The Dukedom of Bronte ( ("Duchy of Bronte")) is a dukedom with the title Duke of Bronte, referring to the town of Bronte in the province of Catania, Sicily. It was granted on 10 October 1799 at Palermo to the British Royal Navy officer Horatio Nelson by King Ferdinand III of Sicily, in gratitude for Nelson having saved the kingdom of Sicily from conquest by Revolutionary French forces under Napoleon. This was largely achieved by Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile (1798), which extinguished French naval power in the Mediterranean, but also by his having evacuated the royal family from their palace in Naples to the safety of Palermo in Sicily. It carried the right to sit in parliament within the military branch. The dukedom does not descend according to fixed rules but is transferable by the holder to whomsoever he or she desires, strangers included. Accompanying it was a grant of a 15,000 hectare (58 sq. mi.) estate, centered on the ancient monastery of Maniace, five miles north of Bronte, which Nelson ordered to be restored and embellished as his residence – thenceforth called Castello di Maniace. He appointed as his resident administrator (or governor) Johann Andreas Graeffer (d. 1802), an English-trained German landscape gardener who had recently created the English Garden at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Naples. Nelson never set foot on his estate, as he was killed in action six years later at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Choice of title

The Admiral was offered by King Ferdinand a choice of one of three dukedoms with an accompanying estate – Bisacquino, Partinico or Bronte. The king wrote in a note to his minister: The estate of Bronte is the most suitable for the purpose, but the revenue is insufficient, and must be not less than 6,000 ounces, not more than 8,000, thus if there are other adjoining estates to make up the difference these must be annexed, giving the equivalent sums to the proprietors, and creating the feudal form and character with title of duke which in England sounds better than the others. It is suggested that Nelson chose Bronte for several reasons, including the Greek origin of the name (meaning "thunder", an allusion to Mount Etna, the main crater of which is a mere 15 km to the east), the majesty of the volcano itself, the healthiness and fertility of the soil, the verses of the Palermo poet Giovanni Meli, and the ease of pronunciation of the word for an Englishman. But most likely because having lost an eye in battle in 1794, he was able to identify himself with the Cyclops (mythical giant one-eyed creatures, makers of the thunderbolts of Zeus, god of war, and assistants of the smith-god Hephaestus), whose forge was supposed to be underneath Mount Etna. He signed his will as "Nelson Bronte", and the initials "NB" appear on the wrought-iron entrance gates at Castello di Maniace (which are also the initials of his foe Napoleon Bonaparte).

Ducal powers

The grant, of perpetual duration and comprising about 15,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of land, included extensive feudal rights, the same as had been held from the 15th century by the previous overlord, the Ospedale Grande e Nuovo in Palermo, including: "the City of Bronte" (population 9,500 ) "with all its tenures and districts, together with its fiefdoms, marches, fortifications, vassal citizens, revenues of the vassals, censuses, services, bondage and gabelles". The dukedom also included the power of mero et mixto imperio, the sole power of the exercise of justice, both civil and criminal, including capital punishment. The title later became part of the nobility of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Local opposition

Aside from having been granted by a king from the Spanish royal family considered foreign and abhorrent by many Sicilians, the new dukedom was not popular with a powerful faction of the local population who had felt oppressed for centuries by the feudal power of the Hospital of Palermo, the previous overlord of Bronte, from which they believed they had just recently obtained freedom, after finally winning a legal battle lasting many centuries. The king compensated the Hospital of Palermo (with an annuity of 71,500 lire ) but ignored the free status claimed by the Brontese, who thus felt themselves subjected once again to a harsh feudal government, this time by a foreigner. Two parties thus arose in the local population, the ducale, supportive of the duchy, and the comunista, supportive of an independent Commune of Bronte. Many indeed were highly sympathetic to the ideals of the French Revolution, and felt that Nelson had "smothered with bloodshed the Neapolitan Republic" and confounded their dream to live in a new society where feudalism would be extinguished. The Brontese historian Benedetto Radice wrote in 1928: "Thus Bronte, due to the fairytale of its name, got the honour of a duchy and was confirmed in the misfortune of vaselage, just like a dog on which its master places around its neck a fine collar of silver or gold", and "The evils which afflict Bronte are twofold: Etna and the Duchy" Much to the approval of his mistress Lady Hamilton (wife of the British Ambassador to Naples) and of the king, Nelson had executed Admiral Prince Francesco Caracciolo (1752–1799), hero of the Neapolitan revolution, by hanging him from the rigging of his ship after a summary trial. This act was never forgotten by this Brontese faction, which after 1940 when the Hood family had been expelled from Sicily during World War II, and their duchy confiscated by Mussolini, built with state assistance a model "peasants' village" in the park of Castello di Maniace, at a cost of over 4 million lire, which they called "Borgo Francesco Caracciolo". It was never completed due to the Allied landing in 1943, and in 1964 was razed to the ground by the 6th Duke after a special UK-Italy war damages commission in 1956 adjudged the Duke the legitimate owner of the duchy and of the Borgo. Although the dukes brought considerable improvements to the area, including in irrigation and agriculture, this opposed faction never accepted the English presence at Bronte, and the protracted and costly legal dispute continued unabated until 1981 when the Hood family, ultimate heirs of Admiral Lord Nelson, sold the entire estate and the house with all its contents, excepting the small ducal cemetery, to the Council of Bronte. The former ducal residence is now a museum open to the public, known locally as Castello dei Nelson, "Castle of the Nelsons" [sic], containing memorabilia of the Admiral and portraits of the Hood family.

Palazzo Ducale, Bronte

Until 1935, the dukes had a town house in Bronte, five miles south of the Castello, for use when on business in that town. Known as the Palazzo Ducale, it had 35 rooms with a walled garden to the rear, and was situated on Corso Umberto, the facade being opposite Piazza Cappuccini, site of the Cappuccine Convent, the rear being bounded by the via Madonna Riparo (now via Roma) and the via Nelson (now via A. Spedalieri). It was built by Bryant Barret (d.1818), one of the dukedom's land agents during the early period when the Castello was uninhabitable and the dukes were absentee landlords. Most has since been demolished but a few sections, including that of the main entrance, survive, namely the residence of the late Professor Paparo, the former Santangelo printing works, the houses Mineo, Parisi etc, as far as the former Cinema Roma. The large and imposing cellar today houses the Deluchiana municipal library. The 5th Duke considered it a white elephant and stayed there only once, namely on the first night of his first visit to the dukedom aged 14 in 1868. There was also a small summer residence built by the estate's land agent William Thovez (1819–1871), now known as Casa Otaiti (so named because it was surrounded by "wigwams" of peasants' straw-thatched huts, reminding the 5th Duke of Tahiti in the Pacific ), situated 3 1/2 km (2 miles) to the north-east of the Castello at higher altitude to escape malaria, on the way up to the Nebrodi Mountains and about half-way to the (later) Obelisco di Nelson. This was done on the order of the 2nd Duke, who was concerned about his health and had urged him to drain and canalize the swampy areas around the Castello.

Villa Falconara in Taormina

Descent

Horatio Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758–1805)

Horatio Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758–1805) had obtained from the king the unusual right that the dukedom could be transferred "at the holder's pleasure, not only to his relatives but also to strangers". The 1st Duke never set foot on the estate, although having spent extensively on refurbishing the monastic buildings he was clearly planning to make it his home with his mistress Lady Hamilton, and had become much enamoured with the island of Sicily. Although the royal grant allowed him to do so, he did not specifically bequeath the duchy to his illegitimate daughter (by Lady Emma Hamilton), Horatia Nelson Thompson (whom he otherwise provided for in the will), possibly the intricacies having escaped his mind whilst writing his last will whilst mortally injured aboard HMS Victory.

William Nelson, 2nd Duke of Bronte, 1st Earl Nelson (1757–1835)

Thus the duchy passed to the Admiral's elder brother and heir William Nelson, 2nd Duke of Bronte, 1st Earl Nelson (1757–1835), who lived at Standlynch House in Wiltshire, and likewise never visited.

Charlotte Nelson, 3rd Duchess of Bronte (1787–1873)

The first to visit was the 1st Earl's daughter Charlotte Mary Nelson, 3rd Duchess of Bronte (1787–1873) (who lived with her husband Samuel Hood, 2nd Baron Bridport at Cricket St Thomas in Somerset) who visited once very briefly in 1830s or 1840s but was appalled by the primitive state of the countryside and the entire absence of roads, which necessitated her travelling from Bronte to Maniace by mule litter. During the politically unsettled time of the Risorgimento and following the 1860 uprising in Bronte (Fatti di Bronte) by the Communista faction, which resulted in the slaughter of 16 supporters of the ducal party, including the duchy's notary and his son, the Duchess in 1861, in an effort to calm the situation, ceded about half of the 15,000 hectare (58 sq. mi.) estate to the Commune of Bronte.

Alexander Nelson Hood, 4th Duke of Bronte, 1st Viscount Bridport (1814–1904)

The 3rd Duchess's son Alexander Nelson Hood, 4th Duke of Bronte, 1st Viscount Bridport (1814–1904) visited twice, during his mother's lifetime, in 1864 and 1868, accompanied by his wife and some of his children.

Sir Alexander Nelson Hood, 5th Duke of Bronte (1854–1937)

The 4th Duke bequeathed the duchy to his 4th son Sir Alexander Nelson Hood, 5th Duke of Bronte (1854–1937) ("Alec"), who aged 14 had been on the 1868 visit. He was sent by his father to Maniace in 1873 aged 19 to manage the estate, being known there during his father's lifetime as the Duchino ("little duke"). On his father's death he was bequeathed the dukedom, becoming the 5th Duke. "Discreetly homosexual" and a "great admirer of Mussolini and the Fascist regime", he was well-respected and liked by the inhabitants, and spent six months of each year resident in Maniace until his old age. He was thus the first of his family to make the Castello di Maniace his home. He built himself a palatial villa named La Falconara at Taormina on the coast, 40 km to the east on the other side of Etna, already well-populated with fellow British expatriates and visitors, and with his close friend and frequent guest the writer Robert Hichens he helped to establish Taormina as a "holiday resort for wealthy homosexuals from Northern Europe". His English career was as a courtier to King George V, whom he entertained at La Falconara in April 1925. He died unmarried, and was ultimately buried at Maniace in the ducal cemetery, created by him.

Rowland Nelson Hood, 6th Duke of Bronte, 3rd Viscount Bridport (1911–1969)

Alexander Nelson Hood, 7th Duke of Bronte, 4th Viscount Bridport (b. 1948)

Alexander Nelson Hood, 7th Duke of Bronte, 4th Viscount Bridport (b. 1948), son of the 6th Duke, who having been brought up at Maniace inherited the dukedom aged 21 on his father's death in 1969. The estate had by then dwindled to 240 hectares (593 acres), mainly fruit orchards. Educated at Eton and the Sorbonne he had already embarked on a promising career at Kleinwort Benson merchant bank in the City of London, where he had been offered a job by his godfather David Robertson, one of the directors. "He struggled with the property for 10 years before deciding it could never pay for itself" and decided to sell. Although by then very successful and the youngest senior manager at the firm, he "realized that he would have to leave Kleinwort and go to live in Sicily until the sale was completed", and obtained employment in a bank in Rome. In 1976 he first advertised the estate for sale by tender (i.e. to the highest bidder, without specifying a price), and in 1980 sold the agricultural land to a business based in Catania for 3 billion lire (£1.3 million). On 4 September 1981 he sold the remaining parkland and the Castello for further proceeds of Lire 1.75 billion (about £800,000 ). The sum was allocated as follows: 1,187 for real estate (950 for castle and grounds, 237 for other buildings) and 570 for the furniture, relics, pictures and other chattels. It was then considered "the last fiefdom in Sicily", and the purchaser was the Commune of Bronte, for whom the centuries-old struggle against its perceived "feudal masters" was thus brought to an end. 90% was financed by the Assessorato ai Beni Culturali della Regione Siciliana. The website "bronte insieme" (bronte together), established in 2001 by several prominent citizens states: "Today the "hated" English Dukedom of the "boia di Caracciolo" (executioner of Caracciolo) became property of the brontese citizens". He retained as a proprietor only the small ducal cemetery next to the Castello, where his father was buried, and which "landholding qualification", no matter how tiny and symbolic, preserves to some extent his legal and moral right to the feudal title (i.e. one dependent on land ownership) of "Duke of Bronte", as certainly the letters patent granted by the king in 1799 were interpreted by the 5th Duke to have a feudal nature, signifying (in his words) that "the proprietors of this land would have the title of 'Duke of Bronte', in consequence all the proprietors of the duchy would become ipso facto Dukes of Bronte". The title, as with all ancient Italian titles of nobility (excepting Papal titles), has no legal status in republican Italy, and the issue has not been challenged in any court of law or heraldry. He has never returned and commented many years later in 1999: "I will go back one day, but it was a painful experience to sell somewhere you've been brought up and loved, but it was just hopeless". Having moved on successively to senior roles in Chase Manhattan and Shearson Lehman Brothers, in 1992 he established his own asset management business, "Bridport Investment Services", with offices in Geneva and London. He has twice been married and twice divorced, with a son from each marriage. In November 2003 he agreed to lease the ducal cemetery to the Comune di Maniace for a period of 10 years, for the promotion of tourism, and for the signing ceremony a delegation from Bronte comprising Emilio Conti (the mayor (sindaco)) and Riccardo Bontempo Scavo (the cultural assessor (l'Assessore alla Cultura)), travelled to the Italian Consulate in Geneva, where the 7th Duke was presented with a relief portrait of Admiral Lord Nelson sculpted on a sandstone tablet by the artist Maria Concetta Lazzaro.

Commune of Bronte

In the first few years of the tenure of Commune of Bronte "the buildings and gardens fell into disrepair", but were restored before 2013. Ironically, having finally won their centuries-old struggle to recover the ancient estate, the Commune of Bronte promptly changed the name of the house to Castello dei Nelson ("House of the Nelsons"), and as the Duchy historian Lucy Riall remarked at the close of her epilogue (2013): Not everyone, it seems, shares the present Duke of Bronte's desire to move on. In January 1984 there occurred a major robbery in which about 20 important items of furniture, paintings (including Victory with Admiral Hood near Bastia by Lieutenant William Elliott) and Nelson memorabilia were stolen from the Castello, which remain unrecovered. To the consternation of many locals still harbouring the old anti-ducal outlook, the town of Bronte was recently twinned with the Norfolk village of Burnham Thorpe, birthplace of Admiral Nelson. In 2016 the Commune of Bronte entered into a contract for restoration of the Castello for the sum of 1.213 million Euros, which was incomplete by December 2019, meaning that it has been closed to visitors. The average annual number of visitors has been in excess of 30,000.

List of dukes

The holders of this title have been: The heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Hon. Peregrine Alexander Nelson Hood (b. 1974). The heir apparent's heir presumptive is his eldest daughter, Honor Linda Nelson Hood (b. 2016).

Family tree

List of governors

The governors (procurators, land agents or administrators) (procuratori dei duchi/governatori/agenti generali) of the estate wielded great local power, especially before the time of the 5th Duke (1873), whose predecessors had all been non-resident and had rarely, if ever, visited the estate. Some played important roles during the political disturbances at Bronte during the Risorgimento. When the 5th Duke took up residency in 1873 he found an administrator in situ who was reluctant to give up his power and future plans for the estate, whom he promptly fired. The Governors were as follows:

Sources