The Battle of Montebruno took place between the

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

City of

Asti Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...

and the Ghibelline

County of Savoy The County of Savoy () was a feudal state of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged, along with the free communes of Switzerland, from the collapse of the Burgundian Kingdom in the 11th century. It was the cradle of the future Savoyard state. s ...

Thomas II of Savoy Thomas II (c. 1199 – 7 February 1259) was the Lord of Piedmont from 1233 to his death, Count of Flanders ''jure uxoris'' from 1237 to 1244, and regent of the County of Savoy from 1253 to his death, while his nephew Boniface was fighting abro ...

invaded the territory of

, but he was defeated by the Astigiani army at Montebruno in

Garzigliana Garzigliana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin. Garzigliana borders the following municipalities: Pinerolo, Osasco, Macello, Bricherasio Bricherasio ( ...

, near

Pinerolo Pinerolo (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The Lemina torrent has its source at the boundary between Pinerolo and San Pietro Val di Lemi ...

. Thomas II had taken refuge in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, however there he was captured.

Background

Asti was one of the first free communes of Italy, and in 1140 received the right to mint coins of its own by

Conrad II Conrad II (, – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdom ...

. As the commune, however, had begun to erode the lands of the bishop and other local feudatories, the latter sued for help to

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

, who appeared under the city walls with a huge army in February 1155. After a short siege, Asti was stormed and burned. Subsequently, Asti adhered to the

Lombard League The Lombard League (; ) was an alliance of cities formed in 1167, and supported by the popes, to counter the attempts by the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman emperors to establish direct royal administrative control over the cities of the Kingdom of It ...

(1169) against the German emperor, but was again defeated in 1174. Despite this, after the Peace of Constance (1183), the city gained further privileges. The 13th century saw the peak of the Astigiani economic and cultural splendour, only momentarily hindered by the wars against

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

(which besieged the city in 1230), and the

Marquess of Montferrat The marquises and dukes of Montferrat were the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po and east of Turin. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the northwest of his kin ...

and

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the su ...

. In particular, the commune aimed to gain control over the lucrative trade routes leading northwards from the Ligurian ports. In this period, the rise of the

Casane Astigiane The Casane Astigiane (Italian language, Italian for "Houses of Asti") were the major family banking houses of Asti, Italy in the Middle Ages. Their economic activities included Foreign exchange market, currency exchange and lending. Guelf familie ...

resulted in contrasting political familial alliances of Guelph and Ghibelline supporters. During the wars led by Emperor Frederick II in northern Italy, the city chose his side: Asti was defeated by the Guelphs of Alessandria at the Battle of Quattordio and the Battle of Calmandrana, but thanks to Genoese's help, could recover easily. After Frederick's death, the struggle against

became fierce.

Battle

The Astigiani attacked Thomas' army at Montebruno, near

. The two armies charged head-on, and the clash ended with a bloody repulse for Thomas II. Thomas himself was captured in the battle, and his Savoyard armies were utterly defeated. This setback made Thomas more infuriated than defeated. He later ordered all Astigiani traders in

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to be arrested, and his wrath boiled.

Aftermath

The decision to capture the Astigiani traders showed the preoccupation of the neighbouring states for the excessive power gained by the city, which had captured Alba and controlled both

Chieri Chieri (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont (Italy), located about southeast of Turin, by rail and by road. It borders the following municipalities: Baldissero Torinese, Pavarolo, Montaldo Torinese, Pino ...

and

. This later led to intervention by

Charles I of Naples Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 and ...

, then the most powerful man in Italy thanks to his possessions in Piedmont and Provence alongside his Neapolitan kingdom. He defeated the Astigiani at the Battle of Cassano, but was later defeated at the

Battle of Roccavione The Battle of Roccavione was the last battle of the invasion of the territory of Asti by Capetian House of Anjou, Angevine troops from the Kingdom of Sicily. Charles I of Sicily was defeated, and his entire invasion failed. The battle was also t ...

Background

Battle

Aftermath

References

Further reading