"Astracum ad sole": The Description of Some Houses from the Neapolitan and Phlegraean Areas, from Medieval Documents (10th-14th century) — Part 2

By Regnum_Neapolitanum
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For this period, we have access to a more voluminous quantity of documents, primarily from the aforementioned Cancelleria Angioina, from the episcopal archives, and (particularly for the Phlegraean Area) from various documents from the Benedictine Monastery of Montevergine. Unlike those from the ducal period, the documents from this era also provide us with significantly more useful sources for understanding the dwellings of urban areas.

The information we can glean from some sales documents from 14th-century Pozzuoli are quite intriguing. We know, for example, that houses in Angevin-era Pozzuoli could have had an oven (domus cum furno). This oven, logically, had to have its own chimney. From a document dated June 1339, we know, for example, that an agreement was reached between two residents of Pozzuoli. The first had an oven built against the wall of the second's house. The latter gave his consent to the construction, provided that the chimney was high enough to prevent smoke from entering his home. [33]

The houses could also be equipped with a cellar, perhaps used to store wine (cellarium, cellario parvo), or even a cistern for water (piscinalem, domus cum pissina), often built into the very foundations of the house.

Among the various expressions I came across, however, I found one that particularly struck me: astracum ad sole. This term is clearly the "medieval Latin ancestor" of a term still used today in Naples and surrounding areas to refer to the terrace of a building: astreco. More precisely, this expression comes from the ancient Greek ὄστρακον, ostrakon, meaning "potsherd,” "terracotta,” and is clearly a reference to the fact that these terraces were covered with tiles made of this material. The fact that these terraces are described in documents as ad sole (that is, "in the sun,” "exposed to the sun") suggests that they were used by the inhabitants of these houses primarily as a place to hang out freshly washed laundry to dry (as is often done even today). 

An important point concerns the fact that even city houses could very often be equipped with a garden (viridarium), or a cultivated vegetable garden (domus cum uno orticello).

This last detail is important: the urban centers of medieval Campania in fact almost always seem to be areas that today we would define as "low population density," with buildings frequently interspersed with gardens, small plots of cultivated land, or even, in some cases, empty land, on which, simply, nothing had yet been built.

This fact is clear from documents since the ducal era, such as when, for example, in May 997, a small vegetable garden is described located within the walls of the citadel of Pozzuoli, near a house (orticello qui antea casa fuit posita), bordered by a stone wall and a public alley. [34] Or, even more accurately, still within the walls of Pozzuoli, in July 1026, an empty plot of land with a cave (terra vacua nostra una cum gripta), bordering the home of a certain Sergio Boffa (et a parte mediana est coniuntum cum domum Sergii Boffa), and a public road (platea publica). [35]

A situation that is often found in documents from the Angevin era, such as in November 1317, when a certain priest Landolfo de Marzano sold Corrado de Costanza a vacant piece of land located outside the walls of the city of Pozzuoli [36] (extra menia seu muros dicte civitatis Putheoli) between the church of Saint Agnes (for the restoration of which the aforementioned Landolfo de Marzano was forced to sell the land) and some houses seu curtem (therefore perhaps they themselves were located around a further courtyard), belonging to the same de Costanza. [37]

Just as the modicae terulae, located in the urban centre of Pozzuoli, owned by the Cathedral of the same city, and ceded on 29 May 1318 to the judge Giacomo de Cioffis in order to build an ecclesia seu cappella dedicated to Saint James, [38] (still existing today, although unfortunately mutilated), [39] must have been empty.

On the contrary, the lands belonging to five houses located just outside the walls of Pozzuoli and equipped with shared vegetable gardens, sold by a certain Maria de Fusca to Raimondo Russo for the sum of 23 ounces of gold in December 1336, had to be cultivated. [40]

Similarly, the bishop's palace (palatium domini episcopi Putheolani) must also have been equipped with a garden. [41]

If we try to imagine the typical urban environment of a small town in this area during the Middle Ages (such as Pozzuoli), we can imagine it as a collection of small "districts" delimited by streets, consisting of a small number of houses, mostly facing the streets and therefore concentrated near the edges of these districts. The central area of these small districts (similar to a sort of courtyard between the various houses) would have housed gardens and small cultivated areas. Along the city streets, on the ground floors of buildings, there were also various workshops and stores, whose entrances were often covered by a shelter (pennata), designed to protect the entrance (and any outdoor stalls) from the elements.

The general skyline of the settlement must have been dominated by public buildings, such as, in the case of Pozzuoli, the aforementioned episcopal palace, the town hall, [42] and the Palatio Comitis, [43] the residence of the Count of Pozzuoli (certainly not a building of excessive proportions, in any case, and - of course - used for other purposes after the dissolution of the county and the creation of the municipality in May 1296). This was in addition, of course, to the various churches located throughout the city, some of which were parish churches, such as the one of Saint Maximus, documented as early as March 1288, [44] or the one of Saint Liborius, documented as early as October 1308. [45] Over these, the Cathedral of Saint Proculus [46] dominated with its tall bell tower, a structure with a history unto itself, and a discussion of which would greatly extend this article.

Also in the case of Pozzuoli, starting in the late 13th century, the rise of a wealthy urban class began to emerge more clearly, which, in some cases, ended up acquiring a status approaching that of the nobility. In these cases, families belonging to this class tended to enlarge their homes, effectively creating small palaces, probably always with a fairly sober overall appearance, but sometimes also featuring portals and windows discreetly decorated in the style of the period, [47] with coats of arms prominently displayed on the walls. [48]

Between the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Pozzuoli also experienced a strong expansion of the aforementioned thermal tourism, which, as mentioned, had never disappeared throughout the Middle Ages and, thanks to the interest of the first three Angevin rulers, would experience a strong revival. The area of Tripergole, a small settlement located about 3 km from Pozzuoli, near Lake Averno, where several thermal facilities were concentrated, was also particularly affected during this period. In this area, in particular, King Charles II of Anjou commissioned the construction, at his own expense, of a very large hospital with 120 beds for the poor who frequented the Pozzuoli baths between 1299 and 1307. [49]

The situation must not have been much different in the urban area of Naples itself, which, in those very years, having become a royal seat under King Charles I of Anjou, was on its way to becoming a major European metropolis. Aside from the obvious differences, due to a much larger population and different concentrations of residents, such as port traffic or the presence of commercial districts with workshops, stores, and markets, which could therefore give rise to neighborhoods with a higher-than-average population density, the Neapolitan urban landscape must have appeared - all things considered - quite similar to that of Pozzuoli.

As in Pozzuoli, Naples must also have had several homes belonging to wealthy urban citizens. Or, there were also homes belonging to families of the chivalric nobility, who, especially following the construction of the Maschio Angioino (originally built by Charles I between 1279 and 1282), wanted to be represented in the new neighborhood that arose around the great castle under construction, having highly respectable mansions built for them. Such as the one belonging to the Provençal Des Baux family, discovered by chance during construction work on the subway line in Piazza Municipio, and recently the subject of a very interesting archaeological excavation.

Furthermore, starting from the Angevin period, the presence of various public utility services in urban areas, such as aqueducts and sewers, is more clearly attested.

The presence of the aqueduct in Naples is documented throughout the Middle Ages. [50] Its general cleaning and restoration was ordered by King Charles I in 1268. From contemporary documents, we also know that the construction of an additional aqueduct was necessary during that period to supply the aforementioned area that was becoming urbanized around the Maschio Angioino.

When in November 1343 the entire Tyrrhenian area was shaken by a powerful earthquake (followed a few minutes later by a tsunami), the then elderly bishop of Pozzuoli, Paolino Veneto, [51] wrote a letter to the Regia Curia, describing the damage suffered by the city of Pozzuoli [52] and requesting that top priority be given to repairing the aqueduct that supplied the settlement, which had been damaged by the seismic event.

We also know more details about the sewers from this period onwards.

For example, through a document dated April 11, 1301, we know that King Charles II issued orders for the construction of new rainwater drainage channels and additional underground sewers for the city of Naples. At the same time, the king strictly prohibited the dumping of any type of garbage in the streets. Similar projects involving drainage channels date back to the time of Charles I, who in the 1270s ordered the construction of a drainage system to reclaim the area east of the walls of Naples, an area often swamped by the frequent flooding of the nearby Sebeto River.

In Naples, as in Pozzuoli, there were also several public baths and spas throughout the city, attested in the city at least since the 8th century, but whose use, exactly as in Pozzuoli, must have been present in the city continuously since ancient times.

During this period, several royal initiatives aimed at improving the city's road network were also known.

In 1279, for example, Charles I ordered the construction of a coastal road connecting the Beverello wharf area to the Chiatamone district, crossing the area of the current Santa Lucia district. His son Charles II, in July 1301, instead ordered the streets of Naples to be repaved with bricks specially produced in the cities of Gaeta and Maddaloni by specially trained workers (pingarii and tegularii). [53] Between 1305 and 1307, he also oversaw the construction of a new coastal road, the latter overlooking the stretch of the old city walls facing the sea, necessary to relieve congestion for goods transiting through the port of Naples during the construction of the new main pier. [54] Also in 1307, he oversaw the "extraurban" roads, commissioning the repair of the roads leading from Naples ad Casalem Planure, ad Sanctum Erasmum, Paturtium et Succavam, which had been dirute et rovinate ex tempestate aquarum. Similar measures would also be taken by his successor, Robert, who on June 15, 1317, ordered the repair of several Naples roads using flint quarried in Pozzuoli, Tripergole, and Quarto Flegreo. On 16 January 1339, however, there was a provision by the king himself, in which he ordered the repair cum zappis et oportunis aliis munimentis of the road that led from the Neapolitan district of Piedigrotta to Tripergole, passing through Pozzuoli.

Notes

[33]  M.V. CIII, 16.
[34]  R.N.A.M. n. 252.

[35]  R.N.A.M. n. 333. 

[36]  From the early Middle Ages until the second half of the 13th century, the urban area of city of Pozzuoli consisted essentially only of the aforementioned fortified citadel. During the Angevin period, between the late 13th and the first half of the 14th century, the city experienced a period of significant urban and demographic growth, also due to the abolition of the county and the creation of the Civitas Demaniale (May 9, 1296), and thus began to expand beyond the citadel's walls. 

[37]  M.V. vol. CIII, fol. 5. 

[38]  Unfortunately, the 1318 document is now lost, and is known only through a transcription made in the 17th century by the historian Camillo Tutini (1600-1670). 

[39]  The Chapel of Saint James de Cioffis in Pozzuoli was severely vandalized by unknown assailants between late November and early December 1990, when the Gothic portal was smashed with shovels, while the tomb of the founder Giacomo de Cioffis (+ February 2, 1332) was stolen from the inside. The only surviving item is a wooden crucifix with traces of gilding dating back to the late 13th/early 14th century, commonly believed to be a gift from King Charles II of Anjou for the church of Saint Martha of the hospital of Tripergole (founded by him in 1299), and later placed in this chapel after the hospital was destroyed by the eruption of Monte Nuovo in 1538. 

[40]  M.V. CIII, 10. 

[41]  A.C.P. cartella A, n.ri 16; A.C.P. cartella A, n. 46, A.C.P. cartella B, n. 101. 

[42]  A.C.P. cartella C, n. 136. 

[43]  In a document dating back to 5 June 1122, there is mention of a curte dicti Comitis et palatio suo, while in November 1269 the Castle of Pozzuoli was entrusted to a castellan esquire, assisted by eight servientes (In Castro Putheoli Castellanus scutifer et octo servientes), all 9 of whom were paid a total of 53 ounces of gold and 16 tarì per year. 

[44]  A.C.P. cartella A, n. 4. 

[45]  M.V. vol. CIII, fol. 4. 

[46]  The Cathedral of Saint Proculus is first documented in the aforementioned R.N.A.M. document no. 333 of July 24, 1026, as Episcopium Sancti Proculi. Recent archaeological investigations have allowed us, however, to predate the continuing use of this church by several centuries; in particular, the discovery of a fragment of the balustrade surrounding the presbytery, dating to the late 8th century, allows us to assign the consecration of this cathedral to a period not necessarily later. 

[47]  In Pozzuoli, two fine examples of Angevin-era civil portals have survived (and have recently been restored): one featuring a segmental arch with a "bar tracery" cornice in Vico Sant'Artema, and another, more sober one, featuring two simple corbels placed on the jambs, located in Via Crocevia. Furthermore, during the latest restoration work, several other examples of worked stone materials were also discovered, such as capitals, small columns (including some twisted ones), and various moldings, originating from Gothic architectural elements of medieval buildings, such as portals and windows. 

[48]  Also during the latest restoration, a marble panel dating back to the 14th century bearing the coat of arms of the di Costanzo family was discovered, set into the wall of a house in Via San Procolo, above an entrance, probably originally owned by this same family. 

[49]  The Tripergole Hospital was unfortunately destroyed by the eruption of Monte Nuovo, which occurred in the last days of September 1538. To date, the remains of this structure (and, more generally, of the entire Tripergole settlement) have not yet been found. 

[50]  It was through an aqueduct that the Byzantine soldiers of Belisarius entered the city during the siege of Naples in 536. 

[51]  Paolino Veneto (c. 1274 – June 1344) was a famous polymath (specifically a historian, cartographer, and political scientist) of his time. A member of the Franciscan order, he was appointed bishop of Pozzuoli in June 1324 by Pope John XXII, a position he held until his death. 

[52]  Among the various infrastructures damaged by the earthquake, the bishop also mentioned the access bridge to the main gate of the city of Pozzuoli. To help the city recover, Queen Joanna I exempted it from all taxes for a year. 

[53]  Reg. Ang. 1301 B. n. 107 fol 41. 

[54]  The new Angevin pier was a major engineering feat for Naples during that period. It was a gigantic pier, approximately 350 meters long and 40 meters wide, designed by architect Riccardo Primario, assisted by Matteo Lanzalonga, Griffo de Loffredo, and Marino Nasaro. This structure, despite numerous modifications made over the following centuries (in particular, it was extended several times, particularly with the construction of an additional arm facing east), remained in use until the 1930s, when it was unfortunately largely buried during the construction of the modern Maritime Station. 

"Astracum ad sole": The Description of Some Houses from the Neapolitan and Phlegraean Areas, from Medieval Documents (10th-14th century) — Part 1

By Regnum_Neapolitanum
x.com/1309Regnum

Read Part 2

This short article clearly does not claim to be an exhaustive guide to the civil architecture of the Campania region during the medieval period. Rather, it is essentially intended to illustrate some data and information about the homes of "ordinary people" that I have been able to find in recent years while researching the medieval period in the area where I live. It hopes to thus provide food for thought on the civil architecture of the Neapolitan and Phlegraean Fields area during that period.

Much of the information presented here comes from collections of documents from the Neapolitan area of the medieval period, such as the Cancelleria Angioina, [1] the Regii Neapolitani Archivi Monumenta, [2] the diocesan archives (the one in Pozzuoli, [3] in particular), and the archives of monastic funds, such as that of the Benedictine Monastery of Montevergine. [4]

Wanting to start from the end of the first millennium, without going into too much detail, I will first spend a few words describing the geopolitical situation of the area under consideration during that period.

In the early Middle Ages, the city of Naples was the seat of a Byzantine duchy. This duchy, which existed from the end of the 6th century until 1137 (when it was annexed by the new Norman kingdom), was formally a province of the Eastern Roman Empire.

It was a territory that, although de jure subject to the authority of the emperor residing in Constantinople, [5] enjoyed in practice a large degree of autonomy, especially from the second quarter of the 9th century, when the ducal office became hereditary, without however ever severing, at least formally, its ties with the court of Byzantium.

This era is therefore called the “ducal age” in Neapolitan historiography.

From a cultural perspective, however, these ties to the Eastern Empire should not be misleading. Naples during that period cannot be considered, culturally speaking, a properly “Byzantine city”. The vast majority of surviving documents from that period are, in fact, written in Latin, with only a few passages (such as some signatures) written in Greek. The same goes for the arts, which, while showing sometimes Byzantine influences, seem to indicate a more general tendency to draw inspiration from Latin models. During the ducal era, the Neapolitan area, therefore, likely constituted, culturally, a sort of "bridge" between the Greek/Byzantine East and the Latin/Frankish West.

The rest of Campania was divided into further powers, including the principalities of Benevento, [6] Capua, [7] and Salerno, and the Republic of Amalfi, [8] joined in the 11th century by the Norman counties of Aversa and Ariano. Also worthy of mention is the Duchy of Gaeta, which established a successful maritime trade network, including several bases and emporiums scattered across the Mediterranean.

As regards the Phlegraean Fields, in that particular period, the two main urban centres were the two cities of Pozzuoli and Cumae, at that time both seats of a bishop [9] and a county [10] with their own respective territories of jurisdiction. At that time, both cities must have appeared as fortified citadels, perched on their respective hills and surrounded by well-fortified walls. [11]

Pozzuoli in particular, although no longer the enormous port of the Augustan era, [12] remained a fortified settlement of some importance, made important not only by the prestige of its ancient diocese but also by thermal tourism. The baths of Pozzuoli remained in use throughout the Middle Ages, often mentioned by prominent authors [13] and visited by important guests. [14]

We know very little about another fortified settlement, called Castrum Serrae, mentioned in a single document dating back to 1119, and which must have been located on the western summit of the Montagna Spaccata, southwest of the basin of Quarto Flegreo. [15]

Returning to the city of Naples, during the ducal era it was very different from the metropolis we know today. In ancient times, as well as for much of the Middle Ages, Naples was a medium-sized city [16] (by the standards of the time), whose urban area was essentially that enclosed by the Greek walls. [17] The true ascent of Naples, and its affirmation as a proper metropolis, will occur, as we will see later, with the advent of the Angevin dynasty and its choice as the royal seat, starting in the second half of the 1260s.

A distinctive feature of Naples, which had already begun to emerge in the early Middle Ages, was the presence of the so-called Casali di Napoli, small settlements located in the countryside surrounding the city. Essentially, the casali were small villages with a predominantly agricultural vocation, whose economy was based primarily on the production of foodstuffs, such as wine, fruit, vegetables, and cheese. The foodstuffs produced in the hamlets were then largely sold in the main city, both for local consumption and (as was often the case for wines) exported by sea. During the Middle Ages, these settlements would eventually follow the fortunes of Naples, growing with it and eventually giving rise to various urban agglomerations, sometimes of considerable size. Over the centuries, some of these casali were eventually incorporated into the municipality of Naples, becoming peripheral neighborhoods of the city (as in the cases of Pianura, Soccavo, Fuorigrotta, Piscinola, Secondigliano), while others became autonomous municipalities (as in the cases of Marano, Quarto, Melito, Giugliano).

In addition to the casali, the surrounding countryside must have also contained some settlements, generally consisting of a much smaller number of dwellings, or even a single dwelling-farm. In practice, these were "isolated" farms, located at the center of a landed property, very often owned by the same farmer who lived there. This type of settlement (particularly widespread, being frequently mentioned in documents of the period) would appear to broadly follow the model of the villa rustica of the Roman and Late Antiquity periods, thus presenting itself, as mentioned, as a synthesis of dwelling and farm. Indeed, it cannot be ruled out that several dwellings mentioned in documents of the period are none other than ville rustiche of the Ancient and Late Antiquity periods, which remained in perfect use (possibly with modifications, restorations, and enlargements) even through much of the Middle Ages, alongside, clearly, newly founded buildings.

A curious example is the discovery of a small hoard of Angevin-era coins, discovered during excavations of a Roman structure built in opus reticulatum, located in Quarto near the Via Campana. [18] It is therefore likely that this structure may have been used, appropriately modified, enlarged, and repurposed, at least until the Angevin period, as a residence, or even, given its proximity to the aforementioned Via Campana, as an inn or refreshment point for travelers on this road. [19]

Therefore, if we want to try to outline the appearance of the rural dwellings in the Neapolitan-Phlegraean area, we can draw some interesting details from documents dating back to the ducal era.

We therefore know that these dwellings may have been equipped with a wine press (palmentum), [20] a water mill (aquismola), [21] or a windmill, such as the one whose remains were discovered in the aforementioned Castrum Serrae. Granaries (horreum) [22] and water cisterns (piscina) [23] are also mentioned.

It is also plausible that some of these settlements may have also been equipped with small thermal baths, like those mentioned in the Quarto area, in the locality known specifically as ad illa balnearia. [24] Unfortunately, it is difficult to say whether the baths that gave their name to this locality in Quarto (which, to date, has not yet been precisely identified) were private (and therefore used exclusively by the residents of these settlements) or public, probably for the use of travelers on the Via Campana.

These farms may also have been equipped with what we might call "defensive" features, such as palisades placed around the settlements themselves (saepes) and ditches (egripus), [25] the latter probably also used for water drainage. Obviously, these were not imposing defenses, like those of the castra of the time, but they were still simple and useful protections that could certainly have helped protect the property from wild animals and potential livestock thieves. Speaking of artificial canals, some are also mentioned as being used to irrigate crops (aquillatorium), as in a document drawn up on the island of Ischia in May 1036. [26]

Some documents also contain clues that appear to describe structures that - in a certain sense - prefigure the model of the masseria, the typical farmhouse that spread throughout Southern Italy starting in the late Middle Ages. For example, a document from the year 938 mentions a curtaniolum, located in the locality of Foris gripta (corresponding to the area of the present-day Neapolitan neighborhood of Fuorigrotta), a term that appears to indicate a rural dwelling consisting of buildings overlooking a courtyard. [27]

There must have also been several monasteries in this countryside, including a monastery called Falcidiis, near Pozzuoli, mentioned in a letter from Pope Saint Gregory I the Great; [28] the monastery of San Michele In Christa Montis on Mount Gauro, mentioned in several documents of the time, [29] and near which a small town must have also arisen; [30] or even the mysterious monastery of Sancti Archangeli Terraczani, which must have been located in the aforementioned area of Fuorigrotta, mentioned in a single document dating back to May 1054. [31]

Less frequent, but not entirely absent, are informations on urban dwellings from the ducal age. For example, from a document dating back to September 1117, we know that a house in Naples, located on a public street in the Nilo district, had two floors, with the lower floor used as a cellar (de integra inferiora cellarei ipsius domui nostre), and the upper floor as a living quarters, with a room featuring a fireplace (parte de superiora nostra qui dicitur camminata), and a courtyard (curte). [32]

Much more information about the houses, however, can be obtained from documents from the more recent Angevin period. Continue reading

Notes

[1]  The Cancelleria Angioina (Angevin Chancellery) or Registri Angioini (abbreviated in this article as Reg. Ang.), was the collection of all the state documents drawn up by the Angevin kings of Naples between 1266 and 1443. It was a gigantic collection of documents (the exact number of which is unfortunately unknown, but we're talking about hundreds of thousands, perhaps 400,000 - 500,000) gathered in 378 parchment registers, plus 4 registers of fragmentary documents. Unfortunately, this collection was lost on September 30, 1943, destroyed in a retaliatory attack by the German army. From 1944 to the present, a project (as mastodontic as it is desperate) has been underway, led by the Accademia Pontaniana of Naples, aimed at reconstructing this archive. Despite the excellent results achieved to date, this project is unfortunately destined to drag on for several more decades due to the enormous amount of work. 

[2]  The Regii Neapolitani Archivi Monumenta (abbreviated in this article as R.N.A.M.) is a collection of 669 documents compiled in the Byzantine Duchy of Naples between the first half of the 8th century and the first half of the 12th century. Although the originals are now lost (destroyed at the same time as the Cancelleria Angioina), we still know their exact contents because they were transcribed in full during the Bourbon era by Neapolitan archivists. 

[3]  The Diocese of Pozzuoli has several archives. For this article, I used documents from the Cathedral Chapter Archive (abbreviated as A.C.P., Archivio del Capitolo cattedrale di Pozzuoli) and the Episcopal Archive (abbreviated as A.V.P., Archivio Vescovile di Pozzuoli). 

[4]  Documents that I have indicated in this article with the acronym M.V. 

[5]  The vast majority of documents drawn up in Naples during this period bear at the beginning of the same the indication of the year of reign of the Byzantine emperor in office, indicating that, even if only on a formal level, he remained the true head of the state of which the Duchy of Naples was a part, while the dukes were merely his regional lieutenants. 

[6]  A duchy until 774, it later became a principality. At the time of Arechi II, this potentate controlled a vast territory, including much of Southern Italy. 

[7]  Originally a Lombard county, then a Lombard principality (from the end of the 9th century), and finally a Norman principality (from 1058). It is curious to note that the diocese of Capua was the first episcopal see in Southern Italy to be elevated to the rank of metropolitan see (14 August 966, elevated by Pope John XIII). 

[8]  Republic from 839 to 954. Later, Amalfi also became a duchy. 

[9]  The Diocese of Pozzuoli is commonly believed to be a church whose origins date back to the apostolic age. In particular, a Christian community is already mentioned here in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 28, 13-14). Cumae was also the seat of a diocese whose origins are likely paleochristian. This latter city is also the setting of a famous work of sub-apostolic literature, the Shepherd of Hermas, a text dating back to the first half of the 2nd century AD. 

[10]  In very ancient times, a third county, the one of Miseno, also existed in the Phlegraean Fields. A count is attested to in some letters of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (in particular, Ep. 53 of Book IX, which mentions a Theodorus Vectani, Misenati comiti). At the same time, the city of Miseno, in addition to being the seat of a count, was also the seat of a bishop, several of whose names are known. The city of Miseno, among other things, also appears to have had a certain importance in the Late Antiquity-Byzantine period, particularly as a port (a role it played since the Augustan period as the seat of the Classis Misenensis) and as a center of ceramic production, as has been deduced from recent excavations in the area. In any case, both the diocese and the county were dissolved with the disappearance of this inhabited center, which occurred after a Saracen attack in the year 846. 

[11]  In the case of Pozzuoli, the area enclosed by the walls of this fortified citadel corresponds to the current Rione Terra. 

[12]  It is highly likely that, for much of the medieval period, the city of Pozzuoli itself no longer had a proper port, primarily due to the bradyseismic phenomena of the area. Indeed, Pozzuoli does not appear in the earliest portolan charts (dating from the 13th and 14th centuries), only reappearing in the first half of the 15th century. It is likely that during that period, the sea area directly in front of the city of Pozzuoli was used only by very small boats, such as those of fishermen, which were pulled ashore when not in use. A port that, on the other hand, likely remained in continuous use, often mentioned even in documents from the Angevin period, is that of Baiae, which evidently constituted the main port of call for the medieval Phlegraean Fields. 

[13]  An important mention of the Phlegraean Baths in the early Middle Ages is in the book of the Dialogi of Pope Saint Gregory I the Great. In Book IV, Chapter XL, he recounts an episode involving the bishop of Capua, Germanus, who fell ill and was being treated at the baths located in the locality of Agnano, which, even today, in memory of this episode, are called the Stufe di San Germano ("Spas of Saint Germanus"). 

[14]  Among the many, always from the early medieval period, we can remember the visit of Pope John VIII (autumn 879), of the emperor Louis II (866), and of the bishop Adalberon of Laon (985). 

[15]  I don't think it's worth dwelling too much on this mysterious settlement, mentioned in a single diploma from the Norman prince Robert I of Capua in 1119, which deserves a specific study, and of which some remains are still visible today, including the church of Saint Nicholas (now incorporated into a more recent building and used as a cellar), the base of the keep and what appear to be the remains of a windmill.

[16]  It is difficult to determine the precise number of inhabitants of Naples during the Middle Ages. A realistic estimate, based on the urbanized area and data from the cedulae taxationis (the latter, however, available only from the 13th century), would suggest an estimate of approximately 20,000–25,000 inhabitants during the ducal era, rising to approximately 30,000–35,000 during the reign of King Charles I, and approximately 60,000 during the early years of Robert of Anjou's reign. 

[17]  To give an indication of the extension of the Neapolitan urban area in the ducal age, the disappeared monastery of Saints Theodore and Sebastian, once near the current Via San Sebastiano, today a very central street, was at that time located near a garden outside the western city walls, and for this reason called in the documents Casapicta in Viridarium (the "painted house in the garden"). 

[18]  The Via Campana, or Via Consularis Campana, was the Roman road that connected Pozzuoli with the ancient city of Capua, where it merged with the Appian Way. This road remained in use throughout the medieval and modern periods, only fading into the background during the Bourbon era, around the 1820s, with the construction of the Via Nuova Campana (still in use today), which nevertheless follows its route in several places. 

[19]  Near this building, the Church of Saint Peter in Quarto or San Petrillo still stands (although abandoned and in a state of near ruin). This small church was first mentioned in 1119, and then by the Bishop of Pozzuoli, Paolino Veneto, around 1330 in his Historia Satyrica. The presence of this church (in addition to various other clues) suggests the existence of a larger settlement, centered around the church itself, of which the building where the coins were found may have been part. 

[20]  R.N.A.M. n. 357. In particular, this document speaks of an estate located in territorio ipsius Putheolano. This estate is said to be equipped with trees, a brick press and other structures (una cum arvoribus et introitum suum et cum palmentum fravitum cum subsetorium suum intus se et omnibus sivi pertinentibus). 

[21]  R.N.A.M. A. 28. Several other references to watermills throughout the Campania area (for example in Gaeta, Amalfi, Salerno) are found in documents from the Angevin era. 

[22]  R.N.A.M. n. 293. 

[23]  In the aforementioned document from the year 1119 in which the Castrum Serrae is mentioned, for example, there is mention of two cisterns, one located to the east and the other near the western edge of the lands belonging to this settlement. 

[24]  R.N.A.M. n. 46, R.N.A.M. n. 97, R.N.A.M. n. 103. 

[25]  The two terms Saepes and Egripus appear very frequently in documents from the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries; this would seem to indicate that they were very common elements in rural dwellings of the time. 

[26]  R.N.A.M. n. 367. 

[27]  R.N.A.M. n. 31. 

[28]  Gregorii I Papae, Registrum Epistolarum, Liber X, Ep 18. 

[29]  In particular, R.N.A.M. n. 444, R.N.A.M. n. 534, and a diploma of the Norman prince Jordan II of Capua, dated March 1121, and today kept at the A.V.P. 

[30]  In particular, this monastery is attested as the seat of a parish community in the year 1153, while, in December 1331, a document was signed by some people who are said to reside in its vicinity (M.V. CIII, 8). 

[31]  R.N.A.M. n. 395. 

[32]  R.N.A.M. n. 568.