Anagni
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Anagni (Italian pronunciation:
Geography
Overview
Anagni still maintains the appearance of a small medieval hill town (424 m above sea level), with small twisting streets and steep lanes. It is built inside Roman boundary walls.
History
Prehistory and ancient era
The first human settlements date back to more than 700,000 years, according to the dating of some Palaeolithic hand-made fragments recently recovered. Several objects made of bone and flint stone and also two human molars and incisors belonging to fossil Homo erectus have been found in Fontana Ranuccio.
The first people known by name who lived in the area were the Hernici who migrated from the Aniene valley and descended from the Marsi (Marsians) (or from the Sabines), at least according to the ethnical term deriving from the Marsian herna ("stone"),[citation needed] that is: "Those who live on the stony hills". Only two words remain of their language: Samentum, a strip of sacrificial skin, and Bututti, a sort of funeral lament.
Anagni was an important city and spiritual centre of the Hernici. The town was located on the acropolis (the north-east zone comprising the Cathedral, Tufoli gate, and Piazza Dante) and partially defended by walls in opus quasi-quadratum (almost squared work).
Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed cultural and economic relationships between the Hernici and the Etruscans around the 7th century BC.[citation needed]
Roman Period
In 307 BC, the Hernici, with the exception of
Under Roman domination the town expanded and the so-called Servian walls were modified at the beginning of the 3rd century BC.[citation needed]
In Imperial times, many emperors spent their summers in Anagni to escape the heat of Rome, the most notable ones being Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Commodus, and Caracalla.[citation needed] The large imperial villa in the vicinity at Villa Magna was owned by Marcus Aurelius.
The city was the seat of temples and sanctuaries including the temple of
By the end of the Roman Empire, a crisis caused a collapse of Anagni's population; the lower parts of the city were abandoned.[citation needed]
Middle Ages
Anagni was a
During the 10th and the 11th centuries, the city strengthened its link with the papal court: In fact, the popes began to consider the old capital city of the Hernici a safer and healthier spot compared to Rome, which was the place of frequent epidemic diseases. For this reason, even if the presence of factions inside the town could not be prevented, Anagni remained faithful to the Roman Church, becoming one of the favourite residences of the popes, in the 12th and 13th centuries.
As a result, several events connected with the
The 13th century was the golden age of the city. In one hundred years, Anagni produced four popes, three of them members of the Conti family. The first one to ascend to the papal throne was Lotarius Conti, who, as Innocent III (1198–1216), was one of the outstanding personalities of his century, together with Frederick II of whom he favoured the coronation as Emperor of Germany and Saint Francis whose first Rule he approved. Innocent III is credited with the elaboration and the most complete expression of the theocratic doctrine, the principle according to which absolute rule over every earthly power is ascribed to the Pope. He died in 1216, leaving the Church at the historical peak of its power.
Innocent III's efforts were taken up by Gregory IX, who belonged to the powerful Family of Conti di Anagni. On September 29, 1227 in Anagni's Cathedral he excommunicated Emperor Frederick II, who had abandoned the Crusade that the Emperor himself had proclaimed. The suggestive ceremony took place by the lights of the torches, firstly shaken, then thrown on the ground and finally blown out by the prelates.
In September 1230, after the reconciliation, Gregory IX received Frederick II in Anagni, who in the meantime had been able to conquer, without bloodshed but by means of his great diplomatic ability, both Jerusalem and Nazareth.
During his pontificate, Alexander IV (1254–1261), Gregory IX's relative and Anagni's third pope, had to face the heated ecclesiological dispute raised by the University of Paris against the Mendicant Orders. The leader of this dispute, William of Saint-Amour, had published an anti-mendicant pamphlet, De periculis novissimorum temporum (On the Dangers of the Last Days) between the fall of 1255 and spring of 1256. Alexander officially condemned the work in Anagni on October 5, 1256. In 1255 Clare of Assisi was officially canonized in Anagni.
In 1265 a provincial Chapter at Anagni of the Roman province of the Dominican Order assigned Thomas Aquinas as regent master[9] thereby transforming the existing studium conventuale at the Roman convent of Santa Sabina into the Order's first studium provinciale featuring as an innovation the study of philosophy (studia philosophiae). This studium is the forerunner of the 16th century College of Saint Thomas at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum[10]
Outrage of Anagni
Anagni is connected to the events in the life of
In 1300, Boniface VIII, set up the first Jubilee and founded the first Roman university, but also began a feud with the King of France,
In 1303, the king's advisor
The people of Anagni rose against the invaders and released Boniface. The pope pardoned those captured. He returned to Rome in 1303.
The old pontiff, already infirm, developed a violent fever and died in Rome on 11 October 1303. In A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century,
After the death of Boniface VIII, both the splendor of Anagni and the dreams of power of the Caetani Family collapsed and the doctrine of ultimate papal suzerainty was weakened.
The transfer of the papal court to Avignon marked for Anagni the beginning of a long decline lasting through the entire 15th century. The town was sacked by the troops of Duke Werner von Urslingen in 1348, and depopulated.
Later History
In 1556, Anagni became a battlefield in the conflict between
The damage suffered by the town, in particular by the town walls, were accentuated by the fortifying works carried out in 1564 under Pope Pius IV. Around 1579 a short period of reflourishing began, thanks to Cardinal Benedetto Lomellino, bishop and governor of the city.
The great architectonic and urbanistic reconstructions began around 1633. The ancient noble mansions embellished by magnificent portals were restructured and, toward the end of the 19th century, also the cultural level of the city rose again, thanks to the growing welfare. Other institutions and congregations were born, which, together with the constitution of various schools, made Anagni an important centre of study thanks to its long cultural tradition.
In 1890, in the presence of the Queen, the Queen Margaret's National Boarding-house for the education of the orphan-girls of grammar school teachers was opened.
In 1897, the Jesuit Collegio Leoniano, entitled to the pontiff
Since World War II, the territory of Anagni has become an important industrial settlement.
Anagni was also the summer residence of the popes until recently. It was similar to what Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills is to today's popes.
Main sights
Anagni Cathedral
The Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Mary, was built in Romanesque style during the years 1071–1105, with Gothic-style additions in the mid-13th century. The crypt contains the tombs of St Magnus of Anagni, the patron of the city, and of St Secundina of Anagni. The frescoes covering all the walls and ceiling are among the best preserved examples of Romanesque/Byzantine art in Italy, and form a single iconographic scheme, which includes natural philosophy, saints, the Apocalypse, and the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant.[11] The unrestored Cosmati floor is in excellent condition.
On the same level as the crypt is the Oratory of Saint Thomas (Becket), with less well preserved frescoes. The museum possesses a Becket reliquary chasse (one of around four dozen still around) and what is claimed to be a Becket miter. The western wall has a contemporary statue of Pope Boniface VIII looking out over the Piazza Innocenzo III.
Other
- The Papal Palace (or Boniface VIII's Palace), the scene of the "Anagni slap".
- The Communal Palace, built by the Brescian architect Jacopo da Iseo in 1163. It is made up of two pre-existing edifices connected by a portico supporting the large Sala della Ragione ("Reason Hall"). The façade sports the coat of arms of the Orsini and Caetani families.
- Casa Gigli, a mediaeval edifice restored in the 19th century by the Swedish painter Albert Barnekow.
- Sant'Andrea, a medieval church
- Madonna di Loreto, a medieval church
- San Giacomo, a church built in the 13th century under the papacy of Pope Innocent IV, and dedicated to St James and St Lucy
- Sant'Agostino, a 16th century church
To the south of the town is the imperial Villa of Villa Magna built by Antoninus Pius, still called Villamagna, where a consortium comprising the University of Pennsylvania, the British School at Rome and the Soprintendenza ai Beni Archeologici del Lazio initiated its first campaign of excavation in 2006. These excavations, which continued in 2007 and 2008, have begun to reveal a large and highly decorated building devoted to wine production as well as the remains of the monastery of S. Pietro in Villamagna.
Language and dialect
The language, or dialect, of Anagni (called Anagnino) can be categorized as a
Twin towns - sister cities
Anagni is twinned with:[13]
- Gniezno, Poland
- L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
Notable people
- Andrea dei Conti (1240-1302), Order of Friars Minor Catholic priest
In Fiction
Part of "The Shield of Time" by American Science Fiction writer Poul Anderson is set in 12th Century Anagni, seen by a modern American time traveler.
References
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Anagni". Tuttitalia (in Italian).
- ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ Giuseppe Ponzi (1849). Osservazioni geologiche fatte lungo la Valle Latina (in Italian). Rome. p. 5.
- ^ "Lazio (non compresa Roma e dintorni)". Guida d'Italia (in Italian). Milan: Touring Club Italiano. 1981. p. 580.
- ^ Livy, The History of Rome, 9.43.2-7, 23
- ISBN 978-1317094364.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 910.
- ^ Acta Capitulorum Provincialium, Provinciae Romanae Ordinis Praedicatorum, 1265, n. 12, in Corpus Thomisticum, http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/a65.html Accessed 4-8-2011 “Fr. Thome de Aquino iniungimus in remissionem peccatorum quod teneat studium Rome, et volumus quod fratribus qui stant secum ad studendum provideatur in necessariis vestimentis a conventibus de quorum predicatione traxerunt originem. Si autem illi studentes inventi fuerint negligentes in studio, damus potestatem fr. Thome quod ad conventus suos possit eos remittere”
- ISBN 978-0-88844-132-4.
- ^ J. Ainaud, Romanesque Painting. (London, 1963) p. 10 & Plates 23–27
- ^ Pellegrini G., Carta dei dialetti d'Italia, CNR - Pacini ed., Pisa, 1977
- ^ "Città gemellate". comune.anagni.fr.it (in Italian). Anagni. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
Sources
- Cantor, Norman F. (1993). The Civilization of the Middle Ages. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060170332.
- Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Anagnia (Anagni), Italy"
- De Magistris, Alessandro. La Istoria della Città di Anagni.
External links
- Official website (in Italian)
- City of Anagni Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian and English)
- William of Hundleby's contemporary pamphlet, 'The Outrage'
- Ferdinand Gregorovius' Walks - Anagni
- Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace – Anagni, Innocent III and Boniface VIII