Commune of Cremona

Who rules

Name

not pinned: the city is split, and the knights (milites) and the people (populus) chose separate podestà in 1198 and again in 1200-1201

Title

the commune's chief magistrates (podestà or consuls)

Since

not pinned

Confidence

low

Menant: Cremona alternated foreign podestà and consuls until 1215; milites and populus each elected their own podestà in 1184, 1198 and 1200-1201. Winkelmann (from the Annales Cremonenses, MGH SS 18 p. 804): in 1198 the populares forced recognition of the podestà they had elected. Isacco da Dovara was consul in 1196 and Anzelerio da Burgo (Anzelerius de Burgo) consul in 1196-1197. No list we could reach names the officer of 1199 or the man in office on the morning of 1 January 1200 (the standard list is A.

Cavalcabò, we rettori di Cremona fino all'anno 1334, 1972).

Overlord

The Empire (kingdom of Italy). Cremona holds the royal rights (regalia) under the Peace of Constance (1183) and imperial grants. With two crowned German kings and neither in Italy, it answers to no king in practice.

What the realm holds

• The city of Cremona with its suburbs and near countryside (see the town record Cremona)
• The contado between the Adda and the Oglio down to the Po: Pizzighettone (Cremonese castle at the Adda crossing on the road to Lodi and Pavia, 12th century), Castelleone (Castrum Leonis, first stone laid by Bishop Sicard on 18 April 1188, an outpost against Crema), Soncino (borgo franco from 1118 at the Oglio crossing), Genivolta (fort of 1197, built with Sicard's help), Soresina, Casalbuttano, Robecco, Pescarolo, Isola Dovarese, Grontardo
• Across the lower Oglio towards the Po: Piadena, Bozzolo, Rivarolo, Casalmaggiore (Po port), Sabbioneta (old county of the counts of Sabbioneta) [Cremonese rule here: medium]
• Viadana on the Po, held by the Cavalcabò marquises under a grant of Frederick I (30 July 1158), within Cremona's sphere [low]
• Vassal families of the bishop and the commune: the da Dovara (episcopal fiefs to Isola Dovarese and Grontardo), the Cavalcabò [heads in 1200 not pinned]
• Claims: Crema and the Isola Fulcheria (given to the church and commune of Cremona by Countess Matilda in 1098; refused by the Cremaschi, who turned to Milan); Pontevico (Henry VI is said to have ceded the castle to Cremona in 1191; Brescian again by January 1192); old episcopal rights at Calcio and in part of Romano on the Bergamasque border

How it was acquired

A college of consuls appears by about 1120 and the commune spread along the Oglio and the Adda and beyond the Po (Enciclopedia Italiana). Loyal to Frederick I, it helped him destroy Crema (siege of 1159-1160) and Milan (1162), and won a mint under imperial privilege; it joined the Lombard League in 1167 but returned to the imperial side and was favoured by Henry VI in 1191. It holds its frontier with borghi franchi and forts: Soncino (1118), Castelleone (1188), Genivolta (1197).

Allies and rivals

Allies: Bergamo (their joint army was routed at Rudiano in 1191; Cremonese podestà governed Bergamo in 1193 and 1197), Pavia, Parma (Cremonese podestà at Parma in 1191 and 1198), and the other cities of the old imperial grouping [Reggio's and Modena's stance in 1200 not pinned]; Isacco da Dovara was podestà of Ferrara in 1198. Rivals: Milan above all; Crema, Milan's protege on Cremona's doorstep; Piacenza across the Po, Milan's ally; Brescia across the Oglio, the victor of Rudiano, at peace with Cremona since 1191-1192. Mantua: not pinned in 1199-1200 (its podestà came from Bologna and probably Milan), but it joins Cremona in backing the Brescian knights in 1201.

The realm that morning

On the morning of 1 January 1200 the commune holds its contado firmly from the Adda to the Oglio and to the Po, with Pizzighettone, Castelleone, Soncino and Genivolta facing its enemies. Across the borders: the Lodigiano and the Gera d'Adda beyond the Adda (Lodi and Milan, see lmw); the Cremasco north of Castelleone (the commune of Crema, Milan's ally, realm communes); the Bergamasque plain north of Soncino (Bergamo, an ally); Brescia beyond the Oglio (Orzinuovi, Quinzano, Pontevico); Mantua east of the Oglio's lower course; Piacenza and Parma beyond the Po (see emw). A Milanese war against Bergamo and Cremona is live that winter (Milan sought Brescian help shortly before 1200), while the Brescian frontier is quiet.

Inside the walls the quarrel between the milites of the old city and the populus of Cittanova is unresolved: the populus had its own podestà recognised in 1198, and in 1200-1201 each side again has its own (who held office on the morning itself is not pinned). Bishop Sicard is at home and in high standing after the Homobonus canonization.

Wealth

The Po trade with its ports and tolls (Cremona, Casalmaggiore), the Adda crossing at Pizzighettone and the Oglio crossing at Soncino, rich farmland, and cloth: Cremona is a Lombard centre of fustian (cotton and linen cloth) and wool, and Homobonus (died 13 November 1197) was a Cremonese cloth merchant.

Military

City host of knights and foot (with a carroccio, the Lombard war cart: Cremona's own in 1200 not pinned); the castles and borghi franchi of the frontier; the episcopal vassals as the knightly core. Record: with Frederick I at Crema (1159-1160) and Milan (1162); routed with Bergamo at Rudiano on 7 July 1191 when its pontoon bridge over the Oglio collapsed; attacked Bergamo's borgo of Romano in 1196. No figures in our sources.

Threats

• Milan and its league (renewed 1198), which wants a road to Brescia across the Bergamasque and Cremonese plain
• Crema, rebuilt from 1185 and given new walls, ditches and gates in 1199
• Piacenza across the Po
• the split between the milites and the populus of Cittanova
• Brescia, should its peace with Cremona fail

Councils and societies

Podestà or consuls, a general council (names and sizes not pinned). The populus of Cittanova, a former suburb whose people met at the church of Sant'Agata, forms its own organisation and elects its own podestà when it can; its leaders named by Menant are Guazo Albrigoni and Cremosano Oldoini (their dates of leadership not pinned). The milites live mainly in the old city round the cathedral and the bishop's palace.

Families and factions

Knightly and episcopal-vassal families: the da Dovara (Isacco, consul 1196), the da Burgo (Anzelerio, consul 1196-1197 and podestà of Parma, died in office at Parma on 15 August 1198), the Cavalcabò, the Amati, the Donusdei; the popular leaders of Cittanova. The labels Guelf and Ghibelline do not yet apply.

Leagues wars truces

In force or live on 1 January 1200: (1) the long alliance with Bergamo against Milan and Brescia (fair); (2) war with Milan and its league (renewed in 1198), in which Milan sought Brescian help against Bergamo and Cremona shortly before 1200 (fair, details not pinned); (3) peace with Brescia since Henry VI's settlement of December 1191 and a peace of 11 August 1192 (medium); (4) standing hostility with Crema (high); (5) relations with Piacenza and Parma over the Po and Borgo San Donnino belong to emw's war of Parma and Piacenza (Cremona's part in 1199-1200 not pinned).

Bishop

Sicard (Sicardo), bishop since 1185 (Church map record): chronicler, canonist and liturgist, founder of Castelleone (1188) and helper in the forts of Fornovo and Genivolta (1197); a peacemaker between the city's factions; he took the case of Homobonus to Innocent III in October 1198 and won his canonization on 12 January 1199. He goes East only in 1203, with the legate Peter Capuano.

Emperor and pope

Imperial in outlook, but no officer of Philip of Swabia or Otto IV is known in Cremona that winter. Close to Innocent III through Sicard and the new saint.

Coinage

A mint under imperial privilege of Frederick I (it.wikipedia, Cremona); the coins struck in 1200 are 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.

1. early 1200 (date not pinned)New podestà take office; in 1200-1201 the milites and the populus each elect their own, so the city may have two chief magistrates through the year.Depends on: no settlement between the knights and Cittanova Stopped by: an arbitration by Bishop Sicard or an outside mediator (the actual Lodo di Sicardo comes only on 11 March 1210)
2. 1200 (dates not pinned)War with Milan on the Bergamasque and Cremonese plain; Milanese raids into the Bergamasque lowland round Calcio are recorded for 1200.Depends on: Milan's war on Bergamo and Cremona continuing Stopped by: a truce, papal mediation, or Milan's war with Pavia drawing its strength west
3. autumn 1200 (between 1 October and 9 December)At Brescia, Count Narisio of Montichiari (the people) and Count Alberto of Casaloldo (the knights) fall out.Depends on: the Brescian feud breaking out Stopped by: a reconciliation at Brescia
4. December 1200Cremona allies with the Brescian knights against the Brescian people; in 1201, with Mantua and Bergamo, it helps them regain Brescia (battle of Albezzago or Calcinato, August 1201; peace imposed by envoys of Bologna, November 1201).Depends on: the Brescian split Stopped by: Brescian unity, or Milan stepping in for the Brescian people

Places of note

• Cathedral and bishop's palace: Seat of Bishop Sicard; the cathedral was consecrated in 1190; the milites' quarter.
• Castelleone (Castrum Leonis): First stone laid by Sicard on 18 April 1188; outpost against Crema.
• Pizzighettone: Cremonese castle at the Adda crossing (12th century).
• Soncino: Borgo franco (1118) at the Oglio crossing, facing Brescian Orzinuovi; the Cremonese camp before Rudiano (1191).
• Genivolta: Fort built in 1197 with Sicard's help.

Where the sources disagree

• campaign notes Part 6 E (Sicard bishop since 1185; Homobonus canonized in January 1199) agree with our sources (bull of 12 January 1199).
• it.wikipedia (Soncino) dates Soncino's borgo franco to 1118 and also puts Brescia's foundation of Orzinuovi in 1118; the Orzinuovi article and the brief give 1193 (11 July 1193 as a date before which it existed). We follow 1193 for Orzinuovi.
• The Rudiano peace is dated 8 December 1191 (through Henry VI) by the battle article and 11 August 1192 by the Calcio article: probably an imperial judgement and a later peace; both kept.

Evidence: The commune's shape, castles and wars of 1191-1201 are fairly attested (Menant; Winkelmann from the Annales Cremonenses; it.wikipedia on Sicard, Castelleone and Rudiano). Its officers of 1199-1200 are not in any list we could reach.

On the map: The border with the Cremasco and the Bergamasque plain is rough: Romanengo and Ticengo are drawn Cremonese [low]. The Oglio is a fair line with Brescia except for Pontevico's strip on the right bank (Brescian since January 1192). Viadana and Sabbioneta are drawn Cremonese [low]. No raiding belt is drawn on the Cremasco or the Oglio: Crema walled itself in 1199 and Cremona ringed it with castles, but no campaign is dated to the winter of 1199-1200, and the Oglio frontier with Brescia was at peace.

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.

• Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
• The Lombard city annals of Piacenza, Milan, Cremona, Parma, Mantua and Verona (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries). The communes' own year lists. Read online