cultural harvests and goods of all kinds, including slaves (via piracy), made Termini rich; and its multiplicity of churches stands as a testament to its wealth and devotion to the great saints. In addition, a high rocky outcropping, upon which once stood a massive Moorish fortress, surely gave Termini the advantage when it came to observing who was heading towards the town by land or sea.
Just below the fortress, on land which had been the major place of worship in Termini for centuries, stood the 15th-century Church of San Nicola Bari, originally Santa Maria la Nova. It is greatly altered these days with its relatively new façade (1912) and fabulous Baroque interior.
An additional church of note in Termini Imerese is the one dedicated to Santa Maria del Monte, for it is here that the 16th-century ruler of Termini Imerese, Giovanni Battista Romano Ventimiglia, Barone di Resuttano, is entombed. He is represented in Codex A by the baptisms of three of his children. In addition, he stood as Godfather several times when the Sacrament was administered to the offspring of his fellow aristocrats. Another very important personage in Termini who appears in the manuscript is lo Magnifico Giovanni Francisco D’Anfuso, who presented four of his children for Baptism.
Despite the fact that on paper, Sicily was administered by the Spanish King and his Viceroy, the Barons were the real rulers in Sicily, and any usurping of their power by the Spanish or anyone else, was taken very seriously. That is to say, interference with the will of Termini’s Baron Romano Ventimiglia, was a dangerous act. One might easily draw parallels with the Dons of the 19th-20th century Mafia, men who took their cue from the powerful Barons of Sicily and their representatives, the Gabelloti who administered the huge estates owned by the barons.
And then there are the slaves; for wealthy families in Termini, like those residing in most of the port cities of Southern Europe, were quite active in the purchase of human beings: men bought primarily for agricultural work, and women purchased for domestic service. In fact, women were bought with an additional concept in mind: to serve the sexual appetites of their aristocratic owners. There are actually two churches in Termini Imerese dedicated to patron saints of female slaves: Santa Lucia and Santa Caterina del Egitto. Indeed this state of affairs in Termini Imerese, which was common all over the 16th-century lands of the Mediterranean and has been suppressed for centuries, has only begun to come to light in recent years.
The following image shows an entry in Codex A for the baptism of a female slave: Translation from Sicilian-Latin: ‘Father Caspano [Crisciuni] baptized the daughter of the female slave of Turrimbeni. She was named Caterina. Her godparents were two male slaves.’ In this case, the father was most likely Turrimbeni, himself.
The next image shows an entry in Codex A for the baptism of another female slave: Translation from Sicilian-Latin: ‘On day 29 [December 1547] Father Martino [Romano] baptized the daughter of Giovanni, the latter of whom is of the household of Pietro La Scola. She was named Sapia. The godfathers are Monsignore Filippo Satti and Monsignore Battista L’Abbate. The godmother is [Sister Filippa] L’Angelica’. This is an unusual case, for it would appear that Giovanni, whomever he was, had impregnated a female slave who has given birth to a daughter who was given a typical slave name, Sapia, that is, Wisdom. If Giovanni was, in fact, himself a slave, his punishment would have been severe as would that of the mother of Sapia because slaves in Sicily were forbidden to have sex among themselves unless they were married, which was not common.
In Codex A, most slaves are listed by owner, and sometimes it is possible to spot an original Tartar or Greek name among them. Five slaves: Paulino, Domenica, Filippa, Antonia, and an unnamed female which are designated ‘moro’ for the single male, and ‘mora’ for the four females (‘moro’ being the Sicilian term for ‘black person’ as opposed to ‘lu scavu’, t