This intriguing transformation turns a legend into a person of history.

The patron saint of Palermo, Italy (romanized as Balarm) is Santa Rosalia Sinibaldi. There’s no documented proof of her existence, so this historical tale imagines how Rosalia (Rusùlia in the book) may have lived, from her birth in 1130 to her death in 1165.

The daughter of a Lombard count and a Norman noblewoman, she was also a distant cousin of King Roger II (Rujari). Educated in the Norman palace of Qasr, Rusùlia was given in marriage by the king at age fourteen to the French Count Baudouin.

Rusùlia took refuge in a Basilian monastery to avoid the marriage. She then fled to her family estates and lived partly in a cave. Years later, she was forced to return to Balarm and became one of Queen Margaret’s ladies. Known for performing minor “miracles,” Rusùlia fled once more to live in another cave under Mount Pellegrino, where she lived until her death.

In 1642 during the plague in Balarm, her bones were discovered, taken down the mountain, and paraded round the city. Three days later, the plague disappeared.

ISBN-13: 9781682356012
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
Publication date: 04/15/2022
Pages: 194
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.45(d)