Ripassare l'inglese ... con la storia di Braulins

Braulins e il Brancot dal ponte (foto D. Tomat)

Navigando sulla rete si possono sempre fare delle singolari scoperte. Per esempio un pezzo sulla storia medioevale italiana, scritto in inglese, che fa un cenno alle vicende di Braulins.
Può essere un utile esercizio di ripasso per gli studenti?

The Patriarchate of Aquileia and the County of Gorizia



The Patriarchate of Aquileia had enjoyed temporal power over the lands of Friuli since 1077, when the King of the Germans Henry IV had divided the lands of the March of Verona, assigning Friuli to Patriarch Sieghard of Beilstein. Later, the Patriarchate had expanded northwards towards the Cadore area and eastwards in Istria, enjoying periods of significant prosperity, notwithstanding the frequent earthquakes that damaged some of its cities, especially Aquileia, that had been steadily decaying for centuries and whose role had been taken over by Udine and Cividale (Forum Iulii).


The Patriarchs had however recently lost some of their power in favor of Henry, Count of Gorizia, who had come to usurp temporal power over most of Friuli and had controlled for a time Treviso and Padua, even inflicting a serious defeat to the Veronese at Bassanello in 1320. Henry had however died unexpectedly in 1323, being succeeded by his infant son John Henry, under the tutorship of his mother, the shrewd Beatrix von Wittelsbach, and of his uncle Albert II and, after his death in 1325, his sons Meinhard, Albert and Henry.


The dynastic uncertainty surrounding the House of Gorizia favored a comeback from the Patriarchate, in the person of the octogenarian, but able and energetic, Patriarch Bertrand de saint Geniès, who took office in 1334. Bertrand engaged in a politic of reforms and activism, aimed at regaining the influence and temporal power lost over the last few decades. He proved initially successful in curbing the power of local knights and nobles, in particular against Rizzardo III da Camino, whom he defeated in battle and whose lands were confiscated, bringing back Patriarchal authority over the mountain areas of Cadore. In 1335 Bertrand started a dispute with the Count of Gorizia and his tutors over the ownership of the villages of Venzone, Braulins and Cormons.

The dispute soon degenerated to armed skirmishes and the skirmishes to open warfare, with Patriarchine forces quickly capturing Venzone. Bertrand personally commanded his army and reportedly officiated Mass in the conquered town while wearing a full set of armor. The Gorizians, notwithstanding the help they received from the city of Cividale (offended for being spurned by the Patriarch in Udine's favor), where in grave difficulties, so in 1336 they resolved themselves to ask for Veronese help, counting on the alliance that had some years before been suggellated by the marriage between Agnese di Gorizia and Alberto II della Scala.

(https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/stairway-to-glory-a-late-medieval-italy-tl.384804/)


Intanto, sempre sulla storia di Braulins,  c'è da segnalare che la preziosa monografia storica "Il castello di Bragolino" di Giacomo Baldissera, pubblicata su Pagine Friulane e poi in volumetto nel 1895 (introvabile), ristampata dopo il terremoto a cura dei volontari che operarono a Braulins (ormai introvabile anch'essa) è stata riedita dal nipote Fausto Baldissera in un testo che, alla versione originale, affianca alcuni aggiornamenti  arricchiti anche da fotografie e mappe esplicative.
Il libro è stato autopubblicato dall'autore nel circuito ilmiolibro.it

Salita al castello

Ipotesi ricostruzione struttura castello

(Foto da: http://digilander.libero.it/hitech1984/braulins4.html )