However, the Brancaleoni period was also characterized by continuous struggles between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines: both the Rocca and the village were subject to recurring and conflicting attempts of dominion by the peoples of Rieti, Spoleto, Foligno and Perugia alike. Indeed, in 1530, the Guelph towns of Rieti and Spoleto agreed to destroy the castle because it was considered one of the Ghibelline strongholds in southern Umbria. The castle, however, was not destroyed also thanks to Pope Benedict XII; when cardinal Egidio Albornoz carne to Italy in 1353 to restore pontifical powers in Umbria and Marche, the castle of Luco, together with the strongholds of Narni, Orvieto, Spoleto and Assisi, became irnportant control and defence positions in the area. Indeed, it was Blasco Fernando di Belviso, the cousin ofAlbornoz and rector of the duchy of Spoleto, who purchased the decaying castle of Luco in 1364 and the surrounding area from the Brancaleoni, that had the Rocca built in the following years; the rernains of this structure can still be seen today. The new stronghold, symbol of the restored pontifical power, comprised what for approximately one and a half centuries had been the Brancaleoni residence, while also the last inhabitants of the old castle moved te the village, called Piediluco (literally ‘at the foot of Luco”), on the banks of the lake. In 1368, the same Blasco was killed in the village following a rebellion fomented by Ghibelline exiles frorn Spoleto. The vengeance of Pepe Urbano V was exemplary: the following year, the pontifical soldiers headed by Ugolino da Montemarte, had the town laid to waste and took 50 prisoners. They were later condamned for having killed Blasco and were tortured and executed in Spoleto and other towns in the State.

After a period of thirty years of dominion by various rulers, starting frorn 1393, Piediluco was ruled by the Trinci family that held power until 1439. In 1417 the Trinci prepared the new statute (called ‘Statuta Castri Pedisluci’) which was the fundamental part of a policy that would assign them, the established rulers of Foligno, more power thus making them less dependent on pontifical control.

This administrative rearrangernent completed the change in the settlement that was once called the Luco Castle and since then called the Piediluco Castle. The structure was in fact defined in stable forrn as we see it today despite modifications: at the top, there is the defence structure formed by the Rocca which was the residence of the lord of the manor; below, is the residential area, a place for public, social and economic activities; there is a system of walls between the two levels.

At the end of the Trinci dominion, by the hand of Eugenio IV, the area of Piediluco was put under direct control of the Holy See. Thus, in 1453 the rule of the area was granted by Pope Nicolò V to Matteo Poiani from Rieti as bounty far services carried out when he was a captain of fortune. Because there were no male heirs, the area was granted to Giovanni Farrattini in 1578, a nobleman from Amelia who married Plautilla Poiani. The new owners kept it until the end of the 17th century.  Between the 18th and 19th centuries, Piediluco belonged first te the Ancajani barons, then to the Pian­ciani counts of Spoleto and lastly to the Franchetti barons. These barons, in particular Eugenio, had the neoclassic style residence of Villalago built immersed in the greenery.
Between the 18th and 19th centuries the sightseeing of the Piediluco Lake - together with the Marmore falls - became an important lap of the Grand-Tour that north-european artists and poets made around Italy.