Archive for family
January 22, 2009 at 10:13 am · Filed under family, history
My father is on an email list for people whose families are from Italy, Region Campania, Province Avellino, town of Greci. Someone posted this information regarding the surname “Boscia” in Italy in the 1400s:
That name was one of 22 Albanese soldiers that were allies of the Kingdom Naples which was controlled by Spain. They stopped the French from invading north and west of the area in the 1460s. Hence they were awarded Greci from King Ferdinand of Spain. They were very skilled fighters. We did not come to Greci to escape the Turks unlike other villages.
Based on the information from Wikipedia (I know, but I’m at work!):
1494: King Ferrante of Naples died
1494: Charles VIII of France invaded Italy to claim the throne of Naples, starting the Italian Wars
Charles gathered a large army of 25,000 men (including 8,000 Swiss mercenaries), including the first siege train to include artillery, and invaded Italy. Easily subduing Florence, the French reached Naples in February 1495 and captured it without a siege or pitched battle
(Fighting continues off & on)
1501: Charles VIII agrees to partition the Kingdom with Ferdinand II of Aragon (he was cousins w/King of Naples)
R. Ritchie, Historical Atlas of the Renaissance is the main cited source on Wikipedia. I’ll have to look for it.
So the timing, at the very least, is a few decades off.
As for the Ottoman connection, I’d always been told that Greci was formed from refugees fleeing the Ottomans who were taking over modern-day Albania. That timing checks out – Mehmed II was “acquiring” that area from 1460-1480. Oldtimers in Greci spoke Arbereshe. The Wikipedia article on Arbereshe people does mention that they were preferred mercenary soldiers of Italy, among other nations.. that statement, of course, doesn’t have citation.
Also:
The invasion of Greece by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century forced many Arbëreshë to emigrate to the south of Italy. Indeed, in 1448, King Alfonso V of Aragon, known as Magnanime (1396-1458), King of Naples, wanting to repress a rebellion of Italian lords, called on his ally, Gjergj Kastrioti i Krujës, known as “Skanderbeg”, head of the Albanian Alliance. Several clans of Arbëreshë and Albanians were deployed to subdue the rebellion. Alfonso of Aragon rewarded them by giving them land in the province of Catanzaro.
At the very least, the person in the email has some dates & possibly places confused. I’d really like some more information on the Kingdom of Naples’ mercenaries. Any ideas on where I can find it?
Oh! Just found this link too Rediscovering my Albanian roots. More info on how/when Greci was founded.
November 22, 2007 at 1:17 pm · Filed under books, cooking, family
I have been reading – I got three spinning books from the library and after perusing them all I have some very definite opinions I will share eventually. Maybe tomorrow.
In other news, holiday cooking continues apace. I had the landlady replace the oven (yay!) so now I can bake. I am very very pleased.
I am all prepared for today – the turkey is in the oven, roasting away. On Tuesday I made pumpkin bread. Yesterday I made the Italian dressing (cheese+bread), sweet potates, creamed corn casserole, and the ubiquitous green bean casserole. I also did the chopping for the turkey stuffing so I had do to today was toast the bread and tear it up.
Today, aside from the turkey, I have extra stuffing that will be cooked on the side, and I’m making cranberry meatballs as a pre-dinner snack.
It’s weird how all turkey instructions say basting isn’t necessary, it doesn’t do anything, don’t add any liquids to the pan — and I’ve been around four distinct families during Thanksgiving and they all add liquid and baste the turkey. I just don’t get it.
I also have an old cookbook (”Dear Daughter: Time Tested Recipes of Four Generations of Women”) from the 60s or 70s that says that a turkey MUST be cooked breast-side down so it doesn’t dry out. It seems like it’d work, but then that’s the meatiest part so it also seems like it’d take longer to cook… who knows. Someday I’ll try it.
I hope everyone has a calm and restful holiday weekend!
September 8, 2007 at 9:01 am · Filed under family, friends, wedding
I have some pictures online too. My dad yelled at me for getting photos during my reception. Bah.
Anywho, it was fabulous. Everyone seemed to have a great time, the food was good, people partied, and we were married, so that seems like a success!
And on to the photos!
September 3, 2007 at 3:40 pm · Filed under craftiness, family, gold stars, knitting, sewing, wedding
This stupid hot weather is supposed to end on Wednesday, and by Friday be down to 70 as a high. I certainly hope so, since I can barely stand to wear a tank top and shorts.. I can’t imagine wearing a wedding dress in this heat!
My parents are in town and I am still being productive, so I am rather proud of myself. I printed off the place cards this morning, and have designed and written the ceremony programs, which will be ready to print as soon as I hear back from my officiant on something.
I finished my Wisp, sewed in the ends, and attached the buttons, so that’s done. I finished the purses which are adorable. I fixed the straps on my dress for the rehearsal dinner..
Tomorrow and Wednesday when Alan is at work I need to adjust my bustle a little bit, we need to finally decide on music once and for all, and on the meals for the rehearsal dinner.
And I need to clean the apartment thoroughly.. shouldn’t be too bad of a week!
June 19, 2007 at 3:53 pm · Filed under family, names, trees
Someday, I am going to buy my parents and my brother and myself copies of this print.
The genus of that tree (and others in Africa) is the same as my last name. “The genus name Boscia honours a French professor of agriculture, Louis A.G. Bosc (1777-1850).”
As far as my own history goes, it’s a bit of a mystery. My ancestors are Albanian-Italians from the Avellino province of Italy. We’ve got some pretty rabid internet groups devoted to our common ancestry and roots in Greci.
My Arabic professor in college thought that we probably emigrated to Italy during the Ottoman invasion in the 1400s, and “Boscia” is an Italianization of the Turkish/Arabic title “pasha”. Who knows? I should try to convince an SCA herald to try to find a date for it. So far we’ve got it back to about 1740 in Italy, with Carlo Boscia, my great(x5)-grandfather.
I always thought it was related to woods or forest because it’s similar to the Spanish word “Bosque” – which is apparently actually Germanic in origin (“bosque= forest, woods: from Catalan of Provençal of Old French bosc, from Germanic (*)busk- “brush, underbrush, thicket” (source of Old High German busc).”)
And then of course there’s the pronunciation – my family says Bahshah. Other Boscias say Bohshah or Bohskah or Bohskeeya or Bahskeeya. There aren’t a lot of Boscias in the world but those that are directly related agree on how their family says their name.
The Boshahs may be proper – there’s a MLB player named Mike Scioscia and his last name is Shohshah.
Currently, Boscia is also a line of Japanese skin care products (they’re pretty good).
Look what you started, Mau!
