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Storia, memoria ed identità Umbertide. Il sito si propone di divulgare la storia, la cultura e la memoria di coloro che hanno abitato ad Umbertide (Pg) per contribuire alla costruzione di una identità culturale comune nel rispetto dei principi Costituzionali. Questa divulgazione è e resterà senza sc HISTORY AND MEMORY UMBERTIDE Virtual place of memory and identity in motion Who we are We are a group of history lovers and scholars who want to create a space for the transmission of documents, memories and traditions of our city. The aim is the development of a shared identity that is inclusive of those who lived and those who live in Umbertide. The cultural and economic aspects, together with the Second World War, over time they have shaped the city, with its architectural elements and its spaces, but also the rural territory which for centuries has maintained its characteristic of scattered "settlement" and polyculture. For about 70 years, the scenario has been rapidly evolving. We are convinced that knowing the past, or who we were, will help understand how the life of the population will be structured, that is who we will be. Knowing allows you to have "new eyes" to see ... and think. Approfondisci la "memoria" ad ottanta anni di distanza dal bombardamento del 1944... Visita "OTTANT'ANNI" la sezione dedicata al progetto pensato da Mario Tosti con UNITRE di Umbertide, CENTRO SOCIO-CULTURALE S. FRANCESCO, UMBERTIDESTORIA e con il Patrocinio del COMUNE DI UMBERTIDE. Il racconto del passaggio del fronte durante la seconda guerra mondiale ad Umbertide, per riattivare la memoria, riflettere e non dimenticare. Progetto nato in collaborazione con il Dipartimento di Filosofia, Scienze umane e Storia della scuola secondaria superiore “Campus da Vinci” di Umbertide, in funzione della trasmissione e crescita della memoria tra le giovani generazioni, che ha visto già diversi incontri con le classe terze dell’a.s. 2023-24. Azioni che hanno portato alla ricerca e sistemazione delle informazioni poi diventate libro e pagine web. OTTANT'ANNI Il 1944 In questa sezione il progetto "Ottantani" per il ricordo della tragedia che colpì la nostra città il 25 aprile 1944. Tragedia che si lega in modo più vasto al territorio dell'alta Umbria per il periodo del passaggio del fronte nel 1944. Un progetto che ha permesso la pubblicazione di un libro cartaceo e ora la versione digitale, nata per far crescere la memoria in maniera collettiva. Un progetto a cura di Mario Tosti, Unitre di Umbertide, Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertidestoria, con il Patrocinio del Comune di Umbertide; con la collaborazione di Pietro Taverniti, Massimo Pascolini, Sergio Bargelli, Corrado Baldoni, Francesco Deplanu, Sergio Magrini Alunno, Antonio Renzini, Luca Silvioni, Romano Vibi. Gennaio La situazione al 31 dicembre del 1943... Aprile APRILE 1944 - L’ Umbria ed Umbertide nel mirino degli aerei inglesi... Luglio Luglio... distruzione e liberazione... Ottobre 1° ottobre: è morto Fabio Fornaci combattendo con la RSI... Febbraio 4 febbraio: Nuovo bando di arruolamento. La RSI ordina la chiamata alle armi per le classi 1922/1923/1924... ... Maggio 1° maggio. Dovrebbe essere la festa dei lavoratori, ma non si festeggia niente... Agosto Agosto... Le condizioni a Umbertide migliorano nettamente... Novembre 2 novembre . Gli americani hanno sferrato un attacco aereo su Tokio... Marzo Umbertide, già sconvolta dalla guerra civile, sta per trovarsi nel cratere del fronte del fuoco che avanza... Giugno 4 giugno: Liberazione di Roma... passaggio del fronte in altotevere... Settembre 2 settembre: nomina del nuovo Sindaco... Dicembre 1° dicembre: Morti umbertidesi: Piccioloni, artigliere, soldato della RSI... Febbraio Marzo OTTANT'ANNI Il 1945 Continuiamo a raccontare, mese per mese, i piccoli fatti locali (ma coraggiosi e lungimiranti) che hanno caratterizzato il 1945, anno drammatico ed al tempo stesso esaltante, dopo la catastrofe della guerra in casa. Per superare le difficoltà è necessario rivitalizzare la forza con cui la comunità è riuscita, allora, a rinascere e prosperare in ottant’anni di pace. Gennaio Dopo il 6 luglio 1944, quando gli Alleati sono entrati a Umbertide, il nostro territorio passa formalmente dalla Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI), regime collaborazionista con la Germania nazista, al Regno d’Italia (cosiddetto Regno del Sud)... Il 6 febbraio, Fausto Fornaci cade nel cielo di Thiene. Allontanatosi un po’ dalla sua formazione, è circondato da caccia americani. Dopo aver abbattuto uno degli avversari, viene attaccato da tutte le parti... Il 3 marzo muore Rino Pucci del “Gruppo di combattimento Cremona”. Giuseppe Rosati, rimasto gravemente ferito, spira il 5 marzo all'ospedale canadese di Ravenna. Con essi cade anche la loro mascotte, un ragazzo di 15 anni, Giuseppe Battiglia di Roma, colpito alla testa, il cranio svuotato... Aprile Il 24 aprile il sindaco Renato Ramaccioni comunica che, per ragioni di studio e di famiglia, dovrà assentarsi dalla sede per circa 20 giorni. Sentito il parere favorevole del locale Comitato di Liberazione e della Giunta comunale... Maggio Dopo le dimissioni del sindaco Ramaccioni, si insedia la nuova Giunta, formata in gran parte da comunisti e socialisti: Astorre Bellarosa (il nuovo sindaco)... Scopri le nostre pagine dinamiche Ogni pagina è un percorso, un grande contenitore dinamico, anche con decide di approfondimenti, sempre in possibile crescita perché la ricerca non deve avere una fine. Ogni pagina è un piccolo "sito" specifico all'interno di "Umbertidestoria". Pagine strutturate in modo da facilitare la navigabilità e quindi la fruizione. La Fratta di Carta Prima della progressiva standardizzazione della cartografia tra '700 ed '800 si sono prodotte rappresentazioni del territorio e di città mosse da diverse esigenze... Memoria e Tradizioni La sezione delle nostre tradizioni e della memoria da preservare, curata da Sergio Magrini Alunno... Ricordi umbertidesi Nuova pagina del sito nella quale intendiamo dare spazio a tutti coloro che vorranno condividere con noi i loro ricordi e i personaggi caratteristici nella Umbertide di una volta anche con documenti e foto d’epoca... Montecorona Sabbianiani Estratti a cura di Giuliano Sabbiniani sulla storia, vita e produzione della Tenuta di Montecorona dal suo libro “Montecorona – la Tenuta e la sua gente”, Gruppo editoriale locale, Digital Editor srl, Umbertide - 2021"... Video di Storia e Territorio Raccolta di pagine con video si luoghi storici architettonici e particolari fonti storiche della storia e del territorio di Umbertide... Fratta del Quattrocento Prima pagina dinamica che raccoglie i vari aspetti del sito su uno specifico periodo storico: il XV secolo dell'antica Fratta... Le storie di Pascolini Prima pagina dinamica che raccoglie i vari contributi con ricerche di archivio di Massimo Pascolini... .... o visita le nostre pagine tematiche di raccordo... ... o scopri le nostre pagine tematiche tradizionali , strutturate come raccordo degli articoli singoli, a volte ancora da sistemare, da dove puoi accedere a specifici approfondimenti.. Nel tempo sostituiremo le pagine tradizionali con quelle dinamiche... "work in progress"! STORIA vai alla pagina STORIA PER TEMI vai alla pagina MEMORIA vai alla pagina TRADIZIONI vai alla pagina ARRIVI E PARTENZE vai alla pagina CALENDARI vai alla pagina TESI DI LAUREA vai alla pagina ALBUM vai alla pagina The information from the birth of the first residential agglomerations to the first archive news, The rapid time of political changes from the Middle Ages to the history of the twentieth century, the architectural remains, our monuments and works of art, the slow pace of changes in the territory that have come to define our landscape, the structuring of traditions, family memory ... all this defines the identity of a place and of the people who live there. Please help us to remember by sending photos (with date and place if possible), reporting errors on our texts, suggesting improvements or writing your memoirs, possibly with historical and contemporary sources, to build a vision of our future. Those who choose to send us images can choose to do overwrite, with the "water mark" technique, your "name and surname" or "family archive ..." on your photos, this to prevent the images from being used once on the web beyond the cultural purposes that we aim. For the same reason we have applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark over the historical photos of Umbertide which have been on the web for some time and in various private archives; in this way we try to avoid that further disclosure on our part favors purposes that are not consonant with our intentions. We come out publicly with parts that are incomplete and to be improved. Ours is an ongoing project that needed to be shared in order to grow. For now, thank you ... Adil, Adriano, Alberto, Alessandro, Alessandro C., Andrea Levi, Anna, Anna Maria, Brunella, Diego, Dritan, Fabio, Federico, Francesco, Giovanna, Giovanni, Giulio, Imperia, Isotta, Mario, Miriam, Loredana, Kalida, Paola, Silvia, Simona, Tiziana, Valentina RV, Valentina P. and all those who have sent us photos or supported. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com EH Carr "Change is certain. Progress is not "

INTERESTING INSIGHTS HISTORY OF MARIO TOSTI L'Enigma della Collegiata La grande diga sul Tevere La Meridiana della Piazza Grande della Fratta The great dam on the Tiber In 1983 a large number of poles came to light in the Tiber and were photographed by Renato Codovini. From the investigations of Mario, Marco and Matteo Tosti, it has been hypothesized that they formed the basis of the dam, born in the 12th century, up to 6 meters high, which enclosed the Fratta fortress in a basin. From a document of 1527, in fact, we have news of an artificial basin upstream of the bridge over the Tiber whose waters could form a "very clear lake", as it was described in 1565 by Piccolpasso. We leave the floor to the study of the engineers Mario, Marco and Matteo Tosti who have kindly allowed to report on this page. Study published in “L'Ingegnere Umbro” n. 43, December 2002 and reported to us by Alvaro Gragnoli. Photos added by Fabio Mariotti. (edited by Di Mario, Marco and Matteo Tosti) The discovery of a foundation piling. Dredging works on the Tiber bed in 1983 brought to light a large number of piles about 80 meters downstream of the bridge. It was Renato Codovini, unrivaled researcher of local history who noticed them, photographed them and understood their importance as the remains of the foundation of an ancient lock. A few years later, in their valuable thesis ("Discovery of the dam on the Tiber river, Umbertide in the province of Perugia", University of Florence, academic year 1987/1988), Alberto Crocioni and Roberto Codovini extensively documented the structure and the construction technique of the work, characterized by an original checkerboard foundation in oak planks and river stones. Thesis We wanted to deepen the subject, trying to bring engineering to the aid of history, intrigued by the imposing foundation piling in the direction of the river current, for an estimated length of at least 15 m: this clue suggested a huge investment, both financial and technical-organizational and, therefore, a purpose of great strategic importance. We tried to imagine what the clients intended, which could not only be to operate the blades of the nearby mill, which could have been built elsewhere with a much more modest barrier, perhaps on a small tributary of the Tiber. The most plausible and fascinating hypothesis was that the dam served to create a reservoir so large that it permanently flooded the moat all around the city walls; perhaps Cipriano Piccolpasso had not exaggerated in 1565 in using a superlative - “very clear lake” - at the sight of the Fratta river, which he described and represented in the oldest panorama of the place. And this is precisely the thesis we intend to demonstrate, reconstructing the history of the "great dam" and its structural and functional configuration. Archive news There is no direct and detailed information on this work, about which all the writers of local history have been silent. Only the military engineer Piccolpasso, in the aforementioned drawing, traced the structure of the dam, albeit with barely hinted lines, perhaps because at that time it had already lost its importance from a military point of view, which represented the topic of main interest for the author: commendable example of a good engineer who does not waste even an unnecessary pencil stroke. Or a sign of low satisfaction for the reimbursement of expenses requested in the parcel: "30 bajocchi for the horse from Castello alla Fratta, 30 bajocchi for dinner and dinner at Fratta, 10 bajocchi for those who will help me to measure, 30 bajocchi for the horse for Perugia ; and more 50 bajocchi made to give to the femeglia de messer Paulo, called messer Gherardo soldier of fortress for the fatigas of said messer Paolo ”. The surrounding tour of these last 50 bajocchi - delivered to a soldier to give to the family of Mr. Paolo who had struggled - arouses some suspicion, dear engineer Cipriano! Instead, there is indirect information on the existence of the barrier, the oldest of which dates back to a registration dated February 6, 1527, where the expression versus clusam molendini is used, in describing the activities carried out in the buildings adjacent to the barrier, at edge of the river, at the end of Piazza S. Francesco. In fact, in that area the dam made it possible to supply the necessary energy to various factories: the water, conveyed along a derivation canal, through the opening of the respective doors according to agreed shifts, operated the millstone of the Molino di Sant ' Erasmus; he made the wheels of the blacksmiths turn for the grinding of sickles and other irons (swords, spears…); he operated the wooden mallets in the fulling machine, to compress and firm the woolen cloth; it flowed into the public wash basin; finally it returned to the riverbed of the Tiber downstream of the dam. The lack of other more detailed information has prompted us to seek objective elements to find out more. Photo by Fabio Mariotti. La grande diga sul Tevere The simulation of the reservoir First of all, an attempt was made to estimate the extent of the reservoir. In a first phase, the configuration that would have today, in the event of restoration of the dam, was identified after evaluating the height of the dam: for this reason, the level of the floor of the ancient public washhouse of Caminella was taken as a fundamental reference, where in the 1960s the original tank was still visible, even if its use had been converted into a breeding leech for the pharmacy, using the stagnant surface water that was collected there. This reference is certain, as the share has remained unchanged with respect to the period of use; on the other hand, the presence - in the immediate vicinity and at the same level, of the other users of the dam just described, much more relevant - excludes the hypothesis that the wash house, with the abundance of the reservoir, used vein water. The height of the floor of the public wash house, which was equal to 238.25 m asl, can therefore be reasonably assumed as the overflow level of the reservoir, the contours of which have been defined on the basis of the corresponding level curve in the current configuration of the land. The boundaries as determined above were subsequently corrected on the basis of changes made by man and the river over the centuries, of which traces have remained. These elements reasonably lead to the conclusion that, in the period of maximum military efficiency of Fratta Perugina (15th century), the reservoir surrounded the entire islet of the historic center, which could only be accessed through the rampant bridge of the Piaggiala, the drawbridge. della Rocca and the bridge over the Tiber. The height of the barrage The difference between the overflow level at 238 m asl deduced above and the altitude (232 m asl) of the river bed area from which the foundation piles emerge today, allows us to estimate the height of the dam at about six meters: for those times the great Fratta dam was truly a gigantic work. Site plan in a drawing by the authors (1) Public wash house; (2) Molino di Sant'Erasmo; (3) Churches of Santa Croce, San Francesco and San Bernardino; (4) Great dam; (5) Tiber; (6) Bridge over the Tiber; (7) Regghia stream; (8) Rocca, with drawbridge and “calzo de fuora”; (9) The rampant bridge of the Piaggiola, the round tower and the Porta della Campana. The functions of the barrage The significant complexity of the project, the grandeur of the structure and the economic burden of its construction confirm the thesis of a military use of the large dam: its primary utility was to keep the moat around the walls constantly flooded, for safety. of the inhabitants of the castle, and to reduce the stresses on the foundation pillars of the bridge just upstream. The other benefits of an economic nature (supply of energy for production activities and taking fish from the weir), although more important for the well-being of the population, were collateral and irrelevant to the decision to build the work. The birth The non-existence of records relating to these works does not allow us to establish with certainty the period to which they date back. However, the hypothesis is likely that only after the passage to the dominion of Perugina (1189) did the conditions exist to build such an imposing work. Only a city like Perugia could have had the necessary economic capacity, technical-military knowledge and political motivations: this is precisely the period in which it pursued a strengthening as a Municipality, to consolidate its vital space among the great powers of the moment in the Center- Italy, capitalizing on the advantage of equidistance from Florence and Rome. On the contrary, in previous times there were no conditions to justify such a huge effort: at first - until the death of Matilde di Canossa - it was marginality, as a remote border place of the Marquisate of Tuscany, to discourage the investment. Then after the dismemberment of this in many territories dominated by small lords, it was the scarcity of economic resources that made the enterprise impracticable. The same lack of news relating to the construction of the dam, attributable to the disappearance of the Annals of Perugia - from 1190 to 1230 - relating precisely to the presumable period of construction, constitutes a confirmation clue of the thesis that is being supported, as it is not likely that such an impressive work no formal acts have been performed. It can be concluded by affirming that the construction of the great dam can be placed between 1189 (beginning of the dominion of Perugia over Fratta) and 1230 (availability of the Perugian Annals). The overall design system Let us now try to define other details of the dam and its functional organization. The reservoir was divided by a "central guardian", slightly inclined with respect to the flow direction of the river. Between this and the left bank - the western basin - the main current had to flow, which flowed downstream from the top of the dam perpendicular to the bank. The other segment, arranged obliquely so as to extend the length of the front of the jump, was perhaps of a higher height so as to contain the damage on the left bank, of great value for the presence of production activities: the mill, the blacksmiths, the fulling machine; in short, a kind of industrial area of the lower village. The capacity of the reservoir, considering the height of the dam equal to 6 m, the width 70 m and the length of the lake upstream of 1,200 m, was estimated at 250,000 m³. The maximum power obtainable, with a useful flow of the river assumed equal to 10 m ³ / s, has been estimated at 600 Kw, based on the following relationship: P = p Q g Δ H P = power; p = water density; Q = volumetric flow rate; Δ H = geodetic difference in height Assuming a width of the adduction channel to the mill equal to 1 m², a current speed of 2 m / s, a head of 3 m and a reasonable efficiency for those times, the order of magnitude of the useful power can be placed around 100 Kw. For a correct functionality of the military security system, precautions were also taken to prevent the ditch being buried due to the debris deposited by the floods of the Regghia, at the point where it flowed into the reservoir under the Rocca, slowing down its fury. We think that this was precisely the function of the “ … lock of the river of the Regghia alter dicta el Battifosso which is contiguous to the horto della Roccha and to the walls of the said castle… ”. The death Let us now try to clarify how and when the barrier ceased its function. In this regard it is known that on 20 October 1610 two arches of the bridge and the Mulinaccio tower collapsed at the corner of the walls along the river; the contemporaneity of the collapses, just upstream of the great dam, made us suspect that the disaster had originated - with a "domino effect" - from the deterioration of the dam. Archival records confirmed the hypothesis: as early as 1606, in fact, the barrage had shown the urgency of repairs. The question became the subject of a legal dispute on the occasion of another flood, in 1611; the tenant complained that the mill was " spotless and unsuccessful " and the dam had been " badly kept and badly restored ". The subjects called into question - the Bishopric of Gubbio and the Community of Fratta - tried to discharge each other the responsibility and the burden of reparation; the first claimed that the dam had been damaged by the collapse of the bridge; the second claimed the opposite thesis, attributing the expenses to the Bishop, as in fact " it had always been ". It seems to us that - Monsignor forgive us! - the Community was right, as it is really strange that the very heavy debris of the bridge, instead of lying on the bottom of the river, overwhelmed the barrier a hundred meters downstream. However, for our deductions, it is only interesting that the mill did not grind since that time, demonstrating that the dam had just collapsed. But there are many other confirmations: even the blacksmiths were forced to go to other mills in the vicinity that had suitable wheels; but the loss of those of Sant'Erasmo was incurable if, a few decades later (1647), four blacksmiths from Fratta brought 14,000 raw sickles to Rome (hammers were not yet produced in the red Umbria), entrusting the finishing to grinders of the capital . Therefore, even the wheels had finally stopped. Similarly, the activity of the fulling mill was moved to a similar factory, in Pian d'Assino, whose structure is still visible on the left bank of this stream, just upstream of the bridge that crosses it just before flowing into the Tiber. All these facts concur to confirm the dependence of the factories in Piazza San Francesco on the large barrage and the superimposition of their respective periods of operation (from about 1200 to 1611). In short, the dam was born when it was necessary to protect the safety of the castle with a lake and no one wanted to take care of its maintenance since these needs were overcome by the evolution of warfare. For all the time in which it was of military interest - and only for that - it was also a source of work and well-being, respecting a sad priority to which man has always had to submit. The death sentence of the Great Dam was issued for the opposite reason that led to its conception. Here below some photos with Mario Tosti and the Tiber river south of the bridge in the place of the "great dam"; photo compared with the 1565 drawing by Piccolpasso showing the position of the dam. Picture of by Fabio Mariotti. Sources: - " The Great Dam of Fratta Perugia ", by Mario Tosti, Marco Tosti and Matteo Tosti, in “ The Umbrian Engineer ” n. 43, December 2002 - Photos and original article drawings: Renato and Roberto Codovini, Mario, Marco and Matteo Tosti. - Photos added: Fabio Mariotti THE ENIGMA OF THE COLLEGIATE by Mario Tosti (taken from "Pagine Altotiberine" *, n. 45, 2011) * "Pagine Altotiberine" is a series of books published by the historical association Alta Valle del Tevere, which gathers members from our valley. The main objective of the Association is to provide citizens with the possibility of publishing texts on local history, without any charge for the author, who receives five copies of the book that contains his work free of charge. The association is financed by the members' fees, who receive the three books that are published every year for free. The history of the construction The history of the Collegiate Church has been the subject of research that has made it possible to know the events in an exhaustive way. In the first place, they were deepened in the monographic book by Monsignor Pietro Vispi (1) , from which we extracted a summary of the information regarding the origins and construction details of the church. We also submitted to Monsignor Pietro, who kindly made himself available, the thesis supported in these notes, to exclude that any additional information to his knowledge would dismantle some links in the logic of the deductions. The chronicles of the time tell that, on 14 September 1556, "A girl of 7 years old ... who was struppia [crippled] in a cossa [thigh], so that she could not walk without support, while she was praying in front of this image [Editor's note: the Majesty painted in a small chapel near the Collegiate building ], it is said that this spoke to him and incontinent found herself free and healthy, and walked frankly ". A few days later the bishop of Gubbio sent his vicar Cesare Sperelli, who "... visitevit ecclesiolam beate et gloriosa virginis marie vulgo called the madonna della regghia prope et juxta muros castri fratte ..." Therefore: the small church in which a miracle took place stood near the walls of Fratta, in the word "Madonna d ella Regghia". Out of thanks, it was decided to build a temple in the immediate vicinity. From the deed of sale of the land of 15 April 1559 we learn that the owners, Graziani of Perugia, "Give and concede for the Madona and the chapel in writing to the Comonità della Fratta all the reasons that they have above the Capella or true Oratory of the Madona de la regghia in front of the walls of said Castle and also above the houses in the said adjacent Chapel and such a quantity of land contiguous to the said chapel that it will be necessary for the construction of a church to be built in that place in Honore de Dio and Della Glorioss. Virgine Maria provided it does not exceed the containment of the garden contiguous to said Capella ... ". So: the church was surrounded by a group of houses and a vegetable garden. Shortly after, thanks to the copious alms of the people, the construction works of the temple began, with the contribution of various architects: Galeazzo Alessi, Giulio Danti, Bino Sizi, Mariotto da Cortona. A drawing by Piccolpasso shows that in 1565 the construction of La Madona had reached its first register and leads us to believe that the houses adjoining the chapel with the miraculous image, designed to the west of the church, towards the Regghia, were in the area of the current Reggiani palace. The Collegiate was completed in 1597-1599. After about twenty years, in 1619, the original dome showed a lesion: consequently it fell or, more likely, was demolished. Today you can get an idea of the primitive dome from the painting by Bernardino Magi kept in the church of San Bernardino. The reconstruction of the current dome, no longer with a lowered sixth but with a round sixth, with a smaller base diameter, was entrusted to Filippo Fracassini (until 1650) with the architects Rutilio, first, and Beniamino Sermigni, later. In order to consolidate the base of the vault, without compromising “The ornamentation of the interior ... the order of the beautiful columns, to whose transport is to be attributed one hundred and forty-one pairs of oxen were needed in 1623 ”. The lantern on top of the dome was finished in 1664, along with the wooden doors. The clues to the solution of the riddle The above information tells us everything about the reason for the location of the Collegiate Church, about the artists who built it, about its main events; but they do not reveal the reason why the church of the Patrona has been set up in the configuration from which, for over four centuries, it has scrutinized the life of the mortals who alternate around its bulk from the top of the lantern. By asking ourselves this question during a walk with friends around the octagonal church, the intuition emerged that the orientation had been chosen with the intention of offering the best scenery to the faithful who proceeded to the temple. The research that followed led to the emergence of several elements that seem to support this hypothesis, as we will try to demonstrate in the following pages. Starting from the assumption that the orientation of the church could not have been accidental, let us analyze the objective elements of knowledge currently available, from which a reasonable answer to the enigma can be deduced. For this we make constant reference to figure 1, where the essential elements of the church plan and the nearby buildings indicated by historical sources are shown. 1. "In the Italy of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries ... the formation of sanctuaries on places of miraculous events attributed to the Madonna ... There was also the trend, made known by the solution of the Sanctuary of Loreto (started in 1469 ), to incorporate the pre-existing chapel inside. " (2) 2. The small church outside the walls of Fratta with the miraculous image was adjacent to some buildings, as evidenced in the historical summary reported above. Therefore there were not even the practical conditions to incorporate it, unless the adjacent buildings were demolished. 3. "The attention to the astronomical orientation of places of worship, carefully researched in the Middle Ages, disappears in Renaissance buildings when the introduction of the compass and modern philosophical and scientific theories loosened the bonds of a mythical, magical, mysticism that united the men of the Middle Ages with the observation of the sky, favoring instead the positioning of the building in relation to the urban context. In the case of the Collegiate Church, some measurements were nevertheless carried out to verify the actual orientation of the building with respect to the astronomical cardinal points and to identify any related explanations. The results of the surveys, shown in figure 2, allow us to deduce some considerations. The eight-pointed decoration visible on the floor in the center of the church, similar in shape to the wind rose, is not related to the cardinal points, but is only a decorative element subordinated to the shape of the building, which in some way reflects. The particular historical methods of foundation of the octagonal buildings were also verified: " Generally the orientation of the octagon required that the cardinal directions pass through the vertices of the polygon, a rule that was not always respected during the construction of the baptisteries while it was respected, in the period around 1000, when several octagonal churches were built. " (3) In our case, the orientation of the octagon does not respect the criterion of cardinal points passing through two opposite edges. It would seem to be possible to say that the altar is oriented at the dawn of the winter solstice, with the sun rising behind the celebrant, but there are no openings in the wall that capture and highlight this phenomenon which, consequently, does not seem to have been priority in the plant of the building. In conclusion, it seems unlikely to attribute an astronomical explanation to the orientation of the church. " (4) 4. The sandstone portal to the north, consisting of two columns surmounted by a tympanum, projects perpendicularly to the wall face. Above the tympanum there is a round arch of unloading (platband), made of bricks in a radial arrangement, which is used above the architraves in order to reduce or eliminate the bending stress. 5. The west portal, apparently the twin of the north one, has several peculiarities: it protrudes from the wall facing in an oblique direction, with an angle of about 24 ° with respect to the perpendicular to the wall; the brick arch above the tympanum is not visible on the outside. 6. A panoramic drawing of Fratta (figure 3 shows the detail of the area in question), made in 1565 by the military engineer Cipriano Piccolpasso, does not seem to show the opening to the west of the Collegiate, although the church appears to have been erected until the first register: the signs on the left of the wall are not in the center of the side of the polygon and do not have a regular geometric shape, but seem similar to trees, such as those shown also on the right of the building. It should be noted that the design is to be considered very reliable, as evidenced by the accuracy of the details represented in the other more important buildings. The drawing highlights another important detail: the original path of the Regghia is moved, compared to today, towards the Rocca, confirming the subsequent movement of the river bed and, therefore, the need to build a new bridge, as documented in point 9 following. 7. The differences between the two portals exposed in the three previous points reasonably suggest that the one to the west was opened at a later time, after the construction of the first register. In any case, the anomaly highlighted in the west portal suggests that this had been considered in the alternative to the north one: therefore the importance of the latter must have been truly extraordinary if it had prevailed, for the purposes of choosing the orientation, with respect to to the alternative of enhancing the chapel which had even motivated the work. 8. At the time of the design of the church, the oldest and most important access inside the walls was undoubtedly that of the Porta della Campana, which showed the emblem of the castle (the ancient lily in bas-relief, an ancient weapon of Florentines (5 ) ) and allowed the people to enter the main road network of the valley: the "Strada del Piano", which connected Città di Castello to Perugia, along the left bank of the Tiber, across the bridge over the Carpina, the church of Santa Maria, the Collegiata (in fact), the Madonna del Moro and Ponte Felcino. Therefore, for the inhabitants of the castle of Fratta, the most important way to go to the Collegiata was the one leaving the Porta della Campana, which entered the “Strada del Piano” through the Piaggiola and Boccajolo. It was also the shortest way, because the possible alternative was to go down the Via Retta (the Corso), leave the walls towards Piazza San Francesco and go up to the Collegiate Church on Via Soli. So: for the people of the castle of Fratta it was natural to access the large church outside the walls from the "Strada del Piano". 9. There is news (6) of an old bridge over the Regghia starting from July 1632, from which it is deduced that it was probably composed of masonry heads where wooden beams rested for crossing. The continuous adjustments and renovations in the seventeenth century indicate how much it was subjected to wear. In particular, he had had to work overtime in absorbing the transit of heavy loads of materials coming from the furnaces of the Borgo Superiore, necessary precisely for the "factory" of the church of the Madonna della Regghia. Other consolidation works were carried out in 1726. Furthermore, the state of the bridge was a source of dangers, so the situation became increasingly unsustainable. Finally, in the meeting of April 4, 1770, the City Council took the question head-on: "Being that since some years ... several times thought by the Defenders and by the representatives of this Earth to obviate the dangers that have occurred and that can happen in the future in passing with horses slaughters and some over the bridge that passes over the river Palace under the church of the Most Holy Virgin, which being so narrow and without sides or parapet, it happened several times that horses and oxen were in danger of rushing with loads and wagons, and other hauls. " By cutting off the bull's head, it was decided to redo the now unsafe bridge from scratch, making it wider, with sturdy sides and suitable for bearing greater loads. In confirmation of this intention, the Chapter of the Collegiate gave the Municipality "land for the construction of the new bridge over the Royal Palace in the direction of Montone" (7) . The project was promptly carried out, if in the rough color plan of 1780 by Giuseppe Fabretti (8) (figure 4) the bridge is located in the new position and is connected through a twisted junction to the old route of the “Strada del piano”, which in the meantime had become less and less important, compared to the more recent road on the right bank of the Tiber. The road will only subsequently be rectified and enlarged, forming the current Via Veneto. The construction of the new bridge in a location other than the original one was also determined by the need to expand the square under the Rocca (9) , whose first modest works began in 1803, in order to solve a very old problem. At the end of 1846 the Judiciary of Fratta bought, for this purpose, another piece of land with these reasons: "... the need for this expansion [Editor's note: of the area for the livestock market] is making itself felt every more and openly demonstrated by the last Cattle Fair in which not only the current square was filled with oxen, but even though the adjoining road that leads to the house of Signor Mavarelli and a large part of the Collegiate field that would be occupied by the proposed extension ... ". It is reasonable to think that on that occasion it was decided to move the riverbed of the Regghia away from the tower. The refurbishment of the area was completed in 1880, with the construction of the retaining walls and the raising of the level of the market square. Ernesto Freguglia had just had time to paint the area (1875) in its original configuration, with the clearing still at the level of the bed along the river bank. In this year 2011, a suggestive realization has turned back the hands of time, restoring a condition similar to that of the seventeenth century, demonstrating how man does not disdain to emulate Penelope in adapting the environment to his variable needs. A hypothesis for solving the riddle On the basis of the objective information detailed above, it can be deduced that the configuration of the area of the Collegiate and the surrounding area in the year 1600 (immediately following the completion of the church) was that shown in figure 5, which can be compared with that of figure 6 , relating to the year 2000. For a more immediate perception of the changes undergone over the last four centuries, the situations indicated in the plans are replicated in the drawings of figure 7 - taking advantage of the prodigious pencil of Adriano Bottaccioli, used to photographing scenarios that have now disappeared from our castle - and in figure 8 , in which the changes that led to the current scenario are superimposed. At this point we can deduce a likely explanation for the enigma posed to us, which we set out below. Already in the positioning phase of the new church, it was decided not to incorporate the small chapel with the image of the Virgin, as was customary in that period (point 1), because it was too close to other valuable buildings existing nearby ( point 2). The church was originally conceived with the main entrance - and, initially, probably the only one - corresponding to the current north portal, aligned with the main access road from the castle, as shown in the drawing in figure 7. In this way the scenography that was presented to the faithful on their way to the church (point 8) was of the utmost spectacular. On this portal, at the same time as the construction of the wall, the discharge arch was created above the opening (point 4). It is probable that only later, during the construction of the church, did someone come up with the idea of "uniting" the old chapel and the large church in some way. The goal was achieved with the opening of a second access (not drawn in the overview of the Piccolpasso referred to in point 6) on the side facing the original aedicule, which was obtained by tearing apart the masonry. On the occasion, the platband was not built on the external face, for various possible reasons: either because the engineers were less scrupulous; or because it was more complicated to obtain an aesthetically acceptable result, having to inscribe the arch on an opening obtained by tearing. However, it cannot be excluded that the platband was built at a lower level, so as to be hidden by the sandstone tympanum. Jutting out from the wall, a twin portal to the existing one was built, but with an anomalous angle, in order to orient it towards the original chapel (point 5); in fact the land donated for the construction of the church was in fact "contiguous" to the chapel, as reported in the deed of sale of the land of 1559. The anomalous angle can have two different explanations, depending on whether the construction of the portal was started after or before having decided to demolish the chapel - perhaps due to the precarious state, such as not to justify its restoration - and to move the image of the Virgin inside the church. In the first case, in anticipation of the maintenance of the chapel, the new portal should perhaps have constituted one of the two ends of a portico connecting the new and old structure; faced with the decision to move the effigy and demolish the aedicule, the portico was no longer built, leaving the work unfinished, due to the unexpected disappearance of the final destination. In the hypothesis that the architects of the work were less fickle in their decisions, it seems more likely that the idea of building the anomalous portal was triggered after having decided to demolish the chapel, with the consequent necessary compensation by evoking it forever. in the imagination of the faithful. In any case, in all probability this architectural strangeness remains today to indicate the direction along which the ancient chapel with the Majesty must have been. The opening of the second portal will have involved the need to move the altar, placing it on the side of the octagon opposite the one between the two doors, in order to give a new symmetry to the temple. Conclusion If the one described was really the sequence of decisions and works, the enigma we tried to unravel was born, many decades after the completion of the Collegiate, following the decision to move the route of the "Strada del piano" and to replace the old bridge over the Regghia on the road to the upper Borgo with a new one, in a different position. There were two reasons: the state of decay and danger of the bridge; the need to expand the space around the fortress to be used for the livestock market, after having moved the riverbed of the Regghia and demolished the access ramp to the now obsolete drawbridge. Basically: the orientation of the temple and the presumed location of the original main access road to the church explain each other; with the modification introduced since, during the 18th century, the pre-existing bridge and road were moved to the north-east, the original scenography was canceled, creating the enigma for which this hypothesis of solution was proposed. PS In the recent restructuring of the area surrounding the Rocca, the opportunity was lost to restore the original scenography to the Collegiata, with the simple positioning of the new sidewalk along the route of the ancient Strada del Piano. * * * Thanks to Alvaro Gragnoli who, thanks to his intuition, started the research and to those who made their knowledge available: Giovanni Cangi, humanist engineer, as regards the engineering aspect; Francesco Rosi, architect, expert and passionate about archaeoastronomy; Monsignor Pietro Vispi, parish priest of the Collegiate, precious source of historical information, Adriano Bottaccioli, art director of communication and painter. Note: 1. PIETRO VISPI, The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Reggia, Radio Elettra & M SpA School, Città di Castello, 2001 2. LUCA SPORTELLINI, “The Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Assunta in Rasina”, Fabrizio Fabbri Editore, 2011, p. 24 3. A. GASPANI, Astronomy and geometry in the ancient Alpine churches, Priuli and Verlucca editori, 2000, Turin 4. Contribution by FRANCESCO ROSI 5. BELFORTI - MARIOTTI, History of Fratta, year 1780 6. CODOVINI - SCIURPA, Umbertide in the XVIII century, GESP, Città di Castello, 2003, p. 42 7. PIETRO VISPI, The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Reggia, Umbertide, 2001, note on p. 60 8. GIUSEPPE FABRETTI, News of the Land of Fratta, (ms BAP 2011) 9. RENATO CODOVINI - ROBERTO SCIURPA, Umbertide in the 19th century, 2001, GESP, Città di Castello, pp. 51, 122, 377. L'Enigma della Collegiata THE SUNDAY OF THE GRANDE PIAZZA DELLA FRATTA by Mario Tosti In the memory of Renato Codovini and Amedeo Massetti With the following notes I propose to shed light on the events of a sundial found in our historic center. I try to demonstrate the hypothesis that it represented the local reference for solar time: the time of Fratta, our local Greenwich mean time. For this mission, she lived in symbiosis with the clock of the Torre della Campana, which stood on top of the Piaggiola. His odyssey began on a window sill in front of the Rocca, on the first floor of the building that housed the headquarters of the Podestà and the hall of the municipal council, in Via Alberti. After a couple of centuries of honorable work, she was evicted and imprisoned under the plaster of the Garibaldi's room in Piazza Fortebraccio. Today he is enjoying his well-deserved retirement in the bucolic Umbrian countryside. For the sake of completeness, I have also tried to reconstruct the evolution of time measurement tools available to the community up to the present day. Let us hope that they continue to measure a time of peace and serenity. THE FINDING Around the middle of the twentieth century, in the course of renovations, a sundial was found under the plaster of the wall in front of the entrance to the room on the ground floor of the building at no. 9 of the current Fortebraccio square, in front of the Rocca (Figure 1). It was Rinaldo Giannelli, owner of the restaurant, who reported it to me, proposing to look for clues about the story. THE SEARCH FOR INFORMATION At first, I had come to a hypothesis that turned out to be incorrect after meeting Mauro Bifani who, together with Manlio Suvieri, was carrying out a research on the sundials of Umbria. I pointed out to him the existence of our find, which has become the subject of his expert analysis. In the book they subsequently published - The ancient hours, Sundials and Roman-style clocks in the municipalities of Umbria, Futura edizioni, 2017 - an entire chapter was dedicated to The sundial of Piazza Grande alla Fratta, in which I was able to integrate with my historical reconstruction of the results of their technical and functional research. STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS The small sundial (36 cm x 36 cm) of Fratta, in octagonal terracotta, at Italic hours, was designed to be used in a horizontal position. Several engravings are visible on its surface. At the top, the date of construction (1658) is engraved. A little below, a motto in Greek and another in Latin are engraved: “ΧΡΟΝΟΧ ΑΝΤΑΧΟ Υ ΑΝΕΜΕΙ” (Time resists winds). “AMBIGUIS ALIX LABILIS HORA VOLAT” (The fleeting hour flies on mysterious wings). In agreement with the authors of the book, I add a different translation reported by Mons. Pietro Vispi, also based on the identification of a Greek "p" partially canceled by a crack in the tile: "ΧΡΟΝΟΣ (Π) ΑΝΤΑΚΟΥ ΔΙΕΠΕΙ" (Time always arranges everything) “ΑΜΒΙGUIS ALIS LABILIS HORA VOLAT” (Time that passes flies with elusive wings). I gladly report the two translations, both fascinating, also to demonstrate the complexity in the interpretation of the thoughts handed down to us from the past. The inscription “AD ALTITUD GRAD 43” confirms that it was built for our latitude. The symbols of the four main zodiac signs are represented: Cancer, Capricorn, Aries and Libra. The names of the winds are engraved on the external frame: Mezzodì, Garbino (term used on the Adriatic coast to indicate the Libeccio wind), Ponente, Maestro, Tramontana, Greco, Levante, Scirocco. THE CLUES Hypotheses on the events of the sundial can be deduced starting from the information concerning the measurement of time in the castle of Fratta and the function of the existing buildings in the area of the discovery (Piazza Fortebraccio, Via Alberti, Piaggiola). A recording dated 1477 refers to a Porta della Campana (figure 2), open towards Montone in the north corner of the castle walls, at the top of the Piaggiola. Originally, a tower 22 meters high rose above the gate. In the 16th century it was raised with a wooden tower of 11 m, at the base of which a niche was obtained, with the painted image of the Madonna. At the top a small loggia was opened to house the public bell. The building became one of the main references for the people, so much so that the entire surrounding district took the name of Terziere della Campana. The donzello of the Municipality was in charge of ringing the big [bell] to signal, in addition to extraordinary events, the canonical hours: Lodi (at dawn), Prima (around 6), Terza (at 9), Sesta (at 12) , Nona (at 15), Vespers (at sunset) and Compline [sic], before going to bed. Where the bell was not within earshot, it was the position of the sun in the sky that marked the time or, if the sky was cloudy, the intensity of the light was enough to mark the slow life of our ancestors. Then, with the spread of mechanical clocks, one was installed below the bell. The task of supervising, maintaining and charging it passed to the moderator of the public clock [moderator: who knows if this name meant inviting the spheres not to be in too much of a hurry?]. It is likely that the imprecision of those first mechanisms made it necessary to put them back at the right time almost daily. This function, in the absence of today's time signals on the radio, could only be performed by a sundial. The symbiosis between the two instruments is confirmed by the coincidence of the presumable period of the installation of the mechanical clock (17th century) and the year (1658) engraved on the Fratta sundial. The room of the discovery (outlined in green in figures 3 and 4) is located on the southern edge of the fifth of buildings of the current Piazza Fortebraccio, originally "Piazza Grande del Comune", in front of the Rocca "(platea comunis dicti castri ante cassarum) . There are several documents that allow us to deduce the evolution of the buildings on the corner between Piazza Fortebraccio and Via Alberti. In the fourteenth century the building in which the sundial was found did not exist, but in its place there was an external ramp (figure 5), which was demolished (figure 6) when it became encumbered for the drawbridge that would lower towards the square from the Rocca under construction: in fact, among the works commissioned to Trocascio (27 May 1385) there was also that of demolishing it and rebuilding it inside ("Eo Trocascio I promise ... remove the staircase of the podesta's palace and remake it inside the said palace or elsewhere, so that it does not harm the cassaro [Rocca] "). Figures 5 and 6 show details regarding the rear building, towards the west, taken from deeds of the notary Nicola di Antonio. First of all it belonged to the Municipality, as shown in a document dated July 1443: "... in the square of said castle, in front of the Palazzo del Podestà and the Rocca (... in the stalls dicti castri ante palatium potestatis et arcem)" ...; in 1448, "in the Town Hall and residence of the said Podestà of the said Castle, in the upper room of the said palace (... in the palatio Communis et residentiae dicti potestatis dicti castri in the upper room dicti palatii) ..." (1). In another act of the following year we speak of the "lower room" (2). He refers to "upper room" in acts of 1464 and 1466 (3). It is therefore assumed that in the building there was a large room on the ground floor (current service entrance to the theater in Via Alberti, 22), which could be used for the meetings of the City Council, and an apartment on the first floor (with entrance at no.20 ) in use by the Podestà, which was accessed by an external staircase. Today the new staircase, whose intrados is visible just to the left of the entrance at no. 22, allows you to go up to the first floor from the entrance to n. 20 of Via Alberti. A map by Anonymous dating back to 1730 (figure 7) shows us that the building where the find was not yet existed. The same indication comes from a drawing by Fabretti of 1780 (see final note), which also highlights the existence of a chapel annexed to the Monastery of the Nuns of Castelvecchio, indicated in figure 4. THE DEDUCTIONS On the basis of the clues described above, I tried to reconstruct the events of our sundial. In the first place, it is presumable that it was not part of the religious complex adjacent to the site of the discovery. In fact, the monastery of the Nuns of S. Maria di Castelvecchio had been suppressed at the end of the fourteenth century, two centuries before the construction of the sundial. Furthermore, the hours engraved on the surface of the octagon - Italic hours for civil use, rather than Italic for bells used for bell towers - support the hypothesis of a civil use and exclude the religious one. A further trace: the small distance - a few tens of meters - of the room where the sundial was found from the civic tower of the Bell (and, later, of the Clock), suggests that the two systems of time measurement were in close symbiosis, confirmed by the coincidence of the respective construction periods. The adjacency to the hall of the municipal council and to the seat of the Podestà suggests that it was exhibited somewhere in the square. The window sill of the "upper room", on the first floor of via Alberti 20, was probably the ideal point (figure 8) on which to display it in the horizontal position for which it was conceived. In fact it was sunny and protected, within reach of the highest authority of the castle. Mauro Bifani confirmed the validity of this hypothesis, found in other situations: inside the Sperelliana library in Gubbio, the sundial originally exhibited on the window is preserved, where traces of the well-oriented seat in which it was positioned remain; also in the Marches there is another, still in its place, which makes a good impression on a window sill. The Platonic marriage between the solar instrument and the mechanical one, not consummated due to the distance of their respective residences, went into crisis in the nineteenth century, for various reasons. The signs of old age arrived for the bell tower: in 1815, due to a subsidence of the foundations, it had been shortened, but with poor results: in 1820 it was completely demolished. But the clock was too important for the inhabitants of Fratta to do without it: at the same time a new tower was built (figure 9) in the central square - Piazza del Grano - in front of the current Town Hall, which had become the new center of gravity of the country. But the purchase of a new watch resulted in the death sentence of the old one, already in bad shape due to worn and rusty wheels. The solution proved to be precarious because, after just half a century, in 1873 it was decided to enlarge the Piazza del Grano to give air to the current Piazza Mazzini; to make room, the fledgling tower was sentenced to death at the bitter age of 53. As can be seen, even in the past, not all choices were far-sighted. Even for the sundial, widowed, the end loomed. To put a load of eleven there was the construction of the building at number 9 of Piazza Fortebraccio, as shown by a plan of the Gregorian Cadastre (figure 10) dating back to the period 1830-1850. From that moment on, the area assumed its current shape. The new construction "blinded" the window of the upper room where the sundial had lived, depriving it of its function. As a result, she was fired and evicted. He found refuge in the room where it was found, downgraded to a simple decorative element, albeit with the advantage of protection from the elements. Subsequently it raged, segregating it under the plaster. In short: in addition to life, the solar instrument and the mechanical one also seemed united in the end. But there was a surprise for the sundial. THE FINAL REST Rediscovered in the third millennium, by the owner the sundial has been moved to its natural environment, outside a pleasant cottage in the sweet Umbrian countryside. Although hanged vertically - contrary to its nature to relax horizontally - and with a random orientation with respect to the cardinal points, it is very happy to have rejoined the sun, remaining an interesting testimony of the history of Fratta. THE HEIRS Since the appetite comes with eating, I was intrigued to know who took over the sundial and the clock her husband, in the task of marking the time of our community after the demolition in 1872 of the ephemeral tower in the square. Nobody could tell us better than Egino Villarini, who joined me at the PC keyboard. In November 1876 the works for the enlargement of the old Piazza del Grano were completed, decided by the Municipality due to the increase in the volume of commercial activities, the growth of the population and the fact that it "was in a cramped confined space. "; last but not least, "the not very decent appearance of the buildings" which impoverished the Sorbello palace, seat of the Municipality. The square (now Piazza Matteotti) took the name of Umberto I. A new bell clock was placed in the center of the building opposite the town hall (Figure 11). It was operated by large stone blocks which, hung from a chain, descended from the top floor to the ground, where the Post Office was located. In more recent times, the task of turning the crank to raise the weights could not fail to be entrusted to Gino Vannoni, watchmaker. It was the engineer Villarini himself who relieved him of his duty by automating the operation. In 1918, the primary school clock (Fig. 12) entered the life of the people of Umbria, with the task of informing the schoolchildren, at a quarter past 8, that it was time to set off and, at 8:30, that the it was closing. Today, clocks are everywhere - on the streets, in the squares, on everyone - to synchronize with the hasty rhythms of modern life. But it would be quite another sensation to respond, as yesterday, to the call from the voice of the school: a solemn rite of the community, testifying to the collective concern reserved for the process of integrating young people into the cycle of social life. Those familiar tolls were then perceived by everyone, thanks to the silence in the town and the concentration of the houses; today they would perhaps be suffocated by the noise of cars and muffled by the remoteness of the suburbs. Yet they could represent the symbol of a cohesive and harmonious community, sickened by decades of excessive individualism. They would be especially appropriate in these times of seclusion. NOTE Regarding the volume of Fabretti, I want to tell a singular detail. Together with Amedeo Massetti we were consulting it in the Augusta Library in Perugia, when we came across a map referring to “Fratta” (figure 13, left), but it appeared totally different from that of our country. We thought it was the result of an error, also likely due to the low quality of the drawing, attributable to a novice author. After various considerations, we discovered the dilemma: the image had been copied against the light on a window pane, but on the wrong side. It was enough to do the opposite operation - this time with the PC - to get the right drawing, but with the name “Fratta” inverted (figure 13, in the center). An enlargement of the plan (figure 13, right) reveals the lack of the building of the find. There is also an interesting detail: a small church is marked with a cross (barely perceptible) - indicating that it was still officiated - annexed to the adjacent monastery of the Nuns of S. Maria di Castelvecchio. NOTES TO THE TEXT: Arch. Notar. di Umbertide, Notary Nicola di Antonio, acts 1448 - 1450, cat. 276/74, card 11 / v Arch. Notar. di Umbertide, Notary Nicola di Antonio, acts 1448 - 1450, cat. 276/74, card 99 / Arch. Notar. di Umbertide, Notary Nicola di Antonio, acts 1464 - 1466, cat. 283/5, cards 10 / r, 120 / v, 225 / v THANKS For this little research, I have made extensive use of the work of friends: Renato Codovini, generous initiator and prompter for all researchers of local history, who exhumed historical documents otherwise destined to remain buried in the archives; Amedeo Massetti, unforgettable friend and perfect citizen; Egino Villarini, an inexhaustible source of the innovations introduced in the country, with the reliability and details of having been the protagonist; Adriano Bottaccioli, who imagined the missing pieces of our country from every point of view, reconstructing them with the artist's ability and with the affection of the ex-emigrant; Mauro Bifani and Manlio Suvieri, who provided the technical information necessary for the reconstruction of a plausible history for our sundial. Fabio Mariotti, who checked the text (once I relied on Amedeo), enriching it with images. La Meridiana della Piazza Grande della Fratta

THE "REGINA ELENA" KINDERGARTEN It was inaugurated in 1905 with the mayor Ciro Mavarelli by Amedeo Massetti A room used as a kindergarten already existed in Umbertide in the nineteenth century. In 1904 the municipal council had confirmed Maddalena and Marina Mavarelli (wife of Francesco Mavarelli) in the supervisory commission on this institution. In the council meeting of February 12, 1905, the report by the design engineer and director, Gustavo Scagnetti, on the conclusion of the construction works of the new kindergarten building was read. Mayor Ciro Mavarelli communicated to the municipal council (Vittorio Ramaccioni, Giacomino dal Bianco, Tertulliano Marzani, Avenerio Natali, Gustavo Scagnetti, Romolo Fabbri, Astorre Ramaccioni, Giuseppe Conestabile Della Staffa, Cesare Torzoni, Giovanni Ramaccioni, Giovan Battista Burelli, Stanislao Simoncini, Aristide Reggiani, Antonio Gnoni and Geremia Carlani) the final state of the works, to be paid in 20,422.96 lire. The councilor Cesare Torzoni intervened, recalling how the construction of the new building had been entrusted by private negotiation to the Cooperative of the Masons of Umbertide for the sum of 16,900 lire as a flat rate and now this significant increase could not be explained. Engineer Scagnetti, who was also a municipal councilor, clarified that the increase in expenditure was due to the fact that the Provincial Health Council had imposed changes to the project, which had to be carried out while the works were being carried out. These consisted in raising the classrooms, modifying the floors and replacing the designed perimeter wall with an iron balustrade, so as not to impede the illumination of the classrooms. In addition to this, the new building had to be adapted to the master plan, which the engineer did not know before compiling the project but which the previous administration had wanted to respect; this had led to a notable increase in the length of the surrounding walls. Then there was the increased depth of the foundations, the completion of the bathroom and the kitchens on the ground floor, works that were only foreseen in the project in later times. The council took note of Scagnetti's report, approved it with the changes that had taken place and instructed the council to provide for the related obligations. The new kindergarten was named after Queen Elena of Montenegro, wife of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Savoy, king of Italy It was inaugurated in October 1905 by the mayor Ciro Mavarelli. A commemorative postcard was printed for the occasion. PHOTO: Historical photographic archive of the Municipality of Umbertide, Giuseppe Severi Archive, Fabio Mariotti SOURCES: Historical archive of the Municipality of Umbertide

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES In this section you will find demographics considerations of today and of the past of our territory; in the subsections the trend demographic over time and then the stories of who left and who arrived . We are convinced that knowing the past, or who we were, will help us try to understand how the population will evolve, who we will be. This led us to think about the need to create this section: "Arrivals and departures". The study was born with a double "track", a double perspective: demographic, based on arid "data" or historical sources, and of "life", of people who emigrated or arrived ... yesterday as today. The rural settlement system in the past, defined "Scattered", connected to the sharecropping system, and "centralized" from the postwar period onwards, they have always been connected to the economic system that characterized over time the territory of this valley. The emigration of the early twentieth century, which continued until the 1960s, led many Umbrians to seek their fortune elsewhere. In the last twenty years, many young people from Umbertide have taken the path of professional training to distant places. The last three, four decades have seen a considerable increase in the foreign population which today appears to be resident in Umbertide. Now the second and third generations of migrants from various countries of the world live here. We believe it is essential to become aware of all this in order to prepare a common ground, shared as much as possible, for the future of all the people of Umbria. Beyond the repressive political moments that give life to exile "volunteers", as during Fascism, we are convinced that economic history can help to clarify the consistent migratory and immigrant flows of departure and arrival in a territory. A territory "full" of population with respect to its ability to offer employment generates emigration, we believe this happened with the increase in population in the sharecropping system of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an "empty" territory of population compared to due to the new employment capacities, which occurred with the development of tobacco and activities related to mechanics, it attracts migratory flows. The historical economic and demographic perspectives are often intertwined. Our future And the future? If you look at the little ones you can see the future of Umbertide with a good approximation. We took a look at the PTOF of the nursery and primary schools of our country, First and Second Circle. There presence of foreign students in Italian schools is 9.4% while the regional average is 13.8% . The presence of immigrants from European and non-European countries in the first circle in Umbertide are 35% of the total students, in the second Circle (which also includes the Municipality of Lisciano Niccone) the average is 21% , with peaks of 30% . It follows for us that the definition of a common identity, as a basis for living all together, cannot ignore the awareness that we started from here to look for work in distant countries, that entrepreneurs from other regions of Italy, from Veneto and the Tuscany for example, they came to us because there was the possibility of setting up new businesses, that now prepared young people go abroad to study and work ... and people are looking for a better future in the same way as those who left 60 years or a century ago. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Cipriano Piccolpasso " The men of this country are diligent, ingenious and solicitous and prudent because their little site for the continuous exercise makes it fruitful as a large countryside and a very large place ... "

THE HISTORY OF THE RIUNITI THEATER curated by Fabio Mariotti From the book "Project Recovery and Restoration of the Teatro dei Riuniti di Umbertide" The history of the Teatro dei Riuniti di Umbertide is linked not only to the theater as a building, but also to a literary and theatrical academy that existed in the city since the 16th century. For this reason we will report here parallel news regarding both topics. It must be said immediately that all the documentation produced by the Academy, to which certain "Books of academic acts" certainly belonged, has been lost; most of the news we have comes from the Municipal Archives of Umbertide, from an unpublished typescript by Renato Codovini on the history of Umbertide and from the memories of some citizens. Among the papers in the Municipal Archive there is a manuscript by a certain Filippo Natali (born in Umbertide in 1837, he was municipal secretary in Gualdo Todino where he died in 1922 (1), entitled: "News on the theater of Fratta (Umbertide) and on 'annexed academy of the Riuniti' and dated November 1883 which passes on valuable information to us. From it we know of an "investigation dated 7 March 1615 by deed of the Frattense notary Benedetto Santi" concerning our Academy (2). This is the oldest document we have (apart from an act of constitution, but not the first, of the Academy, dated 1614). The deed was drawn up in the presence of eight members of the "Congregation of the Unstable" (3) and of three people who asked to be part of it, to whom permission was granted "having done on their persons and virtues the colloquio et addunanza according to the style of the said Congregation ". At this date the Academy of the Inestables - as it was called until 1746 - already had its own statute and the prospect of "augmenting the said Congregation, so that with the people who are in it, and will enter it for the future, can make progress in virtuous acts as is appropriate ... ". At that time the Academies represented a very free place of exchange, and also rare in a culturally impoverished society. Unofficial poetic productions flourished in them such as satire, dithyrambic and didactic poetry and more generally the Theater; but they were also deputed to the education of the nobility who exercised their qualities here to govern. They had a strong local character which was rarely surpassed and in the long run the quantity of their products came at the expense of quality. Gradually the stage actions became the main purpose of the academic meetings so that the need arose to have a place to gather suitable for performances. We then moved from simple rooms to small theaters that were first used only by the members of the Academy, thus reflecting all their needs, then they became public places and the Academies themselves in most cases were the "managers". In Umbertide we know that, before the current theater rebuilt in 1808 in the place where it was the ancient one, the seat of the Academy was a room located on the first floor of a building owned by the Municipality, which was accessed by an external stone staircase. In the same building there were the Commissioner's house - of which the room itself was part -, the Archive on the ground floor, the public chancellery and the prison. Unfortunately we have no news on the activity of the Academy until 1746, but we can assume that it had been decreasing to resume only shortly before this date. In fact, again from Natali, which reports a note found at the beginning of the "First Book of Academic Acts", we learn "how they wanted to rebuild the association in 1746, asking not only the use but also the ownership of the theater from the Municipality , ... ". It was also decided to draw up the statute of the Academy (4) "establishing that the Academy should aim at honest and useful entertainment through acting, which consisted of a determined number of people chosen from the civil class who had to pay an annual fee "; arrangements were made for an "Academic Prince", a Depositary and a Secretary in charge of drafting the academic documents to be elected annually. Also on this date, the name of the Academy was finally changed from “Inestabili” to “Riuniti”, probably precisely to establish the desire for change. At that time the members of the Academy were eleven and among them were the most prominent characters of the town: Prospero and Annibale Mariotti (according to Lupattelli the latter was born in Umbertide and not in Perugia, Giulio Cesare Fracassini, the famous castrato Domenico Bruni who sang in the major theaters of Europe (5), Francesco Guardabassi, and some members of the most important families of Umbertide: Ranieri and Bourbon di Sorbello. The new academics Riuniti chose as their emblem the representation of a hand holding three gold cords tied together , and alongside the motto "Difficile solvitur." Regarding the theatrical activity, the Prince was required to stage one or more comedies during the carnival period with interludes of music and sometimes even dance, while in the other seasons the amateur dramatists of the 'Accademia performed in minor representations. From this period we have received the text of two "three-voice interludes": "The slave for love" and "Don Falc one ”,“ to be recited in the Fratta theater ”and published in 1772 (Figs. 1-2); most likely they were sung by the then fourteen year old Domenico Bruni. Finally, there is a sonnet by A. Mariotti from 1788, again for the theater of Fratta (6) (Fig. 3). A curious news also refers to this period we report from Natali: “By way of curiosity and to show how much religious spirit crept into the bosom of the young people who then did delighted in acting, we will notice how in 1754, on 1 February the Theater Academy, on the demand of amateur dramatics, grants them a free performance, in order to use the proceeds for to support the souls in Purgatory! Those were the times! How much unlike our incredulous young men! But to put a little of water on this boiling fervor, let the bigots know that the Academy in granting the permit, expressing itself as follows: “As long as do not pass in example such a protension! ". In 1748, for the first time, with a certain embarrassment of academics, once tour company of such "Giovanni Gazzola, histrion" asked to to be able to use the Teatro dei Riuniti. On the occasion they brought in scene the characters of Pulcinella, Balanzone and Brighella. From a list of performances held in the theater from 1759 to 1795 and reported by Natali (7), we mention two famous works: the drama of Metastasio "La clemenza di Tito" given in 1759 (the first takes place in 1741) and Voltaire's "Mohammed" given in 1787 (the first dates back to 1742). It was only in 1783 that the Municipality, having heard the opinion of the Sacra Consulta, granted "for perpetual use of the Accademia de 'Riuniti .... the house where its theater is, ... which house consists of a room which is the theater, and its stalls, and two adjoining rooms to said hall. "(8). From 1791 to 1798 Pius VI for security reasons forbade all events in which people could gather and therefore closed all the theaters of the Papal State. This of course was also the fate of Umbertide's theater. Moreover, as soon as it reopened, it was semi-destroyed on the occasion of a clash between the Pope's troops and a group of rioters from Arezzo who came to support the insurgents of the Tiberina valley, so that it remained closed for another four years, until 1802, when it suffered a first restoration. But at that time a much more important project for the construction of a real theater was already beginning to take shape. It should also be said that years followed in which the town planning of Fratta underwent many changes and innovations including the arrangement of the square, the clock tower, the bridge over the Royal Palace, etc. Also in 1802 the Academy decided to occupy the three rooms on the ground floor under the theater, and bought the timber for the rebuilding of the roof of the building. In 1805 it was decided to entrust Giovanni Cerrini (9) with the project for the construction of the new theater: this included three orders of 13 boxes each, the stalls, a large stage with adjoining dressing rooms and two rooms for the Academy (10 ). However, in order to reach the number of boxes and the measures established by Cerrini (11), it was necessary that the Municipality also granted a "scio" (passage) that ran between the walls and the building (12) in exchange for which the 'Accademia undertook to maintain the walls. To get an idea of the greatness of Fratta at that time, just think that in 1826 it had two parishes and 1300 inhabitants, while 8630 were the inhabitants of the whole territory of Umbertide in 1812 (unfortunately we only have these data, which in any case are indicative ). Between 1810 and 1812 the pictorial decorations were made by the Perugian Giovanni Monotti (13) and by Faina, the same that we see today brought to light and restored by the Guerri e Polidori firm. These are two bands of decoration along the second and third tier of boxes in which the heads of famous dramatic actors are depicted framed by laurel wreaths and interspersed with swans. The ceiling of the stalls was decorated with a painting, also by Faina, representing Talia, muse of comedy (14); today it no longer exists as the ceiling was first repainted and then completely redone. In 1810, Faina also painted the curtain with the story of “Alcide at the crossroads” which, according to those who remember him, was very beautiful. Unfortunately it has been lost in recent years. A letter preserved in the Municipal Archives (15) and written between 1822 and 1823 by the "heads of the families of artists" of Umbertide was addressed to the Apostolic Delegate of Perugia to intercede with the Academicians and the Municipality to finish the decoration of the theater and especially the scenarios, so as to finally make the theater accessible. From the tone of this letter it would seem that the Academicians delayed the completion of the works to not allow ordinary people to enter, however other documents testify that already since 1811 there were performances in the theater. According to Natali, who in this case entrusts himself to the memory of the elderly, the new theater was inaugurated in 1813 or 1814 with Mozart's Don Giovanni; if this were true - and it seems difficult to us - it must have been a truly exceptional performance, given that the same work was given for the first time in Italy in 1811 in Bergamo and Rome, then in 1812 in Naples and in 1814 in Milan (16) . But even before the inauguration the new theater had hosted the Mosso company which from mid-November 1811 to mid-January 1812 had represented 17 works in prose, including Voltaire and Goldoni (17). The staging of two works by a local historian and professor of rhetoric dates back to 1815: Don Antonio Guerrini (18): “The salt columns” and “ll Pizzarro”. In the same year Domenico Bruni held concerts in the churches of Umbertide. In 1823 the company directed by Luigi Salsilli arrived and staged 34 performances. In 1825 the impresario Gasparo Zannini applied to represent a show with ten dancers in the theater, and asked the Gonfaloniere for a hefty sum as compensation; but the latter, unable to grant it to him, offered him the income from the third-rate boxes and the coffee box office. The following year, however, the Gonfaloniere did not grant the theater to Filippo Troiani's "Compagnia d'opera in musica", composed of a prima donna and two buffi, citing the lack of interest of his fellow citizens for that kind of entertainment as a reason. In this century, in addition to evenings of prose and music, the theater was used for performances by comedians, acrobats and mimes, raffles were organized and dances were given. In 1857, after 45 years, they wanted to renew the pictorial decoration of the theater; the work was entrusted to a painter from Assisi, Augusto Malatesta. To evaluate the realization, we hear the opinion of Natali: "the theater as it was painted by Monotti and Faina, if it could not be said to be splendid, and well decorated, was moreover better than what we see today, reduced to such a poor state in 1857 , certainly self-styled painter Augusto Malatesta of Assisi who made up for the lack of talent with the recommendations of the friars and with the protection of the president of the time, and while I covered the vault of the stalls with a layer of lime, which also in the center contained a painting of some value, on which Talia, muse of comedy was painted, replaced some tracery worthy of appearing in a bedroom and four figures of an impossible anatomy, and of such daring and bizarre movements, as to make us wonder how they can also be painted up there 'plaster. It is true that the heavy swans, the grave crowns and the most grave medallions that framed the busts of great dramatic actors were removed from the bands of the boxes; but what was substituted for that painting I will not say beautiful but less baroque? A coat of white lead was given, which was called marble for derision, small wooden frames were stuck around the windowsills, badly, and a frieze was painted with a faded blue that clashes with the paintings (we will call them so) of the vault and with the heavy plinth featuring a marble, or rather colored cobblestone, neither described nor known by any geologist while above the pillars that separate the boxes he applied three leaves that look like as many butterflies of an unknown fauna. " In the photo of 1916 shown here (fig. 7) the decorations of Malatesta targeted by Natali are probably reproduced, while those we see today are the oldest ones by Monotti and Faina. In the nineteenth century he was director of the theater for 30 years, the distinguished Perugian historian Luigi Bonazzi, who was also an appreciated dramatic actor. If until 1867 the offer of music was small, between 1868 and 1881 several musical works were represented: in 1871 "La Traviata" by Giuseppe Verdi (18 years after the first Venetian), brought by one of the most famous entrepreneurs of the moment, Vincenzo Paoli of Florence, who undertook 12 performances, from 10 November to 10 December, with part of his orchestra and the entire company. In 1881 "La Sonnambula" by Vincenzo Bellini was on the bill. However, to stage these works, the theater always ended up going at a loss. For this reason, in 1886 there was a long discussion before deciding to raise the annual quota of the Academicians to 200 lire. A curious news is transmitted to us by the resolutions of the council of 1869. In fact, it was decided to illuminate the theater "with stearic wax" only for the evening of 6 June, "on the occasion of the statute party", the date on which great celebrations were organized in Thicket; on the other hand, the theater was generally gas-lit. From 1887 to 1890 the theater was closed to carry out works deemed necessary following the provisions on safety in theaters. In 1897 a new regulation came out and the commission in charge of inspecting Umbertide's theater established that it could hold a maximum of 450 people: 200 in the stalls, 200 in the boxes, 50 on the stage. He ordered the opening of two more doors to the outside and a fire extinguishing system with water outlets. The non-compliance of the theater with the new regulations, however, did not prevent the continuation of the activity until 1906, when it was again closed due to an injunction by the Public Security office. In 1910, 271 citizens signed a petition to urge the reopening of the theater, but we know that only in 1913 the restorations were completed. In the same year, a new statute of the Accademia dei Riuniti was drawn up in which it is reiterated that: "The headquarters of the Academy is in the same theater of the Riuniti, which it owns" (article 2), and that "The Society is made up of all the co-owners of the boxes ... "(article 5). In the years of Fascism, the theater was also called "only after-work cinema" because films were shown there, as well as the representation of operettas and plays by school pupils. But what most people remember are the parties and dances that took place there. This was how we arranged: we had the buffet come from a bar (in the theater there was not one until the sixties); for the lighting each carried one or two acetylene lamps which rested on the sills of the boxes; the audience was freed from the chairs and, to warm up, a demijohn was placed on the stage with a tap that allowed them to draw wine from the orchestra pit where at that point nothing was missing ... It was at this time that the internal structure of the theater was modified. In the years preceding the 1940s, this cinema destination was somehow made official in the new name of the Society and the Theater: “Teacine”. In the sixties, the Teacine, practically little more than accessible, was taken over by a company that restructured it as best as possible, enlarging the stage and reopening it to the public. Due to these changes, the acoustics of the hall worsened and the curtain of the Faina was lost. Despite the deterioration of the wall structure, however, the Accademia dei Riuniti has resumed its activity for 25 years and today is made up of a company of thirty amateurs, aged 15 to 60, which brings its varied repertoire to national reviews and participates in exchanges with other European nations. Not only that, but Umbertide has also become the site of an amateur theater festival, “Teatro in Umbria”, which after five years of life is now of international level. All this, at the conclusion of these pages of history, confirms the existence of a tradition and an interest in the theater that is alive and felt in the city which justify the restoration of the building and hope for an appropriate use of it. PHOTO GALLERY Note: 1) Filippo Natali, from Umberto I, attended the faculty of law in Perugia and enlisted in the retinue of Garibaldi. He wrote: an unpublished story of Umbertide, “Excursion around Lake Trasimeno”, “History of the Free State of Cospaia” and various things about Gualdo T. (dc: G. Briziarelli, 1959). The manuscript on the theater is found in the Municipal Archives of Umbertide, b.383, Various objects. 2) Umbertide Municipal Archive, Notarial Fund, protocol 482. 3) This kind of appellations were given to the Academies to underline their particular character ... 4) This statute underwent some changes in 1769 and again, under the influence of the new ideas propagated by the French Revolution, in 1808. 5) Domenico Bruni, 1758-1821. He was in Petersburg for three years at the court of Empress Catherine, then in Saxony, Poland, England and France. In 1797 he returned to Umbertide to take care of music schools. In his city he held public offices: Moire and Gonfaloniere. (from Don A. Guerrini, 1883). 6) These texts are kept at the Augusta Municipal Library in Perugia. 7) In 1759 "La clemenza di Tito"; in 1754 "The old disappointed" and "Demetrio"; in 1765 "Pulcinella power"; in 1768 "La letterata"; in 1769 "Sirce"; in 1770 "The punished miser"; in 1774 "Pulcinella fake gambler"; in 1776 "Pulcinella with the three wives" and "La finta malata"; in 1778 "The wife, despair of the husband and the guardian"; in 1783 "The Madonna ..."; in 1787 "La grotta delle mummie" and "Il Moometto" by Voltaire; in 1795 "The corsair in Marseille" and "The guilty woman". Almost all of these theatrical compositions were staged with interludes of music for four or more voices and often with dance. (see Natali manuscript). 8) Umbertide Municipal Archive, notary Vittorio Paolucci, prot. 862. 9) We know of Giovanni Cerrini that in Umbertide he also made the bridge over the Palace (designed in 1804 and finished in 1814), a project for a bell tower above the tower of the fortress and various other works. 10) Umbertide Municipal Archive, notary Tommaso Paolucci, prot. 923/4. 11) Cerrini had "compared them with the width of the boxes of the theater recently built in the land of Panicale". 12) In this regard, it should be remembered that the two buffered arches, but left in view by the current restoration, located under the stage on two walls that form a 90 degree angle, created a passage in the corner of the building that allowed the continuation of the " scito ”mentioned above (even the building adjacent to the theater, originally, did not reach up to the wall). 13) Giovanni Cerrini and Giovanni Monotti attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Perugia together and in 1791, as a drawing exam in the class of Prof. Baldassarre Orsini, they presented a project for a choir chapel in the Cathedral of Perugia with which they obtained the first prize. 14) The muse Talia is generally represented with a cartouche, a viola or other instrument and from the seventeenth century. even with a mask. 15) Umbertide Municipal Archive, b.28. 16) The following performances were: in Turin in 1815, in Florence and Bologna in 1817, in Parma in 1821, etc. 17) Here is the list of those works reported in Codovini's manuscript: November 14, 1811: The knight of honor, by Mr. Avelloni. 16 said: La Semiramide, by Mr. Voltaire, translated by Mr. Cesarotti. 17 said: The madman for love, unpublished. 17 said: Carlotta and Werter, by Mr. Sagrasti. 19 said: The Diogenes, by Mr. Chiari. 20 said: The Geneva of Scotland, tragedy of Mr. Miller, 21 said: Clementina and Dalmanzi, of Mr. Avelloni. 23 said: Justice reaches underground, an unprecedented drama. 24 said; The mirror of obstinacy, unprecedented. 25 said: The jealousies of Agapito and Silvestro, of Mr. Giraud. 26 said: The fraternal reconciliation, by Mr. Zozebue. 27 said: The Persian bride, by Mr. Goldoni. 28 said: repetition of "fraternal reconciliation". 30 said: Replica of Voltaire's “Semiramide”. December 1st: La Zaira, by Mr. Voltaire. 3 said: S. Francesco al campo di Corrodine, unpublished. 4 said: (illegible), by Mr. D'Armand. 8 said: The banquet of Baldassarre, by Mr. Dirghieri. 10 said: The conversion of St. Margaret of Cortona, unpublished. 11 said: replica of the aforementioned. 18) Don A. Guerrini (1780-1845) was a distinguished scholar, professor of rhetoric in Umbertide, he wrote "History of the land of Fratta" published, unfinished, after his death, in 1883. (See the biography that makes it Antonio Mezzanotte as an introduction to the aforementioned book). From the book "Project Recovery and Restoration of the Teatro dei Riuniti di Umbertide" - Publishing theme, 1990 - The history of the Teatro dei Riuniti, edited by Flavia di Serego Alighieri BIBLIOGRAPHY - Don A. Guerrini, History of the land of Fratta from its origin to the year 1845, Città di Castello, tip. Tiberina, 1883. - G. Brizziarelli, Umbertide and umbertidesi in history, Città di Castello, 1959. R. Sabatini, Umbrian theaters, Perugia, 1981. - B. Porrozzi, Umbertide and its territory, Città di Castello, sd. Theaters, entertainment venues and academies in Montepulciano and Valdichiana, Exhibition catalog, Montepulciano, 1984. SOURCES - Municipal Archive of Umbertide - Renato Codovini, History of Umbertide - sec. XIX, unpublished typescript. LA DOCUMENTAZIONE RELATIVA ALL’ACQUISTO DEI LOCALI DEL TEATRO DA PARTE DELL’ACCADEMIA DEI SIGNORI RIUNITI Si tratta di documenti che abbracciano il periodo che va dal 1783 al 1788 e sono interessanti, oltre che per l’oggetto in discussione, anche per conoscere la lingua italiana che si usava allora per le trascrizioni notarili. Si può pure notare che, a livello ecclesiastico, veniva usato ancora il latino. Riunione del 24 gennaio 1783 In nomine Dei amen. Anno Domini millesimo septingentesimo octuagesimo tertio [1783] die vero vigesimo quarto januarii [24 gennaio]... Personalmente costituiti avanti di me notaio i testimoni infrascritti gli Ill.mi signori Domenico Gioacchino del fu signor Mariano Savelli al presente Governatore di Otricoli per la Sagra Consulta, il sig. dott. Bonaventura del fu dott. Giambattista Spinetti, il signor dott. Giuseppe del fu signor Giantommaso capitano Paolucci, il dott. Giuseppe figlio del signor dott. Benedetto Bertanzi, il tenente Filippo del fu sig. Ruggero Burelli, il sig. Giambattista del fu sig. dott. Fabrizio Mazzaforti per il signor Paolo suo fratello, il signor Giambattista del fu signor Ludovico Criacci, e i signori Domenico del quondam [fu] signor Sante Cerboncelli e il signor Stefano del quondam signor Carlo Vibi per il signor dott. Lorenzo suo fratello, individui dell'Accademia dei Riuniti di questa Terra della Fratta da me tutti cogniti, i quali a fine di avere da questa Comunità l'uso perpetuo della sala ove sta il teatro e le stanze annesse per esercitare la gioventù in decorose rappresentazioni ed onesti divertimenti e così mantenere sempre più l'unione di tutto il paese specialmente ed in ogni modo migliore, tutti li suddetti signori ed il suddetto Giuseppe Bertanzi colla rinunzia al beneficio della patria potestà e alla L. I.2... Tit... Cod... quod cum eo, ed a tute le altre leggi, statuti e privilegi a favore dei figli di famiglia disponenti mediante il suo giuramento toccate le scritture delle quali specialmente ed in ogni [è una formula di giuramento], promettono, convengono si obbligano di pagare e sborsare la somma e quantità di uno scudo per cadauno all'anno per lo spazio di anni sei da oggi prossimi, e come siegue fenire entro il mese di gennaio incominciando dal mese presente perfinché saranno compiti li predetti anni sei ed in caso di ritardato pagamento, a contumacia li medesimi signori Accademici acconsentono di essere convenuti giuridicamente dal corpo delli Accademici colla spedizione del mandato esecutivo con la semplice intimazione avanti qualunque giudice, con questo patto però, che detto annuo pagamento non debba convertirsi in altr'uso, se non che nel formare un capitale fruttifero stabile e siguro, il di cui annuo fruttato debba impiegarsi in mantenimento e rifacimento della casa ov'è il teatro, stanze, e ditta, scale ed altro che occorrerà e ciò in vigore degli ordini della Sagra Congregazione del Buon Governo, ad effetto di ottenere la cessione, che si farà dalla Comunità a questa nostra Accademia dell'uso perpetuo di detta fabbrica per l'effetto suddetto. E promettono li detti signori Accademici di fare un tal annuo pagamento per questo primo anno in mani del signor Stefano Vibi esattore eletto dalla Congregazione oggi venuta di detta Accademia, dal quale dovrà poi consegnarsi la somma esatta in mano del signor Domenico Cerboncelli Depositario della suddetta Accademia ad effetto di farne il rinvestimento annuo accenato, e negli anni susseguenti in mano dell'altro esattore che verrà eletto, e così di anno in anno col peso sempre di farli pervenire in mano di detto signor Cerboncelli, il quale radunato che avrà una somma sufficiente dovrà avere il peso di rinvestirla coll'intelligenza sempre però della suddetta Accademia in uno o più investimenti siguri secondo le somme che esigerà di mano in mano, a secondo le occasioni che si presenteranno sigure e fruttifere, ed il fruttato di questi rinvestimenti debba esigersi ogn'anno dal detto signor Cerboncelli Depositario, detto sopra eletto, senza che gli altri signori Accademici o Principe pro tempore abbia avere il pensiero di fare simili riscossioni e questi frutti debbono impiegarsi in risarcimento delle case come sopra da cedersi all'Accademia, né convertirsi in altr'uso senza licenza della medesima, ed in caso in qualch'anno non abbisognassero tali risarcimenti per il mantenimento della casa suddetta, si debbano riservare per altre occasioni di detti risarcimenti. E promettono li suddetti signori Accademici, come sopra presenti, il presente obbligo sempre attendere ed osservare colle suddette condizioni, mai contro di esse fare, dire o venire, anzi farvi acconsentire ogni o qualunque persona e che a loro è lecito di farla volendo essere sempre tenuti alla perpetua oservanza [sic] del medesimo colle suddette condizioni non solo in questo ma anche in ogni modo migliore. [Notaio Vittorio Paolucci. Archivio Notarile Umbertide. Registro n. 866]. Contratto di cessione della sala del teatro In Dei nomine amen. Anno Domini millesimo septingentesimo octuagesimo terbio [1783] - In prima die vero prima mensis februarii [1 febbraio]... Personalmente costituiti avanti di me notaro e testimoni infrascritti l'Eccellentissimo Signor Dottore Giuseppe figlio della beata memoria del Signor Capitano Giantommaso Paolucci e li Signori Vittorio del quondam [fu] Bernardino Ceccarelli, Filippo del quondam Giambattista Legnetti anche in nome di Pietro del quondam Benedetto Crosti tutti di questa Terra della Fratta a me cogniti pubblici rappresentanti della Comunità di questa Terra li quali facendo l'atto infrascritto in virtù della risoluzione del pubblico generale Consiglio celebrato sotto il dì 9 maggio 1780, copia di cui a me diedero per inscriverla col presente istromento, del tenore alla quale, ed in vigore delle facoltà riportate a seconda del medesimo Consiglio della Sagra Congregazione del Buon Governo e della Sagra Consulta, che si giustifica colle lettere di Monsignore Illustrissimo e Reverendissimo Governatore di Perugia in data del 27 giugno e 29 aprile dell'anno 1780, che parimente a me diedero per allegarle nel presente strumento, del tenore che in vece e nome di detta Comunità danno, cedono e concedono per uso perpetuo dell'Accademia de' Riuniti di detta Terra alli signori Accademici di essa e per la medesima all'eccellentissimo signor dottore Gioacchino Maria della beata memoria del signor Mariano Savelli governatore al presente della Terra d'Otricoli parimente a me cognito deputato da essa a questo atto nell'adunanza tenuta il dì 24 gennaro scorso copia della quale parimente a me diedero ad effetto d'inserirla nel presente istromento per detta Accademia e Signori Riuniti assieme con me notaio stipulante ed accettante in favore l'uso perpetuo della casa ov'è il pubblico teatro, alla quale si sale con scala di pietra al di fuori, posta in questa Terra della Fratta nella Piazza del Grano di questa Comunità, ove è la Rocca, conforme davanti la detta Piazza, da un lato la casa del signor Pensa e Padri Minori Conventuali di San Francesco di questa medesima Terra, e dagli altri lati le mura castellane, e di sotto la pubblica Cancelleria, l'Archivio e Carceri, qual casa consiste in una sala, ove è il teatro e la platea del medesimo e due camere contigue a detta sala con tutti i suoi scioiti, annessi, connessi, membri, adiacenze, pertinenze, ponendolo, costituendolo, dandogli... E questa cessione fanno detù Signori pubblici rappresentanti perché asseriscono e confessano aver fatto acquisto della casa degli eredi Petrogalli di detta Terra per il preciso fine ed effetto dell'abitazione del signor Commissario pro tempore per cui servirà la casa ceduta a uso de' Cancellieri, Sbirri e Balivo come appare per rogito del signor dottore Filippo Maria Savelli notaio di questa Terra il dì 8 gennaio 1780, al quale [si rinvia], con li seguenti patti, capitoli e condizioni, cioè: 1. che li Signori Accademici pro tempore siano tenuti mantenere detta casa di tutti li necessari risarcimenti, senza che la Comunità suddetta abbia avervi alcun pensiero, conforme detto signor deputato in vece e nome di essa Accademia promette di fare a tenore del detto gentile Consiglio, ed approva [il suddetto], per il quale oggetto di mantenimento obbliga ed ipoteca il rinvestimento che hanno promesso di fare li detti Signori Accademici per rogito mio il dì 24 gennaio di detto anno, volendo e dichiarando che il fondo o rinvestimento da farsi come sopra di scudi sessanta dalli detti Signori Accademici delli loro proprii denari resti perpetuamente obbligato per detto mantenimento di casa, quale dovrà farsi colli frutti che decorreranno del detto rinvestimento, senza che il capitale e frutti di esso possano convertirsi in altr'uso, e non altrimenti. 2. che in caso si dissolvesse quest'adunanza di Riuniti, la Comunità suddetta possa e debba rientrare al possesso ed uso della casa come sopra descritto con tutti i suoi risarcimenti, bonificazioni e che il rinvestimento da farsi per fondo di detto mantenimento resti vincolato ed ogni casa delli suddetti Signori Accademici possa ritirare quella somma che avrà sborsata per sommare il suddetto capitale colli suoi frutti, in caso non fossero stati impiegati. E siccome la Comunità cede all'Accademia il solo dominio utile di detta casa, benché perpetuo, conviene per patto espresso, quale detto signor deputato intende, vuole e dichiara che si abbia per espresso nel principio, mezzo e fine del presente istromento, altrimenti non sarebbe venuto al presente contratto: che dandosi qualche caso fortuito d'incendio, terremoto o altro sinistro accadente (che Iddio non voglia) 1'Accademia suddetta non sia tenuta ad alcun risarcimento, sul riflesso che la Comunità si riserva il dominio diretto e non altrimenti, perché così. 3. che sia leccito [sic] alli Signori Accademici pro tempore di ampliare la platea, fare aggiunta, mutare ingresso, fare li cassini e tutto altro che stimeranno opportuno per l'esercizio delle loro accademie e recite di commedie e come a loro più piacerà e parerà per maggiore ornamento, comodo e decoro del luogo pubblico. E finalmente che la chiave di detta casa debba tenersi dal Principe o Presidente pro tempore di detta Accademia. Dichiarando detti signori pubblici rappresentanti debba restare in perpetuo l'uso della casa Petrogalli, come sopra comprata per il signor Commissario, Cancellieri e Sbirri e Balivo e la casa e di lei uso, ove è il detto teatro, debba ancor questa restare in perpetuo per l'Accademia suddetta dei Riuniti, senza che mai possa ritogliersi, promettendo di sempre e perpetuamente mantenerla nel libero, quieto e pacifico posesso [sic] ed uso di essa, né a ciò mai contro dire o venire per qualunque capo, causa o motivo, volendo esser sempre tenuti in nome della loro Comunità ch'a perpetua osservanza del presente contratto non solo in questo, ma anche in ogni altro modo migliore. [Notaio Vittorio Paolucci. Archivio Notarile Umbertide. Registro n. 866.] Lettera di Giampietro Pensa Giampietro Pensa da Città di Castello [omissis] l'espone avere una casa nella Terra della Fratta per la metà ed indivisa con questi Reverendi Padri Conventuali di San Francesco posta nella Piazza frumentaria, presso davanti la detta piazza, di dietro li sciolti delle muraglie castellane, da uno il palazzo del pubblico, casa ereditaria del Fracassini, ora de' Signori conti Ranieri di Perugia rifermata in ultimo luogo al detto oratore in terza generazione il dì 8 novembre 1741 per rogito del fu Maurizio Savelli notaro di detta Terra e descritta al libro livellare di detta sua mensa a carta 59; e siccome desidero vendere la metà della medesima casa per indivisa, come sopra, stimata dai periti communi in somma di scudi 15, supplica pertanto l'oratore Vostra Illustrissima [...] per la licenza di poter vendere detta casa per il suddetto prezzo ..... Nulla osta rilasciato dalla Diocesi Nulla osta del Vescovo di Gubbio relativo alla compra-vendita della casa del Pansa adiacente al teatro. Attentis narratis servato dominis favore nostrae mensae episcopalis et sine prejudicio habentium meliora et potiora jura quater oratori petitam licentiam vendendi medietatem domus, de qua in precibus, concedimus atque impartimus ita tamen ut emptor intra debitum tempus precies nobis porrigat ad effectum conseguendi debitam investituram, et non intelligatur illatum illum praejudicium [...] exigendi canones decursos et non solutos. Incipiendi datum Eugubii ex Cancelleria Episcopale hac die prima mensis septembris 1785. Episcupus Eugubino Franciscus Lusieri LVD. Cancelliere Episcopale. Stima della casa dei frati Noi Maestri muratori [Bruni e Porrini] di questa Terra della Fratta, essendo stati richiesti, Mastro Pietro Bruni ad istanza dell'illustrissimo signor Domenico Cerboncelli come Depositario degli Accademici del teatro di questa Terra della Fratta, e Mastro Francesco Porrini ad istanza dei Padri Minori Conventuali di questa medesima Terra per vedere, considerare, stimare e riferire il giusto prezzo e valore di una casa che in comune si gode da terra fino al tetto dalli suddetti Padri Conventuali e dalla suddetta Accademia del teatro posta in questa Terra nella Piazza della Rocca che confina da Levante le mura castellane mediante lo steccato, O [occidente] la Piazza della Rocca et eredi Fracassini, S [sud] il teatro salvi etc. composta di tre piani e stalla a pianterreno, il prezzo della qual casa, libera da ogni defalco, la giudichiamo secondo la nostra perizia e coscienza avendo minutamente considerato ascendere a scudi sessanta moneta romana di paoli dieci per scudo e per essere tutto ciò alla verità conforme sarà il presente foglio sottoscritto e rispettivamente segnato col segno della Santa Croce da noi infrascritti. In fede questo dì 26 febbraio 1787 nella Terra della Fratta. [Notaio Giovan Battista Burelli. Archivio Notarile Umbertide. Registro 885 c. 30]. Richiesta dei frati al Vescovo Illustrissimo e reverendissimo Monsignore, il Guardiano e Religiosi Minori Conventuali di San Francesco della Terra della Fratta umilmente rappresentano a Vostra Signoria Illustrissima e Reverendissima come, fra gli altri stabili al loro Convento appartenenti, tengono una casa in detta Terra situata nella Piazza della Rocca compatronale ed indivisa con l'Accademia del teatro di detto luogo del valore di scudi sessanta moneta romana, trenta dei quali appartenenti e di ragione al loro Convento e gli altri trenta a detta Accademia; come anche ritengono un pezzo d'orto del valore di scudi quattro romana moneta, e siccome sì dell'uno che dell'altro ne ritraggono al presente poco e quasi niente d'utile, supplicano pertanto Vostra Signoria Illustrissima e Reverendissima volergli accordare il permesso di poter vendere detti stabili ascendenti al valore di scudi trentaquattro, come dalle perizie giurate e qui annesse, obbligandosi di depositare il denaro nel loro errario [sic] per rinvestirlo poi in miglior fondo. Che della grazia..... [Notaio Giovanni Battista Burelli. Archivio Notarile Umbertide. Registro 885 c. 29 ]. Contratto di compravendita tra i frati e gli accademici In Dei nomine amen.Die vigesima septima junii anno... [27 giugno 1788] Presenti e personalmente costituiti alla presenza mia e dei testimoni infrascritti li Reverendissimi Padri Francesco Antonio Celestini guardiano, Filippo Maria Magnanini e Felice Antonio Angelucci sacerdoti e religiosi di famiglia del venerabile convento de' Minori Conventuali di San Francesco di questa Terra della Fratta e quello intieramente rappresentando, tutti a me cogniti, i quali inerendo alla risoluzione del loro Capitolo congregato fin dal dì 21 maggio 1787, al quale di loro spontanea volontà ed in ogni altro modo migliore, in vigore della licenza e facoltà ottenuta dall'Illustrissimo e Reverendissimo Monsignor Vescovo di Gubbio, come dal suo rescritto in data 4 marzo 1788 che a me fu dato originale per inserirlo nel presente istromento, al quale danno, cedono e vendono all'Accademia del Teatro dei Riuniti di questa Terra, e per essa al [...] signor Don Nicolò del quondam signor Pietro Antonio Guardabassi membro della medesima qui presente a me cognito, a tale effetto dall'Accademia medesima deputato e per essa insieme con me notaio accettante e stipulante. La metà indivisa d'una casa, che detto convento godeva in comune coll'Accademia suddetta posta in questa Terra nella Piazza della Rocca, confinante nella parte posteriore le muraglie castellane mediante lo steccato; davanti la Piazza suddetta, da un lato le case degli eredi Fracassini e dall'altro il teatro suddetto salvi, composta di tre piani e stalla a pian terreno, con tutti i suoi scioiti, membri e pertinenze, ad avere, tenere e possedere con tutte e singole ragioni al detto convento competenti, ponendola e costituendola e fintantoché [omissis - formule varie] per il prezzo di scudi trenta moneta romana a tenore del foglio di perizia… [Notaio Giovanni Battista Burelli. Archivio Notarile Umbertide. Registro n. 885 c. 27]. Fonti: “Umbertide nel Secolo XVIII” di Renato Codovini e Roberto Sciurpa – Comune di Umbertide – Gesp, 2003

In questa sezione, con le sue sottosezioni, viene presentata la storia documentale ed archivistica, che tende soprattutto a descrivere gli accadimenti istituzionali e politici.  History In this section, with its subsections, documentary and archival history is presented, which tends above all to describe institutional and political events. For the moment we will focus on the main town, Fratta and then Umbertide, and on the hilly and flat rural territory. The main settlements present in the municipal territory are still not investigated, some such as Preggio with an established settlement history even older than the current Umbertide; we will try in the continuation of this adventure to heal these shortcomings. The history of the populations who inhabited our territory, the productive use they made of it, the settlements built, centralized and isolated, touch a horizon of aspects so broad that they all deserve to be addressed. Our intent, in fact, is to present all the different "perspectives" with which the "history" of our country can be reconstructed. The "short time" in fact, the guideline of the research reported in the subsections described above, gives us a story focused on the birth and history of the main agglomeration of Fratta / Umbertide, but allows us to see only the institutional-political events, as far as they can add up in a millennial diachronic sequence. While the development and consequences of economic structures require an investigation that you seek with a "long time" to be recognized, they are detailed in the " Thematic history " page . At the moment for the subsections " From Antiquity to '700 " and for " Nineteenth century and Risorgimento " we present a historical reconstruction based on paper archives starting from the XII century, while we will subsequently analyze more adequately the history of our most fragmented territory, that is to say that up to the origins. " The Fratta of the sixteenth century" and " The War of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany " retrace the events and social life of the sixteenth century. Together with them, for the same historical period, we have created the subsection on the Statutes of the Fratta of 1521, which allows you to read and download the Statutes in a complete transcription in the vernacular with an interactive internal search mode. And many more The contemporaneity will be investigated above all in the section " From the twentieth century to today ", benefiting from a greater series of historical sources and news. The reference sources of the first two subsections are those of the SIUSA (Unified Information System for Archival Superintendencies) which in 2010-11 with Sargentini Cristiana and Santolamazza Rossella drafted and corrected the relative entry on "Fratta / Umbertide". As regards the history in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, also for our country it was necessary to resort to the statutory sources of Perugia, which constitute the reference regulatory framework for the communities scattered in the countryside; in particular the Perugian reform of 1396, with which the roles of castellan and podestà of Sigillo, Montone and Fratta, up to then carried out by two distinct officials, were unified forming "unum officium et unum corpus castellanantia cum potestaria". With this resolution, a "vir bonus et fidelis" was designated to administer each of those communities. The territory of the castle of Fratta from that moment had different "institutional profiles": from sec. XIV - sec. XVIII was a " Community" of the "State of the Church", a denomination which, due to the loss of archival material, with certainty will return only in the period 1815 - 1870, after the short period in which Fratta was part, from 1798-1814, of the Communities of Lazio in the French period; in the 1859 it was established as a "Municipality" and then equipped with a " Civil State Office" in Umbria, 1860 - 1865. In this period, in 1862, it passed from the name of Fratta to that of "Umbertide". A bibliography " Texts and links to consult" with the studies published on Umbertide and his history and society and a sitography to deepen on the web, they will allow us to continue in the knowledge of our Umbertide. The page on the " Degree Thesis " will host the parts or complete theses of young and old who have wanted to study our territory in some aspect and wish to make it a common cultural heritage. Photo: Umbertide da Montacuto: the growth of the city to the south of the original nucleus of Fratta. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Winston Churchill "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." "The more you can look back, the more you will be able to see forward."

HISTORICAL NOTES OF THE UMBERTIDE MUSICAL BAND From the book by Amedeo Massetti "Two centuries on the march - Umbertide and the band" (Petruzzi Editore - May 2008) We dedicate this page of umbertidestoria to Amedeo Massetti who dedicated the last years of his life to local historical research with great passion and competence and of which he left us testimony with the beautiful and well documented book on the history of the city band. We propose here some excerpts, also considering that the story of the maestro Alessandro Franchi (a myth for the old musicians who knew him) is included in the page dedicated to the biographies of the twentieth century. It is clear that we refer to Amedeo's book all those who wish to deepen or know better this exciting story that continues even today. Curated by Fabio Mariotti The origins: music in Fratta The practice of singing during religious services, as is well known, was widely consolidated in medieval times. The first testimonies of musical performances in Fratta date back to the fourteenth century and are to be contextualized in the context of associative life linked to lay Confraternities. These Confraternities or Companies had their own headquarters and carried out their activity in some churches in the town, such as those of Santa Croce and San Francesco. They had their own regulations, their own administration and were under the control of the bishop. In the chapels, the Confraternities had the religious offices celebrated by a clergyman regularly paid by them, who also had the task of teaching music to some boy who then performed what he had learned in the liturgical ceremonies in the church. Hence, in Fratta the first approach to musical language consists of these simple performances of sacred and liturgical music which took place under the direction of the chaplain. In the Fratta of the seventeenth century, the teaching of music was entrusted to the teacher of the public school of the country - always a priest - managed by the Confraternity of Santa Croce. He instructed the young people of the most prominent families and being often an expert in music and organist in the church, he also took care of the parish choir. Even in the following centuries, musical education will find its natural and qualified seat in the oratories of the churches. The wealthiest Confraternities had always had a chapel master employed by them, usually a clergyman. He took care of the singing liturgy and gave music lessons to the children who attended the oratory and were part of the choir. In 1764 the chapel master of the parish of Santa Maria della Reggia, Silvestro Fanfani, received a (considerable) compensation of 76.33 scudi. Between the parishes and the various Confraternities "a competition of emulation was often unleashed to give religious events the character of grandiose solemnity, precisely through music and choral singing". For the feast of the Madonna, for example, on September 8, 1695, the parish of Santa Maria della Reggia spent 1.62 scudi for the musicians who performed lettanias, sung mass and solemn vespers. Even two years later, on 9 September 1697, Maurizio Savelli received 7 paoli for recognition of the music, that is, for the payment of the musicians who had solemnized the festivity with their work ". The rich Confraternities, such as that of Santa Croce, called foreign masters among the best and most famous of the time. These musicians had a salary of a few scudi a year, but they supplemented their income with other proceeds and lent their work in more Confraternities. In Fratta, there were never more than two or three, despite being the most numerous Confraternities. In a receipt of payment of 1704 to the master Galeazzi by the Confraternity of Santa Croce, we find this annotation: "Our Brotherhood has always been in the habit of keeping the Chapel Master of this land salaried with the annual salary of four scudi, with the obligation to make music for the feast of the Holy Cross, the Madonna and for the three evenings of the 'Exhibition of the Most Holy in Carnival, and other festivals such as at the Council of 21 November 1704 ”. In the minutes of the meeting of May 3, 1707, there is confirmation of the existence of a regular music course dedicated to children at the Oratory of Santa Croce and in it it is even proposed to give a salary to the youth who practice music by half paul for each time they will participate to sing for the feasts of our church. There was therefore a real music school, so much so that an economic incentive was deemed necessary for those less motivated young people, who perhaps preferred other amusements to the commitment of the choir. Even the Confraternity of San Bernardino, second in importance to that of Santa Croce, had its own Chapel Master, who in 1706 was Father Romanelli, a friar minor convent of Perugia, for the exercise of music in ecclesiastical functions and for the routing of young people. In some particularly important circumstances, musicians were brought in from outside, paying them high fees. In 1765, for example, for the construction of the Collegiate Church, 116 scudi and 31.5 baiocchi were spent on the new choir. The sum was considerable: in addition to the remuneration for the numerous musicians and the various transport costs, the sumptuous and delicious lunch was also very important, the main dish of which was the Sicilian maccaroni pie, prepared during the three days of the group's stay at Fratta. In 1795, the Confraternity of the Holy Conception, for the feast of the same name, brought ten professors of music and the chapel master of the cathedral of Città di Castello, for which ten scudi were spent, however, not considered Mr. Domenico Bruni who came to favor. Other expenses incurred for the payment of musicians can be found in the recordings of Santa Maria della Reggia, in the note of the gifts given to various attendants of this Collegiate on the occasion of Christmas, Easter and 8 September 1819. In addition to the chapel master , a remuneration was also paid to Dr. Burelli, GioBatta Spinetti, Bonaventura Spinetti (singer), and Antonio Manzini (tenor singer). "In that year at Santa Maria della Reggia there was still the chapel master Giovanni Manzini , who died a few years later; in 1824 the Collegiate Church paid a sum to Mariangela Manzini, widow of the choirmaster. Alongside the teaching linked to the ecclesiastical environment, there was a musical teaching that took place in the classic way of the time: the disciple stayed in the master's house in a kind of boarding school or boarding school for the years necessary to learn all the secrets of the art. . The relationship between the pupil's family and the teacher was regulated by a notarial deed, and the chapel masters often trained young people in music. In Fratta we find a first example of this in 1774: Clemente Ciangottini entrusted his son Mariano to Domenico Romeggini, from Lucca, who at that time was the chapel master of the Confraternity of Santa Croce. The boy would have had to stay with him for ten years, following the teacher in all his movements, and an annual fee would have been paid to this. But Mariano, two years before the expiration of the contract, ran away leaving his teacher and forcing his father to pay the teacher a large sum for damages. Photo: Historical photographic archive of the Municipality of Umbertide The first marching band The group with the characteristics of a musical band, in the sense that is given to this term today, was established in Fratta on September 1, 1833. It took life within that private company, not dependent on civil or religious institutions, freely created by a group of citizens associated with each other and music lovers, of which it has been said: the Philharmonic Society of Fratta . The founders of the association were almost all very young and belonged to the class of landowners, bourgeois, or to that of craftsmen, that is, artisans or artists. The group of twenty-two members, who were also called Academics, because the Philharmonic Societies also had the name of Philharmonic Academies, was made up of Domenico Agostini, Giuseppe Agostini, Ruggero Burelli, Macrobio Brischi, Niceforo Cambiotti, Luigi Carelli, Domenico Carotini, Pasquale Chimenti , Giovanni Gigli, Lelio Lazzarini, Luigi Magi Spinetti, Luigi Mariani, Alessandro Martinelli, Angelo Martinelli, Demofonte Mastriforti, Antonio Montagnini, Averardo Paulucci, Cipriano Santini, Francesco Santini, Luigi Savelli, Luigi Vescarelli, and Antonio Vibi. We have news of almost all of them in the municipal historical archive. - Domenico Agostini , employee of the Municipality, in charge of "road maintenance assistant"; - Giuseppe Agostini , born in Fratta on 21 August 1817, landowner, lived in via Dritta (now via Cibo); he will carry out the functions of Prior and will participate in the first war of independence ''; - Ruggero Burelli , born in Fratta on 25 June 1803, landowner and notary; municipal secretary, a position he held for many years; lived in via del Teatro (now via Alberti); - Macrobius Brischi , "artiere" (craftsman), blacksmith; - Niceforo Cambiotti , miller: his family practiced this trade already in the 17th century; - Domenico Carotini , born in Fratta on 14 July 1805, maker of clay vases; lived in via di Castelnuovo (now via Cavour); in the municipal concert of 1862 he will play the "quartino"; - Pasquale Chimenti , ceramist; - Giovanni Gigli , born in Fratta on March 4, 1813, potter; he lived in Piazza del Mercato (today's Piazza Caduti del Lavoro); - Lelio Lazzarini , landowner, municipal councilor; from 1856 until September 1860, the year in which the temporal power of the Pope in Umbria, Prior of Fratta, ended; in December 1862, councilor acting as Mayor; - Luigi Magi Spinetti , owner; - Luigi Mariani , born in Fratta on September 6, 1807, "artiere", probably a blacksmith, lived in via San Francesco (now via Soli); in the municipal concert of 1862 he will blow the horn; - Angelo Martinelli , born in Fratta on 25 July 1805, potter and landowner; lived in via del Mercato (now via Magi Spinetti); he will be municipal councilor from 1838 to 1847; he played the bass (he will also play it in the 1862 concert); - Demofonte Mastriforti , born on June 28, 1813, lived in via Bremizia (now via Roma) at no. 24; "blacksmith-gilder, on 12 March 1849 he was elected municipal councilor"; - Antonio Montagnini , born in Fratta on May 31, 1815, shoemaker, lived in via Dritta (now via Cibo); in the 1862 Concerto he will play the clarinet; - Averardo Paulucci , born on 10 April 1810, cashier of the Philharmonic Society; landowner, he lived in via Cavour; he was also the contractor for the duty on the introduction of wood and other fuels; in the 1862 Concerto the piccolo will play: - Cipriano Santini , landowner, was among other things the owner of the farm in the Vocabolo "Fosso"; - Doctor Francesco Santini, born in Fratta on 24 May 1795, landowner, lived in Piazza San Francesco; municipal councilor; in 1840 and 1841, Prior; - Luigi Savelli , born in Fratta on November 22, 1800, landowner, lived in via Dritta (now via Cibo); from 1838, for some years, municipal tax collector; from 1 November 1817 until 1818 and from 1825 until 1860 teacher of reading, writing and numerics in the municipal school; - Luigi Vescarelli , born in Fratta on February 19, 1810, post officer; lived in via di Castelnuovo (now via Cavour); he will be elected city councilor on 12 March 1849. In a meeting following the establishment of the Philharmonic, on December 1, 1833, the Academicians drew up a regulation in which the organizational, financial and musical aspects of associative life were established. This Specification, which consists of 26 articles, is the oldest document found so far on our band, and places it among those with more distant origins, not only in Umbria, but also in Italy. The formal constitution deed of the Company made official the existence of a group that had already been aggregating in previous years. It was most likely some of these musicians who had performed Don Antonio Guerrini's Te Deum in the church of San Francesco six years earlier, on 10 June 1827, even though the instrumental group had been integrated with foreign elements. Guerrini himself, a man of great culture and promoter of important initiatives in the early nineteenth century Fratta had cooperated in the formation of the band, probably also teaching music to many of its members. It is interesting to note how the regulation, in 1833, highlights the presence also in Fratta, within the Philharmonic Society, of a Turkish band, that is, of a "specialized" section of the band, limited to a few instruments, probably only percussions ( the kick drum, the cymbals, the snare drum, etc.), which was convened only for special occasions and upon prior notice. In fact, it had to provide its service - reads the Specifications - only when it had received the prior notice. Let's see the rules that our academics had set themselves and how the Philharmonic Society of our country worked, whose urban center had 825 inhabitants in that year. Organizational and artistic aspect Two deputies dealt with the general economic aspect. Similar to the managing directors of our day, they were renewed every six months, by drawing (by lot) among all the members of the Company. Therefore the two top managerial functions were held in turn by all the shareholders; this criterion denotes a notable form of internal democracy, balanced however by the selective admission of members who, without class prejudices, must have been pleasing to the group of founders. In fact, it was difficult to enter the music association and the admission requirements make us think of a fairly closed group. The candidates had to submit a written request to the president who, after having ascertained the musical ability of the applicant, submitted it to the shareholders' meeting; the request was accepted only with a majority of 2/3 of the votes. However, if any of the shareholders were against it, he brought his reasons to the assembly, and if they were recognized as correct, he did not even proceed to the vote. Discipline, in a group of a fair number of people, was quite rigorous. Everyone had to submit to the authority of the music teacher, the band leader and the director, the most important operational roles in the association, who chose the pieces to be performed and also indicated those to be learned by heart. They could establish additional tests in addition to the usual Sunday tests. In fact, since the components were busy during the week in their work, being owners, employees and artisans, the rehearsals took place on Sunday, usually at two in the afternoon, in a room intended for this use, probably the theater, the only space then existing in the village for recreational activities. Only the Academicians attended, that is, the members of the Philharmonic Society, who had to behave in such a way as not to disturb education in the slightest part. The player could not show up late for rehearsals or music services. If he did so, after half an hour of tolerance, he was fined three baiocchi, and for each piece performed before his arrival he paid another baiocco, in addition to not receiving his share of the regalia, that is, the compensation received by the band for that performance. . No other reason was admitted, if not illness or urgent commitments, of which the director had to be notified in advance. Who notified the musicians of the date of the extraordinary rehearsals and of the services to be performed through the janitor, who probably also had the task of preparing and rearranging the registered office. Within 15 days of the assignment, a musician chosen by lot had to copy the scores with clear and correct writing. Everyone had to have some training and know how to write the music in beautiful handwriting, then distributed to the banders who had to read and play it. The music masters of the various instruments attributed to their students the place in the band and established their role in the instrumental ensemble. Alternatively, the attribution was the responsibility of the director, bearing in mind the boy's ability and talent. The teachers trained the young pupils in a way complete, providing them too (such as could do Antonio Guerrini , gifted with great musical preparation) notions of harmony, composition and counterpoint, in addition to those of reading of music and instrument technique. The Fratta Philharmonic Society included a set of wind instrument players (brass and woodwinds and strings (strings), and also a singer; depending on the type of service requested, he adapted the staff to the circumstance. The uniforms were not provided by the Company. But charged of each musician. The winter one, which was worn from autumn until March, it consisted of a black dress and black trousers; in spring and summer, however, he would wear black dress and white trousers. Failing that, it was recommended to wear the most decent clothing. Some, therefore, do not they possessed what was required and, on the occasion of the services of the band, wore the best clothes. The musicians had the obligation to jealously guard their instruments and repair any damage; at the end of each service they had to return them and deposit them in the gang room. They could also buy them, and in this case the gifts due to them were passed to the cashier until full payment. But the hit instruments, that is the bass drum, the tambourine, the cymbals and the triangle, even if purchased, had to remain in the band's room and, in case of absence, the player delegated to use a person he trusted. If he had not done so, the Society of the band would appoint the most suitable and responsible: the rhythmic instruments were considered essential in the performance and there always had to be someone to play them, like today. The musical group also performed services outside Fratta and could stay away even more than a day. He animated village festivals and gave concerts. The Philharmonic Society had an eminently civil and secular character (even if it participated in religious feasts and ceremonies), with a repertoire both sacred and profane. The deputies (managing directors) thought of providing the venue or space suitable for public performance. The amount of the donation payable by those requesting the musical services was determined by the deputies themselves. In the country, it could not be less than scudi 1.50; outside Fratta with scudi 2, in addition to transport, food and lodging. If a theatrical company required the intervention of banders for a show at the theater, the deputies established a preferential price with the manager so that the amount of it does not ruin the company and prevent the population from enjoying this entertainment. In this case, therefore, the local instrumentalists necessary for the theatrical performance played for a low fee, sometimes even symbolic, for the appreciable purpose of allowing the Frattisans to attend the theater performances of the passing companies ". The compulsory exits were those of Corpus Domini and of the Holy Conception (8 December), occasions in which probably the band, in addition to playing in the church, also accompanied the procession. Those who joined the band had to sign a specification for acceptance which established, among other things, the duration of the Society for a six-year period, which would end in August 1839. We do not know for certain whether at the natural expiry of the six years the Philharmonic Society of Fratta formally renewed his commitment; however it is certain that the brass and woodwind band continued to play regularly, and five years later, in 1844, at the height of its activity, it will serve in important celebrations in the country. Economic aspect A deputy, elected every two months, kept the register of the attendance of musicians at rehearsals and services, of delays and fines (puntature), which he himself applied by collecting the sanction, for unjustified absences. At the end of the mandate, he presented the statement, pouring the proceeds into the hands of the cashier. The cashier had to keep the cashier of the stakes and gifts: in essence, he paid the fees for the services of the band in the cashier, from which he took the bonuses for the players. The money from the stakes was reserved (when there was an adequate sum) for a recreation (convivial meeting, party) at a time chosen by the players, but, depending on their amount, they could also be reinvested in the Company for the purchase. of tools or other. In the event of expulsion, the musician was not entitled to the distribution of the gifts; the episodes of disagreement between the master, band leader or director with the banders were dealt with by the entire Society, convened to resolve the dispute. The musicians received an equal share, including the singers; the ringleader one and a half altitude, the low band half altitude. The latter was almost certainly the rhythm section of the group, that is, those who played the percussion instruments. In fact, we find that, in the Treviglio band (also from 1833), the term low band indicated the tamburone bass drum), the tamburella (snare drum), the sistro chinese and the cymbals. The players of these instruments were evidently thought to be a less educated and less skilled group and took half the others. The Philharmonic Society of Fratta, structured and regulated in this way, continued to exist until 1852 as a private association, independent from public institutions, even after the issue of Cardinal Gamberini's circular. Evidently the Statute respected the criteria established by the circular of 1835 if the Prior of Fratta, in 1852, reported to the Austrian Command of Perugia that the Philharmonic Society, even though it had not "asked for nor ... had any superior permission", had continued to operate . Photo: - Historical photographic archive of the Municipality of Umbertide - Amedeo Massetti (from the book on the history of the Umbertide band) The centenary party and the fanfare of the Civic Guard The Centenary Festival and the band A memorable performance by the Band of the Fratta Philharmonic Society took place in 1844, on the occasion of the great Centenary Festival which was celebrated for the second time, repeating that of 1744, a century earlier. An event was recalled whose echo, after two centuries, had not faded at all, but still profoundly marked the collective memory: the end of the war of the Grand Duke of 1644, which had also closely affected our small city on the Tiber, besieged by he Tuscan army which had put the Fratigians in serious danger, who had built formidable fortifications on the walls and with great fear had prepared for the worst. The bicentenary became the occasion of grandiose celebrations that were concentrated particularly in the days of the traditional September festivities: from the 5th to the 8th of the month. The greatest expenses were borne by the Confraternities who, since January 1st, had formed deputations with the task of going around the country to collect funds. Printed tickets were sent to the owners of the houses to light them with torches, and on September 6 a balloon was raised. There was also a free horse race along the straight stretch of the road to Città di Castello, over the bridge over the Tiber, where, in the first hundred meters, a long embankment ran. And since a large turnout of people was expected, as in reality it was, a long wooden fence was built on both sides of the road to ensure the safety of the crowd. On the 7th and 8th of September, at nightfall, fireworks were launched at will; over a thousand mortars were purchased in Città di Castello and shot by the only Frattisan expert, Pietro Barafano. The houses, the town hall and the town gates were illuminated with wind torches, and the oil lamps were left on along the streets for all four nights. There were various performances at the theater and a service of the marching band. After those of 1835, 1837, 1839 and 1840, this is another important historical documented news of the performance of our city band complex in a specific public service. He had been called to animate the party by the Compagnia della SS.ma Concezione, from which he was also paid. Perhaps he had done months of rehearsals to prepare a repertoire worthy of this special occasion and he had probably never played in front of so many people. We imagine the skill of these musicians in obtaining harmonious notes from the instruments of the time, not as perfected and technologically advanced as the modern ones. The players probably wore the "black dress and white trousers", the summer uniform established by the regulation. Perhaps they will have performed in Piazza del Grano , also called del Marchese, which was smaller than today or perhaps, after having gathered in the space between the doors near the bridge, they will have pushed marching towards the Prato del Comune where there were so many people who attended the horse race. Or, more likely, they will have played in the Sant'Erasmo market or in the Piazza del Borgo Inferiore enough space for a stationary performance, surrounded by hundreds of festive people. In addition to all this, there were solemn religious functions with the participation of many players who came from Sant'Angelo in Vado, Città di Castello, Gubbio, Perugia and Foligno. The anniversary remained memorable. In this feast there was also another orchestra in Fratta made up of about twenty elements from outside, which had played in the various churches during the solemn religious functions. The components had been paid for separately, one by one, as shown by specific registrations and regular receipts. The band had therefore carried out a mainly civil service, of animation of the party, parading and playing among the crowded streets of the town, even if it is probable that it participated in some procession, which certainly did not fail for this event, given the devotion of the Friars to Madonna della Reggia to which they attributed the grace of having escaped, two centuries earlier, to the fury of the army of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Dense of events, therefore, these festivals of September of 1844, and never repeated again. After this anniversary, for the celebrations in honor of the Madonna, everything fell within the usual limits. The fanfare of the Civic Guard Different from that of the band was the phenomenon of the fanfare of the Civic Guard in Fratta. In March 1848, on the occasion of the institution of the Civic Guard, the Municipal Council decided to bring together a concert for the Civic Guard with the obligation to also lend itself to the public sorties of the Magistrate [...] and it was approved. The proposal to organize a musical band within the City Corps came from the councilors Giuseppe Savelli and Angelo Martinelli , passionate musicians, both double bass players, whom we will find four years later as members of the Fratta Philharmonic Dilettanti and in 1861 active directors of the Concert Society. Probably, what was intended to be created and which was almost certainly established, was a fanfare: a small group of musicians from the band who were also part of the civic guard and gathered to play in public events and in the outings of the Magistrate for civil ceremonies. A military fanfare, in short, with instruments that were perhaps more suited to parades than to concerts. In these circumstances it was necessary to use a few more percussion instruments, at least two more drums. For the occasion it was said that he would have wanted to buy one, finding someone from outside, because Fratta's was not very capable. However, the question was resolved by sending the drummer Giacinto Tancredi to a specialization course in Perugia. The institution of the Civic Guard created in Fratta great enthusiasm, and probably the members of the fanfare were the best wind instrument players of the band, who had thus found another opportunity to express themselves and assumed a further commitment in their musical activity. Since no expense was spared for the equipment of this Corps, it is possible that new tools have been purchased. There is no other information on the activity of the fanfare which, however, probably had to lend its work to Fratta on several occasions. Photo: - Historical photographic archive of the Municipality of Umbertide - Theatrical poster from the book on the city band by Amedeo Massetti The teaching of music in Fratta The Collegiate Church and the choirmaster. Giuseppe Foraboschi While with the birth and development of the bands the music came out of the churches to spread into civil life, the music schools held by the chapel masters continued to be active in Fratta, who shared the alternating fortunes with the bands for a long time. From the music schools, in fact, the bands will draw the highest professionalism and the new generation of musicians. Up to now, the one who had been involved in teaching music in Fratta was the Collegiate Church. Together with the Compagnie (the Confraternities) that contributed to the expense, this provided for an annual sum of 70 scudi for the salary of the choirmaster. In 1810, the master was paid 54 scudi per year. A fabulous figure, considering the salaries of the time ", which always remained at high levels. This explains how many of the best musicians of the time aspired to come to our country to occupy that position. Among the most authoritative masters who had held this position. role had been the canon Antonio Guerrini, composer of Masses and other sacred pieces, such as a full orchestral Te Deum (1827), a Tantum Ergo a tenore (1830) and a Kyrie (1837?) in which only instruments were used for many years Guerrini exercised the office of chapel master of the Collegiata (the main church of his homeland) for many years without ever receiving any remuneration. From 1835 the Municipality of Fratta also contributed to this expense of the Collegiate, participating however in the choice of the teacher. In that year he had allocated a contribution of 25 scudi for the three-year period 1835-1837 and Giuseppe Foraboschi was commissioned, who was also supposed to teach music to young people. “Born in Montefiascone (Sabina) [in 1806, NdA] which later became Perugian, Foraboschi managed the chapel of the cathedral [of San Lorenzo] and the municipal school of Perugia in 1844-1846. Giuseppe Foraboschi of Perugia is named in the diploma of chapel master of the Academy of S. Cecilia, conferred on him on May 30, 1845, which was kept in the reception room of the Shelter he founded. Advisor and censor of the Accademia S. Cecilia, [he was] a pupil in Rome of Maestro Fioravanti, then a teacher in San Pietro. Finding himself in Corfu on the occasion of the passage of King Otto, he was appointed director of all the music of that city, where he replaced Maestro Battagel in the direction of the musical band of the 88th Regiment of His British Majesty, commanded by Colonel O 'Malley, direction that held for six years. From England he moved to Perugia, where he was appointed by the magistrate to succeed Tancioni in 1844 [...]. He attended with many other personalities of music at the funeral of Francesco Morlacchi, celebrated in the cathedral of Perugia on January 14, 1842. Giuseppe Foraboschi resided for a few years in Umbertide, where he married Blandina Agostini. He died in Perugia on June 22, 1878, in his house in via del Circo, at no. 5. Foraboschi distinguished himself for an extraordinary work: the creation of the "Shelter for poor music virtuosos of the Province of Umbria". The institute "originates from the holographic testament of Foraboschi dated January 15, 1883 and subsequent codicils deposited with the notary Benedetto Rates on June 25, 1887 and is governed by the rules laid down by the Law on Pious Works. The Shelter that bears his name was opened on July 12, 1891, and every year it was commemorated with gratitude by the inmates. According to the statute, only the virtuosos of music, excluding the instrument makers of the Province of Umbria who drew their source of income exclusively from the exercise of the musical art and that as they got older they could no longer exercise ". Foraboschi composed the Funeral Sonata (1841) for the funeral of Francesco Morlacchi. His symphony for orchestra, Il bivacco, was performed in Perugia in 1874. Other musical compositions and writings of his are known. The choirmaster Foraboschi certainly also had relations with the Philharmonic Society, because some of the boys who learned music from him then joined the band to play an instrument. Perhaps he was the brass teacher himself and it is very likely that for some time he was also the director of the band, since no names of other masters have been handed down. Giuseppe Foraboschi, however, did not stay long at the keyboard of the organ of the Collegiate and instructing the young people of the band in music. At the end of his three-year assignment (1837) he left Fratta, leaving the town without a choirmaster for many years. He must have been a truly excellent musician if, as we have seen, he later settled in the service of his British Majesty; then he went to Perugia as a music teacher. Francesco Colombati choirmaster and the musical band On 15 December 1849, when the expected specifications were drawn up with the Municipality and after the approval of the act by the pontifical commissioner, the chapel master in service, Professor Francesco Colombati di Pergola, was confirmed. Colombati, organist, graduated from the Philharmonic Academy of Bologna, was born in Sant'Elpidio a Mare in 1823 and came from an illustrious family of musicians. Two years later, on January 15, 1852, Francesco Colombati was re-affirmed by the Municipality; in that year he was also part of Fratta's Philharmonic Dilettanti of sound and song. Therefore, at this date, the Philharmonic Society operated under this new name. It is no coincidence that Colombati is in first place in the list of musicians and, most likely, was also in charge of the instruction and direction of the band, given that part of his annual remuneration was paid by the Municipality. Colombati's musical group played both in the theater and in the church, and also provided services in the village on the occasion of parties and public events. It rang, for example, for the celebrations organized on the occasion of the visit and stay in Fratta of Cardinal Giuseppe Pecci, bishop of Gubbio, on 9 May 1852. It was a great celebration and the Municipal Council, on the following 3 June, resolved the payment of ( huge) expenses, of 21 scudi and 43 baiocchi, for fireworks, refreshments and reconnaissance to the band, the reward, as a sign of "recognition" for the work done by the musical group. But in November 1852, the professor gave up his post and in December he left Fratta because he was appointed chapel master of the Cathedral of Gubbio. Colombati was married, had two children, Emanuele and Maria: the salary offered to him by the Gubbio Chapter was higher than that of the Collegiate Church and more suited to the needs of his family. From now on, for several years, we will see the events of our band intersect directly with those of the chapel master of the Collegiate. In Fratta, as happened in many other cities, the figures overlapped. This musician of ecclesiastical nomination, who was required to have a complete preparation, so much so that he also had to be a composer and teacher, was used by the Municipalities or by the Philharmonic for the training of young people who would be part of the band. In addition to accompanying religious ceremonies with the organ, he imparted the first rudiments of wind instruments and directed the band. The Fratta band was an autonomous entity, born from the Philharmonic Society; the Municipality, however, supported it indirectly by financing the Collegiate Church with a contribution for the salary of the choirmaster who, with his teaching, created the nursery for future musicians. Photo: From the book by Amedeo Massetti "Two centuries on the march - Umbertide and the band" - Petruzzi Editore, 2008 Le origini: la musica a Fratta La prima banda musicale La festa centenaria e la fanfara della Guardia Civica L'insegnamento della musica a Fratta La rinascita della banda dopo la Grande Guerra Il maestro Pietro Franceschini La banda di Pierantonio La banda di Preggio Le origini: la musica a Fratta La prima banda musicale La festa centenaria e la fanfara della Guardia Civica L'insegnamento della musica a Fratta The rebirth of the band and the feast of Santa Cecilia The band restarts after the Great War Maestro Franchi worked assiduously at the school with his uncommon didactic skills that he knew how to apply to the study of every instrument. "On May 27, 1920 he invited the old members of the Umbertide band to a meeting that would take place on May 30 at the headquarters of the music school, in the Nunzi house. The meeting would have prepared a meeting requested by the Prefectural Commissioner, Tacchi, who has recently taken over from the mayor Andreani. The interview with the Commissioner took place on 10 June at 9.30 pm, in the Town Hall. , for a total of 44 musicians. 1. Pucci Celestino, trombone accompaniment - 2. Guardabassi Gaetano, does not play - 3. Pucci Arnaldo, clarino - 4. Bebi Quadrio, clarino - 5. Cozzari Giovanni, bass Bb - 6. Lisarelli Eugenio, cornet - 7. Vibi Ovidio, bass F - 8. Alberti Quartilio, clarino - 9. Bettoni Raffaele, cornet - 10. Salciarini Raffaele, trombone accompaniment - 11. Bartolini Giovanni, bass or trombone - 12. Fucelli Galileo, clarino - 13. Melgradi Silvio, bass drum - 14. Melgradi Michele, flute - 15. Mariotti Celestino, quartino - 16. Villarini Domenico , trumpet accompaniment - 17. Rinaldi Giuseppe, genis - 18. Zurli Astorre, genis - 19. Fiorucci Amedeo, cornet - 20. Codovini Riego, bombardino - 21. Ivo Rossi, bombardino - 22. Barbagianni Giuseppe, trombone - 23. Barbagianni Angelo , trombone - 24. Ceccarelli Luigi, trombone - 25. Celestini Giovanni, genis - 26. Polveroni Giuseppe, clarino - 27. Villarini Mario, clarino ". There was a long discussion about the measures to be taken to reconstitute an efficient band. The speakers were very motivated and Franchi explained the situation thoroughly to the Commissioner, who was interested in the subject. He pointed out the numerous lack of tools, even if the staff was sufficient to start over, waiting for some other boy. In the end, also to start again on the most certain possible bases, it was decided to put pen to paper, to entrust to some people the compilation of a statute. The regulation commission was formed by Quadrio Bebi, Riego Codovini, Giovanni Cozzari, Giovanni Bartolini, Giuseppe Polveroni, Ivo Rossi and Gaetano Guardabassi ". The meeting bore fruit and the first measures in support of the gang began from the Municipality. On July 16, 1920 Commissioner Tacchi adopted a resolution to repair the instruments, in need of restoration, or for the long time in which they had been abandoned or for other "technical deficiencies". The owners, almost all workers "and therefore in very limited economic conditions", did not have the possibility of providing with their own means. Tacchi approved an expense of 801 lire, then added another 52.50 for the purchase of 35 "booklets for marce". And in that same month of July the musical group finally resumed activity. By the end of the summer, the gang was resurrected. Il Messaggero, published in the days close to the Solemnity of Our Lady, says that it had resumed functioning regularly and had been appreciated by the people of Umbria in the celebrations of 8 September 1920: "... It is in the religion of art, of good and of beauty , that Maestro Franchi, with a truly admirable work, managed to resurrect our Concerto which, made up of many young elements, promises a lot ... " (1) . It is also interesting to note the richness and solemnity of the religious celebrations, organized for the occasion by the young "diligent parish priest Don Luigi Cozzari " (2) , in which master Franchi also played a large part. The bishop of Città di Castello, monsignor Carlo Liviero , participated. The "Santa Cecilia Alarm Clock" is born On November 22, 1920, on the initiative of Maestro Franchi and president Gaetano Guardabassi , the feast of Santa Cecilia was celebrated for the first time. The band, "from early morning, walked the main streets of the town thus starting the nice party with a brilliant idea". The gang had inaugurated the "alarm clock" of Santa Cecilia. By parading and playing through the streets of the town in the early hours of the morning he had brought a pleasant musical awakening to the people of Umbria. Franchi and Guardabassi had a good idea, so much so that this tradition continues to this day. In the afternoon there was a concert prepared with all artistic diligence by our talented teacher prof. Alessandro Franchi who deserves the greatest credit for the revival of the city concert. And after the musical program, the traditional dinner. Il Messaggero of 28-29 November 1920 dedicates an article at the event: “… All the pieces, including two very successful compositions of the same master, received unanimous approval of citizenship that was wide of deserved applause for the overall success of the program and of the nice party. There was no lack of the traditional banquet during which the most cheerful and frank reigned enthusiasm of all the participants and there was no lack of it not even greeting speeches praising this beautiful such an effective institution, especially for culture music of the people and for life and brotherhood small town; and so that this new institution can worthily prosper, let us hope it gets moral and financial support, both from the Administration municipal and every single citizen. To the beloved Maestro Franchi, to the diligent president of the Band, Mr. Gaetano Guardabassi, and to all the musicians, go to satisfaction of the citizens of Umbria ". In addition to the students and the components of the concert, "they took part even the former musicians and became more fraternal alliance disparity of ideas and views, thus demonstrating how with joviality and moderation they can still be in similar circumstances unite in a good and friendly thought people who, unfortunately, well they often fight bitterly. "The dinner of Santa Cecilia she had managed to bring together politically minded people completely different, at a time when the victory of the socialists in the local elections of October 24 he had created forts oppositions and one began to feel the violent reaction of the first fascist organizations. The feast of the patron saint of musicians was therefore very successful in her familiarity, and unanimous gratitude was given to Maestro Franchi, "a young and good author and conductor who does so much good to the country both with having restored the city concert and for the perfect performance he gives very good trust for the future, both for the local Schola Cantorum of which he is the true soul ". Probably, however, there was a need for an adequate location, if in December the new mayor Settimio Rometti asked Count Emanuele Ranieri for a room in a house he owned in via Cavour. But the count replied that it was not possible to grant it because it was already occupied by the “Antonio Guerrini Youth Club”. Note: (1) Il Messaggero of 11 September 1920 also reports the description of other events that took place during the feast of 8 September 1920: "Our town, thanks to the tenacious and indefatigable work of a few young people, to whom partisan hatred does not it makes a veil and has not destroyed the love for its native place and for the fine arts, it has been enlivened by gracious celebrations for public benefit. ... The master Maccarelli revealed himself last night for a perfect artist, in the recitation of the "Gruff Beneficial", the very difficult work of Goldoni, together with the master Rondoni, Antonio Igi and Domenico Pauselli; the teacher Fornaci and Professor Garognoli are also very nice and perfect. The Charity Fair and the swimming competition on the Tiber were very successful and charming ... ". (2) Don Luigi Cozzari was born on February 4, 1982. In 1906 he was ordained a priest. Very active in Catholic organizations, he founded in Umbertide, together with Don Bosone Rossi, the Catholic club "Silvio Pellico" based in via Soli, annexed to the church of Santa Croce. He was parish priest of the Collegiate Church of San Giovanni Battista from 1911 to 1956, when Don Antonio Fanucci took over. He died in Umbertide on March 15, 1965. Photo: - Amedeo Massetti photographic archive - Corradi photographic archive - Photographic archive of Don Luigi Cozzari La rinascita della banda dopo la Grande Guerra The master Pietro Franceschini From favorite pupil of Maestro Franchi to the direction of the reconstituted musical band di Umbertide from 1966 to 1970, but above all an exceptional teacher and trainer of many young people Pietro Franceschini is a cornerstone in the history of the gang. And not just ours. There is no wind instrument player in Umbria who does not know him. His activity as a musician has intersected more or less directly with the history of all bands in the region for almost fifty years. He was born in Montecastrilli, in the province of Terni, on 10 December 1919. To follow the movements of his father, a railway worker, he arrived in Umbertide in September 1925 together with the brothers Dino and Goffredo (who will become in the band respectively a flutist and a clarinet player) and he settled with his family in Montecorona. At the age of nine he joined the band of Franks who taught him solfeggio and the first elements of the trumpet. The maestro understood that he had an exceptional natural talent in front of him and immediately included him in the staff by making him play in the band services. At the age of ten he was already performing in concerts in Piazza Umberto I, with a wooden box under his feet to be "up to par" with the others. Franchi had discovered a trumpet player of rare skill, became fond of the boy, took care of his musical training and entrusted him with increasingly important roles. Pietro, at the age of twelve, was already an appreciated instrumentalist and he was also called by the most famous dance orchestras in the area, such as that of “Palazzone”, “Pippo del Caporale”, and others. Franceschini will play in the Umbertide band for many years, attracting attention also in the surrounding area for his skill. Later he will be part of pop music orchestras and his trumpet will become legendary. In 1939 the winds of war began to blow and Franks, like a good father, worried about the boy's destiny. He knew well the director of the Presidential Band of the 81st Infantry Regiment of Rome, Edoardo Castrucci, and wrote to him asking him to include the young talent in order to avoid a possible call to the war zone. In fact Franceschini had already been subjected to a military visit and assigned to the Vº Bersaglieri Regiment of Siena: he was only waiting for the postcard to leave. The master of the Presidiaria, at the end of September 1939, immediately invited the young man to Rome to take a test, brilliantly passed, and the young recruit was drafted into the military band. He didn't even go home to get his personal effects and some documents, but he had the most urgent things sent by his family. Thus began his engagement with the military band of Rome, in which he performed many important services as a soloist in concerts often held at the Basilica of Maxentius and at the Pincio. He had as a colleague an “exceptional” cymbal player, Alberto Sordi, son of a well-known professional of the tuba bass, also recently enrolled in the band, perhaps helped by his father to avoid the front. The young Roman was already embarking on a career as an actor and was acting in prose shows at the Sistine Chapel and in avanspectacle theaters; he had also been the voice actor of Oliver Hardy. Franceschini often amused himself with the funny jokes that the budding actor improvised in the evening in his dormitory, without imagining that soon that cymbal player would become the national Albertone. His fellow musicians (including Professor Luigi Francavilla) looked at him with admiration and were amazed to learn that this talented trumpet player did not have a formal academic degree. The pressures for his enrollment at the Conservatory began, but Pietro remained undecided for a long time until one evening he witnessed his solos in a concert by Tullio Semproni, first trumpet of the Augusteo's orchestra who, after speaking with the master of the band, convinced the young man umbertidese to enroll in regular academic courses. Franceschini plunged into his studio, took private lessons in harmony and history of music, burned all the stages and in just three years, in September 1942, he graduated in trumpet at the “Santa Cecilia” Conservatory in Rome. In the summer of 1943 he will be joined in the band by a fraternal friend of Umbertide, Renato Radicchi, also an excellent trumpeter also sent by Franchi to Castrucci, who will happily share with him three months of military life and musical experience in the Presidency. in Rome not yet occupied by the Germans. After the war, Franceschini returned to Umbertide and began the profession of musician. On February 26, 1946 he won a national competition and began teaching at the Liceo Musicale Pareilato "Francesco Morlacchi" (since 1968 State Conservatory) in Perugia. The acquaintance with the famous conductor Franco Ferrara dates back to this period. He immediately had the position of deputy director of the school, while he carried out an intense concert activity hired as an "adjunct" in the most famous orchestras: that of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (at which he won in 1947 the national competition for the position of second trumpet), the Philharmonic Orchestra of Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Orchestra of Palazzo Pitti in Florence (with whom he toured for a month in Spain) and the Orchestra of the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto . He also played with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert Von Karajany, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Krakow Radio Orchestra during repeated seasons of the Umbrian Music Festival. In his spare time he took care of the Umbrian bands, their reconstitution and musical direction: those of Ponte Felcino, Ponte San Giovanni, Spina, Cerqueto, Petrignano d'Assisi, Ponte Pattoli, Gubbio, Pietralunga, Piegaro. Many owe their current activities to Franceschini's professionalism and commitment. He also took care of the teaching of music and the training of students. He followed for the Umbria Region and for 1'Anbima (National Association of Italian Autonomous Musical Bands) numerous events and band competitions, of which he was often an esteemed member of the commission. The reconstitution of the town band and the creation of a music school In 1966, on behalf of Professor Bruno Porrozzi , president of the Pro Loco Umbertidese Association who together with Giuseppe Fiorucci was working on the reconstitution of the local band, he personally committed himself to revive a complex that had dissolved ten years earlier and which he will direct until 1970. At the same time he established a music school which immediately saw the influx of many young people. The musical teaching will continue even after the dissolution of the band, until 1989, and will form a large number of young people from Umberto I, many of whom will be initiated by him to the Conservatory and to a career as musicians. He held the position of director of the Perugia Conservatory from 1974 to 1975, crowning his academic commitment. Among the members of the Umbertide band there had never been a graduate musician, no one who had completed regular courses of study. His teaching was a tremendous incentive. Franceschini, taking them from the large nursery of his students, began to bring prominent elements to the Conservatory. This is a great merit that is unanimously recognized in the Umbertidese musical environment, and beyond. The role of exceptional teacher and trainer continued even after the period of his direction in the band, launching many young people on a musical career. Many have graduated from his school and many professionals have come out of his school. Many other boys (now ex boys) owe to him the only pleasure of playing an instrument and having fun with the music in the local band or orchestras. Franceschini also taught solfeggio to a great Umbertide musician, maestro Gerardo Balbi, making him continue his studies at the Conservatory where he graduated in piano, harpsichord and composition. Umbertide's first graduate was Galliano Cerrini, initially a pupil of the master Corsaro, then of Franceschini who had him enrolled in the Conservatory. An excellent teacher, he managed to bring out the best in anyone, professional or amateur, always paying great attention to detail. In early December 1999, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, he was celebrated with a concert in his honor in the auditorium of the Museum of Santa Croce in Umbertide, held by the "Ottoni di Perugia" group directed by maestro Massimo Bartoletti who he succeeded in the chair of trumpet at the “Francesco Morlacchi” Conservatory. Maestro Franceschini died in Umbertide on 4th August 2004. At his funeral there were many and authoritative exponents of the Umbrian musical environment. The string orchestra "I Solisti di Perugia" wanted to honor him by performing touching musical pieces during the religious ceremony celebrated by Don Gerardo Balbi, his old pupil, in the church of Santa Maria. The town band of Umbertide, integrated by musicians from other Umbrian bands, was waiting for him lined up under the arcades of the Franciscan convent. In an atmosphere full of emotion, under a pouring rain, he sang, at the exit of the coffin, the beautiful funeral march by Ugo Manfredi "Mother's cry". Photo: Amedeo Massetti photographic archive Il maestro Pietro Franceschini Pierantonio's band The "Pierantonio Concert Society" was born in 1886 The constitution of Pierantonio's band almost certainly dates back to 1886. The letter in which Giuseppe Mannocci, on 10 February 1920, asked for a subsidy in the name of the members and the president of the “Società del Concerto di Pierantonio, founded in purpose of entertainment since 1886 ". Mannocci wrote to the Commissioner of the Municipality of Umbertide, Tacchi, recalling that in the village “there are no other entertainments and the members of the band had been forced to give up on Maestro Franchi due to lack of funds. But that Pierantonio's band could already be active in 1886 we are also told by the fact that the musical group, directed by Maestro Massimo Martinelli, received in 1887 from the Municipality a "small annual subsidy" of about one hundred lire, increased to 125 over the years subsequent. However, in those last decades of the nineteenth century, as well as financial means, Pierantonio's gang also needed expert guidance. In fact, on 24 April 1889 Giuseppe Carlani wrote to the Mayor asking to insert in the specifications of the Umbertide band, for approval in those days, the obligation for the music teacher to go to Pierantonio once a week with expenses to be borne by the Pierantonio Concert . The clause was not included in the regulation. But the meeting of the City Council of 26 April established that Massimo Martinelli, conductor of the Umbertide Municipal Concert, for the duration of three years from May 1, 1889, had to go to Pierantonio every Friday for two hours, to "continue teaching music there and direct the relative rehearsals of that concert ". He would have been paid by that same band: five lire every time he went to the hamlet, the same for the "invention or reduction" of every piece of music that had been ordered by the directive commission of that concert. Finally, it was established that this condition was valid only for Pierantonio, excluding Preggio, another fraction of Umbertide in which there was a gang. The activity of the Pierantonio Concerto (probably directed by Massimo Martinelli from 1889 to 1897, albeit discontinuously) continued until the end of the century amid various economic difficulties, relying solely on the shares of the members, ready to self-tax to keep the musical group, much felt and loved. In 1900 he received from the Municipality of Umbertide a small subsidy, of about one hundred lire per year, insufficient to meet the expenses. And the constant lack of funds pushed the executives to appeal to the local administration every time. On November 22, 1906 Pompeo Fanelli wrote a letter asking for a contribution for the "Musical Society of the Village of Pierantonio", established for twenty years and always financed by the members: "The teacher pays the rent of the hall alone - underlined Fanelli - and it meets all other needs with its own means ". But the subsidy did not have to change if a few years later Fanelli was forced to repeat itself. On 22 October 1912 he requested an increase in financial support in the name of the Concerto: "Pierantonio's Concerto Society - he explained - has 25 years of activity and has supported with its own resources the costs of renting the venue, for the master and 'lighting". In exchange, the gang offered itself for any services requested by the Municipality. Finally, after so many questions, on 15 December 1912, the Municipality decided to increase the annual funding from 125 to 2001ire, allowing the gang to continue its activity more calmly. The contribution was even raised to 300 lire in 1913. Now the conditions existed for a profitable and lasting musical commitment, but the First World War was approaching and, starting from 1914, all young people of military age will be called up and sent to various fronts. The band activity thus suffered a long interruption. After the conflict, the musical group slowly resumed work. On October 18, 1919 Pietro Carlani communicated to the Mayor that "the Pierantonio Concert has been reconstituted for some time" and that the partners, wanting a "licensed" teacher, had requested the work of Alessandro Franchi di Umbertide. Carlani specified that the partners paid the rent for the rehearsal room, the maintenance of the instruments and all other small expenses. Therefore he asked the Municipality to intervene. Another letter for a loan will be sent on February 10, 1920 to Commissioner Tacchi, signed by Giuseppe Mannocci, on behalf of the shareholders and of the president for the Società del Concerto di Pierantonio, the owner Pietro Carlani. The Company - underlined Mannocci - had always supported itself with small municipal subsidies, which had been removed during the war period. In the absence of financial means, it was not possible to pay the remuneration to the master Franchi. Almost six months will pass before Mannocci's request is accepted and it will be the new commissioner Lino Molinari, who succeeded Tacchi, to grant a contribution of two hundred lire to the Società del Concerto with a provision of 23 July 1920. The following year, September 24, 1921, Pierantonio's gang again wrote to the Commissioner asking for an increase in the annual contribution. The new prefectural commissioner Angelelli tried to find out about the situation and the next day he replied to Carlo Carlani, head of the section of the Fascio di Pierantonio, asking him "some information on the foundation, purpose and political and financial direction of the local Concerto Society". On 19 October 1921 Carlani expressed a favorable opinion, and the Commissioner thus raised the contribution from two hundred to six hundred lire, starting from 1922, given that an increase of 2,200 lire had been granted to the Umbertide Concert. “We also consider the courage and enthusiasm of Pierantonio's small population - concluded Angelelli - who were able to put together over 20 elements to make up a musical body”. On November 28, 1921, a telegram from the president and the master of the band expressed Pierantonio's gratitude to the Commissioner. The band served on the occasion of civil and religious events or festivals in the town and in the countryside. But on November 4, 1921 he also played together with that of Umbertide in the imposing event in homage to the unknown soldier; memorable is the performance of the hymn of the Piave in Piazza San Francesco. And it often happened that on important occasions she was called to "reinforce" the Umbertidese group. On 10 June 1923, directed by Maestro Franchi, she went alone to La Bruna where the Parco delle Rimembranze was inaugurated. The mayor of Perugia, the Uccelli lawyer, was also present and a long procession, preceded by the band, paraded to honor the fallen by bringing flowers to the commemorative plaque. On 9 September 1923 Pierantonio's musical group played together with those of Montone and Umbertide at the inauguration of the monument to the fallen of the 1915-1918 war, in front of the elementary school building in via Garibaldi. And among the immense crowd, the three groups united managed to create a suggestive sound power. In 1925 the director was Alessandro Franchi. The rehearsals were usually entrusted to a band leader of Pierantonio, Severo Scapicchi, a former clarinet player. Scapicchi, however, only directed the preparation of simple repertoire pieces, such as marches or dances. If pieces of opera or complexes were to be set up, master Franchi from Umbertide would arrive. The gang leader then directed the services for processions or country festivals and his role also appeared from external signs on the uniform: two fillets on the cap unlike the banders who only had one. The band was made up of 30-35 elements, artisan workers, peasants, depending on the availability of each and any absences were due only to work commitments or illness. For the people of Pierantonio, who always stayed in the village in the evening, the band was one of the few diversions. In some particularly large farming families, even two or three members played in the band. The band members included: Sestilio Marcucci (first clarinet) Sigilfredo Valentini (first clarinet) Eliseo Valentini (tenor flugelhorn) Domenico Medici (baritone flugelhorn) Riccardo Fanelli (tenor flugelhorn) Rolando Fanelli (second clarinet) Enrico Arcelli (flugelhorn in E b - pistoncino) Pierino Bistoni (second trumpet) Enrico Ragni (first trumpet) Igino Tosti (second soprano flugelhorn) Giuseppe Scapicchi (first soprano flugelhorn) Pietro Scapicchi (small clarinet in Eb - quart) Fidenzo Mannocci (second clarinet) Ninetto Mannocci (alto flugelhorn) Eraldo Arcelli (second clarinet) Luigi Mannocci (horn) Luigi Giulianelli (trombone) Aldo Giulianelli (alto flugelhorn) Luigi Briziarelli (bass drum) Paris Marcucci (cymbals) Renato Martinelli (horn) Lorenzo Rosini (Eb bass) Pompilio Lazzarini (Bb bass ) Bettino [?] (Solo clarinet) Dante Fanelli (flute) Guerriero Marcucci (second clarinet) Pompeo Fanelli (second clarinet) Alberto Fanelli (co rno accompaniment) Pasquale Casciarri (janitor). On November 22, 1925, Pierantonio's band celebrated the feast of Santa Cecilia with a concert. For the occasion, ten young students made their debut and seventy attended the social dinner, attended by the mayor of Umbertide, Gualtiero Guardabassi and the teacher Franchi. In 1927 Pierantonio's 1st band received an annual contribution of 1,500 lire; that of Umbertide of 4,000. On 8 September 1927 he went to Umbertide together with its president Domenico Medici for a concert in the square together with the band of the capital, forming a group of eighty elements directed by Franchi. Also the following year it will be called to Piazza Umberto I on the day of the feast of the Nativity of the Madonna to play with the band of Umbertide: in all, a group of ninety people. On 28 October 1928 he played again with his colleagues from Umberto who had come with Maestro Franchi for the inauguration of Pierantonio's Casa del Fascio. An important ceremony: the building was among the first of its kind in Italy, thanks to the offers and the industriousness of the inhabitants. The activity in 1929 was intense, with probable services in the capital, since the Municipality assigned a further contribution of five hundred lire. On September 8, 1930, the two bands of Pierantonio and Umbertide still played together. But sometimes, on important occasions such as the patronal feast, the master Franchi called only a few musicians from Pierantonio. In general, Eraldo and Enrico Arcelli, Domenico Medici and Pompilio Lazzarini who went to "reinforce" the roles of Umbertide, also participating in the rehearsals prior to the concert. In these cases, Franchi was very strict. One evening, in the music room of Umbertide, not happy with the success of a piece, he held the band until half past one in the morning. And the clarinetist Eraldo Arcelli returned by bicycle to Pierantonio pedaling for almost an hour. At 2 pm the following afternoon he had to go back to Umbertide again for the concert. Arcelli used the bicycle every time he came to Umbertide; at night the acetylene lamp allowed you to see the stones on the road and not hit them: "It was a tough discipline - remember now, ninety-five - but we were twenty and it was a prestige to belong to the gang". Pierantonio's band, made up entirely of local elements, held concerts in the village at least four times a year. A large audience, on those occasions, flocked to the unpaved square, strewn with breccia. In the lineup pieces of opera, under the direction of the master Franchi. The group then played at the processions for the Ascension, Sant'Antonio, on June 13, Corpus Domini and Easter. But he also went out on the occasion of religious holidays. Like in San Sugaro - Parlesca (the second Sunday in May), in La Bruna (twice a year, but always on the first Sunday in September), in Rancolfo (the first Sunday in June), in Pietramelina (last in August, "At the end of the watermelons") and on August 15, the feast of the Assumption, in Castiglione Ugolino. At country festivals he received salaries ranging from fifty to one hundred lire per performance. The rehearsals were held once a week with Maestro Franchi, in a rented room, also used as a dance hall. Above there was the "Circle of the Lords", where the notables of the town went in the evening to play cards and where dancing parties were organized at carnival. He played an orchestra formed by the instrumentalists of the band (always the good Lorenzo Rosini on the bass). Maestro Franchi came to Pierantonio twice a week, by bicycle. One, for the afternoon music school for the boys and he went home: the salary was five lire. Another, for the evening rehearsals of the band: in addition to the five lire, he was paid for dinner and room for the night. Franchi, in fact, after the rehearsals, slept in Pierantonio in the house of Luciano Barcaroli, owner of a grocery and butcher shop. It would have been hard for the teacher, at eleven in the morning, to travel eight kilometers on a bicycle: the road, unpaved, was full of cobblestones. Pierantonio still reminds us of Franchi's extraordinary speed in composing. Eraldo Arcelli was also a member of a local orchestra and when he needed some new pieces (at that time there weren't many printed scores), he went to Franchi with two pigeons (a sign of gratitude, but also a welcome consideration in lean times) and the teacher, at the piano, instantly churned out a waltz, a polka or a mazurca: a danceable piece to play in the evening. With Franchi, the clarinetist Eraldo Arcelli also played in the Umbertide band. He was second clarinet (2nd A) together with Goffredo Franceschini (2nd B). The first clarinets were Mario Villarini and Filippo Filippi. On July 7, 1930, the 1st band performed under the direction of Franchi in the "beautiful and magnificently illuminated square of Pierantonio". The musicians, "admirable for their discipline and spirit of sacrifice, performed very well all the numbers of the rich and difficult program". Riccardo Fanelli, Domenico Medici and Enrico Arcelli distinguished themselves in a particular way "for their passionate performance". Unanimous praise goes to the master Franchi who even in this hamlet "carries out his skilful activity". A special thanks to the president of the band Ciro Carlani who "supports this beautiful institution which is so useful and accepts the whole country". On Sunday 23 July 1933, at 9 pm, Pierantonio's Dopolavoro band, directed by Maestro Franchi, held an applauded concert in homage to the 1st Artillery Regiment stationed there for tactical exercises. The musical program was greeted with lively cheers from the officers and from all citizens. The symphony of Verdi's Nabucco and the duet of Bellini's Norma were particularly appreciated. The musicians were much acclaimed, including the young Eraldo Arcelli and Pierino Bistoni. After the concert the dances began, very animated in the hall of the Casa del Fascio. The band's activity was interrupted from 1935 to 1939 due to the call to arms of many young people. In 1940 it was reconstituted by a group of boys. It was always directed by Severo Scapicchi, and once a week Franchi came for rehearsals. There was then another interruption during the war period. But it started again immediately after the crossing of the front. Severo Scapicchi and Alessandro Franchi still ran. The gang provided services in La Bruna, in Santa Giuliana, in Pietramelina, in Montelovesco. And also to the Madonna del Monti, after Camporeggiano, which the musicians reached on foot. Bulky tools, such as the crate and dishes, were moved on the back of a mule. The band also went to the Abbey of Montecorona and the Hermitage, Castiglione Ugolino, Murlo, Bagnaia (for San Giuseppe), Rancolfo and Parlesca-San Sugaro. In the latter locality the musicians used a horse cart. The musical group played in Pierantonio for the Ascension, for Sant'Antonio (June 13), for Easter and December 8 (Immaculate Conception). Sometimes he also performed in the square in concerts which he attended all over the country. He was rehearsing in the former “casa del Fascio”, the elementary school building. They made up the group: Evelino Briziarelli (clarinet in Eb - quart) Eraldo Arcelli (first clarinet) Carlo Montacci (clarinet) Goffredo Sannella (clarinet) Giuseppe Salciarini (clarinet) Sestilio Marcucci (clarinet) Guerriero Marcucci (clarinet) Giulio Fanelli (clarinet) Antonio Castellani (clarinet) Renato Fucsina (soprano sax) Enrico Arcelli (trumpet) Pierino Bistoni (trumpet ) Elio Mariucci (trumpet) Renato Arcelli (soprano flugelhorn) Giuseppe Ugolini (trombone) Alberto Arcelli (trombone) Remo Riberti (horn) Marcello Rossi (horn) Ugo Binucci (alto horn) Ugo Fanelli (alto horn) Vincenzo Montanucci (baritone horn) Luigi Monsignori (tenor horn) Ennio Marri (baritone horn) Alfeo Rosini (tenor flugelhorn) Renzo Castellani (bass Bb) Lorenzo Rosini (bass Eb) Pompeo Grelli (bass Fa) Giuseppe Cozzari (bass Bb) Enzo Nottoli (tambourine) Romolo Briziarelli (bass drum) Paris Marcucci (cymbals) Pasquale Casciarri (janitor) . Subsequently Giuseppe Cencetti replaced Romolo Briziarelli at the cash desk. The instruments had been purchased by the musicians themselves. The band reconstituted after the war, however, did not reach the levels of preparation and harmony of the first. When Franchi died in 1948, Severo Scapicchi continued to direct it, helped by Eraldo Arcelli, until 1959, the year of its closure. Photo: Amedeo Massetti photographic archive La banda di Pierantonio La banda di Preggio The band of Preggio Born in the mid-nineteenth century, it remained alive until the early sixties when the depopulation of the territory began The band of Preggio originated in the second half of the nineteenth century, with a considerable numerical consistency when compared to the population and the difficulties that this small mountain town encountered. Both for the poverty of resources, and for the lack of communication routes that would facilitate relations and exchanges with one's own Municipality and the rest of the territory. There were therefore also obstacles to have a qualified musical guide, stable and present over time. In fact, in the decades in which the Preggio band was alive, it often had to provide itself with an autochthonous teacher, while requesting from time to time contributions from Umbertide for its own survival and the presence of the master of the municipal band. For example, with a resolution of April 26, 1889, the municipal council of Umbertide agreed to the request that Massimo Martinelli , master of the band of the Municipality, went to Pierantonio once a week to teach music and conduct the rehearsals of the local Concerto. But in the act it was established that this should happen only for Pierantonio and not for other hamlets of Umbertide. The restriction to a single fraction can be explained by the fact that Martinelli, already occupied by two groups, could not take on a new commitment in another town eighteen kilometers from Umbertide and moreover difficult to reach. Consequently, the Preggio band continued to carry out the activity by providing itself with a local teacher. The request of the president Giovanni Battista Contini on 7 March 1898 is documented, asking the Municipality for financial support of fifty lire "as usual in recent years as an encouragement". Contini specified that the contribution should be received by 12 May, because a "title" had to be paid to the band of Umbertide for the purchase of instruments. The council decided to disburse the requested sum, but specified that this should not have constituted a precedent that would constrain the action of future administrations. It can be deduced that the Municipality had already granted the subsidy for some years, and continued to pay out the same sum of fifty lire, in the following two years, on February 26, 1899 and in January 1900, thus satisfying Romolo Fabbri's requests for " encouragement to the Preggio Music Society ". The preggese group was probably directed in those years by a local person and urgently needed a trained teacher to train the new recruits and carry out the tests. In fact, on 7 September 1901, 67 heads of families, together with the members of the band, signed the petition to the municipal council that the teacher Stanislao Franceschi, recently director of Umbertide, would go once a month to Preggio to give lessons to the members of the philharmonic who otherwise it risked melting. The Mayor gave a favorable opinion. It is probable that the inhabitants of Preggio already knew the maestro, having directed the band of the nearby Castel Rigone in previous years. In 1902 Franceschi continued to go to Preggio every month; his salary, in that year, had been increased from 800 to 1,050 lire. His was a real “journey”, because he arrived in a horse-drawn carriage crossing the Niccone valley up to San'Andrea di Sorbello, touching a strip of Tuscany. Sometimes, between the two groups he directed there were exchanges of instruments and two bombardini were also used by the band of Umbertide. The Concerto di Preggio continued its activity with commitment over the years later, until, in 1905, Stanislao Franceschi left for Sigillo. Umbertide's new master, Carlo Morbidelli, arrived at the end of 1906, he probably did not deal with Preggio due to his many commitments in place with the music school and the subsequent collaboration with the band of Ponte Felcino, in 1909. Preggio had to continue alone again, with the constant problem of scarcity of means. In 1913 Guido was its president Fabbri, who on April 20 presented a request for subsidy to the Municipality. The president pointed out that the eight hundred lire destined as of onsuetudine to the band of Umbertide that year had not been disbursed due to the inactivity of the group, which was expected reconstitution. So he got that from this unused fund a good hundred lire were granted to the band of Preggio. The Great War was also a cause of interruption for the musical activity of the country: there were many young people who left for the front. A regular activity resumed only in 1927, when the organization of the regime's Dopolavoro tended to favor and frame all forms of aggregation between citizens. On 5 January 1928, the mayor of Umbertide, Gualtiero Guardabassi, granted a room for reconstitution to the “Società Filarmonica di Preggio” of the band ”and on 7 December approved a contribution of five hundred lire to the “Banda del Dopolavoro di Preggio, an institution essentially understood to the moral and intellectual elevation of the working class and of one large population that for strength, activity and discipline with which follows the directives of the new regime, deserves every possible regard ". Even under the aegis of fascism the musical society preggese lacked means, so much so that to make the site accessible it had appropriated one of the three oil lamps of public lighting, at whose operation it was chief Giuseppe Cardini. The fact sparked protests and was reported to the Municipality by Romolo Fabbri and David Trentini. In 1929 the band depended on the “Società Musicale di Preggio”, of which the lawyer Antonio Contini was president. The Municipality intervened with a contribution of five hundred lire a year, as it did with the Pierantonio Musical Society, restoring fair treatment between the two fractions. In October 1929, with a provision of the podestà Guadabassi, the "musical society of Preggio" was formally associated with the Dopolavoro: the Podestà granted a contribution of five hundred lire. The 1930s were glorious for the band. The group was directed by a local gang leader, Gaetano Boni; from time to time the teacher Franchi arrived from Umbertide to assist him in teaching young people and in rehearsals. The activity was intense and the repertoire was vast: it included marches and Opera pieces that were played in the square on Sunday evenings in the summer. The presence of the band was often required at religious festivals in nearby parishes, such as Racchiusole or, on the opposite side, in San Paolo, Reschio in the municipality of Lisciano Niccone. The musicians gladly answered the invitations because (as the popular saying states that "all the psalms end in glory") they were occasions for a cheerful feast of macaronias. It wasn't just a recreational function, for an hour's entertainment or an afternoon of celebration. The band of Preggio, and those of all the small towns, far from the cultural circuits and lost in inaccessible areas of a poor and backward nation, deserve the merit of having played a role of cultural promotion in times in which the presence of means of mass communication, as specifically, was limited to the telegraph of the Regie Poste and the radio equipment of the headquarters of the beam. The band activity was a vehicle of knowledge, through a certainly not secondary part of culture and national identity, capable of igniting interest and passion among a population far from cultural centers. It also had the merit of spreading the knowledge of melodrama, so much so that not only men but also completely illiterate women sang songs by Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti by heart. Almost all the families of Preggio had a musician in the band: some more than one. Among the buffaloes, Giovanni called Nino, cornet player, and his brother Luciano the clarinet. Then there were the Stoppa: Settimio on trumpet, Bruno and Benedetto on baritone flugelhorn. To the Contini family belonged the brothers Dino, clarinetist ("quartino"), David, bass player in Eb, Alceo and his father Luigi, also at the clarinet, whom he had to abandon when the shotgun exploded in his hand and lost two fingers. Maestro Boni also belonged to the Contini family, having married Luigi's sister and thus becoming the uncle of two brothers; and they were also his nephews on the part of his mother Giovanni and Luciano Bufali. Relationships of kinship, musical activity, work connected families and players. For example, Alceo Contini was a carpenter together with his uncle Gaetano Boni. This man, a rigorous and tenacious man, was a master of the band and a skilled craftsman; tireless educator, in his spare time he gave music lessons to the boys in his own workshop. A kind of head of the family for that band that among the many relatives, also included another nephew and a brother. The hamlet of Preggio, at the beginning of the thirties, was close to two thousand souls, while in the countryside the families had up to thirty or forty members. The country itself was densely populated. The population increased when work began for the construction of the road section from Preggio to Umbertide through Monte Acuto and Polgeto. Workers came from all over Italy and it was a real providence, because in a period of high unemployment a work of this magnitude, built entirely with a pickaxe, employed hundreds of workers. The road was inaugurated on October 28, 1934, a historic date for Preggio which had been waiting for the connection with its Municipality since the time of the unification of Italy. The service of 21 April 1934 is unforgettable, when the band participated in the inauguration of the cross placed on the top of Monte Acuto, in memory of the holy year 1933-34 and the fallen of the war 1915-1918. It was hard to get to the top, the heaviest tools loaded on the back of a mule, but the wonderful view of the valleys below repaid the efforts of the long climb. Another historic occasion for the town, and therefore for his band, was the "taking possession" of the parish of the Holy Trinity by the new prior, Don Espedito Marcucci, who would hold the Priory until his death in 1973. The band actively participated to the celebrations; the importance of the ceremony was underlined by the presence of civil authorities and by Archbishop Giovanni Battista Rosa who "placed the young priest in possession of the parish benefit". At 11.30 on February 20, 1938, mass sung by the local “Schola cantorum” directed by Alessandro Franchi; at 4 pm, solemn thanksgiving with the performance of the “Te Deum” and the “trina benediction”. The party ended in an evocative way: in the evening Preggio was all lit up with "Venetian lanterns" and "fires of joy" were lit in the countryside. The band continued to be called in the surroundings for the holidays: its services were required in a large area, from Castel Rigone towards Lake Trasimeno, up to Migianella, near Umbertide. By now she had beautiful uniforms and was renowned for the vast and well-kept repertoire, which animated the associative moments in the surrounding countryside and centers. In the mid-forties we find it always active. And in the immediate post-war period, in the period of political elections in which heated and violent partisan passions were unleashed, the gang was the protagonist of an eventful episode. On May 18, 1947, the Sunday after the Ascension, she was called to Monte Acuto, to the traditional feast of the Madonna della Costa, where, after the religious celebrations, she was to hold an "outdoor musical entertainment". He had already started playing in the open space in front of the church when a "communist speaker", climbed onto an embankment, began a meeting addressed to the many present. Impatient for the prolongation of the play, the politician urged the "comrades" to stop the music and they accepted the invitation so well that they lashed out at the players, forcing them to stop with swear words and shoving. The event, although serious, seemed to be over, especially since the lunch seemed to have calmed the spirits. But when, in the afternoon, the band was invited to resume the program, the "comrades" began to mock the band-players who, even hit by a few stones, placed the instruments on the grass and put the jammers to flight with punches. Even the parish priest and his brother, also a priest, were victims of the turmoil, who, in an attempt to gain the door of the rectory to take shelter, were slapped by the mob. The story did not end there, but it had serious consequences. In 1949 the group celebrated the ordination of another priest from Prese, a former member of the band, Don Dino Contini. He accompanied him from home to the church of the Holy Trinity, where the young priest celebrated his first mass. Since then Don Dino would no longer play the "quartino" in the band, but the piano and the great organ of the cathedral of San Lorenzo in Perugia, of which he has been an appreciated organist from 1942 to the present day. But shortly afterwards the good teacher Boni, who had led the group with firmness and skill for many years, died. In the pouring rain of a stormy summer day, the gang accompanied him to the cemetery amidst general emotion. It was a strong and engaging atmosphere that the players managed to create at the funeral of a companion or a relative: people were always struck by it. The gang, therefore, fell silent for a while, but the activity was soon resumed. The prior, Don Espedito Marcucci, passionate about music and aware of the importance of the band for the community of Preggio, took steps to reconstitute it, managing, in 1950, to recompose a group of twenty-three people. Don Espedito had also thought of the instruments, in need of repairs, entrusting them to the tuner Schippa di Passignano. He also bought new ones at his own expense, equipping the gang with everything they needed. The group thus resumed playing under the guidance of Gaetano Boni's nephew and pupil, Alceo Contini, Don Dino's brother; his brother David was then at the baritone flugelhorn (bombardino), Nicola Boni at the cash desk bought by the prior. The director of the band Alceo Contini was a good instrumentalist who played all woods and also the saxophone; famous for his clarinet skills. Contini also took care of the children's music school; the rehearsals took place in a local of the Municipality under the square, in via Dritta. The headquarters will then be moved to the "theater" room, in the large hall overlooking the square. Carlo Boni played the trombone, Otello Sergenti the bombardino, Tommaso Orsini the cornet, Marino Orsini the bass, Biagio Trentini the bass drum, Raimondo Stoppa the "quartino". Then there were Terzilio Peverini and Antonio Cinaglia on clarinet, Gino Falomi and Rolando Trentini on bass, Luciano Bufali and Pietro Bastianoni on clarinet, Quintilio Zandrini on cornet, Pasquale Secondi and Primo Falomi on trombone, Gustavo Bastianoni on alto horn, Riccardo Benigni on tambourine and Alfredo Peverini with dishes. The Preggio band lasted until the early 1960s, when the depopulation of the Apennines began, which would reduce the population down to a hundred inhabitants. Photo: - Amedeo Massetti photographic archive - Historical photographic archive of the Municipality of Umbertide

Storia, memoria ed identità Umbertide. Il sito si propone di divulgare la storia, la cultura e la memoria di coloro che hanno abitato ad Umbertide (Pg) per contribuire alla costruzione di una identità culturale comune nel rispetto dei principi Costituzionali. Questa divulgazione è e resterà senza sc HISTORY AND MEMORY UMBERTIDE Virtual place of memory and identity in motion Who we are We are a group of history lovers and scholars who want to create a space for the transmission of documents, memories and traditions of our city. The aim is the development of a shared identity that is inclusive of those who lived and those who live in Umbertide. The cultural and economic aspects, together with the Second World War, over time they have shaped the city, with its architectural elements and its spaces, but also the rural territory which for centuries has maintained its characteristic of scattered "settlement" and polyculture. For about 70 years, the scenario has been rapidly evolving. We are convinced that knowing the past, or who we were, will help understand how the life of the population will be structured, that is who we will be. Knowing allows you to have "new eyes" to see ... and think. Scopri le nostre pagine dinamiche Ogni pagina è un percorso, un grande contenitore dinamico, anche con decide di approfondimenti, sempre in possibile crescita perché la ricerca non deve avere una fine. Ogni pagina è un piccolo "sito" specifico all'interno di "Umbertidestoria". Pagine strutturate in modo da facilitare la navigabilità e quindi la fruizione. La Fratta di Carta Prima della progressiva standardizzazione della cartografia tra '700 ed '800 si sono prodotte rappresentazioni del territorio e di città mosse da diverse esigenze... Montecorona Sabbianiani Estratti a cura di Giuliano Sabbiniani sulla storia, vita e produzione della Tenuta di Montecorona dal suo libro “Montecorona – la Tenuta e la sua gente”, Gruppo editoriale locale, Digital Editor srl, Umbertide - 2021"... Memoria e Tradizioni La sezione delle nostre tradizioni e della memoria da preservare, curata da Sergio Magrini Alunno... Video di Storia e Territorio Raccolta di pagine con video si luoghi storici architettonici e particolari fonti storiche della storia e del territorio di Umbertide... Ricordi umbertidesi Nuova pagina del sito nella quale intendiamo dare spazio a tutti coloro che vorranno condividere con noi i loro ricordi e i personaggi caratteristici nella Umbertide di una volta anche con documenti e foto d’epoca... Fratta del Quattrocento Prima pagina dinamica che raccoglie i vari aspetti del sito su uno specifico periodo storico: il XV secolo dell'antica Fratta... Approfondisci la "memoria" ad ottanta anni di distanza dal bombardamento del 1944... Visita "OTTANTANNI" la sezione dedicata al progetto con UNITRE di Umbertide, IL CENTRO SOCIO-CULTURALE S. FRANCESCO con il Patrocinio del COMUNE DI UMBERTIDE. OTTANTANNI Il 1944 In costruzione.. In questa sezione il progetto "Ottantani" per il ricordo della tragedia che colpì la nostra città il 25 aprile 1944. Tragedia che si lega in modo più vasto al territorio dell'alta Umbria per il periodo del passaggio del fronte nel 1944. Progetto a cura di Mario Tosti, Unitre di Umbertide, il Centro Culturale San Francesco, con il Patrocinio del Comune di Umbertide. Con la Collaborazione di Corrado Baldoni, Mario Bani, Serio Bargelli, Sergio Magrini Alunno, Massimo Pascolini, Antonio Renzini, Luca Silvioni, Pietro Taverniti, Romano Viti. Gennaio In costruzione... Aprile In costruzione... Luglio In costruzione... Ottobre In costruzione... Febbraio In costruzione... Maggio In costruzione... Agosto In costruzione... Novembre In costruzione... Marzo In costruzione... Giugno In costruzione... Settembre In costruzione... Dicembre In costruzione... .... o visita le nostre pagine tematiche di raccordo... ... o scopri le nostre pagine tematiche tradizionali , strutturate come raccordo degli articoli singoli, a volte ancora da sistemare, da dove puoi accedere a specifici approfondimenti.. Nel tempo sostituiremo le pagine tradizionali con quelle dinamiche... "work in progress"! STORIA vai alla pagina STORIA PER TEMI vai alla pagina MEMORIA vai alla pagina TRADIZIONI vai alla pagina ARRIVI E PARTENZE vai alla pagina CALENDARI vai alla pagina TESI DI LAUREA vai alla pagina ALBUM vai alla pagina The information from the birth of the first residential agglomerations to the first archive news, The rapid time of political changes from the Middle Ages to the history of the twentieth century, the architectural remains, our monuments and works of art, the slow pace of changes in the territory that have come to define our landscape, the structuring of traditions, family memory ... all this defines the identity of a place and of the people who live there. Please help us to remember by sending photos (with date and place if possible), reporting errors on our texts, suggesting improvements or writing your memoirs, possibly with historical and contemporary sources, to build a vision of our future. Those who choose to send us images can choose to do overwrite, with the "water mark" technique, your "name and surname" or "family archive ..." on your photos, this to prevent the images from being used once on the web beyond the cultural purposes that we aim. For the same reason we have applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark over the historical photos of Umbertide which have been on the web for some time and in various private archives; in this way we try to avoid that further disclosure on our part favors purposes that are not consonant with our intentions. We come out publicly with parts that are incomplete and to be improved. Ours is an ongoing project that needed to be shared in order to grow. For now, thank you ... Adil, Adriano, Alberto, Alessandro, Alessandro C., Andrea Levi, Anna, Anna Maria, Brunella, Diego, Dritan, Fabio, Federico, Francesco, Giovanna, Giovanni, Giulio, Imperia, Isotta, Mario, Miriam, Loredana, Kalida, Paola, Silvia, Simona, Tiziana, Valentina RV, Valentina P. and all those who have sent us photos or supported. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com EH Carr "Change is certain. Progress is not " The information from the birth of the first residential agglomerations to the first archive news, The rapid time of political changes from the Middle Ages to the history of the twentieth century, the architectural remains, our monuments and works of art, the slow pace of changes in the territory that have come to define our landscape, the structuring of traditions, family memory ... all this defines the identity of a place and of the people who live there. Please help us to remember by sending photos (with date and place if possible), reporting errors on our texts, suggesting improvements or writing your memoirs, possibly with historical and contemporary sources, to build a vision of our future. Those who choose to send us images can choose to do overwrite, with the "water mark" technique, your "name and surname" or "family archive ..." on your photos, this to prevent the images from being used once on the web beyond the cultural purposes that we aim. For the same reason we have applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark over the historical photos of Umbertide which have been on the web for some time and in various private archives; in this way we try to avoid that further disclosure on our part favors purposes that are not consonant with our intentions. We come out publicly with parts that are incomplete and to be improved. Ours is an ongoing project that needed to be shared in order to grow. For now, thank you ... Adil, Adriano, Alberto, Alessandro, Alessandro C., Andrea Levi, Anna, Anna Maria, Brunella, Diego, Dritan, Fabio, Federico, Francesco, Giovanna, Giovanni, Giulio, Imperia, Isotta, Mario, Miriam, Loredana, Kalida, Paola, Silvia, Simona, Tiziana, Valentina RV, Valentina P. and all those who have sent us photos or supported. Who we are We are a group of history lovers and scholars who want to create a space for the transmission of documents, memories and traditions of our city. The aim is the development of a shared identity that is inclusive of those who lived and those who live in Umbertide. The cultural and economic aspects, together with the Second World War, over time they have shaped the city, with its architectural elements and its spaces, but also the rural territory which for centuries has maintained its characteristic of scattered "settlement" and polyculture. For about 70 years, the scenario has been rapidly evolving. We are convinced that knowing the past, or who we were, will help understand how the life of the population will be structured, that is who we will be. Knowing allows you to have "new eyes" to see ... and think. 2019 | the "Collegiate" - S. Maria della Regghia About 1920 | the fourteenth-century fortress and the market The Abbey of Montecorona during the flood of the Tiber in 2005. By clicking here you can to download the photo in original resolution. For a study of the extent of the flood in Umbria you can see the IRPI report here ( Authority of Basin of the River Tiber).

Facanapa - satirical magazine of Umbertide of the late nineteenth century Presentation at the Museum of Santa Croce - 5 March 2010 by Roberto Sciurpa Premise The presentation of a short-lived newspaper that saw the light in our city, intends to retrace the magnitudes and miseries of a limited historical period and the Municipal Administration did well to take care of its reproduction for its high civic value and significance. moral that the local paper carried out between December 1893 and July 1894. It was a courageous initiative of a group of authoritative citizens, who took over the situation of criticism and control over the public administration since the institutions delegated and legitimate they had inexplicably given up on it. In just eight months, a seemingly unpretentious piece of paper, he managed to achieve what in twenty years the defenders and guarantors of a community had refused to demand. Behind FACANAPA, the Venetian mask that lends the title to the newspaper, there are in fact reports of seriously deviant political and administrative pathologies, destined to repeat themselves, when the sense of individual and collective responsibility, of the founding values of a people is lost, with the consequent lowering of the level of controls. It can happen, then, that the following occurs: - expropriation of politics by a prevaricating and opaque bureaucracy, which responds only to itself; - dangerous drift towards corruption and the triumph of personal interests; - dark direction of skilled and unscrupulous fixers who manipulate the life of a community under the shelter of the peaceful umbrella that offers human and environmental outlines that are apparently peaceful and even pleasant to shady events. The institutional framework In the city of Umbertide in the late 1800s there was a restless atmosphere. The fall of papal power and the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy, on the political and institutional level, had not changed things. The local agriculture continued to hold power, as had happened in the past, since the active and passive electorate passed through the categories of wealth and the wealthy, together with the assets, also inherited the right to manage public affairs, according to a bad habit that was lost in the mists of time. It is not difficult to imagine the lack of enthusiasm that the various agrarians felt in taking on the task of administering the interests of a community that they often accepted unwillingly, all taken as they were by the care of their own affairs. The leap in quality will take place only in 1909 with the conquest of the Municipality by a bourgeoisie led by Francesco Andreani who set aside the centuries-old power of the agrarians and established the right to govern following the indications of the vote and not those of the census. The social framework On the social level, the Italian Unity brought, however, notable winds of change also in these parts, allowing the vigorous birth of trade associations, destined soon to overcome the mere corporate aspect. There was a proliferation of organizations such as the Society of Veterans of the Patrie Battaglie founded in 1883, the Society of Masons in 1888, that of Rowers of 1890, that of Mutual Aid and many others. But above all the Circolo Mazzini was alive and very active since 1877 with its numerous political initiatives, systematically opposed by the liberals of the time who administered the Municipality. The local Socialist Party was not yet born, the section will be founded in May 1899, but already at the national level that Party had had official visibility for some years. No wonder, therefore, if on the morning of May 1, 1899, the municipal guards communicated to the Mayor, Count Giuseppe Conestabile Della Staffa, that during the night someone had written on the walls of the Town Hall and in various points of via Cibo with lampblack and water: Long live May 1st Down with the exploiters Down with the Public Safety Delegate Long live the Workers The wind of change did not affect only the heterogeneous sector of the opposition, but also that of the liberal majority who split into progressives and conservatives with often resentful oppositions and distinct and combative press organs. Let's not lose sight of the dates to understand the political evolution of the time. Facanapa arises in this climate of profound aspiration for change and political bradyseism, when among the liberal municipal councilors sits, for example, a person of rank such as Benedetto Maramotti, the former historical prefect of Perugia for 21 years, with strong sympathies for the historical left of Agostino De Pretis who had taken power in 1876 and who as prefect had cleared the democratic Ulisse Rocchi through customs, making him the mayor of Perugia. Retired in 1889, Maramotti settled in the area, near his daughter Emma, who had married a Mavarelli, whose substantial properties were located in these parts. As a municipal councilor of Umbertide he looked after the interests of his son-in-law more closely. Maramotti was the fourth prefect of Perugia without being a Senator, after Filippo Gualtiero, Luigi Tanari and Giuseppe Gadda, all three Senators of the Kingdom. Giacomino Dal Bianco But the real reason why Facanapa was born lies in the prevarications of the municipal secretary of the time: Giacomino Dal Bianco. Dal Bianco was born in 1850 in Velo d'Astico, in the province of Vicenza, a municipality that today has 2,350 inhabitants and then counted even fewer. The small town is located between the Astico and Posina streams, close to inaccessible mountains that only soften in the fertile plain of the valley floor at the end of the gorge. On March 15, 1874, at the age of 24, he was appointed Secretary of the Municipality of Umbertide. At that time the competitions for this type of office were prefectural and the appointments were conferred by the Prefect to whom the municipal secretaries were hierarchically subordinate. They were state employees in all respects, paid, however, by the municipalities. The minutes testify, without a shadow of a doubt, that Dal Bianco was an intelligent and prepared official, present at city initiatives to the point of exaggeration. Of considerable size, tall and elegant, with a plump and round face, so much so as to deserve the nickname of “Luna Piena” (Full Moon) by Facanapa, he did not disdain the table and the good food that he gladly honored. Family commitments did not occupy him much because he remained faithful to nature, a bachelor as he was born. He would have been an excellent and precious collaborator, had he not had the very serious defect of not staying in his place. Taking advantage of lazy and indolent administrators, who exercised the role by inheritance of wealth and to whom an "expansive" and enterprising secretary was comfortable, Giacomino began to occupy spaces that were not his own, to override administrative skills and behavioral practices that soon attracted attention . On more than one occasion, the security of the acquired power led him to deride with irreverence councilors who were not very docile to him as happened when the mayor indicated a certain administrator as his representative at the Città di Castello Exhibition and he suggested that it would be better to send us Porrini (the usher !!), the press and the same population of Umbertide. In the imaginary and ironic interview with the "Gran Soaffa" (another nickname of Dal Bianco), which the editor finds sunk in his armchair smoking a "Virginia" cigar, the secretary declares how he does good and bad weather in the city: “In the Town Hall I am in charge, in the Congregation of Charity I am in charge, in the Bank I am in charge, and then and then ... in this country you just need to promise, these inhabitants are so good!”. He was losing the sense of the limit, as it always happens and in all abusive paths. No wonder, therefore, if the words “Umbertide agli Umbertidesi!” Began to appear on the ballot papers. In the meantime, Dal Bianco accumulated well-paid public assignments and fees, carried out private paid consultancy, wrote little (disregarding the advice of the Mayor Mauro Mavarelli) and traveled a lot with the carriage always ready in front of the door of his house in via del Foro Boario n. 6, in the current Piazza Caduti del Lavoro, right in front of the Rocca, and at the expense of the various bodies it represented. Public and private were intertwining in a twisted way, to the point of heavily polluting the award of numerous contracts. The little travet, with a modest salary as a town clerk, was making a fortune. He went to the Municipality when he could to give important directives, while capitalizing the proceeds of his role as public servant in real estate. Dal Bianco, in fact, will definitively settle in Umbertide and in the registry office he is the owner, therefore the owner of unidentified properties. One thing is certain is that in the phase of the first enlargement of the city cemetery, in 1900, he bought a chapel in the left hemicycle, the noble area, next to other chapels of the wealthy families of Umbertide (Burelli, Santini, Ramaccioni, Savelli, Bertanzi, Confraternita of the Holy Cross and of the Good Death). His body rests in that chapel. Giacomino Dal Bianco died on November 20, 1914 at 6.10 am, at the age of only 64. We do not know what happened to his decent fortune. Sometimes among the mysteries that cloak personal aspirations in an arcane there is also that of wanting to be with the wealthy even when dead. Contrary to Facanapa's ironic predictions, Dal Bianco did not leave Umbertide and after his retirement, in 1894, we find him among the municipal councilors. The irony of the Venetian mask becomes inexorable and pungent: “He, coming from outside, loved our country as his own, and, neglecting his own interest, he took care only of ours, so much so that he will leave us humble and humble as he came”. Harsh judgments that certainly made noise in the Municipality and in the city. The constant, precise accusations of personal interests in his public role, and of enrichment with shady deals, today would have sparked a flurry of lawsuits and heated legal battles. That was not the case at that temple. The editors continued to publish their articles undisturbed for another four months: the newspaper will still come out with eight fortnightly issues until July 15, 1894. Also in the March 25 issue, the article "Resurrection" written by a very fine pen is striking. He denounces the sadness that has pervaded Umbertide for some time due to "the economic hardship of so many, which is making itself felt more bitter every day". With fine sensitivity, the editor analyzes the situation of the man forced to fight bitterly the life that "cannot be cheerful, cannot be good, cannot be willing to look at and treat others kindly". And he continues: “Every economic disaster brings with it a legacy of enmities and grudges; and we have in our country the example of many profound divisions due to similar reasons ”. He concludes: “In the midst of the common misery there are those who get stuck; who in the midst of the general collapse of souls rules; who from our discords draws strength and power ”. Prophetic words that transform satire into a serious and respectable editorial that many would like to sign. The reporting of irregularities in the periodic updates of the electoral lists is recurrent and documented and responded to the logic of granting active electorate to those subjects who gave greater guarantees in the election of docile candidates to the powerful secretary. He had also appropriated eight hundred lire of the secretarial fees, never paid to the municipal treasury, and had been sentenced to compensation by the Council of State, but in the subsequent appeal to the Ministry, the Municipality strangely did not become an injured party and Giacomino won the match. The Ghibelline from the north had created a kind of feudal vassalage to which the administrators were unable to react. It should be remembered that in 1887, among the reasons for the resignation of the historic mayor of Umbertide, Mauro Mavarelli, the minutes report the harsh criticism of his own advisers for not having removed the cumbersome subject from his office. In this situation the newspaper became a guarantee garrison appreciated by many, not only of the opposition, but also of the majority, and carried out that role of control and criticism which the institutional bodies had inexplicably renounced. But its merits are also other: the numerous news events that document events of city life and enrich the history of Umbertide with important details, extensively treated by other authors; the description of the poor conditions of the peasants and of their houses reduced to pigsties; a rude and arrogant small-scale agrarian bosses; the pellagra which bordered on high peaks with 341 people affected by the disease, while Gubbio, with a much larger territory, had a hundred, Foligno twelve and Nocera Umbra only one. The disease, after having weakened the physical faculties, attacked the mental ones and led the patient to the asylum. Facanapa will excuse us if we add a footnote to his numbers: on the 341 pellagrosi the female incidence was double compared to the male one and the fact speaks volumes about the silent and daily sacrifice of our women in the fields who left the rare best morsels to their men because could withstand the adversities of work longer. Welcome back to us nice Venetian mask, which from the head of a brave sheet, buried in the dust of oblivion, coordinated the whip of the Umbertidese frog, intent on hitting the shady den of suspicious trafficking! Conclusions In this brief overview we have been able to observe the miseries of politics expropriated by a troublesome and intriguing bureaucracy; the maneuvers of a capable and prepared character who had put his remarkable gifts at the service of obscure personal interests; the serious and prolonged omissive responsibilities of conniving administrators. But we have also seen the magnitudes and values: - a handful of generous young people determined to replace the institutions in order to eliminate the corruption; - the positive role of the press which in eight months has helped to resolve situations gangrenous for years; - the polite tone of a close and never delegitimizing political dialectic, conducted by gentlemen of other times; - genuine respect even for the main target of the invectives, towards which subtle irony is used, never vulgarity and much less personal offenses. They seem like values to us to be exalted not only because they disappeared on the threshold of the third millennium, but because indispensable to rebuild the identity of a people starting from the roots of men municipalities that made civil conscience and a sense of legality grow among the people of Umbertide. Sources: "A FREE MAN - Roberto Sciurpa, a passionate civil commitment" - by Federico Sciurpa - Petruzzi publisher, Città di Castello, June 2012 Roberto Sciurpa tells the story of Umbertide to school pupils Roberto Sciurpa with the collector Raffaele Bozzi, owner of the collection of "Facanapa", at the presentation of the magazine Roberto Sciurpa with Amedeo Massetti and Petruzzi during the printing of the last book on the History of Umbertide In the pictures: - The first page of the magazine n.1 - Some articles on the first and last page - An advertisement The article dedicated to the presentation of the satirical magazine "Facanapa" in n.1 2010 of "Umbertide Cronache" signed by Amedeo Massetti The cover of the book that his son Federico dedicated to his father Roberto

Memory In this section you will find the stories of the collective and family memories of those who want to remember, thanks to the subsections that report the stories of the memoirs and contributions sent. We are convinced that the memories of those who lived in a specific era, with all the consequences of being born and raised in a given time, also have a "historical" value and are useful in clarifying the inevitable distortions or superficial beliefs about the past. Because through the lives of those who have lived, we can learn more about the consequences experienced by people in different historical moments, political choices, agricultural and technological innovations. From here, moreover, it is also possible to understand what kind of moral, religious, political and economic structuring of a given moment was for different social classes and how this could have profound repercussions in the way of behaving of those who lived in these areas in a certain moment. In the subsections the individual stories, which are never like this because they involve grandparents and ancestors but also their children and grandchildren, or, as in the case of the Second World War, a broad and persistent drama which, as Mario Tosti wrote, is it was "our ordeal" in Umbria. Learn more our memory for what concerns the first part of the twentieth century with the news from Umberto I on the terrible pandemic of the twentieth century, the " S pagnola " . For the period of the following we present " Aristide and the twenty years ", " Lamberto and the Resistance ", " The voices of memory" and the bombing of April 25, 1944. Among the unjustifiable actions of the period of the Second World War we report a long extract from the book "Tre Nuts" by Paola Avorio, on the massacre of Penetola and always on this tragic event we report the book of collection of testimonies made years ago by Giovanni Bottaccioli: " Penetola. Not all the dead die " , a book that can also be downloaded in .pdf by simply clicking here . The contextualization of the tragic events of the period of the Second World War is currently delegated to the " Atlas of Memory " which gives access to the interactive map of Alvaro Tacchini and to the " Paths of Memory " edited by Fabio Mariotti which report the events of 1944. We conclude with the figure of General Alberto Briganti, who crossed the past century, and through his life the history of Italian aviation from before the Second World War to the reconstitution of the Italian Republic's Air Force can also be traced. La Spagnola ad Umbertid e v to the page Aristide and the twenties or v to the page Lamberto and the Resistenz a v to the page Voices of the mind a v to the page Not all the dead die v to the page Penetol a v to the page THE Routes of Memory v to the page The atlas of the Memory v to the page The general Alberto Briganti v to the page Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Paul Ginsborg " History tells events, it does not present facts as the simple outcome of causal connections, but as the fruit of choices, ideas and human values ... "

GUIDUCCINO DELLA FRATTA An experienced Frattegian administrator vulgar language and fourteenth-century poetry curated by Fabio Mariotti Conference held in Umbertide in November 1974 by Prof. Ignazio Baldelli of the La Sapienza University of Rome on Guiduccino della Fratta (Transcription from the original recording) From a paper manuscript in the State Archives of Perugia, S. Maria Valdiponte 28. (1363-67) cc.125-132-1375-76 cc.166-182 I want to start with some general considerations. In recent years, Italian culture at the highest levels has taken a strong interest in the regional aspects of its components. An illustrious scholar, Carlo Dionisotti, recently published a fundamental book on the relationship between geography and culture (Ed: “Geography and history of Italian literature”). I am not saying that all this was unknown until recently, but it was certainly strongly overshadowed as the culture of each country is strongly related to social and political reality. In the past century, all the forces of Italian culture and reality tended to unity; it is natural that in such a perspective, the regional aspects were strongly overshadowed and the accent was placed on what united the Italians, on the common aspects and therefore on certain voices and on certain great movements that had meant linguistic unity and Italian culture. However, it is certain that only in the last decades, since 1930, in Italy has systematic attention been paid to the regional components of Italy, and there has been a growing interest in a composite unity, made up of notable regional traditions, of different aspects, even if often in the millenary history of Italy these different aspects have sometimes sought a common denominator. Undoubtedly, all this must be related to the best Italian regionalism. We know that in the Italian regions, even as a political institution, there are serious periods: at a certain moment it could happen that instead of just one mafia we could have many small mafias and this would be one of the biggest misfortunes for the Italian reality. But many men of culture have confidence. Such a perspective - our trust in the regions - looks towards the ancient and takes the right of contemporary society from the ancient. Since the pre-Roman origins there has been a composite Italian reality; literature and culture in the vernacular was not born as a unitary one but was born first in the great Benedictine abbeys of the center-south, then in the municipalities of the center-north. If we look with a minimum of attention to the Perugian or Florentine culture of the thirteenth or fourteenth century we are faced with very different manifestations, sometimes contrasting, always very lively. This liveliness of the literary and artistic culture of our cities and regions gives us hope for an active, lively and non-provincial future of the regions. In a perspective of this kind, what has been maturing in the conscience of the Italians, what is the position of Umbria? Umbria has its own unitary physiognomy albeit in this larger unit, in what the Spaniards call the small homeland, in comparison with the large homeland, or the small homeland in accordance with the large homeland. Does our small homeland have an interesting cultural and linguistic physiognomy in that larger reality that is Italy? We are sure so, but first another consideration is needed. At first glance, some might consider the claim to the region, to regionalism absurd at a time when we are talking about Europe. Instead this is in perfect agreement. When men unite or attempt to unite in larger units each one must seek strength, his identity in the most immediate, regional roots in the truest sense of the word. In this broad, motivated and composite perspective of the kind I have said, what is the position of Umbria? I would say a position of extreme interest as the most ancient Umbrian culture, of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is characterized by a strongly popular tone. Certainly very different from the Tuscan refinement, from the pedagogical, teaching, wisely Ambrosian tone of Lombard culture, but a popular tone in the Franciscan sense of the word. I use the term "Franciscan" with perfect conscience. The most revolutionary, most active movement in Umbria is Franciscanism for what it has catalysed around it political, ideal and cultural forces. In Umbria the most interesting literary manifestation of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries is the "lauda". That lauda of which today we are able to indicate various centers of active production, of different sign. A more revolutionary, Christocentric "lauda", as developed in Todi and Assisi, is contrasted by a more orthodox average "lauda". Perugia will espouse the interests of the Church for many decades in its expansion action beyond the Tiber, where Ghibelline traditions will be created, of rebellion against the Church, of rebellion against the bourgeoisie, of a popular character. All this produces a medium-popular type of literature: the "lauda" that chooses the ballad as a musical metric scheme makes a significant choice. Choosing the ballad among all the possible metric-musical schemes that the Italian and European culture offered at that time, means choosing the meter and the music of the most popular tone. Recalling Perugia, alongside the "lauda", we have the production of legal-administrative prose (the great municipal statute of Perugia was probably written in 1342 in the vernacular and is presented in one language, in a style that is attentive to the concrete reality of life daily); or a novel, the novel by Corciano and Perugia which offers us a medium-popular ideal. It is quite interesting to study such documents on a social and literary level. In this period there is an effort to recover classical traditions, especially French, translated on an actively democratic and popular level. The difficult equilibrium of Umbria, and of Perugia in particular, will tend to end rather tragically in 1370. Returning to the theme, it is of particular interest to refer to that family culture characteristic of the time. A "bastard" of accounts preserved in the State Archives of Perugia has handed down the accounting of a "gabelle" contractor, certain Guiduccino della Fratta (La Fratta was renamed, in the last century, Umbertide), which should not be seen as a naive and inexperienced minstrel. He was a man who handled considerable sums of money, having contracted out the municipalities of Montone, della Fratta, for a sum of 1000 florins, which, translated into lire, are currently 60-80 million. to be interested, with his partners, on a fairly conspicuous financial level: his actions, at a certain moment, went from Fratta to Marsciano. Guiduccino, therefore, was an important person even if he was not at the level of the great bankers of the fourteenth century. his accounting results in important payments even if we, on an anecdotal level, are more interested in the extreme care with which our Guiduccino treated his mount, the one he called his nag, which allowed him to travel between Montone, Romeggio, Fratta, Marsciano .... Here are some examples: ("Quisste sleep and the d. And the quail I Guiducino ò esspese. En prima espese a di xxx de November when I went to the Fracta wing for d. And to draw and put an iron of the ronccino and en j sheets of wine and en la provenda ii s. "). ("Item espese en lo trombadore when I el menaie to have the ordene of the dicta galbella of the casstello de Montone and dela Fracta and de Romeggio xxxii s. And vi d. Banned"). ("Item expended on the twelfth day of the dicto month in the arbergo d'Armanucciuo dala Resena x f.). (Item espese en vino to do honor to Fractegian cierte that I fommo ser Nicolò and I iiii s. "). ("Item paddles a day xviii of gienaio for the galbella de Montone won twelve gold florins of the quails had twelve of them from Sepolino de Luca and ten paddles of the d. Dele gallbelle caught xxii gold florins"). ("Item espese en axis, enn agute, elglie maiesstre that aconciaro the usscia and the fenesstre and 'l mangdoio, e' n palglia for the roncino, and the quail d. Espese Vagnuolo tavernaoio, and the quail d. Him die ser Pietro xxvi ll . iiii d. "). ("Item espese a di xxiii de marco en doie ferre nuova, en chiuov for the roncino and plump to make poltrilglia en glie pieie xxii s."). ("Item paddles in tormentina, in oil, in fat de casstrone to make the onhuento for the pies of the roncino xv s. (1)"). Note read: d. (to denare); ll (for livere); f. (for florins); s. (for solde). As can be deduced from certain peculiarities, the language used is that typical of the territory that goes from Perugia to Fratta. In the morphological system of ancient Perugia we note the presence of the neutral plural in "a", while the masculine plural in "i" does not exist; plural masculine and feminine, on the other hand, are united by the ending in "and". In the accounts of Guiduccino the vernacular is used and this constitutes a rather remarkable novelty as most of the accounts of this kind, throughout the century, are still kept in Latin. This means that Guiduccino - like many others - had a strong sense of the vernacular of his country, and therefore preferred it to Latin. Guiduccino, however, knew Latin, as evidenced by the transcription of "Adoro te devote", albeit in a somewhat approximate way. The choice of the vernacular is always a positive choice: Latin is the tradition, but men who have an interest for daily activity, they turn to the vulgar. Boccaccio's leading scholar has made a rather interesting observation; most of the codes that contain the "Decameron" have all passed through the hands of Italian bankers. We must not think of the "Decameron" as it appears to us from the cinema, but as a business book, the book that attracted bankers and the practical world of fourteenth-century Italy. Guiduccino is a small banker in the area and therefore has a very strong interest in the vulgar. But it is not only this that Guiduccino left in his account book, in his "bastardello": he also transcribed, if not composed, some poetic documents of considerable interest. Let me open a parenthesis. Many times some of the oldest documents of Italian poetry have been handed down to us through rather unusual roads. The literature in the vernacular is looked upon with a certain contempt by the university centers and by the men of the highest culture and therefore was not preserved from time with the same care given to the Latin texts. The book was a precious object, of very high cost: therefore the great ecclesiastical communities, princes, some notaries, universities could possess it. The parchment was used for important texts (St. Augustine, legal texts) while a work in vernacular written around the 11th-12th century was reported on some fragments of parchment, but in most cases it was not preserved or preserved. Then we find many of the most interesting texts of the origins of Italian culture and literature, from time to time, rather casually in certain half pages left blank. There is a codex by Gratian, a medieval jurist, in which when a chapter is finished, you go to a new page, leaving half a page blank. In this half page we come across a man of revolutionary culture who has a sense for the vulgar and hands down a text written in those centuries. Some of the most ancient rhythms of Italian poetry - Cassinese rhythm, Laurentian rhythm, Marche rhythm of S. Alessio - are handed down rather casually in this manner. Other documents were saved, just as casually, through the "guard" of the code, a large piece of parchment placed to protect the code itself. On these "guards" there are very important ancient texts. A notary from Umbertide must have had one of these codes at hand because he made a mess of it: there are 7-8 "bastardelli" linked by pages of the same 11th century code. The ways in which this ancient literature is handed down in the vernacular are casual to exceptional. I myself was lucky enough to discover the oldest existing Tuscan text in America, written at the end of the 11th century, in the "guard" of a codex of the Philadelphia library. There is a legal provision of the municipality of Bologna which prohibits notaries from leaving blank pages in documents to avoid tampering. And it is precisely in these blank pages that we find the most unexpected things in the study of ancient codes. The notaries of Bologna in the 13th century were men of particularly refined culture as the many pages that remained blank in the transcription of the documents were filled by them with extremely interesting copies of vernacular texts. In these Bolognese memorials - dated 1286 - there is a sonnet by Dante who was just over 20 years old in that year, but was so famous that a notary to fill a half blank page transcribes the sonnet of the Garisenda. And, if it was difficult for high-level vulgar texts to be saved, this was even more difficult for texts of a popular tone, considered negligible and therefore not transcribed. The Bolognese notaries have transcribed, along with songs by Jacopo da Lentini, even popular ballads. We said that Guiduccino was a man of good taste, he too had a blank page or two in his "bastardello" and he transcribed 4 ballads and a couple of prayers in Latin. The 4 ballads are not otherwise known and they are certainly all by the same author because they are united by a thematic element: loving fidelity. The ballads were written close to Umbertide since there are linguistic elements that certainly recall the region I was talking about before; and here they are: THE “You will never have pity cruel woman of me? and you know that 'l cur te de, and already do not aim at the time that was gone. If you thought about time how much is nobel thing, it is not yet in time to give your servant pose? and you are not flat and yet me dul de te that I brought you fe and tu en ver me always cruelty. Averaie tu maie pity Flee as much as you know that I too will follow you, that I love you more than never, and you do not want to suffer, say who you mean, and that I too will follow you and do not hope though that I abandone you that my heart goes away. Averaie you II My sweet lord, take merchandise of me who am subject to your faith. The annema, the body and my whole person to you donaie for the love I look at: if absentia foie, now forgive me, that I will obey you and never be late anymore, but this dart that is in my heart luie aial from me for love, faith. And the rays of light and your kindness I am taken to fall in love with your love, and in memory of the Danish faith I always contemplate in true color: to! dear my lord, your faith do not break it to me as others believe. Vague ballad, go to my lord And tell her to be firm and strong to me, and of his beautiful eyes and pious glance do not do my despect to no lover, but as a diamond keep faith to me who sees me for his love to die. III So that with close love I am for you, the annema is the heart always fo de you. He did not deserve, sir, so many ghuaie, because he loved you with 'perta fe, but I don't think he ever does that, star gientil, proceeded from you, but only he who never had fe with his and deceit he betrayed you and me. Giovene and beautiful, I don't want you to believe that it hurts me already being here for you, nor ancho de morir for quilla faith which you gave to me without error: donqua perfect love as a favor to you keeps el cor alegro towards me. Yes, as Arcita went down in prison What a podia Ymilia always see, maie huomo in the world had such a state that it seems I didn't think I had, but if near love were you assaie comfort doneresste to me. IV If he had been wise en ver de me, still possess my fe. Tu senca fe dolciecca deceived me, me who loved you more than anything else love, with your locenghe aie me more than robato how tender are the keys to my heart: I fell in the low sun for you, nor did you ever record more than me. But you do not look that your and deceive sleep known by those who use you, so that from outside what spreads within: the time that says mecho will pass, think for what your mala fe many will benefit by harming you. Sweet ballad is telling everyone who calls others to be wise and haughty and does not look at the pain with mocti thieves de who for robar others is so manero hold your purse tightly and your heart to yourself to what is not false fe. The elegant yet popular tone of the ballads is evident. It is an elegance that is revealed in the systematic nature of certain truncated rhymes, a usual element in poetic composition. The high cultural level is revealed in a truly amazing detail: the presence of an echo of a work by Boccaccio. This sonnet I am talking about was probably transcribed in Umbertide, in Montelabate, or in the territory between them, by Guiduccino della Fratta around 1363. Boccaccio is still alive and here there is a reference not to his major work, the "Decameron", which had already had a notable diffusion at the time, but at the "Teseida", an early work in eighth with very little diffusion in Italy. We are facing a local and regional culture, but not a provincial one. The region, however, has an active and cultural sense only if it is open to the reality of other countries and other regions. In the area we are talking about there is someone who cultivates poetry on a rather original level, even if it is not excellent poetry and is very attentive to the cultural reality of the largest centers, of the most notable poets. The reference to "Teseida" is when he says: "Sìcomme Arcita went down in prison / who can always see Ymilia see". Arcita and Palaemon are the two Theban prisoners in Athens prisons who fell in love with Emilia. I am not going to tell you about the "Teseida" but it is a story based on the love of two prisoners for a young girl who they see wandering around in the garden from a cell window. Here Guiduccino refers to the second part of the novel when Arcita, who has been allowed to leave Athens, comes back, with grave danger for his life, in order to see Emilia again. The interesting thing about these documents is the almost first-hand experience of the culture of a certain regional sign, actively present in what are the currents of the higher centers, for example by Boccaccio. These ballads, of notable poetic workmanship, were certainly written in the area we are talking about. What is the proof of this? The overwhelming proof is provided by the type of rhyme, which necessarily preserves the original aspect. We find in rhyme “enganne” with “spande” (In verses 9 and 11 of the ballad “Se saggio stato en ver de me”). We know that the ancient technique required perfect rhyme, while in this case there is no perfect rhyme. If we try to get a perfect rhyme in these two words we get "engenne", "spanne". You know that in most of Umbria "when" is said "quanno" (Foligno, for example). So evidently the poet of these ballads wrote "enganne" in rhyme with "spanne"; the copyist then changed "spans" and broke the rhyme. One might think that the ballads were written in southern Umbria; however, we cannot refer to the current situation, we must refer to the 14th century situation. Now it turns out that the consonant group "nd" was frequently found in the form "nn" in Gubbio. This means that this form extended far north than it is in today's dialects. In conclusion, we can say that these ballads were written in Umbria in an area not far from Guiduccino's homeland. The language of the above ballads and accounts roughly coincides with that of the Perugia theaters. However, there are two peculiarities that certainly recall Umbertide. To say "we went" we use the form "gemmo" and not "gimmo". "Gimmo" is the Perugian form; “Gemmo” is the northernmost form, almost castellana (and is the form used by Guiduccino della Fratta). Towards the area of Pierantonio there is still today a linguistic border of extreme interest: in that point passes one of the most important linguistic borders not only of Umbria, but even of Italy. From this point of view, those who are "Frattegiano" - how to say Guiduccino - use very different forms from those used, for example, in Ponte Valleceppi, that is, the sonorisation of the intervocalic "s". In the south of Italy the intervocalic "s" is always sonorous; north of the line I mentioned earlier we begin to find the sonic intervocalic "s". In the text reported above, in two or three cases, instead of the "s" our Guiduccino uses a "c", which in ancient texts was read as "z", for example in precedent, in chiecia, in piceglie (for "peas"). This form was used alluding to a sonorous "s": it is a hypothesis formulated by me at the time of the discovery of the texts, which I still confirm today. Even this land - I use "terra" with the medieval value of the term which means "walled land", "land surrounded by walls" - that is Umbertide had these interests towards the vulgar; interests towards a literary possibility with regional components (presence of the vulgar Perugian ) with some more local peculiarities (presence of probably "Frattegian" forms) or with a notable openness towards reality and larger centers (2). Note (2) See Ignazio Baldelli “Ballads and prayers in a book of accounts of the century. XIV - in idem, Vulgar Middle Ages from Montecassino to Umbria, Bari 1971, pp. 371-383. On 29 January 1980 the Umbertide City Council named a street in the area that was formerly called "Terziere Inferiore" or "Porta Nuova" (the current area of Piazza San Francesco and offshoots) after Guiduccino della Fratta. The professor. Carlo Dionisotti Via Guiduccino della Fratta

THE RISORGIMENTO AND THE GARIBALDINI IN UMBERTIDE Edited by Fabio Mariotti The Risorgimento in Umbertide Ninety Umbertidesi volunteers participated to the battles for a united Italy by Amedeo Massetti The enthralling charm of Garibaldi's fame, especially among the republican and liberal ranks, also spread to Fratta and many young people followed him with passion and attachment for about twenty years, from the first to the last hour, from the defense of republican Rome in 1849, to the attempt to overthrow the papal government in Mentana in 1867. With Captain Luigi Vibi , on the walls of Rome there were twenty-six other young people from Fratta. In addition, another 28 Umbertidesi volunteers came in 1859 in the Second War of Independence and another 23 in 1866 in Condino and Bezzecca. In Mentana, in 1867, there were 31 boys from Umbertide. Three of them never returned: on 21 June 1849, Captain Luigi Vibi was shot to death at Porta di San Pancrazio on the walls of Rome; on July 16, 1866, corporal Giuseppe Mastriforti fell in Condino in the province of Trento; on November 3, 1867, Giovanni Battista Igi sacrificed himself in Mentana. The plaque in Piazza Matteotti shows the names of the 90 volunteers who contributed to the achievement of National Unity. They are listed in alphabetical order, without distinction of the campaigns carried out. Some of them were present in more than one Garibaldi campaign. Among those who lost their lives in those events, it is necessary to remember Berlicche ( Cipriano Angioloni ). He was from Città di Castello, but was shot by the Austrians in the open space at the beginning of Via Secoli after the public wash houses. They called him Berlicche, like one of the devils, because he was a great blasphemer whom he had followed Garibaldi up to two days earlier. Giuseppe Bertanzi, in a letter written to his friend Giuseppe Amizie from Città di Castello, tells us that he possessed exceptional body agility. He was arrested between Mercatale and Cortona by an Austrian column and almost certainly the Angioloni must have been a ring of the Trafila. The Trafila consisted of a capillary chain of secret informers, widespread in the territory of the Papal State, who helped Garibaldi in all his travels. It was thanks to the Trafila that, in Sant'Angelo in Vado, he was informed that an Austrian column was climbing up the Metauro Valley to attack it and he avoided it by heading to San Marino for the Foglia Valley. It was the 28th of July and Cipriano Angioloni was shot on the 30th. A few days later, Anita died in the pine forest of Ravenna, the fugitive hero managed to avoid the tight grip of the Austrian patrols who hunted him closely thanks to the efficiency of the Trafila. The ninety young people who followed Garibaldi belonged mainly to the artisan class (blacksmiths, carpenters, tailors), to that of merchants, landowners, clerks and culture. The same social distribution, moreover, is found in the enterprise of the Thousand (see document below). The events of June 20 in Perugia in 1859 lacked 800 young people who had left volunteers for the north where the Second War of Independence was being fought. They belonged to the same classes. In the third, in Condino and Bezzecca, the same script was repeated and among the Perugians there were also Annibale Brugnoli and Zefferino Faina along with 23 people from Umbria. Reflection on these data leads us to clarify the statement of some authoritative historians who define the Resistance of 1943-45 a second Risorgimento, with the difference that it registered a mass participation, while the first was only the work of an elite. This judgment is based on a hasty transposition of the concept of "mass" in the two events. If on the sociological level the mass is made up of all the people who form a community, on the political level the conscious, motivated and participating element in the life of civil society is the "people". Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, the mass of peasants did not enjoy any rights and was a stranger and passive spectator to small and large events that did not affect them in the least. The working class was still in the early stage of its birth. A hundred years later, things had changed and the people of the fields and factories also participated in political life, were organized into parties and had given themselves their own trade unions. It is logical that those social classes that were not present in the struggles of the Risorgimento also militated in the ranks of the Resistance. On the basis of these considerations, the lashes that Garibaldi himself in his Memoirs trims at the absence of the peasant people among his ranks appear ungenerous. The Umbertidese community offered its best youth energies to the national Risorgimento and to Garibaldi in particular (its "mass" - many were just over sixteen years old -) belonging to those classes (craftsmen, landowners, traders, clerks, men of culture) who they had the privilege of participation and awareness. The town of Umbertide in that period had 900 inhabitants and 90 Garibaldi fighters represent 10% of the total. A high figure if we consider that it was not the result of a conscription precept, but of a voluntary choice. The end of the struggles of the Risorgimento left a profound mark on the Umbertidese community. The fraternal union, experienced in the battlefields, had a sequel in the Society of Veterans of the Patrie Battaglie, a numerous and lively Association founded on October 17, 1882. Article 2 of the Statute established its purpose, which was that of "mutual assistance, moral and physical education and any other means that conspire to the well-being of the institution and the liberal ideas it advocates ”. It was not an ante litteram party, but a supportive, open and progressive group that opposed the conservatism and nostalgia of the local agrarian nobility. The Board of Directors was made up, in fact, of leading liberal and republican elements such as: Giuseppe Utili, president Filippo Natali, vice president Aristide Reggiani, councilor Eugenio Vincenti, councilor Lorenzo Reali, councilor Alpinolo Sbarra, councilor Angelo Rometti, cashier Leopoldo Grilli, secretary. In particular, the secretary Leopoldo Grilli, to whom a street has been dedicated, was the tireless soul of Umbertide's republican movement. He was born on April 24, 1848 in Sigillo and Mazzini's ideals soon fascinated him, so much so that in 1866 and 1867 he joined the Garibaldian ranks in Condino and Mentana. It does not appear in the tombstone of the nineties since at that time he was a citizen of Sigillo. In fact, he moved to Umbertide in 1870 and on 21 June 1874 he married Francesca Natali. He was the first left angry in the city and was persecuted, accused and forced to flee in exile to Switzerland. Acquitted by the accusations he returned, and was elected for numerous legislatures in the City Council. These were hard times for the republicans who were in every way opposed by the liberal and monarchical majority who occupied the palaces of power and in the specific case of Umbertide the Town Hall. One episode is very telling. In 1871, Filippo Natali, then an official of the Municipality of Magione, wrote to the mayor asking that the ashes of Luigi Vibi be brought back to the Cemetery of Umbertide, from that of Santo Spirito, called dei Centocinque, where they were. An endless discussion arose within the Council, as always happens when you don't want to do things. To bring back the ashes of Vibi alone would have been an offense to Giovan Battista Igi and Giuseppe Mastriforti, it was said, who had fallen for the same ideals. So instead of extending the treatment to the other two as well, it was deemed wiser to do nothing for anyone. After many speeches, an anonymous and dull stone was placed in the memory of Vibi in the city cemetery where it was said that the Garibaldi captain, "of proven political faith", had fallen fighting for the independence of Italy. The word "republican" does not appear nor the fact that he fought in defense of a republic born in place of the Papal State. On the other hand, such a thing was about to happen in Perugia in 1887 when the Republican Committee decided to erect the monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi in the eightieth anniversary of his birth. There were those who argued that the monuments had to be two, one to Perugino and the other to Baldo degli Ubaldi, the jurist, because the fame of Garibaldi who knows if it would have lasted. On May 16, 1892 Leopoldo Grilli was proposed as mayor, but he did not accept the position in order not to take an oath of loyalty to the King. He was "acting" mayor only for a few months and handed over the baton received by Francesco Andreani to Francesco Mavarelli. He ran a bar in via Cibo and died on 22 September 1912. In this context it is also necessary to remember the figure of Giuseppe Bertanzi. He was born in Umbertide on 6 March 1837 to Paolo and Angelica Vibi. He inherited the homeland love from his maternal uncle, that Luigi Vibi of whom we have spoken. An enlightened and committed liberal, his life was not directly intertwined with Garibaldi's events, but was equally a prestigious and leading protagonist in the events of the Perugian Risorgimento. On the walls of the Frontone, on 20 June 1859, he was also there, in the 3rd company commanded by Raffaele Omicini and on that sad evening he was among the last to flee the city through the Bulagaio Gate with Francesco Guardabassi and Zefferino Faina. A year later, he will be the guide to the Piedmontese troops of Fanti, who had passed through Umbertide, along the steep slopes that climbed to Perugia, on 14 September 1860. He will become a close collaborator of Pepoli and secretary of Filippo Gualterio, first prefect of Perugia. He was a direct witness, and in part also a protagonist, considering his role, in the close diplomatic battle between Cavour, Pepoli and Gualterio on the one hand, and Napoleon III (who defended the interests of the Pope) on the other so that Orvieto and Viterbo could enter part of Italy and did not remain in the patrimony of San Pietro, now reduced to only Lazio. As is known, Orvieto, the city of Gualterio, was assigned to Italy, while Viterbo remained with Rome. When Italy was made, the boys from Umbertide, many of whom were not yet twenty years old, flocked to the roll call. Historical research by Amedeo Massetti Sources: - Historical archive - Umbrian Risorgimento (1796 - 1870) founded by Giuseppe prof. Mazzatinti and directed by Giustiniano dott. Degli Azzi - Angelo dott. Fani / Year II - Issue II, Perugia - Cooperative Typographical Union - 1906 - Umbertide in the XIX century by Renato Codovini and Roberto Sciurpa - Municipality of Umbertide - Ed. Gesp - 2001 - Calendar of Umbertide 2009 - Ed. Municipality of Umbertide - 2009 The plaque in the atrium of the Town Hall in memory by Luigi Vibi, Giuseppe Mastriforti and Giovanni Battista Igi Busts of Garibaldi and the King on the facade of the Town Hall In 1884 the Municipality wanted to remember the most significant figures of the Italian Risorgimento: Vittorio Emanuele II and Giuseppe Garibaldi. He ordered two marble busts to be placed on the outside of the Bourbon palace on the sides of the entrance door, from the Perugian sculptor Raffaele Angeletti for the price of three hundred lire each. At the end of the year the work was ready, but the portraits were placed where they are currently only on the morning of February 22, 1885, at 10 am, as can be seen from the particular notice printed by the Tiberina printer and sent to the personalities of the town. The plaque commemorating the killing of Cipriano Angioloni (Berlicche) in via Secoli, in the area where the shooting took place by the Austrians The town hall of Umbertide. The busts of Garibaldi and of King Vittorio Emanuele II are placed on both sides of the main entrance door. The plaque in Piazza Matteotti that he remembers the 90 volunteers from Umbria Il soggiorno di Garibaldi a Fratta Il Risorgimento ad Umbertide I Garibaldini di Umbertide The Garibaldini of Umbertide Commemoration of the Bicentenary of the birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi Museum of Santa Croce - June 21, 2007 by Roberto Sciurpa No man in Italy has achieved greater popularity and ignited deep passions like Giuseppe Garibaldi. His fame spread to the most remote places and among the simplest people, when the means of information were scarce and illiteracy reached high peaks. Edoardo Ferravilla, Milanese playwright, between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, created a characteristic character of the Milanese theater, called Tecoppa, rogue, swindler, lover of the strangest expedients and almost always in court for legal disputes. When he found himself in a bad way in the face of the disputes of his misdeeds, he hurled at the accusers an insinuation that became famous: "He said ill about Garibaldi!", And the parties were overturned; Tecoppa from being accused became accuser believed by the judges. Beyond the theatrical fiction, the episode testifies to the halo of legend and the sacredness that surrounded the hero of the two worlds. Yet, at least around 1848, Garibaldi had not done great things in Italy. He had left Nice in 1834 with a death sentence on his head for having participated in the riots in Savoy. The year before he had met Mazzini in Marseille and had joined the Giovine Italia under the pseudonym of Borel. After various vicissitudes, at the end of 1835 and the beginning of 1836, he fled into exile in South America, between Brazil and Uruguay, and remained there for twelve years, performing memorable deeds for the redemption of those peoples from the dictatorship. He returned to Nice on 23 June 1848 accompanied by a fame that the clandestine papers of the republicans had opportunely magnified. The first War of Independence was underway when he returned to Italy and the death sentence still hung over his head, never revoked. In spite of this, he was received by King Charles Albert on July 5, an evident sign that the work of unofficial diplomacy had been in motion for some time to welcome the legendary warrior and put him in contact with the government that had sentenced him to death. He only got cold and distrustful attention from the Piedmontese ministers, aware that Garibaldi was a useful man, but to be used with caution and to be kept on the sidelines of important scenarios, not only for his republican sympathies, which are very wavering after all, but for his scarce docility to any form of rules and orders. In America he had performed heroic deeds, but in Italy it was not a question of conducting guerrilla actions, as in the Rio Grande and Uruguay, but of collaborating with other units of the regular army, within military plans and strategies decided by others. . For this reason, the minister of war of Carlo Alberto did not want him among his own and in order to have him available but far away, he proposed that he go to the rescue of the people of Venice in revolt. Garibaldi immediately showed his lack of docility to orders, and refused the minister's suggestion by accepting the request for help from the Milanese provisional government, chaired by Casati. He arrived in Milan on July 14, 1848, just ten days before the defeat of Custoza and the ominous conclusion of the first War of Independence. After the period of understandable confusion after Custoza's disappointment, Garibaldi decided to go to Venice to help the patriots who still defended the precarious Republic. He was in Ravenna to embark with his volunteers, when the news reached him of the killing of Pellegrino Rossi, the flight of Pope Pius IX to Gaeta and the proclamation of the Roman Republic. His plans changed and he decided to run to the aid of the Roman Republic which represented the brightest symbol of the Italian patriotic struggle. He did not send delegations, but went personally to Rome to decide what to do. On this occasion he passed through the Fratta and spent the night in the Vibi house, leaving in memory his telescope, jealously guarded by the great-grandchildren of the family. A reasonable reconstruction of the events allows us to establish that Garibaldi on November 15 (the day of the assassination of Pellegrino Rossi) was in Ravenna waiting to embark for Venice. He decided, as we have mentioned, to go to Rome "to make contact with the Minister of War so that he would put an end, once and for all, to our wandering existence" (Memoirs) and will quarter his volunteers in Cesena. In the second half of November, therefore, Garibaldi set off for Rome and went down to Fratta through the Verghereto pass. In fact, other presences in Foligno and Cascia date back to the same period. He arrived in Rome on 12 December, as evidenced by a leaflet circulated by the Roman republicans the next day. The enthralling charm of his fame, especially among the republican and liberal ranks, also spread to Fratta and many young people followed him with passion and attachment for about twenty years, from the first to the last hour, from the defense of republican Rome in 1849 to the attempt to overthrow the papal government in Mentana in 1867. It should be remembered that with Captain Luigi Vibi, on the walls of Rome there were twenty-six other young people from Fratta. It should also be remembered that another 28 Umbertidesi volunteers came in 1859 in the Second War of Independence and another 23 in 1866 in Condino and Bezzecca. In Mentana, in 1867, there were 31 boys from Umbertide. Three of them never returned: on 21 June 1849, Captain Luigi Vibi was shot to death at Porta di San Pancrazio on the walls of Rome; on July 16, 1866, corporal Giuseppe Mastriforti fell in Condino in the province of Trento; on November 3, 1867, Giovanni Battista Igi sacrificed himself in Mentana. The plaque that we honored a little while ago in Piazza Matteotti shows the names of the 90 generous volunteers who contributed to the achievement of National Unity. They are listed in alphabetical order, without distinction of the campaigns carried out. Some of them were present in more than one Garibaldi campaign. Among those who lost their lives in those events, Berlicche must be remembered. Cipriano Angioloni was from Città di Castello, but was shot by the Austrians in the clearing we visited a little while ago. They called him Berlicche, like one of the devils, because he was a refined and creative blasphemer who had followed Garibaldi until two days earlier. Giuseppe Bertanzi, in a letter written to his friend Giuseppe Amizie from Città di Castello, tells us that he possessed exceptional body agility. He was arrested between Mercatale and Cortona by an Austrian column and almost certainly the Angioloni must have been a ring of the Trafila. The Trafila consisted of a capillary chain of secret informers, widespread in the territory of the Papal State, who helped Garibaldi in all his travels. It was thanks to the Trafila that in Sant'Angelo in Vado, he was informed that an Austrian column was going up through the Metauro Valley to attack it and he avoided it by heading to San Marino for the Foglia Valley. It was July 28th and Cipriano Angioloni was shot on the 30th. A few days later, Anita died in the Ravenna pine forest, the fugitive hero managed to avoid the grip of the Austrian patrols who hunted him closely thanks to the efficiency of the Trafila. The ninety young people who followed Garibaldi belonged mainly to the artisan class (blacksmiths, carpenters, tailors), to that of merchants, landowners, clerks and culture. The same social distribution, moreover, is found in the enterprise of the Thousand (see document below). The events of June 20 in 1859 in Perugia, whose anniversary was celebrated yesterday, were missing 800 young people who had volunteered for the north where the Second War of Independence was fought. They belonged to the same classes. In the third, in Condino and Bezzecca, the same script was repeated and among the Perugians there were also Annibale Brugnoli and Zefferino Faina along with 23 people from Umbria. The reflection on these data leads us to clarify the statement of some authoritative historians who define the Resistance of 1943-45 a second Risorgimento, with the difference that it registered a mass participation, while the first was only the work of an elite. This judgment is based on a hasty transposition of the concept of "mass" in the two events. If on the sociological level the mass is made up of all the people who form a community, on the political level the conscious, motivated and participating element in the life of civil society is the "people". Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, the mass of peasants did not enjoy any rights and was a stranger and passive spectator to small and large events that did not affect them in the least. The working class was still in the early stage of its birth. A hundred years later, things had changed and the people of the fields and factories also participated in political life, were organized into parties and had given themselves their own trade unions. It is logical that those social classes that were not present in the struggles of the Risorgimento also militated in the ranks of the Resistance. On the basis of these considerations, the lashes that Garibaldi himself in his Memoirs trims at the absence of the peasant people among his ranks appear ungenerous. The Umbertidese community offered its best youth energies to the national Risorgimento and to Garibaldi in particular (its "mass" - many were just over sixteen -) belonging to those classes (craftsmen, landowners, traders, clerks, men of culture) who they had the privilege of participation and awareness. The town of Umbertide in that period had 900 inhabitants and 90 Garibaldi fighters represent 10% of the total. A high figure if we consider that it was not the result of a conscription precept, but of a voluntary choice. The end of the struggles of the Risorgimento left a profound mark on the Umbertidese community. The fraternal union experienced in the battlefields had a sequel in the Society of Veterans of the Patrie Battaglie , a numerous and lively Association founded on October 17, 1882. Article 2 of the Statute established its purpose which was that of "mutual assistance, moral and physical education and any other means that combine with the well-being of the institution and the liberal ideas it advocates ". It was not an ante litteram party, but a supportive, open and progressive group that opposed the conservatism and nostalgia of the local agrarian nobility. The Board of Directors was made up, in fact, of leading liberal and republican elements such as: - Giuseppe Utili, president - Filippo Natali, vice president - Aristide Reggiani, councilor - Eugenio Vincenti, councilor - Lorenzo Reali, councilor - Alpinolo Sbarra, councilor - Angelo Rometti, cashier - Leopoldo Grilli, secretary. In particular, the secretary Leopoldo Grilli , to whom the street we visited was dedicated, was the tireless soul of Umbertide's republican movement. He was born on April 24, 1848 in Sigillo and Mazzini's ideals soon fascinated him, so much so that in 1866 and 1867 he joined the Garibaldian ranks in Condino and Mentana. It does not appear in the tombstone of the nineties since at that time he was a citizen of Sigillo. In fact, he moved to Umbertide in 1870 and on 21 June 1874 he married Francesca Natali. He was the first left angry in the city and was persecuted, accused and forced to flee in exile to Switzerland. Acquitted by the accusations he returned to us and was elected for numerous legislatures in the City Council. These were hard times for the republicans who were in every way opposed by the liberal and monarchical majority who occupied the palaces of power and in the specific case of Umbertide the Town Hall. One episode is very telling. In 1871, Filippo Natali, then an official of the Municipality of Magione, wrote to the mayor asking that the ashes of Luigi Vibi be brought back to the Cemetery of Umbertide, from that of Santo Spirito, called dei Centocinque, where they were. An endless discussion arose within the Council, as always happens when you don't want to do things. To bring back the ashes of Vibi alone would have been an offense to Giovan Battista Igi and Giuseppe Mastriforti, it was said, who had fallen for the same ideals. So instead of extending the treatment to the other two as well, it was deemed wiser to do nothing for anyone. After many speeches, an anonymous and dull stone was placed in the memory of Vibi in the city cemetery where it was said that the Garibaldi captain, "of proven political faith", had fallen fighting for the independence of Italy. The word "republican" does not appear nor the fact that he fought in defense of a republic born in place of the Papal State. On the other hand, such a thing was about to happen in Perugia in 1887 when the Republican Committee decided to erect the monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi in the eightieth anniversary of his birth. There were those who argued that the monuments had to be two, one to Perugino and the other to Baldo degli Ubaldi, the jurist, because the fame of Garibaldi who knows if it would have lasted. On May 16, 1892 Leopoldo Grilli was proposed as mayor, but he did not accept the position in order not to take an oath of loyalty to the King. He was "acting" mayor only for a few months and handed over the baton received by Francesco Andreani to Francesco Mavarelli. He ran a bar in via Cibo and died on 22 September 1912. In this context, I believe it is only right to recall the figure of Giuseppe Bertanzi. He was born in Umbertide on 6 March 1837 to Paolo and Angelica Vibi. He inherited the homeland love from his maternal uncle, that Luigi Vibi of whom we have spoken. An enlightened and committed liberal, his life was not directly intertwined with Garibaldi's events, but was equally a prestigious and leading protagonist in the events of the Perugian Risorgimento. On the walls of the Frontone, on 20 June 1859, he too was in the 3rd company commanded by Raffaele Omicini and on that sad evening he was among the last to flee the city through the Bulagaio Gate with Francesco Guardabassi and Zefferino Faina. A year later, it will be he who will guide the Piedmontese troops of Fanti, who had passed through Umbertide, along the steep slopes that climbed to Perugia, on 14 September 1860. He will become a close collaborator of Pepoli and secretary of Filippo Gualterio, first prefect of Perugia. He was a direct witness, and in part also a protagonist, considering his role, in the close diplomatic battle between Cavour, Pepoli and Gualterio on the one hand, and Napoleon III (who defended the interests of the Pope) on the other so that Orvieto and Viterbo could enter part of Italy and did not remain in the patrimony of San Pietro, now reduced to only Lazio. As is known, Orvieto, the city of Gualterio, was assigned to Italy, while Viterbo remained with Rome. When Italy was made, the boys from Umbertide, many of whom were not yet twenty years old, flocked to the roll call. DOCUMENTS 1848-49: FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE AND DEFENSE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC YOUNG UMBERTIDESI PRESENT 1. Agostini Giuseppe, captain in Venice and Rome 2. Giovanni Banelli 3. Baldacci Luigi 4. Benedetti Antonio 5. Benedetti Settimio 6. Domenico Bettoni 7. Baracchini Domenico, (Garibaldi legion) 8. Cencini Filippo, (Garibaldi legion) 9. Cristoferi Angelo Antonio 10. Giovanni Domenico porters 11. Faticoni Alessandro, (Roselli legion) 12. Igi Domenico 13. Igi John the Baptist 14. Iotti Antonio 15. Iotti Carlo 16. Iotti Domenico 17. Livi Gabriele 18. Mastriforti Domenico 19. Mercanti Francesco, (Zambianchi Column) 20. Pasquali Antonio 21. Romitelli Fioravante 22. Luigi Romitelli 23. Romitelli Tito, (in 1831 he had participated in the riots in Rimini) 24. Ruined Giuseppe 25. Tonanni Settimio 26. Vibi Luigi, (Captain, died in Rome), graduate landowner 1859: SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE - YOUNG UMBERTIDESI PRESENT 1. Baldacci Domenico 2. Barcaroli Domenico, (20th Reg.) 3. Bastianelli Mauro 4. Giovanni Boldrini 5. Baracchini Giovanni, (20th Reg. 6. Serafino baby carrots 7. Censi Amerigo 8. Ciangottini Bartolomeo, (20th Reg. 9. Cristoferi Angelo Antonio 10. Faticoni Alessandro 11. Garognoli Giovanni Battista, (20th Regiment) 12. Giappichelli Genesio, (corporal of the genius), blacksmith born July 11, 1841 13. Igi Domenico 14. Igi John the Baptist 15. Igi Giuseppe was Antonio 16. Igi Septimius 17. Manganelli Agostino 18. Mencarelli Gervasio 19. Natali Filippo, (corporal 38th Reg.to) 20. Polidori Luigi, (44th Reg.to) 21. Enrico Porrini 22. Reggiani Aristide, (major corporal of the 38th Reg.to), merchant landowner born in 1840 23. Santini Giuseppe 24. Santini Leopoldo 25. Giovanni Valdambrini 26. Valeri Luigi 27. Vespucci Americo, craftsman 28. Vibi Gervasio 1866: THIRD WAR OF INDEPENDENCE - YOUNG UMBERTIDESI PRESENT 1. Barattini Mariano 2. Barcaroli Domenico 3. Benedetti Odoardo 4. Bertanzi Giuseppe 5. Alessandro Burelli 6. Caneschi Tommaso 7. Censi Americo 8. Ciangottini Bartolomeo 9. Nazarene Chrysostomes 10. Valerian Friars 11. Gili Silvio 12. Igi Giuseppe by Giovanni Battista, (corporal) 13. Maccarelli Maccario, (prisoner in Condino) 14. Magi Spinetti Lavinio 15. Masciarri Paolo 16. Mastriforti Giuseppe, (corporal who died in Condino) 17. Mastriforti Ruggero 18. Morelli Giovanni Battista 19. Polidori Luigi 20. Santini Giuseppe 21. Santini Pio 22. Luigi texts 23. Giovanni Valdambrini 1867: MENTANA - YOUNG UMBERTIDESI PRESENT 1. Barattini Mariano 2. Barcaroli Domenico, (prisoner) 3. Bartoccini Sante 4. Giacomo Bellezzi 5. Benedetti Odoardo born on 13 July 1847 6. Alessandro Burelli, (second lieutenant pharmacist) 7. Caneschi Pericles 8. Caneschi Tommaso 9. Checconi Luigi, (prisoner) 10. Ciangottini Michelangelo 11. Fornaci Salvatore, blacksmith born on 22 June 1850 12. Fratini Giuseppe 13. Giappichelli Genesio 14. Gili Silvio 15. Igi Giovanni Battista (died in Mentana) 16. Dairy Retinal 17. Maccarelli Maccario, carpenter born on 7 April 1847 18. Maccarelli Torello, tailor born on May 15, 1850 19. Martinelli Massimo, musician born on 12 March 1846 20. Improve John 21. Morelli Giovanni Battista 22. Polidori Luigi 23. Porrini Domenico, a municipal donzello born on 11 August 1848 24. Rometti Septimius 25. Giuseppe ruined 26. Santini Pio (lieutenant) 27. Luigi texts 28. Tonanni Agostino 29. Julian thrones 30. Giovanni Valdambrini 31. Vespucci Americo FROM THE PREVIOUS LISTS THE NAMES OF THE VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN MORE THAN ONE CAMPAIGN WITH THE RELEVANT INDICATION ARE EXTRACTED PARTICIPANTS IN THREE CAMPAIGNS 1. Barcaroli Domenico 1859 1866 1867 2. Igi Giovanni Battista 1849 1859 1867 died in Mentana 3. Polidori Luigi 1859 1866 1867 4. Valdambrini Giovanni 1859 1866 1867 PARTICIPANTS IN TWO CAMPAIGNS 1. Burelli Alessandro 1866 1867 2. Caneschi Pericle 1866 1867 3. Censi Amerigo 1859 1866 4. Ciangottini Bartolomeo 1859 1866 5. Cristoferi Angelo Antonio 1849 1859 6. Faticoni Alessandro 1849 1859 7 Giappichelli Genesio 1859 1867 8. Gili Silvio 1866 1867 9. Maccarelli Maccario 1866 1867 10. Morelli Giovanni Battista 1866 1867 11. Santini Giuseppe 1859 1866 12. Santini Pio 1866 1867 13. Texts Louis 1866 1867 14. Vespucci Amerigo 1859 1867 Source: Historical Archive of the Risorgimento, vol. II - State Archives of Perugia - Location: Umbria Gen. 2-2 pp. 132 et seq. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE THOUSAND REGION OF BELONGING - 443 from Lombardy - 160 Venetians - 157 Ligurians - 80 Tuscans - 45 Sicilians - 38 Emilians - 30 Piedmontese - 20 Friulians - 20 Calabrians - 19 bells - 14 from Trentino - 11 marchigiani - 10 from Lazio - 5 from Puglia - 4 Umbrians - 3 Nice - 3 Sardinians - the Lucanian - 1 South Tyrolean - the Savoyan - 1 Abruzzese - 8 born abroad - 4 Hungarians - 2 Swiss - 1 course TOTAL 1091. The 79.15% are Po Valley and only 10.6% belong to the other regions SOCIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE THOUSAND - 253 intellectuals - 321 artisans or traders - 203 owners - 203 military (of which 15 will become generals) - 20 workers - 11 laborers - 9 farmers - 48 illiterate people - 10 Israelites - 8 former priests - 1 woman (Rosalia Montmasson, Crispi's girlfriend) Source: Gilberto Oneto: L'Iperitaliano, Il Cerchio Editoriale Initiatives, Rimini 2006, pp. 104 and 105. Sources: "A FREE MAN - Roberto Sciurpa, a passionate civil commitment" - by Federico Sciurpa - Petruzzi publisher, Città di Castello, June 2012 I Garibaldini di Umbertide Il Risorgimento ad Umbertide Il soggiorno di Garibaldi a Fratta GARIBALDI'S STAY IN FRATTA In November 1848 he was a guest of the Vibi family in the palace near the bridge over the Tiber destroyed by the air raid on 25 April 1944 by Roberto Sciurpa (From "Umbertide Cronache n.1 2002) Judging by the numerous tombstones that recall the places where Garibaldi slept, one could believe that the hero of the two worlds was more a priest of Morpheus than a man of action devoured by the passion for a united and independent Italy. In reality he did not have barracks where to quarter his soldiers, much less a stable house to spend the brief moments of pause between one military undertaking and another in the whirlwind of the events of the Italian Risorgimento. He slept wherever he happened to be during transfers from one location to another of the peninsula and when the demanding strategic did not claim his presence among the soldiers, he happened to be hosted by families who, like him, had unitary ideals at heart and sometimes even the republican ones. Then, as often happens, when the hero's exploits took over popularity and history, everyone went to great lengths to point out the traces of his presence. One of these nights, Garibaldi also spent in our land, guest of the Vibi Lords, a historic, wealthy and authoritative family in the Fratta of the time, where you could breathe a very pure republican air. One of his exponents, the valiant captain Luigi, will fall in defense of the Roman Republic on 21 June 1849, alongside Garibaldi. The Vibis owned an imposing palace that presided over the left bank of the Tiber and controlled the main access gates to the castle on the south side: the one on the Tiber bridge closest to the town, the S. Francesco gate and the door that led to the street. Straight (today via Cibo). The allied bombing of 1944 destroyed the building; only the area where it stood today bears witness to its memory (Largo Vibi). Giancarlo Vibi is the jealous custodian of family memories that are handed down from generation to generation with understandable pride and composed reserve, so much so that the event has never been given ostentatious publicity. He says that a large walnut bed decorated with fine workmanship columns was made available to the General, in the center of a large room furnished with sober elegance. The guest knew that he was among trusted friends who shared his ideals and it is likely, indeed almost certain, that on this occasion he had the opportunity to meet Luigi who a few months later would fall under his orders, as a subordinate officer, on the walls of Rome. . The next day, before leaving, as a thank you and a pledge of friendship, he left his telescope covered in mahogany and brass to his family, which is still kept today with loving care by Giancarlo. II Vibi is unable to specify the date of the event and we just have to retrace it Garibaldi's movements at that time, as he himself reconstructs them in his own Memories, to identify, with reasonable approximation, at least the period of his passage through the castle of Fratta. Based on this research criterion, we know for sure that November 15, 1848, when with the assassination of Pellegrino Rossi the republican revolt, Garibaldi, began in Rome he was in Ravenna, at the head of a handful of volunteers waiting to embark for Venice to give a hand to the resistance of the lagoon city. The facts of Rome they brought about a change of programs since the defense of the nascent republic Roman was a priority and emblematic political event that was supported by all costs, without saying that when it came to causing displeasure to the pope, Garibaldi he did not get prayed twice. He therefore decided to move to Cesena, where I will lodge his soldiers and then to go to Rome to make contact with the new political authorities and make yourself available to them. But alongside these reasons another human and understandable, candidly, peeps out confessed in the Memoirs, linked to the desire and the need to find a point of stable reference and perhaps also a definitive "classification" for its staff military, always short of economic resources. He states verbatim that he was going in Rome "to make contact with the Minister of War to put an end, once and for all, to our wandering existence". In this circumstance Garibaldi, accompanied by a very small escort, crossed the valley of the Savio and then that of the Tiber (the route of the current E 45) passing through the land of Fratta. The overnight stay in the Vibi house can therefore be placed between the end of November and the beginning of December 1848. At the beginning of January 1849, in fact, having concluded the agreements with the provisional government of Rome, Garibaldi met in Foligno with his volunteers, who had traveled the same way as him, and at their head he went to Macerata. Photo: Historical photographic archive of Municipality of Umbertide Sources: Article on "Umbertide Cronache" - n.1 2002 - Page 46