Alberico da Romano
Encyclopedia
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.
of San Zenone
to Ezzelino II da Romano and Adelaide Alberti di Mangona. He was brother of Ezzelino III
and Cunizza
. He married twice. From his first marriage, to a noblewoman from Vicenza
named Beatrice, he had one daughter, Adelaide, who married Rinaldo d'Este in 1235, and five sons: Ezzelino, killed in battle in 1243; Alberico; Romano; Ugolino; and Giovanni. From his second marriage to Margherita he had three daughters: Griselda, Tornalisce, and Amabilia.
Politically allied with his brother Ezzelino, Alberico served as podestà
of Vicenza on behalf of the Emperor Frederick II in 1227. In 1239 he was became detached from the Ghibelline faction and allied with the Guelph Guecellone da Camino. That same year he aided the Milan
ese against the emperor. In 1240, as a Guelph, he conquered Treviso
and became its podestà, governing it as a Ghibelline until 1257. Pope Alexander IV
excommunicated him and, in 1259, on the death of his brother in the Battle of Cassano d'Adda
, he was chased from the city of Treviso and took refuge in the castle of San Zenone with most of his family.
On 25 August 1260 the Guelph troops of Venice
, Trent
, Padua
, and Vicenza invested San Zenone. Completely circled and with no possibility of mounting a defence, Alberico surrendered in the hopes of saving his and his relatives' lives. The hatred his brother had incurred, however, was too great. The following day his sons, some still young children, were chopped to pieces before his eyes while he languished in chains. His female relatives were paraded naked through the streets and then burned alive. Alberico, having been forced to assist in their execution, was then tortured with hot irons, tied to the tail of a horse, and dragged through the streets of Treviso until dead. The chronicler Salimbene de Adam recorded that "Vidi ista oculis meis" ("I saw this with my own eyes").
and Uc de Saint Circ
. Folios 153r to 211r of the chansonnier
known as MS D, now α, R.4.4 in the Biblioteca Estense
, Modena
, form the Liber Alberici ("Book of Alberic"). The Libers rubric
reads: Hec sunt inceptiones cantionum de libro qui fuit domini Alberici et nomini repertorum earundem cantionem. The chansonnier was produced in 1254 in Lombardy under Alberico's patronage.
Alberico has been identified as the author of the poem Na Maria, pretç e fina valors. The rubric identifies the composer as one nabieiris de roman (or nabietris...), which could be a corruption of N'Albric de Roman; however, the name is usually considered a corruption of "Beatriz" and the poem is assigned to Bieiris de Romans
by most scholars today. Alberico does have one other work extant, a tenso
he composed with Uc: Mesier Albric, so.m prega Ardisons.
Alberico also has a connexion to the Sicilian School
of poetry. The man he replaced at Treviso was the Sicilian poet Jacopo de Morra di Puglia.
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
condottiero, troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
, and an alternatingly Guelph and Ghibelline
Guelphs and Ghibellines
The 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...
statesman. He was also a patron of Occitan literature.
Life and death
Alberico was born in the castleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
of San Zenone
San Zenone degli Ezzelini
San Zenone degli Ezzelini is a comune in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about 50 km northwest of Venice and about 35 km northwest of Treviso....
to Ezzelino II da Romano and Adelaide Alberti di Mangona. He was brother of Ezzelino III
Ezzelino III da Romano
Ezzelino III da Romano was an Italian feudal lord in the March of Treviso who was a close ally of the emperor Frederick II and ruled Verona, Vicenza and Padua for almost two decades...
and 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....
. He married twice. From his first marriage, to a noblewoman from 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...
named Beatrice, he had one daughter, Adelaide, who married Rinaldo d'Este in 1235, and five sons: Ezzelino, killed in battle in 1243; Alberico; Romano; Ugolino; and Giovanni. From his second marriage to Margherita he had three daughters: Griselda, Tornalisce, and Amabilia.
Politically allied with his brother Ezzelino, Alberico served as 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 Vicenza on behalf of the Emperor Frederick II in 1227. In 1239 he was became detached from the Ghibelline faction and allied with the Guelph Guecellone da Camino. That same year he aided the 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 ,...
ese against the emperor. In 1240, as a Guelph, he conquered Treviso
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...
and became its podestà, governing it as a Ghibelline until 1257. Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV was Pope from 1254 until his death.Born as Rinaldo di Jenne, in Jenne , he was, on his mother's side, a member of the de' Conti di Segni family, the counts of Segni, like Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX...
excommunicated him and, in 1259, on the death of his brother in 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 was chased from the city of Treviso and took refuge in the castle of San Zenone with most of his family.
On 25 August 1260 the Guelph troops of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, Trent
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...
, 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...
, and Vicenza invested San Zenone. Completely circled and with no possibility of mounting a defence, Alberico surrendered in the hopes of saving his and his relatives' lives. The hatred his brother had incurred, however, was too great. The following day his sons, some still young children, were chopped to pieces before his eyes while he languished in chains. His female relatives were paraded naked through the streets and then burned alive. Alberico, having been forced to assist in their execution, was then tortured with hot irons, tied to the tail of a horse, and dragged through the streets of Treviso until dead. The chronicler Salimbene de Adam recorded that "Vidi ista oculis meis" ("I saw this with my own eyes").
Poetry
Alberico was a friend and patron of troubadours and an Occitan poet himself. He is known to have had contact with SordelloSordello
Sordello da Goito or Sordel de Goit was a 13th-century Lombard troubadour, born in the municipality of Goito in the province of Mantua...
and Uc de Saint Circ
Uc de Saint Circ
Uc de Saint Circ or Hugues de Saint Circq was a troubadour from Quercy. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author of several vidas and razos of other troubadours, though only one of Bernart de Ventadorn exists under his name...
. Folios 153r to 211r of the chansonnier
Chansonnier
A chansonnier is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally "song-books," although some manuscripts are so called even though they preserve the text but not the music A chansonnier is a manuscript or...
known as MS D, now α, R.4.4 in the Biblioteca Estense
Biblioteca Estense
The Biblioteca Estense , established in Modena in the seventeenth century, is one of the most important libraries in Italy. The library is located in the Palazzo del Musei, Off Via Emilia, at Piazza Sant'Agostino 48.- Collection :...
, Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
, form the Liber Alberici ("Book of Alberic"). The Libers rubric
Rubric
A rubric is a word or section of text which is traditionally written or printed in red ink to highlight it. The word derives from the , meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or earlier...
reads: Hec sunt inceptiones cantionum de libro qui fuit domini Alberici et nomini repertorum earundem cantionem. The chansonnier was produced in 1254 in Lombardy under Alberico's patronage.
Alberico has been identified as the author of the poem Na Maria, pretç e fina valors. The rubric identifies the composer as one nabieiris de roman (or nabietris...), which could be a corruption of N'Albric de Roman; however, the name is usually considered a corruption of "Beatriz" and the poem is assigned to Bieiris de Romans
Bieiris de Romans
Bieiris de Roman was a trobairitz of the first half of the thirteenth century. Her birthplace was Romans near Montélimar. She left behind one canso, "Na Maria, pretz e fina valors" , addressed to another woman named Mary...
by most scholars today. Alberico does have one other work extant, a tenso
Tenso
A tenso is a style of Occitan song favoured by the troubadours. It takes the form of a debate in which each voice defends a position on a topic relating to love or ethics. Closely related genres include the partimen and the cobla exchange...
he composed with Uc: Mesier Albric, so.m prega Ardisons.
Alberico also has a connexion to the Sicilian School
Sicilian School
The Sicilian School was a small community of Sicilian, and to a lesser extent, mainland Italian poets gathered around Frederick II, most of them belonging to his court, the Magna Curia. Headed by Giacomo da Lentini, they produced more than three-hundred poems of courtly love between 1230 and 1266,...
of poetry. The man he replaced at Treviso was the Sicilian poet Jacopo de Morra di Puglia.