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Tringali-Casanuova
History of a Castagneto Carducci family...
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sources show that the name of my family has been associated
to the Castagneto land since the first half of the 14th
century. At that time, for their social and financial
position, the Casanuovas took a leading role in the
community. Count Ugo della Gerardesca, feudal lord in
1639, drew up the deed which included Jacopo Casanuova's
family in the group of 12 families from which a consul
and a bailiff could be elected. These two figures were
responsible for the administration of the community's
properties. |
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| The
family coat of arms is reproduced at the 22nd sheet of
the first volume of the "Golden Book of Aristocracy"
which is kept in the Royal State Archive of Pisa. |
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There
are several documents in the State Archive of the Republic
of Pisa that report news of the Casanuova family. The
family cradle is the Casanuova Castle at Peccioli, where
I could personally identify the still existing palace.
The Casanuovas were prominent in Pisa, where already
in 1304 Bartolomeo of Bonanno Casanuova and his brother
Simone held the post of notary of the Elders; also Bindo
Casanuova was an Elder in 1324.
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In
the years following the battle of Meloria (1285), Uguccione
della Fagiola, after winning the campaign against Lucca,
was killed by the supporters of the Florentine party
of the Pisan aristocracy, led among the others by Gaddo
della Gherardesca.
Always
in Pisa, in the Cloister of San Nicola, under the family
coat of arms as stone bears the inscription: "Hoc
est sepulcrum Ser Ludovici da Casanuova e sui heredi.
Anno 1368". It also mentions that a grandchild,
Antonio, was dubbed Knight of Saint Stephan and took
up residence at "Castagneto in the Maremma".
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Several
Casanuovas in the following generations belonged to
the Order of the Knights of Saint Stephan. Towards the
end of 1500, this order contributed to the transformation
of the Tuscan landscape through the creation of several
farms in the plain and in the Elsa valley. The family
history is then characterised by prominent figures in
the civil and military service, professionals and land
managers.
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Giovanni
Battista Casanuova, Knight of Saint Stephan, proved
his courage in the battle of San Vincenzo between Florence
and Pisa, which was painted by Vasari ("Victory
of the Florentines against the Pisans in the battle
of San Vincenzo", a picture exhibited in the Salone
dei 500, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence). The stone on the
front of the Castagneto palace reports that his deeds
contributed to the upgrading of the coat of arms (the
family could add a tower on its coat of arms).
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Following
the institution of the church's records in 1515, the
Casanuova family tree is kept there. Particular mention
deserves Lorenzo Casanuova, who in 1660 obtained the
rent of the land of Castagneto from Lucrezia Capponi,
Ugo della Gherardesca's widow. The Casanuovas managed
the land until 1720, together with others of the Segalari
property.
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One
of the most peculiar tenancy agreements is the one the
Gherardesca drew up in 1628 for Antonio and Lorenzo
Casanuova for the house of "nine rooms and half
of a kitchen garden" (the same where I now live
with my family) at the price of "three pounds of
dried agaric mushrooms a year".
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The
Casanuovas were one of the leading families in Castagneto
in the changing picture of the 18th century, with all
the land reforms, which took place under Grand-duke
Pietro Leopoldo of Lorene, and the allocation of "old
levels" in the years from 1788 to 1794. Fortunio,
Pietro Antonio and Francesco were allocated many pieces
of land, and worked dedicatedly to create several farms
and to enlarge their properties. In 1700 the ensign
Francesco Casanuova built "The Casina".
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With
the increase of share-cropping, Cosimo Ridolfi, the
founder of the most important school of agriculture
in Tuscany, from the pages of the first issue of the
"Agricultural Journal" invited the landowners
to study agriculture and to start an active relationship
with their lands. At that time, in 1830 the gonfalonier
Ranieri Casanuova obtained from Guido Alberto della
Gherardesca the "Podere del Piano", later
called the "Casa al Piano", which was left
to his heirs his heirs and eventually came to me.
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The history of the Casanuovas'
properties is reported in two archive documents, one
dated 1720 and the other 1831, which collect the maps
of the family's lands and houses.
To speak of the Casanuovas who lived in the last two
centuries means to tap into the historical memory of
my father Lorenzo. In 1820, Agapito Casanuova was general
in chief and highest commander of the Royal Army of
the Grand-duchy of Tuscany. Ranieri Casanuova, my father's
great-grandfather, was commune gonfalonier by appointment
to the Grand-duke, and also commander of the Coast Light
Horse (a voluntary corps which defended the coast borders
from pirates and clandestine for health reasons). My
great-uncle Lorenzo, nicknamed "the Gloomy",
engineer and agronomist, was judge of peace and manager
of large estates, among which that of the Gherardescas'.
Guido Casanuova, called "Guidino", described
as an extremely rigorous anarchist "a spend-thrift
with a golden heart", attracted the poet Giosuè
Carducci's esteem for taking part in the third war of
independence and at Castagneto was the poet's best friend.
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The
bounds of the Casanuova family with the Castagneto lands
and its social and economic events have always been
very strong and dedicated until the 20th century, when
the family name became Tringali-Casanuova for dynastic
reasons.
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The
rest is recent history and is no longer up to me to tell it....
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