The War of the Bucket: A Humorous yet Serious Medieval Conflict

Human history has many examples of conflict situations. Some conflicts were terrible, some were funny, some looked funny, but had quite serious reasons. The War of the Bucket, the culmination of the medieval confrontation between the Italian cities of Bologna and Modena, can be attributed to the latter.

Who are the Guelphs and Ghibellines?

How did Bologna and Modena coexist?

The Battle of Zappolino

The consequences of the war

Conclusions

Who are the Guelphs and Ghibellines

The confrontation between the Guelphs and Ghibellines originated in the Middle Ages during the power struggle between the Holy Roman Emperors and the Papal See.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, secular power dominated the church. The nobility founded churches and abbeys on their own lands. It is not surprising that nobles elected bishops and abbots from their younger sons, who did not inherit secular power from their fathers. Moreover, until the middle of the eleventh century, kings and emperors often elected the pope, and church voters only formally confirmed the procedure.

The situation began to change when Pope Benedict X was elected under the influence of Count Tusculum, but the cardinals who disagreed with this decision elected their protégé Nicholas II. Nicholas won the war of the popes. Soon he issued a bull stating that popes should be elected exclusively by cardinals.

Pope Gregory VII decided to significantly strengthen the papal power. It was declared that only the pope could appoint or remove church leaders. Moreover, according to one document, the pope even had the right to depose the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the most powerful force in secular Europe at the time and the main antagonist to the growth of papal influence. That is, now the church decided to seize the initiative by interfering in the affairs of the secular government.

The emperor apologizes to the pope. Image: Wikipedia

As the influence of the papal throne grew, some pretenders to the imperial title began to turn to the popes for support in their struggle for power. In particular, Lothar III did so in his struggle against the Hohenstaufens. Later, Lothar's descendant, Henry the Proud of the House of Welf, continued the fight against the Hohenstaufen.

Legends say that the Welfs used the name of their house as a battle cry, while the Hohenstaufen used the name of Wibelingen Castle as a battle cry. Both proper names were transformed in Italian into "Guelph" and "Ghibelline" and, in turn, became the names of two antagonistic factions of Italy. Guelphs were those who stood on the side of the papal authority, and Ghibellines were those who supported the Holy Roman Emperor.

How Bologna and Modena coexisted

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the territory of future Italy turned in the Middle Ages into a sphere of clashing political interests. Italy was torn apart by numerous emperors, kings, and dukes. As a result of these processes, Italy was divided into separate states and city-states. At the same time, Italy remained a permanent war zone, as external forces did not abandon their intentions to annex lands to their empires and local princes were not averse to increasing their influence at the expense of their neighbors.

Talia in 1084. Map: Wikipedia

Bologna and Modena were city-states that were 40-50 kilometers apart. Bologna was the larger and more authoritative city. The first university in Europe was built here. Interestingly, Modena tried to keep up even in this area: one of the first European universities was also founded here. Of course, the confrontation between the two ambitious neighbors took place not only in the field of culture, but also on the battlefield.

The old building of the University of Bologna. Photo: Wikipedia

Political disagreements were also mixed in with the confrontation between the neighbors' ambitions. Bologna has always been the center of the papal sphere of influence. In Modena, the situation was somewhat more complicated. In particular, in the conflict between Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX, the city chose the side of the former, although the position of the Guelph faction was quite significant. So for a long time Modena was considered the territory of the Ghibellines.

At the end of the thirteenth century, the Este princes, who were a branch of the House of Welf, came to power in the city. However, Azzo VIII of the House of Este actively opposed Bologna to strengthen his position among the Modena nobility. His successor at the head of Modena, Passerino Bonacolli, stood so firmly on the Ghibelline positions that Pope John XXII declared him a rebel and promised an indulgence to anyone who would harm him or his property. It was during the time of Bonacolli, led by Modena, that the so-called War of the Bucket took place.

The Battle of Zappolino

In 1296, the Bolognese attacked Modena's lands and captured two castles - Bazzano and Savigno. Interestingly, these Bolognese possessions were consecrated by the Pope two years later. The next intensification of the confrontation took place in 1325. First, in July, the Bolognese entered the territory of their neighbors, looted several farms, and burned fields. They repeated their raid the following month. In response, the Modena captured the important castle of Monteveglio by bribing its castellans.

As legend has it, the Modena did not stop there. A small group of Modena soldiers made their way to Bologna at night. In the city, they saw a municipal well with a wooden bucket. Having stolen the bucket, the Modena soldiers proudly retreated. Of course, the bucket was of no value, but the people of Bologna were outraged by the audacity of the crime, according to legend. The city demanded that the bucket be returned, but Modena refused. Allegedly, this episode was the reason for the outbreak of war.

Both sides began to gather forces for decisive action. Detachments from Florence and Romagna came to Bologna's aid. In total, the Guelphs gathered 30 thousand infantry and 2-2.5 thousand cavalry. Most of the army was made up of unprofessional troops. Modena was supported by Mantua, Ferrara, Milan, and Verona. The Ghibellines' army consisted of only 5,000 infantry and 2,800 cavalry, but all the personnel were professional.

The leader of the Ghibellines, Bonacolli, faked a river crossing and led his army south. In this way, he managed to distract part of the Bolognese army. After crossing to the south, the Modena had a short battle with the Bolognese vanguard and then headed for the castle of Zappolino. When the Modena approached the castle, the Bolognese met them on the slope, but their forces were still not organized.

Having an advantage in organization and professionalism, the Ghibellines decided to attack. The Ghibelline infantry struck at the center of the Guelphs to divert the enemy's attention from the main attack on the cavalry flank. After two hours of fighting, the Bolognese could not stand it and began to retreat, and later to flee to the city. Pursuing the Bolognese, the Ghibellines captured a number of small castles. The Ghibellines did not storm Bologna, but they organized a kind of mock competition under the city walls to humiliate their enemies. Some sources believe that under the walls of Bologna, the Modena stole another bucket before returning with victory.

The Modena return after stealing a bucket. Image: historynet

Consequences of the war

The War of the Bucket has only one battle, but historians consider it one of the largest in the Middle Ages in terms of participants. About 2 thousand soldiers died on the battlefield of Zappolino.

In January 1326, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the parties had to return to the status quo before the conflict. So Modena returned all the castles to Bologna, including Monteveglio. It is believed that Passerino Bonacolli personally received a private ransom for signing such an agreement.

Thus, Modena's only profit from the conflict was a wooden bucket that was never returned. The people of Modena displayed it on the main bell tower of the city. Nowadays, there is a copy on the bell tower, and the original has been moved to the city hall.

The real bucket of discord in Modena City Hall. Photo: was.media

The confrontation between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines lasted until 1529, when King Charles I of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Charles I invaded Italy. This time, the Ghibellines could not support the emperor. Instead, they joined forces with the Guelphs and the Pope against a common enemy.

Conclusions.

Despite its amusing name, the War of the Bucket was neither curious nor accidental.

The reason for the War was the competition that existed between neighboring city-states. For medieval Italy, fighting was simply one of the most common ways to resolve misunderstandings or disputes. In the end, the war was another clash between Bologna and Modena.

The division into Guelphs and Ghibellines did have a significant impact on Italian life at the time. For example, the Pope could excommunicate and, in fact, set a price on the head of a "rebel" or recognize the conquest of other people's lands as pleasing to God.

Speaking of definitions, the War over the Bucket cannot be considered a war in the full sense of the word. It is rather a separate battle that did not have a great historical impact, but had a certain resonance due to the number of participants, which was significant for the Middle Ages. The actual course of the battle allows us to make a few simple generalizations.

First, a professional army, even in the minority, should have an advantage over the crowd.

Secondly, the use of basic tactics in battle can give a significant advantage against an opponent who has come out to fight "wall to wall." Deceptive maneuvers and flanking are now considered the basis of warfare.

The struggle during much of the Middle Ages between popes and emperors is a clear example of how secular and ecclesiastical authorities should not overlap in any way and interfere in other people's affairs.

Obviously, this is not the only example when thousands or even millions of people suffered from such interference. The church should demonstrate its usefulness by its own examples of exemplary spiritual life, and secular authorities should demonstrate their usefulness by professional and honest governance.

Олег Пархітько