The Castle
of Montecchio
Vesponi
Tuscany - Italy
PAST - A Chronological History
The Castle of Montecchio Vesponi formed part of the extensive possessions of the Marchese Del Monte family, ancestors of the
Marquis of Tuscany. They ruled a large area between the northern part of Umbria and the centre of Tuscany.1014 - The Holy Roman Emperor Henry II confers to the nearby and powerful Abbey of Farneta the charters of control in respect to the “castrum montis Guisponi” (Guisponi's mountain garrison).
1234 - The Counts of Campelle, of the Marchese del Monte faction, sell Montecchio Vesponi and the surrounding land to the Municipality of Arezzo. The Arezzo Municipality rebuilds the wall and grants leases for a number of cottages.
1289 - There follow many years of violent argument and several changes of owner in the dispute between Arezzo, Florence and Perugia as to the ownership of Montecchio Vesponi. Montecchio eventually comes into the possession of Florence after the Battle of Campaldino.
1381-1384 - The ownership is firmly held by the Commune of Florence. The Castle is occupied by Sir John Hawkwood, English mercenary, Captain General of the Armies of the Florentine Republic, and he is recognized as the rightful owner of Montecchio Vesponi by the Municipality of Florence.
1394 - Following Hawkwood's death, his widow, the Lady Donnina Hawkwood (natural daughter of Bernabó Visconti, Signore of Milan) returns the ownership of the Castle of Montecchio to the Municipality of Florence as agreed on its assignment to Sir John in1384.
1411 - Montecchio's strategic importance declines after Cortona becomes the new outpost of Florentine rule.
1503 - Leonardo di Vinci draws maps of the Val di Chiana, on behalf of the Municipality of Arezzo. These maps show the Castle of Montecchio dominating the central area of the great swamp, which in flood looks as if it were a lake.
1608 - Inventory includes a survey map within the walls and a drawing of the front elevation of the Castle, at the foot of the hill, the heart of the Granducal farm of Montecchio, the "house of His Serene Highness where the bailiff lives".
1641 - Grand Duke Ferdinand II "entrusts" the Castle of Montecchio to Tommaso Capponi and grants him the title of Marquis. A few years later, with the end of the Capponi line, possession of the Castle reverts to the Grand Duke.
[ Back to top ]
1770 - Topographical map of the territory of Cortona: Castiglion, Montecchio and Cortona, , showing the extensive land reclaimed by the canal drainage systems.
1774 - The Municipality of Montecchio Vesponi is abolished, to be then incorporated into the town of Castiglion Fiorentino, this due to the migration of Montecchio's inhabitants who moved to live and work on the new farms created in the Val di Chiana.
1823 - Mapping of the Castle in the land registry (Catasto Lepoldino).
1873-1877 - After the unification of Italy, the banker and patron of the arts, Giacomo Servadio, acquires the Granducal Farm of Montecchio. He purchases the Castle from its various owners, house-by-house and ruin-by-ruin, and begins the restoration. Sadly Servadio's work was cut short by his sudden and premature death.
1874 - Giuseppe Ghizzi publishes a history of the Castle (Cenni storici dopra il Castello di Montecchio Vesponi e suo Comune).
1889 - John Temple - Leader Esq and Sig Giuseppe Marcotti publish a history of Sir John Hawkwood in Italian and translated to English by Leader Scott.
1890 - The estate of Giacomo Servadio sells the Montecchio Farm to the Gattai family, together with the ruins of the old Castle.
1909 - Girolamo Mancini publishes Cortona, Montecchio Vesponi e Castiglion Fiorentino, a collection of illustrated monographs in the series Italia Artistica which includes some fine photographs by Arti Grafiche di Bergamo.
1913 - The Ministry of Education issues a preservation order on the Castle because of its great historical interest.
1914 - Maria Budini Gattai orders work to reinforce the Lookout Tower using chains and tie beams.
1919 - Three postcards by Alinari I.D.E.A. portray the interior and the exterior of the Castle.
1975 - Mario Tabanelli publishes Giovanni Acuto capitano di ventura in the collection Avvenimenti e Uomini di Romagna.
1979 - The Castle having been abandoned for many decades and faced with injunctions for repair, the Budini Gattai, family company and the Società Agricola la Fiorentina, sells the Castle to Orietta Floridi Viterbini who begins its restoration financed by her own and public funds.
1980 - The BBC shoots a siege scene for a television programme on the Borgias with the Castle as background. Giuseppe Caciagli publishes a work on fiefs of the Medicis, I Feudi Medicei, with a fine cover photograph of Montecchio.
[ Back to top ]
1984 - Orietta Floridi receives the international prize Anne de la Rochefoucauld de Amodio for her work in restoring the Castle.
1986 - Italian postage stamp and philatelic leaflet was issued with a reproduction of Paolo Uccello's fresco in Cathedral church of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, which shows Sir John Hawkwood on his horse. Uccello's Giovanni Acuto/John Hawkwood was reproduced along with the image of the castle of Montecchio Vesponi, making him and Montecchio known all over the world. This was one of a series of stamps featuring Castles of Italy.
1987 - First of a series of "Meetings at the Castle" with an exhibition of sculptures and other works by Sinisca.
1988 - Floodlighting of the Castle sponsored by the Lions Club of Cortona Valdichiana. Photographic exhibition by Sante Castignani.
1989 - Festival for local young people with a folklore group and flag-wavers.
[ Back to top ]
1990 - Exhibition by the sculptress Alba Gonzales. Internship Texas A & M University. The architect, Duane Campbell, presents the model of his proposed project.
1991 - Graphics exhibition. Dialect theatrical performance by Gruppo Teatrale di Castroncello.
1992 - Visit of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (of England), welcomed by the folklore group and flag-wavers of Castiglion Fiorentino. Exhibition of sculptures and graphics by Giacomo Manzù.
1993 - July Concerts. Santorini Gallorini publishes Montecchio Vesponi un territorio, un Castello e una comunita..
1994 - Daniela Piegai publishes Giovanni Acuto da una favola inglese a una chimera Toscana illustrated by children from Montecchio primary school. Concert on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the death of Hawkwood with music by Daniele Lombardi and performance by Roberto Fabriciani. The Gruppo Teatrale di Castroncello stages Novella CLXXXI by Franco Sacchetti.
1995 - Publication of quaderno di Biblioteca no. 9 on Sir John Hawkwood with a short preface by Franco Cardini who calls him a "warlord".
1996 - David Allen, professor of engineering at Texas A & M University publishes a scientific study of the Lookout Tower in Structural Design and Construction.
1997 - Felicita Nocentini and Daniela Polezzi submit an architectural thesis to the University of Florence on the restoration of the Lookout Tower.
1999 - The Castle is enrolled in the Golden Register of Historic Homes of Italy.
2000 - Opening to the public within the programme by the Region of Tuscany entitled, Tuscan Architecture: visits in Spring 2000. Youth competition organized by the Comprehensive Institute Dante Alighieri of Castiglion Fiorentino.
2003 - Duccio Balestracci publishes "Arms, Horses, Gold", John Hawkwood and mercenaries in the middle ages.
2004 - Frances Stonor Saunders publishes 'Hawkwood Diabolical Englishman'. Nine students (Master Degree) of Texas A & M University, studying at Santa Chiara Study Center of Castiglion Fiorentino, present proposals for the castle's restoration.
from 2005, The watchtower is finally completely restored, thanks to the intervention of the Italian Prime Minister's Office. The castle reopens to host the following cultural activities:
-
Concerts: the quartet, 'Hohenloher Streichquartett' and the soloist flutist Francesca Staderini were held in the "keep" (the most fortified area of the castle) which benefits from marvelous acoustics.
-
A traditional liturgical ceremony was carried out, where the two churches and the cemetery of this fortified village had been.
-
This is the occasion for the parish priest of the new church to bring the miraculous painting of the Madonna of Montecchio from the ancient sanctuary of Mariano.
-
Historical re-enactments in medieval costumes were carried out within the programme of the Region of Tuscany entitled 'Toscana Esclusiva' and 'A Day in the castle' with the collaboration of Rione di Porta Romana, featuring an art exhibition by Daniela Piegai.
[ Back to top ]
