siege, medieval

Siege of Ravenna

Name: Siege of Ravenna
Location: Ravenna, Italy

Siege of Ravenna was a siege conducted in July 1240 at Ravenna, in what is now Italy. The recorded result: Imperial victory; Ravenna capitulates after four days; Papal faction expelled and leading opponents imprisoned. Recorded strength: 5,000–8,000; Imperial cavalry, infantry and engineering contingents against 1,000–2,000; Civic militia and papal-aligned forces.

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FoughtJuly 1240

WhereRavenna, Italy44.418N, 12.199E

OutcomeImperial victory; Ravenna capitulates after four days; Papal faction expelled and leading opponents imprisoned

Belligerents20px Holy Roman Empire; Imperial and Ghibelline contingentsagainst20px Papal-aligned Ravenna; Guelph faction and civic militia

Casualties and lossesFewandFew hundred killed, wounded or captured

Record

Date	July 1240 (month precision) to July 1240
Place	Ravenna, Italy 44.418N, 12.199E
Kind	Siege, medieval
Strength	5,000–8,000; Imperial cavalry, infantry and engineering contingents	1,000–2,000; Civic militia and papal-aligned forces
Casualties and losses	Few	Few hundred killed, wounded or captured
Commanders	Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor	Bishop of Ravenna

The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Siege of Ravenna AD 490, same recorded site
Siege of Ravenna AD 539, same recorded site
Battle of Ravenna 1512, 0.1 km S
Battle of Ravenna AD 432, 0.1 km S
Battle of Ravenna AD 476, 0.1 km S

Contested ground: this site was fought over 7 times between AD 432 and 1512.

Elsewhere in 1240

Siege of Ravenna is one of 590 engagements of the 13th century in the atlas and one of 942 in present-day Italy.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q141490016, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Ravenna (1240), revision 1379608662, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.