Un Impero vacante? La signoria sovralocale di Oberto Pelavicino in Lombardia tra idealità imperiale e città (1249–1259)

Abstract After the death of Frederick II, many cities in northern Italy entered an experimental phase, characterized especially by the proliferation of signorie. Among them, one of the earliest and most extensive was that of Marquess Oberto Pelavicino (1249–1266). This essay discusses the various ways in which the marquess drew upon the ideal of the Empire – of which he was vicarius – to build up his dominion in the years immediately following 1250. He achieved this both through political action and through governmental writings, whose vocabulary in some cases borrowed explicitly from the chancery formulae of the Hohenstaufen.