Marseglia.org

Wm Paul Marseglia Cousin Eugene’s Letter The Spanish Link explained Regarding Grandmother Marseglia, is Wm. Paul inquiring about Mimi's wife or Mimi's mother? If its Mimi's mother, she was the Spanish link because her family name was Sanitize de Luna [de Aragon], according to what Pappa told me. I do know that "de Luna" is a very aristocratic name in Spain, linked to the old royal house of Aragon in the northeastern part of the country. In addition to ruling their own state, prior to the unification of Spain in 1492, they also managed to possess the Kingdom of Naples in Italy. The Aragonese had actually acquired territories in southern Italy during the late 13th century. And, in the 15th century they fought a few wars with France over that territory in the south of Italy, sometimes losing the territory for a time ... but then usually reconquering each time. Prior to its union in 1492, Spain was divided, more or less, in half. In the North, there were Christian states including two kingdoms: Aragon and Castile. From the middle of the country, to the south, there were a series of mini-Muslim kingdoms. The Moors (Arabs) arrived in Spain during the early 8th century AD. I truth, they created a very civilized presence. Occasionally, fighting would break out between the Muslims and Christians; there were also very long periods of peace between the two factions. The Christian rulers were determined to take the entire Spanish peninsula. And that occurred also in 1492, when the two Christian kingdoms united. King Ferdinand of Aragon married Queen Isabella of Castile. The king then gave all the Jews and Muslims an ultimatum: Convert to Christianity or get out. What, of course, is interesting, the Muslims and Jews had inhabited the peninsula for centuries, even before the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were created. Anyway there were some Jewish/Muslim converts who remained, but the majority was immediately expelled.  Thus, from the 15th century the kings of Aragon ruled southern Italy. Other Aragonese settled there in various capacities and clearly the ancestors of Great-grandmother Marseglia (Mimi's mother) came from such stock. Once these people settled there in Naples and the surrounding area, they became Neapolitans, etc. I don't know if Mimi's mother even knew Spanish, or if her mother was even Aragonese. Her father obviously must have come from that caste, with such a name as "de Luna" —which indicates that his line was an aristocratic one (for what it's worth). Off hand, I don't know what her Christian name was, but Pappa told me that Achille, Mimi's younger brother, added to his name on his own calling card (when he was living Providence):  Achille Marseglia-Sanchez de Luna d'Aragona. He obviously trying to impress people that he came from royal stock; possibly, also, he was honoring the memory of his mother. Regarding the Marseglia name, do you recall at Overdraws house before he went to live in the trailer? In the room where "famous organ" was located, there was portrait of Mimi's father hanging on the opposite wall. Everard ask me what his calling card said: it went something like Don Domenico Marsiglia. In other words, there was an "i" after the "s" and not an "e", as our name appears today. Everard found that strange and couldn't understand it.  Maybe he worried that our birthright had been violated. Think of it this way: some time way back in the sixth century BC the ancient Greeks sailed westward in the Mediterranean Sea and reached what, today, we'd call the "south coast of France" The Greeks established a small town, which they called Massilia. Many, many, many centuries later, the French appeared on the scene and called it Marseilles. Today in Italy it's called Marsiglia spelled with the "i"; it has become the correct (official) spelling in the Italian language for Marseilles. However, in the southern Italian territories where Spain had ruled for many centuries, the sound was softened and the spelling changed accordingly to Marseglia! Off hand, I don't know how the Spanish spell the name of Marseilles. Certainly not with "gli" in it, but with an "e" followed by the double "ll". I'm assuming that the Spanish spelling might be closer to the French. What's in a name? Shakespeare said: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." However does Marseglia smell as sweet? Ah! That's the question. For the most part, I'd say, yes! When I lived in Italy, I never worried if people mispronounced our name; everyone knew how to say our family name perfectly. In fact they sang the name beautifully. Don Domenico Marsiglia [Marseglia] became very wealthy. He moved from the outskirts of Naples (a place called Segondigliano) to the respectable small, ancient town of Teano. I visited Teano twice and saw the palace where Pappa was born. And I also met his cousin, Gaetano who was still a judge of the high court in Naples. When he first saw me, he was at first wary and then warmed up and we then got on very well. He has a house maid, who he ordered to bring Elisabeth and me some refreshments. The young woman brought a tray with coffee and slices of cake—the very same cake Mamma used to bake. We even carried on a polite correspondence when I returned to Rome. Some years later Everard visited him, when he took that trip to Italy with the Shriners in 1970.  Coming back to Don Domenico (Gaetano, of course, would also have been the grandson of our Great-grandfather, as Pappa was), he made his money in international financial speculation, dealing in Germany, France and England in gems and precious metals. His real break came with his investing in precious metals, such as silver and gold during wartime. The eventual hard-times were slow in coming but they did arrive, and came in the late 1880/90s. That's when Mimi had made some trips to America and decided then to settle in Providence, R.I., around 1893 with his family (consisting of his wife, Pappa and Aunt Adele). The eventual downfall of Don Domenico, I'm sure, came because he had fathered too many girls. Girls require dowries—rich dowries, too. He named all his daughters after precious stones: Diamatina (= Diamond),Smeraldina, Rubina & Gemma. Some of these ladies came and settled in Providence. As a young kid, I do remember seeing Gemma, who also came to visit the family in Washington. Another daughter (maybeSmeraldina=emerald, or Rubina=Ruby) married a dashing fellow by the name of Maurillo (this was his last name; I don't recall his first name). He was a real bounder, womanizer and gambler. According to Pappa, Don Domenico gave him a castle as a wedding gift, which Maurillo used as collateral in a gambling venture. He father-in-law covered his debt and retrieved castle. Eventually, even Maurillo [pronounced: Ma-oo-ree-low] moved with his family to New England. To my knowledge he had two sons, one of whom I knew. You might remember him too. He was called "Cicillo" [pronounced Chee-chee-low; that's the Neapolitan nickname for Francesco, however, I'm not completely certain. Italian dialects are very different from one another. Unless one is familiar with one or two of them, one isn't quite certain what the form is].  He has joined the US Army during the First World War and I think he even served at the front in Italy. On his return to the U.S. A. he went to University and studied medicine and had quite a successful career. Cicillo would occasionally visit the family in Washington, whenever he came to a medical conference or such. He wife was either Norwegian or Swedish and she had a charming accent. I recall that she was a very pleasant and, indeed, a very attractive lady. Do you recall Cicillo? If you didn't recall him, you might have recalled his wife, who (as I said) was a very attractive lady. Now, let me finish this discourse with a reference to the other side of the family—the Cilento side and turn to Pappa's mother, Elisabetta Elvira … etc … Cilento (I know she was given a string of names but don't them all. Olga's second name was Elvira). First, there is quite a large territory way south of Naples with is called CILENTO, from which that part of the family probably got its name. However, in Grandmother-Elisabetta's time, her family was from Capua (a very ancient town) northeast of Naples. The family was clearly educated. In the house on 28th Street there hung a framed diploma, verifying that she had graduated from Teacher's College. Aunt Vee pointed that out to me. In the Living Room there were old photographs of Grandmother's father and separate photo of her brother, both gentlemen in uniform. Her father was a very high-ranking officer in either the army of the old Bourbon Kingdom of Naples or, perhaps, in the army of the then recently United Kingdom of Italy. Her brother, too, was an officer—most certainly in the Italian army; His name was Tommaso [Thomas]. As you know, Pappa and his mother were very close. He idealized her. He told me that she well educated, spoke a very refined Italian and was familiar with the great Italian literary classics. She would obviously pass on stories of the family on to him. His memory was quite good. When he was in the mood, Pappa would reminisce often about the family, and sometimes would make those stories quite dramatic. That's probably why I can recall them. I can't boast that I remember everything he told me, but what I've recounted above, I'll say, modestly, that I'm at least 97% accurate.  Sometimes, my memory appears to be gradually going; other times, it is acute. Love,   Eugene Marseglia