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Faction previews for Machiavello TW will be shown here.
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REPUBLIC OF SIENA

The Republic of Siena (Italian: Repubblica di Siena) was a historic state consisting of the city of Siena and its surrounding territory in Tuscany, central Italy. It existed for over four hundred years, from 1125 to 1555. More info on Wiki.


«The greater part of Tuscany was subject to the Florentines. Lucca and Siena alone were governed by their own laws; Lucca was under the Guinigi; Siena was free».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book I, Chapter VII.


«All this, however, was insufficient to relieve the people of Colle; for, having consumed their provisions, they were compelled to surrender on the thirteenth of November, to the great grief of the Florentines, and joy of the enemy, more especially of the Sienese, who, besides their habitual hatred of the Florentines, had a particular animosity against the people of Colle».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book VIII, Chapter IV.


«The Sienese, ever ready to suspect the Florentines, persuaded themselves that this outrage had been committed with their cognizance, and made heavy complaints to the pope».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book VII, Chapter VI.


«At the same time the enmity of the Venetians transpired by a treaty with the Sienese, and the expulsion of all Florentine subjects from their cities and territories».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book VI, Chapter V.




TERRITORY
Siena possessed most of the southern Tuscany, in central Italy, including a coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The land has no natural borders with Florence and Papal States, and could be subject to raids by foreign armies. In the south, the land of Grosseto is the Maremma, a marshy and unhealty land.



ECONOMY
Siena prospered as a city-state, becoming a major centre of money lending and an important player in the wool trade.


MONEY LENDING
The largest bank of the time, the Gran Tavola dei Bonsignori, went bankrupt in 1304 for the inability to reobtain the huge sums loaned to guelph politicians. Their collapse affected the Kings of England and France, and debts are still paid by the heirs. Since then, lesser banks have started their trade, but they will not have the same success.


AGRICULTURE
Agriculture constitutes Siena's primary trade. Wheat and wine are the most common products.


WOOL TRADE
As exports of English raw wool fell during XIV century, Florentine merchants sought either quality wool from Spain or cheap wool from Siena.


SALT TRADE
Salt was very important to Europe because it was hard to obtain in inland territory. Natural salines were highly sought, and salt trade was heavily taxed. Lending contracts of salines from Grosseto were a common way for states to obtain a fixed income from entrepreneurs.


MINING AND METALLURGY
Sienese territory has large quantities of mining areas. They are underdeveloped, as the mining outcrops are scarce and costly to extract. The main sites are on the aptly named Colline Metallifere ("Metal-bearing Hills"), nearby the boundary to Piombino and Pisa, exploited since Etruscan times. A second minerary location is on the southwest border, close to Mount Amiata, where cinnabar and marble are extracted.




POLITICS
In the 13th century, Siena was predominantly Ghibelline, in opposition to Florence's Guelph position. Siena was devastated by the Black Death of 1348, and also suffered from ill-fated financial enterprises.
In 1355, with the arrival of Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg in the city, the population rose and suppressed the government of the Nove (the Nine) that governed the city since then. Several short-lived collegial governments ensued, until in 1399 the Twelve Priors gave the city's lordship to Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the Duke of Milan, in order to defend it from Florentine expansionism.
Five years later, the House of Visconti was expelled in 1404, and a new government of Ten Priors was established, this time in alliance with Florence against King Ladislaus of Naples.


RELATIONS WITH FLORENCE
The best way to describe the relationship between Florence and Siena is that of "frenemies". Always politically at odds, Sienese economy live through commerce with Florence, providing them wool, marble, copper and other goods. It is no mistery that Florence would love to incorporate Siena; however, the Sienese republic would be a mouthful too big to swallow for them.


RELATIONS WITH PAPAL STATES
If relations with Florence are troublesome, those with the Papal States are even worse. In 1375 the Senese litoral was sacked by papal troops, who occupied the port of Talamone until 1378, when Siena bought back the land. The nearby papal lands are in the power of the Farnese and Orsini, families that can muster condottieri.


OTHER POWERS
In 1379 the Aragonese haggled a most-favoured nation contract for trade in Siena. The Angevine king of Naples raided the Sienese coast in 1410 with the help of the Genoese.


RELATIONS WITH NEARBY LORDSHIPS
The Aldobrandeschi had large fiefs south of Siena, between Grosseto and Orvieto. As the family vanished in lesser branches, they originated several small states that were either gobbled up by the Papal state or Siena. The only surviving independent lands are the County of Sovana, that of Santa Fiora and that of Pitigliano.




ARMY
The Sienese army was always a combination of mercenaries and homegrown forces, mainly militias. Siena mustered the Masse, that were militia troops from the Terzieri, the three town subdivision, and from the Contado, the subject countryland. In mid-XIV century Sienese land was ravaged by large German, English and Breton mercenary companies, but that did not stop the city to rely on them during wartime.
Sources inform us about a "Citizen cavalry" and "Citizen infantry", with a strong accent on "Crossbowmen from the Masse". Senese Crossbowmen were entrusted with guardianship of the city, being stationed on the City Hall tower and at the gates.




SOURCES
William Caferro, Mercenary Companies and the Decline of Siena, Johns Hopking University Press, 1998.
Luca Fusai, La storia di Siena dalle origini al 1559, Volume 1, Siena, Il Leccio, 1987.
Langton Douglas, Storia Politica e Sociale della Repubblica di Siena, Betti, 2000.
Mario Ascheri, Antica Legislazione della Repubblica di Siena, Siena, Il Leccio, 1993.


(Images will be posted later)

[Mylae]

REPUBLIC OF LUCCA

In 1115, the city of Lucca began to constitute itself an independent commune and managed to more or less keep independence since then. More info on Wiki.

«[In 1330] the Lucchese, by seeing them being sieged, and looking at the loss of their countryside, decided not to want to be under the City of Florence; but to give themselves to some Signore who would help them, and defend them against the Florentines»
Anonimo Pistoiese, Istorie pistoiesi.

«The greater part of Tuscany was subject to the Florentines. Lucca and Siena alone were governed by their own laws».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book I, Chapter VII.

«The troubles of Tuscany and Lombardy had brought the city of Lucca under the rule of Mastino della Scala, lord of Verona, who, though bound by contract to assign her to the Florentines, had refused to do so».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book II, Chapter VII.

«There was no better method of reducing Lucca than to let them live under the tyrant, oppressed and exhausted by him»
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book IV, Chapter IV.

«The Florentines were thus embarrassed by two contrary impulses, the wish to possess Lucca, and the dread of a war with Milan».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book V, Chapter I.

«Being full of exasperation, [the Florentines] despatched letters to every part of Italy, overcharged with complaints, affecting to show that since God and men were averse to the Lucchese coming under their dominion, they had made peace with them. And it seldom happens that any suffer so much for the loss of their own lawful property as they did because they could not obtain the possessions of others».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book V, Chapter I.



TERRITORY
Situated along the Via Francigena, a major Medieval pilgrimage route, the province is dotted with castles, abbeys, parish churches and villas.
Lucca's boundary with Florence ran along the Lago di Bientina, the largest lake in Tuscany (nowaday drained). The two states frequently disputed with one another over fishing and water rights in the lake.



ECONOMY
Lucca's economic life was based on the rich agricultural land in the surrounding area and its position on Via Francigena, one of the main communication routes between Rome and France.

AGRICULTURE
Although the Serchio river was subject to severe flooding, the Lucchese plain provided rich grain-growing land. Vines and olives were cultivated on slightly higher land, and the lakes and woods were rich in fish and game.
The mountainous Garfagnana provided pasture for sheeps and goats, and also timber. Fourteenth-century accounts indicate that timber for ships' masts was floated down the Serchio, and ten of thousands transhumant animals passed through Lucchese territory.

BANKING ACTIVITIES
As Lucca was on the Via Francigena, pilgrims stopped to visit the Volto Santo, the "Holy Face" represented in Lucchese coinage. Moneychangers operated to serve the needs of pilgrims, and travelers in front of the cathedral of St. Martin.
Lucchese merchants had local branches, sometimes in partnership with other merchants; for instance the Rapondi company had branches in Bruges and Paris. Documents records the presence of Lucchese bankers and merchants in France, the Low Countries, Gascony and England. Some companies however were swept away, like that of the Ricciardi in 1294 who collapsed them it was caught between the contrastant loan demands of the papacy, Philip IV and Edward I when war broke between England and France.
In 1430s A jewish community of bankers also resided in Lucca.

SILK TRADE
Lucca became prosperous through the silk trade that began in the eleventh century, and came to rival the silks of Byzantium. The economic model of Lucca's silk production had a strong influence in Europe and thus the structure of the textile industry in Lyon and London was largely modeled upon what had been created in Lucca. The production of silk was in the hands of entrepreneurs, who were merchants. They bought silk fiber which was then transformed in small independent and specialized workshops. Human capital was precious, and the city's government tried to control its flow and to prevent skilled workers from leaving and settling elsewhere. Incentive measures such as tax exemptions and privileges were used to attract skilled workers. Lucca soon specialized in high quality silk fabrics such as drappi auroserici (fabrics made of a mixture of silk with gold or silver threads). From 1375 a more specific Italian style that featured Italian flowers, vine leaves and naturalist themes appeared.

LUXURY GOODS
Lucca was known for its merchants and luxury artisans. Luxury textiles were sold throughout Europe often through the fairs in Champagne or Bruges. There is much evidence for goldsmiths active in Lucca in this period, producing altar furnishings and sacred ornaments as well as jewels and iterms for wealthy people.



POLITICS
Siding with Guelphs, the Lucchese had internal wars, like Florence, between the moderate white guelphs and the fanatic black guelphs. In 1314 Lucca was occupied by Pisan forces, who were thrown back by condottiero Castruccio Castracani. His action secured Lucchese power and rivalled Florence until Castracani's death in 1328.
In 1329 the city was sieged and conquered by mercenary forces, and sold to the Genoese. In 1342 they regained independence to be occupied again by Pisa until 1369. Paolo Guinigi emerged in 1400 as a popular-backed Signore, able to withstand the Florentine attacks in 1429 and 1430.
After Guinigi's death in 1432 the city reverted to popular government, and tried to keep closer ties with Florence.

RELATIONS WITH FLORENCE
The worst nightmare of Lucchese rulers is Florence. In recent times, Florence either tried to buy or to conquer Lucca, always coming close to realizing its goal. Lucchese were saved either by external intervention or pure luck. Lucca should always be wary of Florentine intervention , knowing that a war with them will always be a defensive one.

RELATIONS WITH SIENA
The enemy of my enemy is my friend: this simplify the relations between the two Tuscan states. As they both are fearful of Florence, they are often linked by close ties. If Lucca has an alliance with Florence, then also Siena will do the same, and viceversa. They also had mutual economic exchanges throug sea lanes.

RELATIONS WITH NEARBY LORDSHIPS
There were many minor provinces in the region between southern Liguria and northern Tuscany dominated by the Malaspina. Per sé, no single polity was strong enough to go against Lucca, and Lucca expanded its influence toward Massa, but only for short span of time. The Malaspina, however, kept favourable relations with Lucca over time.
Lucca, having no direct access to the sea, forged an agreement with Genoa in the middle of the XII Century which allowed its merchants to transport goods through the Genovese territory. In exchange, Genovese ships were to bring back to Italy the raw silk purchased by Lucca's merchants from the Levant.



ARMY
There are scarce sources about the Lucchese army: we do know however that there was a citizen militia, who was used for guarding outposts and civic duties, althoug the partecipation of militias in war actions is dubious. Local nobles would muster their own retinue and train themselves in the art of war, but Lucca would hire mercenary captains in time of need, disbanding their armies as soon as possible to prevent excessive expenses.



SOURCES
Michael Mallett, Signori e mercenari - La guerra nell'Italia del Rinascimento, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006.
Francesco Giovannini, Storia dello Stato di Lucca, Maria Pacini Fazzi, Lucca 2003.
M. E. Bratchel, Medieval Lucca and the Evolution of the Renaissance State, Oxford University Press, 2008


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[Mylae]

MALASPINA MARQUISATE

The Malaspina was a noble Italian family of Longobard origin descending from Boniface I, Margrave of Tuscany through the Obertenghi line, which ruled Lunigiana from the 13th to the 14th century through many feuds and, since the 14th century, the marquisate of Massa and lordship of Carrara. The Malaspina alo retained the almost useless title of Imperial Vicars for Tuscany, which only signified a closer nominal relationship with the Holy Roman Emperor inherited from Ghibelline politics.
The Malaspina family also had a strong grasp of the territories in the north of Genoa, in the valleys of the Trebbia and Staffora rivers with Godiasco. Both the lordships in the Lunigiana and in the north of Genoa were soon fragmented due to the adoption of the Longobard Right, which required an equal division of assets between male sons, including feuds.

«E in el dicto anno [1312] li marchezi Malaspina tolsero a Luccha Fosdinuovo et Barbassano».
Giovanni Sercambi, Chronica delle cose occorrenti ne'tempi suoi, Cap. CXV.


TERRITORY
Lunigiana, a mountainous region dissected by the Magra river, covers an area which runs from the Apennines to the Mediterranean Sea. The region has a strategical importance as the crossroad for goods that comes from Liguria, Tuscany or Lombardy.


ECONOMY
Lunigiana is one of the poorest regions in Italy, as the mountainous land does not allow large agricultural fields.

AGRICULTURE
The economy of Lunigiana is based on chestnut, both for alimentary purposes and lumber. In the valley of Magra river there is also room for small wine and olive farms. Cereals are cultivated in the few plain and non-swampy areas. Cattle, sheeps and goats from Lombardy passes through Lunigiana, in transhumance towards the pastures of Tuscany, giving impulse to artisanship on leather. Famine is endemic in the area, and Gabriele Malaspina often recurred to buy grain and what from abroad.
Fishing was poor, but the large woods favoured either hunting or timber.

MARBLE EXTRACTION
The only item worth for profitable commerce is marble from Carrara, one of the best and purest quality of marble available. The prize yield from Carrara quarries through millennia has been Statuario, a pure white marble. The work at the quarries was so tough and arduous that almost any aspirant worker with sufficient muscle and endurance was employed, regardless of their background.


POLITICS
As a region which controls the passage from Tuscany to the northern territories of Lombardy and Parma, as well as from Tuscany to the eastern lands of Liguria and across the Apennines into Reggio Emilia, Lunigiana was fought over for centuries in countless wars which pitted the native feudal dynasties against one another. Thus, through the centuries, many large and small castles were built in Lunigiana, but at the cost of weakening the overall power of the Malaspina family at each generation.

ARMY
Several members of the Malaspina family seek their fortune as Condottieri, arming their retinue and fighting wars with their soldiers. Being a mountainous land, we have news of a marchional army composed by infantry (Palvesari) crossbowmen, man-at-arms and mounted crossbowmen acting as guards for the commander. Being a small state, however, the army never exceeded 500 people in the period from 1430s to 1480s. Mustering more people would have been to costly to mantain, and local lords whould have preferred to keep them at home to prevent raids - even from other relatives - in time of war.
Condottas operating abroad are a source of revenue, as the money derived from them is crucial to keep alive the small state.

SOURCES
Eugenio Branchi, Storia della Lunigiana feudale, ristampa anastatica, 3 vol., Forni, Bologna 1971.
Patrizia Meli, Gabriele Malaspina marchese di Fosdinovo: condotte, politica e diplomazia nella Lunigiana del Rinascimento, University Press, Firenze 2008.

[Mylae]

MARQUISATE OF MANTUA

Mantua is an island settlement which on the banks of River Mincio, which flows from Lake Garda to the Adriatic Sea. Caught between Milan and Venice, Mantuan rulers were able to keep independence not by having peaceful stances, but through desperate fight. Mantuan rulers and relatives are expected to behave as warlords that ally either on Milan or Venice, and eventually switch between alliances to keep their independence.

« Part of Lombardy was subject to the Duke Filippo, part to the Venetians; for all those who had held single states were set aside, except the House of Gonzaga, which ruled in Mantua».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book I, Chapter VII.

HISTORY
Mantua became a free commune in early 12th century, and strenuously defended itself from the influence of the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1198, Alberto Pitentino altered the course of River Mincio, creating what the Mantuans call "the four lakes" to reinforce the city's natural protection. Three of these lakes still remain today, and the fourth one ran through the centre of town.
From 1215, the city was ruled under the podesteria of the Guelph Rambertino Buvalelli. During the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, Pinamonte Bonacolsi took advantage of the chaotic situation to seize power of the podesteria in 1273. He was declared the Captain General of the People. The Bonacolsi family ruled Mantua for the next two generations.
On August 16, 1328, Ludovico Gonzaga, an official in Bonacolsi's podesteria, staged a public revolt in Mantua with his family and forced a coup d'état on the last Bonacolsi ruler, Rinaldo. Ludovico was duly elected Captain General of the People. The Gonzaga built new walls with five gates and renovated the city in the 14th century. However, the political situation did not settle until 22 September 1433, when Gianfrancesco Gonzaga obtained by Emperor Sigismund the right to bear the title of Marquis, thereby receiving an important legitimization to his rule.

TERRITORY
Rivers, rivers, rivers. The land of Mantua is bounded by them. To the west, the River Oglio provides the border with Cremona. To the south it is bounded by the River Po, on the other side of which are the territories of Ferrara, Modena, Reggio Emilia and Parma. To the east the River Mincio provides the border with Verona and Rovigo, and to the northwest lies Brescia.
The River Po is subject to flooding and much of the bank is raised by levees; the whole area is mainly constituted by marshland. There are reserves for nobles kept as hinting ground, and Mantua has a range of habitats including moraines, hills, plains, and the meandering riverbeds in the complex of lakes surrounding the city.

ECONOMY
AGRICULTURE
Mantuan landscape is primarily an agricultural one. The productivity of agriculture is enhanced by a well-developed use of dumping and the traditional abundance of water. It is largely flat and the soil is very fertile and is intensively irrigated, boosted by the construction of a wide net of irrigation canals. Beside the irrigated fields, mulberry plants are grown for their contribution to silk production, or sericulture. Cattle are also bred and cheese and other dairy products are manufactured, especially butter. Notable is also the Mantuan salami.

MANUFACTURE
IN 1430s Gianfrancesco Gonzaga founded and encouraged the first workshops for the manufacture of tapestries in Italy. This was an attempt to increase the textile manufacture sector, dominated by nearby powers, by selecting a niche in which textile workers could find a profit.

TRADE AND COMMERCE
As Mantua thrives on a river, it has a river port besides the city which ensure a steady flow of imported goods in the city. Trade relationship with Venice are especially important, as Mantua traditionally export a notable amount of cheap grain that is needed by the maritime republic. Moreover, the Gonzaga family bought large stocks of Venice’s public debt, and this proved useful in political negotiations.

POLITICS
As the city was not ruled anymore by political parties, it entered the complex politics of dynasties and marriages between them. In 1328 Ludovico I Gonzaga overthrew the Bonacolsi lordship over the city with the help of the Scaligeri of Verona, thereby aligning himself with the Ghibelline party, and his proclamation as Imperial Vicar of Emperor Louis IV. Strengthened his position. His son Feltrino, lord of Reggio until 1371, formed the cadet branch of the Gonzaga of Novellara after he was forced to sell Reggio to the Visconti. The other son, Francesco, married Agnese, daughter of Barnabò Visconti and sought to keep a policy of balance between the nearby powers of Milan and Venice. To protect his land from the increasing power of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Francesco had conveniently executed his wife Agnese under accusations of adultery, to switch his allegiance to Venice. In 1393, Francesco remarried to Margherita Malatesta, who carried in the Gonzaga family the hereditary illness of osteomalacia, or “soft-bones”, which appeared periodically in Mantua's rulers.


ARMY
Ludovico Gonzaga was a commander, fighting actively against Milan and other powers; since then, all Gonzaga had a military training, in which they were expected to take up the arms and fight. Eventually, cadet sons were encouraged to become Condottieri, exploiting, whenever possible, double political aims. Carlo Gonzaga, the younger son of the current ruler, Gianfrancesco, is a condottiero.
The Mantuan army is composed by two parts: a standing militia, serving as garrison force for the city and the surrounding castles, whose rights and duties are written down in the city’s Statutes, and a professional force, serving as retinue of the Marquis or his family, that served as an “export army”. Gonzaga family members are ready to serve with a notable strength of horsemen and support troops, being hired as condottieri by both Milan and Venice, and they are able to muster armies which you may not expect by a little state.


SOURCES
Roberto Brunelli, I Gonzaga. Quattro secoli per una dinastia, Tre Lune Editore, Mantova, 2010.
Selwyn Brinton, The Gonzaga - Lords of Mantua. Methuen & Co. LTD., London, 1927.

[Mylae]

MARQUISATE OF SALUZZO

The Marquisate of Saluzzo, like that of Montferrat, had its origin in the frontier march established by King Berengar II about 950 for his son-in-law Aleramo. The so-called “Aleramic March” was continuously divided among his siblings, giving birth to the branch of the Dal Vasto, holding power in the west as the Marquisate of Saluzzo, and the Aleramici, keeping it in Monferrato.


A prohemie, in which discryveth he,
Pemond, and of Saluces the contree,
And speketh of Appenyn, the hilles hye,
That been the boundes of West Lumbardye,
And of Mount Vesulus in special,
Wher as the Poo out of a welle smal,
Taketh his first spryngyng and his cours.
Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Clerk's Tale," from The Canterbury Tales




HISTORY
Originally counts, the Del Vasto family received in feudum the city of Saluzzo from the margrave of Turin, Ulric Manfred, in early 11th century. It passed to the margrave of Susa, of the del Vasto family branch of Savona, and, in 1175, the land was raised to margravial status by the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa.
Under the reign of Marquis Thomas I in late 13th century, Saluzzo blossomed, achieving a greatness which had eluded his ancestors. He crafted a state the borders of which remained unchanged for over two centuries. He extended the march to include Carmagnola. He was often at odds with Asti and he was a prime enemy of Charles of Anjou and his Italian pretensions. During his tenure, he made Saluzzo a free city, giving it a podestà to govern in his name. He defended his castles and strongholds vigorously and built many new ones.
Later, however, civil war erupted in 1330 between the half-brothers Manfred V and Frederick I of Saluzzo that lasted until 29 July 1332, leaving the Marquisate severely weakened. Through the intercession of Frederick's cousin, Amadeus VI of Savoy, Manfred was forced, after being caught in a sex scandal with his own mother, to cede the throne to his brother in 1334.
After the death of Frederick in 1336, Manfred declared war on the legitimate heir, his young nephew Thomas II. His army was mostly composed by Angevin mercenaries. In 1341, after a short siege, Saluzzo surrendered and his troops sacked it, destroying also the castle. Thomas was imprisoned. However, when the fortunes of Manfred's protector Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, declined after the battle of Gamenario, he was compelled by the Visconti to abandon Saluzzo in 1342.
In August 1347, Thomas II, Marquess of Saluzzo joined John II, Marquess of Montferrat and Humbert II of Viennois as they attacked Savoy and conquered former Angevin lands in northern Italy after the death of Robert of Anjou. The 1348 treaty which resolved this war left none of the participants satisfied and especially Saluzzo now owed allegiance to Milan, as well as his prior allegiance to Savoy.
This double vassallage and the impoverishment due to the war led Frederick II of Saluzzo to swearing loyalty to Charles, Dauphin of France in April 1375, in order to obtain help against the Savoyard pressures. Thomas III of Saluzzo tried to continue the philo-French politics of his father, mainly to face the menace of Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy, who aimed to conquer the whole Piedmont. In 1394 he was captured by Savoyard troops and was freed only two years later after a ransom of 20,000 golden florins had been paid. The current Marquis, Ludovico, son of Thomas III tried to keep a balance of vassallages between Milan, Savoy and France, always pursuing neutrality in all conflicts and proposing himself as mediator between conflicting neighbours.




TERRITORY
The county comprised the land between the Alps, the Po and the Stura river. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. This is the sector of Monvis, the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps, on the northern slopes of which are the headwaters of the Po river, called "Vesulus" in Roman times.


ECONOMY
Agriculture and mining
Grain and crops could not be sowed on high rocks: as the territory of the marquisate is mountainous, local people rely of food imports from the lower plains, pastoralism and animal husbandry, or hunting on the mountains. Here they can find the Alpine ibexes, mountain hares, weasels, marmots, chamoises, deers, wild boars, badgers, ptarmigans and so on.
Iron, lead, silver, copper and marble are found in the surrounding mountains: however, they are almost impossible to extract, being scarce and mixed with other material, thus making their extraction more costly than import for many minerals. Marble and Iron are the only profitable mining enterprises, which are operative under concession by the marquess of Saluzzo.

Trade and commerce
Saluzzo is just out of the Varaita valley, where the french-held Dauphiné has its last holdings. There is a narrow passage on Traversette which is used by merchants during spring and summer times. It allows come commerce between Piedmont and France, but could not be used in winter times and is quite risky. A costly but innovative project could be to dig a passage under the mountain, a tunnel, that could be used by man and beasts, to allow a shorter route and safer passage.
Salt trade from the Rhone delta could be incremented through this route, and prevent higher prices from imported Genoese salt.


POLITICS
Relations with Savoy
After a short war, in 1213 peace was established amongst the Marquis of Saluzzo and the Counts of Savoy; the regency that ensued in Saluzzo caused for the next century the vassalage to Savoy. Savoy is a powerful and troublesome neighbour, which has the clear intention to expand their power beyond the Alps and to enlarge themselves in the piedmontese lands. Savoy will pretend submission from Saluzzo and will try to invade and subdue the Marquisate if the conditions will be favourable - that is, if Saluzzo could not ask the French or the Milanese to effectively help them.


Relations with France
Saluzzo regards itself as a part of France that happens to be located in Italy. Even if this may sound odd, we have to consider that the Del Vasto family is of Frankish origin. Their links with France proper are also cultural: the marchional and other noble families are educated in France, and they contract marriages with other French people. France is a big brother whose help is necessary to survive, but this slow submission will make the marquisate totally dependent by them, and could only led to incorporation in France.


ARMY

Little is known on military matters on Saluzzo: documents relates about local militias, raised through feudal levées, to guard castles and watchposts, relying on noble's retinues and mercenaries during active warfare.


SOURCES
Delfino Muletti, Memorie storico-diplomatiche appartenenti alla città e ai marchesi di Saluzzo, Lobetti-Bodoni, Saluzzo 1830.
Luca Losito, Saluzzo fra Medioevo e Rinascimento, Società per gli Studi storici, archeologici ed artistici della provincia di Cuneo, Cuneo 1998.

[Mylae]

Signoria of Bologna

Quotes
«Many Florentine emigrants were also at Bologna».
Niccolò Machiavelli, History of Florence, Book III, Chapter V

«Filippo [Maria Visconti], at the request of the legate of Bologna, who was in fear of Antonio Bentivoglio, an emigrant of Bologna at Castel Bolognese, sent forces to that city; which, being close upon the Florentine territory, filled the Florentines with apprehension».
Niccolò Machiavelli, History of Florence, Book IV, Chapter I

«The whole of Italy would have obtained repose had it not been disturbed by the Bolognese».
Niccolò Machiavelli, History of Florence, Book VI, Chapter II

«There were in Bologna two very powerful families, the Canneschi and the Bentivogli. Of the latter, Annibale [Bentivoglio] was the head; of the former, Battista [Canetoli], who, as a means of confirming their mutual confidence, had contracted family alliances. But among men who have the same objects of ambition in view, it is easy to form connections, but difficult to establish friendship».
Niccolò Machiavelli, History of Florence, Book VI, Chapter II

«The Venetians attempted to take Bologna, and having armed the emigrants, and united to them a considerable force, introduced them into the city by night through one of the common sewers».
Niccolò Machiavelli, History of Florence, Book VI, Chapter V


HISTORY
Of Etruscan origin, the city has been a major urban centre for centuries, first under the Etruscans, then under the Romans (Bononia), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality and Signoria, when it was among the largest European cities by population.
The free commune of Bologna was severely weakened by decades of infighting, allowing the Pope to impose his rule in 1327. The papal governor was ousted by a popular rebellion and Bologna became a signoria under Taddeo Pepoli in 1334. Weakened by the Black Death, in 1350 Bologna was conquered by Archbishop Giovanni Visconti, the new lord of Milan. However, following a rebellion by the town's governor, Bologna was recuperated to the papacy in 1363. In 1376, Bologna again revolted against Papal rule and extreme infighting inside the Holy See prevented the papacy from restoring its domination over Bologna. In 1401 Giovanni I Bentivoglio took power by a coup with the support of Milan, but was killed by the Milanese when he allied with the Florentines. In 1438 a coup led by Annibale Bentivoglio kicked out of the city the papal envoy, declaring himself Signore and aligning with Milan, then at war with the Pope, Florence and and Venice. Bologna, however, did not took an active part in the ongoing war.


TERRITORY
Bologna is situated on the edge of the Po Plain at the foot of the Apennine Mountains, at the meeting of the Reno and Savena river valleys. The territory is largely flat, and stretches from the alluvial Po Plain into the Apennine Mountains, where lies the important “passo della Futa” mountain pass to Tuscany. As the land is in part marshy due to the several rivers and torrents, is highly fertile.


ECONOMY
Bologna is nicknamed “the Learned” as the city hosts the prestigious university, but also “the Fat”: this is a testament to the richness of the city compared to the surrounding area. However, Bologna is not a political neither an economic powerhouse. As symbol of the city, the Basilica of St. Petronius is perfect: it come out by decision of the city council, not of the Church, and the initial 1390 project envisioned it as the largest church in the world, with four bell towers: however, the funding were cut, the papal legate sold the construction material and construction proceeded quite slowly since then. So is the economy of Bologna: rich in capabilities, able to take on daring moves, but stopped and hampered by his more powerful neighbours, unable to look outward, self-centered on the city.

Agriculture
The economy of Bologna is characterized by a flourishing agricultural sector, traditionally centered on land cultivation in the plains and on the transformation of livestock byproducts – cheese and dairy products, but also cured pork meats such as prosciutto, mortadella and salumi is an important part of the local food industry. Vineyards are present, but less appreciated than those of nearby Modena or Romagna.

Industry
The textile and weaving industry the main and flourishing economic sector, taking advantages of rivers for running mills and early machine weavers. A notable sector is that of silk weaving, introduced from Lucca in 1272. Silk is imported through Florence, weaved and then sold in north Italy and exported abroad through Venice or Milan, and constituted up to 40% of city income until XVI century.

Canals
As the territory is rich in rivers, so is in river canals used for commerce. The Canale Navile was opened in 1208, linking the river Po to the city; on his outskirts, a river port was built. The canals of Reno and Savena brings in water to the city, creating a web of canals through a system of hydraulic engineering involving locks for raising and lowering boats on river and canal waterways.

Commerce and banking
Bologna, with Ferrara, had the leadership of Jewish banking network in Italy throughout the XV century. This is due to the flourishing cultural environment of Bologna: as flocks of students come in, they usually live on small loans; on the other hand, the study of medicine, law and theology attracts wealthy Jews from less tolerant parts of Italy and Christendom.
On pair with Jews, Florentines constitutes a rich group of bankers and merchants, living in Bologna for different reasons, but mainly because of business or political adversity.

University
The University of Bologna was founded in 1088 and was in advance of its times; its specialty was Roman and canon law, and it set standards in the way it was organised and the curriculum that were followed by other universities that sprang up elsewhere


POLITICS
Internal politics
Being centered on the city of Bologna, politics is what you may expect from a large city-state: two parties centered on two families with the respective allies. In 1440s, Bologna was divided among the Bentivoglieschi, led by the Bentivoglio family, and the Canneschi, or Caneschi led by the Canetoli family. But let us just read Machiavelli: "There were in Bologna two very powerful families, the Canneschi and the Bentivogli. Of the latter, Annibale was the head; of the former, Battista, who, as a means of confirming their mutual confidence, had contracted family alliances; but among men who have the same objects of ambition in view, it is easy to form connections, but difficult to establish friendship. The Bolognese were in a league with the Venetians and Florentines, which had been effected by the influence of Annibale, after they had driven out Francesco Piccinino; and Battista, knowing how earnestly the duke desired to have the city favorable to him, proposed to assassinate Annibale, and put Bologna into his power. This being agreed upon, on the twenty-fifth of June, 1445, he attacked Annibale with his men, and slew him: and then, with shouts of "the duke, the duke," rode through the city. The Venetian and Florentine commissaries were in Bologna at the time, and at first kept themselves within doors; but finding that the people, instead of favoring the murderers, assembled in the piazza, armed in great numbers, mourning the death of Annibale, they joined them; and, assembling what forces they could, attacked the Canneschi, soon overpowered them, slew part, and drove the remainder out of the city. Battista, unable to effect his escape, or his enemies his capture, took refuge in a vault of his house, used for storing grain. The friends of the Bentivogli, having sought him all day, and knowing he had not left the city, so terrified his servants, that one of them, a groom, disclosed the place of his concealment, and being drawn forth in complete armor he was slain, his body dragged about the streets, and afterward burned. Thus the duke's authority was sufficient to prompt the enterprise, but his force was not at hand to support it".


External politics
Relations with Papal States
Bologna has a complicated relation with Papal States. The Pope claims the city as its own, but has not enough strength to reclaim it. On the other hand, Bologna tries to balance between independence and a traditional Guelph allegiance. This is exemplified by the fact that Bologna is ruled by the Bentivoglio family, of former Guelph allegiance, but claiming a Ghibelline descent from Enzo, the illegitimate son of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Relations with Milan
Milan is for Bologna a big, fat neighbour. Milanese armies come and go on Bolognese land without anyone able to stop them, and Milan showed more than once the desire of submitting Bologna to his will. However, Milan was pivotal for Bologna in expelling papal legate, and helping the city council to reestablish independence from the Pope.

Relations with Florence
Florence and Bologna share a special relationship: all Florentine items that are not traded through the port of Pisa are traded through Bologna, as well as for all Bolognese imports coming from the western Mediterranean. More specifically, Bologna imports raw silk from Florence. The economic bonds between the two cities are of importance for both: and even if sometimes the two are on opposed coalitions, they almost always do not attack each other, as both will lose profitable income.


ARMY
City Walls
La Circla is the name by which the Bolognese refer to the city walls: the massive construction encompasses the whole city, with works discussed in 1226, started a century after in 1327 and ended in 1390. There are thirteen gates, twelve since 1445. The massive walls goes around the city for 7,6 km (4,7 miles). Walls are made of red bricks, and are built by two walls spanning about 1 yard each, filled in between with sand, pebbles and bricks rubble. This engineering feat allows the walls to resist cannon attacks preventing internal collapse.

City militias and mercenaries
Bologna did not have a standing army, but neither allowed large mercenary forces to run totally the army. There was no famous commander coming from nearby Romagna with large militia forces, but rather a large number of small mercenary groups hired when needed and used with local militia, to whom was trusted the keeping of several forts in Bolognese territory.
Is also worthy of note that in Bologna flourished a noteworthy martial tradition, as later manuscripts on the Art of the Sword show us the mastery of local trainers.

SOURCES
Massimo Fornasari, Il thesoro della città. Il monte di pietà e l'economia bolognese nei secoli XV e XVI. Il Mulino, Bologna 1994.
Amedeo Benati, Storia di Bologna, Bononia University Press, Bologna 1978.
Angelo Zanotti, Il sistema delle acque a Bologna dal XIII al XIX secolo, Bologna, Compositori, 2000.

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