Text, one version only, translated from the 1573 Dutch 1st Add/1573 Dutch, 1573 Latin 1st Add/1573 Latin (A), 1573 Latin(B), 1573 German 1st Add/1573 German, 1574 French 1st Add/1574 French, 1574 Latin, 1575 Latin, 1579 Latin (AB), 1580/1589 German, 1581 French, 1584 Latin, 1587 French, 1588 Spanish, 1592 Latin, 1595 Latin, 1598 French, 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1602 Spanish, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612 Latin and 1609/1612/1641 Spanish editions:
119.1. {1573D1Add/1573D{Frioul, {1573L1Add and all other Latin editions instead{FORVM IVLII}1573L1Add and all later Latin editions instead}.
119.3. The origin of the name Forum Iulij [Friaul], as Leander says, has been explored and described by various writers in different ways. Some think it is called like this after Julius Cæsar. Blondus seems to affirm that it has taken its name from the city Forum Iulij. Written sources testify that this region has been called Aquilegia [Aquileja], from Aquilegium, its chief or metropolitan city {1580/1589G & 1602G only{which it retains to the present day}1580/1589G & 1602G only}. Finally, it is certain that it is called Patria by the Venetians, which name it retains to this present day. Blondus says that it has long ago been called Liburnia, but after which place, when and why it was so called, he does not demonstrate. The first [people] that had anything to do here were the Euganei, Venetians, Troyans [and] French.
119.4. And after those the Romans, {1573L1Add/1573L(A){under whom it persisted as long as the fortune and splendour of the Roman empire stood sound and well}1573L1Add/1573L(A)}. When it at last declined, it came into the hands and jurisdiction of the barbarous nations which [then] oppressed Italy, especially the Lombards, and it remained like that until the time of Charles the Great. After that, its government was in the hands of the patriarchs of Aquileja, until at last the Venetians (desiring to enlarge their territories on this side) took it entirely under their jurisdiction, and [they] possess it to this very day.
119.5. The situation of the region is as follows: it begins as a plain next to the sea, and then increasing [its elevation] little by little, it first rises up to small hills, and then to very high mountains, which almost on every side enclose its borders, so that this plain is surrounded by mountain tops like a wall, and it seems to be like a theatre, open at only one narrow straight, by which only, as through a gate, it may be entered, ferrying over the river Sontio {1574F1Add/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F have instead{Lisonzo}1574F1Add/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F instead} [Tagliamento], from Tarvisio. The other borders are determined by the Alps on every side.
119.6. Therefore, one cannot reach it except by its sea ports or {1573L1Add/1573L(A){by the valleys of the mountains}1573L1Add/1573L(A)}, or otherwise over the tops mof the mountains. It has on its sea coasts many harbours. In this most excellent country are many large fields watered by many pleasant streams, and those fields are extremely fertile, for they abound with vineyards, yielding a kind of wine which Plinius reckons and recommends to be the best, and he calls the place Pucinum wine {1573D1Add/1573D, 1574F1Add/1574F, 1581F, 1587F and 1598F only{which the Germans nowadays call Rynfal}1573D1Add/1573D, 1574F1Add/1574F, 1581F, 1587F and 1598F only} after its place of origin. The mountains of this country are very rich with almost all kinds of metals, namely iron, lead, tin, copper, quicksilver, silver and gold.
119.7. They also have marble, white, black and partly coloured. Precious stones such as carneols, beryl &c. and crystal. Here are [also] all sorts of fruits, and apples of the most excellent taste. [Then] stately woods for fuel, timber and for hunting. Pleasant and stately meadows, and pastures providing excellent food for cattle. The air is temperate. The fields by themselves abound with all things necessary for man to use, as also for pleasure and delight.
119.8. The people of this country are very well versed not only in the arts and sciences, but also as regards merchandise and other trades in life. The most famous cities here are Aquileja, adorned with the title of patriarchy. This city is called the Rich by Mela. In former times it was the seat of the emperors, and therefore it was called another Rome, twelve miles in circumference. For a long time it has been accounted to contain one hundred and twenty thousand citizens.
119.9. The great prosperity and wealth of this city has particularly grown by the multitude of merchants coming here. From almost all quarters of the world, because of the suitability of the place, its easy and safe entrance by land as well as by sea, merchandise was conveyed to this city as if [it were] a general warehouse. This great trade of merchandise ended together with the fortune of the city as the Venetians grew mightier and took to themselves all trade and traffic, so that now, what once was a flourishing and populous city, has become an almost wasted and deserted [place]. Utina, also called Utinum {1606E only{(the Italians normally call it Udine, the Dutch Weyden)}1606E only} is situated in a plain.
119.10. It has a strong castle, built on the top of a hill, raised by the labour and industriousness of man. It is at this day forty furlongs in circumference {1608/1612I only{or 5 miles}1608/1612I only}. [Then there is] Tergeste or Triest on the sea shore, a settlement of the Romans. [Then] Goritia, once called (if I am not mistaken) Noreia [Görz]. We find many monuments from antiquity that have remained here till this day. The city of Austria (many think it was called Forum Iulij in the old days) is situated at a mountain pass, a place that is strong and fortified by nature.
119.11. Through the middle of it runs the river Natisone, spanned by a fair stone bridge. St. Daniels town is seated on a very high and steep hill. Porto Gruaro is on the South bank of the Limine. Then [there are] Spilimbergo, Marano, Monfalcone and others about which you may read in Leander, from whom we have taken this brief description}1573D1Add, 1574F1Add/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F end here}. {1573L1Add/1573L(A){Johannes Candidus has written about the history of Aquileja, whose partner in his work and travels Leander writes to have been Gregorius Amasæus. Sabellicus has written six books about the monuments and antiquities of Aquileja}1573L1Add, 1573L(AB), 1573G1Add/1573G, 1574L, 1575L, 1579L(AB), 1580/1589G, 1584L, 1588S, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1602S, 1603L, 1609/1612L & 1609/1612/1641S end here}, {1606E only{which are available everywhere}1606E only which ends here}.
119.12. {1608/1612I only{To the annotations previously mentioned, Pigafetta adds, thanks to the mentioning of it by the famous Ortelius, that where the river Tagliamento becomes wider in the plains of Friuli, at the end of [the valley] Vallone, you find the hill called Osoppo, on the left bank, along the major road called the imperial one, which comes from Germany and Hungaria. This hill, which clearly stands out against the other mountains, almost as if it were an island, forms a circle of maybe a mile long, with threatening slopes all around, and surrounded by abysses sixty strides high.
119.13. Mr. Giulio Savorgnano, Lord of Osoppo, excellent army leader and fortress builder, has strengthened nature with art and has fortified it with flanks and small bullwarks, excavated from the hard rocks, and on the west side of the river, where the cartroad rises, has provided it with a gate, artful constructions and a moat. And everywhere he has provided it with artillery, making its garrison unbeaten and unbeatable. In all times Osoppo was a significant fortification, as Diaconus testifies in the 12th chapter, 4th book of the life of the holy Fortunatus.
119.14. Moreover, the signoria of Venice built the strong fortress of Gradisca on a naked rock on the right bank of the river Lisonzo [now Isonzo in Slovenia], with a fortress, and from there was built along the bank a wide and high mining corridor all the way to Goritia, with two strongholds in the middle [to guard it] against the assaults of the barbarians [Turks] in Italy. After the war which took place on Cyprus, they have for the same reason built Piazza Reale and the stronghold of Palma, between Udine and the river Lisonzo, and between Mount Medea and the sea, with nine bullwarks of which the body is very large, and the limbs have been made in good proportion to this, with their knights and with gear showing perfect military mastery.
119.15. Nowadays it is not easy to determine the borders of old forum Iulium or Friuli; [it is questionable] whether it encompassed the entire area which extends from Karst mountains to the river Livenza including the duchy of Goritia, or that it was confined within the rivers Lisonzo and Livenza. It is certainly true that it was ruled both by the patriarchs of Aquileja and the counts Palatine of Goritia, as is the case in separate jurisdictions obtained in fief from the emperors.
119.16. The first [patriarchs of Aquileja] possessed the region between the rivers Lisonzo and Livenza, the Alps and the sea. The others possessed the area between the river Lisonzo, the mountains and the sea. These lords often waged war with each other. The duke then occupied places in the realm of the patriarch, and the patriarch did the same in the realm of the duke, and it appears clearly from history that the patriarchs continued to be the rulers of Goritia for some period of time, and that the duchy to which the dukes of Friuli were subordinated, derived their title from it. [The duchy was] donated to Poppo, patriarch of Aquileja, by emperor Conradis the Second, as Wolfgang Lazius mentions in his 12th book on map 1214. He also states emphatically in chapter 1 of his last book that the duchy of Goritia is part of Friuli.
119.17. Whatever the case may be, the above text seems to be corrupted where he says that one arrives in Friuli as soon as one crosses the river Lisonzo near Treviglio, because Tarvisio, as the text states, that is to say Treviglio (but not Trevisa on the river Fella at the borders of Italy and Carinthia) lies west of the river Lisonzo, and at quite some distance from it, and if one leaves from there and heads for Friuli, to the East, one must first cross the river Piave, and after that the river Livenza, which constitutes the western border of Friuli.
119.18. Thus, the river Lisonzo is not the gateway to Friuli when departing from Treviglio. Note also that the same text says that one can only find one's way into Friuli via the river Lisonzo, because the remaining area towards the Alps is closed off by this river, and form such an obstacle that by means of footpaths over the tops the passage over these mountain ridges are opened. In spite of this, there are two different roads [to reach Friuli] via the Alps, from Treviglio, both of them commodious ones and suitable for carts. The first one has already been mentioned and is located between Tagliamento and Gemonio, which ends at Villach, and this road is called the imperial one. The other starts at Tolmino which forms part of the duchy of Goritia, leading to Caporetto and Pufar, leading through the straights of the mountain and the river Natisone to Cividale, and from there to the plains of Friuli.
119.19. As far as Aquileja is concerned, it used to be situated close to the shore, connected to the sea by a broad estuary and a deep channel which still exists and which is called URNA. And it formed the harbour outside the city walls so that one could reach the sea by means of the channel just mentioned. I remember to have read in Ammianus that here a war was waged against Aquileja by means of turrets placed on ships. Nowadays, it is at a distance from the sea of more than three miles, and at the end of the channel just mentioned, great amounts of oysters are found, sufficient for all adjacent areas.
119.20. Some remnants from ancient Roman times have still been preserved here, with inscriptions cut into stone, an aquaduct of about three miles long leading towards Marano, and a paved road along the sea leading towards Altino, and from there via swamps towards Padua and Bologna, as Strabo says. Towards Grado, there are venerable ruins of a large city, containing memorable inscriptions in marble. This city used to reign over a large territory, very fertile, with all kinds of produce, namely from Histria and the springs of the river Timavo all the way to the river Livenza. And this area was capable of providing food for all its inhabitants, as well as dainties and delicacies, especially wine.
119.21. The [wine called] Pucinum, which used to please Livia, Augustus' wife, as Plinius and Athenæus testify, grew here above the river Timavo in the jurisdiction of Duino, belonging to the duke Raimondo della Torre, nowadays called Prosecco wine, and also the King's Eminence. It is only produced in small quantities and it is highly appreciated on the tables of potentates. The river Timavo, still retaining its ancient name, springs from the same nine sources which Vergilius has praised, and which were reduced by Strabo to seven sources, all of them with sweet water, and not just one source, as Polybius states. It is mentioned by Strabo under the mountain ridge of Karst. It pierces this ridge in nine caves and vast waters with a terrible noise, as noted by the poet, when the water rises because of rain; The water of the river Recca dries up underground, not far from here, and reappears at Saint Giovanni, the mansion of the duke just mentioned, where the sources unite in a deep channel with very clear water, emptying into the Triest bay where it provides a very safe shelter for ships. Here are also ancient graves of the Romans, and remnants of old buildings, and of the temple of Diomedes.}1608/1612I only which ends here}.