HISTORICAL OUTLINES

With the establishment of the new Comune, which had its own consuls and its own government, Tolentino acquired its independence from the Monastery of Rieti. The community then sought to increase its territory by annexing nearby villages and lands. It was in this period that the first settlements of “mendicant” religious orders, Franciscans and Augustinians, took place. The presence of two saints, Tommaso Capeccioni of Tolentino, Franciscan, and Nicola, Augustian, gave the city a special prestige. Especially due to the great devotion people showed to San Nicola, Tolentino then became the object of those pilgrimages which, still nowadays, make the city famous all over the world. The following years went by with great uncertainties, between coalitions and strife. In the Egidian Constitutions, published in 1357, Tolentino was included among the città medie; it was subsequently placed under the command of Rodolfo II Varano, captain of the papal troops. This dominion was barely tolerated by the people of Tolentino, and their protest reached its height with the killing of Berardo Varano in 1434. After the attempt of Francesco Sforza to take possession of Tolentino, the town was brought back under the control of the Pontiff, and in 1586 Sixtus V raised it to the status of diocese and città, joining it to the See of Macerata.


Treaty of Tolentino (art. 26)

On 17th February 1797 Tolentino was the centre of an event of great historical importance: in the rooms of Palazzo Parisani the treaty which takes its name from the town was signed by Napoleon Bonaparte and the representatives of Pope Pius VI. With the signing of this treaty, the Pope’s temporal power came to an end; he was obliged to give up possessions, pay a substantial sum in compensation and relinquish a considerable number of works of art to the French. In 1815 it was also the scene of the Battle of La Rancia, fought between the Austrian army and the forces of Gioacchino Murat, King of Naples, which is considered the first battle of Italian Independence.


The Battle of Tolentino (tempera painting by Vincenzo Milizia)

During the following years many were the people from Tolentino who bravely fought in the revolutionary movements and in the various Independence wars, until the Kingdom of Italy was born. Tolentino was one of the cities that actively took part in that Risorgimento which saw a new birth of Italy from all points of view, till the end of the First World War. At that time, in spite of the widespread post-war depression, Tolentino succeeded in creating economic and cultural initiatives of great importance. It was then that the local electricity company undertook the experimental electrification of the countryside and that the construction of the Santa Lucia Spa Baths started. During the Second World War many citizens of Tolentino died in the battle fields, and gave a considerable contribution to the partisan cause; for this reason Tolentino was awarded a silver medal for civil bravery.