DATE OF FOUNDATION
1995
MEMBERSHIP OF LITAB
1995
PRESIDENT
Amici Silvio
From the Annals of Norcia (documents preserved in the Historical Archives of the Municipality of Norcia): “il giorno di Santa Croce del mese di maggio 1438, si fece il gioco di tirare al bersaglio dei Balestrieri al numero di 118 tra la Città e il Contado (Castelli e Ville), che era stato dismesso da qualche anno, per esercitare la gioventù. Per premio vi furono quattro belle balestre. La prima veniva scelta da chi ebbe nel bersaglio più giusta mira, il secondo capava una di quelle tre remanenti et così il terzo delle doi, da ultimo l’ultima.” (“On Holy Cross Day in May 1438, a target shooting competition was held for 118 crossbowmen from the city and the countryside (castles and villas), which had been abandoned for some years, in order to train the youth. The prize was four beautiful crossbows. The first was chosen by the person who had the most accurate aim at the target, the second chose one of the three remaining, the third chose one of the two remaining, and the last chose the last one.”)
The “Compagnia Balestrieri di Norcia” (Norcia Crossbowmen’s Guild) was founded on March 9, 1995, on the initiative of several crossbowmen who were already members of the city’s six Guaite (districts). Thanks to their contribution, it was able to join LITAB immediately.
It consists of 22 crossbowmen, a group of 22 drummers, a large group of archers with historical bows, and various figures who form the historical procession following the Company on its outings.
In Norcia, on March 21, July 11, and until a few years ago also on the fourth Sunday of August, on the feast of St. Benedict, the crossbow shooting competition between the guaite takes place. On this occasion, the municipal authorities, the constables representing the six guaite of the city, and representatives of the sixteen castles (hamlets of the municipality) gather in Piazza San Benedetto in their wonderful costumes (reproduced according to the ancient statutes of 1400) to offer the “Pallio” (a banner of fine fabric) to the patron saint of Europe.
“A le università delli castelli de Norsia lo pallio de drappo o de altro colore aurato o argentato siano tenute a farlo de seta colorata como è dicto de sopra et non possano essere di taffectano”
The town of Norcia (604 m above sea level), located on the edge of the wide and fertile basin of Santa Scolastica (twin of St. Benedict), preserves traces of human settlement dating back to prehistoric times. Ancient Nursia, inhabited in pre-Roman times by Sabine peoples, was a wealthy city, able to exploit its favorable position to control trade routes between Umbria, Piceno, and Sabina, and to establish close commercial relations with Etruria and upper Lazio.
The Sabine village of the 9th-7th centuries BC is documented by huts with raised walls and perishable roofs found just outside the current Porta Romana. Conquered by the Romans in 290 BC, it became a municipality at the beginning of the 1st century BC. Among the distinguished Nursini of the time, historical and epigraphic sources mention Quinto Sertorio, Lucio Plozio, and Vespasia Polla, mother of Emperor Vespasian.
The rise and expansion of the free commune is generally traced back to the 13th century, with its formation and consolidation occurring around 1250, when the Duchy of Spoleto, which had officially declined at the end of the 12th century, passed definitively to the Papal States. The city, having freed itself from subjugation to Spoleto, spent the entire 13th century conquering the surrounding territory between the Nera, Corno, and Salaria rivers and extending its jurisdiction over fortresses, villas, and castles in order to consolidate its supremacy by controlling traffic and trade.
It is located in the most mountainous and picturesque part of Umbria, in the middle of a natural amphitheater of mountains of unparalleled beauty, now part of the Monti Sibillini National Park. Visitors are greeted by the town nestled within its perfectly preserved medieval walls, with their characteristic heart shape.
Norcia is best known as the birthplace of St. Benedict (480), the patron saint of Europe.
The Basilica of San Benedetto with its crypt and the remains of the birthplace of the Holy Twins (1st century AD), the “Portico delle misure” (1500), the Town Hall (14th-15th century), the “Castellina” built by Jacopo Barozzi, known as Vignola, in 1554, and the Co-Cathedral of Santa Maria Argentea form the heart of the city. Other historical and artistic gems are scattered throughout the city and, together with the considerable archival heritage and archaeological finds from the necropolis of the Santa Scolastica plain preserved in the Diocesan Civic Museum of Castellina and in the Roman Cryptoporticus of Porta Ascolana, tell of a glorious and prosperous past.
Headquarters
Via dell’Ospedale 24
06046 Norcia (PG)