Paternò (noble family)

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Family coat of arms

Paternò is the name of an Italian noble family from Sicily that has flourished to this day and belongs to the high nobility .

history

The founder of the family was Robert d'Embrun (approx. 1050 - after 1100), who belonged to the House of Barcelona , whose coat of arms (with a blue diagonal stripe above, as a symbol for a younger line) still leads the Paternò family to this day. Robert d'Embrun was a descendant of Bernard I. Tallaferro , the Count of Besalú . Robert took part in the Norman conquest of Sicily under Roger I and received the towns of Paternò and Buccheri as fiefs , which remained in the family's possession until 1167. Robert was followed by his nephew Robert II, and then by his son Constantin II, Count von Buccheri and Martana, who married Mathilde dell'Aquila, a niece of Rogers I.

(Incidentally, the Paternò family should not be confused with the House of Montcada , also from Catalonia , which gained control of the former ancestral seat of the Paternò family, the town of Paternò , from 1456 and which received the title of Prince of Paternò in 1565 , which the Italian Moncada received to this day.)

The important position that the Paternò held in the Kingdom of Sicily under the Normandy rulers from the House of Hauteville did not initially continue under the Hohenstaufen dynasty, but revived under the subsequent Aragón dynasty and the subsequent long period under the Spanish crown. From the 12th to the 16th century they acquired around 60 baronies, including 1170 Pettineo , 1292 Burgio , 1340 Pantano di Catania, 1392 Nicchiara, 1422 Mirabella Imbaccari, 1453 Graneri, 1478 Sparacogna, 1479 Aragona, 1490 Spedalotto, 1503 Raddusa, 1503 Destra a . a.

At the beginning of the 15th century, three brothers founded the three branches of the family:

  • Nicola “il Maggiore” († 1428), first Baron of Floresta since 1399 , in 1423 of Terza Dogana, royal councilor and judge, married Alvira Reggio, daughter of Hyacinth of Mantua. The lines that are still in bloom come from them: The Princes of Sperlinga dei Manganelli; the Dukes of Roccaromana and Marchesi del Toscano; the Marchesi di Sessa. With Benedetto Paternò, 2nd Baron della Floresta, they were accepted into the ruling families of the city of Catania ;
  • Benedetto, Baron del Pantano Salso; a line that died out in the 16th century descended from him;
  • Gualterio, Baron del Burgio, Baron dei Porti and delle Marine di Val di Noto, Baron di Imbaccari; Ambassador of the Aragonese kings to Pope Martin V. From him also flowering lines descend: the princes of Biscari; the dukes of Carcaci; the Marchesi di San Giuliano; the dukes of Duchi; the Principi di Val di Savoja; the Marchesi di Raddusa; the Marchesi di Regiovanni and di Spedalotto (since 1790 residing in the Villa Spedalotto in Santa Flavia ); the Dukes of San Nicola, of Pozzomauro and Counts of Montecupo.

For centuries, the Paternò provided presidents of the government council, military leaders of Messina, chief judges, grand treasurers, vicars general of the kingdom, ambassadors, senators, bishops, archbishops and cardinals.

In the 17th century the youngest line took on the surname "Paternò Castello" as a result of their marriage to the last heiress of the House of Castello and inherited the castle built from 1494 by Guglielmo Raimondo Lo Castello together with the Biscari lordship , for which the Paternò was the first Sicilian fief in 1633 The noble family were given the title of prince: Principe di Biscari , which was followed by many others: Principi di Sperlinga e Manganelli (transferred to the Borghese through marriage in 1927 ), Principi di Valsavoja, Duchi di Carcaci , di Roccaromana, di San Nicola e di Pozzomauro, Marchesi di Raddusa , di San Giuliano, di Casanova (the latter had palazzi built in the 18th century near the royal residences on the Capodimonte in Naples and in Caserta ), di Sant'Alessio, di Papale, di Graniti, di Gallodoro and Motta Camastra, di Pollicarini, di Regiovanni, di Sessa, del Toscano (based in the Palazzo del Toscano in Catania, built in 1870 ), Conti di Montecupo e Casanova; Baroni di Binvini; Baroni di Belliscari; Baroni di Cuba e Maucino; Baroni d'Aragona etc. Don Enrico Paternò Castello di Carcaci (1840–1908) became Duca Paternò Castello in 1881 .

In addition to the Alliata , Filangeri , Gravina , Lancia , Moncada , Notarbartolo , Spucches , Stagno , Tomasi di Lampedusa , Valguarnera and Ventimiglia , the Paternò belong to the great princely houses of the former Kingdom of Sicily . After the famous novel The Gattopardo , these are sometimes referred to as The Leopards .

The princes of Biscari

family members

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows four golden posts in red , covered by a blue sloping bar .

literature

  • Francesco Paternò di Carcaci, I Paternò di Sicilia, Catania, 1935
  • G. Carrelli, Hauteville e Paternò, in Rivista Araldica, n.3, 1932
  • Gaetano Savasta, Storia di Paternò, Catania 1905

Web links

Commons : House of Paternò  - collection of images, videos and audio files