9:00 AM. Battle of Legnano. The Teutonic Knights advance southward with 3,500 heavy cavalry, including about a hundred men from Como. The Lombards, on the other hand, have a defensive line, with the Carroccio in a raised position. At mid-morning, the two vanguards suddenly collide, and battle breaks out. The Germans are professional warriors, the Lombards are citizens summoned to battle by necessity: they are judges, notaries, businessmen, and landowners. The numerical superiority of the Lombard cavalry is overwhelming (500 against 100), but the Teutonic Knights resist crushing them, and retreat until the citizens are within striking distance of the 3,000 Teutonic knights who constitute the bulk of Frederick’s army. The communal troops are thus dispersed and put to flight. The League commanders, however, manage to hold firm with their infantry and reserve cavalry. The Teutons advance until they reach the bulk of the dismounted citizens. The contrast is stark: on one side, the rigidly hierarchical Teutons with the Emperor at their head, followed by the great princes, then the minor aristocrats, the castellans, the knights, the ministerials, and the mercenaries of Brabant. On the other, the communal troops, with knights mixed in with infantry, of all backgrounds. The Teutons are confident of overwhelming the unprepared enemy with one or more cavalry charges. They place their long lances under their right elbows and, forming into three ranks, attack. The defenders, however, hold their ground. They remain motionless, shield raised and lance outstretched, side by side with their neighbors, watching thousands of heavy cavalry charge toward them at 40 km/h. Charges follow one another, but no gap opens up in the front.
