Francesco Moncada de Luna, 1st Prince of Paternò (1510 –23 February 1566) was an Italian nobleman in Spanish-ruled

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He was invested as the first Prince of Paternò by King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

Biography

He was born in

Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Cartanissètta)'' is an Italian comune with a population of 58,012 inhabitants, serving as the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta, free municipal consortium of Caltanissetta in Sicily. The earl ...

, son of Antonio, count of Adernò and Caltanissetta. In 1532 he wed Caterina Pignatelli Carafa, granddaughter of the viceroy of Sicily. Francesco served various roles in Sicily: Captain in Arms of Siracusa, Sicily,

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

Augusta, Sicily Augusta (, archaically ''Agosta''; ; Ancient Greek, Greek and , Medieval: ''Augusta'') is a town and in the province of Syracuse, Italy, Syracuse, located on the eastern coast of Sicily (southern Italy). The city is one of the main harbours in ...

, and the

Val di Noto Val di Noto () is a historical and geographical area encompassing the south-eastern third of Sicily; it is dominated by the limestone Hyblaean plateau. Historically, it was one of the three valli of Sicily. History The oldest recorded settlemen ...

. He was named judge ( stratigoto) of Messina. In 1565, to reward the loyalty of both Francesco and his father's family (Antonio had died in 1549),

King Philip II of Spain King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

invested the count Francesco with the hereditary title of Prince of Paternò.lo principe di Paterno Don Giovanni Luigi Moncada
by Michelangelo Ciandiulli and Francesco Migliorini, page 27.

References

*Derived in part from Italian Wikipedia entry. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moncada Francesco 1510 deaths 1566 deaths Kingdom of Sicily people 16th-century Italian nobility Sicilian noble families 01