The modest Roman town of Urvinum Mataurense ("the little city on the river Mataurus") became an important strategic stronghold in the Gothic wars of the 6th century, captured in 538 from the Goths by the champion of the Emperor of the East,
Belisarius , and frequently mentioned by the Byzantine historian
Procopius . Though
Pippin presented Urbino to the Papacy, independent traditions were expressed in its commune, until, around 1200 it came into the possession of the fighting nobles of nearby Montefeltro. They had no direct authority over the commune, but could pressure the commune to elect them ''podestà '' (''potestas'', "power") as Bonconte di Montefeltro managed in 1213, with the result that the Urbinese rebelled, formed an alliance with the independent commune of Rimini (1228), and by 1234 were masters of the city again. In the struggles between
Guelf and
Ghibelline factions, associated with individual families and cities, rather than the struggle between
Hohenstaufen emperors and the Papacy as they had been, the 13th and 14th century Montefeltro lords of Urbino were leaders of the Ghibellines of the ''Marche'' and in the
Romagna .
The most famous member of the Montefeltro was Federico, lord of Urbino 1444 to 1482, an oustandingly successful
Condottiere , a skillful diplomat and an enthusiastic patron of art and literature. At his court
Piero Della Francesca wrote on the science of perspective,
Francesco Di Giorgio Martini his ''Trattato di architettura'' ("Treatis on Architecture") and Raphael's father Giovanni Santi his poetical account of the chief artists of his time. Federico's brilliant court, through the descriptions in
Baldassare Castiglione 's ''Il Cortegiano'' ("
The Book Of The Courtier "), set standards of what characterized a "
Gentleman " in early modern Europe that were still ''a propos'' in World War I. (See
Federico Da Montefeltro for full biography.)
, painted by the Urbino artist
Federico Barocci in 1572]]
Cesare Borgia dispossessed Guidobaldo da Montefeltre, duke of Urbino, and Elisabetta Gonzaga in 1502, with the connivance of his Papal father
Alexander VI . After the Medici pope
Leo X 's brief attempt to establish a young Medici as duke, thwarted by the early death of
Lorenzo II De' Medici in 1519, Urbino remained part of the
Papal States under a dynasty of
Della Rovere dukes. In 1626
Pope Urban VIII incorporated the independent Duchy of Urbino into the papal dominions, the gift of the weary last Della Rovere duke in retirement after the assassination of his heir, to be governed by the archbishop. Its great library was removed to Rome and added to the
Vatican Library in 1657. The later history of Urbino is part of the history of the
Papal States and, after 1870, of the
History Of Italy .
The first known bishop in Urbino was Leontius, made Bishop of
Rimini by
Gregory The Great in 592. The cathedral was not permitted within the walls by the independent-spirited commune until 1021, under Bishop Theodoricus. Among a long list of bishops of interest within the Roman Catholic Church, Oddone Colonna (1380), later reigned as
Pope Martin V . In 1563
Pius IV made the see metropolitan, that is independent of Rimini, with its own suffragans, or assistant bishops at Cagli, Sinigaglia, Pesaro, Forssombrone, Montefeltro, and Gubbio.
The clay earth of Urbino, which still supports industrial brickworks, supplied a cluster of earthenware manufactories (''botteghe'') making the tin-glazed pottery known as ''maiolica.'' Simple local wares were being made in the 15th century at Urbino, but after 1520 the Della Rovere dukes, Francesco Maria della Rovere and his successor Guidobaldo II, encouraged the industry, which exported wares throughout Italy, first in a manner called ''istoriato'' using engravings after
Mannerist painters, then in a style of light arabesques and ''grottesche'' after the manner of Raphael's ''stanzi'' at the Vatican. Other centers of 16th century wares in the Duchy of Urbino were at
Gubbio and
Castel Durante . The great name in Urbino majolica was that of Nicolo Pillipario's son Guido Fontana
- The main attraction of Urbino is the , began in the second half of the 15th century by Federico II da Montefeltro. It houses the Galleria Nazionale Delle Marche , one of the most important collection of Renaissance paintings in the world.
Donato Bramante was born nearby, and witnessed Laurana's work going up while he was a youth.
Raphael was also born at Urbino, where his family's house is a museum-shrine.
Others notable people from Urbino include:
