Commune of Vercelli

Who rules

Name

Not pinned: the officers in office on 1 January 1200 are not named in the sources consulted

Title

Podesta or consuls of the commune

Since

not pinned

Confidence

low

The commune had consuls by the later eleventh century (Enciclopedia Italiana). No list of podestas or consuls for 1199-1200 was found. Vercelli's consuls (unnamed) arbitrated between Ivrea and Count Uberto of Biandrate in 1192, so the commune was under consuls at least then (DBI, Uberto di Biandrate).

Overlord

The emperor, under the Peace of Constance. Its bishop, Albert (1185-1205), a peacemaker and papal agent (campaign notes), holds Biella and the Biellese and had his church's rights, including the Valsesia, confirmed by Henry VI on 30 November 1191 (Church map).

What the realm holds

• The city, its suburbs and the plain between the Sesia, the Elvo and the Po north of Trino
• Its share of the men of Biandrate (division with Novara, August 1199)
• Mongrando, held of Vercelli in fief by Count Ottone of Biandrate since October 1179
• The castle of San Lorenzo near Gattinara, built by the commune in 1185-87 to guard the entrance to the Valsesia
• A foothold east of the Sesia at Borgo Vercelli
• Claims on the western edge of the Lomellina (Robbio, Palestro, Confienza), long contested with Pavia

How it was acquired

The commune's contado grew from the bishop's county and from submissions of rural lords; Trino and Pontestura are bought only on 22 July 1202.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Milan (of old), Asti and Alessandria (league against Montferrat), Novara (partner in the Biandrate division of 1199). Rivals: Montferrat (truce since March 1199, pacts at Saluggia October 1199), Ivrea (Montferrat's ally since 24 October 1198), Pavia (over the western Lomellina), the counts of Biandrate (reduced), Casale (rival on the Po; it threw off Montferrat in September 1198 but its relations with Vercelli in 1200 are not pinned).

The realm that morning

Strong and expanding, under truce or pacts with Montferrat, partner of Novara in the dismemberment of the Biandrate lordship, with Milanese backing.

Wealth

Grain and the farms of the plain, the roads from Lombardy to the Great St Bernard and the Mont Cenis, the Sesia crossings. No mint of its own in 1200.

Military

The communal host; with Novara it sent a detachment to Legnano in 1176 (it.wikipedia, Storia di Novara). No figures for 1200.

Threats

• Montferrat and its ally Ivrea on the western border
• Pavia in the western Lomellina (it will destroy Robbio castle in 1202)
• The bishop and the Biella townsmen asserting their own rights

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. 1200 (date not pinned)Entry into office of the commune's officers for 1200.Depends on: The usual election date, not pinned. Stopped by: Internal strife.
2. 27 October 1200Meeting at Saluggia where Boniface refuses to hear the Milanese award.Depends on: The arbitration running its course. Stopped by: A direct peace.
3. 1202 (beyond 1200)Purchase of Trino and Pontestura from Boniface (22 July); Pavia takes and destroys Robbio castle.Depends on: Boniface's debts; Pavia's war in the Lomellina. Stopped by: A Montferrat recovery; a peace with Pavia.

Places of note

• Borgo Vercelli: Vercelli's bridgehead east of the Sesia.
• Mongrando: Biandrate castle held in fief of Vercelli since 1179.
• Santhia: Road town on the way to Ivrea; a lordship of the bishop of Vercelli in later records.

Where the sources disagree

• The Church map gives Vercelli's bishop Albert since 1185 (campaign notes); it.wikipedia (Valsesia) gives 1185-1204 and Henry VI's confirmation of 30 November 1191. Consistent.

Evidence: Treaties with Asti, the league, the Biandrate division and the 1202 purchase are dated; officers and the exact contado limits are not.

On the map: Rough outline of the plain the commune governed; its western edge toward Ivrea and Montferrat and its northern edge toward the Biellese and the Valsesia are not pinned.