Commune of Modena

Who rules

Name

Not pinned: Modena's officers for 1199 and 1200 were not found in the sources read

Title

Podestà or consuls

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

not pinned

Confidence

low

Alberto da Lendinara was Modena's podestà in 1201, when the Reggiani captured him at Formigine (it.wikipedia, Rubiera); Gherardo da Correggio may have been podestà in 1203 (DBI). The names for 1199 and 1200 (in the Annales veteres Mutinenses and Bazzano's chronicle) could not be read.

Overlord

The king of Italy (the emperor) in law under the Peace of Constance; no king's officer acts in Modena that winter.

What the realm holds

• Modena: the city, its walls and suburbs and the near countryside under its direct jurisdiction
• The plain between the Secchia and the Panaro: Campogalliano, Soliera, Bastiglia, Bomporto, San Cesario, Spilamberto (walled only in 1210), Formigine (fortified from 1200), Maranello
• Vignola, the bishop of Modena's castle on the Panaro (episcopal until 1247)
• Allied lords: the Della Rosa of Sassuolo and Magreta (pact of 1178, renewed 1187); the da Gorzano
• The Frignano (claimed and partly held): the da Montecuccolo and the other lords of the valleys, with the Nonantola abbey's woods at Fanano
• The lower plain under Modena's influence: Carpi, Mirandola and Quarantola (the Figli di Manfredo), San Felice, the castle of Finale on the Panaro (the town is born only in 1213)
• Contested with Bologna: Nonantola and its abbey (a Church map record)

How it was acquired

The bishop's temporal power passed to the commune after Bishop Dodone's death in 1134; Modena joined the Lombard League in 1167; the Peace of Constance confirmed its rights (1183). The Matildine inheritance in the Modenese hills was absorbed bit by bit through oaths of citizenship of the old Matildine vassals.

Allies and rivals

Rivals: Bologna across the Panaro (Nonantola, Savignano, the Frignano), and Reggio across the Secchia (war from 1201). Allies in the war of 1202: Ferrara and Verona. Its standing with Cremona and Parma in 1199 is not pinned.

The realm that morning

Modena holds the city and its plain; it is allied with the Della Rosa at Sassuolo and has the lesser lords of the hills on oath or under pressure. In the Frignano the da Montecuccolo and other lineages hold their castles largely on their own account; Bologna holds Savignano on the Panaro (since 1143) and contends for Nonantola, whose abbot still holds the abbey's lands. No war with Bologna or Reggio is pinned for that winter; the Reggio war begins in 1201.

Wealth

The Via Emilia, the plain's grain, the Panaro and Secchia mills and fords, the Apennine roads to Pistoia and Lucca through the Frignano, the law school. Coinage: not pinned.

Military

The city host and the castles of allied lords; forts at Marzaglia on the Secchia (by 1201) and, from 1200, Formigine. No figures in the sources read.

Threats

• Bologna, the stronger neighbour, on the Panaro and in the Frignano
• Reggio on the Secchia, war from 1201
• The independence of the Frignano lords

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. 1 January 1200 or another fixed day early in 1200 (not pinned)The new officers for 1200 take office.Depends on: The yearly election. Stopped by: Faction strife.
2. During 1200 (not pinned)Modena decides to fortify Formigine, facing Reggio's new Rubiera.Depends on: The rising quarrel over the Secchia border. Stopped by: A settlement with Reggio.
3. 1201-1202 (beyond 1200)War with Reggio: Modenese forces occupy land at Casalgrande; the Reggiani win at Formigine and capture the podestà Alberto da Lendinara; in June 1202 Modena, Ferrara and Verona besiege Rubiera in vain, and Parma and Cremona award the dispute to Reggio.Depends on: The Secchia quarrel. Stopped by: Peace between the two cities.
4. 1210 (beyond 1200)Bologna finishes its castle of Piumazzo and Modena walls Spilamberto on the opposite bank of the Panaro.Depends on: The Panaro rivalry with Bologna. Stopped by: Peace with Bologna.

Places of note

• Cathedral of Modena: Consecrated in 1184 by Pope Lucius III; the Ghirlandina bell tower rising since 1179
• Vignola castle: The bishop of Modena's castle guarding the Panaro

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign notes name no bishop of Modena; the it.wikipedia list gives Egidio Garzoni from 1194 to 1207, when he became archbishop of Ravenna.

Evidence: The constitutional outline, the bishop and the later wars are attested; Modena's officers, alliances and Frignano settlement for 1199-1200 were not found in the sources read.

On the map: The Panaro line is the frontier with Bologna; Savignano across the river is Bologna's. The Frignano and the lower plain are drawn as claims because the commune's hold there in 1200 is not pinned.

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.

• 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