Milan. The consuls of Milan, exhausted above all by the widespread destruction of the city’s crops and supplies, ask for a conditional peace. A complex ritual of submission and humiliation will take place, in which first the clergy, then the twelve consuls, leave the city barefoot, with Frederick placing a sword blade on their necks. Milan must pay 9,000 silver marks and hand over 300 hostages. This is triple the sum imposed on the King of Poland, but in reality, Milan can afford it: the previous year, military expenditures had amounted to a staggering 50,000 silver marks. In the end, Milan is not subdued: Milan’s tenacious resistance has forced the emperor to offer honorable surrender terms.
