Although unable to completely and without qualification link our proud Pauldine / Palladino family to either Roland the Paladin and his famous Uncle, Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, this genealogical chronicle spans ten generations that ushers in with the earliest Palladino found in my research, Michele Palladino, born about 1696 in the then small country-village of Campobasso, in the unified Kingdoms of Naples and the Two Sicily’s. Italy was not yet a country.

Some 140 miles east-southeast of Rome or about 100 miles northeast of Naples lies our ancestral Palladino native region, the tiny and obscure province of Molise (moh-LEE-say), a narrow strip of hilly terrain covering less than 550 square miles. Compare that expanse to Rhode Island’s 1212 square miles and you begin to perceive just how Lilliputian this region is.

For thousands of years Molise has been a natural bastion, first of the Samnites, the legendary challengers who were eventually defeated by the Romans. During the time of the Romans and the Samnites, a wall with a primary and a secondary entrance surrounded towns. The Samnites were people of this part of central southern Italy, a hardy race of shepherds and farmers with no marked differences in wealth and consequently without a distinct governing class. The Romans had at least three wars with these people of the mountains and they learned some hard lessons, in fact they had to reform their military methods in order to overtake and claim a victory in the year 290 BC.

The first Samnite war (343-341 BC) resulted in Roman control of northern Campania; the second (327-321, 316-304 BC) prevented Samnite control of Apulia, Lucania, and southern Campania; the third (298-290 BC) involved and decided the destiny of the Italian peninsula.

Written accounts in the history of the area make it clear that during the many years of war between the Samnites and the Romans the area was found to be at the center of destruction and many bloody battles. The Romans brought and introduced slavery and taxes to the area.

For years after the coming of Jesus the Romans continued to bring fear to the Samnites and for that reason they frequently kept in hiding. This was powerfully demonstrated on the walls of the Roman Sepino (Atilia di Sepino). Except for the Samnites no one else on earth was capable of an attack on Imperial Rome. In all probability, our Christian faith undoubtedly came from our ancient Palladino ancestors and directly from Rome because half of the Samnite and Roman legions had by then converted to the new religion.

During the first century A.D. a Samnite named Pentri, because of his strength and courage as a gladiator, and later because of his military contribution to the extension of the Roman Empire, was made a citizen of Rome, the highest tribute ever bestowed on a Samnite.

Today Molise’s heavily forested slopes are dotted with picturesque castles, many in excellent stages of preservation. They overlook friendly medieval hamlets, glorious ancient ruins and some of the most uncontaminated nature in all Europe - so pristine, in fact, that UNESCO chose Molise for two of its four Italian biosphere locations.

The mountain town of Campobasso, now the regional capital of the Province of Molise, is located on the spine of Italy in the central western geographical region between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea coast. Its high plains, gentle valleys and isolated peaks, characterize the area. Molise borders the Adriatic Sea and has a coastline with many natural harbors. This is an area where, even today, the unspoiled natural purity still exercises a strong influence.

Campobasso lies at 2,300 feet above sea level, on the hilly ridge between the basins of the Biferno and Fortore rivers. The Biferno river, which was known as the Tifernus in ancient times, began to be called Biferno in the middle Ages. Some historians argue that the name Biferno is because the stream rises from two separate springs in the district of Boiano. According to legend, the first ancient Samnites, led to the area by a sacred bull, settled near the river's sources at Boiano, which derives its name from the widely venerated animal.

Though the city now has more than fifty thousand inhabitants, it still maintains its original human dimension. The city is quite striking in appearance for in its middle rises a hill on which is perched an ancient ninth century feudal castle situated on the highest peak overlooking the entire region. Castello Monforte and its six towers, was named after its most famous resident and onetime overlord, Nicola Monforte. The historic center of the city is arranged in a semicircle around the hill. In ancient Samnite times a settlement existed on the hill that rises behind the present town, most probably a fortress in control of the Matese-Cortile shepherds' track, the “tratturo” mentioned previously. The first historical information about Campobasso goes back to Lombard times, when there were two centers: "Campus de Prata", where the castle rose, and "Campus Vassus", which later changed into "Campus Bassus" (meaning lower territory, since it was below the castle)

The feudal lords that followed in later centuries were the Monforte-Gambatesa clan (1300-1495) prominently featuring Nicola II who built the famous castle bearing his name, DiCapua (1495- 1559), Gonzaga (1559-1638), Vitagliano (1638-1639), Carafa (1639-1740), and Romano (1740-1806). In 1806 feudalism was abolished and Campobasso was made the capital of the Province of Molise.

During medieval times this entire area was a central part of the Lombard Duchy of Benevento. From the eleventh to the nineteenth centuries, under Spanish rule, it shared the fortunes of the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicily’s, maintaining this status until 1860. In that year, following the Garabaldi liberation and the subsequent unification of Italy, it was united into the newly established Kingdom of Italy.

From September 1943 until the end of the Second World War Canadian forces occupied Campobasso and during those years and for a short while afterwards the town was nicknamed "Canada Town" or "Maple Leaf City".

The city grew up around its famous castle, and Renaissance and Romanesque churches are featured in the local architecture. Sights worth seeing include an archaeological Samnite Museum of Italic peoples and within the oldest part of the city, with its many interesting features, stands the resplendent 16th century church of Sant'Antonio Abate and the Romanesque churches of San Giorgio and San Bartolomeo. Campobasso is renowned for its annual procession of the "Misteri", or Fair of the Mysteries, that takes place each year during the first week of June to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. and ingeniously designed special moving “machines” that are made of a mysterious flexible steel alloy, resting on bases of wood. The thirteen Mysteries are carried in a procession on the shoulders of the bearers, accompanied by the rhythm of both the Old and New Testaments, with the parts being acted out by the children and people of Campobasso.

Some of our ancestors were born in nearby villages. Ferrazzano, one such small town, a kilometer or two south of Campobasso, rises on a picturesque rocky hill covered with pinewoods overlooking Campobasso in the distance. It rises on the area of the ancient Samnite town known as Ferentinum, which was conquered by the Romans in 269 BC and included the municipio of Sepinium. The Castle of Girolamo Carafa with its two round towers is located here and the parish Church of the Assunta, built in the 13th century, originally in Romanesque style, still preserves an ancient altar and a baptismal fountain built on a Roman column.

Fossalto, another small nearby ancestral hamlet is located just northwest of Campobasso. This little settlement was previously called Fossacoeca (blind ditch) so named for its position on a hill at the far end of the Vallone delle Case. It is notable for its annual centuries-old ''pagliara'' holiday held each year. This popular event whose roots are found in Slav culture, is held in the little village every year on the first day of May and the aim is to greet the arrival of the Spring season of good weather and propitiate the harvest. A symbol of abundance, the "pagliara" is simply a whimsical structure of conical shape made of foliage and branches adorned with flowers and fresh fruits of the season. The traditional structure, has a man hidden inside whose task is to make the structure move, and is paraded around the streets of the village accompanied by the pipers of Scapoli (from Isernia) and by popular local singers who intone propitiatory strophes improvised then and there. After the "pagliara" has been blessed by the local parish priest the procession winds along the lanes of the village and the people throw large jugs of water over the structure to symbolize plentiful rains which will guarantee an abundant harvest. The festival concludes in the evening with the parading of the "pagliara" through all the remaining neighborhoods of the village.

It is an older population in Molise, as young folk tend to be lured away by jobs and other opportunities in Italy's more developed areas. Agriculture remains the region's economic mainstay. Wheat, beans, and potatoes are primary crops, while olives and wine grapes are also grown here. Life in Molise's isolated hillside villages hearkens back to an older, simpler Italy. The few tourists that do come to Molise concentrate on beach havens along the Adriatic seacoast. People in the isolated hilly interior are not accustomed to hosting foreigners. The region is Italy's least populated and underdeveloped regions. Tourists are virtually alien to the region, as I can attest, and only Italian is spoken or heard. You won't find suave sophisticated multilingual hotelkeepers or restauranteurs here. The beds may be a bit lumpy. The outlying villages may have only one place to eat in town and it may have a limited menu featuring dishes you've never even heard of. You’ll find no screens on the windows, not enough water pressure, no water at all after midnight, and no aqua calda (hot water) with which to bathe until after 7:30 a.m. The towels to dry yourself will feel somewhat akin to drying with a whiskbroom and it is absolutely ludicrous to even contemplate protesting to anyone as very few natives understand or speak English; and even if they did they would simply smile broadly and raise both their hands exclaiming something very nice in Italian.

This is unquestionably a region for true travelers. Allotting time to explore this quaint and ancient province can very richly reward you. You’ll find the archeological digs, medieval towns, Romanesque churches, Renaissance frescoes and delicious Molisan native cuisine are as impressive here as anyplace in Italy, and far less expensive than the more popular heavily-traveled and overpriced tourist havens. You'll also find unparalleled natural wilderness, and a few attractions you can find nowhere else on this earth. Most unforgettably, you’ll also experience many of the same sights, smells, and sounds that your forefathers surely encountered and you’ll come away with the exhilaration of having walked in their footsteps.

 

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