The second case of Sciacca, sometimes also referred to as the third,By some authors, such as Isidoro La Lumia and Giuseppe Licata, the conflict was referred to as the "third case of Sciacca"; the first two would correspond to what most authors consider the "first case of Sciacca."La Lumia, p. 219Licata, p. 27 was the concluding part of the violent conflict fought between Sicily's noble families of de Luna and Perollo between 1455 and 1529, referred to as the "case of Sciacca."Savasta The main phases of the conflict were fought in the territories of the feudal town of BivonaMarrone, p. 53 and the demesne town of Sciacca,La Lumia, p. 218 both current Italian municipalities in the province of Agrigento in Sicily, in the summer months of 1529.Savasta, passimMarrone, passimSedita, passim
In addition to Sigismondo II de Luna and Giacomo Perollo, the real protagonists of the conflict, the second Sciacca case involved several personalities, from the relatives of the two enemies to the privateer Sericono Bassà, from Pope Clement VII to Emperor Charles V.
The case finally ended, at the end of February 1530, with the death of Sigismondo de Luna, which occurred more than seven months after that of his enemy Giacomo Perollo.Sedita, p. 79
Historical context The 16th century in Sicily was characterized by the constant discord among the feudal lords of the island.Marrone, p. 142 Being inhabited by several lords, many state-owned cities were bloodied by the struggles caused by the lust for dominance of each lord who, taking advantage especially of the weakness of the government, wanted to impose himself in the cities, flaunting luxury and power.
Sciacca, a port city in southwestern Sicily, was the home of numerous powerful noble families of the time: predominant over all were the Perollo family (a family of French origin, which had acquired a prominent role as early as the 13th century) and the Aragonese De Luna family, which also had possessions in other parts of Sicily (Bivona, Caltabellotta, Caltavuturo, Castellammare del Golfo).
In the early decades of the sixteenth century the Perollo family had become even more powerful through the good offices of Giacomo Perollo, lord of Pandolfina, who boasted a great friendship with Hector Pignatelli, viceroy of Sicily (both of whom were page boys at the court of the King of Spain during their boyhood).
Having been Sciacca's deputy in the Sicilian Parliament several times, he enjoyed a large following, both among the people and numerous patrician families.
Other families, however, resenting the attitudes and riches of the Perollo, plotted against them and pitted the de Luna against him, especially Sigismondo de Luna, "the most powerful of the lords of the area," a son of Giovanni Vincenzo de LunaMarrone, p. 94 (baron of Bivona,Marrone, p. 92 count of Caltabellotta and Sclafani, stratigotus of Messina, president of the Kingdom and lord of the port of Castellammare del Golfo)Marrone, p. 93 and husband of Luisa Salviati,Marrone, p. 140 daughter of Jacopo Salviati and Lucrezia de' Medici.Marrone, p. 141
The casus belli
The first clash between the two opposing factions occurred when about 30 of Count Luna's bravi, on their way from Bivona to Sciacca, were ambushed by a host of Perollo's armigers.Marrone, p. 143
The bravi of the de Luna, despite being wounded (among them the Bivonese Calogero Unda, "much esteemed by Count Luna"),Savasta, p. 189 managed to reach Sciacca to reinforce the number of the Aragonese family's armigers; their large numbers caused the Perollo to request mediation between the two lords, Giacomo Perollo and Sigismondo de Luna, from the archpriest of Sciacca Don Gabriele Salvo.
Peace was promised, but such a pact was in vain, since, not long afterwards, an episode triggered a real war between the two: after an attempt by Sigismondo failed, Giacomo Perollo succeeded in freeing, without ransom, the baron of Solunto, kidnapped earlier by the Barbary pirate Sinam Bassà (called Sericono or also "the Jew"),Savasta, p. 197 as well as ten other Christians.
The checkmate suffered by Sigismondo further worsened the relationship between the two lords; increasing Sigismondo's resentment, moreover, were above all the constant demonstrations of force and contemptuous attitudes ("even to the point of mocking him and calling him mad") of Giacomo Perollo toward him.
Stages of the conflict
Early stages The early stages of the conflict were characterized by constant murder and intimidation: Giovanni Vincenzo de Luna tried in vain to kill Giacomo Perollo; Girolamo Ferraro, a nobleman who had spoken words of peace before Sigismondo de Luna, was killed; some of Count de Luna's servants were clubbed; a bravo of Perollo's, Cola Stornello, was found dead (killed because "he had said before the de Luna house that his sword cut gold and silk.") a Bivonese man, whose name is known only (Matteo) wounded the archpriest of Sciacca Don Salvo because he was believed to be a partisan of Giacomo Perollo; Francesco Sanetta, captain of justice of Sciacca, broke into Sigismondo's house, along with some of the Perollo's braves, to search for armigers of the enemy.
A meeting held in Caltabellotta on 18 June 1529 (in which, most likely, Giovanni Vincenzo de Luna also participated) decreed the turning point of the conflict: Sigismondo "decided to shorten the time for the decisive clash" and arranged for all his supporters to gather in Bivona to join him, later, precisely in Caltabellotta.
The first clash at Sciacca On the night of 19 June 1529, one hundred armed men of the de Luna family, "ready to act at the most opportune moment," sneaked into Sciacca. A few days later a clash took place between the two opposing sides: two armigers of Perollo lost their lives on the occasion, which revealed the presence of a large number of followers of Sigismondo de Luna.
Therefore, Perollo had his friend Ettore Pignatelli, viceroy of Sicily, intervene directly: the latter sent Geronimo Statella, baron of Mongerbino, escorted by a company of infantrymen to Sciacca.Marrone, p. 144
The commander Statella, in his capacity as captain of justice, had some time before captured in Bivona Bastiano Napoli, bravo of Giovanni Vincenzo de Luna, and despite the protests of the count (who as a result of this episode "believed his rights of mero et mixto imperio had been infringed") had him hanged in the village, causing the protests and threats of the people who forced him to flee away from Bivona.
Statella arrived in Sciacca on 14 July: he banished some members of the Amato, Fontanetta and Lucchesi families, friends of the de Luna, from the town; he condemned other men who were enemies of the Perollo to death; and finally, he ordered Sigismondo de Luna to move away from Sciacca and disband his troops (which amounted to about 400 infantrymen and 300 cavalrymen).
Girolamo Statella in Bivona On his return trip to Messina, Girolamo Statella passed through Bivona on 16 July 1529: there he had twenty of Count de Luna's braves hanged, including Giorgio Grasta. The hanging was followed by an insurrection of the people of Bivona, and once again Statella was forced to flee the mountain town and head back to Sciacca. The following is a description of the episode taken from the work Cenno storico-politico-etnografico di Bivona by Giovan Battista Sedita, dated 1909:Sedita, p. 62
The massacre of Sciacca
Moving away from Sciacca, Sigismondo settled with his small army in the Verdura fief, near the mouth of the river of the same name, about ten miles east of the port city. Statella again ordered him to disband the troops, by Sunday, 22 July 1529: otherwise, Sigismondo would incur the crime of lese-majesty. Fearing an enemy attack, Giacomo Perollo sent his son Federico to Messina, to Viceroy Pignatelli; Federico Perollo left with sixty knights to ask for more reinforcements, but de Luna attacked sooner than expected.Marrone, p. 145
On the evening of 19 July, Sigismondo and his men stealthily entered Sciacca; at dawn, once Perollo's and Statella's houses were surrounded, de Luna ordered the attack. Girolamo Statella was killed by the Albanian Giorgio Comito, head of a squadron in Sigismondo's service: Comito, "chief of the Greeks"Savasta, p. 254 (the Arbëreshë of Sicily),Arbëreshë municipalities in Sicily: Contessa Entellina, Mezzojuso, Palazzo Adriano, Piana degli Albanesi, Santa Cristina Gela, all in the province of Palermo; Biancavilla, in the province of Catania, was also part of Arberia. carried out a personal revenge:Sedita, p. 65
Giacomo Perollo enclosed himself within the walls of his castle (the so-called "old castle," which has now practically disappeared), together with his men: Sigismondo, therefore, ordered an assault on the castle. On 20 July, the building was attacked four times, but all attempts were in vain. The bodies of the "most valiant" warriors and those of the nobles were taken to Bivona, as ordered by de Luna.
Perollo was also able to defend itself the following day, 21 July, in which several assailants lost their lives, including the Bivonese Antonio Di Noto, "a very valiant young man and held in high esteem by De Luna," and the Trapanese Giovanni Lipari, "a man of incredible valor."Sedita, p. 66 The warriors were also taken to Bivona.
On 22 July 1529 Sigismondo de Luna ordered the demolition of the castle gates: on this occasion he had eight pieces of artillery used, forming part of the defensive system of the city of Sciacca:Sedita, pp. 66–67
Sigismondo de Luna would accept the peace proposal made by the enemy only if he "came before him, kneeling, to beg forgiveness and kiss his foot."Sedita, p. 67 Due to the harshness of Count Luna's proposal, Giacomo Perollo refused, and the assault was also renewed the following day.
Perollo's death
On 23 July 1529, Sigismondo de Luna's men managed to break down the tower and gate of San Pietro, entering Perollo's castle and killing everyone they came across.
Giacomo Perollo managed to escape and hide in a private house (owned by a certain Luca Parisi): betrayed by one of his followers, Antonello Palermo (to whom Sigismondo had promised "all the large sum that the baron had brought"), Perollo was discovered and killed by Calogero Calandrino.
However, Sigismondo de Luna was not satisfied with his enemy's death:Sedita, p. 68
News of the baron's killing, "preceded and followed by so many excesses, so much slaughter and carnage," reached Perollo's friendsLa Lumia, p. 242 and Federico (Giacomo's son), who learned what had happened along the road from Messina to Sciacca).The mule track from Messina to Sciacca was thus traced: Messina-Catania-Caltanissetta-Castronovo-Bivona-Sciacca; cf. Sedita, p. 72 The latter, who was together with a contingent of troops that the viceroy had entrusted to him, warned his friend Pignatelli of the "very serious events that had taken place," and, aggregating some armed men sent to him by the marquis of Geraci between Caltanissetta and Polizzi, on 29 July 1529, he set out for Sciacca,Marrone, p. 146 vowing to "kill De Luna and tear his heart out of his chest."
Battle of Blood Valley
Sigismondo de Luna, knowing the moves of his adversaries with the help of his own secret spies, "fearing that he could not cope with the royal army,"Sedita, p. 70 retreated with all his men (more than 1,000 men, of whom as many as 130 were wounded) to Bivona, "his city, which would perhaps have known how to appreciate the many excesses, to which he had indulged."
Between Sciacca and Bivona, having reached the Verdura River, Onofrio Imbeagna, one of Perollo's killers, who had already been seriously wounded during the assault, died.
Count Luna arrived in Bivona on 1 August and had the defenses of the castle and town fortified: he had trenches made, forts, parapets and moats prepared.Sedita, pp. 70–71