''Frunti'' or ''Fronto'' was an ancient territorial and administrative jurisdiction located in the central part of Italy. The name Frunti exists to this day as a specific geographical location, although in Medieval times the name referred to a larger, more expansive area of land. Frunti is located southwest of

Teramo Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines (Gran Sasso d'Italia) ...

History

Frunti's significance is well documented in the works of the historian Nicholas Palma as well as in research available from the Abruzzo Regional entity DAT (Documenti dell'Abruzzo Teramo; Documents of Teramo in Abruzzo). The site which today bears the name Frunti contains is completely abandoned and consists mainly of the ruins of pre-existing houses and domesticated farm animal dwellings. Beginning at least in the year 1328, the feudal territory of Frunti (at the time more commonly referred to as "di Fronto") carried the privilege of the Forum. In subsequent years the area was governed for short periods by the patrons of a castle, Fornarolo (today Frondarola) Nel 1363 la Regina dispone della 3^ parte del feudo di Fronto, già appartenuta a Roberto di Lalle di Fronto morto senza eredi; Francesco Brunetti, ''Sacra ac profana Aprutii Monumenta, Fragmenta'', Te 2008 (a cura di Roberto Ricci). which sits to the southwest. Also associated with Frunti were the communes (castrates) of Scalellis and Rocca di Padula, these later coming under the rule of Montagna di Roseto and more recently administrated by the commune of

Cortino Cortino ( Abruzzese: ') is a small town and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Abruzzo in the Province of Teramo. It is located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. The major part of the population lives in small hamlets d ...

. To the south of the area known today as Frunti, lies the ruins of an ancient Benedictine abbey, San Giovanni in Pergulis. References to the abbey are made in a Papal Bull of 1153 which stated that it belonged to the Chiesa Aprutina (Catholic Church Abruzzo). During medieval times the San Giovanni in Pergulis abbey enjoyed seigneurial rights in the surrounding area. The larger nearby village of

Valle San Giovanni Valle San Giovanni is a small village in the province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the town of Teramo. Geography The village has a population of about 350 people and lies about six miles from Teramo ...

was also a thriving entity at this time and it is likely here where the Frunti governing signori (noble family members) lived. In later times, Frunti came under the rule of Count, later Marquis, of Montorio where it remained until the breakup of the feudal states. In modern times much of the area of Frunti lies within the commune of Teramo.

Notes

References

*Niccola Palma, ''Storia ecclesiastica e civile della città e diocesi di Teramo, Teramo'', 1832, ristampa 1978; vol. II, cap. LXV v. "''de Plebe Pagliaroli''" *Documenti dell'Abruzzo Teramano, ''La valle dell'alto Vomano e i Monti della Laga'', vol. I, p. 190. *Associazione Gandhi, ''Paesi abbandonati'', Teramo, Edizioni Grafiche Italiane, 1991, pp. 100–104.

External links

Commune of Teramo (in Italian)Nearby Villages of Valle San Giovanni
{{authority control Frazioni of the Province of Teramo