Customs and mentality of the Greeks of Italy

The Greeks that come to Italy between the 15th and 19th century carry the customs and mentalities of their place of origin. These are either abandoned or maintained mingled with customs and mentalities that predominate in the regions they settle. Language and religion are mainly an indirect but important indicator of the migrants' mentality.

The rural populations that migrate to the Italian countryside in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, are eventually obliged to abandon the orthodox religion and their religious practices that preoccupy the Catholic Church and are considered as "novel subversive ideas" for the natives.

In Corsica, Tuscany and Otranto the natives have a hostile behaviour toward the people that have migrated from Mani. In Tuscany in the 1670's the natives name them contemptuously "Jews", "unfaithful" and "Turks". In order to survive, the Mani people are forced not only to convert to Catholicism but also to learn Italian and adapt to the mentality of the region. Despite their initial reactions the Mani people of Tuscany have no other choice than to permit their children to work in the fields of Italian landowners, to learn Italian and to be initiated into the doctrines of the Catholics by the missionaries of the Holy See. Marriages, baptisms, funerals, fasting and Mass, all are done "alla Romana", that is in accordance with the Latin ritual. Only the confession of the elderly that do not speak Italian is done in Greek by a Greek speaking unionist priest or by an interpreter.

In southern Italy and Sicily the migrants that settle in the countryside are latinized and romanized. However, they do not forget the Greek language while their descendants of certain villages still speak nowadays Greek-Italian dialects and sing popular songs that prove their Greek origin. In eastern Italy, in today's Otranto, in the region of Salento we find the "Salentine Greece" (Grecia Salentina). Nine of the villages in the region speak the Greek-Salento dialect. In western Italy, in the mountainous region of Calabria most Greek speaking people live nowadays in the village Galliziano. Scientists dispute on whether this language derives from the ancient language of Magna Graecia or from the Byzantine language of the Greeks that settled in southern Italy during the Byzantine epoch. Still, the dialects of the subsequent migrants must have been incorporated into the ancient Greek language.

Unlike those who settle in the countryside, the Greeks that live in urban centres of Italy maintain their language and religion, their manners and customs. At the same time they are incorporated quite easily in the urban societies - at least in the economic activities and social relations - because they are not the only foreigners in these multicultural cities. The Greeks live not only next to Italians but also next to Austrians (in Trieste), Spanish (in Neapolis), Jewish, Armenian, English, etc. This does not mean that they associate with natives and foreigners with no problems at all. Moreover, there are rivalries between different national-religious groups. Particularly from the end of the 18th century onward the Greeks of the urban centres live comfortably off. Actually, some of them even become rich from trade. The negozianti, in particular, who invest in real estate and become active in the management of the cities' economic life feel quite at ease in the urban centres. At the end of the 18th and in the early 19th century, the bourgeois class that will dominate in the European society during the 19th century and later as well as the mercantile bourgeois class which forms its own particular manners and mentalities (in which Greek merchants of the Italian ports belong) are established and developed.

The mentality of the Greek merchants is influenced by the Greek orthodox, but also by the mentality of Trieste, Livorno, Neapolis and that of the mercantile bourgeois class. The mentality of the Greek merchants has left the architectural traces of trade in the routes of the Italian ports of the late 18th and early 19th century.

In Trieste the wealthy merchants, including Greeks, usually live in the new city (citta nuova), the so-called citta Teresiana, named after the empress Maria Teresa who founded the new city southwest of the ancient city (citta vecchia) in the mid-18th century. In the beginning, the houses were simple, one or two-storeyed but at the end of the 18th century the negozianti build two or three-storeyed neoclassical houses. In 1805, 53 Greeks are owners of 59 residences in Trieste, mainly in the citta Teresiana. Three or four of them own three or four landed pieces of property or whole buildings. Among them the fabulously rich Dimitrios Kartsiotis from the Peloponnese who gives a face-lift to a majestic building that takes up a whole block. The grand Palazzo Carciotti dominates up to today the north Adriatic port. In the course of time, the ancient city in which the patricians lived, obtains value and the negozianti (including the Greek Kyriakos Katraros) settle in the ancient quarter of the nobles, drawing glamour from the past. Others, such as Antonios Psaros, build villas on the seaside far from the busy port of Trieste.

At the same time the Greeks build the Greek orthodox temples of Saint Nikolaos and that of the Holy Trinity in the citta nuova and in 1784 they buy land for the graveyard of the Greeks. In 1825, the graveyard is transferred in a new place out of the city's limits because of the expansion of the build-up area of Trieste. The wholesale merchants cover a considerable part of the Greek Community's expenses.

The Greek merchants of Trieste, wholesale dealers and bourgeois in general, participate in "multinational" associations, such as the masonic lodge that must have operated already from 1774 in Trieste. They spend their free time like the other bourgeois, on promenades, reading, taking part in literature conversations, dinners and dances. In addition, they improve their Italian and learn manners of "good behaviour". They also go to Greek coffee houses of Trieste, mainly to the famous "Cafe Greco" in the Borsa square to smoke the nargileh or their pipes and to discuss with their fellow-countrymen as they play with the kompoloi, that is their string of beads. They also visit the "Casino Greco", a kind of Greek club and entertainment centre.

In the first half of the 19th century the life of the Greek bourgeois in Livorno goes by in a similar way. They take part in charitable, cultural and artistic bourgeois societies. For example in 1828 members of the Rodokanakis family participate in the "Association for the Diffusion of the Mutual Teaching Education in the schools of Livorno". The women of the Rodokanakis family take part in the foundation and financial support of kindergartens of Livorno in 1830. In 1820 the wholesale merchants Dimitrios Gallias and Alexandros Patrinos are members of the administrative committee of the theatre "Imperiale e Reale Accademia degli Avvalatori". In addition, Greek merchants are members of the Commercial Association (Casino di Commercio) and participate in literature conversations, as well as dances and dinners organized by the association.

The Greek negozianti live in luxurious houses, gathered in one part of the city (unlike in Trieste) and from 1836 they can draw particular social glamour by obtaining noble titles. In Livorno, as in Trieste, the wholesale merchants, the owners of mansions, show interest in the construction of a Greek orthodox church and a place for the graveyard which is transferred out of the city's limits around 1840.

The servants of the wealthy Greek merchants are most often Italian waiters, housekeepers, cooks, and coachmen. However the Greek homes of Livorno and Trieste offer hospitality to relatives, mainly brothers or sisters, nephews and nieces, of the "head of the home" or to fellow-countrymen who are usually partners or fellow-workers in their commercial businesses. Therefore the traditional family bonds and the bonds that result from the same origin are very important for the personal and business life of the Greek merchant bourgeois. That is why mixed marriages are very rare until the beginning of the 19th century.

Political Activity of the Greeks of Italy

The Greeks' political activity from the 15th to the 17th century

Between the 15th and 17th centuries the Greeks of Italy develop intense political activity aiming at the liberation of the Greek region from the Ottoman rule. On the one hand the Byzantine scholars that settle in the Italian cities in the 15th and 16th centuries -temporarily or permanently- appeal to the leaders of the West and develop intense diplomatic activity. On the other hand, the Greeks of the Neapolis kingdom in particular, a small state of strong military character, incite and support militarily and financially the revolts in the Greek region during this period.

In Italy the Byzantine scholars, orthodox and unionists or Roman Catholics write poems and address letters to the leaders of the West - the king of France, the empire of Germany, the Italian princes etc., and particularly to the Pope - asking them to unite their forces and organize a crusade against the heterodox Turks. Many keep visiting the courts of the European governors to support and promote the idea of the crusade.

The Roman Catholic cardinal Vissarion (1403 - 1472), who arrives in Italy before the fall of Constantinople and starts his fight from the very beginning is the most brilliant personality to have fought against the Turks. For Vissarion the organization of a crusade against the Turks becomes an aim of a lifetime which was never achieved. Indefatigable, Vissarion writes letters till his death, travels around Europe, negotiates and adjures kings and priests to contribute to the liberation of the Greeks from the Ottoman Empire. Similar attempts are made by other scholars of Italy also. The Roman Catholic cardinal Isidorus, Marcus Musurus from Crete, Ioannis Gemistos (most likely grandson of the great Byzantine platonist philosopher Georgios Gemistos or Plethon) and mainly Ianos Laskaris (1445 - 1535), excellent professor of Italian universities and of the Greek College of Rome. The Pope Pio II of the mid-15th century, a brilliant scholar and poet, as well as the humanist Pope Leo X of the early 16th century are appealed by the idea of the crusade and fight vainly to make other European governors consent and cooperate for the organization of a crusade.

What is more, many graduates of the Greek College of Rome, important writers, diplomats and men of the armed forces dream of the liberation of the Greeks and support with passion this vision which has its roots in the years of their studies in the College. As students of the Greek College of Rome they learnt ancient Greek and wrote mock letters to the pope, the cardinals and the European governors demanding war against the Turks.

The Greek Community of Neapolis incites and supports the revolts against the Turks in the Greek region as well as the policy of Spain which dominated in southern Italy. The Spanish intend to deter the Ottoman expansion to the western Mediterranean. Already from the end of the 15th century the Greek soldiers (Italian stradioti, Spanish estratiotas) who serve in the mercenary battalions of the Spanish, fight on the side of the revolted Greeks in Mani and Chimara, in the name of the Spanish king.

In the late 16th century and during the first half of the 17th century the revolutionary movements against the Turks in Greece succede one another, particularly in the regions that react to the Turkish taxation, such as northern Epirus and Mani.

From 1566 to 1596 and during the first half of the 17th century the people of Epirus, mainly from Chimara, revolt at least six times, partly on the incitement of Greek agents of the viceroyalty of Neapolis and Sicily, such as Petros Lantzas, a Venetian subject from Corfu. Moreover, almost all leaders of revolts in the Greek region of this period ask for the assistance of the Spanish and that of the Greek Community of Neapolis.

Political activity of the Greeks during the late 18th and the early 19th century

In the second half of the 18th century the Ottomans confront significant economic, demographic and political problems. The domination of the Venetian in the eastern Mediterranean has actually ended from the end of the previous century. Austria and Russia take advantage of this situation to expand their territories and try to put the trade of the eastern Mediterranean under their control. They show particular interest in expanding their territorial possessions since they have no colonies as England and France. At the same time England and France try to maintain and reinforce their position in the region. This is the beginning of the so-called "Eastern Question".

This is the framework within which the two Russo-Turkish Wars take place in the second half of the 18th century; these are the first and second Russo-Turkish Wars in the days of the empress Catherine II. During these wars Russia incites and supports rebellious movements in the Greek region. Russia appears as the orthodox power that will liberate the Greeks from the yoke of the unfaithful Turks. During the second Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774), which will end with the renowned treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, the Russians incite revolts in the Greek region and organize a naval expedition in the Mediterranean. The largest revolt takes place in Mani in 1770. However, the conflicts and desertions of the Greeks force the Russians to pull out and as a result the revolt is suppressed with many victims. These events are known as the Orlov events, named after the Orlov brothers who served in the Russian army.

During the first Russo-Turkish War in the days of Catherine II, Russian agents (most likely including Greeks) go to Trieste which seems to be a supply depot for the Russian naval forces. It seems that the first priest of the Greek Community, the archimandrite Damaskinos Omiros supports the agents of the Russians and informs the Community on Russia's actions. However we do not know if there was a larger participation of the Greeks of Trieste and Italy, in general, in the Orlov events. In the second Russo-Turkish war, Austria sides with the Turks intending to deter the Russian expansion in the Balkans. However, the plans of Russia seem to be well received by the Greek negozianti, a great number of who become Consuls of Russia in Trieste from 1773 onward. In the second Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792) in the days of the empress Catherine II, Austria allies with Russia considering that it is the best way to deter the expansion of the latter. The port of Trieste becomes a vital supply depot, particularly for naval units, and the centre for strategic meetings between Austrians and Russians. A Greek Consul of Russia in Trieste, the count Spyridon Varouchas from Corfu, is the person that brings the Greeks of Trieste in contact with the protagonists of the war operations. Greek wholesale merchants from Trieste, such as Nikolaos Plastaras and Paraschos Katraros support financially Lambros Katsonis, a Greek officer of the Russian navy, to make up a flotilla and sail from Trieste to the Aegean sea.

Greek wholesale merchants in Neapolis also become consuls of Russia. The Greeks of Neapolis hope that the Russians will free their copatriots. After the victory of the Russians over the Ottoman fleet in Cesme (July 6, 1770), the Greeks organize a grand reception for the Russian fleet in the port of Neapolis and chant with the Russians in the orthodox church of the Apostles Peter and Paul. The Greek Georgios Choraphas from Neapolis, a military, scientist and poet, appeals to the empress of Russia Catherine II for the liberation of the Greeks. In 1771, Georgios Choraphas publishes a collection of poems which are actually an hymn to the empress, the brothers Orlov and the exploits of the Russians against the Turks.

The French Revolution breaks out in 1789. The authoritarian Europe observes the events with anxiety and very soon the war conflicts begin. Bonaparte sets out to conquer Europe and the Mediterranean as the leader of the French army. In 1804 he is crowned emperor and continues his conquests which will end ingloriously in approximately one decade later. During these wars, the rival forces change constantly. There are no stable alliances but in general the European monarchs ally against the French which they intend to hold in check even when they are obliged to capitulate.

In 1797 Austria and France sign the treaty of Campo Formio according to which Venice becomes an Austrian possession. However, at the same time the domination of the French in northern Italy is established. When Bonaparte is crowned emperor in 1804 he also becomes king of Italy. Apart from Sardinia and Sicily, the rest of the Italian peninsula is under his control.

During this period Trieste and Livorno are under the French occupation three times. Trieste is occupied for several months in 1797 and 1805-1806, and during the period 1809-1813. Livorno is under the French occupation from 1793 to 1797, for several months in 1799 and from 1800 until 1813) The French impose taxes and war indemnities causing the discontent of the business world of the two cities that faces serious problems. Many negozianti adopt a compromising tactic, they become intermediaries for the French and take part in the administration of the city. Some of them, as the Triestine wholesale merchant Nikolaos Plastaras from Ioannina, have adopted the principles of the French Revolution for democracy and equality and entertain feelings of friendship for the French. Moreover, the ideas of the Enlightenment, which composed the ideology of the French Revolution, affect the society of the wealthy Greek merchants of Trieste since many years although the north Adriatic port of Trieste did not offer the possibility of direct contact with the ideological trends in Europe.

This political-ideological environment, raises the hopes of the Greeks in the colonies and the Greek region for the liberation of Greece with the assistance of Bonaparte. Bonaparte himself raises the hopes of the Greeks with different actions. In 1797, he sends the brothers Dimitrios and Nikolaos Stephanopoulos, Greeks of Italy, to Mani to confirm the people of Mani that they have the French support in their fight against the Turks. Furthermore, in Trieste there is a group of partisans of freedom and self-administration of the Balkan countries. They are also partisans of the zealous follower of the French revolutionary ideas, Rigas Pheraios. Antonios Koronios, a merchant from Chios, was the soul of this group of partisans. Wholesale merchants such as Nikolaos Plastaras, Paraschos Katraros, Georgios Kalaphatis and others are partisans of Rigas Pheraios and sing with fervour the Thourios, the triumphal hymn of Rigas Pheraios. However, in December of 1797, Rigas, betrayed to the Austrian secret police by the merchant Dimitrios Oikonomou, is arrested to be executed in June 1798 by the Turks along with Antonios Koronios and six other partisans from Vienna and Budapest.

Political activity during the War of Greek Independence

The War for the Greek Independence breaks out in 1821. In reality it does not start in March in the Peloponnese but in February in the Ottoman Danubian principalities from the moment that Alexander Ypsilantis, adjutant of the tsar and leader of the Philiki Etaireia, invades Moldavia with 1600 men. But the Revolution in Moldavia is suppressed at the cost of many victims. The War of Greek Independence will last nine whole years. But it will not really end until February 3, in 1830, two years after the arrival of Kapodistrias as governor of Greece when the Great Powers - England, France and Russia - will ratify the foundation of the Greek state with the "Protocol of London".

The Greeks of Trieste, Livorno, Ancona and Napoli assisted in the War of Independence. They send arms, munitions, provisions while they also organize and facilitate the transportation of volunteer fighters in the revolted Greek region, they provide for the thousands of Greek war refugees that arrive at the Italian ports and support financially the new Greek state even before its official acknowledgement by the European powers. However the Greeks of Italy show great interest in the War of Independence particularly in the beginning. This does not mean that all the Greeks assist in the War uncomplaining or constantly throughout the whole War. This is partly due to the conservative and hostile policy of Austria - which dominates in the Italian peninsula after the Napoleonic Wars - to all kinds of revolutionary movements. Thus, the Greeks of Italy have no political support in their efforts to assist in the War of Independence. What is more, the Greeks of Trieste, which is not an Austrian protectorate but is under the direct domination of Austria, confront obstacles and are under the observation of the Austrian secret police.

In the Greek colony of Trieste which is the largest, some wholesale merchants have been initiated since 1819-1820 into the Philiki Etaireia which was founded in Odessa in September 1814 . On the outbreak of the Revolution in Moldavia and Walachia, volunteers, philhellenes and Greek students sail from the port of Trieste to join the army of Alexander Ypsilantis. In June 1821 Dimitrios Ypsilantis sails for the revolted Greece from the port of Trieste accompanied by students, philhellenes and other Greeks of the city. But in June 1821 Austria forbids the transportation of Greek volunteers and philhellenes from Trieste to Greece and obliges them in this way to sail to Greece from more friendly ports like Ancona, Livorno and Marseille.

From 1821 to 1823, about 3000 refugees from Greece reach Trieste. Most of them come to Trieste because they know they will find relatives and fellow-countrymen. The refugees come from Epirus, Cyprus, Volos, Constantinople, Kydonies, Smyrna and Chios, while there are also soldiers from the defeated army of Alexander Ypsilantis. About one third of the refugees settle in Trieste permanently. The refugees from Chios that come after the destruction of Chios (April 1822), find refuge close to their wealthy relatives. After 1830 the people from Chios will dominate in the life of the Greek colony. The Community attends to the needs of the refugees and supports them financially. In addition, it collects money from donations and interest-free loans but the expenses are extremely large. In 1823 the chamber of deputies decides to interrupt the community aid to the refugees and during the following years the Greeks of Trieste begin to show less interest in contributing to the War of Greek Independence.

Before the outbreak of the war, fabulously rich Greek merchants in Livorno are affected by the works of Adamantios Korais, the chief representative of the Greek Enlightenment and fervent partisan of the War of Greek Independence, and therefore finance the publishing of these works. In neighbouring Pisa, a group of eminent Greeks and Greek exiled scholars is formed in the 1820's. This group will play an important role in the War of Independence of the Greeks. In 1821 the Greeks of Livorno demand and obtain financial aid from the former sovereign of Walachia, Ioannis Karatzas, a member of the group of Pisa. This aid is meant for feeding the great number of refugees and providing for their return to the Levant. In the same year the Brotherhood finances the transportation of 100 persons and that of arms for Greece. In 1828, when Greece suffers of starvation, the Greeks of Livorno respond to the demand of Kapodistrias and send money and food. In the same year they send money for the orphans of the war to the "Association for the Support of Greek orphans" in Genoa.

The Greeks of Ancona help the refugees with munitions and food. In 1823 they institute a fund for the refugees and place it under the protection of the Holy Trinity and Saint Spyridon. Occasionally they offer hospitality to important personalities of Greece, such as the metropolitan of Old Patrai, Germanos, the sovereign of Mani, Petrobeis Mauromichalis and his son Georgakis, and the family of the widow of Markos Botsaris. In 1824 when the route for Trieste has practically closed for the refugees, the Greeks of Ancona accept 319 refugees.

Many Greeks of Neapolis have become members of the radical organization of the Carbonari before the War of Independence. They go to Greece to fight with the like-minded Italians of Neapolis. It is from Neapolis that Spiromilios from Epirus sails to Greece as well as other fighters of Greek Independence from Epirus and Chimara.

Finally, the offsprings of the eminent Mani Stephanopoulos family in Corsica, a French possession since 1768, take action for the organization of the philhellenic movement in Paris.

Conclusion

Not all Greeks that migrate to the Italian peninsula between the 15th and the early 19th centuries follow the same routes in their new "country". The scholars, unionists or not, develop intellectual activities in the courts of the Italian sovereigns, they collect ancient Greek and Byzantine manuscripts to copy, translate into Latin and publish them. The scholars also teach in the academies and universities and appeal to the western sovereigns to organize a crusade against the heterodox Ottomans. The common stradioti, Greeks but also Albanians of the light cavalry are employed in the mercenary battalions of the Spanish which are the sovereigns of the southern part of the Italian peninsula. The Byzantine nobles, who may have been Byzantine soldiers in the past, obtain land and high offices in the mercenary battalions of the Spanish. The rural populations fight for survival on the often hostile countryside of Tuscany, southern Italy, Sicily and Corsica and eventually convert to Catholicism.

The merchants are the intermediaries in commercial transactions between the West and the Levant, particularly from the mid-18th century onward. Usually, they are organized in companies and trade western products to the Levant in cooperation with the merchants of the Ottoman Empire while they also import Levantine products. In the course of time they take action in many fields of the economic sector as bankers and insurers. The merchants are the ones that organized the largest and most live Greek communities of the Italian peninsula (excluding that of Venice). Thus, with the support of the merchants, these rich communities of Trieste, Livorno and later of Neapolis remained faithful to the orthodox dogma; they did not forget the Greek language and they promoted Greek literature, at least until the beginning of the 20th century.

We can roughly distinguish two periods of Greek migration to the Italian peninsula from the 15th century until the early 19th century: A. The period of the scholars, the stradioti, the landowners and the simple farmers during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. B. The period of the merchants, mainly of the wholesale merchants during the 18th and 19th centuries. This is the period that starts with the flourishing of the commercial economy in East and West. The great number of the wholesale merchants, their economic power and social glamour mark the Hellenism of the Italian peninsula.