CAPITAXATA 



CAPITANATA. 



. 



pasturing, which has continued ever since. The Roman* imposed * 

 tribute upon the ru-ht to pasture in the plain, and intnwUd iU 

 BuaaRomrni to Publicani, calM ' AUbarchi,' who numbered the 

 hc*U of cattlo or sheep, and collected the tax. (Dueang*. ' Otosss- 

 rium,' art AUbarchi.') I'nder the emperors the complaint* of the 

 extortion* of the Publicani became ao loud that Nero proposed to 

 UM senate UM abolition of the Ux, which however wa* not effected. 

 Under UM Norman* the Tavolierv was made a royal property, and 

 pmrt* of it weir lei to locati, 1 or tenant*. Charles of Durazzo drove 

 away UM tenant*. By letters-patent of Alfonso of Arngon, dated from 

 Tibur 1t of August 1447, the proprietor* of flock* in the moun- 

 tain* of Samnium and Abruzzo were obliged to take them into the 

 plain of Pug lift for the winter, and to pay Ux at ao much per head. 

 In mitigation of thU compulsory *y*tem the proprietor* obtained 

 MTeral privileges and immunities, which gave it a marked resemblance 

 ii the Spanish MeiU, on which no doubt it wan modelled. 



In 1661 thu obligatory migration was commuted into a voluntary 

 one, by which every proprietor of flock* obtained the quantity of 

 ground that be wanted for pacture by paying to the treaniry 132 

 ducat* year for every 1000 sheep. Other parU of the plain were 

 let for cultivation. Under Joseph Bonaparte, in 1806, all the tempo- 

 rary tenanU of the Tavuliere were obliged to become perpetual 

 tenanU, and to purchase their lease, under which regulation 1,800,000 

 dacaU were paid at once into the treasury. In 1817, after the resto- 

 ration, a second fee to the same amount wa* exacted, and the annual 

 charge wat al*o tailed ; at the same time the peace lowered the price 

 of agricultural produce, and much distress among the tenants was 

 the consequence. An insurrection followed in 1820. Austria inter- 

 vened and abolished the compulsory system which was the cause of 

 the outbreak. The farmer* and breeder* of the neighbouring provinces 

 however still voluntarily bring their flocks ; and the ad ministration of the 

 pasturage instead of being as formerly in the hands of a jobbing board 

 at Foftgia is entirely confided to the Intendente of the province. The 

 tolls and renU now paid to the crown from this system are said to 

 amount to 400,000 ducat* a year. Each flock is under the care of a 

 chief ihepherd, an under shepherd, and head dairyman ; it is sub- 

 divided into ' moire ' of 350 sheep each, under the care of a shepherd, 

 dairyman, and cheese-maker. To each morra two dogs of the large 

 white Abruzzo breed are attached, and a mule for carrying the baggage 

 and utensils for making cheese. All the attendant* on the flocks are 

 dressed in sheep-skin coats, coarse cloth breeches, and sandals ; and 

 whilst in the pastures they sleep on the ground under tenU of skins. 



The breed of sheep has been improved by the cross of merinoes, and 

 the wool is doubled in value. The breed of horses has also been 

 improved ; and winnowing and threshing machines have been intro- 

 duced. Notwithstanding the dryness of the soil and the little manure 

 used by the cultivators, wheat thrives very well on it, and large 



Suantitie* are exported. From the Qargano, which is the best cul- 

 vated district in the province, oil, lemons, oranges, carobs, capers, 

 and terebinth gum are exported. Large eels from the lakes of Varano 

 and Leaina, in the same district, are exported, chiefly to Naples. 

 Cheese, cattle, and ponies form the other articles of exportation. The 

 manufactures are very few, consisting of some linens made at Cerig- 

 nola, coarse hats, leather, common nap, Ac. Msnfredonia, on the Gulf 

 of Manfredonia, which is sheltered on the north-west by Monte Oargano, , 

 is the only harbour in the province, but it has not depth of water for 

 large vessels. Near Manfredonia are salt-works of marine salt. The 

 marwh cMvdLayo&iUo, between the Candelaro and the Cervaro, is about 

 4 miles in length and 2 miles in breadth. Further east along the 

 coast, and between the mouth of the Carapello and that of the Ofonto, 

 is the great marsh called logo Satpi, 20 square miles in extent and 

 only 2 feet in its greatest depth ; it is nearly dry in summer, and 

 poisons the air all around. Two small towns, Salpi (on the ruins of 

 the ancient Salapia, celebrated for iU siege by Hannibal) and Caul- 

 Trinitit (population 3800) are new its borders. The royal salterns 

 near Casal-TriniUk are the most important salt-works in the kingdom. 

 Toimu.Pogyia, the capital of Capitanata, is a well-built modern 

 town of 21,000 inhabitant*, the seat of the provincial courts of justice, 

 of a commercial court, and the centre of all the trade of the province. 

 Around it are plantation* of olives, vines, and other fruit-trees, which 

 form an oasis in the midst of a desert. Many of the provincial 

 nobility and gentry reside at Foggia. The great road from Naples to 

 BarletU, Ban, &c., passes through Foggia, whence other roads branch 

 off to Manfredonia and Monte Oargano, to San Severo, and to Lucera. 

 Foggia is 78 miles E.N.K. from Naples, and 20 miles S.W. from 

 Manfredonia. The city is supposed to have been built from the ruins 

 of Arpi, 4 miles distant, which was taken by Hannibal after the battle 

 of CaniM*. The principal streets are wide, and contain good houses 

 and handcome shops. The cathedral, originally a gothic structure, 

 wa* destroyed by an earthquake in 1731 ; the upper part has been 

 since rebuilt in a different style. The town has a good theatre ; and 

 a new campo-eanto, or cemetery, and promenade nave been recently 

 formed. Foggia was one of the favourite places of residence of the 

 emperor Frederick II., wh'.se third wife, Isabella of England, and 

 daughter of Kinff John, died here. The gateway of the emperor's 

 palace and a well sunk by him still remain. Manfred, Frederick's 

 natural son, defeated the legate of Pope Alexander IV. under the walls 

 of Foggia, and was crowned in the cathedral. Charles I. of Anjou 



and hi* son Philippe died in the fortified palace of Foggia. After the 

 occupation of Otranto by the Turks Ferdinand I. of Aragon assembled 

 here a parliament of barons and prelates to arrange a crusade against 

 the Intidrl*. In 1779 Francis I., then duke of Calabria, was married to 

 the Grand Duchess Maria Clementina of Austria, in the cathedral ; 

 and at thi* time Ferdinand I. and hi* court resided at Foggia, which 

 ranked a* the second city in the kingdom. 



Crriynola, 24 mile* S.E. from Foggia, and about 6 mile* X \V. 

 from the bridge of Canoaa over the Ufanto, is a well-built episcopal 

 town with about 10,000 inhabitants. It oonsisU of an old and a new 

 town; the former (till retain* portion* of its ancient walls. The 

 town is built on a hill, which commands an extensive view over a 

 monotonous plain of corn-land without a single tree. The decisive 

 battle of Cerignola, in which the Spaniard* under Oonsalvo di Cordoba 

 (April 28, 1503) defeated the French under the Duke de Nemours, 

 reduced the kingdom of Naples to a Spanish province. An ancient 

 miliary stone still standing in one of the streeU records that Trajan 

 had made the road from Beneventum to Brundusium at hi* own cost 



Borino, 18 miles S.W. from Foggia, is an episcopal town situated on 

 a hill at the foot of the Apennines, and has a population of 6700. It 

 occupies the site of the ancient Vibinum. The Val di Boviuo, or Pass 

 of Bo-vino, is a narrow defile traversed by the Cervaro, inaccessible 

 except at iU two extremities ; it is diversified by corn-fields, hop- 

 grounds, and forests abounding with white acacia and arbor-vita. 

 This defile was formerly the haunt of the brigands of CapitanaU ; 

 indeed Bovino still enjoys the repuUtion of being the nursery of the 

 most famous brigands in all Italy. The road from Ariano to Foggia 

 nine through the Val di Boviuo, along the left bonk of the Cervaro ; at 

 Ponte di Bovino, the eastern end of the defile, a branch crosses the 

 Cervaro, and traverses the Tavoliere to Cerignola. 



Atcoli, a poor place of 5000 inhabitants, on the road from Bovino to 

 Melfi, occupies the site of the ancient Asculum Apulum, the scene of 

 the drawn battle between Pyrrhus and the Romans under the consul 

 Curius. [Ascou m SATRIASO.] 



Manfredonia, a city founded by Manfred in 1 256. and named from 

 him, is 23 miles E.N.E. from Foggia, at the head of the Qnlf of 

 Manfredonia, and has 5000 inhabitants. It was built from the ruins 

 of Sipontum, an ancient Greek city, which was desolated in the 

 invasion of the Goths. The town is well built, with wide streets of 

 symmetrical houses. Manfredouia gives title to an archbishop, and 

 for cleanliness and regularity of plan is surpassed by few cities in 

 Europe. It is surrounded by walls and defended by a strong castle, 

 which also commands the port. The population, formerly much 

 greater, has dwindled to its present amount in consequence of malaria 

 from the Sipontine marshes; these however have been recently 

 drained, and the town is said now to be more healthy. The church 

 of Madonna di Xiponto, among the ruins of Sipontum, is still the 

 archiepiscopal cathedral, and is built in the Saracenic style. The 

 city contains many beautiful buildings, and iU harbour is the chief 

 port of the province. 



Monte Sanf Angela, about 6 miles N. from Manfredonia, situated on 

 one of the mountains of Gorganus, is a well-built town with about 

 12,000 inhabitants. The town, which has a fine castle, took its name 

 and iU origin from the archangel St. Michael, the patron saint of the 

 Norman conquerors of south Italy and Sicily, who is said to have 

 appeared here in a cave in the year 491 to San Lorenzo, archbishop 

 of Sipontum. On the 8th of May, the festival *f the saint, the town 

 and mountain are crowded with pilgrims to the holy cave, not only 

 from the region of Monte Qargano but even from remote provinces of 

 the kingdom ; they come in an endless variety of costume, many of 

 them armed cap-a-pie and all ascend the mountain on foot, bareheaded, 

 and singing the hymn to the archangel. The cave is lighted with 

 lamps and terminates in three chapels, one dedicated to St. Michael 

 and another to the Madonna ; in the third is a small cistern of cool and 

 limpid water, which is distributed to visitors, and is said to have 

 wonderful healing powers. Through a narrow fissure in the roof of 

 the cave a most imposing view of the monastery of Sanf Angela is 

 obUined rearing it* pinnacle* from the impending rock at on immense 

 height above. The road from Manfredonia to Monte Sanf Angelo 

 passes through a succession of gardens filled with orange trees for 

 three or four miles. The mountain is then ascended by steep and tire- 

 some zigzag paths practicable only for pedestrian*. The town of Monte 

 Sanf Angelo, like most places of pilgrimage, is beset with beggars. 



Lucent, about 10 miles N.W. from Foggia, is situated on a steep 

 and commanding eminence above the Tavoliere, and has a population 

 of about 10,000. It occupies the site of the ancient Luteria, the 

 capital of Daunio. The ancient city was destroyed in the ware of the 

 7th century, and lay in ruins till 1239, when the emperor Frederick II. 

 restored it as a residence for his Sicilian Saracens, to whom he 

 guaranteed the free exercise of their religion. Christians were 

 excluded from the city and compelled to reside beyond the walls, 

 where their church, called Madonna della Spica, i* still standing. The 

 town is girt with old walls pierced by five gateways. The castle is 

 about a quarter of a mile from the town and separated from it by a 

 ditch crossed by a drawbridge. The old street* are narrow, but the 

 modern parts of the town are well built and handsome. The bishop's 

 palace is the finest building in the province. The cathedral, which 

 the Saracens converted into a mosque, ban a gothic interior, but still 



