Battle of Montaperti
The battle of Montaperti took place on September 4, 1260 at the eponymous place in Tuscany , which today is part of Castelnuovo Berardenga , and which is a few kilometers southeast of Siena . Here, stood Guelph troops led by Florence and Ghibelline led by Siena over which she partisans of the papal powers and that of the Empire were. The victory of the Ghibellines brought about perennial dominance of the pro-imperial groups in Tuscany. Trade conflicts arose with the local powers involved, especially Siena and Florenceadded. The pro-Roman regiment was overthrown in Florence, and the Guelphs found refuge in Lucca . A few years later, the Guelphs won Karl von Anjou as an ally, who succeeded in defeating the Hohenstaufen in two battles in 1266 and 1268. While Florence, again Guelph, rose to become the metropolis of Tuscany, Siena began a slow decline.
prehistory
The cities of Florence and Siena had been in rivalry since the beginning of the second millennium, initially on an economic basis and later on a political one. The economic conflict revolved around the Via Francigena , the political one around the affiliation of the then dominant political camps, Ghibellines and Guelphs. The Seneser, with the allied Manfred of Sicily , one of the sons of Frederick II Giordano d'Agliano , supported the Florentine Ghibellines from 1251 in the inner-city power struggle for Florence. After the war between Florence and Siena in 1255, the peace treaties of July 31 banned Siena from any support for the Ghibellines from Florence, Montalcino and Montepulciano . The main trigger for the renewed acts of war between the two cities was the admission of Ghibelline refugees from Florence after an attempted takeover of power in 1258. Florence for its part encouraged rebellions in Grosseto , Montiano and Montemassi (now part of Roccastrada ). The first acts of war began in the same year in the Maremma , where the Florentines succeeded in inciting revolts against the Senese rulers in Grosseto, Monteano and Montemassi and taking over the places. Grosseto returned voluntarily on February 5, 1260, disappointed by the Florentine promises, Monteano and Montemassi were besieged from March by the soldiers of the third city of Terzo di Città, led by Francesco Troghisio and with the support of soldiers from Grosseto and some German mercenaries. Under this pressure, Florence sent reinforcement troops on April 19, which arrived two days later in Colle di Val d'Elsa and stayed there for two days. Then, after a brief siege, Casole d'Elsa was taken. Here they were now west of Siena, and instead of moving further south towards Montemassi, as expected from Siena, the military leaders decided to march directly to Siena, where they arrived on May 17th and near the northern city gate Porta Camollia set up camp and attempted a siege of the city. Here they were attacked the next day by German mercenaries and Senese troops. On May 20, the project was abandoned and the Florentine troops began to retreat, the majority of which returned to Florence, while a small part moved south and captured Montelaterone (district of Arcidosso ). In order to compensate for the losses incurred during the fighting at the Porta Camollia, mainly among the German mercenaries, and to recapture Montelaterone, further German mercenaries were recruited from the ally Manfred of Sicily.
Troop strengths
Approx. 18,000 infantry and 1,800 cavalry personnel were available for Siena . This total strength of approx. 19,800 soldiers was made up as follows: Siena (approx. 400 cavalrymen and approx. 7600 infantrymen), the county of Siena (approx. 3000 infantrymen), Pisa (approx. 300 cavalrymen and approx. 2700 infantrymen), German mercenaries (approx. 800 cavalrymen and approx. 2000 infantrymen, who were accepted to support on the initiative of Farinata degli Uberti ), Cortona (approx. 1300 infantrymen), dominion of the Aldobrandeschi (approx. 100 cavalrymen and approx. 1000 infantrymen), Ghibellines who fled ( approx. 200 cavalrymen). In addition, Siena was supported by Manfred of Sicily.
Florence had about 33,000 soldiers available, of which about 3000 were cavalry. These consisted of the troops from Arezzo (approx. 2000 soldiers), Campiglia (approx. 600), Florence (approx. 5000), Lombardy (approx. 4600), Lucca (approx. 1800), Orvieto (approx. 2000), Pistoia (approx. 1600), Prato (approx. 1500), Pitigliano (approx. 1000), San Gimignano (approx. 1500), Colle di Val d'Elsa and the Elsa Valley (approx. 5000), San Miniato (approx. 1400 ) and Volterra (approx. 2000 soldiers) together.
Course of the battle
In the meantime, troops from Prato, Lucca, Orvieto, Perugia, San Gimignano, San Miniato, Volterra, Colle di Val d'Elsa and Bologna were on the side of Florence . This army had the goal of wresting Montepulciano and Montalcino from the enemy again. The troops camped at Asciano until the evening of September 2nd . Against the advice of Tegghiaio Aldobrandi , the Florentines again led the army to the gates of Siena. There they camped since the night of September 2 to 3, 1260 about one kilometer east of the Arbia and south of Montaperti between the rivers Malena and Biena on the Via Scialenga (today part of the European route 78 Grosseto-Fano SS 73 im Section Siena- Bettolle ), which leads to Asciano. On September 2nd they sent the government of Siena, the Consiglio dei Ventiquattro (Council of Twenty-four), an ultimatum demanding the abandonment of the city and the opening of the city gates. The Council of Twenty-four discussed the claim on the same day in the Chiesa di San Cristoforo church in Piazza Tolomei in Siena. The deliberations took a decisive turn against a abandonment of the city when Salimbene de 'Salimbeni rose from the nearby Palazzo Salimbeni in the council to offer the city 18,000 Fiorini for immediate payment of the German mercenaries. After the Salimbeni's offer was accepted, the opponent's ultimatum was rejected.
The Guelphs numbered 30,000 men and the Ghibellines 20,000. Of these, Siena provided 8,000, Pisa 3000, and King Manfred's 2000 men. There were also the Guelphs from Florence and troops from Asciano, Terni , Santa Fiora and from the area of Poggibonsi, which had just been declared a city .
On September 3, the Senese army, under the leadership of Provenzano Salvani, moved through today's Porta Pispini (at that time the city gate that was created a few years earlier by the new city wall ring and called Porta San Viene ) and moved to Poggio delle Ròpole (today Taverne d'Arbia , District of Siena), very close to the enemy army camped on the Poggio delle Cortine . The outnumbered Senese tried to pretend that the army was more powerful.
On the morning of September 4th, preparations for the battle began, the Senese divided their army into four divisions. The first division was to attack the Guelfs in the rear, while the second and third prepared a frontal attack. This was a high risk in that the terrain was sloping and they had to fight the sun. The fourth division was to guard the war chariot (Carroccio).
The Guelfi party was in dispute when the first division began the attack on the agreed invocation of St. George. The Count of Arras attacked the Florentines, he himself killed the Florentine commander Iacopino Rangoni da Modena . The Senese took advantage of this and were able to put the Florentines to flight by evening. According to the sources, 10,000 men were killed and 15,000 Guelphs were taken prisoner. 2,500 Florentines alone were dead, 1,500 in captivity, whereas Siena only lost 600 men and 400 were injured.
In Siena, the battle was observed from the Palazzo Chigi-Saracini in Via di Città (then Palazzo Marescotti, built in the 12th century, today the seat of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana ). According to the documents, a certain Cerreto Ceccolini is said to have stood on the tower of the palazzo, at that time one of the highest points in the city, and told the population - in a real, unplayed wall exhibition - the course of the battle.
On September 13th, the Guelphs had to leave Florence and flee to Bologna and Lucca. Lucca became the stronghold of the Guelphs in Tuscany. On September 27th, the Florentine Ghibellines returned to their city. All citizens of the city had to swear allegiance to Manfred. The residential towers of the displaced were torn down, just as the Guelfs had done in 1258 with the towers of the Ghibellines.
In Empoli , the envoy of Siena and Pisa, which called for the destruction of Florence, who opposed the Florentine Ghibelline Farinata degli Uberti, however, successfully gathered.
Pope Alexander IV excommunicated all supporters of King Manfred in Tuscany on November 18. This gave Sienese debtors an opportunity to default on their obligations.
When the Pope died on May 25, 1261, the victory of the Ghibellines seemed unstoppable, but with the intervention of Charles of Anjou, the tide turned. Manfred was killed in a battle in 1266, his successor Konradin in 1268. In 1269, the Senese suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Colle. The commandant of Montaperti Provenzano Salvani was killed.
consequences
While the battle, despite the overwhelming victory against a numerically superior force, delayed the defeat of the Ghibellines in southern Italy for only a few years, it held the expansion south from Florence long. It was not until 1555 that Siena was taken into possession.
Siena, which had placed itself under the protection of St. Mary and considered her to be the real city mistress, developed a comprehensive cult of Our Lady. When the city was threatened by King Alfonso I's expansionist efforts, this cult became a state cult with the task of temporarily bridging internal conflicts in the event of external threat. So the Madonna table in the cathedral was trusted not only to bring about inner balance, but also to stop enemies and brake the plague. The town hall was equipped with a cloak Madonna, under whose cloak the Sienese sought protection in case of need.
reception
Every year on September 4th, the Comitato Monteaperti Passato e Presente commemorates Montaperti with a torchlight procession. You move from the city to the battlefield, on which there is a pyramid, which is supposed to remember the battle. The week before there is a celebration, the Festa Monteaperti Passato e Presente .
The painter Coppo di Marcovaldo probably took part in the battle on the Guelph side and was captured by Siena. He then painted for several years in Siena (such as the Madonna del Bordone in the Basilica di San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi , created in 1261, the artist's best-known and only signed work) and based himself on the Sienese style of painting.
On the 750th anniversary of the battle, it was re-performed by numerous medieval groups.
literature
- Duccio Balestracci: La battaglia di Montaperti. Editori Laterza, Bari 2017, ISBN 978-88-581-2745-2 .
- Alberto Colli: Montaperti. La battaglia del 1260 tra Firenze e Siena e il castello ritrovato. 2005, ISBN 88-7542-065-3 .
- Ettore Pellegrini (Ed.): Alla ricerca di Montaperti. Mito, fonti documentarie e storiografia. Betti, Siena 2009, ISBN 978-88-7576-126-4 .
- Carlo Bellugi: La battaglia die Pievasciata e lo scempio di Montaperti. Editrice DonChisciotte, San Quirico d'Orcia 2004.
Web links
- Literature on the battle of Montaperti in the Opac of the Regesta Imperii
Remarks
- ↑ Details on the troop strengths at Senesedoc
- ^ Rolando Forzoni: Monte Aperto. Il mistero rimane, ma ... Edizioni Cantagalli, Siena 1999, ISBN 88-8272-018-7 , pp. 19, 38.
- ↑ Lanzilocto Politi: La sconficta di Monte Aperto. historical text from 1502, new edition by Betti Editrice in Siena 2002, ISBN 88-86417-76-4 , p. b.iiii.
- ↑ Alessandra Carniani: I Salimbeni. Quasi una signoria. Protagon Editori, Siena 1995, ISBN 88-8024-090-0 , p. 38 f.
- ^ Roberto Marchionni: Battaglie senesi: Montaperti. Marchionni Editore, Siena 1996, ISBN 88-87448-01-9 , p. 13.
- ↑ Luigi Pruneti: La Toscana dei Misteri. Editrice Le Lettere, Florence 2005, ISBN 88-7166-852-9 , p. 173.
- ^ Mario Ascheri: Siena e la Città-Stato del medioevo italiano. Betti Editrice, Siena 2004, ISBN 978-88-7576-011-3 , p. 24.
- ^ Official website of the city of Siena for the Palazzo Chigi-Saracini
- ^ Piero Torriti: Tutta Siena. Contrada per Contrada. Bonechi Edizioni, Florence 2000, ISBN 978-88-7204-456-8 , p. 59.
- ↑ Ulrich Meier, Klaus Schreiner : Citizens and God's City in the Late Middle Ages , in: Peter Lundgreen (Ed.): Social and cultural history of the bourgeoisie. Göttingen 2000, pp. 43-84, here: pp. 71f.
- ↑ Fiaccolata per il 750 anniversario della Battaglia di Montaperti ( Memento from July 31, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )