Commune of Ferrara

Who rules

Name

Salinguerra II Torelli

Title

Podestà (the commune's chief magistrate) for 1199

Since

1199 (his second term; the first was 1195)

Born

about 1164

Family

Torelli: a family of great vassals (capitanei) of Bolognese origin settled in Ferrara; son of Torello II, who was active until 1196

Confidence

medium

The Dizionario Biografico (Varanini, 2019) gives Salinguerra as podestà of Ferrara in 1195, 1199 and 1203, and says that for 1200 the Veronese Tebaldo Turrisendi, of the Monticoli party, took the Ferrara office in exchange for Salinguerra's term as podestà of Verona (1200 and 1201). The day the Ferrarese year of office began is not pinned: if it ran from 1 January, Turrisendi takes over that very day; if from a later feast, Salinguerra is still in office on the morning of 1 January.

Overlord

The emperor in law (kingdom of Italy). No imperial officer of weight in Ferrara that winter. The pope claims the lands of Countess Matilda, which included rights in Ferrara, but holds nothing here.

What the realm holds

• Ferrara itself: the walled city on the Po di Volano, with the imperial palace (over which Salinguerra holds rights by Henry VI's diploma of 1195) and the cathedral of San Giorgio (moved to its present site in 1135)
• The contado south of the main Po: the islands and polesini of the delta east of the city (Copparo, Formignana, Tresigallo, Massa Fiscaglia, Migliarino, Ostellato), the plain west to Bondeno and Vigarano, and south to Poggio Renatico and Portomaggiore
• Control of the river traffic of the southern Po branches (Volano and Primaro) between Lombardy and the sea, with its tolls
• Claims over Argenta, the archbishop of Ravenna's castle on the Primaro, which Ferrara will attack in 1200

How it was acquired

A commune governed by consuls since the twelfth century and by podestà in the 1190s. Imperial troops held Ferrara from 1158 to 1164; it then joined the Lombard League under the Adelardi. Henry VI's diploma of 1195 favoured Salinguerra personally.

Allies and rivals

Salinguerra's party looks to Verona's Monticoli party (hence the exchange of podestà for 1200) and to the imperial cause. The Adelardi party (the Giocoli, Turchi and Linguetta families) looks to Azzo VI d'Este and to the Traversari of Ravenna. Outside the walls: the archbishop of Ravenna (Argenta), the abbey of Pomposa in the delta, Venice at the mouths of the Po, Mantua and Modena upriver, Bologna to the south.

The realm that morning

The commune governs the city and the countryside south of the main Po; north of the Po the Polesine of Rovigo is in other hands (another sheet). Cento and Pieve di Cento belong to the bishop of Bologna, Argenta to the archbishop of Ravenna, Comacchio governs its own lagoons, and Pomposa's abbot judges his own people round Codigoro. Inside the walls neither the Torelli nor the Este party rules alone: there is no lord (signore) of Ferrara yet.

The first written mention of the parties as organised factions (partes) is from 1202.

Wealth

River tolls and the passage of salt, grain, wine and goods between the Lombard plain and the Adriatic; fisheries and marsh produce of the delta; the market of a bishop's city. The Po's breach at Ficarolo in 1152 moved the main stream north of the city and is slowly starving the southern branches on which Ferrara stands.

Military

The city militia, the armed households of the Torelli and of the Adelardi-Este party, and allies' help: in 1200 Ferrara fights at Argenta with Veronese and Modenese troops (Argenta's own tradition calls them mercenaries). No carroccio or troop figures are attested in the sources read.

Threats

• Civil strife between the Torelli and the Este-Adelardi party
• The archbishop of Ravenna and the Ravennati over Argenta and the Primaro
• Venice's grip on the Po mouths and the salt trade
• The silting of the Po di Volano after the Ficarolo breach

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 or soon after, 1200 (day not pinned)Tebaldo Turrisendi of Verona enters office as podestà of Ferrara and Salinguerra goes to Verona as its podestà for 1200 and 1201.Depends on: The exchange agreed between the Monticoli party at Verona and Salinguerra's party at Ferrara. Stopped by: A rising of the Este party at Ferrara or a change of regime at Verona.
2. 1200 (month not pinned)Ferrara, helped by Veronese and Modenese troops, sacks and burns Argenta, the archbishop of Ravenna's castle; the Dizionario Biografico credits Salinguerra, then podestà of Verona, with taking and destroying it. Argenta is restored to the archbishop only in 1209.Depends on: Salinguerra's command of the Veronese host and a quarrel with Ravenna over the Primaro. Stopped by: A settlement with the archbishop, or Verona refusing its troops.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1202The parties first appear in writing as organised factions (partes) at Ferrara.Depends on: The rivalry continuing unresolved. Stopped by: A lasting accord between Salinguerra and Azzo VI.

Places of note

• Cathedral of San Giorgio: Seat of Bishop Huguccio; on its present site since 1135
• Argenta: The archbishop of Ravenna's castle on the Primaro, Ferrara's target in 1200

Where the sources disagree

• The Enciclopedia Italiana (Treccani) makes Marchesella the wife of Azzo VI who inherited the lordship of Ferrara in 1184; the Italian Wikipedia (Adelardi, Storia di Ferrara) says she was only betrothed (aged 8 or 9 in 1185) and died in 1186 before the wedding. This record follows the betrothal version.
• The campaign notes give Huguccio as bishop of Ferrara since 1190: consistent with this record.

Evidence: Salinguerra's offices are dated in a recent Dizionario Biografico article; the composition of the councils, the podestà's start date and the exact extent of the contado in 1200 are not documented in the sources read.

On the map: The northern edge follows the main Po of 1200 roughly along today's river; the Polesine of Rovigo north of it is drawn by another sheet. The delta coastline has moved far east since 1200, so the eastern edge is schematic.