 | Viterbo: Encyclopedia II - Viterbo - History
Viterbo - History
Although Viterbo is very ancient, its precise origins are unknown. According to the notorious forger, Annio of Viterbo, it originated as an Etruscan town called Surrena. Under the baneful effects of local boosterism, this fabrication continues to be credited in certain quarters; but it has been demonstrated to be sheer invention, designed to endow his native town with an antiquity it did not possess.
At any rate, on the present site of Viterbo, or nearby, there was a little Roman colony (Vicus Elbii); whether this is the same centre referred to as Vetus Urbs ("Old City") in the Middle Ages is uncertain.
The first firm report of the new city dates to the 8th century, when it is identified as Castrum Viterbii. It was fortified in 773 by the Lombard king Desiderius in his vain attempt to conquer Rome. When the Popes switched to the Frankish support, Viterbo became part of the Papal States, but this status was to be highly contested by the Emperors in the following centuries, until in 1095 it is known it was a free commune.
In a period in which the Popes had difficulties asserting their authority over Rome, Viterbo became their favourite residence, beginning with Pope Eugene III (1145-1146) who was besieged in vain in the city walls. In 1164 Frederick Barbarossa made Viterbo the seat of his Antipope Paschal III. Three years later he gave it the title of "city" and used its militias against Rome. In 1172 Viterbo started its expansion, destroying the old city of Ferentum and conquering other lands: in this age it was a rich and prosperous commune, one of the most important of Central Italy, with a population of almost 60,000.
In 1207, Pope Innocent III held a council in the cathedral, but the city was later excommunicated as favourite seat of the heretical Patari and even defeated by the Romans. In 1210, however, Viterbo managed to defeat the Emperor Otto IV and was again in war against Rome.
In the 13th century it was ruled alternately by the tyrants of the Gatti and Di Vico families. Frederik II drew Viterbo to the Ghibelline side in 1240, but when the citizens expelled his turbulent German troops in 1243 he returned and besieged the city, but in vain. From that point Viterbo was always a loyal Guelph. Between 1257 and 1261 it was the seat of Pope Alexander IV, who also died here. His successor Urban IV was elected in Viterbo.
In 1266-1268 Clement IV chose Viterbo as the base of his ruthless fight against the Hohenstaufen: here, from the loggia of the Papal Palace, he excommunicated the army of Conradin of Swabia which was passing on the Via Cassia, with the prophetical motto of the "lamb who is going to the sacrifice". Other popes elected in Viterbo were Gregory IX (1271) and John XXI (1276) (who died in the Papal Palace when the floor of his room crumbled down), Nicholas III and the French Martin IV. The Viterbese, who did not agree with the election of a foreigner directed by the King of Naples, Charles I of Anjou, invaded the cathedral where the conclave was held, arresting two of the cardinals. They were subsequently excommunicated, and the Popes avoided Viterbo for 86 years.
Without the Popes, the city fell into the hands of the Di Vicos. In the 14th century, Giovanni Di Vico had created a seignory extending to Civitavecchia, Tarquinia, Bolsena, Orvieto, Todi, Narni and Amelia. His dominion was crushed by Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1354, sent by the Avignonese popes to recover the Papal States, who built the Castle. In 1375 the city gave its keys to Francesco Di Vico, son of the previous tyrant, but thirteen years later the people killed him and assigned the city first to Pope Urban VI, and then to Giovanni di Sciarra di Vico, Francesco's cousin. But Pope Boniface IX's troops drove him away in 1396 and established a firm Papal suzerainty over the city. The last Di Vico to hold power in Viterbo was Giacomo, who was defeated in 1431.
Thenceforth Viterbo became a city of secondary importance, following the vicissitudes of the Papal States and becoming part of Italy in 1871.
Other related archives1095, 1145, 1146, 1164, 1172, 11th century, 1206, 1207, 1210, 1240, 1243, 1257, 1261, 1264, 1266, 1268, 1271, 1276, 12th century, 1354, 1375, 1396, 13th century, 1431, 1460, 1472, 14th, 14th century, 15th century, 16th century, 1771, 1871, 1944, 4th century, 773, 8th century, 9th century, Amelia, Antipope Paschal III, Antoniazzo Romano, Arnolfo di Cambio, August 17, Avignonese, Baroque, Bolsena, Charles I of Anjou, Civitavecchia, Clement IV, Conradin, Desiderius, Etruscan, Frankish, Frederick Barbarossa, Frederik II, French, Ghibelline, Gil de Albornoz, Gothic, Gregory IX, Guelph, Hercules, Hohenstaufen, Italy, John XXI, King of Naples, Lazio, Lombard, Martin IV, Narni, Nicholas III, Orvieto, Otto IV, Papal States, Pope Adrian V, Pope Alexander IV, Pope Boniface IX, Pope Eugene III, Pope Innocent III, Pope John XXI, Pope Urban VI, Popes, Richard I of England, Romanesque, Rome, Salvator Rosa, Sebastiano del Piombo, Senese, September 3, Simon de Montfort, Swabia, Tarquinia, Todi, Urban IV, Via Cassia, Viterbo province, besieged, commune, comune, conclave, medieval, papier-mâché
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
