San Possidonio (Possidio) Venerated in San Possidonio and Mirandola 16 May
In a medieval chronicle of the church of San Pietro in Reggio Emilia, we read that the bishop Azone (9th century) by concession of the emperor Lodovico il Pio (778-840), transferred from Apulia to "Curtis Latiana" (near Mirandola nell'Emilia), the body of the holy presbyter Possidonio. In a 13th century lectionary belonging to the basilica of San Prospero in Reggio Emilia, it was read that Possidio was of Greek nationality and originally from Thebes. From 1500 onwards, against the medieval tradition, there began to speak of the relics of the saint Possidio venerated in Mirandola, such as those of the bishop of Calama in Numidia, Possidio, disciple and collaborator of the great Saint Augustine; who expelled from his seat by Genseric, king of the Vandals, in 437, went into exile in Apulia where he died and from here in the 10th century his body was transferred first to Germany and then to Mirandola. Despite many coincidences, there is no evidence that it is the same character, apart from the similarity of the names. (Future)
The story of s. Possidonio is one of those that make hagiographers very busy, due to the existing contrast of the few information, the identification and superimposition with another homonymous saint, the uncertainty of the dates; however all this is overcome by the strong devotion that the people of the faithful of Mirandola and its former duchy have paid to this saint for centuries.
In a medieval chronicle of the church of S. Pietro in Reggio Emilia, we read that the bishop Azone (9th century), thanks to the concession of the emperor Lodovico il Pio (778-840), moved from Apulia (an ancient region of Italy, including Puglia, the Salento Peninsula and Benevento) to 'Curtis Latiana' (near Mirandola in Emilia), the body of the holy presbyter Possidonio.
In a 13th century 'lectionary' belonging to the basilica of S. Prospero in Reggio Emilia, it was read that Possidonio was of Greek nationality and originally from Thebes.
From 1500 onwards, against the medieval tradition, people began to talk about the relics of the saint Possidonio venerated in Mirandola, such as those of the bishop of Calama in Numidia, Possidio, disciple and collaborator of the great s. Augustine; who expelled from his seat by Genseric, king of the Vandals, in 437, went into exile in Apulia where he died and from here in the 10th century his body was transferred first to Germany and then to Mirandola.
Despite many coincidences, there is no evidence that it is the same character, apart from the similarity of the names.
In Mirandola, the feast of St. Possidonio is celebrated on May 16, at the time of the Lordship of the Pico (1354-1708), the cult had a notable development, currently it is quite small.
Possidonia is the feminine of Possidonio, nevertheless a saint of the same name is co-patron of the Municipality of Fanano (Modena), but there is no news of her, except for a translation of the relics; it must be a martyr whose relics were plundered from the catacombs by the Lombards in the siege of Rome and brought to the north of Italy and Europe, receiving however a local cult, where they were deposited.
Author: Antonio Borrelli
San Possidonio
The origins of this small town located in the lower Modena area, a few kilometers from Mirandola, are still unknown. The earliest settlements date back to the Bronze Age . In Roman times it was called Garfaniana: it was a small communication station between North and South. We have no more news of Garfaniana until the Middle Ages when it became part of the Lombard Kingdom in the district of Reggio Emilia . It is in this period that the bishop of Reggio, Azzo, obtained the relics of San Possidonio from Ludovico II , from which the town took its current name.
After the dominion of the Marquises of Tuscany (around the year 1000), San Possidonio became the territory of the Pico until 1710 when it passed under the rule of the Estensi . These grant Pietro Tacoli the village as a Marquisate. Don Giuseppe Andreoli was born in 1789 , a Carbonaro priest sentenced to death in 1821 by Duke Francesco IV of Modena and executed in Rubiera in 1822 . A monument located in the homonymous square (work by Alfredo Gualdi, 1922) depicts the martyr priest next to Italy and a soldier.
The Parish Church (of which there is already a trace in a document dated 962) is the main monument of the town. Rebuilt several times, it houses a Madonna with Saints and Laura Pico, a S. Francesco di Sales, a S. Possidonio with the SS. Francesco and Antonio Abate.
During the Second World War the town was the site of intense partisan activity and, in the immediate post-war period, of retaliation against the exponents of the past fascist regime such as the " massacre of the ghost bus " buried in a field of the Municipality, when a group of soldiers and civilians of the Italian Social Republic traveling in a truck bearing the Vatican insignia was stopped and the passengers were killed.
Manufacturing
During the period of the Tacoli Marquisate of San Possidonio and then with the Estense Duchy, a factory was created in the town for the manufacture of silver cutlery. And also a majolica and pottery company.
Bank
The Banca di San Possidonio BSP dates back to the early twentieth century. Active credit institution, the Banca di San Possidonio is a limited company limited by shares established by notarial deed on April 4, 1924, deposited and transcribed in the registry of the civil court of Modena on May 15, 1925. The documents are also regularly endorsed by the royal office of the Mirandola register with 1 lira stamp on March 27, 1925. In the following decades, the Bank of San Possidonio will be acquired by the Modenese Bank - Banco di San Geminiano and San Prospero (Banco Popolare).
ITALY ANTIQUA
VIII, Emilia Romagna
by Antonio Montesanti
The particular geographic conformation of this region, bridge and border between the North and the Center-South of Italy meant that over the centuries it has assumed a fundamental role in history.
In its historical restlessness, due to a series of continuous cultural overlaps, there is always, within the Emilia-Romagna territory, a constant dichotomy that presents more or less significant variations in the division of the borders between the two entities, but which historical represents a continuum that today brings back to the biunivocity of the region itself.
The prehistoric age is attested in the most important sites of Monte Poggiolo and Ca 'Belvedere, near Forlì, where, starting from the early 1980s, large quantities of Upper Paleolithic finds were collected.
Some studies glimpse an identification of the historical subdivision already in pre-protohistoric times, asserting that if the facies of the Terramare settled, in a period prior to the 12th century. BC, to the west, the Villanovan culture entered from the XII-XI century. BC and east of the Panaro river, identifying with it a first natural border between the two subregions.
The archeology, or the paucity of the studies, confirms an abandonment around 1100 BC, of the terramaric sites that leave a void even up to the ninth century. BC, the first consistent Villanovan nuclei were established, preceded by the protovillanovian ones, and which in any case do not overlap the terramaric ones. Studies also seem to confirm a scarcity of settlement west of the Panaro in the period between the 12th and 7th centuries BC.
However, it is in the Bolognese area, between Casalecchio sul Reno and Villanova, that the preponderant features of the homonymous culture are recognized, which correspond to the area of greatest Etruscan propagation within the Po Valley, in correspondence with the deepest valley that furrows the Tuscan Apennines. -Emiliano.
This area would have been the driving force of the centers in the Modena area of the centers of Carpi, Savignano, Castelfranco and Cognento and of Verrucchio in Romagna, the latter center, which identifies the second passage, further east of the Apennines.
If we want to give credit to the fact that the Villanovan civilization is a proto-Etruscan form or that the Tyrrhenian civilization occupied or integrated with the same Villanovan sites, we still find a correspondence between the areas in which the Villanovans settled and those occupied by the Etruscans themselves.
The sources say that it was the Etruscans of Perugia or Chiusi, looking for a political and commercial outlet towards the Adriatic, who spread and occupied the entire Po Valley, founding the main center of Felsina (Bologna), giving rise to the greater than Mutina (Modena), Spina, Misa (Marzabotto), Piacenza, to the phenomenon, already widespread in Etruria proper, of synecism, concentrating the previous Villanovan villages around a single center.
Felsina was an important city, very flourishing, with a primary and dominant role on a vast area full of small settlements.
Occupying this area, the Etruscans, in turn, gave it a subdivision between the agricultural-land area based on land exchanges and one, headed by the outposts of Adria (Veneto) and Spina, mainly maritime. In this way the Etruscans could count on the two main directions of reaching Northern Europe: on the one hand the Celtic-Iberian area and on the other the Scandinavian-Balkan area. We know for sure, however, that they had already "wrested" the coastal strip they occupied from Rimini to Ravenna from the control of the Umbrians.
In turn, the Tyrrhenians were forced to cede the territories north of the Apennines, after several waves, to the Gauls at the end of the 5th century. B.C
Defeated on the Ticino, the Etruscans are forced to retreat to their original territory; Emilia Romagna is occupied by three different Celtic tribes: that of the Boi which included the current Emilia, which goes from the province of Bologna to that of Piacenza, the Lingoni tribe that settled in the current province of Ferrara, while the Senoni invaded the areas of the provinces of Ravenna (south of the river Utis, modern Montone), Forlì-Cesena, Rimini, occupying part of the Umbrian-Piceno territory corresponding to the province of Pesaro-Urbino, up to the Aesis river, today's Esino: this last territory will be called by the Romans Ager Gallicus.
In the rush, the same Senones and their king Brennno reached Rome after the capture of Veio (396 or 390 BC), forcing the city to capitulate and pay a heavy tribute before being freed by Furio Camillo.
With the victory of Sentino in 295 BC, Rome begins to appear in the Piceno and therefore in the Ager Gallicus. Definitively subjugated the Senones, the Romans take possession of the territory by founding the colony of Ariminium (Rimini) in 268 BC, which will serve as a springboard for the conquest of the entire Gallia Cispadana.
An excuse for the total annexation of the Gallic territories comes in 225 BC when the Celts of the Po Valley gathered in a confederation trying to take revenge on the Romans who instead defeated them in Talamone.
This event was followed by a rapid retaliation of the entire Cisalpine Gaul. In view of a future stable occupation, especially of the territories south of the Po, the Via Flaminia was conceived which diagonally cut Italy from Rome to Ariminium (Rimini). In fact, shortly after, before the Second Punic War (218 BC), the geminae (twin) colonies of Placentia (Piacenza) and Cremona were founded.
Only at the end of the Hannibal War, Rome resumed its expansion plans, punishing the peoples who had allied themselves with Hannibal and rewarding the Senones and Lingons the only ones who had not sided with the Carthaginian, obtaining the authorization to remain in the territories to benefit from land distribution.
The punishment, for the others, was to arrive in 192 BC when the Boi were defeated and finally subdued, in the battle of Mediolanum (Milan); even if the conquest of the Po territories could be declared definitively concluded only in 175 BC when the last Apennine populations of the Ligurians were subjugated.
In the meantime between 189 and 187 BC, the consul M. Emilio Lepido had begun the construction of the infiltration-occupation artery within the territory, following a pre-existing path: thus the via Aemilia was born, which will give its name to the region in the centuries to come: the main purpose was to create a quick and effective route that would connect Rimini to Piacenza as quickly as possible.
The importance of the road, for how it is conceived and built, is superb: in addition to being a communication tool that holds an unprecedented economy and makes all the cities it encounters wonderfully rich, it was also a splendid military mechanism and an exceptional device gromatic: the centuriation of the entire plain based on the iugero particle was based on it.
For this reason, a considerable number of cities and dozens of minor stationes arose on its axis: Caesena (Cesena), Forum Popili (Forlimpopoli), Forum Livi (Forlì), Faventia (Faenza), Forum Cornelii (Imola), Bononia (Bologna) , Mutina (Modena), Regium Lepidi (Reggio Emilia), Parma, Fidentia (Fidenza), Florentiola (Fiorenzola d'Arda) and Placenta (Piacenza).
Other communication routes were grafted onto it: the via Popilia which connected Rimini with Adria, the minor via Flaminia which connected Bologna to Arezzo and the via Postumia which went from Genoa to Aquileia intersecting it at Piacenza.
The most important event linked to the role of Romagna as a border and passage land is linked to Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon on 12 January 49 BC, with his army entering Italy by right with an armed army. directed first to Rimini and then to Rome.
The one that until the first imperial subdivision was called Gallia Togata Cisalpina, from Augustus onwards will take the name of the VIII region from the Via Aemilia, a unique case: the one that will become among the richest lands of the entire Roman Empire.
With Constantine in 336 AD the Regio VIII Aemilia will separate two distinct provinces, the tenth Aemilia and the eleventh Flaminia, with capitals respectively Bologna and Ravenna: the latter will acquire considerable importance with Honorius, emperor who in 402 AD, will transfer the imperial seat from Rome to Ravenna.
ITALY Regio VI-VII-VIII
Below the localities of the Italian peninsula grouped following the subdivision made in the Augustan period; in the list were also included places of foundation subsequent to the first imperial age, or even no longer existing at the time.
The Regio VI (Umbria) - VII (Etruria) - VIII (Aemilia) correspond to the current Umbria, part of the Marche, Tuscany, part of Lazio (north of Rome), Emilia-Romagna, areas conquered and Romanized some still in the second century BC , others an integral part of the Roman territory since the archaic era, and in some cases the cradle of Roman civilization itself.
In some cases the pre-Roman name is also reported, and where known, the specification if they were road rest areas (this category includes practically all the places named with a number, indicating a certain distance from a city), such as statio, mansiones (for prolonged stops and shelter of men and animals) or mutationes (for the change of horses or pack animals), along the most important roads in this area of Italy, which connected Rome to:
Luni (via Aurelia which continued to Genoa and Arles), Vetulonia (via Clodia), Luni via Florence (via Cassia on two paths), Perugia (via Amerina), Rimini (via Flaminia via Fano). Other fundamental road axes were those that connected Rimini to Piacenza (via Aemilia) and Adria (via Popillia), Arezzo to Bologna (via Flaminia minor, modern name) and Fiesole to the port of Pisa (via Quinctia). A whole other series of roads, however, connected the capital to the cities immediately to the north (via Cornelia, via Triumphalis, via Tiberina), without forgetting that a minor road network connected all the small towns since the most archaic times.
Roman name Pre-Roman name Population Regio Romana Modern name Prov.
Acervolanum Umbri / Senoni VI Umbria and Ager Galicus S. Arcangelo di Romagna RN
Ad Novas Tabernas Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Cesenatico FC
Ad Rubiconem Umbri / Senoni VI Umbria and Ager Galicus Torre Pedrera RN
Ad Tarum Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Castel Guelfo BO
Ariminium Umbri / Senoni VI Umbria and Ager Galicus Rimini RN
Augusta Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia S. Alberto RA
Balneum Umbri / Senoni VI Umbria and Ager Galicus Bagno di Romagna FC
Bobium Castrum Anamarii (?) IX Liguria Bobbio PC
Bononia Felsina Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Bologna BO
Brixellum Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Brescello RE
Bytrium Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Mezzano RA
Caesena Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Cesena FC
Caput Silicis Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Conselice RA
Castrum Mutilum Mudilianum Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Modigliana FC
Celeia VIII Aemilia
Classis Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Class RA
Claterna Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Ozzano in Emilia BO
Colicaria Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia S. Possidonio MO
Compitum (ad confluentes) Umbri / Senoni VI Umbri et Ager Galicus S. Giovanni in Compito
(Savignano sul Rubicone) FC
Coniaclum VIII Aemilia
Faventia Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Faenza RA
Ferraria Etruschi / Lingoni VIII Aemilia Ferrara FE
Fidentia vicus Fidentiola Vicumvia / Valfuria Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Fidenza PR
Florentiola Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Fiorenzuola d'Arda PC
Forum Cornelii Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Imola BO
Forum Gallorum Victoriolae Etruscans / Boi VIII Aemilia Castelfranco Emilia (?) BO
Forum Livii Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Forlì FO
Forum Novum Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Fornovo di Taro PR
Forum Popilii Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Forlimpopoli FC
Sabiniuanus Fundus Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Savignano sul Rubicone FC
Lucus Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Lugo RA
Macri Campi Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Magreta MO
Medicine Etruscans / Boi VIII Aemilia MedicineBO
Castrum Meldulae In Castello (?) Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Meldola FC
Mevaniola Etruschi / Boi VI Umbria and Ager Galicus Galeata FC
Misa Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Marzabotto BO
Mutina Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia M odena MO
Otesia Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia
Parma E truschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Parma PR
Placentia Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Piacenza PC
Pons Seciae Etruscans / Boi VIII Aemilia Rubiera RE
Ravenna Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Ravenna RA
Regium Lepidum Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Reggio nell'Emilia RE
Sabinianum Umbri / Senoni VI Umbria and Ager Galicus Savignano sul Rubicone FC
Sacis ad Padum Cornicularia
(Late Neruma or Neronia) Etruscans / Boi VIII Aemilia Codigoro RA
Sapis (Sabis-Savis) Etruscans / Boi VIII Aemilia Savio RA
Sarsina Umbri / Senoni VI Umbria and Ager Galicus Sarsina FC
Solona Umbri / Senoni VIII Aemilia Castrocaro Terme FC
Spina Etruschi / Lingoni VIII Aemilia Comacchio FE
Tanetum Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Taneto di Gattatico RE
Veleia Etruschi / Boi VIII Aemilia Rustigazzo of Lugagnano Val d'Arda PC
Vicus Serninus or Servinus Etruschi / Lingoni VIII Aemilia Sermide (?) Finale Emilia (?) MO
Vicus Habentia Etruscans / Lingoni VIII Aemilia Voghenza FE
Vicus Varianus Etruscans / Lingoni VIII Aemilia Vigarano Pieve FE
The Tacoli Family, feudal lords of San Possidonio
brought a breath of modernity
and entrepreneurship that involved the entire marquisate .
There were three characters who, for better or for worse,
have marked the fate of this land.
Achille seniore Pietro seniore (called Tacolone)
1st Marquis of San Possidonio
Achille juniore
2nd Marquis of San Possidonio
Inventor and enthusiast of hydraulic sciences, he favored the studies of Don Giuseppe Andreoli / Carbonaro priest
who will become one of the Martyrs of the Risorgimento.
With the death of the latter, his sons already held important offices at the Duke of Modena
they will detach from San possidonio to live in the city.
Pietro juniore
it will be the Marquis who, through the "religious care", will obtain, in 1806, the famous Crucifix formerly belonging to the Capuchin Church of Concordia s / S suppressed in 1805, from which this year marks the bicentenary of the transport.
Brief history of the Marquis
of San Possidonio
skilled entrepreneurs of the eighteenth century
Definition of the title of Marquis
The jurisdiction of the Marquis extended over the “Marca”, that is to say, a border country, for which his authority, especially from the military point of view, was superior to that of the county; in fact, before coining the title of Marquises, these territories were destined to the Counts, the Dukes or other Great Lords, who had a good number of armed men under their orders to defend the territories contained in the "brand"; they were therefore called "Custodes limitum", then Marchiones and finally Marchisii. The title of Marquis is today purely honorific and noble, it is higher than that of Count and lower than that of Duke.
The "REVOLUTION" of the Tacles
When, in the distant month of March 1710, the noble from Reggio Achille Tacoli was appointed Imperial Governor of the Duchy of Mirandola, after the Pico family had been driven out on charges of "felony", certainly no one could have imagined that his family, during the eighteenth century it would have had a decisive impact on the economic and social life of a vast area of the Lower Modena area, and in particular of the territory of San Possidonio.
Achille Tacoli had in fact arrived in Mirandola with the somewhat pompous title of Imperial Governor, but in practice he was a trusted man of the Duke of Modena Rinaldo I d'Este, who had actually already bought the entire Mirandolese Duchy from the Emperor Charles VI. . And the prudent Duke of Modena, before the official announcement by the Holy Roman Empire, had first sent to Mirandola the Count of Castelbarco and later Achille Tacoli, who until then was a noble without precise titles, despite being a man very clear-headed and gifted with a remarkable business sense. Today we would say that he possessed a great intuition for business. In fact, it must be said that Achille Tacoli had already been a shrewd administrator of Este property in the Ferarese area since 1695 and had acted with great intelligence and excellent scruple, having his work at heart and without plundering his august employer. the shrewdness of marrying a certain Camilla Tassoni who was a widow with a dependent daughter, but who brought 225,000 Parma lire as a dowry, both in money and in property. In those days it was a very important sum. Achille Tacoli always proves loyal to his Duke and also as Governor of the former duchy of Mirandola he carries out the orders of his Duke with order and scruple. The Duchy of Mirandola, purchased by the Este family of Modena For the insignificant sum of 175,000 double golds, it included, as is well known, the territories of the current municipalities of Mirandola, Concordia and San Possidonio and Tacoli, a very smart man, soon made understanding that the best lands were those of the areas of San Possidonio and Concordia (in the parts closest to the Secchia river) at the first opportunity, do not miss the opportunity to buy some piece of fertile land in those areas. Those who really fell in love with San Possidonio and its fertile lands were the eldest son of Achille, Pietro Tacoli, who, just to stay in the lower Modena area, in August 1723, married Lucrezia Pietra della Mirandola. This noble lady brings him 9,000 gold scudi as a dowry and a possession of 120 biolches of land in San Giovanni di Concordia. One more reason why Pietro Tacoli has affections to the Lower Modena area, of which he senses the good potential abilities. Because our Pietro Tacoli was a skilled businessman and above all he was one who knew how to look far. The fact is that with his own money and those of his wife first of all he ensures the benevolence of the Duke of Modena, who in the meantime had become Francesco III d'Este and from him, again in 1723 he obtained the title of Marquis and the Feud of San Possidonio. And so this small town in the Bassa becomes the illustrious seat of a Marquisate. In this period, the so-called "golden age" begins for the small town of San Possidonio, because the new Marquis begins to buy all the land that comes to hand, so the value of the agricultural land grows considerably, with a certain advantage for everyone, with the exception of those who have nothing, However Pietro Tacoli offered the opportunity to work for many people, and his laborers and his workers are paid on time. But Pietro Tacoli is one who never stands still, the Enlightenment philosophy opens up some new horizons for him and in a short time he realizes that owning the land is a big advantage, but it must be made more profitable. Harvesting is not enough, you need to know how to sell them. In short, he manages to introduce the concept of “added value” into the mentality of the inhabitants of San Possidonio. To give an example, Pietro Tacoli understands that producing wheat can be a profitable business, but making flour is even more profitable. And thus increases the activity of the mills. San Possidonio has always been a territory in which the cultivation of grapes has given good results, but producing wine makes more and so its various wineries market wine already bottled and then, both in the activity of the fields and in the milling and wine, the labor in those times has a very modest cost and the attentive Tacoli realizes that the worker who works for all twelve months of the year is more passionate about his activity much more than the occasional worker. With him, people become passionate about their permanent job. And so Pietro Tacoli gives life to new ideas, he is a continuous hotbed of initiatives, while not neglecting to do good to the poorest families in the country. Perhaps in these frenetic activities he will also have exploited child labor and that of women, but he has offered job opportunities to a lot of people, who have always shown themselves grateful to him. It is clear that no one gave anything, but Pietro Tacoli, as will his son Achille Tacoli jr. he is an entrepreneur in the most modern sense of the word. Obviously, as a feudal lord, he exercises with a certain authority all the power that his office allows him: for example, the jurisdiction of the first degree belongs to him, in the sense that it is he who is wrong and who is right between two contenders, in others terms a sort of justice of the peace; confirms his right to appoint the parish priest of the country, in agreement that the episcopal authority, has the right to license but also to veto hunting, he knows how to make the town of San Possidonio completely autonomous both at the juridical level (in fact it is no longer dependent da Mirandola at the jurisdictional level), has even the right to give life to a weekly market (in fact it will choose the day of Tuesday) and to a fair that was held every year in May, on the occasion of the feast of the patron saint San Possidonio. But returning to our brief history, in 1724 Pietro Tacoli remains a widower: his wife Lucrezia Pietra dies of a sudden illness and passes away in the beautiful building that the Tacoli wanted to build near the bank of the Secchia river, in the center of their property and not far from the mills on the river itself. But business is business and after the ritual nine months of mourning Pietro Tavoli goes into second marriage, responding with another Lucrezia, but this time it is Lucrezia Meli Lupi di Soragna, from a noble Parmesan family, who happens to be dowrying doors beyond 100,000 lire of Parma. But life was short for everyone and in 1735 Pietro Tacoli had to go to Spain, as ambassador of the Duke of Modena to the Iberian court. And some time after June 9, 1738, Pietro Tacoli ceases to live in Lisbon, Portugal, where he had gone for institutional duties. He left a substantial patrimony, for those times, of over half a million lire, between money and real estate. Inevitable quarrels between the children of different beds, but in the end, exactly after ten years, a laborious agreement is reached: the major inheritance and the title of Marquis belong to the first-bed son Achille Tacoli jr. who in short proves to be the most skilled and the most enterprising of all the Tacles. The brothers and other family members are satisfied with substantial sums of money, as well as various other real estate properties. But when there is no lack of money, there is something for everyone. First of all, the young Achille Tacoli jr. intends to manage all his immense assets alone, firing agents and factors and at this point we can say that the whole territory of San Possidonio is "hit" by a storm of authentic entrepreneurial mold, in the sense that, even if it was the mid-eighteenth century , Achille Tacoli jr. proves to be a true entrepreneur, even though, as we shall see, he makes some inevitable missteps. In addition to personally following the agricultural work of the many lands he owns, in 1755 he bought the rights to a new water mill on the Secchia river from the Community of Mirandola, modernized it and then grinds wheat, corn, barley, rye and other cereals for everything. the territory of the lower Modena plain. Shortly after, he bought another one, in the Bondanello locality, in the Mantua area, extending his managerial concept to the territories of the Oltrepò Mantovano. Then it proceeds with the purchase of almost all the so-called "San Martino meadows" between San Possidonio and Mirandola, considerably expanding its already strong presence in milk and cheese production. Because he intends to be the protagonist of the transformation of milk into cheese. Then, now at a certain age (43 years), Achille Tacoli also finds time to think about marriage, takes a moment to rest and takes the opportunity to marry Teresa Castaldi, a kind damsel and only daughter, for which our Tacoli brings home a conspicuous dowry, waiting for an even more substantial inheritance. Then, around the sixties of the eighteenth century, Achille Tacoli jr. he discovers that the clayey soil near the Secchia river can be transformed into excellent ceramics and the idea of building a ceramic factory in San Possidonio was immediately born. And in fact Tacoli calls around him a fair number of experts in this delicate sector of ceramic art and starts a new interesting activity. But the ceramic producers of the Sassuolo area fear this unexpected competition and immediately declare war on Achille Tacoli, focusing above all on the fact that for some time the Dukes of Modena had granted in perpetuity the exercise of the ceramic activity to the manufacturing companies of Sassuolo. and surroundings. After long controversies and desperate judgments by administrative and judicial bodies, the Tacoli di San Possidonio ceramic must close its doors. Achille Tacoli only regrets firing some technicians he had sent from Bologna and Faenza and several workers in the area. But don't think that the marquis Achille Tacoli jr. he gave up being an industrialist and entrepreneur and shortly afterwards in 1770 he opened a spinning wheel. It was known to all that at that time (second half of the eighteenth century), the Lower Modena area was one of the largest Italian producers of silkworms, thanks also to the abundance of mulberry plants, and to the city of Mirandola which was in the center of an active market, also aimed at "exports". Yes, because at that time Italy was divided into small states and to reach the Como area, one of the main European centers in the production of silk, several “passports” or safe conduct were required. As mentioned, Mirandola was the epicenter of an active market and this is demonstrated by the fact that still today under the portico of the Town Hall of the city of the Pico there are attacks, or rather the hooks, for the scales that were used to weigh the worms. silk. And still today in many countryside, especially in the San Possidonio area, mulberry trees can be seen, the favorite nourishment of the voracious silkworms. But in that period of the second half of the eighteenth century a strange and unusual disease struck the cocoons and the activities of this factory designed by the Marquis Tacoli and specialized in the production of "silk socks" must stop, even if Tacoli, at first , tried to import the raw material from abroad. But it seems right, finally, to remember that one of the main merits of Achille Tacoli jr. was that of having convinced ten and ten laborers and peasants of San Possidonio to become artisans ante litteram. In the winter period and in the other months of scarce agricultural work, many of them were induced to produce, in the houses and in the stables, the famous cutlery with the bone handle that up to the period before the Second World War was the pride of craftsmanship of San Possidonio. In several families of the town these cutlery are still preserved (especially forks and knives of various types) which today are considered as precious antiques. The fact is that at the end of our chat, we can say that Achille Tacoli was a character of incredible activity and a thousand business ideas not even the arrival of the French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1796, completely interrupted his frenetic activity, even if the feudal title of Marquis of San Possidonio lost all legal value. Achille Tacoli jr. he passed away on October 12, 1806, at the age of 82, all spent in work and thinking about new ideas that were decidedly innovative for his time.
It has been rightly said that the death of Achille Tacoli marked the sudden detachment of the Tacoli Bassa family
Modenese and San Possidonio. The three sons, Pietro, Antonio and the priest Alfonso did not follow in the footsteps
paternal: it has always been said that for them the only problem to face was to maintain their high standard of living and
do not quickly throw away the wealth their ancestors had accumulated. The fact remains that Achille senior, Pietro and Achille junior Tacoli really were the forerunners of a great and unusual managerial entrepreneurial progress. As said, they wereperhaps the first nobles of our lands to understand the validity of what we now call "added value". They were already modern in the heart of the eighteenth century
M ° Giuseppe Morselli
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS
Municipality of San Possidonio
Medieval age
San Possidonio, parish church. Marble urn found in 1769,
containing the presumed relics of San Possidonio.
San Possidonio, parish church. Roman age inscription
which recalls the presence of a caesareum. Modena, Estense Lapidary Museum.
San Possidonio, parish church.
Funerary inscription of C. Tutilius.
Modena, Estense Lapidary Museum.
ROMAN EPIGRAPHS OF REUSE, end of the 1st cent. BC-I century. A.D
NECROPOLIS, early medieval
CHURCH, 12th century A.D
RESEARCH CARRIED OUT: fortuitous discovery (1769); G. Bignardi (around 1820-1828)
Between 1764 and 1769, during the reconstruction of the parish church of San Possidonio, some important discoveries were made relating to the previous phases of use of the sacred building. At a depth of 4 m from the eighteenth-century floor level, the remains of a mosaic floor were found, with inserts in opus sectile (lithostrate) dating back to the 12th century. From the reports we have received it is clear that the mosaic originally occupied all, or almost all, the flooring of the church of the Romanesque period, 22 m long and 15 m wide, but that at the time of the discovery it was missing in more than one point (perhaps already replaced in antiquity with squares in beaten concrete). We have the representations of the mosaic in the sector that occupied the central part of the presbytery, about 6 m wide. The design was divided into various squares, the largest of which was delimited by a geometric frame and by rectangles that enclosed figurations of animals. Of particular note is the panel placed in front of the main altar, which depicted two deer facing each other in the act of grazing grass, separated by a circle with a diameter of over one meter, divided into three concentric faces decorated with white and black parallelograms. It seems that, with the continuation of the works, the mosaic was partially, if not completely, removed, after having made a partial design. Stylistic comparisons allow us to attribute it to the 12th century, the period to which most of the Romanesque mosaics of the central-Po area date.
During the above-mentioned works, "ancient deposits" were discovered below the mosaic floor, at an unspecified depth (in one case we know about 2.50 m), that is, cappuccina tombs covered with sesquipedal handlebar bricks, so as can be seen from the drawing of one of them discovered on September 18, 1766. The dating of the burials, found under the 12th century AD mosaic pavement, is problematic. The depth of discovery and, in part, the typology seem to suggest an earlier chronological position, which cannot be better specified, within the early Middle Ages.
Subsequently, on 20 September 1769, in front of the altar of San Possidonio, at a depth of m 2, below the 12th century mosaic pavement, a small marble chest (fig. 31) was found (0 m, 90 × 0.40; hm 0.28), containing the remains of an inhumed person, which were identified with the relics of the Saint to whom the church is dedicated. Also for this discovery a broad chronology can be proposed, between the sixth and twelfth centuries. The marble case was sealed with a reused Roman epigraph (fig. 32), datable around the middle of the 1st century AD, which recalls the execution of important public works financed by private citizens: a caesareum, decorated with Augusti xisti, a street access paved with silica blocks (CIL, XI, 948). The historical-topographical problems raised by this discovery have already been discussed in other locations. As this is recycled material, the location of the public works mentioned there is unknown. On the one hand, in fact, a local provenance must be considered, which should be documented with desirable archaeological explorations in the area around the parish church of San Possidonio (and, in this regard, it should not be forgotten that the imperial cult finds attestations, in Emilia, even in rural areas, such as in Maccaretolo in the Bolognese plain); on the other hand, the recovery of the epigraph from a nearby urban center, in particular Modena or Reggio Emilia, where a seat of the imperial cult could easily find its political justification, cannot be excluded.
Another testimony of reuse of Roman remains at the parish church is walled on an external wall of the adjacent bell tower, rebuilt in the mid-seventeenth century: in this case it is a funerary slab, attributable to the end of the first century. BC-mid 1st century. AD, with the mention of a Roman citizen, C. Tutilius T. f., ascribed to the Pollia tribe.
In 1828 both epigraphs were donated to the Estense Lapidary Museum, while the chest remained in the parish church (currently it is kept in the crypt).
PLACE OF STORAGE OF MATERIALS: partly lost (mosaic); San Possidonio, parish church (urn); MLE (Roman epigraphs)
BIBLIOGRAPHY: CALZOLARI 1982; ID. 1983a; BARBIERI 1991; CAPPI 1993; BARBIERI SALVARANI 1994; CALZOLARI 1999a; ID. 1999b; FRANZONI 2000
Coat of arms of the Municipality of San Possidonio
Heraldic Description
The coat of arms (Article 6 of the Statute, resolution CC No. 45 of 21/4/2004)
Quartered, gold edged in blue: the FIRST to the hive of red on a natural wood base with on the left four badly ordered bees, the SECOND to the anvil on a natural wood base with on the right hoe and spade decussed at the tip the first partially hidden, to the TERZO to the natural press, to the FOURTH to the wooden square with plumb line. A fruity oak and an olive branch, in decusse, tied by a blue ribbon. The shield is stamped with the regulatory crown of the Italian Municipality, from which a caduceus emerges
Origins and Symbology of the Coat of Arms
Shield distinguished in two points with: the beehive with bees, symbol of industrious goodness and "facondia", anvil and shovel for the activities mostly carried out on the spot, farmer and blacksmith. In the other field an old printer, to allude to cultural activities and a carpenter and bricklayer tool. The coat of arms is dominated by a "marquis" crown (San Possidonio was a fief of the family of the Marquis Tacoli). In the fascist era, a "caduceus" with two winged snakes was added to signify the importance of trade.
The coat of arms was slightly modified during Fascism, but then returned to its original appearance
Blazon of the Gonfalone
Borders and frieze in gold and silver on a blue background, lanceolate shaft
Features Coat of arms
Partition of the field: quartered
Symbols: Beehive, Bee, Anvil, Olive, Spade
Colors: Blue, Gold, Red
CRYPT-WELL OF SAN POSSIDONIO (Rock church - 11th century
Location: Contrada Carucci, Massafra (TA) Sub-area: Terra delle Gravine Regional Park
The one commonly known as the "crypt-well of San Possidonio", due to the small dome built in the presbytery area that has long since collapsed, thus leaving an opening to the outside resembling that of a well, is a rock church which, despite the precarious state of conservation, still manages to combine the particular architectural structure with a magnificent decoration. The hypogeum environment, which is accessed through about ten steps
engraved in the rock, it shows a plan with two aisles, of which the left one with an apse and a nut altar, and the right one ending in another pseudo-ovoid cavity with a large niche.
Traces of a triptych of saints are still evident from the remarkable pictorial furnishings, with frescoes dating back to between the 13th and 14th centuries, including the figure of San Possidonio long gone, in a niche to the left of the entrance; a rare (at least for Puglia) depiction of the Cappadocese martyr brothers Elasippo and Melesippo, in two of the four clypei present in the bema area; Saints Nicola, Damiano and Cosma in a niche in the right aisle; the remains of a Deésis with the Christ pantocrator in the apse.
