Montescaglioso (Mònde in the Montese dialect, in the past Mons Caveosus o Mons Scabiosus) is an Italian municipality in the province of Matera which has acquired the city status in 2004 by decree of the President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, thereby also securing recognition of ‘Jewel of Italy’ 2012.
Its ancient name, however, was Civitas Severiana, probably because it was founded by Alexander Severus. Giustiniani and Zuccagni, however, dispute this. In any case, it came to be known as Mons Scabiosus (“Monte Scabbioso”), referring to the barren and rugged appearance of the landscape, or in Mons Caveosus, (“Monte Caveoso, rich in caves”).
It is defined as the “city of monasteries” precisely because of the presence of four complexes monastic, the main one being: the Abbey of St Michael the Archangel. This makes this town a significant historical and cultural centre.
The Montescaglioso area forms part of a vast archaeological, historical and natural region: the Murgia Materana Park, which covers approximately 8,000 hectares, of which around 3,500 are in the municipality of Montese, which is also part of the Matera-Montescaglioso upholstered furniture district.
Its Carnival is of cultural significance and ranks amongst the most important in Basilicata; the first official record of it dates back to 7 February 1638. Similarly, the religious and devotional worship of the patron saint of the town Rocco of Montpellier, whose patronage dates back to 1684.
Region
The town is situated on a hill 363 metres above sea level in the far central-eastern part of the province, bordering Apulia. It is bounded to the south-west by the River Bradano and to the north-east by the Gravina stream, highlighting the biodiversity of a a landscape that transitions from the limestone Murgia to the clay-rich badlands.
History
The origins
The earliest settlements in the Montescaglioso area are attested by significant archaeological finds (Attic and Apulian tombs and vases) unearthed in the hills surrounding the River Bradano (specifically at Cozzo Presepe, Difesa S. Biagio, Contrada Pagliarone), which date the the town’s foundation in the 7th century BC.
It is the present-day town, however, that served as the main settlement to which, after the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the populations that had settled elsewhere moved. The entire area is closely linked to the Magna Graecian city of Metaponto (founded by Greek settlers in the mid-7th century BC near the mouth of the River Bradano), to the extent that there was intense trade and contact with the Greek settlements along the Ionian coast. This exchange is also evidenced by the fact that, in the Monte area, there are significant archaeological finds, such as certain grave goods.
Over time, the The decline of Metaponto – with the port gradually silting up – and the simultaneous The ascent of Montescagliso where, in all likelihood, it he relocated part of the population of the Greek city forced to abandon it and scatter after siding with Hannibal in 207 BC during the Second Punic War.
Archaeologists have discovered, in the historic city centre, remains of roads from the Hellenistic period. This therefore demonstrates that the first human settlement was established near the Benedictine Abbey of St Michael the Archangel, where, in 1991, a rich necropolis was discovered, attesting to the presence of a powerful local elite. Meanwhile, further down the valley – in the area known as Porta Schiavoni – impressive sections of a city wall dating back to the 3rd century BC have been unearthed; it was constructed using enormous blocks of tuff laid using the dry-stone technique.
Ancient times
The Roman period has left us a mosaic bearing witness to the existence of a republican magistracy and a large public building. A telamon carved from tuff, which once belonged to another public building in Montescaglioso, is now housed in the National Museum of Magna Graecia in Reggio Calabria.
The remains of a [… ] have been found in the Montese area the village of San Biagio, built for defence of which the necropolises, a number of industrial sites and part of the urban fabric are known. In the village of Cozzo Presepe, sections of the city walls can be seen, along with the remains of a gate. In the Pagliarone district, on the other hand, there are numerous burial sites.
During the Imperial and Late Imperial periods, it is likely that the settlement underwent a long period of decline and depopulation attributable to the new organisation of the territory – centred on large estates – imposed by the Romans.
It was not until the Early Middle Ages that further records of Montescaglioso appeared.
It was a Byzantine stronghold and was subsequently, after the year 1000, conquered by the Normans: initially it fell to Robert Guiscard and, following various vicissitudes, to Robert of Montescaglioso, together with the fief of Tricarico.
After that, he also received an important Benedictine community with the Norman count Rodolfo Maccabeo. Frederick II later intervened and assigned it to Manfredi. Under the Angevins and the Aragonese, it was a fief held by various lords: the del Balzo, d’Avalos, Orsini, Loffredo, Grillo and Cattaneo families.
The Modern Age
From the very beginning of the 20th century, the town was home to the Italian Socialist Party, in line with the regional trend which, in the early 20th century, saw the ideals linked to Marxist-style proletarian internationalism.
The party remained inactive until 1921, when the thugs of the local MP, Francesco D’Alessio, set it alight.
Naturally, the Fascist regime also took hold in Lucania, complete with a Navy lookout post, yet the anti-fascist parties were never silenced; indeed, the Duce’s arrest was followed by violent demonstrations against the podestà Francesco Locantore, culminating, on 19 September, in his murder, even though Canadian troops had arrived in the village that very same day.
Once the regime had fallen, political activity in the country resumed, dragging with it the discontent amongst the inhabitants, linked to the encroachment on state-owned land and the existence of large estates, with their production systems based on exploitation.
At the end of the Second World War, In 1945, an occupation took place – by some two thousand people, including farm labourers, smallholders and unemployed people linked to the agricultural sector, from the estates of the landowner La Cava, in the districts of Tre Confini and della Dogana.
To lend weight to the protest, the prefectural commissioner Manzo – who was in charge of the municipality – was carried on the back of a donkey, and the protesters asked him to mediate with the police who had arrived on the scene, with the aim of securing the land for the farmers. The occupation led to the arrest of 21 people.
In 1946, the local elections resulted in a victory for the PCI despite the victory in the South – which was largely in line with conservative demands – and the DC’s landslide victory
However, 1947 was a pivotal year for Montescaglioso. The farmers’ demands they began to take on the concrete form that would become apparent two years later. In December, a meeting was held in Pozzuoli, in the Ansaldo workshops, the Democratic Congress of Southern Italy with a delegation from Basilicata comprising 537 people, including fifty residents of Monte who returned to the town full of hope and determined to deal the decisive blow to the large-estate system.
The following year, the public was deeply engaged in politics in the run-up to the general election on 18 April, which would result in the first parliament of the Italian Republic. On the occasion of the elections, Carlo Salinari (leader of the GAP, alias Comrade Spartacus), known both as a great man of letters and for having organised the attack on Via Rasella (which led to the German reprisal at the Fosse Ardeatine).
The significant contribution made by the Montese Communists did not, however, halt the DC won by a landslide, thanks in part to campaign rallies that focused on resolving the land issue.
The left-wing parties did not allow themselves to be suppressed, nor did they stop organising the masses; on the contrary, having been forced into opposition, they became convinced that the time had come to overthrow the system of power based on big business.
Another decisive date was the 1949. Once again, December proved to be a fateful month: that year saw both the peasant uprising – in which the peasants changed their strategy, moving from symbolic occupations to full-scale occupations with the aim of taking possession of the land – and the violent repression carried out against the peasants by the riot police under Mario Scelba (Minister of the Interior in the De Gasperi IV Government).
This crackdown was the most violent, along with those in Melissa and Torremaggiore.
The farmers of Montese during the occupation.
The land occupations, which began on 7 December 1949, continued for a week without encountering any opposition, despite an initial, tentative attempt by the police to contain them.
Witness accounts speak of an “apparent calm”, as a certain tension was palpable in the air; the police were waiting for the right moment to put an end to the popular protests.
On the night of 13–14 December, after darkness had fallen over the village due to a power cut, dozens of riot police from Matera and Bari (the latter being better known as the “Pugile Battalion”) stormed the streets of the village.
With no regard whatsoever for the rights enshrined in the young Republican Constitution, the riot police stormed the peasants’ homes. The silence of that freezing night was broken by the cries of children and the shouts of protest from the people who poured into the village streets: their aim was to lay siege to the Carabinieri barracks and demand the release of those who had been arrested.
Whilst the farmers were gathered along Corso Repubblica, a motorbike approached carrying two carabinieri: Rosario Panebianco and Vittorio Conte. They had intended to reach the barracks but, upon encountering the crowd, attempted to turn round and skidded on the slippery road surface. Frightened, the riot police drew their service weapons and fired into the crowd, wounding Michele Oliva and Giuseppe Novello, who died three days later as a result of his injuries.
The last words he heard were “Die, you scum!”, spoken by his executioner.
In the wake of these tragic events, a trial was held which proved to be a farce from the very first hearings, as the De Gasperi government’s stance – which enjoyed strong support from the large landowners – was to cover up the facts and lay the blame on the disadvantaged sections of the population.
However, the farmers, having been defeated by the judiciary, achieved a (albeit minor) victory thanks to the passing of the ‘Stralcio’ Law, which aimed to give concrete expression to the constitutional principles enshrined in Articles 42 and 44, concerning the social utility of private property and the provision for expropriation with a view to a fairer distribution of land ownership.
