BARI
This is a City and port of
Puglia, on the lower Adriatic. Bari which
can be divided into two parts: the Old City and the New City,
extends along the banks of the sea for around 7km, following
the course of magnificent seashore.
The City was founded by the Peucezi, a population with Illyrian-Messapica
origins, which already under the Greeks became a flourishing
City. In the 3rd Century BC, famous for the geographical position
of its port, it formed an alliance with Rome.
It was a Roman
Municipality under Imperial reign, and was known as Barium;
also an important road point of Via Traiana, which was subsequently
and repeatedly devastated by the Goths and the Byzantines
(669). It continued to belong nominally to the Byzantines,
even when it was the seat of a Longobard Duke, under the protection
of the Duke of Benevento.
The historical and political vicissitudes regarding the destiny
of the City continue with the occupation by the Saracens from
840 to 870, after which Bari returned to the Byzantines; apart
from a short period of imperial governing at the time of Ottone
I and Ottone II (968-982). During the 10th and 11th Centuries,
it became the main seat of the Governor General (the so called
Catapano), and was dominated by the Eastern Empire. It was
also grounds of new feuds between the Saracens, Byzantines
and Normans. In 1002, the Venetians liberated the City from
a Saracen siege, which had lasted six months, and had attempted
a rebellion against the Catapano government, under the leadership
of Melo (1009-1016), until it was conquered in 1071 by the
Normans led by Roberto il Guiscardo. Its importance grew as
a port, becoming a starting point for the Holy Land, Pope
Urbano II in 1098, held a great general council here, with
participation from Latin and Greek holy men and from Sant’Anselmo,
the Archbishop of Canterbury. Vexed by a tough Norman domination,
the City rebelled in 1156 and was destroyed by Guglielmo il
Malo: reconstructed by Federico II, it flourished under the
Svevi, once again falling into decay with the Angioini, under
which the city went into feud with various princes (Del Balzo,
Caldora). The Aragonesi, having succeeded the Angioini, also
took their turn by handing over the City to the Sforza (1464),
therefore in the 16th Century it became a splendid ducal court
with Isabella of Aragon, widow of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, and
her daughter Bona Sforza. Oppressed by the Exchequer and a
bad Spanish government, threatened by the Turks and barbaric
pirates, decimated by the Plague in 1656, the City passed
under control in 1707 to Carlo VI of Austria, only to be handed
over in 1734 to the Bourbons, who helped the City in various
ways, until the victory of the King.
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