HISTORY

Assisi is famous throughout the world because of its favourite son, St. Francis.

Nevertheless, the historical importance of the city is also tied to other episodes that, over the course of the centuries, have marked moments of splendour and, in less fortunate times, moments tragically connected with war.

There are many legends that attribute the city with noble origins. What is certain, however, is that Assisi was founded by the Umbro tribes.

It then came under Etruscan influence, as demonstrated by the few artefacts that have been handed down to the modern era. Nevertheless, it was the Romans who gave the town a well-defined identity. In fact, there are numerous vestiges of the municipium known as Asisium, such as the lovely Temple of Minerva, remains of pagan temples, the Forum, the amphitheatre, epigraphs, wells, statues and sections of the old Roman wall. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the town was attacked and conquered by the Goths (545) and then won back by the Byzantines. It was later dominated by the Longobards, followed by the Duchy of Spoleto.

Towards the year 1000, it began to lay the groundwork to become a free commune and it was also influenced by a certain religious and cultural reawakening that then spread rapidly to the rest of Italy. Churches and monasteries were founded and castles were built or fortified. Following the patient reclamation work of the Benedictine monks, the plains were used for agricultural purposes.

Anxious to rid themselves of the oppressive domination of Frederick I – also known as Barbarossa – the townspeople revolted but were immediately subdued by the imperial army. The town was then handed over to the Duchy of Spoleto. It was during this period that St. Francis and St. Clare were born, thus making Assisi an important part of Italian and world history. 

In 1198, the Duchy of Spoleto handed the town over to Pope Innocent III, who confirmed the privileges of the Assisi church with a papal bull.

During the following century, the city boundaries expanded rapidly and authority was held by the podestą. After having been dominated by imperial and papal rule, the city was then subjected to the whims of the numerous families of noblemen and condottieri. These struggles for freedom were also associated with internal struggles involving the two leading Assisi families. They were the Nepis (Parte de Sopra – or the upper part of the city) and the Fiumi (Parte de Sotto – or the lower part of town). New sackings prevailed during the battles between Perugia and Assisi, not to mention earthquakes, famine and pestilence.

There was a series of seigniories, including the governments of Giangaleazzo Visconti of the Montefeltri family, Braccio Fortebraccio and Francesco Sforza, through the middle of the sixteenth century when, with the conquest of Umbria by Pope Paul III, the city finally regained peace and tranquillity.

Assisi has given the world great figures: first of all, St. Francis and St. Clare, as well as illuminating figures such as the Latin poet Sextus Propertius, and painters Tiberio d’Assisi and Dono Doni. Figures from the nineteenth-twentieth century include writer-historians Antonio Cristofani, Francesco Pennacchi and Arnaldo Fortini, who contributed significantly to making this city famous throughout the world.