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

Toscanella

An ancient city on the Marta, once the seat of the bishops of the Roman Tuscia, on the old Via Clodia.

In the twelfth century it became a free commune ruling a large territory of castles towards the Maremma and the sea (Ancarano, Acquabona, Canino, Carcarella, Cellere, Montalto, Piansano, Tessennano). Its decline began in 1192, when Celestine III made Viterbo a bishop's see and the old see of Toscanella was joined to it; Viterbo is its rival.

Who holds it

Name
Consuls (names not pinned)
Title
The commune
Confidence
low

Lord in 1200

The commune of Toscanella, under the pope's lordship as a town of the Patrimony in Tuscany.

Allies and rivals

Rival of Viterbo, which took its see; neighbour of Corneto and of the Aldobrandeschi. Alliances in 1199-1200 not pinned.

How things stand that morning

Self-governing under the pope's lordship; its side in the war between Viterbo and Rome is not pinned (as Viterbo's rival it has reason to stand aside or lean to Rome). Across the borders: the Aldobrandeschi county west and north-west (the Northern Italy map), the Farnese castles and the contested Val di Lago north, Viterbo east, Corneto south.

Wealth

A large farming and grazing territory; its castles; the road to the sea.

Military

Walls and a ring of castles. No figures.

Threats

  • Viterbo's expansion
  • The Aldobrandeschi to the west

Charter

Not found.

Council

Consuls (names not pinned).

Militia

The town levy and the knights of its castles. No figures.

Walls and castle

Walls round the town; the twelfth-century churches of San Pietro and Santa Maria Maggiore on the old acropolis.

Trade and crafts

Grain and pasture of the Maremma plain; the Via Clodia (declining); an outlet to the sea at Montalto.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The list of castles comes from it.wikipedia for the twelfth century, undated; nothing dated is found for 1199-1200.

On the map: The tierra follows it.wikipedia's twelfth-century list of Toscanella's castles; whether each was still Toscanella's on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. Montalto is left to the anchors.

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. Tuscania (it.wikipedia)
  2. Viterbo (Enciclopedia Federiciana, Treccani)

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