Battle of Legnano

May 29, 1176

The Lombard League's infantry, fighting around a carroccio ox-cart draped with the communal standard, broke Barbarossa's cavalry charge and routed the imperial army. Barbarossa was unhorsed and presumed dead for a week. The imperial dream of direct rule over Italy died on that field. The battle proved that well-organized urban militias could defeat feudal cavalry, a lesson that Italian cities would build upon for the next two centuries.