Filattiera e la sua Pieve - Memorie di Lunigiana
Filattiera e la sua Pieve - Memorie di Lunigiana
Filattiera e la sua Pieve - Memorie di Lunigiana
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An outline of the history of the <strong>Lunigiana</strong><br />
Region<br />
In order to summarize briefly the history of the origins of the <strong>Lunigiana</strong><br />
Region, it is necessary, due to scarce documentation, to resort to the work of<br />
Eugenio Branchi “Storia del<strong>la</strong> <strong>Lunigiana</strong> feudale” (“History of the <strong>Lunigiana</strong><br />
Region in feudal times”), the only authoritative source together with the work of<br />
Gioachino Volpe; in this regard, it was Volpe who observed, “the history of the<br />
<strong>Lunigiana</strong> Region, before the twelfth century, is little more than shadows and<br />
tenuous light of a <strong>di</strong>stant dawn”.<br />
In accordance with these authors, we begin with Oberto, count of Luni,<br />
probably of Lombar<strong>di</strong>c descent and the only surviving member of the family of<br />
the marquis of Tuscany.<br />
Luni became a Roman colony in 177 B.C., prospered with the name of<br />
Provincia Maritima Italorum (Italian Maritime Province), at first, subjected to<br />
Lombar<strong>di</strong>c invasion, then, with all of the <strong>Lunigiana</strong> Region, was aggregated to the<br />
Lombar<strong>di</strong>c dukedom of Lucca. With the Franks, Luni entered into the Carolingian<br />
march (border<strong>la</strong>nd), Oberto was its first count and, <strong>la</strong>ter, when the Bishops<br />
opposed the dominion of the Obertenghi family, obtaining from Federico I,<br />
sanction of their rights on all of the territory, it became a bishop’s see.<br />
Volpe, in agreement with other historians and genealogists, singles out in<br />
Oberto (945), the first historical figure to be nominated count of Luni. To be count<br />
of Luni had a certain importance, as the town, located between Liguria and<br />
Tuscany, bore witness through the remains of its Roman amphitheatre and ancient<br />
Pa<strong>la</strong>eolithic settlements, to its remarkable past. Oberto, a few years <strong>la</strong>ter (951), as<br />
well as the <strong>Lunigiana</strong> Region, entered into possession of the march of eastern<br />
Liguria, of the centres of Tortona and Genoa and, upon his death, all of his<br />
possessions were passed by him to his two sons: Adalberto I and Oberto II.<br />
The first son, by successive ramifications, gave rise to the lineages of the<br />
marquis of Massa, Corsica and Sar<strong>di</strong>nia, of the Pe<strong>la</strong>vicino and of the Cavalcabo`<br />
of Cremona. The second son Oberto I, the one of greater interest to <strong>Lunigiana</strong>’s<br />
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