Republic of Pisa

Republic of Pisa Repubblica di Pisa (Italian)
c. 1000–1406
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Urbis me dignum pisane noscite signum ( Catholicism
Government	Oligarchic republic
Governanti della repubblica
• 1063–?	Giovanni Orlandi (first)
• 1202–1312	Consiglio degli Anziani[a]
• 1402–1406	Gabriele Maria Visconti (last)
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Established	c. 1000
• Participation in the Third Crusade	1189–1192
• Battle of Meloria	1284
• Annexed by the Republic of Florence	1406
Population
• Estimate	350,000 around the XIII century
Currency	Grosso pisano, aquilino
Preceded by Succeeded by March of Tuscany Taifa of Majorca Republic of Florence Principality of Piombino Taifa of Majorca
Today part of	Italy

The Republic of Pisa (

The republic's participation in the Crusades secured valuable commercial positions for Pisan traders, thereafter the city grew in wealth and power. Pisa was a historical rival to Genoa at sea and to Florence and Lucca on land.^[1]

The power of Pisa as a mighty maritime nation began to grow and reached its apex in the 11th century when it acquired traditional fame as one of the main historical

Rise to power

During the

The territory subjected to the Republic of Pisa has had important variations over the centuries. During the period of great political and economic expansion, the republic had its own consoles with commercial farms and warehouses in many seaside cities: Gaeta, Naples, Salerno, Messina, Palermo, Trapani, Mazara del Vallo and in Tunis.^[2]

Pisan troops were among the first to

For some years of that century, Pisa was the most prominent merchant and military ally of the Byzantine Empire, surpassing the Republic of Venice itself.

Its influence also extended to the major islands of the Tyrrhenian Sea:

• Sardinia from 1207 to 1324.
• Corsica from 1050 to 1295.
• Balearic Islands from 1115 to 1184. Pisan merchants were among the initiators of the 1113–1115 Balearic Islands expedition.^[3]

After the defeat of Meloria in 1284, the territory of the Republic gradually became more continental, limiting itself to the coast and to the immediate hinterland that from Migliarino to Piombino, with the islands of Elba, Gorgona, Pianosa, Giglio and Giannutri and the exclaves of Castiglione della Pescaia and Porto Ercole.^[4]

The important Pisan port, key to the entire state economy, was defended by some towers on the sea and on the land side by a fortified system of fortresses on the hills behind, having Lari as the seat of the captaincy of the upper hills, Crespina, Fauglia, Castellina, Rosignano and finally Livorno with the plan of Porto Pisano, essential outlet to dominate the western Mediterranean, while the area that intersected the Arno with the Valdera was defended by the castles of Appiano, Petriolo, Montecuccoli and finally, by order of foundation, that of Ponte di Sacco (1392).^[4]

Inland, in perennial struggle with the Republic of Lucca, the Republic of Florence and Volterra, its borders were very fluctuating having as contested castles those of Buti, Palaia, Peccioli, Montopoli (until 1349), Lajatico, Chianni ( until 1325), Santa Maria a Monte, Pontedera and in Vecchiano. The main strongholds were the Verruca fortress, near Calci, which served as the cornerstone of the mountain defensive system on the Lucca border that ran from the ancient lago di Bientina to the Serchio with the castles of Caprona, Vicopisano, Asciano and Agnano. On the Florentine road to block the access to Pisa there was the castle of Cascina, the scene of important Battle of Cascina. Castelnuovo di Val di Cecina was long disputed by Volterra.^[4]

The Maremma territory south of the port of Vada was administered in the name of the republic by the Pisan counts of Della Gherardesca family with the castles located in numerous cities such as of Guardistallo, Bibbona, Riparbella and Suvereto.^[4]

• 
  Pisan watchtower on Elba built by the Republic as a defence against Saracen pirates
• 
  The Pisa Griffin – a spoil from one of Pisa's many campaigns against Islamic strongholds
• 
  The flag of Pisa (

  Leaning Tower of Pisa

  (built 12th–14th century)

Decline

The rivalry between Pisa and Republic of Genoa intensified in the 13th century and resulted in the naval Battle of Meloria (1284), fought right in front of the Pisan port, which marked the beginning of the decline of the power of the city, with the renunciation of any claim on Corsica and with the sale of part of Sardinia to Genoa in 1299.^[5]

Furthermore, from 1323, the Aragonese conquest of Sardinia began, which deprived the city of the dominion over the giudicati of Cagliari and Gallura.^[5]

Given the difficult economic and political situation of the now decadent Republic, on February 13, 1399, the lord of Pisa Gherardo Appiani sold the city and the countryside for the sum of 200,000 gold florins to Gian Galeazzo Visconti of the Pisan branch of the Visconti family to become lord of Piombino and obtain the appointment as Lord of Pisa.^[6]

However, the control of the Republic by the Visconti did not last long, in fact Pisa maintained its independence and dominion over that part of the Tuscan coast and beyond until 1406, when it was occupied by the mercenaries Angelo Tartaglia and Muzio Attendolo Sforza who ordered the annexation to the Republic of Florence.^[7]

With Florence's domination began an unstoppable decline of the city which, in the past centuries had spread its Romanesque architectural style, even in Sardinian churches. Suffocated the commercial and merchant traffic, which had characterized its efficiency for centuries, some of the most important Pisan families such as the Alliata, the Della Gherardesca, the Caetani and the Upezzinghi, to escape the Florentine domination, emigrated to other Italian city-states, in particular to the Kingdom of Sicily.^[8][9]

See also

• History of Pisa
• Maritime republics
• Republic of Genoa
• Republic of Florence

Notes

1. ^ (English: Council of Elders) Was a government institution present in multiple italian city-states in the past. It was a council formed by a small number, varying from place to place, of "elders", considered wise, chosen from among the most powerful noble families of the city itself.

References

1. ^ "Pisa | Italy". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
2. ^ ^{a b} Lodolini, Armando. Le Repubbliche Del Mare (in Italian). Biblioteca de Storia Patria. pp. 48–67.
3. ^ Charles Julian Bishko (1975), "The Spanish and Portuguese Reconquest, 1095–1492", A History of the Crusades, Vol. 3: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, ed. Harry W. Hazard (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press), 405.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Benvenuti, Gino. Storia della Repubblica di Pisa. Giardini. pp. 19, 61, 62, 64–65.
5. ^ ^{a b} Benvenuti, Gino. Le repubbliche marinare: Amalfi, Pisa, Genova e Venezia (in Italian). Newton Compton; 1st edition.
6. ^ Bueno de Mesquita, Daniel Meredith. Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan (1351–1402). Cambridge University Press.
7. ^ Garuti, Giovanni. Medieval knights 1100–1476. Soldiershop.
8. ^ Memorie istoriche di piu uomini illustri Pisani (in Italian). Nabu Press. p. 202.
9. ^ Petralia, Giuseppe. Banchieri e famiglie mercantili nel Mediterraneo aragonese: l'emigrazione dei pisani in Sicilia nel Quattrocento (in Italian).

Citations

• Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016–1130. Longmans: London, 1967.

External links

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