The earliest people in this area, the Ligurians, Iberians, and Gauls, followed the Garda Lake and Brenta River from the south and southeast of Italy to settle Tyrol around 4000 B.C. They were lake dwellers who built crude stone huts and stilt houses, following the banks of the Adige River and its tributaries that cascaded among the valleys and plateaus of the Dolomites. The Celts, Lombards, Goths, and Cimbori from Germany crossed the Alps to enter Tyrol, using Brenner Pass in the north. As the conquering tribes absorbed their captives, various Indo-European people melded into the Rhaetian culture.

Hardy and warlike, these forebears were nonetheless no match for the Roman Legions who invaded the agricultural Rhaetia District in 15 B.C. and made it a Roman Province called the Italic Region. The Romans were followed by many other invaders, among them the Francs and Bavarians, who pillaged, raped, and enslaved the people over the years.

Perhaps the most important rulership was that of the Hapsburg Dynasty of Germany, Austria, and Hungary, whose sovereignty began in the thirteenth century and co-existed with the powerful prince-bishops of the Council of Trent. Under this dynasty, the people lived under the feudal system and were divided into those who were free, semi-free, and peasants who had no rights. The people were heavily taxed by the nobility and clergy. One of the most important rebellions was that of the Rustic/Peasant War of 1525, in which farmers ransacked and looted churches and monasteries and the homes of nobles. The leaders of this rebellion were imprisoned and beheaded, but not before the prince-bishops promised to lower taxes and improve the conditions under which the populace lived.

As time passed, the people continued to strain against oppression and eventually rebelled with a unified cry: "The time has come for liberty." Adreas Hofer, who led the insurrection, is the national hero who shaped the identity of the multilingual Tyrolean people. The Italian character of Tyrol was demonstrated when its people fought in the Risorgimento and during the two World Wars, after which Italy was united into one nation. The Gasperi-Gruber Agreement of 1946 paved the way for the autonomous provinces of Trento in the south and bilingual Bolzano in the north that govern the Trentino-Alto Adige region today. The Tyrolean eagle stands as the symbol for the region's unification and independence.

Culture
Hunters and gatherers evolved into farmers and merchants, clerics and nobles, artists and skilled craftsmen. Isolated farmhouses and picturesque towns and villages nestled in the meadows and valley of the Dolomite Alps amidst ruins of Roman settlements and crumbling gray castles. The jagged peaks of the Dolomites were named for a French geologist, Deodat de Dolomieu. He identified two principal regions of the chain, the Eastern Dolomites of Alto-Adige and the Brenta Dolomites of Trentini. Although the Trentini region is Italian in tradition and language, the Alto-Adige region, which was ceded by Austria in 1918 to Italy, retains its German heritage. Both German and Italian are spoken in the unique area called the Süd Tirol.

Dialect retains its importance in Tyrolean heritage. In earlier days, the language was called Ladino, which came from remnants of the Etruscan-Rhaethian language. Ladino was probably displaced by Latin during the occupation of the Romans. The Ladin dialects are the Romance tongues that evolved from that source. Each ancestral village had its own Ladin dialect, such as "Nones Blot" in the Val di Non of Trentini and "Badiotti" in the Badia Valley of Alto-Adige. However, the modern Italian language preserves its Latin qualities in the Florentine dialect as spoken today throughout Italy.

Of equal importance in Tyrol was religion. The earliest people were pagans who worshiped the Persian war god, Mithra, or followed the cult of the goddess Mira. The revered Mithia Stone still stands in the town of Vipiteno/Sterzing, which was once a Roman settlement.

Christianity was introduced in the fourth century, but the first believers were martyred when they interfered with pagan festivals. By the eleventh century, Christianity was established and the populace embraced Catholicism with fervor for its mysticism and pageantry. Monasteries and convents sprouted along the alpine salt and trade routes, and their hospices were a haven for travelers. Granite churches and cathedrals were built in Gothic style, their dim interiors adorned with frescoes of the Holy Family, saints, and angels.

On holy days of the church and the feast days of its saints, the priest wore colorful vestments and carried a crucifix high above his head. The people carried religious statues and sang hymns as they walked in procession through the streets and entered the church for Mass. Women dressed in billowing skirts with gaily embroidered blouses. Single women adorned their hair with a circlet of flowers; married women wore colorful scarves on their heads. The men donned gaudy shirts, embroidered vests and jackets, and knee-high red or white socks. Bachelors wore red, peaked hats; married men wore green ones pinned with a ring. Marriages were sometimes arranged after the revelry as several villages celebrated together; women were allowed to choose husbands from nearby villages. The most revered feast days were those of Saint Joseph, the foster father of the Christ Child, and Saint Vigilius, a bishop who was stoned to death in the fourth century. He was later named the patron saint of the Trentino-Alto Adige.

Trentini's capitol, Trento, was chosen as the sear for The Sacred Council of Trent, from which the prince-bishops governed the people's lives. Every priest was required to keep a registry of the births, marriages, and deaths in his parish and to record those who received the rites of the church. Registries began sometime in the early 1500s. The death records were especially important because the dreaded plague had swept through Tyrol in 1630 and twice more later. Sometimes whole villages died. In an attempt to follow the course of the disease, the cause of a person's death was also recorded. Copies of these registries were sent to the church archives in Trento and Bolzano. The town officials also kept a civil registry, records of properties, wills, and emigration and tax rolls.

Families were tightly-woven units in close-knot communities. In the towns, Alpine-style houses towered like miniature Dolomites over the cobblestone streets where merchants hawked their wares and innkeepers beckoned weary travelers. The town square, with its spewing water fountains, was a hubbub of life where men gathered to play cards and drink wine and women gossiped as they drew water from the public well and carried home filled buckets on poles slung across their shoulders. Everyone wore the traditional blue apron over everyday clothes of serviceable brown or black.

In villages and hamlets, fruit orchards and vineyards on dusky blue-green hillsides were laced among rural farmhouses. The harvest was celebrated with the traditional wine festival - a variety of wines was served along with platters of cold ham, sausage, and cheese - products of the cattlemen, dairy farmers, and vintners. A walk in the bracing night air was said to clear the wine fumes from the head and prevent hangovers.

Some people lived in the mining villages, where the silver, copper, and iron were chiseled from the roots of the Dolomites. Some worked in the textile mills skirting the towns as spinners or weavers in the silk industry. Some were Alpine guides. Some were artists or sculptors, poets or musicians whose talents survived through the centuries. However, the economic structure was poor and many were unemployed.

Meat was rarely part of meals for the working class, although it was enjoyed regularly by the upper class. Families often ate a peasant soup of onions and cabbage, sometimes mixed with bacon and cream; or polenta, a dish made of cornmeal served with a sauce and vegetables. Farmers carried to the fields a lunch of cold sliced polenta and cheese and a goatskin of wine or whiskey. Polenta was a filling dish, but lacking in nutrients; many died from a deficiency disease called pellagra.

Since doctors were scarce in villages and hamlets, midwifery and herbal medicines were common practices. For example, dried plums mixed with water were used to soothe coughs, and a daily ration of a pound of grapes was used to aid indigestion. Bathing in the mineral waters of various springs was a feature of health spas frequented by the wealthy.

Although most of the residents were common people and poor, they were educated, thanks to the efforts of Maria Theresa, who ruled as Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and as the Great Empress of Austria in the late 1700s. Her belief that the power of education for her subjects would make for a stronger country was important in the development of the Tyrolean people. All children went to school; those of the well-to-do studied in the big cities with their social and political opportunities. Working-class youth and children who lived in the rural areas were taught by priests, nuns, and volunteer teachers. Illiteracy was eliminated during the 40-year rule of Maria Theresa. Tyrolean immigrants arrived in the United States with reading, writing, and mathematical skills, making it easier for them to blend into American society. Descendants say with pride of their heritage, "We are Tyrolean."

Research
You don't have to travel to Italy to visit your ancestral home. A trip to your local library will serve nearly as well. Much of the early history of Trentini-Alto Adige can be found in encyclopedias in the library's reference section and in history books on Italy. Sources that are often overlooked are the travel guides for Italy published by various companies. Both major cities and many of the small towns and villages are listed. Interesting tidbits of the history and little-known folklore are mentioned, and you might find a description of your ancestral home. Descriptions of castles and churches, museum holdings of artifacts, and paintings and sculptures provide insight.

Civil and church registrations for many towns and villages are now available on microfilm and can be ordered through the family history centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The registries are written in Italian, Latin, and sometimes in the dialect of a particular village, according to the recording official of the time.

Common abbreviations used in the registries are: "va" for vedova (wodow); "vo" for vedovo (widower); "fa" for figlia (daughter); "fo" for figlio (son); "fu" and "qm" for furone or quondam (deceased); and "viv" for vivente (living). Words are seldom hyphenated at the end of a line; often you will find a name such as "Giu seppe: on two lines, and the syllables must be joined before you can recognize the word. It's a good idea to take both Latin- and Italian-English dictionaries along. A magnifying glass is also handy since the handwriting in the ancient script is small and difficult to read.

You can also gather information from groups interested in preserving Tyrolean heritage. Some of these groups are:

International Tirolian Trentino Organization of North America, 11020 Nelson Street, Westchester, IL 60154, Attn: E.V. Pellegrini, President

Tirolesi Alpini club of Daphne, AL, 400 College Avenue, Daphne, AL 36526. Attn: Donald Bertolini, President.

The Tirolesi Alpini of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, P.O. Box 944, Hazleton, PA 18201. Attn: Amelia Braskie, Founder.

Working Groups of Alpine Regions (Intercultural), Amt der Tiroler Landesregierung Landhaus A-6010, Innsbruck, Austria. Attn: Dr. Meinhard Gstrein

References
Barzini, Luigi. Italians. (Atheneum: MacMillan, 1977)

Bolobnani, Bonifacio. A Courageous People of the Dolomites, (1984.)

Funk & Wagner's New Encyclopedia, Vols. 4, 9, 14, 22, & 26. (1971)

Hachette Guide to Italy, (New York: Pantheon books, 1988.)

Harney, Martin P. Catholic Church Through the Ages, (1974)

Hofmann, Paul. Cento Citta, A Guide to the Hundred Cities and Towns of Italy, (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1988.)

Italian Alps, South Tyrol. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993.)

Italian Government Travel Office, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10111.

Luciani, Vincent. Italian Idioms and Proverbs. (F. Vanni, 1981.)

Schummann, Reinhold. Italy in the Last Fifteen Hundred Years, 2nd Edition. (United Press of America, 1992)