The origin of the city of Pitoia is linked to
the northward expansion of the Roman state, although one cannot
exclude the possibility of previous settlements by other peoples
such as the Etruscans, whose presence here is suggested by some
archaeological artifacts found near the present day piazza del Duomo
(
vs3).
At the beginning of the second century before Christ, when the Romans
engaged in a bitter war against the Ligurian peoples in the Appenine
hills, Pistoia was probably a fortified city (oppidum) that served
as a supply post for the legions. lts name Pistoria, Pistoriae or
Pistorium may be indicative of this role because pistoria in Latin
denotes the oven used for baking bread.
With the extension of the Cassia road as far as Lucca, Pistoia consolidated
its importance in the territory even though the only notable event
that involved the city was the defeat of Cataline and his followers
in an undefined locality of the ager pistoriensis in January 62
B.C.. In the fifth century Pistoia became a bishopric and was brutally
sacked by the Radagaiso Goths (405 B.C.), The later Lombard rule
was important for the city which, because of its vicinity to the
Byzantine border, took on a primary strategic role and became a
gastaldato (
vs4) - a compartment
ruled by a viceroy - that answered directly to the king. In this
period Pistoia was surrounded by a city wall (
vs8)
and the center of the city was organized around the curtis domini
regis (
vs4).
Confirmation of the city's prominence can be seen in the authorization
to mint a silver coin: the Pistoian tremisse. During the eighth
century the important religious institutions (
n.27/30/31)
that had been built outside the city wall marked the direction of
new urban development while in the next century the city's political
life was organized around the bishop's court (
vs3).Little
is known about the domination of the Franks that followed Lombard
rule nor of the Ottolingian period when Pistoia, too, was caught
up in the development of the western world that was characterized
by a closed economy and a feudal kind of political system. The Guidi
and Cadolingi Counts rivaled with the bishop for control over the
city. The new millennium brought changes in the political institutions;
in 1105 the city was ruled by consuls, the most ancient form of
democratic rnagistracy, and in 1158 the podestà or governor (
vs12))
curbed the power of the bishop who had built his fortified palazzo
near the cathedral (
vs11).
In 1177 the city passed its first statute, one of the oldest in
Italy. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Pistoia distinguished
itself for its strong economic growth; as a consequence the city
carne to control a large territory that exceeded what is today the
province of Pistoia. In this period, perhaps its most glorious one,
the city took on the Romanesque appearance that is still today its
main characteristic and a new city wall (
vs8)was
built. Civic life was disrupted, however, first by the struggles
between opposing Guelf and Ghibelline factions and later between
White and Black parties.
The thirteenth century was a moment of serious political crisis
and Pistoia found itself caught between the two opposing powers
of Florence and Lucca. There were many battles with these two cities;
in the early fourteenth century the alliance of the two resulted
in one of the most painful pages in the city's history: the siege
of 1306 (
vs8).
Throughout the century, Pistoia tried to free itself but was placed
under the rule first of Uguccione della Faggiola, Vinceguerra Panciatichi
(
vs14) and Robert d'Anjou
and then under Castruccio Castracani who ruled for Lucca, in mid
century, just when it seemed like Pistoia was going to win back
its autonomy, it entered the Fiorentine sphere of influence, having
been seriously dirninished both demographically and economically
by the disastrous plagues of 1 348 and 1400.
(n.) refers to the number of the file-card (s.i.) means see inforniation
inside
