MUSCARA ANCESTORS

IL MAGNIFICO DOTTOR PIETRO MUSCARA

According to the Librizzi records that I have read, the first Muscarà in Librizzi was is Il Magnifico dottor Pietro Muscarà.  I already knew about him from the book “Librizzi” by Antonino D’Amico, pages 141-142.  In this section of the book, D’Amico writes about a ceremony which took place in Librizzi on December 20, 1567. On this day the cornerstone for the Monastery of the Carmelitan Priests, was set in place. The legal contracts for the building of the Monastery and maintenance of the building were written by il magnifico Pietro Muscarà segreto of Librizzi.  During the ceremony a speech was given and the names of the important dignitaries present were read.  The church bells rang throughout the ceremony.

The list of the dignitaries from the “alta borghesia e al ceto medio della terra di Librizzi” included  “Il Magnifico Pietro Muscarà segreto di questa terra”,  and “lo spettabile Gio Matteo Muscarà”.  I have ascertained that Gio Matteo was Pietro’s son. The Monastery was built to give thanks to S. Maria del Carmine for her divine intervention in ending the plague in Librizzi.   Records show that the plague started in Librizzi in June of 1577 and ended two years later with the death of the last victim, Mastro Perseo Greco.

The Riveli of Beni e Anime (Census Records) for the years 1584 and 1594 are the earliest Librizzi records filmed by the Family History Center.  The Riveli of 1584 contain the first records of a Muscarà living in Librizzi, he is the above mentioned Pietro Muscarà.  It is possible that other Muscarà lived in Librizzi before 1584 but those records are not available to the public. Interestingly Pietro was not a Librizzese but came from nearby Sant’Angelo.  The Riveli of Sant’Angelo declare that Pietro was “secreto et jurefiscale.  Et giudice del spiritual de detta terra”.      

The same records indicate that Pietro was 46 years old and that his wife was Petronilla. 

Their children were: Gio Matteo age 16, Francischello age 9, Rocco age 5, Georgio age 1, and

 Lauriella. 

Two of their servants were Paulo Marra age 16, and Diana Granata. 

Pietro owned many houses in Librizzi, land in many areas of Librizzi, cattle and breeding compounds, received payments for the use of his lands by many people, etc. etc.  The taxes that he paid on his assets were 10% or more of everything that he possessed.   He and his family lived   in ‘quarterio de bello vidiri’, the quarterio was a complex of houses belonging to the Muscarà family.  This location is constantly mentioned in most of future Muscarà Census records.  Some of the land that Pietro owned was located in the areas of Pantano, Tri palmenti, Spinello, Lacquicella, Valluni de la vina, Fontana de la vina, …

"Il Magnifico Pietro Muscarà SEGRETO di questa terra", what was a ‘Secreto’ also spelled Segreto?

The book “Librizzi” on pages 178-179 gives a definition for the position of SEGRETO: “(ogni Uditore di Rota, giudice della Sacra Romana Rota, poteva scegliere due aiutanti di studio, se era un decano anche tre.  Ogni aiutante veniva denominato SECRETO, qualifica di un magistrate al grado iniziale e riconosciuto ufficialmente dal collegio rotale). A Librizzi nel 1587, il Magnifico Pietro Muscarà ricopriva la carica di Segreto della Nostra Terra." This definition is not sufficient to explain the title of Il Magnifico.  Information gathered from other sources gives a clearer explanation for the role of a Secreto.  

During the reign of the Spanish Kings in Sicily, the actual ruling entity in Sicily was a Spanish Viceroy. The central government was located in Palermo and consisted of several administrative bodies.  The most important administrative body was that of the Magna Regia Corte which had jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. Another principal administrative body was the Curia Magistri rationum also known as the Tribunale del Real Patrimonio (Tribunal of the Royal Finances). This legislative body controlled all of Sicily’s financial matters, sat at all sessions of the Sacro Regio Consiglio (Superior Tribunal), and often dealt directly with the Spanish King bypassing the Viceroy.  The Secreto was the principal magistrate of the Curia Magistri rationum. He headed the central administration of all ‘beni demaniali’ and had jurisdiction in all financial matters, including financial judicial matters. He also appointed all local Vice Secreti. 

Il Magnifico Pietro Muscarà was ‘“secreto et jurefiscale.  Et giudice del spiritual de detta terra”. “Detta terra” refers to the Kingdom of Sicily.

Sant’Angelo is a town that abuts the territory of Librizzi, particularly in the area of Librizzi called Pantano.  In fact it is in Pantano where at least since 1560, the Muscarà have owned huge tracts of land.  Even today the family, including myself, own land at the Pantano.  The next phase of my research was the reading of the Sant’Angelo records, almost immediately I found il Magnifico Pietro Muscarà in the Census records of February 1560.

The Sant’Angelo document is very interesting as it discloses that Pietro Muscarà has been delegated by the King of Sicily, Carlo I of Sicilia e Napoli (Carlo II of Spain) to appoint the royal officials who would conduct the documentation for the Riveli di Beni e Anime. The document spells out exactly what the king expects and why. In fact there are two documents, one is written in the Italian of the times and the second one is written in Latin by Pietro himself.                                Pietro is to appoint the four officials who will lead the collection of the data for the Census and who will levy the amount of taxes owed to the King, and in what form the taxes will be rendered.  Some of the officials to be appointed are the Capitano and the Iuraris or Giudici.   This document makes it clear that Pietro was a high official from the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Sicily, located in Panormous (Palermo).  

Il dottor Pietro Muscarà died between the years 1587 and 1594. The Librizzi Census records of 1594 show that his wife Petronilla Moscarà (notice the o instead of u in Moscarà) is now the capo di casa, the head of the household.  The document states that she is a widow and that her maiden name is Fossi, it was unusual for those times for the wife’s surname to be actually mentioned.   She is the guardian of her minor children the Clerico Rocco, who had holy orders for minors, age 13; Georgio age 8. Her adult children are il dottore gio.Mattio age 25, and Francesco age 17.  In the house  also lived Vicenzo di Gregorio age 30, servant;  Gironimo Rocco age 60, servant; Domenico Prestiani age 18, servant; Gio.Maria di Gregorio age 18, servant; Caterinella di Gregorio, servant.  The census document is 13 pages long because Petronilla’s assets are extensive. In 1594 she and the family still lived in Quartiero de bel vedere.  This is not surprising as the Muscarà family still owns part of the ancient Muscarà compound. 

The names of the people who owned the land and houses next to the Muscarà is important because it is an indication of close family relationships, for this reason I am going to indicate some of these names as documented in Petronilla Fossi Muscarà Census records. The house in Bel Vedere abuts that of Cardonia Gugliotta. Other houses in Bel Vedere abut those of Gioseppi Prestianni, Garegolo? Di Gregorio.  Petronilla owns land, houses, breeding compounds for cattle in the area of Pantano abutting the land of the inheritors of don Andrea la Maya, and land of Pietro Gugliotta.  Land in contrada di L’acquicella abutting that of Francesco Stuppia and Eliseo Monteleone.  Land in the area of Tripalmenti, abutting the land of the inheritors of Geronimo Ruffino,  and that of the inheritors of Mazzei Sabella.  Land in Contrada di lo Vallone di lavina    abutting land of Gioseppe Calcagno.  Land and vineyard in the Contrada di Spinello, abutting the vineyard of Micele Lamana,  and the land of Lorenzo Sinagra.  Land in Contrada della Chiana or Giana abutting the land of the inheritors of Giovani Grioli.  Land in Contrada di Filici, abutting the land of don Antoli Tudisco and land of Simone Gregorio. The names mentioned are possibly related to the Muscarà through marriage.  In the same document there is a mention of Dominico Moscarà, who lives in Sant’Angelo.  Domenico is one of the many names mentioned who owe gravezze to the estate of Petronilla Fossi Muscarà.  I assume that Domenico is a family member, taking into account that Petro Muscarà is originally from Sant’Angelo.

Petronilla is found again in later Census records.  In the Census of 1616 she declares that Georgio is 30 years old and that she is his guardian.  In a separate 1616 document Petronilla declares the contents of Giorgio’s estate, the same record states that he is medically incapacitated.  The records clearly show that the Pietro Muscarà estate has been inherited by his sons: il dottor Francesco Muscarà, il dottor Gianmattio Muscarà, il dottor Rocco Muscarà, and Georgio Muscarà.  Georgio’s inheritance is vast and it is obvious that he is economically independent, but he is dependent on his mother for medical care and other needs. If Lauriella inherited part of her dad’s estate, it is not mentioned.  This is not surprising since the female members of a family usually did not receive an inheritance.  Daughters did however receive a dowry which might include land and houses. 

The following is the available information about Pietro and Petronilla’s children.

1.      Gio Matteo was born about 1567 in Librizzi, later he is known as ‘Lo Spettabile il dottor Gio Matteo Muscarà. He and his wife Gratiosa Mamone had the following children (all born in Librizzi): 

 Pietro, born circa 1597;  Andrea, born circa 1599;  Catherina, born circa 1605;  Angela; Antonia;  Silverio, born circa 1613 and died in 1622;  Agata;  Anna;  Carlo, died in 1622. 

In the Riveli di Beni e Anime of 1607 there is an interesting entry for his ‘schiava’.  Her name is Maddalena and her color is negra, black! In the thousands of Librizzi records that I read, this is the only time that I found a record mentioning that someone was black!

The name Gio Matteo is written sometimes in Latin as Ioannis Matheo Muscarà, sometimes as one word as in Gianmatteo.  I found many records in the Riveli di Beni e Anime that deal with his estates, he is included in the “Librizzi” book, and he is listed in the Librizzi baptismal records as being godfather to many of the town’s children. The death records of 1622 declare that Gio Matteo’s children, Silverio and Carlo, died that year.   

The Riveli di Bene e Anime of February 1616, indicate that Giomatteo was 50 years old  and that his wife was Gratiosa Mamone.  The full name of his wife was given as well as the names of his children. 

Also the names of his servants are given, Cono Spartà, age 30, servitor; Vincenzo Spartà, age 15, servitor; and Giovanna Muscarà, sua schiava. 

Gio Matteo lived in the quartiere di bello vedere.  In front of his house were the houses of don Rocco Muscarà and del dottor Francesco Muscarà.  He also had other houses in quartiere de bello vedere adjunct to the house of Minico Merenda; in quartere of San Leonardo abutting the houses of Cico Stopia and that of Minico lamaia.

Gio Matteo’s record is interesting because it lists houses and land in the town of Nohara, today known as Novara di Sicilia.  One of the houses is located in quartere del Castello and it abuts the house of il Dottor Silverio Mamoni.  This Silverio is more than likely Gratiosa Mamone’s father, especially since one of her children is named Silverio.  Gio Matteo also owns land in Nohara, contrada del Cunio.  Other estates are located at the Pantano in Librizzi next to his mom Petronilla Muscarà’s land.  More land is owned in contrada di Filici next to don Rocco Muscarà’s land, I assume that this Rocco is his brother, he also owns land in the area of Spinello.

There is a long list of people who owe Gio Matteo “la bulla”. (A Bull in English is a Papal decree which is sealed with the Papal Bulla (Seal).  The extension of the meaning is a decree by the Ecclesiastical authorities which determines the amount of taxes owed to the Church.  People with feudal lands and assorted other assets owed the Bulla (tithe or tax) to the local Dioceses and to the Spanish King as well.  In turn, vassals and serfs who used the land, owed the Bulla to the owner (usual barons or counts).   Some of the people who owed bulla to Gio Matteo were: Salustro Lauria, Giovantonio Merenda, Filippo Prestianni, Bartholomeo Lamanna, Luciano Spatula, Paschale Ventura, Sabbatino CULLURAFFI, Filippo Saitta, Geronimo Merenda, Armiranti Laurea, Silvestro Granata, Rocco Prestianni Gioanmaria Grioli, Giandomenico Trombetta, Giovanni Planellaro, Giancomo Grioli.  Blasi Ferraro, Paulo Sabbato , Petro d’accampo, Filippo Miloto from Nohara,  Andrea MAMONE, Nino Pizzolo, Lucio Ferraro, Petro Valenti, this last group are all from Nohara and the land is in Nohara.

Gio Matteo himself owes bulla to his mother Petronilla Muscarà, to the Convent of Santo Rocco in Librizzi, to the Church of Santa Caterina in Patti, to the Bishop of Patti, the bulla is owed on his inheritance as specified in the deed by his deceased father. 

The following is an aside on the surname Maimone.  According to my research Maimone is a Jewish surname.  During the times of Gio Matteo and Gratiosa Mamone there were in Sicily about 50 towns with large numbers of Jewish people.  Nohara or Novara was one of the towns where there was a large Jewish community, in fact, even today there is in Novara a street named Vico G. Maimone.  Historically the Jews in Sicily were treated well and contributed to all fields of the Sicilian society. When the Normans came to Sicily, the Jewish population was tolerated by the Normans and Jews enjoyed the same rights as the rest of the population.   However when the Spaniards came to Sicily things changed.  In 1492 King Ferdinand of Spain issued the Edict of Expulsion of the Jews unless they converted to Christianity. Some Jews left Sicily while most converted to Christianity.  Those who converted Latinized their names; one of the Latinized names in Novara was Maimone. The Jewish ancestors of Gratiosa Maimone converted and remained in Nohara.    

Lo Spettabile Gio Matteo Muscarà and Gratiosa Maimone were the parents of the illustrious Librizzese DON ANDREA MUSCARA.  His story will be told in a future blog entry.

2.      Rocco, born circa 1579.  The custom of the times was that in certain upper class families one of    the sons was designated for the priesthood.  Rocco was the son who by the age of 13 was already a “clerico d’ordini minori”.  In the riveli of 1594 Rocco is already listed as a clerico.  The title don written before the given name meant that the person was a priest or a religious official.

The following is some of the information found in the book “Librizzi” that contains the name Rocco Muscarà (may or may not be the same Rocco) :  Feb. 7, 1628 don Rocco Muscarà baptized Iacopo Rinaldo;  Feb. 10, 1630 archiprete Don Rocco Muscarà baptized Domenica Montileone;  April 4, 1630 Rocco baptized Carlo Muscarà, son of Benedetto and Giulia Muscarà;  …….

3.      Georgio, born circa 1583. This is the Georgio who suffered from an incapacitating disease or impairment.   In the baptism records at the Chiesa Matrice I found a Georgio Muscarà who frequently was godfather to several children.  For example, in 1599  Georgi was godfather to Giuseppe Marescalco; in 1600 a Giorgio baptized a member of the Maniaci family; in 1604 a Giorgio was godfather to Maria Lantiani?  The name Giorgio was not a common name in those times and I conclude that this Georgio is indeed the son of Pietro Muscarà and Petronilla Fossi. 

4. Francischello was born circa 1575-1577, as an adult he was known as Il dottor Francesco Muscarà.  He and his wife Thomasa had the following children:

 Andrea, born circa 1617;  Anna; Petronilla; Caterina; Antonia; Elizabetta; and Clerico don Placido, born circa 1619.

          Il Dottor Francesco Muscarà son of Pietro declared his assets in both the towns of Patti and Librizzi.  The Riveli of January 1637 indicate that he had two schiave living in his house, Margarita Muscarà and Marta Muscarà.  He also had a servant named Gironimo Mirenda, age 16.  The schiave Margarita and Marta carried the last name of the capo di casa, this is not unusual for those times. Favorite house servants often were given the owner’s last name, especially if the children’s father was the owner himself. Today in Librizzi there are two different lines of Muscarà, both lines quickly will tell you that they are not of the same lineage.  

Francesco owned a magazeno in the città di Patti located on the street San Bartolomeno.  He owned land in Patti near Don Beneditto Tinghino and Antonino Barbaro.  In Patti he also owned a vineyard which was “di migliara cinque”, five thousand hectares.  He owned more land in other sections of Patti.   Francesco also received ‘rendite’ from several people in Patti, some of his debtors were Thomasi Giuttati, Gioanni Abbati, Giloramo Caiazone, Francesco Florio.  Francesco Muscarà was assessed taxes on everything that he owned in Patti, so he was paying taxes to the city of Patti as well to Librizzi.  He also paid taxes to the convento del Carmine and to several people in Patti.  

In the Riveli of 1637 Francesco also declared his assets in the town of Librizzi. 

In addition to his personal Riveli, there are two documents one in Italian and the other in Latin declaring the renunciation by his son Don Placido Muscarà of his inheritance.  The renounced inheritance was donated to the Church.   The donated estate included land in Pantano next to the land of Ioanni Mathei Muscarà (his brother Gio Matteo).  The documents are signed by the father Francesco, by Placido himself, and several officials.  One of the officials is Andreas Muscarà.   

The just mentined Don Placido Muscarà was the son designated for the priesthood by Francesco and Thomasa. 

I do not have much information on Anna, Antonia, Petronilla, and Elizabetta.  Information about female members of a family, were usually not included in the Census records.

 5. Lauriella, the Riveli usually do not give the dates of birth for a daughter, nor are they listed as ‘capo di casa’ unless they were widowed or were the last survivors of a particular family.

(In the records of 1616 I found a Laurea Muscarà married to il dottor Gioandomenico di Thodaro from Montalbano and living in Librizzi.  It could be Lauriella but Laurea could also be the daughter of  il dottor Francesco Muscarà (This is not the Francesco who is Pietro’s son. This Francesco is probably Pietro’s brother.)  and his wife Masulla Arlotta (Wrongly spelled as La rotta in the book ‘Librizzi).  She could also be a totally different Laurea Muscarà.  The fact is that there is a son who is 20 years old. Is he from a previous Thodaro marriage?  I record the information from the 1616 Census in case at some point I can tie Laura Muscarà to the correct parents.

Il Dottor Gionadomenico di thodaro, age 40

His wife is Laurea Muscarà

Their children are:

Dottor Claudio di Thodaro, age 20

Cesare di Thodaro, age 18

Giovanni di Thodaro, age 10

Paolo di Thodaro, age 8

Margarita

Anna

Angela

Oliverio Garza, his servant, age 50

Francesco di thodaro, his schiavo, age 20

Antonina di thodaro, schiava

Giovannella di thodaro, schiava

Dominichella di thodaro, schiava

Il dottor Claudio di Thodaro, son of Gioandomenico and Laurea Muscarà became a priest.  He is the one who in 1656 brought to Librizzi the statue of S. Michele Arcangelo.  The interesting story of the statue and its odyssey to Librizzi is found in the book “ Librizzi”, pages 113 115.)

End of Part I, Part II will be  in the  next blog entry.