History of Tursi
[1] However, in particular, the historian Placido Troyli derives the origin of the city, as a direct thread, from the decay of Pandosia,[2] the Assyriologist François Lenormant identifies it, in Roman times, as the ancient Turiostum of the Tabula Peutingeriana,[3] the historian Antonio Nigro indicates it as founded by the Goths of Odoacer towards the end of the 5th century,[4] while Lorenzo Giustiniani, on the other hand, states that Tursi was founded by the Saracens only in the 9th century.
[5] The latter thesis is also confirmed by archaeologist Lorenzo Quilici, who precisely indicates the period; namely, when Arab pressure in the Agri Valley culminated with the conquest of Grumento, Stigliano and the founding of Castelsaraceno, around the year 872.
[6] However, all of them agree on the Gothic construction of the castle in the early 5th century and the later Saracen rule, attributing the present-day Rabatana town center to the latter.
What is certain is that the territory was inhabited from the early Iron Age by the Oenotrians to whom is attributed the founding of Pandosia,[9] renamed by the Ionians during the Hellenic colonization of Italy.
[20] Later, in the Norman era, the name “Turcico” changed first to “Tursico” and then to “Tursio,” and in fact in the papal bull drafted by Pope Alexander II in 1068 the town is mentioned precisely as “Tower of Tursio,”[21] until it later attained its current etymology “Tursi.”[11] Archaeological excavations carried out in the municipal territory, more precisely, around Anglona and nearby Policoro, have unearthed countless items currently housed in the National Archaeological Museum of the Siritide, ascertaining the existence of settlements dating back to the early Iron Age.
Pandosia, which bordered Heraclea, is considered the oldest city in the Siritide, in fact, Antonini[23] basing himself on passages from the Genealogy of Pherecydes of Athens and passages from the Ancient History of Rome by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, speculates that Pandosia was founded by Oenotrus, one of the 23 sons of Lycaon, many centuries before Rome, and that he ruled over the whole eastern part of Lucania.
It was thanks to this unit that Pyrrhus won the battle of Heraclea, however, taking a very high number of casualties, and it was from this circumstance that the expression “Pyrrhic victory” was born.
[30] Later, having overcome the initial religious and cultural differences with the native populations, the invaders around 850 conquered much of the Metapontine plain and decided to quarter themselves in dominant and strategic areas, to better control trade within the territory.
[30] The flourishing exchange made possible the development of small military garrisons (ribāṭ) into full-fledged residential quarters called rabatane, the most important of which still include those of Tursi, Tricarico and Pietrapertosa.
[31] In 890 the Byzantines reconquered the territories that once belonged to the Western Roman Empire and succeeded, during the Arab-Byzantine wars, in finally driving out the Arab influence from the Lucanian lands as well.
In fact, in his Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana, written in the same year, Liutprand of Cremona reports that at that time Patriarch Polyeuctus of Constantinople received from Emperor Nikephoros Phokas the authorization to erect the metropolitan see of Otranto, giving Metropolitan Peter the authority to consecrate the suffragan bishops of Acerenza, Tursi, Gravina, Matera and Tricarico.
In papal acts directed to the metropolitans of Acerenza from Paschal II (1099-1118) to Innocent III (1198-1216) the name of Tursi recurs, while in royal diplomas of 1167 and 1221 the ecclesia Anglonensis appears.
[46] Some authors have hypothesized the coexistence for a certain period of two bishops, the Greek one in Tursi and the Latin one in Anglona, a hypothesis that, however, appears controversial and not unanimously shared.
[47] However, it seems that Anglona maintained a secondary role with respect to Tursi, and in fact in 1219 the settlement is qualified as a castrum and not a civitas, while in 1221 it is referred to as a “casale,” an indication of a progressive depopulation of the territory.
In 1320, according to Ughelli's reports, the cathedral chapter was operating in Tursi, while the bishops also soon abandoned the town of Anglona, which was set on fire in 1369, to take refuge in Chiaromonte.
[48] The relocation of citizens from the Anglona settlement, at the behest of Queen Joanna I, led to a significant transformation of Tursi, which until then could only be traced back to the Rabatana fortress.
[60] This testimony brings to light the existence of a public office of the Universitas of Tursi, especially in charge of the security of the Rabatana emphasizing the clear separation not only physical but also political-institutional between the village and the rest of the inhabited area.
[62] In January 1735 King Charles III of Spain visited the lands along the Ionian coast, and the province of Basilicata then and until the Bourbon reform of 1816 comprised 117 municipalities and was divided into 4 subdivisions: Tursi, Maratea, Tricarico and Melfi.
[63] The Tursi apportionment included 30 towns, stretched from Montescaglioso to Ferrandina, to the borders of Calabria and from Terranova di Pollino to Gallicchio, and was the seat of the Royal Collector of Basilicata.
[66] In 1848 during the Springtime of the Peoples, Tursi saw the manifestation of uprisings that allowed the occupation of vast territories of the bishopric and the demesnes “Pisone,” “Monaca,” “Pozzo di Penne,” “Pantano,” and “Stigliano.”[67] The territory of Tursi proved to be a hot spot for uprisings, due to the vast agrarian and cultivable area available to the town, which was among the largest in the area.
In fact, in 1860 with the rise of the Lucanian insurrection, and shortly before, with the Gattini massacre in the town of Matera, the uprisings in Tursi were not long in coming either.
The sun symbolizes light and life, the two laurel branches glory and prevalence over Anglona, and the olive trees represent the wealth of the land.
