Download PDF | David Nicolle, Angus McBride - Italian Medieval Armies 1000-1300-Osprey Publishing (2002).
46 Pages
INTRODUCTION
DIVERSITY, REGIONAL VARIATIONS AND LOCAL LOYALTIES
were characteristic of medieval Italy, with rivalry between the wealthy cities stemming from a desire to control trade routes on land and sea. In the 11th century increasingly assertive cities struggled to free themselves from domination by regional barons. In the 12th and 13th centuries these cities, now sometimes supported by the feudal aristocracy, fought to free themselves from domination by the German Emperor who was, theoretically, the ruler of most of Italy. Meanwhile rivalry between Pope and Emperor was exploited by cities and feudal lords to further their own interests. Hence some cities and aristocratic families came to see themselves as traditionally Guelph — that is, supporters of the Papal cause; while identifying themselves as staunchly Ghibelline — supporters of the Imperial cause.
While Italy became the most cosmopolitan country in Europe, its feudal structures had shallow roots. Byzantine rule also survived in part of the south, while in the centre and even the north it was a not too distant memory. Urban life may have shrunk since Classical times, yet cities remained the economic, cultural and in some places the political centres of Italy. In Carolingian times local authority had generally been in the hands of ‘counts’ — one per city or diocese.
When the Carolingian feudal levies failed against Magyar-Hungarian and Saracen-Islamic raiding in the 9th and 10th centuries, Italy fell back upon fortified cities and castles for defence. This period saw what came to be known as the incastallemento, a process which involved the creation of new concentrated settlements, often called castella, to replace the old system of scattered habitation, and also the fortification of both old and new settlements. The centuries from the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the 13th century saw the liberation of the Italian peasantry from Roman-type bondage.
As royal authority fragmented in 10th century northern and central Italy, smaller units emerged as autonomous powers, while the Emperors in Germany largely failed in their attempts to impose Imperial authority. Emperor Otto II similarly failed when he tried to take over the fragmented far south of Italy, his army being crushed by a Muslim force at Cotrone in 982.
In specifically military terms the later 10th century saw the rise of fully armoured cavalrymen or milites, who were also evolving into a social elite.
As yet urban militias did little more than defend their own town walls, yet most free townsmen were now either milites or cives, ‘citizens’ with a military obligation. By 1000 the higher aristocracy controlled few cities, which generally looked to their resident bishop for political leadership. However, in the 11th and 12th centuries most communes were established by their resident patrician or knightly class and were dominated by a resident aristocracy. Such communes usually resulted from a merging of the town assembly or arengo with a newer coniuratio or ‘sworn association’ dedicated to upholding its members’ interests. At the same time the effectiveness of militia infantry drawn from merchants and artisans gave the latter increasing political influence.
Unfortunately little is known about the earliest days of these urban communes. Some cities had communal officials called consuls shortly before 1100. However, most communes were created in the 12th century and then went on to dominate their immediate surroundings or contado, at least in the wealthier or more fertile parts of Italy. Elsewhere, mountainous or isolated regions like Piedmont, Liguria and Friuli remained very feudal in social, political and military terms; while in southern Italy kingdoms emerged which were powerful enough to control their wealthy cities.
The military success of Italian urban communal armies resulted from their wealth, their highly developed weapons industries, the discipline of their militia armies, and the political or diplomatic skill of their leaderships. This was deeply shocking to many other Europeans, especially when Italian communal militia infantry defeated knightly cavalry armies. Furthermore, many of the militia cavalry were not themselves knights. Italy was also far ahead of the rest of Europe when it came to dealing with the financial aspect of warfare, which was rapidly becoming more expensive.
Continuing attempts by German Emperors to dominate the northern cities led to the formation of three Lombard Leagues in 1167, 1189 and 1226. The Pope-Emperor, Guelph-Ghibelline struggle overlapped this process and continued well into the 14th century, while political tensions within cities tended to emerge once external threats receded. This in turn led to the podesta system in which a respected ‘foreign’ or outside figure was invited to take control — though his powers were strictly limited and supervised by the city’s own consuls.
In the mid-13th century the increasingly influential merchant middle class tried to take over from established consular aristocracies and to establish popolo government dominated by the often ‘new rich’ families which controlled the infantry militias. This experiment rarely lasted very long, and the late 13th century saw the beginnings of yet another change, when many cities abandoned their anarchic semi-democratic structures and allowed themselves to be taken over by the signoria who were, in effect, local dictators.
While Italy was becoming ever more fragmented, the Italian maritime republics of Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice challenged the previous Islamic domination of the Mediterranean Sea and its wealthy trade. Each of these republics was, however, identifiably different. Founded in the 9th century, Amalfi pursued a policy of peaceful co-operation with its Islamic trading partners and had no territorial ambitions within Italy.
Similarly, Venice tried to avoid entanglements on the mainland, though its merchant-venturers were quite prepared to fight for a trading advantage at sea. It was Pisa and then Genoa which, in the 11th century, led a general Christian assault across much of the Mediterranean, paving the way for an invasion of the Islamic Middle East by the First Crusade. In Pisa and Genoa compagna, ‘companies’ or associations of shipowners had in fact accumulated enough wealth to finance major naval expeditions themselves. Local lords and rural landowners also invested in these hazardous but potentially lucrative piratical ventures. Meanwhile, to the south, Amalfi’s glory days were over.
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