The name PRONIO in the history of Abruzzo
In the land of Abruzzo in the shadow of the Maiella, between the mountains and the sea, up to Pescara and beyond, some of our ancestors played an important role during that period of the 1700s which goes under the name of the "Abruzzesi insurgents", that is 'the war for the reconquest of the Neapolitan Republic against the French armies.
The most famous are GIUSEPPE PRONIO and PAOLO PRONIO , names that are remembered in historical texts.
But also on the side of the TERAMO da Crecchio branch we find important historical references.
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Biography of Giuseppe PRONIO
Giuseppe Gabriele Antonio Pronio , born in Introdacqua in Valpeligna, Abruzzo, on February 20, 1760, he was the eldest of eight children born to Domenico Berardino and Caterina Rossetti.
Nicknamed the Great Devil for his audacity and his intolerance to abuses, he was a man of culture, and after being a cleric he became a soldier of the Marquis of Vasto. At the age of eighteen, he married his fellow citizen Lucia Barbara Lorenza, daughter of Ermenegildo Di Clemente, with whom he had their first son Paolo on 14 July 1784. With the arrival of the Napoleonic French, he became one of the most successful mass leaders in the northern area of the Kingdom of Naples. Taking over seven hundred men, later growing by the thousands, he repeatedly defeated the French in the months between December 1798 and January 1799. After a first victory in Roccacasale, on January 5, 1799 there was a real battle in Sulmona between the mass of the Pronio on one side and a column of French on the other: the clashes, which took place at the gates of the town near the San Panfilo bridge then moved towards Pacentro, but the arrival of the night and the depletion of ammunition forced Pronio's men to leave the camp and fall back on Introdacqua, their headquarters.
After being defeated at Ripa Teatina, he reappeared victorious and with new men on the Cinquemiglia plateau and in Isernia. On 9 May he re-established the Bourbon government in Chieti, on 10 in Ortona, between 12 and 15 in Lanciano, between 18 and 21 in Vasto and at the end of June he besieged the fortress of Pescara defended by Ettore Carafa. King Ferdinand I, by decree of 2 June 1799, appointed him general commander of the three Abruzzi. With a subsequent decree of 5 June Fabrizio Ruffo, vicar general of the Kingdom, appointed Pronio general captain [1].
The last battle in which there is news of his involvement was on the Tronto line on March 30, 1801.
He died in 1804, probably from poisoning.
Biography of Paolo PRONIO
Paolo Pronio was born in Introdacqua on July 14, 1784, the eldest son of Giuseppe Pronio.
His career began in 1799, entering the Bourbon army as a "distinguished volunteer" in the Royal Samnites Regiment, with which he made his contribution in the siege of Pescara.
In October of the same year he was promoted to the rank of officer, participating in the expedition to the Papal States. In 1801 he was promoted to the rank of captain in the Corps of Aprutini Hunters, fighting on the Tronto and in 1804 in Calabria.
In 1807 he fought in the Piana di Mileto, taking command of one of the 10 companies of the Royal Samnites Regiment, protecting the retreat of the Bourbon army.
Between 1809 and 1811 he was in command of a company of the Valdinoto Regiment and of another company of the Valdemone Regiment.
In 1812 he took part in the Bourbon military actions in Spain, due to the anti-Napoleon league between England and the Kingdom of Naples. Subsequently, in 1814, he was sent to Sicily, taking command of a mobile column of 600 men, destroying some bands of criminals in the Terre d'Oltranto during the restoration of the Kingdom of Naples. On 1 September 1815, by royal decree, he was promoted aide de camp of the 2nd Hunters Regiment of the King's Guard. Later he was decorated with the bronze medal for military valor, and appointed Knight of the Royal Military Order of San Giorgio.
In 1822 he became Lieutenant Colonel, in 1832 Colonel and finally, in 1840, Brigadier General.
The apex of his career came in 1848, during the revolutionary uprisings in Sicily. He was in command of the troops stationed in Palermo, after a retreat in Naples, he returned to Sicily to try to regain the now lost Messina. In 7 days he resumed the city, and received the Commandery of the Order of San Ferdinando.
He died on February 3, 1853, poisoned by his wife or another woman corrupted by the Sicilians.
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Read the book on the life of Paolo Pronio
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VIA GENERALE PRONIO IN INTRODACQUA
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