Viterbo

Who holds it

Name

Count Ildebrandino VIII Aldobrandeschi, made podestà and captain of Viterbo in 1199 after the city turned against Innocent III; whether he still holds the office on 1 January 1200 is not pinned

Title

The commune, under a podestà and war captain from outside

Since

1199

Family

Aldobrandeschi (the Northern Italy map's Aldobrandeschi)

Confidence

low

it.wikipedia (Ildebrandino VIII Aldobrandeschi) for the 1199 office; Maleczek (Enciclopedia dei Papi) for the war of 1199 and its end in early 1201; it.wikipedia (Vitorchiano) for the siege.

Lord in 1200

The commune of Viterbo, at war with Rome and defying the pope, with Count Ildebrandino Aldobrandeschi as its podestà and captain from 1199 (not pinned for that morning). The pope claims it as the chief town of his Patrimony in Tuscany; on 1 January 1200 that claim is not obeyed.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Count Ildebrandino Aldobrandeschi, its podestà and captain; Tuscan nobles such as the viscount of Campiglia; the Tuscan League in 1199, until the pope persuaded it to recall its troops. Enemies: Rome and its senator Pandolfo della Suburra; Vitorchiano, under Rome's protection; the pope, as overlord of the Patrimony, who has excommunicated the city. Rivals: Toscanella, whose see it took; Orvieto and the lords of the Val di Lago to the north (not pinned for 1199-1200).

How things stand that morning

At war with Rome over Vitorchiano, under excommunication, with a podestà of its own choosing, the Aldobrandeschi count (not pinned for that morning). The pope's claim to the city is not obeyed. The Tuscan League's help has been withdrawn under papal pressure; Tuscan nobles still fight for Viterbo (Napoleone, viscount of Campiglia, is among the prisoners of 6 January). The bishop's see is in change: Cardinal Giovanni gave up Viterbo in 1199 to become bishop of Frascati (campaign notes Part 4); his successor is a Church map record and is not pinned here.

Across the borders: Toscanella west, the pope's castle of Montefiascone and the contested Val di Lago north, Bagnoregio north-east, Vitorchiano east (held for Rome, in the war zone that Vitorchiano war draws), the prefect's castles of Vetralla and Caprarola south.

Wealth

A rich farming and road town: grain, wine, cattle, the pilgrim traffic of the Cassia and the hot springs. Its contado reaches from Montefiascone's slopes to the Cimini hills.

Military

Walls; the city levy; the count's household knights and his Maremma vassals while he holds the office. It has beaten its neighbours before (Ferento 1172, the siege of Corneto about 1190). No figures.

Threats

• The Roman army, with the pope's men beside it
• Spiritual penalties for heresy and defiance (Vergentis in senium was written for Viterbo)
• The Tuscan League leaving it alone under papal pressure
• A heretic party inside the walls, and a Catholic party that would deal with the pope

Charter

Frederick Barbarossa recognised the commune when he was in the city in 1162 and granted it privileges in 1167; Viterbo became a bishop's see in 1192-1193. Under Henry VI the city gave the emperor's men military aid in return for protection against the pope and Rome (Enciclopedia Federiciana). No papal charter for the commune before 1200 is found.

Council

Consuls and councils; in 1199 the commune took an outside podestà and captain, the Aldobrandeschi count. The consuls' names for 1199-1200 are not pinned. (In 1205 Innocent III quashed the election of the consuls and imposed podestà from Rome: later.)

Communities

A strong heretic party (Patarines, Cathars), reaching into the commune's officers: the decretal Vergentis in senium of 25 March 1199 was sent to the clergy and people of Viterbo, and in 1207 Innocent found heresy among the city's rulers. A Jewish community is not pinned for 1200.

Militia

The city's knights and foot, raised by quarters, with the count's men and Tuscan nobles; that winter they face the Roman host on the Vitorchiano road. No figures.

Walls and castle

A walled city round the bishop's hill of San Lorenzo; no lord's castle inside. (The papal palace is of the 1250s: not yet.)

Trade and crafts

The Via Cassia and the pilgrims' road to Rome; grain, wine, livestock and the hot springs of the Bullicame; the commune pushes towards the sea by Montalto (later evidence) and towards the Tiber. Cloth-making 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. 6 January 1200 (Gregorovius, Luchaire); the Enciclopedia dei Papi puts the decisive victory at the beginning of 1201The Roman host under the senator Pandolfo della Suburra routs the Viterbese on the road to Vitorchiano and takes many prisoners, among them Viterbo's protonotary and Napoleone, viscount of Campiglia. The pope takes the noble prisoners into his own custody (the Lateran, then his castle of Lariano), from which Napoleone escapes during the talks.Depends on: Viterbo offering battle in midwinter; the Roman host holding together (Riccardo Conti's money) Stopped by: A papal truce before the armies meet; the Tuscan League or the Aldobrandeschi coming back in force
2. late 1200 or early 1201 (not pinned)Peace brokered by the pope: Viterbo submits to the Senate and people of Rome, frees its captives, gives up Vitorchiano, swears fealty to the Senate, pays tribute, pulls down part of its walls, and returns the bronze doors and the fountain fittings it took from St Peter's in 1167; Rome hangs Viterbo's bell on the Capitol and the chain and keys of one of its gates on the arch of Gallienus (Gregorovius, as cited by rom). The siege of Vitorchiano ends and it becomes Rome's (it.wikipedia: 1201).Depends on: The Roman victory and the pope's mediation Stopped by: Viterbo holding out with Tuscan or Aldobrandeschi help
3. 1205 and 1207 (beyond 1200)Innocent quashes the consuls' election and imposes podestà from Rome (1205); he spends summer 1207 in Viterbo, suppresses heresy and holds the parliament of the Patrimony there in September.Depends on: Viterbo's defeat Stopped by: a Viterbese victory over Rome

Places of note

• Vitorchiano: The castle that broke away in 1199; besieged by Viterbo that winter (Vitorchiano).
• Ferento: The old town Viterbo destroyed in 1172; its ground is Viterbo's.

Where the sources disagree

• The battle date: Gregorovius and Luchaire (as cited in the rom records) give 6 January 1200, five days into the game; Maleczek (Enciclopedia dei Papi, Innocenzo III) puts the victory of a papal and Roman army over Viterbo at the beginning of 1201, and it.wikipedia (Vitorchiano) has the siege lifted in 1201. Either a misdating or two phases (the January 1200 rout, then a final campaign and submission). The GM should rule.
• The brief puts Viterbo's submission later in 1200; on the sources above it falls in late 1200 or early 1201.
• campaign notes Part 5 have the pope mediating; rom's sources have him excommunicating Viterbo and Maleczek has a joint papal and Roman army winning: the pope mediates as the Romans' overlord and Viterbo's judge, not as a neutral.
• it.wikipedia calls the count 'captain of the people' (capitano del popolo) of Viterbo in 1199; that office belongs to the mid-thirteenth century, so read it as war captain.

Evidence: The war, its 1199 course and the 6 January 1200 battle rest on Gregorovius and Luchaire as cited in the rom records (not read here), with Maleczek and it.wikipedia for its end; the count's office on one it.wikipedia line; the consuls' names are not pinned.

On the map: The tierra is the large modern comune of Viterbo (with Ferento, Bagnaia, Grotte Santo Stefano and Roccalvecce) and Celleno: the core contado in 1200. Viterbo's grip on the Teverina castles east and on Vetralla south-west is later or not pinned; Vitorchiano is drawn separately as contested.