Drawing on recent archival and historiographical investigations, this article aims to examine the bond of collaboration and mutual support between the Attis and the Malatesta, which began in the early decades of the fourteenth century and continued without interruption until the mid-fifteenth century. The personal alliance with the Malatesta family and, more generally, the support of ecclesiastical authorities allowed the Attis to significantly influence the municipal government of Sassoferrato, also at the time when its Podesteria was held by foreigners. However, the Signoria of the Attis in Sassoferrato strongly depended on the precarious equilibrium of the area, which was uninterruptedly traversed by mercenary armies and, claimed by a variety of subjects fighting each other. In this changing context, the Malatesta remained the main guarantors of the Attis’ primacy, demanding, in return, help and deference. The two-hundred-year-old alliance with the family from the Romagna started to loosen in the second half of the fifteenth century, when, in the fight that opposed the Malatesta to the Montefeltros, the Attis were incorporated into the sphere of influence of the lords of Urbino, following the radical overturning of alliances between the noble powers.

The Atti and the Malatesta families: a two-hundred-year-old alliance to dominate Sassoferrato

Anna Falcioni
2018

Abstract

Drawing on recent archival and historiographical investigations, this article aims to examine the bond of collaboration and mutual support between the Attis and the Malatesta, which began in the early decades of the fourteenth century and continued without interruption until the mid-fifteenth century. The personal alliance with the Malatesta family and, more generally, the support of ecclesiastical authorities allowed the Attis to significantly influence the municipal government of Sassoferrato, also at the time when its Podesteria was held by foreigners. However, the Signoria of the Attis in Sassoferrato strongly depended on the precarious equilibrium of the area, which was uninterruptedly traversed by mercenary armies and, claimed by a variety of subjects fighting each other. In this changing context, the Malatesta remained the main guarantors of the Attis’ primacy, demanding, in return, help and deference. The two-hundred-year-old alliance with the family from the Romagna started to loosen in the second half of the fifteenth century, when, in the fight that opposed the Malatesta to the Montefeltros, the Attis were incorporated into the sphere of influence of the lords of Urbino, following the radical overturning of alliances between the noble powers.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11576/2662952
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