-The online resource for visitors and holiday makers to Le Marche region of Italy.....

Le Marche: History

Le Marche has an ancient history and has been occupied since Paleolithic times. The Piceni tribes ruled Le Marche until Greeks from Sicily and Celtic tribes moved in starting in the 4th century BC. The Piceni (named for their cultural totem, the woodpecker) would later be absorbed by the growing power of Rome after allying themselves with the Republic. Le Marche was occupied by Lombard and Byzantine settlements after the fall of the Roman Empire and later Pepin, King of the Franks would conquer the area in the name of the church. This was the beginning of the Papal States, and like other parts of central Italy, were supposedly the rightful property of the Pope, due to the forged Donation of Constantine. Le Marche was the boundary between Papal and Imperial lands and the name Le Marche is derived from the Frankish word for "frontier". Regardless of who claimed rulership of Le Marche, the people always maintained a sense of independence while nominally accepting the Pope as their sovereign. When Papal power waned, feudal warlords such as the Malatesta, Montefeltri and the Delle Rovere families took over, but the Papal States quickly moved in wherever a power vacuum existed. Napoleon interrupted Papal rule of Le Marche but it would otherwise continue until the battle of Castelfiardo in 1860, when the Piedmonte army of the House of Savoy defeated the Papal army. Le Marche was absorbed into the new nation of Italy shortly thereafter in November of 1861.