|
From about 1820 through
1865, civil birth records in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
reported the details of all births on the left side of a two-page form,
reproduced below.
The right side of the
record refers to Maria's baptism. It is not a baptism certificate,
which is presented above. It names no priest or godparents, but
simply states that the birth was reported to the church and the church
confirmed that the child had been baptized.
The translation following the image of the actual
record has been condensed to one page. The child's father's name
again is given as Giuseppe Vito Piazza Faccilorda.
The civil birth record was made on 24 July
1826. It indicates that the child was born on the 24th, and the
church response indicates that she was also baptized on that date.
However, the church baptism record was clearly dated 21 July 1826.
Because the birth was on a Friday, and town offices would probably not
be open over the weekend, the father evidently waited until the 24th to
report the birth, and may have 'fudged' the date to avoid scolding by
the Official of Civil Status. |
|
 |
 |
|
From Mussomeli Registri Stato Civile Film
1438784
1826 Births, No 211, Maria Piazza, FamilySearch image
827/3022 |
|
|
R E C O R D O F B I R
T H |
|
|
Notice
of the day on which
was administered the Sacrament
of Baptism |
|
| Number
two
hundred eleven
In the year one thousand
eight hundred twenty -four
on day
twenty-four
of the month of
July
at
Italian hour
twenty-two
before Us
Giuseppe la Rizza,
Mayor
and official of the Civil Record of the community of
Mussomeli
District of
Caltanisetta Province of Caltanisetta
appeared
Giuseppe Piazza Faccilorda
age
thirty
occupation peasant sharecropper living
in Mussomeli, who has
presented us a girl
that accordingly we have visibly witnessed, and he has declared that the same
was born of
Giuseppa
Castiglione
age
twenty-three, living
here, and of
him, Mr. Piazza,
age
as
above, occupation
as above,
living in
as above
on day
as above of the
current
month of in the year
stated above
at
hour ten, in
the house
they inhabit.
The same has also declared that he has given
the baby girl the name
Maria.
The aforesaid presentation and declaration was made in the
presence of Vincenzo Piazza
age
forty, occupation
peasant sharecropper,
a subject of the realm
of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, living in
Mussomeli and of
Calogero Spoto
age
fifty,
occupation
peasant harecropper,
a subject of the realm, living in
Mussomeli, witnesses attending the
present act, and provided by him, Signor
the
Mayor.
This document, which we have created as required, was
inscribed on two registers, read to the informant and to
the witnesses, and on the day, month, and year as stated above,
signed by Myself
only,
the declarant and witnesses not knowing how to write.
(Signed by)
la
Rizza, Mayor |
|
| Number
two
hundred eleven
In the year one thousand eight
hundred twenty-six
on day
twenty- five
of the month of
July the Parish
priest of
this main church has returned to
us on day twenty-five of
July in the
current
year,
the record, which we had remitted to him on day
twenty-four of the month of
stated above
of the
current year
the here-written birth act, at
the bottom of which he has indicated that the Sacrament of
Baptism has been administered to
Maria Piazza on the day
stated above.
Having seen this document
after having it encoded, we have provided that it be preserved
in the register of documents at page
211
We have also acknowledged to the Parish priest the receipt of the
same, and we have created the present record which was inscribed
on
the two registers in the margins of the corresponding birth
record,
and then we have signed.
(Signed by)
la
Rizza, Mayor |
|
|
|
In the years prior to 1865 in Sicily, there were no
civil marriages. A 'Solenna Promessa di
Celebrare il Matrimonio' (Solemn Promise to
Celebrate Matrimony, or 'marriage contract') was filed
in the town hall by civil officials but the marriage
took place some days afterwards, usually in the bride's
parish. |
|
|
The 1848 civil
record of the marriage promise reproduced below, for my
wife's great-great grandparents Vincenzo la Greca
and Maria Piazza, covers four pages. The form is
in two columns, on the left showing the Record of the
Solemn Promise to celebrate matrimony, while the
right-hand column is entitled 'Indication
of the subsequent canonical
[church]
celebration of marriage'.
The left column gives the details of the
civil promise made at the Town Hall, while the right
column confirms that the couple was married in
church on a given date, in the presence of witnesses
Salvatore Sorce and
Vincenzo Messina,
and that the civil and church records were
cross-referenced. The date that the promise was
registered was 4 March 1848. It was sent to the church,
and on 2 April, the church returned it, stating
(erroneously) that the marriage took place on 5 March.
As shown on the actual church marriage record, the
wedding took place in the Church of San Giovanni
Battista on 7 March, 1848.
The record below is only the promise or
contract to marry, but it contains much more information
than the actual marriage record made by the church.
The witnesses named in the Promise are witnesses to the
contract, not to the wedding. Click on the
images below at left to see the original documents. |
|
 |
 |
|
RECORD OF THE SOLEMN PROMISE
to celebrate
matrimony
. |
[p. 1]
Number
10
Year one thousand eight hundred forty-eight,
day four
of the month of
April
at hour
twenty-two,
before Us,
Dr. Don Giuseppe Minneci, Member of
the Committee, appointed to function as official of the Civil Record of the town of
Mussomele,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province of
Caltanissetta,
have appeared in the Town Hall
of Mussomele:
Vincenzo
la Greca,
bachelor,
age
thirty-eight,
born in
Mussomele,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province of
Caltanissetta,status
Villager,
domiciled in
Mussomele,
son of
Giovanni,
age
sixty-six status
Villager
domiciled
here,
and
of
Elisabetta
Misuraca,
deceased
age
, domiciled
;
and
Maria Piazza,
a maiden
age
twenty-one,
born in
Mussomele,
domiciled
here,
daughter of
Giuseppe Vito,
deceased, age
,
occupation
domiciled
, and of
Giuseppa
Castiglione,
deceased,
age
, domiciled
.
The couple,
in the
presence of
witnesses who
will be
mentioned below,
and
[p. 2] produced by them,
have
requested to receive
their solemn
pro-
mise to celebrate
prior to the
Church ceremony,
according to the
format
prescribed
by the Sacred
Council of
Trent for the
marriage which they plan between them
with the
support of the
father of
the groom.
The notice of this promise was affixed
to the door of the Town Hall of
Mussomele on
Sunday the
sixth day of the
month of February of the
current
year.
We, in accordance
with
their request,
after having
read
them
all the
consistent
documents:
First,
the birth record of the groom
Second, the birth record
[p. 3]of the bride
-
Third,
the marriage banns made in this Town
where they both live, to which there
has been no opposition to this Marriage
-
Fourth, the death record of the mother
of the groom
Fifth, the death record of the father of
the bride-Sixth of her mother-
Seventh, the death record of the
paternal grandfather of the bride. |
|
|
|
INDICATION
of the
subsequent canonical celebration
of matrimony |
Number
10
Year one thousand eight hundred
forty-
eight
day
two
of the month of
April
the Pastor
of this
Town
has returned one of the
copies of the
promise on the left, at the foot of
which he has certified that the
celebration of matrimony has fol-
lowed on day
Five
of the month of
March
year
current
in the presence of the witnesses
Salva-
tore Sorce, and Vincenzo Messina
In view of this, we have made
the present notation and af-
ter having encoded it we have ar-
ranged that the aforementioned copy
was saved in the volume of the do-
cuments on page
ten
We have also informed
the Pastor
of our receipt of the same,
and we have signed the present
record, which was inscribed in the
two registers
[Signed]
Giuseppe Minneci |
|
|
 |
 |
Page 3 continues:
and
having also read chapter six
under the title of
marriage
of the
civil laws
regarding the
respective
rights and obligations
of the spouses,
we have received from
each
of the parties,
one after
the other, the
declaration, that they
solemnly
promise to
celebrate
the marriage
before the
Church according to
the format
prescribed
by the
Holy Council
of Trent.
We made the record of all this
in the presence
of
four witnesses
attending
the solemn
promise of marriage:
Vito Mulè,
age
thirty-four,
status Villager
subject of the realm of the Two Sicilies,
domiciled
in Mussomele;
Giuseppe
Sorce,
[p. 4]
age
twenty-seven,
status Townsman
subject of the realm,
domiciled
here;
Giuseppe
Saladino,
age twenty-seven,
occupation
Shepherd
subject of the realm, domiciled
here;
Rosario
Corrado,
age twenty-six,
status villager
subject of the realm, domiciled
here;
We have read
this record, which is inscribed on the two registers, to
the witnesses
and
the bride and
groom, to whom
we have also
given two consistent
copies signed
by Us, to be
presented to the
parish priest,
to whom the celebration
of the
marriage pertains,
and then
it is signed
by us
alone, those assembled at the
registration and the witnesses having said
they don't know how to write. |
|
The Appointed Member
of the Committee
[Signed]
Giuseppe Minneci
|
|
|
|
From Mussomeli Registri Stato
Civile Film 1438827
1848 Marriages, No. 10, Vincenzo la Greca and Maria
Piazza, FamilySearch image 1194/3021 |
|
|
The marriage of Vincenzo and Maria took place in la
Chiesa San Giovanni Battista in Mussomeli on Shrove
Tuesday: 7 March, 1848, the day before Ash Wednesday,
which is the first day of Lent, during which no
marriages can be performed. In Sicily, Shrove
Tuesday is called Marti Grassu (Fat Tuesday), the
day before Mirculi di li Cinniri (Ash Wednesday).
In many parts of Sicily, Carnevali,
or Carnival, is held for some period of time prior to
Lent. A character associated with the celebration
is Peppi Nappa ("Joe Patches"), a jester-like
character from Sicilian Commidia della Maschera,
or staged comedy improvisation. |
 |
|
Traditionally, the last day of Carnevali is
Marti Grassu, when the celebration reaches its peak,
and the fool Peppi Nappa has a replica of his
carrettu burned in the town square. It's not
known if Mussomeli in 1848 celebrated in this way, but
it's safe to assume that the wedding day of Vincenzo and
Maria was made even more special by its occurrence on
such a festive date |
|
|
Matrimonii
Ecclesiastici
(Canonical marriage records) |
|
|
 |
|
From Mussomeli Registri Ecclesiastici Film
2013877, Chiesa San Giovanni Battista
1848 Marriages, Page 299, Vincentius la Greca et Maria
Piazza, FamilySearch image 2893/3157 |
|
249 Anno Dni
Millesomo Octigesimo Quadrigesimo Octavo 1848
|
Vincentius
la Greca
et
Maria
Piazza
|
Eodem die
Ego infrastus Sac. Vincentius Langela Cappnus
Sacralis
huius Parchis E. in Missa conjunxi ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ S. R. E. R.
Vincentiam la Gre-
ca inn filius legtmus et nat Joannis et qdm
Elisabeth Mi-
sura olim jugm Majr
et Mariam Piazza inn. film
legt
et nat qm Josephi Viti, et Josephæ
Mangiasuasorelli
olim jugm DE praestito mihi per verba de prnti mutuo
consensa prntibus duobus notis testibus Salvatore Sorce
et Vincentio Messina
/ Vincentius Langela
|
|
|
249 Year of Our
Lord Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight 1848
|
Vincenzo
la Greca
and
Maria
Piazza
|
Same day as previous record, seventh of
March
I,
the underwritten
Vincenzo Langela
Sacramental Chaplain
of this Parish
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
S. R. E. R. Vincenzo la Gre-
ca
unwed legit. and natural son of
Giovanni
and the late
Elisabetta Mi
suraca,
a couple,
of age,
and
Maria Piazza unwed legit
natural daughter of the late
Giuseppe Vito
and
Giuseppa Mangiasuasorelli
a late couple ; which betrothed gave me their verbal
mutual
consent before the two present witnesses Salvatore Sorce
and Vincenzo Messina
[signed]
Vincenzo Langela |
|
|
|
|
