The history of San Marino began 500 thousand years ago, when the first people came to the territory of the Apennine Peninsula. In different years, tribes of Umbrians, Etruscans and Celts lived here.
It is believed that at the end of the 3rd century AD. in the forests on Mount Titano, the Christian Marino took refuge from the persecution of the pagan emperor Diocletian. Another Christian named Leo joined him, and after a while, the inhabitants of the surrounding villages were drawn to the hermits. This is how the Christian community was formed on Mount Titano. Even during his lifetime, Marino was canonized, Bishop Gaudenzio of Rimini consecrated Marino to the rank of deacon, and Mount Titano was donated to him.
From the 10th century, fortifications began to be built here to protect against enemies, a People’s Assembly was organized, from which consuls were elected, that is, the city turned into the city republic of San Marino with its own laws. In the 13th century, the National Assembly was replaced by the Council of all heads of families – Arengo.
San Marino was located between the possessions of the counts of Montefeltro, who were supporters of the Ghibellines (followers of the emperor), and the city of Rimini, who stood for the Guelphs (followers of the church), so the struggle of the warring regions also affected San Marino. The Sanmarines supported the counts of Montefeltro, for which they were cursed by Pope Innocent IV. The popes made several attempts to take possession of San Marino, but without success. The first attempt to subdue San Marino to the power of the pope was the arrival in 1291 of Canon Theodoric, who urged the inhabitants to pay tribute to the high priest and recognize themselves as his subjects. The inhabitants of the country stubbornly defended their independence and refused to pay tribute. In the 17th century, the territory of the country was completely surrounded by papal possessions, but San Marino still did not give up, but, on the contrary, even provided refuge to exiles of church power. Check a2zdirectory for old history of San Marino.
In 1739, two residents of Sanmarin, dissatisfied with the government, plotted to restore the power of the people’s assembly, but were arrested in time. Then the papal legate, Cardinal Alberoni, who still wanted to break the republic, demanded their release and submission to the spiritual court. The Republic refused. Then Alberoni arrested all the Sanmarine patricians who were outside the homeland, closed the border of the republic for the import and export of goods and moved with the army to San Marino, which he successfully occupied. He drove all the rebellious inhabitants to the cathedral to take the oath to the pope, but they refused, then they were locked in the cathedral and were not allowed to eat for several days. Such actions of the cardinal were not approved by Pope Clement XII and issued a bull in which he recognized the independence of San Marino. Since then, the liberation of the people from Alberoni has been celebrated as a national holiday.
During the Italian campaign, Emperor Napoleon I, having learned about the fortitude of the inhabitants of San Marino, promised them military support from France in case of any encroachment on their independence. The independence and inviolability of the borders of the republic was also confirmed by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In 1862, San Marino concluded an agreement with Italy on a “good neighborhood” and a trade treaty.
During the First World War, 15 Sanmarine volunteers took part in actions on the side of the Entente. At the front there was a military infirmary with Sanmarine personnel. During Mussolini’s dictatorship in the early 1920s, more than 100,000 Italians took refuge on Mount Titano. In the summer of 1922, fascist detachments began terror in San Marino. In September, they destroyed the People’s House in Serraval, the Nazis attacked the premises of trade unions, the houses of left-wing politicians and activists. During 1923, the Nazis created an organizational structure and a repressive apparatus. During the Second World War, San Marino remained neutral, but was still subjected to allied air raids, as well as occupation by fascist troops. At the end of the war, after a long struggle, a coalition of communists and left-wing socialists came to power, after which there was a rapid growth of the country’s economy. At the end of the 20th century, the ruling party of the country decided to abandon the Marxist ideology and transform into the Progressive Democratic Party.
