Blood and Divine Punishment
Sante's widow Flora quickly attempted to secure the succession for her sons. But she underestimated her stepson Orlando's wife, Argentina the Lame. Argentina was a ruthless and cunning woman, and ever since she came to the Tuscan court, she has been establishing contacts, making friends, and securing support for her husband. When Flora and the marshal Gregorio Segni attempted to rally their followers, they found that they had rather fewer allies than they thought. The nobles and the burghers turned against them quickly, and matters came to a head at the court of Firenze.
In what became known as Red November, Flora's side of the family was ruthlessly butchered by Orlando and Argentina's supporters. Flora herself was strangled by one of her maids. Her son Cosma was thrown from a tower to his death; the two-year old Lealdo had his head dashed against a wall. Her fifteen-year old daughter Tomasina was given to a regiment of soldiers, and nothing was heard of her again. Only Flora's eldest son Giorgio survived, because he threw himself at the feet of his half-brother Orlando and begged for his life. Marshal Gregorio Segni was arrested and tortured to death. Before he died, he revealed the mystery of the death of Sante's father, duke Federigo. It was Sante's wife Flora, worried about Federigo's disfavor of Sante, who bribed the ransom bearers to disappear, and arranged for Federigo's death in Benevento.
Thus by the end of November 1134, Orlando became the undisputed duke of Toscana. Though it was his wife who masterminded his ascension, he soon became known as Orlando Red-Hand. He showered favors on his main supporters, the German von Nordgau family; his brother-in-law Friedrich was made count of Piemonte, while Friedrich's brothers Wilhelm and Johann were appointed marshal and chaplain, respectively.
The year 1135 reinforced the nickname given to Orlando. His wife Argentina continued looking for ways to increase her husband's power. At the time, Toulouse was still ruled by Orlando's cousin, the three-year old Germano di Canossa. Orlando himself was fourth in line to inherit that duchy. And so, Argentina concocted a plan to eliminate all other successors and add Toulouse to the main Canossa line. In January 1135, young Iacopo della Scala was found drowned in his baby bath; as he lived in Croatia and was only a babe, no great investigation into his death was made. In spring, however, the deaths of Tiziano and Laurenc de Bearn while hunting made many suspicious; and soon some connections with Toscana were revealed. French assassins made attempts on the lives on Orlando and Argentina, but both were able to escape death. In late spring, the young son of the Doge of Venice fell down from a third-story window, apparently by accident when he was playing. The Venetians, however, were certain that Toscana was responsible. And so, in June, Orlando's and Argentina's young son Beltrano was found with his throat slit - and a Venetian assassin was seen in Firenze that day.
The loss of their only son was widely seen as punishment from God for Orlando and Argentina. Even the sudden death of Germano in September and the inheritance of Toulouse by Orlando did not seem so good now. Orlando's depression worsened and it seemed unlikely that he would sire any more children. Thus, ironically, for all of Argentina's machinations, Orlando's heir would still be his surviving half-brother Giorgio, son of Flora.
In late 1135, Orlando decided to go on a crusade to repent for his sins and to seek God's forgiveness. Gathering his army, he sailed south from Sicily, at first taking Malta in February 1136. From there, he landed in Libya and besieged Djerba. At Djerba, the duke's chaplain Johann von Nordgau was badly wounded by a Berber arrow, but the city was taken in April. Orlando proceeded east to Tripoli. At the assault on that city, God's displeasure was shown clearly when the duke was shot in the leg twice, with the wound soon festering and burning. Tripoli was taken in June, but Orlando sailed home after appointing bishops to rule his African provinces.
1136 saw some new projects completed in Tuscan lands, most notably the monastery of San Frediano in Lucca and a war academy in Napoli, the first in Italy. Under Orlando's reign, the Jews continued to enjoy ducal protection, and were allowed to settle all over his lands. With his half-brother Giorgio now his heir, Orlando sought a wife for him, and soon Giorgio was married to Violante Jimenez, a relative of the count of Navarra.
In 1138, Toscana waged a short war against the independent count of Monferrato, making good on its claim to that county. By August, Monferrato was taken by Tuscan forces, and given to Hartmann of Luxembourg, another German supporter of Orlando. That war, however, was only a prelude to what would come next.
The Wars of Independence
Back in 1135, the German king Ulrich had died, and his son was crowned as Konrad IV. In early 1139, Konrad's Italian subjects began a rebellion, with the republics of Treviso and Pisa refusing to recognize his authority. The time was now good to assert Toscana's independence as well, and Orlando took the opportunity, declaring war on the King in March. Fighting against German forces commenced immediately across northern Italy, with Lucca, Parma, and Modena seeing the most combat. In June, the Neapolitan regiment under Eriprando di Tarantasia took the city of Urbino, then held by the Germans.
In July, Pope Sylvester IV finally died of old age. His successor was Matieuda d'Este, the bishop of Pavia, a man of great piety and virtue that was a stark contrast to his predecessors. He took the name Clement III. Nonetheless, the new Pope was a fierce proponent of Italian independence, and supported the Italian struggle in spirit if not in deed.
Fighting continued across the Romagna and Lombardia. In September, the malaria in Firenze was finally in retreat and the ducal court moved back there from Lucca. In Spring 1140, Parma was taken from the Germans, but news came that Toulouse was lost. Brave Eriprando di Tarantasia sadly died when fighting the Germans near Ravenna. With the Tuscan treasury empty, Orlando was forced to institute new taxes, and many resented his arbitrariness. Finally, marshal Wilhelm von Nordgau, leader of the Tuscan forces, made a decisive push, marching through Pavia and to the walls of Genoa, where he finally crushed the German army. Konrad IV was forced to accept peace with Orlando, giving up Parma and Urbino and paying reparations.
At peace, Orlande gave Mantua to his brother and heir Giorgio, who had just had a son born to him. In February 1141, Orlando's maternal grandfather, old Otto von Lenzburg, finally died, and Orlando inherited the county of Ancona. However, more unrest followed in summer of that year, when Giorgio suddenly died of illness, leaving Mantua to his newborn son Gregorio. With the Canossa dynasty seriously depleted, Orlando decreed that only male members of the dynasty could inherit, and succession could not be traced through a female. But this prompted a rebellion in Mantua by a group of nobles who sought to depose Orlando and instate his young nephew Gregorio as the new duke. The rebellion was quickly crushed by marshal Wilhelm, and at the urging of his wife Argentina, Orlando had little Gregorio strangled to avoid any further challenges to his rule.
In 1142, Orlando decided to establish Italian independence once and for all. To that end, he allied with Symeon Kabakes, the Roman Emperor, whose father fought against Tuscan forces twenty years before. Symeon, eager to weaken his German rivals, readily agreed to support Orlando. With Germany now beset by rebellions of the German dukes as well, Orlando declared war in February. His first target was the German-minded archbishop of Ravenna, who was quickly defeated by marshal Wilhelm von Nordgau and agreed to leave Ravenna in March. Wilhelm then turned north, marching on the republic of Bologna. In the meantime, Pope Clement III died, and the Papal seat passed to Stentore, bishop of Capua - a vassal of Orlando. Stentore, now Pope Celestine II, was a man of sharp mind and masterful political skills, and in his rhetoric the Italians found much support in their war against Germany.
In the meantime, the Genoese, fearing Tuscan power, invaded the duchy's lands, capturing Parma. Marshal Wilhelm, however, quickly marched to retake the city, with the help of some Irish mercenaries. The Genoese, beaten back and their city threatened by Wilhelm, were forced to pay tribute for peace. In November, also Bologna fell, and was incorporated into Tuscan demesne, with Orlando crowned duke of Romagna.
Wilhelm next marched north to Verona, held by the independent duchy of Kärnten. With Orlando himself relocating to the safety of Napoli while the war raged, evil tongues accused him of cowardice. Indeed, it was Wilhelm von Nordgau who almost singlehandedly fought the Germans. He took Verona in January 1143 and forced the duke of Kärnten to give it up, but in the meantime Parma fell to fresh German forces who arrived from the north. The war now progressed to such a stage that only the complete independence of Italy would satisfy Orlando, who now claimed the Iron Crown of Lombardy for himself.
Many battles followed one after the other all across Toscana, but the biggest one took place in August near Lucca. It was this battle that was lost by the Tuscans after fierce fighting, with massive casualties on both sides. Marshal Wilhelm quickly retreated to the family castle of Canossa to recuperate, while call for fresh forces was sent to Orlando's Tolosan and Sicilian vassals.
The Tolosans were the first to arrive, landing near Parma in July and liberating the city. They soon marched east, relieving Modena. Wilhelm then left the defense of Toscana to the newly arrived Sicilian forces, and himself marched northeast, invading Germany itself. In spring 1145 he encountered king Konrad IV himself, defeating him near Vienna and taking the city. In fall, he reached Frankonia and occupied royal demesne there. The German dukes, seeing that their king was getting weaker, rebelled with renewed ferocity. Wilhelm marched to Saxony and set sail to Brittany, where Konrad held the city of Vannes. Vannes fell in May 1146, and Wilhelm moved south through France, reaching and taking German-held Agen in August.
Tolosans to the rescue!
There, news reached him that duke Orlando had died from an illness caused by his war wound. The duchy was now held by Orlando's uncle Gerardo, count of Palermo, called "the Unlikely" for nobody expected him to inherit. Despite the evil deeds of Orlando's reign, the Pope agreed to beatify him as a hero of Italian independence. The duke died at the age of 36, never seeing the end of his struggle.
Gerardo, newly crowned, quickly secured the loyalty of the returning marshal Wilhelm by giving him the hand of his daughter Aurelia. With Germany defeated, Konrad IV was forced to agree to a partition of his lands. The rebel duke Tommaso of Thuringia, himself an Italian, was given the crown of Burgundy, while Gerardo was recognized as King of Italy by the Treaty of Vienna on February 4th, 1147. Gerardo quickly crushed the rebellious duke of Lombardy, taking Milan; and afterwards all Italian nobles recognized his suzerainity. The age of independent Italy had begun.
The independent Kingdom of Italy in 1147
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Canossa genealogy updated to Italian independence.