Isabella d'Apia

The defeats of Manfredi at Benevento in 1266 and of Corradino at Tagliacozzo in 1268 put an end to the reign of Frederick II of Swabia, effectively handing the victory and coronation to Charles I of Anjou. Many socio-political consequences arose from this, one of which was the establishment of feudalism in the Kingdom of Sicily of French knights who emerged victorious from the war following the new sovereign; And it was precisely one of the knights, Jean D'Eppes, born Giovanni d'Apia, who was entrusted with the fiefdom of Campagna , thanks to which we had the first news of the town in the Angevin era.
King Charles' military advisor obtained the concession of Campagna. It must be said that the actual settlement took place only between 1273-1274, as the d'Apia was the protagonist of the victorious crusade against Tunis wanted by the French sovereign Louis IX, in which the armored sent for his excellent military skills. In the meantime, the regency of Campagna had subordinated itself to various lords, one above all to Count Roberto, son-in-law of the king of Flanders. Emerged victorious from battlesTunisians and, after rigorously carrying out other assigned tasks, such as the control and mediation of various territories, he entered Campagna and took full possession of it.
The Angevin knight spent several years in our city, administered and regulated feudal rules, such as grazing rights, regulated trade and supervised the territory against Aragonese revolts.
Concrete merits go to him, such as the first expansions of the already fortified Castello Gerione, the safeguarding and maintenance of the primordial chapel of Santa Maria d'Avigliano.
Upon his death in 1293, his daughter Isabella d'Apia succeeded him as universal heir, after having been succeeded until 1336 by his son Giovanni Iuniore, who also died. Isabella was probably born in Campagna between 1305 and 1310 and died on 14 July 1375, after having already been widowed of Adinolfo d'Aquino, hereditary count of Belcastro, and of the knight Drogone of Merloto, she married Raimondo del Balzo, also of French origins, who held important positions within the Anjou crown, establishing very close ties with Queen Joanna I. Among the many titles he was awarded, it should be highlighted that of grand chamberlain of the Kingdom, or commander of the army imperial, a position held from 1352 and held until his death.

Great merits linked to the socio-cultural growth of our city must be attributed to Isabella. Together with her husband, they were the architects of institutions of confraternities, in 1368, thanks to the favor of the Angevin sovereign, he promoted the settlement of the Franciscan friars and the building of a primitive monastery annexed to the church of Santa Maria d'Avigliano and always to honor the memory of his father, so attached to that place, as well as to make the most of it, he organized a fair in the last fortnight of August, to be reached by pilgrimage from the ancient town centre, a custom that is still preserved today with the current "Quindicina" .
Perimeter and structural enlargements of the Gerione Castle, thanks to their permanence it is possible to deduce an strengthening of the watchtowers and of the "fire outlets", designed to strengthen its already powerful defensive capabilities.
Last but not least, the construction in 1370 of what we now call Palazzo di Città or former Augustinian Monastery, primordial residence of the Del Balzo - d'Apia spouses, before the lord of Campagna, Ugo Sanseverino, promoted the exchange with the monks of Sant'Agostino residing in the district of the same name, eager to have a larger convent given the large number of friars present.
Isabella also had an adjacent chapel built next to her palace, named after the SS. Annunziata, which over the centuries would become an autonomous church of fine workmanship.
At the time of construction, the new palace appeared to be located outside the walls, because until the 16th century the countryside was only divided into six hamlets, at least the main ones, and they were divided into three to the north and three to the south of the Gerione Castle.
To the south there was the first neighborhood where there were the entrance gates to the city, that of Zappino, then the Giudeca, then the Trinità, today Saint Spirito, to the north there were the neighborhoods of Dauli, that of Gerione and that of San Paolo, today San Bartolomeo, the noblewoman, as for Avigliano, wanted to establish a market in the large space that appeared in front of her residence, which is why the area is still called this way today, to in a certain way force the local inhabitants to go and admire their imposing construction.
The spouses of Balzo-d'Apia, today buried in the seventh chapel on the left of the basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, had four children, unfortunately for them all who died prematurely, upon their succession of the fiefdom, they had the institution and therefore, indirectly the great merit, of assigning the fiefdom of Campagna to Raimondo Orsini, pioneer of the feudalism of the noble and powerful family of Gravina di Puglia in Campagna, which years later brought Ferdinando Orsini, the latter, together with the nobleman from Campagna Melchiorre Guerriero, true protagonist of the golden age which saw Campagna between the 15th and 19th centuries becoming one of the most important cities of Southern Italy.
Text edited by Cristian Viglione.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Consulted:
SPLENDOR MARMORIS. La cappella Del Balzo nella chiesa di Santa Chiara in Napoli. (2016) DE LUCA EDITORI D'ARTE.