Umbri

According to Roman sources, the Umbrian city that they called Ameria was established in 1132 BC, some four hundred years before the foundation of Rome itself.  

A walled city was certainly established here by the 5th century BC, with its fortified acropolis on the site of the present Duomo. 

For more details, see the page on Ancient Amelia.

Romans

Under the Romans, Amelia became an important staging post on Via Amerina, which was named for it. 

In the aftermath of the civil war of 83 BC, the Roman Chrysogonus, who was a favourite of the victorious Sulla, orchestrated a vicious programme of property confiscation in the area.  Cicero’s “Pro Roscio Amerino” records his speech for the defence in a lawsuit involving the Roscius family of Amelia in 80 BC, which provides a fascinating insight into the political terror of the time. 

Early Christianity

Given its proximity to Rome and its position on Via Amerina, Amelia was probably a target of the early Christian evangelists.  The city’s patron saints:

1. ✴St Firmina and her erstwhile persecutor, St Olympiades; and
   

2. ✴St Secundus;
   

were all said to have been martyred in the persecutions of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian in 303 AD.

Although some sources mention Bishop Ondulfo, in 344 AD, others regard the first documented bishop of Amelia to be Ilario, who attended a synod in Rome in 465 AD.  The first bishop of Amelia to be regarded as a saint was St Himerius (died ca. 570). 

Goths

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Lombards

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Amelia was one of eight border fortresses that defended the Patrimony of St Peter  from the Lombards at the time of Pope Stephen II (752-7).

Carolingians

The Holy Roman Emperor, Louis the Pious acknowledged Amelia as papal territory in 817. 

According to a 14th century document, Bishop Pasquale (documented in 868-79) began the construction of a church that stood on the site of the present Duomo.  He translated the relics of SS Firmina, Olympias and Himerius to this new church from Castellum Luchianum (which was probably near modern Lugnano in Teverino, some 10km west of Amelia) in the reign of Pope Adrian II (867-72).

The relics of St Himerius were translated to Cremona in ca. 965.

12th Century

[In 1131, troops of the Emperor Lothair III sacked Amelia.  Note: he was crowned in Rome in 1133, during the papal schism.  This seems a more likely date for the attack.]

Amelia was among the cities that Pope Adrian IV recognised as a self-governing entity within the Papal State in 1157, in defiance of the Emperor Frederick I.

[In 1186, Frederick I took Amelia, Orte, Narni and Orvieto.]

Frederick I claimed imperial suzerainty over the city until 1189 when he granted it to Pope Clement III in return for a promise to crown his son as Emperor Henry IV. 

13th century

The Emperor Frederick II seems to have sacked the city in 1240.

Amelia belonged to Todi for most of the 13th century and looked to the Ghibelline rebels thereafter to secure its independence. 

14th century

The Ghibelline cause was boosted in 1327, when Louis of Bavaria, the unconfirmed emperor-elect entered Italy in 1327, intent upon coronation in Rome.  Amelia, like Narni and Todi, openly openly declared their support for him.  The Romans invited him into the city and Sciarra Colonna duly crowned him as the Emperor Louis IV, after which he created a Franciscan, Peter of Corbara as the anti-Pope Nicholas V.  

Nicholas V named Nicolò d' Alviano as bishop of Amelia, in place of  the legitimate Bishop Giovanni Tocco (1326-8).

Nicholas V failed to establish a solid base in Italy, and returned to Germany in 1330, leaving only increased confusion in his wake.  (An inscription (1332) in the courtyard of Palazzo Comunale celebrates his reign).

In 1340, papal forces from Montefiascone liberated Amelia from occupying forces from Todi.

Amelia submitted to Cardinal Gil Albornoz and the papacy in July 1354.

15th century

The fortunes of the most important families of Amelia in the 15th and 16th centuries were based on their links with the papal court in Rome.  Prime among these were the Geraldini family, who played host to  Pope Sixtus IV when he left Rome to escape an outbreak of plague in 1476.  This provided an opportunity for Pier Matteo d' Amelia, the most famous artist from Amelia, to secure important commissions in Rome.

See also the page on the Geraldini family.

16th century

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Baldo Farrattini was Bishop of Amelia in 1558-62, followed by Bartolomeo Farrattini in 1562-1571.  The latter became a cardinal in 1606. (See the page on the Farrattini family).

Later History

Bishop Fortunato Maria Pinchetti (1806-27) was exiled to France in the Napoleonic period.

Bishop Francesco Maria Berti (1907-38) hosted St Maximilian Kolbe at Amelia in the period 16th July - 29th October 1918.

Following the death of Bishop Vincenzo Lojali in 1965, Amelia became part of the diocese of Terni.

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