Numerazione dei Fuochi Valle del Sangro: a Census of 1447

In March 1443 King of Naples Alfonso I of Aragona ordered a tax reform, based on a per-head tribute called "focatico" that required a census of all the families with their members. The only books left of that census seem to be one for the Valle di Sangro and another for Calabria Ulteriore.

Surnames recorded

Also available a list of all the Surnames appearing in 1447.

The book of the Valle di Sangro, over 600 pages, was extensively studied by Nunzio Fererico Faraglia in the late 1800, and an essay, Numerazione dei Fuochi della Valle del Sangro (available in the Province Library of Chieti), was published in 1898. After that date, according to information released by the State Archive of Naples, the original manuscript was lost somehow and as of 2018 is still missing, therefore Faraglia's essay, though a secondary source, is the only extant trace of that Numerazione. The villages and towns included in the Numerazione belong to southern Abruzzo, to the Provinces of Chieti, Aquila, and some also to the provinces of Benevento and Isernia.

Notes

the Deputati and Sindici were the officers or authorities performing the survey;
fuochi= plural of fuoco, which was the per head unit for the tax, coresponded to all the individuals living under a same roof, a fiscal equivalent of "family";
anime= inhabitants.
massarii= landowners and prominent members of the community.

1447 Census in the Provinces of Benevento and Isernia

1447 Census in the Province of L'Aquila

1447 Census in the Province of Chieti

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