Urbine is a city in Italy reached during King Arthur’s campaign against Rome. A force sent ahead by Arthur took the city and raised his banner on its walls; when the king arrived, he ordered his men not to mistreat women and comforted those in distress. The episode makes the city both a concrete gain in the campaign and a setting in which conquest is measured against the king’s obligations toward the people under his power.

Capture during the Roman campaign

Arthur sent Sir Floris and Sir Floridas ahead with five hundred men-at-arms. They came to Urbine and laid an ambush, then rode before the town, drawing its people out to skirmish with the advance party. The concealed force emerged, secured the bridge, and then took the city. The narrative records the sequence as a coordinated military operation: the engagement outside the walls opened the way to the bridge and the town itself.

Arthur’s entry and rule

Arthur saw the city from a hill and recognized that it had been won when he saw his banner on the walls. Before entering, he commanded that none of his liegemen should mistreat any lady, wife, or maid. Inside, he went to the castle, comforted those who were sorrowful, and appointed a captain from his own country to govern the city. The account thus moves from the visible sign of victory to the king’s instructions and the establishment of new authority.

Place in the conquest of Italy

Urbine’s capture precedes the submission of Milan, whose people sent Arthur large sums and sought his protection as their lord. The campaign then continued through Tuscany, where Arthur won towns and castles, devastating what refused him obedience, and proceeded toward Spoleto and Viterbo. Against this broader advance, Urbine marks an early success that helps establish Arthur’s power in Italy; its narrative emphasis, however, also distinguishes the seizure of the city from the treatment of its inhabitants after the fighting.