Commune of Bologna

Who rules

Name

Orlando (Rolando) Rossi of Parma

Title

Podestà (the commune's chief magistrate) for 1199

Since

1199

Born

before 1170

Family

The Rossi of Parma, lords at San Secondo; he also served as podestà of Parma, Modena and Cremona

Confidence

medium

The Italian Wikipedia article on Castel San Pietro Terme, citing the founding plaque, says the castle was built in 1199 on the initiative of the podestà of Bologna, Orlando de' Rossi; the article on the Rossi of Parma gives Orlando (before 1170 to after 1212) as podestà of Parma, Modena and Cremona but does not mention Bologna. The podestà for 1200 and the day the Bolognese year of office began are not pinned.

Overlord

The emperor in law (kingdom of Italy); the regalia passed to the commune at the Peace of Constance (1183), and Henry VI granted the right of coinage in 1191. No imperial officer in Bologna that winter.

What the realm holds

• Bologna: the city within its second circuit of walls, with the towers of the great families, the cathedral of San Pietro and the commune's courts
• The plain between the Samoggia and the Sillaro: the villages and castles from San Giovanni in Persiceto and Sant'Agata on the Modena side to Budrio and Molinella on the Imola side, north to the marshes of the Reno
• Castel San Pietro on the Sillaro, built by the commune in 1199 on the border with Imola
• The Apennine valleys of the Reno, Setta, Savena and Idice up to about Vergato, Monzuno, Loiano and Monghidoro, where the commune is still bringing the mountain lords to heel
• Tossignano in the Santerno valley, a Bolognese ally razed by the imperial side in May 1198 and governed by Bologna thereafter (date of takeover not pinned)
• Claims east of the Panaro against Modena (Nonantola's lands), pressed to arbitration in 1204

How it was acquired

A commune with consuls from the early twelfth century and podestà from 1151 (Guido da Sasso). A member from 1167 of the Lombard League that fought Barbarossa (it joined after killing the imperial podestà Bezo); the Peace of Constance (1183) confirmed its rights. Henry VI's diploma of 1191 gave it the mint.

Allies and rivals

Allied with Faenza since the 1140s against Imola, the two cities' common prey; a Bolognese-Faentine army marched against Imola in May 1198. Rival of Modena over Nonantola, the Panaro and the Frignano; of Pistoia and the Tuscan counts along the Apennine passes; of Ferrara along the Reno and the Po marshes. Imola, Forlì and the counts of Cunio stand on the imperial side against it in the Romagna.

The realm that morning

The commune rules the city and the plain between the Samoggia and the Sillaro. On the Imola border it has just planted Castel San Pietro (1199) after the fighting of 1198. Medicina holds a privilege of 1155 from Barbarossa making it a free community under the emperor, and whether Bologna governs it in 1200 is not pinned. In the mountains Bologna's hold over the counts and castellans, castle by castle, is not documented for 1200; the upper Reno and the Brasimone and Setta valleys toward Tuscany are the land of the counts Alberti and other lords (another researcher's ground).

The bishop holds Cento and Pieve di Cento as their lord.

Wealth

The school of law draws students and money from all Europe; cloth, leather and the trades of a great market town; grain of the plain; the road across the Apennines to Florence and Pistoia; the river and canal traffic toward Ferrara and the Po. The commune mints its own pennies (the bolognino) under Henry VI's privilege of 1191.

Military

The city militia raised by quarters (named after the gates of the old walls: Porta Stiera, Porta San Procolo, Porta Ravegnana, Porta Piera), the knights of the tower families, and the levies of the contado; frontier castles such as Castel San Pietro. Record: with Faenza against Imola in 1198, when the imperial side under Markward of Annweiler drove the allies off and razed Tossignano. No troop figures in the sources read.

Threats

• Imola and the imperial party of the Romagna on the Sillaro and Santerno
• Modena over Nonantola, the Panaro border and the Frignano
• The Apennine lords and Pistoia along the passes
• A new emperor who might take back the regalia or favour Imola

Schools

The school of law (the studium) is a body of masters and their students rather than a chartered university; the students are organising in nations. Masters known to be teaching Roman law at Bologna about 1200 include Azo, the leading civilian, Hugolinus (Ugolino dei Presbiteri) and Lothair of Cremona; in canon law Alanus Anglicus and Laurentius Hispanus; the rhetorician Boncompagno da Signa teaches letter-writing (ars dictaminis). The great canonist Huguccio left teaching to become bishop of Ferrara in 1190.

Exact presence of each master on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

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.

In 1200

1. 1 January 1200 or the commune's usual date of change (not pinned)The podestà for 1200 takes office in place of Orlando Rossi; his name is not pinned in the sources read.Depends on: The election in the councils at the end of 1199. Stopped by: Nothing likely.
2. During 1200 (no dated campaign found)Bologna holds Castel San Pietro and the Santerno foothills against Imola; the war of 1198 has no recorded peace, so raids across the Sillaro remain likely.Depends on: Imola staying without an imperial army to help it. Stopped by: A truce brokered by a papal legate or an imperial envoy.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201-1204The quarrel with Modena over the Panaro and Nonantola grows until Bologna's podestà Uberto Visconti imposes a border in Bologna's favour in 1204.Depends on: Modena refusing to yield the lands east of the Panaro. Stopped by: A Modenese alliance strong enough to resist.

Places of note

• Castel San Pietro: Frontier castle built by Bologna in 1199 facing Imola
• Cento: The bishop of Bologna's lordship in the northern marshes
• Tossignano: Bolognese ally razed by the imperial side in May 1198

Where the sources disagree

• The Italian Wikipedia (Storia di Bologna) dates Bologna's right to mint from the Peace of Constance (1183); the usual date for the minting privilege is Henry VI's diploma of 1191. This record uses 1191.

Evidence: The 1199 podestà rests on one article citing the Castel San Pietro plaque; the bishops' dates come from the diocesan list; the wars of 1198 come from the local histories of Imola and Tossignano. The masters of the schools are given from the general literature, not from a 1200 roll.

On the map: The mountain edge is drawn where Bologna's grip is plausible in 1200; the commune's hold on each Apennine castle at that date is not documented. The Modena border follows the Samoggia and Panaro only roughly.