Italy
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Italy. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)
(For Ancient Italy see Rome .) Magic and sorcery in mediæval Italy seem strangely enough to have centred round many great personalities of the church, and even several popes have been included by the historians of occult science in the ranks of Italian sorcerers and alchemists. There appears to have been some sort of tradition, the origin of which is by no means clear, that the pepes had been given over to the practice of magic ever since the tenth century, and it was alleged that Silvester II. confessed to this charge on his death-bed. Levi states that Honorius III., who preached the Crusades, was an abominable necromancer, and author of a grimoire or book by which spirits were evoked, the use of which is reserved exclusively to the priesthood. Platina, quoting from Martinus Polonus, states that Silvester, who was a proficient mathematician and versed in the Kabala on one occasion evoked Satan himself and obtained his assistance to gain the pontifical crown. Furthermore he stipulated as the price of selling his soul to the Devil that he should not die except at Jerusalem, to which place he inwardly determined he would never betake himself. He duly became Pope, but on one occasion whilst celebrating mass in a certain church at Rome, he felt extremely ill, and suddenly remembered that he was officiating in a chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross of Jerusalem. He had a bed set up in the chapel, to which he summoned the cardinals, and confessed that he had held communication with the powers of evil. He further arranged that when dead his body should be placed upon a car of green wood, and should be drawn by two horses, one black and the other white; that they should be started on their course, but neither led nor driven, and that where they halted there his remains should be entombed. The conveyance stopped in front of the Lateran, and at this juncture most terrible noises proceeded from it, which led the bystanders to suppose that the soul of Silvester had been seized upon by Satan in virtue of their agreement. There is no doubt whatsoever that most of these legends concerning papal necromancers are absolute inventions and can be traced through Platina and Polonus to Galfridus and Gervaise, the necromancer, whom Naudé has rightly termed "the greatest forger of fables, and the most notorious liar that ever took pen in hand!" On a par with such stories is that of Pope Joan, who for several years sat on the papal throne although a woman, and who was supposed to be one of the blackest sorceresses of all time. To her many magic books are attributed. Levi has an interesting passage in his Hisory of Magic, in which he states that certain engravings in a Life of this female pope, purporting to represent her, are nothing else than ancient tarots representing Isis crowned with a tiara. "It is well-known," he says, "that the hieroglyphic figure on the second tarot card is still called 'The Female Pope,' being a woman wearing a tiara, on which are the points of the crescent moon, or the horns of Isis." It is much more possible that the author of the grimoire in question was Honorius II., the anti-pope, or perhaps another Honorius who is described as the son of Euclid and master of the Thebans. But all Italian necromancers and magicians were by no means churchmen-indeed mediæval Italy was hardly a place for the magically inclined, so stringent were the laws of the church against the Black Art. Astrology , however, flourished to some extent, and its practitioners do not appear to have been unduly persecuted. A Florentine astrologer, named Basil, who flourished at the beginning of the fifteenth century, obtained some repute for successful predictions; and is said to have foretold to Cosmo de Medici that he would attain exalted dignity, as the same planets had been in ascendency at the hour of his birth, as in that of the Emperor Charles V. Many remarkable predictions were made by Antiochus Tibertus of Romagna, who was for some time councillor to Pandolpho de Maletesta, Prince of Rimini. He foretold to his friend, Guido de Bogni, the celebrated soldier, that he was unjustly suspected by his best friend, and would forfeit his life through suspicion. Of himself he predicted that he would die on the scaffold, and of the Prince of Rimini, his patron, that he would die a beggar in the hospital for the poor at Bologna. It is stated that the prophecies came true in every detail. Although the notices of sorcery in mediæval times are few and far between in Italian history, there is reason to suspect that although magic was not outwardly practised, Lit lurked hidden in by-paths and out-of-the-way places. We have an excellent portrait of the medieval Italian magician in those popular myths regarding Virgil the Enchanter. The fame of Virgil the Poet had waxed so great in ancient Italy, that in due course of time his name was synonymous with fame itself. From that it is a short step to the attribution of supernatural power, and Virgil the Roman poet became in the popular mind the mediæval Enchanter. His myth is symptomatic of magic in mediæval Italy as a whole, and it may therefore be given here at some length. When the popular myth of Virgil the Enchanter first grew into repute is uncertain, but probably the earliest faint conception arose about the beginning of the tenth century, and each succeeding generation embroidered upon it some fantastic impossibility. Soon, in the South of Italy for the necromancer's fame was of southern origin-there floated dim, mysterious legends of the enchantments which he had wrought. Thus he fashioned a brazen fly, and planted it on the gate of fair Parthenope to free the city from the inroads of the insects of Beelzebub. On a Neapolitan hill he built a statue of brass, and placed in its mouth a trumpet; and lo! when the north wind blew there came from that trumpet so terrible a roar that it drove back into the sea the noxious blasts of Vulcan's forges, which, even to this day, seethe and hiss near the city of Puossola. At one of the gates of Naples he raised two statues of stone, and gifted them respectively with the power of blighting or blessing the strangers who, on entering the city, passed by one or the other of them. He constructed three public baths for the removal of every disease which afflicts the human frame, but the physicians, in a wholesome dread of losing their patients and their fees, Italy caused them to be destroyed. Other wonders he wrought. which in time assumed a connected form, and were woven into a life of the enchanter, first printed in French about 1490-1520. A still fuller history appeared in English, the well-known "Life of Virgilius," about 1508, printed by Hans Doesborcke at Antwerp. It sets forth with tolerable clearness the popular type of the mediæval magician, and will be our guide in the following biographical sketch. 66 Virgil was the son of a wealthy senator of Rome, wealthy and powerful enough to carry on war with the Roman Emperor. As his birth was heralded by extraordinary portents, it is no marvel that even in childhood he showed himself endowed with extraordinary mental powers, and his father having the sagacity to discern in him an embryo necromancer, sent him, while still very young, to study at the University of Toledo, where the "art of magick" was taught with extraordinary success. "There he studied diligently, for he was of great understanding, and speedily acquired a profound insight into the great Shemaia of the Chaldean lore. But this insight was due, not so much to nocturnal vigils over abstruse books, as to the help he received from a very valuable familiar. And this was the curious fashion in which he was introduced to the said familiar :- 66 6 Upon a tyme the scholers at Tolenten hadde lycence to goo to playe and sporte them in the fyldes after the usuance of the olde tyme; and there was also Virgilius therby also walkynge among the hylles all about. It fortuned he spyed a great hole in the syde of a great hyll, wherein he went to depe that he culde not see no more lyght, and than he went a lytell ferther therein, and then he sawe soon lyght agayne, and than wente he fourth streyghte. And within a lyteli wyle after he harde a voice that called, Virgilius, Virgilius,' and he loked aboute, and he colde nat see nobodye. Than Virgilius spake, and asked, 'Who calleth me?' Than harde he the voyce agayne, but he sawe nobodye. Than sayd he, 'Virgilius, see ye not that lytell bourde lyinge byside you there, marked with that worde?' Than answered Virgilius, 'I see that borde well enough.' The voyce said, 'Doo away that bourde, and lette me out theratte.' 6 ""Than answered Virgilius to the voyce that was under the lytell bourde, and sayd, 'Who art thou that talkest meso? Than answered the devyll, ' I am a devyll conjured out of the body of a certeyne man, and banysshed here tyll the daye of jugement, without that I be delyvered by the handes of men. Thus, Virgilius, I pray thee delyver me out of this payn, and I shall show unto thee many bokes of nygromancy, and how thou shalt cum by it lytly, and shalte knowe the practyse therein, that no man in the science of nygromancy shall (sur) pass thee; and, moreover, I shall showe and informe thee so that thou shalt have all thy desyre, whereby methinke it is a great gyfte for so lytell a donyge, for ye may also thus all your poor frendys helpen, and make ryghte your ennemyes unmighty.' "Thorough that great promise was Virgilius tempted. He badde the fynd showe the bokes to hym, that he myght have and occupy them at his wyll. And so the fynd showed hym, and then Virgilius pulled open a bourde, and there was a lytell hole, and thereat wrange the devyll out lyke a yeel, and cam and stode before Virgilius lyke a bigge man. ""Thereof Virgilius was astonied, and merveyled greately thereof, that so great a man myght com out at so lytell a hole ! ""Then sayd Virgilius, 'Shulde ye well passe into the hole that ye cam out of?! 'Yes, I shall well,' sayd the devyll. 'I holde the beste pledge that I have, ye shall not do it.' 'Well,' sayd the devyll, 'thereto I consente.' And then the devyll wrange hymself into the lytell hole agen, and as he was therein, Virgilius kyvered the hole agen with the bourde close, and so was the devyll begyled, and myght not there come out agen, but there abydeth shutte styll therein. Than called the devyll dredefully (drearily) to Virgilius, and sayd, 'What have ye done? Virgilius answered, 'Abyde there styll to your day apoynted.' And fro thensforth abydeth he there.'" Virgil's father died soon after this event, and his estates being seized by his former colleagues, his widow sunk into extreme poverty. Virgil accordingly gathered together the wealth he had amassed by the exercise of his magical skill, and set out for Rome, to replace his mother in a position proper to her rank. At Toledo, however, he was a famous student; at Rome he was a despised scholar, and when he besought the Emperor to execute justice and restore to him his estate, that potentateignorant of the magician's power-simply replied, 'Methinketh that the land is well divided to them that have it, for they may help you in their need; what needeth you for to care for the disheriting of one school-master Bid him take heed, and look to his schools, for he hath no right to any land here about the city of Rome.' Four years passed, and only such replies as this were vouchsafed to Virgil's frequent appeals for justice. Growing at length a-weary of the delay, he resolved to exercise his wondrous powers in his own behalf. When the harvesttime came, he accordingly shrouded the whole of his rightful inheritance with a vapour so dense that the new proprietors were unable to approach it, and under its cover his men gathered in the entire crop with perfect security. This done, the mist disappeared. Then a great indignation possessed the souls of his enemies, and they assembled their swordsmen, and marched against him to take off his head. Such was their power that the Emperor for fear fled out of Rome, 'for they were twelve senators that had all the world under them; and if Virgilius had had right, he had been one of the twelve, but they had disinherited him and his mother.' When they drew near, Virgil once more baffled their designs by encircling his patrimony with a rampart of cloud and shadow. The Emperor, with surprising inconsistency, now coalesced with the senators against Virgil-whose magical powers he probably feared far more than the rude force of the senatorial magnates and made war against him. But who can prevail against the arts of necromancy ? Emperor and senators were beaten, and from that moment Virgil, with marvellous generosity, became the faithful friend and powerful supporter of his sovereign......" It may not generally be known that Virgil, besides being the saviour of Rome, was the founder of Naples. This feat had its origin, like so many other great actions, in the power of love. Virgil's imagination had been fired by the reports that reached him of the surpassing loveliness of the Sultan's daughter. Now the Sultan lived at Babylon (that is, at Cairo-the Babylon of the medieval romancers), and the distance might have daunted a less ardent lover and less potent magician. But Virgil's necromantic skill was equal to a bridge in the air-where other glowing spirits have often raised fair castles!-and passing over it, he found his way into the Sultan's palace, -into the Princess's chamber, and speedily overcoming her natural modesty, bore her back with him to his Italian bower of pleasaunce. There having enjoyed their fill of love and pleasure, he restored to her bed in her father's palace. Meanwhile, her absence had been noted, but she was soon discovered on her return, and the Sultan repairing to her chamber, interrogated her respecting her disappearance. He found that Italy she knew not who it was that had carried her off, nor whither she had been carried. When Virgil restored the lady on the following night, she took back with her, by her father's instructions, some of the fruit plucked from the enchanter's garden; and from its quality the Sultan guessed that she had been carried to a southern land "on the side of France ." These nocturnal journeys being several times repeated, and the Sultan's curiosity growing ungovernable, he persuaded his daughter to give her lover a sleeping-draught. The deceived magician was then captured in the Babylonian palace, and flung into prison, and it was decreed that both he and his mistress should be punished for their love by death at the stake. Necromancers, however, are not so easily outwitted. As soon as Virgil was apprized of the fate intended for him, he made, by force of his spells, the Sultan and all his lords believe that the great river of Babylon-the might Niluswas overflowing in the midst of them, and that they swam and lay and sprang like geese; and so they took up Virgilius and the Princess, tore them from their prison, and placed them upon the aerial bridge. And when they were thus out of danger, he delivered the Sultan from the river, and all the lords; and lo, when they recovered their humanity, they beheld the enchanter bearing the beautiful Princess across the Mediterranean; and they marvelled much, and felt that they could not hope to prevail against his supernatural power. And in this manner did Virgilius convey the Sultan's daughter over the sea to Rome. And he was highly enamoured of her beauty. "Then he thought in his mind how he might marry her "-apparently forgetting that he was already married-" and thought in his mind to found in the midst of the sea a fair town with great lands belonging to it; and so he did by his cunning, and called it Naples: and the foundation of it was of eggs. And in that town of Naples he made a tower with four corner s and on the top he set an apple upon an iron yard, and no man could pull away that apple without he brake it; and through that iron set he a bottle, and on that bottle set he an egg; and he hanged the apple by the stalk upon a chain, and so hangeth it still. And when the egg stirreth, so should the town of Naples quake; and when the egg brake, then should the town sink. When he had made an end, he let call it Naples." After accomplishing so much for his Babylonian beauty, Virgil did not marry her, but endowing her with the town of Naples and its lands, gave her in marriage to a certain grandee of Spain . Having thus disposed of her and her children, the enchanter returned to Rome, collected all his treasures, and removed them to the city he had founded, where he resided for some years, and established a school which speedily became of illustrious renown. Here he lost his wife, by whom he had had no issue; built baths and bridges, and wrought the most extraordinary miracles. So passed an uncounted number of years, and Virgil at length abandoned Naples for ever, and retired to Rome. "Outside the walls of the Imperial City he built a goodly town, that had but one gate, and was so fenced round with water as to bar any one from approaching it. And the entry of its one gate was made "with twenty-four iron flails, and on each side was there twelve men smiting with the flails, never ceasing, the one after the other; and no man might come in without the flails stood still, but he was slain. And these flails were made with such a gin (contrivance) that Virgilius stopped them when he list to enter in thereat, but no man else could find the way. And in this castle put Virgilius part of his treasure privily; and, when this was done, he imagined in his mind by what means he might make himself young again, because he thought to live longer many years, to do many wonders and marvellous things. And upon a time went Virgilius to the Emperor, and asked him of licence (of absence) by the space of three weeks. But the Emperor in no wise would grant it unto him for he would have Virgilius at all times by him." Spiritualism . We have perhaps our first indication of the rise and spread of spiritualism in Italy in the modern acceptance of the term in an article published in the Civitta Catholica the well-known Roman organ, entitled "Modern Necromancy." The conclusions of the article were :- 66 Ist. Some of the phenomena may be attributed to imposture, hallucinations, and exaggerations in the reports of those who describe it, but there is a foundation of reality in the general sum of the reports which cannot have originated in pure invention or be wholly discredited without ignoring the value of universal testimony. "2nd. The bulk of the theories offered in explanation of the proven facts, only cover a certain percentage of those facts , but utterly fail to account for the balance. 66 3rd. Allowing for all that can be filtered away on mere human hypotheses, there are still a large class of phenomena appealing to every sense which cannot be accounted for by any known natural laws, and which seem to manifest the action of intelligent beings." D. D. Home last visited the principal cities of Italy in 1852, and had been so active in his propaganda that numerous circles were formed after his departure. Violent journalistic controversies arose out of the foundation of these societies, with the result that public interest was so aroused that it could only be satisfied with the publication of a paper issued from Geneva, and edited by Dr Pietro Suth and Signor B. E. Manieri entitled Il amore del Vero. In the journal accounts of the spiritual movements in the various countries of Europe, and America, were published although the Church and press levelled the anathemas against the journal. In the spring of 1863 a society was proved at Palermo entitled Il Societa Spiritual di Palermo, which had for president Signor J. V. Paleolozo, and for members men of the stamp of Paolo Morelle, professor of Latin and Philosophy. It was about the autumn of 1864 that lectures were first given on Spiritualistic subjects in Italy. They were started in Leghorn and Messina, and though of a very mixed character, and often partaking largely of the lecturer's peculiar idiosyncrasies on religious subjects, they served to draw attention to the upheaval of thought going on in all directions, in connection with the revelations from the Spirit world. It could not be expected that a movement so startling and unprecedented as that which opened up a direct communication between the natural and the Spirit worlds could gain ground in public acceptance without waking up all the latent elements of enthusiasm, fanaticism, and bigotry, which prevailed in the Italian as in every other community. In the year 1870, there had been over a hundred different societies formed, with varying success, in different parts of Italy . Two of the most prominent flourishing at that date were conducted in Naples, and according to the French journal, the Revue Spirite represented the two opposing schools which have prevailed in Continental Spiritualism, namely, the "Reincarnationists" whom we have elsewhere classified as Spiritists" and the "Immortalists," or those known in America and England merely as (See France.) Spiritualists." 66 66 About 1868, an immense impulse was communicated to the cause of Spiritualism-at least in the higher strata of Italian Society-by the visit of Mr. and Mrs. Guppy to Naples, at which place they took up their residence for two or three years. Mrs. Guppy-née Miss Nichol of London, as a Italy was renowned throughout Europe for her marvellous powers Physical force Medium" and as Mr. Guppy's wealth and social standing enabled him to place his gifted wife's services at the command of the distinguished visitors who crowded his salons, it soon became a matter of notoriety that the highest magnates of the land, including King Victor Emmanuel and many of his nearest friends and 'counsellors, had yielded conviction to the truth of the astounding phenomena exhibited through Mrs. Guppy's Mediumship. It was about the year 1863, that Spiritualism began to enjoy the advantage of fair and honourable representation Spiritismo, or in the columns of a new paper entitled, the Annali dello "Annals of Spiritualism." This excellent journal was commenced at Turin, and published by Signor Niceforo Filalete, with all the liberality, energy, and talent worthy alike of the subject and its editor. From the columns of the Annali we learn that a Venetian Society of Spiritualists, named "Atea" elected General Giuseppe Garibaldi their honorary president, and received the following reply by telepraph from the distinguished hero, the liberator of Italy " I gratefully accept the presidency of the Society Atea. Caprera, 23rd September." The same issue of the Annali contains a verbatim report of a grand discourse, given at Florence, by a distinguished literary gentleman, Signor Sebastiano Fenzi, in which the listeners were considerably astonished by a rehearsal of the many illustrious names of those who openly avowed their faith in Spiritualism. 66 The years 1863-4 appear to have been rich in Spiritualistic efforts. Besides a large number of minor associations, the existence of which was recorded from time to time the early numbers of the Annali and Revue Spirite, a society which continued for a long time to exert a marked influence in promoting the study of occult forces and phenomena, was formed about this time in Florence, under the title of The Magnetic Society of Florence. The members of this association were without exception persons remarkable for literary and scientific attainments, or those of high influential position in society. About this time Mr. Seymour Kirkup, a name familiar to the early initiators of Spiritualism, resided in Florence, and communicated many records of spiritual phenomena to the London Spiritual Magazine. Nearly ten years after the establishment of the Magnetic Society of Florence, Baron Guitern de Bozzi, an eminent occultist, founded the Pneumatological Psychological Academy of Florence, but upon his demise it was discontinued. Modern Sorcery.-In his Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches of Italy, the late Charles Godfrey Leland gives a valuable account of the life and practice of the modern Italian strega or witch. He says: "In most cases she comes of a family in which her calling or art has been practised for many generations. I have no doubt that there are instances in which the ancestry remounts to mediæval, Roman, or it may be Etruscan times. The result has naturally been the accumulation in such families of much tradition. But in Northern Italy, as its literature fairy tales and popular superstitions by scholars, there has indicates, though there has been some slight gathering of never existed the least interest as regarded the strange lore of the witches, nor any suspicion that it embraced an incredible quantity of old Roman minor myths and legends, such as Ovid has recorded, but of which much escaped him and all other Latin writers...... Even yet there are old people in the Romagna of the North who know the Etruscan names of the Twelve Gods, and invocations to Bacchus, Jupiter, and Venus, Mercury, and the Lares or ancestral spirits, and in the cities are women who prepare strange amulets, over which they mutter spells, all known in the old Roman time, and who can astonish even the learned by their legends of Latin gods, mingled with lore which may be found in Cato or Theocritus. With one of these I became intimately acquainted in 1886, and have ever since employed her specially to collect among her sisters of the hidden spell in many places all the traditions of the olden times known to them. It is true that I have drawn from other sources but this woman by long practice has perfectly learned what few understand, or just what I want, and how to extract it from those of her kind. " Among other strange relics, she succeeded, after many years, in obtaining the following 'Gospel,' which I have in her handwriting A full account of its nature with many details will be found in an Appendix. I do not know definitely whether my informant derived a part of these traditions from written sources or oral narration, but believe it was chiefly the latter.. " For brief explanation I may say that witchcraft is known to its votaries as la vecchia religione, or the old religion, of which Diana is the Goddess, her daughter Avadia (or Herodias) the female Messiah, and that this little work sets forth how the latter was born, came down to earth, established witches and witchcraft, and then returned to heaven. With it are given the ceremonies and invocations or incantations to be addressed to Diana and Aradia, the exorcism of Cain, and the spells of the holystone, rue, and verbena, constituting, as the text declares, the regular church-service, so to speak, which is to be chanted or pronounced at the witch-meetings. There are also included the very curious incantations or benedictions of the honey, meal, and salt, or cakes of the witch-supper, which is curiously classical, and evidently a relic of the Roman Mysteries." Briefly the ritual of the Italian witches is as follows: At the Sabbath they take meal and salt, honey and water, and say a conjuration over these, one to the meal, one to the salt, one to Cain, one to Diana, the moon-goddess. Jacinth, or Hyacinth: A stone which preserves from plague and from lightning, strengthens the heart, and brings wealth, honour, prudence, and wisdom. It is recommended by Albertus Magnus as a soporific, on account of its coldness, and is ordered by Psellus in cases of coughs, ruptures, and melancholy, to be drunk in vinegar. Marbodæus describes the wonderful properties of three species of the jacinth; Pliny and Leonardus are also particular in their account of it. Jacob's Ladder : According to the kabalistic view, Jacob's Ladder, which was disclosed to him in a vision, is a metaphorical representation of the powers of alchemy, operating through visible nature. The "Ladder" was a "Rainbow," or prismatic staircase, set up between heaven and earth. Jacob's Dream implied a history of the whole hermetic creation. There are only two original colours, red and blue, representing "spirit" and "matter," for orange is red mixing with the yellow light of the sun, yellow is the radiance of the sun itself, green is blue and yellow, indigo is blue tinctured with red, and violet is produced by the mingling of red and blue. The sun is alchemic gold, and the moon is alchemic silver. In the operation of these two potent spirits, or mystic rulers of the world, it is supposed astrologically that all mundane things were produced. Jadian, or Were-tiger: (See Malays.) Jakin and Boas: The names of the two symbolical pillars of Solomon's Kabalistic temple, and which were believed James IV. They then sit down naked to supper, men and women, and after the feast is over they dance, sing and make love in the darkness, quite in the manner of the medieval Sabbath of the sorcerers. Many charms are given connected with stones, especially if these have holes in them and are found by accident. A lemon stuck full of pins we are told is a good omen. Love-spells fill a large space in the little work, which for the rest recounts several myths of Diana and Endymion in corrupted form. (See also Leland's Etruscan-Roman Remains.)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
Europe, consisting in the main of a large kingdom in Southern peninsula, having a singular resemblance to a boot in shape , stretching S. into the Mediterranean, but also including a considerable portion of the mainland and the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Elba, Ischia, Lipari Islands, etc. It is bounded on the N. and N. W. by the Alps, which separate it from Austria, Switzerland, and France, and on the N. E. by Austria; elsewhere it is washed by the Mediterranean, or by the Adriatic, an arm of the former. The area, exclusive of the Trentino, is about 114,000 square miles, and the pop. ( 1918) 36,740,000. For administrative purposes it is divided into departments. By the treaty of St. Germain with Austria, Italy was awarded the Trentino and several islands in the Mediterranean. From 1861, when the Kingdom of Italy was constituted, till 1865, Turin was the capital, Florence was then selected, and in 1871 Rome. The largest town is Naples, pop. 697,917. Next in order - Rome 590,960, Turin 451,994, Palermo 345,891. The dependencies comprise the little republic of San Marino in Italy, Italian Somaliland and Erithrea in Africa, and a few islands. The islands of Sicily and Sardinia are not dependencies but integral parts of the kingdom. The portion of Italy in the partition of Africa was largely lost to her in 1898 through the operations of Menelik of Abyssinia. Physical Features. Among the principal physical features of Italy are the Alps hits. frontiers, and the chain of the Apennines , which run down the middle of the peninsula through its whole length to the Straits of Messina, while numerous branches are thrown off laterally and form an endless succession of wooded hills, olive-clad slopes, and fertile valleys. In the N., inclosed between the ranges of the Alps and Apennines, is a vast and fertile plain intersected by the Po and its tributaries. Two active volcanoes belong to the kingdom, Vesuvius in south Italy and Etna in Sicily. The only river of any magnitude is the Po, which has a length of about 450 miles before it enters the Adriatic. It is fed by streams both from the Alps and the Apennines. There are a number of lakes , of which the most important are Lakes Maggiore, Lugano, Como, and Garda in the Alpine region; Lakes Trasimeno, Bolsena, and Albano in the Apennine region. Italy is rich in useful minerals , but the scarcity of mining industry. Sulphur, salt, iron, and borax are also obtained. quantities of lead, copper, zinc, silver, and marble are the chief, though small duction is chiefly developed in Sicily, Mineral Production. - The mineral promont. The Tuscany, Sardinia, Lombardy, and Piederals in 1918 was as follows: mineral fuel, 2,171,397 metric tons; iron, 693,872 he production of the chief minmetric tons; sulphur ore, 253,390 metric tons; copper, 82,302 metric tons; asphaltic substances, 22,309 metric tons. The total value of the mineral products in 1918 was 369,753,447 lire. There were employed in the mines 52,962 persons. resembles that of Africa, being dry and Climate. In the S. of Italy the climate burning and subject to the sirocco. In the N. regions, the neighborhood of the Alps and the abundance of water courses serve to maintain a pleasant temperatremely cold, especially in the interior of ture. Yet this region is at times exthe great plains. In general the climate of Italy is h tricts such as the rice plantations of Lombardy, the Tuscan Maremma, the healthy, except marshy dis- Campagna of Rome, and the Pontine Marshes, which give rise to exhalations engendering fevers. The Riviera coast of the Gulf of Genoa is a favorite winter resort from more N. regions. or natural productions of the soil of Italy Vegetable Products , Agriculture. The are as various as its climate. In the Alpine regions all plants belonging to temperate climates flourish, while the S. Agriculture regions possess almost a tropical flora. the population, and the land, where not mountain ture forms the chief support of though the system of culture adopted mountainous, is generally productive, is in most parts defective , and larg areas remain untilled . The best cultivation, aided by an excellent system of irrigation, is found in Lombardy, Venetia, Piedmont, Tuscany , and the parts of Emilia adjoining the Po. Most kinds of cereals, including rice and maize, are cultivated, and the wheat in particular is of fine quality, but is not sufficient for the home consu flax, tobacco, hops, saffron, and, in the consumption. Hemp, madder, extreme S., cotton and sugarcane are cultivated. Fruit is the object of attention everywhere; and in the cultivation of the olive in particular Italy surpasses include oranges and lemons in the warm all other European states . The fruits regions of the S., besides figs, peaches, apricots and almonds. There is a very large production of wine, but only a few of the wines have any reputation in other countries. The rearing of live stock is an important industry. The cheese of Italy is famous, especially the Gorgonzola and the Parmesan. The total area under cultivation in 1919 was about 66,000,000 acres. The production of the principal crops in hundredweights, was as follows: wheat, 92,296,000; oats, 10,080,000; maize, 43,498,000; potatoes, 27,726,000; sugar-beet root, 28,000,000. Other important products were rice, beans, rye and barley. Manufactures. - The most important are the silk manufactures, Italy as regards the production of raw silk being in advance of all the other countries of Europe. Lombardy, Piedmont, and Venetia are the great centers for its preparation. Weaving is less developed. The cotton manufactures are also centered in Upper Italy, chiefly in Lombardy, and have much increased of late. Woolen manufactures are also chiefly carried on in Upper Italy. In the iron industry the department of Lombardy stands at the head; more particularly the provinces of Brescia, Como, and Milan. Tanning, the manufacture of linen, of paper, gold and silver wares, articles in bronze, musical instruments, the making of gloves, boots and shoes, felt and silk hats, are also considerable industries. The manufacture of tobacco is a state monopoly. Of special repute are the cameos and mosaics of Rome, Naples, and Florence; the filigree and coral work of Genoa; the plaited straw and the earthenware manufactures of Italy generally. There are no trustworthy statistics later than 1911. Manufacturing was greatly disturbed by the World War, and by conditions which followed it. The economic situation resulted in frequent strikes, and a movement gained impetus among workers in the metal working trades to gain control of the enterprises. The movement became so strong that the Government was obliged to pass measures providing for the practical ownership of many of the manufacturing plants plants by the men employed in them. In 1911 there were 135,461 manufacturing establishments, employing 640,856 workers. The number of unemployed in 1920 was very considerable. Constitution and Government. The constitution of the Kingdom of Italy is a limited monarchy, based upon the Fundamental Statute granted by King Charles Albert to his Sardinian subjects March 4, 1848. The king, who is hereditary, exercises the power of legislation only in conjunction with a national Parliament consisting of two chambers. The first chamber is called the senate, and is composed of the princes of the blood and an indefinite number of members appointed for life by the king. The second chamber is called the chamber of deputies, and consists of 508 members, who are elected by a majority of all the citizens above 21 years of age who are in the enjoyment of civil and political rights. In 1918 suffrage was made universal for persons 21 years of age, and for men under 21 who had fought in the World War. The principle of proportional representation was enacted into law in 1919. Each province has the right of independent administration, and the executive power is intrusted to a provincial council. In each province the power of the state is represented by a prefect, who is supported by a council. The executive power of the state is exercised by the king through responsible ministers. Commerce. The exports and imports showed quick increase following the conclusion of peace. The imports in 1919 amounted to £660,666,054, and the exports to £207,044,952. These figures may be compared with those of 1914, which for imports were £116,933,902, and for exports £88,416,167. The chief imports were wheat, coal and coke, raw cotton, wrought iron, and steel. The principal exports were raw silk, cotton manufactures, silk manufactures, spun cotton yarn, etc. The chief volume of trade was done with the United States. In 1920 the exports from Italy to the United States amounted to $90,420,177, and the imports from the United States amounted to $398,065,795. The imports show a marked decrease from 1918-1919, while the exports greatly increased. Shipping and Transportation. In 1918 the total number of steam vessels in the mercantile in Italy was 747, with a tonnage of 624,125. The total length of railway lines was about 11,800 miles. There are about 35,000 miles of telegraph lines. Finance. The total estimated revenue for 1919-1920 was 5,699,765,528 lire, and the total expenditure, 6,256,482,917 lire. The public debt amounted in 1919 to $11,415,932,000. The annual interest charges amounted to $459,959,000. Education. The total number of pupils in the elementary public schools is about 3,500,000, in private schools, about 150,000, and in evening schools about 200,000. There are also secondary schools, technical schools, normal schools, and technical institutes. The public ele mentary schools number about 125,000. There are 35 schools of agriculture, with about 1,200 students. In 1919, as a part of its reconstruction work, the Government provided for a national instituto for the instruction of illiterate adults. Its purpose was to give instruction to demobilized soldiers. Army and Navy. After the conclusion of the World War, the field army was composed of 12 Territorial Army Corps, subdivided into 30 divisions and 2 cavalry divisions. See ARMIES. The total stre strength of the field army at the end of 1919 was 800,000, and it was intended to reduce it gradually to 250,000. The total number of men mobilized during the war was 5,615,000. The total casualties amounted to 949,576. Of this 496,921 were dead. Special troops are maintained in Libya, Erithrea, and in ST. MARK'S, VENICE, ITALY Italian Somaliland. For a general account of the modern Italian navy and its strength, see NAVY. History. The ancient history of Italy will be found under ROME (q. v.) The modern history begins with A. D. 476, when Odoacer, chief of the Herulians, a German tribe who had invaded the country, was proclaimed King of Italy. In 568 the Lombards (Longobardi), a German people originally from the Elbe, led by their king, Alboin, co conquered the Po basin and founded a kingdom which had its capital at Pavia. The kingdom of the Lombards included Upper Italy, Tuscany, and Umbria, with some outlying districts. But on the N. E. coast the inhabitants of the lagoons still retained their independence, and in 697 elected their first doge and founded the republic of Venice. The power of the Pope, though at first recognized only as a kind of paternal authority of the bishop, grew steadily in these troubled times, especially ly in the struggle against the Lomc bard kings. Italy, with the exception of It the duchy of Benevento and the republics of Lower Italy, thus became a constituent part of the Frankish monarchy, and the imperial crown of the West was bestowed on Charlemagne (800). On the breaking up of the Carlovingian empire Italy became a separate kingdom and the scene of strife between Teutonic invaders. At length Otto the Great was crowned emperor at Rome (961), and the year after became emperor of what was henceforth known as the Holy Roman Empire. The history of medieval Italy is much taken up with the party quarrels of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, and the quarrels and rivalries of the free republics of Middle and Upper Italy. In Tuscany the party of the Guelphs formed themselves into a league for the maintenance of the national freedom under the leadership of Florence; only Pisa and Arezzo remained attached hed to the Ghibelline In Lombardy it was different, cause. Milan, Novara, Lodi, Vercelli, Asti, and Cremona formed a Guelph confederacy, while the Ghibelline league comprised Verona, Mantua, Treviso, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio, Modena, and Brescia. Commercial rivalry impelled the maritime republics to mutual wars. At Meloria the Genoese annihilated (1284) the navy of the Pisans, and completed their dominion of the sea by a victory over the Venetians at Curzola (1298). Up till the time of the Napoleonic wars Italy remained subject to foreign domination, or split up into separate republics and principalities. During the career of Napoleon numerous changes took place in the map of Italy, and according to an act of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the country was parcelled out among the following states: RIALTO AND GRAND CANAL, VENICE (1) The Kingdom of Sardinia, consisting of the island of Sardinia, Savoy, and Piedmont, to which the Genoese territory was now added. (2) Austria, which received the provinces of Lombardy and Venetia, these having already been acquired by her either before or during the time of Napoleon. (3) The Duchy of Modena. (4) The Duchy of Parma. (5) The Grand-duchy of Tuscany. (6) The Duchy of Lucca. (7) The States of the Church. (8) The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. (9) The Republic of San Marino. (10) The Principality of Mon- The desire for union and independaco. ence had long existed in the hearts of the Italian people, and the governments at Naples, Rome, Lombardy, and other centers of tyranny were in continual conflict with secret political societies. The leading spirit in these agitations in the second quarter of the 19th century was Giuseppe Mazzini, who in the end contributed much to the liberation of his country. The French Revolution of 1848 brought a crisis. The population of N meшmиcлиmиm Mиигили M M Lombardy, Venetia, Parma, and Modena took up arms and drove the Austrian troops in retreat to Verona. Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, then declared war against Austria, and was at first successful, but his forces were severely defeated at Novara (March, 1849), when Charles Albert abdicated in favor of his son, Victor Emmanuel. Meanwhile the Pope had been driven from Rome, and a Roman republic had been established under Mazzini and Garibaldi, the leader of the volunteer bands of Italian patriots. Rome was, however, captured by the French, who came to the aid of the Pope ( July, 1849), who resumed his power in April, 1850, under the protec tion of the French, and the old absolutism was restored. Similar attempts at revolution in Sicily and Naples were also crushed, but the secret societies of the patriots continued their operations. In 1859, after the war of the French and Sardinians against Austria, the latter power was compelled to cede Lombardy to Sardinia, and in the same year Romagna, Modena, Parma, and Piacenza were annexed to that kingdom, which was, however, obliged to cede the provinces of Savoy and Nice to France. In the S. the Sicilians revolted, and supported by 1,000 volunteers, with whom Garibaldi sailed from Genoa to their aid, overthrew the Bourbon government in Sicily. Garibaldi was proclaimed dictator in the name of Victor Emmanuel. In August, Garibaldi crossed to Naples, defeated the royal army there, drove Francis II. to Gaeta, and entered the capital on Sept. 7. Sardinia intervened and completed the revolution, when Garibaldi, handing over his conquests to the royal troops, retired to Caprera. A plebiscite confirmed the union with Piedmont, and Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed King of Italy, thus suddenly united almost, in Mazzini's phrase, "from the Alps Alps to the sea." Only the province of Venice and the Roman territory still remained outside. The former was won by Italy's alliance with Prussia in 1866 against Austria. The temporal power of the Pope was still secured by the French troops at Rome till the French garrison was withdrawn at the outbreak of the Franco-German War in 1870, when Italian troops took possession of the city in the name of King Victor Emmanuel. On June 30, 1871, the seat of government was formally removed from Florence to Rome. In 1878 Victor Emmanuel died, and was succeeded by his son Humbert I., who was assassinated in 1900, whereupon his son succeeded to the throne as Victor Emmanuel III. The period between the accession of Victor Emmanuel III. to the outbreak of the World War was in general one of prosperity in Italy. It was marked, however, by a long and extensive war with Turkey for the possession of Tripoli. This ended in the annexation of that province in December, 1912. In the same year the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria was renewed, to remain in force until July, 1920. The existence of this alliance roused in Italy unusually difficult problems in 1914. By Its terms Italy was bound to assist Germany or Austria-Hungary if either or both these countries should be attacked, Germany, maintaining that she had been attacked by France, called upon Italy to come to her aid. Italy, however, took the view that both Germany and Austria were carrying on a war of aggression rather than defense, and therefore refused to come to their assistance. Additional difficulties were created by the fact that the chief financial and industrial concerns of Italy were either in the hands of Germans or controlled by German capital. In spite of these conditions, pro-ally sentiment continued to develop among the Italian people and this, despite the aggressive efforts of Germany, through Prince von Bülow, as special ambassador to Italy. In order to avert an open rupture, if possible, negotiations were carried on between Italy and Austria-Hungary with the object of inducing Austria to make such territorial concessions to Italy that the latter would find it unnecessary to go to war for the purpose of achieving territorial aspirations, which first of all lay in the recovery of the so-called unredeemed provinces held by Austria. These negotiations came to no effect, as Austria refused to make the concessions necessary, and on May 4, 1915, Italy denounced the Triple Alliance, as far as it affected herself and Austria-Hungary. War was officially declared against Austria on May 23, 1915, and on the following day active operations began. The course of the war as regards Italy is included in the general narrative in the article WORLD WAR. The campaigns fought were in the most difficult terrain possible. Italian armies fought through 15 furious offensives on the Isonzo and the Piave, inflicting terrible losses on the enemy in each offensive. With the exception of the Great Italian Retreat in the autumn of 1917, and the invasion of the northeast corner of Italy by Austrian and German forces, Italy suffered no serious reverses. See ISONZO, BAT- TLES OF; PIAVE, BATTLES OF. Following the great retreat to the Piave river, the Italian armies under General Diaz reformed and prevented the enemy from crossing the river, except in isolated points. On June 23, they began an offensive along the western bank of the river, and this was continued in a great drive which swept the Austrian troops before them. The movement ended on July 10th, with nearly 35,000 Austrian prisoners and 300,000 Austrian casualties. Operations were carried on so aggressively toward Austria during the succeeding months that on Nov. 3 she was willing to sign an armistice, which amounted to unconditional surrender to Italy. In the operations preceding this, the Austrian armies had strictions, should go to Jugo-Slavia, been utterly shattered by 5 Italian divisions, 3 British, 2 French, one Czecho- Slovak, and the 332d American Infantry Regiment. Italy took a prominent part in the Peace Conference. Her representatives included Vittorio Orlando, Prime Minis- LEANING TOWER OF PISA ter, and Baron Sonnino, Foreign Minister. There were vexed problems relating to Italy to be solved. These were concerned chiefly with the ultimate disposition of Fiume and Dalmatia, both of which were claimed by Italy and Jugo- Slavia. Italy claimed that both Fiume and Trieste properly belonged to her. Trieste she received, but Fiume remained the mooted point until November, 1920, when by the so-called Treaty of Rapallo it was agreed between Italy and Jugo- Slavia that Dalmatia, with certain rewhile Fiume should become an independent state. Gabriel D'Annunzio, who had taken possession of Fiume with a body of troops, early in 1919, refused to accept the terms of the treaty, and on December 9, declared Fiume an independent state, and established a socalled "Italian Regency of Quarnero." Forces were sent to compel him to leave the city, and on Dec. 8, following several sharp engagements in which a considerable number of men were killed on both sides, D'Annunzio ceased resistance and retired from Fiume. The economic conditions following the peace treaty gave rise to many disturbances. There were strikes instigated in many cases by radicals throughout the country, in June, 1920. These, however, gradually subsided and comparative economic peace had been reached at the end of the year.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a kingdom occupying the southern peninsula of central Europe. In general outline it bears a striking resemblance to an old-fashioned cavalry boot, such as was worn in England at the time of the Cavaliers and Roundheads,--a boot with a tall leg rolled in a fold above the knee. The heel of the boot is towards Greece, the toe points towards Sicily and Spain. Under the instep lies the Gulf of Taranto. Sicily, Sardinia, and many small islands are reckoned as part of Italy. Corsica belongs to France. TOPOGRAPHY. We regard Italy as a mountainous country, but it is not wholly so. The Alps spring like an arch from sea to sea. The western end rests on the Mediterranean at Nice; the eastern end rests on the head of the Adriatic. Within this arch lies one of the great river valleys of Europe,--the plains of Lombardy. They are so extensive and level that a military road leaving the Adriatic at Rimini stretches northwestward for hundreds of miles without a change of direction, and with but slight changes in level. The Apennines, beginning in the vicinity of Nice, run eastward nearly to the Adriatic Sea, then southeastward throughout the entire length of Italy. Innumerable spurs extend from the main range eastward and westward, affording slopes for the vine and olive and inclosing pocket-like valleys of great fertility. The low river lands are wider at the western foot of the Apennines than at the eastern. Counting the valley of the Po, fully three-fourths of Italy is drained into the Adriatic Sea. The largest river on the western slope is the Tiber. The main mountain chain is about 800 miles long and from twenty-five to eighty-five miles wide. The peaks run from 5,000 to 7,000, and even 9,000 feet in height. The highest is Monte Corno, 9,585 feet high. There are frequent passes permitting the building of highways and railroads. The Alps are penetrated by four lines of railway running from Turin to Paris, Milan to Basel, Verona to Munich, and Venice to Vienna, respectively. Eight railway systems cross the Apennines. MINERALS. Italy is at base granitic, but the mountains are covered usually with disintegrating limestone and basaltic rocks, forming soil of great fertility. There are deposits of coal, petroleum, asphalt, salt, borax, graphite, arsenic, gold, silver, manganese, mercury, antimony, iron, zinc, lead, copper, and sulphur. Sicily is noted for sulphur mines. Iron ore comes from Elba. CLIMATE. The climate varies greatly. The foot of Italy has an arid, hot climate, like that of northern Africa. Vegetation is scorched by hot winds. Central Italy is noted for springs and cool streams. It is the country of the fig, the olive, and the vine. With the aid of irrigation, the valley of the Po is one of the most fertile and productive regions in the world. ANIMALS. The mountains still shelter the common wild animals of Europe. The wild sheep is found in Sardinia. The porcupine, the red fox, the blind mole, the wolf, brown bear, chamois, and lynx still cling to the spurs of the Apennines. The song birds are those found elsewhere in Europe. The European vulture, as well as the asp, are found in the south. The scorpion and the tarantula are dreaded by the natives. AGRICULTURE. Agriculture is the chief occupation of the Italians. The chief field crops are wheat, maize, oats, rye, barley, hops, rice, potatoes, hemp, flax, cotton, madder, and tobacco. Less than fifteen per cent of the country is unproductive. Two-fifths of the country is under cultivation, one-fifth in meadows and pastures, one-fourth in orchards and forests. Chestnut forests are to be seen everywhere. The peasants roast the chestnuts and grind them for flour from which they make an inferior sort of bread. Italy is one of the olive oil and wine-producing countries of the world. The annual production of olive oil is about 75,000,000 gallons. The production of wine is about 670,000,000 gallons. Oranges and lemons are produced chiefly from Naples southward. The ordinary domestic animals are reared, including a few thousand eastern buffalo used for draft oxen. A few herds of camels are kept near Pisa. FISHERIES. The fisheries of Italy are of importance. Anchovies and sardines are canned for export in enormous quantities. Tunnies are shipped to the principal cities of Europe. The red corals of the Mediterranean are gathered and manufactured into trinkets that yield a large revenue. There are also important sponge fisheries. TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE. Italy is well supplied with railroads. They are owned chiefly by the state, but are leased to private companies. The chief ports are Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, Miseno, Palermo, and Venice. Commerce is carried on chiefly with Great Britain , the United States , Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. The chief exports are silk and silk goods, eggs, wine, olive oil, fruit, macaroni, dyestuffs, marble, hemp, wine, toys, gloves, paper, jewelry, violins, earthenware, cutlery, silverware, articles of alabaster, pottery, glass beads, straw braid, silk hats, chemicals, soap, pickles, and sausage. Coal, wheat, cotton, wool, sugar, coffee, machinery, and railroad material are imported. INDUSTRIES. The Italians are noted for their skill in cutting cameos and intaglios, for working in gold and silver, the making of superior silks, brocades, straw hats, alabaster work, tableware, terra cottas, and many other kinds of hand work requiring skill and artistic taste. It is not as yet a country of large manufacturing establishments. HISTORICAL. The history of Italy is too extensive and complex to be told here. From the partition of Charlemagne's empire in 843 to the unification of Italy in 1870 the peninsula was the scene of an endless succession of feuds. Savage wars were carried on between duchies, petty monarchies, and struggling republics, or between sections of the country and foreign masters, particularly the house of Austria. For centuries the city of Rome and adjacent territory, at times including the greater part of Italy, was subject to the rule of the pope. The outbreak of the French Revolution found Italy completely broken up into petty states organized as little republics, or governed by the pope or by creatures of the Austrian empire. The French poured over the Alps and, with the exception of Venice, drove the Austrians out of Italy. When Napoleon became emperor he organized the greater portion of Italy into kingdoms for his relatives. At the downfall of Napoleon the Congress of Venice reestablished the Austrian influence. During the ensuing half century an intelligent desire for a free, united, and independent country arose. Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi, and other Italians gave their lives to the work. The organization known as the Carbonari, or Charcoal Burners, and Young Italy pushed on the work. Victor Emmanuel , king of Sardinia, and his prime minister, Count Cavour, a sort of Italian Bismarck, raised the kingdom of Savoy to much the same rank in Italy that Prussia and Brandenburg attained in Germany. When the Crimean War broke out Cavour joined the English and French against the Russians for the express purpose of attaining a seat in the council board of nations. One step led to another. The sympathies of the world were with the Italians. In 1859 Napoleon III joined Victor Emmanuel in a war against the Austrians. The brilliant victories of Magenta and Solferino belong to this campaign. Though influenced chiefly by hatred for the Austrians, the Frenchman did not fail to compensate himself by demanding and receiving the cession of Savoy, the hereditary home of the Sardinian monarch. Garibaldi, also a native of Savoy, was particularly incensed because Cavour ceded his birthplace to the French. In 1859 Victor Emmanuel established his court at Florence. Southern Italy, including Sicily, was incorporated in the new kingdom in 1861. In 1866 Italy took the side of Prussia in the war with Austria and received Venice as a reward. During the French and Prussian War of 1870-71, Victor Emmanuel took possession of the papal states and removed his capital to the city of Rome. GOVERNMENT. The government of Italy is a constitutional monarchy, organized on a plan very similar to that of England. The Parliament consists of two chambers,--a Senate and a House of Deputies. Only those who are sufficiently intelligent, or who are owners of property, are permitted to vote. Local affairs are managed by officials chosen by the communes which correspond to our townships. Freedom of religious worship is permitted to all. The government has required the establishment of public schools. Attendance is compulsory. There are now between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 children in school. The attendance is increasing rapidly. Illiteracy is diminishing. One hundred fiftyone normal schools and twice as many industrial schools have been established. High schools and academies prepare the way for admission to twenty-one Italian universities. There are nearly 2,000 public libraries. While statistics do not show that criminals have decreased of late, this is probably due to the greater certainty of punishment of crime. Pauperism and beggary have diminished. The general government levies taxes on lands, house incomes, and manufactures, collects duties on imports, and has a monopoly of the sale of salt and tobacco. Taxes are heavy. The public debt is large. An army of 3,000,000 men is maintained. About one-tenth of the men are actually under arms in time of peace. Great expenditure has been incurred in the building of a navy and in constructing coast defenses. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. The Italians are descendents of the ancient inhabitants of the peninsula, with an admixture of blood from northern Europe. They are a sociable people. In rural Italy separate farm houses or cottages are unknown. Even the herdsmen gather in hamlets. It is said that the peasantry in the sheltered portions of the Apennines have changed little since the days of Roman supremacy. They speak the language, wear the same kind of clothing, build the same kind of a house, and use the same lamps and cooking utensils that were to be seen in the day of Cicero and Caesar. Many different dialects are spoken in Italy. People living 100 miles apart cannot understand each other. Modern Italian, that is to say, the language of Italian literature , was developed in the valley of the Po. Florence bears much the same relation to the language of the people that London sustains to the English language. Students of Italian literature claim that both language and people developed in this locality little influenced by the hordes of northern barbarians who broke in upon Italy at the breaking up of the Roman Empire. According to the Statesman's Year Book the total area of Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia, is 110,659 square miles--half as large as Texas. The population in 1903 was 32,961,247. In 1902, the emigration rose above the half million mark; nearly 200,000 emigrated to the United States. It is to be regretted that so many cling to the large cities, making a living by scissors grinding, peddling, selling fruit, making casts, etc., instead of seeking employment on farms or going into new portions of the country to make homes for themselves. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Land area (square miles) 110,659 Population (1908) 33,910,000 Naples 563,540 Milan 493,241 Rome 462,743 Turin 335,656 Palermo 309,694 Genoa 234,710 Florence 205,589 Bologna 152,009 Venice 151,840 Messina 149,778 Catania 149,295 Ravenna 64,031 Pisa 61,321 Parma 49,340 Cremona 37,693 Emigration to United States (1907) 298,000 Number provinces 69 Members of state senate 318 Representatives--"Deputies" 508 Salary of king $3,000,000 Annual national expenditure $417,000,000 Bonded indebtedness $2,600,000,000 Acres under plow 30,000,000 Agricultural Products-- Corn, bushels 85,000,000 Wheat, bushels 160,000,000 Rice, bushels 25,000,000 Silk, pounds 12,300,000 Tobacco, pounds 15,500,000 Sugar, pounds 212,000,000 Olive oil, gallons 62,000,000 Wine, gallons 1,188,000,000 Exports $370,000,000 Domestic Animals-- Horses 955,000 Asses 849,000 Mules 388,000 Buffaloes 19,000 Cattle 6,000,000 Goats 2,700,000 Sheep 11,000,000 Swine 2,500,000 Orange and lemon trees 16,000,000 Value of coral fisheries $100,000 Miles of railway 10,387 Output of chemicals $15,000,000 Number of looms 292,000 Forest products $17,000,000 Tons of coal mined 460,000 Tons of iron ore 535,000 Output of sulphur (tons) 2,787,000 Mercury (tons) 76,000 Quarry products $10,000,000 Teachers in public schools 56,000 Pupils enrolled 2,600,000 Catholic inhabitants 31,500,000 Cardinals 6 Archbishops 50 Bishops 216 Parishes 20,707 Number postoffices 9,772 Letters (1906) 240,000,000 See Sicily; Corsica ; Sardinia ; Elba ; Po ; Tiber ; Adige; Vesuvius ; Etna ; Pompeii ; Herculaneum ; Lombardy; Rome ; Bologna ; Pisa ; Genoa ; Naples ; Venice ; Florence ; Carrara ; Cremona ; Galileo ; Garibaldi ; Cavour ; Emmanuel; Ariosto; Dante ; Raphael ; Michelangelo ; Petrarch ; Boccaccio ; Carbonari ; Canova 2026 Editor's Note: Italy was Europe's newest great power on paper — unified barely forty years — and about to seize Libya (1911). The readers' children would see Mussolini. See Kingdom of Italy . (Ed: BR 2026-06-19)