Fra A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

Gregorio Carafa (17 March 1615 – 21 July 1690) was a nobleman from the

House of Carafa The House of Carafa or Caraffa is the name of an old and influential Neapolitan aristocratic family of Italian nobles, clergy, and men of arts, known from the 12th century. History The House of Carafa is a cadet branch of the noble House of C ...

and the 61st Grand Master of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, from 1680 to his death in 1690.

Early life

Carafa was born on 17 March 1615 in Castelvetere (modern

Caulonia Caulonia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria in the Stilaro Valley. Originally it was known as Castelvetere ...

) in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Italy to Girolamo, Prince of Roccella and Diana Vittori, the niece of

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pap ...

(

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

?). His brother was the Cardinal Carlo Carafa della Spina. He was enlisted with the Order of Saint John when he was aged only three months, in June 1615. He studied in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, and various dignitaries and knights of the Order contributed to his education. In 1635 he went to

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

with his uncle Francesco Carafa, the Prior general of Roccella. Carafa was soon promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order, and was promoted to Prior general of Rocella after his uncle died. In 1647, he was involved in the Masaniello revolt in which he tried to restore peace and order in Naples. After the defeat of the rebels in Naples, he was sent to Calabria to quell the uprising there. These events led to him being promoted and he was given command of the Order's fleet. In 1656, he commanded the 7 Maltese galleys at the Battle of the Dardanelles. In this battle, the joint Venetian-Maltese fleet was victorious, and as a reward, Malta received 11 captured Ottoman ships. This battle was heaviest naval defeat for the Ottomans since the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

. After the victorious battle he was welcomed in Malta as a hero. Subsequently he reclaimed the wetlands at Bormola and strengthened the Order's fleet.

Magistracy

In 1682, he was elected Grand Master of the Order after the death of

Nicolas Cotoner Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

. In the same year that he became Grand Master, Carafa paid for the renovation of

Auberge d'Italie The Auberge d'Italie ( mt, Berġa tal-Italja, it, Albergo d'Italia) is an auberge in Valletta, Malta. It was built at various stages in the late 16th century to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of Italy, and it ori ...

. The facade was rebuilt in Baroque style, and a bronze bust of Carafa was placed in a prominent position over the front door of the Auberge. His personal coat of arms was also sculpted close to the bust. From 1681 onwards,

Fort Saint Angelo Fort St. Angelo ( mt, Forti Sant'Anġlu or ''Fortizza Sant'Anġlu'') is a bastioned fort in Birgu, Malta, located at the centre of the Grand Harbour. It was originally built in the medieval period as a castle called the ''Castrum Maris'' ( en, Ca ...

was strengthened and rebuilt by the architect

Carlos de Grunenbergh Carlos de Grunenbergh, also known as Carlo Grunenberg (died 1696), was a Flemish architect and military engineer active in the late 17th century. He mainly designed fortifications in Sicily and Malta. He was also a member of the Order of Saint Joh ...

, at Carafa's request. Carafa's name appears on the plaque above the fort's main gate. During his reign, the Order's navy was at its peak, with galleys led by knights and manned by experienced crews. Fearing an Ottoman attack, in 1687 Carafa strengthened

Fort Saint Elmo Fort Saint Elmo ( mt, Forti Sant'Iermu) is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort ...

by building a series of fortifications known as the Carafa Enceinte on the foreshore surrounding the fortress.

Playing Cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...

was introduced in Malta during his reign. Carafa died on 21 July 1690 and was succeeded by

Adrien de Wignacourt Fra' Adrien de Wignacourt (1618 – 4 February 1697) was the 63rd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta from 1690 to 1697. He was the nephew of Fra Alof de Wignacourt. He was elected Grand Master after the death of Fra Gregorio Carafa ...

. He is buried in the Chapel of the Langue of Italy of St. John's Co-Cathedral in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

, Malta. Auberge d’Italie en 2018 03.jpg, Coat of arms of Carafa from a demolished building, now located at

Relief. Valletta, Malta, Mediterranean Sea.jpg, Bronze bust of Carafa at

Malta StAngelo three.jpg, Plaque at

making a reference to Carafa Malta 267.jpg, Carafa Enceinte at

StJohnsCoCathedralMalta2010DOB078.JPG, Tomb of Carafa at the St. John's Co-Cathedral

References

External links

Coins of Grandmaster Gregorio Carafa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carafa, Gregorio 1615 births 1690 deaths Gregorio Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller Italian knights 17th-century Italian nobility Knights of Malta Burials at Saint John's Co-Cathedral People of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars Cretan War (1645–1669) 17th-century Italian military personnel

Early life

Magistracy

References

Further reading

External links