Fulco Ruffo di CalabriaOfficial website IT

Calabria · Kingdom of Naples · Italy

Ten centuries of history of the Ruffo di Calabria family

One of the oldest noble houses in Italy, counted among the seven great families of the Kingdom of Naples. From the Counts of Catanzaro to the skies of the Great War, all the way to the throne of Belgium.

  • Princes of Scilla
  • Counts of Sinopoli
  • Counts of Catanzaro
  • Dukes of Guardia Lombarda
Logo: coat of arms of the Ruffo di Calabria with the words Principe di Scilla and the signature F. Ruffo

The house in brief

Magna Domus

Even before the year 1000 the Ruffo were among the most powerful families in Calabria. Tradition called them the Magna Domus, the «great house», and recognised their right to the style «di Calabria».

The documented, unbroken line of descent begins in 1235 with Pietro I Ruffo, general of Emperor Frederick II. From him came the main branches of the family, which for more than eight centuries held fiefs, military commands and court offices in southern Italy.

In the 20th century the name Ruffo di Calabria became known again across Europe thanks to Fulco, a flying ace of the First World War, and his daughter Paola, Queen of the Belgians.

Archives and studies on the house

  • Renata Orefice, «L'archivio privato dei Ruffo principi di Scilla», Fausto Fiorentino Editore, Naples.
  • Renata Orefice, «Carte dell'Archivio Ruffo di Bagnara», State Archives of Naples, School of Archival Studies and Palaeography, Naples 1971.
  • «Archivio Ruffo di Calabria. Inventario delle pergamene 1002–1793», Archival Superintendency for Campania, Luciano Editore. Published for the visit of Queen Paola of the Belgians, Naples, 3 July 2001.
  • Giuseppe Caridi, «La spada, la seta, la croce. I Ruffo di Calabria dal XIII al XIX secolo», Società Editrice Internazionale, Turin. On the cover, the family coat of arms with the motto «Omnia bene».
  • Maria Fiorillo, «Il castello Ruffo di Scilla. Da monastero-fortezza a residenza feudale a forte militare», Gangemi Editore.
  • Maria Concetta Calabrese, «I Ruffo di Sicilia. Politica, arte e scienza nel Seicento meridionale», C.U.E.C.M.
  • Antonio Macchione, «Dinamiche familiari ed esercizio del potere in una signoria della Calabria. I Ruffo di Sinopoli (1350–1435)», vol. I, Adda Editore.