![Pontida monastero benedettino 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Pontida_monastero_benedettino_01.jpg)
The oath of Pontida (''Giurament de Pontida'' in
Lombard, ''Giuramento di Pontida'' in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
), according to tradition, would have been a ceremony that would have sanctioned on 7 April 1167, in the abbey of
Pontida, near
Bergamo, in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, the birth of the
Lombard League, or of a military alliance between the municipalities of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Lodi,
Ferrara,
Piacenza
Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...
and
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...
aimed at the armed struggle against the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
by
Frederick Barbarossa.
The oath of Pontida does not appear on contemporary documents, being mentioned for the first time in 1505, then three and a half centuries after the traditional date of 7 April 1167.
History
Contemporary sources
![Giuramento di Pontida (Giuseppe Mazza)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Giuramento_di_Pontida_%28Giuseppe_Mazza%29.JPG)
The event is questioned by historians, given that in the contemporary chronicles written between 1152 and 1189, no
Pontida oath is cited. Its first mention is in fact late, since it appears on a document dated 1505.
However, contemporary sources cite the fact that the municipalities of the Lombard League had signed pacts to counter Barbarossa's hegemony by helping each other. Most of these writings, however, argue the event in a rather vague way, without describing the details: neither the locations nor the precise dates of the signing of the pacts are mentioned. On the ''
Piacentina chronicle'', regarding the agreement reached for the rebuilding of Milan, we can read:
The most precise contemporary historical sources tell of at least three oaths among the municipalities of the Lombard League: the first, signed between the end of February and the beginning of March 1167 between
Bergamo,
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...
,
Cremona and
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...
and known as the "Bergamo oath "; the second, also signed by Milan in March 1167, which joined the four cities in the just mentioned oath; the third, also signed by Lodi in May of the same year, which became part of the previously mentioned coalition, formed by Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Mantua and Milan.
Considering the date of 7 April 1167, we can therefore state that the oath of Pontida, even if it was actually signed, was not the constitution of the Lombard League, since at least two previous oaths are cited on historical documents.
The following documents
![Pontida targa giuramento 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Pontida_targa_giuramento_01.jpg)
In addition to the chronological aspect, which would seem to demonstrate the non-existence of the oath of Pontida as a constitutive pact of the Lombard League due to the two agreements signed before 7 April 1167, the first mention of the incident must certainly also be considered which is quite posterior.
In particular, the oath of Pontida appears for the first time on a document dated 1505 by Bernardino Corio - therefore about 350 years after the canonical date of 7 April 1167 - which is called ''Historia Patria'' and which has as its subject the
history of Milan
Milan, Italy is an ancient city in northern Italy first settled in about 400 BC by Celtic Insubres. The settlement was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC and renamed it Mediolanum. Diocletian divided the Roman Empire, choosing the eastern half for ...
.
Then all the subsequent documents referring to the oath of Pontida were inspired by the ''Historia Patria'' by
Bernardino Corio
Bernardino Corio (born 1459 in Milan; died ca.1519) was an Italian humanist and historian of the Renaissance. He wrote ''Historia di Milano'' circa 1500.
Biography
Bernardino Corio came from a renowned Milanese family that had served the Sforza ...
. In an excerpt from the code of 1584 ''Successores S. Barnabae Apostoli in Ecclesia Mediolanensi'', which refers to a note on the
archbishop of Milan
The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has lon ...
Umberto Pirovano, it is reported that:
![Giuramento di Pontida (Amos Cassioli)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Giuramento_di_Pontida_%28Amos_Cassioli%29.jpg)
In ''Archiepiscoporum Mediolanensium series historico-chronologica'', which was compiled by Giuseppe Antonio Sassi in 1755 and which is linked to the aforementioned text of 1584, it can instead be read:
Hypothesis on a possible oath of Pontida
However, it is possible that there were other agreements signed by the municipalities of the Lombard League of which the documented trace was then lost. In fact, over the centuries, there are many examples in which several meetings were needed to write down all the aspects of a bargaining: in other words, in history, it has been difficult to define in detail a pact or an alliance in few sessions.
As far as
Pontida is concerned, we must also observe its close link with
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
: the municipality near Bergamo belonged to the
archdiocese of Milan
The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has lon ...
although it was understood, from a geographical point of view, in the county of
Bergamo.
It is therefore not excluded that there was also an oath at Pontida, whose references to contemporary documentation were then lost.
Commemorations
Every year at Pontida, in the month of June, in the Giuramento square, the historical phases that led to the birth of the military pact signed, according to tradition, on 7 April 1167 are recalled by about one hundred people in costume.
On the occasion of the re-enactment, recreational and cultural events are also organized.
Since 1990, the autonomous political party of the
Lega Nord has annually organized a meeting at Pontida that celebrates the eponymous medieval oath.
During the event the most important political exponents of the party intervene.
Citations
References
*
{{refend
1167 in Europe
12th century in Italy
1160s in the Holy Roman Empire
History of Lombardy
Oaths