URBINO, Archdiocese of. - City and archdiocese in the province of Pesaro, in the Marche. It has an area of 465 sq km with a population of 47,000 inhabitants, all Catholics; it has 97 parishes served by 113 diocesan priests and 8 regulars; it has 2 male religious communities and 12 female (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 438).
The origin of this diocese is not known: it can be traced back to the 4th century. It is doubtful whether an Evander, who was present at the Roman Council of 313, can be assigned to U. (cf. Lanzoni, I, p. 503). A Leontius, perhaps already mentioned by Pelagius I, was certainly sent by St. Gregory the Great as visitor and administrator to Rimini (593-96), and Sebastian received the same assignment from him in 599. A bishop Esilaratus is mentioned in 680. At the beginning of the 11th century a Theodoric is mentioned and then a Teuzo, illustrious for his piety, who was succeeded by Mainard, who is said to have received as a gift or to have stolen from Città di Castello the relics of a martyr Crescentian (Lanzoni, I, p. 483). To him St. Peter Damian addressed his De eleemosyna (opusc. IX); he is venerated as blessed. On June 4, 1563, while Cardinal Giulio della Rovere was bishop, Pius IV constituted U. as an archbishopric, giving it as suffragans the bishoprics of Cagli, Senigallia, Pesaro, Fossombrone, Montefeltro, Gubbio. In 1635 Urban VIII added Urbania and S. Angelo in Vado.
The first certain notice concerning the cathedral Chapter goes back to Jan. 21, 1069, when Bishop Mainard confirmed to the canons, then 12 in number, the goods of the capitular mensa. The metropolitan church of Urbino, distinguished for privileges and for artistic treasures, is endowed with a notable musical chapel instituted by Duke Guidobaldo I in 1507, provided with a conspicuous patrimony. The ancient Cathedral was the church of St. Sergius Martyr; in 1021 Bishop Theodoric transferred it with the Chapter to where it now is. In 1474, under Duke Federico, the new construction of the Cathedral was begun. On Jan. 12, 1789, the dome fell, plunging into the grotto oratory beneath, burying in its ruins valuable works by various painters, as well as the precious high altar, a gift of Clement XI. The new Cathedral was immediately rebuilt through the merit of Archbishop Berioli on a design by Valadier, inaugurated and consecrated on Sept. 8, 1801. The temple is divided into three majestic naves; the two chapels of the Most Holy Sacrament and of the Conception are all that remains of the ancient building. The facade is the architecture of Camillo Morigi of Ravenna. In the Grotto Oratory one admires the famous Christ by Bandini. In the oratory of S. Croce has its seat the venerable Confraternity of the Disciplinati of S. Croce, which is said to have been instituted in 1318. Two frescoes are admired, one representing St. Sebastian, attributed to Giovanni Santi, the other the Madonna and Child, a work of Ottaviano Nelli. In a valuable ciborium the relics of the Passion are preserved. The oratory of St. John the Baptist goes back to 1365, as per a bull in the Archive of the Cancelleria. The interior of the Oratory was frescoed by the Salimbeni brothers of Sanseverino (1416). On the back wall is depicted the Crucifixion, on the walls the life of St. John the Baptist. In the church of S. Domenico (14th century) the marvelous portal is the work of Tommaso di Bartolomeo called Masaccio, a Florentine (1406-56); the terracottas are by Luca della Robbia (1400-81). There is no precise record of the foundation of the church of S. Francesco (13th century), in which the magnificent portico of the facade and the bell tower are the only parts remaining of the ancient construction, which arose in the second half of the 14th century. The most important painting is that of Federico Barocci, above the high altar. It represents the Pardon of Assisi. The construction of the church of S. Bernardino (15th century) and of the convent was begun by Count Guidantonio Feltrio in 1425, continued by his son Oddantonio, completed by Duke Federico; there are the tombs of Duke Federico, Guidobaldo I, Elisabetta Gonzaga. Also in the territory of Urbino monastic life flourished in the Middle Ages in the three monasteries of S. Silvestro at Secchieto, mentioned by St. Peter Damian: in place of the Benedictines Alexander IV in 1258 substituted the Poor Clares; S. Angelo di Gaifa, which in 1480 was assigned to the Olivetans; S. Vincenzo at Pietra Pertusa (Badia del Furlo) mentioned since the 10th century; St. Peter Damian speaks of it in the life of St. Romuald: the bishop of U. affiliated it to the monastery of Fonte Avellana (P. F. Kehr, Italia Pontificia, IV, Berlin 1909, p. 219).
Illustrious men of Urbino: first among all Pope Clement XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani; 1649-1721); Cardinal Francesco Uguccione Brandi; Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici; Cardinal Giulio Feltrio della Rovere; Cardinal Ulderico dei conti di Carpegna; Cardinal Gaspare Carpegna; Cardinal Domenico Riviera; Cardinal Annibale
Albani; Cardinal Alessandro Albani, Cardinal Benedetto Veterani; Cardinal Giovanni Battista de Praetis; Cardinal Gianfrancesco Albani; Cardinal Giuseppe Albani; Cardinal Castruccio Castracane degli Antelminelli.
For holiness, the Franciscan tertiaries Giovanni Pelingotto (1240-1304); Antonio (1336-1421); Giovanni (1337-1439); Pietro Spagnoli (d. 1415); Pietro da U. (d. 1438); Donato (d. 1505); Gaspare Dondi (d. 1506) are to be remembered as blessed. Furthermore Bl. Sante Brancorsini (1343-94), Bl. Serafina Sforza (1434-78) and Bl. Benedetto Passionei, Capuchin (1560-1625).
Among mathematicians Federico Comandino is remembered; among men of letters Bernardino Baldi, Raffaello Fabretti and Polidoro Virgili. Of particular importance in Italian artistic life are the artists of Urbino. It suffices to recall, in painting: Raphael, Coradini called Fra Carnevale, Giovanni Santi, Timoteo Viti, Federico Barocci. In architecture: Donato Bramante, Girolamo Genga.
Bibliography11 works
Bramante Ligi
THE DUCHY OF URBINO
A papal fief, it was already a possession of the Church in the 8th century and was occupied by Desiderius, who thereby intended to avenge the execution of Afiarta, ordered by the archbishop of Ravenna.
It had the institutions of a free commune, and then came into the possession of the Montefeltro family, who held the title of counts there from the end of the 12th century. Buonconte was recognized as lord of U. by Frederick II in 1213, but met with opposition from the citizens. He was succeeded by Montefeltro Novello and Guido. The latter, a Ghibelline, excommunicated by Martin IV, was forced to abandon U. temporarily and in April 1282 managed to re-enter it after bloody fighting, and following his return was able to come to terms with the Pope (1283). Subsequently he had to leave the city again, and only in 1292 did he regain the lordship of U. There followed, therefore, a period of alternating vicissitudes, in which the Montefeltro lost and regained
U. several times. They were exiled by Albornoz (1359) and
finally, in 1443, Oddantonio succeeded in establishing himself. The
state reached its greatest splendor under the government of
Federico da Montefeltro ([v.] 1444-82). He increased the
territory of the Duchy, obtaining in 1445 the cession of
Fossombrone, for which he was excommunicated by Eugene IV
and subsequently absolved in 1450 by Nicholas V. Federico fought in favor of the Pope against the Malatesta,
defeating him on the Cesano, near Senigallia, in 1462, and
following that victory he further enlarged his domain
by conquering Fano (1463). In 1474 he was recognized duke
of U. by Sixtus IV. During the period of his government
Federico hosted at his court in U. men of letters and artists,
founded a library and had the Ducal Palace built by Luciano Laurana.
He was succeeded by his son Guidobaldo
(1482-1508). The latter took part in the operations against the
Orsini, fighting for the Pontiff. He was forced by Cesare Borgia to leave U., where he returned following
the conspiracy of the Magione. He was expelled from it again and was able
to return there definitively only in Aug. 1503 after the death
of Alexander VI. He was on excellent terms with Alexander's
successor, Julius II, who was his guest in U. in
Sept. 1506, on the occasion of the submission of Perugia to the
Pope, whom he escorted as far as Bologna when the latter, after
having driven Giovanni Bentivoglio from the city and having
spared it from sack, went there in Nov. 1506. He received him again
in U. in March 1507, when Julius II was traveling
to return to Rome. When Guidobaldo died without direct heirs,
the Duchy passed to his nephew Francesco Maria della
Rovere (1508-38) who, after much struggle, had to
leave it from 1516 to 1521 to Leo X, who gave it to Lorenzo II de' Medici, his nephew. The Duchy had yet
another period of splendor with Francesco's son, Guidobaldo II (1538-74), who lived in Pesaro, surrounding himself with a lavish court, but to meet its expenses he had to
sharpen taxes, provoking discontent and revolts.
The last duke was his son Francesco Maria II, who was
obliged by Urban VIII to accept the devolution
of the Duchy to the Church. This devolution took place at
his death (1631), but already from 1625 he had almost completely ceded power to a prelate, who governed
in his place. Thereafter, and except for a brief interlude
during the French Revolution, U. followed the fortunes of the
papal domains, until, in 1860, it was annexed to the Kingdom
of Italy. - See pl. LXXXVI.
