| dc.description.abstract | The notion of “the struggle of the cadastre” appears in the Italian historiography with reference to the reform
and, at the same time, revindication tendencies which occurred both in the North and in the South of the Apennine
Peninsula in the second half of the 18th century. On the basis of his own archival research, the author attempts
to illustrate that phenomenon with the example of the community of San Martino Valle Caudina, situated between
Naples and Benevento, where the unjust division of the land estates was the cause of numerous repetitive tensions
and social disturbances, dating back to the 16th century. The reform of the cadastre, introduced at the order of
Charles Bourbon in the forties of the 18th century, created the hope of improvement of the conditions of existence
among the Neapolitan populace, because it forced the barons to document the feudal nature of their real estates -
otherwise, they would be subject to taxation just like any other land. The introduced cadastral system was
characterised, on the one hand, by bureaucratic pedantry of calculating details, and on the other, by the
indifference to the enormous feudal and church earnings which were exempt from taxes. During the creation of the
cadastre, it often happened that the “deputies“ yielded to the barons and closed their eyes to the false
certificates produced by them, thus depriving the communities of additional income; there were also cases,
however, when the communities conducted fierce debates with the barons at the Royal Chamber Sommaria over the
classification of an estate of dubious origin, and even resorted to breaking the law, which happened in the town
of San Martino Valle Caudina. The dramatic experience accelerated the process of social awareness maturity among
the local population. When the revolution broke out and the civil war began in 1799, the republicans found solid
support in San Martino V.C.
Thanks to the complete cadastral documentation of 2200 Neapolitan communities, it is possible today to reconstruct
the picture of king Charles VII’s subjects of that time; one can determine their social and professional
structure, the property and the budgets of communities, church and secular institutions, the level and the type of
farming, the demographic phenomena, the property and financial status, the level of literacy, and even the health
condition. Today, the cadastre books constitute a monumental work of the Neapolitan reformers, and a priceless
source of information about the Kingdom of Naples in mid-18th century. However, the author of this article did not
stop at that, because he confronted the contents of the cadastre with the documentation of the church and feudal
archives, which enabled him to deepen the conducted social analysis. | en_EN |
