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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 FrancescaBaptism of Christ, 1442 Piero della Francesca (c. 1420 1492) was an Italian artist whose work was characterized by his interest in mathematics, particularly how it related to perspective and foreshortening. He wrote a treatise De prospectiva pingendi on h wrote on the science of perspective, Francesco di Giorgio Martini his Trattato d architettura ("Treatis on Architecture") and Raphel's father Giovanni Santi his poetical account of the chief artists of his time. Federico's brilliant court, through the descriptions in Baldassare CastiglioneBaldassare Castiglione, count of Novellata ( December 6, 1478 February 2, 1529), one of the most important renaissance authors and a diplomat. Baldassare Castiglione He was born in Mantua, Italy to an ancient family from Lombardy that had moved to Mantua's Il Cortegiano (" The Book of the CourtierThe Book of the Courtier ( Italian Il Cortegiano was written by Baldassare Castiglione in 1528. Baldassare was inspired to write the Courtier by debates that occurred in Urbino on what makes a well rounded person l'uomo universale . The book is organized"), set standards of what characterized a " gentlemanThe term gentleman (from Latin gentilis belonging to a race or gens and "man", cognate with the French word gentilhomme the Spanish hombre gentil and the Italian gentil huomo , in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, the La" in early modern Europe that were still a propos in World War I. (See Federico da Montefeltro for full biography.) Duke Francesco della Rovere in courtly armourArmour also spelled armor (especially in American English), is protective plates or clothing meant to shield a human from intentionally inflicted harm. Armour has been in use for all recorded history, beginning with hides, leather, bone, progressing to br, painted by the Urbino artist Federico BarocciFederico Barocci (or Baroccio ( 1528- 1612), Italian painter, was born at Urbino, where the genius of Raphael inspired him. In his early youth he travelled to Rome, where he painted in fresco and was warmly commended by Michelangelo. He then returned to U in 1572
Cesare BorgiaCesare Borgia ( September, 1475 March 12, 1507), Duke of Valencia, the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) and brother to Lucrezia Borgia. Cesare was born to the mistress of Rodrigo Borgia, an important cardinal and nephew of pope Calix dispossessed Guidobaldo da Montefeltre, duke of Urbino, and Elisabetta Gonzaga in 1502, with the connivance of his Papal uncle. 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.