This is the first book devoted to the Lombard League, an association created by the city republics of northern Italy in the 12th century in order to defend their autonomy and that of the papacy in a momentous struggle against the German holy roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. Consequently, the League has enjoyed an iconic status, and in the 19th century was glorified as a precursor of the Italian struggle for independence in political and historical pamphlets as well as in paintings, novels and even operas.
The League played a crucial role in the evolution of Italy's political landscape, but it did more than ensuring its continued fragmentation. Historiography, in fact, has overlooked the collegial cooperation among the medieval Italian polities and this volume offers new interpretations, by examining the League's structure, activity, place in political thought and its links with regional identities.
Using documentary evidence, histories, letters, inscriptions and contemporary troubadour poems as well as rhetorical and juridical treatises, Dr Raccagni argues that the League was not just a momentary anti-imperial military alliance, but was rather a body that also provided collective approaches to regional problems, ranging from the peaceful resolution of disputes to the management of regional lines of communication, usurping, in some cases, imperial prerogatives. Yet the League never rejected imperial overlordship per se, and here it is revealed how it survived after the end of the conflict against Frederick I, one of its most lasting legacies being the settlement that it reached with the empire, the Peace of Constance, which became the Magna Carta of the northern Italian polities.
| ISBN: | 9780197264713 |
| Publication date: | 9th December 2010 |
| Author: | Gianluca Raccagni, British Academy |
| Publisher: | The British Academy an imprint of Liverpool University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 231 pages |
| Series: | A British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Monograph |
| Genres: |
European history: medieval period, middle ages |
This is the first book devoted to the Lombard League, an association created by the city republics of northern Italy in the 12th century in order to defend their autonomy and that of the papacy in a momentous struggle against the German holy roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. Consequently, the League has enjoyed an iconic status, and in the 19th century was glorified as a precursor of the Italian struggle for independence in political and historical pamphlets as well as in paintings, novels and even operas.
The League played a crucial role in the evolution of Italy's political landscape, but it did more than ensuring its continued fragmentation. Historiography, in fact, has overlooked the collegial cooperation among the medieval Italian polities and this volume offers new interpretations, by examining the League's structure, activity, place in political thought and its links with regional identities.
Using documentary evidence, histories, letters, inscriptions and contemporary troubadour poems as well as rhetorical and juridical treatises, Dr Raccagni argues that the League was not just a momentary anti-imperial military alliance, but was rather a body that also provided collective approaches to regional problems, ranging from the peaceful resolution of disputes to the management of regional lines of communication, usurping, in some cases, imperial prerogatives. Yet the League never rejected imperial overlordship per se, and here it is revealed how it survived after the end of the conflict against Frederick I, one of its most lasting legacies being the settlement that it reached with the empire, the Peace of Constance, which became the Magna Carta of the northern Italian polities.
The Lombard League, 1167-1225 features in the following genres: European history: medieval period, middle ages
The Lombard League, 1167-1225 is available in Hardback
The Lombard League, 1167-1225 was written by Gianluca Raccagni, British Academy and published by The British Academy an imprint of Liverpool University Press
The Lombard League, 1167-1225 has 231 pages
Yes it is part of A British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Monograph series