Della Rovere is a noble family of Italy. Coming from modest beginnings in Savona

Savona

Savona is a seaport and comune in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea....

, Liguria

Liguria

Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

, the family rose to prominence through nepotism

Nepotism

Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....

 and ambitious marriages arranged by two Della Rovere popes, Francesco della Rovere, who ruled as Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...

 (1471-1484) and his nephew Giuliano (Pope Julius II

Pope Julius II

Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...

, 1503-1513). Pope Sixtus IV is known for having built the Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...

, which is named for him. The Basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 San Pietro in Vincoli

San Pietro in Vincoli

San Pietro in Vincoli is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, best known for being the home of Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II.-History:...

 in Rome is the family church of the della Rovere.

Guidobaldo da Montefeltro

Guidobaldo da Montefeltro

thumb|240px|Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro by [[Raphael]].Guidobaldo da Montefeltro , also known as Guidobaldo I, was an Italian condottiero and the Duke of Urbino from 1482 to 1508.-Biography:...

 adopted Francesco Maria I della Rovere

Francesco Maria I della Rovere

Francesco Maria I della Rovere was an Italian condottiero, who was Duke of Urbino from 1508 until 1538.- Biography :...

, his sister's child and nephew of Pope Julius II

Pope Julius II

Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...

. Guidobaldo I, who was heirless, called Francesco Maria at his court, and named him as heir of the Duchy of Urbino in 1504, this through the intercession of Julius II. In 1508, Francesco Maria inherited the duchy thereby starting the line of Rovere Dukes of Urbino. That dynasty ended in 1626 when Pope Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...

 incorporated Urbino into the papal dominions. As compensation to the last sovereign duke, the title only could be continued by Francesco Maria II

Francesco Maria II della Rovere

Francesco Maria II della Rovere was the last Duke of Urbino.- Biography :Born at Pesaro, Francesco Maria was the son of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, Count of Montefeltro and Vittoria Farnese, Princess of Parma...

, and after his death by his heir, Federico Ubaldo.

Vittoria

Vittoria della Rovere

Vittoria della Rovere was Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. She gave her husband four children, two of which would survive infancy; the future Cosimo III, Tuscany's longest reigning monarch and Francesco Maria, a prince of the Church...

, last descendant of the della Rovere family (she was the only child of Federico Ubaldo), married Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. They had two children: Cosimo III

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Cosimo III de' Medici was the penultimate Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Cosimo's 53-year long reign, the longest in Tuscan history, was marked by a series of ultra-reactionary laws which regulated prostitution and...

, Tuscany's longest reigning monarch, and Francesco Maria de' Medici

Francesco Maria de' Medici

Francesco Maria de' Medici was a member of the House of Medici. He was successively a Governor of Siena, cardinal and later the heir of the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro by right of his mother.-Biography:...

, a prince of the Church

Prince of the Church

The term Prince of the Church is nowadays used nearly exclusively for Catholic Cardinals. However the term is historically more important as a generic term for clergymen whose offices hold the secular rank and privilege of a prince or are considered its equivalent...

.

Rovere Dukes of Urbino (1508)

1. Francesco Maria I della Rovere
   Francesco Maria I della Rovere
   Francesco Maria I della Rovere was an Italian condottiero, who was Duke of Urbino from 1508 until 1538.- Biography :...
   
    (1490–1538)
2. Guidobaldo II della Rovere
   Guidobaldo II della Rovere
   Guidobaldo II della Rovere was an Italian condottiero, who was Duke of Urbino from 1538 until his death.- Biography :...
   
    (1514–1574)
3. Francesco Maria II della Rovere
   Francesco Maria II della Rovere
   Francesco Maria II della Rovere was the last Duke of Urbino.- Biography :Born at Pesaro, Francesco Maria was the son of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, Count of Montefeltro and Vittoria Farnese, Princess of Parma...
   
    (1549–1631) - duchy abolished, title continued
4. Federico Ubaldo della Rovere (1605–1623) - title became extinct with his death

Family tree

Dotted lines indicate aliases (where a person appears more than once in the tree.

Small caps text indicates the surname of the children (regardless of number) of a union.

All persons have the surname Della Rovere unless otherwise indicated.