Battle of Zappolino

Battle of Zappolino
	Part of Guelphs and Ghibellines; and War of the Bucket
Date	15 November 1325
Location	near Zappolino, Metropolitan City of Bologna, present-day Italy44°30′N 11°05′E / 44.500°N 11.083°E
Result	Modenese victory
Belligerents
Modena; (Ghibelline)	Bologna; (Guelph)
Commanders and leaders
Passerino dei Bonacolsi	Pope John XXII
Strength
2,000 cavalry; 5,000 infantry	2,000 cavalry; 30,000 infantry
Casualties and losses
500 killed or wounded	2,500 killed or wounded
	c. 3,000 in total

The Battle of Zappolino, the only battle of the War of the Oaken Bucket, was fought in November 1325 between forces representing the Italian towns of Bologna and Modena, an incident in the series of raids and reprisals between the two cities that were part of the larger conflicts of Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Modenese were victorious.^[1] Though many clashes between Guelphs and Ghibellines loomed larger to contemporaries than to historians, the unusually-large encounter involved 4,000 estimated cavalry and some 35,000 foot soldiers, and 2,000 men lost their lives. The location of the battle, at the foot of a hill just outside the castle walls, is now a frazione of the municipality of Castello di Serravalle, Emilia-Romagna.

^ Vittorio Lenzi, La battaglia di Zappolino e La secchia rapita 1995.

[1] Vittorio Lenzi, La battaglia di Zappolino e La secchia rapita 1995.

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