Did you realise there is a Sicilian nobility?
The Sicilian nobility was a privileged hereditary class in the Kingdom of Sicily, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Kingdom of Italy, whose origins may be traced to the 11th century AD.
Although at its inception nobility was a military honour, with conquering kings at the top of the feudal landscape and their trusted knights below, rewarded with land, wealth, and title for loyalty and bravery, by the sixteenth century nobility was no longer exclusive to the conquerors. Clergy, lawyers, bureaucrats, notaries, merchants, bankers and wealthy landowners entered the gates of the nobility. Title, like most valuables, became a purchasable commodity.
Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria and his second cousin, Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, are rival claimants to the non-regnant dignity of Head of the deposed Royal House of the Two Sicilies. Their branch of the House of Bourbon acquired the crowns of Naples and Sicily in the 18th century. Their dynasty was the fount of honour which regulated the titulature of the Sicilian nobility until their deposition in 1860, whereupon the House of Savoy as the new kings of Italy recognized the titles, but not the traditional precedence, of the Sicilian nobility as part of the Italian nobility.
One of the most celebrated members of twentieth century Sicilian aristocracy is Giuseppe Tomasi, the 11th Prince di Lampedusa (1896–1957), most remembered for his novel Il Gattopardo (1963), for which he won the Strega Prize. Published posthumously, it recounts the genteel decline of Sicilian aristocratic grandeur of the 19th century, remains the highest selling novel in Italian history, and is widely regarded as one of the most important works of contemporary Italian literature. Tomasi's other works include I Racconti (Stories, first published in 1961), Le Lezioni su Stendhal (Lessons on Stendhal, 1959) and "Letters from London and Europe", published in 2010.
Without the feudal responsibilities of their ancestors many members of Sicilian aristocracy emigrated from their native land, sometimes to the Italian peninsula, to other locales of the European continent and Britain, or to North and South America. As an example, Gioacchino Cristoforo Ventimiglia of the noble Ventimiglia family relocated from Sicily to Vallon, Switzerland. His heir, Jack Cristoforo Ventimiglia II, of Vallon, lives in London.
Another example is Baron Marco di Serramarrocco who, having left for a professional career in England, returned to start his own winery on his family's estate. Others have adapted to modern day economic conditions by renting out their homes/sections of their homes, developing vineyards on their property, setting up agrotourism sometimes themed to replicate the lifestyle of a bygone era etc. Others have sold their estates, parts of their residences, even their coats of arms in recent years.
With so many descendants of the landed Sicilian aristocracy leaving their native Sicily for foreign shores, and more descendants being born outside of aristocratic circles than within, maintaining social ties has been difficult, and has certainly lost importance in recent decades. Like gentlemen's clubs of the British Raj which faded into obscurity as colonialism receded, clubs with membership reserved for descendants of noble Sicilian families have largely disappeared as centers of aristocratic socializing and tradition, only a few, such as the Circolo Bellini in Palermo, remain. Influence is maintained in social and charitable endeavors by aristocratic organisations like the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George which still has representation in Sicily.
Although at its inception nobility was a military honour, with conquering kings at the top of the feudal landscape and their trusted knights below, rewarded with land, wealth, and title for loyalty and bravery, by the sixteenth century nobility was no longer exclusive to the conquerors. Clergy, lawyers, bureaucrats, notaries, merchants, bankers and wealthy landowners entered the gates of the nobility. Title, like most valuables, became a purchasable commodity.
Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria and his second cousin, Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, are rival claimants to the non-regnant dignity of Head of the deposed Royal House of the Two Sicilies. Their branch of the House of Bourbon acquired the crowns of Naples and Sicily in the 18th century. Their dynasty was the fount of honour which regulated the titulature of the Sicilian nobility until their deposition in 1860, whereupon the House of Savoy as the new kings of Italy recognized the titles, but not the traditional precedence, of the Sicilian nobility as part of the Italian nobility.
One of the most celebrated members of twentieth century Sicilian aristocracy is Giuseppe Tomasi, the 11th Prince di Lampedusa (1896–1957), most remembered for his novel Il Gattopardo (1963), for which he won the Strega Prize. Published posthumously, it recounts the genteel decline of Sicilian aristocratic grandeur of the 19th century, remains the highest selling novel in Italian history, and is widely regarded as one of the most important works of contemporary Italian literature. Tomasi's other works include I Racconti (Stories, first published in 1961), Le Lezioni su Stendhal (Lessons on Stendhal, 1959) and "Letters from London and Europe", published in 2010.
Without the feudal responsibilities of their ancestors many members of Sicilian aristocracy emigrated from their native land, sometimes to the Italian peninsula, to other locales of the European continent and Britain, or to North and South America. As an example, Gioacchino Cristoforo Ventimiglia of the noble Ventimiglia family relocated from Sicily to Vallon, Switzerland. His heir, Jack Cristoforo Ventimiglia II, of Vallon, lives in London.
Another example is Baron Marco di Serramarrocco who, having left for a professional career in England, returned to start his own winery on his family's estate. Others have adapted to modern day economic conditions by renting out their homes/sections of their homes, developing vineyards on their property, setting up agrotourism sometimes themed to replicate the lifestyle of a bygone era etc. Others have sold their estates, parts of their residences, even their coats of arms in recent years.
With so many descendants of the landed Sicilian aristocracy leaving their native Sicily for foreign shores, and more descendants being born outside of aristocratic circles than within, maintaining social ties has been difficult, and has certainly lost importance in recent decades. Like gentlemen's clubs of the British Raj which faded into obscurity as colonialism receded, clubs with membership reserved for descendants of noble Sicilian families have largely disappeared as centers of aristocratic socializing and tradition, only a few, such as the Circolo Bellini in Palermo, remain. Influence is maintained in social and charitable endeavors by aristocratic organisations like the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George which still has representation in Sicily.
26-30, F
