Fedrico da Montefeltro painted by Piero della Francesca.

Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro (June 7, 1422 – September 10, 1482) was one of the most successful condottieri of the Italian Renaissance, and Duke of Urbino from 1444 until his death. In Urbino he commissioned the construction of a great library, perhaps the largest of Italy after the Vatican, with his own team of scribes in his scriptorium, and assembled around him a great humanistic court in one of the great architectural gems of the early Renaissance, the Ducal Palace of Urbino, designed by the architect and theorist Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Download high resolution version (701x990, 149 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Download high resolution version (701x990, 149 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... The Baptism of Christ, 1442 (National Gallery, London) Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... Events January 10 - Battle of Nemecky Brod during the Hussite Wars. ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... Events Portuguese fortify Fort Elmina on the Gold Coast Tizoc rules the Aztecs Diogo Cão, a Portuguese navigator, becomes the first European to sail up the Congo. ... Condottieri were mercenary leaders employed by Italian city-states from the late Middle Ages until the mid-fifteenth century. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... A Scriptorium was a room or building, usually within a Christian monastery where, during medieval times, manuscripts were written. ...

Biography

Federico was born in Gubbio, the illegitimate son of Guidantonio da Montefeltro, lord of Urbino, Gubbio and Casteldurante, and Duke of Spoleto. Gubbio is a town and comune in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia, (Umbria), . At 522 m (1713 ft) above sea-level, it clings to the first slope of Mt. ... Panorama of Urbino with the cathedral and the palazzo ducale Urbino is a city in the Marche in Italy, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site with a great cultural history during the Renaissance as the seat of Federico da Montefeltro. ... Spoleto (Latin: Spoletium), 42°44′ N 12°44′ E, an ancient town in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria, at 385 meters (1391 ft) above sea-level on a foothill of the Apennines. ...

In his youth he lived in Venice and Mantua as a hostage. In 1437 he was created knight by Emperor Sigismund, and in the same year he married to Gentile Brancaleoni in Gubbio. Mantua (in Italian Mantova, in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language Mantua) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name. ... Sigismund (February 14/15, 1368 - December 9, 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 to 1437. ...

At sixteen he began the career as condottiero under Niccolò Piccinino. On July 22, 1444, his half-brother Oddantonio da Montefeltro, recently created Duke of Urbino, was assassinated in a conjure: Federico subsequently seized the city of Urbino. Portrait Niccolò Piccinino (1386 - 1444), Italian condottiere, born at Perugia, was the son of a butcher. ... July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ... Events March 2 - Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg proclaimed commander of the Albanian resistance April 16 - Truce of Tours. ... Panorama of Urbino with the cathedral and the palazzo ducale Urbino is a city in the Marche in Italy, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site with a great cultural history during the Renaissance as the seat of Federico da Montefeltro. ...

In the 1450s he fought for the king of Naples and his ally Pope Pius II. He married Battista Sforza, from another successful condottiere family, the masters of Milan. In the pay of the Sforza— for Federico never fought for free— he transferred Pesaro to their control, and received Fossombrone as his share, making a great enemy in the Marches, Sigismondo Malatesta, lord of Rimini. In 1459 in Romagna he fought for Pius against Malatesta, soundly defeating him at the Cesano river near Senigallia (1462). The Pope made him vicar of the conquered territories, but when Pius attempted to take personal control of the former Malatesta seat at Rimini, Federico switched sides and fought at the head of an alliance of cities ranged against papal power. Country Italy Region Campania Province Naples (NA) Mayor Rosa Russo Jervolino Elevation 17 m Area 117 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 1,000,470  - Density 8,457/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Napoletani Dialing code 081 Postal code 80100 Patron Saint Januarius  - Day September... Pius II, né Enea Silvio Piccolomini, in Latin Aeneas Sylvius (October 18, 1405 – August 14, 1464) was Pope from 1458 until his death. ... Country Italy Region Lombardy Province Milan (MI) Mayor Letizia Moratti Elevation 120 m Area 182 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 1,308,311  - Density 6,988/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Milanesi Dialing code 02 Postal code 20100 Patron St. ... Sforza was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. ... Pesaro (in Antiquity, Pisaurum) is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, 43°55N 12°55E; on the Adriatic, at sea-level. ... Mark or march (or various plural forms of these words) are derived from the Frankish word marka (boundary) and refer to an area along a border, e. ... Portrait of Sigismondo Malatesta by Piero della Francesca Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1417 – 1468) (the wolf of Rimini) was lord of Rimini, Fano, and Cesena from 1432. ... Rimini is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and capital city of the Rimini Province. ...

Urbino was raised to a duchy in 1474 by Pope Sixtus IV, who married his favorite nephew Giovanni Della Rovere to Federico's daughter Giovanna. Now Federico fought against his former patrons the Florentines, at the head of Sixtus' army, following the failure of the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478, in which Federico was deeply involved. Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere (July 21, 1414 – August 12, 1484) was Pope from 1471 to 1484. ... The Pazzi family were Tuscan nobles who had become bankers in Florence in the 14th century. ...

He died in Ferrara in 1482, while fighting against Venice. Ferrara is a city, an archiepiscopal see in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, capital city of the province of Ferrara. ... Country Italy Region Veneto Province Venice (VE) Mayor Massimo Cacciari (since April 18, 2005) Elevation m Area 412 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 271,251  - Density 646/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Veneziani Dialing code 041 Postal code 30100 Frazioni Chirignago, Favaro Veneto, Mestre...

Urbino's son, Guidobaldo, was married to Elizabetta Gonzaga, the brilliant and educated daughter of the lord of Mantua. With Guidobaldo's death in 1508, the duchy of Urbino passed through Giovanna to the Papal family of Della Rovere established by Sixtus IV. Mantua (in Italian Mantova, in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language Mantua) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name. ... The Italian della Rovere family of the Renaissance supplied two popes: Francesco della Rovere, Pope Sixtus IV, 1471-1484 Juliano della Rovere, Pope Julius II, 1503-1513 ... Sixtus IV, born Francesco della Rovere (July 21, 1414 - August 12, 1484) was Pope from 1471 to 1484, essentially a Renaissance prince, the Sixtus of the Sistine Chapel where the team of artists he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance to Rome with a masterpiece. ...

Portraits

Federico's portraits picture him standing sideways on his left side. During one of his early campaigns Fedrico was blinded in his right eye and carried a vast and disfiguring woundmark for the rest of his life, so that he required to be portrayed only on his 'good' side.

Sources

• Gino Franceschini, I Montefeltro. Varese, 1970.
• Walter Tommasoli, La vita di Federico da Montefeltro. Urbino, 1978.
• Claudio Rendina, I capitani di ventura. Rome, 1996.

External links

• Capsule biography, illustrated with Piero della Francesca's portrait of 1465/6