On the morning of 1 January 1200 the Atlas records 50 realms and principalities in Northern Italy, with 83 lords and officers, 258 towns, ports and sites, 19 church lands and religious houses and 1 provinces, peoples and free lands.
The realms
- Marquisate of MontferratBoniface IMarquisate
The senior Aleramic house, lord of the hill country between the Po and the Tanaro and of scattered castles south to the Belbo and the Bormida.
- Marquisate of SaluzzoManfred IIMarquisate
The second great Aleramic house of Piedmont, lords of the upper Po plain and the valleys of the Po and the Varaita under Monte Viso, with Carmagnola on the plain toward Turin.
- Commune of AstiCity commune
One of the oldest communes in Italy (consuls in 1095), a merchant and money-lending city on the Tanaro, rich enough to buy castles from indebted marquises and strong enough to take them.
- Commune of AlessandriaCity commune
The League's city, founded in 1168 at the meeting of the Tanaro and the Bormida from the villages of Gamondio, Marengo and Bergoglio with Rovereto, Solero, Oviglio, Quargnento and others, named for Pope Alexander III and walled with Genoese money.
- Commune of VercelliCity commune
A rich commune of the western Lombard plain between the Sesia and the Dora Baltea, Milan's long-standing ally, steadily eating the lands of the counts of Biandrate and pressing on Montferrat's Po towns and on Ivrea.
- Commune of NovaraCity commune
The commune of the plain between the Sesia and the Ticino, Milan's ally since the pact of 1168 against the counts of Biandrate, whose castle it destroyed with Vercelli in spring 1168.
- Commune of TortonaCity commune
The commune of the lower Scrivia, a free commune since about 1122, destroyed by Barbarossa and the Pavese in April 1155 after a famous siege and rebuilt by the Milanese.
- Commune of GenoaCity commune
Genoa is the great sea commune of the Tyrrhenian.
- The Malaspina marquisesAlberto MalaspinaMarquises
The Malaspina are the marquises of the Apennines between Genoa, Piacenza, Tortona and the Lunigiana.
- The Del Carretto marquisesOttone Del Carretto and his brother Enrico II, marquis ofMarquises
The Del Carretto are the heirs of the Aleramic marquises of Savona.
- Commune of MilanCity commune
The largest and strongest commune of Lombardy and the head of the Lombard League, renewed in 1198.
- Commune of ComoCity commune
The lake city at the foot of the Alpine roads.
- Commune of LodiCity commune
The new Lodi stands on the hill of Monte Eghezzone (Guzzone) on the right bank of the Adda, where Frederick I refounded it on 3 August 1158 after the Milanese had destroyed the old town (Laus Pompeia, now Lodi Vecchio) in 1111 and again in April 1158.
- Commune of PaviaCity commune
The ancient capital of the Lombard and Italian kings on the Ticino above its meeting with the Po, Milan's rival for a century and the emperor's surest friend in Lombardy (it joined the League only late and briefly).
- Commune of CremonaCity commune
Cremona is the great imperial city of the Po and the anchor of eastern Lombardy's anti-Milanese side.
- Commune of BergamoCity commune
Bergamo is a hill city whose commune governs the plain down to the Oglio and the Cremonese border, the Isola between the Brembo and the Adda, and the Alpine valleys of the Brembo, the Serio, the Cavallina and the Scalve with their iron.
- Commune of BresciaCity commune
Brescia is the strongest commune between Milan and Verona.
- Commune of MantuaCity commune
Mantua is a commune on an island in the Mincio, made all but unassailable by the waterworks that the Bergamasque engineer Alberto Pitentino carried out for it from 1188 to 1199: a dam-bridge (later the Ponte dei Mulini) raised the upper lake, and a spillway fe
- Commune of VeronaCity commune
Verona is the great city of the March, guarding the Adige road from the Brenner and the Lake Garda shore.
- Commune of VicenzaCity commune
Vicenza is a commune torn between two parties: the party of the count (pars comitis), led by the Maltraversi, counts of Vicenza, and the party of the church (pars ecclesiae), led by the da Vivaro, advocates of the bishop.
- Commune of PaduaAzzo VI d'Este was podesta of Padua for 1199City commune
Padua is a rich and expanding commune between the Brenta, the Bacchiglione and the lagoon, with a contado reaching from the Euganean hills to the Venetian lagoon at Oriago and from the Muson on the Treviso border to the Adige.
- Commune of TrevisoCity commune
Treviso is the most aggressive commune of the March.
- Azzo VI d'EsteAzzo VI d'EsteMarquis
Azzo VI, about thirty, is the head of the oldest princely house of the March: marquises with castles round Este and the Euganean hills, the Scodosia round Montagnana, and the Polesine of Rovigo and Lendinara between the Adige and the Po.
- Ezzelino II da RomanoEzzelino II da Romano, called the MonkLordship
Ezzelino II, about fifty, is the great Trevisan and Vicentine baron of the house of Romano: lord of castles at the foot of the Grappa, of wide estates in the Trevigiano and fewer in the Vicentino, advocate of the patriarch of Aquileia between the Piave and the
- Patriarchate of Aquileia (Friuli)Pellegrino IIPatriarchate
The patriarch of Aquileia is both a metropolitan bishop and a prince of the Empire.
- Counts of GoriziaMeinhard II the Elder and Engelbert III, brothers, rulingCounty
The counts of Gorizia are the greatest lay lords between the Alps and the Adriatic.
- March of IstriaBerthold IV of AndechsMarch
The march of Istria, a march of the Empire, has been held since the 1170s by the Bavarian house of Andechs, and the march of Carniola with it.
- Prince-bishopric of TrentConrad of BesenoPrince-bishopric
The bishop of Trent is the lord of the southern half of the Brenner road, the main way from Germany into Italy: the Adige valley from the Salorno gorge down to Avio on the Veronese border, with the side valleys of the Non and the Sole, the Giudicarie, Ledro, F
- Prince-bishopric of BrixenEberhard of RegensbergPrince-bishopric
The bishop of Brixen holds the Eisack valley stretch of the Brenner road, with comital rights over the Norital (the Eisack, Wipp and middle Inn valleys, granted 1027) and the Puster valley (granted 1091), and the lordship of Bled in Carniola.
- County of TyrolAlbertCounty
The counts of Tyrol take their name from their castle on the hill above Merano, built in the early twelfth century, and first appear as counts of Tyrol in 1141.
- Commune of PiacenzaCity commune
Piacenza is a rich commune on the right bank of the Po, where the Via Emilia, the river crossings and the pilgrims' road to Rome (the Via Francigena) meet.
- Commune of ParmaCity commune
Parma governs the plain between the Taro and the Enza from the Po to the Apennine passes of the Cisa and the Lagastrello, a contado crossed by the Via Emilia and by the pilgrims' road to Rome.
- Commune of ReggioCity commune
Reggio governs the plain between the Enza and the Secchia from the Po marshes to the Apennine ridge, where the old castles of Countess Matilda stand.
- Commune of ModenaCity commune
Modena governs the plain between the Secchia and the Panaro and claims the Apennine valleys of the Frignano up to the ridge, with the lower plain towards the Po (Carpi, Mirandola, Finale) in the hands of lords and communities under its influence.
- Commune of BolognaOrlandoCity commune
Bologna is the strongest commune between the Po and the Apennines and the most famous school of law in Christendom.
- Commune of FaenzaCity commune
Faenza is the Lombard League's outpost in the Romagna: a commune of consuls and councils, allied with Bologna since the 1140s, and the sworn enemy of imperial Imola, Forlì and Ravenna.
- Commune of ForlìCity commune
Forlì is the imperial commune of the central Romagna, rival of Faenza to the west and of Ravenna to the north.
- Commune of FerraraSalinguerra II TorelliCity commune
Ferrara is a river city on the southern branches of the Po, governed by a podestà and councils but split between two great networks of families.
- Commune of RiminiCity commune
Rimini is the seaport where the Via Emilia meets the Via Flaminia, a commune of consuls and a General Council, governing the coast from the Uso to the Conca and the lower Marecchia valley.
- Commune of RavennaCity commune
Ravenna, the old capital of the exarchate, is an aristocratic commune: its leading men are the nobles who manage the vast estates of the archbishop and the monasteries, and the archbishop remains its lord in law.
- Commune of PisaCity commune
The great sea commune of western Tuscany, the most imperial city of the region and the one Tuscan power outside the Tuscan League.
- Commune of LuccaCity commune
The old capital of the Tuscan march and the first city of the Tuscan League.
- Commune of PistoiaCity commune
An early and vigorous commune between Florence and Lucca, governing the plain of the Ombrone, the Montalbano's northern slope and the Apennine valleys up to the ridge facing Bologna.
- Commune of FlorenceCity commune
Florence on 1 January 1200 is a commune of consuls and councils (a foreign podestà, Paganello da Porcari, is attested for 1200, but not on that very morning), ruling its walls, its suburbs and a countryside (contado) that it is still conquering castle by castl
- Commune of SienaCity commune
Siena on 1 January 1200 is a commune that has just tried its first podestà (1199), strikes its own pennies, holds the old imperial vicar's seat of San Quirico d'Orcia (ceded in 1180), and is pushing its countryside south and east (Paganico 1193, Sinalunga 1197
- Commune of ArezzoCity commune
Arezzo on 1 January 1200 is a commune of consuls beside a powerful bishop, Amedeo (in office before March 1188 to 1203), who no longer rules the city as count (the last bishop to sign as 'bishop and count' did so in 1164) but remains the greatest landholder of
- The counts GuidiGuido Guerra IIICounts palatine
The Guidi are the greatest comital house of Tuscany: counts palatine under Henry VI's diploma of 1191, lords of the Casentino at the head of the Arno, of the Romagna valleys under the Apennine crest (Modigliana, Dovadola, Tredozio, Portico), of Montevarchi in
- The counts AlbertiAlberto IV degli AlbertiCounts
The Alberti are the second comital house of Tuscany, counts of the Val di Bisenzio and the Apennine passes toward Bologna (Vernio, Mangona) and of a string of Valdelsa castles on the Via Francigena.
- The counts AldobrandeschiIldebrandino VIII AldobrandeschiCounts
The Aldobrandeschi are counts palatine of the southern Maremma and Monte Amiata, the largest lordship in Tuscany by ground: Sovana (their seat and a bishop's city), Santa Fiora, the Amiata castles, the Fiora and Albegna valleys, the coast from the Ombrone to t
- Smaller communes and their contadiEach commune its ownSmaller communes
Communes that govern a countryside of their own but are not among the great city-states drawn in their own colours: Crema, Turin, Ivrea, Savona, Albenga, Imola, Cesena, Volterra, San Miniato, Prato, San Gimignano, Colle, Poggibonsi, Montepulciano, Montalcino,
Self-governing peoples and other lands
Records of this region that belong to no single realm page.
Primary sources for Northern Italy
- The Deeds of Innocent III, Anonymous (a curial official, perhaps Peter of Benevento) (about 1208 to 1209). The curia's own account of the pontificate's first decade, with letters copied in.
- Annals of Genoa, by Caffaro and his continuators, with Ogerio Pane for 1197 to 1219, Ogerio Pane and the other official annalists of Genoa (year by year under the commune's authority; the 1197 to 1219 section by Ogerio Pane). The official record of the commune.
- Annals of Pisa, by Bernardo Maragone, with continuation, Bernardo Maragone (1160s to 1175, continued to 1192). Pisa's official annals stop in 1175 and their continuation in 1192, so there is no Pisan narrative for 1200 itself.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Lombard city annals of Piacenza, Milan, Cremona, Parma, Mantua and Verona (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries). The communes' own year lists.
- Documents on the older commercial and political history of the Republic of Venice, part 1, 814 to 1205 (documents of 814 to 1205, edited 1856). Venice's treaties and privileges in full text.
- History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events.
- The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters.
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas.
- The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, Benjamin of Tudela (about 1173). A generation before 1200 but the only survey of its kind: the Jewish communities and their heads from Navarre through Provence, Italy, Constantinople and the Aegean, Antioch, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, Mosul and Baghdad to the Persian Gulf, with notes on rulers, trades, the exilarch at Baghdad, the Assassins of Syria and Persia, and hearsay on India, Ceylon and China.
- Constitutions and public acts of the emperors and kings, volume 2, 1198 to 1272 (documents of 1198 to 1272, edited 1896). The public documents of the throne war in full text: the election notices of 1198, the princes' declaration of Speyer of 28 May 1199 to Innocent III, the pope's replies, Philip's and Otto's letters and promises, and the imperial acts of 1200 and 1201 including Otto's promises at Neuss in June 1201.
- Regesta Imperii V: calendar of the acts of Philip, Otto IV and Frederick II, 1198 to 1272 (calendar of documents of 1198 to 1272, published 1881 to 1901). A dated calendar of every known act of King Philip and King Otto IV, with the acts of popes and princes that bear on the Empire.
How these entries are made
Every entry describes one morning, 1 January 1200, and keeps later events in a dated "what the year holds" list with the conditions each depended on. Each entry names its sources, rates its confidence and says where the sources disagree. Published 4 November 2026. Corrections are welcome.