Oberto Pallavicino

Oberto (or Uberto) Pallavicino (1197–1269) was an Italian military commander who served under Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. He was a member of the lombard branch of the Pallavicini family.

Pallavicino supported Frederick II against Pope Gregory IX as early as 1234. Beginning in 1250, he successfully brought several key Lombard cities: Parma, Cremona, Piacenza, Pavia, and Brescia under imperial control. A significant primary source documenting this phase of his career is an imperial charter issued by Frederick II in November 1250, in which the emperor grants Pallavicino the authority to offer imperial clemency and legal immunity to subjects from Piacenza and surrounding territories. The document also confirms that any promises or agreements made by Pallavicino on behalf of the emperor would be ratified by the imperial court. This charter was rediscovered in 2011 in a box of manuscript fragments at the Schottenstift Archive in Vienna.

Due to growing rivalry with Ezzelino III da Romano, Pallavicino later started an allegiance with the Guelph faction, playing a decisive role in the Battle of Cassano (1259), where the Lombard-Guelph League defeated Ezzelino’s forces. In reward for his services, Pallavicino was granted control over major cities: Milan, Como, Lodi, Novara, Tortona, and Alessandria. Despite this shift, when Charles I of Anjou invaded Lombardy, Pallavicini once again sided with the Ghibellines, although he suffered several defeats during this renewed conflict.