Commune of Mantua

Who rules

Name

not pinned for the morning: Stefano da Torbiago was podestà in 1199; the list gives Antonio della Scala for 1200 in brackets (doubtful)

Title

podestà

Since

1199

Confidence

low

it.wikipedia's list of Mantua's podestà (unsourced): 1186-1189 Attone di Pagano (of Bergamo per the list; Milanese per Storia di Mantova), 1192 Guelfo of Padua, 1193 Antonio della Scala of Verona, 1194 Lantelmo da Landriano of Milan, 1195 Enrico Delle Carceri (the bishop), 1196 Caccianemici of Bologna, 1197 Lorenzono Gualfredo and Guifredino of Mantua, 1198 Giacomo di Bernardo of Bologna, 1199 Stefano da Torbiago, 1200 '(Antonio della Scala)', 1201 Guelfo of San Martino, 1202 Bonifacio of San Martino. The 1201-1202 entries are confirmed by the Ugoni-Longhi article, which also gives the consuls of 1203 (Alberto of Casaloldo and Azzo of Mosio) and says that in 1197-1203 the consuls or podestà were often chosen from the rural counts. 'Torbiago' may stand for Torbiato in the Brescian Franciacorta (a later bishop of Brescia was Azzone da Torbiato) or for Turbigo near Milan [low].

Whether the 1199 podestà still held office on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

Overlord

The Empire (kingdom of Italy); formally an imperial city; regalia under the Peace of Constance (1183).

What the realm holds

• The city on its island in the Mincio, with the lakes formed by Pitentino's works (1188-1199)
• The northern contado: Goito, Volta, Roverbella, Marmirolo, Porto [the line with Verona on the Mincio and the Tione is not pinned]
• The east to the Po: Roncoferraro and Governolo at the mouth of the Mincio [Castel d'Ario not pinned]
• The west: Curtatone, Castellucchio, Rodigo, and the Ugoni counts' Marcaria and Redondesco [Redondesco: low]
• South of the Po (the Oltrepò): Suzzara, Gonzaga, Pegognaga, San Benedetto Po with the abbey of Polirone (Matilda's burial place, a Church map record), Quistello, Revere, Sermide [the commune's grip is not pinned; Reggio besieges Gonzaga in 1215; the bishop holds rights in some Oltrepò castles]

How it was acquired

A free commune after Matilda's death (25 July 1115), formally still an imperial city with no count appointed; Lombard League member in 1167; regalia confirmed at Constance (1183); the first foreign podestà, Attone di Pagano, in 1186, who brought Pitentino in 1187. The Corradi da Gonzaga, rural nobles, moved into the city in 1186.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: Verona to the east (the Mincio and Ostiglia, Veronese since its castle of 1151), Brescia to the north-west (the Alto Mantovano, Asola and Mosio), Cremona to the west (the lower Oglio), Reggio to the south (Gonzaga and Suzzara), Ferrara down the Po. Its podestà of 1196-1199 came from Bologna and probably Milan; in 1201 it helps Cremona and Bergamo restore the Brescian knights, and in 1201 its podestà Guelfo of San Martino dies in a fight with the Veronese at Nogarole [circumstances not pinned].

The realm that morning

On 1 January 1200 the commune holds its island city, the plain north of the Po and the Matildine lands south of it as far as Reggio's and Ferrara's borders. Across its borders: Verona holds Ostiglia, Nogarole and the Mincio above Pozzolo and Valeggio (ven); Brescia holds Asola, Casaloldo, Mosio and Castiglione (lme Brescia); Cremona holds the Oglio's right bank and the Casalasco; Reggio (emw) holds Luzzara and Reggiolo; Ferrara (eme) lies beyond Sermide. No war is pinned for that morning.

The commune's officers that morning are not pinned (see holder).

Wealth

Mills and fisheries on the new lakes; the Mincio and Po trade; the grain of the plain; the Matildine estates of the Oltrepò.

Military

City host; the lakes and the dam-bridge as the city's defence; Governolo at the mouth of the Mincio; the knights of the Ugoni counts and other rural lords. No figures in our sources.

Threats

• Verona's power on the Mincio and at Ostiglia (a fight with the Veronese at Nogarole in 1201)
• Reggio's claim to Gonzaga and Suzzara (sieges from 1215, settled 1225)
• the pope's and Philip of Swabia's claims to Matilda's lands
• heresy: a Cathar council met at Mosio, on the Brescian and Mantuan border, in 1181 and elected a bishop, Garatto

Councils and societies

A podestà (foreign since 1186, but sometimes a local count or the bishop), consuls in some years, and the general council; the city is divided into four quarters (Santo Stefano, San Leonardo, San Giacomo, San Martino) of five contrade each [date of this division not pinned].

Families and factions

The Ugoni counts of San Martino, Casaloldo and Mosio, active in both Mantua and Brescia; the Corradi da Gonzaga (in the city since 1186); the Bonacolsi and the Arlotti, rising [dates not pinned]. No party labels yet.

Leagues wars truces

No league, war or truce of Mantua's is pinned for 1 January 1200. Mantua joined the Lombard League in 1167; whether it belongs to the league renewed in 1198 is not pinned.

Bishop

Enrico Delle Carceri, bishop from before October 1193 to after November 1227 (Church map record); podestà in 1195 (and again in 1209 by the list). The bishops of Mantua never held a true lordship but exercised temporal rights, especially over some castles of the Oltrepò (it.wikipedia, Diocesi di Mantova).

Emperor and pope

Matilda's lands south of the Po are claimed by Innocent III and by Philip of Swabia (duke of Tuscany and lord of the Matildine lands since 1195); in practice the communes, Mantua among them, hold them (OMNIA papal lands file).

Coinage

Not pinned (it.wikipedia's Timeline of Mantua gives 1150 for the first circulation of Mantua's coinage, flagged 'citation needed').

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. early 1200 (date not pinned)A podestà for 1200 takes office (the list's bracketed Antonio della Scala is doubtful).Depends on: normal rotation Stopped by: nothing expected

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201Count Guelfo of San Martino is podestà; he dies fighting the Veronese at Nogarole; his son Bonifacio is podestà in 1202.Depends on: a clash with Verona Stopped by: peace with Verona
2. 1201Mantua helps Cremona and Bergamo restore the Brescian knights.Depends on: the Brescian civil war of autumn 1200 Stopped by: Brescian unity

Places of note

• Dam-bridge (later Ponte dei Mulini): Pitentino's dam raising the upper lake (works 1188-1199).
• Governolo: Where the Mincio meets the Po; Pitentino is thought to have proposed a barrier there.
• Abbey of Polirone: Matilda's burial place; Church map record.
• Gonzaga: Home of the Corradi; later disputed with Reggio (1215-1225).

Where the sources disagree

• Attone di Pagano: 'il milanese' in it.wikipedia (Storia di Mantova, podestà from 1186) but 'of Bergamo' in it.wikipedia (Podestà di Mantova, 1187-1189). Not settled.
• The campaign notes do not name Mantua's bishop; we give Enrico Delle Carceri (before October 1193 to after November 1227).

Evidence: Pitentino's works and the bishop are fairly attested; the podestà list is unsourced and doubtful for 1200; Mantua's alignment in 1199-1200 is inferred from its podestà's origins.

On the map: The line with Verona (Pozzolo, Roverbella, Castel d'Ario, Sustinente) and with Brescia (Castel Goffredo, Ceresara, Guidizzolo) is drawn roughly; the Oltrepò is drawn as Mantuan though the pope and Philip of Swabia claim it.

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