The metropolis of Lombardy, rebuilt after Frederick I razed it in March 1162 and the head of the Lombard League.
The commune rules from its palace (broletto), by the usual account beside the archbishop's [general knowledge]; the Credenza di Sant'Ambrogio, formed in 1198 by the common people after a clash with the nobles, has its own consuls who join the podestà in public acts. The city lives on cloth and fustian, arms, money-lending and the transit trade to the Alpine passes.
Who holds it
- Title
- The commune of Milan (podestà or consuls of 1199)
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The commune, under its podestà or consuls of 1199 (names not pinned); the archbishop, Filippo da Lampugnano, keeps his palace, his courts over clergy and his own lordships outside the walls.
How things stand that morning
Under the commune; the truce between nobles and people after 1198 holds until 1201.
Charter
The Peace of Constance (25 June 1183) recognised the commune's rights; Frederick I left Monza to Milan in 1185 and confirmed its hold on the contado [the 1185 privilege not re-checked]. No statute book of 1200 survives; the commune's acts are in Manaresi's edition.
Council
The podestà or the consuls; the consuls of justice; the consuls of the merchants; the council (credenza) of the commune, meeting in the communal palace (the 3 November 1200 council was summoned there); the Credenza di Sant'Ambrogio (1198) with its college of consuls. The nobles are the capitanei (the archbishop's great vassals) and the valvassori (the lesser knights). The Motta, the association of the valvassori and rich commoners, is not documented in the sources read for 1200 [not pinned].
Communities
No Jewish community or foreign merchant quarter is documented in the sources read for 1200.
Fairs and markets
Not pinned in the sources read.
Militia
The city host by gates and quarters with the knights of the capitanei and valvassori, gathered round the carroccio. No figures.
Walls and castle
After 1162 the Milanese rebuilt from 1167 behind a wide moat and earth rampart with stone gates (the Porta Romana's reliefs of 1171 show the citizens' return) [general knowledge]. No citadel: the commune's palace and the archbishop's palace stand by the cathedral.
Trade and crafts
Woollen cloth and fustian, arms and metalwork, money-lending and exchange, the grain and cattle of the irrigated plain, and the transit trade between the Po and the Alpine passes through Como and Bellinzona.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Institutions of 1198-1200 sourced; officers and some physical details are general knowledge.
Primary sources for Milan
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
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
Sources and studies
- Treccani: Credenza di Sant'Ambrogio
- E. Occhipinti, I Pietrasanta (1982)
- Treccani, DBI: Ardigotto Marcellino
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.