Battle of Legnano
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{{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict=Battle of Legnano |image= |caption= |partof=the Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines |date=May 29, 1176 |place=Legnano, Italy |result=Guelph victory |combatant1=Holy Roman Empire and Ghibellines |combatant2=Lombard League and other Guelphs |commander1=Frederick I Barbarossa |commander2= |strength1= |strength2= |casualties1= |casualties2= }} Template:Campaignbox Guelphs and Ghibellines
The Battle of Legnano, fought in 1176, marked the culmination of the futile attempts of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa to dominate the Italian city states of Lombardy.
Frederick failed to receive expected German reinforcements, and his largely cavalry forces were eventually repulsed by the Lombard League, comprising Milan and other states loyal to the Pope. During the battle, Frederick's forces were demoralized when he was wounded and erroneously thought to have been killed. Although Frederick subsequently negotiated a favorable peace, Legnano marked the Empire's last effort to control the lands south of the Alps during his reign. This battle is the first major victory of infantry over feudal cavalry in the Middle Ages.
Verdi's La Battaglia di Legnano
- Main article:La battaglia di Legnano
La Battaglia di Legnano is an opera (Tragedia lirica in quattro atti, a lyrical tragedy in four acts) composed in 1848 by Giuseppe Verdi on a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano. It draws its inspiration from the battle of Legnano, which had occurred 7 centuries earlier, seen in the context of the struggle for the unification of Italy, the Risorgimento, and the expulsion of Austrian rule from Northeastern Italy: a political cause fervently championed by Verdi.Template:Battle-stub Template:Euro-hist-stub Template:Italy-hist-stub