History, art and culture

Various archaeological finds now preserved in the Luigi Pigorini National Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum in Rome and in the Florentine Museum of Prehistory allow us to state that the area on which Controguerra stands today was already inhabited in prehistoric times. The so-called Lapide Plebani, from the name of the discoverer Pasquale Plebani in the second half of the nineteenth century, testifies to us that in Roman times in the Controguerra area there was a villa, which was owned by Caio Lestrio, of the Mecia family, a minor magistrate who held the the Augustal corporation of Atri. The presence of other minor finds found in the Contrade of the War and, more generally, in the Vibratian towns, testify to us that the Roman Empire had settled settlers in these areas, probably favored by the fertile land and mild climate.

With the disintegration of the Roman Empire, the town was occupied by the Ostrogoths. In fact, it dates back to the 6th century AD. a finely decorated Ostrogothic fibula found in the counter-war campaigns and now kept in the “F. Savini” of Teramo. The Ostrogoths inhabited the area at least until their expulsion by the Byzantines, which took place between 535 and 553 AD. The ancient settlement of Controguerra was affected by the clashes between the troops of Totila and Belisario. According to the ancient parish chronicles, during a particularly bloody clash the entire town was destroyed and only a few walls of the then Mother Church (built where the Church of the Madonna delle Grazie now stands) remained standing.

In the Middle Ages we find the first document that bears the term "Contraguerra". This is the Catalogus Baronum, a list of vassals of the Norman Empire and their possessions, compiled between 1150 and 1168 at the behest of Roger II of Sicily. We learn from the Catalogus Baronum that at the time "Contraguerra" was a fiefdom of Count Robert of Aprutio, son of Attone V, and that he had to provide 4 soldiers for the imperial army.

The advent of the Normans certainly upset our areas and we know that, in the pastoral visit of 1109 by the Bishop of Teramo Uberto, he "consoled the inhabitants and distributed alms". It is in this period that the watchtower, called Torrione, was built. We also know that, probably coexisting with Controguerra and then incorporated by it, there was a fortified settlement with the name of Corata (located in the current Contrada Torretta).

Between the 12th and 13th centuries Controguerra was also affected by the struggles between the papacy and the empire. On February 14, 1297, Controguerra sided, swearing allegiance to the city of Ascoli. It was in those years that the Acquaviva dominion over the town began. Between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries we point out the constant struggles between the Angevins and the Aragonese who often saw Controguerra, a strategic outpost, the object of dispute. It, already fortified, was reinforced and took on its current shape in 1460, by order of the viceroy Matteo di Capua. On the night between 26 and 27 December 1459, Giosia d'Acquaviva militarily occupied Controguerra, which, however, was immediately reconquered by the city of Ascoli, after a hard battle, on 30 December of the same year. In 1491 Controguerra saw the passage of the infantry in the pay of the Orsini and, in 1497, it was besieged by the troops of Ettore Fieramosca to drive out the pro-French who had barricaded themselves there. On 4 November 1556 Antonio Carafa, son of Giovanni, count of Montorio, moved with his troops from Ascoli and sacked Controguerra, leaving a company of infantry as a garrison. The following year, in the days following 15 April 1557 (sack of Campli), the French militias also raided the town.

In 1646, then, the movement of social protest started in Naples by Masaniello also reached Teramo and Controguerra saw the birth of a hearth of revolt inside it, which however was immediately put down by the Dean of the Abruzzi Pignatelli. Although in those years Controguerra was often devastated by fratricidal struggles between Italian cities and lordships, we also note the passage of several important figures of the time, probably including San Giacomo della Marca, who in 1450 visited various municipalities in the Val Vibrata. This visit is perhaps due to the beginning of the cult of Maria Santissima delle Grazie, which in the following centuries became deeply rooted in Controguerra.

With the advent of the Bourbons, in the 18th century, the town acquired importance thanks to its strategic position close to the border between the Kingdom of Naples (later the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) and the State of the Church. Between the end of the eighteenth century and until the second half of the nineteenth century Controguerra and the villages of the Val Vibrata along the Tronto became real "internationalized" outposts, which drew prosperity from trade on the border. However, this situation also led to constant military involvement in the area. In 1798 some troops of the left wing of Napoleon Bonaparte's Cisalpine army clashed in Controguerra with local volunteers, having the upper hand. In the Napoleonic era, Controguerra housed the quarters of the "Sanniti" corps and the "Cacciatori Aprutini".

After the Restoration, trade resumed between the Papal States and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Controguerra, together with Colonnella, played a leading role in the fight against smuggling.

In the struggles for the unification of Italy, the town was not directly affected by the clashes, but in 1860 an anti-unification outburst fomented by some former Bourbon soldiers flared up in the barracks of the Nationals, which was repressed by the troops of the Mobile National Guard. These, after the event, remained in the country to better conduct war operations against Civitella del Tronto.

Once the unification of Italy was completed, Controguerra was no longer directly affected by war episodes but suffered the negative consequences of the two world wars, like all the towns in the Val Vibrata. We note the acceptance, in 1917, of hundreds of Venetian refugees, who came down from the Veneto after the defeat of Caporetto. Today the economic and social fabric is devoted to the enhancement of the territory and agricultural production, especially wine and olive growing.
 

( Sources and bibliography: Archivio Storico Comunale di Controguerra; N. Palma, Storia della Città e Diocesi di Teramo, Voll. I-V, Teramo, Ubaldo Angeletti Stampatore dell’Intendenza, 1832-1836; L. Franchi e C. Vultaggio, Dizionario Topografico e Storico, in Documenti dell’Abruzzo Teramano, IV, 3, Le Valli della Val Vibrata e del Salinello, Sant’Atto-Teramo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio della Provincia di Teramo, 1996; V. d’Ercole, Rassegna paletnologica, in Documenti dell’Abruzzo Teramano IV, 1, Le Valli della Val Vibrata e del Salinello, Sant’Atto-Teramo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio della Provincia di Teramo, 1996; A. Panichi, Controguerra nel primo Ottocento. Storia del Comune dalle origini al 1850, Mosciano Sant’Angelo, Media editoria grafica e stampa, 2004; M. Di Natale, Controguerra. Le origini, la storia, le tradizioni, Colonnella, Marte Editrice, 2023)