The Duchy of Sora was a semi-independent state in Italy, created in 1443 by King Alfonso I of Naples and dissolved in 1796. It occupied the south-eastern part of what is today Lazio, bordering what is now Abruzzo. Its capital was first Sora, and later, under the Boncompagni family, Isola di Sora.
The County of Sora had been constituted in 1399 as a fief of the Kingdom of Naples. In 1443 Nicola Cantelmo, who was already count of Sora and nearby Alvito, was named the first duke of Sora by Alfonso I. His fief was intended as a buffer between the Neapolitan kingdom and the Papal States. The Cantelmi struggled in the 15th century for a greater degree of autonomy, often taking advantage of the succession crises that threatened to tear apart the Kingdom of Naples until the early 16th century.
In 1450, during one of these wars, Pope Pius II, who supported the Aragonese party, sent Federico III da Montefeltro against the Cantelmi. The Soran army was defeated and the duchy pacified. In 1463 however the Cantelmi rebelled again. This time the papal commander was Napoleone Orsini, who captured Isola del Liri, Arpino, and a large piece of territory, making Sora a papal fief. Piergiampaolo Cantelmo lost the ducal title. His remaining lands in Alvito and Popoli were assigned to his brother Giovanni Cantelmo with the title of Count. In 1472 Pope Sixtus IV renounced his feudal rights over Sora: the duchy of Sora, now separated from that of Alvito and augmented by the addition of Arce, was given to his nephew Leonardo della Rovere, who married a daughter of King Ferdinand I of Naples.
Between 1494 and 1501 Duke Giovanni della Rovere (also lord of Senigallia in the Marche) defeated an Aragonese army in L'Aquila and then defeated Bartolomeo d'Alviano, who was threatening his northern frontier, near Tagliacozzo. In 1495 he conquered Ceprano and Montecassino, bringing the Duchy to its greatest territorial extent. The following year he defended an attack from Prospero Colonna, but lost Esperia and Monte San Giovanni Campano until Pope Alexander VI recognised him as duke.
After Giovanni's death, the title went to Francesco Maria I della Rovere, who was officially invested with the title by the King of France, then a pretendent to Naples, Louis XII. After defending his lands from Cesare Borgia's assault, in 1516 Francesco Maria was ousted by Fernando d'Avalos, acting for the king of Naples, Charles IV. He was the last pro-French ruler in the kingdom. The Duchy was then ruled for a short while by William de Croÿ, but the Della Rovere regained it in 1528 thanks to the efforts of Odet de Foix.
Francesco Maria was succeeded by his son Giulio, and then by Francesco Maria II della Rovere.
In 1579 Pope Gregory XIII acquired the duchy for 100,000 scudi , assigning it to his son Giacomo Boncompagni. The duchy was also at this time enlarged by the acquisition of Aquino and Arpino, becoming a truly autonomous seigniory only nominally dependent on the Kingdom of Naples. The creation of an independent state in southern Lazio had been managed by cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte to counterbalance the expansion of the House of Farnese. Giacomo married Costanza Sforza, who embellished the duchy with buildings, gardens and schools. The Dukes promoted local industry by installing textile factories in Arpino and Sora and a paper industry along the Liri River. They also founded a new town, Colle Drago, but after Giacomo and his successor Gregorio I, the financial difficulties of the family, caused by such expensive projects, prevented further efforts.
At the death of duke Giovan Giacomo (1636), his brother Ugo had to face the popular rebellion of the brigand Papone, a follower of the republicanism of Masaniello. He occupied Sora and Cassino and formed a popular government. Ugo was succeeded by his son Gregorio II, who married Ippolita Ludovisi, who added to his lands the principality of Piombino. The union of the Boncompagni and Ludovisi families as the Boncompagni-Ludovisi largely resolved their economical difficulties, but at that time the duchy was facing increased custom taxes imposed by the Papal States on its merchants. Gregorio II's successor, Antonio I, died in 1731, leaving his lands to his son Gaetano, who relaunched a policy of social and economical improvements in the Liri Valley, as well as the embellishment of Colle Drago.
The last Duke was Antonio II, who ceded his state to King Ferdinand IV of Naples in 1796.
The House of Della Rovere was a noble family of Italy. It had humble origins in Savona, in Liguria, and acquired power and influence through nepotism and ambitious marriages arranged by two Della Rovere popes: Francesco Della Rovere, who ruled as Sixtus IV from 1471 to 1484) and his nephew Giuliano, who became Julius II in 1503. Sixtus IV built the Sistine Chapel, which is named for him. Julius II was patron to Michelangelo, Raphael and many other Renaissance artists and started the modern rebuilt of St. Peter's Basilica. Also the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome was the family church of the Della Rovere. Members of the family were influential in the Church of Rome, and as dukes of Urbino, dukes of Sora and lords of Senigallia; the title of Urbino was extinguished with the death of Francesco Maria II in 1631, and the family died out with the death of his granddaughter Vittoria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany.
Sora is a town and comune of Lazio, Italy, in the province of Frosinone. It is built in a plain on the banks of the Liri. This part of the valley is the seat of some important manufacturing, especially of paper mills. The area around Sora is famous for the costumes of its peasants.
The House of Riario, sometimes referred to as Riario-Sforza, is an Italian noble family from Savona, near Genoa. Closely associated with the Papal States, the family gained control over several signorie ("lordships"), such as Bologna and Forlì.
Montefeltro is the name of a historical Italian family who ruled Urbino and Gubbio and became Dukes of Urbino in 1443. The family extinguished in the male line in 1508 and the duchy was inherited by the Della Rovere family.
Arce is a comune (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the region of Lazio, Italy. it is an agricultural centre located on a hill overlooking the Via Casilina, in the Latin Valley and in the middle valley of the Liri.
Isola del Liri is an Italian town of Lazio, Italy, in the province of Frosinone. As its name implies, Isola is situated between two arms of the Liri. The many waterfalls of this river and of the Fibreno are used by factories.
Francesco Maria I della Rovere was an Italian condottiero, who was Duke of Urbino from 1508 to 1516 and, after retaking the throne from Lorenzo II de' Medici, from 1521 to 1538.
The Boncompagni is a princely family of the Italian nobility which settled in Bologna in around the 14th century, but was probably originally from Umbria.
Giacomo Boncompagni was an Italian feudal lord of the 16th century, the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII. He was also Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, and Marquess of Vignola.
The Lordship of Piombino, and after 1594 the Principality of Piombino, was a small state on the Italian peninsula centred on the town of Piombino and including part of the island of Elba. A vassal of the Kingdom of Naples associated to the State of the Presidios and a territory of the Holy Roman Empire formed from the remnants of the Republic of Pisa, it existed from 1399 to 1805, when it was merged into the Principality of Lucca and Piombino. In 1815 it was absorbed into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Francesco Maria II della Rovere was the last Duke of Urbino.
Valle Latina is an Italian geographical and historical region that extends from the south of Rome to Cassino, corresponding to the eastern area of ancient Roman Latium.
Giovanni della Rovere was an Italian condottiero. He was a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, and the brother of Giuliano della Rovere (1443–1513), Pope Julius II from 1503.
The Duchy of Alvito was a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Naples, in southern Italy.
Gregorio II Boncompagni was an Italian nobleman and the 5th Duke of Sora. He was the grand-nephew of Pope Gregory XIII
Maria Eleonora I Boncompagni (1686–1745) was the Princess of Piombino, Marchioness of Populonia, Princess of Venosa and Countess of Conza, Lady di Scarlino, Populonia, Vignale, Abbadia del Fango, Suvereto, Buriano, Cerboli e Palmaiolan, and Lady princess of the Tuscan Archipelago including the islands of Elba, Montecristo, Pianosa, Gorgona, Capraia, and Isola del Giglio, from 1733 until her death.
Isoletta is a village in Italy, in the Valle Latina within the Arce municipality. Isoletta is located in the province of Frosinone, of the southern Lazio region in Italy.
Gaetano I Boncompagni Ludovisi (1706–1777) was VII Duke of Sora and the Prince of Piombino, Marquis of Populonia, Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, Lord di Scarlino, Populonia, Vignale, Abbadia del Fango, Suvereto, Buriano, Cerboli e Palmaiolan, and Lord prince of the Tuscan Archipelago including the islands of Elba, Montecristo, Pianosa, Gorgona, Capraia, and Isola del Giglio, from 1745 until 1777.
Vittoria Farnese, also known as Vittoria, Princess of Parma, and by her married name Vittoria Farnese della Rovere, was an Italian noblewoman, Duchess consort of Urbino from 1548 until 1574 by marriage to Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino.