Commune of Piacenza

Who rules

Name

Not pinned: the podestà in office on the morning of 1 January 1200 was not found in the sources read

Title

Podestà, governing with the consuls

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

not pinned

Confidence

low

Piacenza has set a podestà beside its consuls since 1188, when the Milanese Iacopo (Jacopo) Mainerio was elected the first; several of the next podestà were Milanese too, and the consuls stayed in being with a say in government (Treccani, Enciclopedia Italiana; it.wikipedia). The yearly names are in Giovanni Codagnello's Annals of Piacenza (MGH), which could not be read for this record. Expect a foreign podestà, quite possibly a Milanese, given the alliance.

Overlord

The king of Italy (the emperor) in law, under the Peace of Constance (1183); in practice no king's officer acts in Piacenza that winter, with Philip of Swabia and Otto IV both crowned in Germany and neither recognised by the other.

What the realm holds

• Piacenza: the city, its walls, suburbs and the near countryside under the city's direct jurisdiction
• The plain of the contado between the Bardonezza and the Arda: the lower Val Tidone, the lower Val Trebbia, the Val Nure and the Val d'Arda as far as Castell'Arquato and Fiorenzuola
• Castell'Arquato, restored to the commune by the Peace of Constance (1183); the bishop keeps lands and rights there
• Rights over the course of the Po (navigation, landing places, tolls), recognised in the Peace of Constance
• Lordship over the Pallavicino's courts in the Parmesan: Oberto Pallavicino surrendered them to Piacenza in 1145 and took them back as fiefs for an oath of vassalage (it.wikipedia, Soragna); how much of that tie still binds in 1199 is not pinned
• The upper Val Taro through the Platoni and Lusardi, who swore fealty to Piacenza in the first half of the 12th century; Borgo Val di Taro stays in Piacenza's orbit
• In the hills, through other lords: the bishop of Piacenza's castle of Bardi in the Val Ceno; the bishop-count of Bobbio in the Val Trebbia (a Church map record); rural lords sworn to the city (not pinned one by one)
• Claimed: Borgo San Donnino and Bardone, which Parma took back in 1199

How it was acquired

A commune with consuls since the early 12th century; a member of the Lombard League against Frederick I (the Peace of Constance was first negotiated in Piacenza's church of Sant'Antonino, and the League's delegates ratified it at Piacenza in the monastery of Santa Brigida on 21 January 1185); a podestà beside the consuls since 1188. The contado was won castle by castle from the bishop, the counts and the rural lords during the 12th century.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Milan, whose league was renewed in 1198 (it.wikipedia, Lega Lombarda; the 1198 member list was not found), and the cities of the Milanese side. Rivals: Parma (Borgo San Donnino, Bardone and the road to the Cisa), Cremona (the Po, the Pallavicino lands, the north bank), Pavia (the Oltrepò and the Val Tidone border). The Malaspina hold the upper Trebbia, the Aveto and the upper Taro beyond Piacenza's reach; Piacenza made agreements with them in the years after 1188 (Enciclopedia Italiana; the terms were not found).

Families: the city's consular families of 1200 were not pinned by name; the Landi and the Scotti, the great Piacentine houses of the 13th century, hold no lordship pinned for that winter (the Landi buy Bardi only in 1257).

The realm that morning

On the morning of 1 January 1200 the commune holds the city and the plain of its contado. Parma holds Borgo San Donnino, taken back from Piacenza in 1199, and no peace between the two cities was found: treat the border between the Arda and the Taro as hostile. The bishop of Piacenza (Grimerio, elected July 1199) holds Bardi and keeps rights at Castell'Arquato; the bishop-count of Bobbio holds his county in the Trebbia valley; the Pallavicino hold Busseto and the lands between the Ongina and the Stirone, as old vassals of Piacenza for their Parmesan courts but with Barbarossa's grants of their own; across the western border the Pavians hold the Oltrepò (lmw), and over the upper Trebbia, Aveto and upper Taro the Malaspina hold (lig).

North of the Po lie the contadi of Lodi and Cremona.

Wealth

The Po crossing and the river trade with its landing places and tolls; the Via Emilia and the Via Francigena, which carries pilgrims and merchants from the Alpine passes through Piacenza, Fiorenzuola and Borgo San Donnino to the Cisa; a mint, which Piacenza has had since King Conrad III's grant of 1140 (not checked in a source read for this record); a busy class of merchants and craftsmen, whose rise brought in the podestà in 1188. Piacentine merchants and money-lenders trade through Genoa and over the Alps; their great banking houses belong to the 13th century.

Military

The city host of knights and foot, raised by the commune, with the rural lords bound to serve; castles at Castell'Arquato and along the valleys. The 1199 campaign ended in a rout on the Taro. No figures are given in the sources read.

Threats

• Parma and its ally Cremona, after the defeat of 19 June 1199
• Pavia on the western border
• The quarrel between the commune and its clergy, which will drive Bishop Grimerio out in 1204
• Tension between the old noble families and the merchants and craftsmen who forced the change to a podestà in 1188

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.Depends on: The commune's normal yearly election. Stopped by: A city revolt or a split between the nobles and the people.
2. During 1200 (not pinned)Piacenza seeks revenge for the Taro defeat or makes peace with Parma over Borgo San Donnino; which of these happened in 1200 is not pinned. Parma keeps Borgo San Donnino until Frederick II frees it in 1221.Depends on: Milan's support and Cremona's backing of Parma. Stopped by: A truce imposed by the pope or by a king of Italy, or a Milanese defeat elsewhere.
3. During 1200The fortieth for the crusade, ordered by Innocent III at the end of December 1199, is to be collected from the clergy of the diocese.Depends on: Bishop Grimerio's obedience to Rome. Stopped by: Resistance by the clergy or the commune.
4. 1204 (beyond 1200)Under pressure from the consuls and the people, Bishop Grimerio withdraws with his clergy to Cremona and then to Castell'Arquato (1204-1207); in 1206 Innocent III considers suppressing the diocese.Depends on: The commune's quarrel with its clergy over rights and taxes. Stopped by: A settlement between the commune and the bishop.

Places of note

• Basilica of Sant'Antonino: Where the terms of the Peace of Constance were first discussed
• Cathedral of Piacenza: The bishop's church (Romanesque, begun in the 1120s)
• Castell'Arquato: Fortified borgo of the commune with the bishop's rights; restored to Piacenza in 1183

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign notes name no bishop of Piacenza; the it.wikipedia list gives Grimerio della Porta, a Cistercian, from 11 July 1199 to 8 April 1210, after Ardizzone, who died on 3 June 1199. Grimerio is therefore new in his see on 1 January 1200.

Evidence: The constitutional outline, the Taro defeat and the bishop's dates are attested; the podestà that morning, the 1198 league's members and any peace with Parma were not found. Codagnello's annals, which would settle the officers, could not be read.

On the map: The outer line follows the modern province of Piacenza and the 12th-century diocese, which is close to the commune's contado; the split between the plain and the mountain valleys is drawn by eye along the foothills. The Pallavicino lands between the Arda and the Stirone are left to their own record.

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