Ponte Sant' Angelo: Tiber Crossings as Agents of Change
Title
Ponte Sant' Angelo: Tiber Crossings as Agents of Change
Description
The Ponte Sant’Angelo (the ancient Roman Aelian bridge) was one of only four bridges that spanned the Tiber in medieval Rome. Previous Roman bridges, nine of which had crisscrossed the Tiber along the whole length of Aurelian walls, had collapsed by the 11th century. This meant that during the 11th through 16th centuries, the Leonine City, which was composed of the Vatican, the Borgo and the Castel Sant’Angelo, could only be accessed from Rome proper (on the east bank of the Tiber) via the Ponte Sant’Angelo. Because the Leonine walls and the Castel Sant’Angelo were well fortified, the Papacy was able to politically dominated by the rest of Rome, both practically and legally.
The separation of the Leonine City was exacerbated by the limitations on navigating the Tiber during this period, thanks to the ruins of the old roman bridges. The river was not able to support the volume of traffic that it did in antiquity thanks to these ruins. Although there were some ferries, the bridge was essentially the main way into the Leonine city from the inhabited part of the medieval city, located on the east bank of the Tiber. New construction developed on the east side of the bridge because the bridgehead, on both sides, held such strategic importance.
Local nobles built house-fortresses and towers around the bridgehead to protect their influence in the area. This construction was also prompted by the growing spiritual and political importance of St. Peter’s in the Roman and wider European world, as pilgrims and political figures were funneled across the Ponte Sant’Angelo in order to reach St. Peter's basilica.
The medieval context of the Ponte Sant’Angelo was one of a number of factors that allowed for the formation of the modern, politically independent Vatican state of the modern era. Without the isolation that the Ponte Sant’Angelo fostered, the Papacy would have been less able to extricate itself from city politics, though complete isolation was always impossible.
The separation of the Leonine City was exacerbated by the limitations on navigating the Tiber during this period, thanks to the ruins of the old roman bridges. The river was not able to support the volume of traffic that it did in antiquity thanks to these ruins. Although there were some ferries, the bridge was essentially the main way into the Leonine city from the inhabited part of the medieval city, located on the east bank of the Tiber. New construction developed on the east side of the bridge because the bridgehead, on both sides, held such strategic importance.
Local nobles built house-fortresses and towers around the bridgehead to protect their influence in the area. This construction was also prompted by the growing spiritual and political importance of St. Peter’s in the Roman and wider European world, as pilgrims and political figures were funneled across the Ponte Sant’Angelo in order to reach St. Peter's basilica.
The medieval context of the Ponte Sant’Angelo was one of a number of factors that allowed for the formation of the modern, politically independent Vatican state of the modern era. Without the isolation that the Ponte Sant’Angelo fostered, the Papacy would have been less able to extricate itself from city politics, though complete isolation was always impossible.
Abstract
The Ponte Sant’Angelo, formerly known as Aelian bridge, was one of only four bridges that spanned the Tiber in medieval Rome. Controlling the river crossing gave noble families and the popes strategic advantage in claiming control of Rome.
Creator
Spencer Dillon (2017)
Source
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312- 1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Identifier
tibercrossings_2015
Spatial Coverage
Piazza di Ponte S. Angelo, 29, 00186 Roma RM
Description
The Ponte Sant’Angelo (the ancient Roman Aelian bridge) was one of only four bridges that spanned the Tiber in medieval Rome. Previous Roman bridges, nine of which had crisscrossed the Tiber along the whole length of Aurelian walls, had collapsed by the 11th century. This meant that during the 11th through 16th centuries, the Leonine City, which was composed of the Vatican, the Borgo and the Castel Sant’Angelo, could only be accessed from Rome proper (on the east bank of the Tiber) via the Ponte Sant’Angelo. Because the Leonine walls and the Castel Sant’Angelo were well fortified, the Papacy was able to politically dominated by the rest of Rome, both practically and legally.The separation of the Leonine City was exacerbated by the limitations on navigating the Tiber during this period, thanks to the ruins of the old roman bridges. The river was not able to support the volume of traffic that it did in antiquity thanks to these ruins. Although there were some ferries, the bridge was essentially the main way into the Leonine city from the inhabited part of the medieval city, located on the east bank of the Tiber. New construction developed on the east side of the bridge because the bridgehead, on both sides, held such strategic importance.
Local nobles built house-fortresses and towers around the bridgehead to protect their influence in the area. This construction was also prompted by the growing spiritual and political importance of St. Peter’s in the Roman and wider European world, as pilgrims and political figures were funneled across the Ponte Sant’Angelo in order to reach St. Peter's basilica.
The medieval context of the Ponte Sant’Angelo was one of a number of factors that allowed for the formation of the modern, politically independent Vatican state of the modern era. Without the isolation that the Ponte Sant’Angelo fostered, the Papacy would have been less able to extricate itself from city politics, though complete isolation was always impossible.