The Dynasties of Italy: The House of Carafa

Reprinted from Western Exile @westernexile

Origin: Naples

States: Kingdom of Naples, Papal States

Highest Titles: Pontifex Maximus (Pope), Prince of Roccella, of Anzi, of Avella, of Belvedere, Duke of Andria, of Bruzzano, of Noja, Count of Policastro

Heraldic Blazon

Gules, three fesses Argent

As a cadet branch of the ancient House of Caracciolo, the Carafa may have adopted a variant of their arms. Legend, however, attributes both the Carafa name and arms to a dramatic incident of bravery, detailed in the overview below.

Heraldic Variants

Over time, the Carafa of Naples themselves split into two cadet branches, the della Spina, who added the green thorn to their arms, and the della Stadera, who adorned the heraldic compartment with a set of scales - both literal depictions of their names.

Extended Titles

As one of the oldest and most prestigious dynasties of the Neapolitan nobility, over the centuries the Carafa would hold a staggering array of fiefdoms and titles, including 236 baronies, 29 countships, 23 marquisates, 25 dukedoms and 13 princeships.

Overview 

The more prosaic accounts detail how the Carafa gradually emerged as a distinct branch of the Caracciolo family, initially acquiring 'Carafa' as a nickname on account of their role overseeing the campione della carafa - a tax levied on wine.

Or, more poetically, how a Pisan ancestor saved Emperor Henry VI from an assassin's blade. The grateful sovereign marked his armour with his bloodied fingers, declaring "Cara fe m'è la vostra" - "Dear is your loyalty to me" - giving the Carafa their name and arms.

What is unambiguous is that the Carafa had risen to prominence by the 14th century, when Bartolomeo Carafa served the Angevin King Robert of Naples as a judge and diplomat, before being elected to one of the seven Sedili, or patriciate councils, of Naples in 1331.

Through two of Bartolomeo's sons, Andrea and Tommaso, the della Spina and della Stradera branches of the Carafa would be born, and shrewdness saw them flourish over the course of the failed Hungarian, and later successful Aragonese conquest of the Kingdom of Naples.

This was particularly so for the Stradera line, as Antonio Carafa's loyal support for Alfonso V of Aragon proved fruitful when the latter conquered Naples in 1442. Under Alfonso and his successor Ferrante, the Carafa occupied ever greater civil and military offices.

Indeed in 1458, King Ferrante's word saw Antonio's grandson Oliviero nominated Archbishop of Naples, launching an illustrious career in the Church that would be crowned by a cardinalate in 1467, and command of a crusade against the Ottoman Turks in 1472.

The ultimate dynastic prize followed 83 years later, when Oliviero's nephew, Gian Pietro Carafa, was elected Pope Paul IV in 1555. While lasting only four years, his pontificate was a stormy one, dominated by repression and vain hostility towards the Spanish.

Despite the ignominy surrounding Paul's pontificate, the many branches of the Carafa would thrive for centuries to come, producing their sixteenth cardinal in the 19th century. The Stadera line continues to be represented in Naples today through the Dukes of Andria.

Illustrious Members

Oliviero Carafa (1430-1511)

The first Carafa to serve as Archbishop of Naples and earn international renown, Oliviero was one of the most remarkable figures of the 15th century, with achievements stretching far beyond the traditional remit of a cleric.

In 1472, the cardinal assumed military command as an admiral on an extraordinary crusade against the Ottoman Empire, wreaking havoc on the Turkish port of Antalya, and bearing the mighty harbour chain back as a spoil of victory to Rome, where he was received in triumph.

Oliviero was lauded too as a patron of the arts, both in Rome and in Naples, and is credited as one of the key drivers of the Neapolitan Renaissance, nurturing the seeds first planted by King Alfonso the Magnanimous. The only prize to elude him would be the Papal Tiara itself.

Gian Pietro Carafa (1476-1559)

ELECTED POPE PAUL IV 23rd MAY 1555

While raised with a thoroughly Renaissance education, Carafa would be defined by his fierce rejection of the direction Europe was taking, and his resentment at Spanish influence over Italy.

In his enforcement of Church authority, Paul was resolute. Strengthening the Inquisition, he banned all Protestant publications and condemned the prevalence of nudity in art, beginning the trend of promoting modesty through the addition of fig leaves to paintings and sculpture.

Yet most controversial of all, especially centuries later, was 'cum nimis absurdum'. Issued by Paul on the 15th July 1555, the Papal Bull initiated the most severe crackdown on the Jews in Church history, establishing the Jewish Ghetto in Rome and a host of punitive laws.

Barred from most professions and from owning real estate, the Jews of Rome were required to identify themselves with yellow hats, while the gates of the walled Ghetto were locked at night - an order largely maintained until the nationalist conquest of the city in 1870.

A sternly austere man, his moral reforms, at times undermined by nepotism and his determination to oust Spain from Naples, would earn him scant affection when he died just four years after his election. Across the city, the Carafa arms were pulled down in a wave of sudden riots.

Gregorio Carafa (1615-1690)

Following dramatic success serving the Knights as a naval commander against the Turks, Gregorio was appointed the 62nd Grand Master of the Order of Saint John in 1680, being the first Italian to achieve this in over a century.

Architectural Legacies 

The Carafa Chapel, Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome

Commissioned around 1488 by Oliviero Carafa in honour of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Chapel, frescoed by Filippino Lippi, also houses the tomb of the cardinal's nephew, Pope Paul IV.

The Succorpo Chapel, Duomo of Naples

Commissioned in 1497 by Oliviero Carafa, the Chapel, which features a sculpture of the cardinal himself, forms the crypt of the Cathedral and traditionally houses the relics of the city's patron - Saint Januarius.

The Chiostro del Bramante, Rome

The third great commission of Oliviero Carafa, the classical cloister of Santa Maria della Pace was designed around 1500 by the great Donato Bramante, the man who would conceive the new Saint Peter's Basilica itself.