Commune of Asti

Who rules

Name

Not pinned: the officer or college in office on the morning of 1 January 1200 is not named in the sources consulted

Title

Podesta or consuls of the commune

Since

not pinned

Confidence

low

Consuls are first attested on 28 May 1095. The Enciclopedia Italiana says that after the imperial diploma of 1159 podestas chosen from among the citizens were set at the commune's head. No list for 1199-1200 was found.

Overlord

The emperor, under the Peace of Constance (1183), which Asti swore.

What the realm holds

• The city, its suburbs and the near countryside
• Annone, the old imperial castle on the Tanaro, taken from the imperial castellan Tommaso in early December 1197
• Costigliole d'Asti, ceded by Manfredi Lancia as his ransom (1198). Castagnole delle Lanze, taken in spring 1198, seems to have gone back to Lancia, who cedes it with the rest of Loreto to Asti only on 4 June 1206
• Montaldo and Rocchetta Tanaro, ceded by Domicella of Incisa on 3 December 1190 and given back to the Incisa as Asti's fief
• Sworn lords: Manzano, Sarmatorio, Monfalcone, Ruffino of Gorzano (1198); the counts of Biandrate owed Asti service and a month's residence a year by the pact of 20 December 1178
• The right to mint, granted by Conrad III in 1141

How it was acquired

The commune took the city from its bishops in the twelfth century (consuls 1095, imperial recognition 1159, Lombard League 1168, Peace of Constance 1183) and has since bought or conquered the castles of the Aleramic lords around it.

Allies and rivals

League with Alessandria (30 October 1197) and Vercelli (defensive alliance 9 May 1194, joined the league 15 March 1198) against Montferrat; accepted the arbitration of Milan and Piacenza in March 1199. Old friendship with Chieri (pact of 1172). Rivals: Boniface of Montferrat; Alba, its neighbour on the Tanaro; the indebted Aleramic marquises of the Langhe (Busca, Lancia, Incisa) whose castles it buys.

The realm that morning

Master of its contado from Annone to Costigliole, under truce with Montferrat, at odds with Alba. Its bishop, Bonifacio I (by May 1198 to 1206), is ceding church funds and property to the commune but acts as a lord in his own right in the south (Church map; see Mondovi).

Wealth

Trade and money-lending: Astigiani bankers bought Boniface's rights at Felizzano in 1194 and an Asti citizen held Manfredi Lancia's pledges in 1197. Its merchants were becoming prominent in France and Flanders (Enciclopedia Italiana); the great spread of the Asti 'Lombards' across the Alps belongs mainly to the thirteenth century. Its own coinage since 1141. The Mont Cenis road through Susa and the Po and Tanaro roads.

Military

The communal host of knights and foot; allied lords' contingents. No figures.

Threats

• Montferrat, if the truce fails or the Milanese award is refused (as it is in October 1200)
• Alba and the lords of the Roero and Bra, whom Boniface promises to help against Asti on 18 May 1200
• Dependence on Milanese goodwill in the arbitration

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. 1 January to Candlemas 1200 (not pinned)Entry into office of the commune's officers for 1200.Depends on: The commune's usual date of election, not pinned. Stopped by: Internal strife.
2. 18 May 1200Boniface of Montferrat, at Bra, promises military aid to local lords against Asti.Depends on: Asti's pressure on the lords south of the Tanaro. Stopped by: A settlement with those lords.
3. 27 October 1200The Milanese arbitral award is read at Saluggia; Boniface refuses to hear it.Depends on: The arbitration running its course. Stopped by: A direct peace before the award.
4. 22 May 1201 (beyond 1200)Alba makes peace with Asti.Depends on: The Alba war running into 1201. Stopped by: An earlier settlement or an Alba victory.

Places of note

• Castle of Annone: Imperial castle on the Tanaro taken by Asti in December 1197.
• Costigliole d'Asti: Ceded by Manfredi Lancia as his ransom, 1198.

Where the sources disagree

• The date when open war with Alba began is not pinned; the sources show Alba and Asti at odds in 1199-1201 and a peace on 22 May 1201.
• en.wikipedia (Manfred I Lancia) says Asti, Alessandria and Vercelli took Castagnole in 1198 and Lancia ceded Costigliole as ransom, yet he cedes Castagnole and all Loreto to Asti on 4 June 1206; we take Castagnole as back in Lancia's hands on 1 January 1200 (not pinned).

Evidence: The commune's wars and acquisitions of 1190-1199 are well dated through the Codex Astensis as summarised in the DBI; its officers in 1199-1200 are not.

On the map: The contado is drawn from the castles Asti held or had sworn by 1199; its western edge toward Chieri and the Roero and its southern edge toward Alba are rough.