Nocera dei Pagani

{{See also|Pagani, Campania#History|Nocera Superiore#History|Nocera Inferiore#History}}

In the period before the Roman supremacy in southern Italy, the whole territory was known as {{lang|la|Nuceria}}, the chief town in the Sarnus valley – Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and Surrentum all being dependent upon it, according to many archaeologists. It maintained its allegiance to Rome until 309 BC, when it joined the Samnites in revolt.{{sfn|Belsito|De Pascale|2013}} In 308 BC it repulsed a Roman attempt to land at the mouth of the Sarnus, but in 307 BC it was besieged and surrendered. It obtained favourable terms, and remained faithful to Rome even after the Battle of Cannae.{{sfn|Belsito|De Pascale|2013}}

In 216 BC Hannibal weakened the town by starvation, then destroyed it. The inhabitants returned when peace was restored. During the Social War, it remained true to Rome. In 73 BC it was plundered by Spartacus.{{sfn|Belsito|De Pascale|2013}}

In the Middle Ages (around the 9th century) a small colony of Saracens was introduced in the annexed territory of modern-day Pagani by permission of the Dukes of Naples; according to most sources, it lasted only a few decades, but other sources state that a second colony of Muslim Saracens was later introduced by Frederick II.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=730}} The town was described as {{qi|a genuine Muhammadan town with all its characteristic mosques and minarets.}}{{sfn|Browning|1984|p=300}} It is said that, through their darker complexion and features, the townsfolk maintain the heritage of these Muslim settlers.{{sfn|Scott|2013|p=470–1}}

After the mid-9th century the town was part of the principality of Salerno first, and then of the principality of Capua.

The {{ill|House of Pagano|it|Pagano (famiglia)}}, an ancient noble family of local lords living in the castle of {{ill|Cortimpiano|it}} ({{langx|la|Curtis in Plano}}), in the territory of Pagani, apparently took this surname from the Saracens (referred to as "pagans") who previously inhabited the area.

File:Gelasii II Vitam.GIF.|Life of Pope Gelasius II{{Sfn|Gaetani|1638}}}}

Diaries on the life of Gelasius II, pontiff between 1118 and 1119.]]

A family member named Ugo dei Pagani ({{langx|la|Hugo de Paganis}}) is credited as a crusader knight and founder of the Knights Templar. Reference to Nocera as his birthplace is found in the works of Carlo Sigonio (1574),{{Sfn|Sigonio|1574}} Heinrich Pantaleon (1581),{{Sfn|Pantaleon|1581}} Scipione Mazzella (1588),{{Sfn|Mazzella|1596}} Filiberto Campanile (1610),{{Sfn|Campanile|1610}} Marco Antonio Guarini (1621),{{Sfn|Guarini|1621}} Frans Mennens (1623),{{Sfn|Mennens|1623}} Antonino Amico (1636),{{Sfn|Amico|1636}} Costantino Gaetani (1638),{{Sfn|Gaetani|1638}} Blaise François de Pagan (1645),{{Sfn|De Pagan|1668}} Pierre Dupuy (1654),{{Sfn|Dupuy|1713}}{{Sfn|Dupuy|1751}} Bernardo Giustinian (1692){{Sfn|Giustinian|1692}} and Johann Jacob Hofmann (1698).{{Sfn|Hofmann|1698}}

Mentions of Nocera as his birthplace also appear in Baedeker's Italy: handbook for travellers. Part 3 (1869){{Sfn|Baedeker|1869}} and in the Old Catholic Encyclopedia (Volume 11) published by Robert Appleton Company in 1911.{{Sfn|Benigni|1911}} Multiple authors have stated that this claim is also supported by a letter Hugo supposedly wrote from Palestine in 1103, in which he talked of writing to "my father in Nocera" to tell him of the death of his cousin Alessandro.{{Sfn|Accattatis|1869}}{{Sfn|Gradilone|1967}}{{Sfn|Rotundo|1983}}{{Sfn|Moiraghi|2005}}{{Sfn|Moiraghi|2013}}

In addition, the Templar cross appears to have been inspired by Paleochristian art found in the {{ill|Early Christian Baptistery of Nocera|it|Battistero paleocristiano di Santa Maria Maggiore}}.{{Sfn|Moiraghi|2005}}{{Cite web|date=2002-10-21|lang=it|title=Hugo dé Pagano|url=http://www.cavalieri-templari.eu/ugodepagani.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212043633/http://www.cavalieri-templari.eu/ugodepagani.htm|archive-date=2024-12-12|website=Cavalieri Templari O.S.M.T.J. - Sito Ufficiale}}

The citadel of Nuceria, located where the future Nocera Inferiore would rise, was besieged by Roger II of Sicily in the battle in 1132. After four months he razed the town to the ground. After its reconstruction, the birth of the modern Nocera began with many hamlets and villages which gradually expanded and became small towns.

During the Angevin dominion (1266–1435) Nocera was rebuilt and took the name of {{lang|la|Nuceria Christianorum}} ({{langx|it|Nocera dei Cristiani||Nocera of the Christians}}). In 1385 Pope Urban VI was besieged in the city castle by Charles III of Naples.

In the 15th century the town name was changed to {{lang|la|Nuceria Paganorum}} ({{langx|it|Nocera dei Pagani||Nocera of the Pagans}}) in honor of the Pagano family, itself named after the Saracen pagans who previously inhabited the area. Throughout the Spanish domination, the town was subdivided into two departments ({{lang|it|Nocera Soprana}} and {{lang|it|Nocera Sottana}}), each one composed of multiple municipalities.

Every year in August, the male adults of each municipality gathered in public assembly to elect their particular mayor; then – in a different assembly – each department elected the universal mayors: two for {{lang|it|Nocera Soprana}} and one for {{lang|it|Nocera Sottana}}, which together led {{lang|it|Nocera dei Pagani}} as a triumvirate.

The town survived until 1806. In 1807 five {{lang|it|comuni}} were established: {{lang|it|Barbazzano}} merged into the {{lang|it|comune}} of {{lang|it|Pagani}}; {{lang|it|Sperandei}} merged into {{lang|it|San Matteo Tre Casali}},{{efn|name=Tre Casali}} forming the {{lang|it|comune}} of {{lang|it|Nocera San Matteo}}; while {{lang|it|Nocera Corpo}}, {{lang|it|Sant'Egidio}} and {{lang|it|Corbara}} stayed autonomous. In 1834, the remnants of {{lang|it|Nocera Soprana}} ({{lang|it|Nocera Corpo}} and {{lang|it|Nocera San Matteo}}) merged back into a single {{lang|it|comune}}, but fourteen districts of {{lang|it|Nocera Corpo}} (including {{lang|it|Pucciano}}){{efn|name=Pucciano}} later asked for self-administration, which was granted by decree No. 1960 on 11 November 1850, with effect from 1 January 1851; thus were born the contemporary {{lang|it|comuni}} of {{lang|it|Nocera Superiore}} (corresponding to most of {{lang|it|Nocera Corpo}}) and {{lang|it|Nocera Inferiore}} (formerly {{lang|it|Nocera San Matteo}}).

• History of Islam in southern Italy
• Diocese of Nocera dei Pagani
• Nucerian alphabet
• Pagani, Campania
• Ugo dei Pagani

{{notelist|refs=

• {{efn|name=Pucciano|Formerly part of {{lang|it|Nocera Corpo}}, {{lang|it|{{ill|Pucciano|it}}}} was autonomous from 1570 to 1580, then merged back into the municipality of {{lang|it|Nocera Corpo}}.}}
• {{efn|name=Tre Casali|{{lang|it|Tre Casali}} was autonomous from the 1500s to the 1700s, then merged into the municipality of {{lang|it|San Matteo}}, forming {{lang|it|San Matteo Tre Casali}}.}}

}}

{{reflist}}

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• {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Nocera Inferiore|volume=19|page=730}}
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• {{cite book|last=Dupuy|first=Pierre|author-link=Pierre Dupuy (scholar)|orig-date=1654|date=1713|edition=2|lang=fr|title=Histoire de France|chapter=Histoire de la condamnation des Templiers|location=Bruxelles [Paris]|publisher=Pierre Foppens [Edme Martin]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529141323/http://gallica.bnf.fr/m/ark:/12148/bpt6k57279h/f14/|chapter-url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/m/ark:/12148/bpt6k57279h/f14|archive-date=2016-05-29|access-date=2024-06-16|url-status=bot: unknown}}
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• {{cite book|last=Gaetani|first=Costantino|author-link=Costantino Gaetani|date=1638|lang=la, it|title=Vita di Papa Gelasio II|trans-title=Life of Pope Gelasius II}}
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• {{cite book|last=Gradilone|first=Alfredo|date=1967|edition=2|lang=it|title=Storia di Rossano|location=Cosenza|publisher=MIT|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AW4LAQAAIAAJ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705173454/https://books.google.it/books?id=AW4LAQAAIAAJ|archive-date=2015-07-05}}
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• {{cite book|last=Hofmann|first=Johann Jacob|author-link=Johann Jacob Hofmann|date=1698|lang=la, de|title=Lexicon universale|publisher=Jordaan Luchtmans|url=http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/hofmann.html|location=Leiden|pages=[http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/hofmann/hof2/s0547b.html 547], [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/hofmann/hof4/s0942b.html 942], [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/hofmann/hof4/s0945c.html 945]}}
• {{cite book|last=Mazzella|first=Scipione|orig-date=1588|date=1596|edition=2|lang=it|title=Le vite dei re di Napoli: con le loro effigie dal naturale|location=Naples|publisher=G. Bonfadino [G. Cacchi]}}
• {{cite book|last=Mennens|first=Frans|date=1623|lang=la|title=Militarium ordinum origines|location=Macerata|publisher=Pietro Salvioni|url=https://archive.org/details/militariumordinu00menn|page=[https://archive.org/stream/militariumordinu00menn#page/34 34]}}
• {{cite book|last=Moiraghi|first=Mario|date=2005|lang=it|title=L'italiano che fondò i Templari – Hugo de Paganis: cavaliere di Campania|location=Milan|publisher=Àncora|isbn=978-8851402792}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.tonyassante.com/renzoallegri/templari/indice.ht|title=Interview with Moiraghi}}
• {{cite book|last=Moiraghi|first=Mario|date=2013|lang=it|title=Hugo de Paganis|volume=I|chapter=Le prove della sua origine|trans-chapter=The proofs of his origin|publisher=Nave senza nocchiere}}
• {{cite book|last=Pantaleon|first=Heinrich|date=1581|lang=la|title=Militaris ordinis Johannitarum, Rhodiorum aut Melitensium equitum historia|location=Basel|publisher=Thomas Guarin|url=http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenahist/pantaleon1/te01.html|page=[http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenahist/pantaleon1/jpg/s035.html 23]}}
• {{cite book|last=Rotundo|first=Domenico|date=1983|lang=it|title=Templari, misteri e cattedrali|location=Rome|publisher=Templari|isbn=9788865010006|page=38|quote=Ho scritto a mio padre in Nocera che mi faccia gratia venire a Rossano per consolare V.S. et a Madama Zia Hippolita|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8US-63UgGjoC&pg=PA38|access-date=2023-09-08}}
• {{cite book|last=Sigonio|first=Carlo|author-link=Carlo Sigonio|date=1574|lang=la|title=Historiarum de regno Italiae|volume=XI|location=Venice|publisher=Giordano Ziletti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dv1z9bcyC1IC|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Dv1z9bcyC1IC&pg=PA427 427]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702190633/https://books.google.it/books?id=Dv1z9bcyC1IC|archive-date=2015-07-02}}
• {{cite book|last=Scott|first=Walter|authorlink=Walter Scott|editor-last=Douglas|editor-first=David|date=31 August 2013|title=The Journal of Sir Walter Scott|volume=2: From the Original Manuscript at Abbotsford|publisher=Cambridge University Press|edition=illustrated|isbn=9781108064309|pages=470–1|quote=In the latter village [Nocera Inferiore] the Saracens obtained a place of refuge, from which it takes the name. It is also said that the circumstance is kept in memory by the complexion and features of this second Nocera, which are peculiarly of the African caste and tincture.}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|editor-last=Fortunato|editor-first=Teobaldo|year=2006|lang=it|title=Nuceria, scritti in onore di Raffaele Pucci|location=Postiglione (SA)}}
• {{cite book|last=Orlando|first=Gennaro|year=1888|lang=it|title=Storia di Nocera de' Pagani|location=Naples}}
• {{cite book|last=Silvestri|first=Salvatore|year=1993|lang=it|title=S. Egidio tra storia e leggenda. Appunti, ipotesi e documenti dal 216 a.C. al 1946}}
• {{cite book|last1=Silvestri|first1=Salvatore|last2=Vollaro|first2=Salvatore|year=2001|lang=it|title=S. Egidio, S. Lorenzo e Corbara. La storia e le famiglie}}
• {{cite book|last=Silvestri|first=Salvatore|year=2010|lang=it|title=S. Egidio. Un luogo chiamato Preturo|publisher=Edizioni Gaia|isbn=978-88-89821-75-6}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons}}

• Wikisource: Catholic Encyclopedia - Nocera dei Pagani

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nocera dei Pagani}}

Category:Populated places established in the 10th century BC

Category:Cities and towns in Campania

Category:Nocera Inferiore

Category:1806 disestablishments in Italy

Category:Arabs in Italy