Commune of Siena

Who rules

Name

Not pinned: Orlandino Malapresa of Lucca was Siena's first podestà in 1199; who governs on 1 January 1200 is not found

Title

Podestà or consuls of the commune

Since

1199 (first podestà)

Confidence

low

Enciclopedia Italiana (Siena): the first podestà appears in 1199, the Lucchese Orlandino Malapresa; citizen podestà followed until 1211, with some returns to consuls, after which foreign podestà held the chief office. it.wikipedia (Repubblica di Siena) calls him Malapresa da Lucca. No name is found for 1200.

Overlord

The Empire in law. Siena's consuls had their election and mint confirmed by the emperors (1180 through Archbishop Christian of Mainz, 1186 by Frederick I); no imperial officer holds anything here that winter.

What the realm holds

• The city with its suburbs and its near countryside (the Masse)
• San Quirico d'Orcia, former seat of the imperial vicar, whose imperial rights Archbishop Christian of Mainz ceded to Siena in 1180
• Paganico on the Ombrone (in the contado from 1193)
• Sinalunga in the Valdichiana (from 1197)
• The Berardenga country east of the city (lords under Siena since 1155)
• Orgia, bought from the Ardengheschi in 1156
• The Crete south-east of the city, where Asciano is still a fief of the Cacciaconti-Scialenga counts (Siena buys it only in 1275)
• The Val d'Arbia to Buonconvento, and the bishop's Murlo inside it

How it was acquired

Communal consuls from the early twelfth century; the Grosseto townsmen's oath to Siena in 1151; the Berardenga in 1155; Orgia in 1156; the mint from 1178-80; San Quirico in 1180; Frederick I's confirmation of free election of consuls and coinage in 1186, after Henry VI had besieged the city and briefly taken the mint away (May to October 1186); Paganico 1193; Sinalunga 1197; the first podestà in 1199.

Allies and rivals

Allies: the Tuscan League (with Florence, Lucca, San Miniato, the bishop of Volterra, the Guidi and the Aldobrandeschi); Scorcialupo da Mortennano, of the Sienese elite, who holds half of Semifonte; Count Ildebrandino Aldobrandeschi, with whom Siena will make pacts in 1202 and a salt agreement in 1203. Rivals: Florence (Poggibonsi, the Chianti, Montepulciano); Montalcino and its lord the abbot of Sant'Antimo; Montepulciano, helped by Perugia and Orvieto; the Ardengheschi counts (at odds with Siena since 1151); Arezzo (the old dispute over nineteen parishes, settled for Arezzo by Honorius II); Colle di Val d'Elsa, Semifonte's ally.

The realm that morning

Siena holds its city, the Masse, and a contado from the southern Chianti through the Val d'Arbia and the Crete to San Quirico, Paganico and Sinalunga. Montalcino and Montepulciano are hostile and not held. it.wikipedia's Montalcino page puts a sixteen-month Sienese siege of Montalcino in 1199, but Montalcino fell only on 27 September 1202, after the Fonterutoli accord; whether a siege is in progress that morning is not pinned. The Ardengheschi counts in the Val di Merse and Ombrone are not yet subdued (final submission 1202).

Across the borders: the Firidolfi and Florence's posts to the north, Poggibonsi and Colle to the north-west, the bishop of Volterra's lands west, the Aldobrandeschi south, the pope's Radicofani and the Manenti of Sarteano south-east, Arezzo and Montepulciano east.

Wealth

The Via Francigena and its pilgrims and merchants, money-lending and exchange (the Sienese bankers are beginning their rise), the mint (the bulgano) and its pennies, the salt and grain of the Maremma (the 1203 salt agreement with the Aldobrandeschi), and the farms and pasture of the Crete and Val d'Arbia.

Military

The city host of knights and foot under the consuls or podestà, and the knights of sworn rural lords (the Berardenga). In 1201 the Fonterutoli treaty will oblige Florence to send Siena 100 knights and 1,000 foot against Montalcino, and Siena the same against Semifonte (Semifonte and Montalcino articles): those are treaty quotas, not the size of the host.

Threats

• Florence's push into the Valdelsa and the Chianti
• Montalcino and Montepulciano finding protectors in Florence, Orvieto or Perugia
• The Ardengheschi and other Maremma lords holding out
• A German king's legate reclaiming San Quirico and the mint

Councils and offices

Consuls or a podestà, with a council (the council of the bell, Consiglio della campana, reorganised after the first tax register (lira) of 1202). The city is divided into thirds (terzi) for its host and taxes (the terzi are attested later; for 1200 not pinned). Merchants' consuls exist by the end of the century (names not found).

Families

Families claiming descent from the Berardenga counts (the Ugurgieri, Cacciaconti, Bandinelli and Cerretani) sit among the city nobility. The merchant and banking houses that will lead Siena in the thirteenth century are not traced here for 1200; no names of consuls or councillors for 1199-1200 were found.

Bishop

Bishop Bono (1189 to 25 October 1215), a Church map record; the bishop's fief of Murlo (the Vescovado) lies inside Siena's sphere. Adrian IV placed the new town of Poggio Bonizio in Siena's diocese in 1155-56, angering Florence.

Coinage

Sienese pennies from the commune's mint (from 1178-80; confirmed 1180 and 1186).

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. early 1200 (day not pinned)New officers (a citizen podestà or consuls) take office for 1200; names not found.Depends on: the commune's annual election Stopped by: faction in the city
2. 6 March 1200Scorcialupo da Mortennano, Siena's friend inside Semifonte, gives up his half of the town to the Alberti countess, who passes it to Florence: Siena loses its foothold there.Depends on: the Alberti's sale to Florence on 12 February Stopped by: Siena paying Scorcialupo to hold on
3. 1200-1202War on Montalcino; it falls on 27 September 1202 and is destroyed.Depends on: Florence staying out (from 1201 bound to treat Montalcino as an enemy) Stopped by: Florentine or Orvietan help to Montalcino
4. 29 March 1201 (beyond 1200)Peace of Fonterutoli with Florence.Depends on: both cities wanting a free hand Stopped by: a clash in the Chianti
5. 1202 (beyond 1200)Final submission of the Ardengheschi by force of arms; pacts with Count Ildebrandino Aldobrandeschi; Siena makes war on Colle to break it from Semifonte; first lira (tax register).Depends on: peace with Florence Stopped by: a renewed Florentine war
6. 1203 (beyond 1200)An arbiter's award fixes the Chianti line in Florence's favour; the salt agreement with Count Ildebrandino.Depends on: both cities accepting arbitration Stopped by: war

Places of note

• San Quirico d'Orcia: Former imperial vicar's seat, Siena's since 1180
• Paganico: Castle on the Ombrone in Siena's contado from 1193
• Fonterutoli: Place of the Florence and Siena peace of 29 March 1201

Where the sources disagree

• Montalcino: it.wikipedia dates a sixteen-month Sienese siege to 1199 but gives Montalcino's fall as 27 September 1202 after the Fonterutoli accord; the 1199 date may be a misdating of the 1201-1202 siege, so no raided belt is drawn round Montalcino.
• Enciclopedia Italiana says Siena helped Florence take Semifonte in 1202; the Semifonte article says Siena largely ignored its Fonterutoli obligation.

Evidence: The growth of the contado is dated in it.wikipedia and the Enciclopedia Italiana; the officers in office on 1 January 1200 are not found.

On the map: The outline follows the growth of the contado as dated in the sources; the line in the Chianti was only fixed in 1203 and Asciano's status in 1200 is not pinned.