Frederic
Redbeard, therefore, came to Italy many times with the intention to take again the control
of the kingdom, subjecting first of all the Communes. Most of Italian Communes, however,
form an alliance against the Redbeard who is forced to sign in 1183 a treaty in which he
recognized full autonomy to the Italian
Communes.
Frederic Barbarossa, therefore, came to Italy many times with the intention to take again the control of the kingdom, subjecting first of all the Communes. Most Italian Communes, however, formed an alliance against the Barbarossa who
was forced to sign in
1183 a treaty in which he recognized full autonomy to the Italian Communes.
The Commune of Ivrea had a different fate. At that time, the great feudatory was Umberto III of Savoy, who had shown on several occasions that he would not accept the imperial authority.
Frederic the
Redbeard removed him and put in his place his own follower,conferring him the title of
marquis: Ranieri of Biandrate who established himself in S.Maurice Castle, the "Castellazzo".
Biandrate
governed with absolute haver and would impose some imperial consuls on the Commune to
control the city directly.
But the Commune,
the Bishop-count, and the population were allied against the new feudatory.
In the 1195 an
insurrection burst out and the Castle was attacked, set on fire and the marquis thrown out
the city. (This popular revolt is the origin of Ivrea’s Carnival).
Once Biandrate was defeated, Ivrea’s Commune
developed in a considerable way and a lot of the Canavese’s vassals swore the “Cittadinico”
to Ivrea’s Commune: the “Cittadinico” is the right to become city-dwellers trough fidelity oath.
