Laura Lanza

Laura Lanza, Baroness of Carini (1529 – 4 December 1563) was an Italian noblewoman who was murdered, allegedly by her father, in Carini, Sicily, for having committed adultery.

Biography Laura Lanza di Trabia was born to Cesare Lanza, Baron of Trabia and Count of Mussomeli, and Lucrezia Gaetani. She had a younger sister named Giovanna and two half-siblings from her father's second wife, Castellana Centelles: Ottavio, 1st Prince of Trabia, and Margherita. She was born in Trabia and spent her adolescence in Palermo. On 14 December 1543, at the age of fourteen, Laura was married to Don Vincenzo II La Grua-Talamanca, son of the baron of Carini Pietro III and Eleonora Manriquez. After that, she moved to their castle, where she gave birth to eight children.

Murder On 4 December 1563 Laura was caught with her lover, Ludovico Vernagallo, a cousin of her husband's. This resulted in a crime of passion, and they were murdered in her bedchamber in the Carini Castle. Her father, Cesare Lanza, Count of Trabia, confessed to the killing in a letter which he wrote to Philip II of Spain, but her husband was also suspected on account of rumors that he planned to marry again. It is also believed that La Grua-Talamanca may have killed Vernagallo to prevent Vernagallo from receiving the Lanza inheritance if he had an illegitimate child with Lanza. One reason proposed for Cesare being willing to accept the blame is that the crime qualified as an honor killing and therefore socially acceptable by the Italian nobility at the time.

In 2007, Italian state television (RAI) aired a two-part drama with the role of the Baroness played by Italian actress, Vittoria Puccini.

In the 1990 film The Godfather Part III, Michael Corleone and Kay watches a play depicting the story, which mirrors the relationship of Vincent and Mary Corleone in the film.