casalciprano

Info
Territory: mountainous
Population: ca. 600 inhabitants
Zip/postal code: 86010
Phone Area Code: 0874
Patron Saint: San Cristanziano
Frazioni & Località: Masserie Tedesci, Valli

HISTORY

The legend says that the most ancient settlement here was Coccheto, and that it was destroyed by a natural calamity. In roman times it was called Casale, since it was probably the country estate of some rich Roman family. After the fall of the Roman empire, it was included in the Lombard countdom of Benevento. Then the Normans occupied Molise, dividing it into the two counties of Loritello and Molise, and Casalciprano was included in the latter. In the Catalogum Baronum of the 11th century the center is still called only Casale, then in the following century the word "Ciprani" was added from the surname of some Ciprani lords. Under the Anjou Casale Cipranorum was ruled by the d'Evoli family who gave it in the 16th century to the Mazzacane, followed by the de Raho. In 1735 don Gaetano de Leto Duke of Polignano married Nicoletta de Raho of Casalciprano, and the De Leto family kept the fiefdom until 1805.

In the 19th century the political conditions and the economic crisis of the pastoral economy gave rise to brigandage, and the Matese and its forests were famed for the many powerful gangs that threatened the peaceful life of the population. The most famous brigands of Casalciprano were Costanzo Eugenio Lombardi,

Brigandage then disappeared, giving way to emigration to Europe and the Americas as an outlet to the economic and social difficulties of Southern Italy in the late 19th and early 20th century.

63 DIFFERENT SURNAMES PRESENTLY RECORDED
(the number after the surnames refers to the number of families)

ALFIERI * ALFIERO 5 * ANTONECCHIA 14 * BATTISTA 30 * BILOTTA * BORRELLI 12 * BRANCALEONE * CALABRESE * CAMELI 5 * CAMPANA 5 * CAPASSO * CARAVILLANO * CAROZZELLI * CARROZZELLI * CASSETTA * CASTELLI 4 * CASTELLITTO * CIAMARRA * CIARALDI * CIMAGLIA 3 * COLADANGELO * COLANERI 2 * COLITTO 3 * COLONNA 3 * CORSILLO 3 * DAMIANO 2 * DE CESARE * DE LUCA 5 * DELLE MACCHIE * DI CIERO * DI NEZZA * DI PONTE 5 * FANELLI * FERRANTE 2 * IAFRANCESCO ì * IAMMATTEO 2 * IANNANTUONO 7 * IAPAOLO 14 * LEPORE * LOMBARDI 13 * MADDALENA * MASTRACCHIO 5 * MASTROPIETRO 9 * MAZZUCCO 2 * MIRANDA * PETTI 5 * PICCIANI 2 * PIZZUTO * POLICELLA 2 * RAMUNDO 6 * ROBERTO * ROSSI 4 * RUTA 2 * SCIARRETTA * SIMONE * STRUZZOLINO * TARTAGLIONE* VALENTE 2 * VENDITTI 3 * VENDITTO 6 * VERNETTI * VICARIO 6 * VOLINO *

L’origine di Casalciprano non è chiara e tanto meno lo è l’origine da cui proviene il nome: probabilmente nasce dall’unione delle parole casale e Cipriano, nome del suo fondatore, di cui tuttavia non si hanno notizie. Fino al XIV secolo non ci sono notizie sulle vicende storiche del paese; il primo padrone del paese fu dal 1457 Andrea d’Evoli, cui successe un esponente della famiglia Mazzacane; questa famiglia mantenne il possesso di Casalciprano fino alla prima metà del XVIII secolo, periodo in cui il borgo passò nelle mani dei Brancia; nello stesso secolo i titolari del paese divennero i di Leo, che però in seguito lo persero a favore della famiglia di Palma.