Long Title, Compact Style? Nott da Porta's Chronicle
“Since time immemorial, the Engadin has had great men who used their talents to bring honour to their fatherland’s literature. With his history of Rhaetia, Not de Porta has done great honour to his fatherland, bringing Rhaetian literature to the fore.”
Father Placidus à Spescha was clearly impressed with the work of Not de Porta—or rather Nott da Porta—titled “Chronica Rhetica oder L’Historia dal’origine, guerras, alleanzas & auters evenimaints da nossa chiara patria, la Rhetia." Despite the book’s lengthy title, Nott da Porta wrote—at least according to the Father—in a “compact style.”
Dating from 1742, the priest associated with Disentis knew the book well. A handwritten note he added in 1804 shows that he even owned a copy. That very copy was later in the possession of the prominent lawyer and politician Peter Conradin von Planta-Wildenberg. Today, it is preserved in the Kulturarchiv Gruob und Umgebung in Rueun, the cultural archive for the Gruob and its surrounding area.