Lombard League

The Lombard League (Latin: Societas Lombardiae; Italian: Lega Lombarda) was an alliance of cities formed in 1167,[1] and supported by the popes, to counter the attempts by the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman emperors to establish direct royal administrative control over the cities of the Kingdom of Italy (which was part of the Holy Roman Empire) after many decades of de-facto local self-governance.

[2] The association succeeded the Veronese League, established in 1164 by Verona, Padua, Vicenza, and the Republic of Venice, after Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa had claimed direct Imperial control over Italy at the 1158 Diet of Roncaglia and began to replace the podestà magistrates by his own commissioners.

[3] Formed according to tradition following the oath of Pontida on 7 April 1167,[4] the Lombard League included—beside Verona, Padua, Vicenza and Venice—cities like Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Genoa, Bologna, Milan, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Vercelli, Lodi, Parma, Ferrara and even some lords, such as the Marquis Malaspina and Ezzelino da Romano.

The Treaty of Venice, which took place in 1177, established a six-year truce from August 1178 to 1183, when in the Peace of Constance a compromise was found where after the Italian cities agreed to remain loyal to the Holy Roman Empire but retained local jurisdiction and droit de régale over their territories.

In 1226 Frederick, sole king since 1218 and emperor since 1220, aimed to convene the princes of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy in order to prepare the Sixth Crusade.

The efforts of Emperor Frederick II to gain greater power in Italy were aborted by the cities, which earned the League an Imperial ban.