History
|
|
Placed in a strategic position, on a cliff of a hill
overlooking the valley of the river Foglia, Sassocorvaro was a
natural stronghold of the historical Montefeltro region. Its
origins dates back to the tenth century. Already in 1060 the
village had a fortress and a chapel devoted to St.John the
Baptist.
Faithful to the Pope, the town granted a refuge to the Guelphs driven out of Urbino by the Ghibellines led by the well-known Guido da Montefeltro. Although the persistent assaults, the Guelphs who had taken refuge in Sassocorvaro were able to resist for many years under the protection of Pope Martino IV who sent helps from Rimini and the towns nearby.
Later Pope Onorio IV rewarded the people of Sassocorvaro for their bravery and faithfulness granting them many privileges. By the end of the fourteenth century a new form of rule begins in Sassocorvaro with the lordship of the Brancaleone di Casteldurante family. This noble family, more feared than loved, dominated over the town for more than a century.
They compelled many families of the local nobility to escape into the near San Marino or to ask the town of Perugia for protection.
The population rebelled more than once against the powerful feudatories untill in 1424 Guidoantonio da Montefeltro moved against the Brancaleones and after six years of wars he achieved in ending their rule for ever.
Since then Sassocorvaro became the object of contention of the two powerful families of the time, Malatesta and Montefeltro, passing from one to the other. Among the numerous sieges it had to resist, it must be remembered the one in 1446 when taken by the Malatesta, Sassocorvaro was sacked and given fire.
But the final victory was of the great Federico II da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (1463)
Federico II gave the county of Sassocorvaro as a
feud to his faithful friend, the noble Ottaviano degli Ubaldini
who, by the Duke's order, commissioned from the architect
Francesco di Giorgio Martini the rebuilding of the fortress
(1475).
At the death of Ottaviano, Sassocorvaro returned under the State of Urbino. In the seventeenth century the fortress was placed under the rule of Cesare Borgia il Valentino (1502) and then again under Guidobaldo.
When the dinasty of the Dorias was over, Sassocorvaro returned under the dukedom of Urbino where the Della Rovere Dukes had replaced the Montefeltros.
In 1634 the Dukedom of Urbino returned among the
papal dominions and Sassocorvaro remained under the Church until
the reunification of Italy. The fortress was let in enphiteusis
to high church dignitaries, such as Bishop Giovanni Cristoforo
Battelli, or to noble families. Finally, the fortress became a
national monument and a State's property and therefore given to
the town municipality.
