The borgo at the crossing of the Via Aurelia and the road to the Po plain, where the bishops of Luni have lived since Luni decayed (Gregory VIII allowed the move in 1187).
Its commune bought the hill of Monte Caprione in 1196. The see is formally moved here in 1201-1204 (Innocent III's bulls of March 1203), after which the commune struggles with the bishop's temporal power.
Who holds it
- Name
- Its own commune (institutions attested 1140; confirmed and freed from the bishops of Luni by Frederick I, 4 November 1163) beside the bishop of Luni, Gualtiero, who lives here (a Church map record)
- Title
- Lord or governing body
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
Its own commune (institutions attested 1140; confirmed and freed from the bishops of Luni by Frederick I, 4 November 1163) beside the bishop of Luni, Gualtiero, who lives here (a Church map record)
How things stand that morning
On 1 January 1200 the commune governs the borgo and its small land (Monte Caprione, bought 1196) and the bishop of Luni lives here and claims lordship; the see is still at Luni in law.
Where the sources disagree
- The Church map's Luni record (Luni) has the bishop holding Sarzana; Italian Wikipedia says Frederick I confirmed the commune and took it out of the bishops' control on 4 November 1163. Both may be true in part: the commune governs the borgo, the bishop keeps rights and residence. Treat the bishop's lordship over the town in 1200 as contested.
- The Church map gives Innocent III's approval of the move of the see as 7 March 1202 and the transfer as 15 June 1202; Italian Wikipedia gives bulls of 7 and 25 March 1203. Neither falls before 1 January 1200.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.