3. Don Giovanni

he story of Scanderbeg, as we uncovered it in English, Italian, and even Albanian source books, some of them dating back to the sixteenth century, explained why seven families might migrate to a new land. The country they left behind was devastated from a quarter century of war. Their tribal lands had been confiscated by the Sultan. To maintain any status, they would have to convert to his Moslem religion. (Most people who remained behind eventually did.) As principals in the Albanian resistance, their very lives may have been in jeopardy. To survive, they chose to flee.

     The Muzaki ranked as one of the eight major Albanian tribes at the beginning of the war against the Turks. They were Scanderbeg's most loyal allies, never wavering, apparently not once siding with the Venetians or the Turks, as other clans sometimes did. They remained faithful to the end. Albanian history of this era is dotted with references to this clan from the region around Berat: from Andrea Muzaka, named despot of Serbia by the Anjous in 1368, to Thomas Corona Muzaka, who seemingly bridged two centuries from the battle of Kossova in 1387 to the founding of the League in 1444, to Ghino Muzaka, among

the eight commanders captured and skinned alive after the battle of Valcalia in 1464.

      Another commander similarly skinned after that battle was Ghin Manes, the mention of him we found in the history books being the single reference for an individual from any of the other six founding families of Falconara. Manes (pronounced mann-ess), of course, was the name of the pig farmer from Indiana who claimed, correctly, to have descended from royalty. We also encountered several mentions of a family named Skura, although no details concerning individuals. If members of the Iosca, Candreva, Staffa, or Fionda families fought for Scanderbeg's cause--and certainly they did--they failed to leave their imprint in the history books.

      But what does this tell us of the Muzaki, who helped found Falconara in 1476? How many Muzaki were among the first settlers? Who was the leader of that branch of the family? What was his name?

      Hal and I had learned during our 1981 visit to the municipio that the Muzaki were related to Scanderbeg, but in what way? Who were their kin back in Albania? How was the first settler who used the last name Muzaka related to Andrea Muzaka, Thomas Corona Muzaka, Ghino Muzaka, and others whose names are part of Albanian history? There remained a missing link between what we knew historically about the warriors of Berat and what legend told us of the settlers of Falconara, the direct ancestors of Joe and Ledda Musacchio, who ran a shoe repair shop on the south side of Chicago.

    The most comprehensive repository for geneological information in the United States resides with the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons in Salt Lake City. The Church's genealogical department, according to an article we discovered in Smithsonian magazine, contained 1.2 million rolls of microfilm, each one of them containing thousands of names, not merely of Mormon families, but of people throughout the world. Surely, if anyone could help us uncover the missing link it would be the Mormons.

      During our search for leads, we contacted the Church's genealogical department preliminary to an anticipated research trip to Salt Lake City. Soon, we received a reply from an individual on the department's staff suggesting we not bother to come. "We have virtually nothing from Albania," he wrote. He included photocopies of apparently all that the Mormon library had to offer: seven pages of general material on the country.

      Nothing could have been more discouraging. Yet during our research into the life of Scanderbeg, we had uncovered tantalizing references to a possible Albanian genealogy. A critical moment in the history of the war against the Turks was when Muzaki Thopia divorced his wife, Zanfina Muzaka, in order to marry Scanderbeg's youngest sister, Mamitza. At the wedding, Lek Dukaghin and Lek Zakaria quarreled, igniting a bloody battle, the aftermath of which weakened the Albanian League. Among those quoted as commenting on this historical event was Zanfina's brother, Ghin Muzaka.

      One of the early questions that occupied our attention was: Who was this Ghin Muzaka? And what was the source of the quotes attributed to him? In books on Albanian history, where we first encountered him, he often was referred to by the Italian version of his name: Ginno Musachi. Apparently he was a different person than the Ghino Muzaka skinned alive by the Turks. In a society where it was common to name the first-born male after the paternal grandfather (and considering the fact that the Muzaki were one of the principal Albanian tribes), it is not surprising that there would be several, perhaps many, people by that name.

     During our research, we learned that Ghin, or Ginno, was unhappy, because Muzaki Thopia had divorced his sister in order to marry Mamitza Castriota. Ghin Muzaka blamed Scanderbeg for arranging this intrigue--although for some reason his personal pique did not seem to affect the unusually close relationship between the Muzaki and the Castrioti.

     This itself seemed unusual in a society where a sideways glance at a woman might ignite a blood feud that would last generations. Perhaps Scanderbeg was simply too powerful to be opposed successfully. Or perhaps the Muzaki, as a clan, were less likely to take up the dagger, except in self-defense. The Muzaki were from the south, Tosks, supposedly gentler people than the more warlike Ghegs from the mountainous north. Perhaps it is unwise to attempt psychological profiles on people dead five centuries for whom you know little more than their names.

     In other references, we found Ghin Muzaka calling Scanderbeg a "usurper" for annexing the lands of the Albanian nobles, including presumably those lands of the Muzaki that remained after the Turkish conquest of Berat. Ghin Muzaka's view of fifteenth century Albania colored several source books we studied. Yet who was Ghin Muzaka?

     An important lead to Ghin Muzaka's identity eventually was supplied us by Stavro Skendi, a retired Balkan scholar from Columbia University. An Albanian exile, he had authored several books about his homeland. Early in our search, we contacted Skendi; eventually we visited him in his Manhattan apartment. "Yes, I'm familiar with Ghin Muzaka," Skendi responded to a question from us about this enigmatic source. Skendi said the material related to Ghin Muzaka came from an important genealogical history of Albania written in Italian and published in the sixteenth century. Skendi suggested we try to obtain a copy of that document, although he knew not where. Apparently no American libraries had one. Skendi smiled and shrugged, as though to say, good luck.

      An opportunity to explore Italian sources presented itself during the fall of 1981. Our second son David attended Kalamazoo College in Michigan, a school whose students usually spend part of their junior year studying abroad. We encouraged David to choose Italy, and although Kalamazoo had no centers in that country, he eventually enrolled in a program in Florence sponsored by Syracuse University. During his spare time, David explored Italian libraries for information on Albania and Scanderbeg. Because of the proximity of the two countries, there is much more written about Albania in Italian than in English. David eventually wrote his S.I.P. (Senior Individualized Project), a requirement for graduation, on Scanderbeg and the Turkish wars. We used David's S.I.P. as an important reference document while writing the previous two chapters.

      During our visit to Italy in October, 1981, we prompted David to attempt to locate the Albanian genealogy before returning home. Searches by David through libraries in Rome, Florence, and other major Italian cities failed to uncover a copy of the work. In December, at the end of his stay, David journeyed south again to Cosenza for one last visit to our relatives in that city, the Toccis. During that visit, David went to Cosenza's biblioteca civita, the municipal library. He found previously undiscovered volumes on Scanderbeg and, lo, the Albanian genealogy. Pressed for time because of plane reservations from Rome to the United States the next day, David made photocopies of everything he thought might prove valuable to our study. "The library researcher could not believe the amount of material I handed him," David later explained. "But he photocopied everything I asked for." Bringing the copy of the Albanian genealogy home, David eventually translated it into English.

     The Albanian genealogy David located, nearly 15,000 words long, was included as a chapter in a book titled Chroniques Greco-Romanes, written (or at least edited) by Charles Hopf and published in Berlin in 1873. We had struck gold since the title of the genealogy was, "Breve memoria dells descendenti de nostra casa Mosachi," a "Short Memoir of the Descendents of our Musachi House."  

    It seemed an incredible coincidence, and stroke of good luck, that the single most comprehensive genealogical work for fifteenth century Albania was that of our family! This genealogy, or memoir, was not, however, the work of Ghin Muzaka, but rather that of his son, Don Giovanni Musachi, who fled Albania in 1480 and later Italianized his name. The document was further expanded upon by Don Constantino Musachi, third son of Don Giovanni, grandson of Ghin.

    "Don," of course, is a term of honor common in several of the Mediterranean countries, including Italy. It might be translated as "Sir" or "Lord." As we would later discover, Don Giovanni was very concerned with the prerogatives of rank, particularly those that resulted from noble birth. If not, he probably would not have bothered to assemble the genealogical history of his, our, family.

    The genealogy begins: "I, Don Giovanni Musachi, Despot of Epirus, having witnessed the destruction of my house and private estate by the Turks, arrived in the kingdom of Naples, where through the good will of King Ferrante of Aragon, who accepted me into his courts, I was provided with life and a house, along with promises to better me and give me the land of Apice along with other things. My good fortunes did not continue past Ferrante's death and the sudden war that resulted. I remained naive without the knowledge of the Italian schools or fluency in the language. I raised and nurtured my children in this land: Don Theodore, Don Andriano, and Don Constantino, along with two girls, Donna Helena and Donna Porfida. We prayed to God, not without misery and fatigue, when I came to this place. Don Theodoro was born a year and a half before our departure from Albania, and Don Andriano a month and a half after we arrived in Italy, and Don Constantino also born in this Kingdom. You all know about the destruction of the Byzantine Empire, and how the first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire began to march into Europe starting in the year 1363."

     So starts a wordy, repetitive, yet nevertheless fascinating story of the Muzaki in Albania, not merely in the fifteenth century during the war with the Turks, but beginning two centuries prior to that! Suddenly a window had been opened wide allowing us to trace the Muzaki genealogy through successive generations even into the thirteenth century, with fragments about early ancestors before even then.

     Don Giovanni's motives were simple, and hardly altruistic. He compiled his genealogy during a period at the beginning of the sixteenth century when at least some Albanians who fled their country hoped that Turkish rule would not last. The document's purpose apparently was to establish the claims of the Muzaki to lands held by the family before the Sultan pushed Scanderbeg's followers into the sea. If so, its purpose went unfulfilled, because Turkish rule of Albania continued into the Twentieth Century.

     Nevertheless, Don Giovanni wrote for the benefit of his heirs: "You have, my children, in the land of Tomorniza a castle named Orchova, which is set in the corner of the mountain. At the castle passes a river from another part, and within the castle and mountain runs a brook of water, and in the brook near the mountain there is a vein of gold. Therefore it is yours, because it is our land."

     When we began this project, we hardly realized the Musacchio family might have claim to such a dowry. That today's Albanian government will allow us to pursue this claim seems doubtful.

     Don Giovanni, talking to his future descendents, describes the origins of their family. "Moving back to the beginning, supposedly our ancestors proceeded from the city of Constantinople (the capitol of the Byzantine Empire). They came to rule in southern Albania, or Epirus, ruling the Epirots.

     "First it is necessary to know your last name, for we get it from Molossachi, you know, which was derived from the country name Molossi. In ancient times, we came from the nobles of that named country, and always had that last name. The name Molossachi, later referred to as Mosachi, or Musacchi, (or Muzaki).

     "I also want you all to know, in times past, we made for our armies a live spring (or fountain), which rose in the land with two faces. This is the spring of Epiro. Many authors have written about its vivid faces, and the light shining upon it. After that we had as our family banner the eagle with a two-crowned head, with the star in the middle, as you all have heard."

     Don Giovanni traces his family roots all the way to the third century and Constantine I, the Roman Emperor. The Albanians claim Constantine the Great as one of their race, although he was born around 275 in Naissa, or Nis, part of Serbia today. Constantine succeeded his father, Constantius, as emperor of the western provinces in 305, later converted to Christianity, and built the Byzantine capitol which bore his name: Constantinople.

     Don Giovanni, however, was not content only to link his family with Constantine. Among those of royal blood in the Muzaki family tree, there was Britanio, King of Apollo and Illyria, whose son was Juvan Andrea, otherwise known as Stephano, King of that same area plus Lord of Musacchia. He produced three children, the second of whom was Andrea Muzaka, who held the rank, sebaston cratos. This was a Roman title, meaning captain general for the Emperor.

     It is this first Andrea Muzaka (or Musachi), referred to as sebaston cratos, whom Don Giovanni considers the father of his "noble house" and where the detailed genealogy of the family begins.

     Don Giovanni continues: "To explain the origin of our nobility, Lord Andrea Molossachi, or Musachi was sebaston cratos and Lord of Epiro, which in the Albanian language is referred to as Pylloria, or Illyria. And he controlled all the Musachia, and other places, of which the Musachia are the inhabitants."

     At this point, Don Giovanni starts to describe eight generations of the Musachi family, beginning with the first, Andrea's. (The numbers following each name, supplied by us, are an attempt to clarify each succeeding generation.) "From the Lord Andrea Musachi (1) was born the Lord Theodoro Musachi (2)," Don Giovanni writes. "From this Lord Theodoro was born the second Lord Andrea Musachi (3)."

     This second Andrea battled King Vucasino, King of Bulgaria, who controlled most of the area around Edirne and was an enemy of the Byzantine Emperor. "The two armies met near the Mountain of Peristeri by a stream named Dobrida," writes Don Giovanni. "This divided Albania from Bulgaria. On that day, they battled by the cliffs, and Andrea's armies smashed the armies of King Vucasino. Andrea imprisoned Vucasino, which pleased the Byzantine Emperor. When he heard of Andrea's victory, the Emperor sent a banner to be given to his armies: the eagle with the split heads with the star in the middle." So did the Musachi obtain their tribal flag.

     Don Giovanni refers to this Andrea as "the Despot," a Byzantine term meaning ruler, or master. This apparently is the same Andrea Muzaka, who in other reference works, we discovered, had been named despot of Serbia by the Anjous in 1368. Whether the same or not, Don Giovanni's progenitor had three sons and two daughters. The sons were: Ginno (4), Theodoro, and Stoya. Theodoro, we suspect, is the same as Theodor Corona Muzaka, who fought in the Battle of Kossovo and later was present during the founding of Scanderbeg's Albanian League. Theodor had gone to battle accompanied by another Albanian noble, Balsha II. The first daughter of Andrea was Comita Musachi, who married King Balsha, who controlled Scutari plus other areas. Andrea's second daughter, Chiranna, married Groppa, Lord of Dibra.

     Sometimes our heads swum in confusion because of the interrelationships between the various principle Albanian tribes. So many people had the same, or similar, names. Traditions in Albania dictated that first cousins could not marry if the relationship was through the male half of the family. If the relationship was through the female half, however, there was no prohibition to what might be considered an incestuous relationship. Women were accorded much less status in the male-oriented Albanian family. Regardless, arranged marriages between young males and females of the principle tribes were frequent and the interrelationships form a spider web almost designed to trap later day genealogists.

     The first son Ginno had five sons (in order of birth): Andrea Musachi (5), Materango, Biasio, Bogdan, and Laldi. This Andrea was father of Ghin (i.e., Ginno, 6), who was active during Scanderbeg's war against the Turks. Ginno fathered Don Giovanni (7), author of the genealogy and a second son Andrea plus six daughters. Don Giovanni fathered three boys and two girls. The boys were: Don Theodoro, Don Andriano, and Don Constantino (8). The last also contributed to the genealogy, supplying a preface and an ending, presumably after his father's death. The girls were Donna Helena and Donna Porfida. The latter became part of the court of Queen Giovanna, the wife of Ferrante, King of Naples. Don Giovanni's genealogy also traces the heritage of hundreds of Muzaki of that era plus other families related to them, including the Dukaghini. His wife belonged to that clan.

      Don Giovanni also reveals the link with the Castrioti and thus apparently further buttresses the claim by Rose's mother that the seven families who settled Falconara were of "royal blood." John Castriota, Scanderbeg's father, had five daughters in addition to his four sons. The third daughter, named Angelina, married Vladino Arinitit Comnino, who had a son named Muzaki Comnino, who married Maria, Don Giovanni's sister. Another of Scanderbeg's sisters, Yela, married Carlo Muzaka.

      The link, thus, is there, but as mentioned above, intermarriage was common among the principal tribes of Albania. Don Giovanni's father Ghin also had a sister named Maria who married Ariniti Comnino, lord of land surrounding the river Devoli on the borders of Albania. They had eight daughters. The first, Andronica (also known as Donika), became Scanderbeg's bride.

      The family ties stretched beyond even the borders of Albania. The sixth of Maria's daughters, Angelina, married Stefano, son of Giorgio, ruler of Serbia. They had two sons who died and a daughter who married Lord Marchese of Monferrato. Their first-born, Guglielmo, married the sister of Monsignor de Alencon, the Dauphin of France. Thus did Don Giovanni connect his family to the royal houses of Europe.

      Other members of the Muzaki clan would not lead such regal lives. Mentioned in the genealogy is Ginno's uncle, Biasio, who had five sons and two daughters. "All five of his sons were taken by the Turks," writes Don Giovanni, "and killed by breaking their bones with a hammer."

      On and on winds Don Giovanni's chronicles, sliding forward in time, being repetitive almost to the point of distraction to those of us who centuries later would attempt to unravel nearly two centuries of Muzaki family life in Albania. He presents long lists of sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, cousins. He documents parcels of land, castles, rivers, fields owned by the same. It is difficult reading, particularly since David had to translate it from a fifteenth century language that even some of our Italian-speaking relatives had difficulty comprehending.

     But emerging from the wordy and repetitive documentation, designed to lay claim to the Muzaki holdings in Albania, is a feeling for what it was like to survive in that country during the great war with the Turks.

     "The young nobles of Albania were almost dead," writes Don Giovanni at one point in his narrative. "Only these remained: Ariniti Comnino, Coica Bassa, Nicholas and Paul Ducaghini, Ginno Musachi (my father), Andrea Thopia, and Pietro Spani. All these last named were old with most of their strength declining. Some had children, but too few. For continuing the wars, they were consumed. They defended against the Turks as best as possible, despite having lost much land."

     After Scanderbeg's death in 1468, his wife Donika escaped to Naples with her only son, John. Accompanying her were two Musaki: Maria Muzaka, who had married Muzaki Comnino, and Helena Musaka, who had married Giorgio Caries. Both of their husbands had died in the war. Both abandoned daughters in Albania when they fled.

    Toward the end of the war, Don Giovanni aided the Venetians in holding Durazzo, which apparently was under attack by Prince Federico, Ferrante's son. Don Giovanni appeared with cavalrymen and foot soldiers to support the Venetian position. The Venetians eventually included him in their peace treaty. Later, Don Giovanni recalled letters from Sultan Mehmed. Don Giovanni wrote: "In case I wanted to leave from him, and to bring all of my children under Turkish rule, he promised with many oaths  to give me the government of all that land, and we would keep ourselves in his courts and make ourselves great nobles."

     Don Giovanni, however, did not wish to renounce his Christian faith. He devotes a large section of his genealogy to underlining his belief in a God that was Christian, not Moslem. Don Giovanni's faith notwithstanding, the Turks eventually triumphed at Scutari and made peace with the Venetians.

     "The Turks did not want me to know this," he continues. "They promised to come see me, but the citizens of Durazzo were informed of this plot, and I escaped right away. I disguised myself like the night. Unknown, I went in a boat. I left, just as they arrived searching for me. This happened around 1476." (This, of course, was the same year Falconara was founded.)

     "The other Albanian nobles who escaped from the Turks all went in a boat. My wife, your mother, named Maria Dukaghin, was already pregnant with Don Andriana. In the eighth month of pregnancy, she escaped from the city of Durazzo disguised. She stayed in the house of some of our friends, who were commoners. This was where Don Andriano was born, and he was christened as though he were an orphan child. Our other two children, Theodoro and Helena, also disguised themselves and stayed in the house of other common people. When the Turkish commissioners suddenly came and began searching the city for your mother and her children, she was quickly hidden under the headpiece of a feather bed, then the bed covered. The hiding place was not good, but when the Turkish commissioners searched the house, it was only because of the mercy of God that she was not found. In this manner, she saved our children from coming into the hands of the furious Sultan. Then the common people with some men who were our good subjects, took a ship and embarked with the children accompanying them together to Puglia and safety."

     Puglia is a province in southern Italy, directly across the Adriatic from Albania. Its principal city is Brindisi. The seven families sailed this way en route to settling Falconara. They may have sailed in company with other Albanians, who did not wish to follow them in their longer journey into the Mediterranean. The map on the second floor of the municipio that we viewed in 1981 even suggests this. Was one of the persons accompanying the seven families on this leg of their journey Don Giovanni's wife? We can only speculate. Don Giovanni's memoir offers us a fascinating picture of fifteenth century life in Albania, but does little to identify which of the branches of his enormous family tree was responsible for the settlement of Falconara.

     Included with Don Giovanni's memoire is the Muzaki family tree, organizing in orderly lines the progression through eight generations in Albania. Along with that are other family trees, apparently compiled by the latter-day scholar, Charles Hopf, since some dates are as current as the ninteenth century. Among the families chronicled are two others with names familiar in Falconara. One family is the Sguros, apparently the same as Skuras, or Scura-Greco, one of the seven original familes. There are only a few references for the Sguros family, eight individuals who lived between 1274 and 1393.

     Better represented is the Tocchi family, beginning with Guglielmo Tocci, chancellor to the emperor Frederic of Austria in the thirteenth century and continuing through Maddalena Tocco, duchess of Apice, who was born in 1803. The Toccis, of course, were not listed among the seven families originally settling Falconara. The first Tocci arrived later. I could find no link with the Tocchi family of the genealogy and the Toccis that are part of our family today. Even more frustrating, among all these names, I could find no clues as to which of the Muzaki sailed for Falconara. Don Giovanni offers no help. The Muzaki clan in Albania certainly was large in number. Perhaps he knew the settlers of Falconara; perhaps he did not. There are members of the Musacchio family living in Chicago today that we barely know, and never see, even though we can trace their relationship to us on the outer branches of our family tree. Don Giovanni eventually settled in Naples, but was buried, beside his wife, in a church near Otranto.

     Don Giovanni, completing his genealogy, bequeaths the Muzaki lands to his children. "To Don Theodoro," he writes, "I leave Belgrado and all the keepings, all of Musacchio, and the city of Cantina and its keepings and Sclipario.

     "To Don Andrriana, I leave Tomorniza with all its villages and castles, Serchi, Midigni, and Serezzi, and Duscari, Opari, and Larari, Mariani, and Vescophebici, and the state of Opari and Landari to the castle of Mariani, and I leave the land of major Devoli with the city of Corizza and the castle of Savoiana.

     "To Don Constantino, I leave all the land of minor Devoli and the city of Custurri, or Castoria, with all its castles to Nostramo, which is a desolate city."

     Neither Don Giovanni's children, nor his children's children, would ever see those lands.

Chapter 4 >

Falconara: A Family Odyssey

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