federico di svevia

Barbarossa's grandson and son of Henry VI, was emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He had relationships of love and hate with San Miniato: the first granted privileges, such as rights of way on Borgo San Genesio, a stop along the ancient Via Francigena; then he punished it, in 1240, making "scapitozzare" its towers. Finally he set up a fortified complex with a central fortress, used as a political prison in which he locked up the cardinals, prelates, noble rebels and the bosom friend Pier delle Vigne. Presumably he lived in the two underground floors of the monumental building Miravalle where over a century before Matilde di Canossa resided.