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THE "BATTLE OF CERIGNOLA (1503)" ON "POPULAR ARCHAEOLOGY USA" (by LUCIANO MAGALDI SARDELLA) SOURCE 1: https://popular-archaeology.com/author/sardella/ SOURCE 2: https://popular-archaeology.com/article/the-2026-battlefield-archaeology-of-the-battle-of-cerignola-1503/ -------------------------------------------------------------------- CERIGNOLA (FG) — On April 28, 1503, at sunset, a shallow trench cut between the vineyards outside Cerignola rendered heavy cavalry obsolete. For five centuries, its exact location has only been conjectured, its archaeology ignored, its most important sources never translated into English. We are on the Tavoliere of Puglia, a corridor of battles for two thousand years: from Cannae in 216 BC to the falcon hunt of Frederick II from Torre Alemanna. Cerignola, at that time, was not a city but a rural village of 350 families at 120 meters above sea level, custodian of the Mena della Dogana delle Pecore, the great pastoral system of transhumance that financed the Kingdom of Naples. Its possession was fiercely contested. Facing each other were two worlds. Louis d’Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, Viceroy of Naples for Louis XII, in his thirties, splendidly armored, confident of victory. On the other side was Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the Gran Capitán, who on April 27-28 marched from Barletta with about 9,000 exhausted men and decided to settle on a low ridge. He deepened what was already there: not an invention, but an agricultural ditch. The French gendarmes, the last heirs of the medieval knight, lowered their lances and never reached the line. From behind a parapet reinforced with vine stakes, over 1,000 Spanish arquebusiers opened fire. Nemours fell, almost certainly the first European army commander to die from a portable firearm. With him, the charge of cavalry as a dominant tactic died. And here is the scandal denounced by the article: no cartographer of the 17th-18th centuries ever mapped the battlefield. No monument commemorates it. It is not protected as a cultural landscape under the Code of Cultural Heritage. Every deep plowing of the Tavoliere, standard practice since the Bourbon reforms, destroys an archaeology never recorded. Yet the perimeter can be reconstructed. By cross-referencing the 16th-century descriptions of "vine-covered slopes fifteen miles north of the Ofanto" with the Via Traiana, the engagement area is a rectangle of 3-4 square kilometers northeast of the current settlement. With the 1m LiDAR DTM from ISPRA, it could reveal anomalous linear depressions, and the lower filling of a ditch 2-3 meters deep, under the plowed layer, is still readable with magnetometry and ground radar. Why did we arrive late? Not for lack of sources, but for lack of translation. The Municipality of Cerignola and the Torre Alemanna Research and Study Center of Prof. Matteo Stuppiello, who in 1978 obtained the first monumental protection for Torre Alemanna, have digitized a corpus that has never entered Anglophone historiography. Here are the 3 pillars: 1. The letter that still smells of gunpowder. The “Letter from Consalvo de Córdoba to the Spanish royals dated April 29, 1503,” edited by Stuppiello in 2003 and updated to 2025 on comune.cerignola.fg.it/biblioteche-digitali. A handwritten page written in Cerignola the day after the battle, “rich in flashes, twilight lights, and gunfire.” Not a polished chronicle like that of Giovio, but a field dispatch: the fatigue of the night march, the decision to entrench upon arrival, the recovery and honorable burial of Nemours, the intact capture of the French artillery. 2. The graffiti, a monument inside the monument. In the 14th-century church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, known as the Incoronatella, on the Via Trinitapoli Vecchia, where tradition holds that the body of Nemours was brought. On the triumphal arch, a 1503 graffiti gives, in almost notarized form, the date, sixth indiction, Friday at the hour XXIII-XXIIII. It was indeed Friday, as confirmed by the perpetual calendar of Cappelli. Decoded in 1995 by Prof. Francesco Magistrale, Latin paleographer at the University of Bari, in *The Battle of Cerignola (1993)* and in the municipal monograph *S.M. delle Grazie (1999)*. Today it is fading due to humidity and neglect. 3. The land registry that explains the ditch. The Survey of 1672 preserved at the State Archive of Naples, Pignatelli Aragona Cortes fund, Scanzia 63, fasc.1: “At the time of the battle, thick vineyards covered the hill reaching to the plain, and were distinctly separated from the rest of the countryside by a not very deep ditch.” Córdoba did not improvise; he adapted. This is confirmed by the catasti of the Giustiniani: 277 households in 1532, 699 in 1595. The landscape of 1503 was intensely horticultural, not the deeply plowed monoculture of today. In addition to these, there is the first monograph by Vincenzo Buonassisi, *The Battle of Cerignola* (1908, died in Via Fanfulla 10 on June 27, 1928), and the first modern military analysis by Piero Pieri, “Consalvo de Córdoba and the Battle of Cerignola,” Archivio Storico Pugliese 1952, which 30 years before the Anglophone rediscovery of the “pike-and-shot” defined Cerignola as an engineered killing ground. While Cerignola forgot, others remembered. The “Regimiento de Infantería Cerinola n.42”, later “Fuerteventura n.56”, carried the name of Cerignola until the 20th century. The coat of arms, described in *Heraldica e Historiales del Ejercito, Tomo V” (Madrid, 1981): silver field, dying white swan entangled in a hedge, golden wall crown, with the scroll “Cerignola.” Dossier officially transmitted on April 30, 1986, prot. 4565/509, from the Servicio Histórico Militar of Madrid to the Torre Alemanna Center thanks to Col. Alessio Antonutti and Gen. José Cifuentes. And in Amsterdam, at the Rijksmuseum, the anonymous bronze commemorative medal: Hercules with lion skin and club and Janus with the keys next to an eagle-armed coat of arms, legend “Consalvus Agidarius… Janum clausit,” on the reverse a battle scene “Consalvi Agidari Victoria de Gallis ad Cannas,” an artist's mistake that confuses Cerignola with Cannae. It belonged to Mrs. J.M. van Gelder-Nijhoff, donated in 1885. The author's conclusion is clear: Gonzalo's ditch is the most consequential earthwork in European military history. It inaugurates the infantry armed with firearm and conditions the Mediterranean for 160 years. It may still be there, filled, plowed, invisible to the naked eye but accessible to a magnetometer. It is not a matter of medieval archaeology but of the will to protect. (translated)

Rita Cavallaro wrote that the Prosecutor's Office of Pavia was investigating the death of Giovanni Ferri, a retiree found dead in 2010 and neighbor of Sempio. The journalist reported that the investigators were looking for DNA traces on the knife that the mechanic allegedly used to cut his throat and wrist, describing the case as a suicide that was turning into another murder. https://t.co/Gtjd3OcGDH #Garlasco #omicidio #giustizia (translated)

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Ultimora.net reported incidents of intimidation during the protest of truck drivers in Campania: between Naples and Caserta, trucks with cut tires were reportedly seen to prevent drivers from working. In Teano, the blocking of the highway toll booth had left several truck drivers stranded for three days. The Deputy Minister of Transport Rixi had requested the removal of the blockades, arguing that they were creating problems for citizens, especially for supplies to hospitals and supermarkets. He also expressed concern about the infiltration of organized gangs unrelated to the trucking sector. #Protesta #Trasporti #Campania (translated)

Ultimora.net reported that the new Highway Code, approved by the Council of Ministers and set to come into force on January 1, 2028, will introduce stricter rules for pedestrians. According to the site, before crossing at crosswalks, they should check that drivers have seen them and are ready to stop; they should not change direction abruptly or dash while crossing. The site also listed other prohibitions: crossing intersections diagonally, weaving between parked cars, crossing outside the crosswalks at roundabouts or in front of stopped buses and trams, popping out suddenly and crossing near curves and bumps outside built-up areas. On unlit roads outside of built-up areas, at night it would be necessary to make oneself visible with lights or reflective devices. In the absence of crosswalks, underpasses, or overpasses, or if the crosswalks were at least 100 meters away, pedestrians should give way to vehicles and cross perpendicularly. In the absence of sidewalks, they should walk against the direction of traffic, while using skates and boards on sidewalks would be prohibited. Ultimora.net added that the penalty for using a phone while crossing would be eliminated and that violations could result in fines of 25 to 160 euros. #CodicedellaStrada #SicurezzaStradale #Pedoni (translated)

Actu Foot reported, citing L’Équipe, that Paulo Fonseca was considering repositioning Ruben Kluivert to a side with OL, due to the injuries of Tagliafico and Ouédraogo. According to the media, the coach indicated that Kluivert could play on the right or left and would choose the best option. Fonseca also believed that the Dutch player provided security in defense and was very fast in duels. #OL #RubenKluivert #Ligue1 (translated)

Giovanni Zibordi wrote that Elon Musk had asked Zelensky to step down. He added that, in his opinion, in Ukraine the Internet depended on Starlink, after the Russians had destroyed the stations, and he suggested that Musk could interrupt the service. #ElonMusk #Zelensky #Ucraina #UA #RU (translated)

The heirs of Alberdi stated that Axel Kicillof, when asked if he wanted to be president, dodged the question for two and a half minutes without answering directly. He also referred to him as "the candidate Lizzy Tagliani." https://t.co/3pI8C9Jowz #Kicillof #PolíticaArgentina #Elecciones2023 (translated)

A federal judge has blocked tree removal work in Washington's historic park after 430 trees were cut down in one day, against the wishes of residents and petitioners who denounce the removal of even healthy and historic trees, sparking protests against the project sought by Donald Trump. #Washington #arboricoltura #proteste (translated)

Raffaele Ceresa wrote that Filo Rosso did not surpass 2% and criticized the host's compensation. He argued that Paolo Corsini, the director of in-depth analysis, should have been fired for cutting four episodes of Report on Rai3, while the reruns, which he claimed were free, had achieved triple ratings. He added that the problem was Sigfrido Ranucci. https://t.co/uQzeWGSyWx #TV #Giornalismo #Opinione (translated)

We also want new priorities to be funded, a point raised by Giorgia Meloni while speaking at the Assolombarda assembly: “We also want new priorities to be funded” within the multiannual budget of the EU, including “competitiveness,” but “resources cannot be found by cutting cohesion and agricultural policy, which are prerequisites for competitiveness.” #BilancioEuropeo #CommissineUE #PoliticaAgricola (translated)

Cambiacasacca wrote that the United States had withdrawn from the Paris Agreement and provocatively asked who, instead, had followed the accord, penalizing themselves and, according to him, causing the failure of entire industrial sectors and putting companies and citizens in difficulty. To refer to these people, he used an insulting expression. #AccordoDiParigi #Clima #Economia (translated)

Maddalena Loy had recalled a phrase attributed to Goebbels about the repetition of lies and had defined the accusation from the opposition that the Meloni government had cut funding for public health as false. Loy had contested the data from the Gimbe Foundation, led by Nino Cartabellotta, on the 18.8 billion euros of “invisible cuts.” According to her reconstruction, the figure did not indicate resources taken away from hospitals but the difference compared to what would have been allocated had the ratio between the national health fund and GDP of 2022 remained unchanged. She argued that Gimbe’s headline had led publications like Repubblica to present the figure as an actual loss and called that interpretation a political attack on the government. In comparing allocations, Loy pointed out an increase of 8.2 billion euros between 2011 and 2019, under the Monti, Letta, Renzi, Gentiloni, and Conte governments; of 11.6 billion euros between 2019 and 2022, during the Conte government; and of 17.5 billion euros between 2022 and 2026, with the Meloni government, which would raise the fund from 125.4 to 142.9 billion euros. She described the latter as the largest accounting increase in peacetime. Loy also mentioned monthly increases of around 400 euros for doctors, peaking at 600 euros, a plan to hire 1,000 doctors and 6,300 nurses, coverage of over 2,000 new services, and a flat tax of 15% on overtime for doctors and nurses. She finally contested the statements of Senator Castellone on L’Aria che tira regarding cuts to healthcare. #SanitàPubblica #GovernoMeloni #FakeNews (translated)

Giovanni Zibordi wrote that Trump had asked Ukraine to change president, referring to Zelensky's departure. He added that, according to him, the English front pages reported a threat from Trump to withdraw U.S. satellite support for Ukraine. #Trump #Ucraina #Zelensky #UA (translated)