Lucera is a town and episcopal see in the Province of Foggia, in the Puglia region of Italy.

Contents 1 History 2 Main sights 3 See also 4 Sources and references

[edit] History

For the ecclesiastical history, see Bishopric of Lucera–Troia

Lucera is a very ancient city which originally belonged to Daunia, the ancient centre of the Dauni and was later a faithful allied of Rome. The Roman army, believing the city to be besieged by the Samnites, were defeated at the Battle of the Caudine Forks in 321 B.C. while on their way to relieve it. In 320 B.C. it was taken by the Romans, a Roman colony by the Latin name of Luceria being established there in 314. During the civil war between the triumviri Julius Caesar and Pompey it was an important point of defence for the latter.

In A.D. 663 it was captured from the Lombards and destroyed by the Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II.

Muslims had lived since the 9th century in Sicily, Lucera and the surrounding region. In the 13th century Lucera was called Lucaera Saracenorum because it represented the last stronghold of Islamic presence in Italy. Emperor Frederick II had begun forced deportation of Muslim minorities, but he left Lucera intact. Lucera at one point had more than 20,000 mainly Muslim inhabitants. Official records are vague on the fate of this large and well-received Muslim colony. The entire population was apparently destroyed in the summer of year 1300, and its population was either converted to Christianity, deported to the Middle East or sold into slavery.

Lucera attained great importance when the Staufian Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, acting as King Frederick II [strictly speaking I] of Sicily, transferred thither from around year 1220 'Saracens' of Sicily whom he had shortly before subjugated, and who from enemies became his most faithful and trusted supporters in his wars against the popes and the great barons of the Kingdom of Naples.

The royal treasury was also located at Lucera. During the invasion of Charles of Anjou Lucera made the longest resistance. The remaining Saracens were converted en masse in 1300; their mosque was destroyed by Charles II, and upon its ruins arose the present cathedral, S. Maria della Vittoria.

Image:Lucera0001.jpg

[edit] Main sights

It hosts several important monuments from different ages:

• the Roman Amphitheater
• the medieval Castle
• the Church of S. Francesco
• the Cathedral, built in year 1300 on the grounds of the last standing mosque in Italy, destroyed the same year.

[edit] See also

• Bishopric of Lucera–Troia

[edit] Sources and references

• This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia. [1]
• Aalulbayt Library, An Introduction to the Spread of Islam
• University of Michigan-Dearborn, UM-Dearborn professor publishes history of Muslim community in medieval Italy (press release), 20 November 2003

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