San Massimo is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Campobasso A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region

Molise it, Molisano (man) it, Molisana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 ...

, located about southwest of

Campobasso Campobasso (, ; nap, label= Campobassan, Cambuàsce ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Molise and of the province of Campobasso. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by Sa ...

, comprising . As of 2017, San Massimo has a population of 754.

Etymology

San Massimo is named for Saint Maximus, the 3rd century Bishop of Nola whose followers fled to the region near San Massimo during the

Decian Persecution The Decian persecution of Christians occurred in 250 AD under the Roman Emperor Decius. He had issued an edict ordering everyone in the Empire to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods and the well-being of the emperor. The sacrifices had to ...

of Roman Christians in 251 CE.

History

From c. 500 BCE until the Roman era, the territory of modern-day San Massimo was controlled by the Samnites, an ethnic group composed of a fusion of indigenous people and iron-age era migrants from Greece and other parts of Europe. In a series of wars, known as the

Samnite Wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

conquered the region. Following the collapse of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

, Germanic

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

occupied the area, before they in turn were conquered by the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

. Norman nobleman, and their descendants, first administered the region as the

County of Apulia and Calabria The County of Apulia and Calabria (), later the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (), was a Norman state founded by William of Hauteville in 1042 in the territories of Gargano, Capitanata, Apulia, Vulture, and most of Campania. It became a duchy wh ...

, which later joined other Norman counties to make up the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130. When Sicily seceded in the Vespers of 1282, the mainland possessions of the Normans, including San Massimo, became the Kingdom of Naples. The first reference to San Massimo, dating to 1113 CE, occurs in the locative surname of a Norman nobleman, De Sancto Maximo. At the time, San Massimo likely was a

feudal estate A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form o ...

, composed of a castle, the remains of which can be seen today, surrounded by farmland. The Church of Santa Maria delle Fratte was erected in the 12th century, and rebuilt on several occasions after devastating earthquakes that nearly leveled San Massimo in

1456 Year 1456 ( MCDLVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * May 18 – Second Battle of Oronichea (1456): Ottoman Forces of 15,000 are sent ...

and

1805 After thirteen years the First French Empire abolished the French Republican Calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 11 – The Michigan Territory is created. * February 7 – King Anouvong become ...

. In 1815 the merger of the Kingdom of Naples, which included San Massimo, and that of Sicily led to the formation of the short lived

Kingdom of Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and all ...

. In 1860, the Sardinian forces of Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered the region, leading to the formation of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

. Many residents of San Massimo fought and died for Italy in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, as commemorated in the city center by the "Monument to the Fallen of the Great War," opened in 1920. Throughout the 19th and 20th century, a significant portion of the population

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

overseas, especially to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, as well as to urban centers within Italy.

Geography

San Massimo is nestled in the

Matese Mountains The Matese (Italian: Monti del Matese or Massiccio del Matese) is a chain of mountains in southern Apennines, southern Italy. Geography The Matese mountains straddle two regions ( Molise and Campania) and four provinces ( Campobasso, Isernia ...

, near Monte Miletto, the highest mountain in the region at 2,050 m. It also includes substantial amounts of lowland woods, consisting of chestnut and conifer groves, and agricultural land. The municipality of San Massimo contains the ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' (subdivision)

Campitello Matese Campitello Matese is an Italian civil parish (''frazione'') and ski resort, part of the municipality of San Massimo in the province of Campobasso, Molise region. History Still 1960s Campitello had only a building used as shelter for shepherds. I ...

, located at above sea level, which shares its name with its ski resort, one of the foremost in Central and Southern Italy. San Massimo borders the following municipalities:

Bojano Bojano or Boiano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Campobasso, Molise, south-central Italy. History Originally named Bovianum, it was settled by the 7th century BC. As the capital of the Pentri, a tribe of the Samnites, it played a maj ...

Cantalupo nel Sannio Cantalupo nel Sannio is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Isernia, in the Molise region of southern Italy. History The town was known simply as Cantalupo until February 4, 1864, when the denomination ''nel Sannio'' was added in order to di ...

, Macchiagodena,

Roccamandolfi Roccamandolfi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Isernia in the Italian region Molise, located about southwest of Campobasso and about southeast of Isernia. Roccamandolfi borders the following municipalities: Cantalupo nel San ...

, San Gregorio Matese.

Notable people

Raffaele Gioia Raffaele Gioia (1757 in San Massimo, Province of Campobasso in the Molise – July 26, 1805) was an Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or ...

, painter

References

External links

{{authority control Cities and towns in Molise