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Mesagne sits in the inland part of the province of Brindisi. Its name means “city in the middle” given to its due to its position halfway between Brindisi and Oria, along the Via Appia. The city was founded by the Messapi in the 5th century BC, with the name of Metania, it then became Mesania under the Romans. Much later, it was the Normans who fortified it and built a defensive castle, which however, was not able to save it from destruction by the Saracens under orders from the Swabian Manfred, at that time allied with the Angevins, who wanted to punish the city for its loyalty to the Pope. In 1256. two years after its destruction, the same Manfred gave orders for Mesagne to be rebuilt, reinforcing the walls and castle. Feudalism was not particularly severe for Mesagne, primarily towards the end of the feudal regime, decreed by Giuseppe Bonaparte and Murat, when Vincenzo Imperiali, a popular, cultured politician governed the city. Under Bonaparte the city became the capital of the district and during the years of the Risorgimento it was the seat of the circle of Giovine Italia and activity of a Carbonaro group.