Bisignano

Who holds it

Name

The crown (royal city, Federiciana)

Title

Royal town

Since

Not pinned

Confidence

low

Written largely from general knowledge of the Norman kingdom; the sources checked say little about this place in the 1190s.

Lord in 1200

The crown (royal city, Federiciana)

Overlord

The king, the boy Frederick, under the pope's wardship and the regency council at Palermo

How things stand that morning

Regency ground (realm sicily): no German captain, siege or raid is recorded here in the winter of 1199-1200 in the sources checked.

Military

No figures.

Threats

• Not pinned

Charter

No town charter is known; the town lives by the king's law and the customs confirmed by the Norman kings.

Council

No commune: the king's or lord's officers (bailiff, judges) govern with the leading men; no council is recorded for 1200.

Communities

Latin townsmen and the bishop's clergy.

Militia

Townsmen owe guard and service to the lord and the crown; no figures.

Walls and castle

Hill-town walls and castle.

Trade and crafts

Grain, oil, wine of the Crati valley.

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. 1200No dated event for this lordship was found for 1200.Depends on: Nothing in play. Stopped by: Nothing in play.

Places of note

• Bisignano: Town

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Written largely from general knowledge of the Norman kingdom; the sources checked say little about this place in the 1190s.

On the map: Point only.

Primary sources for Sicily

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
• Annals of Genoa, by Caffaro and his continuators, with Ogerio Pane for 1197 to 1219, Ogerio Pane and the other official annalists of Genoa (year by year under the commune's authority; the 1197 to 1219 section by Ogerio Pane). The official record of the commune. 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 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
• 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

7 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.