Salento: Thanks. Some people forget, not you, that everything South of Rome, starting with the Normans was a united Kingdom with leadership from Sicily (Kingdom of Sicily or 2 Sicilies) or from Naples (Kingdom of Naples). I would think, pure hypothesis, that your personal history is not uncommon, as people moved within the territory, military men stationed from point A to point B, trade from area to area and movement for work, etc. If you go back to the Roman era all the way up to the Byzantine period, those same areas were united as well. The only bleep in the history was when the Saracens invaded and had control in Sicily, Total control was not obtained till about 965. I think they had control of Puglia for about 30 years, or maybe the region around Bari and invaded and sacked Rome a few times but never had enough forces to sustain the expansion.
Your story is also interesting to me because when I was in Trapani, I went to the town where my Great Grandfather was born and the locals kept telling me "non-communale", well it is present in Sicily but not to the level it is in Naples. And the name when I did a surname search on where it populates the most it is in Naples. Not saying that my ancestors 250-300 years ago were in Naples and then moved to NW Sicily but you never no. On the other hand, my Mother's maiden name is one of the 5 most common family names in Sicily and her Father's mother's maiden name definitely from Sicily as it is the name of a town in the Province of Ragusa (which shows up on the map below). I have traced my Fathers Paternal Great Grandfather's lineage back to the late 1700's using Ancestry and my own personal research when I was in Trapani last summer but the civil records in Sicily, like elsewhere in Italy I think usually stop around 1800. However, Catholic Sacrament records are on file with either Local Parish or Diocese (Bishop) and date back to the Council of Trent (1534-1563) era which is exciting but from what I gathered it is not easy to get a chance to review Sacrament records if you are not doing personal research and not academic type research, etc.
View attachment 12078View attachment 12079
I have not made my Ancestry public. I might have to email you and see what you have done as you get back into the 1800's. I got that far back by finding a Marriage or birth record in early 1800's which would have parents name and age, where they were from, who the grandparents were ect. I just found the other night on my Mothers side her Father's Grandfather's wedding document which had his birth record and who presented him at birth, with parents name and dates, etc, but it gets tougher once you get past 1800.
Cheers, How was the allegorical Vinno I sent the other day! Sorry the 2 jpeg.s blurred together a bit.