Aquileian Patriarch Ulrich II of Treffen launches an attack on Venetian Grado as he tries to subjugate the competing patriarchal see; he fails miserably and ends up locked in a Venetian prison where he “buys” his freedom by signing a new treaty with Venice and agreeing to a yearly tribute of twelve loaves of bread and twelve pigs that his Church would perpetually bring to the ducal palace of Venice before the Fat Thursday festivities (narrative accounts from later Venetian chronicles).
[1: Annales Venetici breves]
Anno Domini millesimo centesimo sexagesimo primo magna discordia fuit inter imperatorem Allemanie et cum omnibus suis terris contra Veneciam, ut obsiderent eam. Unde venit patriarcha Aquilegie cum omnibus ducibus et comitibus suis, ut apprehenderent Gradum insulam et supradictus patriarcha cum magnatibus suis et multis nobilibus viris capti fuerunt a Veneticis et ducti fuerunt in Venetia in captivitatem.
[2: Historia ducum Venetorum]
Post hec vero cepit dux sapienter laborare circa Marchianos et occulte promittens multas peccunias, ut contra dominum suum imperatorem simul omnes iurarent. Cumque duodecim milia marcarum illis dedisset, fecissetque eos contra imperatorem secum iurare, venit Odelricus Aquilegensis patriarcha cum comitibus, viris et cum maxima militum multitudine super Gradum, volens capere castrum ipsum. Quod cum duci nunciatum fuisset, paratas quas habebat protinus misit galeas. Sed quedam galea de contratis, alias precedens galeas, venit ad locum ad quem venerant hostes; quos quidem Veneti qui cum ipsa galea venerant tanta virtute agressi sunt, quod patriarcham et comites ac omnes magnates salva manu ceperunt. Multi enim de hostibus audatiam Venetorum fugientes in paludibus necati fuerunt. Fuit ergo letitia magna Venetis et de tanta victoria cuncti gratulabantur, Deo et beato evangelista Marco gratias agentes. Fuit autem prefatus patriarcha in vinculis apud Venetos cum septingentis fere viris, qui capti fuerant, non per modicum tempus.
[3: Estoires de Venise]
Sachés que a celui tens vint li patriarche d’Aulee, qui se tenoit a l’enpereor, desur Grat, et avec lui le duc de Carantan, a grant host, et pristrent Grat.
Quant cil de Caurel oïrent que li patriarche venoit desor Grat, il s’en alerent cele part a tot lor esfors, mes ce fu a tart, que ja estoit li patriarche en saisine de Grat. Mes lors quant cil de Tervise, que adonc se tenoient a la partie de l’enpire, sorent que ciaus de Caurel estoient alés envers Grat et que la vile estoit sans homes, si murent a host bandie por prendre Caurel. Et sachés que cele vile fu faite au tens que Atille mist a destrucion Ytaille, et estoit cele a dus de Venise. A grant host murent li Tervisen, enci con je vos di, et venoient envers Caurel; meis lors quant les femes de Caurel virent venir li Tervisen, si furent mult espaventees: et neporcant elles s’adoberent de robes des homes et pristrent les armes qui remeses estoient en la vile et entrerent es barches et comencerent najer envers li Tervisen; et quant il virent ce, tantost lor fu avis que il fussent traïs et que ciaus qui venoient fusent homes de la terre: et lors se mistrent a la fuie. Et sachés que li Tervisen ne savoient pas bien la voie, et les femes en pristrent assés et les conduistrent en Caurel en prison.
Quant ciaus de Caurel que au secors de Grat estoient alés sorent que pris estoit Grat, si s’en retornerent aciere; et lors quant il virent li Tervisen en prison et sorent la victoire que lor femes avoient fait desor li Tervisens, il furent liés a desmesure. Et lors manderent la novelle a monseignor li dus et de Grat que pris estoit et que le patriarche d’Aulee et li dus de Carantan s’estoient mis dedens Grat. Et lors manda monseignor li dus de ses galies et les Venisiens armés, et pristrent Grat et le patriarche d’Aulee et des autres assés, et lesserent Grat en bone garde et conduistrent li patriarche d’Aulee en Venise.
De cele guerre meesme que avoit estee entre monseignor l’apostoile et mesire li enpereor avint que ciaus de Verone et de Ravene et des autres terres environ vindrent a Cavarcer et la pristrent. Et quant les Venisiens le sorent, il s’en alerent cele part et recovrerent Cavarcer et menerent en prison en Venise tuit cil que il troverent dedens: et ce fu a celui tens meesme que il pristrent li patriarche d’Aulee. Et lors quant la pes fu faite entre monseignor l’apostoile et mesire Fedric li enpereor de Rome, dona monseignor li dus congié au patriarche d’Aulee et as autres prisons: et fu la pes enci con je vos ai conté sa en ariere.
[You should know that at the time the patriarch of Aquileia, who represented the emperor, went off to Grado along with the duke of Carinthia with a large army and they conquered Grado.
When those from Caorle heard that the patriarch was advancing on Grado, they proceeded there with all of their forces, but it was too late because the patriarch was already in possession of Grado. But when those from Treviso, who were on the emperor’s side, found out that the forces from Caorle had gone to Grado and that the city was without men, they gathered together a war party to capture Caorle. And you should know that this city was built at the same time that Attila had destroyed Italy and that it belonged to the doge of Venice. The Trevisans moved with a large force, as I mentioned to you, and were travelling towards Caorle. But when the women of Caorle saw the Trevisans coming, they were very frightened; but nevertheless, they donned men’s clothing and took up the remaining weapons in the town and boarded the ships and began to row towards the Trevisans. And when they [the Trevisans] saw this, they immediately thought they had been betrayed and that these were the men of the city, and so they fled. And you should know that the Trevisans did not know the route well, and the women captured many of them and put them in prison in Caorle.
When those of Caorle who had gone to the rescue of Grado knew that Grado was already taken, they returned home, and when they saw the Trevisans in prison and learned about the victory that their women had accomplished over the Trevisans, they were overjoyed. And so they sent word to Monseignor the doge that Grado had been taken and the patriarch of Aquileia and the duke of Carinthia had installed themselves in Grado. And so Monseignor the Doge ordered that his ships and the Venetians be armed, and they conquered Grado and they captured the patriarch of Aquileia and a number of others, left Grado well-guarded, and escorted the patriarch of Aquileia to Venice.
In the course of the same war that was fought between Monseignor the Apostle and Mesire the Emperor, it so happened that those who came from Verona and Ravenna and other cities around there came to Cavarzere and seized it. And when the Venetians found this out, they went there, recovered Cavarzere, and brought all whom they found there back to prison in Venice, and this was at the same moment that the Venetians took the patriarch of Aquileia. And when peace was made between Monseignor the Apostle and Mesire Frederick, the Roman emperor, Monseignor the doge freed the patriarch of Aquileia and the other prisoners, and the peace was made just as I told you before.]
[trans. Laura K. Morreale, Archivio del Litorale Adriatico XII (Padua 2009), pp. 17–18.]
[4: Marci chronica]
Patriarcha Aquilegense cum duce Carentani cumfederatus primum ceperat Gradum. Cumque Tervisini scirent quod Cabrolenses in adiutorium Gradensium venerunt, ut Cabrolum occuparent.
Tunc autem mulieres Cabrolenses intraverunt in barchas armatas ceperuntque cunctos Tervisinos nescientes paludum et aquarum semitas per quas ibant.
Quid dicam? Dum ad aures ducis hec omnia intonarent fecit armari galleas et navigantes ad Gradum subiugaverunt civitatem eandem. Ceperunt itaque Acquilegensem patriarcham, ducem Carentani et magnam quantitatem hominum Foroiuliensium et Carentanorum quos conduxerunt Rivoaltum in captivitate.
Iuxta hec inter eos concordia facta fuit, propter quod dictus patriarcha annuatim pro tributo duci Venetorum exibet duodecim panes magnos et duodecim porcos non parvos.
[5: Chronica per extensum descripta]
Cum ergo ducis anno VI ipse clerus et devotus populus Venecie Alexandro confoverent, imperator abiecto federe varis insultibus eos impugnari iubet; unde Veronenses cum Ferariensibus et Paduanis obtemperantes castrum Capitisaggeris prodictorie invaserunt. Contra quos dux exercitum mictit. Illi, ex hoc territi, cum preda et captis, relicto castro, aufugerunt: tunc exercitus Adriam et Adrianum invadens, comisis ad vindictam spoliis, postea rediit.
Eodem concursu Ulricus Aquilegiensis patriarcha, Octaviano confovens, scismaticus per Alexandrum denunciatus est, qui Gradum bello agrediens a galeis Venetorum obviam destinatis cum pluribus nobilibus Foriiulii in die iovis de Carnisprivio capitur. Multi autem, qui aufugerant usque ad eorum opida, a Venetis insecuti optentis et vastatis opidis similiter capti sunt.
Tervisini, eadem clade infecti, qui, ut Caprulas caperent, tunc advenerant, Venetorum redictum abhorentes, cum fugerent, aquarum semita nescientes, ex parte necati sunt.
Victores itaque Veneti redeuntes patriarcham cum septingentis ferre nobilibus in carcere de liberacione parecludunt, qui denique XII porcos magnos et XII panes unius sextari anuatim in die mercurei de Carnisprivio perpetuo duci in eius palacio exibere promitens cum concaptivis liberatus est.
Ob hoc reperitur statutum, ut annuatim in die triumphi, asistente duce et iubente, uni tauro et animalibus antedictis in platea capita amputentur, deinde ut dux in maiori sala procedens coram populo cum baculis feratis castra figuraliter condicta deiciat, ut reorum pena in animalibus figuraliter designata et castrorum patriarche depressio in castris ligneis exemplariter demostrata, tanti triumphi posteris memoriam derelinquant. De occisis taliter animalibus dux postea omnes et singulos de Maiori Conscilio participes redat, ut sicut in optinenda victoria se periculis submiserunt, ita ea optenta illam sibi senciant fructuosam.
“In questo tempo [del doxe Vidal Michiel] Odorigo patriarcha di Aquileia con il soi calonegi et zente armata andò per occupar Grado e tuor il corpi santi e altre reliquie che in dita cità erano; et lhoro si difeseno, e lui pur non cessando di molestarli, el doxe fece armada, e alcuni scrive il doxe andò in persona, et asaltòno le zente dil patriarcha e fo crudel bataglia qual durò da la matina fino a vesporo, et inimici fo messi in mezo et a la fin rotti et preso il patriarcha con il 12 calonegi et fono mandati a Venexia im presòm et più di 700 di la Patria di Friul tra castellani e altri. Et non molto di poi, 1160, fo pacifichade le cosse e fato instrumento publico di acordo per man di Manferdin di Cossim nodaro imperial in questo milesimo, e il patriarcha promesse lui e successori non molestar mai più Grado e dar ogni anno al doxe e Comun di Venexia per tributo per la zuoba grassa uno torro grando con 12 porchi et 12 panni grandi di uno ster di farina l’uno et certo vin, et ciedé ogni raxóm l’havesse o potesse haver in ditta cità di Grado, et cussì fo relassato insieme con il 12 calonegi et castelani presi.
Et fo decreto ogni anno in tal memoria, il zuoba di la caza si fazi una festa su la piaza si san Marco di caza di torro, et si tagii la testa a ditti porzi, che significa a li calonegi preditti, poi si vadi in salla, qual al presente si chiama di Signori di Notte, el doxe con li altri primi di la cità, et con brazolari in man tràzino contra alcuni come castelli tenuti in man per li scuderi dil doxe in segno de la ruina di castellani di la Patria; tamen ditti brazolari al presente non si tràzeno più per deliberation fata, ma ben, sibén la Patria è nostra, il patriarcha manda e li calonegi et castellani ogni anno quanto è notado sopra, et si fa la caxa, e vi va a veder il doxe con tutti li zentilhomeni, et era consueto che si taiava im pezi ditti porzi e si mandava a donar un pezo per uno a tutti i zentilomeni; ma per esser tanto acresciuto il numero grande, sotto misièr Leonardo Loredan doxe fo terminato non mandar più tal cossa chiamata zozolo, et mandano li porchi a donar per il monasterii di monache Observante, il pam si deva e si dà a li presonieri.” – Marino Sanudo, Le vite dei dogi (ed. Monticolo, RIS 22/4, 1900–1911, pp. 256–59), opus scriptum inter 1493 et 1530.
The episode marks yet another attempt at conquering Grado by the patriarchs of Aquileia, a part of the story arc that commenced back in the Early Middle Ages with the partitioning of the ecclesiastical province of Aquileia into two patriarchates (see more on that here).
This time, the casus belli was presented by the rapidly souring relations between Emperor Frederick I and Venice, especially after the papal schism of 1159 where the former supported Victor IV and the latter Alexander III, leading to Frederick’s favoring of the Genoese to Venice’s detriment (see more on the entire conflict in Härtel 1992, cited above).
The conflict exploded in 1062 when imperial forces attacked Cavarzere and when Emperor Frederick took the nearby monastery Brondolo under its protection, a monastical institution that traditionally belonged to Venice. At the same time (or two years after), Patriarch Ulrich II attacked Venice as a sign of fealty towards the emperor (even though he never publicly professed his support of Pope Victor IV) and as an opportunity to finally subject “the parish” of Grado and return the holy relics back to “old Aquileia.” Patriarch’s military venture ended in a failure: his forces was routed, and he ended up a Venetian prisoner.
Martin da Canal’s statement that Patriarch Ulrich II was released only in 1177, after the fateful meeting in Venice between Pope Alexander III and Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, must be judged as utterly erroneous.
In any case, some sort of a treaty was surely reached with Patriarch Ulrich II, a “pact” that he was forced to sign to buy his freedom. It must be noted, as highlighted by Härtel, that there are no contemporary primary sources that would link the institution of the shameful tribute of twelve pigs and twelve loaves of bread as a direct consequence of Patriarch Ulrich II’s capture and his subsequent release – the earliest narrative source that explicitly connects the two is the Chronicle of Marco (not Dandolo’s Cronica per extensum as argued by Härtel) where the part on the tribute is added while summarizing the Chronicle penned by Martin da Canal (upon which Marco bases a lion’s share of his chronicle). Moreover, the earliest charter record of this shameful tribute is spelled out in the pact of 1222, although earlier pacts also mention an aptly undefined tribute due to the doge (cf. Härtel 2005, cited above). Nevertheless, it seems highly probable that the patriarchs agreed to such a disgraceful tribute precisely at this point, when Ulrich II had been a Venetian prisoner following his failed attempt at the conquest of Grado.
The date of the Battle of Grado and Venetian triumphant victory over Patriarch Ulrich II remains unsolved. According to Doge-Chronicler Andrea Dandolo, the battle took place on the Fat Thursday of the sixth year of Doge Vitale II Michiel’s reign – these dating elements would correspond to the 15th of February 1162 and this is one of the possible datings, corroborated by Dandolo and, indirectly, by Martino da Canal who coincides the attack on Cavarzere with the Battle of Grado (although his chronology is far from reliable, as shown by his dating of Ulrich II’s release during the peace between the pope and the emperor, that is, 1177).
However, the author of the Historia ducum Venetorum stated that the incursion of Grado happened only after the attack on Cavarzere which took place in 1062. Therefore, many historians – most notably Wilhelm von Giesebrecht (Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit, vol. 5 (Braunschweig 1880), pp. 405–6), followed by August Baer, Giovanni Monticolo, Franc Kos, Roberto Cessi and Ester Pastorello – dated the Battle of Grado to 1064, that is, around the same time that the Veronese League had been forged and directed against Emperor Frederick I, with Treviso and Venice siding with Verona and Patriarch Ulrich II remaining loyal to the imperial cause (cf. Härtel 1992, cited above, pp. 309–10). This dating, however, is very much conjectural.
In any case, the Venetians won the battle on the Fat Thursday and subsequently commemorated it with a feast where the doge would ceremonially slaughter a bull and the twelve gifted pigs and feed it to all the members of the Great Council to commemorate the victory. The date of the victory was either the 15th of February of 1162, or the 20th of February 1164.
The treaty also marks the end of an era for the contractual relations between Venice and the Patriarchate of Aquileia – it is the last “pact” to deal exclusively with the (re)organization of their respective (geographical) spheres of influence and on maintaining (and restoring the violated) status quo. From this point onwards, Venice would undertake a much more proactive stance in negotiating the treaties with Aquileian patriarchs, expanding the prerogatives and jurisdictions (and incomes) of Commune Veneciarum with each subsequent pactum (Härtel 2005, cited above).