History of Sulmona

The Renaissance

The fall of the Swabian dynasty brought the advent of the Angevin dynasty, ostile to our City and not forgiving its loyalty to Frederic II and the later support to the young Corradino. Sulmona, thus, was bereaved of the Giustizierato and then of the Faculty of Canon Law.

This notwithstanding, the Renaissance saw another period of splendour. In XIV century the city tripled its surface and it was surrounded by a second border of walls and by six town doors.

Even from a cultural point of view, Sulmona had remarkable exponents, like Barbato from Sulmona and Giovanni Quadrario, the former friend of Boccaccio and Petrarch, and the latter friend of Coluccio Salutati. This century saw the building of the Palace of the Annunciation, at first an orphanage, then an hospital, and today one of the symbols of the city.

During the XVI century the famous School of the art of the goldsmith of Sulmona was born, whose handmades had the prestigious mark SUL. Moreover there was the birth of an industry of paper, and different factories were established all along the Gizio River. Even trade underwent a remarkable growth, thank to the commerce of precious clothes ( the sermontina silk). The Bell Tower of the Annunciation was built, and it is, still today, the highest building of the city, with its own 65,6 metres of height. At the end of the century, we have the introduction of the art of printing, thanks to the literate and ovidian scholar Ercole Ciofano. Ovidio's works were edited and the Chapters of the Tournament were published.