Editing Matteo Norte (section)

== Early life ==
Matteo was born in Aversa on 6 April 1824. His father, [[Vittorio Nostrini]], headed the northern branch of the family. Matteo was raised as a Roman Catholic at a time when members of the branch increasingly used Norte in civil and household records.

As a child, Matteo received instruction in handwriting and basic accounts. He began assisting clerks at the [[Casa di San Michele]] when he was twelve. His work consisted of copying short entries and arranging papers for collection. In 1840, aged sixteen, he was trusted to carry requested civil-status extracts between the Aversa civil office and family households.

Matteo began removing certified extracts of birth entries from packets that had not yet been collected. He passed them to a local intermediary, who altered names or dates before selling them as false proof of identity or age. The original birth registers remained in the civil office and were not altered.

The missing papers were discovered in November 1841 when clerks compared the outstanding packets with the office's issue register. Vittorio returned the documents that could be recovered and paid the unpaid fees. Matteo was dismissed from the work and was no longer permitted to handle municipal records. He was seventeen at the time and was not given another position in the family archive.