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1. The Titerno Valley

        Historically, the city of Cerreto shared a common territory with the casali (little towns) of Civitella and S. Lorenzello.  The legal acts written in S. Lorenzello in the 17^th and 18^th century always referred to the statutes and regulations of the city of Cerreto. Even in 1754, when the Catasto Generale (Cadastre General) of S. Lorenzello was completed, S. Lorenzello was viewed as common territory with the city of Cerreto and the casale of Civitella. 

        Even if Massa Inferiore (Massa di Faicchio today) was not considered a casale of Cerreto, it had strong ties with both Cerreto and S. Lorenzello; with much less important ties with Faicchio, of which it has been a part from the administrative point of view only since 1834, because before it was part of the so-called Commune of Massa and S. Lorenzello.

         The ties between the city of Cerreto and its casali (among which we can rightly include Massa Inferiore) were very strong.  Cerreto, which is near mountains, has little cultivable land, while S. Lorenzello and especially Massa Inferiore and the surrounding areas are rather flat, with fertile lands and rivers. Some of this land was owned by large landowners of Cerreto.

The Titerno Valley from Civitella to Faicchio and the surrounding areas
(Satellite photos from maps.live.com © 2007 Microsoft Corporation © 2007 TerraItaly)

        The distance between these towns is so small that everyone could easily move from one place to another without the need for any means of transportation.  In less than an hour one can walk from Massa to Cerreto.  From Massa, in the bottom of the Titerno Valley and framed by Mount Erbano and the mountains of Cerreto, you can see the settlements of S. Lorenzello and Cerreto.

S. Lorenzello and Cerreto Sannita in the distance, just a few miles from Massa

         These lands of the Titerno Valley, from Civitella to Cerreto and S. Lorenzello, to Massa Inferiore and Massa Superiore, the actual Rocca of the casale of S. Salvatore, had since the 13^th century been the heart of the feud of the Sanframondo, a Norman family whose origins and ending still remain shrouded in a great mystery.  This common background has resulted in a substantial cultural and linguistic homogeneity within the area.  Even today the evident differences are easily seen when one looks at areas outside of the Titerno Valley.

          The Cofrancescos, along with many other local families (Mattei, Rubbano, Sagnella, Ciarlo, Di Cerbo, Lavorgna, to name a few) have lived in the geographical and cultural area of the Titerno Valley from as far back as the 1500s to the present day.