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Mafia. The word "mafia" is derived from the old Sicilian adjective "mafiusu" which has its roots in the Arabic mahjas, meaning "aggressive boasting, bragging". Roughly translated it means "swagger", but can also be translated as "boldness, bravado". In reference to a man, "mafiusu" in 19th-century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising, and proud, according to scholar Diego Gambetta.
The connotation of the word with the criminal secret society was made by the 1863 play I mafiusi di la Vicaria, 'The Beautiful (people) of Vicaria', by Giuseppe Rizzotto and Gaetano Mosca, which is about criminal gangs in the Palermo prison. The words "Mafia" or "mafiusi" (plural for "mafiusu") are never mentioned in the play, and were probably put in the title because it would add local flair.
The association between "mafiusi" and criminal gangs was made by the association the play's title made with the criminal gangs that were new to Sicilian and Italian society at the time. Consequently, the word "mafia" was generated from a fictional source loosely inspired by the real thing and was used by outsiders to describe it. The use of the term "mafia" was subsequently taken over in the Italian state's early reports on the phenomenon. The word "mafia" made its first official appearance in 1865 in a report by the prefect of Palermo, the marquis Filippo Antonio Gualterio.
Leopoldo Franchetti, an Italian deputy who travelled to Sicily and who wrote one of the first authoritative reports on the mafia in 1876, described the designation of the term 'Mafia': "the term mafia found a class of violent criminals ready and waiting for a name to define them, and, given their special character and importance in Sicilian society, they had the right to a different name from that defining vulgar criminals in other countries".
Some observers have seen "mafia" as a set of positive attributes deeply rooted in popular culture, as a "way of being", as illustrated in the definition by the Sicilian ethnographer, Giuseppe Pitrè, at the end of the 19th century: "Mafia is the consciousness of one's own worth, the exaggerated concept of individual force as the sole arbiter of every conflict, of every clash of interests or ideas."
Many Sicilians did not regard these men as criminals but as role models and protectors, given that the state appeared to offer no protection of the poor and weak. As late as the 1950s, the funeral epitaph of the legendary boss of Villalba, Calogero Vizzini, stated that "his 'mafia' was not criminal, but stood for respect of the law, defense of all rights, greatness of character. It was love." Here, "mafia" means something like pride, honor, or even social responsibility: an attitude, not an organization. Likewise, in 1925, the former Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando stated in the Italian senate that he was proud of being "mafioso", because that word meant honorable, noble, generous.
Judge & Jury
Marsala is a seaport city located in the Province of Trapani on the island of Sicily in Italy. The low coast on which it is situated is the westernmost point of the island. It is best known as the source of Marsala wine.
Marsala occupies the site of Lilybaeum, the principal stronghold of the Carthaginians in Sicily, founded by Himilco in 396 BC after the abandonment of Motya. Neither Pyrrhus nor the Romans were able to reduce it by siege, but it was surrendered to the latter in 241 BC at the end of the First Punic War. In the later wars it was a starting point for the Roman expeditions against Carthage, and under Roman rule it enjoyed considerable prosperity. It obtained municipal rights from Augustus and became a colony under either Pertinax or Septimius Severus.
The Saracens gave it its present name "Marsala" which is deriving from the Arab "Marsa Allah" (port of Allah) or "Marsa Ali" ("port of Ali" intended also as "great port" as Ali in Arabian language is synonymous of "great" and the ancient harbour of Lylibaeum was enormous). The ancient harbor that lay on the northeast was destroyed by Charles V to prevent its occupation by pirates. The modern harbor lies to the southeast.
On May 11, 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi and his "thousand" landed at Marsala and began his campaign to overthrow Bourbon rule in Sicily as a step toward Italy's unification.
Mattanza. The ritual of killing Tuna in Sicily.
In Sicily they catch Bluefin tuna in a traditional festival known as the mattanza which takes place in May and June each year. A huge trap (called the tonnara) leads the fish into a chamber, called la "camera della morte", which has a net floor that can be raised. The fish are then brought to the surface and killed. During this festival, while the tuna are being caught, "Tonnarotti" sing special songs called "scialome" which have been passed down for so long that much of the meaning has now been lost. The term 'mattanza' comes from the old Spanish word, "matar", while other words, such as "rais" (the head fisherman of the mattanza), are of Arabic origin. There are only a few genuine mattanzas left now, and these are all to be found to the west of Sicily, among the Egadi Islands.
Mazara del Vallo. Still profoundly Arabic in its urban layout, Mazara del Vallo grew up and developed around its canal-harbour, which now contains the most imposing fishing fleet in Italy. From the cathedral, an authentic temple-museum, to the precious Diocesan Museum, not to mention Norman and baroque vestiges, the town has a history rich in monuments and works of art. From the geographical point of view, the town of Mazara del Vallo lies between Capo Feto and Capo Granitola and looks out on the Channel of Sicily. Its territory, which is highly interesting in terms of culture and nature, is crossed by the Mazaro river; this river and the Delia make up its hydrographic network. Thanks to the variety of natural characteristics, on its agricultural surfaces we find many different crops, though there is a prevalence of vineyards and olive plantations, while there is not much woodland or Mediterranean scrub. The coast is not uniform. It is characterised by rocky sea beds, rich in marine biocoenosis, to the south-east of the town. By contrast, the south-western coast, to the right of the estuary of the Mazaro river, is of a sandy type , and thanks to a particularly favourable overall environmental situation , in it there is a "prairie" of Neptunegrass (Posidonia oceanica), which is luxuriant and big, accounting for the richness of the Mazara sea environment.
THE BRONZE STATUE OF THE SATYR: Some have imagined in an attitude of sculptural defiance of the seas and the winds, on the prow or the mast of a ship which, while it furrowed the waters of the Sicilian Channel, lost in the abysses accidentally or in a shipwreck; others, instead have thought that it was war booty; lastly, some have thought it was part of the precious cargo of an "antiquarian" of the time that, on a commission or otherwise, was handling works of art for a rich gentleman of the day. If doubts wrap round its functional placing, as well as the dating and the artistic-cultural attribution, one thing that is certain is its identification in terms of imagery, even though, in the euphoria of the discovery, people hastily spoke about Aeolus. In fact, it is certain that the bronze statue "caught" in March 1998 by a Mazara fishing boat in the sea between Pantelleria and Africa represents a Satyr. It seems quit likely that the Satyr was part of the cargo of a ship that sank between Pantelleria and Cap Bon in the 3rd or 2nd century B.C. The rest of the precious cargo still lies at a depht of almost five hundred metres.
Messina., city (1991 pop. 231,693), capital of Messina prov., NE Sicily, Italy, on the Strait of Messina, opposite the Italian mainland. It is a busy seaport and a commercial and light industrial center. Manufactures include processed food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and construction materials. Founded (late 8th cent. B.C.) by Greek colonists and named Zancle, the city was captured (5th cent. B.C.) by Anaxilas of Rhegium and renamed Messana. It became involved in several wars, particularly against Syracuse and Carthage, and was taken in 282 B.C. by mercenaries called Mamertines. The Romans answered an appeal for help from the Mamertines and intervened in Sicily, thus precipitating the first of the Punic Wars. Messina was subsequently allied with Rome, and it shared the history of the rest of Sicily. The city was conquered by the Arabs in the late 9th cent. A.D. but was liberated by the Normans in 1061. It developed a thriving silk industry (which declined in the 18th cent.). Messina later came under the rule of the Angevins, the Aragonese, and the Spanish Bourbons. A heroic insurrection against the Bourbons took place from 1774 to 1778. Garibaldi took Messina in July, 1860, but the Bourbon garrison resisted in the citadel until Mar., 1861. The city suffered a severe plague in 1743 and major earthquakes in 1783 and 1908. The earthquake of Dec. 28, 1908, destroyed 90% of Messina's buildings, including fine churches and palaces, and cost about 80,000 lives; afterward the city was completely rebuilt in conformity with standards for quake-resistant construction. In World War II, the Sicilian campaign ended with the fall of Messina to the Allies on Aug. 17, 1943. Of interest in the city are the Norman-Romanesque cathedral (rebuilt after 1908) and the National Museum. Messina has a university, founded in 1548.
Milazzo is situated on the north coast of Sicily, Italy, 20km west of Messina. Is it a small town, mainly used as a transit point for the Aeolian Islands.
Modica, Latin Motyca, or Mutyca, town, Ragusa provincia, southeastern Sicily, Italy, at the confluence of two mountain torrents on the south margin of the Monti (mountains) Iblei, just south of Ragusa city. On the site of a Bronze Age (and perhaps Stone Age) fortress (c. 4000 BC), it emerged as Motyca, a town of the Siculi, an ancient Sicilian tribe (c. 400 BC).
Monreale. Located in the province of Palermo, Sicily, on the skirts of Mount Caputo. The city is built in a commanding situation over the port of Palermo. It was a pleasure resort of the Norman kings, to whom it owes its foundation. In 1167 William II built there the church of Santa Maria Nuova, with its adjoining monastery for the Benedictines of Cava dei Tirreni—the most superb monastic building of the Benedictine Order in Europe, famous for its cloister and its graceful Moresque colonnade. At the present time only the lower portion of the convent is in the possession of the monks. The church (now the cathedral) is the noblest in Sicily, though the portico of its façade has been restored in a Style not in harmony with the remainder of the building. Its bronze doors, the work of Bonanno of Pisa (1186), are notable, as are also the arabesques of the portals. The interior has three naves, and the columns of Egyptian marble have foiled and figured capitals, each different from the others, The apse and the lateral walls are covered with beautiful mosaics, representing scenes from the Old and New Testaments. The high altar is covered with worked sheets of silver (seventeenth century) and in a chapel to its right, are the tombs of William I the Wicked and of William II. The chapel of Saint Benedict contains sculptures by Marabitti (eighteenth century). In 1811 a fire destroyed the roof, which was restored in a way to leave the rafters exposed to view. On the mountain beyond the city is the monastery of San Martino of the Cassinese Benedictines, whose church is rich in works of art; farther on is the castle of San Benedetto, built by the Saracens. In 1174 the abbey of Monreale was declared a "prælatura nullius"; two years later its abbot was vested with the title and jurisdiction of a bishop, and in 1182 he became the metropolitan of Catania and of Syracuse. At first the archbishops were elected by the monks, but were not always Benedictines; since 1275, however, the election has been reserved to itself by the Holy See. In time Girgenti and Caltagirone also became suffragan to Monreale; but Syracuse, in 1844, and Catania, in 1860, became archiepiscopal sees. The former having become the Metropolitan of Caltagirone, Monreale received the new Diocese of Caltanisetta (1860), which see and Girgenti are now its only suffragans. Among the archbishops of this see have been Cardinal Giovanni Proccamazza (1278); Cardinal Aussio Despuig de Podio (1458); Cardinal Pompeo Colonna (1531); Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici (1532); Alessandro Farnese (1536); Ludovico de Torres (1584), founder of the seminary; Cardinal Vitaliano Visconti (1670); Cardinal Traian d'Acquaviva d'Aragona (1739). From 1775 to 1802 Monreale and Palermo were united.
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