Ezzelino III da Romano
Encyclopedia
Ezzelino III da Romano (April 25, 1194 – October 7, 1259) was an Italian feudal lord in the March of Treviso
(the modern Veneto) who was a close ally of the emperor Frederick II
and ruled Verona
, Vicenza
and Padua
for almost two decades. He became infamous as a cruel tyrant though much of his sinister reputation may be due to the propaganda of his many enemies.
, and Adelaide degli Alberti di Mangona, who came from a family of counts in Tuscany
. At the age of four years he was sent as a hostage to Verona. Nothing else is known about his childhood or education. In 1213 he took part in the siege of the castle of Este
, which belonged to his father's archenemy, marquis Azzo VI of Este
, who died in 1212, and later to his son Aldobrandino. According to the chronicler Rolandino of Padua
, the young Ezzelino already showed a keen interest in siegecraft and acquired a hatred of the Este which would last his entire life.
, who got the castles and villages in the contado of Vicenza (including the important centre of Bassano) and Ezzelino, who got the possessions in the contado of Treviso. In 1226 Ezzelino intervened in a faction struggle in Verona and aided the Veronese factions of the Monticuli and Quattuorviginti against their enemies, the so called pars comitis ("party of the" count), which was headed by the Veronese count Richard of San Bonifacio. From this time onwards Ezzelino became an important factor in Veronese politics. In 1226/1227 he was podestà
of the city.
At this time control over Verona was highly important because Emperor Frederick II was in conflict with the Second Lombard League
, an alliance of cities in Northern Italy. Whoever controlled Verona, could block the Brenner
pass and thereby prevent the arrival of reinforcements for Frederick from Germany. Ezzelino initially favoured the Lombard League which could block the Brenner in 1226 and emerge victorious from its first confrontation with the Emperor. Later, however, Ezzelino and his brother Alberico changed sides when it became apparent that the League favoured their enemies in the March, the Este and San Bonifacio. In 1232 they struck an alliance with Frederick and received an imperial privilege of protection. However four years passed before Frederick could personally intervene in the March of Treviso. The years 1232-1236 were therefore very hard for Ezzelino and Alberico, who were assaulted by many enemies, primarily the San Bonifacio, the Este and the city of Padua.
In 1236 Frederick finally arrived in the March. Since Ezzelino and his Veronese allies, the Monticuli and Quattuorviginti had gained control of Verona in early 1236, the emperor could bring reinforcements - among them 3000 German knights - from across the Alps into the March. In a campaign that began in November 1236 Frederich and Ezzelino, who was becoming an increasingly important ally of the emperor, subjugated all the important cities of the March of Treviso (Vicenza was conquered in November 1236, Padua and Treviso surrendered in February/March 1237).
In 1236 Ezzolino married Selvaggia, Frederick's natural daughter. Ezzelino conquered Verona
and, by treason, Padua
, seizing the position of podestà
of that city. He was one of the protagonists in the Ghibelline-Imperial victory of Cortenuova
(1238), and was named Imperial viceroy for the March of Treviso
. His long-lasting struggle against Azzo VII, the new duke of Este
after 1215, ended with the total defeat of the latter, and the annexion of many territories in what was now a veritable small empire for Ezzelino.
After a pacification attempt by Frederick, when the emperor set off again, Ezzelino attacked the Este, submitting Treviso (even if his brother's fief), Belluno
and Feltre
. Ezzelino was now signore of all lands between Trento
and the Oglio river. He had acquired a reputation for cruelty and merciless use of torture
against enemies and alleged plotters in the cities he ruled.
In 1249, after Selvaggia's death, he married Beatrice di Buontraverso.
In 1254, four years after Frederick II's death, he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV
, who also launched a crusade against him. He reconciled with his brother and allied with other seignors of the Veneto and Lombardy
, attacking Padua, which resisted, and Brescia, which was instead sacked after an easy victory of his German knights over the crusade army.
In 1258 he launched a broad Ghibelline offensive in Lombardy and Veneto along with Oberto Pallavicino of Cremona
. In 1259 he assaulted the castle of Priola
, near Vicenza
, and had all the defenders mutilated. After a failed attempt to assault Milan
itself, he was wounded by an arrow in the course of the Battle of Cassano d'Adda
. He had to retreat but was captured near Bergamo
.
Rolandino of Padua
's Chronicle of the Trevisan March (c. 1262) charts the rise and the fall of the da Romano family, introducing Ezzelino as a young man throwing stones at the home of the family rival. The extremely partisan political work follows the fortunes of Padua under the tyrant's iron grip up to the commune
's liberation by the Guelph League.
Albertino Mussato
's Ecerinis (c. 1315) portrays Ezzelino as the son of the Devil
. The Latin verse play introduces Ezzelino's mother, who provides testimony of the tyrant's infernal sire.
In Dante Aligheri's Divine Comedy, his soul is consigned to Hell
, where Dante encounters him in the Seventh Circle, First Ring: the Violent against their Neighbors (Inferno, XII, 109). His younger sister Cunizza
is also cited by Dante, in Paradise, IX, 31-33.
Before Ezzelino, the seizing of political power in city-states throughout the Middle Ages had been based on real or pretended inheritance claims, or else were directed against infidels and the excommunicated. But with him, as the historian Jacob Burkhardt relates, "Here for the first time the attempt was openly made to found a throne by wholesale murder and endless barbarities, by the adoption in short, of any means with a view to nothing but the end pursued." The example set by the success of this kind of ruthlessness was not lost on the future tyrants of late Middle Age and early Renaissance Italy.
Treviso
Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...
(the modern Veneto) who was a close ally of the emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
and ruled Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
and Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
for almost two decades. He became infamous as a cruel tyrant though much of his sinister reputation may be due to the propaganda of his many enemies.
Origins and early years
Ezzelino was son of Ezzelino II da Romano, ruler of BassanoBassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa is a city and comune in the province of Vicenza, region Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo sul Brenta, Conco, Rosà, Cartigliano and Nove...
, and Adelaide degli Alberti di Mangona, who came from a family of counts in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
. At the age of four years he was sent as a hostage to Verona. Nothing else is known about his childhood or education. In 1213 he took part in the siege of the castle of Este
Este, Italy
Este is a town and comune of the Province of Padua, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Euganei Hills. The town is a centre for farming, crafts and industry worthy of note.-History:...
, which belonged to his father's archenemy, marquis Azzo VI of Este
Azzo VI of Este
Azzo VI , known as Azzolino, was the Marquis of Este from the death of his father, Azzo V, in 1190 until his death...
, who died in 1212, and later to his son Aldobrandino. According to the chronicler Rolandino of Padua
Rolandino of Padua
Rolandino of Padova was an Italian medieval jurist and writer.He studied at the University of Bologna, where he was a pupil of Boncompagno da Signa...
, the young Ezzelino already showed a keen interest in siegecraft and acquired a hatred of the Este which would last his entire life.
Rise to power 1226-1239
When Ezzelino II retired to a monastery in 1223, his possessions went to his sons AlbericoAlberico da Romano
Alberico da Romano , called Alberico II, was an Italian condottiero, troubadour, and an alternatingly Guelph and Ghibelline statesman. He was also a patron of Occitan literature.-Life and death:...
, who got the castles and villages in the contado of Vicenza (including the important centre of Bassano) and Ezzelino, who got the possessions in the contado of Treviso. In 1226 Ezzelino intervened in a faction struggle in Verona and aided the Veronese factions of the Monticuli and Quattuorviginti against their enemies, the so called pars comitis ("party of the" count), which was headed by the Veronese count Richard of San Bonifacio. From this time onwards Ezzelino became an important factor in Veronese politics. In 1226/1227 he was podestà
Podestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
of the city.
At this time control over Verona was highly important because Emperor Frederick II was in conflict with the Second Lombard League
Lombard League
The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1167, which at its apex included most of the cities of northern Italy , including, among others, Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Padua, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Venice, Vercelli, Vicenza, Verona,...
, an alliance of cities in Northern Italy. Whoever controlled Verona, could block the Brenner
Brenner
Brenner might refer to:* The Brenner Pass, one of the major passes through the Alps, linking Italy and Austria* Brenner, a municipality in South Tyrol* Brenner Base Tunnel railway tunnel through the base of the Brenner massif.* Brenner...
pass and thereby prevent the arrival of reinforcements for Frederick from Germany. Ezzelino initially favoured the Lombard League which could block the Brenner in 1226 and emerge victorious from its first confrontation with the Emperor. Later, however, Ezzelino and his brother Alberico changed sides when it became apparent that the League favoured their enemies in the March, the Este and San Bonifacio. In 1232 they struck an alliance with Frederick and received an imperial privilege of protection. However four years passed before Frederick could personally intervene in the March of Treviso. The years 1232-1236 were therefore very hard for Ezzelino and Alberico, who were assaulted by many enemies, primarily the San Bonifacio, the Este and the city of Padua.
In 1236 Frederick finally arrived in the March. Since Ezzelino and his Veronese allies, the Monticuli and Quattuorviginti had gained control of Verona in early 1236, the emperor could bring reinforcements - among them 3000 German knights - from across the Alps into the March. In a campaign that began in November 1236 Frederich and Ezzelino, who was becoming an increasingly important ally of the emperor, subjugated all the important cities of the March of Treviso (Vicenza was conquered in November 1236, Padua and Treviso surrendered in February/March 1237).
In 1236 Ezzolino married Selvaggia, Frederick's natural daughter. Ezzelino conquered Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
and, by treason, Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, seizing the position of podestà
Podestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
of that city. He was one of the protagonists in the Ghibelline-Imperial victory of Cortenuova
Battle of Cortenuova
The Battle of Cortenuova was fought on 27 November 1237 in the course of the Guelphs and Ghibellines Wars: in it, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II defeated the Second Lombard League.-Background:...
(1238), and was named Imperial viceroy for the March of Treviso
March of Treviso
The March of Treviso was a medieval territory in Venetia, between the Garda and the Julian March. The territory corresponded roughly to the region around the city of Treviso, including Belluno, Feltre, and Ceneda and the dioceses of all four cities. It bordered the March of Verona and the Muson...
. His long-lasting struggle against Azzo VII, the new duke of Este
Este
The House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches; the elder is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf historically rendered in English, Guelf or Guelph...
after 1215, ended with the total defeat of the latter, and the annexion of many territories in what was now a veritable small empire for Ezzelino.
After a pacification attempt by Frederick, when the emperor set off again, Ezzelino attacked the Este, submitting Treviso (even if his brother's fief), Belluno
Belluno
Belluno , is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about 100 kilometres north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomiti's region. With its roughly 37,000 inhabitants, it the largest populated area...
and Feltre
Feltre
Feltre is a town and comune of the province of Belluno in Veneto, northern Italy. A hill town in the southern reaches of the province, it is located on the Stizzon River, about 4 km from its junction with the Piave, and 20 km southwest from Belluno...
. Ezzelino was now signore of all lands between Trento
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...
and the Oglio river. He had acquired a reputation for cruelty and merciless use of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
against enemies and alleged plotters in the cities he ruled.
In 1249, after Selvaggia's death, he married Beatrice di Buontraverso.
In 1254, four years after Frederick II's death, he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV , born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was pope from June 25, 1243 until his death in 1254.-Early life:...
, who also launched a crusade against him. He reconciled with his brother and allied with other seignors of the Veneto and Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, attacking Padua, which resisted, and Brescia, which was instead sacked after an easy victory of his German knights over the crusade army.
In 1258 he launched a broad Ghibelline offensive in Lombardy and Veneto along with Oberto Pallavicino of Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
. In 1259 he assaulted the castle of Priola
Priola
Priola is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 90 km southeast of Turin and about 40 km southeast of Cuneo...
, near Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
, and had all the defenders mutilated. After a failed attempt to assault Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
itself, he was wounded by an arrow in the course of the Battle of Cassano d'Adda
Battle of Cassano (1259)
The Battle of Cassano was fought in the Autumn of 1259 between a Guelph and a Ghibelline army in northern Italy.In 1259, Ezzelino da Romano and his Ghibelline army moved into Lombardy and besieged Orci Novi. But the approach of the Guelph army forced Ezzelino to abandon the siege and cross the...
. He had to retreat but was captured near Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
.
Legacy
Much of what we know about Ezzelino comes from a literary tradition that was embroidered over the course of centuries. Despite the brevity of his reign, Ezzelino’s reputed cruelty became symbolic of tyranny. Poets and chroniclers living in recent memory of his tactics used his name to evoke the sense of arbitrary power and the moral transgressions it enabled. Fourteenth century authors raised the level of accusation, insisting that Ezzelino’s parentage was demonic.Rolandino of Padua
Rolandino of Padua
Rolandino of Padova was an Italian medieval jurist and writer.He studied at the University of Bologna, where he was a pupil of Boncompagno da Signa...
's Chronicle of the Trevisan March (c. 1262) charts the rise and the fall of the da Romano family, introducing Ezzelino as a young man throwing stones at the home of the family rival. The extremely partisan political work follows the fortunes of Padua under the tyrant's iron grip up to the commune
Medieval commune
Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread...
's liberation by the Guelph League.
Albertino Mussato
Albertino Mussato
Albertino Mussato was an Early Renaissance Italian statesman, poet, historian and dramatist credited with providing an impetus to the revival of literary Latin....
's Ecerinis (c. 1315) portrays Ezzelino as the son of the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
. The Latin verse play introduces Ezzelino's mother, who provides testimony of the tyrant's infernal sire.
In Dante Aligheri's Divine Comedy, his soul is consigned to Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, where Dante encounters him in the Seventh Circle, First Ring: the Violent against their Neighbors (Inferno, XII, 109). His younger sister Cunizza
Cunizza da Romano
Cunizza da Romano was an Italian noblewoman, the third daughter of Ezzelino II da Romano and Adelaide di Mangona, and sister to Ezzelino III and Alberico da Romano....
is also cited by Dante, in Paradise, IX, 31-33.
Before Ezzelino, the seizing of political power in city-states throughout the Middle Ages had been based on real or pretended inheritance claims, or else were directed against infidels and the excommunicated. But with him, as the historian Jacob Burkhardt relates, "Here for the first time the attempt was openly made to found a throne by wholesale murder and endless barbarities, by the adoption in short, of any means with a view to nothing but the end pursued." The example set by the success of this kind of ruthlessness was not lost on the future tyrants of late Middle Age and early Renaissance Italy.
See also
- Ezzelino da RomanoEzzelino da RomanoEzzelino da Romano was the name of various seignors of fiefs and cities in northern Italy starting from the 12th century AD.*The family was founded by Ecelo , who received the fiefs of Romano, including Romano d'Ezzelino and Onara, near Cittadella, Veneto*Ezzelino II il Balbo*Ezzelino II da Romano,...
- Frederick II, Holy Roman EmperorFrederick II, Holy Roman EmperorFrederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
- Guelphs and GhibellinesGuelphs and GhibellinesThe Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...