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INDICE
4-9 Introduzione
Storia 5
CONTENTS
4-9 Introduction
History 7
Storia - History
Nella pagina a fianco: veduta di Pergola In alto: mappa storica del Ducato di Urbino
Adjacent page: view of Pergola Top: historical map of the Duchy of Urbino
8 storia - HISTORY
ebbe il conferimento del titolo di “Città” gravi spoliazioni del patrimonio artistico.
il 18 maggio 1752 con la bolla Romanum Da ricordare il papa camaldolese Grego-
Decet Pontificem di papa Benedetto XIV. rio XVI, che finanziò nel 1841, mentre ri-
Sempre per la solerzia di un altro influen- copriva la carica di ministro dell’interno
te cardinale, Leonardo Antonelli nipote dello Stato Pontificio il cardinale pergole-
di Nicola, papa Pio VI istituì nella città se Mario Mattei, i lavori per costruire la
una zecca che coniava “Baiocchi” chia- facciata del Duomo. Pergola fu la prima
mati “Sampietrini” e “Madonnine”, attiva città delle Marche ad insorgere contro il
fra il 1796 e il 1799. Nei secoli diciasset- potere temporale dei papi l’8 settembre
tesimo e diciottesimo Pergola raggiunse 1860, per questo gesto fu insignita di me-
la massima espansione economica con daglia d’oro al valore risorgimentale. La
l’incrementarsi delle attività tessili, di tin- città ha dato un elevato tributo di uomini
toria e della concia delle pelli. La domina- e forze nei due eventi bellici mondiali del
zione napoleonica si rese protagonista di ventesimo secolo.
rounding fortified towns. On 15th March town fell under the March following the
1234, in the Church of St Mary in Serralta, death of Carlo Malatesti. In the years up
two noblemen of Gubbio, Ugolino da to 1459, Pergola was involved in tumultu-
Grifoleto and Marsilione di Corrado, do- ous battles for supremacy among various
nated some land to the mayors of Serralta dynasties, including the Visconti of Milan,
and Monte Episcopale for erecting a new the Medici of Florence, the Sforza, the
town named Castrum Collis Pergulae, by Malatesti and the Montefeltro, with in-
enlarging the tiny settlement of Forum Ci- terventions by the Republic of Venice and
nischi, located near the Church of St Mary of the Holy See. Following the defeat of
of Ponte Cinisco and regularly used for Sigismondo Malatesti, the town was an-
trading goods and livestock. On 25th June nexed to the Duchy of Urbino governed
1234, agreements were officially stipulat- by Federico da Montefeltro. On 21st June
ed between the magistrature of Gubbio 1502, Cesare Borgia – nicknamed ‘Valen-
and the mayor of Serralta to begin Per- tino’, the son of Pope Alexander VI – con-
gola’s construction, but in the same year quered Urbino with an ignoble artifice
the neighbouring town Cagli organised a and forced Guidubaldo da Montefeltro
league – grouping Perugia, Pesaro, Urbi- to hastily flee while the entire duchy was
no, Fano, Ancona and Jesi – to oppose in revolt against the usurper. The duke
the project. Gubbio had its allies in Assisi, returned to the palace at the end of the
Città di Castello and Arcevia. The dispute summer. From the Fortress of Pergola,
was eventually settled by Pope Gregory ‘Valentino’ ordered an act of horrendous
IX who, with a bull dated 10th February violence: the death by strangulation of Gi-
1235, dissolved the league and allowed ulio Cesare da Varano, Lord of Camerino,
construction works to continue. In 1385, and perhaps that of three of his four sons.
Pergola – an independent commune Legend has it that whoever wanders at
since 1326 – came under the seigniory of night among those remains and through
Pandolfo Malatesti until 1429, when the the cellars and underground quarters of
In alto: Arrivo a Pergola delle Reliquie dei Ss Protettori, Giovanni Francesco Ferri, Duomo (dettaglio)
Top: Arrival in Pergola of the Relics of the Patron Saints, Giovanni Francesco Ferri, Cathedral (detail)
storia - HISTORY 11
the old town can still hear the gasps and ing Baiocchi, also known as Sampietrini
laments of those ill-fated victims. The or Madonnine (referred to the portrait
Montefeltro dynasty came to an end in of St Peter and the Virgin Mary, respec-
1508 with the death of Guidubaldo, who tively). In the 17th and 18th centuries,
– lacking direct heirs – left the duchy to Pergola reached the peak of its economic
his nephew Francesco Maria I Della Ro- expansion with the growth of the textile
vere, the son of his sister married to the and tanning industries. Art looting during
Duke of Senigallia, Giovanni. In 1631, the Napoleonic era depleted the town’s
following the death of Francesco Maria artistic heritage quite substantially. A
II Della Rovere, the Duchy of Urbino fell figure worthy of note is Gregory XVI, the
under the Papal State up to 1861, when it Camaldolese pope who in 1841 – while
was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy. Un- Pergola-born Cardinal Mario Mattei was
der the Papacy, Pergola obtained the title Minister of the Interior of the Papal State
of ‘city’ on 18th May 1752 with the bull – funded the construction of the Cathe-
‘ROMANUM DECET PONTIFICEM’ issued dral’s facade. Pergola was the first city in
by Pope Benedict XIV, following the inter- the Marches to rise up against the tem-
vention of Cardinal Giovanni Francesco poral power of the popes, on 8th Septem-
Stoppani, the Papal Legate in the March. ber 1860. For this gesture, the town was
Thanks to the zeal of another influential awarded the Gold Medal of Valour for its
cardinal, Leonardo Antonelli, nephew of role in the Risorgimento (Italian Unifica-
Nicola, Pope Pius VI set up a mint in the tion). The town paid a heavy price during
town, which operated between 1796 the two World Wars in terms of victims
and 1799. It was used for manufactur- and damages.