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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.
