Under The Green Claws: The Last Of The Ghibellines

By Ivo Ragazzini

Under the green Claws is Dante's reference to an epic battle, which ended in a massacre towards the end of the thirteenth century, between a Franco-Guelph army, sent by Pope Martin IV, and the last remaining Italian Ghibellines after the death of Frederick II.
They had converged from all over Italy in Forlì, to defend it as the last remaining Ghibelline city with imperial laws. With a sensational sortie, they surprised and massacred the French army that had been besieging them for a year.
How and why this conflict came about and how things turned out will naturally be the subject of this book.
In fact it is a historical battle, brought to light by the darkness of the centuries, dedicated to the last Italian Ghibellines who, refusing to bow to the Pope, were remembered by Dante, when in the divine comedy he wrote ... and of the Franceschi a bloody pile,Under the green Claws are found.


In 1282, after a long series of conflicts between Guelphs and Ghibellines, an army organized by Pope Martin IV, made up of eighteen thousand French and Italian Guelph soldiers, was sent to Romagna to defeat the last Ghibellines once and for all who had gathered in Forlì to defend that land that they considered imperial dominion.
The last of the Italian Ghibellines, who remained faithful to the will of Emperor Frederick II, who had died thirty years earlier, converged from all over to aid the people of Forlì, who still proudly carried the imperial black eagles on a field of gold, which Frederick II himself had personally given them.
How things turned out and why such a situation came about is the subject of this book.
Even what Romagna was in ancient times is the subject of this story.
Romagna is a land rich in traditions and history that have been handed down over the centuries.
How this land was born and what Romagna was like at the time of Rome is not that difficult to discover, and in fact you will see that some of these things will be investigated in this story.
Sooner or later I will write a detailed historical account of Romagna, but the real purpose of this book is, and remains, the siege and battle involving the last of the Italian Ghibellines, which took place in Forlì towards the end of the 13th century.
As this story will inevitably account, for the first time ever, much of the information about the true origins of Forlì, which monuments and imperial traditions it inherited and why it became the last Ghibelline stronghold.
It will explain who the Ordelaffi really were and many other forgotten historical figures, such as the astrologer Guido Bonatti and the fighting friar Geremia Gotto, who were at the time present among the ranks of the Ghibelline.
Naturally, it will also tell you in detail how the Ghibellines under the command of Guido da Montefeltro, an unrivalled Italian captain at the time, defeated and massacred, in one day and one night, a French army of eighteen thousand French and Italian Guelphs who had put them to siege to submit them to the church.
This historical tale is thus dedicated to the honor and pride of the last of the Italian Ghibellines who, refusing to surrender to the force of arms, attacked and defeated, against all the odds, the thousands of soldiers who had besieged them for a year. I conclude by telling you that this book will inevitably lead you to discover many other things that have been forgotten by history, and I gladly offer it for your reading.
Enjoy this rediscovery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tektime
• Release date: Dec 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9788835433309

Book preview

1. Introduction

Inscription on an old tombstone dated 1282 set into the facade of an ancient funeral monument that was once placed in the center of Piazza Maggiore in Forlì, and had vanished for centuries.1

PER IL CAPRICCIO DEL ROMANO PONTEFICE MARTINO IIII, GIOVANNI D'APPIA DUCE DELL'ESERCITO FRANCESE IN ITALIA, E I SOLDATI FORLIVESI, SI DIEDERO BATTAGLIA DA ENTRAMBE LE PARTI NEL LUOGO DOVE TI TROVI.

BEN PRESTO DAL POPOLO DIFENSORE FURONO RESPINTI, E TUTTI GLI OTTOMILA COMBATTENTI DISPERSI.

CON ESSI PERSERO LA LORO VITA DUE MILA SOLDATI SCELTI CHE QUI GIACCIONO.

IL DUCE FORLIVESE GUIDO FELTRANO, CALENDIMAGGIO MCCLXXXII (1282).

(On the whim of the Roman pontiff Martin IIII, Giovanni d'Appia duke of the French army in Italy, and the soldiers from Forlì, both parties were in combat in the place you stand.

The defending populace quickly repulsed them, and all eight thousand fighters were killed.

With those who lost their lives were two thousand select soldiers who lie here.

The Forlivese duke Guido Feltrano, May Day MCCLXXXII [1282])2

This plaque was dedicated specifically to the victims of a violent battle that was fought hand to hand, street by street, by the Forlì Ghibellines, inside the walls of their town, against an army made up of French and Italian Guelphs that had been sent by Pope Martin IV.

This plaque and the monument, which at the time proudly indicated the exact place in Piazza Maggiore where the Ghibellines and Guelphs battled for a day and a night and how it ended.

This tombstone is no longer present and these events are recalled by Dante in a few poetic lines.3

But what happened to lead to such a slaughter of citizens?

2. Perugia, town hall in 1281

Pope Martin IV had recently been elected in Viterbo but had been crowned in Orvieto on 23 March 1281 and, because of the serious riots that had broken out on his election, he had recently moved to Perugia.

After a series of long battles fought by the Ghibellines against the Bolognese, the Guelphs of Bologna quickly turned to the new pope to send a French army against the Forlì Ghibellines to punish them.

A group of Bolognese Guelphs received a Ghibelline delegation from Forlì in a crowded room standing before the papal officials.

Present are a legate and a few papal officials, plus several Guelph allies and the powerful Bolognese Guelph faction of the Geremei.

For the Ghibellines there are representatives from the Ordelaffi, the Orgogliosi and the Bolognese Lambertazzi families, a large Ghibelline faction that had been expelled from Bologna and were being hosted by the Forlivese.

The atmosphere immediately becomes agitated and heated:

We want you to withdraw the request you made to the pope, who is sending a French army against us, and find an honorable and dignified agreement that respects our land and finds a dignified solution for the Lambertazzi who were unjustly expelled from their homes in Bologna several times only because they are Ghibellines, said the head of the Ghibelline delegation Guido Bonatti.4

The Lambertazzi were expelled from Bologna only because of their violent acts and the daily crimes they have committed against our Guelph families, and you have helped them and share their responsibility. If you don't drive them from your land, you will answer for what happens to them, to you and to your people, a Guelph representative of the Geremei quickly answered.

Our land is imperial. It is illegal to attack a sovereign state only because it grants asylum to people who have been expelled from Bolognese land, all the more so by the Church, which should have received from God the faculty of guaranteeing people the right to land.

"This is false. That land no longer belongs to you. Your emperor Rudolph of Habsburg, the legitimate heir of Frederick II and his dynasty, gave them to us in exchange for his being crowned King of the Romans by Pope Nicholas III5 a few years ago, and you should have given them to us some time ago and put yourself at our service. Furthermore, the right to land can only be granted to baptized Christians and not to apostates as are so many Ghibellines," answered a papal legate.

The gift Rudolf made is not valid, since he never came to claim and take possession of our land as emperor, after the death of Frederick II. Nor did he ever come to Italy to be crowned King of the Romans, so the land does not belong to him. That land was given to us by Frederick II, which means it is ours, we governed and defended the land of the empire and since then it has belonged to us and we intend to defend it, replied the delegation from Forlì.

That gift, on the other hand, is valid and legitimate since Rudolf gave that land to the pope. If he abandoned you it is not our fault and you should blame him, not us, replied the papal legate.

How things really went, and what the truth was, is not your unique privilege to show here. You tried to fight us because you are faithful to the empire and we attempted to defend ourselves according to our inherited imperial military traditions, not to fear and never give up in front of the enemy and now, after we have beaten the Bolognese repeatedly and faithfully in all places in Romagna, you have been forced to turn to the King of France to send an army of fanatics to destroy us as they did the Albigensian heretics. This does you no honor, replied the Ghibelline Guido Bonatti.

This is false, we were defeated because we were betrayed by the Lambertazzi, who made secret agreements with you while they were in Bologna and that is why we chased them from our city and now we will pursue you and them off the land as well. The land belongs to us because it was a gift from Rudolf I Habsburg, replied an angry Guelph noble from the Geremei family.

You speak with hatred of people who were defeated in battle. You tried to attack us on the plains and in the mountains, you were defeated repeatedly and now you are here requesting assistance from the Pope and the French, thinking you will intimidate us, but you have underestimated our imperial military traditions and the skills of our captain Guido da Montefeltro, which date back to the old military school of Frederick II. We only ask to speak with the pope to halt this army, make peace with Bologna, permit the Lambertazzi to return again to their rightful city and prevent the spilling of more blood on both sides, replied Guido Bonatti.

Voices and whispers of dissent rose instantly from the Bolognese delegation.

"We have already defeated your imperial military traditions in Tagliacozzo and Benevento.6 As for you, you have only barbarously attacked and razed the castle of Calboli7 to the ground, after they requested a truce in Romagna, and I see no great military traditions in this. As for the Lambertazzi, they will never return to Bologna. And you who protect them only want a safe place to go because you will be banished and banned together with them," replied the noble Guelph of the Geremei.

You shouldn't believe all the nonsense the losers tell you. The Calboli had requested a truce only after they had failed to hand Romagna over to you. I repeat that you are speaking out of anger and defeat as you were not able to conquer our land, but we are here to resolve these issues. If necessary, we will not give up even in front of the French, but first we want to talk to the new pope so as to prevent more bloodshed and to tell him not to listen to the complaints of defeated people who have no other way to fight us, replied Guido Bonatti firmly.

No. You won't speak to the pope. The pope, like his predecessor, is tired of hearing your speeches and explanations. You have damaged and destroyed the castle of the Calboli in Romagna, caused the fall of Cesena and Ravenna with your terror, and you have already been excommunicated and banned by the bishop of Ravenna. And now you must submit and expel all the Lambertazzies and Ghibellines from your land, who fervently hate the Guelphs and the church, replied the Geremei noble.

You have banished the Lambertazzi from everywhere you reign and even if we wished it, we could not send them anywhere that they have not been banned and excommunicated by you. Recognize Forlì to be a free Ghibelline city and we will have lasting peace between us. Let us talk about this with the pope immediately, stated Guido Bonatti resolutely.

"No. Pope Martin has already left for Avignon and your emperor Rudolph of Habsburg gave us that land and therefore it already belongs to us.

If you really want peace, give yourselves up to us and expel the Lambertazzi and all the tumultuous Ghibellines from your land," concluded the Geremei noble with the consent of the papal legate.

3. Pagan Romagna

Avignon 1281. Pope Martin IV and his military and papal legates speak of the papacy's plans for expansion in Romagna.

A legate told the Pope, Excellence. It is extraordinary that more than thirty years after the death of Frederick II there are still places in Italy where pagan traditions are being followed that prevent Christian expansion and subjugation.

Where are you talking about? asked the Pope.

"About Foro Livii and Romandiola.8 Not only do they claim the land is theirs, the site of the ancient Roman Empire, but they also believe they were founded by a famous pagan priestess and still celebrate festivals in her honor that seem more pagan than Christian," replied the legate.

What kind of celebrations do they perform? asked the Pope.

The legate attempted to explain as best he could, They have a kind of festival where a woman is dressed as the queen of fire, amidst lights and flames of all kinds.

Are you talking about a woman or a fiend? asked the Pope a little surprised.

No, wait, Your Holiness. Perhaps it will be best if I explain everything, intervened a pontifical historian who was present at the meeting.

Tell us about this, said the Pope.

"They celebrate a kind of golden calends,9 that is amburbal festivities,10 which are secretly dedicated to an ancient Roman priestess who was patron of that location, where they toast loaves of millet and spelt with grains of sacred salt, which come from the nearby Cervia11 saltpans, complete with rites and fires along the roads that lead to Forum Livii, while the sacred salt is carried by," explained the papal historian.

I've heard of something like this before. In various places the golden calends are still celebrated, but I did not know of this story of the spelt and salt loaves, said the Pope.

In fact, there are many other cities and places that still celebrate the golden calends, and it will not be difficult to transform these feasts into Candlemas dedicated to Our Most Holy Mother, the papal legate suggested to the pope.

That's true! As far as I remember, the golden calends are celebrated in several places even in France. For example, in various locations they toast crêpes and savory griddle cakes instead of loaves of spelt and salt," said the French pope.

Why do you think they still do these things? asked the historian.

As far as we know, it was handed down from Pope Gelasius in the distant fifth century, the golden calends were celebrated during the first days of February with fires and lights in the streets, which were usually celebrations dedicated to a priestess or goddess who had been elected patron or protector of a site at the time of Rome and the Caesars. Then someone tried to transform them into Candlemas or the feast of illuminated candles, replied the papal historian.

Female pagan patrons? asked the Pope in surprise.

"Yes, your Eminence. You are French and unfamiliar with Italian traditions, but they were usually priestesses, wives or daughters of high Roman officials who inaugurated12 or became patrons of an Italic site complete with a sacred ceremony13 to found it and ensure it was sacred and loyal to Rome."

And how can we fight these heresies? asked the pope.

After so many centuries none should believe in these heresies anymore, Eminence, but traditions and superstitions that are rooted in the population cannot be eradicated with arguments of faith or reason. Many Christians, including priests and bishops, bless them and still celebrate them as Christian holidays without knowing anything about their true origins, said the historian.

And how do you fight these things then, if someone wanted to fight them? the pope asked again.

It is possible to deviate, or rather, gradually pilot their false pagan festivals and traditions towards other similar Christian festivals and traditions, as has already been done in the past with other places and personalities, to the point of completely replacing them with ceremonies that are more suited to Christian peoples as has been done with Candlemas, which is also known as the feast of the candles of our Most Holy Virgin Mother.

The pope cut him short, "So let it take root in Forolivii and in Romandiola, and then baptize all of them