Editing Pisa (section)

===Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages===
[[File:Pisa Map V century a.C..jpg|thumb|right|300px|Hypothetical map of Pisa in the fifth century AD]]
During the last years of the [[Western Roman Empire]], Pisa did not decline as much as the other cities of Italy, probably due to the complexity of its river system and its consequent ease of defence. In the seventh century, Pisa helped [[Pope Gregory&nbsp;I]] by supplying numerous ships in his military expedition against the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] of [[Ravenna]] (what "military expedition by Pope Gregory against the Byzantine Empire"{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}): Pisa was the sole Byzantine centre of [[Toscana|Tuscia]] to fall peacefully in [[Lombards|Lombard]] hands, through assimilation with the neighbouring region where their trading interests were prevalent. Pisa began in this way its rise to the role of main port of the Upper Tyrrhenian Sea and became the main trading centre between Tuscany and [[Corsica]], [[Sardinia]], and the southern coasts of France and Spain.

After [[Charlemagne]] had defeated the Lombards under the command of [[Desiderius]] in&nbsp;774, Pisa went through a crisis, but soon recovered. Politically, it became part of the duchy of [[Lucca]]. In 860, Pisa was captured by [[vikings]] led by [[Björn Ironside]]. In 930, Pisa became the county centre (status it maintained until the arrival of [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]]) within the mark of [[Tuscia]]. Lucca was the capital but Pisa was the most important city, as in the middle of tenth century [[Liutprand of Cremona]], bishop of [[Cremona]], called Pisa {{lang|la|Tusciae provinciae caput}} ("capital of the province of Tuscia"), and a century later, the marquis of Tuscia was commonly referred to as "marquis of Pisa". In 1003, Pisa was the protagonist of the first [[medieval commune|communal]] war in Italy, against Lucca. From the naval point of view, since the ninth century, the emergence of the [[Saracen]] pirates prompted the city to expand its fleet. In the following years, this fleet gave the town an opportunity for more expansion. In 828, Pisan ships assaulted the coast of [[North Africa]]. In 871, they took part in the defence of [[Salerno]] from the Saracens. In 970, they gave also strong support to [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto&nbsp;I]]'s expedition, defeating a Byzantine fleet in front of [[Calabria|Calabrese]] coasts.