In the 14th century the Savelli family rose to prominence in the area, after Pope Sixtus V endorsed Rocca Priora as a feudal possession for them. They held the town and its castle until the 17th century, apart from two short periods in 1436–47 and in the early 16th century, when it went to Cesare Borgia. According to some sources, the town was destroyed by Renzo da Ceri's troops during the conflict between Pope Clement VII and the Colonna, and by the imperial troops in the wake of the Sack of Rome (1527).