The most powerful lord of the hills between the Romagna and the March.
From his seat at Monte Copiolo, Count Montefeltrano's power reaches over the Montefeltro, Urbino, Pesaro and Rimini, though he holds neither San Leo, which is the bishop's city, nor Urbino, which governs itself. He is Rimini's lasting ally: in 1181 he carried the commune's banner and took the castle of Bulgaria from Cesena. He served the emperors, helped the imperial legate Berthold of Künsberg against Faenza in 1185, and attended Henry VI at Gubbio, Cesena and Bologna in 1186 and 1191.
On 1 January 1200 he is about sixty-five; his sons Buonconte and Taddeo are grown men.
Who he is
- Name
- Montefeltrano (Montefeltrano I)
- Title
- Count (Montefeltranus comes)
- Since
- by 1173 (not pinned)
- Born
- about 1135
- Family
- Sons Buonconte (about 1170) and Taddeo (about 1180); possibly Rolando, bishop of Montefeltro in 1222-1227. Wife not named. Tradition makes the family a branch of the Carpegna; the supposed founder Antonio is undocumented.
- Confidence
- high
Dizionario Biografico (T. di Carpegna Falconieri, 2012): never styled count of Montefeltro in documents but Montefeltranus comes, the title attached to his name; his sons are 'de Montefeltrano' in imperial acts until 1226, and Otto IV may have granted them the title count of Montefeltro about 1210. Presumed dead in 1202 (a document before February 1203); first called dead in 1216.
Overlord
The emperor (the family's tie dates from service to Christian of Mainz at the siege of Ancona in 1173).
What it holds
- Monte Copiolo, the family's original seat, with twelfth-century fortifications
- Influence and followers across the Montefeltro hills, in Urbino, and toward Pesaro and Rimini (lordship over specific castles in 1200 not pinned)
- A carroccio (war wagon) of his own, whose crucifix was later placed on San Leo's high altar
How it was acquired
Inherited; his comital title probably rests on imperial favour won in the 1170s.
Allies and rivals
Allies: Rimini, the counts of Carpegna (allied until the 1240s), the imperial party. Rivals: Cesena, Faenza; the bishop of Montefeltro, whose jurisdiction over the district the family is absorbing.
How things stand that morning
Count of the hills under no commune or prince; Urbino and San Leo are not his. He serves the emperor and stands with Rimini.
Wealth
Rents and dues of the hill country; his standing as an imperial count.
Military
Household knights and the men of the hills; his own carroccio; service to Rimini and to the emperors.
Threats
- His age
- The papal recovery of the March, which covers Urbino and the Montefeltro
- Cesena
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 1202 (presumed)Montefeltrano dies; his sons Buonconte and Taddeo succeed. Buonconte becomes podestà of Urbino in 1213 and the brothers counts of Urbino in 1226.Depends on: Natural death. Stopped by: Nothing likely.
Places of note
- San Leo: The bishop's city, not the count's in 1200
- Urbino: A commune under his influence
Where the sources disagree
- The English Wikipedia (House of Montefeltro) gives Antonio as imperial vicar of Urbino from 1155 and the family as holders of San Leo; the Dizionario Biografico rejects both for 1200.
Evidence: Dated acts for 1173-1191 and 1202 in a recent Dizionario Biografico article; nothing specific for 1195-1201.
On the map: Drawn small: the count's power was personal and wide but his documented holdings are few.
Primary sources for Empire
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- T. di Carpegna Falconieri, MONTEFELTRANO, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 76 (2012)
- Montefeltrano I da Montefeltro (it.wikipedia)
- House of Montefeltro (en.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.