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The Norman castle of Monteserico
Welcome to our blog,
Dear readers, before we write this blog, I need to explain that in this blog we have not been able to upload most photos. So, to see the original article and the photo, you need to click on the link above, the Norman castle of Monteserico.
Anyhow, we have called this article, The Norman castle of Monteserico, since The Normans first they fought around this castle to conquer it and then used it to run their conquest in Southern Italy around 1040 AD; we could have called it, ‘the castle of Federico II’, since he used this castle as sit for the “magister massarium Apuliae” while he was master of Southern Italy around 1220-1250; today we call it the castle of Monteserico, because that is how this zone of southern Italy is called.
So, let us talk about the castle
of Monteserico. Now, this may seem strange, but the town of Genzano di
Lucania has two castles, one is in the town itself, which has been modified and
today is used as the Town Hall (Municipio). But today we are going to talk
about Monteserico castle in the country; we need to say that the name of “Monteserico”
in Genzano, not only refer to this castle but it also refer to the county
itself; in fact this name would cover about three quarter of Genzano territory.
Monteserico castle is a very old castle that a long time ago had a village of its own; some people believe that the Normans built it, but most people don’t agree with it. Anyhow, the castle was there, and the Normans may have modified it and used this castle, while they were ruling over their conquest in Southern Italy.
Anyhow, this castle of Monteserico was there before the modern Genzano came into existence; we say the modern Genzano because there is some evidence that Genzano existed in the Roman times, as it is mentioned in the archive of Potenza that two martyrs Donato and Secondo were executed in Genzano around 258 AD; see, Genzano di Lucania history, therefore, the town of Genzano existed even then.
Anyhow, let us talk
about Monteserico, this castle was completely independent from the town
of Genzano di Lucania, in fact the modern town of Genzano came into existence
well after the Norman invasion of Southern Italy. We can say this because even
though today Monteserico Castle is situated in the territory of Genzano, the
founder of the existing Genzano came from this castle. History tells us that
this was the castle of queen Aquilina Sancia, who lived there before Genzano town
was rebuilt and Aquilina Sancia is said to be the founder of Genzano.
Anyhow, nobody
knows exactly who started to build this castle of Monteserico, and it has many
stories about its origin, what we know today is that this was one of the main
castles that the Normans used to rule over Southern Italy in the beginning of
the second millennium, and that in this part of southern Italy there have been
many wars and this castle has had many owners, another historically well-known
owner was “Frederick II” about 1194-1250, check the links below.
Frederick II. of Hohenstaufen - YouTube
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor - Wikipedia, the free ...
Frederick the Second, 1194-1250 -
Google Books
Some other owner of the castle we will try to
mention in our text here under. Anyhow today it happens that this castle has
been restored to safe keep the heritage of this part of Southern Italy; but it
is a very quiet country place, it seems almost forgotten except for the people
that work around in the fields that produce some of the best durum wheat that
is used to make pasta and other wheat products.
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Explaining the missing photos.
In this blog, we are not able to upload the photos, so, you need to click on this link to see them, The Norman castle of Monteserico. Where you find the photos and the following explanation.
Here above is the
chapel of the Madonna of Monteserico, but the original Monteserico Madonna
picture has been stolen, and somebody replaced it with a cheap picture; so, the
town of Genzano ordained the painter Pedota, to paint a portrait of the Madonna,
Maria SS Delle Grazie, and in 1953 they had a feast and replaced the cheap
picture with this new painted image. So, today this chapel of Monteserico has
this new picture of, Maria SS delle Grazie, patron Saint of Genzano. It is said, that the inhabitant of Genzano
need to open, visit, or make a feast at least once a year, otherwise they lose
possession of Monteserico chapel, and the possession will pass to the family De
Chio of Spinazzola, as they were the last owners or tenants of the place.
Below is a photo of
the castle taken from a faraway field, you see in this part of the country
there are only fields that are used to grow wheat or other produce and not much
else for miles. This photo reminds me about the thousands of time that I have
seen this castle from our family farm, when I was young.
Then there is this
photo of this poster about the inauguration of Monteserico Castle after the
restoration, where the names of people that have contributed and other things
are shown.
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About the castle of Monteserico.
Monteserico castle
seems to be built different from other castles. It is shaped rectangular or
almost square, one can say that it is more a military fortress than a real
castle; it is built in stones of every shape and size, and today it would be
hard to find builders or tradesmen that are able to build something like that, even
though there are some tradesmen as we can see from the entry pathway that looks
almost new, and it is almost identical to the castle masonry; however we know
that it has been added later, because this castle had a trench around it a long
time ago, for reasons of defense, but this added entry pathway makes it easy to
enter the castle, so, it is an addition and it looks good. Anyhow, these two
photos one above and one below are there to show you how the castle is like
today.
Anyhow, let us look
at some history of this castle of Monteserico, but before we do that, we need to point out that the castle
of Monteserico looks exactly like one of the Norman castles in Normandy France; let me explain, one day I ask this French army captain about
the castle in Normandy that looks like Monteserico castle, and he said to me, that the Normans have
built only two castles, one in France and one in Southern Italy, see our hub, Genzano the
Lucania history; and some other evidence that we are going
to quote from.
Genzano di Lucania
history,
From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
The Norman conquest of southern Italy spanned most of the 11th and 12th
centuries, involving many battles and many independent players conquering
territories of their own. Only later were these territories in southern Italy united as the Kingdom of Sicily, which included
not only the island of Sicily, but also the entire southern third of the Italian Peninsula (save Benevento, which they did briefly
hold on two occasions) as well as the archipelago of Malta
and parts of North Africa.
Opportunistic
bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in Southern Italy (the Mezzogiorno). Probably the
result of returning pilgrims' stories, the Normans entered the Mezzogiorno as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In
999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans
fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged
them to stay, but they refused and instead offered to tell others back home of
the prince's request. William of Apulia tells
that, in 1016, pilgrims to the shrine of the Archangel Michael at Monte Gargano were met
by Melus of Bari, a Lombard freedom-fighter, who
persuaded them to return with more warriors to help throw off the Byzantine rule, which they did.
(End of quote)
In some written
history of Genzano and this castle of Monteserico, there is this famous Norman
leader (Roberto il Guiscardo) Robert Guiscard that is said to own the castle of
Monteserico as also some battles that happened around this castle, here is a
link about Robert Guiscard.
Robert Guiscard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From what we have been able to learn, it is that the Normans have used
this castle extensively and perhaps modified it or partly built it, and since
Robert Guiscard (Duke of Apulia) was there, we know that this castle has been
the Norman castle of Southern Italy from where the Norman ruled over their
conquest.
Historic event in brief.
Now the history of the castle of Monteserico during the first
millennium is not known much, but it is believed that there were
some caves that the shepherds and other inhabitant of this region used for
themselves, before the castle was built. Some people say that this part of
Southern Italy has seen many battles; they even suggest that Spartacus with his
other slave friend have been here, while they were in Southern Italy, as
history tells us when the slaves rebelled and formed their own army under their
leader Spartacus, they went to live near the Ionian Sea, now Monteserico is
part of the territories that runs into the Ionian Sea through the river Bradano
and its tributaries. Then in Genzano town even today there is this chasm called the Greek
chasm, the only thing this can mean is that there was a Greek colony living in
this chasm; and Spartacus being Greek for sure was attracted from this Greek
community, so, even Spartacus could have come in Monteserico territory.
Now let us go back
to talk about Monteserico castle; as we know everything can starts small and
then starts growing, so, some people say that at the beginning, this could have
been a Roman villa used for holiday, then turned as a monastery of the Greek
orthodox religion. Then as the time went by and many wars and other things
happened around this place it kept growing until we find that the Normans at
the beginning of the second millennium have this castle, and they rule over most
of southern Italy from this castle of Monteserico.
After that the
castle of Monteserico changed many owners, and some of which we are going to
mention as soon as we get around; one of the most known people that the inhabitant of Genzano know is Aquilina Sancia queen of Monteserico. The reason
for this is that while this Aquilina Sancia was there she built a monastery of
the Clarisse in Genzano and this monastery attracted people that lived around
to move and live around this monastery, for this reason Genzano town is said
that Aquilina Sancia is the founder of the existing Genzano, today we know that
this is not correct, since there is historic evidence that the town of Genzano
has existed since the Roman times.
--------------------------------
More Monteserico castle historic events.
Now we are going to look at some
historic event that can help establish the history of this castle, but there
isn’t real written history about this Monteserico castle, so, we are going to
rely on search done about sixty years ago from the writer Ettore Lorito, who
has done some search and written a book about Genzano including the castle of
Monteserico:
The writer Ettore Lorito suggests
that the beginning of the castle is ancient, but nobody knows when it was
started: anyhow, we want to tell you what he has written in this very shortened
translated version; we are doing this since the original is written in Italian.
Now if there are people that want to read the original Italian version they
should go to this link; http://genzanoit.blogspot.com/,
to navigate to this link, first of all click on the link above, once you have
reached the blog, you need to navigate down the left side column until you
reach Home pages, in Home pages find the link, Genzano in Italiano, (it 1)
and click on it, go down the page and then click on the link, Scrittori e
poeti, a few names of writers come up, click on Ettore Lorito, some links for
two books come up, click on GENZANO DI BASILICATA Cronografia; within this book
there is also the story of the castle of Monteserico.
Now that I have explained how to
find the Italian original version, let me tell this version in English.
It is thought that very early at
the place where the castle is today, there were caves below it that the local
people used to live in; so, that was already a start for people to continue to
live there. So, very likely when the Romans conquered southern Italy, they
might have built a villa, this was only natural as this gave them the control of
the countryside, this is one of the possible ways how this castle was started.
It is also believed that Spartacus and his Roman slave’s friends have been in
this country and fought with the Romans, and also that even the Roman council
Marcello and Hannibal have fought on this territory, but there is no mention of
the castle in those times.
Some people say that the castle
was built before 900 AD. because they have found some written story; one of
this is the following.
The writer Deblaisiis in his
Norman Conquest said that in the year 929 AD Guaimaro and Ladolfo to repay the
Norman for the help they had given at Monte Serico and Monte Peloso gave them
some castles including one in Spinazzola; so, the castle of Monteserico was
already there, perhaps it had been there as a villa at the beginning and then
modified into a castle after the fall of the Roman empire, when most localities
had to look after themselves, since there was not a Roman army to guard the
country. Anyhow, because in 929 the castle was already there, it was not built
by the Norman as some people believe.
Now to make this story shorter,
let us go to when the Norman had got possession of the castle of Monteserico
after many battles, you see even today after a thousand years there is a hill called
(Serra della battaglia) this laterally means “the hill of the battle” But even
though the Norman and their allied won that battle on this hill, they were not
able to take the castle this time, because the castle was well defended; but
they got there some years later.
Anyhow, we know that Robert
Guiscard, a Norman by birth became duke in southern Italy owned this castle;
then other people, but for me to name them is hard to do, unless I find an
historic list, but we can say that through marriages, exchanges and other
things the castle of Monteserico was ruled from this Spanish princess Aquilina
Sancia around 1300 AD.. In those times there was also a village near the
castle, but it slowly disappeared around 1400 and 1430 AD.
-----------------------------------------
Imagining
the history of Monteserico.
Let us imagine how Monteserico
castle was built, since nobody knows who, when or the reason it was built, but let us say how we see
this castle history.
In the beginning there were people of this region living in the caves where today stands the castle, they could have been local shepherd or other people; these people could have come from Greece or somewhere else, they came up the valley of the river Bradano and settled here in Monteserico and in the town of Genzano, since in Genzano even today there is this chasm called the Greek chasm.
Let us talk about the Roman Era
with their conquest of southern Italy, followed by their conquest of the known
world. So, the Romans ruled over this part of Italy for a very long time;
during that time some of the Roman leader may have started a holiday villa or a
building to live in and rule over the countryside, that is what the Roman did
best, they would build something wherever they went, so that they would run
that part of their conquest easily, at the same time bring civilization to the
people in that region. So, we believe that since the Roman times there has been
a building there that the Roman used; after that, it might have grown bigger
and modified many times.
When the Western Roman Empire
collapsed around in 475-76 AD, when the German Odovacer deposited Romulus
Augustulus, and in affect became king of Rome.
After the fall of the Roman
Empire there wasn’t any real peace in Italy, so, people had to try to protect
themselves the best way they could, this in affect made people build castles,
so, this villa or whatever was built in Monteserico started to take the form of
a castle.
The first time that a castle or
fort is mentioned is in the 800 AD. You see there were many wars so Monteserico
castle and other castles in this part of the region became fortified forming a
line of defense against the enemy; please note that this is before the Norman
came to southern Italy, so, when Robert Guiscard came to this part of Italy the
castle was already there, as we can see from some important battles that
happened in those times.
Anyhow, the castle of Monteserico has changed many owners, and some of
which we are going to mention here; one of the best-known owner for the
inhabitant of Genzano is Aquilina Sancia queen of Monteserico. The reason for
this is that while Aquilina Sancia was there she built a monastery of the
Clarisse in Genzano and this monastery attracted people that lived around this
monastery, for this reason Genzano town is said that Aquilina Sancia is the
founder of the existing Genzano. But there is historic evidence that the town
of Genzano has existed since the Roman times.
---------------------------------
More known Monteserico history.
Anyhow, now let us mention the owner
that we know that have owned the castle of Monteserico, So, let us start with
famous owners like Robert Guiscard duke of southern Italy in 1047 of Apulia and
Calabria and later on the Two Sicilies etc.
Born 1016 died 1085
Another famous owner is Fredrick II,
1194-1250, after Frederick II, it is not easy to follow the chain of events,
but we know that castles and other holdings always changed hand. It is said in
history that there was a Roberto D’Angio who had married a Sancia he donated
the castle to a family member del Bosco who saw husband of Aquilina Sancia, and
when he died Aquilina Sancia became owner of Monteserico.
From Aquilina Sancia it was inherited
from her daughter Giacoma Rachele who married Roberto San Severino the count of
Carignano and Terlizzi, and then it was passed to the family Dentice delle
Stelle under the queen Giovanna and to the Ruffo.
During this time Monteserico had a village
but around 1400-1430 it slowly vanished, there was not an explanation why this happened,
but it happened.
After Aquilina Sancia there were the
Sanseverino who had the castle. After that in 1603 was a Genoese Grimaldi, in
1613 was the Doria, at the end of 1700 was some descendents of the Sancia
family and after that was abandoned.
It was bought from the Baron Dell’Agli-Certi
the 30-01-1857, and then it was sold to the Cafieri the 30-03-1875 but by then
it was too run down to live in.
After world war 1 the tenant Gardini
bought a portion of the land from the Cafieri and the castel of Monteserico, it
was used for holiday or resting place from this actress: Lyda
Borelli (22 March 1884 – 2 June 1959) was an Italian actress ofcinema and theatre.
She was born in Genoa, and died in Rome.
Her career in theatre started when she was a child, acting on stage with Paola
Pezzaglia in the French drama I
due derelitti.
There might be other
things to add but I don’t know what else to say at the moment, except that this
military castle of Monteserico is a small fortress that has got many unknown
stories, whether we will be able to tell these stories one day we do not know.
Anyhow, we hope that
we have told you this story of Monteserico for everybody to read, but it has
also been especially written for those people that come from Genzano, so that
they can remember their native town and our Monteserico castle.
----------------------------------
Dear readers, we
have written several articles about Genzano di Lucania, and the castle of
Monteserico, of course, there are other things that can be said about the past,
but today we have to start to look at the future, because there are things
happening in southern Italy that worries me. Because looking at the past, we
can forecast what could happen around these places in the future. So, later
after writing about my life in Australia, I will return to talk about Italy
modern history.
But before we do that, let me show
you what I have found on the Internet about famous castles, so, here is Leeds
Castle
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Leeds Castle -
'The World's Loveliest Castle'; A Photographic Essay
In order to get a larger amount
of people interested in castles and their history, we have borrowed this photo,
and also the link that links to this great hub, so anyone that likes to read
this hub can view it just by clicking on the link.
You see, we have talked about our
small castle of Monteserico, So, to keep the public interested in castles and
castles history, we have borrowed the link of, Leeds Castel, and the readers
can read both hubs. But be warned the castle of Monteserico is only a small
castle compared to Leeds Castle, but it has got its own history, which we have
written the best way we could.
Anyhow, this blog is becoming too long, so see you in our next blog, An old man view of the world.
To see more click on this link, The Norman castle of Monteserico.
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