Lombard League

Common card · No. 287483

The Lombard League (Latin: Societas Lombardiae; Italian: Lega Lombarda) was an alliance of cities formed in 1167, and supported by the popes, to counter the attempts by the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman emperors to establish direct royal administrative control over the cities of the Kingdom of Italy (which was part of the Holy Roman Empire) after many decades of de facto local self-governance. At its apex, it included most of the cities of Northern Italy, but its membership changed with time. With the death of the third and last Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick II, in 1250, it became obsolete and was disbanded. Although having mainly a military purpose, the Lombard League also had its own stable government (Rectores Lombardiae, i.e. Regents of Lombardy), because of which it can be considered as one of the first examples of confederation in Europe.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Zscout370 at English Wikipedia, Public domain