Astesana

For the duration of the municipal period, the territory of Asti is simply defined as posse astensis^[2]: an extremely dynamic and fluid concept, linked to the judicial expansion initiatives of the domain of the city of Asti. Between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century is the definition of "Astisio"^[3], limited only to the territory controlled by a noble consortium made up of families belonging to the vassal clientele of the bishop of Asti; territory today known by the name of "Roero". Although not appearing in written sources, the territorial designation of "Astesana" was probably in common use already during the 13th century, as the local diffusion of the personal name "Astesano" seems to demonstrate at the time.^[4]. In the same period the term "Acquesana" was used to define areas belonging to the diocese of Acqui. During the 14th century, once the territorial structure of Asti had crystallized in an attempt to guarantee its unity and compactness under the various foreign dominations that succeeded the dominion of the Municipality, its designation with a univocal and shared term appeared increasingly evident. "Astesana" therefore appears in the second half of the fourteenth century, during the Visconti domination, to highlight and enucleate the Patria Astensis within the largest and most articulated County of Asti. Already at the time of the domination of Gian Galeazzo Visconti is attested Captaineatus Astesanae, and the subsequent Orleanian lordship, at the end of the 14th century, definitively distinguishes the Astesanae land (lands of Astesana) from captainneatus Claraschi et Braydae (captainship of Cherasco and Bra) and from brandnatus Cevae (marquisate of Ceva) both forming part of the seigneurial jurisdiction of the Asti dominion. During the 15th century the term "Astesana" (also in the French variant of "Astezanne") overlaps with that of "homeland Astese" and "county of Asti" until it took definitive predominance. During the 16th century, especially following the obligation to use the Italian language in the drafting of public documents imposed by Emanuele Filiberto, the variant of "Asteggiana" became established, used until the end of the 18th century. The definitions of the toponyms Villanova in Asteggiana, Buttigliera in Asteggiana, Castelnuovo in Asteggiana, Langhe dell'Asteggiana, etc. date back to this period. Even in the 18th century, the reports of the Intendenti di Finanza exclusively used the variant of "Asteggiana", identifying a "Bassa Asteggiana" on this side of the Tanaro, made up of the districts of San Damiano, Villanova, Buttigliera, Montechiaro and Cocconato" and an "Alta Asteggiana" beyond the Tanaro, made up of the districts of Costigliole, Canelli and Mombercelli. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the scholar Gian Secondo De Canis began to use the variant of "Astigiana" in his studies, which took over definitively over the course of the century. Following the suppression of the Province of Asti in 1860, the territory assumed the status of Circumdarium within the province of Alessandria. It is in this era that the version of "Astigiano" begins to be used, which over the decades will replace the previous one and emptiness of the known identity that were its own.

The list, drawn up in alphabetical order, shows the localities belonging to the territory subjected to the Astigian domination at the time of the maximum expansion of the Municipality.^[5] It is a vast territory, mainly coagulated peacefully thanks to the use of huge capitals and an incessant diplomatic work that lasted over two centuries.^[6]

For a better understanding have been given the names of current municipalities, whose administrative boundaries today often include ancient missing locations and modern spelling has been used. The municipalities are listed by the current Province of membership:

Province of Asti:

Agliano Terme, Altavilla Monferrato, Antignano, Asti, Azzano d'Asti, Baldichieri d'Asti, Belveglio, Bubbio, Buttigliera d'Asti, Calamandrana, Calosso, Calliano, Camerano Casasco, Canelli, Cassinasco, Castagnole delle Lanze, Castagnole Monferrato, Castell'Alfero, Castello di Annone, Castelnuovo Belbo, Castelnuovo Calcea, Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Cellarengo, Cerro Tanaro, Cinaglio, Cisterna d'Asti, Costigliole d'Asti, Coazzolo, Corsione, Cortandone, Cortanze, Cortazzone, Cortiglione, Cossombrato, Cunico, Dusino San Michele, Ferrere, Frinco, Grana Monferrato), Isola d'Asti, Incisa Scapaccino, Loazzolo, Maretto, Masio, Moasca, Mombaldone, Mombercelli, Monale, Mongardino, Montaldo Scarampi), Montafia, Montechiaro d'Asti, Montegrosso d'Asti, Montemagno, Olmo Gentile, Piea, Portacomaro, Refrancore, Revigliasco d'Asti, Roatto, Rocca d'Arazzo, Roccaverano, Rocchetta Palafea, Rocchetta Tanaro, San Damiano d'Asti, San Giorgio Scarampi, San Martino Alfieri, San Marzano Oliveto, San Paolo Solbrito, Scurzolengo, Serole, Sessame, Settime, Sommariva Bosco, Sommariva Perno, Tigliole, Tonco, Vaglio Serra, Valfenera, Vesime, Viale d'Asti, Vigliano d'Asti, Villafranca d'Asti, Villanova d'Asti, Vinchio.

Province of Cuneo:

Bagnasco, Battifollo), Bergolo, Borgomale, Bosia, Bra, Canale, Castagnito), Castelletto Uzzone, Castellinaldo, Castellino Tanaro, Castiglione Falletto, Castiglione Tinella, Castino, Cavallermaggiore, Ceresole d'Alba, Ceva, Cherasco), Cortemilia, Cossano Belbo, Garessio, Felizzano, Gorrino, Govone, Igliano, Lequio Berria, Magliano Alfieri, Mango, Monasterolo, Monchiero, Montà d'Alba, Montaldo Roero, Monteu Roero, Montezemolo, Neive, Neviglie, Niella Tanaro, Novello, Nucetto, Pamparato, Perletto, Pezzolo Valle Uzzone, Piozzo, Pocapaglia, Priero, Priocca, Roascio, Rocchetta Belbo, Saliceto, Sanfrè, San Michele Mondovì, Santa Vittoria d'Alba, Santo Stefano Belbo, Santo Stefano Roero, Torre Bormida, Torresina, Trezzo Tinella.

Province of Alessandria:

Denice, Bergamasco, Ponti, Quattordio, Vignale Monferrato, Carentino.

Province of Turin:

Poirino, Pralormo, Riva near Chieri.

Province of Savona:

Cagna, Lodisio, Murialdo.

A territory so vast was not homogeneous from the political and administrative point of view: within it there were several areas related to the different types of relations that linked the dominant Asti to the peripheral centers and local powers.

On 27 January 1387 Giangaleazzo Visconti, lord of Asti and of Milan, he gave the Astigian lands to his daughter Valentina and son-in-law Luigi di Touraine (later Duke of Orléans), brother of the King Charles VI. A domination began to last, with alternating events, until 1529. The Orleanese administration, which also involved the Astilian lands in European struggles for dominance in Italy, was able to gain trust and loyalty of the subjects thanks to a substantially moderate policy, respectful of the centuries-old local autonomy and committed to relaunching the economy and trade. Under the rule of the Orléans CountyAsti it strengthened its territorial consciousness and its own spirit of belonging, reaching to feel a region with completely original characters compared to the neighboring Piemonte and Monferrato: a proudly defined region "Patria astese".

Compared to the vast municipal state, the Orleanese one, although still very extensive, was the result of significant reductions and subtractions carried out on the initiative of previous dominations, or feudal families of the citizen's patrician. Thus, for example in 1387 the countries of Tonco, Calliano, Vignale Monferrato, Montemagno, Castagnole Monferrato, Cerro Tanaro and Vignale had already belonged to the Marquis of Monferrato, while quite recent it was the subtraction of countries like Castello di Annone, Rocchetta Tanaro, Rocca d'Arazzo, Mombercelli, Vinchio, Castelnuovo Calcea, initially maintained by Giangaleazzo Visconti, then became imperial fiefdoms.

Finally, not a few nominally belonging to the county of Asti were held by lords who did not recognize its authority, providing the pretext for endless, disproportionate and inconclusive claims. Exemplify the case of the very abstinence San Damiano d'Asti, occupied for over two centuries by the marquises of Monferrato, or of Poirino, firmly in the hands of the counts of Savoy.

From 1538, the ancient Orleanese-Astigiano state entered the final possession of Savoy's house in the hands of Duke Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, who assumed the titles of "Conte di Asti e Marquise di Ceva". However, the "piemontization" of the Astigian lands was a very slow phenomenon, also because for a long time the Saudi dukes respected the integrity and administrative structures of the ancient "Actese country" and the Astians, for their part, claimed to every occasion their "alterity" regarding the Piedmontese lands.

It was under the dominion of Carlo Emanuele I of Savoy who began modifications such as to dismantle, in the course of a century, the Astigian state, turning it definitively into the modern Astesana. The first amputations, still at the end of the 16th century, were about Bra and Cherasco as well as the brand of Ceva. Immediately after, almost for compensation, the County of Asti was assigned the ancient, small county of Cocconato, or of the Radicati (from the name of the dominant family) which remained independent until 1586. The lands of Cocconato, Aramengo, Robella, Passerano, Marmorito, Primeglio, Schierano, Capriglio, Bagnasco di Montafia.

In the middle of the 17th century, with the establishment of the Province of Alba, were subtracted to the "Ataste country" most of the municipalities constituting the territory today called "Roero", as well as a series of villages of the high Langa around Cortemilia; after 1709 the creation of the province of Alba Acqui Terme It led to the loss of other countries in the Bormida Valley. A partial integration of what is subtracted, the Astesana would in that time portray the "imperial faiths" removed in ancient times by Giangaleazzo Visconti, but remained astigiani for culture, uses, traditions and trade. It is Mombercelli, Vinchio, Castelnuovo Calcea, Rocca d'Arazzo, Rocchetta Tanaro, Belveglio, Castello d'Annone.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Vittorio Amedeo II's absolutist and centralist policy led to the definitive suppression of the County of Asti, which in the meantime had overlapped the Province that recalculated its borders. It can be said however that the classical Astesana, the one still identifiable and enucleable within the current province of Asti, had its modern layout after 1631, and its definitive borders in 1737, when there were again annexed the "imperial faiths".

These are the municipalities that make up the contemporary Astesana, defined by the territorial integrations mentioned above. From the middle of the 18th century, the territory was conventionally crafted in Alta Astesana, including lands located beyond the right bank of the Tanaro, and in Lower Astesana, consisting of the capital and the lands to the left of the river.

Municipalities of Lower Astesana

Asti, Albugnano, Aramengo, Antignano, Baldichieri d'Asti, Berzano di San Pietro, Buttigliera d'Asti, Camerano Casasco, Cantarana, Capriglio, Castell'Alfero, Castellero, Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Cellarengo, Celle Enomondo, Chiusano d'Asti, Cinaglio, Cistern, Cocconato, Cortandone, Cortanze, Cortazzone, Cossombrato, Dusino San Michele, Ferrere, Frinco, Maretto, Monale, Moncucco Torinese, Montafia, Montechiaro d'Asti, Passerano Marmorito, Piea, Pino d'Asti, Portacomaro, Revigliasco d'Asti, Roatto, Robella, San Damiano d'Asti, San Martino Alfieri, San Paolo Solbrito, Scurzolengo, Settime, Soglio, Tigliole, Tonengo, Vagliarano, Valfenera, Viale d'Asti, Villafranca d'Asti, Villanova d'Asti.

Municipalities of the Upper Astesana

Agliano Terme, Azzano d'Asti, Belveglio, Calosso, Canelli, Castagnole delle Lanze, Castelnuovo Calcea, Coazzolo, Costigliole d'Asti, Isola d'Asti, Moasca, Mombercelli, Mongardino, Montaldo Scarampi, Montegrosso d'Asti, Rocca d'Arazzo, Rocchetta Tanaro, San Marzano Oliveto, Vigliano d'Asti, Vinchio.

The province of Asti was suppressed in 1859 and aggregated to that of Alessandria. The identity of Astesana, however, continued to exist, and indeed to strengthen within the new province, once again as a character of "otherness" and a reason for distinction compared to other lands such as Monferrato or Alessandria. From an administrative point of view it became a "District" maintaining the previous structure. The districts were abolished by law in 1927. In 1935 the province of Asti was restored, but with different borders compared to the old one: the 70 municipalities of the classic Astesana, considered too few to constitute a provincial body on their own, were joined by another 50 municipalities taken from the Upper and Lower Monferrato. Of these, over half had been part of ancient Astesana or the County of Asti, others had never shared its history or institutions before then. Starting after the Second World War, the new province of Asti began to be mistakenly identified with the Monferrato, and the identity of the ancient homeland of Astesana was set aside to the point of almost being lost. The recovery of the ancient and never totally dormant territoriality is a recent phenomenon.

• Asti State Archives (ASAT) KK313, Conti rendered to the Chamber of Accounts of Blois by Giovanni Tinelli, 1387-1389
• ASAT, KK312. Book of ordinary and extraordinary revenue and expenditure from the Asti Treasures, 1387-1389
• ASAT, KK313B, Book of debts and fines, 1387-1389
• ASAT KK314, Count of Giovanni Tinelli ducal treasurer, 1393-1394
• ASAT KK315, Book of fines 1406-1407
• ASAT KK 315B, Fragment of account 1410
• ASAT KK316: Counts of Andrione Ricci treasurer 1429-1432
• ASAT kk317 Counts of Enrico Buneo treasurer 1440-1443
• ASAT KK318 Counts of Enrico Buneo, 1443-1445
• ASAT KK318B Book of Expenditure of Asti Treasure, 1447-1448
• ASAT KK318C Book of income and exits of the ducal treasury (fragment) 1448
• ASAT KK319 Book of accounts by Benedetto Damiani ducal treasurer, 1459-1460
• ASAT KK320 Book of accounts by Andrea Damiani 1461-1462
• ASAT KK421 Book of accounts by Andrea Damiani 1463-1464
• ASAT KK526 Book of accounts by Andrea Damiani, 1473-1475
• ASAT KK527 Book of accounts by Andrea Damiani, 1477-1478
• ASAT KK528 Book of accounts by Carlo Damiani 1481-1482
• ASAT KK529 Book of accounts by Carlo Damiani 1498-1499
• ASAT KK321C Book of accounts by Gerolamo Malabaila, 1517-1529
• Claude Buffier, Universal Geography of the father Claudio Buffier/of the Society of Jesus/ translated from French to Italian / nona edition etc. etc., Venice 1767
• Gian Secondo De Canis, The Modern Astigiana , 1815, manuscript available at the Astense Library - Asti, ms II, 22
• Gian Secondo De Canis, The ancient Astigiana, 1815, manuscript at the Astense Library ms II, 21
• Gian Secondo De Canis, Astigian Corography, 1816, manuscript at the Astense Library, ms.II, 20
• Serafino Grassi, History of the city of Asti, 1817, reprint 1993
• Pietro Vayra, A year of public life of the municipality of Asti- 1441, Turin, 1889
• Ferdinando Gabotto, Life in Asti at the time of Giovan Giorgio Alione, Asti, 1899
• Pietro Savio, City statutes of Villanova d'Asti, Rome, 1934
• V. Forghieri, "Asti and French politics in Lombardy from 1422 to 1461" Magazine of history, art and archaeology Alessandria and Asti, XLV 1936
• Blythe A. Raviola: The most accurate intention - Giuseppe Amedeo Corte di Bonvicino and the report of the political economic state of the Asteggiana in 1786, Turin, 2004.
• Renato Bordone, The historian Gian Secondo de Canis and his "statistical description of the Province of Asti", Asti, 1976.
• Renato Bordone, "Asti provincial capital and heritage of a medieval state", in Society and History, 1989.
• Renato Bordone, Proposal for a reading of the Astigian Choir by Gian Secondo de Canis, Asti, 1977.
• Giovanni Francesco Balduini di Santa Margherita, General Report of the Instituto d'Asti on the state of the Province- 1750-1753, edited by Società di Studi Astesi, Asti, 2010