The March of Ancona (Italian: Marca Anconitana or Anconetana) was a frontier march centred on the city of Ancona and later Fermo then Macerata in the Middle Ages.^[1] Its name is preserved as an Italian region today, the Marche, and it corresponds to almost the entire modern region and not just the Province of Ancona.

Quick Facts Marca Anconitana, Status ...

March of Ancona Marca Anconitana
1100–1798
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The march in a map of 1564 by Vincenzo Luchino.
Status	March of the Kingdom of Italy (1100–1198) Territory of the Papal States (1198–1798)
Capital	Ancona (until 1210) Fermo (1210–15th century) Macerata (15th century–1798)
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Spoleto Republic of Ancona Anconine Republic Roman Republic (18th century)

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Originally part of Imperial Italy, the march was constituted around 1100 from the March of Fermo and a southern portion of the Byzantine Pentapolis.^[2] Initially the new march took the name of its first ruler: marca Guarnerii or march of Werner.^[3] There were disputes between the Empire and the Church over rights and jurisdiction in the March. In 1173, an imperial army under Christian of Mainz invaded the March against pro-papal resistance led by Countess Boltruda Frangipani. In 1177, Pope Alexander III referred to it as "partly belonging to the empire but largely to the church".^[4]

The march was definitely acquired by the Papal States during the pontificate of Innocent III in the year 1198. It was initially governed by a papal nominee called a rector. The rector of Ancona, like the rectors of other papal provinces, was under the authority of a general rector reporting directly to the pope. Under the papacy, the March had three towns of over 10,000 people: Ancona, Ascoli Piceno and Fermo.^[5]

The province was reorganized by the Constitutiones Sanctæ Matris Ecclesiæ in 1357. The march followed the Adriatic as far north as Urbino and contained the cities of Loreto, Camerino, Fermo, Macerata, Osimo, San Severino, and Tolentino

According to Paul Sabatier's biography of St. Francis of Assisi, "The Road to Assisi", the March of Ancona became the home of the spiritual Franciscans after Francis' death.

• Werner (1093–1109)
• Conrad of Lützelhard (1177– )
• Markward von Annweiler (1184–1202)