ASPECTS OF ECONOMIC LIFE IN FRANCOLISE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES

Francolise is a small farm and thermal town that rises on the right bank of the river Volturno, in the territory of Calvi Risorta, in the province of Caserta. It is well known above all for its embattled castle dating back to about the thirteenth century and for the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie where the wooden sculpture of the Madonna del Castello (fourteenth century) and the painting of the Madonna del Cardellino (fifteenth century) are kept. Among the past evidence, there are the ruins of two Roman Villas inhabited from the second century B.C. to the second century A.D. In 787 Charlemagne, king of the Franks, passed near the ancient town leading his mighty army to Capua. The presence of farmers mainly specialized in cereal growing has been important in the territory since the second half of the fifteenth century.