On the Seven Municipalities (Sette Comuni)

Appendix.

Statistics.

On the Sette Communi. 1/2

Already the author of the essay: “Ueber die deutschen Alpenbewohner des Südtirols und des angränzenden venetianischen Gebietes” (Bothe v. u. f. T. u. V. 1822, nos. 29–35) had introduced us to the so-called Seven Municipalities of the Vicentine mountains. As early as 1763, the memoir of Marco Pezzo, a Veronese clergyman, appeared; it went through three editions and contains very remarkable details about the territories formerly belonging to the Republic of Venice, known under the name of the Seven and Thirteen Municipalities. However, this author mistakenly regarded the inhabitants of those regions as fugitive remnants of the Cimbrian peoples who, defeated on the Raudian Plain (according to Plutarch near Vercelli) by Marius and Catulus, sought refuge in the then uninhabited mountains, whereas, according to the aforementioned essay in the Bothe v. u. f. T. u. V., they are more likely German remnants of an ancient people of those regions.

The latest news concerning the Seven Municipalities (of which alone we shall speak here) is found in the work of an English lady married to a Venetian nobleman, who recently resided there for 14 months and devoted a separate chapter to describing this remarkable canton in her work published in two octavo volumes in 1824.

These Seven Municipalities lie 10–11 hours north of Vicenza in the high mountains separating the Vicentines from the inhabitants of the District of Trent, between deep, winding gorges, east toward the Brenta and west toward the Astico; if one includes the localities that later expanded the territory, they consist of: Pescala, San Pietro below Astico, Roccio, Roana, Canove, Camprovere, Asiago, Gallio, Toza, Enico, Lusiana, Loverdo, and the valley of S. Donaro. Their inhabitants, whom the Republic of Venice called the “most faithful” in all its edicts, possess a strong aptitude for scientific education. Among those who distinguished themselves, Marco Pezzo cites: Nico, Cholini of Asiago, Count Anton Barbieri, syndic of the Academy of Padua, and many others. Their language bears a strong resemblance to Danish and Low German. The women and children, who have never left their mountains, do not speak or understand Italian, even though this canton is only 30 Italian miles from Vicenza. The men, who must seek fodder for their cattle in the valleys during the winter, which lasts about eight months, speak the Venetian dialect. They form a population of 36,000–40,000 souls and are mostly herdsmen. The land yields only a little barley and, in the mountainous parts, firewood. The small patch of flat land is planted with tobacco. Here snow falls in September and frequently remains until May, or even June. When going to church in winter or walking from one village to another, they wear shoes that are shod almost like the hooves of our horses when walking on ice. In their domestic habits as well as in their appearance, they are very dirty and untidy. To purchase bread or vegetables, they must travel a distance of 25 or often even 30 Italian miles. – In the entire territory there is only a single brick building; this house stands in Asiago, the principal settlement of the Sette Communi. The remaining houses are built of earth or fieldstones and thatched with rushes or straw. The cold is often so severe that even oil freezes and must be melted near the fire in large chunks. Food is cooked using snow water. The small stream flowing through the town of Asiago cannot be used for any domestic purpose during the summer months, as the people lead their cattle there to drink and also throw all sorts of waste into it. – To the inhabitants of the Seven Municipalities, despite the general prohibition against growing tobacco, cultivation is nevertheless permitted, because land sown with tobacco yields twelve times more than if sown with any other crop, and because without this commodity the inhabitants would be unable to obtain the bare necessities of life; however, they may not sell anything to private individuals, but must surrender the entire yield to the government.

The inhabitants of the Sette Communi formed a kind of small republic while still under Venetian rule, and achieved a degree of prosperity through industry. When the French became masters of Italy, they were placed on an equal footing with the other Italian subjects and were thus subjected to general taxes and conscription. The inhabitants of the Sette Communi resisted this new order of things. They fired upon the authorities, who were forced to abandon their intention of conscription until military assistance arrived, and even when troops appeared, had to proceed with great caution, especially since offenders frequently fled into Bavarian territory, which was then only a musket shot away. Through the friendly admonitions and thorough representations of the subprefect, Marquis Solari, a noble philanthropist, they were finally persuaded to return to their duty, with Solari promising to obtain an exemption for them in Milan from the most oppressive taxes. (Conclusion to follow.)