Italians
Nation and ethnic group native to Italy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Italians (Italian: italiani, Italian: [itaˈljaːni]) are a genetically and culturally diverse ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region.[47] Italians can be considered an ethnic group because they share a common core of culture, history, ancestry, and usage of Italian language.
Italian: Italiani | |
---|---|
Total population | |
c. 140 million
| |
Regions with significant populations | |
Italy 55,551,000[1] | |
Brazil | 25–34 million (incl. ancestry)[3][4][5] |
Argentina | 20–25 million (incl. ancestry)[6][7] |
United States | 16–23 million (incl. ancestry)[8][9][10][11] |
France | 5–6 million (incl. ancestry)[12][5][13][14] |
Paraguay | 2.5 million (incl. ancestry)[15] |
Colombia | 2 million (incl. ancestry)[16] |
Canada | 1.5 million (incl. ancestry)[17] |
Uruguay | 1.5 million (incl. ancestry)[18] |
Venezuela | 1–2 million (incl. ancestry)[19][20][21][22][23] |
Australia | 1.1 million (incl. ancestry)[24][25] |
Germany | 801,082[26] |
Switzerland | 639,508[26] |
Chile | 600,000[27] |
Peru | 500,000[28] |
Belgium | 451,825[29] |
Costa Rica | 381,316[30] |
Spain | 350,981[31] |
United Kingdom | 280,000[32] |
Mexico | 85,000[33] |
South Africa | 77,400[5] |
Ecuador | 56,000[34] |
Russia | 53,649[35] |
Netherlands | 52,789[26] |
Austria | 38,904[26] |
San Marino | 33,400[36] |
Luxembourg | 30,933 |
Portugal | 30,819[37] |
Ireland | 22,160 |
Croatia | 19,636[38] |
Sweden | 19,087 |
Albania | 19,000[39] |
United Arab Emirates | 17,000[40] |
Israel | 16,255[26] |
Greece | 12,452[26] |
Denmark | 10,092[26] |
Poland | 10,000[41] |
Thailand | 10,000[42] |
Languages | |
Italian and other languages of Italy | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Roman Catholicism[43] Minority Irreligion[44] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Corsicans, Sammarinese, Sicilians, Sardinians, Maltese people[45][46] |
Standard Italian was adopted in the whole peninsula only after the formation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, while regional dialects and regional or minority languages have been the native tongue of most Italians especially prior to the advent of mandatory education and mass media. For this reason and due to the history of political division and foreign control of the various Italian regions, Italian culture and tradition thus differs regionally.
The first populations known to settle in the Italian peninsula are such as the Etruscans, the Ligures, the Sicani, the Elymians, the Iapygians, the Nuragic peoples (in Sardinia), the Celtic populations like the Rhaetians, the Lepontii, the Adriatic Veneti, etc.; and the Italic peoples, including the Latins, from which the Romans emerged and incorporated other populations, thus helping in developing the modern Italian identity.[48][49][50][51] The Italian peninsula has continuously experiences colonization and invasions by other populations. In antiquity, these included the ancient Greeks in Magna Graecia, and the Phoenicians in Sicily and Sardinia, and later the Germanics and the Slavs coming from the North and East. In Medieval times, parts of the Peninsula have been occupied by foreign population, such as the Ostrogoths, Lombards, Franks, Normans, Arabs. In the Modern age, other European countries like France, Spain, and Austria controlled parts of the peninsula. These events have left a strong regional influence on the culture, history, ancestry, and dialects of Italian language. As example, the inhabitants of the village of Gurro, in Northern Italy, claim to discend from Scottish mercenaries who married into the local population and introduced their costumes [52]. Finally, emigration and immigration played a crucial role in developing local cultures, with both immigrant and returning emigrants introducing new costumes. An example of this, is the village of Barga, in Tuscany.
The Latin equivalent of the term Italian had been in use for natives of the geographical region since antiquity.[53]
Nowadays, Italian nationals are citizens of Italy, regardless of ancestry or nation of residence. However, Italian nationality (or citizenship) is largely based on jus sanguinis, according to which a person can claim Italian citizenship if they have ancestors with such citizenship. Still, Italian nationality is not necessarily synonymous with Italian ethnicity, as there are ethnic Italians without Italian citizenship or descendants of Italians in territories that were once part of an Italian state and now belong to another country (for instance in Nice, Istria, and Dalmatia); and ethnic Italians without citizenship who descend from emigrants of the Italian diaspora.[54][55]. In fact, is estimated that there are more people with the right to claim Italian nationality (~80 millions) than Italian nationals (~55 millions).
The majority of Italian nationals are native speakers of the country's official language, Italian, a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Tuscanian dialects, themselved evolved from Vulgar Latin as most Italian dialects and minority languages. However, many Italians also speak a regional or minority language native to Italy, the existence of which predates the national language.[56][57] Although there is disagreement on the total number, according to UNESCO, there are approximately 30 languages native to Italy, although many are often misleadingly referred to as "Italian dialects".[58][50][59][60] The dialects and minority languages, together with foreign influences, affect the regional use of Italian.
Since 2017, in addition to the approximately 55 million Italians in Italy (91% of the Italian national population),[1][61] Italian-speaking autonomous groups are found in neighboring nations; about a half million are in Switzerland,[62] as well as in France,[63] the entire population of San Marino. In addition, there are also clusters of Italian speakers in the former Yugoslavia, primarily in Istria, located between in modern Croatia and Slovenia (see: Istrian Italians), and Dalmatia, located in present-day Croatia and Montenegro (see: Dalmatian Italians). Due to the wide-ranging diaspora following Italian unification in 1861, World War I and World War II, (with over 5 million Italian citizens that live outside of Italy)[64] over 80 million people abroad claim full or partial Italian ancestry.[65] This includes about 60% of Argentina's population (Italian Argentines),[66][67] 44% of Uruguayans (Italian Uruguayans),[18] 15% of Brazilians (Italian Brazilians, the largest Italian community outside Italy),[68] more than 18 million Italian Americans, and people in other parts of Europe (e.g. Italians in Germany, Italians in France and Italians in the United Kingdom), the American Continent (such as Italian Venezuelans, Italian Canadians, Italian Colombians and Italians in Paraguay, among others), Australasia (Italian Australians and Italian New Zealanders), and to a lesser extent in the Middle East (Italians in the United Arab Emirates).
Italians have strongly influenced and contributed to fields like arts and music, science, technology, fashion, cinema, cuisine, restaurants, sports, jurisprudence, banking and business.[69][70][71][72][73]
Italian people are generally known for their attachment to their family and local communities, expressed in the form of either regionalism or municipalism (in Italian, campanilismo, after the ita Italian word for bell tower (ita. campanile).[74]
Hypotheses for the etymology of the Latin name "Italia" are numerous.[75] One is that it was borrowed via Greek from the Oscan Víteliú 'land of calves' (cf. Lat vitulus "calf", Umb vitlo "calf").[76] Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus,[77] mentioned also by Aristotle[78] and Thucydides.[79]
The Latin term Italicus was used to describe "a man of Italy" as opposed to a provincial. For example, Pliny the Elder notably wrote in a letter Italicus es an provincialis? meaning "are you an Italian or a provincial?".[80] The adjective italianus, from which are derived the Italian (and also French and English) name of the Italians, is medieval and was used alternatively with Italicus during the early modern period.[81]
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which was caused by the invasion of the Ostrogoths, the Kingdom of Italy was created. After the Lombard invasions, "Italia" was retained as the name for their kingdom, and for its successor kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire.[82]
Due to historic demographic shifts in the Italian peninsula throughout history, its geographical position in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as Italy's regional ethnic diversity since ancient times, modern Italians are genetically diverse.[83][84] The Iron Age tribes of Italy are pre-Indo-European-speaking peoples, such as the Etruscans, Rhaetians, Camuni, Nuragics, Sicani, Elymians and the Ligures,[85] and pre-Roman Indo-European-speaking peoples, like the Celts (Gauls and Lepontii) mainly in Northern Italy, and Iapygians,[86][87] the Italic peoples throughout the peninsula (such as the Latino-Faliscans, the Osco-Umbrians, the Sicels and the Veneti), and a significant number of Greeks in Southern Italy (the so-called "Magna Graecia"). Sicilians were also influenced by the Normans, specially during the Kingdom of Sicily.
Italians originate mostly from these primary elements and, like the rest of Romance-speaking Southern Europe, share a common Latin heritage and history. There are also elements like the Bronze and Iron Age Middle Eastern admixture, characterized by high frequencies of Iranian and Anatolian Neolithic ancestries, including several other ancient signatures derived ultimately from the Caucasus, with a lower incidence in Northern Italy compared to Central and Southern Italy.[88][89][90] Ancient and Medieval Southern Mediterranean admixture is also found in mainland Southern Italy and Sardinia.[91][92][93][94][90][89] In their admixtures, Sicilians and Southern Italians are closest to modern Greeks (as the historical region of Magna Graecia, "Greater Greece", bears witness to),[95] while Northern Italians are closest to the Spaniards and southern French.[96][97][98][99]
Prehistory
Italians, like most Europeans, largely descend from three distinct lineages:[100] Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, descended from populations associated with the Paleolithic Epigravettian culture;[101] Neolithic Early European Farmers who migrated from Anatolia during the Neolithic Revolution 9,000 years ago;[102] and Yamnaya Steppe pastoralists who expanded into Europe from the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Ukraine and southern Russia in the context of Indo-European migrations 5,000 years ago.[100]
The earliest modern humans inhabiting Italy are believed to have been Paleolithic peoples that may have arrived in the Italian Peninsula as early as 35,000 to 40,000 years ago. Italy is believed to have been a major Ice Age refuge from which Paleolithic humans later colonized Europe.
The Neolithic colonization of Europe from Western Asia and the Middle East beginning around 10,000 years ago reached Italy, as most of the rest of the continent although, according to the demic diffusion model, its impact was most in the southern and eastern regions of the European continent.[103]
Starting in the early Bronze Age, the first wave of migrations into Italy of Indo-European-speaking peoples occurred from Central Europe, with the appearance of the Bell Beaker culture. These were later (from the 14th century BC) followed by others that can be identified as Italo-Celts, with the appearance of the Celtic-speaking Canegrate culture[104] and the Italic-speaking Proto-Villanovan culture,[105] both deriving from the Proto-Italo-Celtic Urnfield culture. Recent DNA studies confirmed the arrival of Steppe-related ancestry in Northern Italy to at least 2000 BCE and in Central Italy by 1600 BCE, with this ancestry component increasing through time.[106][107][108]
In the Iron Age and late Bronze Age, Celtic-speaking La Tène and Hallstatt cultures spread over a large part of Italy,[109][110][111][112] with related archeological artifacts found as far south as Apulia.[113][114][115][116][117][118] Italics occupied northeastern, southern and central Italy: the "West Italic" group (including the Latins) were the first wave. They had cremation burials and possessed advanced metallurgical techniques. Major tribes included the Latins and Falisci in Lazio; the Oenotrians and Italii in Calabria; the Ausones, Aurunci and Opici in Campania; and perhaps the Veneti in Veneto and the Sicels in Sicily. They were followed, and largely displaced by the East Italic (Osco-Umbrians) group.[119]
Pre-Roman
By the beginning of the Iron Age the Etruscans emerged as the dominant civilization on the Italian peninsula. The Etruscans, whose primary home was in Etruria, expanded over a large part of Italy, covering a territory, at its greatest extent, of roughly what is now Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio,[120][121] as well as what are now the Po Valley, Emilia-Romagna, south-eastern Lombardy, southern Veneto, and western Campania.[122][123][124][125][126] On the origins of the Etruscans, the ancient authors report several hypotheses, one of which claims that the Etruscans come from the Aegean Sea. Modern archaeological and genetic research concluded that the Etruscans were autochthonous and they had a genetic profile similar to their Latin neighbors. Both Etruscans and Latins joined firmly the European cluster lacking recent admixture with Anatolia or the Eastern Mediterranean.[127][128][129][130][131][132]
The Ligures are said to have been one of the oldest populations in Italy and Western Europe,[133] possibly of Pre-Indo-European origin.[134] According to Strabo they were not Celts, but later became influenced by the Celtic culture of their neighbours, and thus are sometimes referred to as Celticized Ligurians or Celto-Ligurians.[135] Their language had affinities with both Italic (Latin and the Osco-Umbrian languages) and Celtic (Gaulish).[136][137][138] They primarily inhabited the regions of Liguria, Piedmont, northern Tuscany, western Lombardy, western Emilia-Romagna and northern Sardinia, but are believed to have once occupied an even larger portion of ancient Italy as far south as Sicily.[139][140] They were also settled in Corsica and in the Provence region along the southern coast of modern France.
During the Iron Age, prior to Roman rule, the peoples living in the area of modern Italy and the islands were:
- Etruscans (Camunni, Lepontii, Raeti);
- Sicani;
- Elymians;
- Ligures (Apuani, Bagienni, Briniates, Corsi, Friniates, Garuli, Hercates, Ilvates, Insubres, Orobii, Laevi, Lapicini, Marici, Statielli, Taurini);
- Italics (Latins, Falisci, Marsi, Umbri, Volsci, Marrucini, Osci, Aurunci, Ausones, Campanians, Paeligni, Sabines, Bruttii, Frentani, Lucani, Samnites, Pentri, Caraceni, Caudini, Hirpini, Aequi, Fidenates, Hernici, Picentes, Vestini, Morgeti, Sicels, Veneti);
- Iapygians (Messapians, Daunians, Peucetians);
- Celts (Allobroges, Ausones, Boii, Carni, Cenomani, Ceutrones, Graioceli, Lepontii, Lingones, Segusini, Senones, Salassi, Veragri, Vertamocorii);
- Greeks of Magna Graecia;
- Sardinians (Nuragic tribes), in Sardinia;
Italy was, throughout the pre-Roman period, predominantly inhabited by Italic tribes who occupied the modern regions of Lazio, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria, Apulia and Sicily. Sicily, in addition to having an Italic population in the Sicels, also was inhabited by the Sicani and the Elymians, of uncertain origin. The Veneti, most often regarded as an Italic tribe,[141] chiefly inhabited the Veneto, but extended as far east as Friuli Venezia Giulia and Istria, and had colonies as far south as Lazio.[142][143]
Beginning in the 8th century BC, Greeks arrived in Italy and founded cities along the coast of southern Italy and eastern Sicily, which became known as Magna Graecia ("Greater Greece"). The Greeks were frequently at war with the native Italic tribes, but nonetheless managed to Hellenize and assimilate a good portion of the indigenous population located along eastern Sicily and the Southern coasts of the Italian mainland.[144][145] According to Beloch the number of Greek citizens in south Italy at its greatest extent reached only 80,000–90,000, while the local people subjected by the Greeks were between 400,000 and 600,000.[146][147] By the 4th and 3rd century BC, Greek power in Italy was challenged and began to decline, and many Greeks were pushed out of peninsular Italy by the native Oscan, Brutti and Lucani tribes.[148]
The Gauls crossed the Alps and invaded northern Italy in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, settling in the area that became known as Cisalpine Gaul ("Gaul on this side of the Alps"). Although named after the Gauls, the region was mostly inhabited by indigenous tribes, namely the Ligures, Etruscans, Veneti and Euganei. Estimates by Beloch and Brunt suggest that in the 3rd century BC the Gaulish settlers of north Italy numbered between 130,000 and 140,000 out of a total population of about 1.4 million.[147][149] The Northern half of Cisalpine Gaul was already inhabited by the Celtic Lepontii since the Bronze Age. Speaking about the Alpine region, the Greek historian Strabo, wrote:
The Alps are inhabited by numerous nations, but all Keltic with the exception of the Ligurians, and these, though of a different race, closely resemble them in their manner of life.[135]
According to Pliny and Livy, after the invasion of the Gauls, some of the Etruscans living in the Po Valley sought refuge in the Alps and became known as the Raeti.[150][151] The Raeti inhabited the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, as well as eastern Switzerland and Tyrol in western Austria. The Ladins of north-eastern Italy and the Romansh people of Switzerland are said to be descended from the Raeti.[152]
Roman times through Middle Ages
The Romans—who according to legend originally consisted of three ancient tribes: Latins, Sabines and Etruscans[154]—would go on to conquer the whole Italian peninsula. During the Roman period hundreds of cities and colonies were established throughout Italy, including Florence, Turin, Como, Pavia, Padua, Verona, Vicenza, Trieste and many others. Initially many of these cities were colonized by Latins, but later also included colonists belonging to the other Italic tribes who had become Latinized and joined to Rome. After the Roman conquest of Italy "the whole of Italy had become Latinized".[155] After the Roman conquest of Cisalpine Gaul and the widespread confiscations of Gallic territory, some of the Gaulish population was either killed or expelled.[156][157] Many colonies were established by the Romans in the former Gallic territory of Cisalpine Gaul, which was then settled by Roman and Italic people. These colonies included Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Parma, Piacenza, Cremona and Forlì. According to Strabo:
The Cispadane peoples occupy all that country which is encircled by the Apennine Mountains towards the Alps as far as Genua and Sabata. The greater part of the country used to be occupied by the Boii, Ligures, Senones, and Gaesatae; but since the Boii have been driven out, and since both the Gaesatae and the Senones have been annihilated, only the Ligurian tribes and the Roman colonies are left.[157]
The Boii, the most powerful and numerous of the Gallic tribes, were expelled by the Romans after 191 BC and settled in Bohemia, while the Insubres still lived in Mediolanum in the 1st century BC.[158]
Augustus created for the first time an administrative region called Italia with inhabitants called "Italicus populus", stretching from the Alps to Sicily: for this reason historians like Emilio Gentile called him Father of Italians.[153] Population movement and exchange among people from different regions was not uncommon during the Roman period. Latin colonies were founded at Ariminum in 268 and at Firmum in 264,[159] while large numbers of Picentes, who previously inhabited the region, were moved to Paestum and settled along the river Silarus in Campania. Between 180 and 179 BC, 47,000 Ligures belonging to the Apuani tribe were removed from their home along the modern Ligurian-Tuscan border and deported to Samnium, an area corresponding to inland Campania, while Latin colonies were established in their place at Pisa, Lucca and Luni.[160] Such population movements contributed to the rapid Romanization and Latinization of Italy.[161]
A large Germanic confederation of Sciri, Heruli, Turcilingi and Rugians, led by Odoacer, invaded and settled Italy in 476.[162] They were preceded by Alemanni, including 30,000 warriors with their families, who settled in the Po Valley in 371,[163] and by Burgundians who settled between Northwestern Italy and Southern France in 443.[164] The Germanic tribe of the Ostrogoths led by Theoderic the Great conquered Italy and presented themselves as upholders of Latin culture, mixing Roman culture together with Gothic culture, in order to legitimize their rule amongst Roman subjects who had a long-held belief in the superiority of Roman culture over foreign "barbarian" Germanic culture.[165] Since Italy had a population of several million, the Goths did not constitute a significant addition to the local population.[166] At the height of their power, there were several thousand Ostrogoths in a population of 6 or 7 million.[164][167] Before them, Radagaisus led tens of thousands of Goths in Italy in 406, though figures may be too high as ancient sources routinely inflated the numbers of tribal invaders.[168] After the Gothic War, which devastated the local population, the Ostrogoths were defeated. Nevertheless, according to Roman historian Procopius of Caesarea, the Ostrogothic population was allowed to live peacefully in Italy with their Rugian allies under Roman sovereignty.[169]
But in the sixth century, another Germanic tribe known as the Longobards invaded Italy, which in the meantime had been reconquered by the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. The Longobards were a small minority compared to the roughly four million people in Italy at the time.[170] They were later followed by the Bavarians and the Franks, who conquered and ruled most of Italy. Some groups of Slavs settled in parts of the northern Italian peninsula between the 7th and the 8th centuries,[171][172][173] while Bulgars led by Alcek settled in Sepino, Bojano and Isernia. These Bulgars preserved their speech and identity until the late 8th century.[174]
Following Roman rule, Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia were conquered by the Vandals, then by the Ostrogoths, and finally by the Byzantines. At one point, Sardinia grew increasingly autonomous from the Byzantine rule to the point of organizing itself into four sovereign Kingdoms, known as "Judicates", that would last until the Aragonese conquest in the 15th century. Corsica came under the influence of the Kingdom of the Lombards and later under the maritime Republics of Pisa and Genoa. In 687, Sicily became the Byzantine Theme of Sicily; during the course of the Arab–Byzantine wars, Sicily gradually became the Emirate of Sicily (831–1072). Later, a series of conflicts with the Normans would bring about the establishment of the County of Sicily, and eventually the Kingdom of Sicily. An enormous Norman migration that lasted more than a century completely changed the Sicilian population with native peoples from Normandy, Great Britain and Scandinavia. The Lombards of Sicily (not to be confused with the Longobards), coming from Northern Italy, settled in the central and eastern part of Sicily. After the marriage between the Norman Roger I of Sicily and Adelaide del Vasto, descendant of the Aleramici family, groups of people from Northern Italy (known collectively as Lombards) left their homeland, in the Aleramici's possessions in Piedmont and Liguria (then known as Lombardy), to settle on the island of Sicily.[175][176]
Before them, other Normans arrived in Sicily, with an expedition departed in 1038, led by the Byzantine commander George Maniakes,[177] which for a very short time managed to snatch Messina and Syracuse from Arab rule. The Lombards who arrived with the Byzantines settled in Maniace, Randazzo and Troina, while a group of Genoese and other Lombards from Liguria settled in Caltagirone.[178]
Renaissance to the modern era
From the 11th century on, Italian cities began to grow rapidly in independence and importance. They became centres of political life, banking, and foreign trade. Some became wealthy, and many, including Florence, Rome, Genoa, Milan, Pisa, Siena and Venice, grew into nearly independent city-states and maritime republics. Each had its own foreign policy and political life. They all resisted, with varying degrees of success, the efforts of noblemen, emperors, and larger foreign powers to control them.
During the subsequent Swabian rule under the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who spent most of his life as king of Sicily in his court in Palermo, Moors were progressively eradicated until the massive deportation of the last Muslims of Sicily.[184] As a result of the Arab expulsion, many towns across Sicily were left depopulated. By the 12th century, Swabian kings granted immigrants from northern Italy (particularly Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria), Latium and Tuscany in central Italy, and French regions of Normandy, Provence and Brittany.[185][186] settlement into Sicily, re-establishing the Latin element into the island, a legacy which can be seen in the many Gallo-Italic dialects and towns found in the interior and western parts of Sicily, brought by these settlers.[187] It is believed that the Lombard immigrants in Sicily over a couple of centuries were a total of about 200,000.[188][189][190] An estimated 20,000 Swabians and 40,000 Normans settled in the southern half of Italy during this period.[191] Additional Tuscan migrants settled in Sicily after the Florentine conquest of Pisa in 1406.[192] The emergence of identifiable Italian dialects from Vulgar Latin, and as such the possibility of a specifically "Italian" ethnic identity, has no clear-cut date, but began in roughly the 12th century. Modern standard Italian derives from the written vernacular of Tuscan writers of the 12th century. The recognition of Italian vernaculars as literary languages in their own right began with De vulgari eloquentia, an essay written by Dante Alighieri at the beginning of the 14th century.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, some Italian city-states ranked among the most important powers of Europe. Venice, in particular, had become a major maritime power, and the city-states as a group acted as a conduit for goods from the Byzantine and Islamic empires. In this capacity, they provided great impetus to the developing Renaissance, began in Florence in the 14th century,[193] and led to an unparalleled flourishing of the arts, literature, music, and science.
Substantial migrations of Lombards to Naples, Rome and Palermo, continued in the 16th and 17th centuries, driven by the constant overcrowding in the north.[194][195] Beside that, minor but significant settlements of Slavs (the so-called Schiavoni) and Arbereshe in Italy have been recorded, while Scottish soldiers - the Garde Ecossaise - who served the French King, Francis I, settled in the mountains of Piedmont.[196][197]
The geographical and cultural proximity with Southern Italy pushed Albanians to cross the Strait of Otranto, especially after Skanderbeg's death and the conquest of the Balkans by the Ottomans. In defense of the Christian religion and in search of soldiers loyal to the Spanish crown, Alfonso V of Aragon, also king of Naples, invited Arbereshe soldiers to move to Italy with their families. In return the king guaranteed to Albanians lots of land and a favourable taxation.
Arbereshe and Schiavoni were used to repopulate abandoned villages or villages whose population had died in earthquakes, plagues and other catastrophes. Albanian soldiers were also used to quell rebellions in Calabria. Slavic colonies were established in eastern Friuli,[198] Sicily[199] and Molise (Molise Croats).[200]
Between the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period, there were several waves of immigration of Albanians into Italy, in addition to another in the 20th century.[201] The descendants of these Albanian emigrants, many still retaining the Albanian language, the Arbëresh dialect, have survived throughout southern Italy, numbering about 260,000 people,[202] with roughly 80,000 to 100,000 speaking the Albanian language.[203][204]