The Mattivi, Anesi, and Giovannini names originate in the Region of Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, and are heavily represented in Baselga di Piné. The region is located in northeastern Italy and has been the focus of many historical events, as well as great suffrage. Throughout its history  various powers, incl uding the Romans, Napoleon, and the Hapsburgs, have conquered, occupied, and controlled the region. The motivating force behind these occupations appears to have been the geographical significance of the Trentino province, and specifically the city of Trento. Located at the base of the Alps, the Trentino region provides a natural gateway and significant divider between the Nordic and Mediterranean cultures of Europe, as well as an important commercial passageway. Thus, various armies and countless rulers have battled for control of the territory. Throughout these events, the people of the region have suffered greatly, leaving an indelible impression, defining their customs, and producing a fierce internal loyalty among them.

The first significant invader was the Holy Roman Empire. They initially began a presence in the territory near the end of the 2nd century B.C. (200 B.C.), and officially took control of the Trentino region in the year 40 B.C. As part of the Tenth Roman region, Trentino was called the Italic Region and at one point was part of Venetia. The Roman period is marked by the great growth and expansion, including the development of the city of Trento. The modern site of the city of Trento, which is surrounded by three hills (the Veruca, St. Agatha, and the St. Rocco), provided a fortified and strategic site to guard the territory and control the flow of commerce, producing the modern city. The city’s name is believed to have been derived from the three surrounding hills, from the Roman/Latin name of Tridentum. Under the auspices of the Roman development, the city prospered as a political, administrative, and cultural center. It maintained a direct connection to Rome through the Via Claudia Augusta, which was built during the Roman control.

Although technically a conquered land, the Trentino people attained legal, official Roman status during their years of occupation. In the year 46 A.D., the Roman Emperor Claudius Augustus issued an edict conferring Roman citizenship to the people of the Trentino region (the original bronze tablet was discovered in 1869 and is preserved in Trento National Museum). This edict provides the oldest known citizenry for the people of the region, a definitive linkage to the Italian Republic, and provides clear proof that the people of Trentino had been Italian since the concession of Roman citizenship.

Following the Romans, from the mid-400 through 490 A.D., the region was conquered and occupied by the Barbarians, Francs, and Ostrogoths. Throughout this period, the region suffered severely. In early 490 A.D., the Western Roman Empire, through invasion by the Byzantine army, was reestablished in the area and the city of Trento was restored to its former glory. It was during this time the administrative activities of the area were entrusted to the bishops of Trento (directly administered by a solicitor), setting the stage for future battles. In approximately 568 A.D., Narsete, a Byzantine general irritated with growing powers of the Bishops, traded his allegiance and aligned with the Longobards, clearing the way for their occupation of the area. That year the Kingdom of Italy was formed, with Trentino incorporated as one of the 36 dukedoms. During the Longobard rule, various castles were built around the Trentino region to defend the ongoing Franc raids.

In 800 A.D., Italy and the Longobards were defeated by the armies of the King of France, and Trento was incorporated into the Roman Empire of the Francs. At that time, the Bishops were installed as rulers of the area.

In 962 A.D., the Longobards again invaded the region, reclaiming Italy as well as the Trentino region. This sparked the formation of the Roman German Empire. The Trentino region was then combined with Verona and placed under a feudal rule and German administration. This began a long and tenuous rule of the Count-Bishops of Trento, who maintained divided loyalties. The Bishops were vested with ecclesiastical power and loyal to Rome, whereas the Counts ruled through political/feudal authority and sided with the Empire. During a 300-year period, a power struggle persisted between the Counts and Bishops for control of the territory. Over time, the Counts of Tyrol and the Dukes of Austria, who were supporters of the Emperor and feudal rule, gained power and slowly took control of the area.

In 1339, the Eagle of St. Wenceslas (seen to the right), was assigned to the city of Trento by St. Nicholas of Brno.  

In 1497, Venice began attempts to expand its sphere of control into the Trentino region. The Treaty of 1516, in which Emperor Maximilian incorporated Four Vicariates from Venice, enclosing the principality of Trento and areas to the south mountains, ultimately settled the expansion efforts.

During the 1500s (lasting approximately 100 years), the Trentino region was ruled by the Bishops of the Madruzzo Family, who oversaw further cultural and economic development of Trentino. This influence exacerbated the ongoing tension with the Counts of Tyrol, who also wished to regain influence in the area.

In the latter part of the 18th century (approximately 1796), Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Republic began their push into the Trentino region, as they conquered central Europe. The region subsequently fell to Napoleon and under his rule (1810) the new Kingdom of Italy was formed. Trentino was incorporated as one of the approximate 12 total provinces combined to form the Kingdom and remained so through Napoleon’s eventual defeat and loss of power. The defeat, in 1815, marked the passing of the region to Austria and the Hapsburg Empire, sparking a long-standing feud between Italy and Austria for control of the region and its people. (Austria took control of Italy in 1714 and maintained control through 1861, the official formation of the Republic of Italy.) During this time, the Trentino people requested special autonomy, due to their Italian nationality and language, but were refused, sewing the seeds of discontent and future rebellion. The Hapsburg control officially ended a 727-year reign of the Trentino territory by the Bishops (Roman Church).

During the Hapsburg control, the Empire attempted to "Germanize" the population and flush its subjects into the area. Trento and other parts of the region, however, clung to their Italian heritage, providing great resistance and spawning a movement for reunification with Italy. The movement was identified as the Italian Risorgimento and created a large and significant opposition to the Hapsburg Empire, who generally treated the people of Trento as second-class citizens. In contrast, the people of Alto Adige, who had been subjected to Hapsburg influence since medieval times, embraced the Austrian influence. This area became known as South Tyrol. During the late 19th century Trento and Trieste, Italian cities still belonging to the Austrians, became icons of the national unification movement. In fact, during the 1800s Italian armies, allied by Trentini separatists, fought to free the region from the county of Tyrol. (In 1816, the Trentino region was united with the county of Tyrol.)

It wasn’t until the First World War (1918), that Trento and Trieste were conquered by the Italian troops. Major battles were fought high in the Alps and Dolomites between Austrian and Italian forces, for whom control of the South Tyrol and Trento was a key strategic objective. The collapse of the Austrian war effort enabled Italian troops to occupy the region and its annexation was confirmed in the post-war treaties, which awarded the Trentino and South Tyrol to Italy under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain. What is now Trentino-Alto Adige was renamed and reorganized as "Venezia Tridentina" (Venetian Trento), alluding to the former mainland territories of the Republic of Venice.

Under the rule of Benito Mussolini, the Alto Adige region was subjected to a program of Italianization, in an effort to eradicate the years of Austrian influence from the region and to specifically regain control. In 1938, to further separate the competing interests of Trento and Alto Adige, Hitler and Mussolini agreed that the German-speaking population of the area would be transferred to German-ruled territory or dispersed around Italy. The scheme failed to materialize due to the outbreak of World War II.

Following the end of the World War II, the years of competing influences and differing loyalties had taken its toll on the people. Trento and the surrounding area remained strongly devoted to its Italian roots, while Alto Adige and the northern border retained an Austrian influence. Thus, in 1946, Italy and Austria negotiated an agreement to settle the unrest and retain their competing influences. The region, while remaining in the Italian Republic, was granted considerable autonomy, allowing both Italian and German languages to be officially recognized. Despite the agreement, the German-speaking population and Austrian government remained unsatisfied, causing continual friction between Italy and Austria.

The issue again came to a head and subsequent resolution in 1971, at which time a new Italo-Austrian treaty was signed and ratified. The treaty stipulated that disputes in the Bolzano (Alto Adige) province would be submitted for settlement to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, that the province would receive greater autonomy from Italy, and that Austria would not interfere in Bolzano’s internal affairs. While this agreement appeared to be a reasonable solution, it has actually proved to be little more than another political expedient which has led a sort of de facto internal division. Even the most casual visitor will have little trouble noticing that Trentino, the southern part of the region centered on the city of Trento, is far more Italian than Alto Adige (Bolzano).