L’insediamento longobardo a Chiusi e nella Valdichiana

The present research work intends to study the longobard settlement in the area of Chiusi, outlining its historical origins during the struggles between Byzantines and Longobards in Tuscany. The working method chosen to study the early-medieval territory of Chiusi can be defined as “combinatory”, because we made use of a wide range of data which came from very different sources, but all convergent to our purpose. The main sources we refer to are the written sources, which are bibliographical and documentary, and, of course, all the data which comes from the archaeological investigations. The early-medieval storiographical and archaeological informations about the longobard settlement in Tuscany have just in part explained the forms and the different periods of the first german settlements. The few late excavations and the scattering of the archaeological informations of the past researches did not allow to make an exhaustive cartographic description of the longobard settling in the region. Lucca and Chiusi, in Tuscany, are the most ancient longobard dukedoms. The researches in the areas of Chiusi and Valdichiana, even if scientifically important, have been limited to few aspects of the longobard archaeology, whithout giving a territorial reading of the connected insediative phenomenons. Through the analysis of the historical sources and the contemporary storiographic studies about the longobard invasion, it has been demonstrated the hypothesis of the presence of longobard mercenaries in Chiusi immediately after the death of King Alboino (572). It has also been supported that the town of Chiusi, most likely, had been part of the longobard Kingdom under King Agilulfo (591-615). The current research intended to make the census of the longobard evidences inside and outside the town of Chiusi. Various necropolis have been found outside the town but only the tombs of Arcisa preserved evidences which can be referred to the period of the immigration. Inside the town have been excavated several tombs whose objects instead can be dated from the first half of the VII century. The archaeological evidences, which coincide chronologically with the historical witnesses, support that Chiusi was probably submitted to the longobard Kingdom by Agilulfo’s army in one of the two moments in which he went from Valdichiana to conquer Perugia, in 594, or the towns of Bagnoregio and Orvieto, in 605. As regards the inhabitated area of Chiusi during the Longobard age, the research has presented the scientific unpublished results of two archaeological urban excavations, that are the Monastery of S. Francesco and the domus of via de’ Longobardi. The results of the current research are been placed on an “archaeological map” of the territory of Chiusi during the longobard age. We wanted to integrate the comparison between the current knowledges on the Longobards of Chiusi with the historical and archaeological frame of the settlings around the town, describing the topograhic network of the settlings surrounding the town. This network has been then completed by the toponomastic informations and the historical reconstruction of the contemporary viability. In conclusion we can demonstrate that the main role of the Longobards of Chiusi and Valdichiana was to get control over the viability of Cassia, in its north-south direction, together with their consanguineous of Arezzo. The other important role of the Longobards of Chiusi was to defend the lines of penetration of possible byzantin counter-offensives from Umbria and the dukedom of Rome to the centre of Tuscany, towards the vital arterial road of the longobard Tuscia which would be then called Francigena.