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Conversions Wars Cultures Religions and a Family Name MICHAEL L. SENA C OPYRIGHTED , 2012 B Y G R E E N H O R SE P U B L I S H I N G C OMPANY V ADSTENA , S WEDEN EDITED AND REVISED DECEMBER 2013 ii WARS ARE FOUGHT to gain and keep control over wealth. Tribes, clans, countries and other groups that have wealth have the power to wage and win wars. Those without wealth will always be war’s victims. They lack the resources to build effective defences and protect themselves against destructive powers. Besides extermination or assimilation, one consequence of wars for the vanquished is displacement. Defeated peoples are often set adrift. Cultures, or societies, come into existence when a sufficient number of individuals agree on a way of living together, either through consensus or through force. Cultures are sensitive organisms. They are born, sometimes growing and flourishing, oftentimes contracting and vanishing. Even the most powerful civilizations in their times have had to relinquish their positions of dominance, most often because of self destructive actions taken by their leaders. When one culture is diminished, there is always another waiting to take its place. Humankind is the sum total of all those cultures that have gone before. Religion is the codification of a society’s rules that define what is considered right and what is deemed wrong. Societies base their laws on these definitions, and the laws establish the worldly consequences of not upholding or abiding by the rules. Those who are the codifiers, the priests, gain their legitimacy by providing answers to the unanswerable. Some offer the promise of immortality by positing the existence of an immortal and supreme being who can fulfil the promise of eternal life. Other priests declare that by following their rules, an individual can experience paradise on earth. Philosophers try to prove the priests right or wrong. iii A family name can say much or nothing about its bearer because everyone has the power to accept or reject the name which is given to him or her, to take the name of another or to create one that is totally new. The most remarkable family names are those which appear to have no meaning, no connection to a place—real or imaginary—to a culture, to a profession or to person. Even more remarkable is the fact that successive generations continue to use these names, to keep the spelling, the pronunciation and the symbolism long after their original meaning or importance has been lost to history. iv Dedication THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO the memory of my paternal grandparents, Michele Sena and Giovanna Ricciardi Sena who emigrated at the end of the 19th century from Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi, Region of Campania, Province of Avellino, and who settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania. v Table of Contents Dedication .............................................................................................. v September 1, 1896 A.D. ......................................................................... 9 52 B.C. ........................................................................................... 18 September 2, 1896 A.D. ....................................................................... 31 81 A.D. .......................................................................................... 39 September 3, 1896 A.D. ....................................................................... 50 177 A.D. ........................................................................................ 53 September 4, 1896 A.D. ....................................................................... 63 380 A.D. ........................................................................................ 78 September 5, 1896 A.D. ....................................................................... 84 451A.D. ......................................................................................... 93 September 6, 1896 A.D. ..................................................................... 110 714 A.D. ...................................................................................... 121 September 7, 1896 A.D. ..................................................................... 131 932 A.D ....................................................................................... 151 September 8, 1896 A.D. ..................................................................... 157 1099 A.D ..................................................................................... 171 September 9, 1896 A.D. ..................................................................... 179 1195 A.D ..................................................................................... 190 September 10, 1896 A.D. ................................................................... 203 1493 A.D. .................................................................................... 219 September 11, 1896 A.D. ................................................................... 239 1510 A.D. .................................................................................... 253 1630 A.D. .................................................................................... 258 September 12, 1896 A.D. ................................................................... 263 1798 A.D. .................................................................................... 283 vi September 13, 1896 A.D. ................................................................... 299 1860 A.D. .................................................................................... 312 1878 A.D. .................................................................................... 322 September 14, 1896 A.D. ................................................................... 331 Epilogue ............................................................................................. 341 2012 A.D. .................................................................................... 341 Appendices ......................................................................................... 344 The Angelus ................................................................................ 344 Senones and Sena Gallica ............................................................ 345 The List of Popes ......................................................................... 348 Maps of Europe ........................................................................... 359 Index .................................................................................................. 374 vii September 1, 1896 A.D. 11:05 a.m. WHERE ARE YOU GOING? he heard a voice say. At first he did not want to respond. His thoughts and his eyes were fixed on the pier, which gradually grew smaller as the ship slowly sailed away, out toward the open sea. Michele could still distinguish his grandfather from the others standing on the pier, waving to their loved ones, perhaps for the last time. One year ago, at the age of seventeen, he had been there with his grandfather and uncle waving to his family as they left the Port of Napoli on their way to America. He remembered seeing the tears in his grandfather’s eyes and how he sat quietly next to his older son during the long journey home. When they arrived in the village and his grandfather climbed slowly down from the wagon, he heard him say to his son, “We will never see them again.” Now, on board the steamship Italia, the very same ship that his family had taken, it was his turn. His uncle drove the same wagon with the very same horse that had carried his family the year before. His grandfather insisted on coming himself. There were others in the village who were taking the same ship. They had left the village two days before and arrived in Napoli in the middle of yesterday afternoon. They had brought food and wine and made their camp close to the pier where the ship was moored. It had been a long night; the mood was more that of a funeral than a wedding. When morning came, Michele bid farewell to all those he was leaving behind. He promised them that he would try to return one day. His grandfather gave him a small box wrapped in red coloured paper and told him to open it when his feet were on American soil. He placed the small package in his suitcoat pocket. Michele boarded the ship, but the families would not leave until the ship had sailed over the horizon and was well out of sight. Conversions He turned to see a small man wearing wire-rimmed spectacles and smoking a pipe. He had a well-trimmed beard that was mostly white with auburn colored curls mixed in. Atop his head was a dark grey felt bowler hat with black ribbon trim and an unusually wide brim that would have hidden his entire face if he had not been looking straight up into Michele’s light grey-brown eyes. The tufts of hair that peeked out from under the hat’s brim were decidedly more white than auburn. His black woolen coat stretched down to his ankles. It was difficult to guess his age, but he appeared to be younger than his actual years. “America,” answered Michele, and he turned his gaze immediately back toward the pier. His grandfather had disappeared into the sea of faces and arms and bodies. “We are all going to America,” laughed his neighbor at the ship’s rail. “Some of us will get in. The others will be sent back. I meant where will you go if they let you in.” “They will let me in,” replied Michele sharply. “My whole family got in one year ago, and there’s nothing wrong with me!” “So your family is already there?” queried the small man. “Yes. They’re