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Died 4 December 1563, Carini, Italy | ||
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Laura Lanza, Baroness of Carini (1529 – 4 December 1563) was an Italian noblewoman who was murdered, allegedly by her father, in Carini, Sicily, for having committed adultery.
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Laura's murder
On 4 December 1563 Laura was caught with a man who was not her husband, Don Vincenzo La Grua Talamanca, Baron of Carini. This resulted in a crime of passion, and she was murdered in her bedchamber in Carini Castle, along with her lover Ludovico Vernagallo.
Her father, Cesare Lanza, Count of Trabia, confessed to the killing in a letter which he wrote to Philip II of Spain, but her husband was also suspected on account of rumors that he planned to marry again. It is also believed that La Grua 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 and therefore socially acceptable by the Italian nobility at the time.
The confessional letter is housed at the Chiesa Madre church 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 will appear on a particular spot on her chamber wall.
The mayor of Carini, in conjunction with a project to restore the famed castle to its 16th century appearance, has reopened the case for forensic study.
In 2007, Italian state television (RAI) aired a two-part drama with the role of the Baroness played by Italian actress, Vittoria Puccini.