Italian Titles of Nobility
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Introduction
Until 1948, the Consulta Araldica (College of Arms)
governed heraldic matters in the Kingdom of Italy. Based first at Turin and
later at Rome, this agency was part of the Ministry of the Interior. Italian
heraldic law was rather complex --full of regulations and other provisions
attempting to preserve certain heraldic practices of the realms which had
existed in Italy before 1860. Indeed, various regional heraldic commissions had
spent decades to ensure that the entrenched nobilities of the Kingdom of
Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Papal State, and the grand
duchies of Tuscany, Parma and Modena, as well as certain formerly Austrian
territories, would not be unduly offended by the body of heraldic law of the
newly-unified Italy.
In general, heretofore unrecognised noble families, whether
titled or not, were required by law to petition --however informally-- for
recognition of their ranks or titles by the Crown if such was desired. The names
of the heads of these families were inscribed in the Libro d'Oro della Nobiltà
Italiana, a series of large, handwritten registers maintained at the offices of
the Consulta Araldica. (This should not be confused with the Libro d'Oro
published by the Collegio Araldico today; the Collegio Araldico is a private
heraldic society, not a governmental entity, and its Libro d'Oro, though
reasonably reliable, includes many fantastic histories and, particularly in
cases of alleged untitled nobility, dubious claims to aristocratic
lineage.)
In general, although the terms of decrees of creation issued
prior to 1860 were respected, general regulations were instituted to establish
national norms based on the Sardinian (Savoyard) model. While a few titles
devolved to heirs male general, titles the subject of new creations were
stipulated to be transmitted by legitimate male primogeniture. In certain
realms, such as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, female succession had been
permitted in cases where male heirs were lacking, and this policy was abrogated.
Transmission of titles to adopted children required royal rescript in most
cases.
The last Italian monarch, King Umberto II (1904-1983), was
deposed by popular referendum in 1946. Though its results have been disputed, at
least in certain quarters (particularly by fervent monarchists and by several
Italian regional courts), this referendum (remarkably, the first occasion for
Italian women to vote) was held under American auspices during the Allied
occupation and established the Italian Republic as a legitimate state recognised
internationally and, eventually, by all of the former ruling dynasties, the
Vatican, the Republic of San Marino and the Sovereign Military Order of
Malta.
Article 139 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic
codifies the exile of the King of Italy and his male heirs, a provision being
abrogated only fifty years later. It also abolishes the Consulta Araldica and
official recognition of predicati (territorial designations or "seats") if
recognised during the Fascist era (i.e. after 28 October 1922). Subsequently,
these designations could be suffixed to surnames as a result of particular
petitions to provincial courts having jurisdiction in such matters. Eventually,
Italian high courts would issue still more rulings to attenuate the status even
of those titles recognised until 1922, but local courts would uphold the rights
to identity of titled aristocrats in cases where impostors claimed the titles
and territorial designations of living persons whose immediate forebears had
been recognised by the Consulta Araldica before 1922.
The Italian Republic's recognition (for cultural purposes) of
royal dynasties other than the House of Savoy served to bolster a return of
adherence to nobiliary laws as these had existed before 1860. The dynasties of
the Two Sicilies and Tuscany naturally recognise their own heraldic norms,
rather than those of the House of Savoy. The two orders of knighthood (Order of
Malta and Constantinian Order of St. George of the Two Sicilies) that recognise
ancestral nobility for certain knights employ their own nobiliary standards,
which in a few respects differ from those employed in the Savoy dominions in
recent centuries.
Recent decades have witnessed an increasingly widespread
interest in coats of arms and titles of nobility, especially among Italian
descendants abroad, many of whom have been deceived by heraldic or genealogical
research firms (some, ironically, operated by noble families) into believing
themselves to be armigerous or even titled.
History
As recently as the eleventh century, the sovereign rulers of
vast regions --Savoy in the north and Sicily in the south-- were known by the
simple title of count. Until around 1300, titles of nobility were hardly
necessary as indications of high birth because aristocrats bore surnames, while
the common people were known only by given names. At this early date,
aristocratic surnames were usually toponymic, based upon the name of the
family's fief (di Grosseto, di Noto, etc.). This has led some to believe that
there exists in Italian a surname prefix or other onomastic characteristic, akin
to the German von, which indicates nobility. This is not true, nor do
double-barrelled surnames indicate aristocratic origins; most often, a dual
surname simply indicates that numerous families in the same town bore the same
surname and eventually required differentiation to distinguish among themselves.
As mentioned above, a nobleman's name sometimes includes a predicato, though not
a title. Thus, Giuseppe Lanza, Prince of Trabia bears the surname Lanza di
Trabia, rather than simply Lanza (a common surname), on legal documents. So
great were the differences between the rulers and the ruled in medieval Italy
that a common man would not think to impersonate a knight or lord, although this
has certainly changed.
The majority of feudatories were simply signori (from
the French seigneur, a title introduced into Italy by the
eleventh-century Normans), vassali (vassals) or cavalieri
(knights). Eventually, this class came to be known collectively as the
baroni (barons), as in Italy barone was not always a title descriptive of
a particular feudal rank. During the fourteenth century, most minor feudal lands
became baronies, their holders barons. It must be observed that the use of these
titles usually required some form of sovereign sanction or feudal
tenure.
Though they had been used rarely, titles of nobility had
certainly existed before circa 1300, but these were usually military ranks and
not hereditary. During the fourteenth century, nobiliary titles became
hereditary in most of Italy, usually transmitted by male primogeniture and
almost invariably linked to land.
Under the Longobards and their residual civilization (the
Lombards) in Italy, a fief might devolve to heirs male general of the feudatory,
which is to say, to all of his legitimate sons. Yet, this was not a uniform or
universal practice. With the Norman influence, Frankish law, dictating male
primogeniture as a means of feudal succession, supplanted the Longobard norm in
most of Italy. With very few exceptions, Italian titles are inherited only by
eldest sons.
By tradition, certain peerages, usually dukedoms, are vested in
the persons of royal princes. The Head of the Royal House of Italy, though a
royal prince, is the Duke of Savoy. The Head of the Royal House of the Two
Sicilies, also a royal prince, is the Duke of Castro. These titles are analogous
to the royal dukedoms (York, Kent, Windsor, etc.) accorded to members of the
British Royal Family.
There was a time, until 1812 in some regions, when the purchase
of land designated "feudal" ennobled the buyer ipso facto; the purchaser of a
comital fief (a county) thus became a count. This practice ceased with the
abolition of feudalism. (Serfdom, a feudal institution, was abolished in Italy
during the Middle Ages.) A number of families still own portions of their
traditional feudal holdings, but feudal rights and prerogatives of any kind were
finally abrogated by the time that Italy was united in 1870. Although most
Italian titles are attached to nominal "seats" (territorial designations),
usually the names of fiefs or dimore, the ranks and titles are incorporeal. That
is to say that, like an idea, name or copyright, the titles constitute a form of
intangible property, but property nonetheless. In fact, this is true of
nobiliary titles in most nations; the Duke of Westminster, for example, would
retain his ancestral title even if he had no actual property in the dukedom of
Westminster.
In the Kingdom of Italy, titles of nobility did not accord
their holders parliamentary seats or, indeed, any particularly noteworthy
privileges save for some purely heraldic (armorial) ones, such as the legal use
of a title and coat of arms and precedence at the Royal Court. The principle
that the person of a peer was inviolable was not applied in nineteenth-centuruy
Italian law, for it did not exist. That a titled nobleman ("pari" or "peer" in
common parlance) might enjoy freedom from attachment was likewise an unknown
right.
One reason for this is that with the introduction of liberal
Savoyard (Piedmontese) law throughout most of Italy by 1870, the Neapolitan and
Papal attitudes toward the rights of the nobility had already begun to
disappear, and in the event were no longer supported by statute.
Titles and Ranks
Principe, Principessa. (Prince,
Princess). From the Latin princeps, meaning first, this is the highest
Italian title of nobility, and also the title accorded members of the royal
families. Many of Italy's noble princes, particularly in northern regions, are
princes "of the Holy Roman Empire," and lack feudal territorial designations
attached to their titles. Some southern princes descend from the most ancient
medieval feudatories. In most cases, the holder of a princely title in Italy is
the descendant of forebears who in antiquity were barons or counts, the family
having been elevated through the nobiliary ranks over the centuries. Until the
latter part of the nineteenth century, princes were addressed most formally as
"Your Excellency," a form of address that may be compared, in this instance, to
the British use of "Your Grace" for a duke or duchess. The wife of a prince is a
princess. The younger son of a prince, and the heir before succession to the
title, is a nobile dei principi di (seat), namely a "noble of the princes of"
some place. Use of the honorific appellations don (lord) and donna (lady) for
the son and daughter of a prince is obsolete except in formal documents issued
by institutions that recognize Italian titular nobility. Princes and their
consorts are most formally addressed verbally by title and territorial
designation. The heraldic coronet of a noble prince is a jewelled circlet of
gold surmounted by four visible pearls between five visible strawberry leaves.
In most representations, the deep red tasselled cap is not rendered within the
coronet.
Duca, Duchessa. (Duke, Duchess).
Derived from the Latin dux, a military leader, this title originally was
reserved to the sovereign rulers of important territories, such as the Duchy of
Spoleto. Like princedoms, dukedoms are sometimes borne by peers whose early
medieval forebears were barons, enfeoffed knights or other feudatories. Like
princes, dukes were formerly accorded the address "Your Excellency." The younger
son of a duke, and the heir before succession to the title, is a nobile dei
duchi di (seat), namely a "noble of the dukes of" some place. Dukes and their
consorts are most formally addressed verbally by title and territorial
designation. The heraldic coronet of a duke is a jewelled circlet of gold
surmounted by five visible strawberry leaves. Usually, the crimson tasselled cap
is not rendered within the coronet.
Marchese, Marchesa. (Marquess,
Marchioness). The term derives from the Old Italian marchio, referring to
the man charged with guarding a march, or border territory, and the French
marquis shares the same origin. The Marches region, which borders Umbria, is
so-called because it was once such a territory. Some attribute the origin of
this word to the Middle Latin marchisus, a prefect. Most marquessates are of
modern foundation; one reads of few marchesi before the fifteenth century, and
the title is quite rare even today. The younger son of a marquess, and the heir
before succession to the title, is a nobile dei marchesi di (seat), namely a
"noble of the marquesses of" some place. Marquesses and their consorts are most
formally addressed verbally by title and surname; since in Italy a woman usually
continues to use her own father's surname even after marriage, a marchesa may
bear a surname other than her husband's. The heraldic coronet of a marquess is a
jewelled circlet of gold surmounted by three visible strawberry leaves, the
central leaf flanked by two rows of three pearls each, supported by stems or set
directly upon the rim.
Conte, Contessa. (Count, Countess).
The word traces its origin from the Latin comes, for military companion.
Comital territories were large in the eleventh century, but virtually
indistinguishable from baronies by the fourteenth. For purposes of precedence,
there is no contemporary distinction between a feudal count and a count
palatine; the latter was usually a court officer who lacked a territorial
designation attached to his title. It is noteworthy that conte is one of the few
Italian titles sometimes, though rarely, inherited by all heirs male, depending
on the terms set forth in the patent of creation. The younger son of a count,
and the heir before succession to the title, is a nobile dei conti di (seat),
namely a "noble of the counts of" some place. Counts and their consorts are most
formally addressed verbally by title and surname. Counts palatine were created
by certain sovereigns and by the Popes and usually bore no territorial
designations attached to their surnames The heraldic coronet of a count is a
jewelled circlet of gold surmounted by nine visible pearls, supported by stems
or set directly upon the rim.
Visconte, Viscontessa. (Viscount,
Viscontess). Originally vice comes, for the attendant of a count, this is the
rarest of the modern Italian peerage titles, almost unknown in some regions. The
younger son of a viscount, and the heir before succession to the title, is a
nobile dei visconti di (seat), namely a noble of the viscounts" of some place.
The standard crest coronet of a viscount is a jewelled circlet of gold
surmounted by five visible pearls, the middle and outer ones supported by stems,
the remaining two rendered in a smaller diameter and set directly upon the
rim.
Barone, Baronessa. (Baron,
Baroness). The title is probably of Germanic origin; the Latin root baro
referred to a simpleton, but by the Middle Ages baronis was a title of
nobility or, more often, a nobiliary rank employed in reference to holders of
feudal property. Most seigneuries (see below) were eventually elevated to
baronies. In the South, the most important medieval baronies were elevated to
princedoms or dukedoms by the eighteenth century. Though often employed loosely
in the remote past, the title barone was by 1800 established to be a creation or
recognition resulting from royal prerogative, not an honorific privilege to be
appropriated by any wealthy landholder. Heraldic regulation in the Kingdom of
Italy further established that the sons of barons could no longer appropriate
cavaliere as a courtesy title. Barone is the most frequent of the modern Italian
peerage titles. The younger son of a baron, and the heir before succession to
the title, is a nobile dei baroni di (seat), namely a noble of the barons of"
some place. The standard heraldic coronet of a baron is a jewelled circlet of
gold surmounted by seven pearls, supported by stems or placed directly upon the
rim.
Signore (seigneur). Originally a
feudal lord, the title was introduced into Italy by the Franks and Normans.
Formerly a minor peerage, the title is rarely used today because most signori
bear greater titles by which they are commonly known, and because, in common
parlance, signore has come to mean "Mister." It may, albeit in an abstract
sense, be compared to such ancient titles as mor, esquire or manorial lord.
Seigneuries were feudal lands, similar to baronies, appertaining to certain
lords, either as sub-fiefs attached to baronies or, more often, depending from
the Crown directly. A signore might therefore owe fealty to a baron or directly
to the king. This is the lowest title which carries a seat. As these noblemen
bear a title which is no longer in use, though still mentioned in peerage
directories, no particular crest coronet is displayed for this rank. In
practice, a signore may display the coronet of an untitled nobleman (see
below).
Patrizio (Patrician). The term
obviously derives from that used to describe the aristocratic class of ancient
Rome. A patrizio is said to be "of" a certain place, such as Venice or Florence,
without it being his feudal seat, just as an American might be "of New York."
The rank is normally transmitted to heirs male general. According to legislation
enacted by the Consulta Araldica, there is no feminine, but the daughter of a
patrizio might be said to be dei patrizi [surname], namely "of the patricians
[surname]. Patrizio is also the translation of Patrick; Patrizia is Patricia but
is never used as a title. The crest coronet of a patrician is a simple jewelled
circlet of gold.
Nobile (Untitled Nobleman). In the Dark Ages, local leaders
known to their people were nobiliti, from the Latin nobilitas, meaning,
appropriately, "known." The rank denotes some, but not all, aristocratic Italian
families which lack titles. This class may be compared to the landed gentry of
Great Britain. There are, strictly speaking, two kinds of nobili-the younger
sons of peers and male members of the aforementioned noble families in which
there have never been titles. The crest coronet of a nobile is a jewelled
circlet of gold surmounted by five pearls, supported by stems or set directly
upon the rim.
Cavaliere Ereditario (Hereditary
Knight Bachelor). This rank, usually transmitted by male primogeniture but
sometimes to heirs male general, is quite similar to a British baronetcy but
much older. However, it does not, as is commonly believed, have any direct
connection to the medieval rank of the enfeoffed knight. Most cavalieri
ereditari descend from the younger sons of peers or from historically untitled
families ennobled with this form of knighthood in the fifteenth or sixteenth
centuries in Sicily, Sardinia and some parts of mainland Italy. Writing in 1925,
Francesco San Martino de Spucches speculated that, at least in theory, hundreds
of Sicilians entitled to no other hereditary honour could lawfully succeed to
particular hereditary knighthoods which were long-dormant for lack of
claimants.
Certain contents of this article have appeared previously in
The Coat of Arms (journal of the Heraldry Society, London), the
Journal of the Orders and Medals Research Society (London), the New
Zealand Armiger, and the Commonwealth Heraldry Bulletin.
©1997 L. Mendola
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