The history of Friúli in dates.
The name Friúli stems from “Forum Iulii” (founded by Julius Ceasar).
Prehistory:
The Euganei settled in the Monti Lessini, Indo-European tribes such as the Veneti and the Histri settled in Northern-Italy; the Celtic Carni (4th century BC.) gave name to the Carnic Alps.
Third century BC. - fifth century:
The Romans come to the region,
under Emperor Augustus the region Venetia et Histria are formed,of which Aquileia, founded in 181 BC., was the important harbour and capital.
5th – 8th Century:
Decline of the Roman Empire, invasions of Goths and Huns, exile of Venetian families to islands in the lagoons (rise of Venice).
New centres of power: Cristian patriarcs in Aquileia, Adriatic coast under the influence of Byzantine, with Grado as capital.
vanaf 553 het Longobardische hertogdom in Friúli, met Cividale als hoofdstad.
8th- 13th Century:
The Franks defeat the Longobards;
rise of free townstates Padua, Vicenca, Treviso and Verona;
flourishingtime of Venice as powerful seatrading city.
13th – 14th Century:
The patriac Friúli with Udine as capital.
At local level powerful families (signorie) seize power. Triëst under Austrian influence.
Foundation of Padua University.
14th – 18th Century:
Venice conquers the mainland, Habsburg reign in Triëst and Gorizia.
18th – 19th Century:
With the occupation of Napoleon the power of Venice ends.
(1797) Veneto and Friúli become Austrian. Italian strive after unity.(Risorgimento) against Austrian rule.
From 1866 Friúli and Veneto under Italian unity – till Gorizia, Triëst and Istria.
1915 – 1919:
During the Great War the bloody north-eastern frontier against Ausrtia runs through the Dolomiten and along the river Isonzo.
The treaty of Versailles brings Triëst and Istria into Italy.
1922 – 1943:
Fascisist dictatorship under Benito Mussolini;
from 1940 onItaly joins Germany in World War II.
Italy capitulates in 1943.
1945 – 1947:
Istria and half of Gorizia to Yugoslavia, in 1954 Triëst becomes Italian again.
1976:
Nearly one thousand people die in an earthquake in Friúli.
1991 – present:
Yugoslavia is devided after bloody wars.
The republic of Slovenia is the new neighbour of Italy.
After disintegration of the Democrazia Cristiana there is political instability in both former Christian-democratic centres;
rise of the regionalistic Lega Nord.
Spilimbergo
This town (11000 inhabitants) is situated in the fertile moraineplain of the Tagliamento at the foot of the spurs of the Carnic Alps and in the Middle Ages it was a feudal estate of the German Knights of Spengenberg.
Worth visiting is the characteristic castle. Not less characteristic is the dome with its vast piazza. Everything has been restored, after a fierce earthquake in 1976.
The gothic dome is decorated with frescos in apsis and crypte (14th C.), stone sculptures (15th C.) and a reconstructed, according to an old design, organ with painted wooden panelling by Pordone (16thC.)
The castle consists of buildings from the Middle ages and Renaissance.
Especially the beautifully painted Palazzo Dipinto with its triforiumwindows (14th-16th C.) strikes the eye.
Spilimbergo has an attractive centre, with in the evenings soldiers strolling along the streets.
It is especially known for its artschool for mosaic.
Every year there is an interesting worldmusic festival.
Tauriano di Spilimbergo
The birthplace of my father.
The following details are taken from a booklet (2004) by Renzo and Stefano Francesconi (how appropriate!) about nicknames in Tauriano.
Tauriano’s area is 16 square kms. and lies 133m. above sealevel.
Building mainly occurred along two roads, one in north-south direction from Istrago to Barbeano, and one in east-west direction from Spilimbergo to Vivaro.
The place lies in the council of Spilimbergo, in the province of Pordone and in district Friúli Venezia-Giulia.
In 1872 it had 772 inhabitants and in 1885 921.
Tauriano already existed in Roman times. It was then a military post along the via Giulia and during the reign of Julius Cesar there was a military barracks.
There are several theories about the origin of the name Tauriano. Derived from:
- Taurus = bull
- Taurinus = hidingplace for political refugees
- Taurus = semen of a prize bull.
In fact, it seems that the name is derived from fundus Tauri a clear evidence of her Roman origin.
Tauriano originally belonged to van the noble emperial family Statilia ( nicknamed Taurus) or from tne ancient civilian family Thoria ( they had a fighting bull in their armour)
The inhabitants mainly stem from a few families:
The abovementioned booklet also gives a few nicknames of Argante.
Thus Francesco Argante was named Favrût (The blacksmith) related to his trade; his son Luigi was named Barbéta, because he had a beard like the writer Luigi Pirandello, who he wanted to look like and his brother Alberto was named Puíta, because he was even smaller than Luigi.
Whereas the men from Barbeano mainly went to work in France and/or Africa,the men from Tauriano went to Germany and Holland to work as terrazziers.