22 1 



CALABRIA. 



Olatiria. " Their habitations," says Father. Marafiotti, " ars 

 * v - not regular houses, but merely shepherds' huts, or 

 wooden barracks ; and they have commonly deep ca- 

 verns, where they keep their cattle, hogs, and sheep. 

 They are chiefly employed in agriculture, and carry 

 their corn, cheese, and cattle, to the neighbouring 

 towns and villages. 



This people were first introduced into Italy about 

 the middle of the 15th century. After the death 

 of Scanderbeg, prince of Epirus, or Albania, the 

 only support of the Christians against the grow- 

 ing power of the Ottomans in Europe, the Al- 

 banians abandoned themselves to despair. Unable to 

 withstand the forces of Mahomet I., over whom they 

 had obtained so many glorious victories before they 

 were deprived of their leader, and seeing themselves 

 exposed to the fury of the Turks, they resolved to 

 leave their country, and seek an asylum in the king- 

 dom of Naples. The miseries to which they were 

 reduced before they adopted this resolution, are most 

 accurately described by Pope Paul II., in his letter 

 to Philip Duke of Burgundy. " Albanenses partim 

 caesi gladio sunt, partim in miserarum servitutem ab- 

 ducti, oppida quae antea pro nobis Turcorum substi- 

 nuerunt impetus, in ditionem eorum venerunt. Vi- 

 cinas partes, quae Adriaticum mare attingunt, pro- 

 pinquo motu exterritae, tremunt. Ubique pavor, 

 ubique luctus, ubique mors et captivitas ante oculos 

 sunt. Audire miserum est, quanta omnium rerum 

 sit conturbatio. Lacrymabile, inspicere navigia fu- 

 gientium, ad Italos portus appellere, familias quo- 

 que egentes pulsas sedibus suis passim sedere per 

 littora, manusque in crelum tendentes lamentati- 

 onibus suis cuncta implere." Ferdinand I. king 

 of Naples, being touched with their misfortunes, 

 invited them to settle in his dominions ; and, being 

 grateful for the assistance which he had formerly 

 received from their Prince Scanderbeg, who had es- 

 tablished him upon the throne, not only assigned 

 them lands, but granted them exemption from taxes, 

 with many other privileges. They fixed their habi- 

 tations chiefly in Calabria, as being under the protec. 

 tion of the Prince of Bisignano, who had married an 

 Albanese princess : and their, numbers continued to 

 increase, by the addition of new colonies, until the 

 reign of Charles V. This prince, to whom they had 

 delivered up the city of Corona in 1532, liberally re- 

 warded its inhabitants who had settled in the pro- 

 vince of Calabria, with lands, and an exemption 

 from all imposts, both ordinary and extraordinary, 

 for their fidelity and devotion. Bred to arms, and 

 inured to hardships, the Albanese formed some of 

 .the finest troops in the armies of Naples ; and, as 

 long as a sound policy directed the affairs of the go- 

 vernment, they enjoyed every protection, and were 

 exempted from every impost. But under the vice- 

 roys of Spain they -were neglected and oppressed. 

 The lands which they possessed were impoverished 

 and exhausted, and could scarcely yield them a scanty 

 subsistence ; and the taxes with which they were 

 now loaded reduced them to the lowest state of ab- 

 jection and misery. A duty of twelve carlini a year 

 was imposed upon every house, a measure the most 

 partial and unjust, as the poorest Albanese, who 

 Bad scarcely wherewith to satisfy the cravings of na- 



ture, was equally burdened with the richest citizen 

 of the kingdom. From this impost, however, the 

 ancient inhabitants of Corona were exempted; but 

 other circumstances, such as the despotism of the 

 barons, and the persecutions of the Romish clergy, 

 contributed to confound them in the same abject 

 condition. As members of the Greek church, they 

 observed the Greek ritual, and had priests of their 

 own ; but a want of colleges, and other seminaries of 

 education for 230 years, had plunged them into such 

 a state of ignorance and barbarism, that there could 

 scarcely be found a priest among them that knew 

 Greek enough to perform divine service in that lan- 

 guage. In this state they would have remained, had 

 it not been for the exertions of M. Rodota, librarian 

 of the Vatican, who being also of the Greek persua- 

 sion, prevailed upon Clement XII. to found a college 

 at St Benedetto Ullano, for the education of such 

 young Albanese as wished to dedicate themselves to 

 the service of the church. This establishment was 

 endowed by Charles III. with the wealth of the 

 royal abbey of St Benedetto Ullano, which was also 

 declared to be exempted from every duty whatever. 

 Rodota himself was consecrated archbishop in parti' 

 bus, and acted as president of the college, but in 

 his episcopal powers was subordinate to the Latin 

 prelate of Bisignano, without whose licence he could 

 not confer orders upon his students. Rodota, how- 

 ever, lived too short a time for the good of his set- 

 tlement. Abuses soon crept in, and its funds have 

 been egregiously mismanaged. Little benefit, in- 

 deed, has been derived from it since his death, until 

 the year 1792, when Don Francesco Bugliari, a 

 man distinguished by hia talents and his integrity, 

 was called, to the head of the seminary. He be- 

 sought Ferdinand IV. to augment the revenues of 

 the college, and to remove it from St Benedetto Ul- 

 lano, where the climate was very unhealthy. It was 

 consequently transferred to the convent of St A- 

 drian, and its revenue considerably increased. From 

 that time it has been distinguished in the literary re- 

 public by the ability and learning of its professors, 

 and the good conduct of its students. But its pros~ 

 perity was of short duration. In 1799 it was pilla- 

 ged by. a band of Calabrian banditti ; and it was 

 scarcely restored to its former splendour by the ex- 

 ertions of M. Bugliari, than it was again sacked and 

 plundered in 1806. This second disaster overpower- 

 ed Bishop Bugliari with grief ; and " he chose ra- 

 ther," says M. Masci, an Italian writer, " to die by 

 the murderous hands of assassins, than to fly and 

 abandon the place of his most tender regard. His 

 death is felt by every heart. This is the best eu- 

 logium that can be paid to his virtues." He is suc- 

 ceeded by M. D. Domenico Belluscio ; and the great- 

 est advantages are expected to accrue to Calabria 

 and the hitherto neglected Albanese. The Greek 

 rite is now chiefly confined to the district of Co- 

 senxa ; the other Albanese who are scattered over 

 the rest of the country, having been either persua- 

 ded or compelled to conform to the Roman liturgy 

 and discipline. The Albanese are now a quiet, ia- 

 dustrious race. Among them the priesthood is the 

 highest nobility; and, as the clergy are not bound by 

 any vow of celibacy, like their neighbours of the R.$- 



