Next Tuesday, 21 April, at the main hall of the Italian Cultural Institute, at Piazza San Giorgio Valletta, Enrico Gurioli will be presenting his latest publication Il Piccolo LibrodeiVenti. Gurioli is not new to Malta. By profession, Gurioli is one of Italy’s leading journalists. Besides his passion for the press, he is also passionate of the sea. This is what unites him most with Malta. He has been organizing a number of activities of a high cultural level, including international conferences to make Maltese maritime history better knownin Italy. Also he has worked closely with the Italian Navy and has also writtenimportant books on the subject.
This particular publication is about the wind. In it, Guriolidiscusses the history of the compass rose, known in Italian as La Rosa deiVenti. One of the old rose compasses had Malta at its centre. At least, this is what Gurioli sought to prove in this publication. Western navigation started to improve from the thirteen century onwards. Italian Republics were at the forefront of navigational inventions.
As the Arab maritime power started to decline, a new power emerges in Norman Sicily, which ushers in a new epoch for the whole of Europe. At first, this revolution starts with the symbiosis that took place when different cultures, Arab, Latin and Byzantine met in Sicily.
In Malta, we are accustomed to Arab writers who made various navigational references in their texts. Yet these works still await a proper maritime study. Arab cosmographers used Malta for maritime direction. TheAndalusian Muslim geographerAbu AbidAbd Allah Ben Abd Al-Aziz Al-Bakri (c. AH 404 – 487), Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti (AH 493 – 559),IbnKhaldun,andAl Himyari are a few among the many Medieval Arab writers who referred to Malta’s maritime location, history and geography. There are other Arab writers who are still unknown to the Maltese historians and readers. I know that Frans X. Cassar is working on a number of unknown Arab authors whose references to Malta’s chequered maritime history, will shed new light on Muslim Malta. I look forward to his publications, which I am sure will enrich our historical chronicle, giving us the less known perspective of how Arab and Muslim scholars discussed Malta’s Medieval role in Mediterranean history.
Gurioli’s book takes us to the other side of the MediterraneanSea – the Christian West. It explores the maritime endeavours of medieval Europe with special reference to Italy’s maritime history. Guriolidiscusses the centrality of the wind in navigational history. It was the wind that induced man to embark on a navigational adventure. Therefore, the wind started to assume both a metaphorical and a cosmographical importance in the history of the sea. The wind was the prime element that allowed man to travel and discover new places.
The book cover shows a compass rose pointing towards thirty-two directions with Malta being most probably at its centre. This particular wind rose,another name for the compass, was very popular amongst the seafarers of the Medieval Italian Republics.
Enrico Gurioli enriches this account with little known curiosities and anecdotes.He successfully reconstructs little known stories, which he succinctly presents in this book for the author is not only after the mammothmaritime events. He is also after the smaller details. History teaches us that the small facts and accidental mishaps are the protagonists of significant changes.
This is another book written in an impeccable journalistic style, a hallmark of Gurioli’s bravura, which makes for pleasant reading even for non-native Italian speakers.
In the pure tradition of the Italian seafarers, discussions about winds and navigation are not complete if not accompanied by a good glass of wine.Hence, Italian wine is being brought over from Italy to accompany this special event.
The readers of this blog are cordially invited to attend and will have the occasion to continue discussing with the author and other distinguished guests such an interesting topic during the reception.Entrance is free and the event starts at 18.30.