Editing Apulia (section)

==History==

[[File:Castel del Monte - Andria.jpg|thumb|[[Castel del Monte (Apulia)|Castel del Monte]], built by the [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|King of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II]] between 1240 and 1250 in [[Andria, Italy|Andria]]]]
[[File:Ostuni col drone.jpg|thumb|The medieval town of [[Ostuni]]]]

=== Antiquity ===
Human settlement in Apulia dates back to at least 250,000 years ago, as evidenced by the fossil remains of the [[Altamura Man]], an archaic form of [[Neanderthal]]. There are numerous finds from the prehistoric era, including several [[menhir]] and [[dolmen]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-10-27 |title=Dolmen e Menhir di Puglia |url=http://geocities.com/liceo_livio/archeo/iperPuglia/dolmen_e_menhir_di_puglia.htm |access-date=2024-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027121059/http://geocities.com/liceo_livio/archeo/iperPuglia/dolmen_e_menhir_di_puglia.htm |archive-date=27 October 2009}}</ref>

Around the 1st millennium BC, the [[Iapygians]] settled in the territory with the tribes of the [[Daunians]], the [[Peucetians]] and the [[Messapians]], as well as the populations of the Calabri and the Sallentini (both settled in [[Salento]]); later, in the Hellenic era, the [[Magna Graecia]] colonies were quite numerous, especially in the southern part of the region, including the city of [[Taras, Taranto|Taras]], now [[Taranto]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-24 |title=History of Puglia |url=https://www.castellodiugento.com/castle-in-puglia/history-of-puglia/ |access-date=2024-05-12 |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the second [[Samnites|Samnite]] war (326–304 BC), the [[Roman army]], in an attempt to provide relief to [[Lucera]], besieged by the Samnites, suffered a serious defeat in the [[Battle of the Caudine Forks]], in 321 BC. Rome soon understood the strategic importance of ''Apulia'' (corresponding only to the central-northern part of present-day Apulia, while the [[Salento Peninsula]] was known as ''Calabria'' in that period), but the occupation of the region, in the third century BC, was not easy, especially for the resistance of Tarentum and Brundisium. In 216 BC in [[Barletta|Cannae]] the Roman army suffered its worst defeat against [[Hannibal]]'s [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=II GUERRA SANNITICA (326-304 a.c.) |url=https://www.romanoimpero.com/2020/08/ii-guerra-sannitica-326-304-ac.html |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=romanoimpero.com}}</ref>

The Roman [[Province of Apulia and Calabria]] was then established, which also included [[Irpinia]]. With the construction of the [[Appian Way]] and, in the imperial era, of the [[Via Traiana]] along which cities such as [[Troia, Apulia|Troia]], [[Ordona]], [[Gravina in Puglia|Gravina]], [[Canosa di Puglia|Canosa]], [[Ruvo di Puglia|Ruvo]] and [[Bitonto]] prospered. The region occupied leading positions in the production of grain and oil, becoming the largest exporter of olive oil in the East.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-05-17 |title=Spazi geografici della Storia Romana: Apulia et Calabria |url=http://www.telemaco.unibo.it/rom/italia/apulia1.htm |access-date=2024-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517124845/http://www.telemaco.unibo.it/rom/italia/apulia1.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>

=== Middle Ages and Renaissance period ===
At the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]], Apulia also went through a long period of suffering. [[Heruli]] and [[Ostrogoths]] invaded the territory, but in the end it became the dominion of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], from the 6th to the 11th century except for a brief partial occupation of the region by the [[Emirate of Bari]]. Bari became the capital of a territory extending up to present-day [[Basilicata]] and subjected to the authority of a [[Catepanate of Italy|Catepanate]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lovelli |first=Giampiero |date=2013-09-11 |title=La Puglia bizantina |url=https://www.imperobizantino.it/la-puglia-bizantina/ |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=Impero Romano d'Oriente 330-1453 la sua storia |language=it-IT}}</ref> With the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|advent of the Normans]] in the 11th century, Taranto became the capital of the [[Principality of Taranto]], which extended across the entire [[Terra di Otranto]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arrivano i Normanni |url=https://www.sullaviadelsalento.it/la-storia/il-basso-medioevo/arrivano-i-normanni.html |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=www.sullaviadelsalento.it}}</ref>

In 1043 the Normans founded the county of Apulia which in 1059 merged into the vast [[County of Apulia and Calabria]], whose borders progressively extended up to in [[Principality of Salerno]]. From 1130 it became part of the [[Kingdom of Sicily]]. In the 13th century the name Apulia was used by some authors to indicate the southern part of the Italian peninsula. During the Sicilian domination Apulia achieved great material and civil progress, which reached its peak with [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], who was responsible for the construction of a series of secular and religious buildings, some of high artistic value, including [[Castel del Monte, Apulia|Castel del Monte]], near [[Andria]]. During this period [[Foggia]] became one of his residences. From 1282, following the separation of the island of Sicily from the rest of the south of the peninsula, Apulia was under the rule of the [[Kingdom of Naples]], from that moment the power of the landowners began to take root in the territory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Puglia - Treccani |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/puglia_(Enciclopedia-dei-ragazzi)/,%20https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/puglia_(Enciclopedia-dei-ragazzi)/ |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=Treccani |language=it}}</ref>

=== Early modern period ===
From the middle of the 18th century the region of Apulia experienced a period of strong economic prosperity and excellent development of trade and agriculture. Between 1806 and 1815, during the [[Napoleonic era]], provided the modernization of Apulia with the abolition of feudalism and judicial reforms until the return of the Bourbons and the birth of the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]. Liberal movements were formed throughout the region in 1820 with the spread of [[Freemasonry]] and  [[Carbonari]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-06 |title=La Puglia ai tempi dei Borboni (1734 - 1861) |url=https://www.algrama.it/cultura/la-puglia-ai-tempi-dei-borboni-1734-1861/ |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=Algramà |language=it-IT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=La Carboneria |url=https://www.triplov.com/Venda_das_Raparigas/carbonaria_italiana/daniele_failli/introduzione.htm |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=www.triplov.com}}</ref>

With the [[Kingdom of Italy]] established in 1861, Apulia was administratively divided into the provinces of Foggia, Bari and Lecce; to these were added in the twentieth century the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto. In the period following the unification of Italy, various brigand gangs arose, especially in Capitanata and Terra di Bari; among the major exponents are Michele Caruso, Antonio Angelo Del Sambro and Giuseppe Schiavone, the latter a faithful lieutenant of the Lucanian brigand leader [[Carmine Crocco]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Il Risorgimento in terra di Puglia |url=https://www.garibaldini.org/2011/02/il-risorgimento-in-terra-di-puglia/ |access-date=2024-05-12 |language=it-IT}}</ref>

=== Modern period ===
With the progressive decline of the [[latifundium]], the ancient Apulian farms, properties of medium agricultural size, also decayed. During [[Italian fascism|fascism]], Apulia was affected by numerous land reclamations in vast areas and, following the post-war agrarian reform, the region enjoyed strong agricultural development.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-27 |title=Il Fascismo, il Salento e l'amara disillusione |url=https://www.quotidianodipuglia.it/cultura/salento_fascista_ettore_bambi_marcia_roma_libro-7014329.html |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=www.quotidianodipuglia.it |language=it}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s the economy of the region moved from the primary sector to the tertiary one, with notable development coming from the tourism sector.<ref>{{Cite web |title=L'agricoltura della Puglia nel XX secolo - Giuseppe Colombo - Libro - Meridiana Libri - Meridiana Libri. Scenari {{!}} IBS |url=https://www.ibs.it/agricoltura-della-puglia-nel-xx-libro-giuseppe-colombo/e/9788886175722?inventoryId=52700451&queryId=b2d9389a9a00c90cc47fdf81345eba97 |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=www.ibs.it |language=it}}</ref>