Orvieto

Orvieto crowns a steep-sided plateau of volcanic tuff above the countryside of central Italy. Its walls and cliffs made the city a formidable natural stronghold, while its cathedral became a celebrated expression of civic and religious ambition. The foundation stone of the cathedral was laid in 1290, after the miracle of Bolsena and the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi.

In the fourteenth century rival branches of the Monaldeschi family fought for power in Orvieto. Cardinal Albornoz occupied the city in 1354, but factional struggles continued. After a succession of competing lords, the victorious Muffati faction handed Orvieto to Pope Nicholas V in 1450. The city thereafter remained within the Papal States, with its older political independence increasingly limited by papal government.