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Bisaccia
Bisaccia is an Italian town and comune, population 4,382, situated in the province of Avellino. It borders the communes of Andretta, Aquilonia, Calitri, Guardia Lombardi, Lacedonia, Scampitella and Vallata.
Bisaccia has its own Bisaccese dialect.
The area where Bisaccia now stands has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. Recent archaeological excavations on the hill of the old cemetery uncovered traces of huts dating back to the Middle Bronze Age (around 1400 BCE). These were later overlain by houses from the Archaic period (6th–5th century BCE), which were in turn covered by settlements from the 4th century BCE.
In the 9th century BCE, the Oliveto-Cairano culture — originally from the Adriatic coast and having reached Apulia via the Ofanto River — founded villages in Cairano and Bisaccia. In both Bisaccia and nearby Lacedonia, these new settlers replaced earlier Bronze Age inhabitants. In Bisaccia, they established a necropolis (9th–8th century BCE) with Iron Age pit graves.
During the pre-Roman era, the area was inhabited by the Samnite tribe of the Hirpini. However, the once-held theory that the Samnite city of Romulea was located in Bisaccia is now considered unlikely by modern scholars. In the 1st century CE, under Emperor Augustus, the Hirpini territory was separated from Samnium and incorporated into Regio II Apulia et Calabria. In the later Roman Empire, several Hirpinian towns were instead included in the province of Campania. Archaeological evidence in the area includes remains of rural Roman villas, but no direct records of Bisaccia exist before the arrival of the Lombards.
In 591, the Lombards conquered Hirpini, and the territory of Bisaccia became part of the gastald of Conza, within the Duchy of Benevento. The Lombards ruled Bisaccia until the arrival of the Normans, who, under the leadership of Robert Guiscard (known as "the cunning"), subdued the entire gastald of Conza between 1076 and 1079.
During the Norman period, Bisaccia became a feudal holding. According to the Catalogus Baronum, the feudal lord of Bisaccia was obliged, in times of peace, to supply six mounted soldiers and twelve servants; in times of war, this number doubled to twelve cavalrymen and twenty-four servants. Given that each soldier cost 20 ounces of gold, the minimum annual income of the Bisaccia fief in the 12th century can be estimated at 60 ounces of gold, with the maximum being twice that amount. It was during this period that the first written records mentioning the village of Bisaccia appeared. As for the origin of the name "Bisaccia", several theories have been proposed: some scholars suggest it comes from the Latin bis facta ("made twice"); others from vis ("strength") and acies ("troop"); and still others from castrum Byzacii.
In 1246, Riccardo of Bisaccia, lord of the town, was stripped of his fief by Emperor Frederick II for having taken part in the Capaccio conspiracy. Frederick II later restored the castle of Bisaccia, using it as a prison and visiting the town himself in 1250. According to local tradition, the emperor also used the castle as a hunting residence. Nearby was the Formicoso hill, which Frederick renamed Monte Sano, where he is believed to have practiced falconry. The castle may also have occasionally hosted members of the Sicilian School of poetry.
Bisaccia
Bisaccia is an Italian town and comune, population 4,382, situated in the province of Avellino. It borders the communes of Andretta, Aquilonia, Calitri, Guardia Lombardi, Lacedonia, Scampitella and Vallata.
Bisaccia has its own Bisaccese dialect.
The area where Bisaccia now stands has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. Recent archaeological excavations on the hill of the old cemetery uncovered traces of huts dating back to the Middle Bronze Age (around 1400 BCE). These were later overlain by houses from the Archaic period (6th–5th century BCE), which were in turn covered by settlements from the 4th century BCE.
In the 9th century BCE, the Oliveto-Cairano culture — originally from the Adriatic coast and having reached Apulia via the Ofanto River — founded villages in Cairano and Bisaccia. In both Bisaccia and nearby Lacedonia, these new settlers replaced earlier Bronze Age inhabitants. In Bisaccia, they established a necropolis (9th–8th century BCE) with Iron Age pit graves.
During the pre-Roman era, the area was inhabited by the Samnite tribe of the Hirpini. However, the once-held theory that the Samnite city of Romulea was located in Bisaccia is now considered unlikely by modern scholars. In the 1st century CE, under Emperor Augustus, the Hirpini territory was separated from Samnium and incorporated into Regio II Apulia et Calabria. In the later Roman Empire, several Hirpinian towns were instead included in the province of Campania. Archaeological evidence in the area includes remains of rural Roman villas, but no direct records of Bisaccia exist before the arrival of the Lombards.
In 591, the Lombards conquered Hirpini, and the territory of Bisaccia became part of the gastald of Conza, within the Duchy of Benevento. The Lombards ruled Bisaccia until the arrival of the Normans, who, under the leadership of Robert Guiscard (known as "the cunning"), subdued the entire gastald of Conza between 1076 and 1079.
During the Norman period, Bisaccia became a feudal holding. According to the Catalogus Baronum, the feudal lord of Bisaccia was obliged, in times of peace, to supply six mounted soldiers and twelve servants; in times of war, this number doubled to twelve cavalrymen and twenty-four servants. Given that each soldier cost 20 ounces of gold, the minimum annual income of the Bisaccia fief in the 12th century can be estimated at 60 ounces of gold, with the maximum being twice that amount. It was during this period that the first written records mentioning the village of Bisaccia appeared. As for the origin of the name "Bisaccia", several theories have been proposed: some scholars suggest it comes from the Latin bis facta ("made twice"); others from vis ("strength") and acies ("troop"); and still others from castrum Byzacii.
In 1246, Riccardo of Bisaccia, lord of the town, was stripped of his fief by Emperor Frederick II for having taken part in the Capaccio conspiracy. Frederick II later restored the castle of Bisaccia, using it as a prison and visiting the town himself in 1250. According to local tradition, the emperor also used the castle as a hunting residence. Nearby was the Formicoso hill, which Frederick renamed Monte Sano, where he is believed to have practiced falconry. The castle may also have occasionally hosted members of the Sicilian School of poetry.