Ettore II Pignatelli

Cultured and munificent heir to a rising fiefdom

Son of Camillo Pignatelli and Giulia Carafa, he belonged to two of the most prestigious families of the kingdom of Naples, and also benefited from the numerous cultural and family relationships established by his grandfather, the viceroy of Sicily. Having trained in the Sicilian court environment, following the premature death of his father he inherited numerous fiefdoms at a young age, including Monteleone, where he moved in 1536, taking with him his tutor, Minturno. 

He maintained close relationships with the nobility of the island, becoming related in his first marriage to the Cardona family, feudal lords of Golisano and Caronia, and in his second marriage to the Ventimiglia family, marquises of Geraci. He also became a citizen of Messina in 1542. 

He continued in the footsteps of Ettore I for the economic and cultural relaunch of his Calabrian fiefdoms. In the name of continuity, he favored the arrival of regular religious communities in Monteleone and in the other cities of the duchy.