Capibreve
The Capibrevi are an important source on the fiefs of Sicily . While studying files in the royal chancellery, the secretary Gian Luca Barberi found that many tenants, both ecclesiastical and secular, were failing to fulfill their obligations to the crown. He therefore examined all the files in the office and summarized them in various Capibrevi (summaries). As a result of his study, some barons were arrested and their property confiscated. Since many documents were lost at a later date, the Capibrevi are a reliable source of the ownership structure of the fiefs in Sicily.
The Sicilian parliament fiercely opposed it on the grounds that King Ferdinand had sworn to respect the laws of Sicily. Among them was the law of King Alfonso of 1452, who recognized the barons as legal tenants if they were in possession of the fief.
Gian Luca Barberi did not escape the revenge of the barons. He was arrested on the pretext that he had murdered a black serf.
Editions
- G. Silvestri: I Capibrevi di Giovanni Luca Barberi. I feudi dei tre Valli di Sicilia, ora per la prima volta pubblicati. 3 volumes. Palermo 1879–1888 ( anastatic reprint 1985).
- G. Stalteri Ragusa (Ed.): Il Magnum Capibrevium dei feudi maggiori. 2 volumes. Palermo 1993.
- Giovan Luca Barberi: Beneficia Ecclesiastica, I Vescovadi e abbazie. a c. di I. Peri, Palermo 1962.
- Giovan Luca Barberi: Beneficia Ecclesiastica II. A c. di I. Peri, Palermo 1963.
- E. Mazzarese Fardella (Ed.): J. Luca de Barberiis Liber de Secretiis. (= Acta Italica. II). Milan 1966.