Siege of Alessandria (1175) 1174
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1174 | Wikidata P580 (start 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 | Holy Roman Empire, March of Montferrat, Municipality of Alessandria, Pavia | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 44.9133, 8.6200 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Siege of Alessandria was fought from 29 October 1174 to 13 April 1175 between the forces of Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, and the newly founded commune of Alessandria, supported by the Lombard League. It formed the central operation of Frederick's fifth Italian campaign and was one of the most important episodes of the War of the First Lombard League. Alessandria had been founded in 1167–1168 by communities of the Tanaro valley with the support of the anti-imperial communes and named after Pope Alexander III. Its creation was both a military measure and a political assertion, since the foundation of a new city challenged prerogatives claimed by imperial government in the Kingdom of Italy.
Frederick entered Italy in 1174 with a substantial army and initially achieved important political successes, including the submission of Asti and the renewed adherence of several northern Italian communities. Alessandria nevertheless resisted despite its incomplete fortifications. The siege became a prolonged contest of logistics and endurance in which heavy rain, flooding, cold, shortages and desertion progressively weakened the imperial army. A coordinated Lombard relief operation in spring 1175 threatened Frederick's position from the east.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Alessandria (1175) (revision 1379608282), 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.
Nearby battles
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Other battles of the Guelphs and Ghibellines
- Siege of Tortona 1155
- Siege of Crema 1159
- Battle of Monte Porzio 1167
- 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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