The Tip of the Boot
by Leon A. Carrow

Delivered to The Chicago Literary Club
April 1, 2002

Calabria, the southern-most area of mainland Italy, is still characterized by some, abruptly and simply as "a mountainous ridge between two seas." Though the ranges of the Appennies and Aspromante dominate the Tyrrhenian sea to the west and the Ionian to the east and south, the shores of these two bodies of water form the longest coastlines in all of Italy. Inland, the Sila, a mountainous headland jutting east from the Appennies, abounds with granite, gneiss, forests laden with oaks, pines, beech, and springs with swift streams. Despite the relative scarcity of area lowlands farming remains, as always, the mainstay of the Calabrian economy concentrating on the production of cereals, olives, and figs, as well as the raising of sheep and goats. Although non-farming development has and is occurring, the Enclopaedia Britannica concludes that there is very little industry of any importance. With governmental assistance there has been some growth of resorts and recreational facilities to advance the promotion of the tourist trade; some potential tourists have never heard of Calabria, and perhaps many of those who have, do not choose it for travel. Thus Calabria, with all of its natural beauty, remains one of the poorer areas in Italy. Though the major focus of my paper deals with the life and works of a Renaissance Calabrian, namely Tomasso Campanella, the reasons for my interest in Calabria deserves, I believe, some explanation.

On the eastern side of Calabria, just north of the tip of the boot (actually about the instep), there stands a two storied house, with the typical exterior steps leading to a third level, overlooking the wide expanse of the Ionian Sea. A narrow, unpaved road separates this property from the spacious sandy beach leading to the blue waters, which reach out to Greece beyond the horizon. It is September, some ten years ago, and the summer vacationers, sparse as they probably were, have now left. The beach is empty, and one has an unobstructed view of Soverato, a town of some ten thousand, four miles away. To the west, on the crest of the highest hill in the nearby vicinity stands S. Andrea, the birthplace of the owner of the house on the sea.

She and her husband had invited Joan and me to spend up to six weeks in their home; they remained with us for two days, during which time we were oriented as to the site of the bank, tobacco and newspaper shop in Soverato, as well as the post office and grocery store in the tiny village of nearby Davoli. Also, prior to their departure, we drove up a narrow and hairpin curving road, which we would find in subsequent weeks to be typical of the ascent to the top of a Calabrian hill or mountain, to the picturesque town of S. Andrea. On the main street, which led up to the church and adjoining cemetery, groups of older men sat at a table outside of the bar playing cards, with a greater number of interested observers hovering about this focus of social activity in an early September afternoon. Narrow, winding passageways in the town were lined by attached or row houses, some painted in subdued colors but more simply stone, stucco, or less likely brick. None of the relatives or friends, including young adults whom we met while walking to the church, spoke English; but smiles and laughter were everywhere, and when I spoke a word or phrase of my very limited Italian, we were literally embraced. S. Andrea, at its peak, had a population of six thousand, but at the time of our visit it had dropped to approximately fifteen hundred. Since work opportunities were always limited, many men of the area emigrated, particularly before and during the 1920?s, to the United States, often settling in and about Cleveland, where they labored as iron workers, carpenters, or artisans in other trades. Once they could afford it, those with families in S. Andrea returned temporarily, so that they could take their wives and children back to America. Thus, our friend arrived in the U.S. at the age of thirteen, but much later she returned to her roots to build a house on the Ionian Sea.

We were the only occupants in the string of houses along this stretch of the coast. The beach was also unoccupied expect for what was to become a daily rite, namely a herd of goats along with their shepherd slowly walking to a destination beyond our sight. I drove off for my daily rite, then two days old, to pick up a copy of the Herald Tribune at the shop in Soverato. There being no newspaper on the outside rack, I walked inside. The owner, whom I considered to be my friend though we had no basis for actual conversation, waited for my request. "Herald Tribune,"I said. "No,"he responded moving his hands back and forth across his face. Recalling my"Italian for Tourists?:"Tomorrow?,"I asked. "No."he repeated, moving his hands more vigorously. I quickly recited the remainder of the days of the week, and he simply shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and then said forcefully,"Finito,"swiping his hand across his neck. Feeling linguistically more comfortable, I asked:"Why?" In exasperation, with three words he explained it all,"Touristas Finito.Basta." Then I realized that our communication with the world outside of Calbaria would depend on the BBC 6:00 o'clock news over our short wave radio.

Indeed, that was the case; Voice of America being only an occasional treat. We had no television, which, of course, was irrelevant since the programs would not have been peppered with English subtitles; nor was there a telephone in the house, so calls to our family back home were made weekly from a public phone in Soverato. Other inconveniences included the persistent presence of bumblebees that joined us for lunch on our terrace, and the hordes of mosquitoes almost as large as the bumblebees, which at the first sign of twilight, swept in like a bomber squadron ravaged by a fit of hunger. The string of beading at the doorway may have discouraged the flies, but proved no barrier to the evening predators. These along with other minor annoyances however, paled in contrast to the positive experiences which Calabria offered; first, the miles of a virtually private beach for walking, lounging, picnicking, loving , and swimming in the exquisite waters of the Ionian Sea whose temperatures greeted a swim until the early days of October; the exploration of many remote villages and hill towns with their churches, cathedrals, monasteries, and antiquities; and discovery of the beauty of the forests of the Sila with their dazzling and often brilliant foliage. Our house was never locked; one might think that living in such isolation would be of great concern, particularly since Calabria had been characterized as being dangerous with the presence of its Mafia, the n'dragheta. On the contrary, we never had fear, and actually never felt safer. In walking around Davoli, S. Andrea, or Soverato, we sensed that everyone knew who we were, and where we were living. The notion that anyone would harm the guests of a respected native and current resident of the area was unthinkable.

Historically, in brief summation, the first recorded fact in the history of western Europe was the founding , in the 8th century B.C., of the Greek colonies in Italy. The cities that grew most rapidly and prospered earliest were those on the eastern coast of modern Calabria, and from these the name "Great Greece" or "Magna Graecia" arose. One of the more significant discoveries depicting the times of Magna Graecia occurred in August of 1972. In the shallow waters off Marina Riace, a small town in southern Calabria, a swimmer came across an object, the encrusted arm of one of two large statues. After restoration these"Riace Bronzes?, now in the National Museum in Reggio Calabria, stand as two warriors, preserved perfectly, dated 460/450 B.C., 2 meters high in bronze, with bone and glass eyes, silver teeth, and copper lips and nipples. The dominance of the Romans over Magna Graecia began in a slow and gradual process as early as the 4th century B.C.; when Magna Graecia was conquered two centuries later, the Romans named the tip of the boot Bruttii and continued its rule for some seven centuries. The early Romans did not ravage and plunder ruthlessly, appreciating the beauty of Grecian art and architecture, but later many of the pagan temples were destroyed and replaced by the construction of Christian churches. Comparatively little restoration or radical changes occurred in the Roman period, but the skeleton of Magna Grecia survived, despite the deprivation of its economic and political power, and the intermittent ruthlessness of the rulers. With the vindication of Christianity in the 4th century, abetted by Greek monks from Byzantium, those who still revered the gods and goddesses of Greek legend were changed almost imperceptibly into the worship of saints.

From the 6th to the 11th century Calabria was a province of Byzantium. The Byzantines established a civilization of a new magna Graecia called the "second Hellenzation" of Italy. Basilian monasteries flourished throughout Calabria, establishing libraries, schools, and centers of art, with monastic existence forming, in effect, a union of domestic life and Greek culture. The Byzantine influence had a direct effect upon the early production in Italy of poetry and music, with Eastern monks being among the first hymn writers and teachers of choral singing. With all of the advantages that occurred during this period when the cultural inheritance of Magna Graecia was preserved, the mediaeval Calabrians endured a continuation of the wasting of their land, taxation which exhausted their resources, and the evils of corruption in high places. In the eleventh century Robert Guiscard, by his conquest of Calabria, having obtained forgiveness from the Pope for his previous plundering of churches and monasteries, was able to achieve great wealth and prestige and unite the Norman adventurers in southern Italy. He and others that followed lay the foundation for"the first modern state,"bringing together a new and harmonious combination in art, politics, religion, and law; these accomplishments were accompanied by less savory pursuits. Gertrude Slaughter, in her book,"Calabria, the First Italy,"summarizes the first two hundred years:"Such was the progress of two centuries from the bandit Guiscard to the greatest patron of art and learning in Europe. Meanwhile, to those who think first of the subjection of the people in the towns and on the land, the culture of the Norman kingdom was the gorgeous façade of a building erected by robbery and bloodshed." Power struggles continued until the mid thirteenth century when the French Pope called the Dukes of Anjou into Italy; for almost two centuries under their rule, Calabria was exploited both spiritually and materially in the support of the court at Naples. Beginning in the early sixteenth century, the Spanish regime with its Viceroys ruled this land.

This brings us to the time of our Renaissance Calabrian, Tommaso Campanella. A short distance north of Reggio Calabria, the southern most tip of the boot, lies the town of Stilo; there, in its small square, situated between the towering ruins of a castle perched high on the mountainside and the level expanse leading to the Ionian sea, rests a statue of Campanella. The bronze figure seated on a marble pedestal portrays a man of power and determination; his chin rests on the fist of his flexed left arm, and one foot is placed on two books of obvious voluminous content. Campanella was born in Stilo in 1568 of poor, illiterate parents, but at an early age exhibited a prodigious memory and a quest for knowledge; he was attracted to the free intellectual life of the monasteries, and at age fourteen chose to enter the Dominican order, because "it was the order of Thomas Aquinas." Given the freedom for study, he wrote prose and poetry in both Latin and Italian, and became more provocative in both his writings and speculative thinking.

In order to follow the life of this man, characterized as a philosopher, poet, and revolutionist all while wearing the robes of the Church, one must consider the times in which he lived. The Holy Office of the Inquisition, patterned after that of Spain, was established in Rome in the mid sixteenth century. Many who were condemned as heretics were hung, burned at the stake, flayed alive, or imprisoned in Rome or Naples. There was constant bafflement concerning jurisdiction between the secular and ecclesiastical courts as well as that between the papal legates and the viceroy. In addition, bands of brigands were secured in the Sila, acting as feudal lords. Slaughter summarizes: "The dark side of the picture is familiar to everyone; the causes that led to social and political degeneration are not far to seek. The brighter side provokes wonder and admiration; its causes lie deeply hidden in the mystery of human nature. The wonder is that there is any spirit left in a people who for two thousand years had endured invasions and foreign masters, exploitation and disruption, earthquakes, which reduce the survivors for a time to the condition of barbarism, and malaria, which brings with it in even greater abundance the evils of depopulation, poverty, superstition, and ignorance. Yet at this time, when all Italy had become a treasure chest to be grabbed at by emperors and kings who led their armies over Lombardy, Tuscany, and Venetia, in that part of the country which seemed most prostate under the double tyranny of church and state, a few men bravely carried on the work begun on their native soil by the pre-Socratic philosophers and devoted their lives at any cost to enlarging the boundries of knowledge."

Campanella and before him Bernardino Telesio were two of these men. A generation older and living in Cosenza, Telesio, the philosopher who most significantly influenced Campanella's future writings, authored his most important work, De Rerum Natura juxta Propria Principia, with the purpose of explaining the nature of the universe by a study of things as they are, by their inherent principles. Slaughter says: "although he was a metaphysician, and not a scientist in the modern sense, he boldly rejected the authority of abstract reason and undertook to explain the universe upon the evidence of the senses. He found the causes of things not in a creative mind but in things themselves." Attracted by his natural philosophy, Campanella became a disciple of Telesio, writing and openly declaring the concept that the evidence of the senses is the criterion of knowledge. Although the Dominicans denied his request to see this great man, finally, without permission he escaped across the forests of the Sila to Cosenza. He found Telesio in a dying state. John Addington Symonds, the foremost translator of Renaissance Italian, quotes Campanella: "Tyrants, hypocrites, and sophists that is to say, the triple band of State and Church oppressors, of interested ecclesiastics, and of subtle logicians have drawn their threefold veil between human intelligence and the universe, from which alone, as their proper home and milieu, men must derive the knowledge that belongs to them.""Now,"Symonds continues, "to the master whom he never knew in life, but over whose bier he wept and prayed in secret, hiding the fire of modern freedom and modern science beneath the black cowl of a Dominican friar:" Campanella then wrote:

Telesius, the arrow from thy bow
Midmost his band of sophists slays that high
Tyrant of souls that think; he cannot fly.
While Truth soars free, loosed by the self-same blow.
Proud lyres with thine immortal praises glow,
Smitten by bards elate with victory:
Lo, thine own Calvalcante, stormfully
Lightning, still strikes the fortress of the foe!
Good Gaieta bedecks our saint serene
With robes translucent, light-irradiate,
Restoring her to all of her natural sheen;
The while my tocsin at the temple-gate
Of the wide universe proclaims her queen,
Pythia of first and last ordained by fate.

Symonds states that in these verses, the saint and queen proclaimed by Campanella is Nature. He concludes: "It is now acknowledged (published in 1885) on all sides that not what Telesio or Campanella, or their famous disciple, Bacon, achieved in actual discovery, was noteworthy. But the spirit communicated from Telesio and Campanella to Bacon, is the spirit of modern science."

In the last decade of the sixteenth century, Campanella was introduced to the rudiments of astrology and magic; this and the publication of his book, "In Defense of Telesio" resulted in his first trial, held in Naples, accusing him of heresy. Thereafter, he was not appointed, as he had expected, to the post of lecturer at the University of Pisa, he was robbed of his manuscripts by emissaries of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, and ultimately, in Rome in 1594, he was subjected to two trials for heresy for which he spent a few months in prison.

In 1598, he returned to Stilo, an event that would profoundly affect the remainder of his life. The town, and in fact, the entire province was in a state of upheaval; there were uprisings of peasants against the ruling class, feuding between the barons of the area, and continued but even greater conflict of jurisdiction between church and state. Within a year he became not only a preacher, but also a mediator of disputes and the voice of the oppressed. In the book, Tommaso Campanella in America, Francesco Grillo states: "Disillusioned by the selfish dominance of the Spaniards and the bigoted order of the Jesuits, he was working, in theory and in practice, toward a republic founded on rational laws and natural religion." In August,1599, an immediate insurrection was on hand. Campanella's role has been disputed, but he was in accord, and at least took an active part in its organization. On the eve of the rebellion, the plot was discovered and Campanella was denounced, betrayed, and delivered to the Spanish authorities. After many trials, both lay and ecclesiastical in Calabria, he was delivered to Naples in November of the same year, arraigned for "attempted rebellion." He was subjected to severe and repeated torture, on Easter Sunday, April, 1600 he feigned insanity "because in this way did one valiant Maccabee; Brutus feigned madness; prudent Solon hid His sense; and David, when he feared Gath's King." He continued to feign insanity after being transferred to a tribunal of the Church, on the charge of heresy. Here the torture was even more severe, and Grillo states: "But in vain did his torturers expect a confession from the philosopher who was not afraid to die, because he was conscious of the goodness of his ideal, and was, even in the most atrocious adversity, serene and proud." In November 1602, he was officially declared insane, and in conformity with the law of the time could not be condemned to death. His next trial ended with a sentence of life imprisonment.

Fortunately he was given books to read, essentials to write, and oil for his lamp. The severity of the imprisonment varied over the years with many instances of solitary confinement; but he wrote prodigiously: philosophical and political books, poetry, letters to many defending himself against the accusations of heresy and rebellion, and a lengthy treatise defending Galileo, which, with the aid of friends, was removed from his cell and eventually published in 1622. In his most notable writing he describes the essence of Utopia, named The City of the Sun, written as a poetic dialogue between a Knight Hospitaller and a Genoese mariner. Slaughter summarizes: "Campanella wanted to found an ideal state from which self-interest would be eliminated, community of goods and universal education that would make all men equal, and the officers of state who would be the incarnation of his Trinity-power, wisdom, and love." His Utopia takes the form of "a naturalistic theocracy of which the Chief of State designated as Metaphysic, a man of supreme wisdom and knowledge, corresponding to the Pope, but in a church purified, returned to the natural principals, and established in the conscience of the people." Campanella remained a devout Christian and Catholic, while urging the Church to purge itself of all absurdities. Though he advocated a renovation of the Church, he was opposed to the teachings of Luther and Calvin because "they struggled against the Church not from within, but from without, and so doing they deserted the Church and disrupted and broke to pieces the unity of the Catholic world."

He spent a total of thirty years of imprisonment in Naples and Rome, and was freed in 1629 by Pope Urban VIII. Because some in Rome still considered him dangerous, he finally left the country in 1634, spirited out under the protection of the French embassy. Grillo states: "He arrived in Paris where he was treated festively and respectively by the scholars, by the Cardinal de Richelieu, and with great solemnity and affection by King Louis XIII." He died in a monastery outside of Paris in 1639 at the age of 70.

In the Piazza L. Carnevale, the town square of Stilo, the statue of Campanella was unveiled in 1923 by the Italian philosopher, Giovanni Gentile. On the marble pedestal the inscription reads:

Born to Conquer Three Evils:
Tyranny, Sophism, Hypocrisy

 

Bibliography

Bonansea, Bernardino, Tommaso Campanella. Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C. 1969.

Douglas, Norman, Old Calabria. Marlboro Press/ Northwestern. Evanston, Illinois, 1993.

Elliott, A.M. and Millner, R. City of the Sun. Journeyman Press. London, 1981.

Gissing, George, By the Ionian Sea. Marlboro Press/ Northwestern. Evanston, Illinois, 1991.

Gragg, Florence, Smith College Studies in History, Volume XXII, No. 1. Department of History, Smith College, Northamton, Massachusetts, 1912.

Grillo, Francesco, Tomasso Campanella in America. S.F. Vanni, New York, 1954.

Lord, G.A., The Age of Robert Guiscard: Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest. Pearson Education Limited. Harlow, England, 2000.

Slaughter, Gertrude, Calabria, the First Italy. University of Wisconsin Press. Madison, Wisconsin, 1939.

Symonds, John, Renaissance in Italy, Part II. Henry Holt and Company. New York, 1885.

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