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Write a title here. Click to edit and add your own. This is a paragraph area where you can add your own text. Just click “Edit Text” or double click here to add your own content and make changes to the font. It's a great place to tell a story about your business and let users know more about you. Track Name Artist Name 00:00 / 01:04 Arrivi e Partenze Il popolamento di Umbertide.... Partenze Settimio Presciutti A cura di Loredana Presciutti "Settimio Presciutti nasce nel 1924 e sposa nel 1951 Annunziata Bomboletti più giovane di tre anni, nata nel 1927... Carlos Tonanni A cura di Francesco Deplanu Jaboticabal, in Brasile, in 50 anni passò da essere un villaggio ad una città: era una “parrocchia” nel 1848, venne smembrata dal distretto di “São Bento de Araraquara” e passò ad avere lo status di “città” nel 1902. ... Gino Monsignori A cura di Miriam Monsignori Mio padre, Gino Monsignori, nell’estate del 1954 è un giovanotto ambizioso di appena 22 anni che desidera... Carlo Becchetti A cura di Francesco Deplanu Carlo Becchetti, nato nel 1936 in una famiglia mezzadrile, con un il fratello Primo di 14 anni più grande, emigrò in Svizzera per poi tornare. Write a title here. Click to edit and add your own. This is a paragraph area where you can add your own text. Just click “Edit Text” or double click here to add your own content and make changes to the font. It's a great place to tell a story about your business and let users know more about you. Il popolamento di Umbertide.... Arrivi Ashley Amerson Product Manager Brad Grecco Marketing Associate Kelly Parker HR Representative Marcus Harris Account Director

The population over time Le linee di indagine I "numeri" del Piccolpasso Il Giorgi ed il popolamento sparso I "dati" della Diocesi nel 1808 I censimenti del Regno d'Italia Lo spostamento verso la città L'esubero dei lavoratori e la "morte" della mezzadria L'immigrazione L'immigrazione neocomunitaria The radical change in the resident population followed a growing trend motivated by the need to search for a better place to live, a possibility linked to job opportunities. Seasonal jobs and the development of engineering have laid the foundation for being an attractive place. Local emigration is the result of displacement flows from North Africa and South America but also from European "history". The fall of the Berlin wall triggered Albanian emigration to Italy, and today the second "foreign resident population" in Umbertide has Albania as its starting country. The enlargement of the EU in 2006-2007 has given way to an increase in "neucomunitari" residents from Romania, the third place of origin of foreign residents in Umbertide. The first sudden "detachment" of the resident population immigrated to Umbertide, already full-bodied because in a ratio of about 1/16 compared to the total resident, it certainly happened between 2002 and 2006. According to the survey " Umbertide Economy and society: the municipality and the territory " of the Umbra Research Agency, it went from 905 foreigners residing in the municipality to 1666. Based on ISTAT data referring to 31 December 2005, the population from Morocco it reached 501 units (299 males and 202 females). Residents from Albania reached 394 people (210 males and 184 females) ; from Algeria 140 (97 males and 43 females); From UK 77 (38 males and 39 females); from Romania 73 (29 males and 44 females); from South America 80 (32 males and 40 females). The dynamics linked to the enlargement of the European Union have also influenced the radical change in the population of Umbria, especially that relating to 2006-2007 which saw the enlargement extend to Romania and Bulgaria. The enlargement in 2007 led, in fact, to a notable increase of "neo-community" residents in the demography of the Municipality of Umbertide. Above all, the Romanian population increased exponentially: it went from 48 residents (21 males and 27 females) in December 2004 to 234 residents (108 males and 126 females) and in 2016 there were 459 residents (176 males and 283 females). Le linee di indagine (edited by Francesco Deplanu) As regards the demography of the territory, we propose a diachronic path, from the sixteenth century. to date, in search of significant trend lines even if exposed to the diversity of sources and survey times. We believe, however, that we can identify two "lines" of trend: 1) the change of an almost millennial form of settlement, from "scattered" to "centralized", 2) the inversion from being a land of emigration, starting in the 1960s, to being a "land of arrival", from the end of the 21st century. This attempt will not be able to give certain indications. This is because both for the vastness of the time considered that due to the lack of cognitive demographic interests in the surveys that reached us from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century, as well as the differences in the forms of survey: from the castle to the countryside, from the “fires” to the “people.” As regards the sources, after the "Council of Trent" up to the unification of Italy it is above all the Dioceses and parishes that can give us important information. Only with the Kingdom of Italy and the contemporary ISTAT data of the Italian Republic can we get a less uncertain idea of the evolution of demography as a whole. For centuries the population of Fratta it remained in an extremely limited number. Piccolpasso in 1565 shows us in fact between 300 and 400 inhabitants. Giorgi's map, from a few decades later, always shows us a small amount of population within the walls, but it gives us a new "datum." That is, most of the population lived around the walls, and it was distributed in a "sparse" manner. Settlement that was consequence of an economic system, sharecropping, which will characterize the distribution of the fine population to the second half of the twentieth century. We can dare to find a line of union between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries, regardless of the increase in the population in approaching us, or in the constant division of the population between "countryside" and "city walls". scattered settlement linked to the exploitation of the territories: the system sharecropper. Since then, but concentrated in the last 70-80 years, we can identify two "revolutions" that have changed the use of the territory and the Umbertidese demography. The first great revolution was the crisis and then the end of sharecropping, which led to the abandonment of the countryside and the growth of the urban fabric, as well as the emigration of the population. Emigration lasted until the 1970s; internal and abroad. The second great revolution depended on another change in the production system: mechanization in the primary and secondary sector, which made the local production system attractive for some areas of the world, from seasonal to metalworking jobs. This second major demographic change transformed us from a land of emigration to a land of immigration. Let's start with "order": Piccolpasso in " The plants and portraits of the cities and lands of Umbria under the government of Perugia ", he spoke of 80 fires connected to the castle: " Fratta dei Sigli di Uberto fires about 80. ". Historians in general hazard a number of 4-6 "souls" for "fire", we can consequently think of a population of 320 to 480 people. Piccolpasso, "The plants and portraits of the cities and lands of Umbria subject to the government of Perugia" by G. Cecchini, Publisher of the National Institute of Archeology and Art History, Rome 1963. Image from "Central Institute for the Single Catalog of Italian Libraries and for bibliographic information": https://manus.iccu.sbn.it//opac_viewImagesManuscript.php? ID = 69561 Giorgi's Charter from the mid-16th century it is instead a "thematic map" which had the intent to represent the numerical entity of the "souls" present in the various parishes (two sheets obtained from two copper plates (475 x 680 mm each) of the Diocese of Gubbio. " Diocese of the city of Gubbio, described by the Most Reverend Don Vbaldo Georgii Clerico Evgubino ... " It is the representation of the data that the bishop Mariano Savelli, in 1567, asked to indicate to the parish priests with the number of families belonging to their parish and the distances that separated from the parish church, under the penalty of 50 florins as a fine for “reluctant” parish priests. Perhaps the final figures are at the end of 1570. The Charter (98 x 68 cm) is a real demographic census of the Diocese of Gubbio according to what was established in the Council of Trent, 1563, for the reorganization of the parishes. The Charter was created with data regarding the state of souls, with the location of parish churches, parish churches, inhabited areas, villas. On the map there is a division into squares and rectangles that roughly delimits the parish district, usually with numbers indicating the distance in miles from the parish. In the southern area, where our "Fratta" insists, we see that the percentage of dispersion of the rural population is very high, this suggests to "sharecropping". In contemporary documents there is also talk of "vinea" which indicates the cultivation of the vine practiced on the ground. Surely this spatial distribution of the population, with scattered settlements, speaks to us of a new tranquility of being able to live outside the city walls compared to past centuries and of a productivity of such places. It does not describe the territory, where it is cultivated or wooded, but the distribution of the population. With some precision, however, it is also possible to obtain the number of inhabitants of the various places, as well as of the entire diocese which had more than 20,000 inhabitants, taking into account that each "house" indicated 5 people. In the quadrant of the parishes around “La Fratta” they are identifiable 42 “houses” outside the walls and 22 inside. Within the walls of ancient Fratta, with the parish of San Giovanni in good evidence, considering this "rule" to be true, there are 22 "houses", or about 110 people. walls in the countryside. Since the houses in the quadrant are 42. For the same counting system there are 210 people outside the walls, about 320 people in the parishes of Fratta. Very similar to that of Piccolpasso. "Diocese of the city of Gubbio, described by the Most Reverend Don Vbaldo Georgii Clerico Evgubino ..." Image from "Lithographic copy of Giorgi's map published in 1574" by the Flag-waving Group of Gubbio with the contribution of Enrico Passeri Financial Advisor of the Azimut Group ", 2005 Until the Kingdom of Italy we have no univocal and easy to interpret data while the contemporary age, with its large population movements from the countryside to the city in the post-war period and the immigration flows of the last decades, can be investigated in more detail. These will be the events on which we will focus in order to better understand in which direction the identity of our country can go. For this at the end of the page you will find the references to the subsections of "arrivals", with the first stories of the people who arrived with the immigration phenomenon and of the "departures", with the first stories of our emigrants especially in the period 1950-70. However, we know, for example, that in the register of souls of the Diocese of Gubbio of July 1808 it appears that in the "Fratta" there were 346 inhabitants in the parishes of San Giovanni Battista and of Santa Croce (with Sant'Erasmo) 1051 inhabitants, both urban and rural, there were therefore 1397 souls in total. The source is a post by the local historian Cece di Gubbio . However, it is impossible to compare these data with those of about 50 years later, with the Kingdom of Italy, which present more than 10,000 inhabitants in the municipality of Umbertide. This is because the Diocese does not correspond to the whole territory of the "Comunità di Fratta" Institution (denomination of 1808) and there should be other parishes under the Dioceses of Città di Castello or Perugia, with the relative documents. Other information on the settlement of Umbertide in the nineteenth century comes to us from Renato Codovini thanks to the reworking made by Fabio Mariotti in our section on " Fratta-Umbertide 800 ". During the Napoleonic rule, in 1812 the" Maire "Magnanini communicated as a population of the Community of thicket "about 1,000 inhabitants", to specify after a few days a smaller number, 790 inhabitants. The first more precise indications in the following decade they do not come from a secular source, but from a religious one. Codiovini informs us: " In 1833 we have a first" state of souls ", a statistical survey wanted by the bishop, made by the parish priests house by house and therefore quite reliable. From this we learn that the inhabitants of the town are 825 gathered in 205 families, with an average of 4 people per family. Of these, 140 belong to the parish of S. Erasmo and S. Croce united and 65 families to that of S. Giovanni Battista. ". The fluctuations of the population, however limited, may depend on which parishes or settlements are counted. Certainly the population was not only minor, but was still mainly present in the rural settlements and in the smaller villages of the surrounding area. The evolution of the population from the Kingdom of Italy to today However aggregate, why total, these are the general data of the Umbertidese population from the unification of Italy to today. They serve as a basis for reflecting on the population movement of the last 150 years, even if they do not give us the measure of the significant movement of inhabitants from the countryside to the city. Year Residents 1861 10.184 1871 11.174 1881 11,537 1901 13.007 1911 13,248 1921 14,588 1931 15,647 1936 15.146 1951 16,077 1961 14,497 1971 13,498 1981 14,183 1991 14,379 2001 15,254 2016 16.607 According to prof. Bruno Porrozzi who dealt with it in his book " Umbertide and its Territory. History and images. " In the 1950s our town began to develop towards the south-east of the still well-defined central nucleus near the "Fratta" as the city center is still called by older people . The majority of the population was still in the countryside but would later move to the urban area. In the countryside characterized by polyculture "p greased " from farmhouses, farms and modest hamlets, it was inhabited essentially by families of sharecroppers and other nuclei, linked to some extent with agriculture (blacksmiths, farriers, carpenters, masons, small traders, brokers, etc.); everyone worked to provide the citizens with supplies . "With the birth of an artisanal and industrial development in the 1960s, together with the change in the rules on sharecropping in 1964, the population shifted towards the center. At the beginning of the 1980s, prof. Porrozzi " In the Municipality of Umbertide, sixty-one sharecroppers with one hundred and fifty-nine units currently operate in agriculture, thirty companies with one hundred and twelve permanent employees, fifty-six companies with temporary workers, three hundred and seventy-nine companies directly managed with seven hundred and sixty units. Five cooperatives have been set up (CAU , Molino Popolare Altotiberino, Fratelli Cervi, CIZAUP, Alto Tevere Tobacco Producers), which employ a few dozen permanent workers. ". In this modernized context, the population had chosen to move towards the city center. The synthesis more significant than the changes, however, is not only the doubling over twenty years of downtown population from 4780 a 8629 people, out of about 15,000 inhabitants of the Common, but they are data concerning the work sector from the primary sector compared to the secondary sector . Within 30 years, this relationship is reversed completely; these are the numbers: we passed by 4957 agricultural workers in 1961 just 1359 in '71, and even a 1104 workers in 1981. While in the face of 1363 workers in industry in 1961, you grow up to 1960 employees in '71 and 2249 in 1981; with a clear shift of workers in the service sector not taken into consideration by the data of prof. Bruno Porrozzi, in “ Umbertide and his Territory. History and images ". To understand which sector of the primary sector was affected, let's insert a new graph between sharecroppers and direct farmers even if with only the data of 1970 and 1982: in 1970 there were 1340 sharecroppers and in 1982 alone 159, in 1970 they were counted 918 direct farmers which will be reduced slightly in 1982 or a 760 direct workers. In short, it was the sharecropping that died. The resident population of Umbertide which had reached 16,077 units in 1951, began to abruptly decline. In 1971 only 13,498 residents were registered ("Umbertide economy and society: the Municipality and the territory ", p. 22. AUR data processing on ISTAT data). The need for emigration from 1950 to 1970 If you also consider Giovanni's studio De Santis " Anthropo-geographical features of the << Alta Valle del Tevere >> area" in " The upper Tiber Valley ", extracted from " Umbria Economica" , year III, n. 4 - 1982 printed thanks to the then "Banca Popolare di Spoleto", we can see how from 1951 to 1971 the population of the Municipality of Umbertide decreased by 14.4 percent, from 16,077 to 13,498 a significant migratory flow towards foreign destinations and the Roman area generated by the inability of the production system to "maintain" the population. It influenced greatly in the precarious agricultural production system, innervated for some time from the cultivation of tobacco, the "peronospera tabacina", second Paola Laura Ciabucchi " Shadows and lights of industrial development in the Upper Tiber Valley " which reduced the cultivated area in the Upper Tiber Valley by 50% and reduced the number of employees from 1664 to 217. From that moment there was a need to grow industrial areas in our areas, allowing the current industrial development. Industrial development, which together with seasonal agricultural work and the normal tendency of emigrants to move to where they exist emigrated nuclei of the same areas has favored an inversion of trend in the population leading to the current situation of more than 16,000 inhabitants, substantially identical to 1951. In particular, the evolution of the engineering system, born connected to agricultural production already before the war, saw the birth of several companies and in 1963 the birth of Metalmeccanica Tiberina. The agricultural production system first, with seasonal jobs also linked to the cultivation of tobacco, and today the engineering and "automotive" sector, which grew alongside several large companies in the area, have acted as a catalyst for many people coming both from abroad and from other Italian regions. Current Population Growth: Immigration In fact, in recent decades, in this Umbertidese population has increased the number of "foreign" families; the definition that follows is that of the ISTAT legislation which identifies foreign residents without "citizenship": this research it does not identify the situation of naturalized immigrants, a recent phenomenon. In about 15 years it has rapidly gone from less than a thousand resident foreigners to more than 2700 according to the latest Census which was also distributed with a division by nationality of arrival. For 2020 we only have the aggregate data of 2611 people residing in Umbertide with non-Italian citizenship: Foreign resident population on 1st January 2002- Total 905 Foreign resident population as of January 1 - 2016 -Total 2703 Sources http://demo.istat.it/str2002/index03.html http://demo.istat.it/pop2019/index.html http://www.comuni-italiani.it/054/056/statistiche/popolazione.html Also from the same Istat source of the 2016 census it is possible to know which are the different nationalities of origin of resident foreign citizens: four, Moroccan, Albanian, Romanian and Algerian are over 100 units. In short, a substantial part of the resident population in Umbertide is the bearer of varied histories and cultures. The awareness of how the past has structured the traditions in addition to the rural and urban territory in which they live today should be everyone's heritage, especially from the second generations who, in addition to bringing their own cultural and experience baggage, will have to feel part of the social fabric general as completely as possible. If it is possible to trace a synthesis of these last 40-50 years, it can be seen that in the last decade of the last century, 1980-2000, a stable community residing in Umbertide has materialized, in order of magnitude, Moroccan, Albanian, Algerian and the United Kingdom. In the following twenty years the Moroccan and Albanian communities have grown, while the Algerian ones have remained stable and the United Kingdom; the Romanian community, on the other hand, ranks third in terms of total attendance. As for the flows of the largest community, that of Morocco, emigration to Italy, rather than to France as had traditionally occurred previously, developed after the oil crisis of the 1970s. On the basis of the general indications that should be compared with those of Umbria, there are two main regions from which to leave for Italy: Chaouia and Tadla, located in the central area of Morocco, two of the 16 regions then abolished in 2005. The Moroccan community in our territory has grown steadily, in 2005 there are 501 residents, in 2016 the residents are registered 757 people. Different speech, as written above, for the Algerian community which appears to have decreased since 2005, where there were 126 residents, while to date are indicated in number of 140. Stable in absolute numbers, but relegated by one "place", it now ranks fifth among the nationalities of foreign residents, it is Great Britain, with 77 people in 2005 and 78 residents in 2016. After the data and numbers of the demographic change we can continue in the "memory", with the singles screw e stories of the old and new people from Umberto I. By clicking on the "hot words" highlighted in yellow the first stories of who left and who arrived . SOURCES: - Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide and his Territory. History and images. Ass. Pro Loco Umbertide, publishing Cartolibreria 10+ 10 of Venti Maurizio, Umbertide - Simona Bellucci, Umbertide in the 20th century: 1943-2000, Nuova Prhomos Editions, 2018. - Paola Laura Ciabucchi " Shadows and lights of industrial development in the Upper Tiber Valley " in " The Upper Tiber Valley ", extracted from "Umbria Economica, year III, n.4 - 1982 print of the "Banca Popolare di Spoleto" (p. 87 -89) - John De Santis " Anthropo-geographical features of the << Alta Valle del Tevere >> area" in " The upper Tiber Valley ", extracted from "Umbria Economica, year III, n.4 - 1982 print of the "Banca Popolare di Spoleto" (p. 55) - AA. VV., “ Umbertide Economy and society: the municipality and the territory ” of the Umbra Research Agency (AUR), 2008. - “Lithographic copy of Giorgi's map published in 1574”, by the Flag-waving Group of Gubbio with the contribution of Enrico Passeri Financial Advisor of the Azimut Group ”, 2005. - Maria Oda Graziani, "The Georgi card", Municipality of Gubbio and Ass. Sbandieratori Gubbio with the contribution of Enrico Passeri Financial Advisor of the Azimut Group, Graphic Art Gubbio, 2005 - http://demo.istat.it/str2002/index03.html - http://demo.istat.it/pop2019/index.html - http://www.comuni-italiani.it/054/056/statistiche/popolazione.html - " THE MOROCCAN MIGRANT AS DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION AGENT IN THE COMMUNITIES OF ORIGIN ", European Commission - Directorate-General for Justice and Home Affairs, Exodus edizioni srl, Milan 2002 (pp. 96 and following can be downloaded at the link: https://www.puntosud.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/migrante-marocchino_ITA.pdf) - h ttp: //leg15.camera.it/cartellecomuni/leg14/RapportoAttivitaCommissioni/testi/14/14_cap05_sch04.htm - https://www.umbertidestoria.net/fratta-umbertide-dell-ottocento - https://manus.iccu.sbn.it//opac_viewImagesManuscript.php?ID=69561 Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Marc Bloch: «The good historian resembles the ogre in the fairy tale: where he smells human flesh, there he knows that he is his prey. " I "numeri" del Piccolpasso Il Giorgi ed il popolamento sparso I "dati" della Diocesi nel 1808 I censimenti del Regno d'Italia Lo spostamento verso la città L'esubero dei lavoratori e la "morte" della mezzadria L'immigrazione L'immigrazione neocomunitaria

L'arrivo degli aerei e la prima ondata La prima sosta e la seconda ondata CRONACA, MINUTO PER MINUTO, DEL BOMBARDAMENTO DI UMBERTIDE DEL 25 APRILE 1944 di Mario Tosti dal suo libro “IL NOSTRO CALVARIO” con la collaborazione di trecentoquarantacinque testimoni L’ARRIVO DEGLI AEREI L’udito come difesa: perché sono i rumori ad annunciare i fatti. Dalla cadenza degli scarponi, dal bussare alle porte, al sibilo sinistro degli aerei. I rumori hanno un linguaggio diverso, secondo i tempi; e quelli del tempo di guerra sono udibili immediatamente per un vigile senso di attesa e di allerta(1). Un brontolio lontano annuncia l’approssimarsi di aerei. Prima stazione Gesù davanti a Pilato è condannato a morte Gesù innocente è abbandonato dal potere imperiale. Crucifige! Crucifige! Il paese impotente è lasciato in balia dell’arbitrio della barbarie. 1) Eliana Pirazzoli, dattiloscritto, 1986 L’attacco I quattro aerei che, stanchi del carosello, avevano accennato a lasciare il girotondo, hanno davvero deciso di dirigersi verso il paese(1). Dei primi due(2), uno vira verso il Faldo(3); l’altro, abbassatosi sulle schioppe, segue il Tevere(4) verso Montecorona(5). Entrambi puntano verso Sud, come per tornare da dove sono venuti. Gli altri due li seguono a distanza. La maggior parte di quanti si erano fermati ad assistere allo spettacolo, vedendo gli aerei scomparire dietro i tetti, verso Pian d’Assino, riprendono il cammino interrotto, pensando che lo spettacolo sia finito. Non sanno che è il prologo di una tragedia immane. Altri cominciano a capire. I due aerei, scesi minacciosi da Montaguto, hanno attirato l’attenzione della Vera (Vibi) che, dalla finestra sul Tevere, stava buttando sul fiume i fondi del caffè appena colato, per non sporcare il lavandino di marmo bianco. Corre verso la camera della mamma che è a letto, inferma(6). Anche i ragazzini cominciano a capire. Lamberto (Maccarelli) stava piantando i fagioli nell’orto con il nonno; ha riconosciuto che sono degli Alleati quegli apparecchi che continuano a volare da diversi minuti sopra la sua testa nel cielo bellissimo, di pieno sole. Capisce che stanno per bombardare. Corre in cas per avvertire la mamma e la sorella che fanno le maglie: dapprima le donne ninnano un po’. Si radunano tutti nell’atrio in fondo alle scale. Il nonno vorrebbe uscire verso la bottega di Conti. Lo convincono a restare lì. L’Antonina, la mamma di Lamberto, comincia a piangere. Il nonno Giuseppe (Fiorucci) la consola: “Sta tranquilla, ‘ché i travi en de ferro...”(7). 1) Fabrizio Boldrini, Domenico Mariotti, Francesco Martinelli 2) Amedeo Faloci 3) Franco Mischianti 4) Paolo Mazzanti 5) Franco Mischianti 6) Vera Vibi 7) Lamberto Maccarelli LA PRIMA ONDATA (1) I due aerei, giunti sopra Montecorona, virano verso Poggio Manente. Il primo, pilotato dal capo-pattuglia Jandrell, punta il muso rosso verso il ponte sul Tevere. Segue la traiettoria ottimale secondo la tecnica militare: deve essere obliqua rispetto all'asse della strada, di quel tanto necessario ad indirizzare gli ordigni alla base del ponte, in modo che l'onda d'urto si espanda dal basso all'alto, per aggredire l'arco lungo la direttrice di minor resistenza; centrare la carreggiata raramente genera danni irreparabili rispetto alla transitabilità della campata(2). La direzione di avvicinamento deve lasciare il sole dietro le spalle, per evitare abbagliamenti. In questo caso, la traiettoria così determinata ha anche il vantaggio che il tratto più basso della picchiata, sviluppandosi sopra i tetti, mantiene il bombardiere fuori del tiro di eventuali armi antiaeree, che i ricognitori possono aver sospettato ai margini del centro storico. Nei piloti è del tutto marginale la preoccupazione per l'incolumità dei civili. Non sono bastati decenni di dittatura, quattro anni di guerra e di miseria, per risparmiare ad un paese inerme il colpo di grazia. Si è deciso di infierire. Ecce homo. Dalla stazione, già quasi deserta(3), si riesce a vedere la testa del pilota con la cuffia di cuoio(4) che sfreccia sopra la casa del contadino della "Commenda", la rivendita di vino e latte di Civitella(5). Il cacciabombardiere compare all'improvviso alla gente in piazza, che guarda in su, attratta dal rombo crescente, paralizzata, nelle gambe e nella mente: piomba in picchiata(6) verso di loro, nero contro il cielo pieno di luce. Crepita la mitragliatrice, per dissuadere l'antiaerea che non c'è. Adriano Zurli, militare dell'aeronautica, non appena ha sentito un paio di raffiche, si è reso conto del pericolo; insieme a Gigi de Torello (Luigi Carlini) salta negli orti dietro le case di Via Roma e fugge risalendo la Regghia(7). Ugo Forni, arruolato in aviazione, è in casa di Mogi (Alessandro Romitelli), il gestore del Dopolavoro della ferrovia. Quando ha sentito il crescendo della picchiata, ha fatto riparare tutta la gente del caseggiato nel fondo della Lisa (Baldoni)(8). Anche Secondo, alla Caminella, esperto perché convalescente per ferite riportate in prima linea, capisce che stanno per bombardare(9). Seconda stazione Gesù si carica la croce sulle spalle Prima scarica La vista delle bombe All'improvviso due cilindri luccicanti, simili a grossi maiali(10), abbandonano la pancia del "picchiatello"; fanno un paio di capriole(11), come se vogliano indugiare; poi precipitano, lasciando una scia rossastra(12) in mezzo ad un frastuono assordante. Brizio (Boldrini) ed i suoi amici le guardano più curiosi che impauriti(15). "Ma queste en bombe!!" urla all'improvviso la Pomeìna (Armando Silvioni), facendo gelare il sangue(16) a quanti sono in piazza. "Bombardano!" ripete Sganapìno (Giuseppe Galmacci) guardando in alto(17). Sembrano una coppia d'uova(18). "Buttono ji ovi d'oca!", conferma puntando l'indice un ragazzino, più esperto di pollai che di macchine da guerra, dalla collina della Serra(19). Anche al Faldo, vedendo cadere quei cavulìni, non sanno paragonarli ad altro di conosciuto che ad una coppia d'ovi d'oca: comuni, innocue uova, solo più grosse del normale. Le bombe non hanno mai abitato qui(20). La Pia (Gagliardini), in casa dietro le scuole, visti cadere dall'aereo che si abbassa quei due cavolini, incuriosita chiede ad Alfredo (Briganti): "Che ha lasciato cadere quell'apparecchio?". "Fuggi, sono bombe. Fuggi via!(21)". A Muzio (Venti) sembrano dei bijittìni, uguali a quelli che hanno buttato nei giorni scorsi per avvertire la gente del pericolo(22). Ognuno, da dovunque li guardi, ha la sensazione che gli ordigni puntino sulla propria testa. Tuttora sono in pochi - perlopiù giovani - ad avere l'istinto di fuggire. I ragazzini delle magistrali scattano dove le gambe li portano, rispondendo ciascuno alla propria indole e prestanza. Nino (Grassini) si rifugia dentro il locale più vicino: il negozio di alimentari di Palchetti, in piazza, a pochi metri da dove si trovava(24). Brizio (Boldrini) sfreccia veloce verso Piazza Mazzini, gira per il mercato, mentre Sergio (Celestini) gli grida qualcosa correndo al di là della Regghia(25): per la velocità - lui è l'ala sinistra della Tiberis, un fulmine! - non è riuscito a curvare verso il mercato ed è filato dritto verso la piazza della Collegiata. Bruno (Burberi) indugia qualche attimo. Ramiro, quando era arrivato a casa tutto trafelato per aver visto i ricognitori, aveva trovato Bruno Righetti che voleva fare una saldatura su un pezzetto di macchina per cucire: gli aveva detto del pericolo e che avrebbe riparato il pezzetto se stava fuori a far da sentinella; prima però era salito in casa per avvertire la mamma e per mangiare un boccone. Mentre stava portandosi alla bocca un pescetto in bianco, la mamma, che nel frattempo era andata in terrazza, con voce eccitatissima gli ha urlato. "Ramiro, che è `sto rumore?". Lasciando il pesce, lui è stolzato in terrazza ed ha visto, all'apparente distanza di trenta metri, la sagoma di due ordigni che lasciavano una scia rossastra; sente il fischio delle bombe ed il rombo dell'aereo in picchiata, che non può vedere a causa del sole che ha di fronte(26). La grossa bomba / che pare d'argento, / per i riflessi della luce del sole / girando su se stessa, / piomba giù(27). La maggior parte della gente è rimasta bloccata, attonita(28): non riesce ancora a credere che stia arrivando la morte sul paese; sugli amici; sui famigliari; su di sé! Gli ordigni sembrano ancora galleggiare sopra le teste della gente in piazza, come sostenuti dalla volontà delle persone atterrite. Poi planano via, fino a scomparire sibilando dietro la casa di Burelli(29), verso il Tevere. Al di sopra delle bombe sta sopraggiungendo anche l'aereo che le ha sganciate, preceduto dal crepitio delle pallottole delle mitraglie sui tetti(30) e dal ruggito parossistico dei motori che vogliono risalire; anche la fusoliera, adesso diventata d'argento nel riflettere i raggi del sole, scompare dietro le case. Galeno è sulla soglia del suo "salone"(31), attonito, col camice bianco ed il pettine in mano(32). Forse cerca il suo amore(33). Due amichette vestite da piccole italiane non sono ancora tornate a casa dalla scuola; si sono fermate a parlare lungo il Corso. Hanno alzato lo sguardo verso l'aereo che è appena passato proprio sopra le loro teste. Tutte contente esclamano: "Oh ... quant'è bello!"(34). Il boato Qualche attimo di silenzio, ancora nell'illusione che nulla sia vero, che si sia trattato di un'allucinazione, che tutto sia finito. Invece, un tuono(35), un boato immane, indicibile, più sconvolgente di un terremoto, scuote tutto: case, corpi, sentimenti, ragione. Quando sentii il rumore / lo credetti un tuono dapprima / ma lungo e nero e sempre / più forte. / Un grido di cielo squarciato / rauco interminabile / adunco / sopra le case dentro la terra / nel soffitto nei pavimenti nei muri / in ogni più piccola cosa / e dentro di me(36). Le due bombe si sono schiantate sulla riva destra del Tevere(37), a nord della campata centrale del ponte(38), all'altezza dell'osteria di Lisetti in via Spunta(39). Il terribile rumore investe l'Elena (Boriosi) sul portone di casa, dove è appena arrivata, dopo essere ridiscesa di corsa per le scale, con il libro che la sorella Rina intendeva restituire alla Gina Borgarelli(40). Sono le 9 e 45. È iniziata la più grande tragedia della storia del paese(41). L'onda d'urto Lo spostamento d'aria dispiega la sua forza tremenda. Fa sbalzare Toto (Antonio Silvestrelli) dentro la barbieria dello zio Virgilio (Occhirossi), in direzione opposta a quella che intendeva percorrere verso le volte della parrucchieria di fronte(43). Nell'osteria di Via Spunta vola via il cappello di Natale (Bucaioni), che stava innaffiando la colazione con un bicchiere di vino; lui resta lì, immobile, rendendosi conto di essere sotto un muro robustissimo(44). Si spalanca la porta della cucina a piano terra in Via Mancini; cadono detriti dal soffitto sulla farina che la Batazzi sta impastando sopra la spianatòra(45). Frullano all'improvviso le pagine del vocabolario di latino, sotto gli occhi dell'Ornella (Duranti) e della Wilma (Borri)(46). Il verdone in gabbia le guarda, ammutolito. Il terrore fa perdere il lume della ragione alla Lidia (Tonanni), una sartina che sta provando un vestito alla sora Virginia (Santini), in Piazza San Francesco. "Io voglio mori' co' la mi' mamma!", arùga verso la cliente, quasi come sia lei la responsabile di quel pandemonio. E la Virginia, poveretta, a giustificarsi: "Sta calma! ... Guarda... che ci sei venuta da te!"(48). Nello stesso momento, in Via Soli, la mamma della Lidia, 1'Annetta (Taticchi), e la Martina (Maddoli) sono sbattute per terra(49)". La Marietta (Beatini) è impietrita davanti alla porta della cartoleria di Tommasi; vi cerca rifugio proprio mentre la lastra di vetro della vetrina le cade davanti, frantumata dalle vibrazioni(50). Tutti i vetri si rompono: quelli del Corso(51), del Comune(52), delle scuole elementari "Garibaldi"(53), delle case al mercato(54). La terra trema. Sempre più gente strilla: "Bombàrdono, bombàrdono"(55). I sassi e le schegge I ciottoli del pitrìccio sono catapultati dappertutto. Cadono sassi fino all'ultimo piano dell'abitazione di Lorenzo (Andreani) in via Cibo, dove la mamma stava accudendo alle faccende di casa, verso il Tevere(56). Precipitano in piazza(57); sulla torre(58); davanti alle chiese di piazza San Francesco, alla pompina della Caminella(59). Una svecciata di sassi raggiunge Bruno (Burberi), che si è deciso a scappare verso la Collegiata; cerca protezione svoltando nel primo vicolo, Via Alberti, e s'infila nel negozio di verdura della Pierina(60). Brecce saltano sui tetti di Via Mancini, emulando il precedente crepitio delle pallottole sparate dalle mitraglie(61) degli aerei verso i camion tedeschi davanti al Capponi(62). Una gragnola di sassi neri colpisce le vetrine del Bar Giardino, sotto lo sguardo attonito delle due bambine - Giovanna e Carla - assorte nello scartare quel torroncino per cui avevano interrotto il loro cammino verso la tempesta del vicolo di San Giovanni (63). Giorgio (Toraci) e Renato (Pecorini), in Via Alberti, di fronte al forno di Bucitino, stavano giocando con le figurine di carta del presepio, che si possono ribaltare dai fogli dove sono incollate. Sobbalzano allibiti al rumore delle sassate sui coppi del tetto. La Madonna che stavano sollevando dal foglio, si strappa e resta lì, abbandonata a terra. Fuggono per le scale, per ripararsi in una nicchia molto robusta(64). Una pioggia di ghiaia cade sulla casa del Faldo, dietro la quale hanno fatto riparare gli anziani, sdraiati nel fosso(65). Verso il "Mulinello", una scheggia spezza il grosso ramo di un noce(66). Un masso enorme si schianta fra Via Stella e la Collegiata, a qualche metro da Franco (Mischianti), che è sbalzato a terra. Si mette al coperto, rifugiandosi nella barbieria di Palazzoli in Piazza Mazzini(67). Una pietra. colpisce la bicicletta di Umberto (Dominici), l'apprendista fotografo, che sta correndo davanti alla chiesa(68). In direzione opposta Maria Maddalena (Marzani), con la lettera per il fratello al fronte, sta svoltando in bicicletta verso Reggiani, in mezzo ad una bufera di sassi e ad un frastuono indescrivibile(69). Non può scappare Guerriero de l'Elena (Boldrini), che ha fatto salina; si trova nei fondi del Sellàro, lungo la Regghia, insieme ad Elio (Caprini), a Osvaldo (Baroni) ed al Ministro (Alfiero Silvioni). Il rumore dello scoppio e dei sassi che cadono sui bandoni della stalla ha fatto imbizzarrire i cavalli, che sferrano coppie di calci, impedendo ogni possibilità di fuga. Un macigno cade vicino e sfascia un carro(70). La nube Le colonne di fumo, scaturite dalla radice del lampo dell'esplosione, si fondono fra loro in una nube, che si gonfia sempre più lenta e minacciosa man mano che cresce a dismisura. Un gran polverone(71) segue la tempesta iniziale di sassi ed invade il paese. Il terrore Il boato ha risvegliato tutti quelli che hanno assistito alla scena, sbigottiti, pietrificati; finalmente scappano. Anche molti di quanti l'hanno solo sentito, intuiscono e fuggono verso punti più sicuri. Nella sartoria di Palmiro (Maccarelli) all'inizio del ponte sul Tevere, presi dal loro lavoro, gli apprendisti non avevano dato importanza al rumore degli aerei, anche perché li avevano sentiti spesso. Scossi dal gran boato della bomba caduta vicino a loro, tutti sono usciti di corsa, spaventatissimi(72). La vetrina della bottega di calzature economiche, nello stesso palazzo, si è frantumata e le scarpe esposte sono volate verso le commesse, che non avevano posto tanta attenzione a quel ronzio; si mettono a correre, tenendosi per mano, in direzione della piazza; ma quasi subito il fumo le separa; si perdono(73). Baldo (Ubaldo Gambucci) è lì davanti, perso; accenna ad andare dentro la bottega di mercerie, dove sono la Menchina e l'Adriana del Sellàro (Cecchetti); va in qua e in là, senza decidersi(74). Suo figlio Gigetto (Luigi Gambucci) stava facendo firmare un mandato ad un cliente di Montecastelli, Eusebi, allo sportello dell'Ufficio Postale. Tutti hanno l'istinto di scappare, ma si fermano titubanti sul portone, non osando avventurarsi fuori, in quell'inferno di pietre; Gigetto trattiene a forza 1'Itala (Boldrini), tirandola dentro per un braccio(75). Sopraggiunge l'Elda (Bebi Ceccarelli), la direttrice dell'ufficio, con le figlie: è rimasta attardata, per portar via dalla cassaforte gli stipendi dei maestri(76). Vorrebbe uscire, mentre la figlia Marianella vuole rimanere al coperto. Di fronte alla Posta, in Comune, la Peppa (Ceccarelli), che era andata a ritirare la tessera per la carne della macelleria Bebi, fugge per le scale con la Piera e l'Ada (Bruni)(77). II Commissario fa chiudere il portone, impedendo a chiunque di uscire(78). L'atrio del municipio s'intasa di persone accalcate. Peppino (Grilli) e Pietro de Sciuscìno (Bartoccini) si ritrovano sulle spalle di Agostino (Bico)(79). La Lea (Rapo), che stava spolverando, aveva visto gli aerei andare verso Montecorona; quando uno di essi era riapparso lasciando cadere due "ovini", lei è fuggita in cucina tirando per un braccio il nonno. Lui completamente sordo, non si era accorto di niente: stava cercando di accendere il fuoco nel focolare, per cuocere il dolce per il compleanno della nipotina. Per festeggiare l'evento, la mamma aveva già disposto sulla spianatora tutto l'occorrente per il dolce delle quattro tazze - di farina bianca, gialla, latte, zucchero - da cuocere con la teglia coperta, i carboni sotto e sopra. Ora fuggono per le scale(80). La Dora (Silvestrelli) aspettava il dottor Valdinoci che avrebbe dovuto visitare il babbo, a letto con una gran febbre. Aspettava anche le frittelle che la mamma stava cocendo con un po' di pasta del pane, prima di portare le file nel locale per la lievitazione al forno di Quadrio Bebi. Vista la bella giornata, aveva aperto la finestra della camera del babbo per cambiare l'aria; vi si era affacciata, verso il fiume. All'improvviso ha sentito uno strano rumore sempre più forte; ha visto un oggetto o due venire dal cielo; poi lo scoppio. Tutti, di corsa, si sono rifugiati nel passetto delle scale, sotto gli architravi, come da tempo stabilito. Vi hanno trovato Lazzaro (Bottaccioli) con la Stella, che pregano ad alta voce(81). II fratello della Dora, Spinelli (Renato Silvestrelli), ed il Boca (Vantaggi) sono partiti come frecce - il primo in bicicletta, il secondo a piedi - verso Via Roma; si ficcano entrambi sotto un vecchio banco da lavoro nel bugigattolo da ciclista(82). La Sunta (Baruffi) corre verso Fornacìno, senza zoccoli, che ha perso per strada(83). Anche Rolando (Paneni) ha scalciato via gli zoccoli e fugge scalzo verso il macello(84). Un carrettiere, sorpreso davanti alla Collegiata, scappa abbandonando il carretto ed il mulo che lo trainava(85): ha ben altro cui pensare che rispettare la regola di legare la bestia dietro il carro! Don Luigi si è alzato di scatto e si è rifugiato di corsa in un adito che dalla chiesa conduce alla sagrestia. Chiama nel suo improvvisato rifugio altre persone che sono entrate in chiesa, spaventate dalla bomba e da un'intensa raffica di mitraglia. In tutto sono in cinque: tre uomini ed una giovane donna che, stringendosi al collo un bambino, grida e piange disperatamente(86). In cima alla Piaggiola, dove avevano continuato a lavorare tranquillamente - "Tanto ... gli aerei sono tedeschi" - Renato (Caseti) si precipita per le scale, cavalcando il boato e scavalcando la ringhiera. Corre verso la Pompina e si allontana, verso Santafede ed il Fosso di Lazzaro(87). Nello stesso punto, lo scoppio ha sorpreso l'Elvira (Rossi), nipote di Quadrio. Era uscita da casa con la cognata Peppa (Giuseppa Gallicchi) per comprare la conserva nel negozio dello zio, perché avevano dato i punti della tessera annonaria; ne avrebbe approfittato per salire al piano sopra la bottega per fare una visita allo zio malato. Ma ha deciso - quando uno non deve morire, non deve morire! - di passare prima, con sua cognata, a prendere i buoni in Comune per ritirare le uova dalla Sandra (Migliorati). "Uh, Peppa, è il bombardamento!", adesso urla. La sora Adalgisa (Castelletti) le fa entrare dentro il negozio di argenteria. L'Elvira, incinta dell'Anna di sette mesi, si inginocchia: "Pater nostro, salve regina, rechemetèrna..." ...ma finché [Dio] non ha voluto, [il bombardamento] non ha smesso. Fuori vede tutta la gente correre: sembrano impazziti quelli che a frotte fuggono con le mani sui capelli(88). Fiordo, il carrettiere, si butta dentro la buca dove stava scavando la rena(89). Nella bottega di Quadrio, Amleto, che aiutava a vendere nella bottega del suocero, ha capito; aggrappato al bancone con le mani, le braccia tese ed i polsi in avanti, grida a tutti: "State fermi ... calma ... è il bombardamento"(90). Mentre si sente fortissimo il rombo dell'aereo che rimonta dopo la picchiata, Ramiro ha già preso la mamma per la mano e fugge per le scale, urlando continuamente: "Via! Via! Piano! Piano!". Dopo aver sostato qualche secondo dentro 1' entrone, si dirige verso il Roccolo; mette la mamma al riparo in un fosso asciutto e prosegue verso la collina per osservare cosa facciano gli apparecchi(91). È curioso di verificare, in particolare, se le bombe scoppiano come le disegna Walter Molino nelle tavole della "Domenica del Corriere": con questo intento, tiene spalancate le palpebre degli occhi fra i pollici e gli indici, per evitare che l'istinto le faccia chiudere al momento della deflagrazione(92). Alle ceramiche Pucci, `l Moro, il muratore che lavorava sul tetto, era stato incaricato di stare in allerta e di dare l'allarme appena avesse visto arrivare degli aerei. Ma le bombe sono state più rapide della sentinella. Tutto il personale è scappato e vede l'inferno sopra il paese. Le schegge arrivano fin laggiù. Una quarantina d' operai si riversano verso i campi fra la strada ed il Tevere, cercando di allontanarsi più possibile(93). Altri si riparano, tutti rannicchiati, tra cumuli di argilla. Una grossa lamiera, scagliata chissà da dove, dopo aver volteggiato in aria, si abbatte latrando a pochi metri dal riparo del ragioniere (Martinelli)(94). Menco de Fornacìno (Domenico Fornaci) si rifugia nel sottoscale, fra gli attrezzi da lavoro(95). I bambini La Giovanna (Pazzi), uscita da scuola, è sotto il portone di casa per ripararsi dai calcinacci, senza rendersi conto di cosa sia quel can-can, con tutta la Qente che fugge verso la Piaggiola. Qualcuno la fa rifugiare dentro la casa della maestra Peppina, in cima alla salita(96). In fondo alla Piaggiola, Stefanino (Marsigliotti) passa di corsa davanti al negozio del babbo; gli urla che va fuori del paese, senza riuscire a farsi sentire. Si unisce alla folla che fugge verso il Roccolo(97). La Marisa, che ha fatto salina, aveva ripreso la strada di casa verso la Piaggiola e la piazza, perché a quell'ora la scuola doveva essere finita. Un signore, di fronte a questo finimondo, la dissuade dal proseguire per il centro e le grida di andare verso la campagna(98). Un altro signore prende per mano un bambino che sotto la torre - imbambolato - non sa che fare(99). Lorenzo (Andreani), che stava tornando a casa con il mazzettino di odori dell'orto della zia Lucia, è rimasto annichilito in mezzo alla strada. La mamma di Tonino (Traversini), un suo compagno di scuola, l'afferra per la mano e lo tira dentro un portone per farlo riparare(100). Massimo (Valdambrini), sei anni, era solo vicino a casa; la mamma era a fare spesa ed il babbo al lavoro. Lo prende la moglie di Annibale (Trentini); insieme corrono verso Pinzaglia e Navarri, lungo la "cupa"(101). A1 contrario, davanti alla caserma dei carabinieri, è un ragazzo ad aiutare la mamma, che si è bloccata, terrorizzata: le gambe le si piegano e non si regge in piedi per la paura(102). Un bambino della Badia, appena scappato da scuola, è rimasto solo; si è rifugiato in un androne vicino all'asilo. Spaurato, piange - a bocca larga - come una vite tagliata. Due donne, che sono scese per le scale appena dopo aver sentito il boato che sembrava venire dalla stazione, lo rincuorano(103). La Rita (Tosti) insieme a due amiche - Maria (Tosti) e Paola (Corbucci) - stavano attraversando il ponte sul Tevere per tornare a casa al Corvatto, dopo aver lasciato le scuole elementari. Si erano messe ad ammirare gli aerei che giravano alti sopra le loro teste. Quando la bomba è caduta sul pietriccio, fra la fine del ponte ed il Molinaccio, scagliando sassi tutt'intorno in mezzo ad un rumore tremendo, la Rita si è messa a correre verso casa tenendo per mano le sue compagne. Ferruccio (Bartolini) e Serafino (Pucci), che si trovano vicini a loro, urlano di buttarsi a terra. Ma la Rita vuole tornare a casa per non far preoccupare la mamma malata; continua a correre con le sue compagne, senza ascoltare lo stradino del Comune che grida di buttarsi nel fosso(104). Alla quarta elementare, nella scuola delle monache, il dettato era stato interrotto all'improvviso dagli apparecchi sempre più bassi e dal fischio della bomba. Tutte le scolare erano corse alle finestre verso Via Spoletini per guardare. "Via, via! Lontano dalle finestre" ha gridato suor Letizia, ammaestrata dai bombardamenti cui aveva assistito a Roma(105). Le ragazze della quinta, sedute in fondo all'aula grande vicino al terrazzo, dove sono state radunate insieme ad altre classi per la momentanea assenza di alcune maestre, si sono alzate di colpo e gridano, con le mani alla testa: "La mi' mammina!"(106). Le fanno fuggire tutte verso il patóllo, facendole riparare sotto la capanna dei Carbonari. Una bambina si acquatta sotto la bura di un carro, con le mani sulle orecchie per attutire i botti ed i fischi. In un cantone prega inginocchiata Suor Filomena, la cuoca"(107). Poco lontano, Maria (Bico Corradi), con l'Elda febbricitante in braccio, è riparata sotto una grossa nicchia con la signora Renzini: tutte pregano e dicono le litanie(108). Dalle elementari di Via Garibaldi, le ultime classi ancora rimaste dentro l'edificio si riversano fuori della scuola dall'uscita verso l'asilo, opposta al lato dove è caduta la bomba. Anche i bambini che si trovavano a scuola al piano terra della palazzina con la torretta in Via Fratta, scappano verso Civitella(109). Lo scoppio della bomba ha frantumato il vetro della finestrina a mezzaluna sopra il portone in fondo alle scale dell'Avviamento, che è caduto davanti alla marea di scolari che stava fuggendo. Tutti insieme hanno fanno dietro-front: chi era primo della fila si è ritrovato ad essere l'ultimo. A furia di spintoni e gomitate risalgono le scale ed escono a valanga dalla porta posteriore della scuola, diretti verso il Tevere. Qualcuno grida di stare nascosti, perché potrebbero mitragliare. La professoressa Simoncini si raccomanda di aspettarla ed a modo suo cerca di correre, sgambettando, ma inutilmente(110). Celestino (Caldari) non è più un bambino: ha 49 anni. Gli dicono di fuggire, vedendolo immobile. Lui risponde, serafico: "A mo so' vecchio... chi me tocca!"(111). Ostinata inconsapevolezza Tanti di quelli che hanno solo sentito lo schianto senza aver visto nulla, non si rendono ancora conto di cosa stia succedendo. Continuano a rifiutare la realtà. Qualcuno pensa a quello spericolato di Bice Pucci, che ha voluto salutare la zia Mariannina rasentando più del solito i tetti con il suo aereo(114). "Che matti!!! Ne sarà caduto uno sul pietriccio!", pensa Alfredo (Ciarabelli), il renitente alla leva nascosto da un paio di mesi nella casa dei Grilli, fra Via Cibo e Via Mariotti(113). Tanti altri immaginano la stessa cosa(114). "È caduto 'n apparecchio tul Tevere", si spiegano dentro il negozio di alimentari della Rosina de Pistulino (Tosti), nella strada che porta alla torre. Ma la Rosina intuisce la verità e fa riparare tutti dietro un buzzo di conserva, tra i vetri sbriciolati a terra(115). L'Argentina (Ramaccioni) continua tranquillamente a cucire, nella sua casa vicina alla pompina, credendo che ne abbiano combinata un'altra delle loro i tedeschi accampati all'inizio della strada dei cipressi(116). "Ma ch'è ... tona? Eppure era sereno!", commenta rivolta al nipote la nonna, appena tornata dal forno, mentre va ad aprire gli scuri per vedere cosa stia succedendo(117). “... vecchia rode tozzi! ["la Vecchia" rode i tozzi di pane secco]" ripete un bambino di quasi due anni: ha collegato il rumore delle bombe a quello dei tuoni, che crede siano causati da una vecchia che sgranocchia pane indurito(118). "Forse bombardano a Castello!", cerca di raccapezzarsi una ragazzina nei pressi della stazione, guardandosi intorno spaesata senza aver neppure fatto caso agli aerei. Non le passa nemmeno per la testa che il nostro paesino inerme giustifichi un'operazione militare(119). Consapevolezza In fondo al Corso - dove hanno sentito gli aerei, visto le bombe, sentito il boato, l'onda d'urto, i vetri rotti, i sassi - tutti hanno capito. Le domande sbigottite, che rimbalzano ovunque, fanno precipitare tutti nella tragica verità: "Bombàrdono, scappàmo!" grida terrorizzato Bruno (Villarini) dalla finestra(120), con il coro di tutte le scolare dietro; la Rina de Schiantino, che corre per strada insieme a tutti i colleghi della sartoria di Maccario, gli fa eco: "Scappàmo! Bombàrdono!„(121). "Bombàrdono!" urla Peppone de Pùmmene (Giuseppe Agea) sopra il ponte della Regghia della Via Tiberina (122), mentre scappa verso la Collegiata(123). Davanti al macello la gente che fugge verso la collina del Roccolo grida, come in un coro stonato: "Via, via ... che bombàrdono!!"(124). "Bombàrdono!" "Bombàrdono!" "Bombàrdono!", urlano dappertutto, come un'eco ossessionante, mentre fuggono, impazziti. Chi dentro il portone più vicino. Chi verso spazi aperti, lontano dalle case: verso il Roccolo, la Regghia, Civitella, Taschino, la Carninella. Bombardano!!! Bombardano. Davvero! Anche nel nostro paese inerme. Anche qui è arrivato il fuoco violento di un mondo impazzito. Anche qui si può morire, senza ragione, come in ogni parte del mondo quando l'uomo perde la ragione. "Ne arriva un altro! Scappiamo!". Seconda scarica Terza stazione La prima caduta di Gesù sotto la croce Il tenente Pienaar punta il suo falco pellegrino sul ponte del fiume e sgancia la seconda coppia di bombe. La casa di Bruno Gli ordigni sono(125) per Bruno (Villarini), il sarto, e per le sue scolare, che si stanno scapicollando giù per le scale. La Gigina (Mischianti), sulla cinquantina, l'unica attempata del gruppo, lascia passare gli altri che possono correre più veloci: "Fuggite voialtri che sete più giovini e aéte più da campà'!"(126). Sua figlia la scavalca insieme alle amiche, tenendo in braccio la nipote del fidanzato: un batuffolo di capelli ricci che stava per portare all'asilo(127). Tenera anticipazione dell'essere mamma(128). Sono arrivati all'ultima rampa di scale, quando l'apocalisse sopra di loro cresce fino al parossismo: una bomba centra la casa(129), che precipita seppellendo tutti nel buio della morte. Per loro tutto è finito! Cessano di vivere la Giulia, la Cecilia, la Ida, la Rina, la Viulìna(130), la piccolissima Anna Paola; e Bruno(131). Non c'è più "filo" per allungare la trama delle loro vite(132). Solo la mamma Gigina, sbalzata verso Via Cibo dalla finestra delle scale(133), trova miracolosamente scampo sotto un trave, in cima alla collina di macerie. Dentro la stessa bara di sassi muoiono Angelo, il calzolaio, e la moglie Luisa, che abitavano al piano inferiore(135). Lui era il "medico delle scarpe", che andava a piedi a lavorare con la valigetta, non avendo né una bottega né un piccolo laboratorio in casa. Il suo organetto ha rantolato l'ultima nota, schiacciato in mezzo alle pietre; i nipoti non saranno più rallegrati dalle sue melodie(136). La Felicina è schiacciata da una trave proprio sullo scalino del negozio di alimentari, preso in affitto dalla Pastàra all'angolo fra Via Spunta ed il Corso(137). I1 crollo coinvolge anche le due abitazioni adiacenti. Demolisce un'ala della casa verso il ponte, dove la Vera (Vibi) assiste terrorizzata a quest'inferno abbracciata alla mamma, a letto inferma; la polvere impedisce di vedere cosa accada; diventa difficile respirare(138). Nel portone a piano terra sono rimasti intrappolati Nello del Flemma e l'Armida de Caldaro, che ha finito il tempo per partorire(139). Dalla bottega del calzolaio del ponte, lì di fronte, nessuno può scappare. Il banchetto da lavoro è saltato e tutti sono restati senza parole, come imbambolati; un polverone ha invaso tutto e non si vede più niente. "Semo armasti chiusi dentro!", sussurra Aldo (Frambois) posando una mano sulla spalla di Peppino (Lisetti), apprendista come lui, che ha cercato nel buio, tastoni(140). Nell'edificio verso piazza, i genitori del maestro Bernacchi sono sprofondati nel baratro che si è aperto sotto di loro, mentre lui, Benedetto, stava porgendo una tazza di caffè alla moglie Marianna, malata, chinandosi verso il letto su cui era coricata(141). Silvano, il nipotino, è salvo solo perché l'angolo estremo del pavimento su cui si trovava ha resistito; è rimasto in piedi sopra due mattoni, miracolosamente restati al loro posto, di fronte al vuoto, tra fumo, polvere, calcinacci. Ma non può respirare; allora tenta di spostarsi; mette un piede in avanti; sprofonda come in una voragine; si aggrappa e scivola... si aggrappa e scivola... sempre più giù(142). Per fortuna la seconda bomba della coppiòla non è esplosa(143). La Polda, colpita alla testa da uno sciacquone caduto dal piano superiore, spira(144) dietro il portone d'ingresso della stessa casa, dove si era recata per aiutare la suocera Peppa. Pochi attimi prima, nello stesso punto si trovava il figlio Gigino, che era dal barbiere (Taticchi) quando è caduta 1a prima bomba. D'istinto si era dato a correre verso il Corso anziché verso Piazza San Francesco, che era la via naturale di fuga; si era rifugiato dietro quel portone dove abitavano i nonni, in via Cibo, per ripararsi dai sassi; dopo qualche attimo, non sentendosi sicuro, era corso verso piazza"(145). Anche l'altro figlio, Peppino, vent'anni, era dentro la barbieria con i1 fratello; come lui, è fuggito per il Corso, verso piazza. Vuole allontanarsi dalle case: si precipita dentro il bar Pazzi, corre verso il retro, salta negli orti, si lascia cadere sulla sponda del Tevere; e poi di corsa verso il Faldo, inseguito dai botti delle bombe(146). Nella barbieria di Gilì (Virgilio Occhirossi) tutti erano corsi verso Via Spunta, sul retro, che dava l'impressione di essere il punto più protetto; ma quando Toto (Antonio Silvestrelli) era giunto sulla porta, la seconda coppia di bombe è esplosa proprio in fondo al vicolo; lo spostamento d'aria gli ha sbattuto violentemente la porta sul petto; per un attimo si è sentito mancare'(147). La moglie di Schiupitino si è riparata nel retrobottega del negozio di alimentari al Corso, sotto un arco, con la figlia Emma. Con loro c'è Mario (Mariano Vestrelli), il falegname, che si è raccomandato: "Dite con me `l paternostro ... 'ché morimo tutti!"(148). Lo spostamento d'aria ha scardinato il braccio di chiusura della porta, rompendogli le coste ed interrompendo la sua preghiera(149). La maggior parte dei sarti di Maccario ha seguito Fausto (Ciocchetti) perché lui sa meglio come comportarsi sotto le bombe, dopo tre anni di guerra: è da poco tornato dalla Croazia, in licenza prolungata perché ha da poco perso il fratello maggiore(150). Ma lui, prima di essere soldato, è fratello di Peppino, che lavora nel salone di Galeno: anziché correre in direzione della Caminella, verso i campi liberi, si dirige verso la barbieria(151). II percorso è ancora del tutto sgombro(152). Come la mandria dietro al capobranco, i suoi compagni lo seguono in Via Mariotti, sotto l'arco di Fiordo: la Rina de Schiantino (Santini), Mario (Lozzi), Peppino (Rapo), di soli quattordici anni. In particolare non si stacca da lui la Nunziatina (Bendini), che di Fausto è innamorata(153). La fuga ed il destino si stanno sgranando lungo gli anelli di una catena d' affetti. L'Elda (Bartocci) si è divisa dai compagni. Ha imboccato il vicolo di San Giovanni, per rifugiarsi nell'ingresso dell'albergo Capponi: nel fitto fumo nero, intravede due soldati che hanno indossato la maschera antigas. La donna di servizio dell'albergo accende una candela che rischiara un po' 1'ambiente(156). Nella bottega di Quadrio tutto è diventato scuro. Amleto accende un fiammifero cercando di aprire la porta del retrobottega. "Ho la mia famiglia di sopra!!" pensa a voce alta. Ma la porta non si apre, perché dal lucernaio posteriore è venuto giù qualcosa(157). Davanti alla porta del suo forno s'intravede, tra il fumo, la sagoma di Luciano, il nipote di Quadrio. Non ha seguito gli amici nella corsa verso 1a salvezza: non l'hanno potuto tenere. "Vado a casa ad avvertire la mi' mamma!", ha insistito(158). Ora, per sollecitare la fuga dei familiari, li chiama urlando dalla strada, in mezzo al caos della gente che scappa alle sue spalle. Mentre la Lea (Rapo) fuggiva, il boato della seconda bomba, ancora più tremendo della prima, ha fatto volare lontano il cappello del nonno, che si preoccupa di riprenderlo; incrocia la mamma e la sorella Mariolina che stanno correndo verso casa. Tutti insieme rientrano e si rifugiano sotto il letto matrimoniale(159). L'Ornella e la Wilma, abbandonato sul tavolo il vocabolario di latino, sono corse verso la finestra sulla piazza ed hanno visto una colonna di fumo salire dal Tevere(160). Peppino (Baiocco), l'apprendista di Bruno, si è acquattato nell'orto sopra il Tevere, sul retro della trattoria di Ntonio de Ragno; da lì ha visto volare mattoni e pietre della sartoria dove intendeva salire un minuto fa, per riunirsi alla sorella Giulia. Ma era tornato indietro; al rumore degli aerei aveva ripreso il portone per salire; poi era rivoltato di nuovo, proprio nel momento in cui una lasca impressionante aveva fatto sobbalzare tutto. Era fuggito verso piazza dove si stava già diffondendo un gran polverone(161). È il finimondo(162). E una macchia rossa, in alto, / coprì il sole / il cielo gli alberi il fiume / i giochi i volti i sorrisi i baci / i miei occhi / la mia mente(163). Consapevolezza tardiva Alfredo (Ciarabelli) si era diretto in cucina per vedere dalla finestra verso il Corso se era davvero caduto un aereo; quando ha sentito il secondo boato, ancora più grosso, ha capito e non si muove più: è come stordito. Non ricorderà niente di quello che sta per succedere(164). Finalmente tutti hanno capito. Ma ormai nessuno ha più scelte. Chi si trova all'aperto, continua a fuggire a perdifiato, spinto dal terrore. Chi non è già riuscito a guadagnare l'aria oppure, al contrario, ha avuto l'istinto di ripararsi dentro un portone, resta paralizzato dove si trova, aspettando immobile che quest'inferno finisca al più presto(165). Invece è solo l'inizio. La corsa di Brizio (Boldrini) è arrivata sotto la torre(166). Sergio (Celestini), davanti alla Collegiata, ha sentito il babbo chiamarlo dal lato di Via Roma; è corso verso di lui, ma ha proseguito la fuga imboccando il ponte della Regghia verso la piattaforma. Il fronte d'urto della seconda bomba lo ha sbalzato in aria per un salto senza fine; ha l'impressione che gli sia scoppiata dietro le spalle, davanti alla Collegiata(167). Da Peppolètta, si radunano tutti nella cantina scavata sotto il livello della strada, dove il babbo aveva messo anche un'accetta, nel caso fosse stato necessario aprire un varco verso la Regghia'(168). I piloti si sono resi conto di aver mancato l'obiettivo per pochi metri(169). Forse non si rendono conto di aver colpito a morte il Borgo di San Giovanni, che è caduto per la prima volta nella sua storia millenaria: in sacrificio per l'umanità, come Cristo. Terza scarica Il tenente Lombard ripete l'esatta traiettoria del collega che l'ha preceduto. La casa dell'Elena La terza coppia di bombe precipita sibilando; esplode(170) a pochi metri dalla seconda, sulla casa dell'Elena (Boldrini), dove non c'è più nessuno. Saltano in aria le ricevute delle cambiali e le bombe a mano celate nella scatola di scarpe presa in consegna qualche settimana prima, nella convinzione che contenesse solo libri. Gliel'aveva data Tonino (Taticchi), comunista, quando era stato avvertito di un'imminente ispezione da Milio (Ramaccioni), anticomunista ma amico(171). Quarta stazione Gesù incontra sua madre Madre e figlia - la Delma e la Franca - incontrano l a morte, travolte dai detriti, nel fondo dei Fiorucci dove si erano rifugiate(172), mentre fuggivano dalla loro casa di fronte, all'inizio del vicolo di San Giovanni(173). La Delma non ha saputo trarre frutto dagli insegnamenti della mamma Abigaille, capace di interpretare i sogni e prevedere il futuro ai clienti del botteghino del lotto, che gestiva con la sorella Desdemona al Corso(174). Sotto il vicino arco di Fiordo cadono tramortiti a terra Ciocchetta e la Nunziatina(175), i giovani sarti innamorati(176); i loro compagni di fuga - Peppino, Mario e la Rina - senza rendersi conto di cosa possa essere accaduto, storditi ma illesi, li trascinano dentro la porta di un fondo appena spalancata dallo spostamento d'aria(177). La mamma e la sorella di Orlando (Bucaioni), il pescatore di ranocchie, sono fuggite verso il ponte; quando sono state in fondo al vicolo di San Giovanni, la mamma si è rifugiata nel portone di Ciarabelli e la sorella in quello precedente, l'ingresso dell'albergo Capponi. La mamma si è sporta un attimo per controllare se la figlia fosse al sicuro, rimanendo ferita in modo non grave per il crollo della casa dell'Elena(180). Sotto i detriti è rimasta leggermente intrappolata la Tuta (Lozzi), insieme al carretto con la biancheria che stava riportando dal fiume(181). Toto (Antonio Silvestrelli), dopo essersi ripreso dallo stordimento per la seconda bomba, era uscito dal retro della barbieria di Gilì (Virgilio Occhirossi); con gli altri ha cercato di fuggire in Via Spunta verso il ponte, proprio in direzione del nuovo scoppio. Rientrati precipitosamente nella barbieria, sentono un lamento provenire dall'esterno: fra la polvere trovano una fiolina (Giuseppina Mariotti) che piange, accucciata in un cantuccio dove la nonna l'ha fatta riparare (182). Brizio sta girando per la Fontesanta, dietro la casa di Broccatelli(183). I piloti scrivono sul diario di aver colpito i binari appena ad est del ponte: è segno che già non vedono più l'area intorno all'obiettivo(184). Difatti, dalla collina del cimitero è scomparso alla vista il campanone sopra le poste, avvolto dal fumo(185). Quarta scarica Tocca al tenente Mitchell ripetere la traiettoria che ha portato a sfiorare per due volte il ponte; si butta in picchiata, colpendo a pochi metri da dove sono esplose le bombe precedenti, vicino alla testata est. La casa di Moscione Mitchell centra la casa mediana della schiera verso ponente del vicolo di San Giovanni: quella di Peppe de Mosciòne (Bernacchi), operaio alla fornace. Gli ordigni sterminano tutta la sua famiglia: cinque f iglioli - Anna Maria, Raffaele, Benedetto, Valentino, Angela(186) - insieme alla loro mamma, la Sunta(187). "Un gelo s'apprese al loro volo ... e lasciarono cadere le a1i"(188). Erano tutti secchi come filigèlli, forse per costituzione; forse per la miseria. Eppure, nonostante l'apparenza, la donna allattava sia l'Anna Maria, sua figlia, che un altro bimbo, Brunello (Giancarlo Bruni), come balia. Per questo, ogni giorno venivano a prenderla a casa e la portavano di là dal Tevere, per attaccare il figlio di latte al suo seno; cercavano di nutrirla con abbondanza affinché il latte bastasse per entrambi i bambini(189). Le bombe hanno demolito anche le due case adiacenti. In quella verso la piazza, muore un'altra Sunta, la moglie di Selleri, il calzolaio(190). Dopo aver riempito le brocche alla pompa degli archi di piazza, era salita dalla Bruna (Brunori), una vicina di casa. «Quando hanno sentito gli scoppi, si sono buttate entrambe per terra, ma il pavimento è sprofondato sotto di loro(191). Sono precipitate dal terzo piano. La Bruna ha avuto la fortuna che alcune travi, dopo aver attutito la caduta, hanno formato una specie di tetto che l'ha riparata dai calcinacci. Così si è ritrovata nella stalla, vicino alla sua giovane amica ed alla cavalla(192) di Vitorio (Vittorio Giulioni): entrambe morte»(193). Nella casa vicina, ancor più verso piazza, Luciano (Bebi) è entrato nel portone, vedendo che i suoi tardano a scendere. È salito al primo piano e dalla porta grida: "Mamma! Mamma! Fuggi! Teta! Scappàte!"(194). Ma Quadrio è a letto: non se la sentono di lasciarlo solo e l'aiutano ad alzarsi. Intanto suo genero Amleto, il radiotelegrafista, con la freddezza del militare di carriera abituato al pericolo, cerca di portare in salvo verso la torre la suocera, che stava servendo in bottega(195) la Rina de Sciuscìno (Bartoccini)(195). Dalla porta del forno, perché quella della bottega - verso il ponte - è bloccata, scappa la Maria (Migliorati), insieme alla Rina. Mentre corre fra detriti e sassi si accorge che è rimasta senza una scarpa. La Maria vorrebbe dirigersi verso casa, che è vicino alle monache, ma in piazza della Collegiata il bancario Martinelli le dice di andare verso il mercato, non verso la ferrovia, perché è pericoloso(197). Nella casa adiacente a quella di Mosciòne, verso il ponte, muoiono Pasqualino e Angelino, i due figli(198) della Sunta, che la moglie del calzolaio aveva lasciato a letto. Soli, in mezzo al cataclisma, aggrediti dall'orco. La casa di Ulisse Nella casa di fronte, quella di Ulisse, a metà della schiera verso sud del vicolo di San Giovanni, si riversano le macerie delle case dirimpettaie. All'ultimo piano, la mamma Adele ha fatto riparare sotto l'architrave di cucina Gino de Bargiacca (Igino Corbucci), costretto dalla nascita su una sedia. Nel trambusto, il ragazzino si ritrova a terra sotto il tavolo(199). I suoi muscoli atrofizzati si caricano di un'altra croce. Quinta stazione Simone di Cirene aiuta Gesù a portare la croce L' androne a piano terra è pieno di gente, scesa dai piani superiori o entrata da fuori. Vi si è appena rifugiata l'Elda (Bartocci), la sartina di Maccario, che, separatasi dagli altri colleghi, non si sentiva sicura dentro l'albergo Capponi. Proprio sulla soglia ha incontrato la moglie di Paolino, il ferroviere, con la figlia Argentina di quattro anni in braccio ed il trippone con il nascituro; la bambina non riusciva a respirare per la polvere del crollo precedente; allora la mamma Marcella ha deciso di uscire(200) proprio nel momento in cui le case di fronte sono crollate su di loro(201). Anche dentro l'androne di Ulisse (Violini) è arrivata la morte: l'ingegnere romano che stava passeggiando nel vicolo(202), riparatosi lì dentro, è stato scaraventato dallo spostamento d'aria in fondo al piccolo corridoio di fronte al portone(203). La Sandra (Violini), che cuciva nel suo appartamento, era scesa in fondo alle scale - il babbo Ulisse aveva istruito così le figlie - dove ci sono muri e volte robustissimi. Ha visto l'Augusta, un'anziana vicina di casa che si era riparata dentro il portone di fronte, quello dei Brunori, dall'altra parte del vicolo. "Augusta, venite di qua... ch'è più robusto!", le ha detto. "No cocca! A mo' sto di qui!", ha risposto lei(204), un attimo prima di essere seppellita(205). Accanto all'Augusta, un gruppo di persone è sommerso dal crollo dei piani superiori: la Mimma(206), che abita lì dal '34, quando lei ed il marito Astorre (Coletti) erano venuti a casaiòlo lasciando il podere di Palazzone(207); la Cesira (Ceccagnoli), rifugiatasi dentro l'androne insieme all'Adriana (Fileni), che stava accompagnando all'asilo; Bronzone (Antonio Feligioni), sfollato da Milano. 1) Gianna Feligioni 2) Franco Pucci 3) Rolando Fiorucci 4) Giuseppe Feligioni 5) Francesco Martinelli 6) Orlando Bucaioni 7) Luigi Carlini 8) Tita romitelli 9)Domenico Fornaci 10) Francesco Martinelli 11) Mario Tacconi 12) Giuseppe Feligioni, Willelmo Ramaccioni 13) Ramiro Nanni, Come io, Ramiro, vissi il bombardamento… , manoscritto del 1979 14) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli ed immagine del cruscotto del P40 fornita da Andrea Gragnoli 15) Fabrizio Boldrini 16) Bruno Burberi 17) Antonio Silvestrelli 18) Franco Villarini 19) Nello Minelli 20) Marino Giulietti 21) Pia Gagliardini 22) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli ed immagine del cruscotto del P40 fornita da Andrea Gragnoli 23) Muzio Venti 24) Egidio Grassini 25) Fabrizio Boldrini 26) Ramiro Nanni, Come io, Ramiro, vissi il bombardamento… , manoscritto del 1979 27) Olimpio Ciarapica, da una poesia del 1952 28) Silvana Bartoccioli 29) Fabrizio Boldrini 30) Maria luisa Rapo 31) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 32) Fabrizio Boldrini 33) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 34) Irma Mariotti, intervista raccolta da Leonardo Tosti il 25 aprile 1994 35) Olimpio Ciarapica, da una poesia del 1952 36) Maria Letizia Giontella, “Poesia a tre voci e tre cori” , Comune di Umbertide, Concorso Nazionale XXV aprile, Centro Culturale San Francesco, 1983 37) Dante Mariucci, testimonianza raccolta dalla nipote Francesca – V elementare - 1985; Franco Mischianti, Renato Silvestrelli, Franco Villarini 38) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out by 5 S.A.A.F., 239º stormo aereo “Wing Desert Air Force”, 5º squadrone aereo 39) Orlando Bucaioni 40) Elena Boriosi 41) Olimpio Ciarapica, da una poesia del 1952 42) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli ed immagine dell’aereo fornita da Andrea Gragnoli 43) Antonio Silvestrelli 44) Orlando Bucaioni 45) Dina Batazzi 46) Ornella Duranti 47) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli ed immagine dell’aereo fornita da Andrea Gragnoli 48) Lidia Tonanni 49) Bruno Tonanni 50) Fabrizio Boldrini 51) Romano Baldi 52) Domenico Baldoni 53) Italo Lotti, Domenico Manuali, Giovanni Migliorati 54) Cesira Baldelli 55) Irma Mariotti, intervista raccolta da Leonardo Tosti il 25 aprile 1994 56) Lorenzo Andreani 57) Fabrizio Boldrini 58) Franco Anastasi 59) Gianna Burzigotti 60) Bruno Burberi 61) Maria Luisa Rapo 62) Renato Silvestrelli 63) Giovanna Mancini 64) Giorgio Toraci 65) Dante Mariucci, testimonianza raccolta dalla nipote Francesca – V elementare – 1985 66) Italo Ciocchetti 67) Franco Mischianti 68) Umberto Dominici 69) Maddalena Maria Marzani 70) Guerriero Boldrini 71) Orlando Bucaioni 72) Elda Bartocci 73) Ada locchi 74) Adriana e Domenica Cecchetti; testimonianza indiretta del fratello Giuseppe 75) Luigi Gambucci 76) Dina Conti, Luigi Gambucci 77) Giuseppa Ceccarelli 78) Piera Bruni 79) Lidia Corradi 80) Lea Rapo 81) Dora Silvestrelli 82) Renato Silvestrelli 83) Assunta Baruffi 84) Rolando Paneni 85) Ada Locchi 86) Don Luigi Cozzari, lettera per il 1º anniversario, 1945 87) Renato Caseti 88) Elvira Rossi 89) Giancarlo Guasticchi 90) Maria Migliorati 91) Ramiro Nanni, Come io, Ramiro, vissi il bombardamento …, manoscritto del 1979 92) Giovanni Bico 93) Giuseppe Mattioni 94) Francesco Martinelli 95) Domenico Fornaci 96) Giovanna Pazzi 97) Stefano Marsigliotti 98) Marisa Pazzi 99) Emilio Panzarola 100) Lorenzo Andreani 101) Massimo Valdambrini 102) Franco Caldari 103) Ines Guasticchi 104) Rita Tosti (la mamma è morta qualche mese dopo) 105) Giovanna Bottaccioli 106) Lidia Corradi 107) Giovanna Bottaccioli 108) Lidia Corradi 109) Giovanni Duranti 110) Margherita Tosti, manoscritto del 1985 111) Annunziata Caldari 112) Luigi Gambucci 113) Alfredo Ciarabelli 114) Aldo Fiorucci 115) Ines Biti 116) Luciano Ramaccioni 117) Emilio Gargagli 118) Mario Tosti 119) Marcella Casi 120) Egino Villarini 121) Rina Santini 122) Lea Rapo 123) Giuseppe Agea, testimonianza indiretta della figlia Elisabetta 124) Emilio Gargagli 125) Flora Grandi, lettera dell’11 settembre 2003; Franco Mischianti 126) Ines Guasticchi, Franco Mischianti, Egino Villarini 127) Guerriero Massetti 128) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 129) Orlando Bucaioni, Franco Mischianti 130) Flora Grandi, lettera dell’11 settembre 2003; Nella Palchetti Palazzetti 131) Vittime: Giulia Baiocco, Cecilia Boldrini, Giuseppina Grandi, Anna Paola Massetti, Ida Mischianti, Rina Romitelli, Bruno Villarini 132) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 133) Franco Mischianti 134) In alto: Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli In basso: pianta d’Umbertide, con il bersaglio, la fiammata dello scoppio nel punto di caduta della seconda coppia di bombe ed il fumo della prima 135) Vittime: Angelo Mischianti, Luisa Rondini 136) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 137) Vittima: Felicia Montanucci 138) Vera Vibi 139) Anna Caldari 140) Giuseppe Lisetti 141) Vittime: Benedetto Bernacchi, Marianna Manuali 142) Silvano Bernacchi 143) Renato Silvestrelli, Silvana Bernacchi 144) Vittima: Leopolda Sabbiniani 145) Luigi Romitelli 146) Giuseppe Romitelli 147) Antonio Silvestrelli 148) Emma Gagliardini 149) Guerriero Gagliardini 150) Carolina Frati 151) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 152) Giuseppe Rapo 153) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 154-155) Foto gentilmente messa a disposizione da Gianfranco Ciocchetti 156) Elda Bartocci 157) Maria Migliorati 158) Fernanda Martinelli 159) Lea Rapo 160) Ornella Duranti 161) Giuseppe Baiocco 162) Sergio Ceccacci 163) Maria Letizia Giontella, “Poesia a tre voci e tre cori” , Comune di Umbertide, Concorso Nazionale XXV aprile, Centro Culturale San Francesco, 1983 164) Alfredo Ciarabelli 165) Egidio Grassini 166) Fabrizio Boldrini 167) Sergio Celestini 168)Sergio Ceccacci 169) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out by 5 S.A.A.F., 239º stormo aereo “Wing Desert Air Force”, 5º squadrone aereo 170) Silvano Bernacchi 171) Fabrizio Boldrini 172) Vittime: Delma Tognaccini, Franca Fagioli 173) Adriana Ciarabelli, Annunziata Fiorucci 174) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 175) Amelia Lozzi 176) Vittime: Annunziata Bendini, Fausto Ciocchetti 177) Giuseppe Rapo 178) Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli. In basso: pianta d’Umbertide, con il bersaglio, la fiammata della terza coppia di bombe ed il fumo di quelle precedenti 179) In alto: Fotomontaggio di Valerio Rosi su disegno base di Adriano Bottaccioli. In basso: pianta d’Umbertide, con il bersaglio, la fiammata della quarta coppia di bombe ed il fumo di quelle precedenti 180) Orlando Bucaioni 181) Amelia Lozzi 182) Antonio Silvestrelli 183) Fabrizio Boldrini 184) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out by 5 S.A.A.F., 239º stormo aereo “Wing Desert Air Force”, 5º squadrone aereo 185) Domenico Mariotti 186) Vittime: Anna Maria, Raffaele, Benedetto, Valentino Bernacchi, Angelo Palazzetti 187) Vittima: Asssunta Palazzetti 188) Classe III E, Scuola Media Statale Mavarelli-Pascoli, Voci della memoria , Comune di Umbertide e Centro Culturale San Francesco, Umbertide, 2002 189) Giancarlo Bruni 190) Vittima: Assunta Caprini 191) Wanda Guardabassi 192) Vittorio Giulioni, testimonianza indiretta di Fernando Marchetti 193) Bruna Brunori, testimonianza raccolta dal nipote Matteo – V elementare – 1985 194) Fernando Martinelli 195) Francesco Martinelli 196) Virginia Tosti 197) Maria Migliorati 198) Vittime: Angelo Selleri, Pasquale Selleri 199) Elisabetta Bellarosa 200) Elda Bartocci 201) Vittime: Marcella Mazzanti, Argentina Merli 202) Vittima: Alfonso Ferrari 203) Margherita Violini 204) Vittima: Augusta Orlandi 205) Margherita Violini 206) Vittima: Giulia Pierotti 207) Rina Alunno Violini THE THIRD WAVE (1) The last four "picchiatelli" must lighten the load, now only ballast that prevents the return to base. Lieutenant Jandrell has decided to keep the Regghia bridge as a target, between the Collegiata and the square, which can still be glimpsed from above. Less and less convinced, the pilots start to unhook their bulky appendages, almost reluctantly. It's 9:53. Ninth discharge The bombs that Lieutenant McLachlan drops - they seem the violins playing "Rapastello" (2) - crash into Via Guidalotti (3). A bomb demolishes the house of Tommasi, the veterinarian (4). Inside is his mother - Sora Rosa, elderly and heavy - who had refused to follow her great-grandchildren with their mother Rachel, fled as soon as they heard the first bombs (5). Sora Checca, her daughter-in-law, remained with her. Afraid of it devices closer and closer, they were facing the window in Via Guidalotti to ask for help. On the road Hamlet was running; he, shocked, had whispered that his family members were already all dead; he had headed the appointment towards the end, under the father-in-law's house Quadrio (6). Finally Sister Rosa was convinced to escape. For the already damaged staircase (7), Sora Checca tried to get off, pulling her mother-in-law by the hand. For the shock wave, the first was ruined by hitting the face on the wall; the second (8) is dead (9). The other bomb stuck, unexploded (12), in front to the adjacent shoe shop, from where Paris (Giovanni Miccioni) he had already fled at the first outbreak, to look for his daughter Peppina at school (13), followed by Peppolétta (Ceccacci) (14). The other two shoemakers had stood still, petrified. The explosion in the house next door sparked inside the shop its tremendous strength. Selleri, seated in front of the work desk, was thrown from the chair e stripped of clothing (15). Tenth station Jesus is stripped The shoemaker is all crevelàto (16). It loses blood from the ears, eyes and body, due to the displacement of air and the rubble (17). His colleague Pierucci, the Carbonaro (18), remained dazed, but unable to move. From inside the Palazzoli barbershop, Menchino (Pucci) he despairs: "Oh God ... I committed it!" (19). It just has saw the bomb hit his representative office building sentance of agricultural machinery, from where he had left when the planes had arrived, to go and taste the usual breakfast: a fried egg (20). Tenth discharge Lieutenant Powell is already in a dive when he notices that the cloud of the last outbreak adjacent to the bridge on the Regghia it has almost completely hidden the objective. Recall the plane ahead of time, resulting in lengthen the trajectory of the bombs. The pair of bombs falls on the rubble of the houses of the hamlet of San Giovanni already demolished: he digs two craters on the mass of debris from the Bucaioni house (21) and resets the amount he was still standing. It is the coup de grace for Selleri's little sons, the shoemaker: they are pulverized. Without realizing what is happening, Peppino (Rapo), the little tailor apprentice who had stayed close to his two wounded comrades, it is covered with rubble up in the chest (23). A few tens of meters, under the bed marriage, her sister Lea cries out: "Mom! Amàzzime you ... don't make me 'mad' from them! "(24). The Borgo di San Giovanni, which has become a hellish volcano, gasps in the last spasms of agony. The bombs, burst at the base of the pre-existing cloud, they do to erupt into the sky a black, gigantic mushroom, above the crater. Towards the Calvary the lens of Doctor Balducci's camera opens, which has reached the fields beyond the Milordìno's house. The image of the dying country is fixed on his film. Eleventh Station Jesus is crucified The third stop Even the bridge in the square cannot be seen anymore from the sky. Lieutenant Jandrell no longer knows what to fish for. Upon returning to the airport from the field of Cutella, he will have to show some scalps in the game bag! He can't go back empty-handed. On the ground, the prolonged silence due to the uncertainty of the squadron once again stimulates to flee. Whoever is in the area of the Collegiata has the feeling that the danger has gone away: the last bomb has gone off inside the historic center, further back than that previous, that from Via Guidalotti had thrown stones all around them. The instinct is to get out of cover. Pierucci, the shoemaker, recovering from his daze, separates from Selleri, who cannot get up from his banquet. He leaves the shop and he goes, swaying like a drunk, towards the tower and the market. From the barbershop in Palazzoli, where he had placed himself under cover, peeps out Franco (Mischianti). He does not hear planes arriving; runs towards the market, passing in front of the still intact octagonal church (26). Elisa (Pucci) follows him, with the hairdresser's white cloth still on her shoulders (27). Many notice her for that unusual outfit, drawing encouragement to imitate her. Palmiro (Santarelli), one of the pupils who remained behind the sacristy of the Collegiate, is convinced: he runs away with her, towards the market (28). Other comrades follow him, taking different directions. Ines (Biti), the clerk of the Fornaci fabric shop, has also decided to flee, who saw Elisa running across the square. He tries to convince Checchina (Fornaci) that it is not necessary to stay indoors, although the vaults of the shop should be safe: "Better outside than under the rubble !!". Calmly, Ines takes off her apron, closes the door with the padlock. Together they run towards the market, with the speed allowed by the shorter leg than the other of the young lady (29). 1) Gianna Feligioni. 2) Lauro Beccafichi. 3) Fabrizio Boldrini. 4) Franco Anastasi, Renato Silvestrelli. 5) Venanzia Riccardini. 6) Paola Banelli. 7) Venanzia Riccardini. 8) Victim: Rosa Boncristiani. 9) Umberto Tommasi. 10) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli and image of the P40 dashboard provided by Andrea Gragnoli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target and the smoke of the bombs already fallen. 11) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the ninth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 12) Piero Baldelli. 13) Giuseppina Miccioni. 14) Cesare Ceccacci. 15) Victim: Giuseppe Selleri. 16) Orlando Bucaioni. 17) Pompeo Selleri. 18) To Ines Biti. 19) Elisa Manarini. 20) Elisabetta Bartoccioni. 21) Orlando Bucaioni. 22) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi, with cloud derived from the photo by Roberto Balducci, on an image taken from the Photo Library of the Municipal Archives. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the tenth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 23) Giuseppe Rapo. 24) Maria Luisa Rapo. 25) Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide in the images, Pro Loco Umbertide Association, 1977, p. 91. Photo Roberto Balducci. 26) Franco Mischianti. 27) Ines Biti, Palmiro Santarelli. 28) Palmiro Santarelli. 29) Ines Biti. THE FOURTH WAVE Now even the bridge in the square has been completely engulfed by the smoke of the bomb that exploded a few meters away. Lieutenant Jandrell has no choice: he decides to aim against the Regghia bridge that leads to Santa Maria. Better than nothing! Eleventh discharge Lieutenant Stubbs obeys the squadron leader: swoops towards the goal, anxious to get rid of the load. The bombs fall in front of the Collegiate Church (1), very close to the target: one remains unexploded, while the other touches the sacristy of Pòngolo, breaking up (2) a clove. A huge crater opens onto the square (3). Don Luigi and his companions startle with fear, for the roar of nearby bombs and the noise deafening of the windows that break and shatter to the ground; the walls of the antisagresty and the house above, collapsing, they darken around them (4). A splinter, shot off by the explosion (5), mows Pierucci, the shoemaker, who was continuing to pace, unsteady, to get away from the Paris shop: he collapses lifeless (6) on the ground towards the tower, near a plant (7). Perhaps, while the bombs were falling, he would have thought about when, in 1921, he was forced under threat of a revolver, shouting: "Long live the Fascio, long live Italy (8). He was the first to suffer the arrogance of fascism and the last to be mowed. The elementary school kids, who were still left behind the Collegiate and the sacristy for the sense of security given by the their bulk (11), are hit by the tremendous crash, very close. The others, who had recently left that shelter, are taken in full from shock wave. Palmiro (Santarelli), blocked in the escape from the noise of the plane in beaten, he protected himself behind a tree trunk in the market (12). Carlo (Porrozzi) has just turned at the corner of Via Roma where Zurli's shop is. It is invested from a huge heat; he feels himself being lifted and catapulted several meters. He falls to the ground, injuring himself at knees (13). Vittorino (Tognaccini) is run over from behind from the blast of the explosion, as he runs towards Uncle Giosuè's tavern (14). Mario (Alpini) is hit in the side by a big guy stone; keep running up the Piaggiola towards the shoe shop - between Piazza delle Erbe and Via Grilli - of the father, who lowered the shutter up almost at the bottom. He went to the market, having seen that from Via Guidalotti one could not pass because they had hit the house near the Busattis (15). Ines (Benizi), who helps the Viglino at home, rides madly towards Piazza Marconi; the Maria Pia is perched on the handlebars; the Lucilla (Corbucci) le chases on foot, recommending to wait for her (16). Maestro Marsigliotti, all dusty for him burst, tries to take cover inside the door of the first house in Via Roma, towards the Regghia (17). A brick has landed on the pot in the kitchen of Via Bremizia, where Ersilia (Cecchetti Pinzaglia) he had put the broth back; he made the lid shine and fell among the boiled meat (18). In the notary's house, his daughter Maria (Zampa Leonardi) and the woman who helps her around the house they went down to the basement to take refuge in a dark basement. Cats around to them, as they did not realize what was happening. The bomb dropped in front of the sacristy shook the house like an earthquake: Maria imagines what oscillation there must have been now on the upper floors, which had already swayed frighteningly under their feet when the first bombs fell, much further away (19). La Dina (Galmacci) arrived at the bottom of the Piaggiola: the blast of air threw her into the door of Palazzo Baglioni; he finds himself without a coat and without shoes (20). The oratorians who watched from Santa Maria were hit with particular violence by the shock wave, which found fewer obstacles than the others in its path; Peppino (Gagliardini), who had leaned out of the ditch just at that moment, went all black (21). Twelfth discharge It is up to Lieutenant Wright to deliver the final blow. The last two bombs hit the house of the Gagliardini (22), even at almost half kilometer from the original goal of the bridge on the Tiber. The shock wave makes theirs fly bed (23) above Mariotti's roof, verso Via Roma (24). In the nearby house of the podestà Guardabassi, at the corner of Via Roma and Via XX Settembre, a little girl is thrown from the terrace inside the flight of stairs: roll up, arrive until the end. The old mayor assures us that those just fallen are the last bombs: maybe he counted the planes and the blasts. You can escape (25). Miss Fornaci and her saleswoman, Ines, they turned the stone cippus round that limits the passage to the market to pedestrians only; when the plane arrived they stooped down behind the wall towards the stream, under the first plant towards the Regghia. The fighter-bomber it rises, with a deafening roar, barely above their heads (26). The blast sent the doors open of the basements of the house where the master Marsigliotti had just found shelter; if it they were just looking for the keys, to take refuge there more safely. Every good thing came into view: lard, oil, flour and other gold, hidden there to escape the clutter. There is no time to think about the famine suffered in the past months, not even in the face of that abundance so close. The tragedy has re-established the scale of values. But for a short time: tomorrow there will be nothing left (27). Menco de Trivilino (Domenico Baldoni) from the post office arrived at the curve of the Marro, towards San Benedetto. As he glances back towards the smoke-filled town, he realizes that the last few pilots have seen nothing; they unhooked blindly. Antonio (Baroni), displaced by Capeccio, runs in the opposite direction in search of his mother who had gone to the center of the town wounded to death (29). Roberto Balducci has moved further towards the pine forest of Civitella. Photograph the last newborn mushroom, which emerges next to the pre-existing gigantic cloud (30) already dilated. It is the symbol of our ordeal. It's 9:54 am. The agony of the Borgo di San Giovanni was consumed in nine minutes (31). The heart of our country has been erased (32): it has now become a tomb. Twelfth Station Jesus dies on the cross Jesus died again: on the Calvary of St. John, next to dozens of crosses from which as many victims of ignorance, selfishness and violence dangle. The sun went out and darkened on the earth. Final strafing The rumbling of the bombs stopped. The silence that replaces them sharpens the feeling of deafness. From the temporary shelters on the outskirts, people come out who had not managed to escape: only now do they feel like doing so, encouraged by the absence of explosions. Man gradually regains possession of his rational abilities, overcoming the unconsciousness of the animal instinct. The primal terror experienced in the midst of the storm, in the eye of the storm, is gradually taking over, along with awareness, fear and dismay. From the Santa Croce area they all pour towards the Caminella and the Tiber; they instinctively lie down on the ground near Baldino, who is deaf and has not realized what is happening. He looks astonished at that stream of desperate people pouring towards the river, asking himself repeatedly aloud: "Ma ndu'va all these people?!" (33). Many crouch in a ditch full of nettles, without feeling the slightest discomfort. To get further away from hell, they climb over the embankment that separates them from the neighboring farmer - Secondo - while the low-flying planes still pass, strafing. A boy rolls to the ground and pretends to be dead (34). The final strafing is not a surprise for the pilot colonel Bice Pucci who, shortly before, in directing people to the Tiber, had recommended to Lidia (Tonanni): "Take off your red shirt ... after the machine gun bombardment ... "(35). In the bullfight of Piazza San Francesco the roles have been reversed: it is the sacrificial bulls who wear the muleta to incite the matadors. The red robe has also become a further concern for Vera (Vibi); if it is thrown on before going down - with yes and one shoe - along the pile of rubble which, from the terrace on the first floor of her house, slopes down to the street. She managed to support her mother (36), partially paralyzed, in her nightgown. While they are machine-gunning, he goes towards San Francesco, up to the Caminella, where he makes his mother sit under a tree (37). The crackling of the machine guns that followed the explosions of the bombs (38) is a further scar. At the Filippi furnace, at the bottom of the Piaggiola, they hear the gusts (39). Romolo (Romitelli), the tinsmith, swears: "Listen to these filthy ... they also machine guns!" (40). If it makes sense, in the inhuman logic of war, to destroy a bridge - and whoever has the misfortune of being nearby - with the aim of harming the enemy, it really has no justification for raging against defenseless people. Some foiled have the courage to justify everything: war is war. The planes leave Five or six planes, before leaving, go to the Hornbeam to unload some shiny objects. "Oh my God! ... they are bombing again!", The seminarians looking out from the Montone wall scream in dismay, before realizing that they are tanks (41). «Also in Monestevole, between the houses of Palombi and Ferranti, two planes, zigzagging in the sky, drop two large envelopes. As soon as they are unhooked, they look like bottles to the kids on top of the Valcinella toppétto. They believe they are bombs. They plug their ears, but as soon as they touch the ground they raise a small cloud of dust; there is a muffled thump, not a pop. The distance is considerable, but they run to see. In their pre-adolescent minds, this is a day of wonders, of celebration. They run from one hill to another, as if exalted. And it is not their discouragement or bewilderment; on the contrary, they feel the sweet sensation of being the protagonists of unusual and, in their own way, heroic events. Perhaps in Umbertide there will also be some dead; but they are not affected in their affections. The country is far away, stranger. Eight kilometers, in their eyes, are one stellar distance. Sweaty, out of breath, here they are where did those two big envelopes, close by to the house of Pulcinelli. They find two soldiers on the spot fascists, who, having found that it is empty containers, they leave again; but first they shoot you with the gun a few shots, perhaps to poke around thickness of the metal. The kids have the green light for watch. They are strange, very elongated, armed stems of pipes, electric wires, unions. They can contain a few quintals of gasoline. Maybe even more. The comments are wasted. Tonino says: "But these English have had judgment ... the drums did not drop them where they are grazing beasts, but here where there is nothing ". The petrol scattered around puts you in a good mood. It seems to smell the threshing. It is indeed a day of wonders "(42). Airplanes make a final low-flying turn (44) to check what happened; maybe they try disgust for having broken the quiet of those brown roofs of ancient, and the idyllic texture of those lace of vines stretched out among the stuccoes on the fields. Finally, get rid of any ballast - even the weights on the conscience - take a ride, all together, for, regain altitude. Then, in single file they disappear southwards, behind Montecorona (45). The fly-blind game is over. Umbertide is all landed (46). From this moment they will be remembered as "the twelve apostles" (47). Strange apostles, who have fulfilled their mission - of death or of freedom? - leaving 67 dead, three dying (48) and thousands of survivors with the death in the soul, scattered along the Calvary of San Giovanni. It's 5:10 am. The line of red-billed peregrine falcons points south. Perhaps he blushed more: from the shame of the evil they have sown. Doves crouched under the foliage of Elceto "hold the olive branch between their beaks that they cannot bring back to town after the flood: the time has not yet come for them to take off again. The Kittyhawk enterprise will not go down in history as a stage of progress: of course, the Wright brothers did not imagine the exploits of their great-grandchildren! In the flight diary the pilots note: "239 Stormo Wing DesertAir Force, 5th Air Squadron Operation no. 225 of 25 April 1944 A bomb narrowly missed the central section of the bridge to the north. A bomb narrowly missed the eastern access of the bridge to the south. A bomb hit the railroad tracks in the east access area of the bridge, interrupting the line. The other bombs fell in the inhabited area to the west of the country, east of the bridge. Leave seven houses on fire. Light anti-aircraft shots from Perugia airport [Sant'Egidio]. Visibility: haze Total flight time: 26 00 hours ". This is all for the war technicians: terribly little for those who have suffered, helpless, their exhibition. But war is also a drama for the pilots. Several of them, who are bringing death, will lose their lives in other missions (49); like Lieutenant Facer, who is about to expire after being shot down, just the day before yesterday, in the Fabriano sky. Others will see the end in the face, managing to escape it by a miracle, like Captain Pienaar, who in three months, on August 15, 1944, will live a bad adventure. At 4:41 pm, he will take off on a mission with his navigator, Lt. AR Lockhart-Ross. Arriving a few kilometers north-east of Lechfeld, at 9150 meters above sea level, he will veer left and right to ensure there is no danger. It will dive at 90 degrees towards Gunzburg-Leipheim airport, near the Danube, a few kilometers from Ulm. Suddenly it will frame a twin-engine aircraft fast approaching its tail in the rearview mirror. Pushed to the maximum the power, it will release the tanks of long range in order to exploit to the maximum the superior speed of its "Mosquito"; it will begin to turn to starboard rather than port, as is normally done when aiming for the target. As soon as this maneuver starts, it will suffer fire from the 30 mm cannon of the German plane, from a distance of about 120 meters. Captain Pienaar will see pieces of his plane fly away. Hit on the left aileron and rudder, his "Mosquito" will have a sudden deviation and will begin to spiral under the acceleration of gravity. The pilot will try to recall the aircraft, but the jammed valves will not respond to commands. When the attacker has approached 500 meters at very high speed, he will not be able to tack to starboard. Subjected to no less than a dozen unsuccessful attacks by the Messerschmitt 262, at extraordinary speed, Pienaar will see it rise and disappear against the sun each time. Fortunately, the navigator will be able to identify the route of the German plane from a trail of white vapor left behind. With the strength of desperation the South African pilot will dive into a large cumulus cloud, managing to disappear from the sight of the German. For 40 minutes the life of the two men inside the "Mosquito" will hang by a thread. With all the instruments out of order, they will be able to fly over the Alps by just 150 meters. Despite the blocked valves, the broken radio, the useless landing gear, the plane will be able to land on its belly in Udine, with only 67 liters of fuel in the tank, enough for seven minutes of flight. Pienaar and Lockhart-Ross, will be decorated for the extraordinary feat (50). But also the pilots of the 5th squadron who, like him, will return home safely will be victims of the war. Not only for the time they will have spent in lands far away from their country and from their loved ones. Afflicted by hardships and fears. Kind to obey the orders of others, perhaps without sharing them, perhaps without understanding them, perhaps without even asking the problem of judging the effects of their actions. They will also be victims for the time they will have to live, if they reflect on the terrible tragedies caused by their raids; if they imagine the victims' judgment. Who knows if any of them, even at this moment, during the flight back to Base Camp will turn a thought to those ants who are now chaotically crossing, as if mad, around the coordinates of the target? You / soldier of the night / who go / from one border of a country to another / from shore to shore / from river to river / listen ... (51) . Chances are they have neither the time nor the inclination - poor pilots! - to listen to our laments, while they are risking their lives, hanging from those trabiccoli. They are certainly not dabbling in pleasure flights. Lieutenant MWV Odenaal will be scanning the horizon to identify as soon as possible if another plane will go up, in attack action, from Perugia airport, like the Bf 110 of three weeks ago. Passing over Spoleto, they will all turn a thought to Lieutenant DR Barret, their companion whom they saw plunging towards death, on his first and last mission. Lieutenant Stubb, flying over the Rieti airport, will experience the bad feeling of last April 8 when, with his plane hit, he returned with his heart in his throat to the base. Two days later the same thing happened to him during a raid on a bridge. He and Captain Odenaal were hit by anti-aircraft. Not to mention Captain Spies who, not even a month ago, was forced to make a crash landing and spent a couple of weeks avoiding falling into the hands of the Germans. In short, there is no one among them who has not recently had nasty surprises: it is unlikely that there is room within their conscience to worry about others. It is likely that they are concerned only with avoiding attacks and arriving safely on the ground, in time to have lunch. They are not posing any problems above all because they are the last wheel of a perverse mechanism, forced to obey a distant, invisible engine. The gear cannot oppose the motion of the system: it cannot think, decide. He has no conscience; therefore it has no responsibility. It is the perverse engine that is primarily responsible; when it was started, no one can stop it until it has overwhelmed and crushed everything and everyone, in a pulp of flesh and blood, where nothing is more recognizable and judgeable. Every single tragedy is the inevitable result of the state of war: of every war, at any time. Because war is the negation of civilization, of law, of values, of feelings. In addition, to make its effects even more perverse are the soldiers and their infernal machines, which make mistakes and fail more often than you think. Violence is seldom efficient: evil cannot give birth to good. For completely opposite reasons, even the inhabitants of Fratta today have no time to think about anything else: they have to save their skin and bury the dead. But in the future, coldly, they will look for the reasons for too many inexplicable facts: the bombs scattered over the country, without any apparent logic; the trajectory of the dive, which crossed the inhabited center; the final strafing; the seven houses on fire, helpless, strategically insignificant, flaunted as macabre booty in the flight log of the raiders. Victims will be able to interpret these absurdities as the result of Lieutenant Jandrell's eagerness to show that he managed to do some damage to make a career; at the cost of telling some bombs. But they can also think the worst: the choice of fatal trajectories for civilians, the scattered bombs, the machine guns against the flies, the trophy of the burning houses could be the signs of an abominable terrorist bombing (54)! The fundamental rule of the war right to preserve the safety of civilians could appear to be circumvented. If that had been the case, all twelve apostles would have betrayed Jesus - humanity - by becoming accomplices in his crucifixion. Twelve Judas! With the mitigating factor - for individuals - of having acted without their own will and, in any case, not on their own initiative. April 25, / day of pretended glories, / of questionable and non-existent magnitudes for many, / day of upheaval, grief and ruin for others. / The helpless and defenseless country. / Death, rushing and hissing from the sky, / is satisfied in a few moments, / with an orgy of the blood of innocent victims. / A black cloud has enveloped Umbertide. / When the impiety has ceased / heaps of ruins / have obliterated hearths, houses / and many friends and people. ... like shadows they vanished / from a reality that was yesterday / and now no longer exists. / They were men, who wanted to live / who would have done without war / and the glories and manias of the Nation. / They have been erased for the mistakes of others / for the drunkenness of greatness of a wrong society / which reduces men to slaves and defenseless / without care of their intentions, / freedom and will (55). 1) Fabrizio Boldrini. 2) Emma Gagliardini. 3) Roman Children. 4) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 5) Cesare Ceccacci, Renato Silvestrelli. 6) Victim: Antonio Alunni Pierucci. 7) Umberto Tommasi. 8) Francesco Pierucci, 1921/22 - Fascist violence and crimes in Umbria, Caldari Typography, Umbertide, 1975, p. 42. 9) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli, with an image of the P40 dashboard provided by Andrea Gragnoli. Below: Umbertide plant, with a still different target and the smoke of bombs already dropped. 10) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the eleventh pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 11) Avellino Giulianelli, Domenico Manuali. 12) Palmiro Santarelli. 13) Carlo Porrozzi. 14) Vittorio Tognaccini. 15) Mario Alpini. 16) Maria Pia Viglino. 17) Franco Villarini. 18) Maurizio Pucci. 19) Maria Zampa. 20) Dorina Galmacci. 21) Warrior Gagliardini. 22) Saints Improved. 23) Warrior Gagliardini. 24) Emma Gagliardini. 25) Ornella Bellarosa. 26) Ines Biti. 27) Franco Villarini. 28) Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide and its territory , Pro Loco Umberride Association, 1983, p. 73. 29) Domenico Baldoni. 30) Giuseppe Lisetti. 31) Ramiro Nanni, Like I, Ramiro, I experienced the bombing. .., manuscript from 1979. 32) Elena Boriosi. 33-34) Amedeo Faloci. 35) Lidia Tonanni. 36) Giuseppe Lisetti. 37) Vera Vibi. 38) Silvano Bernacchi. 39) Giorgio Toraci. 40) Bruno Burberi. 41) Luigi Braconi. 42) Mario Bartocci, manuscript from 1986. 43) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant covered entirely by the smoke of the exploded bombs. 44) Luigi Braconi. 45) Fabrizio Boldrini, Luigi Braconi. 46) Amelia Picciolli. 47) Bruno Tonanni. 48) Registry of the municipal registry. 49) Letter from Lieutenant Mitcbell to Mario Tosti dated March 1986. Beautiful works! , Municipality of Umbertide, 1995, p. 53. 50) MJ Martin, Neil D. Orpen, South African Forces World War II ; Eagles victorious: operations of 'the South African Forces, Air ops in Italy , Cape Town, Purnell, 1977. 51) Maddalena Rosi, "You", National Competition 25th April , Municipality of Umbertide and S. Francesco socio-cultural center, 2002. 52) PRO: Public Record Office, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out , SAAF, 239th "Wing Desert Air Force", 5th air squadron; Taken from: Mario Tosti (curator), Beautiful works !, Municipality of Umbertide, 1995, p. 50. 53) Edda Vetturini, "Memories of wartime (Bastia Umbra 1940/45)", Proceedings - Properziana del Subasio Academy - Assisi, Series VI n. 22, 1994. 54) Sante Migliorati, Egino Villarini. 55) Olimpio Ciarapica, from a poem of 1952. La terza e quarta ondata THE FIRST STOP The last plane of the first quartet has rejoined the others, who continue to turn above Romeggio. They delay (1), to evaluate the result of the attack and reflect on what to do. The hurricane of piercing hisses, followed by explosions (2), momentarily subsided. It's 9:46. Brizio (Boldrini), having arrived at the market, at the corner of Broccatelli's house, turn towards the Fontesanta. He turns, looking towards the center: behind the fortress, a large, gray, dense cloud has swallowed other bombs which inflate it, spreading it over the town. He feels the need to sit down: his legs begin to tremble; slowly he catches his breath (3). Sitting on the side of the road, the desperate Lina (Foni Roselletti) cries, screams, invokes her hired husband: "Teo is in the square!". They try to console her, assuring her that there were no cars in the square (4). The archpriest, Don Luigi, curled up in the corridor towards the sacristy of the Collegiate, listens, wondering in terror if the sequence of bomb blasts - fallen, now near and far - is over (5). La Cesira (Romitelli), who had escaped from the Quadrio oven at the first outbreak, had thrown herself to the ground at each dive, as her son had suggested (6); now she runs quickly home. In the same way Menco de Traversino (Domenico Traversini) flees by the tree; he had dropped the spade in the garden of Sor Dino (Ramaccioni) and had fled towards the station, throwing himself to the ground at the arrival of each hiss and resuming running after the explosion. He is headed for the Migno-Migno, where he recently married his wife (7). A safer refuge Franco del Capoguardia (Anastasi) noted that the pairs of bombs fall at regular intervals, of about thirty seconds one from the other (8); after three blows he deduced that, if the neighbor had spared him, he would have had time to flee towards the tower. Thirty seconds have lasted three hours since then. Hearing the last boom not far away, he fled from the Duty Office in Via Guidalotti to the tower, followed by all the others (9). Even the receiver was convinced, thinking: "The heads of all the people who flee, certainly think more than mine alone (10)". They were lucky, because they decided to escape at just the right time, during the truce. The silence between one bomb and the next, more prolonged than the previous ones, pushes anyone who has been blocked by that hellish noise outdoors: whoever can escape by the shortest route towards the air and the light. Others are looking for a safer place. Tommasi, from the stationery shop below, yells at Ornella (Duranti) and Wilma (Borri) to get off, to take refuge in the vaulted room on the ground floor. The two girls obey, although Sora Checca (Duranti) had for some time instructed her daughter, showing her the main wall where to take shelter (11). Escape from the crater In the post office they are all crowded in front of the exit: customers, employees and the Ceccarellis. La Menchina della Posta (Domenica Burzacchi Lotti), mindful of her husband's recommendation to take shelter as soon as possible in a place covered by vaults or arches or architraves, runs away towards the vault of Via Grilli (12). The Ceccarellis run out in the opposite direction, towards the Collegiate. Gigetto (Gambucci) instead stops; he rethought the special package containing the money for the salaries of the masters (13), which Peppe della Fascina (Giuseppe Venti) brought with the cart from the station to the post office (14); climbs the stairs to close the safe (15). Outside the Quadrio oven, the people flee towards the square, extricating themselves among the debris that clutter the road: they are almost mad. Maria (Guasticchi Feligioni) - she does not imagine that her husband, Bronzone, is buried a few meters from her - desperately asks for help to get the old Lazzaro de Botaciólo down the stairs, in whose house she had been housed together with her displaced family from Milan. He sees a friend of his pass - Baldo (Ubaldo Gambucci) - who, in the midst of all that confusion, does not hear it (16). Panic has taken over; everyone becomes deaf, even in the brain, responding to the instinct of survival. Upstream (17) Luciano (Bebi) went down the stairs to check that the way out remains free; precedes the mother who is slow to follow him. The door is stuck. From the street Amleto, the radio-telegraph naval marshal yells at him to open the door: "Open ... open ... (18)". From the inside, Luciano replies that he can't do it, because something has fallen that blocks the exit (19). Meanwhile, Quadrio's daughters try to escape from the back in their nightgowns (20); Father hears their cries for help. He calls all the Saints, but no one answers (21). The radio operator hears screams coming from the next door, towards the square. They are the Capucìni - the parents and their daughter Lidia (Mariotti) - who have come down from the upper floors in flames and beg to open. The door is stuck. Finally Hamlet manages to force the opening; accompanies them through the arch of Via Mancini and the arches of the slaughterhouse in the square (22) to put them all in via Alberti (23), up to the Rocca (24). A blond boy (Umberto Bellarosa), who was fleeing from the "Tiberina" towards the Collegiate Church, arrived in front of Reggiani, could not resist returning home, upstream, in Via Mancini. Look under the arch: the old woman de Piandàna, with the bread table on her head, goes here and there like a sleepwalker, in the midst of the dust that obscures everything (25). Giovannino (Migliorati) also had the instinct to return to his house, in front of the nuns, after abandoning the teacher and his companions who fled in the opposite direction, towards the station. When he turns towards Via Spoletini, someone pushes him inside the door of the house before the level crossing (26). Nina and her husband, Valentino (Ciammarughi), were working the field near the Ramaccioni, near the Tiber. When the bombs arrived, the first thought was to go to the nuns' kindergarten, a few tens of meters from home, where Pierina, the daughter, was. They ran across the field to rejoin the child. Arriving at the school garden net, he can't get over it because of how upset he is; his wife gives him some insult as he climbs the net which, under the weight of both of them, lies down to the ground letting them pass. They immediately see their daughter walking towards them, completely calm, not at all frightened by the noise and confusion (28). Instead, a little fiery with red hair (Fausto Fagioli) cries and cries, because his mother has not come to get him: it almost seems that he has the presentiment of having lost her, together with his sister Franca (29). Even Linda (Guardabassi), when the hum of the airplanes became more insistent, fled in the middle of the fields towards the nuns' kindergarten where she had left her daughter. For the great fear of the bombs dropped above her head, when she found herself in front of the Carbonaro gorge she went straight and overtook it with a jump. Arriving at the kindergarten, Imperia sua is not found, until she escapes from under Sister Adele's skirt, where she has found ample refuge (30). Escape from the periphery From the outskirts of the historic center everyone flees to the countryside. The Boca and Spinelli do not feel safe under the counter in the cyclist's closet. They go out to flee to the countryside. The first starts running towards Peppolétta, with his head down; he notices a fountain pen on the ground but does not pick it up, remembering that at school they taught that it can disguise a bomb (33). The second, who runs away next to him, at the height of the road that leads from Via Roma to the station, because of his speed he cannot avoid a cyclist - Cannéto (Ruggero Bartolini) - who is shouting: "Oh God i mi 'fiulini !! ". Both of them tumble to the ground. Nearby the General (Mario Giornelli), standing on his chariot, whips the mule towards the countryside. Ennio (Montagnini) and Santino (Migliorati), who took shelter behind the wall of the house of the teacher Checca, call Spinelli (Renato Silvestrelli). "Lie down like the rest of us and lie on your stomach". He obeys, trying to take the position they taught in school (34). Umberto (Dominici) flees to the mechanic's shop in Peppino (Rondoni), at the beginning of Via Roma, where his younger brother Claudio works; takes him by the hand; together they run towards the Regghia joining the multitude of terrified people who pour into the countryside (35). The tide becomes more and more impressive (36). The terror is so immense that the wife of Misquicqueri (Nello Migliorati), who ran away from home with her daughter Francesca a few months old wrapped in a blanket, only when she stopped towards the Roccolo, out of breath for the race, she realized that she had lost his creature on the street. Desperate, she retraces the journey backwards until she finds it, on the ground: there are no bombs capable of detaining her (37). It went better for Maurizio, by a year. All frightened, he was wrapped in a cloth by his sister - Gianna (Feligioni), a young seamstress - who carries him in her arms running along the Piaggiola towards the market (38). Adriana (Ciarabelli), who was surprised by the bombs inside the restaurant of Ntonio de Ragno (39), escapes along the same road. He joins the crowd running towards the Madonna del Giglio, where Nellino de Pajalunga's father cries, despairing because his mules have escaped (40). Many people covered in dust and bloody arrive at the ditch of Santafede (41). Each small street is swarming with people who arrive, out of breath and shocked, from the square and the market (42). Maria and Santina de Pistulino (Tosti) are all white, candid, from dust (43). Little Luciana de Zùmbola (Sonaglia) was thrown to the ground by a blast of air. She is hurt, but the fear is stronger than the pain: she gets up and, turning back, she sees a large white cloud towards the square (44). Celso (Mola) reached the top of the Roccolo hill: he ran along the Regghia, through a green wheat field two palms high, with a short white nightgown; he tried to crouch down to hide his intimacies, but each subsequent outburst dissolved his modesty and pushed him to other sgalànci (45). From the station area, a girl runs away along the road of the oaks that leads in the direction of the pine forest, up to the Navarri farm. Following his father's instructions, he put the gold chains in his pocket and loaded the ham on his shoulder. He throws himself into the ditch where Marino de Caldaro has his work to do to force his wife Maria to crouch: she wants to keep her head up to look, without realizing that the ants are invading her (46). Rolando del Buffè, who had fled with his mother from the station, has already arrived at Caldarelli's house (47). Powerless from the periphery From the outskirts we witness, helpless, the agony of the country devastated by the blazes and the red-hot winds of its convulsions. Roberto Balducci, the doctor, has fled from his house near the station, towards the fields, in the direction of Civitella; he took his camera, sensing that the most terrible tragedy in the history of the country is unfolding. Massimo (Valdambrini), a child sheltered between the two crags where the Cupa is collected towards Pinzaglia and Navarri, is still speechless for the tremendous spectacle just interrupted: the hisses of the bombs that hurt the ears and the brain, the crashes of the explosions that they made everything tremble; the whistles of the splinters that reached up there; the shades and the planks that flew in the air (48). "Keep your head down!", Repeatedly recommend teachers to schoolchildren who have repaired in the small trenches dug in the lawn behind the elementary schools (49). Next to them Bruno de Chiocca (Tarragoni), who has come out of the school where all his companions have remained, peers in the direction of the square, embracing the trunk of the walnut that shelters him (50). From the church of Santa Maria the boys of the oratory watch astonished, crouched in the ditch between the football pitch and the house of Pippo del Caporale (Renato Caporali). Don Giovanni (Dottarelli) had them repaired below the edge of the field, recommending that they lie down with their stomach raised off the ground (51). Every now and then they take a look at the town that disappears more and more, in the midst of clouds of dust. Guerriero de Schiupitìno (Gagliardini) looks with binoculars; his brother Peppino felt the ends of his hair brushed by the movement of the air of the bombs (52) that sparkled and rotated before falling (53). From the loggia on the hill, other children enjoy the show, heedless of the anguished faces of adults (54). The Simoncini girls who escaped from the goodwill took shelter of a crag for a while; Zina (Corbucci) instead has crouched in the middle of a field and someone yells at her to move from there, because they could see her. They take them into the stable of Secondo, a farmer near the Tiber. Professor Ciangottini says to stay calm and to pray: then they begin to say the Hail Mary, all together, aloud, or only within themselves (55). Other boys of the same school, who escaped through the arch of Piazza San Francesco, sought shelter behind the embankments and in the holes of the sand miners, to admire the planes from safety as they swooped down from Civitella, dropped the bombs and went up to Corvatto , veering towards Montalto to rejoin all the others (56). Rodolfo (Panzarola), on the other hand, realizes that the show is the most tragic thing that can happen; he feels anguish and anger for this havoc against his country (57). Emilio (Baldassarri) does not go for the thin and fords the river at a run, to run home towards the Niccone (58). In his house in Piazza San Francesco, in front of the school, a boy is not at all afraid; he would like to see what happens, but his mother does not intend to leave the cellars of Ciammarughi, where they took refuge after hearing the loud noise and the stone-throwing on the roof. The son, impatient and eager to see, tries to convince her with a subtle blackmail: "Yes, I die [if I die], it's your fault!". He won it: they go out. When they arrive at the Caminella, they find a group of Neapolitans screaming like obsessed (59). Ermelinda (Rondoni Valdambrini) prays behind the bank of Secondo: she is quite right! She must thank God for being able, when she heard the first blow, to escape like a hare from the tobacconist's in the square, where she had gone to buy salt: the second bomb fell behind her, as she ran over the Regghia bridge. towards Piazza San Francesco. As soon as she crouched behind the shelter, she heard the whistle of a splinter that crashed to the ground, touching her head (60). From Ceramiche Rometti, Pietro (Corgnolini), a sixteen-year-old boy, saw the planes circling in a row, one after the other, swooping down on the town from the east and, in the ascent after the dive, disappear behind the flames and clouds of smoke rising to the sky after the explosion. He is not afraid: he is not realizing what is happening and what effects may follow (61). Rina had prepared the cake for breakfast, at the Palazzone farm, near the Gamboni lock; he was dusting it from the ashes on the loggia, summoning the men who were hoeing the grass in the garden. At the sound of planes and bombs, she ran to the window on the opposite side of the house to look toward the center. He witnesses the collapse in dismay (62). Don Luigi is standing at the door of the sacristy (63). He has looked out to scrutinize the movements of the planes, but immediately withdraws when he hears them approaching again (64). The archpriest does not imagine that they are called Kitryhawk, "peregrine falcons": he would shudder at the mere thought that a bird of prey could be attributed the qualities of a pilgrim. The train that was coming from Pierantonio stopped shortly after the toll booths on the straight. It is full of people: in addition to the students there are people heading to a fair in the Upper Tiber. Everyone rushed out; the crowd was such that someone broke the windows to get out. A carabinieri marshal has stationed himself on a stack of crossbeams: pathetically points in the air a "91-38 musket with fixed bayonet" towards the planes that are turning again from the top of Montecorona to strike towards the center of Umbertide, almost in the direction parallel to the straight (65). In fact, the squadron has made its decision: another quartet of steel birds, each with its own pair of 500-pound bombs (66), is about to rage, taking over from the one who has just returned to formation. 1) Luigi Gambucci. 2) Candido Palazzetti, Umbertide , Scholastic Patronage, Umbertide, 1958. 3-4) Fabrizio Boldrini. 5) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 6) Tita Romitelli. 7) Domenico Traversini. 8) Franco Anastasi, Ramiro Nanni, How I, Ramiro, lived the bombing .... 1979 manuscript. 9) Franco Anastasi. 10) Luigi Gambucci. 11) Ornella Duranti. 12) Italo Lotti. 13) Luigi Gambucci. 14) Muzio Venti. 15) Luigi Gambucci. 16) Ines Guasticchi. 17) Giovanni Migliorati. 18) Adriana Fileni. 19) Francesco Martinelli. 20) Linda Micucci. 21) Adriana Fileni. 22) Domenico Mariotti. 23) Warrior Boldrini. 24) Lidia Mariotti. 25) Umberto Bellarosa. 26) Giovanni Migliorati. 27) Photo kindly made available by Adriana Fileni. 28) Piera Ciammarughi. 29) Concetta Mariotti. 30) Linda Micucci. 31-32) Photo kindly made available by Adriana Fileni. 33) Bruno Advantages. 34) Renato Silvestrelli. 35) Umberto Dominici. 36) Luigi Carlini. 37) Anna Migliorati. 38) Gianna Feligioni. 39) Adriana Ciarabelli. 40) Emilio Gargagli. 41) Ada Locchi. 42 Luciana Sonaglia. 43) Italo Lotti. 44) Luciana Sonaglia. 45) Graziella Gagliardini. 46) Anna Bartocci. 47) Rolando Fiorucci. 48) Massimo Valdambrini. 49) Maria Duranti. 50) Bruno Tarragoni Alumni. 51) Giorgio Pacciarini. 52) Giuseppe Gagliardini. 53) Willemo Ramaccioni. 54) Angelo Chiavini. Testimony taken from Yesterday, today ... the thread of memory , Lucignolo Aggregation Center - Committee of Memory, Umbertide, 2003. 55) Margherita Tosti, manuscript of 1985. 56) Giuseppe Golini. 57) Rodolfo Panzarola. 58) Giuseppe Golini. 59) Mario Destroyed. 60) Ermelinda Rondoni. 61) Pietro Corgnolini. 62) Rina Alunno Violins. 63) Maria Migliorati. 64) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 65) Rolando Tognellini. 66) Ramiro Nanni, How I, Ramiro, lived the bombing ... , manuscript of 1979. THE SECOND WAVE (1) The clouds of dust raised by the first four bombs, falls north of the longitudinal axis of the bridge, yes moved to the south-east, pushed by a slight north wind; have risen right on the most critical point of the dive. Neither the railway bridge nor those of the national road on the Tiber and on the Regghia. The pilots, who they could see them clearly when they arrived now they can only picture them under the blanket of smoke. For hit the target should go into it: a leap into dark. Too risky! You have to give up any big target of the national road. Lieutenant Jandrell is irritated: he has failed his own mission on the last day he wanted to wear a success as Commanding Officer of Base Camp. Command to fall back on a new goal, even of minor importance, as long as it is visible (2): the bridge over the Regghia that connects the square to the Collegiata. Fifth discharge Captain Spies, in a wide circle, went over the Serra, where does the dive start. Ramiro has come to the smooth [on the edge] of the farmhouse Fontesanta; thinks the squadron commander delayed the continuation of the attack because he has saw many people running away (3). But this concern is perhaps incompatible with the precautions that pilots they must have to protect their skin (5). The fighter-bomber drops black, similar things beak-tailed suppositories (5), which strike the wing east of the post office building. La Ines (Biti), left the shelter of the conservatory buzzo in the shop of Rosina de Pistulìno (Tosti), it was barely returned to the Fornaci fabric shop. He was about to take the bag and the keys from the desk to close the shop and leave, despite the refusal of Miss Francesca (Fornaci), the Checchina. From behind the glass door towards the square, he sees the post building collapse: it is hit by a very strong explosion, a terrible gust and a lot of smoke (9). The corner between the square and the alley of San Giovanni crumbles, burying Galen, the barber, the foreign customer and the two apprentices Peppini: fiolo de Poggione (10) and `l Roscìno (11), blond, curly, with the serum above the cheekbones (12), which after a few moments followed the fate of Fausto, the elder brother who wanted to go to his aid (13). All the people present in the affected building had just come down the stairs from the floors above the barbershop (14). Italo's mother (Grandolini) is missing, who went to mass (15). There is Lina (Violini), a mathematics student in Pisa, with her father Severino; the shock wave makes her heart burst. The father, protected by a beam, feels the desperate grip of his daughter (16) who expires embraced at his ankles (17). Lodina (Donnini), the wife of the head of the bank's office, came down from the mezzanine floor together with her children - the youngest child in her arms and the other by the hand (18) - and Maria (Giovannoni), a young girl who 'helps around the house. The children die immediately (19), close to the mother, who remains almost unharmed. The girl is thrown under Lina's body (20). In the central part of the building still standing, Gigetto (Luigi Gambucci) was climbing towards the safe of the Post Office; in front of him the bombs, which fell very close, have ripped from hinge a stair window, which is ruined on the landing. Everything has gone black; dark full. It is the darkness of death that in that at the same moment he grabbed his father Baldo (Ubaldo Gambucci) (21), a few tens of meters. For a moment he was unable to take that step in more than he has rescued one of his mates escape, around the corner of Via Stella. His watch was blocked by the swarm of splinters very small that have hit it, instantly of death: 9.50 am (22). Next to Baldo (Gambucci) the boy from twenty years old (24), possibly a Jew, who had just separated from their father in front of the Capponi Hotel where they are guests (25). A few meters away lies Virginia (27); math's teacher. He had tried to join the flight of the women of the family Ceccarelli (28), who were thrown by the blast on the wall of the buildings in front of the post office, all shot to death (29). Sixth station Veronica wipes the face of Jesus It is carnage. How many tears, on how many faces, must be dried! Better luck fell to Picchiottino: his cage is was thrown from the window to under the table (30). Looks speechless; even less than men do realizes what ever is upsetting the quiet tran of greenfinch. A bottle of perfume flew from Galen's barbershop to land - miraculously intact - on the roof of the Sor Igi's house, at Corso (31). The dust storm has invaded the fruit shop della Pierina in Via Alberti, obscuring it; then Bruno (Burberi) seeks escape towards Piaggiola (32). Sixth discharge Seventh station Jesus falls the second time Those who have remained in the Borgo di San Giovanni now find themselves permanently trapped, closed by the rubble at the top and at the end of the alley: he can only wait for the end of the lottery of death. Everything is shrouded in smoke. Luciano feels trapped (33): he searches desperately protection by fixing the head inside the mixer bread, near the door (34). Above him, Lieutenant Jooste drops two bombs that do not hit the house but, rushing into the alley of San Giovanni, they undermine it from below (35): the terrible explosion guts the oven e the shop, on which the upper floors collapse. Above the tomb of the young people (36) land the elderly, lingered in the escape; Quadrio fell with his bed from the upper floors, gliding over the debris (37). He and Fernanda, mother of Luciano (Bebi), are only wounded, covered by a few rubble. The shock wave also demolishes the house next to the oven, towards the square, and dig the one in front. Under the first die, embracing each other (38), the spouses (39) who manage the Virgil's trattoria. Crouched in a corner she remained s epolta la Bettina (40), who had taken refuge from them (41). From the top floor she sinks into the restaurant and the embroiderer ends her days (42). In the house opposite, Amalia dies, the little girl who has recently returned to the village from the icy refuge of San Cassiano. Spira in the arms of the grandfather, who remained protected under a beam (43). Grandmother Marianna also lost her life (44), with the inseparable tobacco paper in her pocket to smell (45). Seventh discharge Another plane, flown by Captain Odenaal, after a dive almost parallel to the straight, drops a couple of bombs over the station, which continue towards the center and crash into Via Guidalotti, behind the house of the teacher Elide (Franchi), the wife of the band director musical (46). The intersection between Via Alberti and the alley is hit that connects Via Guidalotti to Piazza delle Erbe: the rear part of the Porrini house crumbles (47) and the Marzani, where they die embraced (48) the Barbagianni spouses (49). The corners of the osteria delle Balille and the Venanzia inn (51). Here they also pour the rubble of the building opposite, imprisoning how many had gathered at the bottom of the stairs (52). "The Franks had run away from the kitchen, when they had seen all the glass fall on them for the outbreak at the post office; they had taken the fiola - Giuliana, one year old - from the high chair. The purse with the money, ready on a nail in the back the door remained in place. They had crowded in behind the door, together with the patrons of the inn, terrified. They wanted to escape to the market. Two German soldiers they had stopped him, making it clear that it would be too dangerous. Elvira (Nanni), who had gone up to take the bag, did not have time to get back down and was blocked by the rubble on the landing, under a beam that made a hut. It is on the second floor, in the collapsed corner, towards piazza delle Erbe (53). Linda (54), displaced from Turin with her sister Mafalda, who works at the Ration Cards Office of the Municipality (55), did not understand the law: she wanted to go out at all costs, because she had the eldest daughter, Silvana, at school . She managed to escape, holding her youngest son, Giancarlo, three years old, by the hand. But it was overwhelmed by the rubble just outside the door. From inside the door you can hear the moans of the fiolo, close to the mother who shows no signs of life "(56). Eighth station Encounter between Jesus and the women of Jerusalem Women beat their breasts and moan to Him. "Do not weep over me. Weep over yourselves and your children" (57). Linda can no longer cry, neither about herself nor about her children. The same fate befell another woman, the butcher's wife (58). She, Maria, had spoken from the window of the house with Quinto, her husband, who was facing that of the town hall opposite. When the planes arrived, he had tried to get out of the house; Elvira (Caprini) had tried to hold her back, but to no avail. She passed, running from Via Alberti towards the square, in front of the shoe shop in Via Grilli, while the owner, Lilo (Angelo Alpini), was lowering the shutter to protect himself. He had tried to pull her by the hand: "'ndu gite, vinite [where you go, come] inside, ché càdon le bombe!". There had been nothing to do. "No! I have da gì da la mi 'Giovanna", she insisted, resuming the race towards elementary school, where she thought her eldest daughter was (59). He did not know that they had had it repaired in the house of the teacher Peppina, just a stone's throw away. After a few meters; Maria was mowed right under the vault: a splinter (60) of the bomb dropped at the corner of Piazza delle Erbe passed it from side to side, also wounding the mother of Chirico, the head of the railway depot, who stood behind (61). The veterinarian and the mother of Maestro Pino, leaning their hands against the wall, protected Ornella and Wilma with their bodies from all the stationery stuff that fell on the floor from the shelves (62). In the back room of the Palchetti food shop, a few meters from the explosion, everything has become dark; on the shoulders of Nino (Egidio Grassini), lying on the ground as they had taught at school, pats of lard fell from the ceiling. Several times he had tried to get up to go out in the back, in Piazza dell'Erbe, but the hiss of successive bombs had blocked him to the ground, as if crushed by the shock of the explosion (63). Nearby, other people, who had been locked in Municipality, they had looked for a way out through the woodshed overlooking Piazza delle Erbe; but to no avail, because the door was jammed. The displacement of air of the last bomb opened the door wide. Neither they immediately take the opportunity to escape through the vault; among them Gigino (Fagioli), wounded in the forehead, again he does not know that he has lost his wife and daughter. They pass by to Pazzi's wife, who is asking for help, agonizing; but, taken by terror, they do not stop (64). She is on the ground (65), leaning with her back against the wall near the urinal; leaking blood (65) that is runny on the plaster of the wall, leaving indelible traces as a warning to the survivors. Maria has not no longer even the strength to speak. Plead with it look an acquaintance to bring the little one to safety Gabriella, the daughter he has in his neck (67). The Steak is that takes the daughter, waiting for the opportune time to bring her to safety towards the countryside (68). Maria does understand that she would like to be taken back, out of the vault, on the opposite side of the outbreak. Down there, the Menchina della Posta and others, recovered from daze (69), they try to please her, dragging his heavy body outside the vault, in Via Grilli (70). Even the elderly woman who had been injured by the same splinter, try to get busy. They ask her to do more strength, to pull with both hands; she responds with his Neapolitan accent: "Nun` o tengo cchiù [I don't have it anymore] "He has a torn arm (71). Eighth discharge The pair of bombs dropped by Lieutenant Hooper falls behind the rubble of the Quadrio kiln and demolishes the house of Simonucci, the Town Accountant. All those who took shelter from the upper floors remain buried at the bottom of the staircase in Via Mariotti, towards the vault, thinking it was the safest place. In vain Marinetta (Trotta) tried to convince them to run away (73). Bengasina (74) dies with Polda, the girl who helps her with housework (75). Near them, three other women lose their lives: Gina, a teacher of literature, cheerful, cheerful, smiling; aunt Esterina, rustic, scapeciàta, grumpy (76); Giovannina, who had gone to class (77). The collapse overwhelms other inhabitants of the building, on the upper floors: an embroiderer and her son (78), who has returned for a few days on military leave from Spoleto, in aviation as a reconnaissance photographer (79). Hamlet, who had unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with his family from the alley of San Giovanni, was no longer able to return to the entrance to the oven, because a mountain of rubble now prevented access from the square. So he tried to enter from the back of the house, through the arch where there is the Maurino (Luigi Fagioli) staircase. He fell (80) there, hit by a ledge (81). A hero (82). First he sacrificed himself for the others, bringing them to safety. Then he thought, in vain, also about his family. In the end he fell, like Jesus, who redeemed all men. Ninth station Jesus falls for the third time In the nearby hairdresser, where Gina (Borgarelli) sought consolation for her terror every time there were alarms, Velia curled up under an arch, helpless in the face of the flames and gusts of dust released from the crater of Via Mariotti, through the small door towards the back of the Corso (83). When the first bombs fell he was washing Elisa (Pucci )'s head (84). Loredana (Trentini) was waiting to do her hair, obeying her mother who had been scolding her for a few days: "Me sembri` na capeciòna, with all `sti ciùrci". They were all paralyzed by the tremendous noise of the planes and by the glass of the door that fell to the ground (85). The external wall of the building at the rear of the hairdresser's, connected to Simonucci's house through a passage above the arch, collapsed, causing the kitchen of Tilde, wife of Paris (Giovanni Miccioni) to fall. Luckily she had gone to drain the lupins in the toilet, towards the Corso, instead of on the kitchen sink, as always (86). The second stop The second aircraft quartet also rejoined the formation. It's 9:51. The storm broke out six minutes ago. The dust cloud has invaded the entire historic center; up there, from the cockpits, you can no longer see anything. Lieutenant Jandrell realizes the mission is compromised. He consults with the other pilots. The opinions excited to decide on what to do, exchanged through the radio, grant a longer respite (87): on the ground, whoever can take advantage of it. At the same time in Città di Castello the alarm bellowed (88). From the crater La Velia sees that no one is moving from the pharmacy opposite; remains curled up under a hairdresser's arch, trying to squat even more (89). Instead Loredana (Trentini) and Elisa (Pucci), taking advantage of the prolongation of the quiet, sometimes leave the place. The first runs away, towards the Piaggiola, dodging a woman with a clique of hair behind her head, on the ground there at the vault, who seems to be dead. She is Pazzi's wife. Dina (Galmacci) cannot avoid beating her up. Taking advantage of the momentary silence, she comes running from the vault, after having escaped from the back room of Palchetti, in piazza delle Erbe (90). Elisa flees in the opposite direction, towards the Collegiate Church. Menchino (Domenico Pucci), her husband's cousin, sees her running with curlers on her head in the direction of home, instinctively to reunite with her son Franco, a few months old; he makes her enter the Palazzoli barbershop at the corner of the Reggiani palace, already full of people, pulling her by the arm: "Where are you going? Can't you see that bombs are falling everywhere!" (91). Others take refuge in the shops adjacent to the barbershop, where Eusebia sells the shards and Grattasassi the fabrics (92). Opposite, at the beginning of the bridge towards the Piazza, where Tonino's (Grilli) Shell petrol station was, some German soldiers got out of a truck. They shout: "Korre! Korre!" (93). On the opposite side of the square, some of the schoolchildren crouched behind the Collegiate Church run away, each to his home. Another boy, frightened by the tiles falling all over the place, runs away from the Boca basement towards the platform; he passes by a German who is cursing, pointing his gun at the sky. He throws himself in the middle of the nearby cornfield, for fear that the pilots will notice the soldier's intentions and shoot at him (94). The children Many children have watched bewildered at the end of the world (95). When he saw the first plane above the square drop things that looked like shaving soaps, the cylindrical ones, Simonello (Simonelli) felt his mother Giuseppa (Migliorati) dragged into the door of the teacher Lina (Barbagianni). Another twenty people took shelter there. Many have prayed. Father John did nothing but shout "Calm, calm" interspersed with curses, while he closed the door which opened at each explosion. Simonello asked several times: "Mom, will we die?", But he was not so afraid, because he felt safe under his protruding belly for the little sister who is about to be born (96). In the arms of an adult, in front of a window in Via Roma, Maurizio (Burelli), who has just turned two, has just imprinted in his mind the indelible image of a threatening plane and a terrifying din (97). With each bomb explosion, little Laura jumped on the bed, together with the knock of a window (98). Another girl cries, Dora (Silvestrelli); so far he has trembled with fear, like his house on the Corso where it is sheltered (99). Peppe (Magrini) is in bed - he has a fever - and listens, motionless and wide-eyed (100). Quinto de Pistulino (Tosti) is seated at the end of Via Soli, a few tens of meters from the crater, on the edge of a stuffed demijohn, supporting his twenty-month-old son. He keeps it dangling between his legs, squeezing his chest with his hands, to protect him from the impressive roars that make everything vibrate, even in the bowels (101). An enormous mushroom of smoke has engulfed the country and rises higher and higher (102); it is blown by the wind towards the "alberata" [Via Cesare Battisti], the tobacco factory, the Tiber (103). Yet, there is still someone who refuses to accept the tragedy: Santino has to forcefully persuade his mother Ida, a janitor in the kindergarten, to take refuge inside; she is lingering to withdraw the flower shards from the windows for fear that, falling, they will be ruined (104). In the crater of San Giovanni, night fell everywhere; ahead of time. Those who are not already dead can barely breathe from the dust and debris. Wait for the end (105). 1) Gianna Feligioni. 2) Avellino Giulianelli. 3) Ramiro Nanni, How I, Ramiro, lived the bombing ... , manuscript from 1979. 4) Giuseppe Cozzari. 5) Marinella Roselli. 6 Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the smoke of the bombs already fallen. 7) Top left: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli, with an image of the P40 dashboard provided by Andrea Gragnoli. Bottom left: Umbertide plant, with the target and the smoke of the bombs already fallen. 8) Top right: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Bottom right: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the fifth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 9) Ines Biti. 10) Annunziata Caldari. 11) Maria Luisa Rapo. 12) Class III E, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Voices of memory , Municipality of Umbertide and San Francesco Cultural Center, Umbertide, 2002. 13) Italo Ciocchetti. 14) Victims: Galeno Monfeli, Mario Arrunategni Rivas, Giuseppe Ciocchetti, Giuseppe Pierini. 15) Francesco Martinelli. 16 Victim: Lina Violini. 17) Margherita Violins. 18) Elda Villarini. 19) Victims: Domenico Donnini, Gianfranco Donnini. 20) Maria Giovannoni. 21) Victim: Ubaldo Gambucci. 22) Luigi Gambucci. 23) Photograph kindly provided by Luigi Gambucci. The watch was recovered from the pocket of father Ubaldo, a victim of the bombing. 24) Victim: Licinio Leonessa. 25) Franco Caldari. 26) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the sixth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 27) Victim: Virginia Cozzari. 28) Dina Bebi. 29) Victims: Elda Bebi, Marianella Ceccarelli, Rosanna Ceccarelli, Giulia Bartoccioli. 30) Ornella Duranti, Margherita Tosti. 31) Giovanni Angioletti. 32) Bruno Burberi. 33) Francesco Martinelli. 34) Fernanda Martinelli. 35) 'Domenico Mariotti. 36) Victims: Luciano Bebi, Maria Domenica Bebi, Tecla Bebi, Anna Banelli. 37) Adriana Fileni, Domenico Mariotti. 38) Pia Galmacci. 39) Victims: Veronica Cozzari, Realino Galmacci. 40) Victim: Elisabetta Boldrini. 41) Dorina Galmacci. 42) Victim: Assunta Porrini. 43) Mario Cambiotti. 44) Victims: Amalia Cambiotti, Marianna Mastriforti. 45) Maria Luisa Rapo. 46) Bruno Tonanni. 47) Sergio Celestini. 48) Magdalene Maria Marzani. 49) Victims: Antonio Barbagianni, Zarelia Tognaccini. 50) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the seventh pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 51) Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 52-53) Walter Biagioli. 54) Victim: Rosalinda Renga. 55) Piera Bruni. 56) Maria Chiasserini. 57) Luke 23, 28. 58) Sergio Celestini. 59) Mario Alpini. 60) Mario Alpini, Annunziata Caldari. 61) Giovanna Pazzi. 62) Ornella Duranti. 63) Egidio Grassini. 64) Giuseppa Ceccarelli. 65) Victim: Maria Renzini. 66) Ramnusia Nanni. 67) Paola Banelli. 68) Giovanna Pazzi. 69) Italo Lotti. 70) Mario Alpini, Sergio Celestini. 71) Italo Lotti. 72) Above: photomontage by Valerio Rosi based on a drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. Below: Umbertide plant, with the target, the blaze of the eighth pair of bombs and the smoke of the previous ones. 73) Joy Simonucci. 74) Elena Boriosi. 75) Victims: Bengasina Renato, Elvira Mortini. 76) Class III E, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Voices of memory , Municipality of Umbertide and San Francesco Cultural Center, Umbertide, 2002. 77) Victims: Armede Gina Borgarelli, Ester Borgarelli, Giovanna Pambuffetti. 78) Victims: Neodemia Barattini, Mario Scartocci. 79) Class III E, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Voices of memory, Municipality of Umbertide and San Francesco Cultural Center, Umbertide, 2002; Fernando Scartocci. 80) Victim: Amleto Banelli. 81) Domenico Mariotti. 82) Elio Caldari. 83) Velia Nanni. 84) Elisa Manarini. 85) Loredana Trentini. 86) Giuseppina Miccioni. 87) Domenico Manuali. 88) Alvaro Tacchini (curator), Venanzio Gabriotti - Diary , Institute of Political and Social History Venanzio Gabriotti, Petruzzi Editore, Città di Castello, 1998, p. 192. 89) Velia Nanni. 90) Dorina Galmacci. 91) Elisa Manarini. 92) Celestino Filippi. 93) Maria Migliorati. 94) Luigi Guiducci. 95) Giuseppe Magrini. 96) Simonello Simonelli. 97) Maurizio Burelli. 98) Laura Corbucci. 99 Dora Silvestrelli. 100) Giuseppe Magrini. 101) Mario Tosti. 102) Renato Silvestrelli. 103) Sergio Ceccacci. 104) Saints Improved. 105) Silvano Bernacchi, Vera Vibi.

LA FRATTA DEL QUATTROCENTO a cura di Fabio Mariotti Notizie generali, le strade e la Rocca La Fratta del Quattrocento è per lo Stato della Chiesa, specialmente nell'ultima parte del secolo, un punto di vitale importanza strategica. Posta al confine con i possedimenti fiorentini, funge da baluardo settentrionale per la difesa di Perugia. La zona urbana è formata da tre nuclei ben definiti. Il primo, costituito dal centro cittadino racchiuso nelle mura castellane e diviso in terzieri: "della Greppa", la parte tra l'attuale via Cibo e il Tevere, dalla Piaggiola fino al ponte verso San Francesco; "Superiore" detto anche "della Campana" (dalla campana posta sulla torre in cima alla Piaggiola), dalle mura a nord, quindi dalla Rocca, verso il centro fino alla chiesa di San Giovanni; il terzo, "Inferiore" o di "Porta Nuova", che dal centro raggiungeva le mura verso sud, lungo il corso della Reggia fino alla porta di uscita del ponte sul Tevere. Il secondo nucleo, del "Borgo Superiore", posto al di fuori delle mura settentrionali, oltre la porta della campana e la discesa dell'attuale Piaggiola, era divisibile in due parti. Una veniva detta il "Mercatale", l'odierna piazza Marconi, il piazzale del sagrato della chiesa di Sant'Erasmo; la zona poi si spingeva verso la chiesa di Sant'Andrea (dove sorgerà nel 1877 il vecchio ospedale) fino alle fornaci. L’altra parte era il "Castel Nuovo", comprendeva l’attuale Boccaiolo (via Bovicelli) e la zona vicina, ove si trovava anche la chiesa di Santa Maria dei Meriti. II terzo nucleo, anch'esso fuori delle mura, detto "Borgo Inferiore", era situato a sud di Fratta, oltre la Reggia e prospiciente il Tevere (attuale piazza San Francesco). Cuore di questa zona era il "sodo dei frati" o "pratale", lo spiazzo su cui si affacciavano la chiesa e il convento di San Francesco, la chiesetta di Santa Maria (poi detta Santa Croce), possesso dell'omonima confraternita di Disciplinati. Nel borgo c'erano numerose officine di fabbri ed anche un mulino di proprietà del vescovo di Gubbio. Fratta godeva di libertà di fiera; erano fiorenti le arti della merceria e spezieria, il commercio del cuoio, del "bambage", del vino, degli artefatti in ferro, della ceramica. Esisteva un discreto servizio postale che utilizzava cursori, corrieri, fanti di procaccio e "cavallai" di posta i quali potevano effettuare un buon lavoro in quanto il paese non era molto distante dalle grandi vie di comunicazione. L’istruzione era a cura della comunità di Fratta, ai cui rappresentanti i genitori si rivolgevano per iscrivere i ragazzi, pagando la retta del maestro. La spesa era relativa al numero e al tipo delle materie di insegnamento: latino, aritmetica, religione e geografia. Nel 1486 la magistratura locale fa un invito all'istruzione aperto anche ai non possidenti. Esistevano sette ospedali, annessi alle chiese, per i poveri, i pellegrini e i malati non abbienti; ben dodici luoghi di culto, fra chiese e cappelle. A Fratta, nel Quattrocento, viveva una comunità ebraica di una ventina di persone, qui insediata fin dal secolo precedente. Le strade di comunicazione Nel Quattrocento la nostra Fratta era fuori dai grandi percorsi viari dello Stato Romano che partivano da Roma nei secoli XVI e XVIII, e se erano così allora, all'inizio del Quattrocento non erano certo più numerose e meglio percorribili. Comunque verso nord partiva una sola strada di grande comunicazione, che dopo il lago di Bracciano (Baccano) si ramificava in due bretelle: - una proseguiva in direzione di Firenze, via Bolsena, Siena, San Casciano; - l'altra strada si dirigeva verso Fano, via Terni, Foligno, Nocera, Cagli. Quest'ultima aveva una diramazione da Foligno e da qui iniziava una strada che passava per Perugia, il lago Trasimeno, la Val di Chiana, la valle dell'Arno centrale, fino a raggiungere anch'essa Firenze. Erano percorse dalla maggior parte della gente allora in movimento: eserciti, cavalcate, grandi carri a quattro ruote dei mercanti, pellegrini, religiosi, cortei di principi, cardinali, governatori che si spostavano da una città all'altra, mendicanti, uomini dei servizi di posta che correvano a piedi o a cavallo di stazione in stazione. Fratta si trovava in posizione isolata e non vedeva molto di questo transito se non saltuariamente e, comunque, in misura molto ridotta. Il nostro castello aveva bisogno di comunicazione con la città di Perugia e ciò era possibile attraverso la pianura del Tevere. La città dominante svolgeva un'attività di tutela dei mulini sul Tevere (Ponte Felcino, Ponte Pattoli ed altri), per cui questi dovevano essere senz'altro allacciati a Perugia con una strada carrabile. Considerato questo e anche che Fratta era il castello del confine nord di Perugia, dunque tenuto sempre militarmente approntato, è facile capire che dovesse esserci una via da Fratta a Ponte Pattoli, a Perugia. Oltre questa strada (che sarà detta poi “del piano”), Fratta era unita a Perugia anche da un percorso montano, non carrabile, per soli pedoni e cavalli in quanto l'asprezza dei luoghi (diverse salite) ne sconsigliavano il passaggio, specie d'inverno, ai carri piccoli. Iniziava oltre il ponte sul Tevere, sulla sinistra (odierna strada per la Badia di Montecorona). Dopo circa trecento metri lasciava, sulla destra, la stradetta che saliva a Romeggio (bivio visibile anche oggi) e proseguiva diritta. Passava sotto e nei pressi dell'odierno Palazzo del Sole (abitazione Ramaccioni), poi si inerpicava, come ai giorni nostri, verso la base di Monte Acuto. Alla Villa di Monte Acuto svoltava a sinistra, lungo la base del monte, passava a lato della casa-torre di osservazione (ancora esistente - gruppo di casa Ferranti), passava a lato dell'ospedale di Galera (in piedi ma disabitato) ed arrivava al pianoro di Galera (apprezzabile come complesso abbandonato) ed arrivava alla casaforte di confine con Perugia (non utilizzata). Da qui scendeva alla Nese, passando a lato di quell'ospedale (lebbrosario?) e proseguiva per la Villa di Pantano e Cenerente, da dove iniziava la salita finale per Perugia. Altra strada era quella di Montone, ma non volendo transitare per quel territorio, si poteva percorrere la via che portava al torrente Niccone, subito dopo il ponte del Tevere. Dal Niccone, passato il fiume sulla barca oltre Montecastelli, ci si ritrovava sulla via tracciata da Città di Castello, in pianura ed abbastanza transitabile. Infine c'era la strada per la Toscana, alla foce del Niccone sul Tevere. In proporzione al grande traffico nazionale, molto limitato appariva il transito nelle nostre zone ma, considerata l'importanza commerciale di Fratta, c'era comunque sempre un movimento di persone e merci che ne aiutava molto gli abitanti, alla ricerca delle soluzioni dei loro problemi quotidiani. Lavori alla Rocca La Rocca di Fratta fu voluta nell'anno 1374 e disegnata, molto probabilmente, dall'architetto Matteo Gattapone da Gubbio. Venne posta ad est delle mura castellane, unico tratto sprovvisto di forti, sia per aumentare la difesa del castello dalla parte di Perugia, sia per allungare meglio lo sguardo su tutta la pianura del Tevere verso Montecorona. La Rocca consisteva, all'inizio, in un semplice parallelepipedo esterno alla cinta che, nella zona sud, aveva un'alta torre sopraelevata di una quarantina di metri dal prato sottostante. Questo volume fu costruito nel primo ciclo dei lavori, dal 1375 al 1384, mentre il completamento, come voleva il disegno originario, avvenne con un ulteriore intervento tra il 1385 e il 1386, quando fu unita alle mura castellane. Così la Rocca si presenta all'inizio del Quattrocento. Ha i lati contrapposti lunghi dodici metri e quelli perpendicolari, sette. Per il passaggio delle persone è collegata al castello di Fratta da una porta (visibile ed agibile anche oggi) munita di ponte levatoio che faceva perno sul forte, cadeva sulle mura castellane sostenuto da una sola trave e passava sopra un tetto realizzato nella seconda fase dei lavori (1385-86). Nel punto di battuta era stato costruito, interno al borgo, un piccolo edificio merlato detto "chiostro" in cui c'era un posto di guardia, essendo questa zona militare sorvegliata per impedire l'accesso anche agli abitanti di Fratta. La Rocca aveva poi un'altra entrata fornita di ponte levatoio. Conduceva all'esterno del castello, verso il prato sottostante. Era la "porta del soccorso", elemento comune a tutti i forti e le rocche. Serviva, in tempo di guerra, a far rientrare qualche soldato rimasto fuori o in altri casi straordinari. Questo secondo ponte levatoio era sostenuto da una sola trave il cui vano è ancora esistente e visibile dalla zona sottostante. Poggiava sopra un alto muro di pietra, rimasto fino alla metà dell'Ottocento. Fra il muro e la torre passava il letto naturale del torrente Reggia. Da qui iniziava la strada, in forte discesa, verso il prato sottostante. Il tutto era chiamato "calzo de fuora". Nel gennaio 1405 fu costruita la grande volta in muratura che univa (e unisce tuttora ) la Rocca alle mura castellane, al posto del tetto sotto il ponte levatoio. Fu pure innalzato il tratto di mura castellane prospiciente alla piazza del Comune (ora piazza Fortebracci), elevato di circa tre metri e munito di feritoie. Fu tolto il ponte levatoio ovest e restò solo quello "del soccorso", in funzione fino alla fine del Settecento. Nel 1495 la Fratta era occupata dai fuorusciti perugini della famiglia Degli Oddi. Erano combattuti dai Baglioni che portarono qui l'assedio fino a che, l' 11 settembre 1495, Fratta si arrese alle forze di Perugia. La città dominante, riavuto il nostro castello, pensò bene di restaurarlo e di aumentarne le difese militari, affinché potesse resistere ad altri eventuali attacchi. Dal 1495 al 1499 vennero eretti i torrioni laterali circolari merlati, uno a nord e uno a sud, e la Rocca assunse l'aspetto attuale. Per la costruzione dei torrioni si dovette abbattere il "chiostro" ed un tratto di mura (per costruire il torrione nord), mentre sul lato della piazza del Comune venne aperta una nuova porta d'ingresso. Foto della Rocca di Fabio Mariotti (quella antica dall'Archivio fotografico storico del Comune di Umbertide) Fonti: - Calendario di Umbertide 2004 – Ed. Comune di Umbertide – 2004 - Renato Codovini: Storia di Umbertide - Il Secolo XV. Dattiloscritto inedito, 1992 - A. Guerrini: Storia della terra di Fratta ora Umbertide dalle sue origini fino all'anno 1845 - Tipografia Tiberina, Umbertide, 1883 - M.G. Moretti: Salute e spezierie alla Fratta (Sec. XV - XX): Breve introduzione alla mostra, Umbertide, Biblioteca Comunale, 27 settembre - 12 ottobre 2002. Dream Service, Umbertide, 2002 - P. Vispi: Il soggiorno e l'opera di Pico della Mirandola ad Umbertide - Ed. Comune di Umbertide, 1996 L'economia e la libertà di fiera L’economia del territorio di Fratta nel XV secolo è basata su una modesta attività agricola e su una fiorente attività artigianale. Già nei primi del Quattrocento assistiamo a timidi insediamenti stabili in campagna di lavoratori agricoli che si recano a lavorare terre alquanto distanti dal borgo. Terre via via "rancate", cioè messe a coltura. Ma i tempi sono ancora insicuri, la pericolosità direttamente proporzionale alla distanza dalle mura del castello. II passaggio di eserciti che razziavano il bestiame e le colture, insieme a bande di malviventi rendevamo molto rischiosa la coltivazione della campagna. I lavoratori agricoli, quindi, non potevano produrre grosse quantità dei vari generi. Solamente due secoli dopo, in pieno Seicento, la coltura del grano aveva ancora una rendita di tre o quattro parti contro una di seme seminato. L’attività artigianale nel castello di Fratta era, invece, più progredita e produttiva, regolata anche negli statuti del 1362. Era un'economia prevalentemente corporativa, a compartimenti stagni, con ogni Arte strettamente osservante di quelle regole che si era data con il proprio ordinamento, comprensivo anche delle pene per i trasgressori. Ma era l'aspetto religioso il collante che univa i componenti. La produttività degli artigiani era soltanto sufficiente ai loro immediati bisogni, ma a volte poteva superare il limite dello stretto necessario e dar loro qualche soddisfazione in più. Notevoli risultati davano le fornaci di laterizio che producevano materiali da costruzione. Altre piccole attività, con laboratorio e bottega annessi, sfornavano vasellame di terracotta d'ogni genere, necessario alla vita quotidiana della famiglia del borgo e di quella contadina. Vari molini da cereali e da olio, avvalendosi della forza motrice dell'acqua dei fiumi e dei torrenti, occupavano un discreto numero di persone. C'era poi la lavorazione dei panni di lana, per mezzo della gualchiera e la rifinitura di prodotti in metallo che per l'affilatura usava ruote in pietra, anch'esse mosse dall'acqua. Tutti questi meccanismi si trovavano all'interno dei maggiori mulini ed utilizzavano la stessa acqua che muoveva le grandi macine dei cereali. La gualchiera. L’arte dei panni di lana Anche in Fratta si esercitava l'arte della lana, seppur per un prodotto minore che doveva soddisfare soltanto i bisogni del luogo. Il panno lavorato serviva per cucire i vestiti di uso comune, indossati dalla maggior parte degli abitanti, quasi tutti poveri. La lavorazione era possibile in quanto nei maggiori mulini c'era sempre la "gualchiera", meccanismo fornito di grosse "martelle" di legno che, mosse dall'acqua della diga, battevano la lana opportunamente trattata (acqua bollente e un qualche collante). Probabilmente, si trattava di una postazione per ogni mulino, locata a terzi per più anni. In un atto notarile del 12 novembre 1464 si parla del “Mulino dei Calvi” con la gualchiera ad esso annessa che serviva a "gualcare i panni di lana": si trovava in aderenza a questo molino, era affittata tre anni. La notizia dell'esistenza, vicino a Fratta, di tale gualchiera, e fuso per cui serviva, sono le notizie più antiche sull'argomento. L’insieme delle altre Arti fabbricava gli oggetti necessari alla vita della collettività; erano fabbri, falegnami, magnani, pittori, sarti, panacuocoli (fornai), indoratori. Tutte persone che oggi chiameremmo operatori economici ed avevano molto spesso un grande limite nella difficoltà di reperire i capitali necessari. Non essendoci ancora istituti di credito come intendiamo oggi, dovevano far ricorso, in caso di necessità, al prestito dei "banchi" degli ebrei. A Fratta ce n'erano una ventina ed alcuni di questi esercitavano appunto l'attività di banchieri. Sebbene avversati dalla popolazione e dalla legislazione della città di Perugia valida anche in Fratta, riuscivano sempre a svolgere il loro lavoro in senso positivo e la stessa comunità perugina faceva ricorso alla "prestanza" ebrea in caso di bisogno. Obbligati a portare un disco giallo sui vestiti, esclusi dai pubblici uffici, era negata agli ebrei anche la possibilità di acquistare beni immobili, di fabbricare carte da gioco e dadi. Non restava loro che dedicarsi ai prestiti su interesse e lo studio della medicina. Il commercio del cuoio Era molto praticato nella nostra Fratta, come nell'alta valle del Tevere e nel Perugino. II grande commercio del cuoio aveva la sede principale, per il centro Italia, nelle città di Pisa e di Ancona. Pisa lo importava dalla Spagna (da Cordova, pelli cordovane), dalla Francia meridionale e dal Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria e Marocco). Ancona lo importava invece dalla cosiddetta Morea (Medio Oriente), dalle isole dell'Egeo e dai Paesi rivieraschi del Mar Nero. Da queste due città poi, a mezzo di grandi carri a quattro ruote, il cuoio arrivava a Perugia (via lago Trasimeno e via Fabriano). Qui si riforniva Fratta in limitate quantità, incrementate dalla stessa merce proveniente da Città di Castello, i cui mercanti erano direttamente collegati con le "strade del cuoio" marchigiane. Il commercio del "bambage" Anche il bambage (o bambagio) arrivava dai Paesi del medio oriente (Turchia, Cipro, Siria, Egitto), con le navi fino ad Ancona; poi i mercanti lo introducevano nel territorio perugino. Con il bambage, sottoprodotto del cotone, si fabbricavano veli da donna per la testa, per il collo e per le spalle. Coloro che trattavano tale prodotto erano detti "bambagiari" e facevano parte dell'Arte omonima. Avevano botteghe per commerciare sia il bambage puro che i suoi derivati, quali ad esempio le passamanerie, vendute dai merciai. L’Arte della merceria All'Arte della merceria erano iscritti coloro che commerciavano in generi relativi soprattutto all'abbigliamento: filati per cucire (vengono nominati "refe"), gomitoli e matasse, fazzoletti (per la testa, il collo, le spalle), veletti (per cappelli), "camicie", calze di lana, cappelli, nastri d'ogni tipo, spille, orecchini, aghi (fatti a mano) e quant'altro relativo al vestire. Non troviamo fazzoletti per il naso (ancora da inventare), maglie (si confezionavano in casa, sul telaio domestico), giacche, pastrani e mantelli (li cuciva il sarto). Non esistevano però botteghe specializzate in un unico tipo di merce. Era facile quindi trovare, in quella del merciaio, stoffe, paludamenti (per l'addobbo di chiese, tendaggi per la casa), ma anche cera, candele, "facole", radici saponarie. L’Arte della "spetiaria" Chi esercitava l'Arte della spetiaria aveva una bottega, chiamata anche aromataria, dove vendeva i generi che anche oggi chiamiamo spezie, ma con una gamma più vasta, essendo maggiore l'uso di tali generi. Molti servivano per la farmacopea. In queste botteghe, comunque, molti prodotti esulavano dal campo speziario, comprendendo i generi più disparati, anticipando i bazar ed i moderni supermercati. I calzolai C'erano, nel Quattrocento, in Fratta, diversi calzolai (calceolarius) iscritti alla relativa Arte e semplici ciabattini. L’attività dei calzolai consisteva nel costruire e vendere le scarpe, per cui avevano bisogno di comprare cuoio, pellami ed attrezzi d'uso. Il ciabattino (sutor), più semplicemente, si adattava ad accomodare le calzature, senza entrare nel commercio delle stesse. Nell'archivio storico comunale esiste un contratto del 4 settembre 1448 con il quale il padre affida il figlio di minore età ad un calzolaio per imparare il mestiere. Il ragazzo doveva andare a vivere in casa del calzolaio il quale, a sua volta, si impegnava a formarlo e a dargli vitto e alloggio. Il ragazzo è Mariotto, figlio di Domenico di Ercolano da Pietramelina; il calzolaio è Nardo di Francesco, di Fratta. Domenico di Ercolano si impegna a far restare Mariotto per un anno presso Nardo di Francesco e di non mandarlo da altri calzolai. Garantisce che Mariotto sarà sempre sottomesso e obbediente come deve comportarsi ogni buon discepolo. Nardo, di sua parte, si obbliga ad istruirlo nell'arte della calzoleria, a dargli un salario di tre fiorini e mezzo per tutto l'anno, oltre il vitto e l'alloggio. Le monete Nel Quattrocento, nell'Italia centrale si usavano, per i grandi importi, monete d'oro, fiorini e ducati, insieme ai loro sottomultipli e alle tante monete dei vari Stati esistenti. Il fiorino veniva rapportato ai bolognini (moneta bolognese di piccolo taglio). Se era integro (cioè di giusto peso, non limato per appropriarsi di una parte del suo oro come spesso accadeva), valeva quaranta bolognini. Se invece aveva un peso inferiore a quello di conio, veniva considerato in proporzione a quanto mancava. Il fiorino era anche quotato in "soldi": cento se integro. Il fiorino fiorentino veniva a volte ragguagliato alla lira perugina. Verso la metà del secolo c'è parità tra le due monete. Troviamo infatti, nel 1464, una somma di undicimila fiorini che, qualche riga sotto dello stesso documento, diventano undicimila lire. Il "soldo" (sottomultiplo del fiorino) viene rapportato talora al "denaro" (moneta perugina sottomultipla della lira). Abbiamo infine un'altra misura monetaria, la "libra". Ce ne volevano cinque per un fiorino. A Fratta si adoperavano indistintamente sia i fiorini, sia i ducati (ma anche altre monete). In un atto notarile, "la pena" da darsi a chi non sta ai patti viene stabilita in "100 ducati d'oro", nonostante in Fratta prevalesse l'uso dei conteggi in fiorini. Nel 1471 troviamo il "carlino", di basso valore, di origine napoletana. Valeva dodici baiocchi. Sempre in quest'anno esiste anche il "ducato d'oro largo": ha il valore di un fiorino e 75 baiocchi circa. . . . Libertà di fiera Mercati settimanali e fiere si svolgevano a Fratta fin dal XIV secolo, regolamentati dagli Statuti del 1362. Nel 1400 sembra esserci solo la fiera di Sant'Erasmo, che si svolgeva il 2 giugno, giorno della festa del santo, davanti all'antica e omonima pieve, nell'odierna piazza Marconi. Come negli altri castelli e ville del territorio, era soggetta ad una tassazione imposta da Perugia (città dominante), che poi la comunità di Fratta riversava sui commercianti intervenuti, recuperando così la somma versata. La tassa della fiera comportava per i mercanti un certo onere, imponeva loro di fare una scelta sul venire o meno a Fratta, a seconda del vantaggio. In pratica, condizionava l'affluenza della gente a queste manifestazioni. In considerazione di ciò, la comunità di Fratta cercò di liberare la fiera dalla "gabella", allo scopo di aumentare il concorso di venditori, quindi avere la maggior quantità e varietà di merci, prezzi più bassi (legge della concorrenza), in definitiva un vantaggio per la popolazione, oltre maggior guadagno per osti, marescalchi, "carradori", botteghe in genere. Il risultato venne raggiunto a partire dal 1441, quando ne fece richiesta a Perugia. L’approvazione arrivò dal cardinale Firmano (Domenico da Fermo), delegato apostolico per l'Umbria e la relativa concessione, detta "privilegio", riguardava la fiera annuale del 2 giugno, probabilmente l'unica del secolo. Fratta non doveva più pagare la tassa come le altre comunità dello Stato Romano e di riflesso non chiese più nulla ai commercianti. La concessione venne rilasciata per due giorni consecutivi, tanto durava la fiera di Sant'Erasmo dal 1441. Nel 1444, il 31 ottobre, lo stesso cardinale Domenico da Fermo ribadisce la concessione (che doveva essere rinnovata annualmente) e permette di allungare la fiera a quattro giorni consecutivi: dal primo (vigilia della festa del Santo) al 4 giugno, decisione che il Comune accettò di buon grado. Il 30 ottobre 1445, papa Eugenio IV conferma il "privilegio" specificando che 1'esenzione è "tam entrando quam in exeundo", sia all'entrata in Fratta, sia all'uscita a fine manifestazione e riguarda tutte le persone che intervengono con le bestie e con le merci ("cum eorum animalibus et mercantiis"). Il provvedimento rimane esteso anche agli abitanti di Fratta che prendessero parte a questa fiera che in quei quattro giorni “solemniter celebratur”. Fratta fu informata del provvedimento del Papa dal cardinale legato di Perugia, Domenico da Fermo. Nel XVI secolo, invece, la durata dell'evento fu portata ad otto ed anche dieci giorni. Foto di Fabio Mariotti (quella del calzolaio dall'Archivio fotografico storico del Comune di Umbertide) Fonti: - Calendario di Umbertide 2004 – Ed. Comune di Umbertide – 2004 - Renato Codovini: Storia di Umbertide - Il Secolo XV. Dattiloscritto inedito, 1992 - A. Guerrini: Storia della terra di Fratta ora Umbertide dalle sue origini fino all'anno 1845 - Tipografia Tiberina, Umbertide, 1883 - M.G. Moretti: Salute e spezierie alla Fratta (Sec. XV - XX): Breve introduzione alla mostra, Umbertide, Biblioteca Comunale, 27 settembre - 12 ottobre 2002. Dream Service, Umbertide, 2002 - P. Vispi: Il soggiorno e l'opera di Pico della Mirandola ad Umbertide - Ed. Comune di Umbertide, 1996 La comunità ebraica Il progressivo formarsi di una piccola comunità ebraica alla Fratta probabilmente risale verso la fine del XII secolo, allorché una forte corrente migratoria di mercanti israeliti da Roma tende a diffondersi dapprima nelle città umbre, per poi espandersi verso tutto il nord Italia. C'erano grossi insediamenti e una consolidata tradizione ebraica a Perugia, Città di Castello e Gubbio. A Perugia, nel rione di Porta Sant'Angelo al quale si era aggregata la comunità ebraica di Fratta, c'era una delle due sinagoghe della città e si contavano il maggior numero di abitazioni israelite. Il periodo però non è tranquillo per il mondo israelitico italiano. Agli inizi del 1485, infatti, giunge anche in Umbria Bernardino da Feltre, che aveva imperversato nel nord Italia per ottenere la soppressione dei banchi ebrei a favore dei nascenti Monti di Pietà. Egli predica, fortemente spalleggiato dall'Ordine dei Minori, una violenta crociata antisraelitica che ottiene buoni successi. Da quel periodo comincia ad assottigliarsi a Gubbio la presenza degli ebrei. Anche Perugia e Fratta non furono immuni da forme di intolleranza, che però non raggiunsero gli eccessi registrati altrove. La comunità ebraica frattigiana, per quanto piccola (una ventina di persone), doveva avere una certa importanza economica. Già nel 1398, infatti, un certo Beniamino di Aleuccio della Fratta esercitava l’attività di banchiere a Mantova. Vi sono presenze documentate di ebrei umbertidesi dopo la metà del 1400. Abitava a Fratta, ad esempio, un ragguardevole banchiere, Dattilo di Salomone: di lui esistono testimonianze di una cospicua attività e sappiamo che in giudizio veniva rappresentato dal fratello Manuele. Il suo nome e quello della sua famiglia ricorrono più volte nella storia perugina come il gruppo finanziario di maggiore importanza. Probabilmente parenti con il finanziere Dattilo, e anche loro abitanti in Fratta, erano Salomone, Elia e Davide "Dactoli". Quest'ultimo firma, anche a nome dei fratelli, una petizione alla magistratura perugina nel 1483. Altra attività, oltre quella bancaria, nella quale molti ebrei godevano di grande considerazione, era l'arte medica. Nella Fratta della seconda metà del Quattrocento vi esercitarono in due. Il primo fu Manuele da Monticolo. Abitava in una casa in affitto nel Terziere Superiore (zona della Rocca) e la sua presenza è documentata dal 1477. Fra il 1484 e il 1486 c'è in Fratta Manuele di Angelo, da Padova. Questi in precedenza aveva esercitato a Montone e qui aveva abitato in una lussuosa dimora, di proprietà dei monaci di Camporeggiano, posta accanto al palazzo del conte Carlo Fortebracci, signore del posto. Di questo secondo medico rimangono testimonianze sia nell'archivio comunale di Umbertide sia in quello di Gubbio. L’attività di alcuni ebrei a Fratta era quindi a un livello ragguardevole. Ma se coloro che influenzavano la vita sociale cittadina godevano di libertà e considerazione, probabilmente non tutti avevano vita facile. C'era infatti una forte attività denigratoria contro di loro da parte dei frati minori francescani. La legislazione romana, applicata dalla Magistratura di Perugia, aveva imposto loro, già dal secolo precedente, un contrassegno sugli abiti. Consisteva in un tondo di stoffa gialla del diametro di una quindicina di centimetri che dovevano cucire sul davanti per farsi riconoscere e differenziarsi dai cristiani. Le donne, invece, dovevano essere contraddistinte da un certo tipo di veletta in testa e portare orecchini a cerchio. Tutti sapevano che era bene mostrarsi il meno possibile, ma in occasione di funerali, per arrivare al luogo della sepoltura, dovevano attraversare alcune strade scegliendole tra le meno frequentate e comunque evitando il centro del paese. Ma anche qui trovavano spesso "cristiani" che li aspettavano per dileggiarli e gettar loro addosso pietre. Questa manifestazione, detta "la sassaiola", in uso a Perugia già all'inizio del secolo (a Fratta non esiste certezza in merito), proseguirà per tutto quello successivo. Fonti: Calendario di Umbertide 2004 – Ed. Comune di Umbertide – 2004 Renato Codovini: Storia di Umbertide - Il Secolo XV. Dattiloscritto inedito, 1992 A. Guerrini: Storia della terra di Fratta ora Umbertide dalle sue origini fino all'anno 1845 - Tipografia Tiberina, Umbertide, 1883 Gli ospedali, la peste e le guerre Nel Quattrocento troviamo in Fratta sette ospedali. Appartengono a chiese o confraternite e sono tutti di piccole dimensioni, due o tre ambienti in modeste case, spesso incorporati alle chiese stesse. Di solito vi prestano la loro opera i padri Agostiniani, uno o due frati. Qui vengono ricoverati i malati poveri del paese e i viaggiatori che hanno bisogno di cure durante il passaggio a Fratta. Sant'Antonio Si trovava in Castel Nuovo, in fondo alla Piaggiola. Ne abbiamo notizia nel 1400 e nel 1404. Nel 1411 si unì all'ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova, sito anch'esso in Castel Nuovo. Aveva alcuni beni, due appezzamenti di terreno lavorativo in Villa Galera (Monte Acuto), ai vocaboli Vignale e Fossato e possedeva anche una terra al vocabolo Seripole, al confine col torrente Reggia. Santa Maria Situato anch'esso in fondo alla Piaggiola, era legalmente "unito" alla chiesa di "Pieve di Santa Maria di Castel Nuovo", almeno fin dall'anno 1397. Confinava da un lato con "le cose della chiesa" (un orto: ) e dall'altro con il "foveo" della Comunità, il fossato lungo le mura castellane (zona palazzo Baglioni). Santa Maria e Sant'Antonio Si fondono nel 1411. Nel 1423 decidono di iscrivere le loro proprietà al catasto di Perugia. La registrazione viene fatta da Giovanni Corbelli di Fratta, rettore e governatore degli ospedali, tramite un suo procuratore, Francesco di Simone. Possiedono una casa nel Borgo Superiore di Castel Nuovo e quattro appezzamenti di terreno nel comune di Montone, al vocabolo Buschi. Santa Croce E' situato nel Borgo Inferiore, nell'odierna via Soli. Risale alla prima metà del Trecento. Appartiene all'omonima confraternita che ha una quarantina di proprietà immobiliari. E' così grande il numero dei beni, che mette in difficoltà anche l'ufficio del catasto di Perugia allorché Bartolomeo di ser Nicola, procuratore della confraternita, si reca a registrarne alcuni. L’ufficiale del catasto si vede costretto a riportare l'elenco in un nuovo libro, appositamente iniziato, in quanto nel foglio riferito alla confraternita non c'era più posto. Fraternita del Corpo di Cristo o del Buon Gesù Era anche questo nel Borgo Inferiore, aderente al lato sud della chiesa di San Bernardino, non ancora costruita all'inizio del secolo. Ne abbiamo notizia nel 1448 quando, il 15 aprile, i frati di San Francesco cedono una loro casa vicina al chiostro del convento ai Disciplinati della Fraternita di Cristo. Fra le clausole, i compratori sono obbligati a "edificare un ospedale per i poveri di Cristo". Nel 1477 l'ospedale riceve un lascito di 5 fiorini per acquistare dei letti. San Giovanni Entro le mura castellane, nel Terziere di Porta Nuova, a confine della chiesa di San Giovanni (odierna via Mancini). Il 4 giugno 1455 il vescovo di Gubbio, Antonio Severi, tratta con la comunità di Fratta la cessione di un rimbocco posto fra la chiesa di San Giovanni e la casa dell'ospedale. Le sei persone nominate dal Comune per trattare la questione cedono tale pezzo di via al Vescovado a patto che serva "per i poveri dell'ospedale" e che nel termine dei sei anni il lavoro di ampliamento sia compiuto. Si trattava quindi di unire, con una nuova costruzione, la casa dell'ospedale alla chiesa di San Giovanni, in modo da ingrandire l'ospedale. Sant'Erasmo Si trovava nel Borgo Superiore, nella zona centrale detta il "Mercatale", aderente alla chiesa omonima. L’edificio è tuttora visibile nella sua interezza, anche se adibito ad abitazione. Era tenuto dai frati di Sant'Agostino, che facevano da infermieri. Aveva dei terreni in proprietà ed era il più grande ospedale di Fratta. I medici Nel Quattrocento, in Fratta esiste la figura del medico generico, detto "fisico" e quella del chirurgo, il "cerusico". Uno di questi svolgeva la funzione di medico "condotto", assunto dalla comunità che ne stabiliva diritti e doveri in un contratto notarile dal quale risultavano i casi nei quali poteva farsi pagare dai clienti e le visite ai molti poveri che doveva effettuare gratuitamente. Nell'eventualità in cui il medico aveva a che fare con una malattia molto grave o allora sconosciuta, poteva ricorrere alla clausola "pro corpore mortuo": per contratto non si assumeva responsabilità se l'ammalato moriva. In altri casi prospettava alla famiglia del malato (pagante) due somme alternative: se il congiunto guariva, avrebbe avuto la somma maggiore; se invece la cura non aveva effetto e il paziente passava a miglior vita, si sarebbe accontentato della somma minore. In questo secolo lavorano in Fratta soltanto medici ebrei. Uno di questi, maestro Manuele da Monticolo (Bolzano), operò in Fratta dal 1447. Negli anni 1484 e 1485 opera un altro "fisico" ebreo, Manuele da Pavia. Nel 1485 arriva l'israelita Emanuele di Angelo, da Padova, che abitava a Perugia. Forse ci si chiederà come mai le comunità assumessero medici ebrei. Perchè venivano pagati la metà di un medico cristiano. Il salario infatti era di 25 fiorini l’anno per un ebreo, 50 o 60 per un cristiano. Era la conseguenza dell'ostracismo dello Stato Romano verso gli ebrei e non delle differenti capacità professionali dei medici. Gli ebrei valevano come i cristiani, quando non erano addirittura più abili e più preparati. La peste La peste, presente di continuo a brevi intervalli, era la peggiore malattia che potesse capitare in questo secolo. Abbiamo poche notizie relative al nostro paese, ma siccome il contagio colpiva vaste zone, quando l'epidemia si manifestava a Città di Castello e a Perugia, sicuramente Fratta non ne era immune. Nel 1438, ad esempio, un farmacista di Fratta scrive un elenco di medicamenti da usarsi contro la peste, tra i quali, principalmente, 1'aceto. Nel 1400 la peste colpisce l'Italia centrale, soprattutto la Toscana. A Perugia e nel contado morirono 35mila (!) persone e migliaia di decessi si contarono anche a Città di Castello. Stando così le cose, pure a Fratta ci saranno stati molti contagi e conseguentemente parecchie vittime. Nel 1411 e nel 1417 la peste imperversa di nuovo. Nell'ultimo anno colpisce particolarmente Anghiari. Nel 1429 tornò a Perugia e in tutto il suo territorio, Fratta compresa. A seguito di questo la Magistratura perugina ordinò per la prima volta di controllare la salubrità delle carni in vendita nelle "beccherie". Nel 1435 scoppiò l'epidemia a Città di Castello, da marzo a novembre, ed alla fine perirono mille tifernati. Nel 1438 peste a Fratta, dove il nostro bravo farmacista descrive i rimedi che secondo lui avrebbero evitato la malattia. Un'altra ondata di contagio arrivò dieci anni più tardi e nel 1463 il morbo colpì ancora duramente Città di Castello. L’anno dopo la peste invase tutto il territorio di Perugia e il 14 settembre 1464 a Montone il Consiglio decide di "ricorrere ai santi del Paradiso per esserne liberati". Sei anni dopo, però, il feudo di Braccio Fortebracci sarà di nuovo sotto il contagio. Dal 1467 al 1476 1a peste torna ad intervalli regolari nell'intero Perugino. Nel 1478 abbiamo la notizia della peste a Fratta. Città di Castello non ne fu immune e contò cinquecento morti. L’anno successivo, a ottobre, ricominciò la pestilenza. Colpì in particolare Gubbio e Perugia. Durò tre anni e nella sola città di Sant'Ubaldo morirono quattromila persone. Nel luglio del 1468 scoppiò ancora a Perugia. Qui dimorava Pico della Mirandola che fu costretto ad abbandonare la città e a rifugiarsi a Fratta dove, in quel il momento, il morbo non si era manifestato. Questa tremenda epidemia tormentò la nostra zona e l'Italia intera ancora per molti secoli, senza che alcuna cura potesse aiutare le popolazioni. L’aceto ed altre sostanze di sapore aspro, considerate i rimedi più efficaci (anche in un grande trattato del 1610 presente nella biblioteca Vaticana), con i quali si lavavano gli abiti, i cibi e ci si cospargeva il corpo, servivano solo, purtroppo, a rendere ancor più dura la vita del tempo. Le guerre Ladislao, re di Napoli, sconvolgeva i territori dell'Italia centrale, intenzionato a conquistarne buona parte. II 25 giugno 1408 entra in Perugia. I Fiorentini ed il Papa tentano di contrastarlo con ogni mezzo e i Toscani chiamano Lodovico d'Angiò (incoronato re di Napoli dal Papa) per contrapporlo a Ladislao. Lodovico entrò negli stati della Chiesa con Malatesta da Pesaro, Angiolo della Pergola e Braccio Fortebracci. Quest'ultimo, prima di unirsi al d'Angiò, si era portato a Città di Castello e nei pressi di Fratta aveva sconfitto Giulio Cesare da Capua, capitano del re Ladislao, forte di duemila cavalieri. Nel 1411 Braccio Fortebracci tornò in Umbria, sorprese Montone e Fratta seminando distruzione e spavento, si diresse poi verso Perugia, che conquistò nel 1416, due anni dopo la morte di Ladislao. Scomparso Martino V nel 1431, Niccolò Fortebracci, nipote di Braccio, giunse a Città di Castello e in pochi giorni s'impadronì di gran parte dell'alta valle del Tevere. I perugini tentarono con ogni mezzo di dissuaderlo, ma alla fine tutto risultò vano. Più efficace si rivelò l'annuncio dell'arrivo di un esercito inviato dai Fiorentini ed altri alleati, tra i quali i conti di Montefeltro: oltre quattromila cavalli e molti fanti stavano dirigendosi verso il territorio tifernate, ma Niccolò Fortebracci non ne attese l'arrivo ritirando le forze a Montone, dove provvide a organizzare la difesa. E quando il 18 luglio 1431 seppe che i Fiorentini erano rientrati in Toscana, uscì da Montone, piombò sui castelli vicini conquistandoli. Il 12 agosto giunse alla Fratta Niccolò Piccinino con centocinquanta cavalli, diretto in Romagna; l'anno seguente arriveranno tremila fanti e cavalieri al comando di Francesco Sforza, in lotta con Niccolò Fortebracci, e notevoli danni provocheranno agli abitanti. Successivamente si aggiungeranno i soldati di Francesco Piccinino e dell'arcivescovo di Napoli governatore di Perugia, i quali, in contrasto tra loro, transiteranno per il territorio di Fratta e apporteranno lutti e violenze. Fratta vide giungere nel suo territorio, nel 1475, una gran moltitudine di persone per una sommossa scoppiata nel territorio tifernate. Nel 1479 si riaccese violenta la lotta tra Perugia e Fiorentini ed il nostro territorio subì ingenti danni. Molti castelli vennero distrutti, gli abitanti crudelmente uccisi. Capitano dell'esercito fiorentino era Niccolò Vitelli, scomunicato dal Papa. Dal 1488, alle lotte tra popolani (raspanti) e nobili (beccherini) a Perugia se ne aggiunsero altre, coinvolte le famiglie Baglioni e Degli Oddi, con disastrose conseguenze per tutti. I Degli Oddi furono cacciati, ma tentarono di procurarsi alleati e soldati, specialmente nel Ducato di Urbino, per rientrare in città. La venuta in Italia di Carlo VIII e la politica del Papa offrirono loro l'occasione per tentare di recuperare Perugia. I luoghi di rifugio dei fuorusciti erano tre: il territorio dei duchi di Urbino, parenti di alcuni Papi, di Siena e Fratta, dove volsero inizialmente le armi i Baglioni, informati che in questa zona avevano trovato asilo i Degli Oddi. Era l’anno 1495: all'abbazia di San Salvatore di Monte Acuto (Montecorona) giunsero Guido ed Astorre Baglioni con mille fanti e duecento cavalli; si riorganizzarono in fretta, andando a piazzare le artiglierie nei pressi della chiesetta di San Pietro di Romeggio. Ai primi colpi, gli uomini del Baglioni si resero conto che i proietti facevano più danno alle case che alle mura di Fratta, essendo queste a terrapieno. D'altra parte numerose erano le sortite degli assediati che quotidianamente riuscivano a ricevere aiuti da Assisi, Urbino, Matelica, Siena, Foligno e da altre terre amiche. I Folignati, intanto, si erano fatti promotori della formazione di un esercito che, verso la fine di agosto, al comando di Niccolò e Sforza Degli Oddi, si stava dirigendo alla Fratta. I Baglioni, conosciuta l'iniziativa, abbandonarono l'assedio di Fratta e ritornarono a Perugia, inseguiti dai nemici fino a Corciano. La battaglia fu combattuta il 4 settembre 1495 con vittoria dei Baglioni. Fratta, una settimana dopo, temendo rappresaglie per aver dato ospitalità ai Degli Oddi, tornò a sottomettersi ai Perugini. Fonti: Calendario di Umbertide 2004 – Ed. Comune di Umbertide – 2004 Renato Codovini: Storia di Umbertide - Il Secolo XV. Dattiloscritto inedito, 1992 A. Guerrini: Storia della terra di Fratta ora Umbertide dalle sue origini fino all'anno 1845 - Tipografia Tiberina, Umbertide, 1883 PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA A FRATTA Arrivò nell’antico borgo fortificato nell’estate 1486 Giovanni Pico della Mirandola e Fratta: un connubio che dette risultati fecondi. Il grande umanista, originario appunto di Mirandola, in provincia di Modena, celebre per le capacità intellettuali e la prodigiosa memoria, arrivò nell'estate del 1486, spinto da un'epidemia di peste scoppiata a Perugia dove si era rifugiato in seguito alla burrascosa vicenda amorosa con la moglie di Giuliano di Mariotto de' Medici, fiorentino. II borgo fortificato di Fratta offriva garanzie di un buon isolamento sanitario dal contagio, essendo completamente circondato dalle acque ed avendo soltanto due ingressi (la porta del torrione decagonale all'inizio del ponte sul Tevere e la porta della Campana), dai quali era facile controllare ogni persona che entrasse. A Fratta trovò un ambiente sereno, tranquillo nonostante gli echi delle lotte politiche tra Perugia, il Papato, Firenze e Città di Castello. Non è fuori luogo pensare che alloggiasse in una qualche casa del Terziere Superiore, a contatto con la folta e ricca comunità israelitica locale. Opportunità unica per uno studioso di cultura e di lingua ebraica. Di pari passo, Pico migliorò le proprie conoscenze anche in aramaico ed arabo per approfondire quelli che chiamava i tesori delle letterature orientali: Zoroastro, gli Oracoli dei Maghi, gli scritti di Esra e Melchiar. Rapporti molto intensi con quel mondo, quantunque anche a Fratta spirassero i venti della crociata antisemitica promossa dal frate minore Bernardino da Feltre. Sono dello stesso periodo "Commento alla canzone d'amore" di Girolamo Benivieni, "Elogio della pace" e lettere a personaggi di chiara fama: Taddeo Ugolini, Marsilio Ficino, Domenico Benivieni. Alcune lettere scritte da Pico durante la sua permanenza a Fratta si traducono in uno spaccato della vita sociale del tempo. Intanto, completa l"'Oratio de dignitate hominis", considerata il manifesto del Rinascimento. Secondo fico, la dignità dell'uomo è nell'assoluta libertà di scelta, nell'essere aperto a qualsiasi possibilità di vita. Nessuno ha una "natura" predeterminata da leggi, stretta entro limiti precisi. Libero "fabbro" di se stesso, a differenza delle altre creature, l'uomo può scegliere tra decadere al rango dei bruti o sollevarsi al divino, attuando in sé, ancora mortale, la congiunzione del finito e dell'infinito. Concezione "rivoluzionaria", nata all'ombra della Rocca e maturata da fonti eterogenee quali Platone, Aristotele, Ermete Trismegisto, Tommaso d'Aquino, la Cabala. Poco prima della morte, avvenuta nel 1494 a soli 31 anni, Pico della Mirandola si accostò alla predicazione di Girolamo Savonarola, alla cui difesa si dedicò appassionatamente, scrivendo due opere rivolte alle autorità ecclesiastiche ed una lettera intesa a sollevare l'opinione pubblica. Tutto inutile: il 23 maggio 1498 fra' Savonarola venne condannato ed arso a Firenze, accusato di eresia. Il soggiorno di Pico a Fratta fu quindi fecondo. E c'è da essere orgogliosi che abbia scritto proprio qui il manifesto del Rinascimento e la più alta celebrazione della centralità e libertà dell'uomo nel suo rapporto con Dio. Testi presi direttamente dal volume di Pietro Vispi “Il soggiorno e l’opera di G. Pico della Mirandola ad Umbertide” Dalla prefazione (o meglio non prefazione, come la definisce l’autore Gianni Codovini) “All’Autore (e non solo) Innanzitutto un grazie per averci restituito un pagina veramente alta della nostra Fratta, nonché per averci consegnato un rigoroso esempio di ricerca storica e un coerente metodo di lavoro, che sembra derivato non solo dai suoi profondi studi teologici e giuridici, ma anche mutuato da una persona - Renato Codovini - alla quale la città di Umbertide, ed io stesso in primis, dobbiamo gratitudine e stima, tanto per il suo essere l'inarrivabile fonte archivistica locale quanto per il suo meticoloso e discreto modo di orientare giovani studiosi ed esperti ricercatori nello studio storico e documentario. Non credo di allontanarmi dal vero, o perlomeno di non far violenza alla volontà dell'Autore se affermo che, Don Pietro Vispi, con l'abituale sensibilità intellettuale che conosciamo ed apprezziamo, riconosce il debito metodologico nei confronti di Renato Codovini in quella affettuosa e bella dedica in calce al libro che, credo, tutti condividano. Nel congedarmi dall'Autore e dal Lettore, consegno una mia impressione generale che vado sempre più confermando, che è quella poi di un intellettuale a me caro, Benedetto Croce: «ogni vera storia è storia contemporanea»(1). Condizione prima ed essenziale della storia - scrive Croce - è che il fatto, che si prende a narrare, vibri nell'animo dello storico. Ne consegue che ogni storia «se è davvero storia se cioè ha un senso e non suoni come discorso a vuoto», è contemporanea, sia che prenda in esame eventi remoti sia che consideri fatti vicini o presenti. Tale la morale generale che ho rafforzato leggendo il prezioso libro di Pietro Vispi.” Umbertide, settembre 1995 Umbertide, Tishri 5756. Gianni Codovini Note: 1. Vds. B. Croce, “Teoria e Storia”; Laterza, Bari, 1976, pp. 1-5, ma anche “La storia come pensiero e azione”, Laterza, Bari; 1938, pp. 170-172. Il soggiorno a Perugia ed in Fratta “Il periodo di tempo che riguarda il soggiorno perugino e poi a Fratta è in verità molto breve, ma, se rapportato alla brevissima vita del conte, e soprattutto poi a quanto e come in questo breve lasso egli abbia prodotto, potremmo quasi dire che sia stato uno dei più importanti vissuti da Pico. Come già detto nelle brevi note biografiche, nella primavera del 1486 Pico è di ritorno da Parigi e, dopo aver sostato qualche tempo a Firenze, volendo, pare, dirigersi alla volta di Roma, allorché fu in Arezzo, il 10 di maggio, si trovò invischiato nella non chiara faccenda del rapimento di Margherita, moglie di Mariotto de' Medici. Come sappiamo, l'intervento del Magnifico mise fuori dai guai Pico, che, o per già deciso programma, o per altra ragione a noi sconosciuta, si ritira a Perugia. Nasce abbastanza spontanea la domanda: come mai Perugia? Una risposta potrebbe essere data guardando bene gli interessi di Pico contemporanei all'avvenimento. Giovanni aveva finora studiato con estrema profondità la filosofia specialmente aristotelica e averroistica, ma proprio questo studio “chiariva al Pico l'urgenza di risolvere il problema dei rapporti fra le sempre più ardite sue dottrine e la religione cattolica, quale è insegnata dalla Chiesa di Roma. Sotto l'incalzare di questo problema, anche i suoi studi orientali prendono un indirizzo nuovo. Finora sotto la guida di Elia, aveva soprattutto studiato il pensiero arabo nel suo più grande esponente: Averroè. Ora si volge verso pensatori che abbiano fatto oggetto di riflessione l'esperienza religiosa e, partito da Maimonide, si addentra nel campo del pensiero ebraico finché, affascinato dalle più esuberanti correnti mistiche, nelle immaginose interpretazioni simboliche dei testi scritturali crede di aver trovato una soluzione ai suoi problemi e una via di uscita per le sue difficoltà"(1). Così egli comincia a studiare la Cabbala(2), utilizzando questa non tanto dal punto di vista dottrinario, quanto invece come metodo esegetico scritturale. La confidenza con i testi dell'ebraismo era nata già a Padova attraverso l'iniziazione avuta dal del Medigo e continuò poi a Firenze, diventando vera attrazione, in seguito all'amicizia sorta col Mitridate; anzi, abbiamo certa notizia dell'organizzazione, proprio in casa di Pico, di convegni di ebrei per discutere i rapporti di interconnessione filosofica fra ebraismo e cristianesimo. I due maestri però non proponevano a Giovanni la stessa ottica; l'uno, Elia, israelita ortodosso, conosceva la Cabbala ma la rigettava come sapere spurio, l'altro, convertito al cristianesimo, era invece un fervente cabbalista. La differenza tra i due fu la causa di una reciproca inimicizia che durò tutta la vita; Pico comunque non interruppe i rapporti né con l'uno né con l'altro. Il giovane conte resta dunque affascinato “dalla dottrina misteriosa, che Elia e Mitridate gli espongono; con notevole spesa egli si procura quei libri che legge con indefessa fatica; il risultato di tali letture è che Pico trova addirittura nei documenti della cabbala , oltre a dottrine filosofiche degne di Pitagora e di Platone, la conferma piena dei fondamentali misteri del cristianesimo, tanto osteggiati dagli ebrei intransigenti”(3). Perugia, per quanto diremo nel capitolo seguente, era il luogo adatto ed ideale per la conoscenza e l'approfondimento dei testi cabalistici, luogo con una forte e colta comunità israelitica, centro di produzione di codici e città qualificata da uno Studio di ormai antico prestigio. Del soggiorno perugino abbiamo molte testimonianze ricavabili dagli scritti di Pico, di Elia(4), del Ficino, e proprio a Perugia Giovanni fu raggiunto da Elia del Medigo; un ricco e fecondo colloquio intercorse tra i due, ma fu presto interrotto: nel luglio a Perugia scoppia un'epidemia di peste che consiglia l'allontanamento dalla città. Il rifugio, da Pico, fu trovato in Fratta. Noi non sappiamo i motivi precisi della scelta, ma forse, proprio la presenza nel piccolo centro di una qualificata comunità ebraica, oltre il tranquillo isolamento anche sanitario, che il munito nucleo urbano poteva offrire, non dovrebbero essere stati argomenti ignorati da Pico. Va poi sottolineato un particolare che, per quanto accidentale, ci ha molto incuriosito: nell' Oratio, allorché Pico afferma che la cabbala stessa diviene strumento di confutazione per gli ebrei... “integralisti”, egli ci dice di aver convinto alla dottrina trinitaria cristiana un coltissimo israelita, esperto di cabbala, di nome Dattilo(5). Sappiamo noi per certo, e lo illustreremo nel capitoletto apposito, che di sicuro uno dei massimi esponenti della comunità ebraica perugina, originario ed abitante di Fratta, era, all'epoca di Pico, proprio un certo Dattilo di Salomone, facoltoso banchiere. È solo sicuramente una pura coincidenza, quella appena descritta, e da questa non vogliamo certamente trarre conclusioni indimostrabili; essa tuttavia è causa di legittime suggestive fantasie. Due parole vogliamo spenderle a chiusura di questa parte per dimostrare come la Fratta, nella quale Pico si trattiene, sia l'attuale Umbertide. È vera la constatazione che di “Fracta” o “Fratta” la toponomastica del perugino ne annovera più di una: Fracta Filiorum Azzonis (Collazzone), Fracta Filiorum Fusci (Castiglion Fosco), Fratta di Guido (F. Todina), Fratta Cornia (nei pressi di Lisciano Niccone), ecc., però, nessuna mai viene citata in alcun documento senza la specificazione patronimica. L'unica Fratta, per antonomasia, in quanto anche centro senza dubbio più ragguardevole degli altri, e massima fortezza perugina, è Fracta Filiorum Uberti, che nella seconda metà dell'ottocento muterà il proprio nome in quello di Umbertide. Già dal 1145, in un diploma di Eugenio III, pubblicato negli annali camaldolesi(6) - e sempre in seguito, così come del resto fa lo stesso Pico e come sempre si riscontra nella cartografia ufficiale pontificia - Fracta Filiorum Uberti viene indicata col solo termine di "Fratta" o Fracta" senza il timore di cadere in equivoci di interpretazione o di definizione toponomastica. Giunge pertanto Pico nella nostra regione, desideroso di studi, di approfondimenti personali, di serenità, in previsione del grande progetto romano. Egli trova una realtà ambientale ed umana che certamente gli aggrada e lo stimola se qui rimane fino all'immediata vigilia della, purtroppo mai sostenuta, disputa.” Pietro Vispi Note: 1. E. Garin, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Vita e Dottrina, Firenze, 1937, p. 27. 2. La Cabbala, o Cabala, significa “tradizione”, e divenne una delle componenti culturali del Rinascimento. Essa non è di facile definizione, consiste sostanzialmente in una forma di misticismo giudaico tuttora non molto studiato. Tale misticismo ebbe buona diffusione nel Rinascimento, e specialmente nel mondo cristiano fu utilizzato come metodo di esegesi biblica. La chiesa è sempre risultata diffidente nei confronti della cabbala tanto che dalla controriforma in qua essa venne vietata, così come tutti i testi di origine ebraica. 3. G. Di Napoli, op. cit., 55. 4. Cfr. Heliae Hebrei Cretensis, questio de ente et essentia et uno. Venetiis, 1546, fol. 142/r (volume contenente Super octos libros Aristotelis…, di Giovanni di Jandun) 5. Cfr. Oratio…, Trad. di E. Garin, fol. 139/r., Firenze, 1942. Foto di Fabio Mariotti Disegno di Adriano Bottaccioli Fonti: - Calendario di Umbertide 2004 – Ed. Comune di Umbertide – 2004 - Renato Codovini: Storia di Umbertide - Il Secolo XV. Dattiloscritto inedito, 1992 - Pietro Vispi: Il soggiorno e l’opera di G. Pico della Mirandola ad Umbertide – Ed. Comune di Umbertide - 1996 Disegno di A. Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004) La Rocca nel 1912 ed oggi. Nella foto più antica si può vedere il torrione laterale ancora coperto e le facciate della case diverse da oggi La zona dove si pensa esistesse la gualchiera Disegno di A. Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004) Disegno di A. Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004) 1911. Il calzolaio a Montecorona Disegno di A. Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004) Disegni di Adriano Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004) Disegno di A. Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004) Disegni di A. Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004) L'Abbazia di Montecorona La chiesa di Romeggio Disegno di A. Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004) Disegno di A. Bottaccioli (Calendario di Umbertide 2004)

The Railway Bridge over the Tiber 1900 edited by Simona Bellucci After the unification of Italy, rail projects arose in abundance, also because the construction of the national network was in full swing and all the municipalities saw in the railway connections the possibility of getting out of isolation. In 1866 a Florence-Perugia-Rome railway was inaugurated, which placed Umbria on the main railway axis. It passed from Terontola to Umbertide and Perugia. It did not last long, because as early as 1875 a railway from Terontola to Chiusi was inaugurated that cut off Perugia and Terni from the main axis. From here began the disasters for the railways of the region, because that stretch was abandoned. Alongside the main lines, the government also financed the secondary ones, which is why in 1880 a consortium was formed in Arezzo between various municipalities for the construction of an Umbrian-Arezzo railway, of which the municipality of Città di Castello was diligent advocate, a commitment that gave the hoped-for results in a short time, as already in 1886 the section of the Arezzo-Fossato di Vico Central Apennine Railway was inaugurated with a length of 133 km. The narrow gauge railway that passed through Sansepolcro, Citta 'di Castello, Umbertide, Gubbio, fulfilled an important function of connection between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic. In fact, it was connected to the line for Florence on one side and for Ancona on the other, but the winding route with considerable slopes, meant that it was not so useful. However, it continued to carry out its function until it ceased its service during the Second World War due to the damage it suffered. Railway line in Umbertide in 1901 Umbertide, however, felt the need to connect also with the most important neighboring city and capital of his province: Perugia. The municipal council wanted to commit itself to this, also because interest was growing on the part of other centers, in fact Terni also wanted to connect with Perugia. In 1899 a conference was held in Terni on the project of a railway line up to Umbertide, passing through Perugia, after which a few years later in 1911 the construction of the railway began and on 12 July 1915 the line was inaugurated. From the initial steam traction, in 1920, we moved on to electri fi cation. Umbertide was an important connection center, because there was a coincidence between trains coming from Perugia and direct or towards Arezzo or towards Ancona. Railway station railway in Umbertide in about 1910 and construction of bridges and toll booth in Montecorona in about 1935. The two railway lines passing through Umbertide, the Arezzo-Fossato di Vico line and the Umbertide-Terni line, although not particularly efficient, especially the first, nevertheless fulfilled a fundamental function of connection. He became aware of this especially in the last phase of the war period, when both interrupted the connections due to the damage caused by the bombings carried out by the Allies, in order to make the retreat of the German army more difficult and for the collection of rolling stock. by both the Germans and the Allies. The rolling stock and sleepers were used to rebuild temporary bridges, to restore the minimum necessary connections. The two lines suffered different fate after their destruction. The whole railway from Umbertide to Terni had been damaged. The first section put back into operation was the southern one to connect Perugia with Terni and only later work was resumed for the northern section, that is from Perugia to Umbertide. However, the latter reopened quite early, in 1948, and once again fulfilled its important liaison function. What remains of the railway line in the section between Gubbio and Umbertide. There are two tunnels under the current route of the Statale: proceeding from Umbertide in the direction of Gubbio, immediately after the town of Camporeggiano, the first one you meet is on the orographic right of the Assino, then crossing the river on the pipeline bridge you meet the second on the orographic left. Photos and information: Eugenio Baldinelli lawyer In addition to the workers in the workshop, the people of Umbria also boasted a high rate of employment among the traveling staff and train drivers. The railway therefore represented an important and quality source of employment in the local context, with about 150 employees. The railway also had two dormitories at the terminus of Sansepolcro and Temi for the traveling personnel, in operation since the nineties. It played an undoubtedly modern factor in an area which, isolated from the motorway network, was unable to escape from its isolation even when a late construction of the E7 motorway was prepared. The company that took care of the railways was the FAC until the war period, after the war the "MUA", then it was replaced by the "FCU", then by "BUS Italia" and now it has passed to the "Rete Ferroviaria Italiana". Today the railway network is fully back in operation after the problems on the line of the last decade. In a difficult period, many came to hypothesize the possible disposal of part of the railway structure. A young architect from Umbertide, Alessandro Venturelli, worked on his degree thesis on the possible reuse of the railway workshops with internal technical tables at the time that it was feared for its disposal: “ City Market Museum of Umbertide. Restoration and reuse of an abandoned railway area ", academic year 2012/13 at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Florence. The link refers to the thesis page. The image allows you to access the thesis with the tables that Alessandro has made available. https://www.umbertidestoria.net/tesi-di-laurea Sources: - Simona Bellucci: Umbertide in the 20th century 1943-2000, Nuova Prhomos, 2018. - https://www.trenidicarta.it/aperture.html - Umbria-Apennine Railway Photos and information - Avv. Eugenio Baldinelli - Photo: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that the further disclosure on our part favors purposes not consonant with our intentions exclusively social and cultural. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com

THE HISTORY OF THE UMBERTIDE MUNICIPAL OFFICES Curated by Fabio Mariotti The ancient municipal offices of Fratta In 1189 Fratta was subjected to the jurisdiction of Perugia and had its own magistracies. The first seat of the Municipality, from the last years of the twelfth century until at least 1381, was at the end of the current Via Alberti, in the corner building between the door and the inner door of the Campana, at the top of the Piaggiola. Subsequently the town hall moved in front of the Rocca (now Piazza Fortebracci), in the building adjacent to the current theater, set back a few meters from today. In 1435, with the suppression of the monastery of the nuns of Santa Maria di Castelvecchio which had its seat there, the Municipality appropriated some rooms of the building of the present theater where the mayor's residence was also. In 1449 in the town hall there is a "lower room", used for prisons until 1815, when they will be moved to the Rocca. The municipal council met in the "upper room". The venue, in subsequent years, will also be granted for theatrical performances. After 1500 a large wooden drawbridge anchored to iron hooks was lowered in the town square, built in the rear (west) part of the Rocca. A large sundial was placed on the facade of the town hall. In 1760 the spaces used for municipal services began to prove insufficient, but only a few years later it was possible to find a suitable location. In 1787 Cardinal Angelelli suppressed the convent of Santa Maria Nuova, at the end of the Piaggiola, and the Municipality settled in those large rooms; at the beginning in the wing towards the Tiber, then the complex was renovated in the part along the road. The schools were also located on the first floor: they will remain there until the early decades of the twentieth century. The history of the current Palazzo Comunale At the end of the seventeenth century a disordered agglomeration of huts occupied the area where the Palazzo Comunale stands today. Today's Piazza Matteotti was only a small open space and did not symbolize the center of local power, which then gravitated around the Rocca. The Marquises of Sorbello had the buildings located in the area of the current municipal residence by way of emphyteusis "up to the third generation", on the basis of a contract with the Bishop's canteen of Gubbio, owner of the buildings. On the basis of this contract, the old huts were demolished and the construction of the building began which was completed on April 29, 1720. From this date the building took the name of "Palazzo Bourbon di Sorbello" and the square in front of "Piazza del Marquis ". It consisted of three levels in addition to the ground floor. On the first, the noble residence and the reception rooms with walls and vaults decorated with frescoes, the other two floors intended for accommodation. The palace, however, was inadequate to the needs of the Bourbon Marquises who, almost certainly, never became owners of the property. When the Municipality decided to occupy that seat, in the spring of 1841, it belonged, in fact, to Domenico Mavarelli who in the meantime had bought it from the Diocese of Gubbio. Mavarelli had held the position of First Prior of Fratta between 1832 and 1853. One of his relatives, Mauro, will be the first Mayor of united Italy, in 1861, and will remain at the center of city politics until 1887. The municipal residence had moved in 1787 outside the city walls, in the suppressed female convent of Santa Maria Nuova, located in the current Via Grilli, at the end of the Piaggiola. This was undoubtedly an inadequate and unfortunate location. The search for a more suitable and central location became urgent and on 17 December 1840 the City Council officially addressed the problem of moving to another location, proposing that of the "Palazzo del Marchese", now Mavarelli. The proposal, put to a vote, was approved by a majority. . The move took place in the following March and a perpetual long lease agreement was stipulated, upon payment of an annual fee of 75 scudi to Domenico Mavarelli. The works of arrangement of the building began immediately on the various floors and as they ended the various municipal activities moved there. The municipal archive was placed on the third floor in 1843. Since then, the ancient Bourbon palace of Sorbello has housed the Municipality. Under the papal dominion, it was reserved for the Governor and his family, for the “Civil and Criminal Chancellery Offices” and for the Magistrate. On the second floor were the public schools, on the third the archives. While the upper rooms have had different arrangements over the years, the noble floor has remained unchanged over time, with a few variations that concern only the destination of the rooms. The Mayor's office and the Town Council hall have always remained in place, while that of the Giunta, around 1990, occupied the space intended for the secretariat of the mayor, leaving the traditional and historic hall, which housed the executive of the Liberation and the birth of the Republic, for meetings of the council groups and press conferences. In 1923 some internal changes were made to the building and the wooden shed that cluttered the atrium was also removed. The paintings that recall ancient characters from Umberto were also restored and it was commissioned to prof. Frenguelli the execution of the two coats of arms in travertine, Italy and Umbertide, to be walled up between the central windows on the first floor. The aerial bombardment of April 25, 1944 and subsequent ones spared this construction, which however was seriously damaged in many parts by other war events. After the war, all the rooms were repaired and the frescoed vaults on the first floor were restored at a total cost of 1,500,000 lire. Due to its degraded and dangerous conditions, on 21 September 1981 the restoration and consolidation works began which were completed on 10 November 1984, with the addition of the premises built on the ancient alley of the "Scudellari", purchased to make way for the offices for the new competences of the municipal administration. The large atrium, where the information point is located and where the offices of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and the Town Council look out, has completely frescoed vaults and on the walls a gallery of paintings representing some historical figures from Umberto I. In the Mayor's office, whose windows overlook Piazza Matteotti, you can admire some important paintings for the history of the city: "The market square" by Ernesto Freguglia dating back to 1875; a canvas depicting "San Romualdo, the Magdalene and the Virgin and Child" by an unknown artist; a drawing of Fratta seen from the north by Giovanni Santini from the first half of the 19th century. In the Giunta room, with its completely frescoed vaults, the gallery of Umbertide historical characters continues and an ancient and precious artistic ceramic heater is housed. The hall of the council groups has completely frescoed walls and vaults and is one of the most beautiful rooms in the entire Palazzo Comunale. The Town Council Hall occupies what was once the party hall, where the ancient owners used to entertain their guests. On the wall behind the counter reserved for the council, a large fresco represents the municipal coat of arms. At the top, on the side walls, there are monumental terraces. The frescoes in the municipal halls were made in 1810 by the painter Montorsi of Perugia while Biagio Advantages of Gubbio created the sculptures on the main floor in 1842. In 2016, with the municipal council led by the mayor Marco Locchi, seismic improvement and efficiency works have been started building of the municipal building, works completed in 2021 by the municipal council led by the mayor Luca Carizia. The palace is was reopened to the usability of citizens, completely renovated, in July 2021. A Town Hall, that of Umbertide, which he knew then to preserve the best of its ancient and noble history by equipping however, over the years, their offices with the most modern tools IT systems to better respond to the legitimate needs of citizens users. Sources: Historical calendar of Umbertide 2009

TERRITORY and MEZZADRIA (edited by Simona Bellucci and Francesco Deplanu) Flat land towards Montecastelli view give her hills of Spedalicchio di Umbertide: note the landscape characterized by the scattered settlement. The territory of Umbertide, like that of almost all of central Italy, was "shaped" by the very long choice of economic management of the properties that began at the end of the Middle Ages, it went into crisis after the war and ended in 1964 with the legislation that put an end to the new sharecropping contracts. Even the landscape of our area it can be defined with the terms of the rural landscape used for the whole of Europe, that is, it falls within the agricultural landscape a bocagé and does not belong to the other large category of openfields. Openfields that developed where the property came from managed directly by large landowners or jointly. In central Italy it was instead the indirect management of the land, through sharecropping, which gave rise to the division into plots and the distinction by hedges, trees and ditches, of the various plots. Plots that often went unevenly to form a farm, the economic unit of indirect land management typical of our areas. Thus from above the territory appeared completely fragmented. This subdivision, although decreased after the sixties, is also clearly visible from the satellite images that can be seen with "Google Earth": ditches, ancient oaks and other types of trees continue to be inexplicable functional elements within the fields without "seeing them. "with historical eyes. The plots of different positions and types that made up the farm they are a consequence of the need to make the family that settled there work well in several periods according to the different crops or maturation times. The economic management of the territory in an indirect form has therefore given rise to a particular rural landscape: the scattered settlement and polyculture. Particularly stable type of settlement with isolated houses in the plains and hills which today sees the replacement of the old farmhouses connected to the "Poderi" where the sharecroppers lived with houses often second property and, for 20 years and more, birth of a new economic use of the rural territory devoted to tourism. Farmhouses, country houses, holiday homes with swimming pools, often in the area of the old "ara", enrich our hills and flat areas. Polyculture was clearly visible in the so-called "Alberata", that is, in the mixed cultivation of vines alternating with cereals and in the small crops around the farmhouses. What is sharecropping The sharecropping is an agrarian contract under which the agricultural exercise was carried out on a farm. On the basis of the sharecropping agreement, a subject (grantor), holder of the right to enjoy a rustic land, associated himself with another subject (sharecropper), on his own and as head of a farmhouse for the cultivation of the land and the exercise of related activities, in order to divide the products and profits in half. In particular, the grantor conferred the enjoyment of the farm, while the sharecropper lent his own work and that of the farmhouse, with the obligation to reside permanently on the farm. On the day of San Martino, on the decision of the "owner", the change of farmhouse could take place based on the real ability of a "family", also for this patriarchal and numerous one, to make the "farm" profitable in an adequate manner. The first forms of sharecropping were born around the year one thousand but had a rapid growth in the fourteenth century. starting from the areas of the municipal counties. This form of contract dominated in our areas until the twentieth century, when after the war there was a rapid decline in sharecropping not only due to the push towards the direct cultivation of the farms, which took the form of the law n. 756 of 1964, but also due to the growing refusal of farmers to reside in old farmhouses, often without electricity and running water. Plain of the Tiber at the crossroads of the road to the Umbertide cemetery in the 1960s: you can see the use of the rural territory with the promiscuous culture of the vine, probably with field maples as a support, pruned like a candelabra, a useful form also for collecting vine shoots at the time of pruning and wood collected to dry. Plain of the Tiber at the crossroads of the road to the Umbertide cemetery in 2019, unfortunately in summer, among the leaves of the "downy oaks" you can see the complete disappearance of the arborata with the promiscuous culture of the vine; the division with the ditches of the plots remains. The same plain of the Tiber at the crossroads of the road to the Umbertide cemetery in the IGM "Tablets" with relief carried out in 1941, where you can see the cemetery on the right in the middle of the image and the land completely cultivated with the promiscuous culture of the vine: in fact it can be seen how the plots are characterized by "circles" to indicate the presence of a crop, with a sort of wavy line inside with shadow that characterizes the type of crop of the plots themselves, or the symbol of the vine. The "Tablet" thus represents the dominant presence of the arborata with the promiscuous culture of the vine. The Mezzadria in Umbertide Simona Bellucci who dealt with the sharecropping system and the relations between the two worlds of "owners" and "workers" writes about it in its " The incomplete modernization. Umbertide farmers and owners between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries ": " The form of land management determines the type of farmer prevalent in Umbertide, the sharecroppers, who are flanked by the laborers:" The sharecropping contract applies everywhere, There is a good number of laborers. "The sources never mention the small owners direct farmers because in the Municipality we find only medium and large land ownership. Small peasant property is scarcely present in all of Umbria, limited to certain Apennine areas, only "in the immediate post-war period there is a whole movement for the formation of small peasant speculative of the sharp rise in land and without adequate support for the necessary transformations and the exercise of the activity itself, it was quickly wrecked around 1930, after which it quickly returned to the pre-war structure. "" The large owners adopt the sharecropping management system, long-standing contract, dating back to the Middle Ages, which generally provides for the division of products in half, due to its characteristics of a corporate pact particularly suitable for maintaining social peace. In Umbria, however, there are clear signs of a worsening of the sharecropping contract at the end of the nineteenth century due to a relationship that becomes more unfavorable to workers due to excess labor. However, sharecropping is not a real corporate pact, because the settler suffers injuries to his individual freedoms, from those concerning marriage, to education, for which he must ask for and obtain the master's consent. The contracts, all disadvantageous, also provide for a series of obligations for the sharecropper, in fact he is subject to additional donations of poultry and eggs on certain festive occasions such as Easter and Christmas, he must also bear part of the land tax, the wife of the settler, in addition, she has to do laundry for the owner's family. The sharecropping contract has different clauses from area to area, in Umbertide «in principle the division of the products takes place in half; only for grapes to a third in favor of the owner ». In the general condition of poverty there are, however, sharecroppers who live in a better way than others, they are those who cultivate farms in the plains, more fertile than those of hills or mountains and where the number of arms is in balance with the extension of the earth. ". Consequences of indirect management Over time, this type of management of agricultural property also imposed a cultivation method: polyculture, exemplified in our area by the mixed cultivation of the vine mixed with cereals but also by the fruit and walnut trees in front of the house. It characterized the typology of human settlement in the Umbrian-Tuscan-Emilian countryside, that is the scattered settlement, or our "landscape" with our hamlets called "Ca '" or "Cai", the water mills, the country churches with their viability necessary for a world of faithful who moved on foot, and microtoponyms still alive in those who frequent the countryside. The characteristic of polyculture was combined with the need to produce cereals and grapevines taking the form of the “mixed cultivation of the vine”: that is, parts of a cereal field divided by rows of vines. Often "married" to trees, to favor their growth. In Umbria, especially in the south, usually the vine was associated with maple, even today, which has been replaced by concrete poles, the maple is visible in our countryside as a "residue" of the ancient way of farming. For aesthetic / affective reasons, the landscape has continued to maintain "survivals" that are no longer functional to the economic context that had generated them as in the residues of "promiscuous culture" that are sporadically encountered in the countryside. An example of "survival" can be seen just beyond the junction of the road that climbs to the cemetery in the direction of Montone, near the junction for S. Lorenzo. The end of Sharecropping the law N ° 756 of 1964 discouraged the stipulation of these contracts then prohibiting the establishment of new ones starting from September 1974, while acknowledging those already existing. The law No. 203 of 1982 then imposed the termination of sharecropping or middle-range contracts with their conversion into rental contracts. Rural architecture and appliances There is a commendable text, published by the Umbria Region and written by the professors, Melelli, Fatichenti of the University of Perugia that can guide us to re-read the historical stratification of the landscape both in terms of rural architecture and the appurtenances and open spaces of our Region and also of our Valley: Alberto Melelli Fabio Fatichenti Massimo Sargolini. “ Architecture and Rural Landscape in Umbria. Tradition and contemporaneity. "Umbria Region, Quattroemme Srl. But there are many human elements that are found in the apparently natural agricultural landscape, the fruit instead of one historical economic stratification that has remained stable for hundreds of years and then has changed rapidly, in the text indicated by prof. Fatichenti indicates in fact, as "historical assets" a series of elements: “ Minor elements of religious architecture (chapels, oratories, farm churches, country cemeteries, road crosses, niches or votive plaques, tabernacles, newsstands); - service goods (public springs and wash houses, taverns, springs, aqueducts, masonry huts, stone boundary stones); - appurtenances to buildings (farmyards in beaten or paved earth, wells or cisterns with or without cover, wash houses, fertilizers, ovens, dryers, barns, sheepfolds); - agricultural arrangements (terracing and embankments, dry stone walls); - hydraulic arrangements (embankments, canals, dams). " It must be said that in our area, unlike the rest of Umbria, the "barns" were not used, the hay was instead collected and left to dry outdoors, in the large "sheaf" near the threshing floor, a space that was also the small "square" of the farm house or of the groups of neighboring houses. Harvest time, Montecorona area, 1928 The rural house The rural house is an expression of the needs of the production system in which it is located. Its housing structure, the new parts that are built and the annexes are all functional to that economic cell of the exploitation of the property in an indirect form which is the appoderamento, or rather the farm with the typical farmhouse of sharecropping. The space in front of the house is used for the arrangement of agricultural work; new buildings, if they exist, are an expression of production needs, stables, dryers, any barns, even the external bathrooms are usually built in the same area where the excrements of animals taken from the stables for fertilization are kept. Usually the house has two floors, with an external staircase that ends in our areas with a small roof, in the basement often hens or rabbits were placed; downstairs there is the stable for the animals, now rearranged in beautiful halls; upstairs, with an internal hatch to go up and down with a wooden staircase for the winter, there was space for the settlers. The second floor always had a large fireplace in the central room which had to be enough to heat all the rooms, where we all ate together. Especially in the hills the external structure of the rural house appears from far away in harmony with the colors of the surrounding nature; this happened unintentionally because the building materials were being taken from the surrounding terrain. This last geological typology is clearly visible on the roads leading to Pietralunga or Gubbio with the yellow "sandstone" sections that protrude with "teeth" alternating with gray "marls"; marls also present as on some badlands forms visible going up from Umbertide towards the Monte Acuto area. The great majority of our rural houses have the use of marly stones, more gray, or sandstone, of a browning yellow, leaving the external appearance of the houses in harmony with the surrounding hills. The fortress of Umbertide itself is built from stones of this type and for the finishing of the portals and the first step is also the "Collegiate". From a geological point of view, the area of the Municipality of Umbertide insists on fluvial-lacustrine sedimentary deposits of the alluvial plain together with a Miocene sedimentation area, of marly-arenaceous type, which characterizes the high hill between the Tiber and the limestone ridge of the Umbrian-Marche Apennines. These geological structures they are interrupted by some calcareous rocky outcrops of more ancient formation which occupy a limited area of their own near Monte Acuto. Just look at the rural houses once you enter the Gubbio plain to notice of the difference with those of our area, and of how the limestone quarries have the choice of the construction material of the houses. The housing structures closest to Umbertide have the most frequent use of bricks deriving from clay. Stratification of architectural elements Let's have two here examples of historical stratification in the still visible rural buildings, an older one, the dovecote tower, and one much closer to us, but now already a "historical" stratification, or rather the "dryers" of tobaccos. Among the elements that the sharecropping system has left in our rural landscape architecture are the dovecote (or palombine) towers . Example of an Umbrian rural house rebuilt maintaining the previous characteristics, including the "dovecote tower" and with original materials, with the ancient housing structure on the upper floor with the old "shed" integrated, however, in the roof. "Buzzacchero" area. Photo 1. Dovecote tower in the countryside, located on the banks of the "Assino" stream. Photo n. 2. Dovecote tower in the ancient countryside, located towards the Polgeto road. Photo n. 3 Probable dovecote tower on the border between the urban area and the old one countryside, placed in front of the walls of Fratta. Other sources would be needed to be sure, but the four-storey height, the "roost" between the third and fourth floors suggest this type of architecture. They seem to have arisen earlier than the rest of the buildings and although it is thought that the use of buildings from urban towers has extended, they have become characteristic of the rural environment. They wore various advantages advantages in addition to the meat of the pigeons, there was the fact of eliminating the seeds of weeds from the farmyard to the fields and providing a precious fertilizer for the cultivation of hemp and flax, but in any case it was also used to fertilize olive groves and vineyards. They could have three, four or five floors (those born with defensive purposes) but usually the last level, still reachable from the inside or with an external ladder, consisted of the real diver. Levels could be used for different purposes. On its walls often numerous niches were opened with nest functions, they were plastered and made very smooth so as to prevent weasels, stone martens and other predators from climbing up and killing pigeons. "Outside there were the entrance holes for the doves, and the rose window for the ventilation of the compartment, both overlooking the" roost "(or" walk ") which served both as a shelf for the dove but also as a further obstacle to predatory animals. " Today many of these towers in our territory are used for tourism purposes and perform an attractive function for tourism. The breeding of doves or pigeons was an activity of breeding present well centuries before the construction of the dovecote towers in the area, just think that in the "Statutes of Fratta of 1535" we read a specific rule: " DELI PIGLANTI LE COLOMBE DOMESTICHE or DE COLOMBAJO ". The Statutes deal with "the taking of domestic doves ", specifying the penalty for those who have stolen or killed them: "... X de dinars worth of money for everyone who steals in any way, palomba de palomboro or domesticho or casalengho ". The characteristic tower probably acquired an aesthetic value and in the twentieth century also the rural houses that did not use them for such purposes they equipped themselves with towers, as reported by prof. Fatichenti for the Spoleto in “Architecture and Rural Landscape in Umbria. Tradition and contemporaneity. ". Our country lacks studies on this aspect and so we can hypothesize that the numerous turrets that can be seen which however have a four-pitched roof were built for aesthetic or "rank" reasons. We recommend reading the Degree Thesis on the "dovecote towers" of our territory created in 1990-91 by Professor Anna Maria Boldrini who kindly allowed us to show it on this page. Photo 1. Probably a turret built in ememulation of the "dovecote tower" for the fact that it is different type of cover (four sides). "Poste" area. Photo 2. Probably a turret built in ememulation of the "dovecote tower" for the fact that it is different type of cover (four sides). "Station" area. Photo n. 3 Probable tower built in ememulation of the "dovecote tower" for the fact that it is different type of cover (four sides). "Buzzacchero" area. Among the recent constructions that the introduction of a new culture has left over time there are the tobacco "dryers" , rather tall buildings with many chimneys, today sometimes replaced by "dormers" when the buildings were reused as homes. These annexes next to or directly separated from the farmhouse were connected to the cultivation of tobacco by carrying out the drying time here with the leaves strung on strings, placed on poles which were then raised to a considerable height. Tobacco production allowed the birth of a thriving manufacture. just think that in 1946 the "Tabacchi plant in Umbertide, employed 230 people, 180 women. The total rose to 315 people in 1951. Subsequently the shift to cooperative and mechanized (bulk-curing) forms of production first concentrated drying in large buildings and then replaced it with machinery. Thus almost all of the "dryers" lost their function. A similar fate also for the large buildings such as those of the FAT company in Città di Castello which today are used in a museum key for the works of Alberto Burri after the relocation to Regnano. Tobacco cultivation that contributed also to homogenize the use of agricultural land from the early 1900s to the seventies in our flat and low hill areas, contributing to the elimination of the "tree" with the promiscuous culture of the vine. 1/1 Figs. 1-4: we show here some of the many characteristic dryers of the whole upper Tiberina Valley, here photos starting from the border with the Municipality of Montone at Tenute di Montecorona. Buildings of this type can be seen almost in every area of the municipality. We present here in .pdf a reconstruction of the agricultural use of Tobacco made by Prof. Simona Bellucci who kindly grants us from her work: “ Tobacco and tobacconists. The tobacco plant in the economy and society of Umbertide ", Crace / Fondazione Museo Storico Scientifico del Tabacco, Città di Castello 2009, pp. 58-61. Umbertide and his countryside, year 1933. In the lower left corner it is clearly visible the mixed cultivation of vines on the right bank of the Tiber. To deepen the relationship between rural architecture and sharecropping in our territory, we refer you to the page of the "Graduation theses" where there is the beautiful and accurate work of Professor Anna Maria Boldrini: " Rural architecture in the upper Tiber Valley: Umbertide in the century XVI ". Clicking on the image below opens the complete work directly. We conclude by returning to the present: today between Farmhouses, Guest Houses, Bed and Breakfasts, Holiday Homes, etc. present in the Municipality of Umbertide in the "Alta Umbria" site are counted 96 accommodation facilities ... almost all of them belong to that agricultural system that it has today changed economic function. Facilities that usually must to the scattered settlement born with the appoderamento their existence. Sources: - Alberto Melelli Fabio Fatichenti Massimo Sargolini. “ Architecture and Rural Landscape in Umbria. Tradition and contemporaneity . " Umbria Region, 2010, Quattroemme Srl. We present some elements in summary - http://www.treccani.it/encyclopedia/mezzadria_%28Dtionary-di-Storia%29/ - IGMI Tablet, Series M 891, Edition 3, Sheet, NICCONE, 122, I, NO - http://umbertide.infoaltaumbria.it/Ricettivita/Dove_Dormire.aspx - Simona Bellucci, " The incomplete modernization. Umbertide peasants and owners between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries ". Edimond, Città di Castello 2004, pp. 18-20. - Simona Bellucci, “ Tobacco and tobacconists. The tobacco plant in the economy and society of Umbertide ", Crace / Fondazione Museo Storico Scientifico del Tabacco, Città di Castello 2009, pp. 58-61. - Simona Bellucci, Umbertide in the 20th century: 1943-2000, Nuova Prhomos Editions, 2018. - Photo: Francesco Deplanu. - Photo: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that the further disclosure on our part favors purposes not consonant with our intentions exclusively social and cultural. Henri Desplanques, Campagnes Ombriennes, 1969 “ A complex historical stratigraphy is the basis of rural landscapes. . .. " Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com

Luca Signorelli e la Deposizione della Croce Proponiamo dalla Tesi di Laurea della professoressa Ricci Vitiani Valentina su “LA COMMITTENZA DI LUCA SIGNORELLI IN UMBRIA: NUOVE INDAGINI E RICERCHE”, un sunto che inquadra la presenza e l’attività del pittore nelle nostre zone. The Deposition of the Cross Luca Signorelli and the Deposition of the Cross We propose from the Degree Thesis of Professor Ricci Vitiani Valentina on " THE COMMITTEE OF LUCA SIGNORELLI IN UMBRIA: NEW INVESTIGATIONS AND RESEARCH " , a summary of the initial setting that frames the presence and activity of the painter in our areas and we report in full the section on our" Deposition of the Cross ". The section with the explanatory documents and the bibliography used is reproduced here in its entirety. The complete degree thesis can be consulted in this section (under construction). Introduzione La Deposizione della Croce Appendice Documentaria Bibliografia Photo by Fabio Mariotti: The Deposition of the Cross by Luca Signorelli (edited by Valentina Ricci Vitiani) Introduction Luca Signorelli's experience in Florence suffered an abrupt interruption in 1492, with the death of the Magnifico. Moving away from the Tuscan capital, the painter will find himself busy in the suburbs, but always in a receptive and open environment and, moreover, historically in constant contact with the most advanced Medici court to which he had often shown loyalty and offered his help. Luca Signorelli's artistic activity in the Upper Tiber Valley was remarkable: the sources attest to the presence of numerous altarpieces licensed by the Cortonese, but also the private buildings housed the artist's works. In the Upper Tiber Valley the painter's production was concentrated in particular in Città di Castello, of which the artist in 1488 became an honorary citizen. In Città di Castello the copious activity of the Cortonese was therefore linked to the relations with the illustrious Vitelli family, with whom the painter played the role of true court artist. In the city the painter was already active starting from 1474, even if most of the works can be dated between 1493 and 1498. Subsequently, when the pictorial geography of the artist was reduced to the peripheral environments of the Cortona area, his works reached Morra, Montone, Umbertide. Perhaps the fame of the painter who worked in Montone gave the artist the allocation of the Deposition from the Cross by the Confraternity of S. Croce di Fratta, today's Umbertide: various considerations lead to a similar reflection, including the geographical proximity between the two centers and the chronological one of the execution of the two altarpieces. For Umbertide 's table, the investigation contributed effectively to clarify aspects that in the past, due to an incorrect interpretation of the known documents, have been misunderstood. In particular, it was possible to trace a new documentary source in the State Archives of Perugia, the first in chronological order concerning the project of the clients to entrust the execution of the panel to the Cortonese. It is a notarial deed stipulated on July 8, 1515 by the same Confraternity which contains the appointment of the prosecutors Orsino di Giovanni and Giacomo di Arcangelo, in charge of reaching agreements and obligations with master Luca, painter of Cortona and receiving promises from him " pro pingendo per ipsum unam tabulam sive cunam “, the document preceding the deed of assignment of the painting, unfortunately not yet found. The Perugian document was precious in correcting certain inaccurate information that in the past had been wanted to be read in some notarial papers of the time preserved in the Municipal Archives of Umbertide and known since the nineteenth century due to the transcription made by Gualandi. On the basis of incorrect interpretations of much of the material that has come to light, scholars have assumed for the Deposition the existence of a coping made by Luca Signorelli at the end of the large panel. In truth this part of the painting, theoretically a Pietà, is not documented, since the terms contained in the documents and which should have referred to this, have been corrected in their incorrect transcription and interpretation. IS It was also interesting to dwell on the references of the Umbertidese table to the local literature of the time, in particular with regard to the texts of the sacred representations set up by the disciplines of the Confraternity of Santa Croce centered on the theme of the Passion: it is above all with a text dating back to 1496 that the excited and theatrical Deposition from the Cross shows significant adherence in several details. Introduzione La Deposizione della Croce Appendice Documentaria Bibliografia THE CUSTOMER OF LUCA SIGNORELLI IN UMBRIA: NEW INVESTIGATIONS AND RESEARCH from Valentina Ricci Vitiani Deposition from the cross 1517 Umbertide, Museum of Santa Croce, Oil on board, cm. 198 x 147, main table; 17.5 x 184 cm, predella Signed and dated on the predella: LVCAS SIGNORELLVS DE CORTONA PICTOR PINGEBAT / MD / .XVI Inscription on the cross: INRI Provenance: Umbertide, church of Santa Croce. The episode in the foreground in the altarpiece is that of the Deposition from the Cross of the body of Christ: two men, on two stairs, carefully lower Him from the Wood; at the foot is the unconscious Virgin, the body dropped on the knees of the pious woman. They assist to episode la Magdalene, holding out her hand to collect the blood that still flows from the dead body of Christ, Mary of Cleopes and Salome; the female character in the foreground on the left, dressed in precious robes, was identified by Daniel Estivill with a symbolic figure "which could represent the Holy Church, in an attitude of contemplation before the mystery of the passion of the Son of God made man": for the scholar, the colors of her garments could allude to specific virtues, white to the purity of faith, red to charity, green to hope, virtues that "define the ideal of the life of the Church", while the character's halo it would indicate the note of holiness. In reality, such an interpretation does not seem too convincing; more likely the hypothesis that it could be St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, to whom we owe the discovery of the relic of the Holy Cross. In the group under the Cross there are also Cassius and St. John the Evangelist. Behind the main scene, in the landscape in the background, the episodes are depicted they precede and follow the Deposition: on the left the three crosses of Christ and the two thieves, on the right the stiffened body of the Savior is carried inside the tomb. The painter's signature can be seen in the small pillar that delimits the panel on the right; but the cryptography that appears on the sleeve of the female character on the left of the table is also interesting: one can in fact decipher a date, 1516, and some letters, certainly an L and a V. The predella, divided into three parts, contains five different stories: The defeat of Maxentius with the army of Constantine chasing the enemy; The invention of the Cross in the presence of the Empress Helen and the bishop of Jerusalem Maccarius, The miracle of the young man resurrected from contact with Wood and, more to the right, S. Elena crossing the river with the retinue of her ladies; The entry of the relic into Jerusalem. The colors are bright, metallic, the table is full of characters, tragedians with excited movements, whose gestures they produce a pressing and nervous rhythm: each expression is exasperated as in the representation of a drama on stage. The table is located behind the main altar of the church of Santa Croce in Umbertide (PG), now used as a museum. The Central Archives of Rome preserves some documents dating back to the last years of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the following century that testify to the will and the attempts by the Congregation of Charity of Rome, at the time owner of the Deposition, to sell the painting: it is the correspondence of the Prefect of Perugia, the National Gallery of Rome, the Ministry of Education in an attempt to prevent the Congregation from l alienation of the table, saved from the legislation of the time after having already risked migration in the period of the French requisitions. Until 1974 the painting therefore remained in its original location, to then be transported to the meeting room of the Civil Hospital of Umbertide, where it remained there for nine years in precarious conditions of conservation, until, in April 1983, it was sent to the Institute of Restoration of Rome. At the restoration, carried out after a long time, namely in the years 1993-1996, followed by the museumization of the table, placed again in its original location behind the main altar of the Church of Santa Croce. The preparatory drawing of the figure of Christ is kept in the Lugt collection in Paris (2538). The chronology of the table is certain: from the documents that I will later analyze in the study of the genesis of the work and its commission, we know that the table was completed around the middle of 1516. As can be seen from various documents, the panel was commissioned to Luca Signorelli by the Confraternity of Santa Croce di Fratta (ancient name of Umbertide), probably born between the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century; the origin of the congregation is to be traced back to the spread, in the Perugian territory, of the related disciplinary movement to the proselytism of Raniero Fasani, a pious layman who in 1260 preached the expiation of sins through the practice of flagellation as a re-enactment of the Passion of Christ. It is probable that the Confraternity of S. Croce originated from one of these groups of flagellants, whose existence in Fratta is documented since the beginning of the fourteenth century with a privilege granted by Pietro di Rosso Gabrielli in 1337, in which there is talk of an indulgence of forty days for all those who had helped through alms the 'completion of the works for the construction of a hospital, run by the congregation itself. The Confraternity owned in Fratta and in the surrounding territories of various immovable structures, of a church and of the hospital mentioned above. The institution was regulated by a Statute that within certain limits it could be modified by the confreres if there had been a reason; the oldest copy of the Statute of the Confraternity that has come down to us dates back to 1567 and contains the regulation of all those practices to which the institute was dedicated. In addition to being a strong point of reference for the spirituality of the time, in the sixteenth century the brotherhood certainly had to represent a political, economic and social center of considerable importance. From the Statute we know what were the main tasks performed by this: the company took care of the hospital, welcoming the poor, distributing alms, providing gifts to girls from less well-off families and burying the dead when the latter could not provide for the transport of the deceased. Some news about the brotherhood and its history are given to us by Francesco Mavarelli in his Historical news and praise from the company of disciplines of Santa Maria Nuova and of Santa Croce in the Land of Fratta (Umbertide). From his studies we learn that the first name adopted by the congregation was that of S. Maria Nuova, from the small church where the brothers gathered to devote themselves to religious activities and the recitation of lauds. The church, built around the middle of the 13th century in the lower village of Fratta, was initially officiated by Augustinian monks; the position was compliant to the charitable activity of the order, always ready to offer his availability to travelers who, caught by the night, were forced to stay out of the city. However the relations between the Disciplinati of our Confraternity and the monks soon had to loosen, if already from 1341 the church was officiated by ecclesiastics of various religious orders or directly by the chaplain of the company; from the 16th century onwards, the carrying out of the sacred rites belonged to the friars of the adjacent Franciscan community and later to a chaplain compensated with 30 scudi who also had the task of teaching the young boys of the town. As early as 1338 the name of Santa Croce appears: in that year an indulgence of 40 days was granted to those who had visited the church and the hospital during certain days, including that of the dedication to Santa Croce: in a brief issued by the bishop of Gubbio the company is indicated as the Fraternity of the Disciplinati of S. Maria Nova and S. Croce. Canon Guerrini and Professor Lupattelli affirm that the Confraternity officially assumed the name of Compagnia di S. Croce in 1566, the year in which it joined the company of S. Girolamo della Carità in Rome. In the period from 1798 to 1814, i.e. in the years of the French occupation, the company will change its name to that of Compagnia del Sacramento in S. Croce to avoid deletion. From the analysis of the documents it is clear that the original church in which the brothers gathered must have measured about one third of the current one, equipped with a portico renovated in the year 1536 and demolished in 1556, when there was a first extension, for the which it was necessary to appropriate a wall belonging to the Franciscans. In 1606 there was a second extension, to carry out which permission was asked by the Confraternity to occupy the land of the Friars' lawn, the current Piazza San Francesco. The last works between the years 1635-1647: the building will take its present form. Of the relationships that existed between the painter and his clients we have in this case an interesting documentation, mostly contained in an important register of the sixteenth century in which the Confraternity noted all the income and expenses made in the period that interests us. Also refer to the Confraternity, to Luca Signorelli and to the table of the Deposition by Umbertide, some documents preserved in the State Archives of Perugia and in the Notarial Archives of Umbertide, some of which have remained unknown until now. In Perugia there is a previously unpublished act, drawn up by Berardino di Nicola di Costanzo di Fratta, with which the Confraternity elects Ursino di ser Giovanni and Iacopo Arcangeli procuratori "ad pasciendum et patos faciendum et obligationes et ad promittendum nomine dicte fraternitatis, obligandum et promissiones recipiendum to prefate magisterium Luca pro pingendo per ipsum unam tabulam sive cunam ad predictum promissionis instrumentum vel instrumenta locationis ad pingendum conferendum, celebrandum, cum pleno et sufficient mandate ... “. This is the first document drawn up for the Confraternity that mentions the panel, and the name of the painter who would soon start the work appears: it is July 8, 1515. The notarial deed, as well as for its importance of its content, confirms the correction of old transcriptions of documents already known but published according to a paleographic interpretation not too correct in some significant points of the text, interpretations which, we will see later, have contributed up to now to feed hypotheses for the which in fact documentary evidence is instead non-existent, or at least unknown: all this has been verified through a more correct transcription of clearly legible terms in the original Perugian text and which also recur in some subsequent documents, preserved in the Notarial Archives of Umbertide, below. Unfortunately it was not possible to trace the deed containing the agreement between the two parties regarding the realization of the table. However, we have the aforementioned series of records contained in the company's accounts, which informs us of the relationship between the painter and his clients. From the documents we know that in the years in which Signorelli is called to create the panel, the depositary of the Confraternity was the Censorium of Ser Giovanni: his is the task of noting the records of the payments made by the company to the painter. The first note found in the aforementioned Book of income and expenses of the Confraternity of S. Croce, containing the payments made to the Cortonese, refers to the expenses incurred to pay the notary who signed the contract; in fact, the Censorium of Ser John writes: - “Item, to the notary who made the contract of the table …… fio 0-4-0. " From the registration we know that the notary who drew up the commission of the table, whose identity is unfortunately unknown, was paid with four baiocchi. Further below we read: - “Item, I lent to the Fraternita doi Ducati which I paid to the pentor . . Fior. 3-36-0 ": not having cash in hand, the Confraternity borrowed two ducats from the depositary Censorio di ser John; it is the first deposit received by Luca Signorelli. So in the register we find written: - “To Renzo who is cum Berardino per mandallo cum a letter to Mastro Luca . Fio. 0-24-0 ": for the first time the name of Luca appears among the recordings of the book; in all probability he was in Cortona, considering the consistency of the expense made by the Confraternity to send to the painter the messenger with the letter. Subsequent registrations referable to Luca Signorelli and to table inform: - “Item for them…. to tan them for the pentor . . Fio. 0-7-0 " (unfortunately the missing term is indecipherable); - “Item in una soma de lengnie for the pentor . . Fio 0-2-6 "; - “Straw items and tallow candles for the pentor . . Fio.0-4-0 "; Wood, straw and sevo candles are bought for the painter who was working on the table; probably Luca Signorelli is in Umbertide; - “To mastro Luca pentore one florins Fior.1-0-0 "; it is obviously a deposit paid to the Cortonese; - “items for the boards for the capsa for the table Flower. 1-0-0 "; it is the implementation of the original frame of the table. The term capsa, previously transcribed as hood, with an incomprehensible meaning, is instead to be understood, according to a more correct transcription, as the containment apparatus of the painting. At this point there are two notarial deeds drawn up by two different notaries from Fratta, Berardino di Nicola di Costanzo and Marino Spunta: in their documents we read that the Confraternity, in need of money, sells some parts of land owned by him: June 26, 1516 it is sold to Bartolomeo Christians “Eminas duas […] of a tenimento terre posite in tenimento dicti castri Fratte in vocabulo Ranco Giorgio […] et plus et minus […] ut ascendant ad valorem florenorum quadraginta“; on the 26th day of the following month, the Confraternity sells an additional piece of land to Bartolomeo himself, “In the curia castri Montonis in Faldo vocabulo of the value this time of XX florins, money that “idem Ursinus prior habuit in cash with recourse magistro Luce de Cortonio pictori pro pictura tabule picte in altars Sante Crucis, videlicet pro rata. " So it is the following annotation of the aforementioned Book of entries and exits: - “To mastro Luca on the 29th of July in 1516 by reason of the table Fio. 70-0-0. " It is the registration of a new payment to Luca Signorelli, very substantial: the table must now have been finished. In the register follow the following notes: - “Item for tip to the boys of mastro Luca . . . Flor. 0-72-0 "; after paying the painter, the boys are also offered their tip; - “Item to Mastro Goro who put on the table . . Flower. 0-67-0. “; more or less at the end of July 1516, the panel is placed in the location for which it was intended, that is, behind the main altar of the church. - “To mastro Luca and for him to Pietro Paolo di Renzo . . Flower. 1-0-0. ". We are now the following year, 1517, and the payments to the painter continue: - “To mastro Lucha for the table… fio. 8-0-0 ". Other expenses then follow: - “In gold and glue for piety . . Flower. 0-35-6 "; It is the registration relating to the expense made by the Confraternity for the purchase of material to be used in the gilding of the original frame. From 1527 is a deed drawn up by the notary Marino Spunta di Fratta, with which the Confraternity returns thirty florins to Meo - Bartolomeo - Cristiani, "quos idem Meus mutuaverat gratia et amore dicte fraternitati et hominibus ipsius pro solvendo mercedem his magister Luce de Cortonio pictori pro pictura quam fecerat de tabula seu cuna capelle et fraternitatis Sancte Crucis in ecclesia predicta existente in maiori altars “. A different reading of the expression "seu cuna", erroneously transcribed "seu top", has contributed, as we shall see, to believe the hypothesis that the painter had created for the Confraternity, in addition to the panel with the Deposition, also a sort of its completion, a lunette with the Pietà; in reality, however, the discovery of the document of Perugia and above all the new paleographic investigation made it possible to correct the transcriptions of the documents relating to the table in some points, reaching conclusions contrary to those traditionally sustained: the expression "seu cuna" it appears already in the first document mentioned, where the two terms are really clearly legible, and refers to the entire altarpiece. The panel was placed on the wall of the main altar of the original church of Santa Croce. The elaborate intaglio work that still frames the table today was made in 1612, well suited to the sumptuous and rich taste of that era: it is the work of Giampietro Zuccari of S. Angelo in Vado, as the archival sources recall. As I mentioned, an incorrect interpretation of the sources gave rise to the idea that in addition to the realization of the table with the Deposition, a lunette with a Pietà was also created by Signorelli to be placed on the table. The first to support such a hypothesis was Guardabassi, who in his manuscript preserved in the Augusta Library in Perugia, speaking of the panel, hypothesizes its completion, consisting precisely in a lunette with the Pietà. The scholar derives the idea from the shape of the painting, almost square, and above all from that annotation contained in the mentioned Book of income and expenses, in which the expenditure of 35 soldi and 6 denari for gold and glue is noted " for the Pietà “. Girolamo Mancini was of the same opinion. The opinion of the canon Antonio Guerrini disagrees, and in his History of the land of Fratta writes: “But which Pietà? if it was restored in 1517, when in 1616 our distinguished artists Flori and Sermigni replaced in that altar a stone frame the grandiose exhibition of carved and gilded wood, which still exists today, they would certainly have in their wisdom, in their love for religiously respected (however reduced) art that interesting part of our classic painting! " The existence of the hypothetical completion lunette is also spoken of in the most recent studies, of a local nature, carried out on ours, to which I have now often referred. The new interpretation and transcription of the archival sources and the set of information derived from the new documents found, however, leads us to exclude the existence of the hypothetical coping, or at least to ascertain that in reality there is no reference to this in the sources mentioned. The use of the term Pietà refers to the content of the table, which depicts the Crucifixion of Christ and the robbers, the Deposition, the Lamentation or Pietà and the Transport of Christ's body to the Sepulcher. Pietà is the term used to indicate the large table and its contents in the 16th century. The theatrical character of the picture, which I have already highlighted, seems to recall the narrations staged by the various religious congregations of the time, including the Confraternity of Santa Croce. That of the Sacred Representations was a typical activity of these groups of flagellants, from their origins. That this type of sacred theater was also practiced by the Confraternity of Santa Croce di Fratta are proof of some texts of religious content handed down in writing and which were recited by the confreres on particular occasions and holidays, often with the aid of special scenographies. In an inventory of the company drawn up in 1341 it appears that "unum librum cartarem bombicinarum in quo sunt laudes" was ordered, unfortunately not received: the components of the collection focused on the theme of the Passion of Christ, subject of the large table ed expression of the penitent devotional spirit of the Disciplined. Some religious compositions were recited in procession. More often they were staged in the oratory; on these occasions some scenic devices were used, especially when the laude with univocal chant was replaced by the one with alternate chant and the narration by the dialogue between several characters. It is possible for us to hypothetically reconstruct the partial content of the ancient book that was lost thanks to the transcription by an unknown hand of the lines of a laude with a single song on the theme of the Passion of Jesus Christ and a dramatic representation with several characters that included the use of a special stage apparatus, the Rapresentacio sancte apolonie virginis. In the inventories of the Confraternity there are also objects and clothing used for the shows: Mavarelli writes about it: "In fact, among the other objects and tools necessary for the sacred shows, we find a" vesta de chamois " which evidently refers to a laude or representation having as its object the Passion of Jesus Christ and it is not to be assumed that in the not large collection there were more lauds dealing with the same subject ". In particular, the text that has come down to us focused on the Passion of Jesus Christ, dated 1496, which was staged by the confreres on the occasion of certain religious holidays and anniversaries, it begins like this: Christo's passion We cry with pain For us fo crucifixo Yeshu our lord Weep bitterly And don't forgive yourself The mourning virgin By god, you accompany her Yes you consider Pain that felt her When jl figluol vedea Die among doi latronj In the Deposition Luca Signorelli seems to have imprinted and blocked the drama of the event revived by the actors of the sacred representation: the fainting Virgin painted at the foot of the Cross is that of the text, which “He felt such great pain / Lo cor came less / down on the ground trangoscione”; and so the Christ who “… I am crowned / Of them cruel thorns / Bloody head. [...] Yeshu gets undressed / De tucti i vestimenti / Steva shameless / Among so many people [...] Li vestimenti de sotta / Tucti was pin de blood / havean made the crunch / tucti was pin de blood / That was the great pain / when the stripper / The wounds rinovaro / that dier them keystrokes ". The table seems to refer to the passage also in detail, such as for example in the nail taken from the feet of Christ that "Era si immeasurable", "Era si grande aguto". Thus the painter remains faithful to the description of the stiffened body of the Savior that appears in the passage. In general, most critics agree in judging the autograph work and often remember it as the masterpiece of the painter's old age. The intervention of the workshop, when identified, is mostly limited to the predella, which, however, most scholars praise as the best among his. Contrasting opinions on the table were expressed in the second half of the 19th century: Guardabassi describes it as one of the best works by Luca Signorelli, while Cavalcaselle and Morelli consider it to be inaccurate. While Cruttwell says she is convinced of the Signorellian authorship of the panel, Mancini does not consider the execution of the same too valuable, but appreciates with enthusiastic judgment the predella with the Stories of the True Cross. According to Venturi the work would go ascribed to Luca Signorelli together with the workshop. Unlike most of the critics, Morisani tends to identify Signorelli's hand mostly also in the predella; vice versa Lenzini Moriondo confirms a consistent intervention of the shop also in the main table. They favor the attribution to the master Salmi, Scarpellini and Pazzagli. The recent enthusiastic judgment of Kanter on the execution of some portions of the table, for the critic certainly by the hand of Signorelli; to be attributed to the master are undoubtedly the figure of the pious woman on the left, that of the dead Christ, the St. John the Evangelist; some passages of inferior quality, such as the scene of the Burial of Christ, suggest in the panel the intervention of a collaborator, identified by Kanter with Francesco Signorelli, who is also responsible for the predella which "does not reveal in the least the intervention of the safest hand and vigorous of Luca. " The last studies I have mentioned, from Kanter's comments to Henry's observations, have been conducted on the basis of already known documents, often incorrect in their interpretation, without the considerations allowed by the paleographic corrections together with the discovery of new documentary material. Regarding the possibility that the aids have intervened in the realization of the altarpiece, a topic most discussed by scholars, we believe that a partial collaboration of the master with the aids may be probable, considering the date of execution of the same, that is, being a work of late maturity of the artist, when he often found himself using the support of the workshop. In this regard, there is an unpublished document preserved in the State Archives of Perugia, a notarial deed drawn up by Berardino di Nicola di Costanzo di Fratta “in capella sive ecclesia Sancte Crucis“. The document concerns the appointment of a procurator by Ursino di ser Giovanni, prior of the Confraternity in the period in which Luca Signorelli was called to paint the table, dates back to 1516 and is drawn up in the presence of the painter Vittorio di Montone. This leads us to think that Vittorio Cirelli, a Montonese artist who started painting with Luca Signorelli, was able to collaborate in the execution of the panel, but also personally wanting to believe that in the Deposition the hand of the older master is in any case to be traced in most of the itself and that the aids were made to complete small portions of the entire work, of very valuable workmanship even in the narrative scenes of the predella. Sources: Bibliography: Mancini 1832, II, pp. 72-73; Gualandi 1845, pp. 36-38; Milanesi 1850, p. 154; Waagen 1850, pp. 568-569; Crowe and Cavalcaselle 1871, p. 32; Guardabassi 1872, pp. 354-355, 367; Waagen 1875, pp. 135-136; Vischer 1879, pp. 114, 270-271; Berenson 1897, p. 181; Magherini Graziani 1897, pp. 212-215; Crowe and Cavalcaselle 1898, pp. 481-494; Cruttwell 1899, pp. 14, 100-102, 139; Mancini 1903, pp. 207-211; Berenson 1909, pp. 251; anonymous 1909, p. 70; de Wyzewa 1910, pp. 335-343; Venturi 1913, pp. 301, 402-406; Crowe and Cavalcaselle (cur. Borenius) 1914, pp. 107, 109; Venturi 1921, p. 65; Psalms 1921, pp. 13-14; Dussler 1927, p. 209, pl. 141, 143-144; Berenson 1932, p. 533; van Marle 1937, pp. 90-92; Morisani 1942, pp. 31-32; Cortona / Florence 1953, pp. 111-113, nos. 58-59; Psalms 1953, pp. 35, 59, 66-67, 72; Psalms 1953 a, pp. 116, 118; Baldini 1964, p. 489; Scarpellini 1964, p. 125; Lenzini Moriondo 1966, p. 28; Berenson 1968, p. 400; Battisti 1971, I, p. 489, n.249 (ed. 1992, p. 376); Mancini and Scarpellini 1983, pp. 33-34; Kanter 1989, pp. 244-248; Lightbown 1992, p. 152; Codovini and Vispi 1994-1998, p. 1-19; Van Cleave 1995, pp. 156-157; Henry, Kanter, Testa, pp. 153-154, 239-240. DOCUMENTARY APPENDIX ... 60. 1514 February 13, Umbertide ASPg, Notarile, not. Berardino by Nicola di Costanzo, Bastardelli, 931, cc. 509r-510r Giovanni Francesco of the late Alberto di Umbertide and citizen of Perugia, mayor and procurator of the fraternity of S. Croce and Raniero di Giovanni, prior of the fraternity, sell to Matteo di Alberto of the said place, stipulating all rights for the heirs of Felice di Gentile di Perugia and share that the brotherhood has or may have in the future on three quarters of a piece of land located in the vicinity of the castle in the word Botani for the price of eighteen florins that they confess to have received and for which therefore they issue the payment receipt. 61. 1515 July 8, Umbertide ASPg, Notarile, not. Berardino by Nicola di Costanzo, Bastardelli, 932, cc. 407r- 408r Ser Censorio di ser Giovanni, Orsino di Giovanni, Piergentile di ser Giovanni, Giacomo di Arcangelo, Pierangelo di Giacomo, Ciono di Piero, Meo di Filippo, Raniero di Giovanni camerlengo, Meo, Cristoforo di Silvestro, gathered in the chapel of S. Croce name Orsino di Giovanni and Giacomo di Arcangelo as their own proxies, entrusting them with making agreements and obligations and promising in the name of the fraternity with master Luca painter of Cortona and receiving promises from him "pro pingendo per ipsum unam tabulam sive cunam" and to do with him the act of allocation of the same. 62. 1516 March 9, Umbertide Municipal Library of Umbertide, Notary Archive, not. Paolo quondam Cristoforo Martinelli, 76, c. 68v. Giovanni Francesco of the late Alberto di Andrea di Umbertide, as mayor and procurator of the fraternity and of the hospital of S. Croce of the said place, having a sufficient mandate, as shown by the acts of the notary from Umbria Ser Bernardino, and Orsino di Giovanni, prior of the fraternity and also Paolo di Sebastiano di Paolo, chamberlain sell to Francesco and Piermatteo del fu Giacomo Martinelli, of Umbertide, and to the notary, stipulating for their brother Renzo, a piece of land located near the said castle in the word Ranco Giorgio undivided for another fourth part with his brother Nicola for the price of thirty-one and a half florins, which they confess to having received in cash and in money numbered in gold and money, for which therefore they issue the receipt for payment. 63. 1516 June 26, Umbertide ASPg, Notarile, not. Berardino by Nicola di Costanzo, Bastardelli, 932, cc. 791v.-794v. Giovanni Francesco of the late Alberto di Umbertide and citizen of Perugia, mayor and procurator of the fraternity of S. Croce together with the prior Orsino di Giovanni, the chamberlain Raniero di Giovanni and the brothers ser Censorio di Giovanni, ser Marino di Domenico, Giacomo di Arcangelo and Piergentile of ser Giovanni sell to Bartolomeo Cristiani two mines of a piece of land located in the vicinity of Umbertide in the word Ranco Giorgio and more or less that rises to the value of forty florins, which they confess to have received and for which therefore they issue the receipt for payment . 64. 1516 July 26, Umbertide Municipal Library of Umbertide, Notarial Archive, not. Marino Spunta, prot. 105, 2nd quarter (numbering ad annum), c. 78v. Orsino del fu Giovanni di ser Orsino di Umbertide, prior of the fraternity of S. Croce in the same place, and ser Censorio di ser Giovanni, Giacomo di Arcangelo di Nicola and Antonio di Piero, officers and men of the said fraternity, having the authority to to do the things infrescribed by the general meeting of the brotherhood, forcing all the goods of the hospital and of the same fraternity, they sell to Bartolomeo del fu Tommaso Cristiani di Umbertide a piece of land located in the word Faldo in the district of Montone for the price of twenty florins or for the higher and lower price that will be estimated by two commonly elected men. Of which twenty florins the same Orsino prior confesses to having received in cash to pay "magister Luce de Cortonio pictori pro pictura tabule picte in altari Sancte Crucis, videlicet pro rata" with the agreement to be able to buy it back within ten years. 65. 1516 August 26, Umbertide ASPg, Notarile, not. Berardino by Nicola di Costanzo, Bastardelli, 932, c. 837v. Orsino di Giovanni di ser Orsino appoints Ser Giovanni's Censorium as procurator, instructing him to represent him in every litigation. The deed is made "in capella sive ecclesia Sancte Crucis" in the presence of the painter from Montone Vittorio. 66. 1527 April 6, Umbertide Municipal Library of Umbertide, Notarial Archive, not. Marino Spunta, prot. 105, 3 ° quinterno (numbering ad annum), c. 67v. Meo of the late Tommaso Cristiano alias Mascio di Umbertide confesses that he had received from Nardo of the late Mariotto di Giovanni di Meo, prior to the present of the brotherhood of S. Croce di Umbertide and stipulator for the said fraternity, thirty florins, which Meo had given "gratia and love dicte fraternitati et hominibus ipsius pro solvendo mercedem suam magistro Luce de Cortonio pictori pro pictura quam fecerat de tabula seu cuna capelle et fraternitatis Sancte Crucis in ecclesia predicta existente in altari maiori ”, as of this loan results from a deed drawn up by the notary of Umbertide ser Berardino di Nicola di Costanzo. Meo does this because he confesses to having received the money in this way, that is, twenty-eight florins from Giuliano di Angelo di Luca Fornari depositary of the fraternity and two florins from the notary himself, of which thirty florins thus received therefore issues a receipt for payment. 67. Christo's passion We cry with pain For us fo crucifixo Yeshu our lord Weep bitterly And don't forgive yourself The mourning virgin By god, you accompany her Yes you consider Pain that felt her When jl figluol vedea Die among doi latronj Time and to be resurged And cry with pain L annima comtemplare The sancta paxione That it lasts too long That we don't hear of it Since then we believe Jeshu will die for us What a god to die for us The story reconte Con tucto how much jl core I must think That you can't be enough Neither lengua nor scriptura The death I make lasts Of our Savior He came on Thursday evening Near a la paxione Yeshu made dinner Cum discipol sueie Tucti comunicoe And you can relieve the pious ones Yeshu turned to serve A traitor Judah Yeshu the turned to comfort Cum sweet parliament Who must leave them In great doubt That sappressava jl time Yeshu had to die We have to maintain En gran tribulatione Yeshu at the olive grove He went to oratione Menò giovanni and pietro And jacobo magiure Yeshu is scary Who had true flesh He sweated drops of blood It strongly nowva. The apostles sleep And christo while he was awake But little if they heard Of the punishment he carried His patre called him But he already didn't know In ante pure volea That he died for us And he is a traitor He came with a lot of people To betray the lord It came promptly That said the fraudulent Master god to save Then if you go ahead And in the mouth the bascione Here people came Cum many great lights And incontinent peter A coltel drew out The ear to a coupon And Christo tell them Coltel back in sheath that pleases your gentleman When Christo fo taken He took no breath To him the derieto Tightly tied together Yeshu fought himself Like a thief That they had abandoned him all your friends and friends And peter denies it Giovanni sen fugiva For us the abandonment Patro his heaven Christo son of god What fooled alone If I find any That he wanted to star cum him And peter painful Looking for Christo already I went to warm to the fire At anna pria's house An ancilla tell them You are de la su people He answered contentedly You never knew more Cum fine great fear If he began to ecuse it swear it then Cum mouth and cum your hands He says in truth I don't know who he is Never in my life You never saw him again The first evening came And the canton rooster And to himself Because he is arcordone I denied it my lord Three times I say it I don't know where I am Yes, I don't find him Yeshu fo introduced That he was a traitor Yeshu fo acused Cum false witnesses great noise faccialli saying undress undress Tie it to the column Tight cum the rope Cum tanto de dur scourge make him scourge he was so morbid tucto make him tremble Without pity Give them to the sever The whole meat alisa Pina de lividore All that evening I will give them the keystrokes L coperson in gl ochi door That he saw no light And for more honor In my face I spit them out The beard peeled them to give them more pain Tirravan their hair She gave them cheeks And those were the hitmen They were chosen Danvanli the bearded Et cum man cut D prophesies Who made you of us Yeshu fo crowned Of the cruel thorns Bloody head Corialli up to the pious The Jews laughed The head hit him Cum le rods the Feriano mocking him The virgin mary you havea great tremor what a tucta that evening there was a great noise Alore adimandone and said to an ancilla You know me you tell news Of my child Yeshune You figluolo and taken madonna in veritade And so hurt her What a tucto and full of wounds Lo tu figluol domane Sententato evening You will see him hanging En forca de thief Madonna did not pose And he found no place The apostles asked If they had seen him Whether I live or die Say it truthfully I can no longer carry That me if the core starts I speak john and peter And I talked to the mother Your son is taken Know it but n citade We cannot enter that the doors are closed doman give them death without any reason Madonna heard this He felt such pain The heart is less Down to earth trangoscione Say love son Not festi but sin You're imprisoned You weren't a thief Then came the question Get him out of prison Send him to judge That he was a criminal There was a great noise Say be cricifixo Dician be crucified Lassato be the thief Lassato be the thief Lassat sij Barabano And this sinner We condemn it all Up to Mount Calvary Fierli carry the cross Shouting out loud Be dead with pain When I am judged There was great existence The mouth of pilate Si de quilla sententia The third hour came Send him to hang De fuori de la citade Where the evildoers Fierli carry the cross It was a heavy burden Not if podia change He was so weakened The mother already de rieto Who wanted to help him He could not take them So much was a great noise There was a great noise De rietro them gian shouting She mocked him The lotus gian lying to him Givanlo spatassando Soon the voleanmenare Yeshu wanted to spoil And doi thief cum him His mother his taipina Yet he wanted to see him Pararse entered the street Where there was to revolve Nol podde support Christo when he sees it He was greatly distressed Than in strangoscione land When madonna il vedde On earth strangled He felt great pain What if you leave and breathe My figluol you were born To alarm me so much pain Now that I will do tarpina Yes don't see you You carry so much weight Sweet figluol pleasing Why you vie de rieto Figluol so many people O my grieving mother Don't ask me Menanme to hang Cum quisti doi ladronj Figluol I can not bring I know crucifixa with you Et where you turned Yes I will come to you When you will be open Nol podaro see Figluol let me die Ch I do not want to live more Then that I give to the place Where he must dress Undress him naked Without pity Now what was the mother doing When he saw him naked Say I'm a figluolo I cannot live longer Yeshu gets undressed De tucti i vestimenti Steva ashamed In among so many people They were obnoxious Cum villania tamanta What even the clothes of the leg They leave the robbers You dress them de sotta Tucti were pin de blood Havean crunched Tucti were pin de blood That was the great pain When I undress him The wounds renovate That will give them the keystrokes Tolser clothes them And misarce the fate Christo they said to each other Mourning the times (?) You are worthy of death Thief you go watching You are boasting of us You say you were sir Yeshu has taken off his clothes And set up in the wood And tightly bolted Cum three iron latches It was so cold When he keyed it Blood if it froze What a descurria di fuore Le man li chiavellaro Leave it spent Li piei li sopronaro I put the third chiuovo It was immeasurable He was so great aguto And so much fo beaten Not if vedea de fuore And so much the ironing The nerbora stendea The bones I schopparo them The flesh breaks The blood comes out It fell down to the earth O virgin polzella So much was your pain ... ... ... Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Photos: - Photo: Giulio Foiani - Photo: Fabio Mariotti BIBLIOGRAPHY Anon. 1909 Anon., Umbrian Art Review, I, (1909), p. 70. Baldini 1964 U Baldini, Luca Signorelli, in Universal Encyclopedia of Art, XII, Venice-Rome, 1964, pp. 487-491. Baptists 1971 E. Battisti, Piero della Francesca, Milan 1971, Milan 1992. Berenson 1897 B. Berenson, The Central Italian Painters of the Reinassance, London 1897. Berenson 1909 B. Berenson, The Central Italian Painters, London 1909. Berenson 1932 B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Reinassance, Oxford 1932. Berenson 1968 B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Reinassance, Central Italian and North Italian Schools, London 1968. Borenius 1929 T. Borenius, Dussler Review 1927, in "The Burlington Magazine" LIV (1929), pp. 41-42. Pigtails & Vispi 1994 R. Codovini & P. Vispi, Luca Signorelli's Paintings at Fratta Perugina, Rome 1994. Crowe & Cavalcaselle 1871 JA Crowe and GB Cavalcaselle, Geschichte der Italienischen Malerei, Leipzig 1871, vol. 4. Crowe & Cavalcaselle 1898 JACrowe and GBCavalcaselle, History of painting in Italy, Florence 1898, vol. VIII. Crowe & Cavalcaselle [cur. Borenius] 1914 JACrowe and GB Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in Itali, vol. : Umbrian and Sienese Masters of the Fifteenth Century [cur. T. Borenius], London 1914 Cruttwel 1899 M. Cruttwel, Luca Signorelli, London 1899. Gualandi 1845 M. Gualandi, Original Italian memoirs concerning the beautiful atriums, Bologna, 1845. Down Guard 1872 M. Guardabassi, Index - Guide of Pagan and Christian Monuments… of Umbria, 1872. Downwinds M. Guardabassi, Notes on the church of Santa Croce in Umbertine, vol. 5, fasc. 2258, ms. preserved in the Augusti Library, Perugia. Guerrini 1883 A.Guerrini, History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide from its origins until the year 1845, Umbertide 1883. Henry, Kanter, Testa 2001 T. Henry, L. Kanter, G. Testa, Luca Signorelli, Milan 2001. Kanter 1989 L. Kanter, The Late Works of Luca Signorelli and His Followers, 1489-1559, PhD thesis, New York University 1989. Lenzini Moriondo 1966 M. Lenzini Moriondo, Signorelli 1966. Lightbown 1992 R. Lightbown, Piero della Francesca, New York, London- Paris 1992. Magherini Graziani 1897 G. Magherini Graziani, Art in Città di Castello, Città di Castello 1897. Mancini and Scarpellini 1983 Cur. FF Mancini and P. Scarpellini, Painting in Umbria between 1480 and 1540, Milan 1983. Mancini 1832 G.Mancini, Historical and pictorial instruction to visit the churches and palaces of Città di Castello, Perugia 1832. Mancini 1903 Girolamo Mancini, Life of Luca Signorelli, Florence 1903. Mavarelli / Porrozzi F.Mavarelli, Historical news and praises of the Company of disciplines of Santa Maria Nuova and Santa Croce, Umbertide…., Cur. B. Porrozzi, The work of Francesco Mavarelli, Città di Castello 1998. Milanese 1850 C. Milanesi, G. Milanesi, C. Pini, V. Marchese, Notes and commentary on the life of Luca Signorelli, in G. VasarLI, 1985.i, The Lives of the Most Excellent Architects, Painters and Sculptors, Florence [1568] , cur. C. Milanesi et al. Florence (14 vol. 1846-1870.) VI, 1850. pp. 136-158. Porrozzi 1983 B. Porrozzi, Umbertide and its territory, Città di Castello 1983. Porrozzi 1998 B. Porrozzi, The work of Francesco Mavarelli, Città di Castello 1998. Porrozzi 2001 B. Porrozzi, edited by, Statutes and Orders of the Fraternity of Santa Croce in Fratta (Umbertide) from 1567 to 1741, Città di Castello 2001. Psalms 1921 M. Salmi, Luca Signorelli, Florence 1921. Psalms 1953 M. Salmi, Luca Signorelli, Novara 1953. Psalms 1653 a M.Salmi, Chiosa signorelliana, in “Commentari”, IV, (1953), pp. 107-118. Van Cleave 1995 C. Van Cleave, Luca Signorelli as a Draughtsman, unpublished doctoral thesis, Oxford University 1995. Van Marle 1937 R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, XVI, The Hague 1937. Venturi 1913. A Venturi, History of Italian Art, VII. 2 Milan 1913. Venturi 1921 A. Venturi, Luca Signorelli, Florence 1921. Vischer 1879 R.Vischer, Luca Signorelli und die Italienische Reinassance Eine Kunsthistorische Monographie, Leipzig 1879. Waagen 1950 GF Waagen, Die Maler Andrea Mantegna und Luca Signorelli, in „H Istorisches TaschenbUch“ 3.1 (1850) PP. 473-594, spec. PP. 554-594. Waagen 1875 GF Waagen after A. Waagen, Uber Leber, Wirken und Werke der Maler Andrea Mantegna und Luca Signorelli, in Kleine Schriften von GF Waagen, Stuttgart 1875, pp. 80-144, in part. Pp. 128-144. de Wyzewa 1910 T. de Wyzewa, A propos de quelques dessinsi italiens: une „Descente de Croix“ by Luca Signorelli, in „Revue de l'Art Ancien et Moderne“, XXVII (1910), pp. 335-343. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SCC = Historic Archive of Città di Castello AS Pg. = State Archives of Perugia BCCC = Municipal Library of Città di Castello. BCM = Municipal Library of Montone BCU = Municipal Library of Umbertide

THE STORY OF ALESSANDRO GRELLI Fallen in 1938 in the Spanish war From the book by Maria E. Menichetti Bianchi "Alessandro Grelli - An anti-fascist who fell in the Spanish war (1936 - 39)" Municipality of Umbertide - San Francesco Social Cultural Center Nuova PRHOMOS Editions - April 1990 THE FOUND SYMBOL Thanks to the National Literary Prize "Umbertide 25 aprile", another precious piece has been added this year to the history of our city and our people. In fact, a historical research on Alessandro Grelli, a Umbertidese of humble origins and noble sentiments, a volunteer of the International Brigades, who fell on the Ebro front in September 1938, while fighting against the threat of fascism which, within two years, would shock the whole world with the Second World War. We therefore believe, by publishing the research, that we are fulfilling a civic duty, which we perform with great pleasure and with legitimate pride, in order to draw greater attention to this writing which removes a name from a corner of the atrium of the town hall and finally gives it a face and a human dimension. The careful work of Prof. Maria Ernesta Menichetti Bianchi offers the opportunity to see the life and political path of our heroic and unknown fellow citizen reconstructed in a passionate and intelligent research punctually marked by references to interesting archive documents. While we take note, with great pleasure, of the positive evaluation given to this work by the Commission of the Award and of the equally authoritative judgment expressed by Prof. Luciana Brunelli of the Institute for the History of Umbria, we express our deepest appreciation and thanks to the Author. She has given back to the light of knowledge the civil and political figure of the peasant-shoemaker of Romeggio, whose supreme sacrifice had been relegated to the cold memory of a commemorative plaque. Alessandro Grelli, on the other hand, deserves to be remembered with warmer signs for the teaching he gave us with his short life, but no less rich in ideals. He represents the revolt of the poor. The revolt of emigrants for work reasons who, in contact with previously unknown realities, arrive through political convictions to the concept of freedom, for which they do not hesitate, if necessary, to sacrifice their own existence. The names of the Heroes are kept in the memory of their homelands to be pointed out, especially to young people who, opening up to life, need sure points of reference, witnessed truths, which enhance the spirit and make them aware of the priceless gift that Grelli, and many others like him have given us by bringing freedom back to our country. Freedom to love and to defend as the most expensive good that man can ever possess. Umbertide, April 1990 MAURIZIO ROSI Mayor of Umbertide RAFFAELE MANCINI President of the Socio-Cultural Center PRESENTATION If it is true, as Broué and Témine write, that "the intervention of foreign troops in favor of the Spanish republic, the aid brought in from abroad was, in the final analysis, only the sum of a series of individual contributions" , then this work by Nini Menichetti on Alessandro Grelli represents a precious contribution to the knowledge and reflection on that extraordinary political, social and cultural phenomenon that was the international volunteering in support of the Spanish republicans. The interest of local scholars had hitherto been mainly directed to the most well-known characters of Umbrian anti-fascism - Mario Angeloni, Armando Fedeli, Carlo Farini, Leonida Mastrodicasa -, men who had a prominent role in the Spanish civil war and who were subsequently protagonists ( Farini and Fedeli) of the Resistance and Umbrian political life. Turning attention to the "minor" figures of the voluntary sector - which were numerous, about 80 Umbrian militiamen -, the emphasis inevitably shifts from the political aspects of the civil war to the more specifically social ones, connected to the exile and emigration of the years twenty and thirty, to the life of emigrants abroad, especially in that triangle of land that goes from France to Belgium to Luxembourg. Still recently, historical and literary studies have underlined the importance of the 1930s in European political and cultural history, and in particular the originality of the French experience, a crossroads for masses of men, a melting pot of ideas and hopes during the exciting period of the Popular Front government chaired by Léon Blum. Alessandro Grelli was one of those men, whose life refers, as a prelude to his departure as a volunteer, to the great events and great movements within which motivations, ideas and ideals matured that brought thousands of men to fight and die in Spain. The patient and intelligent work of Nini Menichetti consists precisely in weaving with very thin threads the weft of a life apparently without history, marked almost only by the fact that it ended in September of '38 fighting on the Ebro in Spain. It was not an easy search, in the shortage of documents and testimonies, in the poverty and partisanship of official sources. Little or nothing is known about Alessandro, his relatives and the village hardly remember him, the files in his name at the Perugia Police Headquarters and at the Central Political Casellario are too poor in information, even the plaque in his memory is inaccurate. And then, in this situation, the author opens a dialogue, begins to question men and materials - the brothers, the papers, the photographs, the former Garibaldians - and finds a path, or rather many paths that from the sharecropping life of the Umbertidese in the 1920s they lead it to Alexander's death in Spain. Thus the research takes place along various paths - from the State Archives of Perugia to that of La Spezia to that of Salamanca - and, through forays into the lives of others, Grelli's life is also filled with events and characters. Characters who were protagonists of his "sentimental upbringing" - the landowner Ramaccioni, Aldina, the Communist Bertieri - or who shared emigration and the myth of Spain with him. The rich apparatus of notes to the text shows us the many directions in which the research has opened and the multiplicity of materials necessary to approach the story of Alexander. Even those who have not directly measured themselves with the difficulties of historical research on the Spanish war, will be able to appreciate the complexity of the work, deriving not only from the limits of the official sources but also from those particular historical circumstances that require listening to many materials, of many and different stories and memories. Grelli's life unfolds along a path that belonged to many of those who went to fight in Spain: the passage from the peasant condition to the hard experience of emigration, which was both defeat and emancipation, certainly was awareness, encounter, communication. , discovery. It must have been all this if - according to official papers -, emigrated in '30 with "attitudes in favor of the regime", in 1937 he had become "a dangerous Communist subversive". In Saint Laurent du Var in the Maritime Alps, a privileged destination for Umbrian emigration, Alessandro, together with the various fellow villagers who converged there, lived the decisive years of his training before leaving for Spain. Among the Umbrian antifascists who volunteered, the largest group is made up of men originating from the Umbertide-Città di Castello area, peasants who became cobblers, carpenters, bricklayers or even laborers in the gardens of southern France. The police reports themselves, through the dense network of informers of the regime, give us ample documentation of the solidarity towards the Spanish republicans which soon matured in emigration groups and in anti-fascist circles abroad. In following the history of these and Grelli, the work of Nini Menichetti, while also making us reflect on the different languages and the different attitudes that transpire from the official sources, fully gives us the sense of the drama and of the ideals that moved the men who, between '36 and '38, they went to fight and die in Spain. LUCIANA BRUNELLI Institute for the History of Umbria PREMISE The years of anti-fascism, before and after 1926, and beyond, and of the Resistance, before and after 1943, were objects of study in historical works of a general nature, and in local or regional works, the latter useful. to bring movements and ideas of the past closer to the reality of the present, since they give voice and face to characters, sometimes just mentioned in the first ones, whose memory could be lost in the historical consciousness of today and of the future. We have traced the story of ALESSANDRO GRELLI, precisely to save him from this fate. A "red militiaman" - nice qualification on the Franco side! - born in Umbertide in 1907, died in 1938, fighting on the Ebro. One of those anti-fascists who had volunteered to defend the young Spanish republic, having identified in Francisco Franco's plan the primary objective of defeating it, and the implicit purpose of launching an attack on anti-fascism, not only in Spain in the late 1930s. , but in the broader sphere of European and international politics. The difficulties encountered in our research are evident from the subtle web of news, documents, information, which we have been able to access, which we give, schematically, below: a - what memory of Alessandro Grelli are preserved in his hometown, his family, historical texts, the local press; b - what information we have drawn from other sources, some of which have been consulted to no avail; c - what news did the ex-Garibaldini of Spain, still alive, give us. a - The Municipality of Umbertide keeps in the Registry the certification relating to the birth, the military conscription and the presumed death certificate. But he did not register any repatriations from France, which there were. He entitled - we do not know on what date - in a suburban district, a street after his name, whose toponymic plaque does not offer the reader either a date or a historical reference. He posted, on behalf of some citizens residing abroad, - we do not know on what date - a plaque in the hall of the municipal residence, with the following dedication: To Alessandro Grelli fallen fighting for the freedom of the Spanish people The Umbertidesi democrats residing in Nice - Anti-Franco War 1936-1937 (1) The historical archive of Umbertide has a material, poured there from various and interesting parts, not cataloged. Two of Alessandro's brothers live in Umbertide, one of whom is just two years younger, Angelo born in 1926. They do not keep correspondence from France or Spain, which also came, at least from France, as is documented (2). They do not keep the memory of a name of one of those who temporarily repatriated brought them news, or of who brought them the saddest news. Among their scant and meager memories there are, however, some details that illuminated one or two points in Alessandro's life, up to 1933, the year of their mother's death. From that date on, the brothers have learned unpublished news and unknown to them, which we have gathered from the consultation of the file on the Grelli of the Perugia Police Headquarters and of the CPC file that the Ministry of the Interior has been forming, as soon as the political police realized that Alessandro was carrying out anti-fascist activities, and from the research we carried out, according to the itinerary of his stay abroad. Rometti Clotide's historical work (3) dates back to 1954, citing Grelli among the Umbrians who fell in the Spanish War. He mentions him as Achille Grelli, that is, the nickname he brought from home and town (4) and which appears in a single official document, long after his death. Among the memoirs written by veterans from Spain, only the exhaustive work of the Garibaldian Giacomo Calandrone (5) mentions the name of Alessandro Grelli among those who died in the bloody days of the offensive on the Ebro, in a very numerous list. The vintages of "The Claim", a large-format four-page weekly (6), founded by the socialists in 1902, in Città di Castello, suppressed by fascism in 1921, offered material for the reconstruction of the historical and political context of Upper Tiber Valley, where the birthplace of Grelli stands. b - The fundamental and irreplaceable source for our research is constituted by the archives, of which we give a list, which respects the significance, from a historical point of view, of the documents coming from them: - Central State Archives and State Archives of Perugia which preserve the first file of the Central Political Casellario on Alessandro Grelli and many of his friends and acquaintances (7), the second the file of the Perugia Police Headquarters; - State Archives of La Spezia which preserves the documentation of an exile from Sarzana whom Grelli met in France and whose political activity carried out even before emigration in La Spezia (8); - Current archives of the Provincial Directorate of the Treasury of Perugia, and of the Directorate General of the Treasury of Rome which have provided the complete dossier of the pension procedure authorized to Abramo Grelli for the death in combat of his son, which contains the exclusive documentation of the circumstances of the death of Alexander (9); - Archive of the AICVAS which does not have relevant historical and documentary material, as occurs for the Archive of the Regional Institute of the Resistance of Bologna (10), in which the former Garibaldi Brotherhood of Spain has poured its material, when it merged into AICVAS; - Archivo Historico Nacional, Seccion Guerra Civil, Salamanca wanted by Franco in the 40s, responds to the desire to document the participation of Spain in the defeat of the Republic with particular emphasis on high military ranks and exclusion of low military roles, and, obviously, neglecting the presence of those who were considered the "red killers". However, the material stored in Sect. of the Civil War is so large (n.5598 very consistent dossiers (carpetas)) and flanked by inventories that refer region by region to the places where the Francoist front was present and moved, that it would deserve a prolonged examination, not experienced by us, also a little discouraged by the assurances of the Archive staff, who have been helpful and generous with us, and whom we warmly thank here, in the people of Maria Pilar Raulì Lopez and Gregorio Redondo. They, while accompanying us in our research, told us "esto senor no tenemo nada" (11). We quote, in alphabetical order, the sources consulted to no avail: - ANPI, General Committee of Bologna (Archive); Current archives of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense (12); - École Frangaise, Rome; - Mairie de Saint-Laurent du Var, Alpes Maritimes (France); c - We had the opportunity to meet the ex-Garibaldini of Spain still alive (13) by participating in "Jornades internacionales por la Pau y la Libertat y la Democracia, 1938-1988", organized by the Catalan Coordinadora d'associations de ex combatentes de la Repubblica and which took place in Barcelona on 28, 29, 30 October 1988. We asked many present, who were almost seven hundred, - French, Spanish, Americans, Belgians, Irish, English, Jews of various nationalities, etc. - news from Grelli. Nobody knew him, nobody remembers him. The Italian fighters on the Ebro do not remember him and neither does Ferrer Visentini who, in the form compiled by the former Garibaldini Brotherhood of Spain, is indicated as the one who "denounces" the death of Grelli, together with family members. From the years following the end of the war to 1942, the Ossuary Tower of Zaragoza-Casa degli Italiani collects the remains of all those who died in Spain. By virtue of this homologation between anti-Francoists and Francoists, on which we do not allow, there are the names of the fallen of the International Brigades, including that of Alessandro Grelli, who here has his plate marked with a lowercase BI (14). In the cemetery of Fuencarall, in Madrid, a large plaque, discovered only in 1986, commemorates the fallen anti-Francoists, with the following inscription: "Volunteers of the International Brigades, fallen as heroes, for the freedom of the Spanish people, the prosperity and well-being of 'Humanity". In October 1988, on the aforementioned occasion, the "David y Goliat" monument to the memory of the fallen belonging to the BI ranks was discovered in Barcelona in the presence of the BI volunteers, gathered from all the countries. The monument was donated by the SCWHS. We wait for the municipality of Umbertide to complete the toponymy plaque headed to Grelli, specifying: "Red militiaman, who fell as an anti-fascist on the Ebro front, September 1938", as a reminder to remember a protagonist of a historical period and an idea not to be archived. Note: (1) The only date indicated on the tombstone is wrong. In fact, the anti-Franco war ended in 1939. The dates of the death of the fallen and the posting of the plaque are missing, certainly after 2 June 1948, given the presence of the coat of arms of the Italian Republic that frames the plaque. (2) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Grelli Alessandro. The CCRR of Città di Castello affirm this in 1938. (3) ROMETTI CLOTIDE, Sixty years of Socialism in Upper Umbria and Italy, Città di Castello, Il Solco, 1954, p. 132. (4) It was not the "battle name", but the nickname he bore from Romeggio, clearly remembered by his younger brother, Angelo, who still today speaks of his brother with the nickname "Achillino". (5) CALANDRONE GIACOMO, Spain burns, Garibaldi Chronicles, 1st Edition, 1962. Consulted in the AICVAS library. (6) BCC, "The Claim", 1906-1921. (7) The CPC dossier of Grelli Alessandro in ACS is the one formed by Sect. I of the Ministry of the Interior Div. PS Affari Gen. Ris. The one kept in ASP is formed by the Perugia police headquarters. The ACS dossier is more interesting, because it offers material that does not appear in the file of the Perugia Police Headquarters, relating to the date of Grelli's departure for Spain, and other details. (8) ASLS, Leva Office Fund of the Municipality of Sarzana for the year 1892, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello registration number, 1912; ibid., Fondo Prefettura de La Spezia, Cabinet Series, envelope 7 file 16 "Report dated 17/6/1921 by the Official Deputy Commissioner of PS di Sarzana regarding the events that occurred on 12, 13 June 1921, on the occasion of the raid fascist of Sarzana, upon notification of 13 June by the Mayor and the Councilors Calderini and Bertieri. (9) We thank the Provincial Directorate of the Treasury of Perugia and the Directorate General of the Treasury of Rome, and we are pleased to have arrived, just in time to consult very important documents, for the purposes of this biography, before the expiry of the current archives. (10) IRB, sheet by Grelli Alessandro (Achille). It contains an inaccuracy relating to the paternity of Grelli (of Alberto, but of Abraham), and of his residence abroad (Nice, but St. Laurent du Var). Participation in the II Garibaldi Battalion is not completed by the indication of the Company. The death - according to the file - "is reported by Visentini and his family". We interviewed Ferrer Visentini - author of a beautiful memoir on the war in Spain - who does not remember meeting Alessandro Grelli. The family members were unable to "report" the death of their relative for two reasons: because they were unaware of the fate of Alexander, and because it was the former Garibaldi Brotherhood of Spain that gave them the news. We will talk later about the photographs that remain of Grelli, but we want to immediately realize that the photograph stored in the file we are talking about does not appear in the files, neither in ASP nor in ACS CPC. It is a mugshot, according to the rules dictated by the Circ. of the File Service, namely: a face photograph, a profile photograph and a three-quarter profile photograph. In fact, Grelli is portrayed here in this last pose, in a tie, in hair, and shows an age that must have slightly preceded his departure for Spain, which took place, as we will say, in 1936, when he was 29 years old. (11) Ministerio de Cultura, Archivo Historico Nacional, Seccion «Guerra civil», 37001 Salamanca (E). We share the pessimism on Grelli, but not for a research on the presence of BI, supported by some titles, which were quickly glimpsed in Salamanca, such as: «Milicia POUM»; "Regiment Milicia popular"; "Prisioneros"; "Secret service"; "Milicia los Comuneros"; "Army rojo" ("el Campesino"), etc. Other archives can be consulted in Valencia, in Castellon and mainly the "Archivo Historico Militar" in Madrid, the material of which refers mainly to the personnel of the armed forces, police and carabinieri who remained framed in the republican area, for the purpose of recognition of their service. (12) The current archives of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior should have kept the minutes of the "Interministerial Commission for the formation and reconstitution of death and birth certificates not drawn up or lost or destroyed by war ». It is this Commission that drew up the certificate of "presumed death" of Grelli, on 16 October 1957, deposited, according to the explicit declaration of the same Commission, in the aforementioned archives. All our research carried out through institutional and private channels was useless. (13) We interviewed Fucile Domenico, who is the only Umbrian Garibaldian still alive, on the verge of turning ninety. He remembers nothing of Grelli and the years of the Spanish War. He enjoys repetitively telling an anecdote, which refers to the circumstances of his enlistment. The Rifle, a little by convincing, a little by challenging, was able to encourage about forty men, Italian and French, to leave volunteers. Therefore the departure was commented, alluding to the surname of the leader, "The rifles are leaving"! (14) How aberrant this homologation was and still is, results from the thought of a visitor to the Torre Ossario in Zaragoza who "thanks the fallen for having given us forty years of happiness and peace, fighting Marxism". I. - THE LIFE OF ALESSANDRO GRELLI UNTIL THE EXPATRIATION Head of Alessandro Grelli's family was Abraham, born in Umbertide in 1878, where his parents had immigrated from Monte Tezio, married to Maria Ercolanelli, and died in 1957 (1). They had raised a large family, Maria and Abraham, an ordinary circumstance among the settlers, who thought of working arms rather than mouths to feed: Alessandro born on 27/10/1907 was the second child, preceded by Fenenne (1906) and followed by Giovanni (1909) and by Angelo (1921) living; followed by Adolfo (1923) and Gina (1926). Carlo and Sabina were born and died respectively in 1914 and 1919, the years of the Spanish. Abraham was a partial settler and went to work for the day, as a laborer, wherever he happened to be. He lived with his five brothers, who in turn, except one, had a wife and children, in the Parish of S. Giuliano di Umbertide, voc. Box no. 487, Frazione Romeggio, Villa Corradi, and subsequently, after the birth of Giovanni, he had moved to Villa Pantano, still in the same hamlet, where with the whole tribe, about thirty souls, he could enjoy a better income with a farm in thirty-five hectares, working and wooded altogether. These are not the data just mentioned, taken from the tax register, but learned from the brothers, Giovanni and Angelo, who gave us news, reported episodes and memories, which we will promptly report gradually. The Marquis Liborio Marignoli was the owner of those lands assigned to his ancestors, three centuries earlier, by the Spanish rulers, for military merits. Contact between the colonists and the marquis was neither direct nor frequent and everything was done by the farmer who demanded half of the harvest from the Grelli - wheat, maize, grapes, tobacco -. Furthermore, from the partial share of the settler, a percentage was removed for sowing, and for the fertilizer, estimated by Giovanni at around 30%, while the owner never punctually paid the money corresponding to half of the expenditure necessary for the threshing - wheat, corn, seeds - just as he never paid the money for verdigris and sulfur, in compensation for the manual labor that the settler took on. The master kept the animals, paid us the taxes, and the land taxes were his responsibility. Still in the 10s of the century, however, there was still discussion on the payment of cures for the diseases of animals and the serious dispute had not been concluded. According to Giovanni's estimate, the Romeggio farm produced 15 quintals of wheat per hectare, so he had 150 quintals left, enough for bread and cake, but the beans were necessary to supplement. The side dish - the pork belonged entirely to the owner - consisted of "cooked grass", cod, salty because it was cheaper, and herring. These foodstuffs, together with salt and sugar - oil was replaced by lard - were paid for in kind at the shop, mainly with eggs. In conclusion - Giovanni admits - we ate, but did not dress, evaluating the situation at the time with current parameters. The houses, even when they were discreet, were very bad - we read in the local newspapers of the time (2) - a bedroom, including that of the spouses, even housed four people, who, after the short vigils in front of the fire, stretched out on straw straws of maize leaves, placed on four wooden boards or on metal nets. In April 1911 the battle for the improvement of the Colonial Pacts, carried out by the League of Peasants, among which those of Lama had distinguished, still dealt with the "colonial accounts", which had been the banner of the historic strike of 1906 : that the accounts had to be cleared year by year; that "if the owner keeps part of the credit to secure the livestock" "the interest on the money withheld had to be paid to the farmer" (3). Abraham was illiterate, but he sent all his children to school, even the girls, up to the third grade, in the schools set up in the rural hamlets and then in Umbertide - an hour away, from the farm - where they could obtain the elementary school certificate (4 ). Alessandro, according to the personal data sheet (5), had done up to the third grade. However, the news provided by the Military District, that he had obtained the elementary license up to the 6th class, is reliable. In support of this, the testimony of his brother who says: "he was very good at school, he was a genius." At home - Giovanni continues - we never got a hint of what was being said outside or written in the newspapers; as, for example, we insinuate - that still in 1911 people were forced to become aware of their rights and not to follow the priest "the eternal enemy of those who work and produce", "who condemns the struggle of the peasants" and " it organizes the colonial circles "" to maintain the political dominion of the masters "(6). The Grellis had not listened to, and perhaps had not wanted to hear, these and other exhortations and had never been approached by the organizers of the Leagues and Cooperatives. They lived their lives with precise points of reference: work, necessary to live, and, at some time of the year, to survive; the call to arms, under the feared control of the Arma Station stationed in the village, the relations between the sexes, necessary to increase hands in the fields, for housekeeping, and, perhaps, for a wise and kind female presence; and, first of all, the parish priest, the church, of which the Grelli women, vestals of the most rigorous Catholic observance, - as John says - were devoted faithful. During his childhood, neither at home nor at school, he heard Alessandro talk about events and facts that will take weight in his adult life: some, such as the expulsion of Benito Mussolini, in 1914, from the Socialist Party, of which the local newspaper spoke. , they slip away because of his very tender age. But he was a little older when his father and his uncles Annibale and Natalino left for the war and he could have understood something about the dispute about the appropriateness of Italian intervention in the immense conflict, a dispute that, in reality, at home. Grelli, did not take place at all. Having become a teenager, he had no better opportunity to become aware of the news that reached Romeggio faded, on the occasion, for example, of the elections of 1921, preceded by an electoral campaign in which fascist violence had also been active in Umbria (7), or of serious events that took place in the nearby Perugia, so serious as to bring fascism to power. In 1924 he still did not have the right to vote, which he will never exercise, being that of 1924 the last electoral consultation authorized by the fascist dictatorship, which had it carried out under the surveillance of the MVSN soldiers, who presided over seats and favored fraud. For Alessandro, the days spent working in the fields and the winter evenings were endless. He could not be happy or satisfied with this life, with that "gang", "comrade", "cheerful", "expansive", "always in good humor, very healthy, very intelligent" temperament described by Angelo. He loved friends - Giovanni insists - he liked girls, he loved to dress well, but ... at least he never had a few cents in his pocket! Alessandro thought for himself to get out of this situation, giving proof of a transgressive will, this first time towards the owner, who, informed by the farmer, reluctantly saw Alessandro absent himself from the fields and go to the village to learn the trade of shoemaker in the shop of the "poor Giuliano", which he reached on foot in the suburb of Borgiacca on the outskirts of Umbertide. This first gesture of independence, very important in itself because it made him change his social status, will be followed by others, in Grelli's private and public life, around which we will have the opportunity to speak at length, and from which Alessandro is characterized as a nonconformist, a curious man eager for experience, courageous, even reckless. It will turn out that this is not a psychological interpretation of the character, but an evaluation of the character and his temperament, as transpired by events and concrete facts. The brothers tell us that, while working as a shoemaker, he had met Mr. Luigi Ramaccioni, owner of a large estate bordering that of the partial regime of the Grelli, older than twenty years, with whom he had formed a great friendship. Not an anti-fascist - Giovanni specifies - like those he will meet in France - we add - but a fascist, albeit a moderate one, neither relentless nor troubled. In our opinion, the passage of the biographical notes drawn up by the CCRR of Città di Castello, based on direct information from the Umbertide Station (8), derives from this friendship, which does not hide from anyone: "he did not have a PNF card, but showed attitudes in favor of the regime ”, referring to his political conduct before his expatriation. Without excluding the hypothesis, however fragile, that Alessandro simulated, it seems to us that the CCRR interpret a fact that refers to the late 1930s, with the experience and perspective of the year in which the biographical note was drafted, that is nine years later, expanding it enormously and coloring it with meanings suggested a posteriori. But there are other reasons for not agreeing with the carabinieri on a "pro-fascist phase" in Grelli's life, even if, if it were proved to be authentic, it would not constitute a fact to be scandalized, considering the uncertainty and even the confusion of the times, the subordination of the lower classes to intellectuals, and the inadequacy of their means of orientation and critical tools. The CCRR give the fact, which was certainly to their knowledge, a bureaucratic evaluation, without describing and circumscribing it: we try to highlight in Alessandro's frequentation with Mr. Ramaccioni not so much the political aspect, but the realization of a personal relationship, which came to the great advantage of Alessandro. The relationship between the young ex-peasant shoemaker and the rich and educated adult owner was not equal in many respects, almost all of which can be understood. But Alessandro could be led to nod and perhaps agree to things he had never heard before, which fascinated him, on topics that opened up horizons that were unexpected compared to the air he breathed at home. If Ramaccioni, without making rowdy propaganda, but persuasively, as Giovanni assures us, had spoken to his young shoemaker friend, for example, about the economic program of fascism which presented captivating aspects on the worker and peasant side - we mention the reduction of working hours in factory and the tax on the capital of the "medieval barons" - could Alexander have guessed the demagogic implications? (9) We would say no, at least in the days of Romeggio! Times in which Alexander absorbed information and news but had not yet made political ideas, as he did say the RACs. Who, making assessments of this kind, which are not infrequent, thought they were rendering a service to the filed for which a pro-fascist past could constitute a positive precedent and lightened, indeed canceled, any responsibility of their investigative role, for the time in which they had had it under their control. The period of Alessandro's military detention (10) then opens and he spends in Modena, in an environment that was perhaps not only dominated by the military bureaucracy. We say it was influenced by the passage in that military milieu of a Perugian who fell in Spain (11) and assuming that Grelli had already acquired some valid tool for looking around. We do not have any documents of the period and therefore we know nothing official, except that the Royal Quaestor of Perugia twice asked about the behavior of the infantryman Alessandro Grelli. We do not know if the Royal Quaestor had particular reasons for doing so and we believe that the failure to reply means that everything was regular, or simply a bureaucratic inefficiency. It appears, in fact, that Alexander regularly spent his months as a soldier, sixteen months, excluding the training period that preceded the "call to arms" (12). A postcard-size photograph of Alessandro in uniform is preserved in his file. We offered it in photocopy to the brothers who, not knowing it, received it with emotion, crying and kissing it (13). Alexander is portrayed in a soldier's uniform with the envelope on his head, in a "rest" position, with the right arm resting on a perforated wooden shelf that supports a vase of flowers, between the fingers of the hand the cigarette and the left arm on the side. It's the classic photo to send to his girlfriend, to whom to ask for the complicity of being considered not the freshman soldier, but a boy, indeed a man, easygoing, like they say all the details, scarcely martial - the cigarette, the hand on the hip, the body lithe, together with the flowers on the "good room" shelf -. The brothers reciprocate mine gift with a photograph received from France and which appears in the bulletin of the RF (14). Grelli is more years old, and a virile and determined expression, underlined by mature features of the face. In hair, and the shirt open on the chest, in the casual French fashion, denotes greater awareness, which is neither new nor in contradiction with the photography of Modena. A little more mature, in a tie, Grelli appears in a third photograph, as already mentioned (15). The bureaucratic, hasty and distracted description that the Regia Questura makes him at the moment of expatriation, in which the only particular apt it is the "bass". In fact, the Grelli was just one and a half centimeters higher than the minimum required to be "skilled enlisted". On the period of Alexander's life that elapses between the military leave - early days of September 1928 - and the date of expatriation, which is no earlier than the date of issue of the passport - October 1930 - a span of just over two years - sheds light on the testimony of John. Who says: «Before the official expatriation, Alessandro went to France clandestinely, reaching the Ventimiglia border by train, where he entrusted himself to expert people, indeed in charge of the need, who accompanied him, partly on foot and partly on mules along the paths and passes of the Maritime Alps, up to France. During this trip - continues Giovanni - he stopped in Florence in Via della Scala, at the Engineers Regiment, where I was a soldier ». The memory of Giovanni is reflected in his military registration number which shows that he arrived in Florence on 28/4/1930 (16). Therefore Alessandro's Florentine stage can be dated not before the end of April, but not after the end of October, the date of issue of the passport. Why was Alexander going so adventurously to France? Giovanni knows: it was a love escape! Alexander - as his temperament requires - went to join his girlfriend, Aldina, who was expatriated to France with her whole family (17). The motivation confided to his brother in Florence was verifiable in the real circumstance. Other reasons, in concurrence with the sentimental ones, had to be kept silent by him: he could not manifest his own, even generic desire to escape from the family; political motivations, unlikely at the moment, but not to be absolutely ruled out, it would have been better not to even talk in the air. He did not stay in France for long, not only because his love story did not lead to marriage - Alexander died celibate - but because his fellow countrymen, political emigrants, may have advised him not to stay one more day abroad, without documents. , where he would run a hundredfold risks compared to those, already very serious, that expatriates in good standing with their passport ran. And in fact, having completed his military service, in 1930 he obtained a passport valid for one year, and regularly expatriated "for work" for France. At this point, two periods in Alexander's biography open, the one relating to his stay in France, until 1936, and the dramatically shorter one of his enlistment in the red militias of the «Garibaldi» Brigade, in the Laroche Group. The one and the other period will be treated separately on the basis of the documentation obtained in the file in his name by the Regia Questura of Perugia and in the CPC file, of which the brothers do not even exist. Before becoming Giovanni and Angelo's informants, we want to report what they replied to us on issues concerning their brother, but also general aspects common to many emigrants: - what relations existed between the Grelli family and the Umbertide CCRR, considered as the first link in the chain of investigators; - what memories do the Grellis retain from the French period of their brother's emigration, and subsequently from Spain. The carabinieri of Umbertide, who depended directly on the Tenenza di Città di Castello, never showed up either to ask for news or to give it. The information could not have been obtained from the family, since - the carabinieri well knew - they were either liars, or reticent, unreliable and misleading, even in the face of a sincere "we know nothing". As we shall see, "confidential" or "trustworthy" information was important and fundamental. On the other hand, the carabinieri never said anything to the family. Yet they had learned some good things about him: "subversive anti-fascist", "communist to be arrested at the border", "red militiaman in the ranks of the army, in Spain", where there was a war, all the more serious and compromising, how much more unknown! But, did the Grellis ever know something that the CCRR did not know, and that not even the secret police would ever find out? At least in three cases: Alexander's first clandestine emigration; the trip of Abraham who had gone to visit his son in France, reporting excellent news about the Cordonnerie (18) the shoe shop he had opened, to the point that he urged his brothers to join him to collaborate with the four workers already hired; and, finally, the clandestine repatriation of Alexander due to the death of his mother (19), of a very short duration and of which we can establish the exact date (20). The brothers gladly return to 1933, when Alessandro, clandestinely crossing the Maritime Alps, had come to greet his sick mother and had arrived in time to see her dead, an extreme sign of the deep family bond that united the Grellis among them, for which, even Today Alexander is remembered by them with a fraternal affection that has priority over the pride and pride of a brother "who died as a hero for freedom". Since the death of their mother, the Grellis have not known anything about their brother: we anticipate them that there were political reasons that led Alessandro to silence, also belatedly discovered by the police. The family - not a suspect, but an intuition - was convinced that Alexander was in France exclusively for work, and did not ask too many questions about his expired passport or about other details they learned superficially and almost indistinctly. Grelli's life, not limited to his first period, which we have dealt with, but relative to his entire arc, together with the historical approach deserves an epic evocation. Instead we must conclude with the squalid episode of the "package" we learned in the conversation with the brothers. Says Angelo, the younger brother: after the war in Spain - the chronological confirmation does not emerge - we received a postcard from the Post Office of the Umbertide station to collect a package from France. Father and John went there - therefore before 1957, the date of Abraham's death -. They were told that the package had already been collected. They did not protest, they did not investigate, and perhaps, Angelo concludes, they did wrong! Giovanni nods and comments: «There was certainly no money in that package! Why go and steal it? It was someone who agreed with the Railways ». From that "someone", neither an indiscretion nor an allusion is derived. We insinuate that perhaps there were those in town who wanted them badly, and that perhaps it was the fascists who eliminated that one concrete sign of the past of their political adversary. John closes in a silence, from which we are able to understand a profound pain, resigned and powerless. Note: (1) MU, Registry Office, Abramo di Agostino and Bussotti Filomena was born in Umbertide on 6 / XII / 1878, married to Ercolanelli Maria in 1906 and widowed in 1933. (2) BCC, «The Claim», cit., Year 1907. (3) BCC, «The Claim», cit., Years 1906 and 1911. (4) BCC, "The Vindication", cit., Year 1913. It had been a successful campaign of the Socialist Party which had fought since the early years of the century for elementary education, for an adequate preparation of the teachers and for the establishment of school sponsorships. (5) MU, Matricular Role Register 62, Matric. 535, Alessandro Grelli. On 23/10/1926 there is the military visit: he is "skilled enlisted" he can read and write, 6th grade, "stature m. 57.50 ". Recalled to arms, arrived in Modena at the 36th Infantry Regiment on 30th - 4th - 1927, discharged by the same on 2/9/1928 - Ibid, Population Register, Grelli appears to have attended only up to the third grade. (6) BCC, «The Claim», cit., Year 1911. (7) BCC, «The Claim», cit., Year 1920. (8) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro cit. (9) BIANCHI ANTONIO, Social struggles and dictatorship, in historical Lunigiana and Versilia, (1919-1930), Florence, Leo S. Loschki, 1981. (10) See no. 5. (11) We refer to Mario Angeloni. (12) See no. 5. (13) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro. The photo was taken in Modena by Foto Insvardi Via S. Michele Modena -. It is therefore not the Grelli who supplied it to the CCRR, which perhaps managed to obtain it for other channels. The photo was very important for the registration in the BR. (14) ACS, Grelli Alessandro, CPC. The report in the BR is not contained in ASP, Inv. Quest., Grelli Alessandro, cit. (15) IRB, card by Alessandro Grelli, of which we mentioned in the Introduction. (16) MU, Registry Office, Register of Matricular Role Giovanni Grelli Matric. 10290 VII.mo Corps Engineers Regiment. Giovanni passed the visit at the end of 1928 and "called to arms" reached the VII.mo Genius on 24/4/1930. (17) Aldina's surname is uncertain and confused in Giovanni's memory. The records of the population of Umbertide from the 10th century have not given any confirmation following a search on the name «Aldina». It is clear that his family was not registered in the registry of Umbertide. (18) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro. The CCRR speak about the footwear industry installed in St. Laurent, providing the Police Headquarters with the address “Cordonnerie de Puget. St. Laurent du Var ”and the brothers told us that business was going well for Alexander. (19) MU, Population register 1933, Maria Ercolanelli died on 20/02/1933 in Umbertide. (20) Alexander immediately returned to France, after the funeral and therefore on February 22 or 23 he was traveling again. We deduce it from a curious tale by Angelo: when he returned here for the death of his mother Achillino - it was this, as we know, the nickname with which Alexander was usually called - he did not want to sleep the first evening under the same roof as the deceased, because he would be forced to sleep there for nine days. This is so as not to "disturb" the dead woman. Achillino-Alessandro slept in a neighbor's house and then left long before the nine days were up. Il simbolo ritrovato - I La vita di Grelli fino all'espatrio II - III Il fascicolo della Questura e Grelli in Francia IV - Grelli in Spagna Il simbolo ritrovato - I La vita di Grelli fino all'espatrio II. - THE FILE OF THE DIRECT QUESTURA DI PERUGIA HEADED TO GRELLI ALESSANDRO The file of the Perugia sul Grelli police headquarters contains five photographs (1) and forty-seven papers, from 1936 to 1951. Do not think, however, that the Regia Questura of Perugia and the other police bodies have dealt with Grelli for fifteen consecutive years. There are only nine years (2) that date ordinary certificates, forms, bulletins and printed matter of the File Service, and the various correspondence, letters, confidential and highly confidential, registered in double envelopes, service tickets, telegraphic circulars, telespress, etc. Only three years refer to Grelli still alive (1936, 1937, 1938). The following years (1939, 1940, 1941, 1942) attest to the useless search by the police, the town of birth and the carabinieri, about the fate of Grelli, while the last year revolves around the suspicion of the disappearance of Grelli, who however it is not officially documented. Grelli's dossier, already modest as a volume, is therefore chronologically reduced with respect to the emigration period (1930-1938), spent partly in France and partly in Spain, and is limited in content, as there is no living presence of the Grelli, what could it be, eg. a letter from him intercepted on departure or arrival. The dossier on Grelli, of which we give an analytical confirmation in the appendix (3), however, contains a precious indirect reference to a person whom he met in France, who, as we will say, illuminates his political story of Grelli. A copy of the Grelli dossier can also be consulted at the Central Archives of the Central Political State Records Office, Ministry of the Interior Division I CPC Service. It offers more detailed documentation about Grelli's departure for Spain and other substantial details that will be very useful to us. On the outer cover, in thin yellow-orange paper, common to all the files of the Perugia Police Headquarters, his name, surname and paternity stand out in calligraphy, and, in indelible ink, the wording "filed" stands out. Two essential notes follow: «Communist ex militiaman red», as a political qualification, and the indication of the inscription in BR, and in RF «for arrest», ordered by the Ministry of the Interior (4). In the month of July 1936 two letters, which follow one another after a single day, arrive, one to the Ministry in Rome and PC to the Royal Prefect of Perugia, and the other to the Royal Quaestor of Perugia. The sender of the first letter is the Royal Prefect of La Spezia; who writes to the Quaestor is the UPI of the Command of the 102nd Legion MVSN, stationed in Perugia (5). The subject of the two letters is identical: Grelli is a "subversive and anti-fascist" who works with a very dangerous individual from Sarzana - the reference to the latter is exclusive to the letter that arrives from La Spezia - and with three other Umbrians, the whose names are communicated by both letters. The senders declare that they have received Grelli's report from a "trust source", that is, from the secret police. Therefore, Grelli has been "discovered", and from this moment the formation of his dossier starts, and is "filed" in Cat. A / lett. 8 of the R. Questura of Perugia, which will keep the Public Security Division of the Ministry of the Interior informed step by step (6). Both the Prefect of La Spezia and the UPI of the MVSN are recommended that the four reported to be denied the "repatriation" permit and that investigations be carried out for their identification. From the first card, which is precisely the first letter mentioned above, to the last card, the dossier on Grelli becomes for us the testimony of the intertwining of investigations and searches of the police and his life as an emigrant, politically engaged; as a tacit challenge between the police and the anti-fascist, won, in the years preceding 1936, by Grelli. The sign is in this long news gap from about 1930 to 1936, a period in which he managed not to be discovered. The delay is not an exclusive detail of Grelli's biography: it was generally a few years before the police discovered anti-fascists abroad. But it also took a little luck and a lot of forethought to get away with spies, and Alessandro knew how to give himself the image of an individual on the margins of politics, fully occupied as was shown in the Cordennerie, from which perhaps he was making money for the cause as well. He was, in essence, a modest character, whose natural gifts, borrowed from his peasant origin, had been difficult to guess: to make it in spite of the master. We will see, however, that there is a document that illustrates the period that remained obscure for the investigators (7). Grelli's report is very serious and heavy, because it is circumstantial: he put up with a person in sight, emigrated for several years, a thoroughbred propagandist, well-known in his homeland and in France, head of a group that does "deleterious work" in against his compatriots, managing to win the fascists themselves against anti-fascism. Which, while wanting to "keep good Italians" - which means to remain fascist! - were influenced by the strength of his propaganda. There were three Umbrians in the group, as we have already said, two of whom were fellow villagers, natives of San Giustino, inhabitants of St. Laurent du Var, a bricklayer and a carpenter, and both Communists 8. The third Umbrian reported, who a handwritten note in the letter from the UPI of the Militia declares that he had been suspended since 1930, deserves a separate discussion (9). The immediate effect of the report was to be the obvious and somewhat obvious denial of the repatriation permit and mainly the initiation of the "identification" investigations. The commissioner, who does not know anything about it, consulted the CCRR of Città di Castello, who promptly transmit the information received from the Umbertide Arma Station. The content of the information is favorable to Grelli and the tone used by the informants is decidedly benevolent: Grelli has maintained good moral, political and civil conduct - note the exhaustive adjective of all, absolutely all, aspects of behavior; he has no criminal record and no ongoing pending with the carabinieri of Umbertide - in this matter it is always better to abound in the specification. However, as surprised by the anti-fascist report, they declare that Grelli, despite not being a member of the PNF, showed favorable sentiments. As for expatriation, he was regular "for work", with a passport issued by the commissioner himself. They attach the photograph and describe the features. It is not infrequent to find muted tones in the information of the carabinieri, while other police bodies often look for a way to slander the filed, with an apparently banal detail, sometimes with a real slander. The behavior of the Carabinieri of Città di Castello seems to conceal the concern of being held responsible for not having recognized Grelli as an anti-fascist, as was later "reported" in France. For this reason they accentuate and underline the positive things they can say about him, which is perhaps partly authentic, but a little ostentatious (10). We add that their benevolence results in other circumstances: they do not respond to the repeated requests of the commissioner who wants to know how Grelli behaved during his military service; they are careful not to fill in the finca prepared in the biographical form (1939) for the names of the officials or agents who had known him: yet, if they had known him! Finally, they close in silence when they are questioned (1949) by the commissioner on the advisability of revoking Grelli from the group of subversives of the province. We approve of them, adding that ten years after their death it seems unlikely that the police station still knows nothing! The information requested from the CCRR reaches Rome in the first days of January 1937 (1937). From this date, the file does not indicate a document, a form, or a letter. This was not due to bewilderment (11). At the beginning of the second half of the year a telegraphic circular arrives (1937) sent to the Royal Prefect of Perugia and to all the Prefects of the Kingdom, signed by Bocchini Fr. the Minister, with confidential news: Grelli enlisted in the Spanish red militias (12). The news is given in a spectacular way: the postal vehicle is not of ordinary administration; the secret police are present in the use of the conditional "would have enlisted"; the barrage of repressive measures against Grelli acquires drama in the long sequence: he is arrested "returning to the kingdom"; RF and BR be entered, with photograph; a reserved control of correspondence directed to family members is ordered "to ascertain remittances of money from red aid". This is, therefore, the year in which the police report a relative success with an explosive news on Grelli's account - we will see that the chronology is not exact - and in which the repression is relentless with the means that are their own. Ten letters and three modules, concentrated in just over a month - from 19 July to 14 August (1937) -. Seven times the commissioner is the sender and fulfills all the tasks entrusted by the minister. In less than a week he fills out the form for reporting a person to be searched, which should be accompanied by a photograph that the carabinieri sent him the year before. But the Royal Quaestor is lost, so he must have recourse to the Scientific Cabinet of the Terni Police Headquarters for reproduction, which, this time, has a large number of them done, now uselessly (1937). Inside the year there is even the ticket removed from the RF, where Grelli is described as a "dangerous communist", to be arrested. (1937). The year 1938, on the other hand, consists of a single card (1938), coming from the Quaestor's Cabinet: "The Grelli fighter or suspected fighter in the ranks of the Red Army" was inserted in October 1938 in the Cat. A / 9 , which is the category of the red militiamen. In accordance with the date that the card bears, 1938, we have placed it in its natural place, while in the file it has a location on card 1, that is, after the last documents of the file (1951). The silence of the investigators does not derive from their knowledge of what had happened and was happening in Spain, where Alexander had now fallen into the rage of the attack on the Ebro and for a few days he had missed the withdrawal of the Garibaldini - la despedida - episode painful, but not inglorious, also agreed with the consent of the republican government and the League of Nations. Rather, it must be linked to a crisis of consensus towards fascism. In fact, public opinion had come to acknowledge the warmongering and repressive aspect of the regime - War of Africa and racial laws - and the investigators themselves seem to suffer a decline in motivation in carrying out their tasks. We have already detected some stretch marks and we continue to note that the certificate of the Criminal Record was requested only in 1939 (1939). Furthermore, the delay in acquiring such a document denounces the gap between the regime police and the ordinary judiciary. And it is surprising that the Questura starts all over again with the request for the birth certificate (1939) and the address abroad, when this documentation had been acquired three years earlier (1936). The drafting of the biographical card which took place belatedly (1939) brings the news of the "emigration from red Spain" and of the "confinement". Emigration from Spain and confinement that do not find any confirmation in the history of Grelli, nor in archival documents. In the years 1940, 1941, and the first quarter of 1942, the commissioner is busy searching for Grelli and continues to send updates to the Ministry of the Interior of Grelli's residence abroad, which he takes for granted, asserting "nothing to report". Only once (1939) does he confess that "there is no news"; some doubts assailed him in 1941. Realizing, during the review of the Political Record, that Grelli is no longer reported, he asked the CCRR of Città di Castello for information on moral conduct, but "especially political" held "before today". He still asks for his address and the carabinieri (1939) reply that they do not know, because no more correspondence arrives either to friends or relatives "from here", that is to say from Umbertide. In this same circumstance the carabinieri choose not to pronounce themselves - as already mentioned - on the advisability of the revocation of Grelli from the list of subversives of the province. Completely insignificant is the duplication of the biographical card in 1942 (1942) which, moreover, does not have a comma more than the first edition (1939), if not the updates referred to in the years 1940, 1941 and 1942. We have reached the last two years of the dossier which refer to Grelli's death: in 1949 the Quaestor ordered the revocation of Grelli from the Bulletin of the Wanted "for ceased reasons", a ritual formula that foreshadows his death. In 1951 a letter from the Ministry of the Interior, due to the interest of the Ministry of the Treasury, was sent to the Questore of Perugia to give circus news about Alessandro's death, considering that his father had asked for his son's war pension. The most concrete answer comes from the carabinieri who assert without hesitation that the death of Grelli, which took place in combat in Spain on 12 September 1938, is in the registry office of the Municipality of Umbertide. But we have no declaration from the Municipality of Umbertide, which closes the history of Grelli with the Act of Presumed Death (13). Scrolling through the names of the senders of the various documentation contained in the Grelli file, it appears that at the peripheral level the CCRR and the Police Headquarters operated in correspondence with the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs who had various representations abroad, the embassies and consulates of His Majesty the King of Italy, closely linked to the police bodies, typical of the regime, such as the UPIs of the MVSN and the apparatus that the PNF had given itself abroad. But it was concretely efficient and capable of a penetrating investigation only by the police organization, hidden under the formula "trust source" or confidential source, that is, the secret political police. From it came the decisive information on the account of the files, following which the aforementioned peripheral and ministerial investigators were only a bureaucratic role. The analysis of Grelli's file leaves many problems unresolved: the chronological question relating to the dates indicated in the file, not the macroscopically incorrect ones because they go beyond death, but the date of his notification, which is certainly delayed compared to Grelli's political commitment , and the date of enrollment which is not - we have anticipated - that of the telegraphic circular of the Ministry of the Interior. Finally, there is the question of confinement and the emptiness of the circumstances of his death. The file offers - we repeat - indirect documentation, but decisive for tracing Grelli's political itinerary, in the period 1930-1936, the years he spent in France before his departure for Spain. From Grelli's meetings with prominent figures in the history of anti-fascist emigration, both in the political and ideological debate of anti-fascism, and in the concrete struggle against fascism, the precise outline of his political evolution emerges and it seems richer and more lively to us. general scenario of Umbrian political emigration. Note: (1) An original postcard size is the photograph in military uniform, produced on the cover, from which four card size copies were made. (2) These are the years 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942; 1951. The term a quo coincides with the sixth year of Grelli's emigration, the ad quem with the thirteenth anniversary of his death. (3) The Grelli file is fully analyzed, in Appendix I, according to the following items: year, type of document or correspondence, date, sender, recipient and subject, In the text we put the year to which the document refers in parentheses of Appendix I. (4) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro, cit. Two entries appear on the cover: one that finds unique confirmation in the biographical card of Grelli 1939, reports that Grelli was "confined" to the date 12/6/1939. There we will deal with this detail elsewhere: The other reports that it was registered in the 1942 Statistical Register. The note is in pencil followed by a question mark and is not reflected in the file, nor has it archival evidence. On the cover are also the «Revisions». (5) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro, cit. Appendix II. (6) The Cat. A / lett. 8 corresponded to "subversive and anti-fascist"; «Subversive dated back to the Circ. Internal Min. 5343, 1 June 1896, instituting the Filing Cabinet, "anti-fascist" had been added in the fascist era. (7) This is what we will do in III. "Grelli in France". (8) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Gattini Goffredo di Gerasimo and was Corsini Giuseppa. Gattini was born in S. Giustino 4/8/1892, carpenter worker, anti-fascist. Ibid. Tarducci Ottavio was a communist Giuseppe, born in S. Giustino on 8/9/1898. (9) ACS, September Luigi Antonio CPC. The September was Giuseppe and it was Biondini Gelsomina, born in Todi on 16/9/1880 a shoemaker, a socialist who had been struck from the ranks of subversives there and 2/9/1930. September cannot be consulted in ASP because the files on the "Radiated" are not yet available and therefore we do not know the reason for the radiation. September is mentioned under different surnames: on the cover of the Grelli issue there is Settembrini Luigi and it is the only time that his paternity and maternity are not reported, data that are repeated and unchanged in other quotes. The place of birth is now indicated in Città di Castello, now in Todi. We found his birth certificate in the Todi registry office with the day, month and year that appear in his file in the Central State Archives. September has been living in Rome since 20/10/1930 where he had gone from France, from the Rome Population Register. (10) We have already dealt with the alleged "pro-fascist" phase of Grelli. (11) We exclude that it was a question of loss, because even among the papers in the CPC dossier on Grelli in ACS we found this void. (12) The date of Grelli's departure for Spain is therefore attributed to the year 1937. We will examine in IV Grelli in Spain the documents offered by the file on Grelli preserved in ACS, which anticipate it by a year. (13) MU, Death Certificate Register 1957, p. II, Series C. Sentence authorizing the transcription of the death certificate of Alessandro Grelli. The copy of the death certificate was provided to us by the Umbertide Registry Office, subject to authorization by the Court of Perugia, Attorney General. III. - GRELLI IN FRANCE If emigrants could feel almost at home at the first impact with an environment where, according to some testimonies (1), Italian was spoken more than French, as in St. Laurent du Var, in the Department of the Maritime Alps, an obligatory destination for Grelli for the well-known reasons of the heart, and fixed residence during his emigration (2), they could not rest assured among their compatriots, who were not all anti-fascists, many willing to denounce and inform, at the service of the secret political police, and some who had made or were making a fortune, "exploiting the fellow countryman." "It was full, full of spies," which created an atmosphere of distrust, suspicion, fear of everything and everyone around the emigrants. They felt and were, followed, spied on even in private life and always alert to the risk of having an infiltrator among their everyday friends - the most unthinkable and least suspicious person - by whom they could be branded as "anti-fascists" and as such files. There is no story of an emigrant-anti-fascist that does not begin with a report by a spy, worthy of absolute credit. Consequently, police measures were taken, or the Special Court was put into action, whose laws had reinstated the death penalty, not only for attacks on the king or the leader, but only for belonging to a dissolved party (3 ). If the spies understood that they had been identified, they ran away, but, not infrequently, they were trapped by our people, who knew how to transform themselves into "good policemen" (4), and to the infiltrators of the Avra they responded by dislocating "trusted, unknown" individuals, who did not attract attention, in the offices of the Dopolavoro, or in the sections of the PNF, places where they spoke of trade union problems and political issues to prepare the offensive strategy against the anti-fascists. The ordinary judiciary, the one established by the liberal state, had not been suppressed, but deprived of authority: bodies structurally unrelated to the role of police carried out investigative tasks. The Royal Consulates of Italy abroad, solicited by the Ministry of the Interior, or by the Ministry on which they depended, were very efficient, diligent and, to be honest, even precise, compared to the Royal Police Headquarters and Royal Prefectures. The Consul of His Majesty the King of Italy had a direct line with the trustee of the foreign sections of the PNF - the Case d'Italia or Case degli Italiani - which offered a recreational activity - radio, cards and conversation - to program , quietly, political action plans. On the occasion of the registration, a map of the "registered or not" was drawn up, with big problems for the latter (5). The UPIs of the MVSN, directly dependent on the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, had the means and men, belonging to bureaucratically autonomous roles. They were present in all situations, and spread the confidential news, which they received first. The local administrative authorities, for example the Mairies, were hostile to them and were prejudiced against them, like the government police. Relations with the French democrats were not easy; but we have the documentation of an "anti-Italian" - that is to say anti-fascist - demonstration in which our compatriots are associated in large numbers with the French and the naturalized in an armed attack on the House of Italians in St. Laurent, to demonstrate against the policy of their government, on the occasion of the call to arms of the reservists: an intertwining of ideological, political and claim reasons in military roles (6). They encountered no slight difficulties in looking for work, unless they resigned themselves to being peasants in the fields planted with vegetables and fruit in southern France, to harsh living conditions and wages, which Grelli was able to escape by putting to good use. his ability as a craftsman that benefited him, also as a social position. The salaried workers had to pay a tax of 25 francs, with which they obtained the "work card", indispensable for being hired; self-employed persons paid the "work card", 100 francs. Also this tax was an opportunity for the sections of the PNF abroad, in agreement with the French authorities, to implement discrimination and blackmail (7). The period initially spent by Grelli, immediately after his expatriation, is illustrated by the conversation with his brothers: the clandestine flight from Umbertide, followed by regular emigration "for work", frequent and reciprocal visits, an opportunity to urge the brothers to move to working in the shoe factory until 1933, the year of his mother's death. From this date Grelli never returns home, and he doesn't let anyone know anything about himself, either by oral messages or by letter, as the carabinieri also attest. It seems that his life has undergone a turning point and is taking place in a context that pushes him to estrange himself from his family and from any relationship with Umbertide. Detail of which the brothers complain and do not agree. Specific circumstances and precise reasons for justifying this behavior of Grelli can be seen in his meeting, already mentioned, with Giovanni Tomaso Nello, Bertieri who formed and directs a group for political propaganda. Grelli joins, together with other Umbrians - but they are not only Umbrians (8) - to be part of the group, he begins to military in the anti-fascist struggle with awareness and risk, which induce in him prudence, confidentiality, mainly towards the family who , in Umbertide, he could have undergone interrogations and searches. Grelli, who emigrated without political qualifications, became a communist at the Bertieri school who "worked" with his followers. The expression "work" used by the informant suggests the feverish propaganda activity, the meetings, the internal coordination, the new contacts and the constant displacements, as the surviving emigrants frequently report. In meeting with Bertieri, Grelli found the opportunity to enter politics and the instrument of his ideological maturation. Which evolved, first of all, with the assimilation of the meaning of the various experiences made by Bertieri before 1923 and subsequently on all the occasions in which he was involved in concrete initiatives, which were framed in the context of the ideological debate. Bertieri had been the witness and the protagonist of a central fact in the history of anti-fascism, which was the revolt of Sarzana in July 1921 against the aggression of the squads, the first and for a long time the only example of victory over fascism: "an event that became a sort of myth during the dark years of fascism, for the persecuted, for the exiles, for those who suffered in prison "(9). Before 1921, Bertieri had been the animator and promoter of all the demonstrations and of every strike, in a strip of land such as Lunigiana with a concentration of workers in the La Spezia shipyards, and a peasant in the vineyards of the Ligurian "bands". Sarzanesi. He was an assiduous reader and speaker of the left-wing press, but he had never been a contributor to the editorial staff of any newspaper, as claimed by the carabinieri who knew him. In the role of socialist councilor (10) of the municipal administration of Sarzana - a position he held from 1921 as a socialist, passed to communism after the Livorno Congress - he had proclaimed a state of siege in the municipal council in the face of squad aggression, and command of the proletarian defense committee of the Arditi del Popolo (11), which he himself organized, had determined the humiliating retreat of the fascists, at the end of a week of bloody clashes that had claimed many victims among the aggressors (12). From the clash between the fascists, financed by the agrarians and the industrialists and the proletarian opposition that tried to raise the conditions of the people, organizing leagues, cooperatives, unions and committees, as had happened in Sarzana, Grelli understood the political significance of the Italian situation . And he discovered a confirmation of this in his life in Romeggio, personally and by the family itself (13). After the events in Sarzana, to escape the arrest warrant, which had already hit some of his followers (14), Bertieri went into hiding and was eventually forced to emigrate illegally to France, reaching Marseille, where he did not stay long. . In fact, he continued his activity as a propagandist which led him to travel throughout France to hold meetings and rallies. The Socialist International chose him as the official speaker. We find him in this role in Marseille, in 1930, on the occasion of the great party of the proletariat of that time, which was May 1st (15). Oratory skills - "he speaks well" and is a "discreet comitiante" - even investigators are recognized. We endorse them, as they are also supported by the level of university studies he has reached (16). However Bertieri never exhibited the qualification of "student" and declined, without any exception, that of "worker" or "mechanic" who leads him - it was convenient for him to say - to work now in one place and now in another. In the end, even the police realized that this was an "excuse" for the political activity of Bertieri who "wandered a little here and a little there" "appeared and disappeared", because he was busy "working" at the " service of Italian-Franco-Russian subversivism "(17). On another occasion Bertieri amused himself by making fun of the police (18), confusing them for almost a year because of the nickname, Buccin or Bucin, with which he was also known in Sarzana and cheated them to the point that they were induced to provide personal data of a non-existent person. The political debate abroad and in Italy was animated by all the democratic forces in the field - we mention, without being complete, liberalism, republicans, socialists, communists, popular people and all the various associations that branched off from them. Differently articulated in terms of political content, they were aimed at forming an organism, as unitary as possible, to oppose fascism. We could give a historical account (19), but it seems significant to us to use the material contained in the CPC dossier on Bertieri, and to report on some initiatives and experiences of his group, which are the precise reflection of the ongoing debate, and in addition they open a glimpse into the political newspaper of our emigrants. He had contacts with Luigi Campolonghi (20), also from Lunigiana, older in age and in exile. It was Campolonghi who introduced him to the anti-fascist concentration (21) without pushing him to join it. But it helped him from the organizational and ideological point of view to found a section of the LIDU in St. Laurent du Var (22). Grelli had it at home, and he attended the weekly meetings in a local audience, called by Bertieri who had become its president. In front of a fairly large audience - by admission of the investigators themselves - Bertieri mainly gave political speeches "marked by anti-fascism" and oriented towards the social-communist currents, which would have given life to the French Popular Front. The headquarters held "conferences", that is, meetings with prominent figures - for example, Pacciardi, Campolonghi himself - who took stock of the situation and gave information on the work done by other sections. On the sidelines of the meetings, funds were raised by selling, for example, the folders of the «Loan of liberty», for L. 1000 each, with the fruit, to tell the truth, scarce, of L. 5000 francs. They organized the annual party of the Italian League of Human Rights, which took place on March 30 (23). As president of the LIDU of St. Laurent du Var Bertieri obtained a special "political refugee" card, a pass authorized by the League of Nations (24), well known to the investigators' controls. It will have been very useful to him on the occasion of his expulsion from Luxembourg, an episode in Bertieri's life, of which we do not know the reasons or the circumstances. But the political position naturaliter adhering to the "fervent gregarious of the French Popular Front", to the communist Bertieri, who had opened - it is important - a section of the communist party in St. Laurent (25) and consequently to his group was that of the FU, the Single Front, as the anti-fascist Single Front was identified in police jargon. On January 24, 1934, XII ff, a meeting of the FU took place in Nice at the Cafè de la Gare, present, among the many emigrants, Bertieri, who is cited in second place in the list (26). An infiltrator tells us how that meeting took place in a report drawn up for the General Management PS Division of General and Reserved Affairs Division I of the Ministry of the Interior. Much information relating to the composition, dissemination and organization of the FU, to the strategy of its political project, are true from the report of the infiltrator, as we will see below. However, aware that he is reporting burning, and perhaps alarming information, he takes care to minimize them - he considers them to be "of little importance and of little importance" - and evaluates the data and perspectives of the political work of the FU with skepticism and pessimism, such as those which are, at the base, tainted by the hegemony of the Communists. They want to "impart a too marked character to the movement" which is endemically - the infiltrator seems to think - on the verge of rupture. There are those who leave the FU (27), but must admit that there are also more definitive and concrete adhesions, the maximalists, for example (28). He informs us that the FU is widespread throughout France, in Paris, where the meetings are "repeated and numerous" in Cannes, Nice, Beausoleil and frequented by the LIDU, by republicans, by the maximalists, by the Mutual Society Brotherhood, by the reformists, by the socialists and, of course, the communists. The presence in the meeting of January 1934 of exponents of the French Communist Party and for the past of a prestigious figure such as Henri Barbusse was at that time an indication of success (29). The formation of the single body to oppose fascism according to the proposal of the maximalists, which is accepted, is to replace the enlarged single committee with many small neighborhood committees or sub-committees articulated on fragmented realities and situations, similar to communist cells. The economic claims of emigrant workers were for the FU a fundamental premise for a unitary action against fascism, according to the tradition of socialism of the years of the II and III Congress of the International, which inspired the FU. The problem at the moment was to defend the workforce and protect it against the French law on wages (30). Therefore - say the defendants - it is essential to have people infiltrate the sections of the Dopolavoro who collect the intentions and plans drawn up in this regard. Lastly, small work is not neglected, such as sending propaganda letters, circulars with a political content, and, with great precision, invitations to meetings so that it should not happen that someone is absent, just because they have not received the notice of convocation (31). When the propaganda for the recruitment of volunteers to defend the Spanish republic exploded in the early months of 1936, Grelli decided to go and fight. He abandons the group to the most discreet extent, as we shall see, and seals the meeting with Bertieri with an act of great political significance. A meeting in which the many differences and diversities between the two protagonists - age, education, political militancy, reason for expatriation, temperament and character - could have crushed the weak position of Grelli, who instead comes out strengthened in the bond of ideals and common intentions. "Among the subversives it should be noted a tall individual, thin, blond hair, about fifty, worker, ardeasiac eyes, red complexion ...", a description of Bertieri written by the political police that convinces us and almost excites us. Let's compare him with the Grelli, whom we know by photography: short - for only one and a half centimeters "skilled at the draft" - rough, with no particular characteristics, other than those inconspicuous and captivating ones of his face of a genuine Umbrian peasant. Taciturn, he listens to Bertieri's tales and speeches with fluent speech, made incisive by the melodious Ligurian-Tuscan cadence. The passionate strength and the ability to persuade are evident from the description of his temperament, drawn up by the Carabinieri of Sarzana: "ambitious" "overbearing", that is, with a will to be a boss, because he knew he could do it. The negative evaluations of "bad reputation" and "weak worker" are the result of the slanderous campaign that the fascists made to him after Sarzana and of the objective scarcity of the garages and bus services, of which he declared himself dependent. Alessandro's brothers have neither known nor heard of an Umbertidese family, the Broccolicchi who, after a failed internal emigration to Gubbio, had expatriated in 1902 in France, father and mother, almost fifty, with nine children, all between fifteen and five years (32). But Alessandro certainly knew and frequented them, because the second and third Broccolicchi generations were known and active in southern France, precisely in the period in which Grelli was there. Proof of this is that among uncles and nephews, living in the 1920s and 1930s, three of them are registered. They are Antonio meant Alfonso, Vittorio and Maria: we give a brief account of the files in the inventory of the Perugia Police Headquarters relating to Alfonso and Vittorio (33). The character we want to point out is Maria Broccolicchi, belonging to the third generation, daughter of Eugenio, listed as an anti-fascist - the "above-mentioned woman" specifies the PS official - because we understand the exceptional nature of the feminine anti-fascist (34). Maria worked closely with a cousin, Gino, for whom the police headquarters did not formalize the file, perhaps because he was assimilated to the nationality of his father, naturalized since 1928. Note: (1) We refer to the late Mariano Fulmini and Probo Martinelli, and to Italo Nicoletto, Vincent Tonelli among the many surviving former Garibaldini. The most incisive passages of their testimonies appear in quotation marks in the text. (2) The brothers of the Grelli refer only to the address of St. Laurent, like the carabinieri. Even the Consulate of Nice, in what can be defined, as we shall see, the last certain news on Grelli, before Spain, refers to the same town in the Department of the Maritime Alps. (3) AA.W. Lessons of anti-fascism, Bari, Laterza, 1962, p. 138 and ss. (4) One of our witnesses relates: "we managed to locate the home of a spy, we seized a letter from her, which contained very serious news: a communist had been murdered to avenge a fascist killed in Paris". Our witness gives the names of the protagonists of his story. (5) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Goffredo kittens. Gattini, during his interrogation in confinement, says he asked the trustee of the St. Laurent section of the PNF for the card and obtained it. Unable to pay the outstanding annuities, he ended up arousing the suspicions of the trustee, who threatened him. telling him «I'll arrange it!». Gattini was terrified by the trustee and withdrew from frequenting the fascist section. Thus began - according to his version - his persecution as an anti-fascist. (6) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC. Twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, the House of Italians, at least that of St. Laurent, remains open to fellow countrymen to listen to "the radio, play cards, chat". But no meeting - the note continues - has the character of a "ceremony" or is marked by a political meeting. On the occasion of the declaration of war by France and England on Nazi Germany - we are in 1939 - the French reservists were recalled to arms, which constituted a reason for resentment for them. Therefore, an anti-fascist demonstration was organized on their part with a nocturnal aggression against the House of Italians, wanting to hit the policy of the regime allied to Nazism. (7) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Tarducci Ottavio. Tarducci, still in 1935, had not managed to obtain the "work card", even though he had even requested it from the Mairie of St. Laurent. Eventually he resorted to the local Casa degli Italiani and began to attend the section quietly and apparently convinced. of the PNF. Having obtained the employment card, Tarducci changes his behavior, begins to associate with extremist elements - as the investigators point out. For the humiliation suffered and the anger accumulated in the refusal of the Mairie he goes out in a sensational demonstration on the occasion of the feast of the patron saint of St. Laurent. In the midst of the festivities he sings the Internazionale - and it is immediately a choir. The Mayor invites him to stop and Tarducci responds with threats and insults and making him under with a clenched fist accuses him of not having wanted to help him for the "work card". (8) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC cit. More numerous than the Umbrians were the Ligurians - Sarzanese, communists, anarchists, republicans, all registered, whose residence abroad, profession or occupation is unknown. They are natives one of Arcola (La Spezia), one of La Spezia, two of Sarzana, one of Lerici, and a name that does not respond to an individual born or known in Sarzana - notes the investigator - who, like us, underlines the common geographical origin of Bertieri's followers. (9) Bianchi A., cit. Foreword by Giancarlo Pajetta. (10) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC. The biographical card only recognizes his election as Municipal Councilor; instead he was councilor in the year of the Sarzana events. After Bertieri was already expatriated for reasons of personal security, the fascists in 1926 denounced him for embezzlement, according to their classic public administrator-thief equivalence. The Court of La Spezia sentenced him to one year of imprisonment, a fine of L. 300 and one year of interdiction from public office. The sentence never reached him in France. From other convictions - a 1919 offense and simple bankruptcy - he was acquitted respectively by prescription and by amnesty in 1924. (11) Bianchi A., cit. It was a political formation in which anti-fascists from various sides had converged to face the violence of the squads. In the events of Sarzana they had had an important weight. Bertieri had set up a department in Sarzana with a contingent of 150 men, all workers and peasants. They had their own newspaper and, according to the work quoted by Bianchi, they also operated in Umbria. Of the fact, however, we do not find any reference in the newspaper The Claim, cit. (12) We have read two versions of the events in Sarzana, one historical (see Bianchi A., cit.), And the other ASLS Fondo Prefettura della Spezia, Report 12 and 13 June 1921 by the Deputy Commissioner PS, from Sarzana, to be sent to the Sub-prefect of La Spezia, upon notification by the Mayor of Sarzana, and by the councilors Calderini and Bertieri. The PS Commissioner presents them as "a fascist raid" in Sarzana, Bianchi as an attack by the terrorist squad against the Sarzanese population, with which the municipal administration of the city supported by the left-wing parties had sided. The first version presents the defeat of the fascists as a "retreat" to avoid police intervention; the historical testimony speaks of a vigorous response of the popular forces, peasants, workers and bourgeois, once in tune with the anti-fascist parties of Sarzana and all of Lunigiana. (13) Not Grelli personally, nor his family, but the democratic movement of the Upper Tiber Valley circulated a sheet "Umbrian Communist Union Committee - Nov. 1924 Appeal" denouncing the responsibility of the capitalists for the continuous increase in life and for the decrease in wages, cf. Appendix III. (14) Bianchi A., cit. We refer to Bocciardi Ugo, anarchist, blind, accused of murder, a character close to Bertieri in the Sarzana facts, who does not appear to be part of his group. (15) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, cited CPC. (16) ASLS, Leverage Office Fund of 1892 - Municipality of Sarzana. Visit passed by Bertieri in 1922, that is, at the age of 22. He is a "student". In the biographical card of his CPC dossier it appears instead that he did "elementary courses" and that consequently his capacity as a propagandist due to lack of schooling must be considered scarce and not very effective. (17) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC cit. (18) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC cit. For at least a year, the correspondence relating to Bertieri is concerned with deciphering whether Bucin or Buccin was another Bertieri's person or not. The Municipality of Sarzana puts an end to the investigation. But the Royal Prefecture of La Spezia had mobilized, the Ministry which had issued a "circular for research" and the Division of the PP, of La Spezia had even provided the personal data of a non-existent Alfredo Bucino to whom the same activities were attributed that played the Bertieri. The whole investigation was complicated, in part, by the fact that Bertieri had managed to prevent the La Spezia police headquarters from coming into possession of a photograph of him. (19) Alatri Paolo, Italian Anti-Fascism, Ed. Riuniti, 1973. (20) Luigi Campolonghi had joined the anti-fascist Concentration, to which neither Justice and Freedom nor the Communists had joined. (21) The anti-fascist concentration established in France in 1927 substantially refers to the Aventinian position and included dissenting elements of the Italian League of Human Rights. It crumbled around 1934. (22) The LIDU is an association older than the anti-fascist Concentration and survived to it and still operating today in France and Algeria. It arose along the lines of the Ligue des Droits de l'homme whose origins date back to the Dreyfus affair. (23) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Marian lightning. (24) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. (25) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. The news is reported with the indication «sec. socialist "and corrected in" sect. communist »in pencil. The confusion arises from the fact that in the biographical notes he is described as "socialist" as he was before his accession to the Communist Party after the Livorno Congress. (26) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. Appendix IV. (27) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. While the Socialist Party is increasingly in favor of rupture, in Beausoleil, the Maximalists have even fully joined the FU, and perhaps even the Communist Party. (28) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. In addition to those present whose names are mentioned, our speaker refers to an unknown Communist who is the main "speaker". (29) Henri Barbusse was certainly not known to Grelli for his literary work but he became so on the occasion of the war in Spain when Barbusse organized the volunteers with a battalion of the BI, with his name. (30) In that precise historical context it was necessary to defend the Italian workforce abroad and protect it against the law on wages, which followed the Fascist law on the reduction of wages, aggravating it with quotas, i.e. reducing the amount of Italian workers that French employers could or had to hire. (31) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. It had happened to the Republicans. (32) MU, Registry. The emigrants of 1902 were called Celestino Broccolicchi and Stella Crispoltoni, born respectively in Umbertide and Città di Castello in 1852 and 1853. The children were all born in Umbertide, with the exception of two who were born in Gubbio. Once in France, they spent the first period occupied in cultivating the fields and with the large number of arms, all in the family, which they can employ, they draw good results, if, around the 1920s, Antonio intended Alfonso (born in 1874) the eldest son "is »Cultivate land« owned by him ». By decree of 1928 he became a French subject. Later he became the owner of a car service, like his brother Eugenio and also hired Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello as a mechanic. (33) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Broccolicchi Antonio, Broccolicchi Antonio, understood as socialist Alfonso di Celestino, born in Umbertide 22/3/1874 - papers 34, 1934-1944. Antonio had become a socialist in France, having been expatriated at eighteen. "He made pomp of his principles"; he is mentioned among the participants in a conference held by R. Pacciardi in Nice in 1934, an event of primary political importance, which led the political police to draw up a list of participants, to be considered suspects. His brother Antonio, ten years younger (see ASP Inv. Quest. Fasc. Broccolicchi Vittorio di Celestino, anti-fascist born in Gubbio on 25/4/1895, papers 16 + 2 photos 1939-1944) is infamous by the police with every sort of accusations (exploiter of prostitution and keeper of houses of ill repute) that would have made him merit judicial charges on the French side. Of which we have no documentation, just as his alleged expulsion from French territory in 1936 is not documented. From the file it does not appear that poor Vittorio ever left France. (34) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Broccolicchi Maria, Maria Broccolicchi in Polidori, by Eugenio, antifascist, born in Gubbio 25/4/1895 - cards 16 + 2 photos 1939-1944 - Maria, daughter of Eugenio and wife of the red militiaman Polidori Francesco, di Domenico, is reported as "Very active anti-fascist propagandist and registered in the RF, with the specific purpose of subjecting her to a close interrogation on her political activity, and on that of her husband:" she is extensively questioned and reports on the merits ". According to her file, many important details of Maria's life had escaped the police: who had learned from her brothers-in-law in Città di Castello to use printed type and that she had emigrated with her son and her husband, persecuted for his ideas " anti-national and sympathy for subversive parties "in Nice where she was employed in the printing sector. To provide for her son and her husband, the latter unemployed, she had been helped by the "red aid" during the period in which Polidori had tried, twice, to go to fight or work in Spain. II - III Il fascicolo della Questura e Grelli in Francia IV. - GRELLI IN SPAIN The context in which Alessandro Grelli spends the last two years of his life is the Spanish Civil War, whose complex origin, internal to the country in which it broke out, would seem indispensable to discuss and indicate, moreover, why it inevitably became a European and international affair. , as soon as the contenders - the republicans in government and the revolting Francoists - quickly asked for military aid, receiving generous and ambiguous responses, almost always of common origin and of opposite sign towards the two sides, driven by interests that they went beyond the ideology of merit itself. It might seem indispensable to talk about the parallel civil war that took place, bloody and terrorist, behind the republican lines, between communists and anarchists, a sinister projection of Stalin's Bolshevism, and the massacre of a large number of Franco's political opponents, decimated by the platoon of execution ordered by him (1), a sinister prelude to the decline of the "liberal spirit" of Spain for long successive years. We want to place that dramatic event in the circumscribed reality of the anti-fascists, especially the exiles, to grasp the signs of the political passion of the few who voluntarily exposed their life for the ideal: what they thought about it, how their willingness to participate was organized, how the war changed individual and group attitudes. Circumstances that border on the human drama, barely guessed, that even Grelli lived. - We will tell of his death in combat through mean news, but enough to put him in a solitary, heroic position with respect to the group to which he belongs. The news of the Francoist military uprising of July 1936 spread rapidly throughout Europe, thanks to the radio stations, official or clandestine, especially the Catalan ones, which the technological renewal was making protagonists of mass information (2). The anti-fascists were "fascinated and magnetized" (3), and, having set aside the mulch reserves, they saw near the dream of a direct confrontation with fascism, established in their country: for freedom against tyranny. This is the interpretation that Carlo Rosselli promptly and clearly enunciated in a speech to Radio Barcellona, on November 13, 1936, addressing himself to "Compagni, Italian brothers": identity between Francoism and Mussolian fascism, identity of the struggle to defeat the one and the other. other (4). In the memoirs of the veterans of the Spanish War (5), written a few years after its conclusion, there are rare references to the pacciardana reading. The Rossellian thesis prevails with class variants - anti-capitalist war - and nationalist variants - war of support for a people threatened from the outside - with a clear rejection of the democracy-communism opposition, of which Franco managed to persuade some Italian diplomats. The reaction of the anti-fascists in Italy was prompt and worried following the speed with which the regime sent, as early as the end of July, to Morocco, contingents to reinforce the Francoists. They were not unaware that Mussolini's sympathies for Franco were joined by the long-standing links and affinities between the Savoy and Bourbon monarchies. In the various Italian cities there were no demonstrations of solidarity, repressed even before they exploded, while the regime intensified the arrests, and the Special Court the sentences. In France and Belgium and elsewhere in Europe, where anti-fascist Italians had emigrated, who in the years of exile had experienced the not only material importance of economic support, the first cure was the collection of funds for the Spanish people at war, and for the travel expenses of the volunteers (6). Political propaganda in favor of republican Spain took the form of conferences, meetings, circulars, leaflets, person-to-person meetings, or with groups. The work of the recruiters, organized in the ways that we will analyze later, was so intense and effective as to push Mussolini's government to decree, just six months after the start of the war, their detention, from one to three years (7) . Similarly, in the same period, the French Chamber, following the governmental orientation of "non-intervention" alongside England, had voted a decree to prevent the departure of the French for Spain (8). The long-standing anti-fascist organizations, the LIDU and the FU, found a unity of purpose they had never achieved in ideological discussion. Communists and Socialists, Liberal Party leaders and Republicans worked side by side in informing about the modalities of enlistment and travel. In the area of the Maritime Alps circulated a flyer reproduced in mimeograph style, and therefore of wide circulation, edited by "Fronte Unico Italiano of the Department of Launching" (9), which Grelli may have had on hand and discussed with his companions. On the merits we tend to believe that Grelli's decision was first of all temperamental, and, only in part, the result of a collective elaboration of the group. Within which the possibilities of influence were bypassed, and almost canceled, by the solicitations of the numerous committees, which had formed and were being formed, in favor of Spain, which feverishly multiplied the initiatives to organize recruitment and to inform about course of the war. Also in Ponte S. Luigi, on the border with Italy, a Section of the "Revolutionary Committee pro Spain" functioned, and in Nice a "Russian bureau" hired volunteers. The Spanish government itself had opened its own representation in France to promote the republican cause, and was authorized to circulate its own recruiting agents. The Consul of Spain in Marseille organized the transfer of volunteers to Barcelona, on Spanish ships, which departed twice a month, with a capacity of 450 militiamen at a time, and assured them of triumphal welcome upon arrival (10). The UPI of the MVSN, stationed in Marseille, managed to obtain the lists of transported persons, relative to the last quarter of 1936, for a total of one thousand names. It is obvious that the UPI sent the list to the Ministry of the Interior, which set in motion the bureaucratic process of identification, and subsequent phases, not different from that reserved for those registered. Grelli's name is not included in the lists, as we had hypothesized, knowing for sure that he had left Barcelona, but not taking into account that he had left, yes, from Barcelona, but with the Laroche group, which may have followed differently itinerary (11). - Aggregated with a group, which officially denounced the reasons for enlisting, Grelli did not have to invoke the justification "for work" (12) similar to that of the emigrants of the 1920s and 1930s who, even in the context of the war in Spain , found its objective justification in the contraction of the available manpower (13), as had happened for the emigrants of the 1920s. Nor did he head to sorting places where volunteers from France itself and from other places generally went (14). In these "bureaux" they could regularize the passport, if they were in possession of it, or were provided with special passes. Nor did he have to face the adventurous departure of those who left isolated and individually, as often happened in many parts (15). In this way those "non-party" volunteers crossed the border, statistically given the first place as a numerical participation (16), who ran many risks, even if the "Red Aid" had set up the "Red Help" service at the border. Red Guides "(17). In the land of Spain, the volunteers who arrived by sea were welcomed in the great infantry barracks of Pedralbes, those who arrived by land, crossing the Pyrenees, in Albacete (18). In these and other centers, Grelli also had to stop for training, that is, to follow a military training course, learn how to shoot, and other warfare techniques. At the end of the course he was enrolled in the official BI lists, with a registration number, which is the same as that of the "Carnet militar", the militiamen's identity card (19). Training was often limited to only one week, or even less, depending on the contingent requests coming from the front. In any case, the militiaman was included in the Spanish army, with the same military rank he had achieved in the Italian army, and at the initial rank, if, as could happen, he had not done military service (20). In gray-green, not with a soldier's uniform, but in overalls, the uniform of the worker, appropriate to a war, in which more than half of the fighters were made up of workers (21), on the head the bag with the star three-pointed, with his clenched fist raised at the height of the temple, in the Garibaldi salute, the militiaman appears portrayed in period photographs. In which, however, the black berets of the anarchists and the colonial helmets refer to the diversified political origins of the participants (22). There are two documents referring to Grelli's departure for Spain (23): the telegraphic circular from the Ministry of the Interior (1937) to the Royal Prefect of Perugia and to all the prefects of the kingdom, dated July 1937; the telespresso of the Royal Consulate General of Nice (1937) to the Minister of the Interior, dated June 3, 1937. The date of the first document is a few days after the date of the second, and does not suggest any particular observation other than that of detecting its coincidence. Substantial differences, however, exist between them, regarding the origin and structure of the news itself: the minister writes from Rome, a peripheral place with respect to Nice, from where the Royal Consul writes who had the opportunity to check, albeit indirect evidence of what he says, close as it is to the place where the events took place. The minister informs that Grelli "would have enrolled" uses the conditional, typical of the news of "trust source" - and does not specify any chronological reference; the consul writes that Grelli "left St. Laurent du Var in October 1936". The consul uses the mode of certainty for an event that happened under the eyes of all and that even the friends of Grelli, the companions of the group, may have confirmed, since, with this indication, they did not compromise either the friend or themselves. The motivation for the removal of Grelli is made explicit with the conditional and that is "he would have gone to Barcelona to fight in the international militias of the Laroche group". In conclusion, the minister gives the news for investigative purposes, which does not require chronological details; the consul communicates a date from which Grelli had not been seen again in St. Laurent du Var. Therefore, adding that some time passes from when a person moves away from a place until those of the place realize that he has moved away, we can establish the chronology of the departure of Grelli for Spain, in October 1936, which is in contrast with the date with which in the file of the Perugia Police Headquarters this important junction in Grelli's life is mentioned, as we have already observed. When to the Laroche group, we further specify that, in our opinion, it is a political group and not a military one, for which a different appellation - column, battalion or other - would have been used. In fact, the military group - company or battalion or brigade - was not known upon departure, but assigned, after training, when the soldiers were about to leave for the front, or perhaps the front itself. Grelli, dunqúe, was in Spain from the end of 1936 to September 1938. He spent about two years there, around which we have no documentation relating to the war fronts, in which he could have fought, nor to injuries, illnesses and hospital stays. , nor to probable licenses. Grelli was unable to leave us any news of him because he did not return to his homeland, as happened to the veteran militiamen, who during interrogations or at the border or at the police station, told the details of their Spanish experience. Many tell of moving from one front to another, many had been hospitalized for injuries or illnesses. There are those who can boast of having been fighting for twenty-two months, with only one interruption because they were hospitalized (24); there are those who, despite having returned to Spain twice, never reached the front for reasons beyond their control (25). We will see how the documentation, albeit poor and uncertain, on his death can authorize us to present him in two different phases of the Spanish war: the battle of Madrid at the end of 1936 and the first months of 1937, and the great battle of the Ebro, started in the second fortnight of May 1938, bloodyly culminating precisely in the days in which Grelli lost his life. The documents relating to the definition of the date, place, causes of Grelli's death and particular annexes relating to various circumstances, such as the fate, which moves us with pity, which touched his body, were not found in the archives, but in the current archives of the Ministry of the Treasury, War Pensions Office in the provincial and national headquarters. The Perugia office provided us with the pension application from Alessandro's father (26) which is confirmed by the documentation provided by the Rome office, with the complete documentation acquired to authorize Abramo Grelli's pension (27). Two documents emerge from this documentation, of which we will speak extensively - Notoriety Act of the Consul General of Italy in Nice and the letter from the secretary of the former Garibaldi Fighting Brotherhood in Spain - ten years after the death of Alexander, but absolutely the richer in data and, relatively, closer to the event. Documents of undisputed historical validity, especially with respect to the Death Act, twenty years later (28), which has an exclusively bureaucratic value and does not offer any documentation on the cause of Grelli's death, since it was not possible to find the minutes of the Commission that he drafted it, as we have already complained. As for the date of death, day, month and year, it coincides with the documents mentioned above, and in the Act of presumed death. But let's see what new elements the documents of the pension operation initiated by Abraham bring. They come from various sources: the oldest is drawn up by the Consul General of Italy in Nice, who, acting as a notary, certifies Grelli's death on the basis of "four known and suitable witnesses"; the second is drawn up by the secretariat of the ex-Garibaldi fighting brotherhood in Spain, which certifies the death on the basis of «the results of the documents in its possession». They coincide on the date - night 12-13 September 1938 - and on the cause of death - firearm, enemy machine gun -. But they differ on the toponym in which the event took place; "Arganda in the Ebro area" according to the witnesses summoned by the consul; "The Sierra Caballs on the Ebro" according to the data of the former Garibaldi Brotherhood fighting in Spain. The geographical and chronological error of the first is evident: Arganda, a few kilometers from the capital, is one of the places where the long battle of Madrid took place, which took place in the last months of 1936, until April 1937, that is a year and a half and more before Alexander's death; Sierra Caballs is the place where the battle of the Ebro was taking place in the days when the Grelli fell, from May 1938 to September 1938. The confusion in which the witnesses of the consul of Nice have incurred confirms the chronology indicated by us for the departure of Grelli for Spain, since the geographical error could document a possible participation in the battle of Madrid, in the first phase of his stay in Spain, which we have, in fact, placed in the last months of 1936. Therefore we define the data of Grelli's death, together with the details connected to them, as follows: - date: night between 12 and 13 September 1938; - place: front of the Ebro, Sierra Caballs; - cause: died on the spot following wounds sustained in combat from enemy machine gun bursts, firearms; - burial: the burial place is not known, because the body remained in enemy territory having prevented its recovery during the night; - military situation: soldier, volunteer enlisted in the IV Company, II Battalion "Garibaldi". The battle of the Ebro - July 26 - September 23, 1938 - stands out for its "terrible", compared to all previous military events, in a war that had lasted for two years. Historians tell (29): never seen such a bloody battle and such quantity of artillery, tanks and aviation concentrated on the Ebro. The republican army had crossed the river by order of the government, which was looking for a military success, temporarily achieved, but immediately blocked by the influx of Francoist reinforcements, exceptional and impressive, which determined tragic consequences. It was communicated several times that the "Garibaldi" brigade was in difficulty, in a compromised situation. But whenever the Fascists launched an attack, the Garibaldians emerged, as if by a miracle, from underground, from the semi-destroyed trenches, causing losses and suffering more serious ones, to the point that when the brigade was sent to reserve, only nine hundred fighters. The number of dead and wounded was so great that it could not be covered by the arrival of new volunteers, hindered, moreover, by the growing difficulties in crossing the borders, strictly controlled by the "commissions" set up by the non-intervention committee. The veteran Garibaldi's soldiers (30) tell us: «the armament superiority of the Francoists was crazy. We did not have tanks, we did not have aviation, and the two machine guns supplied were not usable due to lack of bullets. The shotgun with thirty rounds in the barrel and the only two hand grenades we had, did not put us in a position to defend ourselves, under a deluge of cannon fire that came at us, exposed as we were open-faced, without a shrub or a bush that sheltered, on bare and stony ground. We settle down on the ground, waiting for the blow to pass by. In a single day, twenty times, we withdrew from the heights of the sierra, and for as many times we regained them. There was no longer a porter service, there was no drink, there was no food. We went to get it, when it was possible, in the warehouses, which were increasingly lacking. Because the rear, if they could still be called that, had only one task, that of collecting the dead and helping the wounded ... In the evening the group was reconstituted, which diminished day by day: in a single day, - the memory he is very much alive - we had fifty left from the two hundred we were ». And, on the night of 12 to 13 September - we add - a "minus one" of those present was Alessandro Grelli. They saw him lifeless in the opposing field, where he had rashly pushed himself, without being able to escape the enemy fire, which also raged on the dead (31). The tragic situation lasted until 23 September, when the order of the "despedida" arrived, the withdrawal of the BI, made necessary under the pressure of the United Nations Society, to slow down the influx of external aid to Franco, and perhaps also to put an end to the massacre of the fighters of the two fronts. The anti-fascists, as the veterans testify, had not known anything in advance, but they realized that it would be absurd to continue this carnage. More than fifty years after that event we have caught in the stories of some veterans of the BI - not only of Italian origin - some shadow, almost like a regret, an afterthought, the questioning of their voluntary participation, so dramatically closed by order of the "despedida", as to make one lose the reasons. But those few add that in the current situation the struggle for freedom still has to continue. The detachment from his Spanish comrades is defined as "painful" by some Garibaldians and only partially alleviated by the preparation of the spectacular parade for the Barcelona Diagonal, which took place at the end of October. The veterans never saw any of the prisoners again, because they were all murdered by the fascists. For them, fate reserved internment in French concentration camps, determined by the complex and politically contradictory situation of relations between Spain and France. More than a hundred veterans managed to escape from Argèles or Vernet and among them some entered the resistance to the Vichy government; others entered to fight among the partisans in various countries of Northern Europe. Those of them who presented themselves, challenging fate, at the border of Ponte S. Luigi, were arrested and sent to police confinement, with destination, for the most part, Ventotene. In the interrogation reports that they underwent, it is noted that they never wanted to denounce anyone responsible for their decision to voluntarily participate in the war in Spain, and sometimes proudly declare that they are convinced "that they have done their duty". The rare times that they indicate persons or circumstances, they do so in a generic way, so as not to offer investigators a possible trail of research, which is difficult, however, to follow four or five years later. From confinement, Garibaldi's ex-combatants were freed in 1943 - 25 July 1943 - and in the following months they wanted to continue their political struggle by entering, as organizers, the partisan struggle. The members of the primitive nucleus of Bertieri's group conclude their history of political emigrants with a common characteristic, albeit in the specificity of personal situations, which can be interpreted as the signal of the crisis that the phenomenon of political emigration was going through, in the imminence of the outbreak of World War II, about three years before the fall of fascism: they all saved their lives and lived for a long time in republican Italy, which they had also contributed to building, at home, and this due to circumstances not lucky or fortuitous, but for voluntary, carefully calibrated political choices and decisions. September "disbarred" by repentance in 1930, he lived in Rome until 1950; Gattini lived in the country where he was born and escaped any sanction, because he had repeatedly and insistently denied the political faith he shared with Grelli and Bertieri and even their friendship, declaring that he hardly knew them, and that he was always been a fascist. Fascist and moreover persecuted by the trustee of the St. Laurent du Var beam, only because he had not been able to pay the arrears of the PNF card issued to him since 1934. Bertieri, the hero of Sarzanese anti-fascism, wrote in 1940, in his own hand, a question to Mussolini "Your Excellency the Head of the Government of Rome", in which he asks to "be able to freely and definitively return to his homeland", committing himself to " no longer dealing with politics "and" devoting oneself to family and work ". He was not answered. He insists with a second request addressed to the Delegation for repatriation and assistance, managed by the Italian Armistice Commission with France. The application was rejected "due to the poor political record" of the applicant, who "was still poorly remembered in the fascist circle of Sarzana". Bertieri does not give up and expatriates without authorization. On March 13, 1943, he was arrested at the Menton border and transferred to La Spezia, where the Court, by order of July 9, assigned him to police confinement for a period of three years in a small town near L'Aquila. It is likely that the ordinance has suffered some delay until it reaches the historic date of September 8th. Which certainly changed the fate of Bertieri. Finally, Tarducci presents a case in itself: we have not found the date of his death, not even in the country of his birth, nor the evolution of his political history. Let us suppose that by virtue of the years of emigration matured since 1926 he has naturalized and definitively integrated into French society. To unearth the story of Alessandro Grelli from oblivion - we stated it in the Introduction - we carried out this research. The silence of the living people of Umberto weighs on him who, despite having known him, remember him so vaguely that it seems they never knew him. We therefore want to suggest a further path of research that we have carried out, without any result: given that among the "Umbertidesi residing in Nice" signatories of the plaque located in the atrium of the municipal residence of Umbertide and three of the texts summoned by the Consul General of Nice for the Act of Notoriety who are, in fact, two natives of Umbertide, and one of Città di Castello, there is some probable identity, which would mean that living people, or their descendants, who have known Alexander, are traced, we hope that the search for others will have better luck (32). Note: (1) Silvestri M., The decline of Western Europe, Turin, Einaudi, 1954, III, p. 399. (2) Rosselli C., in «Justice and freedom», April 1937. They were called Radio Barcelona, Radio Valencia, Radio Madrid, Radio Toulouse. Others did not indicate their geographical origin in their denomination, such as Radio Verdad, a souped-up Spanish station that broadcast from Italian stations, renamed after the battle of Guadalajara in Radio Falsidad. Even in the silence of the ether - Rosselli observes - war was fought. (3) Silvestri M., cit., P. 360. (4) Rosselli C., Today in Spain, tomorrow in Italy, Turin, Einaudi, 1967. It is in one of the speeches contained in this pamphlet that was printed for the first time in Paris that Rosselli launches the appeal «Today here , tomorrow in Italy ", which in the following January will become" Today in Spain, tomorrow in Italy ", as already noted. (5) AA.W., The International Brigades, La Pietra, 1976, p. 83. The Czechoslovakian Communist Party, which was the most active force that rose to defend the Spanish anti-fascist fighters, also launched the slogan "In Madrid there is also a fight for Prague". (6) There was an important mobilization of intellectuals. In this regard, we cannot escape the suggestion of the verses of Pablo Neruda, who participated intensely in the aid and solidarity campaign for the cause of republican Spain: "I remember, years ago, in Paris, / one evening I spoke to the crowd / I came to ask aid for republican Spain / for the people in their struggle ... »Canto Generale XXXIX - 1945 - P. Neruda - Poesie, Florence, Hoepli, 1962. In which, a few years later, the poet gathers the heroes of the anti-Francoist war to the heroes of Latin America, on a memorable occasion in Brazilian history. (7) Silvestri M., cit., P. 271. The decree is published in the Official Gazette of 2/2/1937. Silvestri comments on this "... by punishing the recruiters, that is, the government itself." (8) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Zangarelli Emilio. The native Zangarelli of Pietralunga, enlisted in the Death Battalion stationed in Santa Perpetua di Moguda should have received a letter "in the Barracks 19 July of the Red Militias of Barcelona ”sent to him by his brother, intercepted and by the recipient never read. It is attached to his file and contains the news of the resolutions of the French Chamber. We add that Zangarelli, to justify and deny his participation in the war, claims that he went to Barcelona to visit it, since he worked in France in Perigueux, a town very close to the Spanish border. (9) ACS, DGPS Ministry, Volunteers enlisted in the Spanish War for the Red Army, Envelopes 62, 63, 64, Years 1937, 1938. These are three very bulky envelopes that contain unnumbered papers, also referring to 1936. the leaflet described is contained therein. (10) ACS, DGPS Ministry, cit. The ships were called "Villa de Madrid" and "Ciudad de Barcelona". (11) ACS, Grelli Alessandro, CPC. The news of Grelli's enrollment in the Laroche group can only be read in the papers of the CPC dossier in ACS. In this regard, we report that we have not found any news regarding the Laroche group, neither from the live information of our former Garibaldi friends, nor in the various CPC files consulted, nor in general information works, nor in specific works or in French and Spanish encyclopedias and Italian. However, we can make some hypotheses. If Laroche stands for Laroque, it could be connected with Pierre Laroque, a figure who in the 1930s took an active interest in the trade union problems of emigrants, recognizing their important role in replacing the shortage of French manpower. By his name it may have been called a group of volunteers, as has happened for other characters. Laroche can refer to a locality in the Loire - La Roche La Meuliere - where a chemical products factory worked, where many emigrants worked. We learned the news of the Laroche la Meuliere factory from the file of the Terni anarchist Conti Ardito, who started from this locality, but does not refer to a group with that name (see ASP, Inv. Quest., Conti fasc. Ardito). (12) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. by Baciotti Guido, Bernardini Vincenzo, Carnevali Settimio, Galli Guido, Giacometti Giuseppe, Zangarelli Emilio. They are all Umbrian militiamen, to whom we will refer for news about their transfer to Spain and the reasons for participating in the war. (13) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Galli Guido. Galli tells us that the newspaper "Esclaireur de Nice et du Sud-Ouest" hosted, at the end of 1936, an advertisement from the Spanish government with a request for drivers and mechanics. There were those who "knew" that "work" meant enlistment and started out as a convinced volunteer. But there were those who were surprised by the trick and tried to escape. As for Galli, he uses the advertisement in the French newspaper to try to deny his participation in the war, which was instead effective in the role of driver of the republican army. (14) ACS, DGPS Ministry, cit. In Basel, Lugano and Zurich, those coming from Germany and all of Northern Europe were welcomed by special bureaux. In Genoa, volunteers from Southern and Northern Italy gathered at the famous "Bar della Borsa". Everyone passed through the Union Bridge, on the border with France, from where the last stage began. (15) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Lightning Mariano, cit. Lightning says that in many French cities, especially in the North, the Spanish People's Relief Committee took care of isolated departures: it paid, for example, the train ticket from Paris to Perpignan to Italian and other nationals volunteers, and he gave them L. 50 - it was not cheap - for what they might need during the trip. At the border they were awaited by a Spanish border committee, which was responsible for accompanying volunteers to Spain. (16) AA.W., The International Brigades, cit., P. 180. He reports other data: about 5000 volunteers were Italian, of which 1822 were communists, 137 socialists, 124 anarchists, 55 militants of radical democratic parties. More than half of the volunteers were workers. The largest group of volunteers was the "non-party" group. (17) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Lightning Mariano, cit. Speaking of the strong flow from Toulon to Perpignan, Fulmini observes that the volunteers formed groups of even a hundred at a time, anarchist exiles. and communists. Their departure - here is the interesting observation of Lightning, who was a character who was particularly attentive to things - was not hidden, on the contrary, in the days before the volunteers made farewell visits to friends, and in the local Chamber of Labor took place a farewell reception, of which Fulmini read the report in the local press. On the merits, the Consul of Italy complains that "the French local authorities ignore or pretend to ignore and every now and then they impose the" duty "to" stop " some volunteers about to leave, to announce it to the newspapers, to document French neutrality, but these were isolated cases ». The Lightning captures the shrewd objectivity of the consular authority. (18) AA.W., The International Brigades, cit. Albacete had been chosen by the Spanish government because it was far from the trajectory of military aviation. The BL was born in Albacete on October 14, 1936, after the arrival of the first five hundred volunteers, belonging to various nationalities, including Italians. In the same month, still in Albacete, the formation of the "Garibaldi" Battalion was decided, in which Italians from all the political components of the democratic movement converged. (19) The "Carnet Militar", of which we are in possession of a photocopy, given to us by the former Garibaldino Gaspare Francioli, whom we would like to thank warmly, bears the serial number, the photograph, the political party of the holder, the date of his entry into Spain, and the issue of the «Carnet», the military rank, the illnesses contracted, any injuries and consequent hospitalization, leave, services on the various fronts, the description of the military uniform supplied and its replacements. Finally it indicates the "pay" in the various periods. On the last page of the "Carnet" a long stamped mention, signed by the Head of the administrative service of the BL, authorizes the soldier to participate in the "retreat" - in Italian in the stamp - and recognizes him the merit of having fought for independence of the Spanish Republic. (20) Rosselli C., Today in Spain, tomorrow in Italy, cit. Rosselli does not have an exemplary memory of military training, he defines it as "summary": the rifle was delivered without cartridges, and then, "up there", at the front, the militiaman would have "the cartridges, the helmet, the bombs , shoes, socks, plates and spoons ». Instead, "up there" - Rosselli concludes - there will be nothing, or very little and "a column leaves as soon as a truck of rifles arrives". (21) See no. 16. (22) AA.W., The International Brigades, cit. From the frontispiece photo. (23) See Appendix I, Telegraphic Circular (1937) and Telespresso (1937) Appendix V. (24) This is the case of Garibaldino Mosca Giuseppe, a lieutenant, who rightly boasts of having been at the front for twenty-two months, for the same time that Grelli was in Spain, with the only interruption, however short, of a hospitalization due to illness in Benicasin, as we have seen from the lists of hospitalized patients also in Salamanca in AHNGC, where the Moscow whose nationality is not mentioned is, according to the spelling - moska josef - considered to come from the East. (25) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Polidori Francesco. Polidori spent the first period of his volunteer work in a Spanish hospital and was sent on leave shortly after because he was suffering from a serious illness. In Nice, at his home, he recovered discreetly, to the point that he returned to Spain, where he was immediately the victim of an airplane bomb, which did not injure him but, due to the great blast, caused him a concussion, later to which he was definitively repatriated. (26) The DL 19 March 1948, n. 249 with which "pensions and war checks are extended to Italian citizens, who, being part of anti-Francoist formations, have reported mutilations and disabilities as a result of their intervention in the Spanish Civil War, and to their families, in the event of death" is reported in its full text in Appendix VII. Abraham's pension application bears the date of January 2, 1949, with a delay, however granted, with respect to the terms of the Decree, due to the difficulties in finding the documents to be exhibited. (27) DGT, The War Pensions Office, requested by us, provided us with certified photocopies of the documents acquired, at the time of the pension procedure started by Grelli Abramo, Alessandro's father as reported in the introduction. They are: 1) Notoriety deed of the Consul General of Nice dated 3 November 1948 (Appendix VI); 2) Letter from the Promoting Committee of the former Garibaldi Brotherhood of Spain, dated May 12, 1949. We give a detailed description of each of them, which will make the explanation in the text clearer. 1) The Deed of Notoriety on headed paper, free consular mark, is drawn up in Nice, at the headquarters of the Consulate General of Italy: the Consul acting as Notary, at the request of the Mayor of Umbertide, with sheet no. 7302 of 21 September 1948 - letter not found in the offices of the Municipality of Umbertide a Protocol - summons four witnesses "all known and suitable", who consulted separately and jointly certify, under oath that "Mr. Alessandro Grelli, known as Achille, of Abraham and Maria Ercolanellí, born in Umbertide on October 27, 1907, volunteer in BI, died in combat and as a result of gunshot wounds in nucnN From Spain - Ebro front, in the night from 12 to 13 September 1938 ". The ritual formula follows: "We Consul General requested have drawn up the present deed that comes with us and with the Chancellor signed by the appearing parties". Signatures follow. 2) Letter from the Promoting Committee of the Ex-Garibaldi Brotherhood of Spain "Somo hermanos de Espana y Italia", dated from Bologna 12/5/1949: the secretariat of the Committee addresses the letter on headed paper to the Grelli Family, Umbertide, with the subject " declaration of death of the Garibaldian Alessandro Grelli ». The Brotherhood speaks explicitly of "documents in its possession". The declaration prompted us to search the Archive of the «Brotherhood ...» which today, having become extinct, the «Brotherhood» is transferred to the IRB. Here we have read the card headed to Grelli, which is not free from inaccuracies, already highlighted, and is weak in reporting the "documents in his possession". In fact, the death of Grelli is "reported" by Ferrer Visentini, who today does not remember anything, and by his family, who, as we know, were the least informed. On the other hand, the news that emerges from the rest of the letter is interesting: «during the fighting that took place in the Sierra Caballs in the night from 12 to 13 September, hit by bursts of enemy machine guns, he died on the spot. Therefore, since the body remained in enemy territory, the burial place is ignored ”. (28) Presidency of the Council, «Interministerial Commission for the formation and reconstitution of death or birth certificates not drawn up or lost or destroyed by war», in compliance with the Royal Decree Law of 18 October 1942, n. 1520 and Legislative Decree Lieutenancy April 5, 1946. The "Commission ..." on October 12, 1957 draws up the death certificate of Alessandro Grelli which, with the authorization of the Court of Perugia, is transcribed by the Municipality of Umbertide in the Registers of the Dead. We have already noted that the minutes of the "Commission ..." which drew up the act and which should contain the data validating the act itself has not been traced, despite careful and appropriate investigations. (29) There are detailed accounts of the battle of the Ebro, both from a strategic point of view and from the angle of the political situation that determined the "Plan of the Ebro". Fundamental is the typed report that can be read in the Appendix to Hugh Thomas, History of the Spanish Civil War, Einaudi 1963. Of which Nicoletto Italo also speaks in Years of my life, Micheletti, 1980. Other works, already cited, are: AA.W ., The international brigades, translated from Spanish, which has the merit of a work written by historians of various nationalities, all those represented in the ranks of the BI. An extensive bibliography - historical works in various languages, anonymous or collective works, novels, newspapers, magazines etc. - updated to 1977 can be found in Brouè Pierre and Emile Temine, The Revolution and the War of Spain, Mondadori, 1980. As regards the archives, the work of Hugh Thomas offers a complete indication. (30) The most exhaustive testimony was given to us by the Garibaldian of Spain Vincent Tonelli, today President of the Garibaldini of Toulouse, whom we warmly thank. (31) Calandrone G., cit. The battle of the Ebro is narrated by the Garibaldino in dramatic pages, day by day, from August to 23 September. We were struck by the observation relating to the heights of the Sierra Caballs which, precisely in the days in which our Alexander met his death, seemed "immense skimmers, they were so pitted". We have pointed out the Calandrone among the few official texts that speak of Grelli. We add, in this context of our narration, that, in relation to the date of Grelli's death, Calandrone reports it on a day following the night of 12-13 September, moreover without specifying it and without reconstructing the circumstance of the night, which prevented the recovery of the his body. (32) The names are Agabiti Luigi fu Felice, born in Umbertide, on 1st January 1898, industrialist, residing in Nice; Lucaccioni Angelo, was Achille, born in Umbertide on 18 October 1898, bricklayer residing in Nice; Bastianelli Angelo di Florio, born in Città di Castello on 1 June 1907, shoemaker, resident in Nice. IV - Grelli in Spagna

Piano del Nese Nella zona pianeggiante lungo il corso del Torrente Nese vi fu una larga diffusione degli abitati sparsi; le costruzioni si dispongono principalmente lungo il letto del Torrente Nese, anche se in nuclei ristretti e posti a breve distanza tra loro. Immagine 1: Abitati sparsi lungo la sponda sinistra del torrente Nese in aggetto rispetto alla pianura. Si hanno, però, scarsissime notizie che non favoriscono la ricostruzione delle vicende che hanno riguardato questi nuclei abitativi indicati come “Pian di Nese”, contrastando così con un territorio piuttosto singolare, sia dal punto di vista geografico, sia per le vicende storiche che hanno interessato tale settore del contado perugino, soggetto a invasioni e incursioni. La struttura visibile Oggi molte di queste strutture sono state abbandonate o trasformate in edifici rurali, ma in origine avevano una struttura disposta in modo tale da definire volontariamente una organizzazione difensiva: grandi basamenti a volte provvisti di contrafforti aggettanti; la parte abitata dal nucleo familiare saldamente eretta a pianta regolare quadrilatera; poche aperture o fessure in prossimità della base. Questi caratteri erano peculiari delle strutture rurali fortificate, largamente diffuse nella anche campagna umbertidese durante tutto il XII-XIII secolo. In effetti, nel tessuto insediativo castrense di cui faceva parte anche Piano del Nese si hanno molti esempi di abitati con un corpo a torre. Le vecchie case-torri medievali durante la diffusione della mezzadria diventarono il punto di riferimento, quando possibile della nuova tipologia di sfruttamento indiretto della proprietà agricola diventando il punto di riferimento fisico, di fianco o intorno al quale altre strutture venivano aggiunte. L’antica tipologia perde così, pian piano, la sua originale funzione di difesa a favore di quella economico-produttiva. Tra i centri abitati o singole case presenti, Piano del Nese si rivela come un tipico complesso di insediamenti con caratteri di abitato sparso, diffuso in una stessa area, molto simile agli impianti riconducibili a villae e delimitato nel versante a sud solo dallo scorrimento del Torrente Nese, che oggi coincide, in parte, con il confine territoriale del Comune di Perugia. L’abitato sparso indicato come Piano del Nese, si sviluppa in collina tra due corsi d’acqua minori e l’importante strada provinciale che conduce dall’antica Fratta verso i centri del Trasimeno o a Perugia. Immagine 2: Abitato sparso denominato oggi “Pian di Nese” con casa-torre medievale e piccola chiesa, non visibile nell’inquadratura, lungo la sponda sinistra del torrente Nese in aggetto rispetto alla pianura. Rispetto ad altri siti presenti nel territorio ha oggi assunto minore rilievo, ma la presenza di questo insediamento era certamente importante va connessa all’esistenza dell’antico Castrum Preitinum un tempo probabilmente vicino, ora non più individuabile ma punto di forza del settore estremo del contado verso Perugia. A presidio del tratto torrentizio che scorre in prossimità della località Piano del Nese si può individuare la presenza dell’edificio fortificato identificato come torre di Santa Giuliana, alla quale è unita la chiesa omonima, posizionato a metà strada da Pian di Nese e la confluenza del torrente nel Tevere, di poco a sud del Castello di Santa Giuliana. Il complesso è posto qui come struttura a dominio della zona ad ovest pianeggiante. Stime catastali danno notizie della presenza di una chiesa, non riportata però nelle Rationes Decimarum, proprio in località Piano del Nese: l’ente risulta allibrato nel XIV secolo tra quelli appartenenti al contado di porta Sant’Angelo ed è intitolato a San Pietro de Anese. Il Grohmann ricorda a tale proposito che la chiesa di S. Pietro era iscritta per 5 libre e dipendente dal monastero di S. Salvatore di Monte Acuto. La Storia Conosciuta Anche se abbiamo ben poche notizie riguardanti il territorio, è ipotizzabile che tale settore fosse coinvolto nelle vicende storiche e politiche che colpirono anche castra e villae circostanti, quali Bisciaro, Racchiusole, Valenzino, Santa Giuliana e Castrum Preitinum; in ogni caso, questi avvenimenti rappresentavano il riflesso di ciò che accadeva a Perugia, i cui esiti dimostravano un assorbimento positivo o negativo (ovvero il rifiuto) dei fenomeni che riguardavano questi centri. Immagine 3:nella carta si può notare il simbolo del ponte sul torrente e la presenza del simbolo di edifici; caseggiato che, suggestivamente, si “sovrappone” alla posizione dell’ex Osteria di Pian di Nese esistente. Particolare della "“DESCRITTIONE DEL TERRITORIO DI PERVGIA AVGVSTA ET DEI LUOGHI CIRCONVICINI DEL P M EGNATIO DANTI DA PERUGIA MATEMATICO DELLO STUDIO DI BOLOG.A”", 1577. da Source gallica.bnf.fr - Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF) . I caratteri minimamente autonomi che interessarono Piano del Nese derivarono dalla volontà della comunità ivi residente di sostenere e mantenere i rapporti con il resto degli abitanti circostanti, dotandosi per questo di valide infrastrutture, ottenute grazie alle concessioni del Consiglio dei priori: la realizzazione di un ponte sul Torrente Nese, probabilmente nella zona che oggi nelle carte è indicata con il toponimo Ponte Nese o comunque in sua prossimità, tende a sottolineare il rilievo goduto dal luogo e, dunque, dalla sua comunità, nel corso del tempo e in epoca risalente, permettendo anche di rilevare il ruolo ben definito di questo settore comitatino come snodo commerciale e supporto economico per la zona: agevole era, infatti, il collegamento fluviale con il Torrente Càina che scorre poco più a sud, e la vicinanza dell’abitato con l’articolata viabilità stradale. Immagine 4: l’ex Osteria e stazione di posta di Pian di Nese. Fotografie: Francesco Deplanu Carta: Carta corografica di Perugia del 1577, di Ignazio Danti, incisa da Mario Cartaro a Roma nel 1580 da Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Street Games (edited by Francesco Deplanu) The Ruzzolone The "Ruzzolone" is a popular game much followed by Umbertine until a few decades ago, its origins seem ancient, practiced throughout Italy as "tumbles" or "ruzzica" some author makes it descend from classical antiquity with the passage then to Etruscan world seeing in the iconography of the "discus thrower" or "thrower" in the tomb of the Necropolis of the Monterozzi di Tarquinia because of the launching position that does not conform to the classic iconography of the thrower. Detail of image from: https://www.etruscopolis.com/tomba-delle-olimpiadi However, news about popular games is rare, with the revival of the interests of the traditions of the Volk in the romantic period the search for information began. In Umbria, in Perugia, according to what prof. Sciurpa in his "blogspot", quoted in the sources, the news comes mainly from the official news aimed above all at delimiting its use. Launch of the tumbler It was played on feast days, dressed in good clothes, from the Easter period onwards. The Ruzzolone could be a form of aged and very hardened cheese or in wood, often of rowan according to what prof. Sciurpa . It had a diameter of about 30-40 cm and could weigh from 2 to 5 kg. It was launched thanks to a rolled tape that ended with a wooden spool. It was launched with force and so the "tumbler" could cover more or less long paths; we started again from where the “tumbles” stopped, we played in pairs or one against one. It was played in pairs Games of the twentieth century Costa Muro "Costa Muro or" Touch the wall "to play before the war we went to Tiber, it went down after the porta di "caminella", at the end of Piazza di San Francesco to reach the "schioppe" on the banks of the Tiber to search The tiles". The "tiles" were river stones smoothed by the flow of water, and they had to be sought "even", that is to say similar and beautiful. It was played one on one then on the walls of the house, whoever came closest won those of the others. In the 1960s and 1970s, the "figurines" of the players replaced the stones. Wall Ball A "Wall ball" was played by drawing a circle with chalk on the wall, with the ball then the drawing had to be centered. Those who did not take us had a "penance" to pay. Castelletto In "Castelletto" they played with glass balls (marbles) or more often, because they were less expensive with balls from shard, usually brown in color. They had to be put together next to each other in number enough to make the "plan" (3-4-5 floors) above and then build another series on top. The "castelletto" became a kind of "skittle" (up to 6 castles in a row) to hit with the "tick" of other marbles or balls. Greasy tree At the "tree of the cuccagna" they played on the plants of the Tiber by attacking on the branches the discarded jute bags from the "Consortium". Jute sacks tied together with the “vetriche”, very elastic branches of plants that were born on the Tiber; inside were put stones, flour, pieces of mixed cake. The bags were prepared by all the "players" together but then they were placed on the tree only by some, the others remained blindfolded, the game happened in the areas of "Schioppe" or al "Patollo". Sources: - http://robertosciurpa.blogspot.com/2010/01/il-ruzzolone-tra-le-tante-attivita-di.html?m=1 - https://www.etruscopolis.com/tomba-delle-olimpiadi - https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruzzola - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carlo_Fontana_e_Enrico_Mascagni_campioni_di_ruzzola_fine_%27800.jpg - https://www.danielemancini-archeologia.it/i-giochi-olimpici/ - oral source: Imperia Guardabassi - Photo: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that the further disclosure on our part favors purposes not consonant with our intentions exclusively social and cultural. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com

Soria di Fratta, poi Umbertide nell'Ottocento. The nineteenth century Ottocento e Risorgimento Il "Governo della Fratta" del 1843 dello Zuccagni Orlandini Ottocento e Risorgimento Il "Governo della Fratta" del 1843 dello Zuccagni Orlandini Nineteenth century and Risorgimento (edited by Simona Bellucci and Francesco Deplanu) From the end of the Roman Republic (29 September 1799) the provisional military administrations followed one another until the recovery in June 1800 of the territories of Lazio, Umbria and Marche. With the edict of the Secretary of State Consalvi of 22 June 1800, the state territory was reorganized and 7 apostolic delegations were established with a delegate residing in the capital (Viterbo, Spoleto, Perugia, Camerino, Macerata, Ancona and Urbino); the suburban provinces of Civitavecchia, Campagna and Marittima (with the capital Frosinone), Sabina (with the capital Rieti) were also established. The papal restoration of 1799 marks a momentary halt to the spread of liberal and democratic ideas that manifest themselves during the revolutionary experience of the Roman Republic. The papal state is, however, very weak and is again occupied by Napoleon from 1808 until 1814. The Marches are united to the Kingdom of Italy while in 1809, the Papal State is suppressed, Umbria and Lazio are annexed to the Napoleonic Empire with a territorial articulation in two departments of the Tiber (or of Rome) and Trasimeno, in turn divided into districts (arrondissements) and cantons, the smallest of the state districts. Italy in the Napoleonic era (1810) from wikipedia. The user who originally uploaded the file was Eltharion from Italian Wikipedia licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 : https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stati_italiani_nell%27era_napoleonica#/media/File:Italia_1810.jpg The Trasimeno Department included the arrondissements of Spoleto, Perugia, Todi, Foligno. The administration of each department was entrusted to a prefect, a prefecture general secretary and a department general council. Each district (arrondissement-province) was administered by a sub-prefect. Within the individual cantons, the communes were administered by the maire (mayor), and by a municipal council. The maires remained in office for 5 years and were chosen from among the municipal councilors, who were in turn chosen from among the 100 major contributors. Municipalities with a budget of more than 20,000 francs had to keep a municipal receiver, and in 1804 a tax collector in connection with the arrondissement receiver and the department's general receiver. Thus, on July 13, 1809, Fratta returns to Canton, "... with a justice of the peace, Griffier Uscieri, ... and Domenico Bruni maire di Fratta. The coats of arms were replaced by an" added "and ten municipal councilors. With the bulletin of the Supreme Council of State no. 123 of November 23, 1810, confirmed by imperial decree January 3, 1812 inserted in the bulletin of laws at no. 416, Fratta was declared the chief town of the Canton with an increase in the territory formed by other fractions; a court was established under the title of Giudicatura di pace, "which it was subject to various municipalities, castles and villages "and, in addition, the civil status office was established." When the Napoleonic experience ended in 1814, the power of the State of the Church was restored. After the papal Restoration, Bartolomeo Borghi, archpriest to S.Andrea di Sorbello, excellent cartographer of the Municipality, he is arrested and convicted for having highlighted himself as a pro-French revolutionary. The pontifical institutions were restored but the innovations in the administrative field that had brought the Napoleonic period were also seen in central Italy. The State of the Church gave life to the creation of that document, born for tax purposes but which has become a very important historical source that the " Gregorian Cadastre ": a geometric-particle cadastre with the "brogliardi" to trace the properties, and qualities, of the both rural and urban properties. The land of Fratta was also registered . Also with a "motu proprio" of July 6, 1816, Fratta did not turn out more capital of government but simple "municipality", administered from Perugia by means of a mayor. It became again the municipality of residence of the governors in 1817. The new statistics of 1833 confirmed Fratta as the capital of the second class government: at the head of this district there was a governor with competence to judge up to two hundred scudi, and included the municipalities of Fratta, Montone and Pietralunga. Post of the State Archives of Rome on Facebook with a chorographic map of the "Ecclsesiastico State" where "Fratta" is clearly visible In the post you can read: ... "Pope Pius VII and his Secretary of State, Cardinal Consalvi, with the motu proprio" When by admirable provision "of 1816, initiate a profound reorganization of the administration. The edict of November 26, 1817, "Allotment of the governments and communities of the Papal State with their respective appodiates", sanctions the new political geography: the State, with the exception of the Comarca of Rome, is divided into 17 provinces governed by delegates. Benevento was also included. " ASR, General Presidency of the Census, Archive Register of maps and census papers, 1842-43. At that time, the city center is much smaller than it is today, with only 900-1000 residents, most of whom live in the countryside. The total population is approximately 10,000 inhabitants. Papal dominion expresses a very strong presence of ecclesiastical authority, which also holds the most important civil offices. Not only that, but much of the land is in the hands of the convents and religious orders. The agricultural economy, dominated by the sharecropping system, is poor and stagnant. The papal regime is not particularly brutal, but it keeps everything under control with a very widespread spy network. Fratta, like other centers Umbrian, participates in the uprisings of 1830-31, where Luigi Vibi and Petronio Reggiani distinguished themselves. Also this time the patriots of Fratta and the others failed to achieve lasting results. On the other hand, the riots did not have better results in the other parts of Italy. Freemasonry and Carbonari had been the promoters, animated by the bourgeoisie, enlightened aristocracy and artisan class. In the following period the republican ideas of Mazzini and other moderate ideologues of the Risorgimento spread. In 1848-49, when a new revolutionary outbreak occurs, Fratta participates with 26 volunteers, both enrolled in the papal troops in the first war of independence, and, after the turnaround of Pius IX, as fighters in defense of the Roman Republic. Once again, a failure and consequent papal restoration must be recorded. Shortly after in 1859, 23 people were enrolled in the second war of independence. As many as 31 volunteers in 1866 and 1867, the latter following the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, for the conquest of Veneto and Rome still missing. The Risorgimento brought the real change: the 12 September 1860 the Piedmontese soldiers of General Manfredo Fanti entered the town and " ... a provisional government junta was proclaimed with full powers in the persons of Messrs. Costantino Magi Spinetti, Raffaele Santini, Giuseppe Agostini and Luigi Igi. "The decree issued by the Marquis Gualterio, royal commissioner for the provinces of Perugia and Orvieto dates back to 14 September. , with which a provisional municipal commission was set up, whose attributions followed the pontifical ones, pending the enactment of the new municipal law. With decree n. 64 of 21 October 1860, issued by the royal commissioner Pepoli, the plebiscitary referendum was called, for the of the annexation to the Kingdom of Savoy . ". Two years later the Municipality of became Umbertide. The choice of the name with its motivation is complicated and was born after the unification of Italy at the request of the unitary state to avoid administrative "misunderstandings" due to the numerous "Fratta" existing in the Italian territory .... If you can simplify how the choice of the name took place we can say that the men of the time on the one hand tried to connect it to its historical origin with the reference to "Fracta filiorum Uberti", ie Uberto natural son of Ugo king of Italy, who would have founded it in the 10th century; this requirement, however, was welded to a "political" requirement connected to the contemporary historical moment (the Unification of Italy), with the reference of the name of Umbertide to that of the hereditary prince of the House of Savoy. For completeness, we insert an excerpt from the page of the "Siusa" on the history of Umbertide: In the resolution of December 14, 1862, the commissioner Mauro Mavarelli, president of the assembly, announced that the royal prefect, with dispatch of July 10, n. 13341, by assignment received from the Ministry of the Interior, invited the mayor of Fratta to propose to the council in one of its next sessions "the resolution, if not to change the current name of the Municipality, at least to make some addition to it, from to deduce from the specialty of the situation, and this to avoid misunderstandings and embarrassments, as well as to public administrations as well as to private individuals, which derive from the multiplicity of Municipalities that call themselves under the name of Fratta ". The mayor and the council, therefore, were of the opinion to appoint a commission composed of ... " those who considered themselves most informed of the history of the country ". In 1862 the mayor and the municipal council, with provision no. 1591 of 21 September, proceeded with the appointment of the commission, for the above purpose, composed of Costantino Magi Spinetti, Ruggero Burelli and Genesio Perugini, with the task of proposing a new name for Fratta. On the following October the members of the commission, after having listed the old names of Fratta, such as Forum Bremitii, Forum [Iulii] Concubiense, Pitulum, Fracta Filiorum Uberti and, according to Lauri, Fracta insigne Umbertinorum Oppidum, believed that the latter name in particular it was more "representative of current events if it bears a tribute to the sovereign, Umberto or Uberto, hereditary prince of the king of Italy": the proposal of "Umberta" or "Umbertide" was approved with seven votes in favor and one against. On January 25, 1863, due to certain discontent among the population regarding the new name of the Municipality and the fact that the resolution "was taken on second call with a small number of councilors", the Prefecture, with dispatch dated January 15, no. . 574 div. 5 sec. 10, ordered to propose the same object again in a new resolution. The lawyer Costantino Magi Spinetti gave reasons why the council was persuaded to abandon the old name Fratta, as "it recalled its destruction by the barbarians, and the consequent foreign domination, proposing instead to replace Umbertide for Umberta as the most I consented to the tradition, since from the same it appears that it was not Umberto, but his sons, who were the founders of this land ". This proposal was unanimously approved by roll call. " Fratta was governed by a moderate liberal majority for a long period until 1887. After the resignation of the mayor Mauro Mavarelli, in 1889 the Democrats and the republicans obtained the majority for a short period, but in the early nineties the moderate block took over the Municipality, of which Francesco Mavarelli is mayor from 1892 to 1898. The problems of Umbertide after the Unification, but also before, were those that gripped the country. The agricultural economy was stagnant, illiteracy widespread, infectious diseases caused many deaths. Communications and industry languished. At the end of the century there were progresses in the field of literacy, with the foundation of numerous rural schools and also in the health one, with the birth of a new modern hospital in 1878 as well as hygienic rehabilitation interventions, however, the agricultural economy, based on sharecropping, is unable to provide work for a growing population. In fact, especially in the 1980s, strong migratory currents began to appear. Umbertide 1892 Sources: - Simona Bellucci, " The incomplete modernization. Umbertide peasants and owners between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries ". Edimond, Città di Castello 2004. - SIUSA (Unified Information System for Archival Superintendencies) on Umbertide http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=prodente&Chiave=50311&RicProgetto=reg-umb&fbclid=IwAR2ydRABe1Uw3MxVbj3WkZrexe4eu0lBSPZe_991_1LwwGoww - http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=profist&Chiave=84&RicProgetto=reg%2dumb - http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=comparc&Chiave=330615&RicProgetto=reg%2dumb - E. Gerardi, "Institutional features and documentation in the French period and in the Restoration", in the Archival Superintendency for Lazio, "The municipal historical archives. Archival lessons", Quaderni dell Rivista storico del Lazio, 1 (1998), pp. 37-52. - Photo: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that further disclosure on our part favors purposes that are not consonant with our intentions, social and cultural exclusivities. The Fratta of 1843 by Zuccagni Orlandini (Curated by Francesco Deplanu) "The conspicuous village of FRATTA, in ancient Fracta, lies on the left bank of the Tiber which crosses there over a bridge, raised not far from its confluence with the Roggio ..." In the pre-unification period Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini, Florentine geographer and cartographer, edited a "Physical, Historical and Statistical Chorography of Italy and its Islands accompanied by an Atlas, geographic and topographic maps" of 19 volumes and a large atlas in 5 volumes . In the X volume of 1843, he dealt with the PONTIFICAL STATE with two "Supplements". In one of these here we find the description of the DELEGATION OF PERUGIA, with the "District" of Città di Castello where the GOVERNMENT OF FRATTA is also described, which also included the "Municipalities of Montone and Pietralunga. Our "capital" was divided at the time with its 18 hamlets and 3 "Appodiati" (Civitella Ranieri, Poggio Manente and Preggio), in turn with 10 total fractions. This text is a notable document for its geographical, but also political and administrative indications before the religious alienations that occurred with the Kingdom of Italy, for the rest of the information, which we report completely below, the description of the origins of the city is completely affected by the "historical" knowledge of the time, that is, they are not very accurate and substantially "literary". We also point out the indication of "Raggio" for the Reggia or Regghia torrent. A similar judgment could also be said about the information on the most important Abbey in the area, that is of S. Salvatore di Montecorona and Eremo Superiore, were it not for the state of the organization of the Camaldolese system reported here. Organizational system that disappeared within twenty years with the dictatorial decree of 11 December 1860, n. 205 of the Royal Commissioner General of Umbria Pepoli. As regards the description of the territory of Umbria, Zuccagni-Oralndini reports in full the administrative division of the PONTIFICAL STATE with the DELEGATION OF PERUGIA (with 4 DISTRICTS: Perugia District, Città di Castello District, Foligno District, Todi District). Of limited interest to us is the description of the DISTRICT OF CITTA 'di CASTELLO (with 2 Governments: Città di Castello and Fratta, 4 Municipalities and 176 “Appodiati”). In fact, the GOVERNMENT OF THE FRATTA insists within this last "District". As for the "Government of Fratta", the administrative division in 1843 is as follows: the "Capital", Fratta, with 18 "hamlets" (Castiglion dell'Abbate, Civitella di quà e di là, Leoncini, Migianella de 'Marchesi, Montalto with Cicaleto and Romeggio, Monte Acuto, Monte Castelli, Monte Migiana, Pieve di Migianella, Polgeto, Rasina, S. Cassiano, S. Giovanni di Certaldo, S. Giuliano delle Pignatte, S. Giuliano di Monte Corona, S. Silvestro dell ' Arcelle, Sportacciano, Verna) and 3 "Appodiati": Civitella Ranieri with 2 "hamlets" (S. Giovan Batista di Fratta, S. Giovanni Evangelista di Serra Partazio), Poggio Manente with 3 "hamlets" (Monte Lovesco -in part-, S. Paterniano di Pierantonio , S. Salvadore di M. Cosante -in part-) and Preggio with 6 “hamlets” (Bastia Creti, S. Andrea in Penetole (annex), Monestevole, Racchiusole, S. Bartolomeo dei Fossi, S. Paolo). Fig. 1-2-7: Extracts from the Zaccagni- Orlandini “Physical, Historical and Statistical Chorography of Italy and its Islands accompanied by an Atlas, geographic and topographical maps”. Supplement to volume X, Florence, 1843 Lo Zaccagni - Orlandini after having described Città di Castello at greater length, he dwells on our country and above all on the Hermitage and the Abbey of Montecorona. Below the analysis that refers to Fratta, today Umbertide. GOVERNMENT OF THE FRATTA. “The conspicuous village of FRATTA, in ancient Fracta, lies on the left bank of the Tiber which crosses there over a bridge, raised not far from its confluence with the Roggio. The largest temple, with a round shape, has the title of collegiate; adjacent to two other churches rise the convents of the Conventuali and of the Osservanti, Resta. still standing the tower, within which in 1393 Fortebraccio was enclosed by captain Tuzio, then by Biordo, Michelotti freed. This municipality has a gymnasium for public education, various charitable institutions, and an elegant theater that is modernly open: in the most delightful position of the surroundings the Capuchins have a convent. When some writers of the Etruscan Cortonese Academy are to be believed, near the banks of the Carpino stream, which flows into the Tiber not far from Fratta, there would have been the Forum of Giulio Umbro, Forum Julii Concubiense, with a sacred temple to Vulcano, allusive to the dexterity of the inhabitants in iron work and in handling weapons. Meanwhile, the Umbrian writers believe that Fratta rose on the ruins of the ancient Pitulum, by the care of the children of a certain Uberto, who then enjoyed the lordship: this opinion may perhaps be supported, but it cannot be hidden that Pliny was the Pitulani placed in the Lazio. Pietralunga and Montone are among the towns of this government; in the municipal boundaries of the capital there is Monte Corona, worthy of special mention like them. Fig. 3-4: Extracts from the orographic map and the Roman-medieval historical thematic map, based on the indications of Zuccagni-Orlandini, the names written in Latin characters indicate the localities existing under the dominion of the Romans, in Gothic characters "pointed" the places of the Middle Ages. "Geographic Atlas of the Italian States outlined above the best and most modern maps, to serve as a complement to the physical, historical and statistical chorography of Italy, by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence, 1844). Work in two volumes. From https://phaidra.cab.unipd.it/ distributed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Monte Corona, by Camaldolensi hermits, is a Cenobio built in an alpine mountain top, which however can be ascended by a not uncomfortable winding path. That sanctuary is surrounded by very high walls, crowned by firs and cypresses. The largest temple corresponds to a square with an inclined plane; a portico and an atrium make access more smooth. The internal walls are richly decorated: the division of the vast monastery is similar to that of any other monastery of the same order: beyond the isolated hermits' boxes, the Foresteria, the Infirmary, the Definitory for the mọnastic comizj are gathered in a single building: in a segregated part called the Reclusorio, the hermits' quarters meet, who dedicate themselves to a more austere life. Fig. 5: Political map of the Pontifical State Delegation of Perugia of 1843 of Zaccagni- Orlandini focused on the “Fratta”. "Geographic Atlas of the Italian States outlined above the best and most modern maps, to serve as a complement to the physical, historical and statistical chorography of Italy, by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence, 1844). Work in two volumes. From https: / /phaidra.cab.unipd.it/ distributed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The avenues interposed between the detached cells lead to the highest summit, rightly designated with the name of Belvedere, as you can enjoy enchanting scenes from it. Near the boreal aquifer of Monte-Corona stands on the banks of the Tiber the Abbey of S. Salvadore, where the administrative office of the upper Hermitage resides: here the monks live, due to age or inconvenience, no longer able to sustain life lonely. The vast church, of ancient but elegant design, has three magnificent naves with a subterranean confession, and is divided in such a way that its lower part will serve as a parish, and the highest one to the office of the monks. The cloister is grandiose; the Abbadia districts are vast; the gardens and vineyards that surround it are well cultivated. It is said that S. Romualdo had it built four years before the Tuscan Hermitage: in 1050 the government was entrusted to S. Pier Damiani. From the Camaldolensi it passed for some time to the Cistercenşi: it was then made Conmenda: in 1524 the Commendalore Gabbriello da Fano, consecrated to the hermit life, recovered its possession and had it given its current form. On the slope of the mountain above there was a very ancient oratory consecrated to S. Savino: the patrician Beltramo from Perugia donated it in 1209 to the Camaldolensi: three centuries later the Venetian monk B. Paolo Giustiniani deduced a colony of hermits, who built their houses; but their number then grew so that it was forced to build the current Hermitage around 1510. Subsequently that monastery was declared head of the Camaldolense Congregation of Monte-Corona. " Fig. 6: Excerpt from Political Map of the Pontifical State Delegation of Perugia from 1843 of Zaccagni- Orlandini focused on the “Fratta”. "Geographic Atlas of the Italian States outlined above the best and most modern maps, to serve as a complement to the physical, historical and statistical chorography of Italy, by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence, 1844). Work in two volumes. From https: / /phaidra.cab.unipd.it/ distributed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Sources: -Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini edited a "Physical, Historical and Statistical Chorography of Italy and its Islands accompanied by an Atlas, geographic and topographical maps". Supplement to volume X, Florence, 1843. -Delegation map of Perugia from vol. 2 ° of "Geographic Atlas of the Italian States outlined above the best and most modern maps, to serve as a complement to the physical, historical and statistical chorography of Italy, by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence, 1844). Work in two volumes. From https://phaidra.cab.unipd.it/ distributed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 4. - Charter of the Papal State under the rule of the Romans and in the Middle Ages. Local names used by the Romans and in the Middle Ages, with the corresponding modern names. - Orographic and hydrographic map of the Papal State. Heights of the main localities. Overview of the main mineral products. - Modern charter of the Papal State. Prospectus of the political divisions of the Papal State. From vol. 2 ° of "Geographic Atlas of the Italian States outlined above the best and most modern maps, to serve as a complement to the physical, historical and statistical chorography of Italy, by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence, 1844). Work in two volumes. From https://phaidra.cab.unipd.it/ distributed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Fig. 4-5: Extracts of the orographic map and the Roman-medieval historical thematic map, based on the indications of Zuccagni-Orlandini, the names written in Latin characters indicate the localities existing under the dominion of the Romans, in Gothic characters "pointing" the places of the Middle Ages. "Geographic Atlas of the Italian States outlined above the best and most modern maps, to serve as a complement to the physical, historical and statistical chorography of Italy, by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence, 1844). Work in two volumes. From https://phaidra.cab.unipd.it/ distributed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Fig. 6: Excerpt from Political Map of the Pontifical State Delegation of Perugia from 1843 of Zaccagni- Orlandini focused on the “Fratta”. "Geographic Atlas of the Italian States outlined above the best and most modern maps, to serve as a complement to the physical, historical and statistical chorography of Italy, by Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini (Florence, 1844). Work in two volumes. From https: / /phaidra.cab.unipd.it/ distributed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Alexis de Toqueville " When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness." "When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness ". Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com