The great Po city of eastern Lombardy: the old city of the knights round the cathedral (consecrated 1190) and the bishop's palace, and Cittanova, the former suburb of the people, with its own meeting place at Sant'Agata.
A river port on the Po and a cloth town (fustian and wool), and the home of Saint Homobonus, a cloth merchant who died on 13 November 1197 and was canonized on 12 January 1199.
Who holds it
- Name
- not pinned (two rival podestà, of the milites and of the populus, in 1198 and 1200-1201)
- Title
- the commune (podestà or consuls)
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The commune; Bishop Sicard (Church map record) is the great landlord and the city's peacemaker.
Charter
Regalia under the Peace of Constance (1183); minting under an imperial privilege of Frederick I; Matilda's grant of the Isola Fulcheria (1098) to the church and commune.
Council
Podestà or consuls and the general council of the commune; in 1198 and 1200-1201 the milites and the populus each had their own podestà. Names for the morning of 1 January 1200 not pinned.
Communities
The milites of the old city; the populus of Cittanova (meeting at the church of Sant'Agata), led by men such as Guazo Albrigoni and Cremosano Oldoini (Menant; dates not pinned); the new cult of Saint Homobonus; Cathar sympathisers suspected in Lombard cities [no Cremonese case pinned].
Militia
The city host of knights and foot by quarters [organisation in 1200 not pinned]; a carroccio [Cremona's own in 1200 not pinned].
Walls and castle
The walls of the old city with Cittanova outside or newly enclosed [not pinned]; the cathedral consecrated in 1190 and the bishop's palace.
Trade and crafts
Po shipping and tolls; fustian (cotton and linen cloth) and wool; the grain and flax of the contado.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Social geography from Menant; buildings and saint from it.wikipedia and the diocese.
Primary sources for Cremona
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.
- 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 Lombard city annals of Piacenza, Milan, Cremona, Parma, Mantua and Verona (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries). The communes' own year lists. Read online
Sources and studies
- F. Menant, Les podestats crémonais (ENS)
- E. Winkelmann, Otto IV., ch. III 'Reichsitalien vor der Kaiserkrönung Otto's IV.' (Jahrbücher der deutschen Geschichte), citing the Annales Cremonenses and Odorici
- it.wikipedia, Cremona (history)
- Diocesi di Cremona, storia (Sicardo, Omobono)
- it.wikipedia, Sicardo da Cremona
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.