Zappi History - Part 1

Before I start this narration, a couple of remarks. To begin with, this is not going to be one of those stories in the style of those minstrels of old who, between tankards of ale, recited interminable stanzas of "Schyld begat Wynn who begat Aethel who begat..." and so on ad infinitum. I’m going to stick to the general history and simply say "we" to signify one Zappi or the other.

Nor will I bore you with long lists of Cardinals, Judges, Ambassadors, Mayors or, as often in the past, "Gonfalonieri," in essence Army leaders who led troops to numerous petty battles which may have had some local importance but no consequence on the world scene. None of them acquired the stature of a Napoleon, or a St. Thomas Aquinas. So, why bother?

Also, the 'more plasma' side of history will be briefly noted only when referring to a main turning point in our Family history. Anyone who wants an in-depth account can e-mail our Webmaster for details.

Then, although these pages are written in our contemporary "Lingua Franca," the English language for universal comprehension, we are Italian and for us English is an acquired language. Therefore, if you spot a turn of phrase that doesn't sound "right," be patient and understanding.

To ease downloading, I've split this section in several pages. Still, grab yourself a glass of wine, or milk or whatever and, yes, by all means get some munchies because this is loaded with graphics and is going to take a while. My suggestion is, read the text while the graphics load, then go back to take a look.

If you're in a hurry, do yourself a favor: leave it for another day.

Enjoy.

Our family history is centered around Imola which we had an instrumental role in rebuilding, something that can be gathered by seeing how many Coats of Arms, from those of Imola itself (seen here on the left) to those of its nearby towns carry to this day an element, or echo, of our own.

Therefore, that is where I’ll begin.

Imola’s first settlements date from ten thousand years ago, when shepherds and farmers began populating the hills at the exit of the Santerno valley. Artifacts dating from the V century B.C. and atrributed to the "Galli Boi," a tribe of Gallic origin, tell us the flats at the bottom of those hills had also been cultivated.

During the II century B.C. the Romans began their expansion by building the Via Emilia which connects all the important centers beyond the Appennines from Ancona to Rimini, Ravenna, Bologna, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Milan and Turin.

The original settlement’s geographic position, smack in the middle of the Via Emilia and dominating the river Selice which leads to the Po’s delta and the venetian laguna, allowed it to grow rapidly. So much that by the First century B.C. it had become a city, Forum Cornelii, which offered travelers and merchants a Termae, or public bath, a 15,000-seat amphiteathre and, of course, paved streets--in short, all the comforts.

That red, barely visible, spot on Italy's map is supposed to say "Imola."

The burgeoning "municipium" was not spared by the barbarians: first it was the Alamans, who came down the Via Emilia headed towards Rome. They were stopped by Aureliano at the gates of Fano, and the survivors returned whence they had come. Both passages, the first by victorious and inebriated warlords, the second by defeated warriors attempting to grab what they could, produced devastation. Then the place was taken by the Goths, immediately followed by the Byzanthians, who united it to the Exarcate of Ravenna. In 750 the Longobards razed the old "Forum Cornelii" to the ground. Agnello Ravennate’s testimony is explicit: " destruxerunt forum cornelium et consummata est civitas ab eis." The Longobards, however, built a fortress in present Borgo Tossignano, which is situated right above the contemporary Imola on a hill overlooking the Via Emilia, and another which they named "Castrum Imolae" a few miles away. Finally Charles the Great, after defeating the Longobards in 775, donated the Exarcate to Pope Adrian I. The first news of our family date from around that time for, in 774 A.D., the castellan of "Caput Silicis," present day Conselice, under Charles the Great was one named "Pietro San Prospero, Signore della Selice."
An inner port, Caput Silicis owes its name to the fact it was linked to the Via Emilia by a large paved road called in roman times Via Appia Selee Strata (covered by selce stones), 'Caput' (the head) being its final destination. The town had been so well fortified by the Romans, it resisted Belisarius in 537 when Vitige was King of Italy. It belonged to the Longobards from 568 to 774 when it passed to Charles the Great and finally to the Holy See.
Several times the fortress served as refuge for the Bishop of Imola. In 1080 after he had supported the Imperial Pope, Clemens III, in opposition to the Roman Pope, and again in 1186 when fleeing the Ghibellines. It was finally razed to the ground by Emperor Frederick in 1222. So before we became "Zappi," we were San Prospero, "Signori della Selice." Nothing new here: even Monaco’s Grimaldi--currently celebrating their 700^th anniversary--trace their origins to one Patrician of Genoa named (not Grimaldi) Cannella. The first Grimaldi is said to have been in existence "after 1252." For those who care about such things, not only we beat the Grimaldis by about 500 years but, further, while their line is tenuously traced by recurring in more than one instance to the female line, we count on an interrupted direct male descent. Now, what above was not meant as a comparison, for such comparisons are hideous and pointless. Nor that it makes us any better: look around and you will find any of us is certainly no better and probably a little worse than any of our neighbors--no matter what their background. It was only meant to underline how extraordinary and difficult it is to trace your ancestry so far back in a direct male line.
	Our San Prospero ancestors did not sit there and wait for things to happen: in 820 they occupied the fort built by the Longobards atop present Borgo Tossignano (left).
Reinforced the battlements, the fortress became their main seat for, while they occupied Conselice in behalf of the Exarcate, Tossignano they owned outright.

Around the year 890, with the birth of a son to one of our Tossignano armigers our story took a turn. To condense things a bit, the lad grew up as playmate of our own Giovanni di San Prospero to become Archbishop of Ravenna and ultimately Pope assuming the name of Giovanni X or, in English, John X.

A vigorous and able man, John at once decided to put an end to the frightful devastation caused by the Saracens. A group of Moslems had fortified themselves on a hill overlooking the Garigliano River in Southern Italy, and from this stronghold they brutally harried the poor Italians. John X worked feverishly to form an alliance and for a marvel he succeeded. Northern, central, and southern Italians were for once united. Helped by Greek naval units from the Eastern Empire, they moved against the Saracens. Pope John, son of an armiger and brought up in a castle, led the Roman contingent in person. The allied army defeated the Saracens and drove them back into their stronghold. Here, Giovanni Battista di San Prospero directed the "zappatori," the engineers who dug under and demolished fortifications, causing an entire section of the walls to collapse. At that point, the Moslems were cut to pieces. A wave of rejoicing swept through Italian homes and Pope John X, on his return to Rome, was given a triumphant reception.

More importantly, he appointed our family "Zappatori della Chiesa," those who undermine the enemies of the Church, hence "Zappi." Bear in mind that until WWII the Italian Army Corps of Engineers were called "Zappatori" and, to this day, French firefighters are called "Sapeurs." Nor we can forget how in the Boheme, the crowd watching a military parade intones:

"Ecco il Tambur Maggior! ( Here comes the First Drum!)

Più fier d'un antico guerrier! (Prouder than an ancient warrior!)

Il Tamburo Maggior! Gli Zappator, olà!" (The First Drum! The Engineers, olà!)

In Germany Pope John encouraged the clergy to support the hard-pressed King Conrad in his efforts to bring law and order to that distressed country. He sent one of our ancestors as legate to the synod held at Altheim in 916, which not only enacted decrees to better church discipline but threatened rebels with excommunication. In France too the Pope tried to protect a distressed king from treacherous nobles. When Heribert, Count of Vermandois, seized King Charles the Simple in 923, Pope John threatened him with excommunication.

It seems that John X was getting too independent for Marozia, now the dominant figure of the Byzantine Theophylactus clan. In 928 she had the Pope's brother Peter killed and the Pope himself thrown into prison. Whether he was smothered with a pillow or died of anxiety, John X did not long survive his imprisonment.

Before his death, however, in recognition of their services to the Church, Pope John granted our family the privilege to bear the Roman eagle surmounted by a coronet in its Coat of Arms. The black Roman eagle, seen here in Tossignano's contemporary emblem, replaced the red Imperial one in our Coat of Arms. Giovanni and its variations, such as Giovanni Battista, Giambattista, and Gian-something and its spanish variations in Juan, together with Pietro, after the founder; Paolo, his brother; Emilio to remember we descend from what, in Roman times, was the gens Aemilia whence Emilia, the region of our birthplace; and Luigi which came later (we'll see why further on) became a recurring name thorought the generations and the patronymic definitely changed from San Prospero to Zappi.

Even the Brits have done likewise. In 1917 King George V signed a proclamation stating that

"All the descendants in the male line of Queen Victoria who are subjects of these realms, other than female descendants who may marry or may have married, shall bear the name of Windsor."

Thus, the "Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" dynasty became the Windsors. And, more recently, Queen Elizabeth II changed it again to "Windsor-Mountbatten."

Our family retained, however, the appellation of "Signori della Selice" without further titles. This was not uncommon at the time for a nobiliary title is an honorific label which is added to the nobility of the bearer. It presupposes nobility (papal titles are an exception)--but the reverse is not true.

Prior to the French revolution one could be as noble as the king and not be titled. The Rohan's motto illustrates the point: "King, I cannot be, Prince deign not to be, Rohan, am I". And the Lord of Coucy's: "Neither King,nor prince nor duke, but Lord of Coucy am I". France's oldest nobility scorned the display of titles; the Montesquious, descendants of the dukes of Aquitaine, until the XVIIIth century identified themselves as "Lords of Marsan". The title of baron, today the lowest in the hierarchy of nobiliary distinctions should be considered historically the most ancient: under the Merovingians, the term "baron" identified, in fact, the noble, the king's companion.

Continues.....