Historical development and transformation

The toponym of Civita, from which Civitella derives, indicates an ancient town settlement, or a village built on the site of existing settlements. Human presence on the high ground where Civitella stands today, is testified from the late Middle Ages thanks to a series of archaeological finds during the second half of the 19th century, of which the only remains are some reports and lists of objects found in Longobard warrior graves.
On the other hand, identification of this area with the place where the roman village of Beregra stood has not been checked and confirmed. The first reliable historical information dates back to the beginning of the 11th century, when Civitella (Tibitella) appears in an act of donation to the Abbey of Montecassino and, in the second half of the same century, in a similar document in favour of the bishop of Ascoli. In any case, these are only sporadic pieces of information which do not allow either the layout of the village or any possible fortifications of Civitella to be outlined.
With the conquest and destruction of Teramo (1153), annexation of the lands of Abruzzo to the Norman Kingdom of Sicily was completed, and so a northern frontier was created, which was to remain unchanged for centuries. Some sources indicate the existence of a small fort linked to the town in the first half of the 12th century whereas, by interpreting some of the following documents, it can be learnt that Civitella was part of a feud held by Robert, Count of Aprutium, and that the community probably consisted of 72 fuochi (families), and was therefore of rather limited size.
After the death of William II, the Swabian Emperor Arrigo VI arrived in Italy (1194) to take possession of the Norman kingdom, which belonged to his wife Costanza by hereditary rights. During the first half of the following century, characterized by Swabian domination and, above all, by the important role played by Frederick II, there is no evidence regarding Civitella. However, there is a document recording an attack on the village in 1255, after which Civitella had to surrender to the town of Ascoli. This mentions a castle which the aggressors had started to demolish once the town had been taken and who were stopped by Pope Alexander IV intervening. The presence of the castle was confirmed some years later, when Charles I - the first Angevin king - ordered work to be done to strengthen the fortifications.
During the first half of the 14th century under the reign of Robert d’Angiò, and in a period of great expansion, many important buildings were put up in the town, such as the new Town Hall, the monastery of S. Francesco, the nunnery of S. Chiara and Santa Maria degli Angeli. The key function of Civitella's northern boundary were also strengthened by Alphonso I, the first Aragonese king, who ordered (1445) a new fortress to be built to replace the existing castle, and the neighbouring communities were obliged to contribute to this construction. The important role Civitella played was also recognised by the heirs of Alphonso I, who granted continual and considerable privileges to the town.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the kingdom of Naples was annexed to the kingdom of Spain and was ruled over by viceroys for more than 200 years. Some of the works at the Town Hall date from this period.
Following an unsuccessful siege of the town by French troops (1557), numerous restoration works to the buildings damaged by artillery became necessary.
The Spanish king, Philip II, aware of the strategic role played by Civitella, promoted a great deal of modernisation work on the old Aragonese fortress, which thus took on its almost final layout (1574).
By the end of the century, 892 fuochi (families) were recorded in Civitella, but during the following 70 years these were reduced to 733, and were down to 588 in 1736, at the beginning of Bourbon period.
By the end of the 18th century (1798) and in the first few years of the 19th century (1806), the town was again subjected to sieges by Napoleonic troops aiming to destroy the fortress. The first siege ended in a bloodless surrender, whereas the second caused serious damage to the town because of heavy artillery fire by the besiegers.
The final chapter in the history of the town fortress was, however, written in 1861, when, after some months of siege and a final artillery attack, the Piedmontese troops made the fortress inhabitants surrender.
Civitella was the last stronghold of the Bourbon kingdom to fall. After this event, the fortress structures were demolished, and from that time on Civitella lost its military role. In fact, with the arrival of the new Italian State, Civitella lost its connotation of città di frontiera (border town) which had characterised it for at least 6 centuries.