Commune of Alessandria

Who rules

Name

Not pinned: the officers in office on 1 January 1200 are not named in the sources consulted

Title

Podesta or consuls of the commune

Since

not pinned

Confidence

low

No list of consuls or podestas for 1198-1200 was found.

Overlord

The emperor, in law: the city's reconciliation of 1183 made it an imperial city, and Henry VI granted it in fief to Boniface of Montferrat at Gelnhausen on 4 December 1193. The citizens have thrown off both.

What the realm holds

• The city and its quarters: Gamondio, Marengo and Rovereto on the right bank of the Tanaro, Bergoglio on the left
• The founding villages and their lands: Gamondio (Castellazzo), Marengo, Solero, Oviglio, Quargnento, Villa del Foro
• The allegiance of the marquises of Occimiano (since 4 July 1198)
• Montechiaro near Acqui, held until Ottone del Carretto took it in 1199

How it was acquired

Founded 1168 by the union of villages; its contado is the land of those villages, widened by war against Montferrat and Acqui.

Allies and rivals

League with Asti and Vercelli against Montferrat; Milan and Piacenza are its arbitrators and patrons. Genoa paid for its walls. Rivals: Boniface of Montferrat, the commune and bishop of Acqui (over the diocese and the lands round Acqui), Pavia (which fears its growth), the Del Carretto (Ottone took Montechiaro from it in 1199).

The realm that morning

A free commune again in fact, under truce with Montferrat since March 1199 and awaiting the Milanese and Piacenzan award. Its claim to the marquis's former rights over it is unresolved; Boniface still holds Henry VI's 1193 grant.

Wealth

A crossroads city on the roads from Genoa to Lombardy and Piedmont; the Tanaro and Bormida crossings; farming land of the founding villages. No mint of its own is attested for 1200.

Military

The communal host; walls and the Tanaro bridge. No figures.

Threats

• Montferrat's claim under the 1193 grant
• Acqui, Montferrat's ally since June 1198
• The Del Carretto in the Bormida valleys

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)Entry into office of the commune's officers for 1200.Depends on: The usual election date, not pinned. Stopped by: Internal strife.
2. 27 October 1200The Milanese award on the war with Montferrat is read at Saluggia and refused by Boniface.Depends on: The arbitration running its course. Stopped by: A direct peace.
3. March 1202 (beyond 1200)Pact with Ottone del Carretto, who is to buy land in the city and send soldiers to its host.Depends on: Ottone's quarrel with Alba and Asti. Stopped by: Renewed war with the Del Carretto.

Places of note

• Bergoglio: The quarter on the left bank of the Tanaro.
• Gamondio (Castellazzo Bormida): One of the three founding villages.
• Marengo: Founding village and old royal court.

Where the sources disagree

• The year the name Alessandria returned is not pinned: it.wikipedia says the citizens dropped the name Cesarea when they revolted after the 1193 grant, and that the sources of the first twenty years use Alessandria, Cesarea, Palea and Rovereto. The Peace of Constance list already gives the city as Cesarea (it.wikipedia, Storia di Asti).

Evidence: Foundation, renaming and the 1193-99 events are well attested; officers and the contado's limits in 1200 are not.

On the map: The contado is drawn round the founding villages; its limits toward Valenza, Bosco, Tortona and Acqui in 1200 are not pinned.

Primary sources for this realm

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 Genoa, by Caffaro and his continuators, with Ogerio Pane for 1197 to 1219, Ogerio Pane and the other official annalists of Genoa (year by year under the commune's authority; the 1197 to 1219 section by Ogerio Pane). The official record of the commune. Read online