THE VARANGIANS
A Short History of the Verrengia Family
Here are some of the highlights of my research of the Verrengia family over the past 40 years, particularly from 1982 onwards.
The Verrengia family in the USA, of which we are a part, descended from my father Agostino Verrengia who emigrated to America in 1925. I have found and have copies of the actual ship’s manifest as well as copies of his birth certificate and other documents. (see my Genealogical files) It is absolutely certain that the central source of all Verrengias from Italy, is from the area surrounding the small farming town of Falciano del Massico.
Falciano is located in the Region of Campania, and in the Province of Caserta. Although many of our male relatives are passing away, I was able, over the past 40 years, to establish contact with all of Agostino’s closest relatives, many of whom no longer live in Falciano. It has also been my objective to take all of my children and grandchildren on a Grand Tour of Italy before I pass on. In this way I hope to insure that our family heritage is not lost, as is the case with so many other American families. The Verrengia masculine line, of which we are a part, comes from Southern Italy in the area midway between Rome and Naples, not far from the city of Caserta, where the large Summer Palace of the King of the two Sicilies is located. This Palace is called La Reggia di Caserta. It was started in 1751 and was finished in 1774, two years before the US gained its’ Independence from England.It is bigger than Versailles, with 1200 rooms. (see my Library) The palace and it’s unique gardens have a series of spring fed fountains and waterfalls that stretch two miles up into the mountains.In the 1800s the King had a royal road built from Caserta to Naples to make his ride more comfortable! It was the first paved road in Europe. After the fall of Rome and throughout the dark ages and on into the modern era, Southern Italy suffered under the reign of numerous foreign conquerors and their own Royal families, for over 500 years. Verrengias have held jobs at the Royal Palace since it was first completed. The Italian Air Force Academy, first in the world, was located at the Palace for over 50 years, until it was moved to its’ own facility near Naples, at Pozzuoli, in the 1970s. My uncle, Lt./Gen Vincenzo Verrengia graduated from the Royal Air Force Academy in 1936, and went on to become the Vice-Chief-of-Staff of the Italian Air force.The Italian Air Force’s Technical School for Non Commissioned Officers is still located at the palace and Marishallo Bernardo Verrengia from Falciano, was the senior Noncommissioned Officer at the school in the 1980s.In the period of the 11th Century, the province of Caserta was composed of Fiefs, which were established after the Normans conquered the area from the Byzantine Empire.The Italians of this region used the Oscan language and belonged to the Aurunci tribe, which allied themselves with Rome They were free citizens of Rome, and owned their own land known as the “Terra di Lavorro”, Beginning in the 4th Century, with the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, these people became subjects of one occupation after another. Unfortunately I think the Verrengias were one of the conquerors!
Throughout all of these occupations and calamities, the Italians of Southern Italy have retained their culture which has ultimately triumphed and eventually converted and absorbed every conquering power that came to this magic land. I think it was the Mozzarella! In my research made during approximately 25 trips to Italy since 1958 I have finally pieced together the fascinating story of the origins and history of the male line of the “VARANGA” family,as it is pronounced in Italy.In the 1st Century BC, Senator Claudius Appius decided to run the first and most famous of all Roman roads, the Appian Way, right down what became the main street of Falciano. From this vantage point the people of the fertile fields of the Campania countryside have been witness to history. From the Roman armies to the American armies in WWII, separated by 2000 years of bloody struggle, history has literally marched thru the town of Falciano.Roman authors Cicero and Livy both praised the wine from Falciano called “Falernum”, favorite wine of the Emperors. My GrandfatherPasquilino’s daughter by a second marriage is Rosinella Verrengia. She and her husband Antonio still tend the vines on Pasquilino’s land, and bottle the various types of Falernum, including the best called “Vino Negro” grown on the Southern slopes of the Massica mountain chain, which overshadows Falciano. They still store it in my grandfather’s Cantina or wine cellar. It is impossible to provide proof of family history prior to the 11th Century. What little is found is located in untranslated ancient Oscan, Latin, and Greek historical records, but Professor Antimo Verrengia and I have found enough written evidence in English, Latin, and Italian Translations, and certain physical evidence to convince us that we have unraveled the mystery of the Varangians. I will leave it to a future descendant to research the female family histories of the Stacy, Cohron, DiDonato, DeLibero, Centore, and many other maternal families that have been responsible for our very existence on this planet. We have also left numerous other interesting leads that are still unresearched, for those who wish to trace our roots. I believe I now have enough data to prove that our male family bloodline can be traced back to the Vikings from Norway, and their immediate descendants from Normandy, France, called the Normans, or as the Italians say “the Normanni” The Normans are most famous for the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, but this ambitious and expansive race of Nordic warriors played a big role in the evolution of many other parts of Europe. The Verrengia male bloodline is from this race of energetic Nordic warriors who were direct descendants of the Vikings.The name comes from the Old Norse word “Varangoi” which means War Pledge or a clan of men who were pledged to each other in warfare.In the US Archives I discovered that the spelling of the Verrengia name by immigrants from Austria and Germany is Woerringer or Warrior.The difficulty of verifying facts and locating documents in a land that has seen nothing but warfare and destruction for over 2,500 yearswould have made the job impossible, except for the dedication of people in Falciano like Prof. Antimo Verrengia, and the great Countess Maria Fede Caproni, in Rome, who was a close friend of my uncle Lt./Gen. Vincenzo Verrengia of the Italian Air Force.Official records used in my research included the municipal records of Falciano del Massico, Carinola, and Casanova di Carinola, which date to the early 1800s, when Napoleon’s establishment of the Napoleonic Code, directed the state to became the repository of all official documents such as Birth and Death certificates. Prior to this time all such records were maintained and controlled by the Catholic Church.I also easily gained access to the files of the parish church in Carinola, which has been the seat of the local Bishop for hundreds of years. In the church records I discovered the names of the Verrengia family dating back to the 14th Century. I have a large 15th Century map of Italy and the only registered town that appears in this area at that time is Carinola, so this may be the best and only source of Church records.Some of the Municipal records and church records were in poor condition having been burned and partially destroyed during WW2. In another hundred years there may be no trace of these original records left, as all files become automated. The Family Surnames or last names had been used widely be the Greeks and the Romans, but fell into disuse during the conquests of the Goths, Visigoths, Lombards and other so-called barbarian tribes. (barba meaning beards) These peoples followed the tribal system of using only one name associated with the name of the clan, therefore there may not be any so called Family records before the 12th Century. In approximately the 12th Century the Venetians began the system of hereditary surnames that we use today. Southern Italy was the last area in Italy to adopt these formal surnames, possibly as late as the 14th Century. This does not mean that they did not identify each other as belonging to a specific family or clan, because they did. They just did not record them before the 14th Century, by my research thus far. I have been told that I might find more in the files of the Notaries for the entire state of Campania, maintained since the 11th Century, and which are still filed in Naples. Notaries have a much higher status in Italy, and the Italian Government has tried to preserve these historical documents. I believe that there may also be more files in the Vatican Archives, which I was only able to visit once.The graveyard in Falciano was also a source of research information. This cemetery, midway between Falciano and Casanova di Carinola contains many Verrengias. Some of the below ground catacombs revealed the crumbling names of Verrengia family members dating to the 14th Century.We have one important physical piece of evidence which is located in the Franciscan Monastery of Casanova di Carinola, which dates to the 11th Century. In this monastery, which was used by St. Francis of Asissi during his time in this area, we have the actual tomb of the Varangian Knight who was known as the Baron Varanga di Pozzovechio. This Knight served in the First Crusade with the famous Norman Duke Tancredi di Hauteville at Jerusalem and with Bohemond at Antioch. (1095-1100) The tomb is located in the floor just to the right of the main altar in the highest place of honor. It is decorated with the image of a Norman Knight holding his characteristic Norman sword and the Bras de Fer or French Arm of Steel associating him with the Norman Duke of Capua. The people in the area, and my relative by marriage , Fillipo DiDonato (now deceased), referred to this as the traditional tomb of the first Varangian, but he may have actually have been the son of the first Varangian, who was a Baron in the fiefdom of Richard II of Capua in 1058. Research of Norwegian maps reveals that there is a large region in the North of Norway called the “Varingen” land, and there are several towns in Southern Norway with names that contain variations of the Norwegian name spelled Varanjger. (see my Library) I have a letter from a Norwegian Air Force historian that I met at a conference in Italy, who has confirmed that our name is a latinized version of the Varangian Vikings from Norway spelled Varanjger in Norwegian. The Varangian (Vikings) migrated to and conquered a major portion of Northern France in the 9th and 10th Century, which today is called Normandy. The meaning of this is a derivative of the word Northmen or Nordmanni in Latin. There are two interesting towns in Normandy which I visited with Bill Davis,in 1995. They are called Varengeville and Varangeville Sur Mer (by the sea) The Medeival Church cemetaries in these two towns, have many graves with names that are variations of the name Varangian e.g.Varang-ois Major contingents of Varangians who became known by the Slavs as the “RUS” (meaning the Reds, due to their ruddy complexions) migrated to that area in the 9th and 10th Century and were responsible for creating what later became known as the State of Russia. From Russia in the 10th Century, some of the Varangians migrated to Constantinople where they became famous as the trusted personal “Axe Bearing” bodyguard of the Byzantine or Roman Emperor of the East. They were called the “Varangian Guard”(see Varangian Guard, Encyclopedia Brittanica and other books on Vikings and Normans in my Library) One of these Varangians, Harold Hadrada, who was Captain of the Varangian Guard, later returned to Norway and became the 1st King of Norway. In the 11th Century all of Southern Italy below the Papal States, was under the control of the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman) Empire. This region had been plagued by constant raids by the Saracens (Arabs) from Sicily and North Africa, and there was no effective defense against them. At the request of the Byzantine Satyrap (Governor) a contingent of 300 mounted Norman Knights (Varangians) from France and an unknown number of Varangians from Constantinople came into Southern Italy to help drive out the Saracens. The Norman Varangians not only defeated the Saracens, they also drove out the Byzantine overlords, who were sometimes descended from the same Viking clans. After defeating the Saracens and the Byzantine army, they later became involved in a War with the Papal States and captured the Pope and held him captive in Capua, a short distance from Falciano. An agreement was reached and the Pope eventually granted Roger I, the title of first Norman King of the newly created Kingdom in Southern Italy called the “Re di Le Due Sicilia” or Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. (which he had already conquered). In turn, the Normans promised to serve and defend the Pope from all enemies. Many of the Varangian Norman Knights who helped to create the Kingdom by conquest, were given fiefdoms called Baronies in every section of this Southern Italy kingdom. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies with Hqs. in Naples and Palermo, Sicily, lasted until 1856, when the French Bourbon King was defeated by Italian Rebels under Garibaldi, who eventually united all of Italy under an Italian King of the Savoy family of Sardinia. This was the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire that Italy was united again. The Norman King Roger the 1st, and his descendants had Royal Palaces located in Naples and Palermo in Sicily. Their Peers or vassals, like our Varangian ancestor, eventually lost their fiefdoms to other land Barons of other conquerors and they were assimilated into the Italian society. The Verrengia family that we are descended from was undoubtedly that of Baron Verrengia Di Pozzovechio. The Coat of arms of this family have been preserved on a 16th Century Vase located in Falciano, owned by Prof. Antimo Verrengia (now deceased) The Normans are famous for developing a major innovation in defensive warfare called the Torre meaning Turret, or Tower. This permitted a defender to repel invaders from a 270 degree span when placed at a corner of a fortress. The Normans built these towers all along the coastline of Southern Italy about 2-3 miles apart. This line of towers was used as an early warning system to alert the defenders to the approach of Saracen fleets. It was very sucessful and many of these towers still survive. The Verrengia Coat of Arms has a Norman Turret or Tower as its’ Central feature. It also has a bar with three Fleur de Lis (lilies) which was the symbol of service to the French royalty. An almost identitical coat of arms was independently obtained from the daughter of Lt./Gen Vincenzo Verrengia, whose family is from Carano, on the opposite side of the Massica mountain chain. She and her family recounted the same story as Prof. Antimo Verrengia of Falciano, even though they had never met. The Title di Pozzovechio means; “(Protector) of the Old Well”. The old well that this refers to, is the well still found in front of the ancient Church in the small village of Ventaroli, near Falciano. In the 12th Century, this Church, which was called “ Santa Maria in Foro Claudio”( because the Church was built over an Ancient Roman Basilica dedicated to Roman Emperor Claudius) It was the seat of the Bishop, who became St Bernardo, and who was the Confessor of the Norman Duke Richard II of Capua (near Falciano). Richard died in 1109 A.D. and the well still exists.(see picture in my collection) In ancient times it was common practice for Emperors and Kings to award the protection of important strategic structures such as Gates to Cities, or Bridges, Wells etc. to trusted subjects. The Old Well or Pozzovecchio, was apparently a very important facility at that time, possibly because of it being in front of the Church of the Norman Bishop, Bernardo, later named a saint.(see my copy of the Lives of the Saints) Baron Varangia di Pozzovechio would have reported to Duke Richard, and held as his fief, all of the land around Falciano and 3-4 other small towns, near the Massica mountain range. The small Varangia Baronial fortress ruins are still found on the outskirts of Carinola (see picture of Tory standing on ruins in My Pictures) The Contessa Maria Fede Caproni, an expert on ancient Italian titles and royal history has also confirmed these facts to myself and to my wife Shirley. She introduced me to Prince Carrachiola of Naples who also confirmed these facts. In recent times the Verrengias have continued to gravitate to military service and careers in the military; My Grandfather Pasquilino Verrengia served in the Italian Army in WWI. My father, Agostino Verrengia was an Alpino Mountain Ranger in WWI. He fought in the area around Caporetto, made famous by Hemingway in his book “A farewell To Arms” He left Italy in 1925 and died of Luekemia in Philadelphia in 1951, at age 52. Marishale Bernardo Verrengia retired after a full career as an Officer in the Caribinieri. He became a prisoner of the Germans in WW2. He died of complications from a fall in 1999. Lt. Gen Vincenzo Verrengia rose to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force. He was a fighter pilot and an Ace in WWII, having downed six enemy aircraft. (he was famous for saying that he shot down two Brits, then two Americans, and then he received a change of orders and shot down two Germans) His service record and other evidence is located in my Genealogy files)Vincenzo died of Luekemia, in 1971, and is buried in the cemetery in Carano, on the opposite side of the mountain from Falciano. As the next in line to hold the title, now only ceremonial, when he died, he was given a royal burial. (see funeral pictures in my genealogy files) B/Gen Augustine A Verrengia spent 38 years in the USAF, including service during the Korean and Vietnam wars, and was a key manager in the NASA Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, and Space Station Manned Space programs. Sgt. Augustine A. Verrengia II flew for six years as a flying Aeromedic with the USAF. Sgt. Pasquilino Verrengia, Bernardo Verrengia’s only son, was one of the foremost experts in jet aircraft Ejection Seat technology for the Italian Air Force and NATO. He died of a stroke in 2003 at only 40 years old.
Current thru March 2005