History of S. Italy.

Cue (NZERS), Issue 4, 31 July 1944, Page 18

History of S. Italy.

fipHE purpose of this article —the second of a series of three . 77 I s t 0 glve a brief but accurate survey of Italy from Rome to all the land that lies to the south.

3. THE PERIOD OF WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE FROM 395 TO 476 A.D.

This was a period of instability and strife. Life was not secure for there were raids by Goths, Vandals and Huns. The Western Roman Empire existed only by virtue of its great name and tradition. The capital was no longer Rome, but Ravenna. ■-

in . 476, the barbarian King Odoacer informed the Emperor of the Eastern or Byzantine Empire that there was no Emperor in the West and so the Western Roman Empire had come to an end. Actually the Empire of the West did not fall; rather it

petered out.

During this confused period the Bishop of Rome assumed the pagan title of Pontifex Maximus, one of the most honoured of Roman titles, and the church began to assume an important role in leadership in Rome and Italy. Rome claimed a unique spiritual prestige because within its boundaries were the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.

This table from now on refers principally to Southern Italy, and from it can be traced the history of some of the monuments which are to be seen today.

410 A.D. Britain Abandoned by ' Rome.

4. THE PERIOD OF CQNFUSION FROM 476 TO 1042 A.D.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Byzantium was the chief power and nominally never relinquished its claims. In 535 and 544, expeditions were made to reconquer broken Italy for the Byzantines by Belisarius and eventually the Exarchate of Ravenna was set up.

In Constantinople Justinian promulgated his famous code of the Roman Law. How r ever, by 568 the wildest x of the German tribes, the Lombards, descended, into Italy and, in a few years because the Italians were indifferent and the Byzantines too weak, they occupied a large part of the country. Some parts in the south; principally Bari, remained in Byzantine hands and so Italy was split into several parts and remained so for 1300 years.

During this period and until 774 Italy had three capitals: Rome which was the centre of the Church movement; Ravenna for the Byzantines and Pavia for the Lombards. --

It is interesting to note that the Lombards became deeply religious, and it was their king who made over to the Pope the district of Sutri which was the first temporal dominion of the Church and later became a political factor of the greatest importance for hundreds of years.

In the "south, Byzantine rule did not relax and was broken only by incursions of the Lombards from the .north and of the Arabs, then a very dynamic people who had conquered Sicily. They made the Mediterranean an Arab lake. They attacked Rome and Monte Cassino and threatened Southern Italy,until the .capture of the Arab fortress on the Garigliano in 915.

Art and culture had virtually disappeared. The books on architecture by Vitruvius were lost for about 1500 years. Some of Livy were lost for ever. The only glimmer of light during the Dark Ages came from Charlemagne. He gave sufficient stability to his empire to enable the arts, which were essentially Christian, to emerge.

449 -616 A.D. Conquest of England by Angles, Saxons and, Jutes.

950 A.D. Kupe discovers New Zea- . land.

5. PERIOD OF NORMAN OCCUPATION, 1042 TO 1194 A.D. At the beginning of the 11th Century Sicily was in the hands of the Arabs; Apulia 'and Calabria were under the feeble rule of Constantinople ; Gaeta, .Naples and Amalfi were city republics; Benevento, Capua and Salerno were capitals of Lombard principalities.

About the time William the Conqueror was taking over England, the Normans were one of the most virilepeoples in Europe. Norman pilgrims started to ; arrive at the shrine of St. Michael on Monte Gargano and began the penetration of the south. Soldiers of fortune fought in the service of rival states and 'the first permanent Norman garrison was at Aversa.

Finally a family known as the Hautevilles set up a kingdom in Southern Italy and Sicily. The area on the mainland was virtually the foundation of the kingdom of Naples. This was a most important epoch, for Byzantine domination practically ceased and what dealings Italy had with the east she had within her own rights,

e g., by trading, which was most lucrative.

The Normans introduced their system of feudalism. Traces of this persist to the present day, e.g., land tenure. \

1066 A.D. William the Conqueror. 1150, A:D. Toi settles in New Zealand. ■ '

6 PERIOD OF HOHDNSTAUFE}NS, 1194 TO 1268 A.D. The family of Hohenstaufen is frequently referred to as Swabian

after their, state, north of Switzerland, from which they originated. As the result of the marriage of a Norman princess, Constance, to Henry Hohenstaufen, Emperor of Germany, the rule passed to this family.

As. the Hohenstaufens ultimately preferred to live in the south, the centre of gravity of the political struggle between the Popes and the Emperor moved to Sicily and Southern Italy which assumed an important role in Europe. The genius of the 'dynasty was tne Emperor Frederick 11, a giant physically and mentally. He started the University of .Naples lor the higher education of state

officials, endowed the school of medicine at Salerno and even used Apulians as administrators in conquered territories in Northern Italy.

The arte and sciences flourished amazingly under this man., So far ahead of his time was he in his methods that he even succeeded in negotiating a peaceful settlement for pilgrims to visit the Holy Land. During the .Norman and Hohenstaufen periods, Southern Italy and Sicily prospered tremendously, becoming rich and assuming the utmost importance to Europe.

From the ports around Bari, the Crusading fleets left for the Holy Land. After the' First Crusade, trade followed from the JMorman kingdoms set up there, and as a result of this connection the towns of the south became vast emporiums for oriental goods. Mussolini attempted to restoie this by . originating'the Eastern Fair, at Bari. The* building of many vast churches of the basilica type that are seen today was made possible by this wealth.

1190 A.D. Richard the Lion Heart sets out on the Third Crusade. 1265 A.D. Simon de Montfort summons a Parliament.

(To be continued.)

Roman Senatorial Coins —l3th Century.