At the beginning of the 11th century The Republic
of Pisa was repeatedly attacked by a particular band of Saracens who ruled
Corsica and Sardenia. The Pisans gave the Saracen leader, Mugahid, the
nickname "Musetto" (little snout). In 1003, Musetto attacked
Rome. The Pope asked for help from Pisa. Pisa responded to
the Pope's plea; their navy successfully destroyed many of Musetto's ships.
He barely escaped to back to Corsica, but many of his men were killed or
captured.
The prisoners, called "Musetti" (the
Italian plural of Musetto) were sent to work in the marble quarries of
Carrara. Eventually some men
escaped to the mountains of Garfagnana and Lunigiana. Through the
years their descendants assimilated into the general population.
In 1440 a Captain Musetti was cited for valor
in the battle of Anghieri. At about the same time a Musetti cleric
was elevated to Bishop in Pistoia.
Map of Europe - 1000 A.D.
Many years ago the late Frank Musetti of England gave me
an Italian newspaper article about the legend of a young girl named
Kinzica and the Saracen called "Musetto." He also gave me a brief
overview of the history of the name. I used Frank's material to prepare
this page.
Andrea Badano of Sweden kindly translated the article into English.
In doing so, she discovered that sections are missing. Nonetheless,
it is an interesting story. I'd appreciate it if anyone can translate
this material into French, German, Spanish, or Portugese. Thank you.
Italian
Newspaper Article
- English
Translation
Annita Zalenski
