In 1647 Donato and Teodoro Marinazzo, two fishermen brothers, led a revolt in Brindisi. The result was the abolition of taxes and the election of a new mayor. But the following year a Spanish army of 500 men assaulted the town and the rebels were captured together with their leaders. Some of them were executed and some were incarcerated for many years.
In 1656 the plague killed 15000 people throughout the Kingdom of Naples, but Salento remained miraculously immune and S. Oronzo, S. Rocco and the Vergine of Carmelo were considered the saviours.
The town of Lecce dedicated a statue to S. Oronzo as a sign of gratefulness and Carlo Stea, the mayor of B. offered what remained of one of the two Roman Columns, which had mysteriously collpsed in 1520, to make the pedestal.