Note 40 — Mateo Falcone
George Burnham Ives translation
In olden times the caporals were the leaders chosen by the Corsican communes when they rebelled against the feudal lords. To-day the name is sometimes given to a man who, by reason of his property, his alliances, and his clientage, exerts a certain influence and acts as a sort of magistrate in a pieve or a canton. The Corsicans, by an ancient custom, divide themselves into gentlemen (some of whom are magnificoes, others signori), caporali, citizens, plebeians, and foreigners.