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The paper presents some reflections on the impact of reconstruction work on the economic and social history of Italy. This problem dates far back in time and is largely under-appreciated: from the 11th century to the year 2000 over 4,800 sites (villages and towns) suffered serious destruction followed by massive and extensive reconstruction work. Few cases have attracted the attention of historians, with the exception of rebuilding work after the 1693, 1783, 1908 and 1915 earthquakes. Yet the interest of such studies lies less in the history of local town planning, and more in that of the surrounding territories and how these were managed administratively, politically and by government in general. What happens at the various stages of reconstruction work provides an accelerated glimpse of power and decision-making dynamics at work, conditioned by in-fighting, class conflict, or the slowness and instability of solutions dogged by bureaucratic squabbling within government. Such features of the governance process often escape historical analysis. The quality of reconstruction work significantly affects the impact of subsequent earthquakes. For this reason, and given the frequency of seismic events in Italy, we find „chains“ of destruction and reconstruction (L’Aquila, for example, is preparing for its sixth rebuilding, between the 14th century and today). Destruction and reconstruction map out a history spanning natural features and the features of the built environment. We must rise above set disciplinary patterns and topics if this history is to be explored, understood and more widely disseminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the comital elites of the early 11th century mentioned in the documentation for the Rome area, the counts of Galeria occupied a prominent place. Though we can reconstruct their history until the second half of the 13th century, not all the individuals who held this title were of the same lineage. Count Gerardo [I], son of Ranieri, is the most important figure of all the Counts of Galeria, and therefore the main focus of this paper. He is documented between 1040–1060 and played an important role in Rome’s political history during these years. He collaborated with Popes Benedict IX and Benedict X; he played a leading role in the Roman Tuscia where he also owned several castles, and was a close ally of the abbots of Farfa. Count Sassone of Civita Castellana was his brother. Both men had descendants. It is very likely that after Count Gerardo’s death, in the early 1060s Galeria Castle returned under papal control. According to a document in the archives of San Paolo fuori le mura, Gregory VII granted it to the monastery in Via Ostiense. By contrast, the descendants of Count Sassone, his son Rainieri [II] and his grandson Sassone [II], managed to retain control of Civita Castellana until almost the end of the century. Our information on this family ceases in the last 20 years of the 11th century. At the end of the first millennium, other Roman families began to appear in the Roman contado and the southern Tuscia, and in the space of a century their ambitions obliterated the old families that had hitherto dominated. Other counts of Galeria appear sporadically in the documents of the 12th and 13th centuries, but none of these individuals were as important as the two brothers Gerardo [I] and Sassone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]