Cheese rolls and a king
One of the world's top ten castles, Rocca Calascio
King Marrone was the ruler of La Rocca, which we know today as Rocca Calascio. As well as this town and castle, he owned a further 36 castles and a 100 towers. The people of the village were happy and they were well ruled. The king loved his people and he loved his many flocks of sheep. He ensured that his shepherds took them to the best pastures and that they were properly protected against wolves and other creatures. As a result, his sheep were the best in Abruzzo, producing the best milk and wool. Some of his sheep were woolly giants, taller than three rifle-lengths and others were big rams with black eyes and curly horns. The cheese-makers made the best kinds of cheese and the women spun the softest and most beautiful yarns.
Each year in May, merchants from the rich cities of the north came to buy many rounds of cheese and bags of wool. Even the King of Portugal sent three of his sons to Rocca for the sheep shearing festival so that they might return with wool good enough to fill the cushions, the quilts, and the mattresses of the Royal apartments.
Nearby, lived another king, the King of Crowns. He too, had towers and castles, soldiers and farms, villages and sheep. But the King of Crowns did not enjoy his wealth as he was jealous of the King Marrone. One day the King of Crowns found an excuse to begin a war with his neighbour. So began an unhappy time which lasted for years and years.
King Marrone inspired his people and did what he could to protect his lands. For more than ten years the war dragged on, consuming all his riches. For the first few years, his people lived off their cheeses, and then their horses and mules, and finally most of the sheep and their lambs till all the stalls and stables were all but empty. In the granary, the wheat was gone. Even the wells had dried up, for it had not rained for many months. Times were becoming desperate when King Marrone had an idea.
He gathered all his people in the main square and told them of his plan. He asked them to milk the remaining sheep. Then he gathered together all the women who were nursing babies and begged them to express their milk into the kettle. The king then asked the cheese-maker to make twelve big rounds of cheese, such as those seen in better times. When this was done, King Marrone called all his remaining soldiers to the walls of his castle and ordered them to throw the great rounds over the walls. The women, he ordered to parade along the walls and to sing loudly and joyfully as if it was a great festival. All this was done.
The rounds of cheese rolled down the precipitous slopes, and over the rocks, and into the valley far below. The women sang lustily and with joy in their hearts and the flags and banners flew from the towers and battlements.
Upon seeing this, the King of Crowns couldn’t believe his own eyes. Even his people, who had laid seige to La Rocca for these last ten years were beginning to get low on supplies. He believed that the people of the town still had enough food to withstand a continuance of the seige, so much so that they could afford to toss away some rounds of cheese to their enemies. His soldiers were tired, at the end of their strength, so the King of Crowns decided to withdraw and sue for peace.
To this day, the cheese produced by the town and the other local villages is still the best and people come from all over the world to buy the rounds to take back to their homes.
A shepherd and his sheep on Campo Imperatore
For this story, I am indebted to www.lifeinabruzzo.com