Prince-bishopric of Trent

Who rules

Name

Conrad of Beseno (Corrado di Beseno, Konrad von Beseno; Conrad II in German lists)

Title

Bishop of Trent, prince of the Empire, count of Trent

Since

Elected 6 December 1188 after Bishop Albert's death; confirmed 1189

Born

not pinned

Family

Of the lords of Povo and Beseno, castle families of the Adige valley south and east of Trent; son of Carbonio; nephew of Pellegrino I, patriarch of Aquileia (1130-1161). Before his election he was dean of the cathedral chapter and the bishop's vicedominus (chief steward).

Confidence

high

it.wikipedia Corrado di Beseno; de.wikipedia Speyerer Fürstenerklärung; the Church map record Trent (Curzel's edition of his acts).

Overlord

The German king, from whom the bishop holds his regalia. On 1 January 1200 two crowned kings claim that right; Conrad stands with Philip of Swabia. In church matters his metropolitan is the patriarch of Aquileia.

What the realm holds

• Trent: the city, the cathedral and the bishop's palace, seat of his court, his judges and his chapter; the city has no consuls of its own (see the town record)
• The county of Trent: the Adige valley from Salorno to Avio; the Non and Sole valleys; the Giudicarie and Ledro; Riva on Lake Garda; Cembra and Fiemme; the upper Valsugana round Pergine and Levico (which lies in the diocese of Feltre)
• Bolzano: the planned market town his predecessors laid out about 1170-80 round one street (the later Laubengasse) and a square, with the bishop's castle on the Kornplatz; a new quarter is going up about 1200
• The county of Bolzano, shared with the counts of Tyrol: an imperial ruling at Hagenau on 15 March 1184 declared that bishop and count held it as one county in common; on 24 June 1190 the parish communities of Bolzano and Keller split their fines between bishop and count
• Overlordship of the county of Eppan (Appiano), the northern tip of the old march of Trent, held by the counts of Eppan
• Claimed only: the county of the Vinschgau, held by the counts of Tyrol in practice since about 1140
• The silver workings north-east of Trent (Monte Calisio): in 1185 Bishop Albert declared the newly found mine free to anyone who paid the bishop's due, with the mining partners (Gewerken) under the bishop's protection and free of the ordinary court and other levies. Barbarossa confirmed the bishop's rights over mines in 1189. The full fourteen-article mining code, which takes in the 1185 agreement and requires the partners to be resident citizens of Trent answerable only to the bishop and their own steward (gastaldio), comes only in 1208 under Bishop Frederick of Wangen
• The Fiemme valley, a self-governing valley community under the bishop by the Gebhardine pacts of 1111-1112
• Upland communities under his superior lordship such as Brentonico, Ala, Banale and Cavedine (Church map record)
• Sworn vassals and ministeriales across the side valleys: the Beseno (his own kin), the Castelbarco in the Val Lagarina, the Pergine, the Caldonazzo and Castelnuovo of the Valsugana, the counts of Flavon in the Non valley, the Wanga of Bolzano and the Ritten, the Firmian of Formigar castle (see their records)

How it was acquired

Henry II gave the county of Trent to the bishop in 1004 (the date is debated) and Conrad II, on 31 May 1027, recognised the principality and added the counties of Bolzano and the Vinschgau, to keep the Brenner road open for German armies. The counts of Tyrol have held the Vinschgau since about 1140 and the Bolzano county jointly since the later twelfth century; Bishop Adelpreto II's attempt to recover the north ended with his killing in 1172 (or 1177).

Allies and rivals

Allies: King Philip and the Staufen princes of the Speyer declaration, among them his neighbours Eberhard of Brixen and Berthold, duke of Merania. Rivals and dangers: the counts of Tyrol, his advocates, who are eating the northern counties; the counts of Eppan, whose feud with Tyrol is fought over his lands; vassals who build castles and swear leagues without him; the commune of Verona, which presses up the Val Lagarina and will force a treaty on him at Ala in 1204; the lords of Arco, free lords with an imperial fief at the head of Lake Garda.

The realm that morning

Conrad holds Trent and the county of Trent through his court and vassals; his rulings reach the upland communities, but they can be appealed to the emperor's judges (an imperial court overturned his ruling between Arco and Drena in 1193). North of Salorno his grip is partial: Bolzano market is his, the county round it is shared with the counts of Tyrol, and the Eppan counts and the Tyrol counts hold the right bank and the Merano basin. The advocate, Count Albert of Tyrol, is a young man who has not yet acted on his own (first independent act January 1202).

The city of Trent is quiet that morning, but the vassals and townsmen are restless: risings will drive the bishop out in 1200 and 1201. In the lower Val Lagarina his rule is incomplete: it.wikipedia's history of Rovereto says Veronese jurisdiction at Lizzana and Rovereto ended only in the early thirteenth century, and the Castelbarco are taking Avio and Lizzana for themselves. No war is in force in his lands that morning.

Wealth

Tolls and traffic on the Brenner road between Verona and the Alps; the Bolzano market, where the bishops of Trent and Brixen regulate the fairs (first recorded 1202); wine of the Adige valley and the Lake Garda shore; timber and pasture of Fiemme and the side valleys; the silver of the mines north-east of Trent, from which the bishop takes a fixed due, a negotiated share of profit, rents and fines. The money of account is the Veronese penny (Berner pfennig), in which the mining fines are reckoned.

Military

The bishop's host is his sworn vassals: in July 1190 he organised them in five groups for King Henry's Roman journey (Church map record, from Curzel). Castles of his own and of his kin (Beseno above the Adige south of Trent); the vassals' castles in every valley. No figures survive.

Threats

• Armed risings in Trent in 1200 and 1201 that force him out of the city
• The counts of Tyrol's steady capture of the northern counties
• The Eppan and Tyrol feud fought over his lands
• Verona's pressure up the Val Lagarina (the treaty of Ala, 1204)
• A disputed throne: whoever wants the Brenner road needs Trent

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. 8 April 1200Archbishop Adalbert III of Salzburg dies; Bishop Eberhard of Brixen, Trent's neighbour on the Brenner road, is elected to Salzburg and Conrad of Rodank follows at Brixen.Depends on: Adalbert's natural death (campaign notes Part 10). Stopped by: Play that changes Adalbert's circumstances.
2. 1200, month not pinnedAn armed rising forces Bishop Conrad to leave Trent; he later regains the city. Who led it is not pinned.Depends on: The unrest of his vassals and townsmen. Stopped by: A settlement with the vassals, a strong advocate in the city, or royal help.
3. 1201 (beyond 1200)A second rising drives him out again; he agrees the tolls with the bishop of Brixen.Depends on: As above. Stopped by: As above.
4. 1202 (beyond 1200)The great fairs of Bolzano are first recorded, regulated by agreement between the bishops of Brixen and Trent.Depends on: Peace on the road. Stopped by: War between the bishops and the counts.
5. 1204 (beyond 1200)At Ala he is forced to sign an unfavourable treaty with the podestà of Verona and Ulrich of Arco.Depends on: Verona's pressure and the bishop's weakness. Stopped by: A recovery of the bishop's power.
6. 8 March 1205 (beyond 1200)Conrad resigns the see and withdraws to a monastery; after two years' vacancy Frederick of Wangen succeeds (1207).Depends on: The failure of his government. Stopped by: Play.

Places of note

• Trent cathedral and bishop's palace: Seat of the bishop's court
• Castel Beseno: Castle of the bishop's family above the Adige south of Trent
• Bolzano market and the bishop's castle: Market town laid out by the bishops about 1170-80
• Monte Calisio: Silver workings above Trent

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign notes do not name the bishop of Trent. Conrad of Beseno is attested in the Speyer declaration for Philip (28 May 1199, de.wikipedia list), so his allegiance is given as Staufen; the Church map record Trent left it not pinned.

Evidence: The 1004 and 1027 grants and Conrad's government are well documented (about a hundred acts). The leaders of the 1200 rising and the exact split of the Bolzano county are not pinned.

On the map: The county of Trent follows the Trentino's historic outline; the side valleys were held through vassals and valley communities, not directly. The lower Valsugana from Borgo down lies in the bishop of Feltre's county and is left out; Pergine and Levico are drawn as Trent's though they lie in Feltre's diocese. Arco is cut out. The Fassa valley is left to Brixen (not pinned for 1200). The Bolzano county's division with the counts of Tyrol is rough.

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.

• Charter book of the bishops of Trent (compiled 1207 to 1218; documents from the 11th century onward; edited 1852). The cartulary of the prince-bishops of Trent. Read online