The War of Urbino (January–September 1517) was a secondary episode of the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...

. The conflict ensued after the end of the

War of the League of Cambrai The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...

(1508–16), when

Francesco Maria I della Rovere Francesco Maria I della Rovere (25 March 1490 – 20 October 1538) was an Italian condottiero, who was Duke of Urbino from 1508 to 1516 and, after retaking the throne from Lorenzo II de' Medici, from 1521 to 1538. Biography He was born ...

decided to take advantage of the situation to recover the

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 ...

, from which he had been ousted in the previous year by troops of 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 early 1517 he presented himself under the walls of

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

to hire the troops which had besieged the city, now to be returned to the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

. Della Rovere set off with an army of some 5,000 infantry and 1,000 horses which he entrusted to Federico Gonzaga, lord of Bozzolo, reaching the walls of

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of F ...

on 23 January 1517. He defeated the Papal condottiero Francesco del Monte and entered the city hailed by the population.

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

reacted by hastily hiring an army of 10,000 troops under Lorenzo II de' Medici,

Renzo da Ceri Renzo da Ceri, true name Lorenzo dell'Anguillara (1475 or 1476 – January 1536) was an Italian condottiero. He was a member of the Anguillara family. Born in Ceri, a small village in Lazio (now part of Cerveteri), he was the son of Giovanni d ...

Giulio Vitelli Giulio Vitelli was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Città di Castello (1499–1503). ''(in Latin)'' Biography On 7 April 1499, Giulio Vitelli was appointed by Pope Alexander VI as Bishop of Città di Castello A bishop is a ...

, and Guido Rangoni and sent it against Urbino. Lorenzo was wounded by a bullet from an

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

on April 4 during the siege of the Mondolfo castle, and returned to Tuscany. He was replaced by Cardinal Bibbiena. Cardinal Bibbiena, however, was unable to control the troops and suffered a defeat at Monte Imperiale with significant losses. Ultimately, he was forced to retreat to Pesaro. The war was, however, ended by the lack of money of Francesco Maria della Rovere, who soon found himself unable to pay the troops hired at Verona. After some unfruitful ravages in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

and

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, he began to seek for a diplomatic settlement with the pope. In September they signed a treaty by which della Rovere was relieved of all ecclesiastical censures and was left free to retreat to Mantua with all his artillery, as well as the rich library collected in Urbino by the former duke

Federico III da Montefeltro Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro KG (7 June 1422 – 10 September 1482), was one of the most successful mercenary captains (''condottieri'') of the Italian Renaissance, and lord of Urbino from 1444 (as Duke fro ...

. The war saw the first appearance of

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere Lodovico de' Medici, also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere (6 April 1498 – 30 November 1526) was an Italian '' condottiero''. He is known for leading the Black Bands and serving valiantly in military combat under his relatives, Pope Leo X an ...

on the battlefield.

References

* {{cite book , first=Claudio , last=Rendina , title=I capitani di ventura , publisher=Newton Compton , year=1994 1517 in Italy

Wars involving the Republic of Venice 1517 in the Papal States Duchy of Urbino