The Lombard League ( Italian: Lega Lombarda ) is an alliance of 16 northern Italian cities (the composition was not permanent) in opposition to the Holy Roman Empire .
First Lombard League
The league was created on April 7, 1167 in the monastery of Pontida . Its founders were Milan , Lodi , Ferrara , Parma and Piacenza . An agreement between the cities was signed for 20 years to fight the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire against his domination in Lombard cities. During April - December 1167, other cities joined the League.
At the battle of Legnano in 1176, the Lombard League defeated the knights of Frederick I Barbarossa to the head of the city militia, forcing the emperor in 1183 to recognize the independence of the cities of the League. In 1198, the Lombard League was renewed for 10 years.
First League members
- Milan - from April 7, 1167;
- Piacenza - from April 7, 1167;
- Ferrara - from April 7, 1167;
- Lodi - from April 7, 1167;
- Parma - from April 7, 1167;
- Cremona ;
- Mantova ;
- Bergamo
- Brescia
- Bologna
- Padua
- Treviso
- Vicenza
- Venice
- Verona
Second Lombard League
On July 30, 1225, Emperor Frederick II Staufen appointed Hoftag on Easter in 1226 in Cremona , who had proved his devotion to the Holy Roman Empire, inviting the Lombard cities to participate and including questions on the restoration of imperial rights in Lombardy , the preparation of the crusade and the fight against heresy .
Under the mediation of Pope Honorius III , many months of secret negotiations took place, following which on March 2, 1226 in Mosio (now a fraction of the commune of Accuenegra sul Chiese ), the delegates of Milan , Bologna , Brescia , Bergamo , Turin , Vicenza , Padua and Treviso signed an agreement on the next extension of the union for another 11 years (in historiography it is customary from this moment to count the chronology of the so-called Second Lombard League, although from a legal point of view it was not a new entity). Later, Faenza , Crema , Ferrara , Vercelli , Lodi , Alessandria , Piacenza and Verona joined the League.
The coalition's largest victory was achieved at the Battle of Fossalt (1249), as a result of which the bastard of the emperor, King Enzo , became a prisoner of Bologna. The second Lombard League fell apart in 1250 after the death of Frederick II Staufen.
Links
- Giovanni Chiodi. LEGA LOMBARDA (Italian) . Federiciana . Treccani (2005). Date of treatment January 27, 2016.
- lombarda, lega (ital.) . Dizionario di Storia . Treccani (2010). Date of treatment January 27, 2016.
- lombarda, lega (ital.) . Enciclopedie on line . Treccani Date of treatment January 27, 2016.