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Crusade against Francesco Ordelaffi

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The crusade against Francesco Ordelaffi (1356–1357) was an international military campaign to restore the temporal power of the Holy See over part of the Romagna. Resistance was led by Francesco II Ordelaffi, lord of Forlì and Cesena. The crusaders were initially successful in detaching Ordelaffi's allies. The intervention of mercenaries on Ordelaffi's side changed the nature of the war. Papal authority was eventually reimposed with the help of Hungarian troops.

In 1353, Innocent VI, then ruling from Avignon, sent Cardinal Gil de Albornoz to Italy to restore papal authority in the Papal States. He met the greatest resistance from Ordelaffi and Manfredi. In October 1354, he had the declared heretics "on the grounds of contumacy".[1]

On 17 January 1356, Pope Innocent VI pronounced a crusade against Ordelaffi and his ally, Giovanni Manfredi, lord of Faenza.[2] The crusade was led by Albornoz and achieved early successes with troops supplied by the House of Anjou.[3][4] On 1 July, Innocent VI asked King Louis I of Hungary to send troops and to permit the Hungarian church to send raise troops. On 17 July, an agreement was reached. Louis was appointed standard-bearer of the Church (4 August) and granted a three-year tenth to cover his expenses (11 August). He was to provide troops to Albornoz upon request and in exchange the pope sanctioned his intervention in the civil war in the Serbian Empire as a crusade.[5]

The Manfredi changed sides before the end of the year. In response, Bernabò Visconti of Milan secretly hired the Great Company of German mercenaries under Conrad of Landau to assist Ordelaffi.[6] In early 1357, Hungarian troops arrived. In May, anticipating the arrival of the Germans, Albornoz requested Hungarian reinforcements.[7]

The Germans arrived in the Romagna on 18 June 1357. After their initial attempt to enter Tuscany failed, they camped at Forlì on 6 July. During his preaching that month, Albornoz extended the crusade to cover the mercenaries, on the grounds that they were guilty of "aiding heretics" (fautoria heresiae).[6] This was the first time a crusade was declared against mercenaries.[3] Albornoz also reduced the period of service required to receive the crusade indulgence. In Florence, the bishop of Narni declared in a sermon that the indulgence was available to anyone who paid one twelfth of the salary of a man-at-arms for six months. On 26 July, after negotiations with the republic of Florence, the bishop announced that all Florentines who confessed their sins within three months would received the indulgence. In exchange, the republic was to supply the crusade with a set number of troops for a set time. This cost the republic 100,000 florins.[6]

The Florentine contingent fought with the German mercenaries near Forlì on 26–27 July.[6] In August, however, Albornoz neutralized the mercenaries with bribes.[3] This policy was opposed by Florence.[6] Ordelaffi was finally defeated with the help of Hungarian troops.[1] In December, Innocent thanked Louis for having sent "a sizeable body of men-at-arms".[7]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Housley 1986, pp. 76–77.
  2. ^ Mascanzoni 2016, p. 2.
  3. ^ a b c Housley 1992, p. 245.
  4. ^ Lock 2006, p. 195.
  5. ^ Housley 1984, p. 197.
  6. ^ a b c d e Housley 1982, p. 259.
  7. ^ a b Housley 1984, p. 199.

Bibliography

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  • Housley, Norman (1982). "The Mercenary Companies, the Papacy, and the Crusades, 1356–1378". Traditio. 38: 253–280. doi:10.1017/S0362152900009454.
  • Housley, Norman (1984). "King Louis the Great of Hungary and the Crusades, 1342–1382". The Slavonic and East European Review. 62 (2): 192–208. JSTOR 4208851.
  • Housley, Norman (1986). The Avignon Papacy and the Crusades, 1305–1378. Clarendon Press.
  • Housley, Norman (1992). The Later Crusades, 1274–1580: From Lyons to Alcazar. Oxford University Press.
  • Lock, Peter (2006). The Routledge Companion to the Crusades. Routledge.
  • Mascanzoni, Leardo (2016). "The Italian "Crusade" against Francesco Ordelaffi (1356–1359) Lord of Forlì and How It Is Perceveid in the Chronicles". Academia.edu. Paper read at Diversity of Crusading, Ninth Quadriennial Conference of the SSCLE, Odense, 27 June – 1 July 2016.
  • Mascanzoni, Leardo (2017). La crociata contro Francesco II Ordelaffi (1356–1359) nello specchio della storiografia: Exurgant Insuper Christi Milites. Pàtron Editore.
  • Mascanzoni, Leardo (2024). "Crusades in Northern Italy in the Fourteenth Century". In Mike Carr; Nikolaos G. Chrissis; Gianluca Raccagni (eds.). Crusading Against Christians in the Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 115–136.
  • Poloni, Alma (2013). "Ordelaffi, Francesco di Sinibaldo". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 79: Nursio–Ottolini Visconti (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
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