Urban Identities in “African” Sicily. the City of Scicli in the Modern Age 1
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MILITELLO, P. Urban Identities in “African” Sicily …. URBAN IDENTITIES IN “AFRICAN” SICILY. THE CITY OF SCICLI IN THE MODERN AGE 1 IDENTIDADES URBANAS NA SICÍLIA “AFRICANA”. A CIDADE DE SCICLI NA IDADE MODERNA Paolo MILITELLO 2 ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the formation process of the urban identity of Scicli, a city in the southeastern part of Sicily, between the 16th and 18th century. In the analysis of this process there is an attempt to reconstruct not only the conflictual relationship among the main characters of the town and among the cities, but also the role that the literary, graphic and cartographic descriptions had. Documentary and iconographic sources become, therefore, useful evidences to piece together the complex relationship between the city, its territory and the societies of the past. Key words: Modern History, Urban Identities, Images, Cities, Mediterranean Sea, Sicily. RESUMO O objetivo deste artigo reside na reconstrução do processo de formação da identidade urbana de Scicli, uma cidade situada na porção sudeste da Sicília (Itália), entre os séculos 16 e 18. Na análise deste processo há um esforço para a reconstrução não somente da relação conflituosa no âmbito dos principais aspectos da cidade e das cidades, mas também do papel desempenhado pelas descrições baseadas na literatura, figura e cartografia. Fontes documentais e iconográficas tornam-se, portanto, recursos evidentes à reconstituição complexa das relações entre a cidade, seus territórios e sociedades do passado. Palavras-chave: História Moderna, Identidades Urbanas, Imagens, Cidades, Mar Mediterrâneo, Sicília. The territory of south-eastern Sicily – that point of the island which faces Malta and Northern Africa – is characterized by a multifaceted landscape 3. Corn fields enclosed by dry-stone walls follow the sandy coasts of Capo Pachino; vineyards and olive groves surrounding the densely-populated towns follow the pastures of the highlands of the Iblei Mountains. This territory is, today, somewhat different from that of the early centuries of the modern age. This was that part of the southern region of the island which the historians named “African” Sicily – an area of natural strategic, and thus geopolitical, 1 Translated by Agata Aladio and Agata Laura Cristaldi. 2 Professor da Università di Catania (Sicília-Itália) 3 For the history of the Hyblean territory and of the territory of Scicli, s. Paolo Militello, La contea di Modica tra storia e cartografia. Rappresentazioni e pratiche di uno spazio feudale (XVI-XIX secolo) , Palermo, 2001. Revista Movimentos Sociais e Dinâmicas Espaciais, Recife: UFPE/MSEU, v. 01, n. 1, 2012 | 148 | MILITELLO, P. Urban Identities in “African” Sicily …. importance; a frontier land which Christians wanted free of Jews and “Turks”, but which smuggling made a “bridge” rather than a “frontier” 4. The present article will attempt to retrace the historical identity of this territory and, in particular, of one of its cities, Scicli, in the early modern age. Moreover, it will try to reconstruct the often conflicting practices and the representations of its urban space made by the protagonists of the past . §§§ HISTORY OF A TERRITORY At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Sicily was part of Charles V’s immense empire 5, and it was a strategically important area as for the policy of containment of Turkish power in the Mediterranean Sea. The south-eastern part of the island represented the nerve centre in the borderline of Christianity; this latter started from the “entrance” of the Adriatic Sea (Corfu, Naupactus, Preveza), touched Southern Italy and, after crossing the eastern coasts of Sicily, closed off the western Mediterranean Sea with Malta and Tunis. When Charles V abdicated, the island entered the polysynodal Spanish monarchy of Philip II and became a weakened bulwark against barbaric piracy. Sicily would follow the historical, political and economic events of Spain, thus living – although always through a lively dialectical relationship between the élites and the central power – the difficult path of modernity. In 1700, with the death of Charles II of Spain, Sicily regained its role as a remarkably important element in the Wars of succession. Thus, Spanish, Austrian and Savoy troops and dominations would follow on its territory, till when, with the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily (1734) by Charles III, the island became a Bourbon possession until the unification of Italy 6. 4 G. Giarrizzo, Prefazione to Militello, La contea di Modica tra storia e cartografia , 13. 5 For the history of Sicily, s. G. Giarrizzo, La Sicilia moderna dal Vespro al nostro tempo , Firenze, 2004. 6 E. Iachello (ed.), I Borbone in Sicilia (1734-1860) , Catania, 1998. Revista Movimentos Sociais e Dinâmicas Espaciais, Recife: UFPE/MSEU, v. 01, n. 1, 2012 | 149 | MILITELLO, P. Urban Identities in “African” Sicily …. G. Delisle, Carte de l’Isle et Royaume de Sicile, Paris 1717 G. Delisle, Carte de l’Isle et Royaume de Sicile, Paris 1717. The County of Modica In this period, the farthest south-eastern point of the island, which corresponded more or less to the County of Modica, played an important strategic role. An evidence of this is represented by a singular politico-diplomatic incident. In 1713, the year in which Sicily passed to Amadeus of Savoy with the Treaty of Utrecht, the king of Spain Philip V kept for himself full power over the County which thus became an authentic enclave within the Savoy rule 7. Scicli was an integral part of this feudal institution. The County consisted of a territory characterised by a marked polycentrism and by the absence of a dominant city – such as Naples, Palermo, or Catania. In 1786 the economist Saverio Scrofani wrote: “In the County of Modica, six large cities [Modica, Scicli, Ragusa, Chiaramonte, Monterossom and 7 As for this event, cf. G. Poidomani, Storia di una quérelle diplomatica. La contea di Modica nel periodo del governo sabaudo in Sicilia (1713-1720) , in “Archivum Historicum Mothycense”, no. 3, 1997, 33-44. Revista Movimentos Sociais e Dinâmicas Espaciais, Recife: UFPE/MSEU, v. 01, n. 1, 2012 | 150 | MILITELLO, P. Urban Identities in “African” Sicily …. Vittoria] are at the centre of their territories” 8. Each of these cities enjoyed some autonomy, had its own ruling class, and, as well as the other centres, belonged to the same higher local institution, that is, the County, and shared a common agricultural and commercial nature. The urban configuration of this territory was mainly characterised by fortified medieval boroughs. It changed for the first time, between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the growth of the inhabited centres beyond the old walls, and with the foundation, between 1606 and 1608, of the “new land” (purpose-built city) of Vittoria. Another change occurred after the 1693 earthquake 9. The process of reconstruction which followed it caused further transformation in the urban structure. Some villages, such as Ragusa, “split” into two cities; others, such as Monterosso, were rebuilt in a new place. This complex territorial organization was given, as has already been said, its political and administrative identity by being part of a feudal estate: the County of Modica, in fact. During the ancien régime , the situation of the county was, perhaps, unique compared with the other counties of the island. It enjoyed such autonomy of its own that it was considered Regnum in Regno . This situation did not erase, of course, the local political divisions: the presence of cities with a strong identity and of significant élites is the other element which characterises our territory. It was precisely the feudal administrative system, however, which had determined roles and functions. From this point of view, the most substantial opposition within the County, in the modern age, was that between Modica and Scicli. During the ancien régime , a dual, highly conflictual polarity, from the political and military point of view, was long consolidated: on the one hand, Modica, the administrative “capital city” of the County, on the other hand, Scicli, the military “capital city” which controlled the territory and the coast. From its very origins – during the Byzantine Empire, Scicli was, after all, a “military” city. This characteristic was confirmed during the sixteenth century, when the city became a “Sergenzia” (one of the military divisions of the island). During the eighteenth century, the city kept this military supremacy: all the cities of the County and of 8 S. Scrofani, Memoria sulla libertà del commercio dei grani della Sicilia [1795], in AA. VV., Scrittori classici italiani di economia politica , XL, Milano, 1805, 284. As for Scrofani, cf. G. Giarrizzo, Saverio Scrofani , in Archivio Storico per la Sicilia Orientale , LXV, 1969, III, 249-281. (“ Nel Contado di Modica sei grandi città [Modica, Scicli, Ragusa, Chiaramonte, Monterosso e Vittoria] stanno in mezzo ai loro territori ”. All translations are by Aladio.) 9 See G. Giarrizzo (ed.), La Sicilia dei terremoti. Lunga durata e dinamiche sociali , Catania, 1996. Revista Movimentos Sociais e Dinâmicas Espaciais, Recife: UFPE/MSEU, v. 01, n. 1, 2012 | 151 | MILITELLO, P. Urban Identities in “African” Sicily …. south-eastern Sicily depended on Scicli; it was also in charge of the health and sanitary control over sea trade within the 90 mile coast (and this area was characterised by a lively sea trade); finally, it was Scicli which released passports and Patenti di Sanità (licences of good health), thus extending its power to the areas (and business) of the other cities. BUILDING IDENTITY: INVENTED SAINTS, ANCIENT REMAINS, CITIES’ PORTRAITS AND A MADONNA DELLE MILIZIE In such a context, between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, Scicli would initiate a process of reinforcement of its own urban identity. This latter – in keeping with the historical and cultural processes of the island – would take shape in the building up of cults, myths, legends, and “places of memory”.