Don Domenico and the “main” family tree
Although it is possible to go further back in time, for the time being we consider as the “main” family tree of Sessa the one headed by Antonio Monarca, born in Sessa around 1635.
Antonio married Cecilia Capece on 17 April 1662. According to what was reported by Marquis Livio Serra di Gerace1, the couple had four children. We have no news on Antonio's two daughters, Vittoria and Giuditta. The first-born son was Lucio, in 1677, who held the position of mayor of Sessa several times. The other son, Marcello, born in 1680, married Francesca De Felice Salinas in 1722, daughter of the Royal Governor of Sorrento, belonging to a family of importance at the time and with Spanish connections.
Domenico, a point of union for the family
Marcello's only known son is Domenico, born in 1723. I should point out that after 1700 I have not found any Monarca in Sessa who was not a descendant of Domenico. Domenico therefore represents a significant point of union of the Monarca family in Italy, as his direct descendants gave rise to important branches of the family, both in Sessa and in the rest of Italy.
Domenico, mayor of the city in 1750 and 1757, married twice. His first wife was Anna Maria Scalfati, daughter of Niccolò Scalfati2, an influential judge of the “Gran Corte della Vicaria”, the supreme Organ of Justice of the Kingdom of Naples. They had six children:
- Antonio, several times city mayor from 1783 to 1792, whose descendants gave origin to the Tropea, Roccasecca and one of the Naples branches;
- Gaetano, Prior of the Royal Archconfraternity of SS. Rosario, city mayor in 1795-96, unmarried;
- Gennaro, the first-born male, who continued the Sessa branch, city mayor in 1777 and 1787;
- Irene, nun and Abbess in the local convent of Benedictine nuns;
- Maria, nun in the local convent of Benedictine nuns;
- Maria Gaetana, nun in the local convent of S. Anna.
After Anna Maria's death, Domenico married Francesca Gallego, by whom he had M. Carolina in 1784 and then two sons, Luigi and Giuseppe. M. Carolina married in 1814, Luigi died unmarried in Naples, while Giuseppe lived, married and died in Sessa. Domenico died at the age of 84 on 1 October 1805 in Sessa.
Don Domenico's family tree
