Oath of Pontida

[4] In addition to the chronological aspect, which would seem to demonstrate the non-existence of the oath of Pontida as a constitutive pact of the Lombard League due to the two agreements signed before 7 April 1167,[4] the first mention of the incident must certainly also be considered which is quite posterior.

In an excerpt from the code of 1584 Successores S. Barnabae Apostoli in Ecclesia Mediolanensi, which refers to a note on the archbishop of Milan Umberto Pirovano, it is reported that:[6] [...] This archbishop, a man of the greatest prudence, after having held a meeting with the surrounding cities in the church of San Giacomo in Pontida in the Bergamasco to favor the rebuilding of the city of Milan, happily completed his desired initiative; but when death came, he could not fulfill his longed-for desire.

[...]In Archiepiscoporum Mediolanensium series historico-chronologica, which was compiled by Giuseppe Antonio Sassi in 1755 and which is linked to the aforementioned text of 1584, it can instead be read:[7] [...] The Galesini,[8] in the Synod Series, reports that this archbishop has been busy because his metropolis, destroyed by Federico, flourished again: that for this purpose he held a meeting in Pontida with the rectors of the neighboring cities to swear an alliance to free themselves from a game of terrible slavery and thus return to their original freedom; and finally that he attended you.

[5] In fact, over the centuries, there are many examples in which several meetings were needed to write down all the aspects of a bargaining: in other words, in history, it has been difficult to define in detail a pact or an alliance in few sessions.

[9] Every year at Pontida, in the month of June, in the Giuramento square, the historical phases that led to the birth of the military pact signed, according to tradition, on 7 April 1167 are recalled by about one hundred people in costume.