Comune di Copertino - Provincia di Lecce -

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The history of Copertino

Far from being meticulously documented, the history of Copertino has been the subject of several studies. According to the historians the town was established possibly in 560 or 615 A.C by the reunion of dispersed inhabitants of the farmhouses of Mollone, Casole, Cigliano and Cambro'. The real development of Copertino is said to have commenced in 924 A.C after the invasion of Saracens took place, destroying those farmhouses and ravaging the neighbouring town of Nardo'. The survivors gathered in an existing built-up area of Byzantine origin and established a new community that they formerly called 'Citadel', then Conventino, Cupertino and latterly Copertino. As a civic herald a pine tree was chosen with emerging roots showing the initials C and P either side of the tree. The initials C and P stood for Conventio Populorum. We have reason to believe that the first considerable phenomena of social aggregation in the territory of Copertino began by the Byzantine domination of Salento. Following the Byzantine sovereign, the historical background of Copertino becomes much more accountable after the occupation of the Norman, Hohenstaufen and D'Anjou dynasties commissioned attractive building structures for the local population and the town.

With Pontiff Niccolo II's endorsement, the Normans' settled in Southern Italy and in 1088 the Earl Goffredo built a temple of Latin rite, in contrast with the existing Greek Saint Nicola's. The new temple referred to is the Matrice Church which in 1235 the Hohenstaufen Manfredi wanted to dedicate to the Virgin of the Snows. Other documented evidence of Normans' presence in Copertino can be found in parts of the masonry at the Castle. At that time Copertino was still defined as 'casale' (ancient farmhouse) having no defensive wall enclosure, whose feudal sovereign belonged to Francesco Maletta. In the second half of the thirteenth century, when the fierce army of Carlo D'Anjou finally destroyed the Hohenstaufen, the casale of Copertino (together with Carpiniano's) was handed down to Guido and Filippo De Pratis and later to Gualtieri di Brienne, Duke of Athens and Earl of Lecce, who completed the watchtower already partially erected by the Hohenstaufen's, thus improving the overall appearance of the castle. The Brienne's and subsequently the inheriting Enghien's became sovereigns of a large territory later declared as a county. The county, whose head town was Copertino, included the land of Galatone, Leverano and Veglie.

When the marriage of Maria D'Enghien, Countess of Lecce and Copertino, with Raimondello Orsini took place the county was included into the principality of Taranto. Progressive but gradual development of the county's head town was initiated by Tristano Chiaromonte, a French knight who assumed power on those lands when he married Caterina, Maria D'Enghien's daughter. According to documentation the first construction of the enclosure walls of the ancient elliptic Copertino's town centre can be attributed to the Earl Tristano. Tristano maintained a good relationship with the local clergy. He became more well known when he gave his daughter Isabella Chiaromonte in marriage to Ferrante d'Aragon, Alfonso's son, who inherited the throne of Naples. By the end of fourteenth century the local population, as other populations of feudal centres, joined the Universitas in order to debate legal matters concerning relations between the electorate's powers and the Kingdom's officers', who represented the feudal sovereigns and their interests. Allied to the Universitas' free-debating groups of population were the clergy who would not accept the power of their superiors, the bishops guild, whose control was exempted by virtues of ancient privileges. Between the end of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth century, Copertino became an attractive commercial centre thanks to its huge plains of olive groves, the fruits of which were ground in numerous submersed olive presses. The final product, oil, was then transported to the near port of Gallipoli and shipped to the Nordic countries. This economical well-being encouraged the concentration of population and consequently its slow but progressive increase.

In the old inhabited centre of Copertino the monastery of Saint Francis was to be founded. Subsequently, the Aragon dynasty conquered Copertino with the joint help of the Spanish army and some Albanian knights. After the Aragon's newly gained power, the county of Copertino was conceded to the Albanian Kastriota Scanderbeg's in 1498, as a token of gratitude for their military support in the conquest. Thanks to the Kastriota's sovereign, lasting most of the first half of the sixteenth century, Copertino went through the best period of its history. Copertino owes its gratitude to Giovanni Kastriota for the restoration of the monastic complex of Casole which he entrusted to the Minor Observants monks. His brother Alfonso, a general of Carl V, widened and fortified the enclosure walls. Adjacent to the Matrice Church he also established the convent of Saint Chiara, managed until the eighteenth century by an entire generation of Kastriota's. But the best of Alfonso's achievements worthy of immortalisation in the history of Copertino was the widening of the old manor, a project he entrusted to the military architect Evangelista Menga. The Kastriota family held high regard for the middle classes and were very much in favour of their development of the civil buildings in Copertino. When Antonio, Alfonso Kastriota's last male descendant died, the county of Copertino fell under Spanish reign, which finally saw a political end to the Aragon dynasty. This period of reign by the foreign barons left our people feeling manipulated and more like Spaniards, with their participation in ceremonial celebrations and their humiliating subjection to the council of Madrid. Sections of Copertino were auctioned, so that finally in 1557 Copertino was purchased by the Genoese Uberto Squarciafico for 29,700 ducati.

Copertino was handed over to his son Stefano and later on to his sister Livia as a dowry for her marriage to Galeazzo Pinelli. By the end of sixteenth century Copertino relived its enthusiasm for general well-being. The Renaissance impregnated civilian architecture with the erection of valuable buildings, of which the facades were elegantly decorated by terraces and balconies. Moreover, according to an epigraphic and humanistic tradition, many Latin sayings were engraved onto the trabeazioni of several civil residences, to represent the humanistic talents of their inhabitants. Outside the enclosure walls new houses were being constructed which would later contribute to the development of the so called Borgo, whose centre was located at the monastery and the church of Dominicans joined together by the Renaissance Capozza building and then by the D'Ambrosio's and finally Moschettini's. As a matter of fact, the existing enclosures walls with their twenty three turrets and two entrances to the castle on the North East, plus the Malassiso on the South East, began to constitute a limited area compared to the overall developing demographic space. Also the Franciscans realised that new opportunities for real estate development were arising by the urban phenomena and decided to erect another monastery in the feud of Cigliano, a grancia that they called Grottella's.At the end of sixteenth century the friars Capuchins settled too. By the end of that century six monastic housing complexes were in place. The incessant development of the humanistic culture threatening the religious concept of sin, persuaded laymen and clergy to build a Hospital which could cope with the needs of pilgrims, sick and poor people in the town. Naturally Copertino was not only a land for the clergy. In fact, in 1580 the clergy Don Cesare Desa established the first typography of the entire Terra D'Otranto. In conjunction with printing the art of painting was also being developed, thanks to the masterpieces of Gianserio Strafella. Meanwhile, the Pignatelli's took over from the Squarciafico's. Infact, Anna Francesca Pinelli and the Prince of Belmonte, Antonio Pignatelli, remained as sovereigns and lords of Copertino until the subversion of feudal system.

Still in the sixteenth century Copertino's history is proud to show its splendour created this time by one of its greatest sons: Friar Joseph Desa from Copertino. He was a Franciscan monk of miraculous wonder that, after his transitory life on earth, was officially sanctified by the Church. Also the reformed Friar Silvestro Calia and the Dominican Friar Michele Marzano's miracles are a milestone of this century; a century so much pervaded by religion and mysticism in Copertino's history. With regard to the arts, the Capuchin monk Friar Angelo da Copertino's counter-Reformation paintings were becoming well known and the subject of many public debates. In architectural art it is also worth mentioning Ambrogio Martinelli and the sculptor, Giovanni Donato Chiarello. For most feudal centres, the eighteenth century has been marked by famines, earthquakes and pestilence. Although these unfavourable events seemed to avoid Copertino, the town could not escape the Borbone's fiscal vice. In 1742 the Borbone's launched a cunning and manipulative policy called Catasto Onciario (Land Registry of Ounces). The Frenchmen's coming into the Kingdom of Naples and Gioacchino Murat's reforming legislation had been able to cancel only some of the feudal rights and privileges. Theoretically the feudal oppression (decime and ridecime, types of duties and taxes exclusive for the barons' benefit) had disappeared. De facto the old ruling class, being obliged by law to be the subject of deprivation of unlimited free wealth and well-being, were still practising their arrogance through abuses of various kinds. Only by the marriage of Francesca Pinelli's and Antonio Pignatelli's daughter, Francesca Paolina with Angelo Granito of Belmonte was it that the titled feudal class finally remained without complete power. The contemporary period was now beginning for Copertino too.

A long and laborious path was set by the country in the view to dispose of all relics from its feudal background, a formidable obstacle for the free expression and development of the entire society's knowledge, talents and energies in general. It was to take all of the late nineteenth century to get through this process. In Copertino the Napoleonic innovative legislation did not find a receptive and reactive public. The Regio Demanio (the Kingdom Property) recruited a selection of men whose sole interests in life were greed and political power. The redefinition of territorial border left Copertino with no seacoast, although in ancient times their people were in charge for the maintenance of the Squillace Tower (or 'Scianuli'). By heavily plundering monasteries, convents and churches, the bailiffs of the Kingdom's Property arbitrarily seized, keeping for themselves all evidence of exported art masterpieces. After the brief administrational period of Napoleon's followers, the Borbone's regained power once again. The body and soul of Copertino's inhabitants became rebellious. 'Carbonari' sects were created to build public awareness on the concept of a 'united Italy'. Conflicts followed until the Borbone's were forced to give in to the will of the population. Copertino's people called for a common election in 1420. In the Land of Otranto the 'yes' vote for political change was an outstanding 94,750, whilst the number of 'no' votes was a mere 929. Finally on 21st January 1861 the first Italian nation-wide political election had been agreed. On 14th March the first Italian Parliament was officially opened. The days that followed the national unification, saw Copertino go through a difficult growing phase. All energy was directed to the reclamation of the town, road viability, laws and regulations that civil life recalls every day. A reading club, municipal theatre, street lighting by petrol lamps, marked the coming of Copertino as typical middle class town.

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