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Today In History

Started by Michael of Galway, January 29, 2010, 08:43:07 AM

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Michael of Galway

1547 King Henry VIII dies

1596 English Navigator Sir Francis Drake dies off the coast of Panama

1613 Galileo observes Neptune but fails to recognize what he sees

1574 Sea battle of Reimerswaal - Admiral Boisot defeats the Spanish fleet

1676Fjodor Aleksejevitsj becomes Czar of Russia

DragonWing

Well this looks like a good place for this.

This popped up on Yahoo news a little while ago.

Sleuths unravel 16th-century Italian murder mystery
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Twitter Yahoo! Bookmarks Print By Ella Ide ROME (Reuters Life!) - Police in Sicily have called in an international team of forensic scientists and criminologists to help solve the case of a murdered Baroness, 447 years after the crime. Ella Ide Rome (reuters Life!) - Police In Sicily Have Called In An International Team Of Forensic Scientists And Criminologists To Help Solve The Case Of A Murdered Baroness, 447 Years After The Crime. – Thu Feb 11, 12:32 pm ET
The investigation in Carini -- a small town near Palermo -- centers on the castle where Baroness Laura Lanza was killed in 1563 with her lover Ludovico Vernagallo when they were caught in bed together.

"Justice wasn't done back then," said Gaetano La Fata, Mayor of Carini, who has decided to reopen the case and exhume the remains of the lovers.

"We hope that DNA tests and criminal profiling will help us discover the motive behind the crime and establish whether there was more than one assassin," he told Reuters.

The Baroness's father Cesare confessed to the honor killing in a letter to the king, which is currently archived in the Chiesa Madre church in Carini.

"Legend has it, however, that Cesare Lanza did not act alone, but was helped by his son-in-law, Don Vincenzo La Grua," said the Mayor.

Rumours passed down through generations of Sicilians have it that the husband was motivated by plans to marry again. La Grua may also have feared his rival, Vernagallo, would attempt to claim financial rights for fathering children with his wife.

In reopening the 'cold case', La Fata has asked the local police to work together with the ICAA (International Crime Analysis Association) headed by Marco Strano, psychologist and criminologist for the Italian State Police.

"The idea for the investigation began as a joke," Strano told Reuters. "I visited Carini in June and when I met La Fata I teased him for not having resolved the murder yet, so he challenged me to solve it."

BLOODY HANDPRINT

"There was a trial held at the time, but though both father and son-in-law had their properties temporarily confiscated, they were soon declared innocent, probably thanks to their noble status and the legal right for fathers and husbands of adulterous women to commit honor killings," said Strano.

It is thought the two lovers are buried in a common grave under the crypt of the Chiesa Madre church in Carini.

"If we are lucky enough to find and identify their bones, it might be possible to verify the cause of death, whether they were run through with a sword or stabbed with a dagger. If there was more than one weapon used, it's likely there was more than one murderer."

The team of crime analysts, made up of American and Italian experts in forensic science and criminal pathology, are in the process of making a 3D computer model of the 11th century castle, including the room overlooking the Gulf of Carini where the murder took place.

"We hope to map the killer's path from the courtyard to the crime scene, and work out whether it's likely there were servants in that part of the building at the time who might have seen the murderer or an accomplice," Strano said.

The investigation coincides with a project to rebuild parts of Carini Castle that have collapsed over time. The crime scene has recently been restored. A red handprint has been painted on the wall to mark the spot where -- legend has it -- the struggling Baroness left a bloody imprint, which reappears every year to mark the anniversary of her murder.

Mayor La Fata hopes that the project will help unravel some of the mystery that surrounds the lovers, whose story continues to intrigue visitors and locals alike.

"Several years ago we tested areas of the castle we knew the Baroness lived in with electromagnetic field meters, and the results were very strange," La Fata said. "In certain rooms it was as if there were ghosts in the castle, as if the murdered Baroness lives on."

(Reporting by Ella Ide; Editing by Stephen Brown and Paul Casciato)
Dragon rider and mage,
(aka Vince)

DonaCatalina

Gaius Julius Caesar was murdered on 15 March 44 BC.


Theodorik the Great defeats and kills Odoaker of Italy on 15 March 493 B.C


Jeanne d'Armagnac, the daughter of Jean I d'Armagnac, Comte d'Armagnac, died 15 March 1387 
Aurum peccamenes multifariam texit
Marquesa de Trives
Portrait Goddess

jcbanner

Quote from: DragonWing on February 12, 2010, 09:32:51 AM
Police in Sicily have called in an international team of forensic scientists and criminologists to help solve the case of a murdered Baroness, 447 years after the crime.


you'd think that would be beyond any stature of limitations.


Quote from: DragonWing on February 12, 2010, 09:32:51 AM
"There was a trial held at the time, but though both father and son-in-law had their properties temporarily confiscated, they were soon declared innocent, probably thanks to their noble status and the legal right for fathers and husbands of adulterous women to commit honor killings," said Strano.


also, if it was legal at the time to kill an adulterous wife, then wouldn't this not technically be murder?  not saying I agree with that "right" but its really not possible to objectively judge the actions taken at one time and place with the values of another time and place

Jay Byrd

1550--France and England signed the Peace of Boulogne

1603--Scottich king James VI becomes King James I of England

Al-Nimer

Forgot to post this yesterday:
1943 -- Eric Idle is born in South Shields England
;D
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - Adam, Mythbusters

DonaCatalina

Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, died April 6, 1533, and lies buried in Ely cathedral

He had been a favourite of Henry VIII. who, after bestowing upon him other preferments, made him Bishop of Ely, and employed him in various embassies. Queen Catherine chose him as one of her advocates, in conjunction with Bishop Fisher.



Aurum peccamenes multifariam texit
Marquesa de Trives
Portrait Goddess

DonaCatalina

Aurum peccamenes multifariam texit
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Portrait Goddess

DonaCatalina

January 14, 1539 - Nicholas Carew convicted of treason.
Sir Nicholas Carew KG (c. 1496–3 March 1539) was an English courtier and diplomat during the reign of Henry VIII. He was executed for his alleged part in the Exeter Conspiracy.
Aurum peccamenes multifariam texit
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Portrait Goddess

Rowan MacD

On January 16th, 1547, Ivan IV of Russia (popularly known as "Ivan the Terrible") was crowned Czar.
  Historic sources present disparate accounts of Ivan's complex personality: he was described as intelligent and devout, yet given to rages and prone to episodic outbreaks of mental illness.
   In one such outburst he killed his groomed and chosen heir Ivan Ivanovich. This left the Tsardom to be passed to Ivan's younger son, the weak and intellectually disabled Feodor Ivanovich.
  Ivan was an able diplomat, a patron of arts and trade, founder of Russia's first Print Yard and  a leader highly popular among the common people of Russia; but he is also remembered for his paranoia and arguably harsh treatment of the nobility.
What doesn't kill me-had better run.
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19.7% FaireFolk pure-80.3% FaireFolk corrupt

DonaCatalina

Apparently no one did anything on January 17th in Medieval or Renaissance history.
Aurum peccamenes multifariam texit
Marquesa de Trives
Portrait Goddess

Norfolk

Given the existence of this thread, some of you may have an interest in a lovely little book by Claire Ridgway titled "This Day In Tudor History".  Is is available from Amazon, and is only $2.99 in the Kindle version.

http://www.amazon.com/This-Day-Tudor-History-ebook/dp/B00A03ETMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390319699&sr=8-1&keywords=this+day+in+tudor+history

Just call me "Your Grace"

DonaCatalina

Ferdinand II died January 23 in 1516 in Madrigalejo, Extremadura. He is entombed at la Capilla Real or the Royal Chapel of Granada, in Andalucia. Isabella I, Joanna I, and Philip I are beside him there.
Aurum peccamenes multifariam texit
Marquesa de Trives
Portrait Goddess

Rowan MacD

  Nothing of real note will happen tomorrow-but on the 25th:

1533: Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn
Anne had held out a long time, refusing to marry the king even though they had been carrying on an affair and he had repudiated his wife, Catherine of Aragon. But in early January Anne discovered she was pregnant, and it was most important for this heir to be legitimate. So she at last relented, and she and Henry were married in secret.
What doesn't kill me-had better run.
IWG wench #3139 
19.7% FaireFolk pure-80.3% FaireFolk corrupt

Rani Zemirah

I've been watching The Tudors lately (finally), and even though it is a... highly embellished version... it's still extremely entertaining.  I've noticed that in almost every episode there is someone writing to someone else, with official seals and such... and I occasionally wonder how much of these correspondences have survived.  So many different types of records were preserved from the daily lives of monarchs, and I would think that the Royal Secretary would likely have carefully put all received letters away for safe keeping... and anyone receiving a letter from a queen or king would surely treasure it simply for the source, correct?  I suppose I could do a simple search and find out how much has survived... but what I really wonder about is how much of that sort of thing is researched when writing the scripts for this sort of series, or film... and how much of it is just so much poetic license? 
Rani - Fire Goddess

Aut disce... aut discede