The imperial town of the central Romagna, grown round the abbey of San Mercuriale, whose new bell tower was raised after the fire of 1173.
Bishop Alessandro dominated its civic life for thirty years to about 1190; since then the commune has had a foreign podestà, and after the rising of 1198 a council of forty elders.
Who holds it
- Title
- Consuls or podestà for 1199
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
See Forlì: first podestà Raniero Bocabadocca (1194); consul Robertus Romanus killed in 1198.
Lord in 1200
The commune of Forlì.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing and imperial in sympathy; papal troops entered it in 1198 but did not stay.
Charter
No imperial diploma for Forlì was found in the sources read; consuls first listed on 15 October 1182.
Council
Podestà and consuls; the council of forty elders (anziani), mentioned after 1198, probably for craftsmen and merchants.
Communities
Not documented for 1200.
Militia
Citizen militia and the knights of the Orgogliosi, Calboli and Ordelaffi.
Walls and castle
The town walls (circuit in 1200 not documented); the abbey precinct of San Mercuriale.
Trade and crafts
Market of the Via Emilia; the roads up the Montone and Rabbi valleys to Tuscany; a share of Cervia's salt.
Places of note
- Abbey of San Mercuriale: The town's great abbey, rebuilt 1178-1180
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: One general history.
On the map: Near land only.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.