Battle of Legnano The Battle of Legnano was fought on May 29 , 1176 , between the forces of the Holy Roman Empire , led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , and the Lombard League . The Lombard League . The Lombard League was formed in 1167 , largely out of the Veronese League . It was a Union of Lombard cities promising each other unity , against Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa . The Lombardy cities swore the oath at Pontida , a small village in Lombardy . After the disastrous defeat of Pope Alexander III at the Battle of Monte Porzio in May 1167 by the imperial forces , the Lombard League remained as the last legitimate fighting force opposing the emperor and was therefore heavily backed by the pope . Frederick ' s 5th Italian Campaign . In September 1174 , Frederick embarked on his fifth Italian campaign , to quench the constant revolts in Lombardy and settle his quarrels with Pope Alexander III . Frederick led a force of 8 , 000 knights over the Alps and arrived in Piedmont in late September . His cousin Henry the Lion and his forces were once again not a part of the imperial campaign . Frederick wanted to take revenge on Susa for its behaviour of 1168 , and on September 30 his forces captured and burned down the town . His next goal was the town of Asti , which he captured after a seven - day siege . In October , Frederick finally received the promised imperial reinforcements from Bohemia . Upon Frederick ' s rapid and fierce initial success , Margrave William of Montferrat and the Count of Biandrate abandoned the Lombard League . Siege of Alessandria . The siege of Alessandria was an important event in Frederick ' s fifth campaign as this was a campaign of revenge , with the aim of the total destruction of the Lombard League and the removal of the Pope Alexander III . Frederick ' s next goal was therefore the Lombard city of Alessandria . Alessandria was founded by Milanese refugees , who fled after Frederick ' s forces burned and destroyed the city of Milan in 1162 and named after Pope Alexander III . The siege of the " Straw City " , called so because all the roofs were covered with straw , began at the end of October . To Frederick ' s surprise and anger , his forces were not able to take the city so he had to spend the winter in front of its gates . On Holy Saturday , Frederick ' s forces managed to enter the city by digging tunnels under its walls , but the attack was repulsed by the Milanese with heavy losses . Alessandria withstood , and that was the first victory of the Lombard League . Frederick had to break off the siege due to an advancing Lombard army and retreated to Pavia . Treaty of Montebello . On April 16 , 1175 , Frederick and the Lombard League negotiated peace at the Castle of Montebello , but after long talks , negotiations broke with no result . Frederick knew that a battle was imminent and traveled to Chiavenna to meet Henry the Lion . Henry the Lion however refused to help his cousin as he thought that Frederick ' s defeat would allow him to obtain greater power . The battle . After Frederick ' s setback at Alessandria , the failed agreement of Montebello , and the refusal of his cousin Henry the Lion to help him , Frederick finally received some good news and reinforcements from Germany . The German reinforcements crossed the Lukmanier Pass into the Lake Como region in April 1176 . Frederick I Barbarossa , Philip I of Heinsberg , and Archbishop Wichmann of Magdeburg rode secretly from Pavia along the Ticino River to meet the reinforcements and to lead them to a joint operation with his main forces . Frederick received 1 , 000 knights and 1 , 000 foot soldiers from 16 different German rulers . At Como , Lombard imperial allies increased the reinforcements to about 3 , 000 knights and foot soldiers . However , the Imperial army was largely a cavalry force of German knights . The Milanese were informed about Frederick ' s plan and prepared for battle . A Carroccio , or a sacred war wagon drawn by oxen , was built and was decorated with the city standard and an altar upon which the cross of Archbishop Aribert of Milan was erected . In 1038 , Archbishop Aribert had led the victorious defence of Milan against the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II ; Aribert ' s cross was therefore a symbol of victory against the Empire . According to Sire Raoul , a chronicler from Milan , 900 knights came from Milan and around 550 knights from three other towns , the rest of the League ' s forces were foot soldiers . The " Company of Death " was a foot soldier unit , that , according to later chronicles , was led by the in fact fictional Alberto da Giussano , and formed the core of the Lombard infantry . While Frederick and his reinforcements were on their way back to Pavia to join the main imperial force , the Lombard League placed about 3 , 500 men near the west bank of the Olona . The infantry with the Milanese war cart , the carroccio , stood in a hastily fortified position at Borsano . The Lombards knew that Frederick was about to skirt through their area , but did not realize how close Frederick already was . At dawn on May 29 , the Lombard League sent a reconnaissance unit of 700 horsemen to the Seprio landscape . At the same time , the emperor had crossed the Olona and was marching south from Cairate , five miles northeast of Busto Arsizio . Here , the battle commenced . The Lombard reconnaissance and the 300 Imperial vanguard clashed . The clash was brief and bloody and with Frederick already on the horizon , the Lombard reconnaissance broke off and fled beyond Borsano . Now , Frederick and his imperial German army launched a rampant and brutal attack on the Lombard League forces near Borsano – Legnano . The Lombard cavalry was largely routed but managed to escape the skirmish , leaving the infantry and carroccio on its own . Frederick advanced to the carroccio and assaulted the infantry and the Company of Death with his cavalry . M . B . Synge wrote this about the Company of Death : " Nine hundred desperate patriots forming the Company of Death defended the sacred car . Seeing the Germans were gaining ground , fearful for the safety of their treasure , they suddenly knelt down and renewed their vow to God that they would perish for their country " . The infantry positioned itself in a phalanx - like line . The fight around the carroccio was a long and bloody fight in which the Lombard League infantry brought the Imperial army to a stalemate . Finally , the Lombard League forces received help from their regrouped cavalry and from a Brescian cavalry that was called to aid by the fleeing reconnaissance troops . The regrouped reconnaissance troops and the Brescian cavalry jointly attacked Frederick ' s army from the rear . The decisive assault was made by the Brescians , who managed to break through the lines and attack Frederick directly . In this attack , his guards and standard - bearer were killed , and Frederick was thrown off his horse and believed to be dead . Upon this , the imperial troops panicked and fled , pursued to the Ticino by the League ' s cavalry . The generals tried to rally the men in vain . The booty and prisoners taken by the League were immense . Aftermath . After the battle , Frederick ' s rule over Lombardy was decisively broken . The knights that managed to escape gathered in Pavia . There , they brought the news of Frederick ' s presumed death to his wife Beatrice I , Countess of Burgundy . Beatrice and the Empire mourned Frederick ' s demise , but after several days the emperor appeared at the gates of Pavia . H . E . Marshall wrote : " Then , greatly to the joy of all , after three days Barbarossa suddenly appeared before the gates of Pavia . Although wounded and bruised and left for dead Frederick had not been killed . " The victory of the Lombard League forced Frederick to travel to Venice . In the Peace of Venice , 1177 , Frederick and Pope Alexander III were reconciled . The emperor acknowledged the pope ' s sovereignty over the Papal States , and in return Alexander acknowledged the emperor ' s overlordship of the Imperial Church . The Peace of Venice was heavily instigated by Archbishop Wichmann of Magdeburg , who was amongst the defeated at Legnano . The cities of Lombardy , however , continued to fight until 1183 , when , in the Peace of Constance , Frederick conceded their right to freely elect town magistrates . The Treaty was cast in bronze . Frederick did not forgive Henry the Lion for refusing to come to his aid in 1176 . Taking advantage of the hostility of other German princes to Henry , Frederick had Henry tried in absentia by a court of bishops and princes in 1180 , declared that imperial law overruled traditional German law , and had Henry stripped of his lands and declared an outlaw . On January 27 , 1186 , Frederick ' s son Henry VI married Constance of Sicily in Milan as a sign that peace had really been established . Actual battlefield . The battle is traditionally tied to the name of Legnano , since the League ' s forces came from that town . Actually , as local historians have ascertained , the battle was fought a couple miles west of Legnano , where today the little town of Villa Cortese and Borsano , " frazione " of Busto Arsizio , stand . Garibaldi reference . In a proclamation issued in Bergamo on August 3 , 1848 , the revolutionary leader Garibaldi referred to the historic Battle of Legnano as a source of inspiration for his own struggle for the unification of Italy : " Bergamo will be the Pontida of the present generation , and God will bring us a Legnano ! " .