Mantua

Who holds it

Name

not pinned (Stefano da Torbiago podestà of 1199)

Title

podestà

Confidence

low

Lord in 1200

The commune; Bishop Enrico Delle Carceri (Church map record).

Charter

Free commune since Matilda's death (1115), formally an imperial city; regalia under the Peace of Constance (1183).

Council

Podestà (foreign since 1186; Stefano da Torbiago in 1199) or consuls; the general council; four quarters (Santo Stefano, San Leonardo, San Giacomo, San Martino) of five contrade each [date not pinned].

Communities

The Corradi da Gonzaga (in the city since 1186), the Bonacolsi, the Arlotti, the Casaloldi and other Ugoni counts.

Militia

City host by quarters [no figures].

Walls and castle

The lakes themselves as the city's defence; walls [not pinned].

Trade and crafts

Mills on the new dam (twelve mills are recorded by 1229), fisheries, Po and Mincio shipping, grain.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Pitentino's works and the bishop are fairly attested; the officers are not.

Primary sources for Mantua

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