 Traces of Roman and Etruscan civilizations found in the church of the Abbey of San Caprasio indicate that there were settlements in Aulla long before the 8th century CE, when margrave Adalbert I of Tuscany founded a village and built a castle to accommodate pilgrims traveling the via Francigena.Here, at "Aguilla" Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, sojourned on his return journey from Rome about 990.The Malaspina family wrested feudal power of the city and its "contada" from the domination of the bishops and dukes of Luni.