to Parma... [and] second because the Parmesans were touring
Piacentine territory buying corn from the threshing floors and fields....
The Parmesans could do this in safety because Matteo da Correggio, a
citizen of Parma, was podestà of Piacenza.^2
In this case, too, members of noble families took the lead in the uprising, but this
time the popolo of Piacenza divided into factions, each supporting a different
competing leader. Eventually one came to the fore—Alberto Scotti, from a family
deeply immersed in both commerce and landholding. In 1290 he took over the city,
gaining the grand title of “defender and rector of the commune and the society of
merchants and craft guilds and of all the popolo.”^3 He was, in short, a lord, a signore
(pl. signori). Map 7.4 shows some of the features of Piacenza in his day:
concentrated centers of craft production, a new wall built in 1265 to enclose most of
the population, an impressive number of churches and monasteries, and a generous
sprinkling of private towers put up by proud and often warring members of the
nobility.
