Battle of Monte Porzio 1167
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1167 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Guelphs and Ghibellines | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Commune of Rome, Holy Roman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 41.8180, 12.7165 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Monte Porzio (also called the Battle of Tusculum) was fought on 29 May 1167 between the Holy Roman Empire and the Commune of Rome. The communal Roman army, which one historian has called the "greatest army which Rome had sent into the field in centuries", was defeated by the forces of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his local allies, the Counts of Tusculum and the ruler of Albano. Comparing its effect on the city of Rome, one historian has called Monte Porzio the "Cannae of the Middle Ages".
The site of the battle was the field between a small hill and the walls of the city of Tusculum, at a place called "Prataporci", about 25 km southeast of Rome. In his universal chronicle, the Chronica Universalis, the contemporary writer Sicard of Cremona describes the site of battle as "near Monte Porzio" (apud Montem Portium).
The Battle of Monte Porzio is part of the long struggle between the Italian city-states and the Holy Roman Empire. In 1166, Barbarossa set out on an expedition to Italy with the intent of deposing the anti-imperialist Pope Alexander III and setting up his own antipope, Paschal III.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Monte Porzio (revision 1370450330), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Guelphs and Ghibellines
- Siege of Tortona 1155
- Siege of Crema 1159
- Siege of Alessandria (1175) 1174
- Battle of Legnano 1176
- Battle of Calcinato (1201) 1201
- Battle of Cortenuova 1237
- Siege of Brescia (1238) 1238
- Siege of Faenza 1240
- Battle of Giglio 1241
- Siege of Viterbo 1243
All 22 battles of the Guelphs and Ghibellines →
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