Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro (June 7, 1422 – September 10, 1482), was one of the most successful condottieri of the Italian Renaissance

Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...

, and lord of Urbino from 1444 (as Duke from 1474) until his death. In Urbino he commissioned the construction of a great library, perhaps the largest of Italy after the Vatican, with his own team of scribes in his scriptorium

Scriptorium

Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...

, and assembled around him a large humanistic court in the Ducal Palace of Urbino, designed by Luciano Laurana

Luciano Laurana

Luciano Laurana was a Croatian or Italian architect and engineer from the historic Vrana settlement near the town of Zadar in Dalmatia, Croatia. After education by his father Martin in Vrana settlement, he worked mostly in Italy during the late 15th century...

 and Francesco di Giorgio Martini.
Federico was born in Castello di Petroia

Castello di Petroia

The Castle of Petroia is near the historical city of Gubbio in Umbria, today the Castle is a Hotel.A very important historical date is to be remembered...

 in Gubbio

Gubbio

Gubbio is a town and comune in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia . It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. See also Mount Ingino Christmas Tree.-History:...

, the illegitimate son of Guidantonio da Montefeltro

Guidantonio da Montefeltro

Guidantonio da Montefeltro was count of Urbino in Italy from 1403 until his death.In 1403, at the death of his father Antonio, Guidantonio inherited the family lands in the region of Italy called the Marche. Later he abandoned the Papal suzerainty and allied with King Ladislaus of Naples, who made...

, lord of Urbino

Urbino

Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...

, Gubbio and Casteldurante, and Duke of Spoleto

Spoleto

Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...

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