San Severo

San Severo (pronounced [san seˈvɛːro]; formerly spelled Sansevero and previously known as San Severino; Northern Apulian: Sanzëvírë; Latin: Castellum Sancti Severini) is a comune (municipality) of c. 51,919 inhabitants in the province of Foggia, Apulia, Southern Italy. Rising on the foot of the spur of Gargano, San Severo adjoins the communes of Apricena in the north, Rignano Garganico and San Marco in Lamis in the east, Foggia and Lucera in the south, and Torremaggiore and San Paolo di Civitate in the west.

The city sits in low-lying country, its center being at about 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level. Geologically, its soil is quaternary (with sand and clay, fossils, and marine in origin). Its territory decreases in elevation from the west 125 metres (410 ft) to the east 26 metres (85 ft), gradually changing from minor ripples in the western hills to a more regular plain in the east at the Candelaro basin.

In addition to the Candelaro river, other waterways include the Triolo and Salsola torrents and Radicosa, Venola, Ferrante, Santa Maria and Potes channels. The scarcity of rain in the summer causes the groundwater to become brackish, especially in the subsoil of the city. The lands surrounding the city are studded with farms, characterized primarily by ordered groves and vineyards, as well as fields of wheat.

The climate is Mediterranean, with relatively mild winters (snow is rare) and very hot summers. High wind gusts are quite common.

According to legend, a city called Castrum Drionis (Casteldrione) was founded by the Greek king Diomedes. San Severo is said to be one of the last towns in Italy to remain pagan, and only in 536 did Saint Laurence of Siponto, bishop of Siponto, convert the town's inhabitants to Christianity. He also required that the village be renamed after governor Severus.

San Severo lies in the Daunia, and various Neolithic settlements have been detected. In the early Middle Ages, the area was not inhabited or defined. Between the Lombards and the Byzantine ages, the Benedictine monastery at Cassino was established, and with it, the cult of the apostle of Saint Severinus of Noricum. San Severo was founded in the 11th century around a small church built by the Benedictine monks from Montecassino. It rapidly developed as a trade town. In 1053, it was the scene of the historical victory of Robert Guiscard over the papal troops under Pope Leo IX (see Battle of Civitate). In the eleventh century, San Severo was the route of the Via Sacra Langobardorum and a primitive church arose dedicated to Saint Severinus, from which continued an influx of pilgrims to Monte Sant'Angelo and movement of people and goods. The town was therefore called Castellum Sancti Severini ("Fortified Town of Saint Severinus").

The conurbation developed rapidly due to its favorable position for trade, and soon took on considerable importance; it became the seat of Venetian, Florentine, Saracens and Jewish merchants. Subject to the abbots of the Benedictine monastery of San Pietro di Torremaggiore (in 1116 the abbot gave the famous Adenulfo Libertatis Charta), in 1230, the city rebelled against Frederick II of Hohenstaufen who ceded it to the Knights Templar.

After the suppression of the Templars, by 1312, the city was refortified with a wall, and ceded to Robert d'Anjou and his wife Sancha. In 1317, Sancha sold it to Count Peter Pippin, Lord of Vico. The resistance of the citizens denied him the possession of his acquisition, and resistance only stopped when they gained some degree of independence under the royal authority of Naples. San Severo was then declared a royal city in perpetuity.