Commune of Parma

Who rules

Name

Not pinned for the morning of 1 January 1200; Orlando Rossi (Rolando de' Rossi) was podestà during the 1199 campaign

Title

Podestà, governing with the consuls

Since

1199 (Orlando Rossi's term); his successor's entry into office is not pinned

Born

Orlando Rossi: before 1170 (it.wikipedia)

Family

Rossi of Parma

Confidence

low

it.wikipedia (Storia di Parma) says the podestà Orlando Rossi raised an army to free Borgo San Donnino and Bardone from the Piacentini and, at the head of Parma's troops, crossed the Taro on 19 June 1199 and routed them on the river's left bank (the page misprints the starting year as 1180). it.wikipedia (Rossi di Parma) lists him as podestà of Parma, Modena and Cremona without dates. A native podestà was still common in 1199. Whether his year ran to 31 December 1199 and who took office for 1200 is not pinned.

Overlord

The king of Italy (the emperor) in law under the Peace of Constance; Parma is a city of the imperial side but no king's officer acts there that winter.

What the realm holds

• Parma: the city, its walls and ditches, the Oltretorrente across the river, and the near countryside under the city's direct jurisdiction
• The plain between the Taro and the Enza from the Po (Colorno, Sissa, Sorbolo) to the foothills (Collecchio, Sala, Felino, Traversetolo)
• Borgo San Donnino, taken back from Piacenza in 1199 (held until Frederick II frees it in 1221)
• The upper valleys of the Parma, the Baganza and the Enza (Langhirano, Calestano, Corniglio, Palanzano, Monchio), with their rural lords
• Through the bishop: Bardone and the Monte Bardone road (the Via Francigena towards the Cisa), confirmed to the see by an emperor in 1195 (it.wikipedia, Bardone, which names the emperor wrongly)
• Allied or sworn lords: the Rossi (a quarter of San Secondo since 1164), the Lupi (Soragna, since 1198), and others not pinned

How it was acquired

A commune with consuls in the 12th century and a member of the Lombard League; the Peace of Constance (1183) left it free to fight its neighbours over the Po navigation and the border castles (it.wikipedia). The contado was gathered from the bishop's county and from the rural lords during the 12th century.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Cremona above all (the two cities' podestà mediate together between Reggio and Modena in 1202), Reggio, and in general the cities of the imperial side. Rivals: Piacenza (Borgo San Donnino, Bardone, the Pallavicino lands, the Via Francigena) and its ally Milan. Neighbours: the Pallavicino and the Lupi between the Stirone and the Ongina; the Malaspina above the upper Taro and in the Lunigiana beyond the Cisa (lig).

The realm that morning

Parma holds its city, its plain and its hill valleys, and has held Borgo San Donnino since its victory of 1199. No peace with Piacenza was found: the land between the Stirone and the Arda is a hostile frontier. The bishop, Obizzo Fieschi, holds Bardone and the see's mountain rights; west of the Taro the Pallavicino hold Busseto and their castles, and the Lupi hold Soragna; across the Po lies the Cremonese contado (Casalmaggiore); across the Enza lies Reggio; over the Cisa lie the Malaspina and the Lunigiana.

Wealth

The Via Emilia and the Via Francigena (through Borgo San Donnino, Fornovo and Berceto to the Cisa), the Po trade, the salt springs of the hills near Salsomaggiore (held by the Pallavicino and others, not by the commune directly), wool and cloth; the city's guilds are already flourishing by 1215 (Enciclopedia Italiana). Coinage: not pinned for 1200.

Military

The city host, which won on the Taro on 19 June 1199 under its podestà; the commune's ditches beyond San Giacomo (dug from 1178 and extended past Santa Croce) and a new circuit of walls that will be finished in 1210. No figures are given in the sources read.

Threats

• Piacenza's revenge, with Milanese help
• The Pallavicino, whose old claim to Borgo San Donnino (Barbarossa's grant of 1162) Parma's conquest overrides
• Quarrels between the bishop's rights and the commune's

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 podestà for 1200 takes office in Orlando Rossi's place.Depends on: The yearly election. Stopped by: A decision to keep him or a crisis in the war.
2. During 1200 (not pinned)Parma holds Borgo San Donnino against any Piacentine counterstroke; it keeps the town until 1221.Depends on: Cremona's alliance and Piacenza's weakness after the Taro. Stopped by: A Milanese army on the Taro, or a peace that hands the town back.
3. During 1200The fortieth for the crusade is to be collected from the clergy of Bishop Obizzo's diocese.Depends on: The bishop's obedience to Rome. Stopped by: Resistance by the clergy.
4. 1202 (beyond 1200)Parma's podestà and Cremona's mediate between Reggio and Modena after the siege of Rubiera and give the victory to Reggio.Depends on: The Reggio and Modena war of 1201. Stopped by: Peace between Reggio and Modena before it breaks out.

Places of note

• Baptistery of Parma: Begun in 1196 (Benedetto Antelami); work under way
• Cathedral of Parma: The bishop's Romanesque church, where Benedetto Antelami is at work
• Borgo San Donnino: Taken back from Piacenza in 1199
• Bardone: The bishop of Parma's castle and court on the Monte Bardone road

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign notes name no bishop of Parma; the it.wikipedia list gives Obizzo Fieschi from 23 December 1194 to 22 May 1224.

Evidence: The victory of 19 June 1199 and Parma's hold on Borgo San Donnino are attested in two Wikipedia accounts, one of which garbles its starting date; the officers for 1200 and any peace were not found.

On the map: The outline follows the Taro and the Enza and the Apennine watershed; the line through the plain west of the Taro (Fontanellato, Noceto) is not pinned and is drawn by eye.

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