The
Battle of Montaperti was fought on September 4, 1260, between
FlorenceThe Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...
and Siena in
TuscanyTuscany is a region in North-Central Italy. It has an area of and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy...
as part of the conflict between the
Guelphs and GhibellinesThe Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting, respectively, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in central and northern Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries...
. It gained notoriety for an act of treachery that turned the tide of the battle, which was immortalised by
Dante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri , commonly known as Dante, was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His central work, the Divina Commedia , is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.In...
in his poem
Divine Comedy.
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions at least nominally supporting the Papacy and the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
respectively in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
during the 12th and 13th centuries; in practice, the divide between these factions often had more to do with local rivalries than with the hostility between papacy and empire.
In the middle of the 13th century, the Guelphs held sway in Florence whilst the Ghibellines controlled Siena.
The
Battle of Montaperti was fought on September 4, 1260, between
FlorenceThe Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...
and Siena in
TuscanyTuscany is a region in North-Central Italy. It has an area of and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy...
as part of the conflict between the
Guelphs and GhibellinesThe Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting, respectively, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in central and northern Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries...
. It gained notoriety for an act of treachery that turned the tide of the battle, which was immortalised by
Dante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri , commonly known as Dante, was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His central work, the Divina Commedia , is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.In...
in his poem
Divine Comedy.
Guelphs and Ghibellines
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions at least nominally supporting the Papacy and the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
respectively in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
during the 12th and 13th centuries; in practice, the divide between these factions often had more to do with local rivalries than with the hostility between papacy and empire.
In the middle of the 13th century, the Guelphs held sway in Florence whilst the Ghibellines controlled Siena. In 1258, the Guelphs succeeded in expelling from Florence the last of the Ghibellines with any real power; they followed this with the murder of Tesauro Beccharia,
Abbot of VallombrosaVallombrosa is a Benedictine abbey in the comune of Reggello , c. 30 km south-east of Florence, in the Apennines, surrounded by forests of beech and firs. It was founded by Giovanni Gualberto, a Florentine noble, in 1038 and became the mother house of the Vallumbrosan Order.It was extended around...
, who was accused of plotting the return of the Ghibellines.
The feud came to a head two years later when the Florentines, supported by their allies from around Tuscany (
BolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of northern Italy...
,
PratoPrato is a city in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato.Historically, Prato's economy has been based on the textile industry. The renowned are a significant collection of late medieval documents produced between 1363 and 1410...
,
LuccaLucca is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
,
OrvietoOrvieto is a city in southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The site of the city is among the most dramatic in Europe, rising above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are completed by defensive walls built of the same stone.- Etruscan...
,
San GimignanoSan Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometers outside the town....
,
San MiniatoSan Miniato is a town and commune in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy.San Miniato sits at an historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley between the valleys of Egola and Elsa...
,
VolterraVolterra is a town in the Tuscany region of Italy.-History:The town was a Neolithic settlement and an important Etruscan center with an original civilization; it became a municipium in the Roman Age. The city was a bishop's residence in the fifth century and its episcopal power was affirmed during...
and Colle Val d'Elsa), moved an army of some 35,000 men towards Siena. The Sienese called for help from King
Manfred of SicilyManfred was the King of Sicily from 1258 to 1266. He was an illegitimate son of the emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen but his mother, Bianca Lancia , is reported by Matthew of Paris to have been married to the emperor while on her deathbed.-Background:Manfred was born in Venosa...
, who provided a contingent of
GermanThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
mercenary heavy cavalry. The Sienese forces were led by
Farinata degli UbertiFarinata degli Uberti was an Italian aristocrat and military leader, considered by some to be a heretic, who appears in Dante's Inferno and is mentioned in C.S...
, an exiled Florentine Ghibelline. Even with these reinforcements, though, they could only raise an army of 20,000.
Battle
The two armies met at the hill of Montaperti, outside Siena, on the morning of September 4; at the head of the Sienese army was the formidable band of German mercenary cavalry. The battle raged all day, but despite their superior numbers, the Florentines were unable to make headway against the determined Sienese. As evening approached and the Florentines exhausted themselves on their opponent's defensive lines, the Sienese forces launched their counterattack, lead by the Count of Arras.
Though seemingly reckless, the Sienese were confident in counterattacking with such a significant numerical disadvantage because their charge was a signal to a member of the Florentine army, Bocca degli Abati. Although Bocca fought for Florence alongside the Guelphs, he was at heart a Ghibelline.
At the sign of the counterattack he made his way across the Florentine lines towards the
standard-bearerA standard-bearer is a person who bears an emblem called an ensign or standard, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used as a formal, visual symbol of a state, prince, military unit, etc.This can either be an occasional duty, often seen as an honour , or a...
of the Florentine army and hacked off his hand, causing the Florentine flag to fall. In the military climate of the day, the standard was all important—troops did not use uniforms, so the standard served as a way of knowing where the troop leader was and that he was still safe and in command—so the loss of their standard caused the Florentine army to panic.
Seizing this opportunity within the confusion, hundreds of Florentine Ghibellines attacked their Guelph compatriots as the main Sienese army charged, and the Florentines were routed, pursued by their enemies as they fled. It is estimated that some 15,000 men died.
After the battle, the German soldiers in the Sienese army used part of their pay to found the
Church of San GiorgioSan Giorgio is a church in Siena, Tuscany, Italy.The church was built from donations from the Battle of Montaperti. Soldiers in the Sienese army used part of their pay to found the church for they had called on Saint George for help as their battle-cry during the battle.Of the medieval edifice only...
in Pantaneto—the Germans had called on
Saint GeorgeSaint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and the...
as their battle-cry during the battle.
The battle in the Divine Comedy
Dante studied under Florence's Chancellor
Brunetto LatiniBrunetto Latini was an Italian philosopher, scholar and statesman.-Life:...
, who was himself away from the battle scene, on embassy in
CastileCastile may refer to:-People:* Brooke Castile , American pairs figure skater* Javier Castilla , professional Colombian squash player* Simeon Castille Castile may refer to:-People:* Brooke Castile (b. 1986), American pairs figure skater* Javier Castilla (b. 1981), professional Colombian squash...
seeking help for Guelph Florence from
Alfonso X el SabioAlfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...
. Dante would have learned of the battle, its preparations (documented by Latini in the
Libro di Montaperti), strategies and treachery, as well as those of the Battles of Benevento and Tagliacozzo, from the Chancellor, using material also to be gleaned later by
Giovanni VillaniGiovanni Villani was an Italian banker, official, diplomat, and chronicler from Florence who wrote the Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman of Florence but later gained an unsavory reputation and served time in prison due to the bankruptcy of a trading and banking...
, the Florentine merchant and historian. As a result Dante reserved a place in the ninth circle of Hell for the traitor Bocca degli Abati in his
Divine Comedy:
- When someone yelled: "What the devil's eating you,
- Bocca? Isn't it enough to chatter away
- With your jaws? Do you have to bark too?"
- "So!" I exclaimed. "Now there's no need for you to say
- Anything, you wicked traitor! Now I can expose
- The shameful truth about you to the light of day!"
The Ghibelline commander
Farinata degli UbertiFarinata degli Uberti was an Italian aristocrat and military leader, considered by some to be a heretic, who appears in Dante's Inferno and is mentioned in C.S...
is also consigned to Dante's hell, not for his conduct in the battle, but for his alleged heretical adherence to the philosophy of
EpicurusEpicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism.Only a few fragments and letters remain of Epicurus's 300 written works...
.
External links