Believe it or not, you are currently perusing the fiftieth (50th) edition of Postal History Sunday on the Genuine Faux Farm blog. The good thing about this sort of media is that you can read each entry on the day it is published or you can read it when you have time. So, if you haven't had a chance to enjoy PHS before this, you can feel free to take the first link and just scroll through the posts until you find yourself looking at a post that is to your liking!
Now, without further ado, let's set those worries and cares aside for a while while I share some things I enjoy and maybe we'll all learn something new.
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Which Comes First?
I do get questions periodically and I try to answer them as it seems appropriate. One of those questions was "do you pick up a postal history item because it references some historical event or a place or do you learn about the events and places because you picked up the postal history item?"
And the answer is..... YES!
To illustrate that point, I'll start out with the 1861 folded letter shown above. This letter, mailed in Brescia, which is in the province of Lombardy, was sent to Mantova (also known as Mantua), also in the province of Lombardy. There is a 20 centesimi postage stamp that should have paid the postage required to mail this item to a destination within Italy at the time. But, the big, bold "5" at the top right tells me that it was NOT treated as fully paid. Instead, additional postage was required (5 soldi).
That did not make sense to me, so I went on a journey to learn a bit more about Mantova.
A Bit About Mantova
Below is a portrayal of Mantua/Mantova in 1575 (click on the image to see a larger version). At this time, the city was
surrounded by man-made lakes created by diverting and damming the Mincio
river. With natural fortifications like that, it is no wonder the Austrians didn't want to give up the city.
The Austrians did you say? What does Mantua have to do with Austria? I thought you said it was in Lombardy (and thus it is Italian)?
Well let me explain. No, there is too much - let me sum up!
The Kingdoms of Lombardy & Venetia were under the control of the Austrians according to the treaties signed after the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. The city of Mantova was part of a series of four fortress cities. The Quadrilatero Fortress Cities of Peschiera, Verona, Legnago and Mantova were a key part of Austrian defenses in Lombardy-Venetia. Their formation as a quadrilateral funneled invaders to predictable routes, both on invasion and retreat. Once inside the ring of fortresses, an opponent would always have defenders that could approach from any side.
As you can see from the map below, three of these cities were in Venetia. Only Mantova was in Lombardy.
It is not hard to see how Mantova could be easier to defend given the presence of significant bodies of water. If you look at the graphic below, you can see the fortifications at the lower left.
City of Mantua / Mantova
from Die Gartenlaube, published in 1866
The second war of the Italian Risorgimento (Italian Unification) in 1859 is worthy of a lengthy post all its own, but others have written enough and a summary is all that is needed here. The French allied with the Sardinians against the Austrians and the war essentially ended with the battle at Solferino on June 24. The Austrians suffering defeat.
The Armistice of Villafranca on July 11, 1859 ceded Lombardy to France. France then ceded Lombardy to Sardinia in exchange for the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice (Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860). Venetia, however, remained with Austria until 1866 - and Mantova was included in that territory. While Austria had lost, they were not going to give up the defensive advantage provided by occupying the city and its fortifications.
Back to the Postal History
Here we are - back with the original item in question. Brescia is in Lombardy, which is now part of the newly forming Kingdom of Italy in 1861, when this letter was mailed. Mantova, on the other hand, is officially a part of Venetia and under Austrian control.
The rate to mail a letter from one location in Italy to another was 20 centesimi, so that postage paid for the mail to the border with Venetia. Mantova was now officially right on that border, so the cost of postage in Venetia was only 5 soldi for a local letter. That price was collected from the recipient at the time of delivery.
I guess that makes some sense, because in 1861, Austria wasn't all that happy with Italy (and probably vice versa) so they had not normalized postal relations. That meant you could not prepay a letter between the two countries. You could only pay to get to the border and hope the recipient would pay the rest.
It All Comes Back Around
It all started with an old letter that had me asking the question "Why?" Why did this letter require more postage. The result was that I learned a good deal about Mantova and its role in the Italian Risorgimento. When you learn something interesting in history, it shouldn't be a surprise that NOW you notice more things that might have a connection to it.
Suddenly letters like this one are MUCH more interesting than they were before.
Above is a letter that was mailed in 1855 from Espalion in France to Mantoue (yet another spelling of Mantova/Mantua). As we have just learned, Mantova (and all of Lombardy) is part of Austria because this is prior to the war in 1859.
How it Got There
The markings on this cover are as follows:
Espalion Nov 19, 1855
Clermont-Ferrand Nov 20
Clermont A Paris Nov 20
Lyon Nov 21
Lyon A Marseille Nov 21
Marseille Nov 22
Mantova Nov 27
So, let's take a look at where these markings say the letter traveled. To see a larger version, click on the map.
At the time this letter was written, there was no rail service in or near Espalion. However, there WAS a rail terminus in Clermont-Ferrand that connected to one of the very rare rail lines that did not go only to Paris. France was rapidly developing a 'star configuration' of rail lines with Paris at the center. Often, if someone wanted to travel, they were often left with only the option to go via Paris!
This letter likely traveled by mail coach to Clermont-Ferrand, where they had a brand new train station, courtesy of completion of the rail line from Gannet from the north. One has to wonder if there was some amount of excitement that this option for mail now existed that might have caused the writer to very clearly direct the letter to take that route.
The
letter was able to travel by train from Clermont-Ferrand to Lyon and
then by train to Marseille. From Marseille, it was back to the mail
coach to go northeast to Gap and to cross the alps until meeting up with
a railway spur west of Turin.
Five Days to Mantova
The trip to Mantova from Marseille seems to have taken a good bit of time, especially considering I have another letter from this correspondence in 1857 that covers the same distance in three days. But, we have to remember that a great deal could change in a couple of years. It is possible that some improvements in the roads or rail lines could have made that much difference.
On the other hand, we must also consider that this letter had to cross the Alps - in November. There is always the possibility that weather had a hand in delaying the mail, especially in the mountains. However, there is actually one more wildcard that might have influenced the travels through the Alps.
On November 23, 1855, there was a foreshock to a larger earthquake that would be in the Castellane vicinity. The foreshock was strong enough to cause a major landslide and minor damage to dwellings in nearby towns. The main tremor on December 12th did much more damage, but would have little to do with this letter as it was presumably in Monsieur Sartoretti's hands in Mantova at that time.
Is it possible that this quake set travels back a day? Or
perhaps there was a bit of a snow storm that slowed the coaches as they
made their way east? Or, perhaps, the letter took the southern route
via Nice, where there would be less railway but possibly calmer weather?
It is likely the coach had traveled well past the earthquake zone before mid-afternoon on the 23rd, so a delay because of the earthquake seems unlikely - though it would certainly be dramatic from the postal historian's point of view. The directive to go via Turin also implies that the letter would travel via Besancon rather than taking the southern route via Nice - and then presumably to Turin.
In the
end, it is unlikely that I will ever know for certain the actual route
this letter took, nor is it likely that we can confirm that it was
delayed by storm, earthquake or other issue.
What it Cost to Mail
Some people might say that this cover is more attractive because it doesn't have just one stamp, but it has five postage stamps on it. Others might argue that it is a little ugly because the stamps are placed on it a bit sloppily, with one of them folded over the top of the envelope. I, on the other hand, appreciate it because it shows some realities of life in a smaller community (Espalion).
There are two commonalities for rural communities that apply even today with postal services. First, the frequency that people will mail things to another country is much less than more populace areas. Second, post offices and postal patrons are less likely to have higher value stamps available. After all, five 20 centime stamps DO add up to 1 franc, which is the amount of postage needed for this item to get it to Mantova!
As of July 1, 1851, the rate for mailing a piece of letter mail, weighing no more than 7.5 grams, to Mantova via Sardinia or Switzerland was 1 franc (100 centimes). During the same period, mail from France to Lombardy that was taken via the German States would cost 1 franc and 20 centimes. This would change to a flat rate of 60 centimes regardless of route per 10 grams on January 1, 1858.
Then there is the matter of the big, black pen "X" that spans the front of this cover. This was the Mantovan post office's method of marking a letter as "paid." When the carrier delivered the mail to Monsieur Sartoretti, they would know at a glance that the lawyer would have to pay nothing prior to receiving this letter.
Mantova was known to have several carrier distributions of the mail each day and the circle around the "1" marking tells us that this was taken out with the first mail distribution of the day.
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There you have it - a long answer to a short question. If you wanted the short answer, you could have stopped at "yes." But, here we are at the end of the 50th Postal History Sunday and I am hoping you enjoyed the journey and learned something new.
Have a great remainder of the day and a good week to come. I hope to see you next week!
Are you interested in reading more? This post actually got its origin in a few other posts I wrote for the GFF Postal History Blog some time ago. There will, of course, be some repetition in content between this post and some of these posts, but there is also plenty of additional information.
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