Lands of the Rangoni family

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Lands of the Rangoni family

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Lands of the Rangoni family

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The rise of the Rangoni family is inextricably linked to the figure of Jacopino Rangoni, captain of fortune and trusted man of the Este family, but the rise of the family was achieved above all thanks to the support the Rangoni family offered to the Este family for the conquest of the Modenese territory in the first half of the 14th century.

Jacopino Rangoni received the possessions of Castelvetro from Pope John XXII in 1330, then the family's domains extended to Levizzano (1342), Spilamberto (1353), Campiglio (1358) and Castelnuovo (1391).
In 1453, Borso d'Este renewed the investiture to the Rangoni, appointing the brothers Ugo, Venceslao, Uguccione and Guido I as lords of the entire territory at the same time; it was not long before the quarrels between the four became bitter, forcing the Este family to proclaim a 'dividing sentence' in 1468. The large territory was to be divided into three areas of influence. Castelvetro to be united with Levizzano and the territories near Bomporto; Castelnuovo to be united with Campiglio and Spilamberto with its appurtenances to form the third part of the Marquisate.
The family's power was definitively weakened with the advent of Napoleon, but today it is possible to retrace the family's history through the buildings and other traces still visible in our territory.

Stages

The Rangoni Fortress
A defensive building in the area closest to the Panaro river was probably already present at the time of the establishment of the town of Spilamberto, in 1210, and this building probably controlled the border with the Bolognese territory formed by the river. The layout of the Fortress was later modified at various times in Spilamberto's history, with part of the external fortifications being built immediately after the arrival of the Rangoni family in Spilamberto (1353) and painted with fake architecture, coats of arms and decorations (now practically disappeared), as revealed by investigations carried out during restoration work. Inside, the current courtyard had a defensive tower (the perimeter of which is now identifiable thanks to some metal inserts visible on the pavement) and two buildings, of which a raised and red-framed entrance can still be identified.
The loggias of the courtyard and the construction of a first winter apartment (at the level of what is now the mezzanine floor) date back to 1479, on the occasion of the marriage between Nicolò Rangoni and Bianca Bentivoglio. Only a few traces of the rich decorative apparatus are visible in the Fortress today. The last transformation of the Fortress into a 'vague palace' is due to Guido III Rangoni and dates back to the years after 1641. In particular, a second floor was built to house the apartments of the Marquis together with Vittoria Bentivoglio and later their son Filippo. The decorations celebrating the sumptuous wedding between Filippo and Anna Teresa are still visible today on the façade of the Fortress facing the village and inside the courtyard.
The rooms on the second floor, developed according to the ‘enfilade’ fashion, where parts of the decorations can still be seen, were richly furnished, connected by a gallery and had two small chapels.
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Village of Castelvetro
The village has very ancient origins: it was already inhabited in Etruscan times, probably due to its favourable position, and then in Roman times when it was probably enclosed by a ring of walls and during which the main roads were built.
During the Middle Ages, the village was fortified and some traces of the oldest walls, dating back to the year 1000, have been found in the northern area.
The walls had eleven towers, five of which survive, three of which only partially: the Archer’s Tower today visible in Via Cavedoni and two towers with part of a section of wall still visible from the car park in Via Cialdini. Following a violent earthquake in 1501, the Rangoni family built a new residential palace to replace an earlier, probably more modest building. The palace became famous for the festivities they held there, but also for trade; the rooms with wooden ceilings were richly decorated.
The Palace is also remembered for having hosted the poet Torquato Tasso in 1564. The Palace was connected to a private chapel, which was also extended in 1501 and later used as a community church. Today it houses the ‘Fili d'Oro a Palazzo’ exhibition.
In the area in front of the Palace there was a garden with a small oratory, which was removed at the end of the 19th century to allow for the building of the new church. The walls of the village were finally removed in 1877.
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Levizzano Castle
The presence of a castle in Levizzano, a fortification enclosed by a ring of walls, is documented from the first half of the 11th century and was included in 1038 among the properties of Boniface III, Margrave of Tuscany, father of Matilde di Canossa. Within the fortified enclosure, there was a chapel dedicated to Saints Adalbert and Antoninus and a square-shaped tower that served both as a sighting and signalling tower and as the master’s residence. It was probably used as a structure for those who directly administered the castle on behalf of the Canossa family, but it had been used with the same function even before their rule by the emissaries of the Bishop of Modena who controlled the territory of Levizzano.
In 1115 Levizzano passed to the Da Levizzano family, who expanded the number of buildings in the castle enclosure, constructing an initial nucleus of the Palace in the area in front of the tower. In 1342, the Da Levizzano sold the estate to the sons of Jacopino Rangoni. The Palace was then used by the Rangoni family, who restored it after the earthquake of 1501: on this occasion, the rooms in which the paintings are still preserved and depict coats of arms and country scenes were decorated.
From the 19th century onwards, the Palace was used as a school and kindergarten and the structure was considerably modified. Its interior houses the ‘Rosso Graspa’ Museum dedicated to the rural civilisation of the area.
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Village of Campiglio
The history of Campiglio developed independently, although today it is part of the municipal territory of Vignola.
Campiglio is first mentioned in 1043, and from the following century the powerful Da Campiglio family (who held power over the surrounding territory) and the presence of a fortification are mentioned. With the extinction of the Da Campiglio family, the territory passed under the control of the Rangoni family in 1358. The defensive walls had a pentagonal shape with five towers, two of which are still visible today: one was adapted as a bell tower and is located in front of the entrance to the church dedicated to St Michael Archangel, while the second was incorporated into the church itself and has the typical defensive architecture of the early 15th century.
In 1494, the Duke of Este granted the possibility of holding a market in Campiglio: on the Sunday after Easter and on the first of August. In the following centuries, the Campiglio market is remembered above all for the trade in silkworms coming from the Apennines. Campiglio maintained its autonomy until the arrival of Napoleon's troops in the area, when it became part of the Vignola territory.
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