abbreviations in 1590 death notice

[linbbo70]

Hi,

It seems that in church records from 1590, only the head of households name is recorded with a brief notation before his name if the death is a family member. This seems odd, and I may be misinterpreting the records, but there is obvious reference to wives and children, whereas the head of household is listed without other prefix or code. For example, above Vincenzo Palumbo, #8, is a reference to "la moglie di..." Number 1 has the name of the deceased without reference to anyone else. I am primarily interested in knowing what the 4 letter abbreviation before Vincenzo Palumbo means. Elsewhere it seems to be la or lo f(iglio/figlia?).

Thanks for any help.

Ray

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=1493344

[erudita74]

The sep is the abbreviation for the Latin word sepultus or sepulta (buried). The abbreviation which begins with the letter c I believe is for the word corpus (body). I think what precedes these two words is the word fu.

Erudita

[PippoM]

My guess is "4 sep(tember) la f(iglia) di m(astro) Vin(cen)zo Palumbo"
Of course, I can't be sure

[erudita74]

Pippo
I don't agree that the sep refers to the month. Go a few more pages and you will see another month and look at this link below and the word written out in the left column is for buried

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=1493344

[PippoM]

Erudita,
you are right!
I hadn't even seen the link. It must be "Si sep(pellì)".
Otherwise, there should have been a slaughter on Sep 4th.

[erudita74]

Hi Pippo,
Glad we're in agreement and, as always, I appreciate your input concerning the correct Latin spelling. Your knowledge of the Latin language certainly surpasses mine, and I've been learning a great deal from you, and the other native Italian volunteers on this forum, who have studied that language for so many more years than I have. Thanks again for the backup.
Erudita

[linbbo70]

Hi All,
I agree that "sep" is probably "sepultus." It would be nice if the "c" is for the word corpus (body), and that "fu" precedes these two words, as erudita74 suggests, however this is not constant throughout the document, as I would expect it to be if that were the case. In fact in the same position right above it is "la moglie, (the wife)" which would tend to dispute that interpretation. "la f(iglia) di m(astro) Vin(cen)zo Palumbo," was my original guess, as was PippoM's, but, then it would appear that only the head of the family is actually named in these death notices, and his wife and children are his possessions. His wife died, or his children died, all nameless. This is suggested by the death notice right after Palumbo. This appears to be the name of a person without "lafi," "la moglie," or any reference to another person.

If this is the case, it is odd indeed.

Thanks, Ray

[erudita74]

Ray

I need to correct a mistake I made in my reply, as Pippo so kindly and sensitively pointed out to me. Your record IS in Italian, and not in Latin, so the abbreviation "sep" is for the Italian word for buried that Pippo typed in his reply above, and not for the Latin word which I typed in mine. Granted the abbreviation could be for either word, as both words begin with the same three letters, but I just wanted to clarify that the Italian spelling is the correct one and the Latin spelling is not. So sepultus is incorrect.

Erudita

[mmogno]

My guess is "4 sep(tember) la f(iglia) di m(astro) Vin(cen)zo Palumbo"
Of course, I can't be sure

My guess:
"a 13
si sep(ellì) la f(iglia) di m(astro) Vin(cen)zo Palumbo"

[linbbo70]

HI,
I presume that if there are no other explanations, that the records do show only the patriarch's name, and not that of his family members. I don't know why this is, but can imagine a few scenarios.

One final request, still with a Palumbo, but from 1619 (the above is from 1590), any guesses as to what the first name is?

Thanks, Ray

[mmogno]

Eustachio

[erudita74]

HI,
I presume that if there are no other explanations, that the records do show only the patriarch's name, and not that of his family members. I don't know why this is, but can imagine a few scenarios.

One final request, still with a Palumbo, but from 1619 (the above is from 1590), any guesses as to what the first name is?

1615 palumbo.jpg

Thanks, Ray

Ray

It was the Council of Trent in the mid 1500s which dictated that the parishes had to keep vital records, but it did not specify what format those records had to take, or what content had to be included in them. I've seen very early parish records with the name of the person being baptized, or the name of the deceased, with only the date of the event, and no other info being given. For baptism records, one possible explanation of only a father's name being given is that there was a purification period for the mother who had just given birth, so she didn't leave the house and wasn't present at the infant's baptism. It was the midwife who had assisted with the birth who actually carried the infant through the streets to the church, accompanied by the new infant's father, along with relatives, friends, and neighbors. So, the lack of the mother's presence at the baptism ceremony may be one explanation as to why she wasn't named in a baptism record. It wasn't that the mother was unknown. I can't though explain why the death records would only list the father's name and not the mother's. As far as I know, it was just the way the priest and/or his cleric decided to record the deaths in his parish.

Erudita

[linbbo70]

mmogno: It looks like Eustachio, but it would be a first.

Erudita: Too bad the C of T didn't order priests and scribes to take handwriting courses. One explanation of the death recording was that it was of an infant, and in that case only the mother's or father's name needed to be recorded. Sounds reasonable, but that doesn't explain why the wife in the record above wasn't named. Also, I could not find a baptism in any records extant in Militello or surrounding cities that corresponded to the death notice. Many questions few answers.

One last question. A man named Antonio Sparta' (b. 1636) retains his name until 1709. In the 1710 stati delle anime, he becomes Sparta' Palumbo, and remains so (although recorded as 'alias') until his death. His children eventually added Palumbo to their name. To my knowledge the Palumbos were not nobility, although all of the males were 'magistri,' and a street was named after them in Militello, which is now gone. Was there a reason why a male would do this?

Thanks, Ray

[linbbo70]

This might clarify the problems with the desth notices I referred to above.

In 1614, the introduction of the Rituale Romanum established a duty for all Catholic parishes to keep records of burials but did not require they include information about age at death. While some parishes already possessed the ‘books of burials’ before 1614, as a rule these sources are quite rare before around 1600. The city books of the dead, while sometimes available since the fifteenth century, are rare and exist only for some of the main cities.

Similar records already existed for baptisms and marriages, whose registration had been made mandatory by the Council of Trent in 1563.

Distilledd from an article by Guido Alfani

Ray

[erudita74]

Ray
I'm not familiar with the Rituale Romanum and am glad you brought it to my attention. Was this something which mainly affected church death/burial records in the northern part of Italy? Anyway, I will look further into this topic and educate myself about it. Thanks for the info.
Erudita