[SICILY – THE BOURBON MONARCHY ALIENATES ECCLESIASTICAL PROPERTY – LATE ANCIEN-REGIME SOCIAL MOBILITY] Bound volume of manuscripts documenting the alienation of ecclesiastical lands in the territory of Gorgo and Bonvicino by King Ferdinand III of Sicily, and the subsequent investiture documents for the purchaser, Mauro Turrisi et Piraino, the Baron of Gorgo and Bonvicino.
Palermo and Cefalù region, 1798–1851. Folio (various gatherings, the diploma measuring 35 × 25.5 cm). approx. [total pp.] manuscript pages on paper, in several contemporary secretarial hands, some calligraphic display script; sewn as issued; occasional docketing, endorsements, signatures, and official attestations; light browning and marginal wear consistent with use. Item #55542
Bound volume of documents about the acquisition, royal confirmation, and feudal investiture of the territory, castle, and forest of Gurgo–Bonvicino by Mauro Turrisi Piraino (1799–1803), which marked the family’s elevation from rural proprietors to Sicilian baronial status. The volume documents the complete legal process, from assessments and descriptions of the property, to the royal authorization and confirmation of the sale, as well as later documents concerning subsequent legal disputes between the Church, the municipality, and the new owner. The central document is an 88-page royal diploma issued in Palermo, with the chancery signature of the King's name and the intact royal seal, which formally justifies the alienation of ecclesiastical land in Sicily by the financially strained Bourbon monarchy, and its subsequent sale to Mauro Turrisi Piraino.
The documents speak to a crucial moment in Sicilian history. In the late 1790s, Sicily was increasingly under pressure from the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the looming British presence (which would lead to a British occupation by 1806). Additionally, the Island was experiencing internal unrest. A deepening cash crisis led the Crown to create emergency commissions that could raise funds through the expropriation and sale of ecclesiastical and feudal land and goods, or by confiscation of Church property that could be converted into coin. The lengthy diploma contextualizes this sale as part of this development and documents the precise mechanism of Ferdinand's alienation of Church property, describing the procedure and naming the involved parties, along with the formal legal reasons for this absorption of ecclesiastical lands into the "Regio Patrimonio”. Following various reports and testimonies, a deed on vellum dated 1803 serves as the investiture deed, which irrevocably grants Turrisi the title of Baron of Gorgo and Bonvicino following the conclusion of the sale and its defense against future claims by the Church.
Furthermore, the dossier sheds light on a very specific case of social mobility in Sicily during the period. Paolo Militello describes the social profile of the Turrisi family in an article about the Baron's daughter, Giuseppina Turrisi Colonna (1822-1848), an Italian poet and translator who died during the Sicilian revolution: "Giuseppina Turrisi Colonna was born in Palermo on April 3, 1822, to Mauro Turrisi Piraino da Castelbuono, Baron of Gorgo and Bonvicino, and Rosalia Colonna Romano, of the Dukes of Cesarò. The Turrisi Piraino family was originally from Castelbuono and between the 18th and 19th centuries had been the only one in the village to establish itself at an extra-local level. As the historian Orazio Cancila informs us, it represented a significant example of social mobility. From farmers and gabellotti, the Turrisi Piraino family had managed to transform themselves into large landowners, entering the ranks of the aristocracy. In particular, Mauro, Giuseppina's father, was able to purchase the fiefdom of Gorgo with the castle of Bonvicino in 1799, thus acquiring the title of baron. Through his marriage to Rosalia Colonna Romano in 1815, he managed to complete his social ascent, sealed with his permanent move to Palermo. Here, the Turrisi Colonna family lived in a large palace (now Palazzo Asmundo) near the Cathedral, and they also often frequented the Casina dell'Acquasanta, a charming little villa where their uncle, the abbot Giuseppe, lived" (Paolo Militello, "La «Regia Scuola Normale Femminile» di Catania e l’intitolazione del 1891 a Giuseppina Turrisi Colonna (1822-1848)" in Gli Argonauti. Rivista di Studi storico-educativi e Pedagogici, III, 1-2). Turrisi’s son, Nicolò Turrisi Colonna (1817-1899), would go on to be a Sicilian politician and agronomist. Among other things, he became known for publishing one of the earliest descriptions of organized crime networks in Sicily (without using the name "Mafia" yet).
Contents:
1) 16 leaves of manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos on laid paper, containing a royal authorization and confirmation of alienation (sale) of feudal property in Sicily, issued in 1798–1799, forming the legal basis for Mauro Turrisi Piraino’s acquisition of the ex-feudal territory of Gurgo / Buonvicino.
2) Two leaves of manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos on laid paper, containing Ferdinand's diploma of assent and confirmation of the sale, which removes the land from ecclesiastical control and transfers ownership to Mauro Turrisi.
3) 17 leaves of manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos on laid paper, containing the formal act of sale along with a detailed description of the property.
4) Two leaves of manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos, with royal seal and signatures of royal officials, constituting an act of official acceptance of Turrisi's offer.
5) 44 leaves of thick laid paper, with decorative calligraphic title followed by manuscript text in brown ink to rectos and versos, in hand-drawn border, constituting the original diploma of sale with the chancery signature of the King's name and the intact royal seal, as well as signatures by involved lawyers.
6) 4 leaves of manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos on light blue laid paper, constituting a certified royal chancery “vidimus” issued in 1803 that verifies and certifies the Crown's alienation and the purchaser's title of the ex-feudo of Gurgo/Buonvicino, particularly vis-à-vis the Bishopric of Cefalù, in order to settle any remaining ecclesiastical claims and objections prior to the official investiture.
7) 5 leaves of manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos on laid paper, a royal administrative relatio (sworn report), dated Palermo, November 28, 1800, summarizing and certifying the legal, fiscal, and procedural grounds for the alienation of Gurgo/Bonvicino, drawn up for the Royal Chancery to justify and safeguard the Crown’s actions vis-à-vis ecclesiastical and fiscal claims.
8) 3 leaves of manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos on light brown laid paper, a second royal administrative relatio (sworn report), dated Palermo, November 10, 1800, reporting on the execution of a formal inquiry into the legal matter.
9) Sheet of vellum, with manuscript to recto, folded once for binding, comprising the official investiture diploma, which was issued as a final consolidation of the preceding legal steps, also with an eye to forestalling future contestations by the Church.
10) 21 leaves of manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos concerning continuing legal dispute between Ferdinand II of Sicily (1810–1859) and the Bishopric and Commune of Cefalù, signed and dated by a chancery official in 1844. The document shows that the ownership status, as well as various secondary questions, continued to be controversial into the 1840s.
11) 5 leaves of ink manuscript in brown ink to rectos and versos, containing a land-survey and fiscal valuation of the land in question (Gorgo or Gurgo) near Cefalù, which served to confirm ownership and establish taxation of the property. Dated 1851.
12) Original map drawn and labeled in brown ink to single folded sheet, likely created together with the preceding audit document ("Schizzo topografico dell' ex feudo Gurgo o sia Buonvicino").
Price: €4,000.00