The bishops of Trent laid out Bolzano about 1170-80 as a planned market town of one street (the later Laubengasse) and a square, beside their castle on the Kornplatz, where the Brenner road from the Eisack meets the Adige.
A new quarter (Silbergasse, Obstmarkt) is going up about 1200. The district round it is a county shared with the count of Tyrol: an imperial ruling at Hagenau on 15 March 1184 declared that the bishop and the count held it as one county in common, and on 24 June 1190 the communities of the Bolzano and Keller parishes agreed on shared resources with fines split between bishop and count. Its great fairs, the meeting place of the Italian and German trade, are first recorded in 1202.
Who holds it
- Name
- Bishop Conrad of Beseno, with the count of Tyrol sharing comital rights in the district
- Title
- Lord of the market
- Since
- 1188
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- See Trent and Tyrol.
- Confidence
- high
Austria-Forum Geschichte der Stadt Bozen; the Ferrara text (1184, 1190, 1208).
Lord in 1200
The bishop of Trent holds the market and his castle; the count of Tyrol shares the comital rights (in 1208 the bishop takes a third of fines and the count keeps the measures).
Overlord
The bishop of Trent.
How things stand that morning
The bishop's market, under shared comital rule with the count of Tyrol.
Threats
- The counts of Tyrol's growing share
Charter
Planned market of about 1170-80; no town charter for 1200 known.
Council
No commune; the parish communities of Bolzano and Keller act together (1190).
Communities
Merchants of the Brenner road (not pinned); the Wanga will found their own suburb about 1210.
Fairs and markets
The great annual fairs are first recorded in 1202, regulated by agreement between the bishops of Brixen and Trent; whether they were held in 1199 and on which saints' days is not pinned.
Militia
No record read.
Walls and castle
The bishop's castle on the Kornplatz (twelfth century; burned in the fire of 1224); the Laubengasse arcades of wood until 1224.
Trade and crafts
The north-south trade of the Brenner road; wine of the Bolzano basin (the Bozanenses appear in the bishop's wine-toll rules in 1210).
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.
- 1202 (beyond 1200)The great fairs are first recorded.Depends on: Peace on the road. Stopped by: War.
Places of note
- Bolzano market and the bishop's castle: Planned market of about 1170-80
Where the sources disagree
- Austria-Forum says the Brixen advocacy passed to the counts of Tyrol after 1173 and underpinned their lordship over Bolzano; the de.wikipedia Andechs article and the Tirol Atlas put the Brixen advocacy with the Andechs from 1157 to 1209-10. The Tyrol counts' share in Bolzano is better explained by their Trent advocacy and the 1184 ruling.
Evidence: The foundation, the 1184 ruling and the 1202 fairs are attested.
On the map: The market and its parish; the shared county is drawn on the trent record.
Primary sources for Trent
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.
- Charter book of the bishops of Trent (compiled 1207 to 1218; documents from the 11th century onward; edited 1852). The cartulary of the prince-bishops of Trent. Read online
Sources and studies
- Geschichte der Stadt Bozen (Austria-Forum)
- Il governo vescovile nei secoli XII e XIII: il caso di Trento (University of Ferrara)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.