History

In the late Roman age Mondavio was part of the prosper town of Suasa, five km downwards, on the right bank of the river Cesano, where remarkable remains have been revealed.

When Suasa was destroyed by Alarico, king of the Goths, the population run away and settled on the hills nearby, founding the first nucleus of the present hilly villages, among which is Mondavio. The territory, before being included in the Pentapoli Ravennate, was sacked by the Longobards and the Bulgarians.

The name Mondavio appeared for the first time in a paper of 1178 therefore it existed before the passage of St. Francis of Assisi who was given the place from the Ricci family to build the convent. They say that the saint was very pleased by the peculiarity of the place and the variety of the birds. From that expression sprang the denomination of Mons Avum as Monte degli uccelli - mountain of the birds - (today on the town's arms-of-coat there is a dove).

A part from the name's origin, historically uncertain, Mondavio as an urban settlement rose at the same time of the Franciscan convent (1200-1220). However, there is evidence of a the existence of a more ancient castle, the property of a lord named Vanolo, probably nearby.

The vicarage of Mondavio, rose gradually because of the presence of noble and rich families. In 1194, Enrico IV granted Mondavio and other 25 castles, from the Appennines to the sea, to the Ubaldinis. In 1327 Pope Giovanni XII took the 24 castles forming the vicarage of Mondavio away from Fano and put them under the rule of the Marca Anconitana (Church)

Between 1294 and 1353 Pandolfo and Ferradino and Galeotto Malatesta after him, tryed continuously to take possess of the Vicarage without any success. The rule of the Church went on unbroken until 1376, the year when Galeotto Malatesta conquered the Vicarage. At his death in 1391 Pandolfo Malatesta was reconfirmed the lord of Mondavio from Pope Bonifacio IX and in 1400 he established his residence there. Mondavio enjoyed a period of great prosperity and progress, cheered by big popular feasts.

At the death of Pandolfo and his brother Carlo in 1429, the vicarage returned to the Holy See. From 1433 and 1441 it was the object of contention between the Sforza and the Malatesta families till the marriage of Sigismondo with Polissena Sforza, which brought the Malatesta again in Mondavio which was embellished and fortified as well.

In 1447 Federico da Montefeltro, by order of the Pope who wanted to punish Sigismondo for the death of Polissena, invaded the Vicarage defeating the Malatesta who came back in 1462 this time to be definitively defeated in 1474. The Pope Sisto IV gave the Vicarage to the capitain Giovanni della Rovere, his nephew, already lord of Senigallia, as a present for his marriage with Giovanna della Rovere.

Giovanni resided for a certain time in Mondavio then commissioned the building of the fortress from the architect Martini.

In 1503 his son Francesco Maria, maybe born in Mondavio, succeeded to his uncle Guidobaldo in the Dukedom of Urbino and included in it also the Vicarage of Mondavio.

The periods under the rule of Giovanni and Francesco della Rovere were the happiest and most important in the history of Mondavio.

In 1631, when the dinasty of Della Rovere was over, the Dukedom and the Vicarage returned under the rule of the Holy See. The Vicarage's territory was reduced until 1860 when, with the reunification of Italy, was trasformed in a district of 12 municipalities until 1923.

At present Mondavio is a village of 3840 inhabitants and counts in its administration other 12 little villages: the castle of S.Andrea di Suasa, S.Michele (a flourishing centre downvalley) and San Filippo sul Cesano, besides the ancient Cavallara.

Regione Marche

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