wikipedia)
- Rocca Maggiore (it.wikipedia)
- Corrado di Urslingen (Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Treccani)
- Clare of Assisi (en.wikipedia)
- Battaglia di Collestrada (it.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.