Strapazzandola di parole...Maltrattandola a più un posso. Una lite tra fratello e sorella nella Sicilia del Seicento

In this article, I examine the long judicial dispute between Anna Ruffo and her older brother Placido Ruffo, prince of Scaletta, firstborn and heir of the great Messinese businessman and collector Antonio Ruffo. The object of the dispute was Anna’s request to be compensated for what she was owed from her father’s huge patrimony, since her brother had forced her to accept a paltry sum, hoping that she would become a nun. Anna, despite threats and blows from her brother, was able to marry Muzio Spatafora,who belonged to a powerful family of Messina. Her case was therefore that of a woman who managed to escape enforced monasticism, unlike many other young aristocrat women during the modern age. Keys word: