Commune of Faenza

Who rules

Title

Podestà or consuls of Faenza for 1199

Since

not pinned

Confidence

low

Faenza was governed by consuls chosen yearly from the leading families, with a foreign podestà at times: the Milanese Guglielmo Burro was given full consular power after the riot of 9 February 1184, and Talamaccio of Cremona was podestà in 1218. The chronicle of Master Tolosano, a canon of the cathedral, dates its years by the city's magistrates, but no list for 1199 or 1200 was found in the sources read.

Overlord

The emperor in law; Faenza signed the Peace of Constance (1183) as a member of the Lombard League. The pope claims the Romagna (campaign notes) but has no officer here.

What the realm holds

• Faenza: the walled city on the Lamone with its suburbs, the commune's palace (palatium communis, attested from 1177) and the cathedral
• The plain of the Via Emilia between the Senio and the Montone, with Solarolo and Granarolo
• The lower Lamone and Marzeno valleys up to about Brisighella and Oriolo
• A claim to destroy the Forlivese fort of Castel Leone inside its territory (carried out in 1202)

How it was acquired

A commune first mentioned in 1030 and firmly established by the mid-twelfth century, with yearly consuls and, from the 1150s, occasional podestà. Ally of Bologna since the 1140s; member of the Lombard League.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Bologna and the Lombard League. Enemies: Imola (which Faenza and Bologna have been squeezing since 1153, when Imola had to pay Faenza two palii (precious cloths) a year), Forlì (twenty years of skirmishes in 1160-1180 and the quarrel over Castel Leone), Ravenna and the Traversari (who fought the Guidi over Dovadola and castles in the Faentino in the 1190s), and the counts of Cunio, Imola's allies. The Guidi counts of Modigliana are powerful neighbours in the hills.

The realm that morning

The commune governs the city, the plain and the lower valleys. No peace is recorded after the fighting of 1198 round Imola, so the frontier toward Imola remains hostile. The Forlivesi still hold Castel Leone inside Faentine land. The bishop on 1 January 1200 is not pinned; Bishop Teodorico is attested on 13 September 1202. The canon Tolosano (a master from 1189, deacon from 1192) is writing the chronicle that makes Faenza's long, bitter struggle with Ravenna its core.

Wealth

A market town on the Via Emilia between Bologna and Forlì; the plain's grain, wine and flax; potters (the earliest datable Faenza ware is a bowl of 1209); a cathedral school whose master Bernardo teaches letter-writing (ars dictaminis) about 1200.

Military

The city militia, which the chronicler Tolosano glorifies, and the commune's knights. Record: victory over the imperial legate Berthold of Künsberg and the Ravennati, Forlivesi and Forlimpopolesi in 1185; joint campaign with Bologna against Imola in 1198. No figures in the sources read.

Threats

• Imola and the imperial party, with whatever imperial force returns to the Romagna
• Forlì and its fort of Castel Leone
• The Traversari of Ravenna and the counts of Cunio
• The papal claim to the Romagna, if the pope tries to collect it

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. Start of the 1200 term (date not pinned)New consuls or a podestà take office.Depends on: The usual yearly election. Stopped by: Nothing likely.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1202Faenza destroys Castel Leone, the Forlivese fort inside its territory; fighting with Forlì over Cervia continues.Depends on: Forlì too weak to relieve the fort. Stopped by: A peace between Faenza and Forlì, or an imperial or papal intervention.

Places of note

• Brisighella area: Upper limit of Faenza's hold on the Lamone valley (Brisighella itself is founded later in the century)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The general histories of Faenza read for this record give the commune's institutions and the wars of 1185 and 1198 but no officers for 1199-1200; Tolosano's chronicle, the main source, was not available in the sources read.

On the map: The borders of the contado in 1200 are reconstructed from the later diocese and the castles named in the sources; the hill edge toward the Guidi is rough.