The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family, originally from the city of

Gaeta Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The city has played ...

, connected by some to the lineage of the lords of the

Duchy of Gaeta The Duchy of Gaeta () was an Early Middle Ages, early medieval state centered on the coastal Mezzogiorno, South Italian city of Gaeta. It began in the early ninth century as the local community began to grow autonomous as Byzantine Empire, Byzant ...

, as well as to the patrician Gaetani of the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

. It played an important role in Rome, in the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

and in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

, and later in the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

Origins

The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, according to a family tradition, was descendant of the Dukes of Gaeta. Nevertheless, the family had no more great importance in Rome until the elections of Giovanni Caetani and Benedetto Caetani to the papacy as

Pope Gelasius II Pope Gelasius II (c. 1060/1064 – 29 January 1119), born Giovanni Caetani or Giovanni da Gaeta (also called ''Coniulo''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 January 1118 to his death in 1119. A monk of Monte C ...

and

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII (; born Benedetto Caetani; – 11 October 1303) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 until his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of baronial origin with connections t ...

in 1118 and 1294 respectively, when they at once became the most notable in the city. The pope helped them to buy Sermoneta,

Bassiano Bassiano (locally ''Vassiano'') is a municipality (Italian: ''comune'') in the Province of Latina in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about northeast of Latina, Lazio, Latina. As of 31 December 2004, it had a populat ...

, Ninfa and San Donato (1297, 1300), and the marquisate of Ancona in 1300, while Charles II of Anjou created the pope's brother count of Caserta. Giordano Roffredo Caetani by his marriage with Giovanna dell'Aquila, heiress of the counts of

Fondi Fondi (; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady population growth si ...

, in 1297 acquired the title of counts of Fondi, and his grandson Giacomo acquired the lordships of Piedimonte and Gioia. The Caetani proved brave warriors and formed a bodyguard to protect Boniface VIII from his many foes. During the 14th and 15th centuries their feuds with the Colonna caused frequent disturbances in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and the Campagna, sometimes amounting to civil war. They also played an important role as Neapolitan nobles: in particular, Onorato I Caetani was a powerful baron in what is now southern

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

and one of the main supporters of

Antipope An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...

s Clement VII and Benedict XIII. In 1500

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

, in his attempt to crush the great Roman feudal nobility, confiscated the Caetani fiefs and gave them to his daughter

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

; but they afterwards regained them.

Lines

Until the 20th century, there were two lines of the Caetani family - Caetani and Caetani d'Aragona (or Gaetani Dell'Aquila d'Aragona). The Caetani line ended with the last male descendant's death in 1961.

Caetani

Caetani, princes of Teano and dukes of Sermoneta, founded by Giacobello Caetani, whose grandson, Guglielmo Caetani, was granted the duchy of Sermoneta by Pope Pius III in 1503, the marquisate of Cisterna being conferred on the family by Sixtus V in 1585. In 1642, Francesco, the 7th Duke of Sermoneta, acquired by marriage the county of Caserta, which was exchanged for the principality of Teano in 1750. The 19th century head of the house, Onorato Caetani, 14th Duke of Sermoneta, 4th Prince of Teano, Duke of San Marco, Marquis of Cisterna, etc. (1842 – 1917), was a senator of the

kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

, and was minister for foreign affairs for a short time. His son Gelasio Caetani rose to fame during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a military mining engineer. The last agnate (male member) of the family was the noted composer, Don , 17th Duke of Sermoneta and 8th Prince of Teano (1871–1961); his wife, Marguerite Chapin, founded and edited the literary journal ''

Botteghe Oscure ''Botteghe Oscure'' was a literary journal that was founded and edited in Rome by Marguerite Caetani (Princess di Bassiano) from 1948 to 1960. History and profile ''Botteghe Oscure'' was established in 1948. The magazine was named after Rome� ...

''. His niece Topazia (1921–1990) married the composer and conductor Igor Markevitch (1912–1983) and was the mother of the conductor Oleg Caetani (b. 1956), who perpetuates his mother's surname as an enate, a uterine member, of the Italian noble family.

Caetani d'Aragona (or Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona)

Caetani d'Aragona, Princes of Piedimonte, and Dukes of Laurenzana, founded by Onorato II Caetani, Count of Fondi, Alife and Morcone, Lord of Piedimonte and Gioia, in 1454. The additional surname of Aragona was assumed in 1466. The duchy of Laurenzana, in the kingdom of Naples, was acquired by Alfonso Gaetani by his marriage in 1606 with Giulia di Ruggiero, Duchess of Laurenzana. The lordship of Piedimonte was raised to a principality in 1715. The family is currently represented by Don Bonifacio Gaetani Dell'Aquilla D'Aragona, Duca di Laurenzana e Principe di Piedimonte (b. 1950) whose heir is Conte Don Giovanni Gaetani dell’Aquila d’Aragona (* 1973) who married Ginevra Elkann (the sister of

John Elkann John Philip Jacob Elkann (born 1 April 1976) is an American-born Italian industrialist. In 1997, he became the chosen heir of his maternal grandfather Gianni Agnelli, following the death of Gianni's nephew Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, and since 2 ...

daughter of Alain Elkann, and granddaughter of

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat S.p.A., Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial ...

) in 2009.

References

*{{cite web , last= , first= , title=CAETANI E GAETANI , work=Enciclopedia genealogica del Mediterraneo , publisher=Italian Genealogical Society , date= , url=http://www.genmarenostrum.com/pagine-lettere/letterac/Caetani/anteprimacaetani.htm , doi= , accessdate=January 24, 2013 , language=Italian
Original 1922 Almanach de Gotha (edited by Justice Perthes) entry for the Caetani family
link to the original universally-recognised genealogical reference document, with details of family honours Surnames Italian-language surnames