Toynbee "Montereggiòn"
Montereggioni (castrum Montis regionis), mod. Monteriggioni; strongly fortified castle, belonging to the Sienese, on the road between Empoli and Siena, about 8 miles NW. of the latter. It is situated on the crown of a low hill, and is surrounded with a massive wall surmounted by fourteen towers placed at regular intervals throughout the whole circuit.

D. compares the giants, who are placed as warders at the mouth of Circle IX of Hell, to the towers which surround the castle of Montereggione, [Inf. xxxi. 40-44]. [Giganti.]

The castle was built by the Sienese in March 1213, according to an inscription [reproduced by C. Loria, L'Italia nella Divina Commedia (2nd ed.; Firenze, 1872), ii, p. 422] near one of the gates:

Anno Domini MCCXIIJ ind. II, mense martii: . . . hoc castrum Montis Regionis in Del fuit nomine inceptum et undique postea mura vallatum propriis Senensis populi laboribs et expensis.

Villani states ({Villani. vi. 55}) that it was besieged (in 1254) by the Florentines, who, having tampered with the garrison of German mercenaries, would have taken it, had not the Sienese come to terms with them. The wall with its massive towers was added by the Sienese sometime between 1260 and 1270, after their great victory over the Florentine Guelphs at Montaperti.

©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee (1968) by permission of Oxford University Press