Editing Assisi (section)

== History ==
The earliest attested people of Assisi were the [[Umbri]]. In 77AD [[Pliny the Elder]] described [[Regio VI Umbria]] and said that the Umbri were thought to be the oldest inhabitants of Italy. The people of Assisi were mentioned by name.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bostock |first=John |author-link= |date=2018 |title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D19 |location= |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |page= |isbn=}}</ref> The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] took control of [[central Italy]] after the [[Battle of Sentinum]] in 295 BC. They built the flourishing ''municipium'' Asisium on a series of terraces on [[Monte Subasio]]. Roman remains can still be found in Assisi: [[Defensive wall|city walls]], the forum (now Piazza del Comune), a [[Roman theatre (structure)|theatre]], an [[Roman amphitheatre|amphitheatre]] and the Temple of Minerva (now transformed into the Church of [[Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Assisi)|Santa Maria sopra Minerva]]). In 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were also discovered containing several well-preserved rooms with frescoes and mosaics in a condition rarely found outside sites such as [[Pompei]].

The Augustan age poet [[Propertius]] is considered to have been born in what is now the city of Assisi.

In 238 AD Assisi was [[Christianization|converted to Christianity]] by bishop [[Rufinus of Assisi|Rufino]], who was martyred at [[Costano]]. According to tradition, his remains rest in the [[Assisi Cathedral|Cathedral Church of San Rufino]] in Assisi.

The [[Ostrogoths]] of king [[Totila]] destroyed most of the town in 545. Assisi then came under the rule of the [[Lombards]] as part of the Lombard and then Frankish [[Duchy of Spoleto]].

The thriving [[Medieval commune|commune]] became an independent [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|Ghibelline]] commune in the 11th century. Constantly struggling with the Guelph [[Perugia]], it was during one of those battles, the battle at Collestrada, that Giovanni di Bernardone (better known as St. [[Francis of Assisi]]) was taken prisoner, setting in motion the events that eventually led him to live as a beggar, renounce the world and establish the [[Franciscan|Order of Friars Minor]].

[[File:Assisi Piazza del Comune BW 1.JPG|thumb|left|Temple of Minerva in the Piazza del Comune.]]

The city, which had remained within the confines of the Roman walls, began to expand outside these walls in the 13th century. In this period the city was under papal jurisdiction. The [[Rocca Maggiore]], the imperial fortress on top of the hill above the city, which had been plundered by the people in 1189, was rebuilt in 1367 on orders of the [[papal legate]], cardinal [[Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz|Gil de Albornoz]].

In the beginning, Assisi fell under the rule of [[Perugia]] and later under several despots, such as the soldier of fortune [[Biordo Michelotti]], [[Gian Galeazzo Visconti]] and his successor [[Francesco I Sforza]], dukes of [[Duchy of Milan|Milan]], [[Jacopo Piccinino]] and [[Federico II da Montefeltro]], lord of [[Urbino]]. The city went into a deep decline through the plague of the [[Black Death]] in 1348.

The city came again under papal jurisdiction under the rule of [[Pope Pius II]] (1458–1464).

In 1569 construction was started of the [[Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli]]. During the [[Italian Renaissance|Renaissance]] and in later centuries, the city continued to develop peacefully, as the 17th-century palazzi of the Bernabei and Giacobetti attest.

Now the site of many a pilgrimage, Assisi is linked in legend with its native son, St. Francis. The gentle saint founded the Franciscan order and shares honours with [[Catherine of Siena|St. Catherine of Siena]] as the [[patron saint]] of Italy. He is remembered by many, even non-Christians, as a lover of nature (his preaching to an audience of birds is one of the legends of his life).

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During [[World War II]] Assisi was occupied by [[Nazi Germany]] in September 1943. To save [[History of the Jews in Italy#Jews during the Fascist era|Jews in Italy]] the [[Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany|Catholic Church]] started the [[Assisi Network]] and hid [[Jews]] in the city. As the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] moved up Italy, Germany declared Assisi an [[open city]] and pulled out, turning the city over to [[Italian partisans]]. The [[12th Royal Lancers]] (Prince of Wales) entered the city on 17 June 1944. Colonel Valentin Müller, a German medical officer and a Catholic, was able to make Assisi a German hospital city for German troops in Italy in the summer of 1944, helping save Assisi from destruction, unlike [[Cassino#World War II and afterwards|Cassino]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.annesitaly.com/blog/assisi-in-world-war-ii-convent-welcomes-for-the-jewish-refugees/|title=Assisi in World War II: Convents Shelter the Jewish Refugees|date=3 February 2021|website=Annesitaly}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aleteia.org/2020/07/02/how-catholic-leaders-in-assisi-and-even-a-german-officer-saved-jews-in-wwii/|title=How Catholic leaders in Assisi, and even a German officer, saved Jews in WWII|date=2 July 2020|website=Aleteia – Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.exaudi.org/historic-significance-of-assisi-in-protecting-jewish-refugees/|title=Historic Significance of Assisi in Protecting Jewish Refugees|first=Deborah Castellano Lubov·Trending News··4 min|last=read|date=27 January 2022|website=Exaudi}}</ref>

Assisi was hit by two devastating [[1997 Umbria and Marche earthquake|earthquakes]] that shook [[Umbria]] in September 1997. But the recovery and restoration have been remarkable, although much remains to be done. Massive damage was caused to many historical sites, but the major attraction, the [[Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi|Basilica di San Francesco]], reopened less than 2 years later.