# The Chronicle of San Marino: Liberty on a mountaintop: the world's oldest surviving republic, founded by a stonemason in 301. History of San Marino: Liberty on a mountaintop: the world's oldest surviving republic, founded by a stonemason in 301. 6 eras and 26 sourced events… Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/SMR/chronicle Updated: 2026-06-13 Founding: The founding of the community on Mount Titano by Saint Marinus — AD 301. By tradition the Republic of San Marino was founded on 3 September in the year 301, when Marinus, a Christian stonemason of Dalmatian origin who had fled the anti-Christian edicts of the emperor Diocletian, established a small free community on Mount Titano. Legend holds that on his deathbed he left his followers the words 'Relinquo vos liberos ab utroque homine' - 'I leave you free from both men' - understood as freedom from both emperor and pope, a phrase enshrined as the founding ideal of Sammarinese liberty. The traditional date is the basis of San Marino's claim to be the world's oldest surviving sovereign republic, a continuity that UNESCO recognised in 2008 when it inscribed the Historic Centre and Mount Titano as a 'testimony to the continuity of a free republic since the Middle Ages'. The first documentary trace of the community is far later, in the Placito Feretrano of 885, but the institutional life that grew on the mountain has run, in one form or another, ever since. San Marino traces its existence to the year 301, when, by tradition, a Christian stonemason named Marinus fled the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian and founded a small community on the slopes of Mount Titano. From that legend grew a self-governing commune whose institutions, above all the two Captains Regent elected every six months, have endured with remarkable continuity for some seventeen centuries, giving San Marino its claim to be the world's oldest surviving sovereign republic. Protected by its mountain isolation and a tradition of shrewd, watchful diplomacy, the little state survived the rise and fall of the Papal States, the unification of Italy that closed in around it, and the upheavals of the modern age. Napoleon offered to enlarge it and was politely refused; Abraham Lincoln was made an honorary citizen; Giuseppe Garibaldi was given refuge; and in the Second World War the republic, though neutral and bombed, sheltered some hundred thousand refugees. Today San Marino is a UN member that uses the euro and mints its own coins, an enclave entirely surrounded by Italy whose freedom rests on treaties of friendship and on a continuity unbroken since the Middle Ages. This file carries the chronicle's sourced event record — every event with its year, summary and source keys (resolved under References below). The full reading narrative lives on the canonical page. ## Saint Marinus and the Mountain Commune — AD 301 – c. 1243 A stonemason fleeing persecution gave his name to a community on Mount Titano whose love of freedom outlasted the empire that drove him there. - AD 301 (traditional): **Foundation by Saint Marinus** — By tradition the stonemason Marinus, fleeing Diocletian's persecution of Christians, founded a free community on Mount Titano on 3 September 301, the act from which San Marino dates its existence. [sms-origins, vsm-history, worldatlas-oldest, britannica-sanmarino-history] - by tradition: **'I leave you free from both men'** — Marinus is said to have left his followers the words 'Relinquo vos liberos ab utroque homine', freedom from both emperor and pope, enshrined as the founding ideal of Sammarinese liberty. [sms-origins] - 885: **The Placito Feretrano** — The earliest surviving document to name the community of San Marino records a legal dispute over its liberties, the first firm attestation that a self-governing community existed on Mount Titano. [sms-origins] - early Middle Ages: **Refuge on a fortified mountain** — Set atop the steep limestone massif of Mount Titano and of little strategic value to its powerful neighbours, the community could govern itself in isolation, a continuity of free republican life that UNESCO would later recognise as stretching from the Middle Ages to today. [unesco-titano, worldatlas-oldest] Figures: - Saint Marinus (fl. early 4th century) — Founder and patron saint. A Christian stonemason of Dalmatian origin who, by tradition, fled Diocletian's persecution and founded a free community on Mount Titano in 301. His deathbed injunction to remain 'free from both men' became the republic's founding ideal, and he is venerated as its patron saint. - The Lady Felicissima — Legendary benefactress of the community. In the medieval legend of San Marino's origins, a wealthy woman whose family, in gratitude to Marinus, gave Mount Titano to his community, a tale that expressed the Sammarinese conviction that their freedom had been theirs from the start. ## The Commune, the Statutes and the Captains Regent — c. 1243 – 1600 The mountain settlement became a self-governing commune, devised the dual headship of the Captains Regent, and in 1600 set its liberties down in a written constitution that still stands. - 1243: **First Captains Regent** — The republic adopted its signature institution, two Captains Regent serving jointly for six-month terms; since the late-thirteenth-century statute their office has alternated every six months without interruption. [consulate-institutions, vsm-history] - 1253: **The earliest Statutes** — San Marino set down its first written statutes, with a fuller body of state law following by 1295, formalising the self-government of the mountain commune. [vsm-history] - c. 1296: **Self-government affirmed within papal Romagna** — As the Papal States consolidated their hold over the surrounding Romagna, San Marino preserved its autonomy by diplomacy and the recognition of its rights, the strategy of survival that kept the commune free among far greater powers. [vsm-history, newworld-recognition] - 8 Oct 1600: **Promulgation of the Leges Statutae** — The republic enacted the Leges Statutae Republicae Sancti Marini, a six-book written constitution governing the Council, the Regents and the courts; it remains in force as the foundation of San Marino's law. [consulate-institutions, worldatlas-oldest] Figures: - The Captains Regent (Capitani Reggenti) (since the 13th century) — Dual heads of state. San Marino's two co-equal heads of state, elected by the Grand and General Council and serving together for only six months. Devised to prevent any one person monopolising power, the office is among the oldest continuously functioning institutions of republican government in the world. - The Arengo (from the early Middle Ages) — Assembly of the heads of families. The ancient assembly of household heads that exercised direct self-government on Mount Titano before power passed to the Grand and General Council. Dormant for centuries, it would be revived in 1906 to dismantle oligarchy and remains a channel for citizens' petitions. ## The Alberoni Occupation and Restored Liberty — 1631 – 1740 When the Papal States closed in around it, San Marino lost its independence for five months in 1739, only to win it back by civil resistance and a pope's own judgement. - 17th century: **An island within the Papal States** — By the seventeenth century the lands of the Church surrounded San Marino on every side; the republic guarded its autonomy and secured papal acknowledgements of its rights, but its independence rested on the goodwill of a far greater neighbour. [vsm-history, newworld-recognition] - 17 Oct 1739: **The Alberoni occupation** — Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, papal legate of Ravenna, occupied San Marino with troops, suspended its constitution and sought to annex it to the Papal States, abolishing the Captains Regent. [officeholidays-liberation, vsm-history] - 1739–1740: **Civil resistance** — Rather than fight, the Sammarinese practised civil disobedience and sent clandestine appeals to Rome documenting the legate's abuses, refusing to accept the imposed government. [officeholidays-liberation] - 5 Feb 1740: **Independence restored by Clement XII** — Pope Clement XII condemned the occupation and on 5 February 1740 recognised San Marino's rights and restored its independence, an event still celebrated each year on the feast of Saint Agatha. [officeholidays-liberation] Figures: - Pope Clement XII (1652 – 1740) — Pope who restored San Marino's independence. Reigning pope at the time of the Alberoni occupation. Persuaded by the Sammarinese appeals and informed of his legate's violations, he condemned the seizure and on 5 February 1740 restored San Marino's independence. - Cardinal Giulio Alberoni (1664 – 1752) — Papal legate who occupied San Marino. Papal legate of Ravenna who in October 1739 seized San Marino with troops, abolished the Captains Regent and tried to annex the republic to the Papal States. His occupation collapsed within months when Pope Clement XII condemned it and ordered the troops withdrawn. ## Napoleon, Garibaldi and Lincoln: a Republic Among Friends — 1797 – 1900 As revolution and unification redrew the map of Italy, San Marino kept its independence by refusing aggrandisement, sheltering a hero of the Risorgimento, and winning the friendship of the United States. - 1797: **Napoleon's offer declined** — Napoleon offered San Marino friendship, artillery and an extension of territory to the sea; the republic accepted the gifts but declined the land, satisfied with its existing borders, and was recognised by the Treaty of Tolentino. [vsm-history, sms-eighteenth, newworld-recognition] - 1815: **Recognition at the Congress of Vienna** — The post-Napoleonic Congress of Vienna confirmed San Marino's independence, leaving the ancient republic untouched as Europe's monarchies were restored around it. [newworld-recognition] - Jul 1849: **Garibaldi given refuge** — Fleeing the collapse of the Roman Republic and pursued by four armies, Giuseppe Garibaldi crossed into San Marino with his followers and was granted asylum by the Captain Regent before escaping by night toward the Adriatic. [sms-eighteenth, vsm-history] - 7 May 1861: **Lincoln made an honorary citizen** — Abraham Lincoln accepted honorary citizenship of San Marino, writing that 'although your dominion is small, your State is nevertheless one of the most honored, in all history' - the beginning of US recognition of the republic. [statedept-sanmarino, mystic-lincoln] - 1862: **First treaty of friendship with Italy** — After Italian unification, San Marino and the new Kingdom of Italy concluded a treaty of friendship in 1862 confirming the republic's independence, the first of the agreements that secure its sovereignty as an enclave. [newworld-recognition, vsm-history] Figures: - Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807 – 1882) — Risorgimento general sheltered by San Marino. Hero of Italian unification who, fleeing the fall of the Roman Republic in 1849, was granted asylum in San Marino with his followers and his wife Anita before escaping pursuit. His refuge there became part of the republic's tradition of sanctuary. - Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865) — Honorary citizen of San Marino. President of the United States who in 1861 accepted honorary citizenship offered by San Marino's Captains Regent, praising the republic as 'one of the most honored, in all history' and a proof that republican government could endure. ## The Arengo, Fascism and the World Wars — 1906 – 1945 A democratic revolution in 1906 ended centuries of oligarchy; two decades of fascism and a world war followed, in which neutral San Marino was bombed yet sheltered a hundred thousand refugees. - 25 Mar 1906: **The Arengo and the end of oligarchy** — Summoned for the first time in three centuries, the Arengo of household heads voted on 25 March 1906 to abolish lifelong co-option of councillors, opening the way to democracy. [officeholidays-arengo] - 10 Jun 1906: **First modern democratic elections** — Following the Arengo vote, San Marino held its first modern democratic elections on 10 June 1906, ending centuries of oligarchic rule by co-opted councillors. [officeholidays-arengo] - 1923: **Fascist seizure of power** — Amid postwar economic distress the Sammarinese Fascist Party took control in 1923 and dissolved the Grand and General Council, ruling the republic for two decades in step with Mussolini's Italy. [sms-worldwars, officeholidays-fascism] - 26 Jun 1944: **The bombing of San Marino** — Despite the republic's neutrality, a British air raid on 26 June 1944, based on faulty intelligence later admitted, killed about sixty people in the small state. [sms-worldwars, ww2db-sanmarino] - 1943–1944: **Refuge for 100,000 and liberation** — Neutral San Marino, with a population under 15,000, sheltered more than 100,000 wartime refugees, including Jews; after fighting crossed its soil in September 1944 it was liberated and its neutrality restored. [sms-worldwars, vsm-history] Figures: - Domenico Maria Belzoppi (1796 – 1864) — Captain Regent who sheltered Garibaldi. Serving as Captain Regent in 1849, he granted Giuseppe Garibaldi and his followers asylum in San Marino on condition that they renounce their cause within its borders, upholding the republic's tradition of sanctuary at the risk of foreign occupation. - The wartime refugees of San Marino — More than 100,000 sheltered in 1943–44. Displaced civilians from the surrounding war zone, including Jews who escaped deportation, who found asylum on Mount Titano during the Second World War, far outnumbering the republic's own people and embodying its long tradition of refuge. ## The Modern Republic: the UN, Europe and the Euro — 1945 – present The world's oldest republic took its place among the family of nations, joining the United Nations and adopting the euro while keeping the independence its treaties with Italy guarantee. - 2 Mar 1992: **Admission to the United Nations** — On the recommendation of Security Council Resolution 744 (25 February 1992), San Marino was admitted to the United Nations on 2 March 1992 as a full member state. [un-growth, unscr-744, britannica-sanmarino] - 1862 onward: **Treaties of friendship with Italy** — San Marino's sovereignty as an enclave is secured by treaties of friendship and good-neighbourliness with Italy first concluded in 1862 and renewed in 1939 and later, regulating relations while guaranteeing independence. [newworld-recognition, vsm-history] - 1988: **Member of the Council of Europe** — San Marino joined the Council of Europe, one of the steps by which the ancient republic took its place among the institutions of postwar Europe while keeping its full sovereignty. [britannica-sanmarino, newworld-recognition] - 2012: **Euro monetary agreement** — Under a monetary agreement with the European Union, in force since 2012 in place of an earlier 2000 accord, San Marino uses the euro as official currency and mints its own euro coins with national designs. [bcsm-euro] Figures: - The Grand and General Council (60 members) — Parliament of the modern republic. San Marino's elected legislature of sixty members, which appoints the Captains Regent and the chief officers of state. Reformed from an oligarchic body into a democratic parliament after the Arengo of 1906, it remains the central institution of the modern republic. - San Marino's euro coinage (since the 2000s) — Symbol of monetary sovereignty. Under its monetary agreement with the European Union, the republic uses the euro and mints a limited number of coins bearing its own national designs. Sought after by collectors, the coins are a modern emblem of a tiny state's enduring sovereignty. Machine-readable claims — every event above as an addressable claim ID (TL:SMR:event::) with its sources and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/SMR/chronicle.claims.json ## References - [britannica-sanmarino-history] History of San Marino — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-San-Marino - [britannica-sanmarino] San Marino — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/San-Marino-republic-Europe - [unesco-titano] San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1245 - [sms-origins] Origins of San Marino - the world's oldest Republic — SanMarinoSite · https://www.sanmarinosite.com/en/history/origins-of-san-marino/ - [vsm-history] History of San Marino — Visit San Marino (official tourism site) · https://www.visitsanmarino.com/pub1/VisitSM/en/contenuto/About-San-Marino/STORIA.html - [worldatlas-oldest] The World's Oldest Continuous Republic — WorldAtlas · https://www.worldatlas.com/ancient-world/the-world-s-oldest-continous-republic.html - [consulate-institutions] The Institutions of the Republic of San Marino — Consulate of San Marino to the UK · https://www.consolatosanmarino.uk/en/the-institutions-of-the-republic-of-san-marino/ - [officeholidays-liberation] San Marino Liberation Day (Alberoni occupation and 1740 restoration) — Office Holidays · https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/san-marino/san-marino-liberation-day - [newworld-recognition] San Marino (Napoleon, Congress of Vienna, 1862 treaty) — New World Encyclopedia · https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/San_Marino - [sms-eighteenth] San Marino: Garibaldi, Lincoln and the 19th century — SanMarinoSite · https://www.sanmarinosite.com/en/history/eighteenth-century/ - [statedept-sanmarino] A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition: San Marino — U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian · https://history.state.gov/countries/san-marino - [mystic-lincoln] Lincoln Made Honorary Citizen of San Marino — Mystic Stamp Discovery Center · https://info.mysticstamp.com/lincoln-made-honorary-citizen-of-san-marino_tdih/ - [officeholidays-arengo] Anniversary of the Arengo (1906 democratic reform) — Office Holidays · https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/san-marino/anniversary-of-the-arengo - [sms-worldwars] World wars and fascism in San Marino, 1922-1945 — SanMarinoSite · https://www.sanmarinosite.com/en/history/world-wars-fascism/ - [officeholidays-fascism] Anniversary of the Fall of Fascism and Freedom Day — Office Holidays · https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/san-marino/anniversary-of-the-fall-of-fascism-and-freedom-day - [ww2db-sanmarino] San Marino in World War II — World War II Database · https://ww2db.com/country/san_marino - [un-growth] Growth in United Nations Membership — United Nations · https://www.un.org/en/about-us/growth-in-un-membership - [unscr-744] Security Council Resolution 744 (1992): Admission of San Marino — United Nations Security Council · https://unscr.com/en/resolutions/744/ - [bcsm-euro] San Marino and the Euro — Central Bank of the Republic of San Marino (BCSM) · https://www.bcsm.sm/en/international-relations/san-marino-towards-europe/san-marino-and-the-euro - [wikipedia-san-marino] San Marino — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino Citation template: Terralore, "The Chronicle of San Marino: Liberty on a mountaintop: the world's oldest surviving republic, founded by a stonemason in 301.", terralore.co/country/SMR/chronicle, retrieved .