Montopoli in Val d'Arno

Two mice hold up the coat of arms of Montopoli, and they are there because of a misunderstanding. The name is written Monte Topoli in 1138, Montetopali in 1180, Montetopari in 1272, and it is made of monte plus the Germanic personal name Teupo, with the ending that early medieval Italian used for place names; but that topoli sounded like topi, mice, and the mole, or indeed the mouse, was read into the name. So on the flag granted to the town there is a golden mount of six hills topped by a cross, and two mice rampant holding it up: an etymology that never existed, set there in gold.

The first written record of the castle is of 1017. The bishop of Lucca had it built for the people of the parish of Mosciano, who lived down on the bank of the Chiecina and had nowhere to take shelter when the raids came; the incursions were so frequent that the bishop simply moved that population up here, inside the walls. It worked: Boccaccio later called it a castello insigne for the strength of its defences. From then on it was fought over. In 1162 the emperor took it from the bishop of Lucca and gave it to Pisa; Lucca allied with Florence; in 1222 the Florentines beat the Pisans at Castel del Bosco and took twelve hundred prisoners; in 1274 Giovanni Visconti, judge of Gallura, laid siege and made himself lord of the castle. In 1349 Montopoli submitted to Florence of its own free will, and Florence put a vicariate and a standing garrison here, which held, through the battle of San Romano of 1432 as well. Then came the plagues, which cut the population to a third; and in the last war the high tower of the rocca was brought down.