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Aftermath

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Once Frederick reached Cremona, most of the army was dismissed. The contingents of Parma, Reggio, Bergamo and Verona returned home, while nobles and ecclesiastics from France, England and Germany departed for their respective territories. Frederick retained his German cavalry and moved through Parma and Padua in an effort to reinforce imperial authority in areas whose loyalty had become less certain after the failure at Brescia.<ref name="Grillo72" /> The result had significance beyond the survival of a single commune. The siege was an abrupt end of the sequence of imperial successes that had followed Cortenuova. Frederick had concentrated superior military resources against the city and nevertheless failed to compel its surrender. The episode consequently encouraged the Lombard communes to avoid major open-field engagements, where Frederick's combined cavalry, infantry and missile forces had demonstrated their superiority, and instead to exploit the formidable defensive potential of their fortified cities.<ref name="Sturner462-463">{{cite book	last=Stürner	first=Wolfgang	title=Friedrich II. Teil 2: Der Kaiser 1220–1250	location=Darmstadt	publisher=Primus Verlag	year=2000	pages=462–463}}</ref>	Once Frederick reached Cremona, most of the army was dismissed. The contingents of Parma, Reggio, Bergamo and Verona returned home, while nobles and ecclesiastics from France, England and Germany departed for their respective territories. Frederick retained his German cavalry and moved through Parma and Padua in an effort to reinforce imperial authority in areas whose loyalty had become less certain after the failure at Brescia.<ref name="Grillo72" /> The result had significance beyond the survival of a single commune. The siege was an abrupt end of the sequence of imperial successes that had followed Cortenuova. Frederick had concentrated superior military resources against the city and nevertheless failed to compel its surrender. The episode consequently encouraged the Lombard communes to avoid major open-field engagements, where Frederick's combined cavalry, infantry and missile forces had demonstrated their superiority, and instead to exploit the formidable defensive potential of their fortified cities.<ref name="Sturner462-463">{{cite book	last=Stürner	first=Wolfgang	title=Friedrich II. Teil 2: Der Kaiser 1220–1250	location=Darmstadt	publisher=Primus Verlag	year=2000	pages=462–463}}</ref>

The failure also damaged the political effect of Cortenuova. News of the withdrawal circulated through Italy and across Europe through the nobles who had participated in the expedition. Frederick attempted in December to present the campaign as successful devastation of rebel territory rather than a failed attempt to capture Brescia, arguing that his forces had ravaged the countryside and forced their enemies behind their walls. Contemporary observers were less easily convinced. Even the generally imperial-friendly chronicler [[Richard of San Germano]] could only record that Frederick had devastated the Brescian territory before abandoning the siege and dissolving his army.<ref name="Grillo72-73">{{cite book	last=Grillo	first=Paolo	title=Federico II: La guerra, le città e l'Impero	location=Milan	publisher=Mondadori	year=2023	pages=72–73	isbn=978-88-04-76912-5}}</ref> The aura of supposed near-invincibility that had built up around Frederick II after his staggering successes over the past few years was damaged.	The failure also damaged the political effect of Cortenuova. News of the withdrawal circulated through Italy and across Europe through the nobles who had participated in the expedition. Frederick attempted in December to present the campaign as successful devastation of rebel territory rather than a failed attempt to capture Brescia, arguing that his forces had ravaged the countryside and forced their enemies behind their walls. Contemporary observers were less easily convinced. Even the generally imperial-friendly chronicler [[Richard of San Germano]] could only record that Frederick had devastated the Brescian territory before abandoning the siege and dissolving his army.<ref name="Grillo72-73">{{cite book	last=Grillo	first=Paolo	title=Federico II: La guerra, le città e l'Impero	location=Milan	publisher=Mondadori	year=2023

Brescia represented an important defensive success for the Lombard opposition, and certainly not a total imperial disaster. It did not destroy Frederick's military position in northern Italy, and imperial power remained formidable for years. However, it demonstrated that the communes could withstand even a very large imperial army by combining fortified urban defence, active sorties, sophisticated inter-communal cooperation and tactical pressure on the enemy's logistical system. The siege was beginning of a more prolonged and indecisive phase of Frederick's conflict with the Lombard cities, in which costly sieges increasingly replaced the prospect of a single decisive battlefield victory. The war against the Lombard communes would continue for several more years until the emperor’s death, culminating in an existential struggle for power when Frederick and [[Pope Gregory IX]] joined in open warfare the following year.<ref name="Sturner463">{{cite book	last=Stürner	first=Wolfgang	title=Friedrich II. Teil 2: Der Kaiser 1220–1250	location=Darmstadt	publisher=Primus Verlag	year=2000	page=463}}</ref>	Brescia represented an important defensive success for the Lombard opposition, and certainly not a total imperial disaster. It did not destroy Frederick's military position in northern Italy, and imperial power remained formidable for years. However, it demonstrated that the communes could withstand even a very large imperial army by combining fortified urban defence, active sorties, sophisticated inter-communal cooperation and tactical pressure on the enemy's logistical system. The siege was beginning of a more prolonged and indecisive phase of Frederick's conflict with the Lombard cities, in which costly sieges increasingly replaced the prospect of a single decisive battlefield victory. The war against the Lombard communes would continue for several more years until the emperor’s death, culminating in an existential struggle for power when Frederick and [[Pope Gregory IX]] joined in open warfare the following year.<ref name="Sturner463">{{cite book	last=Stürner	first=Wolfgang	title=Friedrich II. Teil 2: Der Kaiser 1220–1250	location=Darmstadt	publisher=Primus Verlag	year=2000	page=463}}</ref>

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