Secondary Education in Terra d’Otranto: the Expansion of Maglie’s “Francesca Capece” Gymnasium and the Introduction of its Lyceum Courses (1898–1899)

Abstract

This contribution is situated within research on the local history of secondary education, with particular attention to the concrete forms assumed by the post-unification classical curriculum in peripheral territories. Through the case of the “Francesca Capece” Gymnasium–Lyceum of Maglie, analysed through archival documentation, it reconstructs the ways in which classical education was organized and administered in Terra d’Otranto between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The study engages with historiography that has highlighted the territorial dimension of schooling (Barausse, Ghizzoni, Meda 2018) and with research that has shown the relevance of local contexts in educational practices (D’Ascenzo 2016). Archival sources from the “Provincia II Deposito” collection of the State Archive of Lecce make it possible to trace the expansion of the institution in 1898–1899 and the introduction of lyceum classes, prompted by educational demand from the communities of the Capo di Leuca area, geographically distant from the lyceums of Lecce and Taranto. Annual reports, subsidy requests, and enrollment data reveal recurring issues: the management of a pareggiato institution, the selection of teachers, and the continuity between gymnasium and lyceum. Overall, the case of Maglie offers the image of an institution that, while embedded within the national regulatory framework, operated as an educational structure capable of interpreting and mediating the social, cultural, and economic specificities of Terra d’Otranto.