ough Ghibelline for several generations, the Montefeltri
were too near neighbours of the Papal power to free themselves from
ecclesiastical vassalage. Therefore in 1216 they sought and obtained the
title of Vicars of the Church. Urbino acknowledged them as semi-despots
in their double capacity of Imperial and Papal deputies. Cagli and
Gubbio followed in the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth, Castel
Durante was acquired from the Brancaleoni by warfare, and Fossombrone
from the Malatestas by purchase. Numerous fiefs and villages fell into
their hands upon the borders of Rimini in the course of a continued
struggle with the House of Malatesta: and when Fano and Pesaro were
added at the opening of the sixteenth century, the domain over which
they ruled was a compact territory, some forty miles square, between the
Adriatic and Apennines. From the close of the thirteenth century they
bore the title of Counts of Urbino. The famous Conte Guido, whom Dante
placed among the fraudulent in hell, supported the honours of the house
and increased its power by his political action, at this epoch. But it
was not until the year 1443 that the Montefeltri acquired their ducal
title. This was conferred by Eugenius IV. upon Oddantonio, over whose
alleged crimes and indubitable assassination a veil of mystery still
hangs. He was the son of Count Guidantonio, and at his death the
Montefeltri of Urbino were extinct in the legitimate line. A natural son
of Guidantonio had been, however, recognised in his father's lifetime,
and married to Gentile, heiress of Mercatello. This was Federigo, a
youth of great promise, who succeeded his half-brother in 1444 as Count
of Urbino. It was not until 1474 that the ducal title was revived for
him.

Duke Frederick was a prince remarkable among Italian despots for private
virtues and sober use of his hereditary power. He spent his youth at
Mantua, in that famous school of Vittorino da Feltre, where the sons and
daughters of the first Italian nobility received a model education in
humanities, good manners, and gentle physical accomplishments. More than
any of his fellow-students Frederick profited by this rare scholar's
discipline. On leaving school he adopted the profession of arms, as it
was then practised, and joined the troop of the Condottiere Niccolo
Piccinino. Young men of his own rank, especially the younger sons and
bastards of ruling families, sought military service under captains of
adventure. If