Redimir y rescatar en el Mediterráneo moderno

The ransom is the price paid to free a person who has fallen into enemy hands as a prisoner (captivus) and reduced to slavery. The fixing and payment of this price are parts of a long process —redemption— that involves various subjects (both individuals and institutions) who often have different religious affiliations. Ransom is connected with privateering, a military, commercial and financial phenomenon that entails the continuous exchange of men, commodities and money. By comparison with the religious orders and secular and religious institutions specialised in ransom, it is more difficult to identify and quantify the innumerable private initiatives, whether informal or institutionalized, on the part of individuals or a group, starting with those of the captives’ relatives: all those categories of redeemers whose traces have to be sought in banal activities —buying, selling, undertaking an activity for gain, taking a risk, planning a business deal, grasping an opportunity— and do not therefore appear in institutional sources.It is an established but untenable commonplace to suppose that Muslims did not ransom their fellow believers who fell into Christian hands, but limited themselves to occasional exchanges. In as much as the Muslim world did not have organizations equivalent to those of Catholic Europe, the intensive commercial relations of a group of Moorish merchants between Palermo and Tunisi help us to understand the pervasiveness of the activity of ransom, the interconnection between commercial exchanges and redemption, and the shared profits obtained by commercial agents of different religions. More generally, they help us to reflect on the contact between neighboring or adjacent societies, even though frequently in conflict with one another

La schiavitù mediterranea tra medioevo ed età moderna. Una proposta bibliografica

Un ausilio bibliografico composto da un centinaio di titoli di libri, articoli, saggi per avviare allo studio del fenomeno studenti e giovani ricercatori di storia. Indice: Introduzione, Un Mediterraneo frammentato e interconnesso; Fonti; Schiavitù pan-mediterranea; Prigionieri, schiavi, galeotti; Corsari e pirati; Le Reggenze barbaresche; Lingua franca; Il declino della corsa (la strada degli accordi diplomatici); Schiavi di musulmani e di ebrei; Santi e confraternite neri; Lunghe diacronie, ampi contesti; Osservazione ravvicinata sulla penisola iberica; Il riscatto: il commercio dei captivi; Lettere dalla schiavitù e récits d'esclavage; Abiure e conversioni: i rinnegati

The impossible redemption of Aly del Marnegro, "true Turkish"

In 1624 the corsair Aly Rais was captured by Sicilian galleys. Brought to Palermo, the Inquisition suspected that il was dealing with a renegade Christian. After gathering numerous testimonies and locating its baptismal records, they formally accused him of being the Ferrarese Francesco Guicciardino, taken by corsairs as a child and brought to Tunis, where he embraced the Muslim religion, became captain of the galleys of Biserta, and preyed on Christian shipping. Against these accusation, Aly claimed to be "Turkish" by birth and hence beyond the jurisdiction of Holy Office. By examining sources of Madrid (the inquisitorial records), from Tunis (the correspondence between the leaders of the Regency and French consular documents), and from Palermo (the letters of the Deputation for the Ransoming of Captives and of Cardinal Giannettino Doria), it is possible to reconstruct the political and diplomatic negotiations over a failed ramson, which enables us to see the complex of interests in play, beyond the commercial and financial interests typical of the "economie de la rançon"

Illud quod est caput omnium: l'espulsione dei moriscos e la canonizzazione di Juan de Ribera

Ripercorrendo le tappe settecentesche del processo di canonizzazione di Juan de Ribera, un Memoriale anonimo destinato al papa e il più consistente materiale preparatorio, rintracciati entrambi presso l’Archivio del Collegio del Corpus Christi di Valencia, consento- no di vedere all’opera il Santo Uffizio romano. Interpellato sulla causa, esso produce una se- rie di obiezioni stringenti contro l’espulsione dei moriscos, soprattutto dei bambini, contro l’atteggiamento e l’operato dell’arcivescovo, la mancata consultazione della Sede apostolica e la convocazione di sinodi provinciali. Queste critiche, per quanto tocchino questioni nevralgiche e controverse, a cui i difensori della causa di Ribera danno risposte talvolta discutibili, talaltra evasive, rallentano ma non arrestano la causa. Essa sarà decisa d’imperio dal pontefice che, nel 1796, lo dichiarerà beato.As the campaign for the canonization of Juan de Ribera unfolded in the eighteenth century, an anonymous author wrote a forcefully argued summary intended for the pope. The petition, housed in the archive of the Colegio de Corpus Christi, Valencia, sheds light upon the internal workings of the Holy Office in Rome. This critique of the canonization effort raised a series of powerful objections, to Ribera’s ideas and programs as archbishop; and to his failure to consult the papacy or convene a provincial synod. These controversial criticisms struck a nerve with Ribera’s defenders, who offered debatable or evasive responses. Ultimately these objections slowed down but did not stop the campaign on Ribera’s behalf, as in 1796 the papacy declared his beatification

Rinnegati: le imbricazioni delle relazioni mediterranee.

Dal medioevo ai primi decenni del XIX secolo schiavitù, guerra da corsa e commercio dei cattivi s’intrecciano in maniera peculiare nella storia dei paesi che si affacciano sulle sponde del Mediterraneo; in età moderna la schiavitù assume caratteristiche peculiari: la reciprocità (europei cristiani catturano e riducono in schiavitù nordafricani e “turchi” musulmani e viceversa); la temporaneità (i captivi possono essere riscattati o scambiati e, dopo un certo tempo, ritornare in patria); la reiteratività (si può cadere più di una volta in cattività, soprattutto se per mestiere si va per mare); la creazione di una rete finanziaria a maglie strette di mercanti, redentori, negoziatori, interessati a speculare sul riscatto oltre che a liberare amici e familiari. Gli strumenti di manomissione e di integrazione nel nuovo contesto passano attraverso l’abiura della rispettiva religione e l’adesione a quella del paese ospitante. Anche l’aspetto dell’abiura e della conversione conserva una forte reciprocità: schiavi cristiani si convertono all’islam e schiavi musulmani al cattolicesimo, per quanto il primo fenomeno sia finora meglio documentato del secondo. I rinnegati sono personaggi molto noti della storia del Mediterraneo moderno e i più adatti a farci approfondire la conoscenza e la qualità delle relazioni sociali “trans mediterranee”. Lontana dai personaggi più importanti e noti concentro la mia attenzione su “rinnegati qualunque”, cercando di comprendere le ragioni della abiura e il senso del fenomeno nel suo complesso. La documentazione consente di sfidare il concetto di confine, che più che una frontiera che separa, si configura come luogo elastico, aperto alle reciproche influenze, uno spazio mobile che fa da contesto a individui di molteplici appartenenze e quello di identità, concetto “avvelenato” che opera strumentalmente la riduzione ad unum di questa complessità

Crítica de la política e historia política de las mujeres en Italia: un balance problemático

This essay aims to contribute to the process of rethinking thirty years of Italian history. These long thirty years began with the 1968 student movement and the workers’ movement in the factories of Northern Italy in the “hot autumn” of 1969, then saw the cross-fertilization of the feminist movement and the battles for civil rights (divorce and abortion), and ended with terrorism and its repression, leading to an estrangement between politics and civil society and, in particular, to women’s drastic disaffection from politics. In considering these themes Italian historiography has recently been seeking to try to understand the “anomalies” of the Italian case and of the country’s contradictory transition towards modernity, but has frequently underestimated the contribution made over these 30 years by the women’s movement and by the feminist debate. In fact, both of them have helped to update historiographical paradigms, even though they have not delivered a history of feminism that bequeathed a shared memory of it. The important contribution of Italian women historians to historical research has occurred on one hand in relation to the development of French and Anglo-American social history and, on the other, through the assimilation of the category of gender. The use of gender has been more influential in research in early modern history, rather than in modern history. The motives are complex and will be examined in this essay.Este ensayo quiere ser una contribución a la revisión de los últimos treinta años de historia republicana. Treinta largos años que se inician con el movimiento estudiantil del 68 y el de los obreros de las fábricas del norte, “el otoño caliente” del 69, pasan por el movimiento feminista y las batallas por los derechos civiles (divorcio y aborto), se cierran con el terrorismo y con su represión y se resuelven con el distanciamiento entre política y sociedad civil y, en particular, con la drástica pérdida del afecto de las mujeres por la política. Sobre estos temas se ha detenido recientemente la historiografía italiana, para comprender las “anomalías” del caso italiano y su contradictoria transición hacia la modernidad, a menudo infravalorando la contribución aportada a esos treinta años por el movimiento de las mujeres y por las elaboraciones del feminismo. En cambio, entre ambos han contribuido a la actualización de los paradigmas historiográficos, a pesar de no llegar a producir una historia del feminismo que recogiese una memoria común. La importante contribución aportada por las historiadoras italianas a la actualización historiográfica general se ha producido en relación con los estudios de historia social, sobre todo franceses y angloamericanos, por un lado, y, por otro, con la introducción de la categoría de género (gender). Esto se ha revelado de manera más evidente en las investigaciones relativas a la edad moderna que en las relativas a la historia contemporánea por una compleja serie de razones que aquí se intentan sacar a la luz

Lettres de Barbarie : esclavage et rachat de captifs siciliens (xvie-xviiie siècle)

À l’époque moderne les conditions des prisonniers de guerre et des esclaves se rejoignent dans la figure du captif, tombé aux mains de l’ennemi et réduit en esclavage. L’importance de l’expérience de la captivité en Méditerranée à l’époque moderne n’est plus à démontrer. Les documents de la Deputazione de Palerme, institution qui se dédiait au rachat des captifs, sont conservés dans les archives de la ville. Ce sont plusieurs centaines de lettres, des suppliques et des mémoriaux d’esclaves siciliens en Barbarie, surtout à Tunis et à Bizerte mais aussi à Alger et Tripoli, qui y sont conservés. Envoyés entre le xvie et le xixe siècle aux parents, aux amis et aux personnes influentes, ces documents témoignent de la mauvaise condition de vie du captif et renseignent sur le rachat. Nous avons là une mine d’informations précieuses sur les conditions de vie des esclaves dans les villes corsaires d’Afrique du Nord, grâce auxquelles on peut raconter l’esclavage avec les mots de ceux qui en ont souffert, sans oublier toutefois l’importance de la rhétorique dans ce type de documentation puisque l’objectif était de susciter la compassion pour réunir le montant de la rançon au plus vite et recouvrer sa liberté.In the early modern age, the figure of the prisoner of war and that of the slave were singularly joined in the figure of the captive who falls into enemy hands. The importance of Mediterranean captivity in the early modern era has clearly been demonstrated, in part through documents of the Palermo Deputazione, the institution for rescuing captives, which are held in the city’s archive. Hundreds of letters, petitions and memoirs of Sicilian slaves in Barbary, particularly in Tunis and Bizerte but also in Algiers and Tripoli, can be found there. These documents, written from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century to relatives, friends and influential figures, provide testimony of the poor conditions suffered by captives and arguments for their ransom. Thanks to this archive, a gold mine of information about the living conditions of slaves in North African corsair cities, we can describe their lives in their own words, though one must not forget the importance of rhetoric in these sorts of documents, whose ultimate aim was to stir compassion in order to raise the ransom money for their freedom

Unwilling Vows and Judicial Strategies: Sister Anna Maddalena Valdina

In 1640 Anna, daughter of the prince of Valdina, was put into a convent in Palermo along with three sisters. She was seven years old and would remain there until 1699. She first asked her father and then her brother to leave the monastic state to which she was forced for patrimonial reasons and to which she never resigned herself. Her story is inscribed within the phenomenon of the so-called forced monacations, to which the Council of Trent had tried to remedy. On the death of her brother, in 1693, Anna, about sixty years old, asked the archbishop of Palermo to grant the nullity of her religious profession and her return to the lay state. Thus began a very severe judicial dispute that triggers a violent jurisdictional conflict between ecclesiastical and secular magistracies, the Vatican Congregation of Bishops, the Sicilian magistracies and ends up reaching the king of Spain and the pope. The exceptionality of the case-study lies in the possibility of its close contextualization, thanks to the rich archival documentation produced by that judicial litigation, to the intervention of different magistrates and institutions, secular and ecclesiastical and numerous social actors (from the simple nun to the viceroy). In the course of this litigation, Anna produced numerous memorials that reveal her judicial strategies, her noble logic and other aspects of her volatile personality.En 1640, Anna, hija del príncipe de Valdina, fue ingresada en un convento de Palermo junto con sus tres hermanas. Tenía siete años y permanecería allí hasta 1699. Pidió primero a su padre y luego a su hermano abandonar el estado monástico al que fue forzada por razones patrimoniales y al que nunca se resignó. Su historia se inscribe dentro del fenómeno de las llamadas profesiones religiosas forzadas, que el Concilio de Trento había intentado remediar. A la muerte de su hermano en 1693, Anna, que entonces contaba sesenta años, solicitó al arzobispo de Palermo que le concediera la nulidad de sus votos y le permitiera volver a la condición seglar. De ese modo comenzó una seria disputa que desencadenó un violento conflicto jurisdiccional entre los tribunales civiles y religiosos, la Congregación de Obispos del Vaticano y las magistraturas sicilianas, y que acabó llegando hasta el rey de España y el pontífice. La excepcionalidad de este caso radica en la posibilidad de contextualizarlo minuciosamente, gracias a la rica documentación de archivo producida por esa causa judicial, a la intervención de diferentes magistrados e instituciones, seculares y eclesiásticas, y de numerosos actores sociales (desde la simple monja al virrey). En el curso de ese proceso, Anna escribió numerosos memoriales que revelan sus estrategias judiciales, su lógica nobiliaria y otros aspectos de su enérgica personalidad