LEAGUE OF LOMBARDY. — Taking advantage of the absence of Frederick Barbarossa, the cities of Cremona, Bergamo, Brescia, Mantua and Ferrara swore a league for mutual defence called the L. I. After other meetings whose details remain unknown, the delegates of the L. I. gathered on 7 April 1167 in the Cluniac monastery of Pontida and formed a defensive and offensive alliance, “salva tamen imperatoris fidelitate.” The treaty was to last fifty years. Mutual aid was pledged, faithful observance of future agreements established by common consent, rejection of any tyranny that might seek to impose itself against the laws and justice, obedience to the Christian Empire, war against pagan Caesarism, and respect for the Catholic Church.
In December 1167, through the intervention of the Archbishop of Milan Galdino, papal legate, the new League was sworn by sixteen cities: Venice, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso, Ferrara, Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Milan, Lodi, Piacenza, Parma, Mantua, Modena, Bologna. Its first act was the founding of a city between the Bormida and the Tanaro, which was named Alessandria in honour of Pope Alexander III.
The L. I. immediately bore excellent fruit: old enmities were removed, new ones prevented, and many disputes were settled, especially those between the people of Reggio, Modena and Parma. Ravenna, Rimini, Imola and Forlì also joined. In 1168 a new concord was struck between Marquis Obizzo Malaspina and seventeen cities including Como, and in 1170 Pavia adhered as well.
Frederick employed every artifice to detach the League from the Pope, but on 27 April 1170 the Pope wrote to the L. I., calling it a federation of peace and concord against Frederick, for the defence of the tranquillity and liberty of the Church. In 1174 Frederick returned to Italy and laid siege to Alessandria, whose walls were still woven with straw; in the spring of 1176 war was decided between the L. I. and the Emperor. The Lombards formed two chosen companies, called della Morte and del Carroccio. The clash took place at Legnano, where one of the most glorious battles in Italian history was fought. Frederick was defeated and barely escaped with his life. On 25 July 1183 the Peace of Constance was signed, in which the L. I. received full recognition. Once the heroic period had passed, the L. I. thereafter limited itself to representing the interests of the Lombard cities vis-à-vis the Emperor. In 1198 it was renewed for another thirty years, and in 1208 new pacts were struck. — See pl. LXVI.
LEAGUE OF LOMBARDY — The Oath of Pontida. Painting by Amos Cassioli (1884) — Siena, Palazzo comunale.