The Diet of Roncaglia, held near
Piacenza
Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...
, was an
Imperial Diet, a general assembly of the nobles and ecclesiasts of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
and representatives of Northern Italian cities held in 1154 and in 1158 by Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa to deliberate on the matter of sovereignty of his subjects, which was being challenged by the economical and political flourishing of the northern Italian cities and
free comunes, including the cities of Chieri, Asti, Tortona, but most importantly Milan.
It followed a series of raids carried out by the forces of
Frederick Barbarossa in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, which forced the submission of the leading city of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. The Emperor wished to establish his rights as feudal sovereign in the face of the growing independence of trading cities, which had won charters of municipal privilege during the earlier periods of strife between Papacy and Empire.
The determination of the respective rights of the parties was left to
four jurists from
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
, the home of the great law school founded in 1088. The lawyers' decision favored the emperor, judging that his rule was by
divine right, thus restoring the Imperial rights established since the period of nascent trade under rule of
Emperor Otto. The lawyers proceed to define taxes, tolls, and exactions of various kinds to be imposed on trade.
The Lombard cities would not accept the verdict, and it had to be enforced by war. Imperial forces dominated prior to the true unification of the Lombard League, and the city of Milan was razed to the ground in 1162. But the cities came to understand the value of a proper alliance ''post Destructionem Mediolani'' ("after the destruction of Milan").
The decisive battle in the continuing struggle was the
Battle of Legnano in 1176, where Frederick was defeated by the
Lombard League, and later forced to renege his rights of sovereignty south of the Alps, in the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
.
References
* Salvador Claramunt
Dietas Imperiales de Roncalia* Paul Willem Finsterwalder, Die Gesetze des Reichstags von Roncalia von 11 November 1158, «Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte» LI (1931).
* A. Solmi, Le diete imperiali di Roncaglia, il diritto di regalia ecclesiastica, in "Studi storici sulla proprietà fondiaria nel Medio Evo", Roma 1937.
* P. Brezzi, Le relazioni tra i Comuni italiani e l'Impero, in "Questioni di storia medievale", Milano 1951.
12th century in Italy
Roncaglia
1150s in the Holy Roman Empire
1158 in Europe
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
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