Themed thread
Bernardo Clesio
The prince-bishop who came from a castle in Val di Non.
Cardinal, prince-bishop of Trento and supreme chancellor, Bernardo Clesio is the best-known figure to come out of these valleys. His family, the lords of Castel Cles, is recorded from 1114 with its founder Vitale de Clesio. After the damage of the Peasants’ War of 1525 it was he who had the family castle rebuilt according to the canons of the Renaissance. His name also appears in the records of the pastoral visits which, for many village churches, are the first written mention we have.
20 places where you meet it
- Castel ClesVal di NonIt stands at 616 metres on the top of a promontory one kilometre north of Cles, among the apple trees that run down to the lake.
- Castello di VasioVal di NonIt stands isolated on a height overhanging the gorge of the Novella, at 756 metres, between Vasio and Brez, in the upper Val di Non.
- Chiesa dei Santi Andrea ed EgidioVal di NonThe first mention of the small church of Salobbi dates from 1515, when the suffragan bishop Michele Iorba consecrated an altar there dedicated to Sant'Egidio, although it seems likely that the place of worship already existed by the early fifteenth century.
- Chiesa dei Santi Fabiano e SebastianoVal di NonOn the site stood a Romanesque church of the 12th century, whose remains were found by archaeological surveys, which also reconstructed its plan.
- Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e PaoloVal di SoleThe church of Bozzana is first mentioned in a document of 1384, and in the second half of the following century the building was enriched with a cycle of frescoes, which has largely been lost.
- Chiesa della Natività di MariaVal di NonThe first mention of this church dates from 1537 and appears in the records of the pastoral visit of Bernardo Clesio, cardinal and prince-bishop of Trento.
- Chiesa di San BiagioVal di NonThe original construction dates to the second half of the 15th century, but the first written mention comes later, in the records of the 1537 pastoral visit of Bernardo Clesio, which describe it as dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- Chiesa di San MarcoVal di NonThe first place of worship dedicated to Saint Mark in Mollaro was visited by the envoys of Bernardo Clesio on 23 June 1537, and described as a small church with a single altar, that of its patron saint.
- Chiesa di San MartinoVal di NonDevotion to San Martino is very old, and the dedication has suggested that the church was built earlier; the first mention, however, is found only in 1537, in the records of a pastoral visit by the cardinal and prince-bishop of Trento Bernardo Clesio.
- Chiesa di San Michele ArcangeloVal di NonBernardo Clesio, on a pastoral visit in 1537, described it as having three altars; forty years later, in 1579, there were two, dedicated to Saint Michael and Saint Vigilius.
- Chiesa di San NicolòVal di NonIt appears for the first time in the records of a pastoral visit of 25 June 1537, during the principality of Bernardo Clesio.
- Chiesa di San SigismondoVal di NonAt Vion a first chapel is mentioned in 1537, in the years when the envoys of Bernardo Clesio were travelling through the valley recording what they found.
- Chiesa di San ValentinoVal di NonThe first two mentions of the church of Cagnò date from 1409 and both refer to Armanino da Merano, a South Tyrolean cleric.
- Chiesa di San ValentinoVal di NonThe church of Vasio probably dates from the fifteenth century, and the first mention of it is from 1537, the year of the pastoral visit of Bernardo Clesio.
- Chiesa di Sant'AgataVal di NonIn 1537 Bishop Bernardo Clesio, during his pastoral visit, found a chapel dedicated to Saint Agnes near the masi of Sfruz.
- Chiesa di Sant'AntonioVal di NonThe original building probably dates from the 14th century, and the cycle of frescoes it preserves inside belongs to the same period; the first mention of the church is from 1376.
- Chiesa di Sant'EgidioVal di NonIn Quetta a place of worship almost certainly existed from 1329, dedicated to the holy Magi.
- Chiesa di Santa Caterina in ColleVal di SoleThis church was built before the pastoral visit of Cardinal Bernardo Clesio in 1537.
- Chiesa di Santa MariaVal di NonDocumentary research places the building of this church in the eleventh century or shortly after.
- Chiesa di Santa TeclaVal di NonThe church of Malosco first appears in a will of 1228. The building of that time must have been a small chapel, rebuilt in the fifteenth century in the Gothic taste of the period; and a chapel it still was when Bernardo Clesio visited it in 1538. The pastoral visit of 1616 requested that the interior be repainted.
The links between these places come from our entries, where every fact has been checked against the sources. The entries are written one at a time: this thread will grow with them.