The Silkwormin collaboration with the Municipality of Sonahas published a new volume a few days ago, dedicated like the previous ones to history of our territory. “The Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto in Sona. Twenty years of local history (1846-1866)”, this is the title of the volume, which in 370 pages and many illustrations tells the story of the events in the municipality of Sona during the Kingdom of Lombardy and Veneto.
The book, signed by Baco historians Renato Salvetti, Mario Nicoli and Valentino Venturiniopens by describing the institutional organization of the Lombard Veneto Kingdom that replaced the Napoleonic Italian Kingdom in 1814 and the economic and social situation in Sona in the second half of the nineteenth century.
“Research – explain the three historians of Baco – allowed us to provide a lot of information that does not appear in history books, for the reason that by analyzing the daily life of small social environments, such as Sona, it is possible to grasp unprecedented implications. For Lombardy and Veneto the period was one of notable economic development, but also of important human tragedies, due to a regime that alternated tolerant behaviors with inhuman ones, in line with what happened in the period in most of the Kingdoms and Regimes Europeans”.
Three wars and an armed revolt are described in the volume: the first, second and third wars of Italian independence of 1846, 1859, 1866 and the failed rebellion attempt in Milan and Venice in 1848.
“At the end of the first War of Independence – Salvetti, Nicoli and Venturini continue – the Austro-Hungarian Empire of Franz Joseph, concerned about the situation in constant patriotic boiling of the Kingdom, assigned the Government of the Kingdom to Marshal Radetsky, who until then had exclusively covered the role of commander of the Austrian army stationed on Italian territory , directly dependent on Vienna. With this choice, the occupation transformed into a harsh repressive one, with many death sentences by hanging, prolonged imprisonment, public beatings and expropriations of buildings and lands, carried out above all against aristocrats and sometimes priests, considered contiguous to the revolutionary uprisings. and guerrilla actions”.
In a semblance of democracyelected and voters were the landowners of the municipalitywith high censuses, who in Sona elected a municipal council of thirty councillors who, in turn, elected a president and three deputies (read assessors), who had to be confirmed by the guardianship authority.
In that period, personal and statistical data and the release of the relevant documents, for carrying out current activities, were collected and preserved by the parish priests, who were state employees. Education was held in high regard: compulsory school for ages six to twelve, two paid by the Municipality, another three for females and four for males paid by the State. Books were provided free of charge to the poor and the few who could afford to attend further schooling had to go to Trento.
“In those years – explain the three historians – agriculture and breeding, especially silkworms and sheep and goats, were the basis of production activity. Crafts and trade were also important. The control of retail prices was a frequently used tool of the authority in the presence of natural disasters or wars. The municipal doctor and midwife, who worked free of charge for the poor, as well as the municipal vet, were responsible for public health. The midwife, who was often not included in the municipal staff, was replaced by illegal private practitioners, sometimes managed by the parish priests. The abandonment of the exposed, unwanted newborns handed over to public charity, was another painful consequence of the poverty of the period”.
THE militaryin arms and in training, they were a constant presence in the area throughout those years. At all times of the year many soldiers were transferred from the barracks to the territories, above all in the uncultivated areas of San Giorgio in Salici and Palazzolo, for exercises. In the volume it is said that whoever supplied accommodation for soldiers and shelter for horses and military equipment or provided food for men or animals, he received a fixed compensation. During the first war of independence they housed in the territory, in addition to Austro-Hungarian troopsAlso Piedmontese departments and, during the second, French and Italian troops.
“Of the three wars of independence – explain Salvetti, Nicoli and Venturini – only the second one of 1859 is described in detail, not for the military clashes that took place especially far from Veneto, in Solferino and San Martino in Lombardy, but for the role played by the Venetian territory as the second line of the front. The war ended in a very short time to the point that the important hoardings of live cattle that Austria had secured to supply military and civilian inhabited territories during the conflict were ceded to the Municipalities to compensate them for the expenses incurred during the conflict. The Municipality of Sona also received thirty live cattle as compensation, which it auctioned off quickly to earn money”.
There economic and financial part takes up a lot of space in the book. Another theme covered is that of the two important infrastructures built in the period: the Milan-Venice railway road and the Monzambanera road, almost a highway for the period. The two arteries were fundamental for the economic and social development of northern Italy.
“A substantial help in the creation of the volume – conclude the Baco historians – was provided to us by the hundreds of posters found in the 45 paper archive folders of the Municipality of Sona and by printed documentation sent to the provincial and municipal administrative institutions by the state organization of the Kingdom. The more than 800 posters, 200 reproduced in the volume, were scanned and made available, in digital form, to the municipal library”.
The creation of the volume in collaboration between Il Baco da Seta and the Municipality of Sona it was desired as a result of an agreement between the director of Baco Mario Salvetti and the mayor Gianluigi Mazzi, who spent a lot on the creation of this work, also actively through his graphic skills. Upon the transition of the administration, with the election of mayor Gianfranco Dalla Valentina in May 2023, the collaboration project continued and – as we said – saw the prints a few days ago.
“This work constitutes a new fundamental step in the reconstruction of the past of our territory – explains Baco director Mario Salvetti -. For twenty years now, our extraordinary historical editorial team has been shedding light on a local history that was previously completely unknown and which, instead, deserves to see the light and be known and studied. It is difficult to understand how much research work goes into the publication of a volume like this, which is truly the result of years of daily commitment. My pride and that of the editorial team I direct is to leave to our community, thanks also to the precious and important collaboration with the Municipality of Sona, a volume which from now and forever will constitute a cornerstone of shared memory for the citizens of our territory of today and of the future”.
