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Author: Douglas Estill
The Neapolis Forgotten Paths Project (2026)
In part one, we questioned whether “Oligamus Stella” ever existed at all.
In part two, we turn to the phrase itself.
Walking the ground behind a medieval mystery
What if “Oligamus” was never a name—but a misreading of a common Latin construction?So, the last time that we visited we were investigating the phrase “Nos Oligamus Stella, dux”. And we determined through examination of scribal errors and mis-segmentation by various authors, that the words “Nos Oligamus” was not a name but the verb phrase “nos obligamus”. When translated, meant, “we obligate or oblige”. Common language of that time for usage in legal documents.
Now, we are left with the dilemma of identifying the word, “Stella” as used in the context of the total phrase, “Nos Obligamus Stella, dux”. You’re going to need to buckle your seat belt on this one. Trust me, it’s complicated.
What will take you just a couple of minutes to read this article? It took me two and a half years of research to get to this point of writing. Whew, now that I have that out of the way, let’s start investigating the word, Stella.
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Okay, I had only two avenues regarding Stella; a name or person, or a place or location. So, I started with a name or person. Research rather quickly turned out that the name of Stella didn’t show up until the year 1257 ad., under Jean-Baptiste Stella.
Okay, so now I have two disqualifiers for the name Stella. Jean-Baptiste is two hundred and fifty years too late for our narrative, and proper names with surnames didn’t really evolve until the late 11th century, and then surnames were sparsely used by the aristocracy. Alright, so now we know that Stella as a person did not exist for at least two hundred and fifty years after the time of Oligamus Stella.
Thus, Stella must be a place or location. So, I start searching for locations or places called Stella that existed around 1000 ad. I quickly learned that I had a problem. Now remember all of this started in the Naples area of Italy.
Even though you and I now know that a real person named Oligamus didn’t exist during that time frame. The authors of the 15th and 16th centuries presumed that he was real and attributed history to him.
At one point in my research, I read a segment of a manuscript that read closely to this: “Oligamo Stella/Estelle fled Naples in fear of the Roman emperor and returned to his home of Marseilles and Draguignan”.
So, the “Oligamo Stella/Estelle play develops. I need to introduce some of our supporting cast: Attanulfus(Atanulf), Pandulphus(Pandulf), Petrus(Petri), Malfredum and Bertrandus. These people play a very pivotal part in our research and investigation of the word Stella.
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So, through that remnant we now have a migration from Italy to basically the area of France, known as Provence. That was very plausible because during that time in Italy, the Byzantine Greeks of the Benevento area, and the Lombards of the Capua area were being persecuted by the Roman emperor, Henry VI.
I still had a problem; I could not find a place or location called Stella. I could find all sorts of named entries with de Stella as a designator. For example: Petri de Stella, Flota de Stella, Bernardus de Stella, Malfredum de Stella. HINT: You will see those names appear again in another segment with a different role.
My question that I had to answer was if Stella was not a name, and if I can’t find a place or location called Stella; but a lot of named individuals with de Stella attached to their name. The de Stella entry must be a geographic area.
Before this gets any more confusing to you, I actually need to cite my main source for this writing: “Cartulaire de l’Abbaya de Saint-Victor de Marseilles, volumes 1 and 2”. These two volumes are some of the most complete information in regard to named individuals, aristocracy, land transfers, and yes, military security(Knights) for the various abbey and diocese properties.
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Now the premise is based on the allusion that Oligamus fled Naples to arrive in Marseilles. Marseilles is a seaport and travels from Naples, itself a seaport, to Marseilles by sea is highly plausible. But how do we get from Marseille to Draguignan. And how is de Stella tied into all of this? And is Stella a lost medieval landscape in Provence?
Well, yes, it is a lost medieval landscape by name only in Provence, France. Without boring you with a litany of geographic locations; I’ll only mention the “high points” and that was a pun. Because as a geographic reference a “high point” is critical in evaluating Stella.
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During the medieval age in Provence, France a signaling system was needed to be developed to warn areas that they were in danger. The areas needing information ran from Marseilles to the Draguignan(Var) region. What was developed was a system of beacons(large fires) that could be seen from miles away.
That meant that the beacons had to be placed on high ridges. With the development of the beacon system small agricultural communes developed. But with the need for the beacon warning system, an agricultural community began developing, and there was a need for water.
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Here is the groundwork for that three tier system. In that area a ridge named Le Malmont was used as a beacon point. This ridge dominates the surrounding area. From there you can see the entire basin below. From there, we expand to Le Rasteou, a mid-slope platform.
Partway down, the land opens into a kind of a shelf – structured, organized, and clearly used over a very long period of time. Not quite a valley and not quite a ridge; but the kind of place that would cause people to gather and develop a community.
Moving along, we come to what is known as the valley corridor and the Argens river. This is an area where movement happens: goods are traded, people congregate, and travel routes develop. More importantly, the valley corridor(Stella Corridor) is where everything funnels through.
If you follow the terrain long enough, everything pulls toward one place: Les Arcs-sur-Argens. That’s where the crossing is. In the medieval world, crossings aren’t just convenient-they’re critical. The crossings control: trade, travel, and communication. Which means they attract: authority, conflict, and attention.
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While studying ancient maps of that area, one area stood out immediately: Les Croisieres. At first glance, it seems just like any other named area. Until you break down the name: Croix(cross), Croisiere(crossing or crossroad).
It’s a place where routes meet and where something is marked. That’s not just geography. That’s function. And suddenly, the landscape wasn’t just terrain anymore. It was organized.
A charter from the Cartulary of Saint-Victor described something very specific: a dispute, a gathering of milites(knights), and a meeting inside a church. And the church’s name was Sancti Christophori.
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The meat of this story involves two of our cast members. The Archbishop of Arles was asked to oversee a land dispute of a very wealthy landowner, named Isnard. Isnard summoned witnesses and compelled the appearance of local milites. The Archbishop mediated disputes involving land, rights, or feudal obligations.
Oh, and the milites(knights) that the Archbishop of Arles compelled to show up to this meeting were none other than Flota de Stella, and Malfredum de Stella and other local knights.
Why this information was important was the distance the knights had to travel. It had to be within at least a day’s journey. Now the de Stella reference begins to tighten geographically. It has to be in the Arles-Riez-Frejus sphere, which keeps us tightly in the Draguignan corridor.
Conclusion: Can I drop a pin in Google maps and definitively say: This is the location of Stella, no. Stella is a toponym describing a geographical area functioning within a medieval system.
If the area of Stella is real, and it is. It’s called the “Stella Corridor”. Then who were the men that controlled it?
Our next investigative article is entitled, “The Misreading”. To continue reading, please access the directory.