How a stolen bucket sparked the Battle of Zappolino

HostThere's a plain wooden bucket hanging in a stone tower in the city of Modena right now. It's basically a seven hundred year old trophy from a fight that cost thousands of lives. How does a simple water bucket become the center of a full scale war?

GuestIt sounds like a joke, but the bucket was really just the final spark. In thirteen twenty five, some soldiers from Modena snuck into the city of Bologna. They didn't just raid a farm on the edge of town. They went right through the main entrance, the San Felice gate, and took the bucket from a well right at the city entrance. They weren't trying to steal the wood or the iron for the money. They were trying to send a message.

HostSo they were basically just trying to start trouble?

GuestIt was a form of mental warfare. Back then, your city walls were everything. They were what kept you safe. If your enemy can walk right into your main gate and take something as basic as a bucket from your water supply, it shows you can't protect yourself. It was a way to shame Bologna in front of the whole region. It was like saying, we can come into your home whenever we want and you can't stop us.

HostI can see why that would be annoying, but it still feels like a stretch to go from a bucket to a war. Surely you don't call up a whole army just because your pride was hurt?

GuestWell, these two cities were already part of a much bigger fight that had been going on for hundreds of years. On one side you had the Guelphs, who were loyal to the Pope. On the other side were the Ghibellines, who backed the Holy Roman Emperor. Bologna was a huge supporter of the Pope, and Modena was on the side of the Emperor. When the guys from Modena refused to give the bucket back, Bologna used it as an official excuse to start a real war. They wanted to take back land and show that the Pope was the real boss of the area.

HostSo the bucket was just the legal hook they needed to launch the attack?

GuestThat gave them a reason to gather a massive force. Bologna put together an army of about thirty two thousand men. They marched out to crush Modena, which only had about seven thousand soldiers. It looked like it was going to be a total blowout. If you were a betting person back then, you would've put all your money on Bologna.

HostThirty two thousand against seven thousand? That's not even a fair fight. How did the smaller side pull this off?

GuestBecause the smaller side was much better at actually fighting. The two armies met at a place called Zappolino in November. Even though they were outnumbered, the soldiers from Modena were very well trained. They used a fast horse charge to smash through the lines of the Bologna army. It was total chaos. The whole thing was over in less than two hours.

HostAll that build up for a two hour fight?

GuestIt was a very intense two hours. More than two thousand men died in that field. It shows that even if the reason for the fight seems silly, the violence was very real. It was a serious struggle for power, and the bucket was just the symbol they carried into the fight.

HostAnd after they won, they just kept the bucket?

GuestThey paraded it back to Modena and hung it up in the main church like it was a holy object because it proved they had beaten their rivals. Later, a famous poet even wrote a funny poem about it called The Stolen Bucket. Eventually, they moved it to the big stone tower in the center of town where people still go to see it today.

HostIt's wild that a piece of wood can hold that much weight after seven centuries. It seems like it's about more than just a victory.

GuestIt really is. It's about a pride they call campanilismo. It comes from the word for a bell tower. It's this fierce loyalty where you care more about your own town than you do about your country. That bucket is the ultimate symbol of that. It says, we're Modena, and we took this from you.

GuestThe bucket stayed in that tower long after the men who fought for it were gone, proving that a simple object can keep a grudge alive for hundreds of years.

HostSeven centuries later, the people of Bologna still have to look up at that tower and know their water bucket is never coming home.