Ipotesi per l’identificazione della scomparsa chiesa di S. Angelo a Caprara (Benevento): studio topografico e riflessioni su un’inedita iscrizione medievale

The study proposes the identification of the lost church of S. Angelo in Caprara (Benevento), mentioned for the first time in a document from 1112, through an integrated approach based on topographical analysis, microtoponymy and diachronic cartographic comparison (18th–20th centuries). The re-examination of the boundaries of the Caprara fiefdom, combined with the georeferencing of cabrei and cadastral maps, has made it possible to circumscribe the area where the religious building hypothetically stood and to identify an area of archaeological material outcrops. A marble epigraphic fragment dating back to the 8th century was discovered, whose palaeographic and textual analysis allows for possible integrations with the Michaelic agiotoponym attested in the area, thus suggesting its relevance to the church under study. Furthermore, the viminee braid decoration, the slight curvature of the marble support and the presence of the inscription on both sides indicate that the find was part of a liturgical ornament, most likely a pergula. The data as a whole makes a significant contribution to the reconstruction of the rural ecclesiastical network of the Lombard territory of Benevento and to the settlement dynamics of the early Middle Ages, offering new material evidence in a traditionally fragmentary and still poorly studied documentary context.