Pieve Vergonte is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is about northwest of Verbania and northeast of Turin.
Physical geography Pieve Vergonte is located in lower Ossola, along the course of the Toce. Various watercourses are present in the municipal territory: Torrente Marmazza, the most important watercourse of Pieve Vergonte, Rio San Rocco, Rio Santa Maria, Rio Toietti, Rio della Fontana, Rio Valletta, Rio della Vallaccia, Rio called Lanca, Rio called Rialetto, Rio Arsa, Rio del Castello, Rio della Chiesa, Rio called Inferno, Rio Togni, Rio Mot. Branchis. The Rio della Taverna and Rio Fornate are present with an outlet in the Anzasca valley. The Rumianca Industrial Canal is an important work for the production of hydroelectric energy for industrial purposes. Lake Sant’Anna, in Loro hamlet, is linked to the Sant’Anna Fishermen’s Society. The watercourses registered in the public waters registry are: Rivo Valle dell’Inferno, Rivo di Megolo, Torrente Arsa, Rivo Vallaccia, Torrente Marmazza, Torrente Anza.
Symbols The coat of arms and banner of the Municipality of Pieve Vergonte were granted by decree of the President of the Republic on 5 November 1981.
History From Celtic tribes to the Roman Empire
The area of Northern Italy where today's Pieve Vergonte stands was known to the Romans as Gallia Transpadana, indicating that territory of Cisalpine Gaul comprised between the Alps and the Po river, and the ancient peoples who dwelt there were considered Gauls. The most relevant population of the area were the Insubres, from which the denomination of Insubria, while it seems that in the lands of the municipality of Pieve Vergonte were settled the Agoni, of which trace remains in the name of the Agogna river and the city of Vogogna.
About a century later, the Romans were threatened with losing their conquests in the Gaul by an invasion of the Cimbri, who descended into Italy together with their allies the Teutones. The consuls Gaius Marius and Quintus Lutatius Catulus were sent at the head of a large army to stop them at the outlet of the Alps. Marius headed towards Provence while Catulus went to Ossola, ascending along the Atisone, today called Toce, and here he fortified himself in two castles, which as recounted by Plutarch in the life of Marius, should not have been very distant from ancient Vergunto, village placed where today's Pieve Vergonte stands, and from Vogogna, placed one on this side, the other on that side of the Atisone.
The high number of Cimbri invaders forced the Romans to retreat, leaving only a small garrison in the fortifications, which was, however, easily defeated. The Cimbri, travelling through the valleys to the plain between the Sesia and the Ticino, crossing the territory of Borgomanero, clashed with the Romans in the countryside of Vercelli, on this side of the Sesia. The Battle of the Raudine Plain of 101 BC (653 a.U.c.), which occurred near present-day Peltrengo in the municipality of Casalino, was particularly bloody and marked the end of the Cimbri invasion.
The ancient Simplon road was traced in the contiguous territory of Vogogna and built east of the Atisone river directed towards Cardezza, Beura, Masera, Montecrestese, up to Ponte Maglio with which it passes to the opposite bank, still towards Crevola entering the Deveria valley and continuing to Iselle to Algabio and Simplon. A Roman inscription, placed at Vogogna, indicates the restoration of the road in 196, under emperor Septimius Severus, with a text severely damaged in which one reads:"QUIA FACTA EX......HS XIII DCC DOMITIO DEXTRO II P..... FUSCO COSS M VALERIO OPTATO.C.VALERIO.THALETE CURATORIBUS.OPERI.DATIS.IMPERIO.VENUSTI.CONDIANI. PROC.ALP.ATRECT.MARMOREIS CREPIDINIBUS.MUNITA".In the second line of the inscription are cited Gaius Domitius Dexter and Publius Fuscus, consuls in the year 196 (948 a.U.c.).
The Goths dominion periodAfter the dismissal of Belisarius, general of the Roman Empire of the East, at war for the Byzantines against the Goths; Narses, general of the Roman Empire of the East, commands the expedition of the year 551 against the Goths, with the help of many Germanic mercenaries, including 2,500 Lombard warriors, the future invaders of Italy. The dominion of the Ostrogoths in Italy, including Pieve Vergonte, ended following the military defeat of King Totila, who clashed with Narses at Busta Gallorum at Tagina (Gualdo Tadino) in July 552, was defeated and died in flight. The authentic proof of Gothic Ossola, including Pieve Vergonte, is the hoards of Greco-Gothic coins from Finero (Verbania Repertoire 4980), a treasure of gold coins and jewels, while the hoards of Masera (Domodossola Repertoire 5010), are only of silver and already of Lombard origin.
Middle Ages Lombard Kingdom period The Lombards, led by king Alboin in 569 passed into Italy. Paul the Deacon recounts in the Historia Langobardorum: Habitaverunt autem in Pannoniam Annis quadraginta duobus. De qua egressi sunt mense Aprili, per indictionem Vai alla Alio Die Post Pascha sanctum, cuius festivitas eo anno iuxta calcoli rationem Ipsis Kalendis Aprilibus fuit, cum iam un incarnatione Domini Anni Quingenti sexaginta octo Essent evoluti.
In autumn 569, Alboin conquered Milan, where he was proclaimed king of Italy by his people (dominus Italiae), while Pavia was able to resist until 571, when it fell under Lombard dominion together with Vergunto (Pieve Vergonte). In 584, faced with the real threat of a Frankish invasion, the Lombards promoted King Authari and his successor, Agilulf (590-616).
Liutprand, king of the Lombards, successor of his father Ansprand, on whose throne he ascended in 712, was of Catholic faith and proved himself a builder and restorer of churches in Pavia and elsewhere. He founded the Monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro around the year 728, to which he made a gift of an estate, such Coro Vergonto, with the right to fish in the Atosa river (Toce), later reconfirmed by Conrad the Salic in 1033 (antiq. Italia. T. I.Col.596) The Lombard dominion of Italy and of Pieve Vergonte ended with king Desiderius who when king Aistulf died without heirs (756), was proclaimed his successor and could ascend to the throne through the intervention of Pope Stephen II.
Desiderius’s daughter, Desiderata (also called Ermengarde), married Charlemagne, the Frankish king, in 770 as part of an alliance. However, Charlemagne repudiated her in 771, escalating tensions. The death of Charlemagne’s brother Carloman in 771 left Charlemagne free to focus on Italy, especially after Pope Adrian I’s call for aid against Desiderius. Desiderius’s aggressive moves, including threats against Rome, prompted Charlemagne to intervene, fearing the loss of prestige if Rome fell to the Lombards
In 773, Pope Adrian I, facing Desiderius’s threats, sought military support from Charlemagne. Charlemagne invaded Italy, defeating Desiderius’s forces at Susa and besieging Pavia, the Lombard capital. Desiderius’s son, Adelchis, attempted to resist from Verona but was forced to surrender the city to Frankish troops. He fled to the Byzantine Empire, seeking refuge and later attempting to reclaim the kingdom with Byzantine support, but he was unsuccessful. After a nine-month siege, Pavia fell in June 774. Desiderius surrendered and was deposed. Charlemagne, in a groundbreaking move, took the title Gratia Dei rex Francorum et Langobardorum (“By the grace of God king of the Franks and the Lombards”), becoming the first Germanic ruler to adopt the title of a conquered kingdom. This marked the end of the Lombard Kingdom in northern Italy. The conquest ended two centuries of Lombard rule in northern Italy, integrating the region into the Carolingian Empire. The region retained the name Lombardy, reflecting the Lombard legacy. Pieve Vergonte became part of the Carolingian Empire.
Charlemagne and Carolingian Empire period The Carolingian Empire, founded by Charlemagne, reached its height after his coronation as “Emperor of the Romans” by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800, in Rome. This event revived the idea of a Western Roman Empire, with Charlemagne as a Christian emperor ruling over much of Western Europe (modern-day France, Germany, and northern Italy, including Pieve Vergonte. After Charlemagne’s death in 814, the empire was divided among his heirs under the Treaty of Verdun (843), leading to fragmentation. The imperial title persisted but weakened, passing through various Carolingian rulers until it lapsed in the West with the death of Emperor Charles the Fat in 888 and later Berengar I in 924, when no emperor was crowned.
In the year 918 Vergunto and the neighboring lands, including fishing and hunting rights, appear as property of the ancient monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia, as can be seen from imperial diplomas that confirm previous donations made by the Lombard king Liutprand in the 8th century and by subsequent emperors. The diploma that gives certainty is of King Berengar, in which one reads: ...et silc. corroboramus, oia quesca Ecclia possidet, in Epatu Nocariae in Oxola que dr. Vergunti et misendone et in villa et in monte cristeso et in murade et in varenzasca et in baci et in devere et in finole et in antigorio et piscaria que est in Tuxa et in valensasca, seselle cum ecclia in ibi fundata in honore santa marie et...
The Holy Roman Empire period In 962, Otto I was crowned “Emperor of the Romans” by Pope John XII in Rome on 2 February, marking the foundation of what later became known as the Holy Roman Empire. This event is conventionally seen as the starting point of the Holy Roman Empire, though the term “Holy Roman Empire” was not used until the 13th century (under Frederick Barbarossa). Otto’s coronation revived the imperial tradition begun by Charlemagne, but his empire was centred in East Francia (Germany) and northern Italy, distinct from the broader Carolingian Empire. Otto I’s coronation was significant because it reestablished a Western emperor recognised by the papacy, claiming continuity with the Roman and Carolingian imperial traditions. Unlike the Carolingian Empire, which included West Francia (modern France), the Holy Roman Empire was primarily Germanic and Italian in scope, including Pieve Vergonte.
In the year 1004 Henry II, king of Germany from 1002, descended into Italy, where Arduin of Ivrea had himself crowned king, and forced him to flee by girding himself with the royal crown of Italy at Pavia. Following clashes between Italians and Germans, Henry II had to abandon Rome and, passing through Tuscany and Lombardy, return to Germany. During this journey, he dispensed the broadest favours and privileges to the churches and especially to the bishops of Novara and Vercelli. The Emperor rewarded Bishop Peter of Novara, for the constant fidelity shown to him and in consideration of the damages suffered during the dominion of Arduin. In reward, therefore, for his abnegation and restoration of so many damages suffered by him, the Emperor granted a small county in the Ossola Valley. Pieve Vergonte was transferred into the power and under the jurisdiction of the Church Conradus, etc. Cenobio S.Petri, quod dicitur Coleum Aureum, subvenire et nostra preceptali auctoritate confirmare et corroborare omnes cortes et proprietates, quas pridem per quodvis ingenium donoscitur possedisse... et omnia, quae in Monte Ferrato, et quae in Comitati Vercellensi et Yporegiensi, et quae in Novariensi ad eundem locum pertinent... et illas terras que habere visum est in Belingo et in Liventina, cum omnibus suis pertinentiis; cortem insuper, quae Vergonto dicitur, et Piscariam, quae est in Tauxa etc (Muratori, Antiq.Med.Aevi, I, 595)Storia della ValleSesia e dell'Alto Novarese con note e documenti di Federico Tonetti, Parte 1, Fascicolo 1, Varallo, Fratelli Colleoni, 1875 (Pagina 139)