Editing Montecristo (section)

==History==
The history of the island begins with the [[Iron Age]]. The [[Etruscans]] exploited the forests of oak needed to fuel the [[bloomery|bloomeries]] of [[Etruria|the mainland]] where the [[iron ore]] of Elba's mines was melted. The Greeks gave Montecristo its oldest known name, ''Oglasa'' or ''Ocrasia'', after the [[ochre|yellowish colour]] of the rocks. The Romans, however, knew it under the name ''Mons Jovis'' ("Mount Jupiter"), and erected an altar to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Iuppiter Optimus Maximus]] on the highest mountain, of which some traces remain. During the imperial age, the Romans opened some [[quarry|quarries]] to extract [[granite]], perhaps used in the construction of villas on the islands of [[Isola del Giglio|Giglio]], [[Elba]], and [[Giannutri]].<ref name=tim>{{cite web |url=http://www.uniurb.it/giornalismo/lavori2004/esposito/timeline.htm |title=Timeline |accessdate=27 February 2012 |language=Italian |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110210701/http://www.uniurb.it/giornalismo/lavori2004/esposito/timeline.htm |archivedate=10 January 2014 }} archive.org</ref>

Around the middle of the fifth century AD, the caves of the island became home to several [[hermit]]s escaping from the [[Vandals]] of [[Genseric]], the most important of whom was [[Mamilian of Palermo|St. Mamilian]].<ref name=tim/> They christened the island ''Mons Christi'' ("Mountain of Christ"), from which the modern name is derived.

At the beginning of the seventh century, Pope [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory the Great]] submitted them to the monastic rule of the [[Benedictine Order|Benedictines]].<ref name=tim/> In this period, the Monastery of St. Mamilian was founded; as a result of donations to the Church, its wealth became legendary, and a chapel was built in the St. Mamiliano Cave where the saint had lived in the fifth century.<ref name=per>{{cite book |last=Peria|first=Gloria|author2=Ferruzzi, Silvestre|title=L'isola d'Elba e il culto di San Mamiliano|place=Portoferraio|year=2010|language=Italian}}</ref> In 1216, the monks joined the order of the [[Camaldolese]]. Thanks to the donations of several noble families, the monastery became powerful and rich, and this gave rise to the legend of treasure hidden on the island.<ref name=tim/>

The island was once a possession of the [[Republic of Pisa]], but was later acquired by the [[Principality of Piombino]]. In 1553, [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] pirate [[Dragut]], heading for Elba, stormed the monastery, enslaved the monks, and decreed its end. After that, the island was uninhabited.<ref name=per/> In the second half of the sixteenth century, together with most of the Tuscan Archipelago, it became part of the [[Stato dei Presidi]], a client Spanish state.

The island was annexed to the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] under [[Napoleon]]; after his fall, it became the possession of the [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]].<ref name=tim/> The first attempts to colonise Monte Cristo, at the time owned by Charles Cambiagi, were made in 1840 by two German hermits, Augustin Eulhardt and Joseph Keim, who eventually abandoned the attempt.<ref name=per/>  In 1843, other people arrived with the intention of cultivating the island: young [[County of Tyrol|Tyrol]]ean Adolph Franz Obermüller, and after a few months, Frenchman Charles Legrand and his girlfriend.<ref name=per/> Also during 1843, there were other attempts of colonisation by French agriculturalist George Guiboud, which ended with yet another failure. In 1846, some [[Genoa|Genoese]] made a similar effort, while in 1849 Frenchman Jacques Abrial was able to farm the island for three years.<ref name=per/> In 1852, a rich Englishman named George Watson-Taylor bought Montecristo and transformed Cala Maestra into a garden, planting [[eucalyptus]] and many exotic plants, among them the Asiatic ''[[Ailanthus altissima]]'', an [[invasive species]] which now infests the island.<ref name=tim/> The few modern buildings of Montecristo, such as the Royal Villa, date from this period. The island was then purchased by the Italian government on 3 June 1869 for the sum of £100,000. Montecristo had previously been plundered in 1860 by Italian exiles living in London, who had come to Italy to join up with the ''[[Redshirts (Italy)|Camicie rosse]]'', but were shipwrecked on the island.<ref name=per/> Faced with the huge sum of money claimed by the owner to repair the damage, the government thought it better to buy the island, which was still uninhabited.<ref name=per/>

[[File:Monastero o Abbazia di Montecristo.jpg|thumb|280px|left|Ruins of the Monastery of San Mamiliano]]
After other attempts at colonisation in 1878, the Italian government founded a penal colony there, a branch of that in [[Pianosa]].<ref name=per/>

In 1889, Montecristo was given to Marquess [[Carlo Ginori (19th century)|Carlo Ginori]], who restored the Villa and transformed the island into a hunting ground.

In 1896, Montecristo was the honeymoon destination of [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|Victor Emmanuel III]] of [[House of Savoy|Savoy]] (at that time crown prince) and [[Elena of Montenegro]],<ref name=per/> and after 1899 it became a royal hunting ground for Victor Emmanuel's exclusive use.

During the Second World War the island, important because of its position between Italy and occupied Corsica, was garrisoned by the [[Italian Army|Italian army]].<ref name=cfs/>

In the late 1940s, the Italian Navy Intelligence Agency temporarily took over the island for use as a training base for [[Covert operation|covert]] agents. Among Italian officers assigned as instructors were Count Marco deCarrobio and Luigi Ferri. The would-be agents belonged to a right wing Albanian expatriate organization known as the Bloku Kombetar Independent led by activist Alush Leshanaku, according to Shyqri Bicaku, an Elbasan native, who underwent training; Bicaku was also taught to use a field radio and became so proficient he was hired on to instruct secret agents from Romania to use the radio for their October, 1951 covert parachute drop into Romania's mountains; the Romanians were captured, tried and executed.

Montecristo was used as a Navy training base only from September to November 1948, when the trainees were transferred to Italy's west coast. Four of the trained agents were parachuted into Albania in February, 1949, but soon quit their mission and escaped to Greece due to a failed field radio.

After several episodes of vandalism and speculation attempts, the nature reserve was established in 1971.<ref name=cfs/>

In December 2011 it was reported that [[black rats]], present on the island at least since Roman times, have greatly increased in numbers and pose a serious threat to the birds of Montecristo.<ref name=lif/> Due to the inaccessibility of the terrain, the island was bombed from the air with [[rodenticide|poison pellets]], as had recently been attempted on [[Giannutri]] and [[Sardinia]], despite concerns raised by environmental groups that [[Indigenous (ecology)|indigenous]] species of wildlife and the surrounding waters might also be adversely affected.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.corriere.it/cronache/12_marzo_03/montecristo-ratti-neri-esche_424edd08-6514-11e1-8a59-8bc3a463cee3.shtml|title=Piovono esche avvelenate per salvare Montecristo dall'invasione dei ratti neri|journal=[[Corriere della Sera]]|first=Marco|last=Gasperetti|date=3 March 2012|accessdate=5 March 2012|language=Italian}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9016384/Island-of-Montecristo-to-be-bombed-with-poison-after-rat-infestation.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115223721/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9016384/Island-of-Montecristo-to-be-bombed-with-poison-after-rat-infestation.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 January 2012 |title=Island of Montecristo to be bombed with poison after rat infestation |author=Squires, Nick |date=15 January 2012 |accessdate=2 March 2012 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/9051588/Plan-to-bomb-Montecristo-with-rat-pellets-may-be-blocked.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202022505/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/9051588/Plan-to-bomb-Montecristo-with-rat-pellets-may-be-blocked.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 February 2012 |title=Plan to 'bomb' Montecristo with rat pellets may be blocked |author=Squires, Nick |date=31 January 2012 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |accessdate=2 March 2012}}.</ref> The [[Ailanthus]] trees were also to be eradicated.<ref name=lif/>