Elaine Trigiani
experience Italy
Puglia
introduction & historical timeline
Due to its particular history, or maybe to its latitude, or maybe to its position in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, the south of Italy feels different than the rest of the country; the people, their customs and the foods they eat are luminous, exotic, insular and yet welcoming and convivial. United with the rest of the peninsula into the country of Italy only in 1861, the South was conquered progressively over millennia because its position at the center of the Mediterranean made it necessary for whoever was determined to control trade. The influences of empires from the Carthaginians to the ancient Greeks and Romans, the Arabs, Normans, French and Spanish are still present, timeless layers tangible in the culture, language, music, architecture and the food.
What is now the region of Puglia was settled from the Bronze Age by colonies of indoeuropean Japigi who originated from Illiria, now Albania. The Japigian Dauni tribe settled the zone that is now the north of Puglia with the Peucezi in the area of Bari and the Messapi down in the Salento.
The Peucezi - Messapi border lands are in what is today called the Valle d’Itria, a geographical area on the Murge between Bari, Brindisi and Taranto. [The Murge, or Murgia, is a high (1,500 feet above sea level), karst plateau covering the area of the heel and instep of the boot of the peninsula, the limestone terrain has been heavily eroded by the action water leaving underground water courses, caves, grottoes and ravines.]
The Valle d'Itria is known throughout Italy for its wide variety of locally grown vegetables, heritage grains, traditional preparations for both meat and fish dishes, distinctive ingredients, olive oils and wines, and it is known for the dry stone constructions like the conical residences called trulli, dry stone walls called parietoni that were ancient tribal boundaries and today function as property lines, specchie, conical piles of stone formed over centuries of clearing fields and the masserie: groups of rural structures that combine residences, animal shelters and farm buildings .. many of which have been renovated into homes and hotels such as the Masseria le Carrube where we are staying.
PUGLIA HISTORICAL TIMELINE
1st millennium BC: Pre-Greek civilizations, Illyrian (Albanian) and Italic peoples settle the area, known collectively as Japigi.
8th century BC - 272 BC: colonies of Magna Graecia / Greater Greece were founded, first in Salento (where the Griko dialect descended from ancient Greek is still spoken today) and then moved north. The local Japigi tribes found themselves forcibly edged off of their land and eventually surrounded by the Greek colonies.
706 BC: colonists from Sparta took over the Messapi town of Taras (Taranto) likely lured by the perfect, natural port which helped Taras become the most important city of Magna Graecia.
272 BC - 476 AD: The Romans manage to kick out the Greeks in 272 BC. The Romans eventually absorb the local tribes. Wheat, olive oil and wine are produced en masse to help feed the empire as well as for trade w the East.
216 BC: during the Second Punic War Hannibal deals the Roman forces one of the worst defeats ever at Cannae, one hour to the north of Bari. Despite the win Hannibal did not take the opportunity to march on Rome and the Roman Empire remained in control for 700 more years.
190 BC: the Romans completed the Via Appia, linking Rome with their major port in Brindisi, gateway to the Orient and jumping off point for Crusades.
290 AD: construction of the Roman amphitheater at Lecce.
476 AD: fall of the Roman Empire.
476 - 554 AD: general unrest after the fall of Rome with incessant attacks from the Longobards, Goths and Saracens (an Arab Emirate was established at Bari). Rupestrian settlements were founded up on the Murge by residents fleeing coastal areas that were subject to raids.
554 AD circa - 1059: Puglia became part of the Byzantine Empire. Saracen pirates from North Africa frequently attacked Puglia but never managed to take territory.
1059 - 1200 circa: The mighty Norman Robert Guiscard formed the Duchy of Apulia. He moved on to conquer Sicily where he established the Norman royal seat and Puglia became a provincial outpost.
1087: sailors brought the relics of San Nicola to Bari and the Basilica di San Nicola was built.
1200 - 1250: Frederick II Holy Roman Emperor, aka “Stupor Mundi” inherited Puglia where he spent much of his time when away from Sicily. His enlightened reign brought in a flourishing of the arts, peace and prosperity.
1250 - 1500 circa: after end of Hohenstaufen line with the death of Fredrick II, the Angevin dynasty from France incorporated Puglia into the Kingdom of Naples.
1453: Constantinople fell to the Ottoman empire sparking a political crisis in the Western Mediterranean. The new Ottoman superpower set its sights on Rome.
1480: Turkish forces planned to take Rome by landing first at Brindisi but because of bad weather were forced to land further south in Otranto. They laid seige to the city and slaughtered all males over the age of 15 .. events which remain quite alive in the historical memory of Pugliese. During the time the Ottomans spent laying waste to Otranto the various rulers in Italy were able to organize their troops and save Rome.
1481: Sultan Mehmet II died further upsetting the balance of power in the Mediterranean.
1500 – 1713: King Ferdinand V of Aragon took control of Puglia and much of southern Italy .. Otranto, Bari and Taranto were fortified
against Turkish invasions.
1571 the Holy League (Venice, Genoa, Spain and the Papal States) handily defeated the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto leading to a period of relative calm which in Puglia allowed for a cultural flourishing with a building campaign not of fortresses but of magnificent churches and noble palaces (see good examples in Lecce).
1713 -1734: in the Treaty of Utrecht Puglia, together with Naples and Sicily, went to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty.
1734 - 1806: the Bourbons defeated Austria at the Battle of Bitonto and reclaimed Puglia. The Turks and the Venetians attacked repeatedly hoping to gain a foothold.
1799: during the French Revolution and the Neapolitan Parthenopean Republic much support was found in Puglia.
1806 - 1815: during the Napoleonic Wars the French seized control of much of southern Italy including Puglia. They abolished feudalism and reformed the justice system. Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law, built Bari's new octagonal city center.
1815 - 1860: Puglia came under Bourbon rule yet again as all of southern Italy was united as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
1861: Italy was united and Puglia became part of the Kingdom of Italy under King Vittorio Emanuele II, the region was divided into the provinces of Foggia, Bari, Taranto, Brindisi and Lecce.
1922: during the Fascist period Mussolini intensified the production of grain, olives and wine in Puglia in an attempt to render Italy self-sufficient.
1943: the Allied invasion managed to oust German forces; during WWII the ports of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto suffered heavy bombing from both sides.
1950s: during the post-war period agricultural production was encourage.
PRESENT: in addition to agriculture and fisheries, the economy of the region depends on large food production companies (coffee, olive oi, pasta) factories (steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals plus oil refineries), and tourism.