Piedimonte

Piedimonte, identified here with Piedimonte Matese, lies at the foot of the Matese mountains above the Alife plain. Streams supplied water for mills and workshops, while roads connected the town with the wider Neapolitan countryside.

The Gaetani family governed the town for centuries, and their relations with the community were regulated by statutes and later agreements. Woollen cloth production grew under their lordship, reaching a high point between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The neighbouring quarter of Vallata sought greater representation in town government, producing repeated disputes before an agreement in the eighteenth century.