Chiese Fortezza. Letture sul confine N-E della penisola italiana

In memory of his friend Jean Auguste Brutails (1859-1925), French archivist and paleographer, a militant member of the Commission des Monument Historiques, in 1926 Xavier de Cardaillac (1858-1930) reflected on the fortified churches of the Landes, the present department of New Aquitaine, on the edge of the Iberian Peninsula and overlooking the Bay of Biscaglia (de Cardaillac 1926). The nobleman, a non-practicing lawyer and passionate scholar, wished to study a heritage - of churches made fortresses - more widespread in that region - border and landing - than in others. From the early analyses of Charles des Moulins (1798-1876) on the Perigord (des Moulins 1857) and Arthur de Marsy (1843-1900) on the Thiérache (de Marsy 1864), research has indeed continued, in more recent times involving also managers of cultural heritage. But the term 'fortress church' refers to settlement systems that are obviously different from place to place. In this contribution, made a suitable supra-local framing of the theme, we try to give an original contribution to what is still present in an area (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) with reference to the defense of a religious garrison in particular (the patriarchal abbeys).