DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
THE LETTERS OF 1610
Saint Corrado Confalonieri
and the historical link between Piacenza and Noto
THE LETTERS OF 1610
Saint Corrado Confalonieri
and the historical link between Piacenza and Noto
The three fact-finding letters sent by the Jurors of Noto in 1610
by Umberto Battini
historian of S. Corrado
 |
| particular of the signature |
Since the distant Middle Ages of the 14th century, an uninterrupted line has run between the lands of Piacenza and Sicily: the noble soldier S. Corrado Confalonieri stops his clothes and pomp and, donning a gray tunic, sets out for holiness in the land that loved him most in life and death, the Ingenious Noto.
But the relationships between the native land and the land of adoption, regarding the history and human and then spiritual valorization of the Holy Hermit, have developed over the centuries in relation to the unfolding events that led from Noto to the elevation of this virtuous man of faith to the altars.
In fact, based on current historical evidence, we must place the real rediscovery of this illustrious saint from Piacenza in the early 1600s, when, at the hands of the Elders of the city of Noto, the city of Piacenza was notified by sending three letters that arrived on 28 April 1611, one addressed to the person of the Duke Farnese, one to the Bishop and another letter to the Elders who had the government of the city, in the letter expressly asked for archival research on Saint Conrad.
Even the Netini Elders themselves point out in these letters some historical data already in their possession, such as the fact that he had been married to a noblewoman from Lodi named Eufrosina who later became a Poor Clare nun and that he had been feudal lord of the Piacenza castle of Calendasco.
But it is this last statement made by the Netini Jurors that takes on a very important value for Corradian historiography. In fact, the Confalonieri family was feudal lords of Calendasco for several centuries, exercising dominion over this rich land attached to the Po River, northwest of Piacenza, from the mighty manor.
But the relationships between the native land and the land of adoption, regarding the history and human and then spiritual valorization of the Holy Hermit, have developed over the centuries in relation to the unfolding events that led from Noto to the elevation of this virtuous man of faith to the altars.
In fact, based on current historical evidence, we must place the real rediscovery of this illustrious saint from Piacenza in the early 1600s, when, at the hands of the Elders of the city of Noto, the city of Piacenza was notified by sending three letters that arrived on 28 April 1611, one addressed to the person of the Duke Farnese, one to the Bishop and another letter to the Elders who had the government of the city, in the letter expressly asked for archival research on Saint Conrad.
Even the Netini Elders themselves point out in these letters some historical data already in their possession, such as the fact that he had been married to a noblewoman from Lodi named Eufrosina who later became a Poor Clare nun and that he had been feudal lord of the Piacenza castle of Calendasco.
But it is this last statement made by the Netini Jurors that takes on a very important value for Corradian historiography. In fact, the Confalonieri family was feudal lords of Calendasco for several centuries, exercising dominion over this rich land attached to the Po River, northwest of Piacenza, from the mighty manor.
 |
| image with AI created by UB |
And that the Confalonieri family was among the preeminent of the city, while maintaining this feudal prerogative from the village, is evidenced by the fact that one of the four conspirators who killed Duke Pier Luigi Farnese, son of Pope Paul III, in 1547 was Giovanluigi Confalonieri himself, a feudal lord living in Calendasco, as shown by the documents of the Farnese confiscation concluded in 1586.
These events certainly did not help to ensure that the deeds of the Holy Hermit, beloved in Noto but also now throughout Sicily and the south, spread throughout his homeland, precisely because a distant great-grandson of his participated in this terrible event which all the major historians and politicians of that time dealt with.
Proof of this is that only sixty years later and after the confiscation was concluded, with the expulsion of the offender forced to move to Milan, the Piacenza saint was finally made official and promoted in Piacenza too, we are precisely at the beginning of the 17th century.
These events certainly did not help to ensure that the deeds of the Holy Hermit, beloved in Noto but also now throughout Sicily and the south, spread throughout his homeland, precisely because a distant great-grandson of his participated in this terrible event which all the major historians and politicians of that time dealt with.
Proof of this is that only sixty years later and after the confiscation was concluded, with the expulsion of the offender forced to move to Milan, the Piacenza saint was finally made official and promoted in Piacenza too, we are precisely at the beginning of the 17th century.
Umberto Battini
historian of S. Corrado Confalonieri
THE TEXT ABOVE IS A SUMMARY OF A MORE SUBSTANTIAL WORK