When war was regarded as likely the Martinella was attached to the door of the Church of Santa Maria in the Mercato Nuovo in Florence and rung to warn both citizens and enemies. The Florentine Carroccio was usually followed by a smaller cart bearing the Martinella, a bell to ring out military signals. It was afterwards adopted by other cities, and first appears on a Florentine battlefield in 1228. One account states that it first appeared in Milan in 1039, when archbishop Heribert urged the Milanese to construct one. It was first employed by the Milanese in 1038, and played a great part in the wars of the Lombard League against the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. In battle the Carroccio was surrounded by the bravest warriors in the army as the carroccio guard, and it served both as a rallying-point and as the palladium of the city's honour its capture by the enemy was regarded as an irretrievable defeat and humiliation. It was a rectangular platform on which the standard of the city and an altar were erected priests held services on the altar before the battle, and the trumpeters beside them encouraged the fighters to the fray. The Carroccio of Legnano, a history painting by Amos Cassioli (1832–1891).Ī Carroccio was a four-wheeled war altar, mounting a large vexillum standard, drawn by oxen, used by the medieval republics of Italy.
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