My personal connection with the History of Lazio Italy is that I have to great great … grandfathers that were Popes.  Pope Paul III and Sixtus IV.  Paul III ( Alessandro Farnese ) my 14th great grandfather is interred under glass in St Peter’s and his palazzo is now the French embassy.  Alessandro’s sister Giulia, was Pope Alexander’s ( the Borgia pope ). mistress.  Pope Alexander’s daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, had and affair with my 13th  great grandfather Francesco Gonzaga. You can go to there stories below.  I was not aware of this when I visited Rome 24 years ago. Several of my other ancestral families, such as the Colonna’s, Orsini’s and Della Rovere’s factor into the history of Rome, as they all contributed many cardinals and several popes. Join Our Facebook Group Italian Roots and Genealogy Photo by John Castillo ( Unsplash ) Lazio is a peculiar region located in the center of Italy. As a territory, the region doesn’t have a precise geographical unity. The boundaries with its neighboring regions are delimited by an inconsistent succession of mountains and coastal strips, and these characteristics make Lazio a region rich in different landscapes ranging from Apennine peaks to the long Tyrrhenian coasts, the Agro Pontino, or Pontine plains, and the various hilly areas. Due to its central position in the Peninsula, Lazio has always been an essential cross point for the commercial routes between North and South. Despite being a Tyrrhenian region, the eastern borders are located less than 32 miles from the Adriatic coast. Thanks to this strategic position, Lazio is characterized by strong cultural bonds with both sides of the country and is often seen as a transition region between northern Italy, Tuscany, Umbriaand Campania. These considerations alone are enough to underline the importance of the region within the country. Moreover, the capital of Italy, Rome, is located in Lazio. This characteristic emphasizes the functional centrality of the region, which has always attracted important commercial flows, individuals, and capital investments. The name Lazio derives from the ancient Latiumand it was initially delimitated by the river Tiber and the Apennines. Prehistory of Lazio When it comes to the quantity and significance of the artifacts dating from the different Paleolithic eras, Lazio is one of the best-documentedregions in Italy. Some pebble and splinter artifacts discovered in various locations in the province of Frosinone are dated back to the earliest phases of the Paleolithic. With an attested age of about 500,000 years, these are some of the oldest artifacts in Italy and Europe. Other important findings belong to the Acheulian civilizations and have been found at Fontana Ranuccio, one of the most important archaeological sites in the region. These findings belong to the Lower Paleolithic. In several sites located near the Tyrrhenian coasts, at only a fewmiles north from Rome, a series of artifacts belonging to the Upper Acheulian era were discovered. The most important sites from a historicalpoint of view are Torre in Pietra, Castel di Guido, Malagrotta, and La Polledrara di Cecanibbio. The findings in these sites are mostly stratigraphic deposits dated about 200,000 years ago, and they are associated with a few faunal remains from the industries of the era. Castel di Guido is especially famous for the discovery of evidenceof the intense use of large mammal bones as weapons or tools. Many artifacts manufactured from this raw material were also found in other areas in the region. A few cranial remains and two bone fragments attributable to Homo Erectus were also found at the same site. Many Acheulian deposits are also present in the province of Frosinone, and there are even some sites packed with evidence of splinter-like industries. Lazio is also rich in evidence from the Middle Paleolithic era, with many artifacts belonging to the Mousterian civilizations. These artifacts were discovered in several open-air sites in the Pontine plains region and in some caves on Mount Circeo. One of the most famous findings in the region is a skull found on Circeo and two mandibles attributed to the Neanderthals. The sites in the province of Gaeta are somehow different from the others and are characterized by the use of small siliceous pebbles. This Mousterian technique dates back 50,000 years. Throughout the region, there are many other archaeological sites where the presence of Middle Paleolithic Mousterian industries is well documented, especially in the province of Frosinone. The subsequent Upper Paleolithic era is also very well documented. Some of the most important findings belong to the Aurignacian and have been identified in the cave of Fossellone. There are some interesting sites from the Mesolithic era on Mount Circeo and the Polesini cave where numerous manifestations of early art have been discovered. According to the evidence, Lazio has been inhabited in the Neo-Paleolithic and Bronze Age by populations dedicated to agriculture and breeding. The findings used as evidence were identified in Sasso di Furbara and in Fiora Valley. The latter is also famous for its Rinaldone facies. Historical evidence from this culture are also present in various sites at the north of Rome, in the Roman Agro and in many other places in the region. A clear cultural diversification between the north and the south bank of the Tiber is documented to the late Bronze Era. Later, the areas were occupied by the Etruscan and Latin civilizations. There are also traces of the early Iron Age documented by the formation of large proto-urban centers, including one of particular historical importance that developed into the future Rome. History of Lazio Italy The development of Lazio was marked by the Tiberfor many centuries. Dividing the territory between a northern part and a southern one, the river has been a sort of border between different cultures for a long time. The differences between the two sides are astonishing. The north bank witnessed an early proto-urban development and the rise of a flourishing civilization, the Etruscans. The south bank was originally inhabited by the Latins and other populations grouped in small settlements. The two banks of the river developed independently until the first century BC when, under the new order of Augustus, the north bank became part of Etruria while the south bank, together with Campania, was incorporated in the First Roman region. It is easy to understand that the Latins played a major role in the early historical events in Lazio, influencing the prosperity of the region between the seventh and sixth centuries BC. Their presence is well evidenced by the tombs of Praeneste. The Latin League gathered the populations and cities of Latium Vetus, namely the area between the Tiberand Mount Circeo, around the cult of Jupiter and introduced religious celebrations such as Latinae feriae. The league acted as a sort of federal organization and fought many battles alongside Romans against common enemies. In fact, both Latins and Romans set the basis of many colonies as early as the fifth century BC. The assault of the Gaul against Rome in 390 BC was accompanied by tensions between allies and rebels, which resulted in harsh wars against Latins and other tribes. The Latin League was dissolved in 338 BC after rebelling against the Romans, shortly after the First Samnite war. From this moment on, Lazio became an integral part of Rome, the powerful city-state which extended its dominion all over Italy, and the world. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the territory of Lazio passed under Byzantine sovereignty. However, the Byzantine Empire didn’t last long in the region. Engaged in defending their northern territories, they overlooked an important aspect in Lazio: the church. Taking advantage of the events, the Church of Rome established itself in the region and implemented a local autonomy. The Roman Church developed its own economic relationships and set the basis of independent military collaborations, decisions that hada major impact on Lazio’s history. The efforts of the pontiffs were majorly focused on the reconstruction of the economic assets lost under the Byzantine domination. Through donations and forced restitutionof the lands and economic goods, the church established its dominion in the region and the current territory of Lazio became part of the State of the Church. Between the eighth and ninth centuries AD, the region experienced a strong monastic development. In parallel, the new aristocratic families also gained power and control. As a result, a furious struggle for power between the Church and the Roman municipality weakened the control of both institutions. The Saracens and Hungarian tribes exploited the opportunity and entered Latium, devastating large parts of the territory and many settlements. Unwilling to lose its power, the Church reorganized its dominion between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In parallel, a new aristocracy, closely linked to the Curia, also developed in the region. Opposing the new lead, Rome rebelled in 1143 and established a secular government. The municipal institutions started to spread in Rome, claiming the right to rule the city in the name of the people in an attempt to provide an early democratic solution to the eternal struggles between Papacy and nobility. As a result, the whole Lazio region awakened independent forces represented by the feudal lords in the countryside and by the municipal institutions in the cities. The struggles between laics and clerics came to an end in the last part of the twelfth century, when PopeClement III obtained an agreement with the Roman Senate. However, it was PopeInnocent III who reestablished full papal sovereignty over the whole territory. Innocent III imposed his authority over the region by claiming respect. The feudal lords and the municipalities in Lazio swore loyalty to the pope and Rome gave up its autonomy, appointing Innocent as the Senator of Rome, the highest rank at the time. Rome tried to escape the dominion of the Church again in 1234 but failed, and PopeGregory X divided the region into provinces ruled by rectors and supervised by the Parliament. Although distributing the power between various institutions, the pope reserved his right to intervene as the supreme authority. As such, the institutions were dwindling under the authority of the Church. Although most municipalities of the region were still against the papal domination, Lazio no longer had an autonomous role and its territory became nothing but a scene for the upcoming events. Between 1309 and 1377, Avignon abolished papacy. This favored the crystallization of local autonomies which strengthened nobility all over Lazio. However, it also caused an economic and political crisis that led to the formation of new social forces. Together, with the new social forces also emerged new political and antipapal movements towards the middle of the fourteenth century. The crises and struggles weakened both the nobility and the people, strengthening the papal monarchy once again. It was the bitter disparities between the noble families that favored the restoration of the papacy and the progressive annihilation of the aristocratic power. In the early decades of the sixteenth century, the victory of the papacy was definitive, and from now on the history of Lazio coincides with that of the Papal State. One of the most dramatic episodes in Lazio’s history dates back in 1527 when the region was crossed by the mercenary troops of Charles V. In the seventeenth century, the region witnessed a progressive formation of the Lordships linked to the papal families, in parallel with the decadence of the traditional nobility. In the eighteenth century, the region saw probably the greatest crisis of the Papal State. 1798 marked the beginning of a new political movement linked to the Roman Republic. A strong secularism emerged in Lazio from the second decade of the nineteenth century. Rome and Lazio were annexed to Italy in 1870, but the region benefited only partially from the move of the nation’s capital to Rome, in 1875. However, Lazio benefited from the Pontine marshes carried out during the Fascism, which gave a significant boost to agriculture. During the Second World War, the region suffered serious damage and several cities were completely destroyed, including Anzio. The war damaged,above all, the artistic heritage of the region. Various monumental complexes, churches and ancient urban agglomerations were razed to the ground. The long process of reconstruction has focused on the formation of the industrial centers such as Latina and Frosinone. The region also witnessed agrarian reforms and developmental interventions in some areas to the north of Rome. Since 1948, after the approval of the Constitution, the Lazio region became the protagonistof a considerable economic and social development. From Trips2Italy . Photo by Giuseppe Mondi ( Unsplash ) A few personal photos La Dolce Vita in Rome St.Peter’s Centurian

Join Our Facebook Group Italian Roots and Genealogy Farmers And Nobles on Amazon History of Tuscany Italy Tuscan countryside, Monteriggioni, Italy.© William J. Bowe Tuscany, Italian Toscana, regione(region), west-central Italy. It lies along the Tyrrhenianand Ligurianseas and comprises the province(provinces) of Massa-Carrara, Lucca, Pistoia, Prato, Firenze, Livorno, Pisa, Arezzo, Siena, and Grosseto. Tuscany, Italy: landscapeAn aerial view of the landscape of Tuscany, Italy.Geoff Tompkinson/GTImage.com Tuscany is a transitional region occupying much of the former grand duchy of that name near the base of the Italian peninsula. The characteristic landscape is a blend of gently rolling hills leading on to sharply peaked mountains that pose a formidable barrier between Tuscany and regions to the south. It is bordered in the north and northeast by the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Apuan Alps, these being separated by a series of long valleys from the sub-Apennine hills of Mount Albano, Mount Pratomagno, and others. South of Siena the surface rises to less fertile mountains and plateaus, such as the Metallifere Mountains, Mount Amiata, and Mount Argentario on the coast. The lowlands of Tuscany are either interior valleys, such as that of the Arno River, or coastal plains, such as the Maremma. Area 8,877 square miles (22,992 square km). Pop. (2012 est.) 3,692,828. Historical Tuscany The name Tuscany is derived from an Etruscan tribe that settled there about 1000 bce. Tuscia came into official use under the Roman Empire in the 3rd century ce. Politically united under the barbarian Lombards as a duchy with its seat at Lucca in the 6th century, Tuscany was next set up as a county by the Franks in 774. In the 11th century the area passed to the Attoni family, who, already holding Canossa, Modena, Reggio, and Mantua, became an important power of central Italy. The most famous representative of this line, Matilda, supported Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) in the Investiture Controversy. After her death in 1115, the cities of Tuscany gradually affirmed their independence, and the area lost its traditional unity. For the next four centuries these cities fought among themselves; supremacy was won first by Pisa and then by Florence, and the area became the greatest centre of Renaissance culture. After the advent of the Medici as rulers of Florence in 1434, with the family’s gradual consolidation of power over the area, Tuscany was transformed into a principality. During the foreign invasions of Italy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the Medici were twice expelled (1495–1512 and 1527–30), but they were restored by the Holy Roman emperor Charles V in 1530, and the Medici rulers used the title grand duke from 1569. The culture and economy of the area declined beginning in the 16th century. In 1737, on the death of the last Medici grand duke, Gian Gastone, Tuscany was assigned to Francis of Lorraine, future husband of the Habsburg heiress Maria Theresa, beginning the rule of the Habsburg-Lorraine family. Under Francis and his son the grand duke Leopold I (later the Holy Roman emperor Leopold II), the great period of Tuscan reform took place. Internal trade barriers were removed, ecclesiastical privileges reduced, and the death penalty abolished. With the French domination of the peninsula, during the late 1790s, Ferdinand III was forced to flee from the duchy. In 1801 Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Tuscan kingdom of Etruria for Louis of Bourbon-Parma, nephew of the Spanish queen, but in 1808 annexed it to the French Empire and finally in 1809 gave it to his sister Élisa to rule. With the defeats of Napoleon in 1814, Ferdinand III was restored to Tuscany, but many of the reforms introduced by the French were retained. Under Ferdinand and his son Leopold II, during the first half of the 19th century, Tuscany was noted among Italian states for its tolerance toward liberals and its progressive government. With the spread of liberal revolutions through Italy in 1848, Leopold granted a constitution, but increasing revolutionary agitation culminated in the proclamation of a republic (February 8, 1849) and forced the grand duke to flee. Leopold’s return under the protection of the Austrians cost him the support of many Tuscans. When war between Piedmont and Austria (the Second War of Italian Independence) broke out in 1859, Leopold, after refusing both to grant a constitution and to join Piedmont in the fight, was expelled by the Florentines. With a provisional government controlled by the nobleman Bettino Ricasoli working for Italian unification under Piedmont, the Tuscans, in a plebiscite of March 11–12, 1860, voted overwhelmingly for annexation. Tuscany formally became part of the new Italian state with the proclamation of the kingdom on February 18, 1861. The contemporary region Tuscany is one of the most prosperous agricultural regions in Italy, specializing in cereals (especially wheat), olives and olive oil, and wines, notably those of the Chianti district near Siena. Vegetables and fruit are also grown, and cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry are extensively raised. Tuscan agriculture is characterized by the mezzadriasystem, with the landlord, who provides capital and current expenses, sharing the harvest with the tenant, who supplies the labour. There is, however, a growing tendency to the organization of agricultural cooperatives. The storms and floods of 1966 dealt a severe blow to Tuscan agriculture, as well as inundating Florence and Grosseto. Watered chiefly by the Arno and Ombrone rivers, Tuscany has few rivers capable of supporting major hydroelectric projects, but borax deposits at Larderello produce enough underground steam to power a major generating station. Among the mineral resources, easily worked iron ore from the offshore island of Elba is nearing exhaustion, but lead, zinc, antimony, mercury, copper, and iron pyrites are still produced in the region. Lignite (brown coal) is mined around San Giovanni Valdarno, and the marble of Carrara is world famous. Marble quarry at Carrara, Italy.John and Lisa Merrill/Corbis LivornoLivorno, Italy.© Biancoloto/Shutterstock.com Metallurgy, chemicals, and textiles are major industries; and the region is famous for its artisan industries, especially in Florence, the capital. Tourism is important at the coastal resorts and the historical centres of the region. Increasingly, Tuscany is also a retirement centre of choice for well-to-do people from around the world, especially from northern Europe. Livorno, the major port, has shipbuilding industries. Other important centres are Piombino, Lucca, Pistoia, Grosseto, Pisa, and Siena. This article was most recently revised and updated by Mic Anderson, Copy Editor. Citation InformationArticle Title:TuscanyWebsite Name:Encyclopaedia BritannicaPublisher:Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Date Published:24 May 2018URL:https://www.britannica.com/place/Tuscany For a more detailed history check out The Lonely Planet Link — The History of Tuscany Here’s a great tourist resource for the Italian Regions — Reids Italy

Visit Our Shop Bob talks with Tracy Shields about her research and visiting the home of her ancestors. Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video Great Grandmother on the right Thomas Izzi Family in Casalduni Donato Izzo Chestnut St Casalduni Entering Casalduni

Click here to join Italian Genealogy Group on Facebook Around this time in 1971 I was looking for work and I got a call one Friday evening from my cousin Frank Nicoletti ( fifty years ago… yikes ). Frank was one of the manager’s at the Pepsi plant on Avenue D in Brooklyn NY and told me that there was an opening. “That’s great!” I said, “what do I need to do?” Frank said, “go to the union hall on 14th St., and ask for ( the name escapes me )” So the next morning I make the trip into NYC by car. As it’s a Saturday there’s no traffic and parking wasn’t an issue. I walk up a flight of stairs and find myself in a wood paneled room with benches lining the walls. No one in sight. Then I see that there is a sort of window, inset with a speakeasy type of door and a buzzer next to it. I push the buzzer, and after a minute or so the speakeasy door opens. “Who are you?” “Bob Sorrentino, my cousin Frank said to come here for the job at Pepsi.” “I saw Frank yesterday, he didn’t say nothing about you. You have his number?” “I don’t.” “Never mind, I have it. You wait here.” After a few minutes I see the real door, that was kind of hidden in the paneling open. “Come on in Bob, Frank says you’re a good kid.” I’m ushered into this huge office with a bar and he tells me… “It’s good to have a nice Italian boy show up, we like that. You know you have to take a physical, but that won’t be a problem, for you. Can you goto Long Island City on Monday? You want to start the following Monday? You won’t be no trouble.” “Er yeah sure.”  “Good, good, you tell Frank I said hello.” I think I filled out a paper and he gave me a card, and I’m a Teamster. Starting at Pepsi was quite interesting. You started by building up cases of soda on pallets as the loaders dropped them off. Hard work. Most of the white guys would drop half a pallet and move on, but the black guys would stop and help, and move and stack the pallets for you. There was Black Bob ( I was white Bob ) Picott, Sylvester and another guy who’s name I don’t remember. He was impeccably dressed all of the time, would change into his uniform, and then redress on the way out. Quiet but very nice.  Some of the white guys were ok especially Frank Nardo, he was older and being Italian he took me under his wing in a sense. Another guy was older too and real smart ass and no help at all, I think he was the person that started the rumor that I was a spy for Frank. “Whitey” was a heroin addict, and would nod out driving the fork lift, for some reason he had the brand new fork lift. One other guy that stood out was a big Polish guy. I don’t remember his real name, but everyone called him “Money”. I’ll tell that story in another post. We also, had a shop steward that was like the invisible man, I think he was fired for stealing, which was crazy, as we could by a case for like $2.00 While I did not work there that long, the salary was great especially in the summer when there was a ton of overtime. I also learned a lot about people which came in handy once I became a manager many years later.

Visit Our Shop Bob talks with Steve Williams about his 30 years of research and finding roots in two very small and old towns. Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video