Amalfi (Short) History: Period of Decadence

The opulence of the Maritime Republic was by now only a memory, and maritime trade was limited to contacts with Southern Italy. A brief scientific and cultural revival occurred around the 1200s, the century in which Flavio Gioia from Amalfi perfected the Compass. Did Flavio Gioia really exist? There is no proof of his existence, but in any case the Compass remains the glory of Amalfi.

In this period the Archibishops had a great influence on the people. Cardinal Pietro Capuano , during the V Crusade, from Constantinopole made off with the bones of Saint Andrew: once in Amalfi he hid the relic under the floor of the Cathedral, for the fear of Saracen attacks, and for this reason he enlarged the building.In 1255 Pope Alexander IV gave Amalfi as a fief to the Hohenbruck family, There wasn’t a real feudal landlord, though many noble families still lived in the beautiful buildings of the town. The Archbishops did a lot for the town, and they were the pre-eminent personages in the area.

On 24th November 1343 a terrific sea storm destroyed the low part of the town and many important buildings were destroyed, among them: the Ducal Palace, a part of the ancient ship yards, some of the town gates and walls, many houses. Our writer Petrarca gives an accurate description of this.

The bronze doors of the Cathedral were smelt in Constantinople in 1062.

In 1348 a plague nearly halved the population and nothing was left of the past splendour.

The Sovereigns of Naples gave the Duchy of Amalfi to the Sanseverino family; then it passed to the Colonna family. Alfonso d’Aragona defeated the French dynasty Anjou and became King of Naples in l452; his son Ferrante I gave Amalfi as a wedding present to his natural daughter Maria, who married Antonio Piccolomini, a nephew of Pope Pius II. Many new palaces were built; the squares swarmed with people, merchants, sailors. The economy of the town grew because of new activities in addition to the sea trade, which was still important.

Antonio Piccolomini’s son Alfonso married Giovanna d’Aragona of Gerace, in 1490 Giovanna is the famous Duchess who inspired poets and playwrights from Italy, Spain and England.

The first poet who wrote the story of the unhappy Duchess was Matteo Bandello, a few years after the tragedy. His “novella” was translated into English by William Painter, and probably this translation was the source of inspiration for John Webster, who wrote the famous tragedy “The Duchess of Malfi” The Spanish writer Lope de Vega published “El mayordomo de la Duquesa de Amalfi” more or less in the same period..

This is the unfortunate story of Giovanna d’Aragona, Duchess of Amalfi: Born into the royal House of Aragona in 1478, her father was poisoned and died before her birth; married at the age of twelve, she lost her first child in infancy; by twenty she was a beautiful, rich and lonely widow. That she fell in love with her accomplished young steward, Antonio Bologna, was accepted; that she married him was not. In doing so Giovanna defied the social mores and conventions of her day and stalled the overweening ambitions of her brother, Cardinal Luigi d’Aragona. In the acts of revenge that followed, she, her husband and her maid all met their death.

Her son Alfonso was Duke of Amalfi until 1559. He was eyewitness of an event, which in Amalfi is called “The miracle”

In 1544, exactly on 27th June, Amalfi was on the point to be sacked by the pirate Kale-ad-din. His ships were approaching the beach, when the population gathered in the Cathedral and invoked St.Andrew, their Patron Saint. Suddenly there was a terrific storm, the sea became so rough that the ships had to sail away, and Amalfi was safe. Since that day, every year there is a high celebration and the phenomenon of the “Manna”. The “Manna” is a liquid coming out from the relic of the Saint (the occiput) several times a year. It started on 29th November 1304, but there are information of this event even before, in Patras, where St.Andrew died, and in Constantinopole, where his bones were translated.. This event occurs five times in the year: on 29th November, St.Andrew’s festivy Eve; on 27th June, the day of the miracle; on 28th January , the finding of the occiput; on 1st November, on 21st November and on 8th December

In 1583 the Duchy was sold by the last Duchess for debts and Amalfi became a free land, ruled by the Neapolitan vice royalty, but administrated by local mayors.

The Amalfians were people of ideas and they improved their activities: some paper mills, an iron foundry, the growing of lemons, grapes, fruits, and the making of cheese, wines, pork products. They even produced fabrics and the factories used water-power. The course of the stream was therefore the natural spot for all these activities. An import-export activity was the base of the local economy. As wheat was one of the imported goods, thanks to the existing mills they soon began to produce “pasta”. For this type of activity they invented special machines which made work easier.

Politically Amalfi was part of the Kingdom of Naples. When Napoleon’s brother Giuseppe became King of Naples he abolished all feudal rights and there was the administrative division in Provinces, Districts and municipalities.

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