Laura Lanza, Baroness of Carini (1529 – 4 December 1563) was an Italian noblewoman who was murdered, allegedly by her father, in

Carini Carini (, ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, by rail west-northwest of Palermo. It has a population of 37,752. History Timaeus, in the thirteenth book of his work Histories, said that it was called Hycc ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, for having committed

adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...

Biography

Laura Lanza di Trabia was born to Cesare

Lanza Lanza may refer to: means "spear" or "lance" People Surname * Adam Lanza (1992–2012), perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting * Alcides Lanza (1929–2024), Canadian composer * Andrew Lanza (born 1964), New York State senator * ...

, Baron of

Trabia Trabia ( Sicilian: A Trabbìa'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. Trabia borders the following municipalities: Altavilla Milicia, Caccamo, Castel ...

and Count of

Mussomeli Mussomeli (''Mussumeli'' in Sicilian language, Sicilian) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy. History Mussomeli is claimed to have been founded in the 14th century by Chiaramonte, Manfredo III Chiaramonte wit ...

, and Lucrezia Gaetani. She had a younger sister named Giovanna and two half-siblings from her father's second wife, Castellana Centelles: Ottavio, 1st Prince of Trabia, and Margherita. She was born in Trabia and spent her adolescence in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. On 14 December 1543, at the age of fourteen, Laura was married to Don Vincenzo II La Grua-Talamanca, son of the baron of

Pietro III and Eleonora Manriquez. After that, she moved to their castle, where she gave birth to eight children.

Murder

On 4 December 1563 Laura was caught with her lover, Ludovico Vernagallo, a cousin of her husband's. This resulted in a

crime of passion A crime of passion (), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger or jealousy rather than as a premeditated crime. A ...

, and they were murdered in her bedchamber in the Carini Castle. Her father, Cesare Lanza, Count of Trabia, confessed to the killing in a letter which he wrote to

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

, but her husband was also suspected on account of rumors that he planned to marry again. It is also believed that La Grua-Talamanca may have killed Vernagallo to prevent Vernagallo from receiving the Lanza inheritance if he had an illegitimate child with Lanza. One reason proposed for Cesare being willing to accept the blame is that the crime qualified as an

honor killing An honor killing (American English), ''honour killing'' (Commonwealth English), or ''shame killing'' is a type of murder in which a person, usually a woman or girl, is killed by or at the behest of male members of their family or their male ...

and therefore socially acceptable by the Italian nobility at the time. The confessional

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

is housed at the Cathedral in Carini. King Philip II granted pardons to the murderers, who cited medieval law in their defense. La Grua did marry again in 1565 to Ninfa Ruiz, who died less than a year after their marriage.

Legacy

There is a popular legend that, on the anniversary of Baroness Lanza's murder, her bloody

handprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

will appear on a particular spot on her chamber wall. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Carini, in conjunction with a project to restore the famed

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

to its 16th-century appearance, has reopened the case for

forensic Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

study. In 2007, Italian state television (

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

) aired a two-part drama with the role of the Baroness played by Italian actress,

Vittoria Puccini Vittoria Puccini (born 18 November 1981) is an Italian film and television actress. Career Since her success as the lead actress in 2003–2005 costume drama television series '' Elisa di Rivombrosa'', Puccini has continued to work in televisio ...

. An Italian TV miniseries ''L'amaro caso della baronessa di Carini'' was released in November 1975, starring

Janet Ågren Lena Janet Yvonne Ågren (born 6 April 1949) is a Swedish former actress and model. She starred primarily in Italian exploitation films. Life and career Ågren was born in Landskrona, Sweden, a town she once described to Italian entertainment ...

and Ugo Pagliai. In the 1990 film

The Godfather Part III ''The Godfather Part III'' is a 1990 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Jo ...

Michael Corleone Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather''. In the The Godfather (film series), three ''Godfather'' films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portr ...

and Kay watches a play depicting the story, which mirrors the relationship of Vincent and Mary Corleone in the film.

Biography

Murder

Legacy

References

Further reading