Duchess of Urbino
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The Duchy of Urbino was an independent duchy in early modern
central Italy Central Italy ( it, Italia centrale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region, and a European Parliament constituency. Regions Central I ...
, corresponding to the northern half of the modern region of Marche. It was directly annexed by the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
in 1625. It was bordered by the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
in the east, the
Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flo ...
in the west and the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
in the south. In 1523 the capital was moved from Urbino to Pesaro. After the short rule by Cesare Borgia in 1502–08, the dukedom went to the
della Rovere The House of Della Rovere (; literally "of the oak tree") was a noble family of Italy. It had humble origins in Savona, in Liguria, and acquired power and influence through nepotism and ambitious marriages arranged by two Della Rovere popes: F ...
papal family, who held it until 1625, when Pope Urban VIII annexed it to the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
as ' (later ').


History

The birth of the duchy dates back to 1443, by virtue of the appointment of
Oddantonio da Montefeltro Oddantonio da Montefeltro (1428 – 22 July 1444) was the first duke of Urbino in Italy. Oddantonio succeeded his father Guidantonio as count of Urbino. He was the half-brother of Federico da Montefeltro. The testamentary division of the county ...
as Duke of Urbino by
Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...
. The Duchy had for a long time the city of the same name as its capital, which soon became one of the focal points of the
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
, rivaling
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
and
Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
as a center of art, culture, and commerce. In 1506 the
University of Urbino The University of Urbino "Carlo Bo" ( it, Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo", ''UniUrb'') is an Italian university located in Urbino, a walled hill-town in the region of Marche, located in the north-eastern part of central Italy. The ...
was founded.


Statistics

In 1610, a contemporary estimate printed by the Elzevirs gave the duchy's annual income as over 200,000 scudi, and the duke's fortune at St. Leo as 2,000,000 scudi. In 1624, Mercurius Gallicus estimated the revenue of the duchy at 300,000 scudi. In regards to population, Zane estimated 150,000 for the duchy at the start of the 17th century, and the military at 10,000 fighting men, half of whom were soldiers and the other half militia. Three-fourths of the duchy's military force was available for foreign service. In 1591, the military force of the duchy amounted to 13,313 fighting men, of whom 8,300 carried arquebuses and 3,783 wore marions. A contemporary census places the duchy's population in 1598 at 115,121. The last legation census before the dissolution of the duchy gave the population as 220,000 in an area of 5,556 square kilometers (giving nearly 40 people per square kilometer), with Urbino (the urban area) having 12,000 (7,500 in the city proper, 4,500 in the adjacent district). James Dennistoun. "Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, Illustrating the Arms, Arts, and Literature of Italy, from 1440 to 1630, Volume 3." Harvard University Press: 1851. Pages 432-433. In 1574, few to none of the nobility had annual revenues of more than 3,000 scudi, but many burgesses made 300-400 scudi annually. The few merchants were chiefly from outside the duchy. A few years after the loss of the duchy's independence, the papacy drew 100,000 scudi annually from direct and fiscal taxation. The militia at the time number 8,000 infantry and 500 cavalry, plus the garrison of Sinigaglia. Dennistoun, p. 433-434.


List of rulers of Urbino

Lords until 1213, counts thereafter until 1443, thereafter dukes.


See also

* History of Urbino * Pesaro *
List of historic states of Italy Italy, up until the Italian unification in 1861, was a conglomeration of city-states, republics, and other independent entities. The following is a list of the various Italian states during that period. Following the fall of the Western Roman Em ...


Notes


References

*
Volume OneVolume TwoVolume Three

''History of the popes; their church and state (Volume III)''
by Leopold von Ranke ( Wellesley College Library, 2009) * Franceschini, G. (1970), ''I Montefeltro ''. Milan. * Ugolini, Filippo, (1859)
''Storia dei conti e duchi d'Urbino''
Florence. * Ugolini, Filippo
''Storia dei conti e duchi d'Urbino - volume 2''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urbino, Duchy of States and territories established in 1443
Duchy of Urbino The Duchy of Urbino was an independent duchy in early modern central Italy, corresponding to the northern half of the modern region of Marche. It was directly annexed by the Papal States in 1625. It was bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the east ...
Montefeltro 2nd millennium in Italy 1443 establishments in Europe Italian city-states