The village

Monte Santa Maria Tiberina (Monte)

A fortified village atop a hill, it is recognizable from afar night and day by its watchtower and castle. You catch a glimpse of this wonderful view emerging from behind some other hill or from a bend in the road long before you reach it… In fact, the intriguing hilltop is nestled in a green mantle of woods. This picturesque mediaeval village, full of memories and surprises, slumbers undisturbed in the arms of its castle walls. The lovely entranceway is watched over by the Madonna of Monte, to whom the village has been dedicated ever since its origins… Monte Santa Maria Tiberina used to be the ancient stronghold of the Bourbon Marquesses of Monte and, given its strategic position between the lands of Tuscany and those of the Papal State, it has had a rather eventful past.

Around the year 1000 a parish church dedicated to the assumption of the Madonna in Heaven was erected on Monte Bruno. Here is a legend about it’s birth: it was common knowledge that Guido Marquess of Tuscany led a pretty scandalous and amoral life… One day, during a ride, he and his people arrived at a clearing where some men, sweaty and dirty from soot, were melting iron for forging. All around fires were blazing and the few remaining trees were also all burnt and devastated by the unbearable heat. Impressed, the Marquess asked if hell was like this… A friar, who was part of his entourage, answered no, this was nothing in comparison, merely a modest example, and that hell was much worse! Terrified, the Marquess repented and swore he would change his life and dedicate himself to good. And, in order to be pardoned, he ordered the building on his own land of seven parish churches in honour of Saint Maria. And it would appear that the church of Monte is in fact one of those seven… Other buildings, including the castle, grew up quickly around the church, thereby giving rise at the beginning of the 11th century to a small village whose landowners, right from the start, were called “marchesi” (marquesses); this probably comes from the Marquess Guido of the legend.

In 1198, during the course of the fight between the Guelphs (supporters of the power of the church) and the Ghibellines (faithful to the empire), an illustrious prisoner, Cardinal Ottaviano from Ostia, who had been arrested by the Duke of Spoleto on the orders of the Emperor, was held in the castle of Monte. In the same year, however, the energetic Innocent III became Pope and the Guelphs regained favour. The cardinal was released from prison with great ceremony, while the castle of Monte was destroyed along with the town walls. The territory passed into the hands of the Lambardi, Lords of Citerna and Monterchi, and faithful Guelphs, but seeing as Monte was a peripheral property of little importance to them, the people of Monte rebuilt the castle without any particular obstacles.

In 1250, a fundamentally important year in the history of Monte Santa Maria Tiberina, the Marquess Guido, descendent of the previous owners, attacked the castle with a group of soldiers and after a short time conquered it, establishing a new state at Monte – the Marquesate of Monte Santa Maria Tiberina, destined to last a good five and a half centuries. In fact, only the Papal State, the Republic of Venice, and the Dukedom (subsequently Kingdom) of Savoy managed to remain independent for longer! Thanks to their political skill, the owners of Monte obtained concessions and privileges from popes and emperors, often also holding important public office in the nearby towns. Monte was free to have its own laws, to forge alliances and to declare war, to receive legations, to mint its own coins, to impose taxes and to administrate justice by itself – its governors therefore had absolute autonomy and independence. Monte was also one of the last three places in Europe (together with Verona and Petersburg) where it was possible to carry out duels to the death.

During the fifteenth century the Marquesses of Monte obtained the surname Bourbon from the King of France, thus becoming the Marquesses Bourbon of Monte. Within the family there were “podestà”, captains and ambassadors.

In 1424 Monte Santa Maria Tiberina entered into the political and military arena of the greatest republic of the time, then the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Then, in the following centuries, the families of the Marchesi, by now divided into several branches, fought amongst themselves, contending for power and the castle. In 1532 there was a compromise, according to which the regency always passed to the eldest, irrespective of the branch they belonged to, but the rivalry remained. Despite the many problems, the Marquesate was somehow run by the descendants of several branches of the family until 1815 when, following the decision of the Congress of Vienna to suppress the small fiefdoms, Monte became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, then in 1859 of the Kingdom of Italy and, subsequently, also to the Italian Republic.

In 1927 the area of Monte Santa Maria Tiberina, which up to then had belonged to Arezzo, was incorporated in the province of Perugia and from being Tuscan became Umbrian. Today Monte is part of delightful, unique Umbria which, as well as being beautiful, rich in history and culture, and always green, is above all on a human scale. In fact, in Umbria the future has ancient roots; the past isn’t past and the passing of time hasn’t distorted traditions, customs or environment. And Monte Santa Maria Tiberina is an excellent example of this!