Marche

Marche, region and former province, France

Marche (märsh), region and former province, central France, on the NW margin of the Massif Central. It is coextensive with Creuse dept., much of the Haute-Vienne dept., and parts of Vienne, Indre, and Charente depts. Guéret is the chief town. Marche is primarily an agricultural region that also specializes in sheep raising. The wool is manufactured into carpets and tapestries at Felletin and Aubusson. The name of the region derived from its location as a northern border fief (march) of the duchy of Aquitaine. Marche passed (13th cent.) to the house of Lusignan but was seized (early 14th cent.) by Philip IV of France. Briefly united with the crown lands, it ultimately became an appanage of the house of Bourbon. It came definitively to France in 1531, following the confiscation (1527) of the lands of Constable Charles de Bourbon by Francis I.

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Marche, region, Italy

Marche (mär`kā) or the Marches, region (1991 pop. 1,429,205), 3,742 sq mi (9,692 sq km), E central Italy, extending from the eastern slopes of the Apennines to the Adriatic Sea. Ancona is the capital of the region, which is divided into the provinces of Ancona, Ascoli Piceno, Macerata, and Pesaro e Urbino (named after their chief cities). The Marche is mostly hilly or mountainous, except for a narrow coastal strip, and is drained by the Metauro, Potenza, Tronto, and Nera rivers. Farming is the chief occupation; cereals, olives, grapes, vegetables, and tobacco are the main products, and livestock is raised. Industry has expanded in the 20th cent. with the construction of hydroelectric facilities. Manufactures include ships, textiles, chemicals, musical instruments, and pottery. Commercial and fishing ports are located at Ancona, Pesaro, Fano, and Senigallia. The Umbri and the Picentes (Greek colonists for whom part of the region was called Picenum) lived in the region when it was colonized (3d cent. B.C.) by Rome. After the fall of Rome the area was invaded by the Goths. In the 6th cent. the northern section, including four of the cities of the Pentapolis (Ancona, Fano, Pesaro, and Senigallia) and adjoining territories, came under Byzantine rule; the southern section became a part of the Lombard duchy of Spoleto. In the 8th cent. the region passed, as part of the donations of Pepin the Short (754) and Charlemagne (774), under the nominal rule of the papacy, but later emperors granted fiefs in the area until the 13th cent. The name Marche [boundaries] originated around the 10th cent., because the fiefs of Ancona, Fermo, and Camerino were established at the border of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite the strength of the popes and the emperors, who contested for control of the region, some cities established free communes or were governed by noble families (including the Malatesta, the Varano, and the Montefeltro). From the 13th to the 16th cent. the popes gradually established their rule in the Marche and ended local autonomy. The region was occupied by the French from 1797 to 1815, when it was restored to the papacy. The Marche was united with the kingdom of Sardinia in 1860.

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Marche

Historic region, central France. Once part of Limousin, it was made a separate frontier countship (march) in the 10th century. During the 12th and 13th centuries it was divided into western and eastern halves. It was held by the Bourbons (1342–1435) and by the Armagnacs (1435–77). Confiscated by Francis I in 1527, it was granted to the widows of French kings (1574–1643). It was a province of France until the French Revolution.

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Marche

Region (pop., 2001 prelim.: 1,463,868), central Italy. It covers an area of 3,743 sq mi (9,693 sq km) and is situated between the Adriatic Sea and the region of Umbria and crossed by the Apennines; its only level land is along its river valleys and on the Adriatic shore near Ancona, its capital. Originally inhabited by Gauls and Picenes, it came under Roman rule by AD 292. During the early Middle Ages the southern part was ruled by the Lombards and the northern part by the Byzantines. Conflicts arose in 12th and 13th centuries with powerful feudal families and the attempt of the popes to reestablish their temporal authority; this culminated in 1631, when the duchy of Urbino was incorporated into the Papal States. Marche joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. An agricultural area, it has some industrial development.

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Marche

a former province of central France