City · The Papal State: the pope's own lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Orvieto

Orvieto is the great rock-city of the upper Paglia and the Tiber, the strongest commune of the Patrimony after Viterbo and its rival for the lands between Lake Bolsena and the Chiana.

It made a convention with Adrian IV in 1157 (four consuls named that year), withstood Henry VI (siege about 1186, agreement about 1189), and expanded against Acquapendente, Todi, Viterbo, Perugia, Siena and the counts of its contado; its claims reach the Val di Chiana, the old county of Chiusi (which it took back after Henry VI's death) and towards the Maremma. Heresy (Cathars, called Patarines) is strong among its citizens and some nobles. Innocent III laid the city under interdict in 1198 (campaign notes; the life of Parenzo ties the quarrel to the pope's claim to Acquapendente and the Val di Lago as much as to heresy); in February 1199 he sent the young Roman Pietro Parenzo as podestà (the city's first recorded podestà) to restore order and repress the heretics; Parenzo was seized and beaten to death on the night of 20-21 May 1199 and is honoured as a martyr.

On 1 January 1200 the commune is leaderless at the top, divided between heretic and Catholic parties, and still at odds with the pope.

Who holds it

Name
Not pinned for the morning of 1 January 1200. The pope's podestà Pietro Parenzo was murdered on the night of 20-21 May 1199; en.wikipedia (Orvieto), following the town's chronicles, has Bishop Riccardo chosen podestà in 1200 (date in the year not pinned).
Title
The commune
Confidence
low

it.wikipedia (Pietro Parenzo) for Parenzo's dates; Enciclopedia Italiana (Orvieto) for the first podestà in 1199 and the quarrel over the Val di Lago; Maleczek for the armed confrontation with the pope until 1201; en.wikipedia (Orvieto) for the bishop as podestà in 1200.

Lord in 1200

The commune of Orvieto, governed after Parenzo's murder by its own men and its bishop, Riccardo (a Church map record), under the pope's nominal lordship (the convention with Adrian IV of 1157) but in a partly armed quarrel with him over Acquapendente and the Val di Lago, and under interdict (campaign notes).

Allies and rivals

Allies: Florence's goodwill against Siena (undated in the sources; the formal alliance is 1229); the Aldobrandeschi (pacts in 1202) and the Farnese knights. Rivals: the pope over Acquapendente and the Val di Lago; Siena over Chiusi and the Chiana (solemn alliance only in 1202); Perugia over Castel della Pieve and the Chiugi; Todi over the middle Tiber; Viterbo south.

How things stand that morning

The commune holds its rock and the core of its contado (the Paglia and Chiani valleys, Ficulle, Fabro, Monteleone, Parrano, Baschi). Its outer claims are in dispute: Acquapendente and the Val di Lago with Bolsena (Acquapendente, Bolsena) against the pope, Chiusi against Siena and Perugia (the Northern Italy map's Chiusi, drawn contested), Castel della Pieve against Perugia, which holds it since 1188. Interdict: in force on 1 January 1200 according to the campaign notes; whether it was lifted when Parenzo came in February 1199 and then renewed is not pinned.

In 1199 the Tuscan League's troops sent to help Viterbo against Rome came as far as Orvieto before the pope sent them home (Luchaire, as cited by rom). Maleczek names Orvieto with Narni as the towns that resisted the pope most violently, in a partly armed confrontation that lasted until 1201. Across the borders: the Aldobrandeschi and Sovana west (tue), Chiusi and Siena north-west, Perugia and Città della Pieve north, Todi east, Bagnoregio and Viterbo south.

Wealth

Grain, wine and livestock of a large contado; the road between Rome and Tuscany; a rich nobility of castles.

Military

An impregnable rock; the city levy; noble cavalry; vassal castles. No figures.

Threats

  • The interdict and the pope's anger after the murder of his podestà
  • The pope's claim to Acquapendente and the Val di Lago, pressed with arms until 1201
  • Feuds between heretic and Catholic families
  • Siena and Perugia on the northern rim

Charter

Convention with Pope Adrian IV and seven cardinals in 1157: the commune's submission to the pope and his successors, with armed aid and refuge promised (Enciclopedia Italiana). A settlement with Henry VI about 1189. No later charter found before 1200.

Council

Consuls (four in 1157), rectors in 1171 and 1177, the first podestà in 1199 (Parenzo, sent by the pope). After the murder the consuls and councils are not pinned; en.wikipedia has the bishop as podestà in 1200. The 'captain of the people' it also names for 1200 (Gualfredo, bishop of Chiusi) is an anachronistic title: read as a second officer, not pinned.

Communities

A Cathar church with its own teachers and noble protectors; the Catholic party round the bishop and the cathedral canons. Jews not pinned.

Militia

A strong city levy and the knights of the contado nobility; the Farnese (Farnese) are among its knightly houses. It has fought Acquapendente, Todi, Viterbo, Perugia and Siena. No figures.

Walls and castle

The tufa rock itself is the wall; no lord's castle inside.

Trade and crafts

Grain and wine of the Paglia and Chiana, livestock, the roads from Rome to Tuscany; tufa-cut cellars. Cloth 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.

  1. 1200 (date not pinned)The bishop, Riccardo, is chosen podestà (en.wikipedia, from the town's chronicles); the Catholic party gains the upper hand and the murderers are punished.Depends on: the bishop's party holding the city Stopped by: a heretic rising or a noble faction taking the commune
  2. 1200-1201The armed quarrel with the pope over Acquapendente and the Val di Lago runs on until 1201 (Maleczek); the interdict is lifted when Orvieto submits.Depends on: Orvieto refusing to give up the pope's claimed lands Stopped by: an early submission
  3. 1202 (beyond 1200)Solemn alliance with Siena (kept until 1229) and pacts with the Aldobrandeschi.Depends on: peace with the pope Stopped by: war with Siena over Chiusi

Places of note

  • The cathedral church of Santa Maria (the old one): Where Parenzo was buried in May 1199.

Where the sources disagree

  • campaign notes (Part 2, Part 5, Part 6 E) say Orvieto has been under interdict for heresy since 1198. The life of Pietro Parenzo, as usually told, ties the interdict to the commune's quarrel with the pope over Acquapendente (and the Val di Lago) rather than to heresy alone, and has it lifted when the Orvietans asked for a papal rector early in 1199. We could not read the life itself; Maleczek confirms a partly armed confrontation with the pope until 1201. The record follows the campaign notes (interdict in force) and flags the cause.
  • en.wikipedia (Orvieto) has Bishop Riccardo made podestà in 1200; if the election falls after 1 January it is the likely course, which is how it is given here.

Evidence: Parenzo's dates are thick (his cult and life); the interdict's cause and status that morning, and Orvieto's officers after the murder, are thin. The extent of the contado is drawn from the later medieval contado and the fights named in the Enciclopedia Italiana.

On the map: The tierra is Orvieto's core contado as the later medieval sources show it; the Val di Lago, Acquapendente and Chiusi, which it claims that winter, are drawn as contested in their own records.

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.

12 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.

Sources and studies

  1. Pietro Parenzo (it.wikipedia)
  2. Orvieto (Enciclopedia Italiana, Treccani)
  3. Orvieto (en.wikipedia)
  4. Innocenzo III (W. Maleczek, Enciclopedia dei Papi, Treccani)
  5. Ildebrandino VIII Aldobrandeschi (it.wikipedia), for Ranuccio Farnese and Orvieto's cavalry in 1207

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.