The Bloody Bucket

"The Bloody Bucket – The war where 2,000 men died for a wooden pail" tells the story of the War of the Bucket (War of the Oaken Bucket) in 1325. Tensions were high between the Italian city-states of Modena and Bologna. But the spark wasn't land or religion; it was a raid where Modenese soldiers stole a bucket from a well in Bologna.



Historian Julian Smith chronicles the Battle of Zappolino, one of the largest battles of the Middle Ages, involving 32,000 soldiers. Bologna demanded the bucket back. Modena refused. 2,000 men died in the fighting. Modena won and kept the bucket.



"The Bloody Bucket" highlights the absurdity of human conflict. To this day, the stolen bucket hangs in the bell tower of the Cathedral of Modena, a rotting wooden trophy that cost more lives per splinter than any artifact in history.