In the historical house of the famous architect, Arnolfo di Cambio, lying in the middle of the historical centre of Colle Val d‘Elsa, it is possible to admire a fantastic and unique iconography of its kind. The Tuscan painter, Ugo Terrani, in fact, as given a new lease of life to the frescoed walls of the house that depict scenes of the bloody battle fought on 11th July 1269 between troops from Siena and Florence in the plain of Colle Val d‘Elsa. On that July day, the Florentine Guelphs and the Sienese Ghibellines fought hard! The Guelphs were commanded by the Frenchman, Guido di Monfort, known as Giambertaldo of France and captain of King Charles of Anjou, while the Ghibellines were led by captain Provenzano Salvani and count Guido Novello. As mentioned above, the battle was extremely violent. The Sienese were ambushed and lost one thousand men, while 1,500 were made prisoner. The commander, Provenzano Salvani (as a fortune teller had said before the battle) has beheaded by Cavolino de‘ Tolomei. Legend has it that this terrible death was a vendetta organised by the noblewoman Sapia who was in love with him but had been turned down. The Sienese commander, the nephew of the woman, was beheaded and his head placed on the tip of a pike as a macabre symbol of military defeat.
They were terrible years, marked by almost uninterrupted rivalry and bloody conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Battle of Montaperti was the crucial and perhaps most famous moment of this struggle. It was even mentioned by Dante on Canto X of his Inferno when he found himself face to face with Farinata degli Uberti who had been „too troublesome“ for the Florence of that period...The battle of Colle Val d‘Elsa was also mentioned by the great poet who told the whole story in the XII Canto of Inferno as a background to the story of the jealous Sienese Sapia who prayed for the defeat of her fellow citizens.(Portions of this article first appeared in "Toscana & Chianti News")
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