Violence and the Great Estates in the South of Italy

Apulia 1900-1922 by Frank Snowden

By John Stavola

Two generations ago my maternal grandparents emigrated from the comune of Palo del Colle, located near the city of Bari. Unfortunately, they passed away before I could learn firsthand about their life in Puglia. This book gives the most detailed description of conditions there that I have found so far.

According to the book, Puglia has always been somewhat of a backwater area even for the South. The interior of the province is dominated by a vast undulating plain known as the Murge.

From the time of Argonese rule this area was kept settlement free in order for it to remain as sheep pasture. The Argonese rulers charged a duty for the right of sheepherders to use it. The Bourbons continued this practice.

After the annexation of the Two Sicilies the new "Liberal" government sold off this land. Instead of allowing the contadini to acquire the land, it was sold to the propertied classes. These absentee landlords went into the agricultural business forming large estates called latifondi. Prior to this time the contadini were invested in their labors thru tradition and the bonds between the classes. The new system turned the contadini into agricultural workers. As interchangeable workers they became the one component of the system which could be controlled. The weather and other factors which affect agricultural production are uncontrollable, especially in Puglia, where water was scarce. As day laborers, or giornalisti, they worked for subsistence wages under very harsh conditions in order to provide profits for the owners.

Mr. Snowden points out that there was an area of Puglia along the Adriatic coast, east of a line drawn from Bitonto to Alberobello, where conditions were better. This area referred to as the marina was intensely cultivated with almonds, grapes, and olives by small peasant landholders known as contadini. This area offered year round work and was more socially and politically stable. The marina did not revolt as the interior area eventually did. The comune of my grandparents was within this area.

Puglia had the least number of emigrants of all the Southern provinces. This was because the vast majority of the population were giornalisti who owned no land. Although the contadini of the marina may have owned only a tiny parcel, it still gave them something to borrow against or sell in order to afford the ticket for emigration. The day laborers were stuck in their predicament. Emigration as a mitigating factor to unrest was not open to them. Living and working together under harsh conditions for tyrannical overseers fostered a sense of solidarity among the giornalisti. This enabled them to form the only mass peasant movement in the South. The rest of the South was similar to the marina in its economic and social structure and therefore the conditions and opportunity for a mass movement did not come about.

Another factor which led to unrest was the disinheritance of the peasantry. Traditionally, and as far back as pre-Roman times, peasants had the right to gather wood, to farm, to fish, and to pasture on the open public lands known as demani. After annexation by the North the new regime was opposed to and did not recognize these ancient rights of the peasant to make use of collectively held land. Mr. Snowden:

"The opportunities for enclosure of the commons were numerous.The legislation of the Liberal state was unbending in its aversion to any form of agrarian collectivism.... " p.72

The solidarity of the giornalisti was also not hindered by the power of the Church. The Catholic Church did not have a strong influence or command much respect here due to the fact that Puglia was not an area where the best the Church had to offer were sent. After Rome saw that the rise of socialist movements were more of a threat than the Liberal regime it lifted its ban on participation of church members in political life.

"...In Apulia the clergy took advantage of the new dispensation to make common cause with the ruling parties of order, campaigning actively against the early candidates put forward by the [socialist] leagues".... In a demonstration against this opposition by the church a crowd chanted '..Long live Giordano Bruno...'" p.85.

Mr. Snowden says that the movement in Puglia was essentially anarcho-syndicalist, that is it was formed around one type of worker in opposition to the ruling order. The revolt lasted from about 1900 to the beginning of the Fascist era. It took the form of general strikes, political organization, and many times, armed insurrection. The authorities always countered with violence and many killings and assassinations took place. In many places the overseers and landowners had to travel about under armed guard. The movement did achieve minor improvements, which were eventually swept away as the men were drawn away into the First World War.

There were attempts made on the national level to quiet the unrest. Giolitti, a prominent politician of this period instituted reforms. 

"....The difficulty with [Giolitti's] liberalization program was that it applied exclusively to the North of Italy .The PSI and the CGL [socialist parties], which entered into a political partnership with Giolitti were almost exclusively northern in their membership .What took place, therefore, was the creation of a privileged labour elite. The cost of the benefits newly extended to northern workers and peasants was borne by the largely unorganized and unrepresented peasants of the rest of the peninsula. In economic terms , public as well as private investment took place almost entirely either in the industrial triangle bounded by Milan ,Genoa, and Turin, or in the reclamation projects of the Po valley. Despite the evident need of the south for investment, government fiscal policy drained the region of capital for the benefit of the wealthier northern provinces. In Nitti's famous phrase, the taxation of the Liberal state was 'regionally progressive in reverse"'. Capitanata [Puglia], for instance paid more than twice as much in taxes to the state as it received in government expenditure. In the fiscal year1902-03 the province was assessed for 14,000,000 lire, principally through the land tax. In return it received only 6,5000,000 lire in total public spending. Such treatment contrasted sharply with the province of Milan, one of the most prosperous in the country. In the same financial year Milan enjoyed a net excess of state expenditure [180,000,000 lire] over taxation [140,000,000 lire]. The Apulian provinces directly subsidized northern economic development. The benefits of employment, union representation, and high wages did not extend to the whole of Italy." pp.136-7

Concerning WWI:

"...Nowhere were the results more deeply felt and enduring than in Apulia. As a wholly agricultural region, it bore, to the full, the impact of the holocaust. According to the prefect [of the military command at Bari] Bari province had the highest proportion of front-line troops in Italy [10]. Although the South suffered the highest levels of war casualties, it received the lowest amount of the vast sums spent by the state to finance the war effort.{11]. Here was a military manifestation of the Southern Question in Italian history....." p154

As stated previously, the hinterland of Apulia is a vast rolling plain called, at the time, the Tavoliere. This area is referred to today as the Murge. At the time of the annexation of the Two Sicilies this area was unsettled.

"... Foggia province in particular came to be known  as the "Italian frontier", the "California of the South" and the Texas of Apulia" as the scramble for land began.[8] A region of shepherds, commented a Bari newspaper, was transformed into a population of farmers.[9]"...By the law of 26 February 1865,the Risorgimento, the Italian bourgeois revolution, abolished the four centuries of regulation and opened the Tavoliere to cultivation and the land to purchase."

"The process of deregulation had profound consequences for Apulian history. The Tavoliere provides a perfect illustration of Gramsci's analysis of the Risorgimento as a "passive revolution" imposed "from above" by the agrarian and commercial bourgeoisie of the North and Centre of the peninsula in alliance with landed classes of the South without involving or benefiting the broad mass of the peasant population. Instead of attempting to use the disposal of the tavoliere to create a substantial class of peasant proprietors, Liberal Italy made its peace with the more backward propertied classes of the South. The Liberal common-land commissioner at Altamura in the 1860's, Vito Orofino, had hoped that the land settlement after unification would establish a democratic social system that would "demonstrate the advantages of the present free institutions to those citizens, now despised and ignorant, who will appreciate the difference between the old regime and the new."[10]. Instead, Liberal Italy followed the course of least resistance by conciliating the powerful and wealthy notables eager to buy." p9

And finally I would like to quote a passage from the introduction that gives me a different and proud perspective on my Apulian ancestors and fellow Southern Italian countrymen. On the organized Apulian peasant movement:

 "....their resistance was neither an irrational millenarianism nor a blind attempt to preserve antiquated social relationships. They attempted in a highly disciplined manner to experience economic development on their own terms rather than as its passive victims." p.1    

All quotes from: 

Violence and Great Estates in the South of Italy, Apulia 1900-1922, Frank Snowden,Cambridge University Press, 2004

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,792189,00.html

(Reprinted with permission from Southern Italian History, Culture, and Genealogy blog)

Simple Pleasures

Bacchus & Vesuvius, Fresco from the lararium
in the House of the Centenary at Pompeii

Reading Niccolò Graffio's "A Passion for Paestum" reminded me of all the great historical sites and artwork we saw on our recent journey to Southern Italy. My friend’s appetite for archaeology could not help but be wetted in a land as rich in antiquities as Campania. With its abundance of churches and museums, we were not disappointed. Everywhere we turned we marveled at the history and the beauty of the land.

(L-R) An artisan at work and a traditional Torresi cameo

Southern Italy, of course, is not all ruins, monuments and museums. The traditional folk arts are alive and well. Witnessing firsthand the time-honored cameo and coral handwork in Torre del Greco and ceramic making in Vietri sul Mare was a treat and just some of the interesting excursions we took on our trip. We also had the opportunity to discover how some of our favorite artisan foods were made. In Southern Italy gastronomy is an art form. 

On our way to Paestum we stopped off at Tenuta Vannulo, an organic water buffalo farm renowned for its high quality mozzarella. We took a tour of their facilities, a high-tech operation where robots milk the farm's 300 adult bufale at the animals' own volition. There is even a small farming museum on the premises, housing tools and equipment from various periods of the farm's history.

(L-R) Buffalo grazing and men making mozzarella

Our guide explained the difference between mozzarella di bufala and fior di latte (flower of milk) and the rules governing the industry. Apparently, what we eat in the States is technically not mozzarella but fior di latte; it's made exactly the same way but with cow's milk. Mozzarella can only be made from buffalo milk and it should never, ever be frozen! Ideally, it should not even be refrigerated. The "cheese" should be bathing in its own latte (milk) and has a shelf life of about three days. Sometimes they are smoked to enhance their flavor. Interestingly, locals don't consider mozzarella (or ricotta) cheese but simply milk products.

In addition to mozzarella, Tenuta Vannulo make ricotta, pudding, yogurt and gelato from their prized milk. The tour ended with samples of their exquisite products.

(L-R) Limoncello demonstration and served in chilled glasses

In Minori, an ancient seaside town along the Amalfi Coast, we visited the beautiful Basilica of Santa Trofimena, where the remains of the Amalfitan's protectress are kept. However, right next to the church is Gambardella's, a small limoncello distillery. Warmly welcomed, we were given a delightful presentation on how this delicious digestivo was made then treated to a tasting of the many different flavors. The traditional lemon is still my favorite, but I enjoyed the melon and fennel varieties a lot.

Afterward, feeling exceptionally good—thanks in part to the limoncello—we further explored Minori, settling at a quaint pasticceria where I had the most amazing sfogliatelle and caffè.

Vesuvius looming over Cantina del Vesuvio

Surprisingly, the most memorable meal I had on this trip was not at a ristorante, cafè, or trattoria, but on a vineyard. Wanting to try some of the famous Lacryma Christi (Christ's Tears) wine we visited Cantina del Vesuvio, a picturesque winery perfectly situated on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Off in the distance lay the glistening Bay of Naples and the charming Isle of Capri. One would be hard-pressed to find a more scenic place to dine.

First we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the plantation, tasting the sweet red and white grapes as we went along. Our guide explained the importance of the black, mineral rich volcanic soil for cultivation and gave us an entertaining history of the vineyard. The story about delivering the wine at night during the 1950's to avoid working in the sun and paying taxes was quite humorous.

The Archangel Michael smiting Lucifer, 16th century painting by Giovanni Angelo d'Amato da Maiori, Duomo di Ravello

Then we were told how the wine got its peculiar name. Legend has it that when the Archangel Michael cast down Lucifer from the heavens the Prince of Darkness plunged into Vesuvius causing a terrible eruption. Christ wept when he saw the devastation, but his tears made the scorched soil fertile, causing the vines to grow. 

Alternate versions of the myth say that a piece of Paradise fell with Lucifer and landed around the volcano. Thus, Campania is Heaven on Earth.

Spaghetti al pomodoro at Cantina del Vesuvio

To our delight the Russo family, owners of the estate, are firm believers in pairing wine with food and they generously served large portions of local fare with their fine beverages. We had focaccia and bocconcini with white wine and soppressata, scamorza and crostini with their rosé. And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, they served spaghetti al pomodoro with their red and vintage Maestro. Everything was perfectly cooked and made fresh with local produce. 

Like any good meal it was capped-off with desert, a slice of pastiera and a shot of their smooth and delicious Vesuvius Grappa.

(L-R) Making ristras in Sorrento and the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista at night, Vietri Sul Mare 

Back home, catching-up with family and friends I was asked what my favorite part of the trip was? I have many fond memories. Visiting the Duomo in Ravello and viewing the famed Farnese collection at the Museo Archeologico in Naples certainly stood out. However, it's impossible to talk about Southern Italy without mentioning the food and the people. One night in Vietri, after dinner (pizza diavola) during an evening stroll (passeggiata) with some new friends, we passed by the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista. We heard the most beautiful choral music coming from within. Peeking through the open door we saw the church choir practicing. Not wanting to disturb them we listened for a bit outside in the cool night air. For a moment, lost in the music and serene setting, I felt completely at peace. Of all the simple pleasures I experienced on the journey this is undoubtedly my greatest memory. 

The South's rich, vibrant cultural heritage is only part of the experience; meeting the locals, socializing during cena (evening meal) or talking sports and politics over a caffè is truly what I love the most.

Enigmatic Traditions: The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead

By Lucian

When I first learned about the Neapolitan cult of the dead, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by it. Also called the cult of the skull or bone cult, it seemed a strange and mysterious link to my ancestral past. However, the more I learned about it, the more familiar it became, and the more comfortable I became with it. I know now that the concepts that are associated with it are not strange at all, and was surprised to discover their connection to other ideas common in both ancient and modern times.

Information about the practice was not as available as I would have liked, but in response to my inquiries a good friend suggested a book called The Living and The Dead, The Neapolitan Cult of the Skull by Margaret Stratton with an introduction by Tommaso Astarita.

The book is done from an artistic point of view, which is not my forte, but Professor Astarita’s introduction provided me with a good summary of the information that I was looking for. The bulk of the book is a photographic record. For my purposes it would have been easier to have captions under the interesting photographs instead of listing them afterward, but the author was approaching the subject from a different perspective and it made sense after reading what she had to say. Astarita made a good point about some of Stratton’s photos being gloomier than necessary, and reinforcing negative clichés about Naples. Even so, they were fascinating enough to get my attention and Margaret Stratton’s explanation of her work provided me with references that proved to be very important. I also sought a connection between the skull cult and pagan ancestor worship, for which I used other reference material. 

The so-called cult of the skull is not a religion, but a religious practice that is connected to the concepts of Christianity and a belief in purgatory. There was a considerable increase in its activity during the 18th century, but forms of the cult of the dead existed long before that time. Some aspects of it may be descended from Roman Ancestor worship, with which it shares similarities. It was common for many ancient Mediterraneans to burn their dead and the Romans were no exception. Partial remains left over from cremation were usually interred outside of the home or village perimeter. These remains were seen as a connection to the dead, but not as a path to seek favor with them. Their ancestors were honored through paintings and death masks. Prayers to their spirits were a normal part of Roman religion and culture. Curiously, one of the more logical explanations to the origins of Neapolitan skull veneration was a practice that was undeniably similar, yet did not utilize skulls or bones to achieve its ends.

I understand the predominately Greek influence in ancient Southern Italy, both in culture and in blood ties, but in the centuries immediately preceding the Christianization of the Mezzogiorno, it was under the rule and influence of Rome, and continued to be for centuries afterward. Although Hellenistic culture had indisputable influences on the Roman state religion, and other forms of ancestor worship did exist among the Greeks, the religious practices of the Latin familia seem the most relevant to the Neapolitan cult of the dead if we are to assume its pagan roots. It is certainly not the only possibility, but does have the advantage of time and location. Even in Naples, whose inhabitants retained much of their Greek tradition, the cultural exchange did flow both ways.

Memento Mori mosaic from Axel Munthe's

Villa San Michele, Capri 

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

In early Rome the family, or clan, was referred to as Gens. The familia was the land or lands controlled and cultivated by the Gens, and the resources they controlled. There is some debate to the details of the Lar familiaris, but this spirit and lesser spirits (Lares) were thought to be originally connected to the land, and to the family through the land; not the spirits of the dead. Some scholars (Fustel de Coulanges, for example) claimed that the Lar familiaris was the primal ancestor of a particular Gens, or came to assume that role over time, connecting the concept to ancestor worship. Romans also believed that the spirit, or soul, of the current head of the family (paterfamilias of the Gens) was a spirit of the living ancestor (Genius), and the concept eventually evolved into that of a guardian spirit that lived on after his death. The Manes, on the other hand, were the actual spirits of the dead, and could be either benign or malignant depending on the situation. Manes were sometimes referred to as “the kindly ones” but in different contexts were sometimes feared, considered ghosts, and referred to as Lemures. Scholars speculate that the Manes were mostly prayed to as a collective, but also state that rituals were necessary to prevent them from returning to their houses except under special circumstances, implying at least some individuality. Consider this excerpt concerning the religion of the household:

“…it was a perfectly natural and organic growth, the result of the Roman farmer’s effective desire to put himself and his in right relations with the spiritual powers at work for good or ill around him…. The spirits of his house and his land and his own Genius were friendly powers, all of them of the greatest importance for his life and his work, and their claims were attended to with regularity and devotion. From Vesta and the Penates, the Lar, the Genius, the Manes, and the spirits of the doorway and the Spring, there was nothing to fear if they were carefully propitiated; and as his daily life and comfort depended on this propitiation, they were really divine members of the familia, and might become, and perhaps did become, the objects of real affection as well as worship.” (From The Religious Experience of the Roman People, by W. Warde Fowler M.A., p.92)

Christianity in the Roman Empire changed many things, but just as often simply altered the perspective of rituals and traditions that were already practiced by pagans. What was done with the dead was one of these changes. Certainly other sources influenced Roman burial practices, but none as much as Christianity. When it spread throughout the Empire, the practice of cremation was replaced by burial, but the concept of praying to the dead continued. Instead of pictures and death masks, the very skulls and bones of the deceased became available for association with the ancestral spirits. This made the connection to the dead more focused on their physical remains, and the devotion to the dead acquired a Christian flavor.

Southern Italy has always been a battleground and the unlucky recipient of natural disasters. It has a history of conflict and difficult times. In adverse conditions seeking advantages and opportunities becomes a survival trait. Among the very religious Southern Italians this inevitably influenced the way they practiced Christianity.

“…southern popular beliefs reflect an intense search for the help of divine forces… The cult of the dead was part of this search for supernatural protection in confronting the difficulties of earthly life. Saints, with their images and relics, and the dead, with their corpses (also relics, in a functional sense), were viewed as potential miracle-workers who could aid those who worshipped them or took care of them. This went against the Counter-Reformation vision of the saints as spiritual models, but it remains a popular notion in Naples (witness the Neapolitan expression tenere un santo in paridiso, or to have a saint in paradise, used today to refer to the personal contacts often needed to obtain a job or to secure public service)…” (Tommaso Astarita in his introduction to The Living and the Dead by Margaret Stratton, p. 6)

“The final major element that characterized the religious life of southern Italians was (and is) the focus on the dead, which granted full force to the bodily and practical focus of Neapolitan devotions. The dead were endowed by popular belief with at least some of the power that the saintly exercised. The dead also engaged with the living in a contractual exchange relationship similar to the one Neapolitans sought with their saints. The dead needed the support of the living, through masses or visits to cemeteries, and they reciprocated the favor by interceding with their more powerful heavenly neighbors on behalf of the living. To this day southerners offer ex-votos to churches in support of the dead, and many believe that their dead can communicate with them on matters from the mundane (such as what numbers to play in lotteries or whether rain is likely) to the spiritual”… (ibid, p. 10)

“The dead, in a sense, were even better suited to the Neapolitan conception of the relationship between humans and the supernatural than saints. The relationship between humans and the supernatural was essentially a material one based on the practical exchange of worship for protection. Saints had, after all, limited need for the worship humans offered to them; the dead, on the other hand, and especially the souls of purgatory, were themselves very much in need of help. The cult of the dead was also built on the Neapolitan focus on the physical body, which finds its expression so clearly in the cult of relics. Thus, the fundamental Neapolitan concepts of worship as a form of practical exchange and the strong link between the supernatural and the physical found a perfect connection and focus in the behavior towards the dead – both their corpses and their souls.” (ibid, p. 12)

The idea of the souls in purgatory needing prayers and offerings is similar to that of the Manes in Roman paganism. The expectation of getting favors in return for it is another similarity. It might seem Machiavellian to bribe a spiritual middleman to push our agenda in heaven, but as my father used to say, “One hand washes the other and both hands wash the face.” It reflects a practical reality of a type not often seen in modern religion. It also demonstrates that the ideas of Machiavelli existed in Southern Italy and old Rome long before his birth; however, it was certainly bold of the perceptive Florentine native to skillfully write it down in a practical manual. I suppose it is no coincidence that both the cult of the skull and Niccolo Machiavelli’s signature work “The Prince” were both eventually banned by the church, but I’m sure that the Roman Catholic hierarchy and nearly every European politician and businessman is intimately familiar with the concepts therein.

There are a lot of bones buried under Naples, a result of long habitation by humans, war and catastrophe. The bones that are polished, cared for and prayed to by some Neapolitans are not usually those of a direct ancestor, but their ancestors in general. Some of the bones are found by the worshippers, others are located in known places, such as the burial shrines below the church of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio (Purgatorio ad Arco), which is said to be the modern locus of the remaining bone cult. The photographs in Stratton’s book show this and some of the other places where the practice continues.

Despite the Catholic Counter-Reformation in the 16th century, the Neapolitan cult of the dead continued and was reluctantly tolerated by the Catholic Church. The practice had existed for centuries without a problem, and I’m sure the fierce loyalty that many Southern Italians had to the Papacy tempered the Church’s response. The Church still allows prayers to its saints, but the official position is that Catholics ask the saints to pray “for” them and intercede with God on their behalf, and this is not much different from what the Neapolitans were doing with the bones of their ancestors.

Unfortunately in 1969, the archbishop of Naples, Corrado Ursi, decreed all “expressions of cult addressed to human remains arbitrary, superstitious, and therefore inadmissible.” Previous to this declaration, the Cimitero delle Fontanelle and the Purgatorio ad Arco were the primary examples of the practice, but after the archbishop’s interference the Fontanelle was shut down, although I have heard that it has reopened to visitors as of May 2010. Many of the bones in these places that were cleaned and treated well for generations now gather dust and cobwebs, but there is still some evidence of continued care.

When I spoke of this to a friend he said “Well, the practice wasn’t Catholic.” I responded by stating that it was Catholic for over a thousand years and the human remains of saints and martyrs are still revered as part of Catholic religious practices. The skeletal remains of the martyrs slaughtered by the Turks at Otranto are displayed at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunciata, and were put there by the Catholic Church. Viewing them can be a powerful spiritual experience, and many Catholics continue to visit them to pray. Is this wrong? Should we remove them and pretend it never happened?

The remains of the Martyrs of Otranto, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Annunciata

Photo courtesy of Puglia per tutte le stagioni

In the 1960s the Catholic Church underwent many changes, some of which made it far more tolerant of other belief systems, yet it went out of its way to erase a tradition that has been in practice by devout Catholics since classical civilization. While Americans and Europeans were embracing the most bizarre and ridiculous pseudo-religious practices of the 1960s and 70s, areas of traditional European spirituality were being actively suppressed.

Perhaps instead of rooting out pagan influences in Catholicism, and Christianity in general, it might be better for the various churches to consider embracing them. They were, after all, originally included to the benefit of Christianity at the time. They are also more extensive than most people realize, and they can still be found in most of the churches that claim to have removed them. Students of Theology or even serious amateurs might be able to overcome the removal of every pagan influence from their religion, but for the average layman it is the ritual that is identified with the core of their religious experience. Cutting them out could leave these people spiritually hollow and their faith vulnerable.

Devotion to the dead by caring for bones still survives in Naples, but is less prevalent because of the actions taken against it. What most people today believe is traditional may only be what they are encouraged to think. When I made the extra effort to learn about our past it filled an emptiness I didn’t realize was there, and I gained a new perspective of the world today. We have traditions over a thousand years old that have been recently suppressed as if they never were. Others are portrayed in a negative light simply because they do not fit neatly into the shallow and politically correct culture of a society that praises individualism, but then pressures us all to be the same.

Studying the historical Roman and Neapolitan relationship with the dead has explained the reasons behind some beliefs and behaviors that I experienced throughout my life. As a child one woman told me to pray to the Virgin Mother Mary, because she would speak to Jesus on my behalf and he would never refuse his mother. My own mother would “adopt” an old and neglected grave, usually a child’s, near our family member’s plots. She would clear it and bring flowers as if it were our own, and pray for the child’s soul. I’ve experienced similar behavior by other loved ones, some of whom were not even Italian, but from Central Europe. Perhaps the Neapolitans were not alone in their reasoning. I was happy to help them at the time, and as I reflect on it with my newfound knowledge, I’m proud to have participated in cleaning the gravestones and clearing the weeds around them.

My research into the cult of the skull has shown me that it is no more a cult than other commonly accepted beliefs. Whether or not we believe in the practice may not be as important as understanding and accepting it. It is another part of us that others are trying to take away. Learning about it helps us understand ourselves.

References:

The Living and the Dead by Margaret Stratton with introduction by Tommaso Astarita, 2010, ISBN 978-1-935195-01-6

Between Salt Water and Holy Water A History of Southern Italy, by Tommaso Astarita, 2005, ISBN 0-393-05864-6

The religious experience of the Roman People, by W. Warde Fowler M.A. published 1911, reprinted 1971. ISBN 0-8154-0372-0.

Phases in the Religion of Ancient Rome by Cyril Bailey, published 1932, reprinted 1972 ISBN 0-8371-4759-X

Taboo, Magic, Spirits A Study of Primitive Elements in Roman Religion, by Eli Edward Burriss, published 1931, reprinted 1972 & 1974, ISBN 0-8371-4724-7

An Enigma of Apulia

By John Stavola

My first impression of Castel Del Monte, the eight-sided citadel surrounded by eight octagonal towers, was one of familiarity. In some form genetic memory does exist. We are not completely new creations in every generation. Just as instinctive behavior can be observed in the animal kingdom, the human animal, though more than just an animal, is also a product of his ancestry. Having deep genetic roots in Apulia the impression made by Castel Del Monte was experienced on an intuitive level. It was recognized.

This book by Heinz Goetze suggests an explanation for this phenomenon of recognition, albeit in a cultural sense involving our perception of beauty. But is our perception of beauty innate or is it learned?

Along with a very technical analysis of the design geometry, he traces the history and progression of Hohenstaufen architecture of Frederick II, it's firm grounding in the European Cistercian tradition and the influence of Greek geometry via the Islamic contacts of Frederick. The many photos and illustrations avoid showing anything of the modern world, adding to the effect of peering into the past.

Frederick II Hohenstaufen (Courtesy of New York Scugnizzo)

There are few historical references to Castel Del Monte and very little is known about the details of its construction. The first mention is a command of Frederick II on January 29, 1240 to a certain R. de Montefusculo to prepare a floor at the former site known at the time as Santa Maria Del Monte. In 1246 a Hohenstaufen statute obligated the residents of Bitonto, Biteto (a town next to my ancestral town of Palo Del Colle), and Monopoli to carry out repair work on the site.

The name of the architect is not known but it is thought that Frederick II took an active interest in its design. All of the imperial structures of his reign were built in a short span of time suggesting that one person must have been the driving force behind their conception. Heinz Goetze points out that Frederick II was directly involved with the design of his buildings and cites a text by a person named Ricardo San Germano that shows the “active participation” of the emperor in the design of his bridge citadel at Capua.

Castel Del Monte 

(Photo by Massimo Catarinella, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

The Castel Del Monte is an iconic image of Apulia. Located on a natural rise in an otherwise flat terrain once surrounded by a dense forest about eight miles from the town of Andria.

There are no other buildings surrounding it. From this vantage point can be seen the coast line from the Gargano spur to the city of Monopoli. To the local contadini Castel del Monte was known as "La Spia delle Puglie", the "Spyhole of Apulia". Peering up from the inner courtyard one is also reminded of the view from a telescope or observatory.

How it was used is not known. Many believe it to have served as a hunting lodge because of its isolated location. It is not technically a castle but could be easily defended, having only one entrance. The lack of a chapel points to a secular use. To see it is to be impressed by a symmetrical beauty and an image of crystalline strength.

Heinz Goetze offers the first systematic analysis using exact dimensional measurements. He traces the influence on the architectural design and the natural progression of its form from preceding works during the reign of Frederick II Hohenstaufen.

His analysis of the geometric beauty wonders why those who view it are intuitively impressed:

“We know from various  examples that symmetry is not shaped by man alone, But is also characteristic of nature, both animate and inanimate. In its different forms and variations in nature, as in art, symmetry is a structural element that can be defined  mathematically. The relationship of ordered, structured nature with art is not surprising because art has always been at once the imitation and exaggeration of nature. With the entire spectrum of its forms, symmetry has repeatedly been employed as a means of style in art-- this is particularly evident in architecture. Did the artist then discover the aesthetic quality of symmetry in nature, or is there even a common source of symmetry’s aesthetic quality in nature and art? What enables man to intuitively grasp the basic mathematical structure of the world and reconstruct and experience it seems to me aptly expressed in the lines from Plotin, translated by Goethe:

If the eyes were not like the sun
The sun it could not see;
If God’s own power were not within us
How could the divine enrapture us?  

"There appears to be a process of recognition, an anagnorisis, corresponding to Plato's anamnesis, the recollection of the world of ideas, to which he also assigns mathematics. Why else is an exactly defined proportion such as the golden section or the five platonic bodies....spontaneously perceived as beautiful-even by people who are unaware of the underlying mathematical principles? Castel del Monte thus appears to us as a living witness to the mathematical nature of aesthetics." pp204,205

Castel Del Monte is symmetrical in a way that shows  the designer had at least an “intuitive grasp” of the concept of the fractal. A fractal is a part of a whole which when  broken off is still a copy of the whole. Discovered in the 1970’s by a man named Mandelbrot it has implications in many fields of knowledge.

Mr Goetze reports that a formula was determined for the basic floor plan which when extrapolated by a computer program reproduced the building in it’s three dimensional form. When the pattern was extended to infinity it was shown to replicate a fractal.

The building plan is based on the octagon, an eight sided figure formed by a square with another square superimposed at a 45 degree angle to it. The square with it’s four equal sides is connected in esoteric literature with the earth and the points of the compass. The octagon is a transitional figure between the square and the circle. The circle in esoteric symbolism represents heaven and immortality. Visualize the night sky as you view it from a wide flat area. Turning 360 degrees you experience a circle.

“The square interested mathematicians and philosophers because of the impossibility, discovered in the period of Greek pre-classicism, of finding a rational number proportion between the length of the diagonal and the length of the side of a square…With the Neoplatonists and Neopythagoreans, who had a strong influence on Islam, irrational quantities acquired a symbolic meaning” pg.116

The octagon is a universal esoteric symbol also found in China, Japan, as well as in Islamic art. In Christian symbolism the octagon is used in baptismal fountains as a symbol of the hope of salvation.

A number of possible sources can be found  for Frederick II, and the designer of Castel Del Monte’s use of the octagonal form. The Pfalzkapelle in Aachen, where he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, is octagonal shaped as is the Carolingian crown. Barbarossa, his grandfather, donated the octagonal chandelier which is contained here.

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as well as the Dome of the Rock where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac, are laid out in the form of the octagon. During the crusade of 1228/1229 Frederick visited the Dome of the Rock and had the construction plan explained to him.

As the only Holy Roman Emperor to have the crown of Jerusalem placed on his head, he saw himself and his reign to be in a direct line from King David of Israel.There were many reasons for Frederick II to be engrossed by the significance of the octagon. 

These influences aside, Mr. Goetze spends much time tracing the octagonal design in Islamic art and architecture and comes to the conclusion that Islamic designers played a major role.

It is true that Frederick II, although of German and Norman descent, grew up as an orphan in Palermo. Islamic rule had ended by the time of his youth but Islamic influence was still to be found by the boy who was nevertheless culturally a Sicilian. One of his tutors was said to have been an Islamic judge to the remnant Muslim population. Frederick was known for his understanding of Arabic and Arab culture.

The southern Italy and Sicily of this era was on the borderland of Islamic expansion so Frederick’s use of Islamic designers is conceivable. Architectural design books from the Muslim world of this time contain many octagonal forms. Islamic use of the octagon as a ground up motif is however:

“…limited in the Islamic world primarily to mausoleum. Palaces and mosques generally have square plans…” p125

“Thus we come across a peculiarity of Arabic architecture and the mentality on which it is based; It is not spatially or plastically, but rather two-dimensionally oriented, as evidenced in such varied ways by the splendid and ingenious Islamic ornamental art.” p126

The edifice of Castel Del Monte is designed to be viewed and comprehended three dimensionally as was Greek sculpture.

“The road that leads up to Castel Del Monte describes a circle around the building, thus cultivating the impression of three dimensionality…” p111

Mr. Goetze carries the Greek influence further:

“…With this sense of three dimensionality, Hohenstaufen architecture is closest to the art and architecture of the Greeks. This makes particularly understandable the fondness of Frederick II for classical sculpture with which he surrounded himself and which he spared no effort to display in his castles. He recommended that the school of sculpture he had founded orient itself according to classical models…” p112

Castle Del Monte is unique to all European buildings of the time in it’s dimensional accuracy. It measures 167 feet at the widest point, is 95 feet high, and the inner courtyard is 57 feet in diameter. Nowhere in the elements of the structure, which can be seen, is a measurement off by more than 2cm or about half an inch!

"These are dimensional accuracies that seem unbelievable for a medieval European building. The exactness of the measurements is prerequisite to the unrestrained effect of the building, which presents itself symmetrically on all sides...This precision-which has hardly been affected at all, even by the restoration work carried out on the citadel during past decades- certainly could not have been achieved without the use of precise technical methods of measurement..." pp 191,192

The ground plan alignment is also significant. The north/south axis meets the spiral of the cathedral at Andria, an  important town to him because it remained loyal . Both of his wives were also buried there.The main and only entrance way faces east, above which a stone head brought from an ancient ruin near Andria bears an inscription in Greek:

"...on the calends of May at sunrise I shall  have a head of gold."

"...On the first day of may, the rays of the sun gilded this Imperial diadem, in the same way that the heads of Roman emperors had been wreathed in sun rays on their gold coins."  "Old Puglia", p58,59

The roof is designed to funnel all available rainwater, a necessity in Apulia which has low rainfall, a porous surface topography, and thus very little surface water. The castle contained indoor running water and at one time an octagon fountain at the inner courtyard, made from a single piece of marble.The towers on each floor are vaulted in the Gothic style.  

The third tower contains an artificial eyrie . After more than 750 years it is reported that birds of prey still nest here. Frederick II as a man with a love of falconry would be pleased to see this. De Arte Venandi Cum Avibus, “The Art of Hunting with Birds “ is his famous treatise written towards the end of his life.

Northern Apulia was Fredericks self chosen home. Nicknamed the "Puer Apuliae" (the boy from Apulia) he spent much time between Foggia and his  favorite hunting "parks" in the mountains nearby. What better location to build an outward expression of his imperial crown,the symbol of his ranking in the divine hierarchy, in the forests that he loved ,visible from the coastline and for miles around.

Unless otherwise noted all quotes are from:

Heinz Goetze, Castel Del Monte: Geometric Marvel of the Middle Ages; Prestel-Verlag, Munich, New York, 1998

Additional source:

Desmond Seward and Susan Mountgarret: Old Puglia: A Portrait of South Eastern Italy; House Publishing, London 2009

(Reprinted with permission from Southern Italian History, Culture, and Genealogy blog)