Port · The Papal State: the pope's own lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Fano

Fano is a port and bishop's see of the old Pentapolis where the Via Flaminia reaches the Adriatic at the mouth of the Metauro.

It governs itself under consuls, and the Church's lordship over it has long been nominal. Its contado runs up the lower Metauro, and its later push to take in Fossombrone brought wars and an interdict (undated). In 1141 Fano put itself under Venice's protection by treaty, which sets it against Ancona, Venice's rival. It is not named in Ancona's league of 1198, and in 1201 it will fight Ancona alongside Osimo, Jesi and Fermo.

On 1 January 1200 no war of Fano's is recorded.

Who holds it

Title
Consuls of Fano (a podestà later)
Since
not pinned
Confidence
low

The Enciclopedia Italiana says Fano governed itself under consuls and then podestà, its subjection to the Church being only nominal; no officer of 1199-1200 is named.

Lord in 1200

The commune; the Church's lordship is nominal.

Overlord

The pope, nominally.

Allies and rivals

Venice, its protector by the treaty of 1141; rivals Ancona, Pesaro and Senigallia along the coast; Fossombrone, which it means to absorb.

How things stand that morning

Self-governing commune under nominal papal overlordship; not at war that winter as far as the sources show. Fossombrone up the Metauro governs itself; Pesaro lies to the north and Senigallia to the south.

Wealth

The port, the Flaminia road traffic and the lower Metauro valley.

Military

Walls and the citizen host.

Threats

  • Ancona's sea power
  • Its quarrel with Fossombrone over the Metauro valley

Council

Consuls and a council; podestà later (dates not pinned).

Communities

Not documented for 1200.

Militia

Citizen militia; ships. No numbers.

Walls and castle

Roman walls and the Arch of Augustus; the cathedral front of the mid-twelfth century with sculpture by a master Rainerio.

Trade and crafts

A port at the end of the Via Flaminia, the road from Rome over the Apennines; coastal trade and the produce of the Metauro valley.

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.

  1. 1201 (not 1200)Fano joins Osimo, Jesi and Fermo in war against Ancona; peace of Polverigi on 18 January 1202.Depends on: The quarrel among the coast towns. Stopped by: Papal arbitration.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The 1201 war is from the Federiciana and the 1141 Venetian treaty from Italian Wikipedia; nothing else specific to 1199-1200 was found. Italian Wikipedia puts the commune's formation in the thirteenth century, while the Enciclopedia Italiana has consuls first: the consular commune is assumed here.

On the map: A guess at the lower Metauro and the coast between the Arzilla and the Cesano; Mondolfo and San Costanzo may be Senigallia's or independent castles in 1200.

Primary sources for Papal State

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.

12 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.

Sources and studies

  1. Fano, Enciclopedia Italiana (1932)
  2. Fano (it.wikipedia)
  3. Ancona, Enciclopedia Federiciana (A. Meriggi, 2005)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.