16th Century Marriage Record

[brogie62]

I have a church marriage record from 1579 (Maria Santissima Annuziata in Acireale) for Domenico Pennisi and Giovanna Russo. On the 5th line down there is "No:" in front of the groom's name. Does anyone know what this means?

Thanks,
Kevin

[Chocopies]

My first guess is that it simply means 'name' like the abbreviation for nomine used in baptismal records of the same period. Why it is 'No' instead of 'Ne' beats me. Do any other records nearby this one use it too? Are there other matrimonial records made by Father Leonardo?

[brogie62]

In a discussion about this in a Facebook genealogy group we found multiple examples that fall into 2 main categories:

1) lu (or lo) no:/nob:
2) lu (or lo) ho:/hon:

Category 2 seems to mean "the honorable" (latin = honorabilis) and was broadly used in the time period.

Category 1 we settled on "nobilis" or noble but were uncertain of whether this meant actual Nobility or a reference to character. This particular usage was rarer than "lu ho:/hon:"

[brogie62]

This link has additional marriage records from Father Leonardo. Upper left has the "lu nob:" while upper right has " lu ho:"

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cat=681795

[Chocopies]

Yes, thank you, I see that now. It is definitely not 'name'/'nominavi'. There are also 'lu mg.' in front of the other names, which I would guess mean magistero, so it's very likely to be some sort of honorific and nobilis seems to be a reasonable interpretation. I noticed the priest's first name last night and thought I was seeing an 'e', but after taking a second look and seeing the groom's surname starts with a 'p' (Pennisi), I would guess the priests name would be Father Pietro Leonardo.

Do you happen to have a list of the abbreviations used in these Latin records such as common names, honorifics, living status etc.? I have only seen the FamilySearch one online. But, there seems to be so many more that were in use in Sicily.

[Chocopies]

Here is an example of where I have seen the 'N' with just punctuation to indicate that it is an abbreviation. I think here it just meant name. That's why I was confused.

[brogie62]

Nomen is common in baptism records.