Fedrico da Montefeltro painted by Piero della Francesca

Federico da Montefeltro (1422–1482) was one of the most successful condottieri of the Italian Renaissance, a fighter for hire who created one of the great libraries, perhaps the largest of Italy after the Vatican, with his own team of scribes in his scriptorium, and assembled around him at Urbino 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. ... Events August 31 - Henry VI becomes King of England. ... 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. ... By region Italian Renaissance Spanish Renaissance Northern Renaissance English Renaissance French Renaissance German Renaissance Polish Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Il Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution, religious reform and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... A Scriptorium was a room or building, usually within a Christian monastery where, during medieval times, manuscripts were written. ... 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. ...

Born out of wedlock, the heir of the minor lordship of Montefeltro, Federico was a warrior for hire, whose successful second career as patron of the arts began in earnest when he took the city of Urbino in 1444, after the assassination of his half-brother. His portrait by Piero della Francesca in the Uffizi shows him in profile because a sword-cut early in life took his right eye and left a gash across the bridge of his nose. 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. ... Events March 1 - Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg proclaimed commander of the Albanian resistance April 16 - Truce of Tours. ... 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. ... The Uffizi Gallery (Italian: Galleria degli Uffizi) is a palace or palazzo in Florence, holding one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. ...

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. Events and Trends Fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453. ... Naples (Italian Napoli, Neapolitan Napule, from Greek Νέα Πόλις - Néa Pólis - meaning New City; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of Campania Region and the Province of Naples. ... Pius II, né Enea Silvio Piccolomini, in Latin Aeneas Sylvius (October 18, 1405 – August 14, 1464) was pope from 1458 to 1464. ... Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy. ... 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. ... Riminis skyline. ... Events September 23 - Battle of Blore Heath. ... Events Settlers from Portugal begin to settle the Cape Verde islands. ...

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. Events December 12 - Upon the death of Henry IV of Castile a civil war ensues between his designated successor Isabella I of Castile and her sister Juana who was supported by her husband, Alfonso V of Portugal. ... 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 the first masterpiece of the citys... 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 town, an archiepiscopal see and a province in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, capital city of the province of Ferrara. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venessia in the local dialect), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′N 12°19′E, population 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ...

In 1489 he wed his son Guidobaldo 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. Events March 14 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice. ... Mantua Mantua (in Italian Mantova) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name. ... 1508 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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. ...

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.

External links

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