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THE LAPOMARDA COAT OF ARMS
In exploring the derivation and meaning of the family name Lapomarda, history
cannot be neglected. Given the long history of
Italy, it was really, as one statesman declared, "a geographical
expression" for a group of independent states before its unification in
the second half of the nineteenth century. At various stages, especially
in its modern history, the country was very much under the rule of both
the French and Spanish. Given such a background, the roots of one's
family name could have easily evolved from the Latin through the
French and the Spanish, in addition to the Italian
origins of the name, given the relationship of these Romance languages.
Since armies were known to cross Europe and travel into the Middle East
during the Crusades, it is not unlikely that the name Lapomarda evolved
in the period from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries before it became
recognized as a surname by 1490. By this time, one of the Crusaders
from Spain (or any other region) could have very easily settled on the
Adriatic coast of Italy (at Vieste,
for example, one finds the origins
of the Lapomarda name), in what is Apulia
(Puglia).
From this area, travelers could easily move to the Holy Land or even back
to Spain, at a time when coats of arms were not unknown in Europe. That
the region
is marked by a Norman cathedral
dating from the eleventh century and with historic castles,
especially the thirteenth century one of the Emperor
Frederick II, indicates Vieste's
links with the past and the Crusades. Recently, Terry Stanfill has
written a novel, The
Blood Remembers (2001), anchoring Vieste
with this past.
If one can date the Crusades as far back as 1096, history shows that various
coats
of arms were used to distinguish various persons and families.
In fact, Johannes de Bado Aureo, who published Tractatus de Armis
about 1394, held that arms were used to distinguish one person from another.
Eventually, according to Sir
William Dugdale’s The Ancient Usage of Bearings of Arms (1681),
arms were used to distinguish one family from another. Yet,
given the free adoption of coats of arms in the Middle Ages, one must be
cautious
about their use and meaning for anyone in this period of history in light
of Italy's rivarly between the Guelfs
and the Ghibellines.
Since nobles in the Crusades were the first to use surnames, these arose
from the lands they owned, some relationship, some nickname, some personal
characteristic, or some occupation that identified one person from another.
However, Italian heraldry,
not unlike the field of heraldry
in general, is not so easy to decipher if one investigates its
origins. Though there are various ways to investigate the
background
of one's family name, based on Giovanni B. Di Crollalanza's Dizionario
Storico Blasonico delle Famiglie Nobili e Notabili Italiane (3
volumes; 1886-90), the heraldic description of the Lapomarda coat of arms
is an azure field with two muellets of gold in a perpendicular position
on a shield edged in black. The muellets or stars symbolize the association
of the name with the civil authority.
In that way, then, the Lapomarda surname could very well have been the
family name of a gentleman, a baron, or a knight many years before
Italy was united. When the name was evolving from the eleventh
to the thirteenth centuries, this person could have been the owner of an
apple orchard if one considers the Italian word for apple (pomo)
and for apple orchard (pomario) which is not
unlike the Spanish word for the same (pomar). Recognized
as a surname by the end of the fifteenth century, Lapomarda could, in a
certain true sense, be the equivalent of Appleyard
in English given those words from the Romance languages. Yet, on
the other hand, when one considers the words for ointment in both
Italian (pomata) and Spanish (pomada), that conclusion
is open to question.
While the helmit signifies a gentleman, a baron, or a knight, the Lapomarda
coat of arms appears, more accurately, to depict that of a peer. However,
in making the Lapomarda coat of arms relevant for a priest, James-Charles
Noonan, Jr., in his study, The Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and
Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church (Viking, 1996; pp. 525-526; Plate
61) states: "The arms of a priest are ensigned by a black galero with two
black fiocchi on the brim and one fiocchi suspended on either side of the
shield." Consequently, by extracting the shield from the knightly
insignia of the Lapomarda coat of arms, the coat of arms was
produced for Rev.
Vincent A. Lapomarda, S. J., a priest and a historian
who
is a member of the Angelo
Roncalli International Committee and is listed in Who's
Who in America for 2002 and a sponsor of Italian
genealogy.
From the consideration of the coat
of arms and its heraldic origins, one is led to the study of genealogy,
thereby indicating the link
between
the two. The surname Lapomarda originates in Vieste
(Foggia), Italy, where the father of Rev. Vincent A. Lapomarda, S.
J., was born. Back in the fall of 1975, the latter visited there
and was able to obtain information that traced the family back to at least
his great great grandfather. If the priest had remained there longer,
he would have been able to go further into the church (Chiesa di Santa
Croce -- Church of the Holy Cross) records (the records in the
town hall did not go as far back) and was told that documents were available
(in the diocesan archives at the sub-cathedral, there) that could
take one back to the sixteenth century.
Vieste
has an interesting
history.
It had an espiscopal see dating from the eleventh century and it was a
town that was sacked by the the Turks under Draguth in July of 1554.
Under Pope John Paul II, in 1986, the old diocese of Vieste
was united with Manfredonia, which dated from the third century, so that
the combined dioceses are now known as the Archdiocese
of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo (in the case of Vieste,
the cathedral, which, according to legend, was built on the site of an
ancient pagan temple, was known as Santa
Maria Oreta). This was the archdiocese which successfully advocated
the cause of Padre
Pio (1887-1968), a Capuchin who lived within its jurisdiction and who
was canonized,
on June 16, 2002. And, it is famous for its annual celebration on
May 9th of the Feast of Santa Maria di Merino, the Patroness of the City
of Vieste, about which Marco Della Malva has written the definitive historical
study, La Citta e La Madonna di Merino (1970).
Pasquale Lapomarda, Sr. (1895-1967), father of Rev. Vincent A. Lapomarda,
S. J., came to the United States through the Port of Boston, on 2 February
1910, after his departure, with his older brother Lorenzo (1886-1973) on
19 January 1910, from Naples, Italy, on the Duca di Genova.
He was born in Vieste,
Italy, on 26 (sometimes given as 27 which may have been his baptismal
date) June 1895, the son of Vincenzo (1853-1899) and Concetta (Fasulo)
Lapomarda (1859-1941) who were married, on 29 May 1879. Since he
came directly to the United States from Italy, Pasquale's name has been
inscribed on the American Immigrant
Wall of Honor (Panel 244) on Ellis Island in New York. At
Cheverus
High School
in Portland, Maine, from which his sons and grandson have
graduated, a scholarship was established in his memory in 1989 and, in
2001, on the death of his wife, was extended to include her so that
it is now known as as the Pasquale, Sr., & Mary N. Lapomarda Scholarship.
Vincenzo's family was at least the fourth generation of Lapomardas who
had their roots in Vieste, in the
Province of Foggia, Italy, where the family belonged to Santa Croce
which
is the church located in that same town. Vincenzo, the son of
Francesco Paolo (1813-1876) and Maddalena Solitro (1819-1897) Lapomarda,
was born in Vieste, on 27 July 1853, and died, on 2 January 1899.
With his marriage to Concetta, a native of Bisceglie
in Italy (Province
of Bari), he became the father of three sons (Francesco, d. 1954;
Lorenzo, d. 1973; and Pasquale, d. 1967) and one daughter (Michelena, d.
1977). The parents of Francesco Paolo (he was born in Vieste on 16
January 1813), Vincenzo's father, were Michael Antonio and Pasqua
Quarti Lapomarda while those of Maddalena (she was born in Vieste on 16
August 1819 and a great great great grandaughter was born the same day
in Salem, Massachusetts, in 2001), Vincenzo's mother, were Michele Solitro
and Caterina Bua who bring the genealogical line into the eighteeenth century.
Keeping
in mind what was said above about the origins of the family name, Lapomarda,
the frequency of the use of Vincenzo itself even can be considered to underscore
or reflect a Spanish connection. This emerged in the study of the
derivation of the of the Lapomarda name itself. That the use of Vincenzo
(Vincent) may derive from Italy's connection with Spain where St.
Vincent of Saragossa is revered as the
first martyr of that country cannot be discounted. In fact,
this could account for the popularity of the name of Vincent in areas of
Europe, including Italy itself, which were under Spanish control as recently
as the nineteenth century. And, that Vincenzo is the
most popular of the names among the Lapomardas in Italy today would
help to reinforce those historic connections.
Vincenzo
had at least one brother, Michele Antonio, born on 26 January 1844, and
one sister, Pasqua (Pasquaruccia or Pasqualina), who married Antonio Innocente
(Innocenti) on 21 May 1885. Michele Antonio married Anna Maria Di
Lello, a girl from the area of Bari
and
settled in Ginosa or Lecce where they raised seven boys (Francesco Paolo
and Vincenzo were the names of two of them), all of whom had jobs as conductors
on the railroad where their father was employed. And, perhaps, this is
why today the phone book for the Bari area lists
more than twenty-five Lapomardas, even though the family name is still
present in Vieste which is noteworthy for Lorenzo
Fazzini (1787-1837), a priest and mathematician. In fact, the
Lapomarda name exists in some forty-eight
areas
of Italy today.
A survey of telephone books also indicates that Italy has at least one
hundred and fifty households with the name Lapomarda
among
them, not to mention at least two more households in Belgium and three
in Germany while Ancestry.com
confirms
that with one hundred and seventy-five in Italy and at least six
more households in France. All this is more than there are among
Italian
Americans in the United States, where in some cases the name became
Lapomardo
which is quite common in Worcester County in Massachusetts (in this connection,
one can find a map in The Boston Globe, Wednesday, October 12, 1960,
which includes the name Lapomardo [not found in Italy], instead of Lapomarda
[found in Italy], in a map for Italian families in Massachusetts) where
this same name traces its origins back to Vieste, Italy, and Lapomarda
before he last vowel of the family name was changed in the processing of
immigration to the United States. Such changes were not unlike those an
immigration official might make in writing an Italian name like "Casa"
as "Casey" into the records. For more on the
Viestani who came to the United States (and a good source for those
who migrated
from Italy at the end of the ninetenth century), see the multi-volume
work Italians
to America.
Until he became an American citizen on 1 October 1940, Pasquale Lapomarda,
Sr., remained an Italian citizen and his children automatically became
Italian citizens because of him. Since the Supreme Court of the United
States ruled a generation later that it was legal for United States citizens
to hold dual citizenship, children of Italian citizens enjoy Italian
citizenship until they voluntarily renounce it. In general, this
is still true of all those of Italian
heritage in the United States as one can determine more exactly from
the
guidelines set forth, especially if one is interested in obtaning an
Italian passport.
Today,
of course, in a multicultural dual citizenship is for many a badge of honor.
However, around the time Pasquale became an American citizen, it should
not be forgotten that Italian Americans, in addition to others,
were the victims
of discrimination in both the United States and in Italy because of
World War II. In the United States, to which
Italian Americans have contributed throughout
its history, they were
persecuted because they had migrated from a nation that was at war
with their adopted country, a story set forth in
Una Storia Segreta. And if any served as military persons and
were captured by any of the Axis powers, the enemy reportedly was not reluctant
to execute them as traitors to Italy.
Tracing one's family name back many generations might lead one to outstanding
historical figures like Charlemagne
and, perhaps, even to Caesar.
But, if one looks at the process closely, such an endeavor really ceases
to be meaningful after one has gone back to the fourth or fifth generation.
In the final analysis, everyone can trace back their ancestry in faith
to Abraham
or to Adam
and Eve, the first
man and the first woman in the Bible. While genealogy can prove to be fascinating
and satisfy some unknown psychological need in the human
quest for one's roots, there is a stage, objectively, at which the
search becomes somewhat meaningless, and even questionable, given the lack
of documents. As one moves deeper into the past where, before the
invention of the printing press, much tends to be enshrined in legend and
myth, there is really a lack of objective evidence, the fundamental criterion
of truth.
On his mother's side, Father Lapomarda is related to the Bartholomews.
Mary N. (Bartholomew), his mother, was born in Portland,
ME, on February 2, 1904, the daughter of Erasmo Bartholomew and
his wife, Giuseppina (1873-1932), and died in her native city on May 11,
2001. Born in Formia
(Lazio),
Italy, on 24 October 1869, Erasmo, Mary's father, came to this country,
arriving by ship in Providence, Rhode Island, on 26 September 1893, having
left his native town, in the Province
of Latina, located between Rome and Naples on the Gulf of Gaeta.
It was famous for two historic sites, the villa of Cicero,
the Roman orator and statesman, and the Church of St.
Erasmus, his own patron saint. In that church for generations, the
ancestors of Erasmo had been baptized so that as late as 1975 there existed
parish records in that parsish which could trace the family back to the
sixteenth century.
For
the next few years, Erasmo established himself in Portland working as a
bricklayer and a stonemason before he sent for his family. This included
his wife, his son, Samuel (1893-1969), and his parents (Tommaso and Teresa
Bartolomeo). When he became a citizen of the United States on 29 November
1905, Erasmo concentrated on construction while his daughter took
care of her father's business books. With the boom in construction during
that period of prosperity, the grocery store closed as Erasmo extended
his interests to real estate until the
Great Depression forced him back into the grocery business. Before
his retirement, he opened a tavern on Washingotn Avenue in Portland where
he sold beer at twenty-five cents a pitcher.
When he died
in Portland, on 20 March 1943, Erasmo had been among the city's Italian
Americans for a half century. As a communicant at St. Peter's Church,
he saw this church, located on Federal Street, develop into the original
center of Italian culture in Maine. Like many other immigrants, Erasmo's
decision to come to the United States required courage, faith, and vision.
His adjustment to American society was clearly evident in the English
version (Bartholomew,
for some Americans of this name there exists a coat
of arms) of his Italian name, originally Di
Bartolomeo which became
Bartolomeo for his father who settled in Portland, Maine, a state which
numbered in the census for 2000 about 60,000
Italian Americans who constitute slightly less than five percent of
the state'e population. With other immigrants, like the great grandfather
of George Washington and the great grandfather of John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
Erasmo Bartholomew too, like father and his son-in-law, is memorialized
on the American Immigrant Wall of
Honor (Panel 489) on Ellis Island in New York.
As for the publication of Father Vincent's books, they include The Jesuit
Heritage in New England (1977), The Knights of Columbus in Massachusets
(1982, 1992, and 2004), The Jesuits and the Third Reich (1989 and
2005), The Order of Alhambra (1994 and 2004), The Boston Mayor
Who Became Truman's Secretary of Labor (1995), Charles Nolcini
(1997), The Catholic Church in the Land of the Holy Cross (2003),
The
Jesuits in the United States (2004), A Bibliography of the Published
Writings of Vincent A. Lapomarda (2004), A Century of Judges
of Italian Descent in Massachusetts (2005), and A Half Century of
Mayors of Italian Descent in Massachusetts (2006).
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