Duke of Sessa is a Spanish noble title awarded to

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1 September 1453 – 2 December 1515) was a Spanish general and statesman who led successful military campaigns during the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars. His military victories and widespread po ...

by Ferdinand II in 1507. It was the fifth ducal title bestowed on Gonzalo, after the ducal titles of Santángelo (1497), Terranova (1502), Andría (1507) and Montalto (1507). Its territorial designation refers to

Sessa Aurunca Sessa Aurunca is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy. It is located on the south west slope of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, by rail west north west of Caserta and east of Formia. It is situated o ...

, at the time in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

. The title is one of the numerous duchies created by the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

and never represented any territorial claim. With the loss of the Kingdom of Naples in 1806, the designation has ceased to be located in Spanish-controlled territory. The 15th duke, Vicente Pío Osorio de Moscoso y Ponce de León (1801–1864), held a total of 109 titles of nobility, among them fourteen ducal titles, and is known as the most titled individual in the history of Spain. Like all Spanish titles, it used to descend according to male-preference cognatic primogeniture. Therefore, it was held by several women (i.e. the 2nd, 4th, 11th and 19th holders of the title). The surname of Fernández de Córdoba was retained by the 3rd duke and his sister, the 4th duchess, due being the offspring of a

cousin marriage A cousin marriage is a marriage where the spouses are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times, and continues to be common in some societies toda ...

. The 5th duke,

Antonio Fernández de Córdoba y Cardona Antonio Fernández de Córdoba y Cardona, 5th Duke of Sessa (2 December 1550 – 6 January 1606), was a Spanish nobleman. He held the titles of Duke of Sessa, Duke of Soma, and Duke of Baena, among others. Lineage Antonio Fernández de Córdob ...

was the son of Beatriz de Figueroa, a daughter of the second duchess, Elvira Fernández de Córdoba y Manrique. Beatriz de Figueroa would regularly have had the surname Fernández de Córdoba, but she preferred de Figueroa in honour of her maternal grandmother, but her son as the 5th duke nevertheless continued the regular surname of Fernández de Córdoba. The 12th duke had the surname Osorio de Moscoso from his father, Ventura Osorio de Moscoso y Guzmán Dávila y Aragón (1707–1734 himself the 6th duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor), and the 20th and 21st dukes (since 1955) have the surname Barón, after Leopoldo Barón y Torres (1890–1952), the 21st duke of Maqueda.

References

*Juan Miguel Soler Salcedo, ''Nobleza española'', Editorial Visión Libros (2008),
p. 103

p. 142p. 183note cxxxviii (p. 512)

References

See also