Langlete in Estonia – Finland – ItalyEuropean Project 2013-2014

AMALFI (short) HISTORY

Centro di Storia e Cultura Amalfitana - Amalfi

The Greek geographer Strabone in the I century B.C. states that the coast from Sorrento to Paestum was completely uninhabited, with the exception of Etruscan Marcina, the present day Vietri sul Mare.

The origin of the name Amalfi is uncertain; here are two assumptions:In the I century A.D. found on a tomb in Benevento is the mention of “gens Amarfia”, this could be the proof of an existing Roman family owning a villa on the Coast. Other remains, such as columns and capitals were found in various buildings and are the proof that the first inhabitants were rich Roman families, who spent some leisure time on the Coast: ”Villa Romana” in Minori is the best preserved building of the time.Between the IV and the V century, many Romans left Rome because of the barbarian invasions, one of their first sailing directions was Constantinopole, but they ship wrecked somewhere between Palinuro and Pisciotta, where they founded Melphes. It wasn’t long before they had to look for a more secure environment and move to the Monti Lattari. Scala was their first settlement. They named Amalfi (in latin: a Melphi) one of the towns they founded.

In 596 Pope Gregarious Magnus appointed PIMENIO as first Bishop of Civitas Amalfitana. More than a town, it was a fortress, because the Lombard from Benevento threatened the siege, as Amalfi was part of the Duchy of Naples. In 785 Arechi II sacked some of the villages on the coast. In 839 after the fights with Sicardo, Duke of Benevento, Amalfi declared its independence and became an autonomous republic. The Maritime Republic of Amalfi was soon to become an important maritime commercial centre, trading with the whole of the Italian peninsula, North Africa, the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire. The Republic bought spices, precious stones, carpets and fabrics from the Arabs and sold them throughout Italy.

839-1135: THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMALFI

As a Maritime Republic Amalfi was known in the Mediterranean area and as far as India. Its galleys and galleons had free entrance to the major ports: warehouses and quarters were present in the main cities, like Constantinople, Cairo, Jerusalem and Antioch. A whole area belonged to Amalfi people with streets, squares, houses and churches. In Constantinople the Church “Santa Maria Amalphitanorum” was dedicated to St.Andrew; in Jerusalem before building the Church S.Maria Latina the powerful family Mauro, in 1040, had built a hospital with 2000 beds,where the monks of S.John assisted pilgrims and the wounded, during the First Crusade. Fra Gerardo Sasso, at the beginning of the XII century organised an Order of Knights, which continued to assist the sick and the Pilgrims, but later on the Knights fought for the Holy Sepulchre. The descendants of this Order are now the Knights of the Order of Malta.

The Amalfians were not only good merchants, they were clever politicians and kept friendly relations with all the peoples of the countries they had contacts with.From the Arabs they learned how to produce paper. The tradition of paper making in Amalfi has therefore a long and glorious history. In the most obscure and unsettled period of the Middle Ages Amalfi had an extensive and florid commerce, Paper making was linked in its origin to this commercial activity. The Arabs had learnt paper-making from the Chinese and diffused its use and production in Western Europe.

The Amalfians were the first Europeans to come into contact with paper in its original place of production They soon established their own paper production, which became a real source of income, even after the decline of the maritime republic. In the XVIII century there were about 16 paper mills in the area. Paper was a necessity for every day life and it could be easily produced. In time the use of paper became very common and the clerks of the curia began to use paper instead of parchment. The paper produced in Amalfi was of fine quality and was very much in demand .

From the Arab, Amalfians also learned how to grow lemons, which in the Amalfi mild climate found an ideal habitat and their cultivation transformed the landscape, because some kind of terraces had to be built on the steep slopes. Arab architecture was also reflected in the town style. . Many areas in Amalfi were built in a clear Arab style, specially in the quarter “Arsina”

Amalfians achieved more influence and importance with the “Tabula Amalphitana” which is a Maritime Code regulating the sea traffic: the first 21 chapters were written in Latin and date back to the XI century. The “societates maris” (sea societies) were formed by the owners of the ships, the merchants, the sailors, who had a share in the income.

Amalfians’ importance was so great that they even minted their own golden and silver coin the “Tari”, which is the Arab for “freshly minted” and it was legal tender until the XIII century: Emperor Frederic II ordered the abolition.

The young Republic was ruled by Comites (counts), elected among the rich families, who therefore put the title after their family name then by the prefects and finally by the “Dogi” (Dukes). The territory extended from Cetara to Positano,, to Agerola to Gragnano; it also included the isle of Capri. The Amalfians were already clever sailors during the VIII century. They carried timber from the woods of the area to the Arab ports in North Africa, where they sold it for gold, which they used to buy spices, fabrics, precious stones and jewels in the Middles East.. Back in Amalfi they sold the goods to rich and noble families in Amalfi and all over Italy.In 972, the Arab Ibn Havqal described Amalfi as the richest town in the Lombard region. Another writer Guglielmo from Puglia affirms that people from different places and countries were at home in Amalfi squares. There was a cosmopolitan and cultured atmosphere in town.

Unfortunately the territory was very restricted and Amalfi did not have a military machine to defend itself, furthermore the Prince of Salerno intended to annex the Republic and dominate it. There were frequent fights, murders and conspiracies. In 1073 the Duke of Amalfi Sergio IV and his son Giovanni asked the help of Roberto il Guiscardo, Duke of Altavilla, who guaranteed some autonomy, but his successor Ruggero tried to repress the spirit of independence of Amalfi. In addition to this in 1135 an army of the rival Maritime Republic Pisa sacked the town. The Pisani came back in 1137 with the intention of definitely destroying the town. The people paid their safety with gold, but not Ravello and Scala, which resisted to the enemy, and were defeated and destroyed.

PERIOD OF DECADENCE

The opulence of the Maritime Republic was by now only a memory, and maritime trade was limited to contacts with Southern Italy. A brief scientific and cultural revival occurred around the 1200s, the century in which Flavio Gioia from Amalfi perfected the Compass. Did Flavio Gioia really exist? There is no proof of his existence, but in any case the Compass remains the glory of Amalfi.

In this period the Archibishops had a great influence on the people. Cardinal Pietro Capuano , during the V Crusade, from Constantinopole made off with the bones of Saint Andrew: once in Amalfi he hid the relic under the floor of the Cathedral, for the fear of Saracen attacks, and for this reason he enlarged the building.In 1255 Pope Alexander IV gave Amalfi as a fief to the Hohenbruck family, There wasn’t a real feudal landlord, though many noble families still lived in the beautiful buildings of the town. The Archbishops did a lot for the town, and they were the pre-eminent personages in the area.

On 24th November 1343 a terrific sea storm destroyed the low part of the town and many important buildings were destroyed, among them: the Ducal Palace, a part of the ancient ship yards, some of the town gates and walls, many houses. Our writer Petrarca gives an accurate description of this.

The bronze doors of the Cathedral were smelt in Constantinople in 1062.

In 1348 a plague nearly halved the population and nothing was left of the past splendour. The Sovereigns of Naples gave the Duchy of Amalfi to the Sanseverino family; then it passed to the Colonna family. Alfonso d’Aragona defeated the French dynasty Anjou and became King of Naples in l452; his son Ferrante I gave Amalfi as a wedding present to his natural daughter Maria, who married Antonio Piccolomini, a nephew of Pope Pius II. Many new palaces were built; the squares swarmed with people, merchants, sailors. The economy of the town grew because of new activities in addition to the sea trade, which was still important.Antonio Piccolomini’s son Alfonso married Giovanna d’Aragona of Gerace, in 1490Giovanna is the famous Duchess who inspired poets and playwrights from Italy, Spain and England.The first poet who wrote the story of the unhappy Duchess was Matteo Bandello, a few years after the tragedy. His “novella” was translated into English by William Painter, and probably this translation was the source of inspiration for John Webster, who wrote the famous tragedy “The Duchess of Malfi” The Spanish writer Lope de Vega published “El mayordomo de la Duquesa de Amalfi” more or less in the same period..This is the unfortunate story of Giovanna d’Aragona, Duchess of Amalfi: Born into the royal House of Aragona in 1478, her father was poisoned and died before her birth; married at the age of twelve, she lost her first child in infancy; by twenty she was a beautiful, rich and lonely widow. That she fell in love with her accomplished young steward, Antonio Bologna, was accepted; that she married him was not. In doing so Giovanna defied the social mores and conventions of her day and stalled the overweening ambitions of her brother, Cardinal Luigi d’Aragona. In the acts of revenge that followed, she, her husband and her maid all met their death.

Her son Alfonso was Duke of Amalfi until 1559. He was eyewitness of an event, which in Amalfi is called “The miracle”

In 1544, exactly on 27th June, Amalfi was on the point to be sacked by the pirate Kale-ad-din. His ships were approaching the beach, when the population gathered in the Cathedral and invoked St.Andrew, their Patron Saint. Suddenly there was a terrific storm, the sea became so rough that the ships had to sail away, and Amalfi was safe. Since that day, every year there is a high celebration and the phenomenon of the “Manna”. The “Manna” is a liquid coming out from the relic of the Saint (the occiput) several times a year. It started on 29th November 1304, but there are information of this event even before, in Patras, where St.Andrew died, and in Constantinopole, where his bones were translated.. This event occurs five times in the year: on 29th November, St.Andrew’s festivy Eve; on 27th June, the day of the miracle; on 28th January , the finding of the occiput; on 1st November, on 21st November and on 8th DecemberIn 1583 the Duchy was sold by the last Duchess for debts and Amalfi became a free land, ruled by the Neapolitan vice royalty, but administrated by local mayors.

The Amalfians were people of ideas and they improved their activities: some paper mills, an iron foundry, the growing of lemons, grapes, fruits, and the making of cheese, wines, pork products. They even produced fabrics and the factories used water-power. The course of the stream was therefore the natural spot for all these activities. An import-export activity was the base of the local economy. As wheat was one of the imported goods, thanks to the existing mills they soon began to produce “pasta”. For this type of activity they invented special machines which made work easier.Politically Amalfi was part of the Kingdom of Naples. When Napoleon’s brother Giuseppe became King of Naples he abolished all feudal rights and there was the administrative division in Provinces, Districts and municipalities.

AMALFI AND THE GRAND TOUR

At the end of the XVIII century Amalfi became famous among foreign travellers, here they found the perfect romantic landscape. This inspired painters and writers from all over Europe and America.The beauty of the Paper Mills Valley with the ruins of the old factories, houses, medieval buildings, thick with vegetation and the numerous falls of the stream, appealed to poets and artists.Thanks to the mild climate and warm winters Amalfi soon became a winter resort for foreign tourists. Many old convents were transformed into hotels with more and more people being attracted by the monuments, nature and the sea.