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 Montalbano Elicona, the home of my ancestors, is a very small town indeed with a population of about 3,477 people and it is approx. 84 km from Messina. |
| In the northern Nebrodi mountains on a spur descending north west from Mt. Seggio, the village is set on the top of two adjacent heights, encompassed by a large bend in the Elicona river. Founded perhaps in the 10th C. it belonged to the Alagona, Lancia di Malvagna, Romano Colonna di Cesar� and Bonanno families.
Until 1955 it was called Montalbano di Elicona. Numerous small industries process local products coming from agriculture (hazelnuts, grapes, olives) and stock farming. Of interest here are the remains of Frederick II of Aragon's castle (14th C.) |
| Also of the 14th C. are the church of Santa Caterina, with a 16th C. statue of the saint, and the church of the Spirito. The main church (San Nicola da Bari) houses an altar with Gagini-style bas-relief (1587) and various Baroque works including a wooden baldachin. |
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| The "House of MILLEMACI" would appear to have been located in the province of Messina, Italy. Indeed, most references to the name are to be found documented in the town of Gaggi, in the above mentioned province. |
| Extracts from church documents tell us that in the year 1850, on August 4th, Salvatore Millemaci was born on the 25th of February in 1855. In the year 1862 there is a record of the marriage of another Salvatore Millemaci to Nicolina Papale, again in Gaggi. The name has also been recorded on the island of Sicily. Salvatore Millemaci was born to Giuseppe Millemaci and Venera Patane in Castiglione di Sicila, Catania in 1829. |
| The Italian surname Millemaci may be considered to be a "nome doppio", or compound surname composed of the elements "Mille" and Maci", each of which exists as a surname in its own right. The combination of these surnames suggests an alliance between two families whose descendants then carried on both names as their single hereditary family name. |
| The surname
Mille means "one thousand." The scholar Joseph G. Fucilla, suggests that the surname Mille derives from the personal name "Camilla" or "Milla", giving to the surname Mille, a matronymic origin. "Maci" or "Macci", according to Fucilla, derives from the Italian personal name Giacomo, to which has been added the suffix "-accio" to make the pet name Giacomaccio, from which, through the process of apheresis, derives Maccio.
The final letter "i" of the surname denotes the plural form, illustrating the process of the surname having then been passed on from one generation to the next. Maci in this case would be a regional form of Macci and the surname would be of patronymic origin, with the meaning of "son of Giacomaccio". |
| BLAZON OF ARMS - First and fourth azure, a lion or, crowned of the same langued gules, for Mille; second and third azure; on a grassy plain vert, or an ox couchant for "Maci." |
| CREST - An eagle displayed sable, crowned or not. |
| REFERENCE SOURCE - Dizionario Storico-Blazonico. ORIGIN: Italy. |
I received this information on July 16, 1992 from the Historical Research Center based in Florida. It is interesting to note here that I found several Historical Research Centers on the Internet and one that gave a different meaning to the origin of our family name. It stated our family name was first recorded in Venice...that is entirely possible, but this is just to let you know if you are searching for this type of information, check around to see if there is a variation in the information. |
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| The forebearers of the Arlotta line who lived during the 19th century would have been contemporaries of Victor Emanuel II, the first king of a united Italy, who was born in Torino on March 14, 1820. He was the son of Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, and Maria Teresa, Archduchess of Austria. |
| As a member of the House of Savoy, Victor Emanuel was a direct descendant of Umberto I "Biancamano" (White Hand), who founded the dynasty in the eleventh century. He married Maria Adelaide Di Lorena, the daughter of an Austrian archduke, on April 12th, 1842. Several years after his marriage, Victor Emanuel would become involved in events which eventually led to the unification of Italy. |
| When war broke out with Austria in 1848, Victor Emanuel was given the command of a division and fought alongside his father. However, after the defeat at Novara in 1849, Charles Albert abdicated and Victor Emanuel became king of Sardinia. His subjects, perhaps including some members of the illustrious house of Arlotta, were to see him subsequently negotiate peace with the Austrians.
An important event occurred in 1852, when Count Cavour became prime minister of the realm. Five years later, in 1857, the "Societ Nazionale" (National Society) was formed, whose goal was the unification of Italy under Victor Emanuel. A new conflict arose when Austria declared war on Sardinia on April 23rd, 1859. At the battle of Solferino, Victor Emanuel himself was in command of a corps of troops. Following the victory, an armistice was signed and Lombardy became part of the kingdom of Sardinia. In 1860 Tuscany, Romagna, Modena and Parma were added to the realm. |
| Another event which would prove important to the future of all Italians, including the worthy bearers of the family name Arlotta, occurred on May 11, 1860, when Garibaldi and his volunteers landed in Marsala, Sicily, in an attempt to free the island from Bourbon rule.
With the victory of Garibaldi's forces at Milazzo on July 20, 1860, the liberation of Sicily was completed and Garibaldi began to move toward Rome. The meeting of Victor Emanuel and Garibaldi took place at Ceano, north of Naples, on October 26, 1860. The first Italian parliament was convened in Torino in February 1861, with the proclamation of the kingdom of Italy issued on March 17, 1861. However, those of the Arlotta Family who may have resided in Venice were not to see this city state unite with the rest of Italy until 1866. The final event which shaped the new Kingdom occurred in 1870, when a French garrison withdrew from Rome, which now became the capital of the kingdom of Italy. |
| It is indeed not surprising that one of the first Western European countries, after the fall of the Roman Empire, to institute an hereditary surname system was Italy. There is documentary evidence to show that hereditary names were employed among the patricians of the Republic of Venice in the tenth and eleventh centuries. As among the Romans, the "cognomen", a "family name", was derived from a name applied to an early ancestor. This name was itself derived from a number of very diverse sources.
With regard to the Italian surname Arlotta, and its variants Arlotta and Arlotti,this name is of local origin, being derived from the place of residence of the initial bearer or from his place of origin. In this instance, the name Arlotta is derived from the place name Arles, which is the name of a city in southern France on the Rhone River. |
| The city of Arles was originally called Arelas or Arelate, and the site was occupied by the Romans prior to 100 B.C. The noble family of Arlotta of Reggio Emilia claims its origin from Arles. They are believed to have come to Italy in the twelfth century. One branch of the family settled in Mantova where the name became Italianized as Arlottina.
A member of this family was consul of Mantova in 1217. Another branch settled in Lucca and another in Reggio-Emilia where a member was consul in 1168. The family was ennobled in 1789. On occasion the name Arlotta may be of nickname origin being derived from a characteristic of the initial bearer. In this instance, the name is derived from a Bologuese dialect word signifying a "glutton". The name Arlotta is mainly associated with the regions of Calabria, Salento and Sicily. |
| Down through the centuries the Italian people, including no doubt the honorable ancestors of the Arlotta lineage, have honoured a woman known as "Catherine of Siena, patron saint of Italy". She was born Caterina Benicasa in Siena on March 25th, 1347.
As a young woman, she became a hertiary of the Dominican order in 1363, when she joined the sisters of penitence and was known for her piety, serving as an example for others. In 1376, after Pope Gregory XI issued an interdict, against Florence after it rebelled against his authority, Catherine embarked on a journey to Avignon, France, to meet with him and gain his approval for a crusade against the Muslims. Although her mission was a failure, Catherine strongly supported the return of the papacy to Rome as a way to bring peace to Italy. In 1377, those members of the Arlotta family living in Rome were to see the return, partly because of Catherine's exhortations, of their sovereign, Gregory XI to the ancient city. Catherine was summoned to Rome by Pope Urban VI, Gregory's successor, in November 1378 and she assisted him in the reorganization of the church. She remained in Rome until her death on April 29, 1380. St. Catherine, author of more than three hundred letters, was canonized in 1461. |
| BLAZON OF ARMS: Per pale, first azure, three bendlets sinister or; second azure, in base a crescent argent, surmounted by three spears or, each ending in a fleur de lis. |
| Translation: The crescent denotes Hope. |
| CREST: A lion rampant.
ORIGIN: Italy Information obtained from the Family History Center: Deerfield Beach, Florida (09/02/98) |