The mining town of the Colline Metallifere, seat of the bishops of Populonia since the eleventh century.
The bishop exercises civil power over the town and some villages until the early thirteenth century and takes the tithe of mining on Elba. The town's first walls are of the twelfth century; San Pietro all'Orto was built in 1197. Massa will put itself under Pisan protection in 1216 and become a free commune in 1225; on 1 January 1200 it is the bishop's town, with the Pannocchieschi (who keep a palace here) and the Aldobrandeschi all round.
Who holds it
- Name
- The bishop of Populonia-Massa (a Church map record; the bishop in office is not pinned: Martino is attested from before 1189 to after 1196)
- Title
- Lord of the town
- Confidence
- low
The bishops' civil power and the 1216 and 1225 dates are attested; the bishop of 1200 is not.
Lord in 1200
The bishop of Populonia-Massa (a Church map record; the bishop in office is not pinned: Martino is attested from before 1189 to after 1196)
Allies and rivals
The Pannocchieschi (Perolla, Pietra, Montepozzali), the Aldobrandeschi (Monteregio, Tatti), Pisa on the coast, Siena inland.
How things stand that morning
Held by the bishop; no commune yet.
Charter
None known before 1225.
Communities
Not recorded in the sources we used.
Fairs and markets
Not recorded in the sources we used.
Militia
Not recorded in the sources we used.
Walls and castle
Twelfth-century walls; the cathedral of San Cerbone on the upper square.
Trade and crafts
Copper and above all silver from the Colline Metallifere.
Places of note
- Perolla: Pannocchieschi castle in Massa's territory
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The bishops' civil power and the 1216 and 1225 dates are attested; the bishop of 1200 is not.
Primary sources for Empire
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 Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. 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 Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Massa Marittima (it.wikipedia)
- Church map record itn-massa (lordships_italy_north.json)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.