Lombard League

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The Lombard League (Lega Lombarda, Societas Lonbardie) was a medieval city ​​league in Northern Italy ( Lombardy ). It was founded in 1167 as a defense against the strengthened Italian policy of the Roman-German emperors from the Staufer family and became obsolete and therefore dissolved in 1250 with the death of Emperor Frederick II .

Origin and flowering in the fight against Barbarossa

This was preceded by the establishment of the Verona Confederation by Verona , Padua , Vicenza and Venice in 1164 as a reaction to the fact that Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa no longer recognized the Podestà in the cities that belonged to the empire , but instead appointed their own representatives. According to tradition, it was founded on April 7, 1167 in the Abbey of Pontida . With the accession of other cities, the "Lombard League" was constituted on December 1, 1167. After several smaller and temporary city alliances, it was the first long-standing and at the same time the most extensive association of Italian municipalities.

The combined military strength of the cities challenged Frederick I's claim to rule (see also Honor Imperii ), although the federal government by no means pursued the goal of secession from the empire. Frederick I fought vigorously against the city union. Milan in particular , which had been partially destroyed on Frederick's orders as early as 1162, was besieged several times. The union found allies in the popes of the time, especially in Alexander III. , in honor of which the federal fortress Alessandria was named ( renamed Caesarea after an agreement with the emperor ).

At least as unfavorable as the military power of the federal government was the fact that Barbarossa could no longer play the united cities off against one another. In addition, the Lombard League also had a constitutional dimension, which, however, never fully developed. Shortly after it was founded, the federal government convened the parliament as an assembly which was supposed to meet regularly and settle disputes between the members. The executive organs were rectores , who were both military leaders and judges.

The system of equal partnership that was laid down in it, however, was never permanently implemented. The most important reason for this is the system of graduated dependence of the cities on the emperor, created during the peace negotiations in Montebello in 1175, which the emperor used to play the communes off against each other again. After the Battle of Legnano in 1176, a compromise solution was finally reached in the Peace of Constance in 1183, which made the Lombard League permanent and obliged the cities to be members for 30 years. In particular, this benefited Milan , which assumed a supremacy within the federal government and thus came into conflict with Cremona in particular . By privileging Milan, Barbarossa used the city to keep the rest of the league under control. The Lombard League had therefore changed from a pact of resistance against the emperor to his instrument of rule. In addition, in the Peace of Constance, the cities were given the opportunity to take over the royal regalia for a one-off payment, and most of them were allowed to choose their consuls themselves. However, the emperor remained the supreme court lord.

Fight against Friedrich II.

After the death of Barbarossa's son Heinrich VI. In 1197 the Lombard League gained importance again. During the unclear succession represented in the kingdom he the interests of the Lombard cities, both against the Pope and against various anti-kings, stakeholders and after its accession to power against Frederick II. His former importance of the Lombard League did not reach even in this era more, although he as a serious political and military opponent of Frederick II appeared.

In 1226 and 1231, the federal government prevented Frederick from meeting with imperial princes on Italian soil by blocking roads and passes. Since 1226 Friedrich prepared a crusade, the Lombard League was the result of the obstacles of this project Bann occupied. In 1236 Frederick II finally declared the imperial war against the cities and asked them to dissolve their alliance, to recognize his rights and to provide troops for the Holy Land . The refusal of the municipalities was followed by a war that dragged on through 1237 without any clear decisions. On November 27, there was an open field battle near Cortenuova , in which Friedrich, with the help of Cremona, who was loyal to the emperor, defeated the Lombards League. Together with the four remaining members of the league, Milan was not ready for the unconditional submission demanded by Friedrich. A siege of the cities was unsuccessful for the emperor. In 1248 the imperial army was defeated at Parma. In the end, the factually undecided battle was ended by the death of the emperor in 1250. The Hohenstaufen rule over imperial Italy collapsed in the period that followed, and the Lombard League became obsolete and dissolved.

Modern attempt at resuscitation

In the recent past, the right-wing Lega Nord party, following on from this medieval alliance, has propagated a policy towards the central government in Rome that - depending on your point of view - amounts to preferring or ending the disadvantage of the industrial north.

literature

  • Gianluca Raccagni: The Lombard League (1164-1225). Oxford University Press, Oxford u. a. 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-726471-3 (= A British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Monograph ; English).
  • Odilo Engels : The Hohenstaufen. 9th improved and supplemented edition with literature addendum by Gerhard Lubich, Kohlhammer , Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-17-021363-0 (= Kohlhammer-Urban-Taschenbücher Volume 154).
  • Helmut Maurer (Hrsg.): Communal alliances of Upper Italy and Upper Germany in comparison. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1987, ISBN 3-7995-6633-3 (= Konstanz working group for medieval history. Lectures and research volume 33).
  • Stefan Weinfurter (ed.): Stauferreich in the course of change, ideas of order and politics in the time of Friedrich-Barbarossa . Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-7995-4260-9 (= Medieval Research , Volume 9).