The ancestry and origin of the House of Paternò According to several historical and genealogical documents, studies, and encyclopaedic entries concerning the House of Paternò, the founder of the family was Roberto, Count of Embrun (c. 1040–1100) and, of him, there is also a trace in the Roll of the Confraternity of the Nobles of Sicily that Roberto himself erected and where he is named among the first (as it appears in a writing preserved by the canon and royal chronicler
Antonino Amico). Roberto is considered a member of the Sovereign House of the Counts of Barcelona for three main reasons: • The first is that the Paternòs use the same
coat of arms as the House of Barcelona - Aragon, but since the Paternòs descend from a cadet line of the House of Barcelona, they add to the four red poles, the blue cotissa, the so-called "filet" which in
heraldry marks a break, characteristic of the second-born lines. Similarly, this same coat of arms of the Paternòs is also seen in the royal House of Aragon-Majorca, also a cadet line of the House of Barcelona-Aragon. Furthermore, when the Aragons arrived in Sicily in 1282, the coat of arms of the Paternòs was already placed on numerous monuments and brought to Court by members of the House of Paternò who held institutional roles . It is excluded that the Aragonese kings would have left the Paternò the possibility of using their own coat of arms, moreover that of a sovereign house, if it were not certainly correct. And even when a branch of the Paternò moved to Spain in 1292, they continued to use their own Paternò coat of arms even while they held positions of great visibility such as, for example, that of viceroy of Minorca. • Secondly, both Robert d'Embrun and many of his ancestors are considered descendants of the House of Barcelona in numerous works, including studies, encyclopaedias such as Rizzoli-Larousse, the Encyclopedie, etc., as well as in paintings and works of ancient genealogy and historiography. Thus, the fact that Robert d'Embrun does not appear in a recent validated genealogy of the
Counts of Barcelona, does not prove the historical impossibility of his descent. It is instead possible that the ancient studies are accurate, despite the lack of primary evidence that has survived to the present day. Furthermore, the vast number of ancient studies increases this possibility. • Finally, Robert's title was Count of Embrun, a title that belonged to the sovereign House of Provence, which however had become extinct in the House of Barcelona through multiple marriages, conferring upon them its titles and fiefs. In particular, Bernardo Tagliaferro (?-1020), Count of Besalù and member of the House of Barcelona, married Toda (980–1020) presumed daughter of
William I of Provence and therefore Countess of Gap and d'Embrun. The descendants of the Barcelonas who derived from Toda, therefore claimed hereditary rights on these titles and, it is thought, that the descent of Robert was through Henry (?-1054), son of Bernardo and Toda, from whom William, from whom Robert of Embrun. In the hypothesis that Toda was not of the House of Provence, Robert (given his predicate and the reasons mentioned above) would descend from another union. Assuming the connection between the family and the Barcelona-Provence is correct, the Paternòs would also originate from the Royal lineage of the Carolingians, kings of the Franks, who merged into the House of Provence through two marriages. however, it was not Roberto d'Embrun who assumed the surname of Paternò, but his son Costantino I (already become Count of Buccheri), who (presumably) married Maria, Countess of Paternò. Maria was the daughter of Flandina d'Altavilla and Ugone of Circea and niece of the Great Count Roger.
Norman (1060–1198), Swabian (1198–1266) and Angevin (1266–1282) Robert of Embrun was succeeded by Walter and Constantine I. The first was
Archbishop of Palermo from 1113, while Constantine I was succeeded Robert II and, after him, Constantine II Paternò († 1168 ), lord of Buccheri, count of Butera and Martana. Constantine II married Matilda of Aquila, Drengot and Altavilla, Countess of Avenel, great-niece of Roger II of Altavilla and granddaughter of Rainulf of Alife Drengot (who married another daughter of the Great Count Roger and therefore sister of Flandina of Altavilla). This marriage strengthened the bond between the sovereign house of Altavilla and the Paternò and, in fact, the Paternò coat of arms was placed, by order of Count Roger himself, next to that of the Norman kings and that of the city of Catania, on the
architrave of the Cathedral of Catania that Roger himself began to build in 1091. Already in the 11th century, the Paternò had the titles of Count of Buccheri, Count of Butera and Count of Martana, counties so important and vast that "in those times they were only granted to people of royal blood..." However, if the Paternò had honours and glory under the Normans, they went through a darker period under the
Swabians , who brutally persecuted the surviving representatives of the Norman house and opposed all the families who had had close relations with it.
After the Unification of Italy (1860) After the fall of feudalism, the Paternò family continued to participate actively in the public, intellectual and political life of Italy. For instance, in the 19th century, Giuseppe di Spedalotto was first Minister of War and Navy of Sicily with the
Bourbons, and was then Senator of the United Kingdom and finally
aide-de-camp to
King Vittorio Emanuele II. Antonino I, Marquis of Toscano, was
Mayor of Catania, and then Gentleman of the Chamber with Exercise of the King of Italy. He also completed the magnificent Palazzo del Toscano. == Alliances ==