The counts Guidi

Who rules

Name

Guido Guerra III

Title

Count palatine in Tuscany ('Palatino e Conte di tutta la Toscana' in Henry VI's diploma of 25 May 1191)

Since

the death of his father Guido Guerra II (alive in 1167; dead by 1186)

Born

not pinned

Family

Guidi, the old comital house of the Casentino and the Romagna Apennines

Confidence

high

it.wikipedia (Conti Guidi): Henry VI's diploma of 25 May 1191 called him 'suo diletto Principe Guido' and confirmed about 200 villages and castles in Romagna and Tuscany; in 1185 he got Frederick I to remove his county from Florence's jurisdiction; he joined the San Genesio league; Frederick II's diploma of 29 November 1220 named his five sons. His death date is not given there; it is usually put about 1213-14 (not pinned).

Overlord

The Empire (holds by Henry VI's diploma of 1191).

What the realm holds

• The Casentino: Poppi, Romena, Porciano, Pratovecchio, Stia, Castel San Niccolò and the upper Arno valley under Monte Falterona
• The Romagna valleys: Modigliana (chief seat of the senior line), Dovadola, Tredozio, Portico, Premilcuore, Rocca San Casciano
• Montevarchi and its market in the upper Valdarno
• The lower Arno block: Empoli (whose men swore to Florence in 1182), Monterappoli, Vinci, Cerreto
• Montemurlo, the castle between Prato and Pistoia (lost to Pistoia in 1203, restored by Florence, sold to Florence in 1209)
• Rights in Poggibonsi (Poggio Bonizio), the new town Guido Guerra II helped found in 1155-56 (extent in 1200 not pinned)

How it was acquired

Ancient counts of the Casentino and Romagna (Guido Guerra II, 'the most powerful lord in Tuscany' in 1144 according to Otto of Freising); Empoli was resettled by Countess Imilia and Guido Guerra II in 1119; Henry VI's diploma of 25 May 1191 confirmed the whole.

Allies and rivals

Allies: the Tuscan League; Florence, cooperative under Guido III (he married a Florentine); Pistoia, where Guido III lived. Rivals: Florence in the long run (it took Monte di Croce in 1154 and claimed jurisdiction over the county until 1185); Pistoia over Montemurlo (war in 1203); Faenza and Forlì in the Romagna (not pinned for 1200); the Alberti and the Ubaldini as neighbouring Apennine lords.

The realm that morning

Guido Guerra III holds all his blocks undisturbed that morning. He is a member of the Tuscan League and at peace with Florence and Pistoia. Across his borders: the Ubaldini in the Mugello valleys, Faenza and Forlì in the Romagna plain (eme), Arezzo and the bishop's Bibbiena below Poppi, the Camaldolese and Vallombrosan abbeys in the forests, Florence round Empoli and Montevarchi, Prato and Pistoia round Montemurlo.

Wealth

Rights over some 200 villages and castles, tolls on the Apennine passes between Tuscany and the Romagna, the Arno crossings at Empoli, the market of Montevarchi, timber and pasture of the Casentino forests.

Military

The castles of the Casentino and the Romagna, a household of vassal knights; the counts beat a Florentine army at Monte di Croce in 1146-47. No figures.

Threats

• Florence's growth (Empoli and Montevarchi lie in its path)
• Pistoia's claim to Montemurlo
• Romagna communes pressing on the Apennine valleys
• A division among five sons

Consort

Gualdrada, daughter of Bellincione Berti dei Ravignani of Florence, born about 1168, married about 1180 as his second wife; she will die at Poppi in 1226.

Heirs and children

Five sons named in Frederick II's diploma of 1220: Guido (heir of Modigliana), Tegrimo (Teudegrimo, later of Porciano), Aghinolfo (later of Romena), Marcovaldo (later of Dovadola) and Ruggero (died childless about 1229). Born after about 1180; the eldest are teenagers on 1 January 1200. Which of the five were born by that morning 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.

1. 1200 (no event pinned)No dated act of the Guidi is known for 1200; the count keeps his place in the League and his sons come of age.Depends on: nothing in play Stopped by: a war with Pistoia or the Romagna communes
2. 1203 (beyond 1200)Pistoia takes Montemurlo; in September Florence retakes it for the Guidi and hands it back.Depends on: Pistoia staying outside the League Stopped by: a Pistoia and Guidi accord
3. 1209 (beyond 1200)Montemurlo sold to Florence (the Porciano line never consents).Depends on: the counts' need of money Stopped by: nothing in play

Places of note

• Castle of Poppi: Guidi castle in the Casentino
• Castle of Romena: Guidi castle above Pratovecchio
• Castle of Porciano: Guidi castle above Stia
• Modigliana: Seat of the senior Guidi line in the Romagna
• Montemurlo: Guidi castle facing Prato and Pistoia

Where the sources disagree

• it.wikipedia (Conti Guidi) dates Guido Guerra III's joining of the league at Borgo San Genesio to 11 November 1195; the League's founding was 11 November 1197 (League article, brief and campaign notes), so 1195 is taken as a slip.

Evidence: The 1191 and 1220 diplomas and the marriage are well attested; the sons' birth years and the count's death date are not.

On the map: Main blocks only; the Guidi also held scattered castles in the Mugello, the Pratomagno and the Val di Sieve that are not drawn.