Ruling on the Border : Landed Possessions from the Po Valley to the Apennines in Bononia’s Diocese

Abstract

The sixth chapter deals with the Bolognese territory, an area located at the edges of the Emilia region between the Italian kingdom and the exarchate of Ravenna. After having acquired fiscal lands and thanks to the emphyteutic bond with the Ravenna archbishops, the group established there a broad seigneurial rule between the plain and the Apennines. Although it never touched the city of Bologna, their hegemony extended over the plain to the north towards the course of the Po and the Apennine valleys to the south. Fundamental elements of their power were the many castles and the foundation of the private monastery of S. Bartolomeo di Musiano.