Commune of Forlì

Who rules

Title

Podestà or consuls of Forlì for 1199

Since

not pinned

Confidence

low

The first known podestà of Forlì is Raniero Bocabadocca, a foreigner, in 1194; consuls are listed in a document of 15 October 1182; Robertus Romanus, named as a consul, was killed in the main square during a rising in 1198. No officer for 1199 or 1200 was found in the sources read.

Overlord

The emperor in law. Forlì was an imperial town (it and Cesena were the last Romagna towns to stay with Markward in 1198); the pope claims the Romagna but his troops' campaign of 1198 left no lasting rule.

What the realm holds

• Forlì: the city on the Via Emilia with the abbey of San Mercuriale (rebuilt 1178-1180 with its great bell tower) and the bishop's palace
• The plain between the Montone and the Ronco
• Castrocaro in the Montone valley, taken from its counts in 1189 and held until 1213
• Castel Leone, an isolated Forlivese fort inside Faenza's territory (destroyed by Faenza in 1202)
• A growing share of the salt trade of Cervia, wrested from Ravenna in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century (date not pinned)

How it was acquired

A commune from the eleventh century; consuls documented in 1182; first podestà in 1194.

Allies and rivals

Rivals: Faenza (fought for twenty years in 1160-1180; Castel Leone), Ravenna (Cervia), Bologna (defeated by Forlì at Ponte San Procolo in 1171). Allies: the imperial towns and lords of the Romagna, Imola above all; Forlimpopoli fought beside Forlì against Faenza in 1185. The counts of Castrocaro, though imperial too, resist Forlì and look to Faenza.

The realm that morning

The commune governs the city and its plain and holds Castrocaro by force. Bertinoro on its hill to the south-east is contested between local factions (another record); Forlimpopoli governs itself.

Wealth

Market of the central Via Emilia; grain, wine and hemp of the plain; the road up the Montone and Rabbi valleys to Tuscany; a share in Cervia's salt.

Military

City militia and the knights of the leading families (the Orgogliosi, the Calboli, and the rising Ordelaffi). Record: victories over Bologna in 1160 and 1171; defeat by Faenza in 1185 alongside the imperial legate; entered by papal troops in 1198. No figures in the sources read.

Threats

• Faenza and Bologna
• Ravenna over Cervia
• The counts of Castrocaro trying to recover their castle
• A renewed papal attempt to govern the Romagna

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: A new rising like that of 1198.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1202Faenza destroys Castel Leone.Depends on: Forlì unable to relieve it. Stopped by: A Forlivese relief or a peace.

Places of note

• Castrocaro: Castle held by Forlì from 1189 to 1213

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Dates come from one general history of Forlì; the papal campaign of 1198 and its commander are not confirmed in a second source.

On the map: The contado's limits in 1200 are not documented; drawn from the Montone and Ronco rivers and the castles named in the sources.