Family history Duca di Urbino

The Dukes of Urbino – A court as a work of art

The history of the Dukes of Urbino began on the rocks of San Leo. There, in the 12th century, the Montefeltro family emerged, presumably a cadet branch of the Counts of Carpegna. Emperor Frederick II granted Urbino to Buonconte in 1213; in 1234 the family established its rule. Between the Pope, the Emperor, and the rival Condottieri, the Montefeltro family claimed its well-managed territory.

In 1443 Pope Eugen IV. elevated Oddantonio da Montefeltro to the title of Duke. After his death, in 1444 his half-brother Federico took over the government. The successful general was also a passionate humanist. He expanded the Palazzo Ducale into an elegant residence, amassed a famous library, and attracted Piero della Francesca, Luciano Laurana, and Francesco di Giorgio Martini to his court. In 1474 Pope Sixtus IV confirmed his title of Duke. Urbino became a shining center of the Renaissance.

His son Guidobaldo and Elisabetta Gonzaga continued to run the cultivated court. Baldassare Castiglione found here the model for „Il Cortegiano“. Since Guidobaldo had no son, he adopted his nephew Francesco Maria della Rovere, Federico’s grandson through his daughter Giovanna. Thus, the duchy passed in 1508 under the family’s memory of the Della Rovere.

Francesco Maria had to defend Urbino against papal claims, but regained it in 1521. His descendants ruled from Urbino and later from Pesaro, promoting art, ceramics, fortification, and administration. The last duke, Francesco Maria II, handed over the government to his son Federico Ubaldo. After his early death, he arranged the transfer of the country to the Church, which was completed in 1631. His granddaughter Vittoria della Rovere brought valuable art collections to Florence.

The Ducal Palace, Federico's Studiolo, and the preserved Renaissance city tell the story of Montefeltro and Della Rovere. Since 1998, the historic center of Urbino has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a cheerful, stone-built legacy of an extraordinary court.

Sources: Treccani, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, General Catalogue of Cultural Properties

Family coat of arms Duca di Urbino

That Coat of arms of the Duchy of Urbino in the heraldic tradition of the House of Da Montefeltro.

Quartered: Fields 1 and 4 in gold with a black eagle; Fields 2 and 3 in gold and blue with a diagonal band on the left, on the first golden band a black eagle. Above all, a red pillar with the jagged keys of Saint Peter, above it the papal tiara.

The Da Montefeltro ruled over Urbino and held the title of duke since the 15th century.

Sources: Registro Araldico Italiano, Registration No. 880, with Italian blazonry of the crest Coat of armsand the church spire, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, project „The Library of a Humanist Prince“, on the development of the Montefeltro coat of arms Coat of arms and the church spire after 1474, and on the correspondence between the ducal coat of arms and that Coat of arms of the Da Montefeltro