Challenge of Barletta

The Challenge of Barletta (Italian: Disfida di Barletta) was a tournament fought in the countryside of Trani, near Barletta, southern Italy, on 13 February 1503, on the plains between Corato and Andria.

Overview

The tournament was provoked by a French knight Charles de la Motte who, after drinking too much of the local wine, made disparaging remarks about the Italians. It consisted in a mounted tourney between 13 Italians (the most famous being Ettore Fieramosca), who were part of the Spanish army based in Barletta, and 13 French knights who were based in Canosa di Puglia. The Italian knights won the battle, and the French had to pay ransom. Barletta has since acquired the appellation Città della Disfida (City of the Challenge) as a result.

The event inspired a historical novel by the Italian writer Massimo D'Azeglio, Ettore Fieramosca, or La disfida di Barletta, written in 1833.

Challenge

Cause of the challenge

French troops made an incursion up to Canosa di Puglia, where they had a small fight with Spanish troops. A few French soldiers were made prisoners and were brought to Barletta. Among the French prisoners there was the nobleman Charles de Torgues, also known as Monsieur Guy de la Motte.

Barletta

Barletta  listen  is a city and comune located in the north of Apulia in south eastern Italy. Its current population is around 94,000.

Barletta is famous for the Colossus of Barletta, a bronze statue, representing a Roman Emperor (perhaps Theodosius II). This statue, called "Eraclio" by the inhabitants of Barletta, about 4 meters tall, is the biggest statue from the late Roman Empire (i.e. the Roman Empire after Constantine). According to a local folk story, Eraclio saved the city from a Saracen attack. Seeing the Saracen ships approaching Barletta's coast, Eraclio waited for them on the sea shore. Here Eraclio acted as if he was crying so the Saracens asked him why he was sad and Eraclio answered that he was sad because he was the smallest among Barletta's inhabitants and so everybody made fun of him. The Saracens thought that Barletta's inhabitants were all giants so left the coast, fearing to face them.

In 1503 Barletta was the location of the disfida di Barletta ("Joust of Barletta"), a battle during which 13 Italian knights commanded by Ettore Fieramosca challenged and defeated an equal number of French knights who were at the time prisoners of war, in a joust held near Andria. This episode was documented in 1833 by Massimo d'Azeglio, who wrote the novel "Ettore Fieramosca o la Disfida di Barletta". In the book the author regards this episode as one of the earliest manifestations of Italian national pride.

Barletta (disambiguation)

Barletta is a town and former Metropolitan see in Apulia in south-eastern Italy.

Barletta can also refer to:

Rosso Barletta DOC

Rosso Barletta is a red Italian wine produced in the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) region of Barletta, located in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani of north-central Apulia. The DOC is permitted to produce red wine only, made primarily from Uva di Troia, and is one of the few wine regions in Italy where Malbec is grown and permitted in a DOC wine. The DOC covers over 60 hectares (150 acres) that are planted to Uva di Troia, Montepulciano, Sangiovese, and Malbec. Rosso Barletta is noted in history for being the spark for a jousting skirmish, now known as the Challenge of Barletta, involving thirteen local Italian knights against thirteen French knights, following an evening of drinking too much Barletta wine. According to the Italian Trade Commission, when the wine region was officially recognised it retained the name Rosso Barletta in commemoration of the historic connection between the region's wine and the event.

The Challenge of Barletta

The prelude to the Challenge of Barletta occurred when the French knight Charles de Touques, Monsigneur de La Motte was having dinner at an inn in Barletta. He was served the red wine from the area, and according to reports by Prospero Colonna, grand captain of the army stationed at Barletta, La Motte overindulged in the wine and became uncivil, insulting nearby Italian knights. To defend their honour, the Italians challenged the Frenchmen to a joust, to be held on 13 February 1503. The French knights were defeated by the Italians and the French then left the area.