So, how else can I stress my origins if not by remembering the toughest battle that Siena had against its worse enemy, Florence, in 1260. It is the only battle that every average Sienese person knows, and the reason for this is that it's the only one in which we really and truly won.
Ok it was 751 years ago... But every year we remember what happened and we celebrate by staging a mock battle, which envolves the Sienese army and the supporting army of the Emperor Manfred, and the Florentine army. The latter being almost magically defeated after having threatened the destruction of Siena, if the governement of the city hadn't given up its independence to Florence.
It was a cruel and fierce battle. Even our Dante Alighieri wrote about it in the Divine Comedy saying that the water of the nearby river Arbia turned red because of all the blood of the Florentine soldiers dying in the battlefield.
After the 4th of September 1260 Siena became the "capital" of Tuscany, or rather, the most influent city in Tuscany. This period didn't last long though. But shhhhhh, don't tell all those proud Sienese people, who don't know what happened just a few years later... So let's keep dwelling on this memory for another 751 years, and maybe even more. We in Siena are used to looking at the past glories, and forgetting the present.
For those who read Italian, following is a piece, which describes what happened.
La battaglia durò passato il vespro. Era tanta l'uccisione che i sanesi facevano dei nemici che non potevano più combattere per la stanchezza e la moltitudine dei morti "che tute le strade e viotoli corivano sangue e fu alora"- narra il cronista-che la Malena "corse sangue de' fiorentini". I sopravvissuti si dettero a una fuga disperata, ma erano inseguiti, braccati, incalzati e raggiunti dai tedeschi che li mettevano al taglio della spada. Un tal Geppo, un taglialegna per conto di Siena con la sua scure ne scannò 25: un fiume di sangue correva per le vie e sui campi.
Dalla torre intanto l'annuncio della vittoria: I fiorentini sono stati sconfitti.
A picture, so that we all have an idea of how it might have been...
