OUTLINE OF HISTORY
This land has been inhabited for more than million of years, according to the ruins and some place-names.
Some of the italics ancient inhabitants were Frentani, Romans, Longobardi, that placed in the country between Fara and Guardiola, along the river banks.
In Ix sc. Lords of Chieti, made a small fort be built on the rock, called morgione as a shire guard, and forced the local inhabitants to build their houses inside the fort, and also to live in, under the government of a Longobard family. This was the birth of our village, that as it is told in a legend, was called Frisia as homage to the Lord’s daughter . We found mentioned for the first time this name in a document of 1115. For many centuries the borough was governed by the rich Lords Grandinati, from which derived Frisia of Grandinati, and then Fresagrandinaria. Under the Norman rule, it was governed by two knights and four vassals..

In the meanwhile, within this territory, near Treste river, had arose a Benedictine Abbey dedicated to Sant’Angelo (San Michele Arcangelo), and just outside the abbey, there was a fortified village called Cornaclano (mentioned in 1267), from this we have Sant’Angelo da Cornaclano. This abbey had many goods and was very important, afterwards arrived the hermit monks of Sant’Agostino until 1492, when it was given to the feudal family.
When the family Grandinati deceased about in 1330, under roromantic circumstances, according to the legend (it says that Gasparro the country man, took revenge of his wife’s honour, who had to pain the jus primae noctis).
Fresa and his castle was now under the government of Sangro family. This situation lasted till 1585, then it became a Gesualdo feud, and at the end it passed to the Coriacciòlo, San Buono princes , until 1804 when Fresa people, in according with their lords, started paying expensive yearly taxes in order to get released. It was an ruinous agreement because it led to secular quarrels and enormous charges for Fresa.
From 1799 to 1814, the village was attacked several times, it was invaded and despoiled by those that should be loyal, but actually they were bandits with robberies, blackmails and murders.
Until 1860 Fresa was under the Reign of Napoli. The 8 of October 1860 there was a rebellion, and pillage and robbery against the house and the members of Luigi Terpolilli family who at that time , was Captain of National Guard, consequently he was on the House of Savoy side.
The referendum of 21st of October 1860, to decide to be enclosed to Reign of Italy, 288 people who had the right to vote, only 211 actually voted; 193 voted for “yes”, those who were against were 18. Between 1860 and 1870 those who were loyal to the King of Napoli, still kept on clashed with those of National Guard. Fight stopped when emigration started, and when the village was divided into quarters, and when a regiment of soldiers arrived here to discover an extinguish the bandits hid den among the mountains around.
Many infantry men from Fresa took part to the war in 1866, and to those of 1915/18 and 1940/45, and consequently they suffered for mourning, ruins and wounds. On the second of November 1943, the village suffered for air allied bombardment with 8 dead and many were injured. On 19 of March 1944, Armando Ottaviano from Fresa, was one of the victims of Fosse Ardeatine. The names of those who were killed during the war are now written on the “monument to the dead”.
Referendum of1946 to decide Institutional Form with this results: 642 for the Republic, 504 for Monarchy.
Thanks to the dynamism of his inhabitants, Fresa has modernized, and it has been brought up to update with the material and mental progress.