|
The
history of Pisa
 |
In the meanwhile rivalry with
Genoa had broken out in a first naval conflict,
victorious, opposite the mouth of the Arno (06.09.1060),
while in a larger Mediterranean theatre the Pisan fleet
succesfully took part in the first Crusade. These
positive results helped the Maritime Republic consolidate
its position in the Near Eastern ports of call and in
particular in Constantinople. The subsequent conquest of
the Balearic Isles, terminated in 1115, and the victory
over Amalfi (1136), coincided with the peak of the city's
maritime and military power. But the 13th
century was to be fatal to Pisa, whose standing in the
Western Mediterranean had in the meanwhile equalled that
of Venice in the Adriatic and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The continuous rivalry on the seas with Genoa and fierce
contrasts with the Guelph cities of Tuscany (heated by
Florence and Lucca) led to an inexorable downfall. As a
result of its unconditioned support of imperial policies,
but above all because of the seizing of a group of
ecclesiastic dignitaries |
| who were on their way
to Rome to take part in a council which could have ended
in the removal of Frederick II of Swabia (1241), Pisa was
excommunicated by the Pope, and had to wage a bitter
struggle on two fronts - against Genoa (which also
declared Guelph sympathies) and against the Tuscan cities
which had by then become members of the Guelph League.
|
The disastrous
consequences of the war on land against the Guelphs and
the burdensome conditions consequently imposed by the
Florentines (1254), and in particular the collapse of the
Ghibelline ideal, were paralleled by events on sea: in
the fateful waters of the Meloria on August 6, 1284, the
day of St. Sixtus, a date up to then propitious for the
Republic, an astute naval maneuver of the preponderant
Genoese fleet, commanded by Oberto Doria, wiped out the
Pisan galleys, under the command of the Venetian Alberto
Morosini and Andreotto Saracini.
| It was absolutely
impossible forCount Ugolino della Gherardesca, who was
defending the port of Pisa, to come to the aid of the
fleet, which suffered heavy losses, and at least 10,000
prisoners were taken. The subsequent attempt of Ugolino
(who |
 |
| in the
meanwhile had become podestą) to impose a neo-Guelph
restoration in Pisa, ceding possession and castles to the
eternal Florentine, Luccan and Genoese rivals, earned him
the undisguised ostility of the Ghibelline faction, and
this together with that had happened at meloria, led to
new accusations of betrayal. In March of 1289 the
Ghibelline faction, with Archbishop Ruggeri degli
Ubaldini at its head, prevailed, and Ugolino, with his
children and grandchildren, was sentenced to die of
starvation in the Torre dei Gualandi. In the meanwhile
the peace of Fucecchio (12.07.1293) imposed new and
onerous conditions in favor of the Florentines, and the
hopes aroused in Ghibelline Pisa by the ephimeral episode
of Henry VII of Luxenbourg was to no avail. With the
advent of the podestą Uguccione della Faggiola, valorous
Ghibelline condottiere, Pisa took its revenge, conquering
Lucca (1314) and drastically defeating the Florentines
and their Sienese and Pistoiese allies at Montecatini
(29.08.1315). Subsequently, the prevailing party
struggles in the city (in which the philo-Florentine
merchant faction headed by Gambacorti was long opposed to
the anti-Florentine faction comprised of nobles and
entrepreneurs, headed by the Gherardesca) led the Genoese
to force the harbor and carry off the chains, which they
showed off as a trophy for many years (at present they
are once again in Pisa, in the Camposanto). On the land
front, the Florentines were once more victorious at
Cascina (28.07.1364). |
Page
1 - Page 2 -
Page 3
|
