Orde van de Keten van Sint-Agatha van de Paternò

De Militaire Orde van de Keten van Sint-Agatha van de Paternò (Italiaans: Militare Ordine di Sant’Agata dei Paternò) is een hospitaalorde die haar bestaan kan terugvoeren tot 1853 maar volgens overlevering al in de 13e eeuw gesticht zou zijn in het koninkrijk Aragon en op de Balearen.

Geschiedenis bewerken

In de 19e en vroege 20e eeuw leidde de Orde een onopvallend bestaan. Zij was volgens een als kopie overgeleverd document door de koning van de Beide Siciliën erkend maar er vonden geen benoemingen plaats buiten de familiekring van de Paternò Castello e Guttadauro Ayerbe Aragona. Deze familie stelt recht te kunnen doen gelden op de tronen van onder meer Aragon en Majorca. De grootmeester van de Orde van de Keten van Sint-Agatha van de Paternò, Don Roberto Paternò Castello dei Duchi di Carcaci is de zoon van de zoon van een vijfde zoon van don Francesco hertog van Carcaci (1850-1912). De titels die Don Roberto voert^[1] worden ook gevoerd door oudere takken van zijn familie en door andere families. Don Roberto kan geen juridische claim op de troon van enig land effectueren omdat hiervoor staatsrechtelijke erkenning van de claim noodzakelijk is. Of sprake is van een legitieme historische claim is onder deskundigen een zwaar bediscussieerd onderwerp.

Een ridder

Verdeeldheid onder deskundigen bewerken

Er zijn schrijvers die de aanspraken van de orde verdedigen^[2], anderen beweren dat een jongere zoon uit een jongere tak van een Siciliaans hertogelijk Huis geen fons honorum heeft^[3]. De desbetreffende leden stellen hier tegenover dat door de familie het fons honorum aan hen is toegekend.

Experts bewerken

Volgens de bekende deskundige op het gebied van decoraties Guy Stair Sainty heeft erkenning van de Orde alleen op lokaal administratief niveau plaatsgevonden^[4]. De Nederlandse advocaat Hans Hoegen Dijkhof verdedigt in zijn proefschrift dat de Italiaanse rechter de historische en juridische aanspraken van de familie ten opzichte van de Italiaanse staat volledig heeft erkend^[5] (Hoegen Dijkhof, H.J., The legitimacy of Orders of St. John, A historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon, PhD Thesis, University of Leiden).

Erkenning bewerken

Bewijsstukken bewerken

De erkenning door de koning der Beide Siciliën waaraan de Orde van de Keten van Sint-Agatha van de Paternò rechten ontleent, is in de vorm van een fotokopie in het archief van de orde bewaard gebleven. Volgens sommigen is dit – vanuit een geschiedkundig perspectief bezien – onvoldoende als bewijsmiddel. Juridisch bezien geldt dat voor het leveren van bewijs als in de onderhavige zaak geen vormvoorschriften gelden.

Weerstand bewerken

De Orde heeft te maken gehad met grote weerstand vanuit de gevestigde orde als het gaat om erkenning. De Orde van Malta en ook haar toenmalige luitenant-grootmeester Frà Ernesto Paternò Castello (1882 – 1971) verwierpen de aanspraken van Don Francesco Maria Paternò Castello op het grootmeesterschap van een Hospitaalorde van Sint-Agatha. Zij zagen de orde als een Pseudo-orde. Ook het huidige hoofd van het Huis Paternò, de hertog van Roccaromana erkent de orde niet. De Italiaanse regering heeft de orde, anders dan die van de voormalige regerende huizen als de Orde van Sint-Januarius, de Constantinische Orde of de Orde van de Adelaar van Este ook niet willen erkennen.

Rechterlijke erkenning bewerken

Na verschillende strafprocessen hierover heeft de Italiaanse rechter uiteindelijk bepaald dat de familie Paternò als houder van het fons honorum het recht heeft om ordetekens toe te kennen, waaronder de Orde van de Keten van Sint-Agatha van de Paternò^[6]. De Orde heeft in het laatste kwart van de 20e eeuw een hoge vlucht genomen en er zijn nu afdelingen over de gehele wereld.

Literatuur bewerken

C.Santippolito, L'Ordine dinastico di S. Agata dei Paterno, Messina, 1961.
Hoegen Dijkhof, H.J., The legitimacy of Orders of St. John, A historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon, PhD Thesis, University of Leiden.
Abate, A.Esequie del Duca di Carcaci, Catania 1854
Agnello, G. Il Museo Biscari di Catania nella Storia della Cultura Illuministica del ‘700’ in Archivio Storico della Sicilia Orientale, 1957, a. X p. 142
Amico, Catana Illustrata, 1741
Amico, Sicilia Sacra, 1742
Maria Concetta Calabrese, I Paternò di Raddusa, C.U.E.C.M. 1998
G. Carrelli, Hauteville e Paternò, in Rivista Araldica, n.3, 1932
Enciclopedia Treccani Vol. XXVI, voce "Paternò", curata dal prof. Giuseppe Paladino dell'Università di Catania
Francesco Gioeni, Genealogia dei Paternò, Palermo,1680
G. Libertini, Il Museo Biscari, Milano 1930.
V. Librando, Il Palazzo Biscari in Cronache di archeologia e di storia dell'arte, 3, 1964, p. 104 e ss.
Denis Mack Smith, Storia della Sicilia Medioevale e moderna, Universale Laterza (1970) pp. 367 e ss, 376-377.
Filadelfo Mugnos, Theatro Genealogico, 1650, s.v. "Paternò" p. 27
Filadelfo Mugnos, Teatro della nobiltà del mondo, 1654, s.v. "Paternò", p. 297
Muscia, Sicilia Nobile, 1408, s.v. "Paternò
Alvaro Paternò, Genealogia Domus Paternionum, 1525 ( Archivio Paternò presso il Comune di Catania
Scipione Paternò e Colonna, Storiografia della Casa Paternò, Catania. 1642
Francesco Paternò di Carcaci, I Paternò di Sicilia, Catania, 1935.
Vincenzo Notaro Russo, Genealogia della Casa Paternò, 1721, – Archivio Comune di Catania
Gaetano Savasta, Storia di Paternò, Catania” 1905
F. Ughello, Antonius Paternò, nobilis neapolitanus”, Palermo,1729
Bruno Varvaro, Nuove indagini sulla contea di Paternò e Butera nel sec. XII, in Rivista Araldica, n. 4 – dicembre 1931
Bruno Varvaro, Hauteville e Paternò in Rivista Araldica, n. 1 – 20 gennaio 1933 *G.E. Paternò di Sessa, F. Paternò, "Dell'origine regia e aragonese dei Paternò di Sicilia", in Rivista Araldica Fasxcicolo n. 6, giugno 1913
Salvatore Distefano, Ragusa Nobilissima – Una famiglia della Contea di Modica attraverso le fonti e i documenti d'archivio, contributo alla Historia Familiae Baronum Cutaliae, Ancillae et Fundi S. Laurentii, RICHERCHE (2006), 109-160, a pag.128 si ricorda che Eleonora Paternò e Tornabene, vedova Biscari, sposò Guglielmo Distefano, duca di San Lorenzo.
Librando, V. “Il Palazzo Biscari” in Cronache di Archeologia e di Storia dell’Arte, 1964, n. 3 p. 104 e ss.
Guzzetta, G.: “Per la gloria di Catania: Ignazio Paternò Castello Principe di Biscari” Agorà, Luglio- settembre 2001
Garuffi, “Archivio Storico della Sicilia Orientale”, anno IX, 1912
Garuffi, “Gli Aleramici ed i Normanni” Palermo 1910, Vol. I
Lines of Succession-Maclagan and Lauda
Pelliccioni di Poli, Luciano, La dinastia sovrana paternò-ayerbe-Aragona e gli ordini cavallereschi di sua collazione, Roma : Edito A Cura Della Gran Cancelleria Della Reale Corona Paternuense Balearide, 1956
1956 Rome Nobiliario Internazionale – C Sant’Ippolito
1985 RAM Messina J W Imhof, Corpus Historiae Genealogicae Italiae et Hispaniae, Neurenberg 1702
Los Condes de Barcelona Vindicados Cronologia y Genealogia – Prospero de Bofarull y Mascaro Secretario de SM Archivero de la Corona de Aragon
1836 Barcelona Rivista Araldica 1922 p295-305, 343-346
Rivista Araldica 1913 p330-335
Zurita, Jerònimo: Anales de la Corona de Aragon, Tom 1 libro IV cap. 126
Lee Shneidman, J., The Rise of the Aragonese-Catalan Empire 1200-1350, New York and London 1970

Externe links bewerken

PhD Thesis of Dr Hans Hoegen Dijkhof

Bronnen, noten en/of referenties

↑ Hij noemt zich "Prins van Emmanuel", een titel van de familie van zijn grootmoeder, Guttadauro, die nu behoort aan de Bonaccorsi.
↑ According to the expert opinion Opinion of Professor Jacob Sundberg. Professor Sundberg ranks him as equal to a Head of State.
↑ Santy calls it "the self-styled "Order of Saint Agatha of the House of Paternò" which has emerged in the post-war era, founded by don Francesco Maria Paternò Castello, a cadet member of the ancient Sicilian noble family of Paternò Castello, Dukes of Carcaci. Successive heads of the Paternò and Paternò Castello family have refused to have anything to do with this body and the founder's uncle, Frà Ernesto Paternò Castello, Lieutenant of the Grand Magistery of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the 1950's, likewise denounced it. Nonetheless, like so many similar organizations it has found a following amid the twilight world of pseudo-Orders and fantasy titles (it thrives). on [1]
↑ [2]
↑ Then it was the Prince’s own turn. He was denounced on 14 July 1958 and prosecuted, as a resident of Brunate, before and condemned on 29 May 1962 by the ‘Pretore of Monsummano Terme’, the competent judge in first instance, to 4 months and 15 days imprisonment for having allegedly conferred false titles to a number of persons (Article 81 of the Penal Code and article 8 of Law 3.3.51 N.178.) but he was acquitted of several connected alleged counts (Articles 81cpv 640, 56, 640 of the Penal Code) for lack of evidence. He appealed with the ‘Tribunale di Pistoia’ and on 5 June 1964, this court of appeals confirmed his acquittal in first instance and annulled his condemnation in first instance. Basically, the Court said that the conferment to and acceptance of foreign honours, the honours conferred being foreign, by Italian citizens, was legal, while only the public use of these honours by Italian citizens was subject to authorisation by the President of the Republic, to properly safeguard the merits reserved to and represented by the honours bestowed by the Italian State. The Court had also investigated the fons honorum of the Prince and had found that he was the legitimate possessor of this faculty, which according to the Court was an expression of the honorific power of his house, which had been conserved by family tradition and had not suffered ‘debellatio’, the forced surrender of power. He was therefore entitled to grant the honours given by him, because the Court deemed that he had the legitimate power to grant these honours.
↑ The latest judgement of 5 December 2009 No 709/09 declared enforceable in the territory of the Italian Republic by decree of the Ordinary Court of Ragusa, that the Head of the Royal House of Paternò Castello of Valencia, Sardinia has the fountain of honor with all the prerogatives attached and connected to the quality of Royal Highness. The court also deceided that Noble titles may be granted with or without predicates, coats of arms, titles of honor and chivalric orders as the subject of international law for the purposes of the Act of March 3, 1951, n°. 178. ‘Corpo della Nobiltà Italiana Circolo Giovanile’, <www.cnig.net/cilane.asp>, section ‘Alcune domanda sulla nobiltà’, dated 24 December 2004, geeft over de verschillende rechterlijke uitspraken meer informatie: ‛Si senti spesso parlare di Capo di antiche dinastie spodestate che concedono titoli ed onori, sono validi? ’argomento è complicato e –come sempre- è opportune agire con la massima prudenza onde evitare truffe e raggiri che, purtroppo, sono molto frequenti. Bisogna innanzitutto essere certi che il concedente discenda realmente e per via legittima da una persona che abbia effettivamente regnato su di un territorio ed abbia esercicato il diritto di concedere onori, ed il quali forme; si deve poi guardare alle cause che hanno determinato il venir meno di tale regno; infine è opportuno accertarsi del livello tenuto dai discendenti del sovrano spodestato, onde essere sicuri che non siano ˝decaduti˝. Cosi –per esempio- chi vanta discendenze dagli Imperatori Bizantini non dovrebbe avere alcun valido diritto, dal momento che i Troni romani di Oriente erano elettivi e non si trasmettevano di padre in figlio. In linea di massima è significativa la presenza della famiglia nell’Almanacco del Gotha.’

[1] Hij noemt zich "Prins van Emmanuel", een titel van de familie van zijn grootmoeder, Guttadauro, die nu behoort aan de Bonaccorsi.

[2] According to the expert opinion Opinion of Professor Jacob Sundberg. Professor Sundberg ranks him as equal to a Head of State.

[3] Santy calls it "the self-styled "Order of Saint Agatha of the House of Paternò" which has emerged in the post-war era, founded by don Francesco Maria Paternò Castello, a cadet member of the ancient Sicilian noble family of Paternò Castello, Dukes of Carcaci. Successive heads of the Paternò and Paternò Castello family have refused to have anything to do with this body and the founder's uncle, Frà Ernesto Paternò Castello, Lieutenant of the Grand Magistery of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the 1950's, likewise denounced it. Nonetheless, like so many similar organizations it has found a following amid the twilight world of pseudo-Orders and fantasy titles (it thrives). on [1]

[4] [2]

[5] Then it was the Prince’s own turn. He was denounced on 14 July 1958 and prosecuted, as a resident of Brunate, before and condemned on 29 May 1962 by the ‘Pretore of Monsummano Terme’, the competent judge in first instance, to 4 months and 15 days imprisonment for having allegedly conferred false titles to a number of persons (Article 81 of the Penal Code and article 8 of Law 3.3.51 N.178.) but he was acquitted of several connected alleged counts (Articles 81cpv 640, 56, 640 of the Penal Code) for lack of evidence. He appealed with the ‘Tribunale di Pistoia’ and on 5 June 1964, this court of appeals confirmed his acquittal in first instance and annulled his condemnation in first instance. Basically, the Court said that the conferment to and acceptance of foreign honours, the honours conferred being foreign, by Italian citizens, was legal, while only the public use of these honours by Italian citizens was subject to authorisation by the President of the Republic, to properly safeguard the merits reserved to and represented by the honours bestowed by the Italian State. The Court had also investigated the fons honorum of the Prince and had found that he was the legitimate possessor of this faculty, which according to the Court was an expression of the honorific power of his house, which had been conserved by family tradition and had not suffered ‘debellatio’, the forced surrender of power. He was therefore entitled to grant the honours given by him, because the Court deemed that he had the legitimate power to grant these honours.

[6] The latest judgement of 5 December 2009 No 709/09 declared enforceable in the territory of the Italian Republic by decree of the Ordinary Court of Ragusa, that the Head of the Royal House of Paternò Castello of Valencia, Sardinia has the fountain of honor with all the prerogatives attached and connected to the quality of Royal Highness. The court also deceided that Noble titles may be granted with or without predicates, coats of arms, titles of honor and chivalric orders as the subject of international law for the purposes of the Act of March 3, 1951, n°. 178. ‘Corpo della Nobiltà Italiana Circolo Giovanile’, <www.cnig.net/cilane.asp>, section ‘Alcune domanda sulla nobiltà’, dated 24 December 2004, geeft over de verschillende rechterlijke uitspraken meer informatie: ‛Si senti spesso parlare di Capo di antiche dinastie spodestate che concedono titoli ed onori, sono validi? ’argomento è complicato e –come sempre- è opportune agire con la massima prudenza onde evitare truffe e raggiri che, purtroppo, sono molto frequenti. Bisogna innanzitutto essere certi che il concedente discenda realmente e per via legittima da una persona che abbia effettivamente regnato su di un territorio ed abbia esercicato il diritto di concedere onori, ed il quali forme; si deve poi guardare alle cause che hanno determinato il venir meno di tale regno; infine è opportuno accertarsi del livello tenuto dai discendenti del sovrano spodestato, onde essere sicuri che non siano ˝decaduti˝. Cosi –per esempio- chi vanta discendenze dagli Imperatori Bizantini non dovrebbe avere alcun valido diritto, dal momento che i Troni romani di Oriente erano elettivi e non si trasmettevano di padre in figlio. In linea di massima è significativa la presenza della famiglia nell’Almanacco del Gotha.’

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