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58-520: Ystoria Mongalorum is a report, compiled by Giovanni da Pian del Carpine , of his trip to the Mongol Empire . Written in the 1240s, it is the oldest European account of the Mongols. Giovanni was the first European to try to chronicle Mongol history. Giovanni recorded the information he collected in a work, variously entitled in the manuscripts, Ystoria Mongalorum quos nos Tartaros appellamus ("History of

116-593: A battlefield between the allied forces and the Germans retreating towards the Gothic Line . In 1946, Umbria was incorporated into the Italian Republic as a region , comprising the two provinces of Perugia and Terni. In the province of Perugia : In the province of Terni : The present economic structure emerged from a series of transformations which took place mainly in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, there

174-635: A letter to the Pope written in Mongol, Arabic, and Latin that was a brief imperious assertion of the Khan's office as the scourge of God. They began a long winter journey home. Often, they had to lie on the bare snow or on ground scraped bare of snow with a foot. They reached Kiev on 10 June 1247. There and on their further journey the Slavonic Christians welcomed them as risen from the dead with festive hospitality. Crossing

232-427: A long time the work was but partially known, and that chiefly through an abridgment in the compilation of Vincent of Beauvais ( Speculum Historiale ) made in the generation following the traveller's own, and printed first in 1473. Richard Hakluyt (1598) and Bergeron (1634) published portions of the original work; but the complete and genuine text was not printed till 1838, when it was published by Armand d'Avezac , in

290-508: A native of Umbria , in central Italy . His surname was derived from Pian del Carpine (literally " Hornbeam Plain"), an area known later as Magione , between Perugia and Cortona . He was one of the companions and disciples of his near-contemporary and countryman Saint Francis of Assisi . Highly esteemed within the Franciscan order , Giovanni had a prominent role in the propagation of its teachings in northern Europe , holding in succession

348-485: A second time, almost a thousand years later, during a 500-year period: Benedictine monks started the process in the 13th century, and the draining was completed by an engineer from Foligno in the 18th century. The eastern part of the region, being crossed by many faults , has been often hit by earthquakes: the last ones have been that of 1997 (which hit Nocera Umbra , Gualdo Tadino , Assisi and Foligno) and those of August and October 2016 (which struck Norcia and

406-532: A wooden octagonal prism, similar to an hour-glass shape 4 metres tall and weighing about 280 kg (617 lb). The race has strong devotional, civic, and historical overtones and is one of the best-known folklore manifestations in Italy, and therefore the Ceri were chosen as the heraldic emblem on the coat of arms of Umbria as a modern administrative region. Umbria is not only known for its historical recollections such as

464-683: Is a region of central Italy . It includes Lake Trasimeno and Marmore Falls , and is crossed by the Tiber . It is the only landlocked region on the Apennine Peninsula . The regional capital is Perugia . The region is characterized by hills, mountains, valleys and historical towns such as the university centre of Perugia , Assisi (a World Heritage Site associated with St. Francis of Assisi ), Terni , Norcia , Città di Castello , Gubbio , Spoleto , Orvieto , Todi , Castiglione del Lago , Narni , Amelia , Spello and other small cities. Umbria

522-419: Is bordered by Tuscany to the west and the north, Marche to the east and Lazio to the south. Partly hilly and mountainous, and partly flat and fertile owing to the valley of the Tiber , its topography includes part of the central Apennines , with the highest point in the region at Monte Vettore on the border of Marche, at 2,476 metres (8,123 feet); the lowest point is Attigliano , 96 metres (315 feet). It

580-577: Is now the northern Marche to Ravenna , but excluded the west bank of the Tiber, which belonged to Etruria. Thus Perugia was an Etruscan city and the area around Norcia was in the Sabine territory. After the collapse of the Roman empire , Ostrogoths and Byzantines struggled for supremacy in the region, and the decisive battle of the war between these two peoples took place near modern Gualdo Tadino . Soon after

638-561: Is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a common border with other countries. The comune of Città di Castello has an exclave named Monte Ruperto within Marche. Contained within Umbria is the hamlet of Cospaia , which was a tiny republic from 1440 to 1826, created by accident. Umbria is crossed by two valleys: the Umbrian valley ("Valle Umbra"), stretching from Perugia to Spoleto, and

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696-634: Is the report compiled by Carpine, of his trip to the Mongol Empire . Written in the 1240s, it is the oldest European account of the Mongols. Carpine was the first European to try to chronicle Mongol history. Two versions of the Ystoria Mongalorum are known to exist: Carpine's own and another, usually referred to as the Tartar Relation . Erik Hildinger translated Giovanni's book into English. Umbria Umbria ( / ˈ ʌ m b r i ə / UM -bree-ə ; Italian: [ˈumbrja] )

754-843: The signorie arose and the most important of them were those of the Vitelli in Città di Castello , of the Baglioni in Perugia and of the Trinci in Foligno , but the region was subsumed by the middle of the same century into the Papal States by Cardinal Albornoz , who in this way prepared the return of the pope from Avignon to Rome. Città di Castello was subsumed later into the Papal States by Cesare Borgia . During

812-601: The Caspian Sea and the Aral to the Jaxartes or Syr Darya ( quidam fluvius magnus cujus nomen ignoramus , "a big river whose name we do not know") and the Muslim cities that stood on its banks. Then they went along the shores of the lakes of Dzungaria until, on the feast of St Mary Magdalene (22 July), they reached the imperial camp called Sira Orda (Yellow Pavilion), near Karakorum and

870-517: The Democratic Party and left-leaning parties for over 50 years, however in 2019 the candidate of the centre-right coalition Donatella Tesei won the region's presidential election against her centre-left rival Vincenzo Bianconi, garnering 57.5% of the vote. As of 2008 , the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 75,631 foreign-born immigrants live in Umbria, equal to 8.5% of

928-568: The Italic languages , related to Latin and Oscan . The town of Gubbio houses today the longest and most important document of any of the Osco-Umbrian group of languages, the Iguvine Tablets , written in Umbrian at the turn of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. The northern part of the region was occupied by Gallic tribes. The Umbri probably sprang, like neighbouring peoples, from the creators of

986-542: The Marmore waterfall and its secluded position. The region of Umbria at the time was somewhat larger than today, comprising Rieti to the south, now part of Lazio . Rieti was detached and added to the Province of Rome (Lazio) in 1923. In 1927, the region of Umbria was divided into the provinces of Perugia and Terni. During WWII, the industrial centers of the region like Terni and Foligno were heavily bombed and in 1944 became

1044-451: The Mongol Empire , controlling most of Eastern Europe. In Europe, dread of the " Tatars " (Mongols) was still widespread four years later, when Pope Innocent IV decided to dispatch the first formal Catholic mission to the Mongols. The missionaries were sent partly in protest at the Mongol invasion of Christendom and partly to gain information regarding the Khan's intentions and military strength. Pope Innocent IV chose Giovanni to head

1102-573: The Orkhon River . Giovanni and his companions rode an estimated 3000 miles in 106 days. Since the death of Ögedei Khan , the imperial authority was in interregnum and Güyük , Ögedei's eldest son, was designated to the throne. His formal election in a great Kurultai , or diet of the tribes, took place while the friars were at Sira Orda, which entailed the gathering of 3000 to 4000 envoys and deputies from all parts of Asia and eastern Europe, bearing homage, tribute and presents. On 24 August they witnessed

1160-677: The Rhine at Cologne , they found the Pope still at Lyon and delivered their report and the Khan's letter. Not long afterward, Giovanni was rewarded with the archbishopric of Primate of Serbia in Antivari in Dalmatia , and was sent as legate to Louis IX of France . He lived only five years following the hardships of his journey. He died, according to the Franciscan Martyrology and other authorities, on 1 August 1252. The Ystoria Mongalorum

1218-678: The Terramara , and Proto-Villanovan culture in northern and central Italy, who entered north-eastern Italy at the beginning of the Bronze Age . The Etruscans were the chief enemies of the Umbri. The Etruscan invasion extended from the western seaboard towards the north and east from about 700 to 500 BC. They eventually drove the Umbrians towards the Apennine uplands and captured 300 Umbrian towns. Nevertheless,

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1276-525: The Tiber Valley ("Val Tiberina"), north and west of the first one, from Città di Castello to the border with Lazio. The Tiber River forms the approximate border with Lazio, although its source is just over the Tuscan border. The Tiber's three principal tributaries flow southward through Umbria. The Chiascio basin is relatively uninhabited as far as Bastia Umbra . About 10 kilometres (6 miles) farther on, it joins

1334-617: The Tiber basin  [ Wikidata ] , has created a wide floodplain. In antiquity, the plain was covered by a pair of shallow, interlocking lakes, the Lacus Clitorius and the Lacus Umber. They were drained by the Romans over several hundred years. An earthquake in the 4th century and the political collapse of the Roman Empire resulted in the refilling of the basin. It was drained

1392-514: The 15th century Renaissance spread in the northern part of the region. It was in this period that humanists started to use again the ancient denomination of "Umbria" to name the area, which until then had been named "Ducato", after the Duchy of Spoleto in the southern part of it. The supremacy of the pope on Umbria was reinforced in 16th century through the erection of a fortress in Perugia by Pope Paul III , named after him Rocca Paolina . The papacy ruled

1450-474: The 20th century, natural umber pigments began to be replaced by pigments made with synthetic iron oxide and manganese oxide. Natural umber pigments are still being made, with Cyprus as a prominent source. Umbria was a former stronghold of the Italian Communist Party , forming with Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Marche what was then known as Italy's " Red Regions ". Umbria was considered a stronghold of

1508-648: The 4th volume of the Recueil de voyages et de mémoires of the Geographical Society of Paris . Carpine's companion Benedict also left a brief narrative taken down from his oral relation. Two redactions of the Ystoria Mongalorum are known to exist: Giovanni's own and another. An abridgement of the First Redaction can be found in the Turin National Library. The Tartar Relation is an expanded version of

1566-601: The Apennines. Pliny the Elder recounted a fanciful derivation for the tribal name from the Greek ὄμβρος ( ombros , "a shower"), which led to the idea that they had survived the Deluge familiar from Greek mythology, allowing them to claim to be the most ancient race in Italy. In fact, they belonged to a broader family of neighbouring peoples with similar roots. Their language was Umbrian , one of

1624-497: The Great ), and run through throngs of cheering supporters. The cerioli are clad in the distinctive colors of yellow, blue or black, according to the saint they support, with white trousers and red belts and neckbands. They travel up much of the mountain from the main square in front of the Palazzo dei Consoli to the basilica of St. Ubaldo, each team carrying a statue of their saint mounted on

1682-663: The Lombard kingdoms, some Umbrian territories were given to the Pope, who established temporal power over them. Some cities acquired a form of autonomy named comune . These cities were frequently at war with each other, often in a context of more general conflicts, either between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire or between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines . In the early 14th century,

1740-519: The Mongols were not identical to the Tatars. In fact, the author points out that Mongols were quite offended by such a label: they vanquished Tatars in several campaigns around 1206, after which the Tartars ceased to exist as an independent ethnic group. The report gives a narrative of his journey, what he had learned about Mongol history, as well as Mongol customs of the time. Giovanni, as the first European at

1798-458: The Mongols, which we call Tartars"), and Liber Tartarorum , or Liber Tatarorum ("Book of the Tartars [or Tatars]"). This treatise has nine chapters. The first eight describe the Tartar's country, climate, manners, religion, character, history, policy, and tactics, and on the best way to oppose them. The ninth chapter describes regions he passed through. The title is significant, as it emphasizes that

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1856-498: The Roman rulers, who established some colonies, such as Spoletium , and built the via Flaminia (219 BC). The via Flaminia became a principal vector for Roman development in Umbria. During Hannibal 's invasion during the second Punic war , the battle of Lake Trasimene was fought inside the borders of today's Umbria, but the local people did not aid the invader. During the Roman civil war between Mark Antony and Octavian (40 BC),

1914-613: The Tiber at Torgiano . The Topino , cleaving the Apennines with passes that the Via Flaminia and successor roads follow, makes a sharp turn at Foligno to flow NW for a few kilometres before joining the Chiascio below Bettona . The third river is the Nera , flowing into the Tiber further south, at Terni; its valley is called the Valnerina . The upper Nera cuts ravines in the mountains; the lower, in

1972-530: The Umbrian population does not seem to have been eradicated in the conquered districts. The border between Etruria and Umbria was the Tiber river, as testified by the ancient name of Todi, Tular ("border"). After the downfall of the Etruscans, Umbrians aided the Samnites in their struggle against Rome (308 BC). Later communications with Samnium were impeded by the Roman fortress of Narnia (founded 229 BC on

2030-639: The Valnerina). In literature, Umbria is referred to as Il cuore verde d'Italia or The green heart of Italy . The phrase is taken from a poem by Giosuè Carducci , the subject of which is the source of the Clitunno River in Umbria. The region is named for the Umbri people, an Italic people which was absorbed by the expansion of the Romans . The Umbri, unlike the Etruscans, with few exceptions did not live in an urban society, but occupied small dwellings located in

2088-457: The annals of his order, a fat and heavy man ( vir gravis et corpulentus ), insomuch that, contrary to Franciscan precedent, he rode a donkey between his preachings in Germany. Another similar book was written by a younger brother of the same order, William of Rubruck or Rubruquis—who was Louis IX's most noteworthy envoy to the Mongols. Nevertheless, Friar Giovanni's Ystoria is, in many ways,

2146-462: The chief literary memorial of European overland expansion before Marco Polo . Among his recommendations was development of light cavalry to combat Mongol tactics. The book first revealed the Mongol world to Catholic Christendom. He provided four lists: of nations conquered by the Mongols, nations that had (as of 1245–1247) successfully resisted the Mongol princes, and witnesses to his narrative, including various Kiev merchants. The Prologue identifies

2204-492: The city of Perugia supported Antony and was almost completely destroyed by Octavian. In Pliny the Elder 's time, 49 independent communities still existed in Umbria, and the abundance of inscriptions and the high proportion of recruits in the imperial army attest to its population. Under Augustus, Umbria became the Regio VI of Roman Italy. Modern Umbria is different from Roman Umbria . Roman Umbria extended through most of what

2262-722: The end of the Gothic war , the Lombards invaded Italy and founded the duchy of Spoleto , covering much of today's southern Umbria, but the Byzantine were able to keep in the region a corridor along the Via Flaminia linking Rome with the Exarchate of Ravenna and the Pentapolis . The Lombard king controlled also the northern part of the region ruled directly by Pavia. When Charlemagne conquered most of

2320-629: The festival of the Ceri, Calendimaggio in Assisi and the giostra della Quintana in Foligno, but also for one of the biggest jazz music festivals called Umbria Jazz . Umbria Jazz was born as a festival in 1973 and since 2003 has been held in the Umbrian capital "Perugia" in July; it has become the fixed appointment of all jazz and good music lovers. Another important festival is the Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of

2378-403: The fields of chemistry, hydroelectric power, renewable sources of energy, and textiles ( Alcantara , Cashmere ). In the rest of the region the ornamental ceramics industry is much esteemed. Umbrian agriculture is noted for its tobacco, olive oil and vineyards, which produce wines. Regional varietals include the white Orvieto , which draws agri-tourists to the vineyards in the area surrounding

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2436-494: The formal enthronement at another camp in the vicinity called the Golden Ordu, and they were then presented to the new emperor. The great Khan, Güyük, refused the invitation to become Christian and demanded rather that the Pope and rulers of Europe should come to him and swear allegiance to him, a demand recorded in a letter from Güyük Khan to Pope Innocent IV . The Khan did not dismiss the expedition until November. He gave them

2494-532: The main audience of John of Plano Carpini's account as "all the faithful of Christ." The Prologue explains that John of Plano Carpini has been sent to the land of the Tartars by the Pope so "if by chance they [the Tartars] made a sudden attack they would not find the Christian people unprepared." John traveled "during a year and four months and more" with Friar Benedict the Pole "who was our [John's crew] companion in our tribulations and our interpreter." Giovanni da Pian del Carpine Giovanni appears to have been

2552-520: The medieval town of the same name. A notable wine is the Grechetto of Todi . Other noted wines produced in Umbria are Torgiano and Rosso di Montefalco . The Umbrian wineries are at the center of the "Cantine Aperte" or "Open Cellars" event, when local wine makers open their wineries to the public. Another typical Umbrian product is the black truffle found in Valnerina, an area that produces 45% of this product in Italy. The food industry in Umbria produces processed pork-meats, confectionery, pasta and

2610-484: The mission and apparently he was in charge of nearly everything in the mission. As a papal legate , he bore a letter from the Pope to the Great Khan, Cum non solum . "At the age of sixty-three Carpini embarked from Lyon ," where the Pope then resided, on Easter day (16 April 1245), accompanied by another friar, Stephen of Bohemia , who broke down at Kaniv near Kiev and was left behind. After seeking counsel of an old friend, Wenceslaus , king of Bohemia , Giovanni

2668-426: The offices of warden ( custos ) in Saxony and provincial ( minister ) of Germany . He may also have held positions in Barbary and Cologne , and been provincial of Spain . Giovanni was a provincial of Germany at the time of the great Mongol invasion of eastern Europe and the Battle of Legnica (modern Legnickie Pole ) on 9 April 1241. The defeat of European forces at Legnica almost led to Ögedei , Khan of

2726-466: The people of Perugia destroyed in the same year the Rocca Paolina, symbol of the papal oppression. The region of Umbria, with capital Perugia, became part of the Kingdom of Italy in the following year. The region, whose economy was mainly based on agriculture, experienced a dramatic economic shift at the end of the 19th century with the founding of the Acciaierie di Terni , a major steelwork placed in Terni because of its abundance of electric power due to

2784-401: The place of the umbrian Nequinum , conquered in 299 BC). Romans defeated the Samnites and their Gallic allies in the battle of Sentinum (295 BC). Allied Umbrians and Etruscans had to return home and defend each of their territories against simultaneous Roman attacks, leaving the Samnites without their help at Sentinum. The Roman victory at Sentinum initiated a period of integration under

2842-520: The region uncontested until the end of the 18th century. After the French Revolution and the French conquest of Italy, Umbria became part of the ephemeral Roman Republic (1798–1799) and later, part of the Napoleonic Empire (1809–1814) under the name of department of Trasimène . After Napoleon's defeat, the Pope regained Umbria and ruled it until 1860. In that year, during Italian Risorgimento , Umbria with Marche and part of Emilia Romagna were annexed by Piedmontese King Victor Emmanuel II , and

2900-433: The second and most formidable part of their journey. They were "so ill", wrote the legate, "that we could scarcely sit a horse; and throughout all that Lent our food had been nought but millet with salt and water, and with only snow melted in a kettle for drink". Their bodies were tightly bandaged so that they could endure the excessive fatigue of the enormous ride, which took them across the Jaec, or Ural River and north of

2958-449: The second redaction. The standard scholarly edition of Ystoria is by Anastasius Wyngaert, in Sinica Franciscana , vol. 1 (Quaracchi, 1929), pp. 3–130.. Like some other famous medieval itineraries, it shows an absence of a traveler's or author's egotism , and contains, even in the last chapter, scarcely any personal narrative. Giovanni was not only an old man when he went on this mission, but was, according to accidental evidence in

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3016-405: The time to have visited Mongolia and returned to talk about it, became somewhat of a celebrity upon returning to Europe. He gave what would be called today a lecture tour across the continent. The book must have been prepared immediately after the return of the traveller, for the Friar Salimbene di Adam , who met him in France in the year of his return (1247), gave some interesting particulars. For

3074-516: The total population of the region. Umbria is divided into two provinces : One of the most important festivals in Umbria is "the festival of the Ceri (Candles)", also known as Saint Ubaldo Day in Gubbio . The race has been held every year since 1160, on the 15th day of May. The festival is focused around a race consisting of three teams of cerioli , carrying large symbolic "candles" topped by saints, including St. Ubald (the patron saint of Gubbio), S. Giorgio ( St. George ), and S. Antonio ( Anthony

3132-408: The traditional products of Valnerina in preserved form (truffles, lentils, cheese). The unemployment rate stood at 8.2% in 2020. Umbria has many small and picturesque villages, 31 of them have been selected by I Borghi più belli d'Italia (English: The most beautiful Villages of Italy ), a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that

3190-421: The western frontiers of the empire. He was one of the most senior princes of the house of Genghis Khan . There, the envoys, with their presents, had to pass between two fires to remove possible injurious thoughts and poisons, before being presented to the prince (early April 1246). Batu ordered them to proceed to the court of the supreme Khan in Mongolia . On Easter day once more (8 April 1246), they started on

3248-463: Was founded on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities. Umbria is the region where the Umber pigment was originally extracted. The name comes from terra d'ombra , or earth of Umbria, the Italian name of the pigment. The word also may be related to the Latin word umbra , meaning "shadow". Umber is a natural brown or reddish-brown earth pigment that contains iron oxide and manganese oxide . In

3306-421: Was joined at Wrocław by another Franciscan, Benedykt Polak , who was appointed to act as interpreter. The route passed by Kiev, entered the Tatar posts at Kaniv and then ran across the Nepere to the Don and Volga . Giovanni is the first Westerner to give the modern names for those rivers. On the Volga stood the Ordu, or camp, of Batu , the famous conqueror of eastern Europe and supreme Mongol commander on

3364-559: Was rapid expansion among small and medium-sized firms and a gradual retrenchment among the large firms which had hitherto characterised the region's industrial base. This process of structural adjustment is still going on. Economically the most important region is the upper Tiber valley with Città di Castello . Terni steelworks (stainless steel, titanium, alloy steel) and processing companies (automotive, stainless steel tubes, industrial food facility) account for 20 to 25% of Umbria's GDP. In Terni there are also many multinational companies in

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