Fermo is the great city of the southern March, the seat of a rich bishopric whose holder was long the real lord of the land between the Chienti and the Tronto.
Christian of Mainz's troops sacked and burned it in 1176 and the Empire held it until 1185; since then its commune has grown, and Italian Wikipedia dates its full freedom to 1199. In 1198 Fermo joined Ancona's league against Markward, and early in 1199 it made an agreement with the papal legates to raise troops for the Church. On 1 January 1200 it is a young commune in the pope's camp, sharing the Fermano with its bishop, the monks of Farfa in the hills (their seat at Santa Vittoria in Matenano) and the abbey of Santa Croce al Chienti.
In 1201 it will fight Ancona; its long wars with Ascoli begin only in the 1250s.
Who holds it
- Title
- The commune of Fermo (consuls), beside its bishop
- Since
- 1199 as a free commune (Italian Wikipedia); a commune existed by 1185 (Enciclopedia Italiana)
- Confidence
- low
The Enciclopedia Italiana says Fermo, sacked and burned by Barbarossa's troops in 1176, stayed under imperial control until 1185 and had by then formed a commune whose loyalty swung between Church and Empire with its factions. Italian Wikipedia (Storia di Fermo) dates its free commune to 1199. Its bishop is a great temporal lord of the southern March (Macerata grew up on land of 'the bishop and prince of Fermo'; the Church of Fermo held Ripatransone in chief).
No consul, podestà or bishop's officer is named for 1200.
Lord in 1200
The commune, newly free of the bishop's direct rule, with the bishop of Fermo still holding wide rights and castles (a Church record).
Overlord
The pope, by its alliance with the legates in 1198-1199.
Allies and rivals
Allies: the pope's legates (agreement of early 1199); Ancona and the league of 1198. Rivals: Ascoli; its own bishop's lordship; by 1201 Ancona.
How things stand that morning
League member and papal ally; self-governing beside its bishop. South of the Aso the castles look to Fermo, to the Church of Fermo or to Ascoli; across the Tronto lies the kingdom of Sicily.
Wealth
The richest farmland of the southern March.
Military
The Girfalco and the castles of its contado (not pinned individually).
Threats
- The bishop's claims on the city
- Ascoli's rivalry over the Tronto valley
Charter
Not pinned for 1200 (Otto IV's privileges of 1211 are later).
Council
Consuls and a council (names not pinned).
Communities
Not documented.
Militia
Citizen militia and the men of its castles; troops raised for the legates in 1199 (no numbers).
Walls and castle
A hill city crowned by the Girfalco, the citadel by the cathedral (the fortress there was destroyed in the fifteenth century).
Trade and crafts
Grain, wine and oil of the Tenna and Ete hills; a landing on the coast below the city (not pinned for 1200).
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.
- 1201 (not 1200)War with Ancona beside Osimo, Jesi and Fano; concord of Polverigi on 18 January 1202.Depends on: The league breaking up. Stopped by: Papal arbitration.
Places of note
- Santa Vittoria in Matenano: Seat of the abbey of Farfa's lordship in the Fermano (a Church record).
Where the sources disagree
- Italian Wikipedia (Storia di Fermo) dates the free commune to 1199; the Enciclopedia Italiana implies a commune by 1185. Both may be right if the commune shook off the bishop's direct rule in 1199.
Evidence: League and legates from the Federiciana and the Dizionario Biografico; the commune's officers and the bishop's exact rights in 1200 are not documented in the sources read.
On the map: Fermo's near contado only; the bishop's, Farfa's and the rural lords' castles in the Fermano are interleaved with it and not drawn separately.
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
- Fermo, Enciclopedia Italiana (1932)
- Storia di Fermo (it.wikipedia)
- Ancona, Enciclopedia Federiciana (A. Meriggi, 2005)
- GIOVANNI di San Paolo, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 56 (2001)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.