Misplaced Pages

#784215

51-547: While it is fairly certain that the city is the successor to the ancient Roman town of Volsinii (sometimes termed Volsinii Novi – New Volsinii – to distinguish it from the Etruscan city), scholarly opinion is sharply divided as to whether Volsinii was the same as the ancient Etruscan city of Velzna or Velsuna (sometimes termed Volsinii Veteres – Old Volsinii), the other candidate being Orvieto , 20 km (12 mi) NE. George Dennis pointed out that

102-597: A studium generale that was granted to the city by Pope Gregory IX in 1236. After teaching in Orvieto, Aquinas was called to Rome in 1265 to serve as papal theologian to the newly elected Pope Clement IV , and as Regent master of the Santa Sabina studium provinciale , the forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum . The territory of Orvieto was under papal control long before it

153-445: A feudal oath of fealty to the bishop. Orvieto's relationship to the papacy has been a close one; in the tenth century Pope Benedict VII visited the city of Orvieto with his nephew, Filippo Alberici, who later settled there and became Consul of the city-state in 1016. By the thirteenth century, three papal palaces had been built. Orvieto, sitting on its impregnable rock controlling the road between Florence and Rome where it crossed

204-484: A Roman army arrived to lay siege to the town. The subsequent conflict was intense; the consul and commanding general, Quintus Fabius Gurges , was a casualty. A year later his successor, Marcus Fulvius Flaccus , receiving the surrender of the town through its starvation, razed it and executed the leaders of the plebeian party. The first display of gladiators at Rome in 264 is believed to have featured now captive freedmen from Volsinii. The Romans rescued and restored to power

255-531: A famed fresco by Raphael and his school in the Vatican Stanze , depicts the event. The United States Navy established a naval air station on 21 February 1918 to operate seaplanes during World War I . The base closed shortly after the First Armistice at Compiègne . Volsinii Volsinii or Vulsinii ( Etruscan : Velzna or Velusna ; Greek : Ouolsinioi , Ὀυολσίνιοι ; Ὀυολσίνιον ),

306-505: A temple known by the Latin name Augurale . Originally known as the Rocca di San Martino, construction on this massive fortress started either in 1359 or 1353 near the town's cemetery. Its aim was to provide the church a secure site in the city and allow the cardinal and his captains to consolidate recent military victories. In its original square plan the fortress was flanked by a small building near

357-510: A tradition. He was rewarded by the Orvietans by being elected Podestà and Capitano del Popolo, the first pope to hold civic offices in the city. His successor Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303) continued the papal tie to Orvieto. Although often criticized by historians for nepotism and greed, the Orvietans were recipients of the pope's generosity, and honored Boniface by electing him city Capitano and Podestà in 1297 and Capitano again in 1298. He built

408-537: Is known for a miracle said to have occurred in the Basilica of Santa Cristina in 1263, when a Bohemian priest, in doubt about the doctrine of Transubstantiation , reported bleeding from the host he had consecrated at Mass. The Orvieto Cathedral was eventually built to commemorate the miracle and house the Corporal of Bolsena in a reliquary made by Sienese goldsmith Ugolino di Vieri in 1337–1338. The Mass at Bolsena ,

459-501: Is the name of two ancient cities of Etruria , one situated on the shore of Lacus Volsiniensis (modern Lago di Bolsena ), and the other on the Via Clodia , between Clusium ( Chiusi ) and Forum Cassii ( Vetralla ). The latter was Etruscan and was destroyed by the Romans in 264 BC following an attempted revolt by its slaves, while the former was founded by the Romans using the remainder of

510-599: The Chapel of San Brizio is frescoed by Fra Angelico and with Luca Signorelli 's masterpiece, his Last Judgment (1449–51). The Corporal of Bolsena , on view in the Duomo , dates from a eucharistic miracle in Bolsena in 1263, when a consecrated host began to bleed onto a corporal, the small cloth upon which the host and chalice rest during the canon of the Mass. From the 11th century onward,

561-472: The Empire . It was the birthplace of Sejanus , the minister and favorite of Tiberius . Juvenal (x. 74) alludes to this circumstance when he considers the fortunes of Sejanus as dependent on the favor of Nursia , or Norsia, an Etruscan goddess much worshipped at Volsinii, into whose temple there, as in that of Jupiter Capitolinus at Rome, a nail was annually driven to mark the years. According to Pliny, Volsinii

SECTION 10

#1732851383785

612-460: The 13th century bitter feuds divided the city, which was at the apogée of its wealth but found itself often at odds with the papacy, even under interdict . Pope Urban IV stayed at Orvieto from 1262 to 1264. The city became one of the major cultural centers of its time when Thomas Aquinas taught at the studium there. A small university (now part of the University of Perugia ), had its origins in

663-499: The Chiana, was a large town: its population numbered about 30,000 at the end of the 13th century. Its municipal institutions already recognized in a papal bull of 1157, from 1201 Orvieto governed itself through a podestà , who was as often as not the bishop, however, acting in concert with a military governor, the "captain of the people". The city was divided into four rione or districts: Serancia, San Giovenale, Postierla, and Santa pace. In

714-510: The Coriglia excavation site, just outside town. The underground city boasts more than 1200 tunnels, galleries, wells, stairs, quarries, cellars, unexpected passageways, cisterns, superimposed rooms with numerous small square niches for pigeon roosts, detailing its creation over the centuries. Many of the homes of noble families were equipped with a means of escape from the elevated city during times of siege through secret escape tunnels carved from

765-673: The Etruscan cities, except Arretium (modern Arezzo ), they took part in the siege of Sutrium (modern Sutri ), a city in alliance with Rome. This war was terminated by the defeat of the Etruscans at the First Battle of Lake Vadimo (310 BC), a major blow to their power. Three years afterwards the consul Publius Decius Mus captured several of the Volsinian fortresses. In 295 BC, Lucius Postumius Megellus ravaged their territory and defeated them under

816-523: The Etruscan population rescued from the razed city. Modern Bolsena , Italy , in the region of Lazio , descends from the Roman city. The location of the Etruscan city is debated. Umbrian Orvieto , about 14 km (8.7 mi) from Bolsena, is a strong candidate. The Byzantine historian Joannes Zonaras states that the Etruscan Volsinii (Velzna or Velusna) lay on a steep height; while Bolsena ,

867-518: The Greek writer Metrodorus of Scepsis , that the object of the Romans in capturing Volsinii was to make themselves masters of 2,000 statues which it contained. The story, however, suffices to show that the Volsinians had attained great wealth, luxury, and art. This is confirmed by Valerius Maximus, who also adds that this luxury was the cause of their ruin, by making them so indolent that they at length allowed

918-537: The Roman city, some remains are still extant at Bolsena. The most remarkable are those of a temple near the Florence gate, commonly called the Tempio di Norsia . But the remains are of Roman work; and the real temple of that goddess most probably stood in the Etruscan city. The amphitheater is small and a complete ruin. Besides these there are the remains of some baths, sepulchral tablets, and a sarcophagus with reliefs representing

969-463: The Salpinates, taking advantage of a famine and pestilence which had desolated Rome, made incursions into the Roman territory in 391 BC. They were defeated, and 8,000 of them were taken prisoner. However, they purchased a twenty-year truce in exchange for returning the booty they had taken, and furnishing the pay of the Roman army for a year. They appear next in 310 BC, when, in common with the rest of

1020-625: The Studium Curiae of Orvieto. Pope Nicholas V (1447–55) gave support to the city. In a letter of 1449, the pope gave money for the restoration of the episcopal palace that originally had been a project of Nicholas IV. He also allowed Fra Angelico to begin painting in the Cappella Nuova of the cathedral. During the sack of Rome in 1527 by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V , Pope Clement VII took refuge at Orvieto. Fearing that in

1071-484: The Younger . The central well shaft was surrounded by ramps in a double helix , similar to Saladin's Well. These ramps were each designed for one-way traffic, so that mules laden with water-jars might pass down and then up unobstructed. An inscription on the well boasts that QUOD NATURA MUNIMENTO INVIDERAT INDUSTRIA ADIECIT ("what nature stinted for provision, application has supplied"). The city of Orvieto has long kept

SECTION 20

#1732851383785

1122-489: The administration of their commonwealth to be usurped by slaves. The attempted revolution apparently began with the admission of freedmen into the army, which must have been in 280 BC. They became a powerful plebeian class, who were subsequently allowed to become members of the Senate and to hold public office. They seem to have acquired majorities, using them to shape the law. Other slaves were set free; they gave themselves all

1173-517: The archaeological museum (Museo Claudio Faina e Museo Civico) houses some of the Etruscan artifacts that have been recovered in the immediate area. A tomb in the Orvieto Cannicella necropolis bears the inscription mi aviles katacinas , "I am of Avile Katacina"; the tomb's occupant thus bore an Etruscan-Latin first name, Aulus , and a family name that is believed to be of Celtic origin (derived from "Catacos"). This interesting artifact might show

1224-411: The building and design a façade. He enlarged the choir and planned a transept with two chapels (c. 1308–1330), spaces that were not finished until long after his death. The cathedral has five bells, tuned in E flat, which date back to the renaissance. The façade ( illustration above ) is particularly striking and includes some remarkable sculpture by Lorenzo Maitani (14th century). Inside the cathedral,

1275-537: The city would be sufficiently supplied with water in the event of a siege, he gave orders for the digging of the now famous artesian well Pozzo di San Patrizio (1528–1537). For added security, the pope ordered that a second well be dug to supply the fortress alone. The Orvieto funicular provides a link from Orvieto to the historic city centre. Since December 2016, Orvieto station has been served by Austrian railways ÖBB overnight sleeper services to Munich and Vienna. Alongside Saint Anselm College, Orvieto also hosts

1326-474: The complexity of ethnic relations in ancient Italy, and how such relations could be peaceful. Also in the area is the Golini Tomb , which was constructed in the fourth century BCE. Its wall paintings depict a funeral banquet, giving some insight into the real-life gatherings held after the deaths of aristocratic Etruscans. The pictures include scenes of servants preparing for the feast in various ways. Orvieto

1377-518: The event of siege by Charles's troops the city's water might prove insufficient, he commissioned a spectacular 62 meter deep well , the Pozzo di San Patrizio or "Well of St. Patrick". This Italian name, inspired by medieval legends that St. Patrick's Purgatory in Ireland gave access down to Purgatory , was used to indicate something very deep. The construction was by the architect-engineer Antonio da Sangallo

1428-438: The flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff . The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are completed by defensive walls built of the same stone. The ancient city ( urbs vetus in Latin, whence "Orvieto"), populated since Etruscan times, has usually been associated with Etruscan Velzna , but some modern scholars differ. Orvieto was certainly a major centre of Etruscan civilization ;

1479-432: The main entrance and surrounded by a moat, crossed by a drawbridge. However, the Rocca was almost completely razed to the ground in 1395 and successive attempts to rebuild it were unsuccessful. The fortress was finally rebuilt during the mid-15th century, using original plans and an additional circular line of fortifications. After the sack of Rome at the end of 1527 Pope Clement VII took refuge in Orvieto. To ensure that

1530-437: The most powerful cities of Etruria, the cult centre of the god Voltumna , and was doubtless one of the 12 which formed the Etruscan confederation, as Volsinii is designated by Livy and Valerius Maximus as one of the capita Etruriae ("heads of Etruria"). It is described by Juvenal as seated among well-wooded hills. Volsinii first appears in history after the fall of Veii (396 BC). The Volsinienses, in conjunction with

1581-516: The papal city. Urban IV with the Bolla Transiturus established and promulgated in 1264 from Orvieto to the Christian universe the solemnity of Corpus Domini which the entire Catholic world celebrates. Supporting pillars of the institution of the universal Christian Eucharistic solemnity were Saints Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, who together with Hugues de St-Cher were readers in

Bolsena - Misplaced Pages Continue

1632-453: The popes maintained political presence in the papal territory which occupied central Italy. Together with his court, the pope moved from palace to palace in the manner of his European secular counterparts. Several central Italian cities hosted the pope and his retinue during the years of wandering, housing them in the bishop's palace. Outside Rome, only Orvieto and Viterbo (and eventually Avignon ) had papal palaces. Pope Adrian IV (1154–59)

1683-415: The prevailing modern opinion is that the master mason was an obscure monk named Fra' Bevignate from Perugia. The church is striped in white travertine and greenish-black basalt in narrow bands, similar in many ways to the cathedral of Siena and other central Italian cathedrals of that era. In the following decade, cathedral authorities called Sienese architect and sculptor Lorenzo Maitani to stabilize

1734-481: The privileges formerly reserved for the Etruscans, such as rights of intermarriage and inheritance, and aggressively insisted on them against the will of the Etruscan patrician class. There were complaints of rape and robbery. In 265 BC, when the revolutionary party began to pass laws limiting patrician political activity, the lucumones sent a clandestine embassy to Rome asking for military assistance. On their return they were executed for treason, but shortly afterwards

1785-549: The remaining Etruscans of Volsinii, but decided it was necessary to remove them from that location to a new city on the shores of Lake Bolsena. The new city had none of the natural defenses of the old one and was not in any way sovereign. The portable wealth from the old city was carried off to Rome. The Romans, when they took Volsinii, razed the town, and compelled the inhabitants to migrate to another spot. (Zonaras, l. c. ) This second, or Roman, Volsinii (sometimes called Volsinii Novi – New Volsinii) continued to exist under

1836-512: The representative of the Roman Volsinii, is situated in the plain. Scholars of the 19th century debated the location of this elevated site. Wilhelm Ludwig Abeken looked for it at Montefiascone , at the southern extremity of the lake; while Karl Otfried Müller believed it was at Orvieto , and adduced the name of that place in Latin, Urbs Vetus , the old city, as an argument in favour of his view; but British explorer and writer George Dennis

1887-425: The secret of its labyrinth of caves and tunnels that lie beneath the surface. Dug deep into the tuff , a volcanic rock, these secret hidden tunnels are now open to view only through guided tours. Their spectacular nature has also yielded many historical and archeological finds. Saint Anselm College has set up a program where each summer, students travel to Italy to work at the college's archaeology site located at

1938-531: The soft rock. The tunnels would lead from the city palazzo to emerge at a safe exit point some distance away from city walls. In Piazza Cahen stands the Fortezza dell'Albornoz. It was built by order of the Spanish Cardinal Albornoz under orders from Pope Innocent VI and designed by condottiero and military engineer Ugolino di Montemarte. The Albornoz fortress stands on an area that was once occupied by

1989-582: The third and final papal palace, the Palazzo Soliano . He also donated statues of himself at the main city gates, which earned him some criticism from his many enemies. Benedict XI (1288–1305) was the last pope to live in Italy before the Avignon papacy. During the years from Nicholas IV until Benedict XI Orvieto hosted the pope more frequently than Rome, and discussions continued as to whether or not Rome should remain

2040-518: The town of Bolsena has no Etruscan characteristics; for example, Etruscan cities were built on defensible crags, which the hill on which the castle is situated is not. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder said that a bolt from Mars fell on Bolsena, "the richest town in Tuscany" and that the city was entirely burned up by this bolt. The population moved to another site, which Dennis thought was Bolsena. The new city

2091-531: The triumph of Bacchus . The Monti Volsini mountain range in northern Lazio takes its name from the ancient city. Volsinii minted coins in antiquity. A full discussion of the coins of Volsinii may be found in Müller, Etrusker , vol. i. pp. 324, 333. Orvieto Orvieto ( Italian: [orˈvjɛːto] ) is a city and comune in the Province of Terni , southwestern Umbria , Italy, situated on

Bolsena - Misplaced Pages Continue

2142-472: The walls of their own city, slaying 2,800 of them. Consequently they, together with Perusia (modern Perugia ) and Arretium , purchased a forty-year peace by paying a heavy fine. Not more than fourteen years, however, had elapsed, when, with their allies the Vulcientes , they again took up arms against Rome. But this attempt ended in their final subjugation in 280 BC. Pliny tells an absurd story, taken from

2193-496: Was annexed by Rome in the third century BC. Because of its site on a high, steep bluff of tuff, a volcanic rock, the city was virtually impregnable. After the collapse of the Roman Empire its defensible site gained new importance: the episcopal seat was transferred from Bolsena , and the city was held by Goths and by Lombards before its self-governing commune was established in the tenth century, in which consuls governed under

2244-612: Was crowned in the Dominican church in Viterbo and who spent most of his papacy in Orvieto, also left important legacies in the city. In 1263, he began a papal palace, perhaps the first outside Rome, and consecrated the new Dominican church in Orvieto . The Pope Nicholas IV (1288–92) chose Orvieto over his hometown of Rome as seat of the Curia in 1291–92, establishing the meeting of the Curia in Orvieto as

2295-538: Was located at this site. An Etruscan substructure, datable to the 6th-4th centuries BC, has been uncovered. "Most impressive was the excavation of a round fountain area, on a slight rise above and overlooking the temples, whose decorations included the head of a lion. According to Stopponi, ‘This would have been the sacred spring.’" Etruscan Volsinii (Velzna or Velusna; or sometimes in Latin Volsinii Veteres – Old Volsinii) appears to have been one of

2346-464: Was named after the old, hence Roman Bolsena has an Etruscan name. Dennis suggests a number of crags in the area including Orvieto but does not favor Orvieto on the grounds that it is too far away. A number of Etruscan tombs have been found in the vicinity of Bolsena. Funerary objects from these tombs are now located in Italy and abroad, including a fine collection in the British Museum . Bolsena

2397-459: Was of the opinion that there was no reason to believe that it was so far from the Roman city, and that it lay on the summit of the hill, above the amphitheater at Bolsena, at a spot called Il Piazzano . He adduced in support of this hypothesis the existence of a good deal of broken pottery there, and of a few caves in the cliffs below. Bolsena is 6 km (3.7 mi) from Montefiascone, and 14 km (8.7 mi) from Orvieto. Fanum Voltumnae

2448-579: Was officially added to the Papal States (various dates are quoted). It remained a papal possession until 1860, when it was annexed to unified Italy . On 15 November 1290, Pope Nicholas IV laid the cornerstone for the present building and dedicated it to the Assumption of the Virgin, a feast for which the city had a long history of special devotion. The design has often been attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio , but

2499-594: Was the chief sanctuary of the Etruscans. Numerous sources refer to a league of the "Twelve Peoples" of Etruria, which met annually at the Fanum, possibly for the purpose of electing priests. The exact location of this shrine is still unknown, though it may have been in an area near modern Orvieto , believed by many to be the ancient Volsinii. Professor Simonetta Stopponi of the University of Macerata, an Etruscologist, has been excavating at Orvieto since 2000. She believes that Fanum

2550-558: Was the first pope to spend significant time in Orvieto. His successor, Pope Innocent III (1198–1216), was a militant opponent of the Cathar heresy, which had infiltrated the city, and took measures to eradicate that heresy. In 1227, Pope Gregory IX confirmed the Dominican studium generale in Orvieto, a school of theology, and one of the first in Europe. Pope Urban IV (1261–64), a Frenchman who

2601-412: Was the scene of some supernatural occurrences. He records that lightning was drawn down from heaven by king Porsenna to destroy a monster called Volta that was ravaging its territory. Even the commonplace invention of hand-mills, ascribed to this city, is embellished with the traditional prodigy that some of them turned by themselves. No definite traces of the Etruscan Volsinii have been identified. Of

SECTION 50

#1732851383785
#784215