Petra Rubea

PREFACE Availing oneself to books that narrate the events which, in late Medieval times, have established the history of the ancient region of Montefeltro and drawn inspiration from the works of various writers from the past, such as Orazio Olivieri, Antonio Maria Zucchi Travagli, Giambattista Marini, Luigi Tonini, up to the more recent works of Francesco Vittorio Lombardi and others, including those composed and published by this writer, the author has undertaken the endeavor of writing this engaging and readable “novel”, which for the most part was reconstructed with imaginative fragments of local history based on real events, whose intention is to breathe life into the collective imagination some of the aspects of daily life which, at the turn of the 13th century, have accompanied/conditioned the people who lived in that part of the Feretrano territory, including the area between the left slope of the Foglia River and the river basin of the Marecchia. It is true, the story has been freely adapted and dramatized from historical events, that is to say romanticized and, therefore, free from all limits of documentary or bibliographical quotes, but the constant and frequent reference to tangible facts and to real people, allows our kind reader to become immersed, as if under a spell, in that particular epochal dimension which, with the difficulties and atrocities of every kind, have characterized this thematic ambit of feudal particularism. Pio Bianchini, a serious and convincing writer, is already the author of another compelling novel, “La leggenda di Cá Battaglia”. Gifted with an indisputable and innate literary command, he has brought to life two amazing works which, rich in detail, at times moving and in other cases exhilarating, delivers with astonishing and clear truth, some of the implications of the tormented existence of those populations who lived in that era, and who struggled for the most part from deprivation and tyranny, in a distant and nearly forgotten epoch, in an area of that mythical Feretrano territory with a wealth of history and of ferocious vicissitudes among bordering and dominating rival families and, consequently, also fascinating and realistic legends like the account in his previous work, as well as this intriguing and praiseworthy second volume. Mercatino Conca, 10 August 2014 Luciano Alberelli