The Mafia - Southern Italy - page 479

Origins
The concept of 'the mafioso' dates back to the late 15th century, when Sicily's rent-collect-
ing gabellotti (bailiffs) employed small gangs of armed peasants to help them solve 'prob-
lems'. Soon robbing large estates, the bandits struck fear and admiration into the peasantry,
who were happy to support efforts to destabilise the feudal system. They became willing
accomplices, protecting the outlaws, and although it was another 400 years before crime
became 'organised', the 16th and 17th centuries witnessed a substantial increase in the
activities of brigand bands. The peasants' loyalty to their own people resulted in the name
Cosa Nostra (Our Thing). The early Mafia's way of protecting itself from prosecution was
to become the modern Mafia's most important weapon: the code of silence, or omertà .
In the 1860s, a band of Sicilians exiled to Calabria began forming their own organised
gangs, planting the seeds for the 'ndrangheta. For almost a century, these gangs remained a
local menace, known for extortion, racketeering and rural banditry. But it was the murder
of a local godfather in 1975 that sparked a bloody gang war, transforming the organisation
and creating a rebellious faction infamous for holding northern Italian businessmen to
ransom. With its profits invested in narcotics, the 'ndrangheta went on to transform itself
into Italy's most powerful Mafia entity.
The powerful Camorra reputedly emerged from the criminal gangs operating among the
poor in late 18th-century Naples. The organisation had its first big break after the failed re-
volution of 1848. Desperate to overthrow Ferdinand II, pro-constitutional liberals turned to
camorristi to help garner the support of the masses, and the Camorra's political influence
was sealed. Dealt a serious blow by Mussolini, the organisation would get its second wind
from the invading Allied forces of 1943, which turned to the flourishing underworld as the
best way to get things done. The black market thrived and the Camorra slowly began to
spread its roots again.
In the 1970s, the Camorra gave birth to the Sacra Corona Unita (Sacred United Crown),
created by Camorra boss Raffaele Cutolo to gain access to Puglia's seaports. Originally
named the Nuova Grande Camorra Pugliese, it gained its current name in the early 1980s
after its Pugliese members cut ties with Campania and strengthened their bond with Eastern
Europe's criminal networks.