Dalla periferia al centro: I Notarbartolo duchi di Villarosa (secoli XVII-XVIII)

Nella seconda metà del Seicento i Notarbartolo, grazie alle attività economiche e alle alleanze matrimoniali portate avanti da Francesco senior (1630-1704) e dai suoi due figli, Gaetano (1655-1705) e Placido senior (1657-1701), costruiscono il nucleo del proprio patrimonio fondiario e passano dalla condizione di possidenti e benestanti di Caltanissetta, alla condizione di feudatari di provincia insigniti di un titolo baronale e in possesso di tre feudi di cospicua estensione. La politica matrimoniale adottata mira all’accrescimento del patrimonio e del potere, attraverso la creazione di una rete di alleanze; talvolta i matrimoni garantiscono, tramite l’apporto delle doti, la solidità economica necessaria all’acquisto di un nuovo feudo, in altri casi consentono di creare un legame con una famiglia in difficoltà, al fine di appropriarsi dei suoi possedimenti feudali. Prima ancora di avere effettivamente consolidato il proprio potere a livello locale, alcuni membri della famiglia – prima Placido senior e poi il figlio Francesco junior (1686-1750) – si spostano a vivere nella capitale, mentre il resto della famiglia continua a risiedere nei luoghi della recente affermazione, cooperando nella gestione del patrimonio fondiario. Sarà Francesco junior a traghettare i Notarbartolo nell’Olimpo dell’aristocrazia palermitana, mettendo in atto strategie che poco hanno a che fare con il possesso dei feudi e molto più con la gestione delle cariche pubbliche. Egli approfitta con abilità e lungimiranza della complessa congiuntura politica segnata da repentini cambi di dinastia e riesce a compiere una straordinaria ascesa politica e sociale, costruendo con abilità la propria carriera politica e ottenendo, grazie ad un’intelligente scelta matrimoniale, il titolo di duca di Villarosa. Nei decenni centrali del Settecento, al termine di un percorso di costruzione del potere durato quattro generazioni, con il solidale coinvolgimento di tutti i membri della famiglia in un vero e proprio “gioco di squadra”, i Notarbartolo duchi di Villarosa, spostatisi dalla “periferia” al “centro” del Regno, raggiungono l’acme delle loro fortune, collocandosi a pieno titolo nel novero della grande aristocrazia palermitana.In the second half of the seventeenth century the Notarbartolo family, thanks to their economic activities and the matrimonial alliances promoted by Francesco senior (1630-1704) and by his two sons, Gaetano (1655-1705) and Placido senior (1657-1701), constructs the nucleus of its landed property and passes from the condition of wealthy landowners from Caltanissetta to the condition of feudal lords of the province, honoured with a baronetcy. Even before completing the consolidation of their power on a local level, some members of the family - first Placido senior and then the son Francesco junior (1686-1759) - move to the capital, while the rest of the family continues to reside on the site of their recent affirmation, cooperating in the management of the estate. Francesco junior, with skill and foresight, takes advantage of the complex political situation characterised by sudden changes of the dominant dynasty and makes an extraordinary political and social ascent, constructing his own political career and obtaining, thanks to an opportune marriage, the title of Duke of Villarosa. In the mid-1700s, after a process of power construction that lasted four generations - and with the integral involvement and "teamwork" of all members of the family - the Notarbartolo Dukes di Villarosa reach the acme of their fortune, entering the ranks of the great Sicilian aristocracy

Alle origini dei Duchi di Villarosa: Francesco Notarbartolo (1630-1704)

L’ascesa economica del ramo della famiglia Notarbartolo che conseguirà il titolo di duchi di Villarosa si caratterizza per la rapidità e l’incisività d’azione del capostipite: Francesco Notarbartolo Alvarez d’Eván. Muovendosi con abilità nel quadro del sistema economico siciliano della seconda metà del Seicento, Francesco riuscì in breve tempo a costruire il nucleo del patrimonio fondiario della famiglia: nel volgere di un ventennio, tra gli anni ’70 e gli anni ’90 del XVII secolo, creò un patrimonio di feudi compatto e geograficamente ben definito, che si estendeva tra Castrogiovanni e Santa Caterina. L’operato del Notarbartolo è assimilabile ad altri casi simili, ma si caratterizza anche per una certa originalità d’azione, come dimostrano la personalissima soluzione fornita al problema della trasmissione di un patrimonio di recente acquisto, nonché la notevole lucidità nel delineare una politica matrimoniale e patrimoniale, che orienterà l’operato della famiglia per oltre un cinquantennio.The economic rise of the branch of the Notarbartolo family that would obtain the title of Duke of Villarosa was defined by the rapid and incisive action of the progenitor, Francesco Notarbartolo Alvarez d'Eván. Moving skilfully in the Sicilian economic framework of the second half of the seventeenth century, Francesco was quickly able to amass a nucleus of family estates: in the space of twenty years, between the 1670s and 1690s, he created a large number of compact and geographically well-defined feudal estates extending from Castrogiovanni to Santa Caterina. The accomplishments of Notarbartolo are comparable to other similar cases, but are also characterized by a certain originality, as demonstrated by his unique solution to the problem of handing down newly acquired assets and the great clarity in defining a marriage and financial policy that was to guide the family's actions for over fifty years

The Role of Medical Humanities in Prevention and Treatment of Patients With Chronic Diseases

In the field of prevention and treatment of patients with chronic diseases, biomedicine often shows its inability to be effective on a clinical level, despite its extraordinary scientifical growth. Through the analysis of a clinical vignette, the paper illustrates the skills and the solutions that could be applied to obtain awareness and compliance in chronic patients, using the expertise we can obtain from Medical Humanities

An ethical algorithm for rationing life sustaining treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic

The burning ethical question raised by the COVID-19 pandemic is how to deal fairly and ethically with a large number of patients simultaneously becoming critically unwell. Across the world, in both developed and developing countries, health systems are grappling with the possibility or the reality that the demand for intensive medical care will outstrip availability. There is a need for ethical guidelines on how to allocate treatment, but such guidelines are potentially highly controversial.1 In this commentary, we set out a simple algorithm (Figure 1), including what we take to be the essential ethical principles that ought to guide resource allocation in any country or setting as well as optional elements that will vary between countries depending on the weight placed on different ethical values (Table 1)

Factors affecting hesitancy to mrna and viral vector COVID-19 vaccines among college students in Italy

Vaccine hesitancy (VH) may be significant in jeopardizing efforts to mass containment of COVID-19. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on a sample of 2667 Italian college students, before the COVID-19 vaccines became available for this age group (from 7 May to 31 May 2021). An online survey was created to obtain information about socio-demographic, health-related, and psychological factors linked to mRNA and viral vector COVID-19 vaccines. Statistically significant higher VH (30.4%) and vaccine resistance (12.2%) rates were found for viral vector than mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (7.2% and 1.0%, respectively; p < 0.001). Factors related to viral vector VH were partially different from those related to mRNA VH. Students with greater endorsement on conspiracy statements and negative attitudes toward the vaccine had higher odds of being vaccine-hesitant or-resistant. Students who had received a previous COVID-19 test and who scored higher on the agreeableness personality dimension had lower odds to be vaccine-hesitant or-resistant. The willingness to choose the vaccine was related to the viral vector but not to the mRNA VH. Taking into consideration the factors involved in vaccine hesitancy/resistance in college students could represent a key public health strategy to increase vaccine coverage and reduce viral spreading

Solid Organ Transplantation During COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Web-based Survey on Resources’ Allocation

Background. Solid organ transplants (SOTs) are life-saving interventions, recently challenged by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SOTs require a multistep process, which can be affected by COVID-19 at several phases. Methods. SOT-specialists, COVID-19-specialists, and medical ethicists designed an international survey according to CHERRIES guidelines. Personal opinions about continuing SOTs, safe managing of donors and recipients, as well as equity of resources' allocation were investigated. The survey was sent by e-mail. Multiple approaches were used (corresponding authors from Scopus, websites of scientific societies, COVID-19 webinars). After the descriptive analysis, univariate and multivariate ordinal regression analysis was performed. Results. There were 1819 complete answers from 71 countries. The response rate was 49%. Data were stratified according to region, macrospecialty, and organ of interest. Answers were analyzed using univariate- multivariate ordinal regression analysis and thematic analysis. Overall, 20% of the responders thought SOTs should not stop (continue transplant without restriction); over 70% suggested SOTs should selectively stop, and almost 10% indicated they should completely stop. Furthermore, 82% agreed to shift resources from transplant to COVID-19 temporarily. Briefly, main reason for not stopping was that if the transplant will not proceed, the organ will be wasted. Focusing on SOT from living donors, 61% stated that activity should be restricted only to "urgent"cases. At the multivariate analysis, factors identified in favor of continuing transplant were Italy, ethicist, partially disagreeing on the equity question, a high number of COVID-19- related deaths on the day of the answer, a high IHDI country. Factors predicting to stop SOTs were Europe except-Italy, public university hospital, and strongly agreeing on the equity question. Conclusions. In conclusion, the majority of responders suggested that transplant activity should be continued through the implementation of isolation measures and the adoption of the COVID-19-free pathways. Differences between professional categories are less strong than supposed

"Old Humanities and New Science": Osler's legacy

Nowadays the call for a return to the centrality of man and the thrust toward humanization of medicine are growing stronger: in this respect we think that William Osler’s life can be considered as one of those exemplar lives that changed the course of medicine, as he was able to overcome the duality of science and humanity, focusing on the ethical values capable of bridging the past to the future of medicine