Dinner for One

Millions of Germans and other continental Europeans will settle down in front of their TV sets on New Year's Eve for what has become an annual ritual -- the airing of an aged British comedy sketch starring a long-dead music-hall comedy called "Dinner for One."

The 15-minute sketch, acted by Freddie Frinton and May Warden, will also be televised by every other major regional public-TV channel in Germany and by a scattering of commercial networks.

The black-and-white British slapstick sketch, totally unknown in the English-speaking world, has become the highest-rated TV show in German history, and has spawned fan clubs and a cult following of viewers who stage parties to recreate the sketch at home.

In a nation not exactly known for its ribaldry and thigh-slapping humor, the New Year's Eve showing of "Dinner for One" never fails to bring down the house. There are viewers who have memorized every gesture, every line of the English-only sketch.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Sherlock Holmes - Trailer

Haltestellen - Karl-Josef Frhr. v. Ketteler

Die zu Guttenbergs: Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg im Interview

Herfstij van de adel (In Europa)

Expositie Woord en Wapen, in dienst van de Nassaus

"De spectaculaire wedergeboorte van een kerkinterieur"
In de lucht: 277 gereconstrueerde wapenborden.
Op de grond: 220 digitaal ontsloten grafmonumenten.
In expositie: 170 unieke museumstukken én het verhaal over 22 geestelijke en militaire dienaren van de Oranje-Nassaus.
Een bijzondere expositie die u moet zien !

In 2010 bestaat de Grote of Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kerk van Breda 600 jaar. Dat was voor de beheerstichting de reden om opdracht te geven tot het organiseren van een expositie over de periode 1637 – 1813

Expositiesamensteller Walter van de Garde creëerde na een voorbereiding van twee jaar een mega-presentatie die het verhaal vertelt van de Grote Kerk van Breda in de protestantse constellatie van die tijd. Van de Garde tekende ook voor de eerdere succesvolle exposities “Pronk en Praal” met 150.000 bezoekers en “Praal en Devotie”, die 100.000 bezoekers trok.

In de prachtig lichte wandelkerk, die de Grote Kerk vandaag de dag nog steeds is, wordt het interieur van de 17e en de 18e eeuw herschapen. Met de mensen, die in die periode invloedrijk waren. Niet alleen in de kerk, maar ook op diverse andere terreinen van het geestelijke, politieke, maatschappelijke en militaire leven van die tijd. Met als verbindende factor hun relatie met de leden van ons koninklijk huis: de Oranje-Nassaus.

WAPENBORDEN
De blikvanger van de expositie is de zee aan wapenborden. Tot 1798 hing de grote kerk er vol mee. Op last van Napoleon, die de gelijkheid van de Franse revolutie in alle door hem veroverde landen dicteerde, moesten alle invloeden die aan adel gerelateerd waren, verdwijnen. Zo ook de wapenborden met wapens van families, die eeuwenlang een prominente rol in de Nederlanden hebben gespeeld. De borden werden vernietigd, verbrand, kapotgeslagen en verdwenen uit de kerk om nooit meer terug te keren. Dat gebeurde ook in alle andere kerken in de Nederlanden. Gelukkig waren deze borden, ook wel rouwborden genoemd, een aantal jaar voor de verwijdering minutieus nagetekend door baron Yvoi, die tijdens een rondreis alle wapenborden beschreef en natuurgetrouw in een document kopieerde. Dit was voor Walter van de Garde de basis voor een reconstructie, die hij samen maakte met medewerkers van het Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie. De 277 gereconstrueerde borden keren terug in de Grote Kerk en herscheppen zodoende het beeld van de kerk zoals dat in de 17e en 18e eeuw was. Een beeld dat nergens anders in Nederland te zien is. En ook maar drie maanden te zien zal zijn.

GRAFMONUMENTEN
De tweede blikvanger van de expositie en vast onderdeel van het interieur van de kerk vormt de rijkgeschakeerde zerkenvloer. Tijdens de tientallen restauraties in de afgelopen eeuwen zijn veel zerken naar oneigenlijke locaties verhuisd. Tijdens de laatste grootschalige restauratie (van 1995-1998) is na een onderzoek van Walter van de Garde de zerkenvloer gereconstrueerd naar de situatie zoals die in 1828 bestond. In dat jaar verbood de overheid het begraven in kerken. Elke zerk en grafmonument toont de namen van de personen, die zo’n belangrijke rol in Breda vervulden, dat zij in de Grote kerk begraven mochten worden. Wandelend door de kerk lees je die namen maar ontdek je niet het verhaal achter van de mens, die daar begraven ligt.
Door een unieke samenwerking tussen de Digital Entertainment Academy (onderdeel van de NHTV) werden alle grafmonumenten digitaal ontsloten. In de speciaal daarvoor ingerichte mediaplayers vind je de zerken op positie, op naam en wordt de geschiedenis van de persoon, die daaronder begraven ligt, gepresenteerd.

MENSEN
Mensen brengen de geschiedenis tot leven; zo ook in de expositie Woord&Wapen.
In de expositie worden 15 dominees en 8 militairen belicht. Zij hebben geacteerd in de periode, die de expositie in beeld brengt. Dominees die niet alleen dominee waren en militairen die niet alleen militair waren. Ze vervulden naast hun eigenlijke beroep een bijzondere maatschappelijke rol in de toenmalige Nederlandse samenleving. Vaak had dat te maken met hun relatie met de Oranje-Nassaus. In ieder geval had elke in de expositie opgevoerde persoon een bewezen band met de Oranje’s.

Dominees
Eén van die dominees, Frederik van Renesse, was (in naam van Oranje) belast met reformatie van het Katholieke zuiden. Een andere dominee, Petrus Haack, speelde een belangrijke rol bij de terugkeer van Koning Willem I, maar hij was ook degene die de laatst onthoofde misdadiger op de Grote Markt van Breda naar zijn executieplaats begeleidde. Een derde dominee Francicus Plante, reisde met Johan Maurits van Nassau (die van Het Mauritshuis in Den Haag) naar Brazilië. Van al deze, maar ook andere dominees zijn bijzondere voorwerpen te zien die deze bijzondere taken illustreren. En Vincent van Gogh, de opa van de beroemde schilder Vincent van Gogh, was dominee in de Grote Kerk. Ook hij is, in de vorm van een originele tekening van zijn kleinzoon, in de expositie aanwezig.

Militairen
Diverse hoge militairen, die gediend hebben onder de Oranje-Nassaus, liggen op een ereplaats in de Grote Kerk van Breda begraven, hebben er een wapenbord en maken een prominent deel van de expositie uit. Als bevelvoerende officieren hebben ze grote verdiensten gehad op het slagveld. Daarnaast waren ze belangrijk als voortrekkers in de ontwikkeling van de militaire krijgskunde, het ontwerpen van fortificaties en wapens. Voor hun verdiensten werden de meesten beloond met het gouverneursschap van Breda. Deze militairen dienden vaak generatie op generatie in het Staatse leger.
Maar ook aan deze militaire families gerelateerde mensen komen aan bod: zo was Josias Eckart rentmeester van de Bredase Nassause Domeinen. Hij hield 40 jaar lang een dagboek bij met weerwaarnemingen. Zijn notities worden in meteorologische kringen nog steeds gezien als de meest accurate weerwaarnemingen over een lange periode in zijn tijd. Dit gegeven was aanleiding tot contact met het KNMI en dat leidde tot een speciaal project binnen de expositie: het weer van 1710 en 2010. In samenwerking met het KNMI wordt tijdens de expositie iedere dag getoond wat voor het weer het 300 jaar geleden op die datum was en hoe dat er op dezelfde dag in 2010 is. In die KNMI-presentatie is ook te zien met welke middelen toen (1710) de weersvoorspelling werd bepaald en met welke middelen dat nu gebeurt.

PROTESTANTISME
Tot slot wordt in de expositie aandacht besteed aan de gebruiken die in de periode 1637-1813 bij de Protestantse (Staats)kerk gemeengoed waren: de rituelen rond doop, geboorte, huwelijk en dood, maar ook het avondmaal. Unieke objecten uit de collectie van de Protestantse gemeente Breda maar ook zeldzame stukken uit collecties van nationale musea vormen daarvoor de basis.

Kortom: een bijzondere expositie waarin zoveel te zien en te beleven is dat het een “must see”-belevenis is op het gebied van religieus erfgoed!

Openingstijden en entree expositie
De expositie is toegankelijk van 15 januari tot en met 18 april 2010 van maandag tot en met zaterdag van 10.00 – 17.00 uur en zondag van 13.00 – 17.00 uur (behoudens activiteiten)

Entreeprijs: Volwassenen € 6, Pas 65 en Vrienden van de Grote Kerk € 5 en kinderen tot 14 jaar € 4 (de prijs is inclusief een 92 pagina’s tellend collectieboekje)

Stichting Grote of Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kerk Breda
Bezoekadres: Kerkplein 2 te Breda
Postadres: postbus 1017, 4801 BA Breda
Telefoon: 076-5218267
Telefax: 076-5219125
E-mail: info@grotekerkbreda.nl
Site: www.grotekerkbreda.nl

Deutscher Orden - Feierliche Investitur von Familiaren im Dom zu Bamberg

"Ich verspreche zur Ehre Gottes und Sankt Mariens dem Hochmeister der Brüder vom Deutschen Haus Sankt Mariens in Jerusalem als Familiare den Deutschen Orden durch Gebet, persönlichen Einsatz und tatkräftige Hilfe zu unterstützen und verpflichte mich zur Einhaltung der im Familiareninstitut festgelegten Ordnung." Es war ein feierlicher Akt, als die zwölf Neufamiliaren des Deutschen Ordens am 17. Oktober 2009 in Bamberg im Kaiserdom während ihrer Investitur dieses Versprechen gegenüber dem Hochmeister des Ordens, Dr. Bruno Platter, abgaben. Rund 400 Ordensmitglieder waren zu diesem Anlass in die Domstatdt in Franken gekommen.

Nach einer Vesper am Vorabend mit Weihbischof Werner Radspieler aus dem Erzbistum Bamberg fand am Samstagvormittag das Pontifikalamt zur Investitur statt. Die Aufnahme von elf Männern und einer Frau als Familiaren in den Deutschen Orden bezeichnete der Hochmeister als "die Verlebendigung der Taufgnade und der Firmung." Sie sein eine Intensivierung des christlichen Lebens, durch welche die Neufamiliaren Zeugen für Gottes Liebe und Barmherzigkeit würden. In diesem Zusammenhang erinnerte der Hochmeister an den Hl. Ignatius von Antiochien, dessen Fest an diesem Tag begangen wurde. Dieser Heilige stand mit seinem ganzen Leben dafür ein, Christus in seinem Tun und Verkündigen bis hin zu seinem Tod als Märtyrer zu bezeugen.

Ein Vorbild, wie es einst der hl. Ignatius war, sollen nach den Worten des Hochmeisters auch die Familiaren sein; sie sollen fest stehen in der Gemeinschaft mit Christus und den Menschen Orientierung geben. Der schwarze Ordensmantel, den die Familiaren während der Investitur überreicht bekamen, soll für sie als Zeichen des Schutzes für Schwache gelten, das Halskreuz soll die Familiaren als Christen erkennbar machen, die Stellung beziehen zu den Grundwerten des Glaubens. Bereits während der Vesper am Vorabend hatten die Familiaren den Rosenkranz erhalten als Zeichen für ihre besondere Verbindung zu Gott im Gebet.

Die Aufnahme in das Institut der Familiaren ist laut Hochmeister Platter nicht vergleichbar mit der Mitgliedschaft in einem normalen Verein. "Hier kommt es zu einer religiösen Verbindung zwischen den Kandidaten und Gott. Sie sollen in Zukunft Gott-Träger sein." Und er apellierte zum Abschluss seiner Predigt noch einmal auf die Neuaufgenommenen: "Geht mit uns, arbeitet mit uns zur Ehre Gottes. Seid eng mit Christus und untereinander verbunden."

Source: Deutscher Orden
Ernst P. Heissenberger, Sekretär des Hochmeisters

Vienna Ball to come to Jakarta this October

Get your dancing shoes on and start practicing the steps for Jakarta's first Vienna Ball, to be held by the Hotel Indonesia Kempinski on Oct. 30.

Balls are a tradition in Austria, with hundreds held every year by various institutions and organizations. The elegant dance events usually start with an opening ceremony in which debutantes perform different dances. Debutantes, young women between 16 and 22 years old, will announce their arrival in the upper crust society with their first ball dance at the event.

The debutantes have been receiving dance lessons from Heinz Heidenreich, who was a principle dancer at the Vienna State Opera Ballet Company in 1982. He currently works as choreographer, production manager, assistant director and organizer for special Viennese events in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, New York and Athens.

General Manager of the Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, Gerhard E. Mitrovits, said that six families (both Indonesian and foreign) have signed up their daughters, and sons, for the ball.

"I encourage all parents to have their daughters and sons participate in the event as it will be an exceptional opportunity for the young people to enter the eligible social network," he said.

"We expect to have around 80 debutantes. They don't have to buy tickets but they must wear a dress, priced at Rp 900,000 *US$90*, and the young men must wear a tuxedo priced at Rp 1.3 million."

Era Soekamto, who has been designing fashion for teenagers for 11 years, will be making the special outfits. Era said that she would design three gowns for the debutantes: one sleeveless and two bustier dresses. The dresses will have feminine look with ruffles and Swarovski crystal.

"The debutantes can wear their own shoes as long as they match the broken white dresses," Era said.

She said that she would also make black tuxedos with satin lapels, a bowtie and one-meter long tails, paired with black trousers, for the young men.

"I must make the debutantes look glamorous but not old. It's challenging," said Era, who has started making the dresses and tuxedos in August.

Diane W*lfer, the wife of the Austrian ambassador to Indonesia, said that the event was part of the embassy's cultural promotion. She said that Austria hoped to enhance its cultural and economic links with Indonesia with the event.

"The Vienna Ball is a classic tradition. It would be an honor to be able to feature daughters and sons in such event," she said.

Mitrovits said that as an Austrian he was excited to share the extravagant tradition with Indonesian people, who respect the value of tradition.

The classical music of the Johann Strauss Viennese Orchestra will accompany the dancers, including the famous Midnight Quadrilles, a complicated dance in which the couples will be placed facing each other in lines.

The ball will be held in Kempenski's grand ballroom, which will be transformed with crystal chandeliers, huge mirrors and gilded ornaments to resemble the thick classic ambience of the Sch*nbrunn Palace, a prominent historical building in Austria.

The surrounding will be decorated in the Heuriger style. The ball will last from around 6.00 p.m. to 3.00 a.m.

The hotel will provide strolling tickets for Rp 800,000 and seating tickets for Rp 2.5 million and Rp 2.2 million.

For further information on Kempinski's Vienna Ball, contact Ms. Agnes/Bertha at
(021) 23583800 ext. 3405 or 3941


Tifa Asrianti , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 09/13/2009 11:47 AM
| Lifestyle

Rectory of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia and Seamless Tunic of Our Lord Jesus Christ established in The Netherlands

The Order of the Eagle of Georgia and the Seamless Tunic of Our Lord Jesus Christ is a family dynastic institute of the Royal House of Georgia, founded by Saint Queen Tamar (1184-1213) and was reconstituted in 1939 by the grandfather of the current Head of the Royal House, H.R.H. Irakly Bagrationi Mukran, as the main order of the Royal House.

The Order is registered as an institution of chivalry by the International commission for orders of chivalry. It is also listed in Guy Stair Sainty's book; World Orders of Knighthood and Merit (Publisher: Burke's Peerage & Gentry).

Monarchen.nl adverteert met "Russische Bruiden"

Op de website monarchen.nl van de kruiperige en onderdanige Maarten van der Meer, die zich graag Maarten "Heuff" van der Meer noemt, zonder dat hij hier recht op heeft, wordt tegenwoordig tegen betaling geadverteerd met "Russische Bruiden". Op de website werd door een lezer van Nobility News de volgende advertentie aangetroffen:

"Mooie Russische Bruiden
Russische bruiden voor dating en
huwelijk. Schrijf je nu gratis in.
www.RussianEuro.com"

Maarten van der Meer haalt kennelijk zijn schouders op als hij wordt geconfronteerd met het feit dat wereldwijd er jaarlijks 600.000 tot 800.000 mannen, vrouwen en kinderen worden verhandeld. 80 procent daarvan is vrouw, 50 procent zijn kinderen. Het overgrote deel van hen komt terecht in de gedwongen prostitutie. Schrikbarende aantallen waar vaak internationale criminele netwerken achter zitten. Het is tegenwoordig de snelst groeiende criminele activiteit, waar helaas nog steeds heel makkelijk veel geld mee verdiend kan worden.

Commentaar
Ze adverteren tegenwoordig ook met Thaise bruiden:
"Thai Huwelijken
Bloedmooi Thai Vrouwen Willen U Als Bruidegom. Word Nu Gratis Lid!
www.ThaiLoveLinks.com"

Wat een vertoning van deze onnozele hals. Hij verwijst in een van zijn artikelen ook naar een ingezonden brief in HP. Wat hij vergeet te melden is dat voor de plaatsing van de brief door de redactie later een excuus is aangeboden. De brief was afkomstig van Peter Hofman Kolk, die als lid van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Genootschap voor Geslacht- en Wapenkunde is geroyeerd wegens wangedrag. Momenteel is Peter Hofman Kolk opgenomen in een psychiatrische inrichting in Haarlem. Een 'beetje dom' om uitgerekend deze man te citeren.

Peter de Jonge

Thorbjorn Paternò Castello and the Crown of Aragon as a legitimate fons honorum to grant nobiliary titles

Family history
The Libro d'Oro lists the Paternò family as an historical family for more than a thousand years which traces its origins to Prince Robert of Embrun and to the Sovereign House of Barcelona and Provence which arrived in Sicily in 1060 as part of the entourage of King Roger, seizing the Castle and Lordship of Paternò therefrom it assumed its name. In 1161 Costantino Paternò Count of Butera married Matilde Avenela the daughter of the Count of Avellino and a niece of King Roger I of Hauteville. It is impossible to list all the members of the Family of Paternò who have risen to eminence over the centuries. They have achieved honours and titles as well as the highest ranks of ancient chivalry, such as the Military Belt and the Golden Spur, and the Paternò have been Viceroys, Vicars General of the Kingdom of Sicily, Presidents of the Kingdom, Cardinals, Ambassadors to Popes and Kings, brave knights, generous patrons of the arts, famous politicians. Already Counts of Butera and of Martana in the 12th Century, the Family of Paternò has established close ties of blood with the Norman, Swabian and Savoyard Royal Houses. Knights of the Order of Malta since the beginning of the 15th Century, they are recorded by Mugnos as one of those families of royal descent. The Paternò have been Peers of Sicily since their origin and so assumed control over the governorship of the city of Catania and over its House of Nobility as to be able to exclude anyone who did not meet with their approval. Over the course of the centuries the Family held more than 170 main fiefs and since the beginning of the 18th Century possessed five hereditary seats in the Sicilian Parliament. The abolition of feudalism meant the loss of these inherent rights but the Family has continued to be renowned in intellectual, diplomatic and political fields.

Titles
Amongst the principal titles of nobility held by the Family are: Princes of Biscari, Sperlinga (1627), Manganelli, Val di Savoja e Castelforte (1633); Dukes of Carcaci (1723), Furnari (1643), Giampaolo, Palazzo (1687), Paternò, Pozzomauro e San Nicola; Marquises of Capizzi (1633), Casanova, Desera (1806), Manchi, Regiovanni, Roccaromana, San Giuliano (1662), Sessa, del Toscano; Counts of Montecupo (1772); Barons of Aliminusa, Aragona, Spedolotto Alzacuda, Baglia e Dogana di Milazzo, Baldi, Belmonte, Bicocca, Bidani, Biscari, Burgio, Capizzi, Castania e Saline di Nicosia, Cuba, Cuchara, Cugno, Donnafugata, Ficarazzi, Gallitano, Gatta, Graneri, Imbaccari e Mirabella, Intorrella, Manchi di Bilici, Mandrile, Manganelli di Catania, Marianopoli, Mercato di Toscanello, Metà dei Terraggi di Licata, Mirabella, Motta Camastra, Murgo, Nicchiara, Officio di Mastro Notaro della Corte Capitaniale di Catania, Oxina, Placabaiana, Poiura, Porta di Randazzo, Pollicarini, Pozzo di Gotto, Raddusa e Destri, Ramione, Ricalcaccia, Salamone, Salsetta, San Giuliano, San Giuseppe, Sant' Alessio, Scala, Schiso, Sciortavilla, Solazzi, Sparacogna, Spedalotto, Terza Parte della Dogana di Catania, Toscano; Lords of Baglio, Collabascia, Erbageria, Gallizzi, Mandrascate, Sciari, Sigona, del jus luendi of Camopetro. (“ House of Paternò-Castello: A Sicilian House which traces its origin to James the Conqueror, King of Aragon (+1286)”.

References to the royal descent of the House of Paternò and the rights that derive therefrom can be found in the Archive in the writings of Ignazio V Prince of Biscari, Francesco VII Duke of Carcaci, Giuseppe Emanuele IX Marquis of Sessa and Francesco XI Duke of Carcaci, considering only authors from the Family itself.

Family pact
After the death of the last Prince of Cassano the heads of the different branches of the Paternò family met in family council at Palermo and recognised that the family's royal rights were vested in Don Mario Paternò Castello Guttadauro d'Emmanuel B. of Don Giovanni Paternò Castello iure maritale Prince of Emmanuel (son of Don Mario Guiseppe IV Duke of Carcaci) and his wife Eleanor Guttadauro last of the house of the Princes of Emmanuel and herself a descendant of the Kings of Aragon.

Thorbjon Paternò Castello
Principe Don Thorbjorn Paternò Castello d’Aragona Gran Maestro del Sovrano Ordine di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme Cavalieri di Malta OSJ e del Reale Ordine Dinastico Aragonese, is the son of Roberto II Enrico Francesco Mario Gioacchino and Bianca Monteforte (1948–1990). He belongs to the ancient Paternò family which traces its origins to Prince Robert of Embrun and to the Sovereign House of Barcelona and Provence which arrived in Sicily in 1060 as part of the entourage of King Roger, seizing the Castle of Paternò therefrom it assumed its name.

The Balearic Kingdom, the Paternò pretension to it and their rights as a sovereign family 
The Balearic (from Baleos or Balios, comrade of Hercules) Archipelago of Spain, in the Mediterranean, facing the coast of Valencia, is composed, apart from vast numbers of minor islands and islets some of which are uninhabited, of the islands of Majorca, Minorca and Cabrera, of the islands denominated Pityuse, or Ivisia or Ibiza and Formentera, and of the Presidios, off the north coast of Morocco, excluding the island of Ceuta; these constitute at present the region known as the Balearics, with an area of 5014 sq.km. and c. 330,000 inhabitants. (Grande Enciclopedia Sozogno, vol.II, pages 238-9, entry Baleari).

The Balearic Islands, conquered in the distant past by the Carthaginians, then by the Romans under Consul Metello, again by the Vandals, the Greeks and the Arabs, were taken from these last by James I of Aragon, the Conqueror, in a war lasting from 1228 to 1235; he constituted them as kingdom in favour of Jayme, the second son of his second marriage (to Iolanda, daughter of Andrea King of Hungary) (Imhof, op. cit. table II, page 4); Jayme, the first king of this name, who died in 1312, was succeeded on the throne of the Balearics by his son Sancho, husband of Maria daughter of Charles II King of Naples. Sancho died childless and was succeeded by his younger brother Ferdinand, first married to Isabella daughter of Louis Prince of the Peloponnese and then to the cousin of the king of Cyprus. He was succeeded by his son Jayme II, who died in the recapture of Majorca in 1349. Jayme was followed by, as Prince Regent, his younger brother Ferdinand, who in turn was followed by his nephew (son of Jayme) Jayme III, who died childless in 1375, the kingdom having been taken from him in 1375 by Pedro IV of Aragon, who incorporated the Balearic Archipelago into the Aragon Crown; the only sister of Jayme III was Isabella, wife of Giovanni Paleologo Marquis of Monferrat. (Ludwig, Die Balearen, geschildert in Wort und Bild, Lipsia 1897; Jaun Dameto, La Historia general del Regno Balearico, Majorca, 1633).

The right of pretension to the Paternò Princes, last surviving branch of the Ayerbo of Aragon (itself the last branch of the House of Aragon, itself no longer extant) over the ancient Balearic kingdom, finds a juridical basis in the pontifical act which King James I the Conqueror obtained to legitimise his sons by the Duchess Teresa de Vidaure, these being Pietro, Lord of Ayerbe, and Jacopo, Lord of Xerica. “He also obtained that, if the male line became extinct (it is extinct today) the successors to the kingdom in preference to the females would be the descendents of the sons of Donna Teresa Gil de Viduara” (Candida Gonzaga, op. cit. page 5).

The branch of Jacopo of Aragon, second son of James I the Conqueror and his second wife Iolanda, daughter of Andrea King of Hungary (his firstborn Pedro was king of Aragon, and his line too is now extinct – this Jayme of Aragon was nominated by his father King of Majorca of the Balearics – coming to an end with his great-grandson Jayme III, who died childless in 1375, and Isabella, wife of the marquis of Monferrat, the Paternò, blood relatives of the Aragon kings of the Balearics by reason of their common ancestor James I the Conqueror (the Aragon kings being direct descendents of James I and Iolanda of Hungary, and the Paternò direct descendants of Pietro of Ayerbe of Aragon, son of James I of Teresa de Vidaure), they can claim the right to pretend to the ancient Balearic kingdom not only by blood but also by the testament of James I, who declared that they were to succeed to the throne if direct branches of the House of Aragon should become extinct: “Duo ex illa (Teresa de Vidaure) Jacobus Rex sustulit filios, quos testamento legitimos declaravit, quorum …Ajerbio oppido cum ejus quoque arce aliisque oppidis in Aragonum regno donavit, e a conditione ut alterutri fine liberis decedenti superstes succederet; Jolantae reginae autem, filiis sine prole decedentibus, illos ad regna vocari atque omnino foeminis etiam ex Jolanta natis praeferre voluit” (Bern. Gomez, de Vita Jacobi I R. Lib.X, XIV and X). The Aragonese Kings of the Balearics and the Paternò in fact used the same coat of arms, “Or four bars gules” (which is of Aragon), with the bend or bendlet of blue, indicating the cadet branch. The direct descent of the Paternò from Ayerbe and thus from Aragon confers also upon the Paternò, today the last representatives of the Sovereign House of Aragon, all the due rights of Fons Honorum and Jus Majestatis, recognised by international right due to the direct descendents of ancient Sovereign Houses: common rights recognised by many verdicts of the Italian Magistrature, also regarding other descendants of ancient Sovereign Houses, and consistent with the faculty of conferring or confirming noble titles on the basis of the surname or predicates taken from the names of places at some time part of the Balearic kingdom; to concede and confirm coats of arms and mottos; to concede predicates and feudal representation; to decorate with the Knight Orders of the family dynasty; to modify the statutes, to create new ones and be legitimately considered, since the Aragon Balearics Kings did not suffer the “debellatio”, that is, the total and passive renunciation for themselves and their heirs of the rights due to those who exercised Sovereignty Pretenders to this throne, were treated as Royalty; and recognition of the quality of “Princeps natus” or Royal Prince by birth.

The pretension extends, for the actual extinction of all the branches of the House of Aragon, legitimate and not, to the Aragon Crown and to the Spanish Orders (the Aragonese and of the Crown). The so-called royal prerogative is a personal prerogative “jure sanguinis” which belongs only to the king or the Prince on the throne and is transmitted to his successors at the act of coronation and investiture, also when, for whatever reason, they do not possess territory, on condition though, as in fact happened to the Aragonese Kings of the Balearics, that they have not accepted the afore mentioned “debellatio”. For not having accepted the “debellatio” after the institutional referendum, Umberto of Savoy is even now, and his successors will be in perpetuity, Pretender to the Italian Throne; the same is true for the Hapsburgs, the Bourbons, the Romanoffs, still pretenders to the thrones of their Ancestors.

That the possession of the territory does not constitute the requisite to award a person noble rank or to exercise other rights and prerogatives by virtue of “jure sanguinis” from sovereign ancestors as proved by the customs of the ages, for apart from the aristocratic Republics of Genoa, Pisa and Venice and even today that of San Marino, no Republic or President thereof has ever conferred noble titles. These are prerogatives by virtue of the noble blood of those who have reigned or exercised sovereign powers, because even after the loss of the throne they retain in themselves with the attributes and special qualities, the rights and honours which they transmit to their successors in perpetuity.

Regarding the licit and legitimate use of the Honours of the Dynastic Orders of Collation and Jus Patronatus of the ancient Royal House of Paternò-Ayerbe-Aragon, last representatives and Heirs of the Kings of Aragon and of Balearics, they, because they belong to an ancient Sovereign Family, are quite distinct from those dealt with in the Law no. 178 of 3-3-51, on the Institution of the Order of Merit of the Republic and the discipline of the Independent Knightly Orders, qualification granted “by organisations, associations or individuals”, not being, obviously, a House of Sovereign origin. The only obligation to be observed by those who have been decorated is to specify the name of the Order following the rank, to avoid causing confusion between the various Orders, national, of foreign States, of Malta and of the Holy Sepulchre (Source: L. Pellicioni).

Historical Criticism
The Fount of honour (Latin: fons honorum) of the family is heavily chalenged by Guy Stair Sainty, an individual, who has no acadamic degree, stating that as a junior member of a junior branch of the family don Roberto has no right to claim any prerogative pertaining to its chief, whether such prerogative actually exists. In 1973 Lt Col Robert Gayre, a man with proven Nazi ties, published a booklet in which the states that "certain observations should be made which, in our opinion, destroy completely these historical claims. The Papal legitimation which is brought forward to allow the desired descent was, in itself, insufficient to transfer any title to the Crown of Aragon. Furthermoree, as Aragon dit not have the Salic law, the descnet of crown could pass through a female line. Consequently, even if the legitimation had put Don Pedro Sancho into the line of succession, that succession would have gone through a female line on the extinction of the male descent - and so to the house of Paternò would have been out of succession in any case.". (...) It is clear that no matter how distinguisched is the house Paternò, it cannot claim to be the heirs of the Kingdom of the Balearic Isles or of Aragon." (Lt Col R. Gayre of Gayre and Nigg, A Glimpse of the Chivalric and Nobiliary Underworld, Lochore Enterprises (Malta) Ltd. Valetta, Malta, pp. 27-28). A PhD study by Dr Hans Hoegen Dijkhof of the Univiversity of Leiden refutes both opinions.

Legal Judgements
The legal judgements regarding the Fount of honour and the power to grant nobility are part of the PhD-research at the University of Leiden by Dr Hans Hoegen Dijkhof, lawyer. This section of the article is based on his PhD-thesis (see pp. 296-297).

The Fount of honour and the power to grant nobility played a role in the various Paternò cases in Italy. On 1 April 1952, the ‘Pretura Unificata di Bari’, evidently a court of first instance in criminal cases, had to decide a criminal case against a certain Umberto Z., a resident of Bari, who had publicly presented himself as Count of St. Ilarico. Z. was prosecuted for violating article 496 of the Italian Penal Code, as he was denounced by an anonimous person for having committed this crime.

Retaining the Fons honorum
His decisive defense was inter alia that this title had been validly conferred upon him by the ‘Prince Emanuel Francesco Mario Paternò Castello di Caraci’. It appeared after a full investigation of all relevant documents by the Court, that this Prince belonged to one of the first families of Sicily, a family who are descendants of William I, the Conqueror, descendants of the Counts of Gascogne, the Kings of Navarre and Castil and that the Prince was a direct descendant of the Kings of Mallorca and the Baleares and was still Pretender to this throne. The Court found that on these grounds, he had retained his full rights of fons honorum, which meant according to the Court, that he had the power to nobilitate, to grant and confirm coats of arms and to award predicates, taken from places in which his ancestors in fact had exercised sovereign powers, not to mention his right to constitute, resuscitate, reform and exercise the ‘Grand Magistry’ of the chivalric Orders of the dynasty, which are passed from father to son as an insupprimable heredity of birth, which in the ascendants of the Prince had found in fact also a confirmation by Francesco II of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies, in 1860. Z. was acquitted.

Legitimate power to grant honours
Then it was the Prince’s own turn. He was denounced on 14 July 1958 and prosecuted, as a resident of Brunate, before and condemned on 29 May 1962 by the ‘Pretore of Monsummano Terme’, the competent judge in first instance, to 4 months and 15 days imprisonment for having allegedly conferred false titles to a number of persons (Article 81 of the Penal Code and article 8 of Law 3.3.51 N.178.) but he was acquitted of several connected alleged counts (Articles 81cpv 640, 56, 640 of the Penal Code) for lack of evidence. He appealed with the ‘Tribunale di Pistoia’ and on 5 June 1964, this court of appeals confirmed his acquittal in first instance and annulled his condemnation in first instance. Basically, the Court said that the conferment to and acceptance of foreign honours, the honours conferred being foreign, by Italian citizens, was legal, while only the public use of these honours by Italian citizens was subject to authorisation by the President of the Republic, to properly safeguard the merits reserved to and represented by the honours bestowed by the Italian State. The Court had also investigated the fons honorum of the Prince and had found that he was the legitimate possessor of this faculty, which according to the Court was an expression of the honorific power of his house, which had been conserved by family tradition and had not suffered ‘debellatio’, the forced surrender of power. He was therefore entitled to grant the honours given by him, because the Court deemed that he had the legitimate power to grant these honours.

The quote from the website of the Corpo della Nobiltà Italiana Circolo Giovanilegt;, section ‘Alcune domanda sulla nobiltà’, dated 24 December 2004, may further elucidate this point.

Conferring of noble titles
The Public Prosecutor did not institute cassation and it was therefore definitively established between the Italian State and the Prince that the Prince or his direct descendants, by using their fons honorum, can validly confer noble titles. Accordng to Hoegen Dijkhof it is an entirely different matter whether those who have been awarded with these noble titles are or have to be recognised by a State which has a law on nobility, as belonging to the nobility of this State or as having a right to be taken up in the nobility of this State. This should be established for each State separately, depending on the domestic laws.

Recent judgement
The latest judgement of arbitral tribunal of 5 November 2009 No 709/09, declared enforceable in the territory of the Italian Republic by decree of the Ordinary Court of Ragusa, that the Head of the Royal House of Paternò Castello of Valencia, Sardinia has the fountain of honor with all the prerogatives attached and connected to the quality of Royal Highness. The court also deceided that Noble titles may be granted with or without predicates, coats of arms, titles of honor and chivalric orders as the subject of international law for the purposes of the Act of March 3, 1951, n . 178. More specific, the verdict states the following (p. 110 ff):

"IV) - H.R.H. Prince Thorbjorn Francesco Giuseppe Nicola Roberto Paterno Castello of the Dukes of Carcaci,Prince of Emanuel in accordance with the provisions of-1 'art. 16 of the Rules of the Court of Arbitration of Ragusa for a 'finding of evidence of claim, was entitled to set up the Real Home of Valencia and Paterno Castello di Sardegna and legally took over as Head, with the deeds of the notary public act of Vincenzo Giacalone Alcamo of July 20, 2009, rep. No. 25,806, Coll. No. 4270, recorded July 24, 2009 in Trapani, mod. T, No. 5132;

V) - to H.R.H. Prince Thorbjorn Francesco Giuseppe Nicola Roberto Paterno Castello of the Dukes of Carcaci, Prince of Emanuel, an Italian citizen, born November 26, 1976 at Molndal (Sweden), who is lawfully entitled, as Head of the Royal House of Paternò Castello of Valencia and Sardinia, to the following qualities, rights and privileges:

• The quality of Royal Highness, Royal Prince, and Pretender to the Throne of Valencia and Sardinia;
• The right to qualify and to be the Sovereign Head of the Name and Arms of the Royal House of Paternò Castello of Valencia and Sardinia;
• The right to all the qualifications, prerogatives, attributes of rank, with the right to use coats of arms, which belong to him by hereditary right;
• The sovereign prerogatives related to the Jus Majestatis and Jus Fons Honorum, with power to confer titles of nobility, with or without predicates, coats of arms, titles of honor and chivalry on orders equestrian family as well as create new orders;
• The sovereign prerogative to assign, to a citizen of male or female, of its House titles by giving the right to integrate the titles and predicates into surnames, in the manner and terms established by the rules in the name;
• The quality of material subject to international law and orders of the Grand Master of the dynastic family ergo non-national for the purpose of the law March 3, 1951, No 178;
• The pretensions of sovereign titles of the King of Aragon, King of Valencia, King of Sardinia, King of Majorca, King of Sicily, King of Corsica, the Count of Barcelona, ​​Count of Provence, Count Roussillon and of Conte d'Urgell;
• The pretensions of the feudal titles of Duke of Athens, Duke of Neopatria, Count of Sicily, Count of Cervera and Lord of Montpellier;
• The non-Feudal titles of the Family Paterno Castello: Count of Paterno, Earl of Artedero, Earl of Mongialisi, Baron of Carcaci, Baron of Biscari, Baron of Granieri, Baron of Bicocca, Lord of the Bidan and Patrician of Catania;
• The right of ownership of the Orders of the Family:
• Royal Dynastic Aragonese Order of the Knights of St. John, based in Valletta - Malta;
• Royal Dynastic Noble Order Valenciano, headquartered in La Valletta - Malta.

VI) - H.R.H. Prince Thorbjorn Francesco Giuseppe Nicola Roberto Paterno Castello of the Dukes of Carcaci,Prince of Emanuel, an Italian citizen, born on 26/11/1976 in Molndal (Sweden), is the legitimate heir of the historic dynasty founded by King Alfonso II of Aragon, being the Head of the Royal House of Paternò Castello of Valencia and the Balnearic Islands."

More information: es@baron-of-sisto.com

References
1.^ Edition XXIII of 2005-2009, Volume XXVIII, Tome 2 on page 275 of the Golden Book
2.^ Almanach of Gotha, 1926 edition
3.^ Deeds of the notary public act of Vincenzo Giacalone Alcamo of July 20, 2009, rep. No. 25,806, Coll. No. 4270, recorded July 24, 2009 in Trapani, mod. T, No. 5132; see also http://www.real-aragon.org
4.^ Guy Stair Sainty and Rafal Heydel-Mankoo, World Orders of Knighthood & Merit (2006).
5.^ Dr H.J. Hoegen Dijkhof, The legitimacy of Orders of St. John: a historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon (PhD Thesis University of Leiden 2003)
6.^ This section of the article is based on the PhD Thesis of Dr Hoegen Dijkhof
7.^ Dr H.J. Hoegen Dijkhof, The legitimacy of Orders of St. John: a historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon (PhD Thesis University of Leiden 2003)
8.^ Judgement pronounced and deposited on 1 April 1952 in the case 485/52.
9.^ Dr H.J. Hoegen Dijkhof, The legitimacy of Orders of St. John: a historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon (PhD Thesis University of Leiden 2003)
10.^ 'Si senti spesso parlare di Capo di antiche dinastie spodestate che concedono titoli ed onori, sono validi? ’argomento è complicato e –come sempre- è opportune agire con la massima prudenza onde evitare truffe e raggiri che, purtroppo, sono molto frequenti. Bisogna innanzitutto essere certi che il concedente discenda realmente e per via legittima da una persona che abbia effettivamente regnato su di un territorio ed abbia esercicato il diritto di concedere onori, ed il quali forme; si deve poi guardare alle cause che hanno determinato il venir meno di tale regno; infine è opportuno accertarsi del livello tenuto dai discendenti del sovrano spodestato, onde essere sicuri che non siano ˝decaduti˝. Cosi –per esempio- chi vanta discendenze dagli Imperatori Bizantini non dovrebbe avere alcun valido diritto, dal momento che i Troni romani di Oriente erano elettivi e non si trasmettevano di padre in figlio. In linea di massima è significativa la presenza della famiglia nell’Almanacco del Gotha'
11.^ See also R. de Francesco, La Legittimità e validità degli ordini cavallereschi “non nazionali” secondo gli insegnamenti della Corte di Cassazione - Con prefazione del prof. Luigi Gianetti (Napoli, 1959).
12.^ Dr H.J. Hoegen Dijkhof, The legitimacy of Orders of St. John: a historical and legal analysis and case study of a para-religious phenomenon (PhD Thesis University of Leiden 2003).
13.^ Verdict of The International Civil Tribunal, Permanent Organ of the European Court of International Arbitration of Ragusa of the 5th of November 2009, published in the Italian State Gazette on 6 April 2011 when it became final under Italian Law and under the Convention of NY 1954

Literature

Abate, A. “Esequie del Duca di Carcaci” Catania 1854

Agnello, G. “Il Museo Biscari di Catania nella Storia della Cultura Illuministica del ‘700” in Archivio Storico della Sicilia Orientale, 1957, a. X p. 142

Amico, “Catana Illustrata”, 1741

Amico, “Sicilia Sacra” 1742

Maria Concetta Calabrese, I Paternò di Raddusa, C.U.E.C.M. 1998

G. Carrelli, Hauteville e Paternò, in Rivista Araldica, n.3, 1932

Enciclopedia Treccani Vol. XXVI, voce "Paternò", curata dal prof. Giuseppe Paladino dell'Università di Catania

Francesco Gioeni, Genealogia dei Paternò, Palermo,1680

G. Libertini, Il Museo Biscari, Milano 1930.

V. Librando, Il Palazzo Biscari in Cronache di archeologia e di storia dell'arte, 3, 1964, p. 104 e ss.

Denis Mack Smith, “Storia della Sicilia Medioevale e moderna”, Universale Laterza (1970) pp. 367 e ss, 376-377.

Filadelfo Mugnos, Theatro Genealogico, 1650, s.v. "Paternò" p. 27

Filadelfo Mugnos, Teatro della nobiltà del mondo, 1654, s.v. "Paternò", p. 297

Muscia, Sicilia Nobile, 1408, s.v. "Paternò

Scipione Paternò e Colonna, Storiografia della Casa Paternò, Catania. 1642

Francesco Paternò di Carcaci, I Paternò di Sicilia, Catania, 1935.

Vincenzo Notaro Russo, Genealogia della Casa Paternò, 1721, - Archivio Comune di Catania

Gaetano Savasta, Storia di Paternò, Catania” 1905

F. Ughello, Antonius Paternò, nobilis neapolitanus”, Palermo,1729

Bruno Varvaro, Nuove indagini sulla contea di Paternò e Butera nel sec. XII, in Rivista Araldica, n. 4 - dicembre 1931

Bruno Varvaro, Hauteville e Paternò in Rivista Araldica, n. 1 - 20 gennaio 1933 *G.E. Paternò di Sessa, F. Paternò, "Dell'origine regia e aragonese dei Paternò di Sicilia", inRivista Araldica Fasxcicolo n. 6, giugno 1913

Salvatore Distefano, Ragusa Nobilissima - Una famiglia della Contea di Modica attraverso le fonti e i documenti d'archivio, contributo alla Historia Familiae Baronum Cutaliae, Ancillae et Fundi S. Laurentii, RICHERCHE (2006), 109-160, a pag.128 si ricorda che Eleonora Paternò e Tornabene, vedova Biscari, sposò Guglielmo Distefano, duca di San Lorenzo. -->

Librando, V. “Il Palazzo Biscari” in Cronache di Archeologia e di Storia dell’Arte, 1964, n. 3 p. 104 e ss.

Guzzetta, G.: “Per la gloria di Catania: Ignazio Paternò Castello Principe di Biscari” Agorà, Luglio- settembre 2001

Garuffi, “Archivio Storico della Sicilia Orientale”, anno IX, 1912

Garuffi, “Gli Aleramici ed i Normanni” Palermo 1910, Vol. I

La Dinastia Sovrana Paternò-Ayerbe-Aragona - L Pelliccioni di Poli

1956 Rome Nobiliario Internazionale - C Santippolito

1985 RAM Messina Corpus Historiae Genealogicae Italiae et Hispaniae - J W Imhof 1702 Nurnberg

Los Condes de Barcelona Vindicados Cronologia y Genealogia - Prospero de Bofarull y Mascaro Secretario de SM Archivero de la Corona de Aragon

1836 Barcelona Rivista Araldica 1922 p295-305, 343-346

Rivista Araldica 1913 p330-335

Anales de la Corona de Aragon by Jerònimo Zurita, Tom 1 libro IV cap.126

The Rise of the Aragonese-Catalan Empire 1200-1350 - J Lee Shneidman 1970 New York and London

Blauw bloed. Overrompelende debuutroman van Binnert de Beaufort

Blauw bloed, de overrompelende debuutroman van Binnert de Beaufort, verhaalt van de vriendschap tussen Olivier van Aldenborch en Stefan von Schwenningen Schönau. Tot Oliviers ongenoegen wordt zijn leven bepaald door ongeschreven gedragswetten. Op school moet hij zich wapenen tegen de benepen moraal van zijn klasgenoten en leraren. Door zijn vriendschap met Stefan, een zelfverzekerde diplomatenzoon, denkt Olivier zich van zijn keurslijf te bevrijden.

In Blauw bloed blikt Olivier, halfhartig societyjournalist, terug op het verloop van zijn vriendschap met Stefan. Stefan heeft hem met het echte leven laten kennismaken, maar dat heeft voor Olivier inmiddels veel van zijn glans verloren. Hun gezamenlijk in Amerika doorgebrachte studietijd heeft Stefans vrijheidsdrang in een heel ander, dreigend licht gesteld, vooral na hun ontmoeting met Sylvie, een getraumatiseerd meisje uit Louisiana. Sylvie zal de ware aard van Stefan aan Olivier openbaren.

Binnert de Beaufort (Arnhem, 1970) groeide op in Den Haag. Hij studeerde oude geschiedenis in Amsterdam en is tegenwoordig werkzaam als journalist.

Recensie
Romandebuut van de Quote-journalist (1970). Het thema van deze autobiografisch getinte roman is zeker origineel: hoe is het om als jongeman in deze tijd van adel te zijn? Danslessen te moeten volgen en braaf te moeten zijn om de naam van de familie niet te grabbel te gooien? De uitwerking van het thema in twee verhaallijnen - een in het verleden als de hoofdpersoon nog jong is en de tweede verhaallijn speelt nu, als hij dertiger is, en werkt bij een blad dat erg op Quote lijkt - is aardig. Langzamerhand grijpen de twee verhaallijnen meer in elkaar. Soms heeft het iets van een thriller: wat is er toch met Sylvie gebeurd? Hoe zal de rechtszaak tegen de hoofdpersoon aflopen? Anderzijds bevat het verhaal nog wel een aantal losse einden. Al met al toch onderhoudend. Vrij kleine druk.

(Biblion recensie, Drs. E.A. van Kemenade)

Queen pays tribute to 'Last Tommy'

The Queen, the Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Gordon Brown have led tributes to the last surviving British soldier of the First World War, who has died at the age of 111.

Harry Patch, known as the Last Tommy, passed away peacefully just before 9am on Saturday at Fletcher House nursing home in Wells, Somerset.

He had become Britain's oldest man when another veteran of the war, Henry Allingham, died a week ago on July 18 aged 113.

The only remaining known British-born veteran of the First World War is now Claude Choules, 108, who served in the Royal Navy and now lives in Perth, Australia.

Mr Patch, a machine-gunner, served in the trenches as a private from June to September 1917 and fought in the battle of Passchendaele in which more than 70,000 British troops died. He was born on June 17, 1898 and grew up in Combe Down, near Bath.

The Queen said: "I was saddened to hear of the death of Harry Patch, the last British survivor or the First World War. We will never forget the bravery and enormous sacrifice of his generation, which will continue to serve as an example to us all."

Prince Charles said nothing could give him greater pride than to pay tribute to Mr Patch. He told the BBC: "The Great War is a chapter in our history we must never forget, so many sacrifices were made, so many young lives lost.

"Harry was involved in numerous bouts of heavy fighting on the front line but amazingly remained unscathed for a while. Tragically one night in September 1917 when in the morass in the Ypres Salient, a German shrapnel shell burst overhead badly wounding Harry and killing three of his closest friends.

"In spite of the comparatively short time that he served with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, Harry always cherished the extraordinary camaraderie that the appalling conditions engendered in the battalion and remained loyal to the end."

The Prime Minister said: "I know that the whole nation will unite to honour the memory, and to take pride in the generation that fought the Great War. The noblest of all the generations has left us, but they will never be forgotten. We say today with still greater force: 'We will remember them'."

Source: Press Association