Belmonte Calabro: Difference between revisions
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*Donna Francesca di Paola Maria Elisabetta Granito Pignatelli, heir apparent to the 13th Prince, (27th February 1974 - ) |
*Donna Francesca di Paola Maria Elisabetta Granito Pignatelli, heir apparent to the 13th Prince, (27th February 1974 - ) |
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The Granito ancestors of the Prince Belmonte obtained the feudality of Castellabate, near Salerno, in 1700. The title of Marquis of Castellabate was conferred on 29th November 1745. The feudality, which included the portolania of Omignano and jurisdiction over the lands of Rocca di Cilento, Montecorice, S. Maria a Mare, Rutino and San Lorenzo was inherited by Don Angelo from his father Don Paris on 20th July 1767; from Don Angelo it passed to Don Luigi, his son. As there was no heir in that line, the succession passed to the second son of Don Gioacchino, Don Angelo, born on 29th October 1782. He married Donna Francesca di Paola (Paolina) Pignatelli, who was 10th Princess of Belmonte in her own right. Thus Don Angelo became Prince of Belmonte by marriage. |
The Granito ancestors of the Prince Belmonte obtained the feudality of Castellabate, near Salerno, in 1700. The title of Marquis of Castellabate was conferred on 29th November 1745. The feudality, which included the portolania of Omignano and jurisdiction over the lands of Rocca di Cilento, Montecorice, S. Maria a Mare, Rutino and San Lorenzo was inherited by Don Angelo from his father Don Paris on 20th July 1767; from Don Angelo it passed to Don Luigi, his son. As there was no heir in that line, the succession passed to the second son of Don Gioacchino, Don Angelo, born on 29th October 1782. He married Donna Francesca di Paola (Paolina) Pignatelli, who was 10th Princess of Belmonte in her own right. Thus Don Angelo became Prince of Belmonte by marriage. |
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==Acerenza== |
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==Galatone== |
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==Copertino== |
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==San Vincenzo== |
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Revision as of 18:21, 11 March 2006
Principe di Belmonte or Prince Belmonte is the name and senior title of an Italian dynasty, tracing its roots back to the 11th Century. The family were granted the Belmonte titles from the late 16th Century, and were feudal lords of southern Italy (Puglia and Calabria), as well as holding senior positions and lands in northern Spain.
Belmonte or Belmonte Calabro, Italy
The town from which the princely title of Belmonte is taken is perched on a hilltop on the coast of Calabria in Southern Italy. The town is known today as Belmonte Calabro.
Belmonte was founded in about 1270, under the reign of Charles I of Sicily (also Charles of Anjou, and King of Naples 1282-1285), with the construction of a castle by Drogone di Beaumont, the marshal responsible for new fortification in Calabria. The castle at Belmonte was intended to provide resistance against partisans fighting for the Duke of Swabia. It was constructed in the territory of Amantea in order to maintain control over the citizen body, which was supportive of Conrad V, last of the Hohenstaufen dynasty.
During the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282), Belmonte was conquered by Sicilian-Aragonese troops. Belmonte was elevated to the status of county, and assigned to Peter Salvacossa. In 1360 the county was awarded by Queen Giovanna to a family of Amantea, which maintained it until 1443. In that year the Aragonese transformed Belmonte into a barony and assigned it to the Tarsia family, who maintained it until 1578. During the feudal tenure of this family the petrarchan poet Galeazzo di Tarsia composed his canzoniere or Book of Songs in the castle of Belmonte.
Under the Tarsia lordship, Belmonte was besieged several times: during the invasions of Charles VIII of Valois and Louis XII, by the French between 1495 and 1503, and again in 1528 under the French marshal Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec. The Tarsia were succeeded by the Ravaschieri Fieschi, of the Counts Fieschi di Lavagna, an ancient family of powerful Genovese bankers. Feudal tenure of Belmonte is recorded to have been purchased from the Tarsia for 28,220 ducats. Under the Ravaschieri churches were constructed in Belmonte, fortifications built and palaces laid out. In 1619 the title of Prince was granted to the Ravaschieri by King Philip III of Spain.
The Principate of Belmonte was further enlarged in 1630 with the purchase of the town of Amantea and the manor of Saint Peter. In 1647, during the revolt of Masaniello, the Prince provided 200 of his armed Belmontese vassals to Naples to assist the Viceroy. In 1685, the Ravaschieri family had no male heir, and the principate of Belmonte passed first to the Pinelli by marriage and then in 1722 again by marriage to the Pignatelli Princes.
HSH (His Serene Highness) Prince Antonio Pignatelli, also the 6th Prince Belmonte by marriage, was one of the most powerful men in Italy- even minting his own coinage which included the famous "zecchino of Belmonte", a gold coin on which appears both the Prince's head and coat of arms. In 1806 and 1807 Belmonte memorably supported Amantea and Fiumefreddo while under siege by French troops commanded by General Peyri. Belmonte's castle was the last to surrender. Under the French, Belmonte became the centre of the admininistrative area of Crati, comprising the territory that reaches from Amantea to Guardia Piemontese and including the cities of Aiello, Altilia, Mangone and Rogliano. With the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, Belmonte gained the additional name of Calabro, to distinguish it from other Italian places of the same name.
The coat of arms of Belmonte itself is a palm between two towers under a princely crown. The two towers represent the fortifications of Verri and Barbarise, with the palm symbolizing the countryside between.
The Title of Belmonte
The Belmonte Princes and Princesses
The Belmonte Princes and Princesses are heads of a line which descends from the Fieschi, ancient Counts of Lavagna, who took their title of Lavagna from a little river that flows into the Gulf of Genoa between Sestri Levante and Chiavari. Ottobuono de’ Fieschi of Genoa, who was sent to England while a Cardinal as Papal legate in 1268, was elected Pope as Hadrian V on 12th July 1276, and died on August 18th. A niece was Alagia wife of Moroello III Malaspina, who is mentioned in Dante's Inferno, Purgatorio, Canto XIX:70-114.
Sprung from this ancient line, the Belmonte princes made alliances in marriage with the noble families of Pinelli, Pignatelli and Granito, among many others.
The family of the Belmonte princes has given the saint Giuseppe (Joseph) Pignatelli SJ and three popes to the church: His Holiness Pope Innocent IV- (Fieschi), His Holiness Hadrian V- (Fieschi) and His Holiness Innocent XII- (Pignatelli), the last of whom the Duc de Saint Simon wrote 'He was a great and saintly Pope, a true shepherd and universal father, such as is very rarely seen on the throne of St Peter and who swept away universal regrets, overflowing with blessings and merits'.
The Belmonte cardinals include His Eminence Domenico Pignatelli di Belmonte, Archbishop of Palermo and Monreale and President of the Kingdom of Sicily (1730 - 1806), and His Eminence Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte, Prefect of the Congregation for Ceremonies and Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, and Grand Prior of Rome of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (Order of Malta) (1851 - 1948).
The current seat of the Belmonte princes is the Palazzo Belmonte, originally used by the family to entertain members of the Habsburg imperial family and the Bourbon kings of Spain to boar hunting. Other historic seats of the family include the Palazzo Pignatelli in Rome and the Villa Pignatelli in Naples, as well as the Castles of Belmonte, Acerenza and Galatone and Copertino in southern Italy.
The family's senior title of 'Principe di Belmonte' (Prince Belmonte) was created on March 5th 1619 by HRH King Felipe III of Spain and granted to the heirs general of the 1st Prince.
In recognition of their increasing power, the Belmonte princes were later granted the additional rank, style and precedence of 'Serene Highness' as hereditary princes of the Holy Roman Empire by His Imperial Highness Charles VI (Vienna, September 9th, 1726). In addition to the family's right to show the papal keys and ombrellino above their arms as a papal family (Fieschi and Pignatelli), the Belmonte princes were honoured with the right to place behind their arms the 'double-headed eagle sable displayed armed crowned and maintaining an orb and sceptre or' of the Holy Roman Empire.
The current Prince and head of the Belmonte princely family, His Excellency Don Angelo, is the 13th successor to the Belmonte titles. The Belmonte succession has historically been according to male preference primogeniture, similar to the system used in the inheritance of the Spanish or British thrones; that is, to the eldest son, and in the absence of a son, to the eldest daughter. Under these terms, the Belmonte titles have passed thrice to daughters in the absence of male heirs. Each of these three heraldic heiresses was the last of her direct line: Ravaschieri (1685), Pinelli (1779), and Pignatelli (1911). The dates shown in brackets indicate the year of each line's combination with a new house.
The Belmonte princes and princesses have inherited the names, arms and rights of each of the family's heraldic heiresses (ie heiresses who, in the absence of brothers, transfer their father's rights in land, arms and title to their husbands and thereby to their children). In consequence, the family's full achievement of arms and name recognizes each of these heraldic heiresses.
In practice, however, the family has usually simplified this heraldic achievement and shortened the normal usage of its full name. In addition to their Belmonte princely title, the princely family are also Grandees of Spain (First Class), entitled to the formal address 'Most Excellent Lord (or Lady)', and hold the junior or courtesy titles of the Dukedom of Acerenza (created 1593), the Marquessate of Galatone (created 1562 for Umberto Squarciafico and inherited through the marriage of Livia Squarciafico with Galeazzo Pinelli), the County or Earldom of Copertino (created 1557 for Vittoria D'Oria Squarciafico and inherited by her son Umberto qv) the Barony of Badolato, the Marquessate of Castellabate (created 1745), and various other titles. A brief note on the Granito family and the most recent creation of the Marquessate of Castellabate appears at the bottom of this page. The Spanish title of the Marquessate of San Vincenzo was brought to the family through marriage of the HSH Prince Don Antonio Pignatelli, 2nd Marquess of San Vincenzo, to the 6th Princess Belmonte. (The marquessate was created in 1694 for the Prince's father, Don Domenico Pignatelli, Viceroy of Navarre and Galicia, who was the son of Don Giacomo, 1st Duke of Bellosguardo and the grandson of Don Fabrizio, 3rd Marquess of Cerchiara- created 1st Prince of Noia at Madrid on 2nd June 1600. Don Domenico married Donna Giustiniana de Aymerich at Barcelona on 23rd February 1675, the daughter of Don Bernardo de Aymerich, Signore di Bernalda, and Donna Maria Argensola.)
Titles in the possession of, but junior to, the Head of the House (styled Principe or Principessa di Belmonte), have been used historically at the discretion and in the grant of the Prince in the manner of courtesy titles for the heirs to the succession. According to this practice, the heir to the Princely title may be accorded the courtesy title of the Duke or Duchess of Acerenza, with the next in line to succession known as the Marquess or Marchioness of Galatone, and the next in line, in turn, known as the Count or Countess of Copertino. The heir apparent to the current 13th Principe di Belmonte is his elder daughter, Francesca di Paola Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte.
The full Belmonte family name, reflecting each of the key alliances through which the Belmonte title has descended is: Granito Pignatelli Pinelli Ravaschieri Fieschi, Principi di Belmonte.
The Princely Succession, 1619 creation
(Consorts of each holder of the Princely title given in italics, together with date of marriage, where known)
- 1st Prince of Belmonte, Don Orazio Giambattista Ravaschieri Fieschi (dei Conti Fieschi di Lavagna),
also Barone di Tortora and Barone di Badolato (son of Germano Ravaschieri Fieschi) (died 12th October 1645)
Donna Anna Maria Caracciolo Pisquizi, of the Counts of Brienza (later Dukes of Sicignano) 29th May 1621
[*2nd Prince Belmonte, Don Orazio Giambattista Ravaschieri Fieschi] Don Cosimo Pinelli
- 3rd Prince Belmonte, Don Daniele Baraschiero Ravaschieri Fieschi, (died 1685)
Donna...Pinelli, [daughter of Don Galeazzo Pinelli, 3rd Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone and of Donna Giustiniana Pignatelli, daughter of Don Fabrizio, 3rd Marquess of Cerchiara (created 1st Prince of Noia at Madrid 2nd June 1600) and Donna Violante de Sangro, daughter of Don Giovanni, 1st Prince di Sansevero and of Andreana Carafa
- 4th Prince Belmonte, Don Gaetano Ravaschieri Pinelli, 4th Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone (died 1711)
- 5th Prince Belmonte, Don Oronzo Ravaschieri Pinelli, 5th Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone (18th January 1661 - 25th March 1722)
married Donna Violante di Sangro, of the Prince of Viggiano, Princess Belmonte 5th May 1701
- 6th Princess Belmonte, Donna Anna Francesca Ravaschieri Pinelli, 6th Duchess of Acerenza and Marchioness of Galatone (14th August 1702 - 8th January 1779)
married His Serene Highness (HSH) Prince Don Antonio Pignatelli, 2nd Marquess of San Vincenzo, Prince Belmonte (maritali nomine) 26th May 1721 (for whose marriage Pietro Trapassi or Metastasio composed his epithalamium)
- 7th Prince Belmonte, HSH Prince Don Antonio Pignatelli, 7th Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone, 3rd Marquess of San Vincenzo (27th March 1722 - 2nd January/June 1794)
married 1st Donna Francesca Revertera, of the Duke of Salandra and the Countess von Thuerheim, Princess Belmonte, 24th February 1754 (died 1756)
married 2nd Donna Chiara Spinelli, of the Duke of Laurino and the Princess of Montacuto, Princess Belmonte, 28th August 1762
- 8th Prince Belmonte, HSH Don Antonio Pignatelli, 8th Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone, 4th Marquess of San Vincenzo (7th July 1763 - 17th August 1828)
married Donna Giovanna Pignatelli Aragona Cortés, of the Prince of Noia, Princess Belmonte, 12th May 1783
- 9th Prince Belmonte, HSH Don Gennaro Pignatelli, 9th Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone, 5th Marquess of San Vincenzo (28th February 1777 - 28th July 1829)
married Donna Carmela de Chiaro, Princess Belmonte, 11th December 1823
- 10th Princess Belmonte, Donna Francesca di Paola (Paolina) Pignatelli, 10th Duchess of Acerenza and Marchioness of Galatone, 6th Marchioness of San Vincenzo (3rd April 1824 - 30th August 1911)
married Don Angelo Granito 4th Marquess of Castellabate, Prince Belmonte (maritali nomine) 29th June 1861
- 11th Prince Belmonte, Don Gioacchino Granito Pignatelli (Principate confirmed by patent 3rd April 1887), 11th Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone, 7th Marquess of San Vincenzo (2nd November 1849 - 6th April 1934)
married Donna Maria Caterina d’Ayala Valva, of the Marquess of Valva, 13th November 1869
- 12th Prince Belmonte, Don Gioacchino Granito Pignatelli, 12th Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone, 8th Marquess of San Vincenzo (19th March 1913 - 22nd May 1982)
married Donna Francesca Visco, Princess Belmonte, 25th July 1951
- 13th Prince Belmonte, Don Angelo Granito Pignatelli, 13th Duke of Acerenza and Marquess of Galatone, 9th Marquess of San Vincenzo (9th February 1939 - )
married Donna Sarah Elizabeth Mayhew, Princess Belmonte, 28th May 1969
Future Princes of Belmonte
- Donna Francesca di Paola Maria Elisabetta Granito Pignatelli, heir apparent to the 13th Prince, (27th February 1974 - )
Pinelli
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Pignatelli
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Granito
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Granito
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
The Granito ancestors of the Prince Belmonte obtained the feudality of Castellabate, near Salerno, in 1700. The title of Marquis of Castellabate was conferred on 29th November 1745. The feudality, which included the portolania of Omignano and jurisdiction over the lands of Rocca di Cilento, Montecorice, S. Maria a Mare, Rutino and San Lorenzo was inherited by Don Angelo from his father Don Paris on 20th July 1767; from Don Angelo it passed to Don Luigi, his son. As there was no heir in that line, the succession passed to the second son of Don Gioacchino, Don Angelo, born on 29th October 1782. He married Donna Francesca di Paola (Paolina) Pignatelli, who was 10th Princess of Belmonte in her own right. Thus Don Angelo became Prince of Belmonte by marriage.