Macchia Valfortore
Italian comune

Macchia Valfortore is a town and comune in the Province of Campobasso, Molise, southern Italy. With a population of 470 inhabitants. The town overlooks Lake Occhito. Neighbouring comuni are Sant'Elia a Pianisi and Pietracatella.
History
In 216 BC, a Roman army under consul Varro camped in the town called Maccla, thought to be this town, prior to marching to the defeat against Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae. In 476 AD with the Western Roman Empire weakening, Maccla was occupied by the Visigoths. In the early Middle Ages it was a possession of the Lombards, who held it until 982, when they were defeated by the Byzantines.
On September 21, 1701, Gaetano Giacomo Gambacorta, styled the Prince of Macchia, started a conspiracy (Macchia Conspiracy), against the Spanish viceroy in Naples. The revolt was quickly put down and Gaetano fled to Vienna, Austria where he died on January 27, 1703. In 1800 Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples and Napoleon's brother, divided Naples into new administrative orders.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Macchia Valfortore” is italian comune. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Macchia, Valfortore and Italian, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “italian comune” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q277667. VIAF identifies the subject as 246957245. Authority coordinates are 41.600, 14.917. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1701, 1703 and 1800.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Macchia Valfortore”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Macchia Valfortore primary sources, Macchia Valfortore archive and Macchia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Macchia Valfortore”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Macchia Valfortore” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.