The history of Francavilla Fontana, a town in the Province of Brindisi, begins with the appearance in the Neolithic period of a village inhabited mainly by shepherds. Later, with the settlement first of the Messapians and later of the Romans, a medium-sized center arose. The present town of Francavilla was officially founded in 1310 by Philip I of Anjou, prince of Taranto, after the discovery of a Byzantine icon depicting a Madonna and Child. Due to the extensive concessions granted by Philip, the village developed rapidly, was surrounded by walls, towers and, in the 15th century, was also provided with a castle. From the second half of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th Francavilla was ruled by the Imperiali, considered the best feudal lords the fiefdom had: thanks to their patronage, nobles and artists arrived who, in keeping with the times, gave the town a Baroque appearance.
Origins
Archaeological excavations carried out in 1950 on an embankment of the Canale Reale, about two kilometers from the town, demonstrated the existence of a Neolithic village, not older than 3000 B.C., inhabited by Mediterranean Siculian people before the invasion of the Ausones.. In all likelihood the village must have been at the center of an impressive defensive system formed by rows of stones and megaliths. Excavations have shown that this village had a high degree of social life and an even higher degree of technical and industrial activity. Moreover, given the rarity of knives, arrowheads and agricultural implements uncovered, it was assumed that life must have passed fairly quietly and that the economy was based mainly on pastoralism.
Caves dedicated to worship were also discovered in other areas of the town, in which fragments of vessels from the same period as the village were found, which are now kept in Ostuni at the Museum of Preclassic Civilizations of the Southern Murgia.
Other discoveries in various parts of the city are attributed to the Messapians, who came from Illyria between the 8th and 7th centuries B.C.; in 1978, for example, fourteen tombs, fifteen pits, six wells and remains of dwellings, trozzelle and Egnatia-style vases were discovered in the San Lorenzo district. Of the Messapians themselves are the remains of the territory's impressive defensive system: the specchie.
Of the Roman age, on the other hand, remain basalt paving stones of the Appian Way and a rustic villa discovered in Contrada San Lorenzo, along the banks of the Canale Reale, having an area of about 290 square meters and datable between the first century B.C. and the middle of the second century A.D. The lack of plasterwork, mosaic floors and other finishing touches led to the assumption that the villa in question had not been used as a dwelling, but, indeed, as a rustic villa, forming the epicenter of a fundus. From the numerous archaeological finds from the Roman and Messapic periods, it has been assumed that a large city, razed to the ground in 845 by the Saracens, stretched near the Santa Cecilia and Guardiola districts in ancient times.
Hypotheses about the pre-Roman foundation As early as the 16th century, some historians (including, later, Cosimo De Giorgi) asserted that the Messapian and Roman remains found around the present town belonged to ancient Thyrea, a city that belonged first to the Lucanians, then to the Tarantines, destroyed by the Carthaginians, rebuilt and finally destroyed for good during the barbarian invasions of the 6th century. Also according to many local historians, this ancient city would have been as important as Taranto and Oria.. Other scholars (including also Francesco Ribezzo) believe or have argued instead that the archaeological remains found in the various districts around Francavilla belong to Rudiae, a city of Greek origin that later became a Roman colony and the home of Quintus Ennius. The area of archaeological research extends from the Masseria dell'Aglio to a few hundred meters from the city of Oria. As early as the 17th century, in fact, it is stated that statues, vases and burials were discovered in the area in question and that, in particular, a marble plaque was discovered bearing the inscription "RUDIAE MINERVAE DICAT..." which was later given to the bishop of Oria Alessandro Maria Kalefati and is still preserved by some of his descendants. Also corroborating the thesis of the existence of a Rudiae in the Francavilla territory are the toponyms of two districts that already existed in the seventeenth century: Rodia grande and Rodia piccola..
Middle Ages
The year of destruction of Rudiae or another populated center that stood near the present city is difficult to date: it thus ranges from 230 B.C.. until 845 (by the Saracens). The surviving people took refuge in a scattered manner throughout the Ager Uritanus. (Oritanian Forest), a territory that extended north to the city of Martina Franca, south to the gates of Lecce. and is characterized by the presence of forests, abundant fauna, springs, hills and caves.
The hamlets
Within the Oritanian forest, numerous hamlets were created (or in some cases enlarged) near the present town. Among the most important are San Giovanni Gerosolimitano, Pazzano, Caselle, Casalvetere, Casalino and Villa di San Salvatore (believed to be the first nucleus of Francavilla)..
Probably, in 866,. some Franks who had descended as far as Bari and Oria with Emperor Louis II settled in one of the villages inhabited by the surviving citizens of the destroyed Messapian city, and formed the first nucleus of the town, which in 1155 later became a fief of the Norman baron Goffredo, who, for the occasion, was given the appellation "da Francavilla." However, from various documents, it is believed that in reality Goffredo was a feudal lord of a hamlet of the same name located in the lower Salento region.. The hamlet that would later form Francavilla, despite being a military garrison, during those years, was open to trade and never closed by walls.
From the ninth century onward a process of fusion between the hamlets began, to form a single center of medium size. There were several causes for the decline of the hamlets: insecurity, a widespread feeling among the population, and the beginning of fighting between the Normans and Byzantines.
As early as 1200 Francavilla, or the hamlet that would later be thus called, was a fief of Walter III of Brienne; later, in 1291, Pietro de Noha took possession of it, who between 1304 and 1305 left it in the hands of Guglielmo de Noha.
Villa del Salvatore The Hamlet of San Salvatore (also called Villa del Salvatore) is believed by many to be the original nucleus of the present-day town of Francavilla. Most likely founded by Greeks, it possessed a temple dedicated to the Goddess Flora (the present Church of the Savior, from which the hamlet took its name). A very ancient legend, though lacking historical basis, says that from this hamlet St. Peter passed on his way to Rome. The fact may be probable, because, following the Brindisi-Taranto and Otranto-Taranto routes (it is not known in which of the two Adriatic cities the saint landed) he passed through Oria and the hamlet of San Salvatore. Also according to legend, after preaching Christian principles, the people converted to Christianity, tore down the old temple, and built a church dedicated to San Salvatore on its foundations.In the old Church of Salvatore, which was demolished and rebuilt in the neoclassical style in 1879, the following words were written: "Templum hoc olim Deae Florae dein SS. Salvatori a primos fidelibus dicatum aere confratrum expolitum.....MDCCLXXII"
Many years after the event, a convent was built a short distance from the hamlet, which remained standing until the 14th century.
From the Angevin foundation to the Antoglietta
According to tradition, on the morning of September 14, 1310, Prince Philip I of Taranto decided to go on a hunting trip, together with some nobles, in the part of the forest included just north of Hamlet of Salvatore. Elia Marrese caught a glimpse of a deer in the bush and decided to follow it, looking for the best spot to kill it; when the deer stopped to water at a spring, Marrese shot an arrow at it. However, the dart, instead of hitting the deer, came back toward the nobleman. Stunned by what had happened, he blew his horn to get Philip of Anjou and the other men to rush over and show what had happened. The prince of Taranto decided to clear the thicket to find the cause of that miracle, and soon after a ruined wall (according to others, a Basilian cave) was discovered where a Byzantine icon depicting the Madonna and Child was resting.
The prince of Taranto ordered that a church be built on that site, and in a short time visitors increased dramatically, depopulating the surrounding hamlets and overcrowding the Hamlet of Salvatore. Shortly afterwards Philip of Anjou issued an edict, written on parchment with gold letters (kept until 1623, then disappeared) saying that those who came to live in the Hamlet of Salvatore would have free land, asylum and broad allowances.
In 1322 Philip I granted the construction of a Franciscan convent "to decorate the new land," built on the site of the present Church of the Liguorini Fathers. On August 28 of the same year, Pope John XXII, by bull, granted plenary indulgence to all those who visited the Byzantine icon every September 14, allowed the sacred image to be transported to the church built by Philip of Anjou, granted the new church to assume all the functions of a parish, and ordered that all the churches in the neighboring hamlets should depend on it.
The first master of the new hamlet was Giacomo Noha, although it is not known whether he really had the rights to the hamlets he owned. Between 1322 and 1335 the hamlet changed its name to Villa Franca (which later changed to Franca Villa). On May 5, 1336 the donation of Francavilla was confirmed to Data d'Adimari and his son Guglielmo. Later, in 1364 Philip II granted the Antoglietta family, the new feudal lords of the town, the construction of the walls. Once the walls were built, the hamlet assumed the title of Terra. During their reign, the Antogliettas increased taxation by introducing a tax to be charged even to priests, being hated by the people for that reason. In 1336, moreover, the hamlet was declared a Royal City.
Miracle of the greening of olive trees
The miracle of the greening of the olive trees is dated in the 15th century, but whether in 1420 or 1458 is not known more precisely, depending on the sources. At that time Francavilla's economy was almost exclusively agricultural, and in that year there was a rather harsh winter for crops. The snowfall on January 23 deeply ruined the olive trees, thus causing the citizens to despair, who had no choice but to gather in the mother church and celebrate a solemn mass to ask Our Lady of the Fountain for help. The next morning the peasants noticed that the snow had melted and the olive trees miraculously greened up. The joy was such that it was decided to solemnize the event by instituting a proper festival, still celebrated today on January 24. With the miracle event, the Virgin of the Fountain was also named special patroness of the diocese of Oria.
The Orsini government and the promulgation of the Chapters In 1447 one of the first censuses of the families in the Kingdom was carried out; in Francavilla there were 500 of them.