shoulders of these men which fell the burden of assuring that everyone in the Termini was baptized.
The baptismal records of Codex A, which are archived at San Nicola Bari, commence on May 1, 1542. The entries include all sectors of Termini’s population, from the highest-placed Baron down through the professionals and artisans, coming to rest with the slaves at the very bottom; indeed, no one was excluded. One might say that a Baptismal record for Sicilians, in addition to giving proof that the stain of Original Sin had been removed, was its function as Sicilian identification. Without such an entry being available in the archives, a visit from a representative of the Spanish Inquisition was inevitable. Just the thought of spending time in prison or rowing in the galleys of the infamous Spanish Armada, not to mention losing a part of one’s property to boot, must have been a strong incentive for owners of slaves, in particular, to make sure that their ‘property’ had received the Sacrament. So, needless to say, Baptism was taken very seriously in Termini Imerese.
Another interesting aspect of Baptisms in Termini is that, despite the fact that the town had a plethora of churches (many built by guilds and confraternities to care for the souls of departed members suffering in Purgatory) this Sacrament appears to have been administered primarily at the 15th-century church dedicated to San Nicola Bari. This arrangement is all the more puzzling because the nearby Cathedral of San Giacomo, once the seat (cathedra) of a bishop, would certainly have been a more logical venue. To be sure, because of Termini’s engineering marvel known as the Cornelio Aqueduct, any church in Termini could have had a excellent water supply.
Baptismal records from later in the 16th century record the original Miraculi (Santa Maria della Consolazione) as a second venue where baptisms were performed. Many towns in Europe had a special building, a Baptistery, for this purpose, and San Nicola Bari, known today as the Mother Church (primary church), appears to have had such an exterior structure at one time.
In the following image, a small round baptistery appears to the left of San Nicola Bari. The larger structures to the left of the baptistery includes a town fountain and a Roman amphitheater. To the right of the church, high on a rocky hill, is the Moorish castle. This painting is located in the Council Hall of the Municipio, and is part of a series of frescoes created by Francesco Barbera in 1610 which chronicle the history of Termini Imerese.
In an age when writing was an art practiced only by the few educated folks in any town, it was important to have important records located in a central repository where professional scribes (notaries) could easily work on them, and San Nicola functioned as that place for many years, even when baptisms began to be performed elsewhere in Termini. The language utilized by the scribes who composed Codex A is Ecclesiastical Latin with unique Sicilian overtones, the latter being necessary to convey the surnames of the residents of Termini Imerese, in particular. It is to be noted that, in an effort to save space on the written page, Ecclesiastical Latin tends to be expressed in contractions and abbreviations.
Here are several versions of the name Giovanni Battista as it appears within the pages of the 1542-48 Baptismal Records:
In the list above, the first seven versions of the name in the manuscript are abbreviations of Giovanni Battista ranging from complex to simple. (Older styles of the letters ‘s ‘and ‘i ‘are used rather interchangeably with the current manner of writing these letters.) It is only in the final three items that the actual name in 16th-century Sicilian emerges, and in three variants: Iommatista, Iambattista, and Ioambatista.
For a complete discussion of the scholarly criteria followed in the present translation of Codex A, see the section: Translation of Codex A from the original Sicilian-Latin.
It is clear from the rubrics found throughout Codex A, that this is an official government document. Indee