Battle of Monte Porzio

Prataporci site, where the battle took place, view from Monte Porzio Catone

Date	29 May 1167
Location	Between the hill of Monte Porzio Catone and the walls of the city of Tusculum, the field of "Prataporci", modern Lazio
Result	Imperial victory

Belligerents

Holy Roman Empire

Roman city-state (Commune of Rome) army

Commanders and leaders

Christian of Buch
Rainald of Dassel

Oddo Frangipani

Strength

1,600 men

10,000 men

Casualties and losses

Unknown

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 been 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. He also sent two eminent prelates of the Empire, Archbishop Rainald of Cologne and Archbishop Christian of Mainz, commanding armies into Latium (the region around Rome) to subdue those city-states still opposing the power of the emperor. On 18 May, Rainald took Civitavecchia and then moved into the friendly city of Tusculum, possibly at the suggestion of Count Raino, an imperialist. The communal Roman army had been harassing Tusculum, a longtime rival. Pope Alexander, knowing that Barbarossa was likely to come to Raino's assistance, urged the Romans to abstain from attacking his city. It did not work: when the consul (leader) of the Roman commune learned of the arrival of Rainald at Tusculum, he sent an army to besiege the archbishop in the city.

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Wikipedia