Fulcieri da Calboli, the Black Guelph and Podestà of Florence, “Fierce and cruel man”, in the words of Giovanni Villani (Nuova cronica, IX, 59), persecuted both the white Guelphs who remained in Florence and the exiles. He defeated his adversaries -Ghibellines, White Guelphs and the Ubaldini clan lead by Scarpetta Ordelaffi – in the Pulicciano battle on March 12, 1303. In their flight to the fortress of Montaccianico, more than 500 White Guelphs were killed, taken hostage, tortured and condemned to death.

Pulicciano is set in a beautiful  location on a hill. Santa Maria Church, which was probably a chapel, is all that remains today of the ancient castle. On the façade we find a plaque dating back to the six hundred year anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri: “This Fortress, which was, for centuries, no stranger to sieges and battles, attests, in what remains of its walls ―today, on the six-hundredth anniversary of Dante’s death―the assault and escape of Scarpetta degli Ordelaffi together with the exiled Florentines, the harsh reprisals of Fulcieri de’ Calboli, in March 1303 the happy escape of Dante, and now a symbol of peace …1321-1921”