Anagni
Encyclopedia
Anagni is an ancient town and comune
in Latium
, central Italy
, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical center in Ciociaria
.
The built-up area initially included only 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). Under Roman domination, the map of the city changed, starting from the modification of the boundary walls. The archaic inhabited places spread out protected by the so-called Servian
walls, made with stone blocks placed in alternate lines and dating back to the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Most of the boundary walls have been subjected to rebuilding and restorations in the course of the first millennium AD; but the most remarkable re-arrangement took place in the 16th century.
The city is divided into eight districts, or contrade: Castello, Torre, Trivio, Tufoli, Piscina, Colle Sant'Angelo, Valle Sant'Andrea and Cerere.
, Virgil
, Servius, Silius Italicus
) mention Anagni only once, the city had already been introduced into the Roman orbit. 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 people who lived in those places were of the Hernici
, migrated - as it seems - from the Aniene valley and descendant from the Marsi
(Marsians) (or from the Sabines), at least according to the ethnical term deriving from the Marsian herna ("stone"), 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 importante city and spiritual centre of the Hernici
. The city was the seat of temples and sanctuaries, where, in the 2nd century AD, many linen codices
containing sacred Etruscan writings were still well-conserved, according to the testimony of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Of these writings, there is a sole survivor, which is the Liber Linteus
.
Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed cultural and economic relationships between the Hernici and the Etruscans around the 7th century BC, perhaps it was commercial center, which conducted trade with Magna Graecia
. It is speculated that, at the foot of the hill on which the city stands, there was the so-called Maritime Circle, where the Hernican
towns of Aletrium (Alatri
), Capitulum (Piglio
), Verulae (Veroli
), and Ferentinum (Ferentino
) confederated under the aegis of Anagnia (Anagni). There they held their sacred and political meetings until the Romans, on the pretext of a presumed treason of the Hernican-Roman alliance, attacked Anagni, and defeated the Confoederatio Hernica and dissolved the Confederation in 306 BC.
The Anagnini allied with Rome in the struggle against the Volscians, was then reduced to a city sine suffragio, that is, without the right to vote, although conserving a proper religious autonomy and strategic importance.
In Imperial times, many emperors used to spend their summers in Anagni to escape the heat of Rome, the most notable ones being Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus
, Commodus
, and Caracalla
. By the end of the Roman Empire, a deep political and economic crisis caused the demographic collapse of Anagni's population. The suburban zones, which during the Roman Age had grown along the most important roads of the area, were depopulated; the lower parts of the city were abandoned; vegetation gradually took possession of several spaces, substantiated by the fact that, in the 10th century, an inner zone of Anagni was marked by the place-name Civitas Vetus (Old Town).
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 struggle between Papacy and Empire took place in the city, including some of the most important political events in these two centuries. In 1122, in fact, Callistus II promulgated the basic Bull of the Concordat of Worms
; in 1159, Pope Adrian IV
received in Anagni, during the siege of Crema
, the legate
s of Milan
, Brescia
, and Piacenza
(the building of the Civic Palace was assigned to the Ambassador of Brescia, Architect Jacopo da Iseo). In 1160, Alexander III excommunicated the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the Cathedral; in 1176, after the Battle of Legnano
, the same pope received the imperial legates, with whom he elaborated the Pactum Anagninum ("Anagni's Agreement"), premise to the peace, which was achieved in Venice in 1177.
The 13th century represented the real golden period of the city: In one hundred years, Anagni gave four popes to Christianity, all 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
of whom he approved the first Rule. To Innocent III credit is given for the elaboration and the most complete and concrete issue of the theocratic doctrine, principle according to which the absolute rule on 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.
, the fourth Pope of the city, a member of the powerful Caetani Family. His election, which occurred after the historical and dark abdication of Celestine V
, was opposed by French Cardinals and by the powerful Colonna Family.
In 1300, Boniface VIII, at the summit of his pontificate, set up the first Jubilee and founded the first Roman university. Having got into a violent conflict with the King of France, Philip the Fair
, who assigned himself the right to tax the French clergy, Boniface VIII emanated the famous Bull Unam Sanctam
of 1302, which arrogated to the Pope's absolute supremacy over earthly power, against the king. The dispute became so harsh that Philip the Fair organized an expedition to arrest the Pope, with the purpose of removing Boniface from his office by the help of a general council.
On 7 September 1303, the king's advisor Guillaume de Nogaret
led a band of two thousand mercenaries on horse and foot. They joined locals in an attack on the palaces of the pope and his nephew at the papal residence at Anagni, the notorious 'Outrage of Anagni'. The Pope's attendants and his beloved nephew Francesco all soon fled; only the Spaniard Pedro Rodríguez, Cardinal of Santa Sabina, remained at his side to the end.
The Pope was captured in his palace at Anagni in September 1303, by the French and Italian soldiers led by Guglielmo di Nogaret
and Sciarra Colonna
. The palace was plundered and Boniface was nearly killed (Nogaret prevented his troops from murdering the pope). Still, Boniface was subjected to harassment and held prisoner for three days during which no one brought him food or drink. The townsfolk eventually expelled the marauders, and Boniface pardoned those captured. He returned to Rome on 13 September 1303.
According to a legend, in such circumstances the Pope was slapped by Sciarra Colonna: The episode was, therefore, remembered in Italian History as the Schiaffo di Anagni ("Anagni's Slap"). The outrageous imprisonment of the Pope inspired Dante Alighieri
in a famous passage of his Divine Comedy (Purgatory, XX, vv. 85-93), the new Pilate has imprisoned the Vicar of Christ. The people of Anagni rose against the invaders and released Boniface.
Despite his stoicism, Boniface was clearly shaken by the incident. The old pontiff, already suffering, developed a violent fever and died in Rome on 11 October 1303. In A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century, Barbara Tuchman
states that his close advisors would later maintain that he died of a "profound chagrin".
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 papal theocracy lost its consistence forever.
The transfer of the papal court to Avignon marked for Anagni the beginning of a long period of decline, which lasted through the entire 15th century. The town was sacked by the troops of Duke Werner von Urslingen in 1348, becoming ruined and depopulated.
and King Philip II of Spain
, when it was besieged by the Spanish army under the Duke of Alba. After a bombardment by the Spanish, the papal troops abandoned their positions and the Spanish put the town to the sack on 15 September.
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 refluorishing began, thanks to Cardinal Benedetto Lomellino, bishop and governor of the city.
The planned works are made under the sign of a recovery of the architectonic structures and the medieval constructive and decorative style. The great architectonic and urbanistic reconstructions began around 1633. The works concerning the ecclesiastic buildings that determined the present look of the churches in Anagni are very interesting. The new architectonic canons that, however, left the existing Gothic Roman elements untouched are reflected in the transformation of the buildings. Also 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. In fact, in this period, 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 schools teachers was opened.
In 1897, the Jesuit Collegio Leoniano, entitled to the pontiff Leo XIII, was also opened. Finally, in 1930, the Prince of Piedmont's Boarding-house was built for the sons of local body personnel.
Since World War II
, the territory of Anagni has become an important industrial settlement, enriching the local economy at the expense of damage to local environment and Anagni's culture and tradition.
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.
style, was constructed during the years 1071-1105, with Gothic-style additions in the mid-13th century. The most noteworthy part of the Cathedral is its crypt, which contains the tomb of Saint Magnus of Anagni, the patron saint of Anagni, and Saint Secundina of Anagni. The fresco
es covering all the walls and ceiling are some of the best works 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
. The unrestored Cosmati
floor is in excellent condition.
On the same level as the crypt is the Oratorio of Saint Thomas
(Becket)- also completely frescoed though the works are not in as good condition as those in the crypt. The museum possesses a Becket reliquary chasse
(one of around four dozen still around, but nonetheless beautiful for that) 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.
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. Theses xcavations, 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.
people, and the eagle on top of the lion symbolizes the Romans conquering the Hernici. The letters S.P.Q.A. stands for Senatus Populusque Anagninus ("the Senate and the People of Anagni"). It is a model after the ancient acronym S.P.Q.R. for Rome (Senatus Populusque Romanus, "the Senate and the People of Rome"). The two keys above the eagle signify the city's papal history. The imperial crown above the crest and the imperial robe signifies Anagni was a famous and important residence of the Roman Emperors. The label is in Latin, HERNICA SAXA COLVNT QVOS DIVES ANAGNIA PASCIT.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in Latium
Latium
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...
, central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical center in Ciociaria
Ciociaria
Ciociaria is the name of a traditional region of Central Italy without a defined border nor historical identity. The name was adopted by a fascist movement of Frosinone as an ethnical denomination for the province of Frosinone, when it was created in 1927....
.
Geography
Anagni appears today as a small medieval town, placed on the ridge of a hill (460 meters above sea level), with small twisting streets and steep lanes everywhere. It is built inside powerful Roman boundary walls, which seem to preserve, like a treasure-chest, its innumerable treasuries of art and history and its troubling modern contradictions.The built-up area initially included only 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). Under Roman domination, the map of the city changed, starting from the modification of the boundary walls. The archaic inhabited places spread out protected by the so-called Servian
Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of ancient Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned 578-535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome's first Etruscan king, who was assassinated in 579 BC...
walls, made with stone blocks placed in alternate lines and dating back to the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Most of the boundary walls have been subjected to rebuilding and restorations in the course of the first millennium AD; but the most remarkable re-arrangement took place in the 16th century.
The city is divided into eight districts, or contrade: Castello, Torre, Trivio, Tufoli, Piscina, Colle Sant'Angelo, Valle Sant'Andrea and Cerere.
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; while the historical sources (LivyLivy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, Servius, Silius Italicus
Silius Italicus
Silius Italicus, in full Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus , was a Roman consul, orator, and Latin epic poet of the 1st century CE,...
) mention Anagni only once, the city had already been introduced into the Roman orbit. Several objects made of bone and flint stone and also two human molars and incisors belonging to fossil Homo erectus
Homo erectus
Homo erectus is an extinct species of hominid that lived from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene, about . The species originated in Africa and spread as far as India, China and Java. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
have been found in Fontana Ranuccio.
The people who lived in those places were of the Hernici
Hernici
The Hernici were an ancient people of Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Lago di Fucino and the Sacco River , bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north....
, migrated - as it seems - from the Aniene valley and descendant from the Marsi
Marsi
Marsi is the Latin exonym for a people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus, drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century. The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. During the Roman Republic the people of the region spoke a...
(Marsians) (or from the Sabines), at least according to the ethnical term deriving from the Marsian herna ("stone"), 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 importante city and spiritual centre of the Hernici
Hernici
The Hernici were an ancient people of Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Lago di Fucino and the Sacco River , bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north....
. The city was the seat of temples and sanctuaries, where, in the 2nd century AD, many linen codices
Codex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
containing sacred Etruscan writings were still well-conserved, according to the testimony of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Of these writings, there is a sole survivor, which is the Liber Linteus
Liber Linteus
The Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis is the longest Etruscan text and the only extant linen book...
.
Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed cultural and economic relationships between the Hernici and the Etruscans around the 7th century BC, perhaps it was commercial center, which conducted trade with Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
. It is speculated that, at the foot of the hill on which the city stands, there was the so-called Maritime Circle, where the Hernican
Hernici
The Hernici were an ancient people of Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Lago di Fucino and the Sacco River , bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north....
towns of Aletrium (Alatri
Alatri
Alatri is a town and comune of province of Frosinone in the Italian region of the Lazio, with c. 30,000 inhabitants. A part of the traditional region of Ciociaria, it is famous for its megalithic acropolis.-History:...
), Capitulum (Piglio
Piglio
Piglio is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers....
), Verulae (Veroli
Veroli
-History:Veroli became a Roman municipium in 90 BCE. It became the seat of a bishopric in 743 CE, and was occupied by Spanish milices, allied to the Colonna family, in the 16th troops.-Main sights:...
), and Ferentinum (Ferentino
Ferentino
Ferentino is a town and comune in Italy, in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, 65 km southeast of Rome.It is situated on a hill 400 m above sea-level, in the Monti Ernici area.-History:...
) confederated under the aegis of Anagnia (Anagni). There they held their sacred and political meetings until the Romans, on the pretext of a presumed treason of the Hernican-Roman alliance, attacked Anagni, and defeated the Confoederatio Hernica and dissolved the Confederation in 306 BC.
The Anagnini allied with Rome in the struggle against the Volscians, was then reduced to a city sine suffragio, that is, without the right to vote, although conserving a proper religious autonomy and strategic importance.
In Imperial times, many emperors used to spend their summers in Anagni to escape the heat of Rome, the most notable ones being Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
, Commodus
Commodus
Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...
, and Caracalla
Caracalla
Caracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211...
. By the end of the Roman Empire, a deep political and economic crisis caused the demographic collapse of Anagni's population. The suburban zones, which during the Roman Age had grown along the most important roads of the area, were depopulated; the lower parts of the city were abandoned; vegetation gradually took possession of several spaces, substantiated by the fact that, in the 10th century, an inner zone of Anagni was marked by the place-name Civitas Vetus (Old Town).
Middle Ages
Since the 5th century, Anagni was the seat of an important Catholic diocese. In the 9th century, the first Cathedral was built on the ruins of the temple dedicated to the Goddess Ceres. The agricultural reconquest, begun in the 10th century, was supported by the ecclesiastic power, which allowed the laic lords to exploit the earth resources and to build some fortified settlements for their own peasants, and favoured a new economic and demographic growth.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 struggle between Papacy and Empire took place in the city, including some of the most important political events in these two centuries. In 1122, in fact, Callistus II promulgated the basic Bull of the Concordat of Worms
Concordat of Worms
The Concordat of Worms, sometimes called the Pactum Calixtinum by papal historians, was an agreement between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V on September 23, 1122 near the city of Worms...
; in 1159, Pope Adrian IV
Pope Adrian IV
Pope Adrian IV , born Nicholas Breakspear or Breakspeare, was Pope from 1154 to 1159.Adrian IV is the only Englishman who has occupied the papal chair...
received in Anagni, during the siege of Crema
Crema, Italy
Crema is a town and comune in the province of Cremona, in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is built along the river Serio at 43 km from Cremona. It is also the seat of a Catholic Bishop, who gave to Crema the title of city...
, the legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
s of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, and Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
(the building of the Civic Palace was assigned to the Ambassador of Brescia, Architect Jacopo da Iseo). In 1160, Alexander III excommunicated the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the Cathedral; in 1176, after the Battle of Legnano
Battle of Legnano
The Battle of Legnano was fought on May 29, 1176, between the forces of the Holy Roman Empire, led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and the Lombard League.-The Lombard League:...
, the same pope received the imperial legates, with whom he elaborated the Pactum Anagninum ("Anagni's Agreement"), premise to the peace, which was achieved in Venice in 1177.
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
(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
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
of whom he approved the first Rule. To Innocent III credit is given for the elaboration and the most complete and concrete issue of the theocratic doctrine, principle according to which the absolute rule on 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
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
, who belonged to the powerful Family of Conti di Anagni. On September 29, 1227 in Anagni's Cathedral he excommunicated Emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
, 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
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
.
During his pontificate, Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV was Pope from 1254 until his death.Born as Rinaldo di Jenne, in Jenne , he was, on his mother's side, a member of the de' Conti di Segni family, the counts of Segni, like Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX...
(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
William of Saint-Amour
William of Saint-Amour was a minor figure in thirteenth-century scholasticism, chiefly notable for his withering attacks on the friars.-Biography:...
, 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
Clare of Assisi
Clare of Assisi , born Chiara Offreduccio, is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi...
was officially canonized in Anagni.
Outrage of Anagni
The name of Anagni is particularly connected to the events of Boniface VIIIPope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...
, the fourth Pope of the city, a member of the powerful Caetani Family. His election, which occurred after the historical and dark abdication of Celestine V
Pope Celestine V
Pope Saint Celestine V, born Pietro Angelerio , also known as Pietro da Morrone was elected pope in the year 1294, by the papal election of 1292–1294, the last non-conclave in the history of the Roman Catholic Church...
, was opposed by French Cardinals and by the powerful Colonna Family.
In 1300, Boniface VIII, at the summit of his pontificate, set up the first Jubilee and founded the first Roman university. Having got into a violent conflict with the King of France, Philip the Fair
Philip IV of France
Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...
, who assigned himself the right to tax the French clergy, Boniface VIII emanated the famous Bull Unam Sanctam
Unam sanctam
On 18 November 1302, Pope Boniface VIII issued the Papal bull Unam sanctam which historians consider one of the most extreme statements of Papal spiritual supremacy ever made...
of 1302, which arrogated to the Pope's absolute supremacy over earthly power, against the king. The dispute became so harsh that Philip the Fair organized an expedition to arrest the Pope, with the purpose of removing Boniface from his office by the help of a general council.
On 7 September 1303, the king's advisor Guillaume de Nogaret
Guillaume de Nogaret
Guillaume de Nogaret or William of Nogaret was councillor and keeper of the seal to Philip IV of France.- Early life :...
led a band of two thousand mercenaries on horse and foot. They joined locals in an attack on the palaces of the pope and his nephew at the papal residence at Anagni, the notorious 'Outrage of Anagni'. The Pope's attendants and his beloved nephew Francesco all soon fled; only the Spaniard Pedro Rodríguez, Cardinal of Santa Sabina, remained at his side to the end.
The Pope was captured in his palace at Anagni in September 1303, by the French and Italian soldiers led by Guglielmo di Nogaret
Guillaume de Nogaret
Guillaume de Nogaret or William of Nogaret was councillor and keeper of the seal to Philip IV of France.- Early life :...
and Sciarra Colonna
Sciarra Colonna
Sciarrillo Colonna, byname of Giacomo Colonna , was a member of the powerful Colonna family, and a strong enemy of Pope Boniface VIII. During the Outrage of Anagni, in September 1303, Sciarra reportedly slapped the pope in the face. He was brother to Stefano Colonna the Elder.The Colonna family was...
. The palace was plundered and Boniface was nearly killed (Nogaret prevented his troops from murdering the pope). Still, Boniface was subjected to harassment and held prisoner for three days during which no one brought him food or drink. The townsfolk eventually expelled the marauders, and Boniface pardoned those captured. He returned to Rome on 13 September 1303.
According to a legend, in such circumstances the Pope was slapped by Sciarra Colonna: The episode was, therefore, remembered in Italian History as the Schiaffo di Anagni ("Anagni's Slap"). The outrageous imprisonment of the Pope inspired Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
in a famous passage of his Divine Comedy (Purgatory, XX, vv. 85-93), the new Pilate has imprisoned the Vicar of Christ. The people of Anagni rose against the invaders and released Boniface.
Despite his stoicism, Boniface was clearly shaken by the incident. The old pontiff, already suffering, developed a violent fever and died in Rome on 11 October 1303. In A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century, Barbara Tuchman
Barbara Tuchman
Barbara Wertheim Tuchman was an American historian and author. She became known for her best-selling book The Guns of August, a history of the prelude to and first month of World War I, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1963....
states that his close advisors would later maintain that he died of a "profound chagrin".
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 papal theocracy lost its consistence forever.
The transfer of the papal court to Avignon marked for Anagni the beginning of a long period of decline, which lasted through the entire 15th century. The town was sacked by the troops of Duke Werner von Urslingen in 1348, becoming ruined and depopulated.
Modern and contemporary age
In 1556, Anagni became a battlefield in the conflict between Pope Paul IVPope Paul IV
Pope Paul IV, C.R. , né Giovanni Pietro Carafa, was Pope from 23 May 1555 until his death.-Early life:Giovanni Pietro Carafa was born in Capriglia Irpina, near Avellino, into a prominent noble family of Naples...
and King Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, when it was besieged by the Spanish army under the Duke of Alba. After a bombardment by the Spanish, the papal troops abandoned their positions and the Spanish put the town to the sack on 15 September.
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
Pope Pius IV
Pope Pius IV , born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was Pope from 1559 to 1565. He is notable for presiding over the culmination of the Council of Trent.-Biography:...
. Around 1579 a short period of refluorishing began, thanks to Cardinal Benedetto Lomellino, bishop and governor of the city.
The planned works are made under the sign of a recovery of the architectonic structures and the medieval constructive and decorative style. The great architectonic and urbanistic reconstructions began around 1633. The works concerning the ecclesiastic buildings that determined the present look of the churches in Anagni are very interesting. The new architectonic canons that, however, left the existing Gothic Roman elements untouched are reflected in the transformation of the buildings. Also 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. In fact, in this period, 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 schools teachers was opened.
In 1897, the Jesuit Collegio Leoniano, entitled to the pontiff Leo XIII, was also opened. Finally, in 1930, the Prince of Piedmont's Boarding-house was built for the sons of local body personnel.
Since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the territory of Anagni has become an important industrial settlement, enriching the local economy at the expense of damage to local environment and Anagni's culture and tradition.
Anagni was also the summer residence of the popes until recently. It was similar to what Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo is a small Italian town or comune in Lazio that occupies a height overlooking Lake Albano about 15 miles south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills. It is best known as the summer residence of the Pope. It is an Italian town with the population of 8834...
in the Alban Hills is to today's popes.
Cathedral
The Cathedral of Anagni, dedicated to Saint Mary, in RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
style, was constructed during the years 1071-1105, with Gothic-style additions in the mid-13th century. The most noteworthy part of the Cathedral is its crypt, which contains the tomb of Saint Magnus of Anagni, the patron saint of Anagni, and Saint Secundina of Anagni. The fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es covering all the walls and ceiling are some of the best works of Romanesque
Romanesque art
Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
/Byzantine art
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
in Italy, and form a single iconographic
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
scheme, which includes natural philosophy
Natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
, saints, the Apocalypse
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
, and the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
. The unrestored Cosmati
Cosmati
The Cosmati were a Roman family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skilful architects, sculptors and workers in decorative geometric mosaic, mostly for church floors...
floor is in excellent condition.
On the same level as the crypt is the Oratorio of Saint Thomas
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
(Becket)- also completely frescoed though the works are not in as good condition as those in the crypt. The museum possesses a Becket reliquary chasse
Chasse (casket)
A chasse or box reliquary is a shape commonly used in medieval metalwork for reliquaries and other containers. To the modern eye the form resembles a house, though a tomb or church was more the intention, with an oblong base, straight sides and two sloping top faces meeting at a central ridge,...
(one of around four dozen still around, but nonetheless beautiful for that) and what is claimed to be a Becket miter. The western wall has a contemporary statue of Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...
looking out over the Piazza Innocenzo III.
Other
- The Papal Palace (or Boniface VIII's Palace), the seat of famous "slap".
- The Communal Palace, built by the BresciaBresciaBrescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
n architect Jacopo da Iseo in 1163. It is made up of two pre-existing edifices connected by a porticoPorticoA portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
supporting the large Sala della Ragione ("Reason Hall"). The façade sports the coat of arms of the Orsini and CaetaniCaetaniCaetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family princely family which played a great part in the history of Pisa and of Rome, principally via their close links to the papacy.-Origins:...
families. - Casa Gigli, a mediaeval edifice restored in the 19th century by the SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
painter Albert Barnekow.
To the south of the town is the imperial Villa of Villa Magna
Villa Magna
Villa Magna is the ancient name of a large imperial Roman villa near the modern town of Anagni, in Lazio, central Italy. The site lies in the Valle del Sacco some 65 km south of Rome, at the foot of the Monti Lepini, directly under the peak known as Monte Giuliano...
built by Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...
, 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. Theses xcavations, 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 Northern Ciociaro. The definite articles (the) are Ju-masculine singular , La-feminine singular, Ji-masculine plural , and Le-feminine plural . The indefinite articles (a, an) are nu-for masculine words and na for feminine words. The final vowel is always pronounced in the plural form and usually in the singular form (this is in comparison with Southern Ciociaro and Neapolitan where the final vowel of a word is usually slurred, unaccented). For those who know Italian, the Anagnino dialect preserves the u's found in Latin; for example instead of the Italian con (with), the people of Anagni use cu from the Latin cum. There are many other differences between the Italian and Anagnino. Some examples include the deletion of some n's, l's, and r's commonly found in Italian. For linguistic historians, the dialect is especially important for studying pre-Roman Italic languages and also the formation of Italian. Like Latin, the v's are pronounced like u's; for example vino (wine in Italian) is uino in Anagnino. Today's Standard Italian is influenced by German, French, Arabic, Greek, and Spanish, while the dialect of Anagni and the others of central Italy (south of Rome, west of the Apennines, and north of Campania) are relatively considered solely Latin and pre-Italic, due to the limited settlement of foreign people in the area.Coat of arms
Anagni's coat of arms include an eagle over the lion and the letters S.P.Q.A. The coat of arms symbolizes the forced union of Anagni and the Roman Republic in 306 BC. The lion symbolizes the native HernicanHernici
The Hernici were an ancient people of Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Lago di Fucino and the Sacco River , bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north....
people, and the eagle on top of the lion symbolizes the Romans conquering the Hernici. The letters S.P.Q.A. stands for Senatus Populusque Anagninus ("the Senate and the People of Anagni"). It is a model after the ancient acronym S.P.Q.R. for Rome (Senatus Populusque Romanus, "the Senate and the People of Rome"). The two keys above the eagle signify the city's papal history. The imperial crown above the crest and the imperial robe signifies Anagni was a famous and important residence of the Roman Emperors. The label is in Latin, HERNICA SAXA COLVNT QVOS DIVES ANAGNIA PASCIT.
Bordering communes
- AcutoAcutoAcuto is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 60 km east of Rome and about 20 km northwest of Frosinone. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,878 and an area of 13.4 km²....
- FerentinoFerentinoFerentino is a town and comune in Italy, in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, 65 km southeast of Rome.It is situated on a hill 400 m above sea-level, in the Monti Ernici area.-History:...
- FumoneFumoneFumone is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region of Lazio, located about 70 km southeast of Rome and about 12 km northwest of Frosinone.-Main sights:...
- GavignanoGavignanoGavignano is a hill top town of 1,982 inhabitants in the Province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. Gavignano is approximately 50 km south east of Rome in the lepini hills and can be easily reached by local train service. The nearest train station being located in the town of Colleferro...
- MontelanicoMontelanicoMontelanico is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 50 km southeast of Rome.Montelanico is known for its annual international short films festival, entitled "Arrivano i corti"....
- PalianoPalianoPaliano is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy.- History :Paliano was the seat of a branch of the powerful Colonna family whose head was Lord, then Duke, then Prince of Paliano. Their fortress dominates the town...
- PiglioPiglioPiglio is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers....
- SgurgolaSgurgolaSgurgola is a comune in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 60 km southeast of Rome and about 15 km west of Frosinone. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,610 and an area of 19.3 km².Sgurgola borders the following municipalities: Anagni,...
- Tufano
- GorgaGorgaGorga is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 60 km southeast of Rome. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 779 and an area of 26.3 km²....
Sources
- Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Anagnia (Anagni), Italy"
External links
- Official website
- City of Anagni
- AnagniOnLine - History, recipes, dialect
- William of Hundleby's contemporary pamphlet, 'The Outrage'
- Ferdinand Gregorovius' Walks - Anagni
- Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace – Anagni, Innocent III and Boniface VIII