Starting from the XII century the situation became more stable: the north was dominated by the town of Pontremoli, at the centre there were the possessions of the Malaspina family, and the south was under the rule of the Genoa Republic.
In this period the Malaspina power was rising, clashing against the interests of Pontremoli, rich town in the north. On the other hand, towards south, tensions with the Bishops of Luni had been going on for a while; in 1306 they required the intervention of Dante Alighieri to be soothed. Just in those years Castruccio Castracani, Prince of Lucca and head of the Gibelline party in Tuscany, set his eyes on the Val di Magra region. His intervention opened a period in which the Valle's towns were repeatedly conquered and plundered by various signori ("masters"); among them the Visconti (Milan), Carlo V, the Genoa Republic and the Spaniards.