Alfonso de Ceballos-Escalera y Gila

Arms of the Marqués de la Floresta

Alfonso de Ceballos-Escalera y Gila (born March 4, 1957 in Madrid) is a Spanish aristocrat, who holds the title of Marqués de la Floresta.

A lawyer and historian, the Marquess de la Floresta is the Chronicler of Arms for the Autonomous Community of Castille & Leon. He also claims the title of Duke of Ostuni (in the Two Sicilies).[1][2] The Marquess is author of many books on jurisprudence, royalty, nobility, heraldry and genealogy.

He is a retired Lieutenant-Commander (Teniente de Navío OF-2) of the Spanish Navy and holds the rank of Captain in the Merchant Marine Fleet. He has also been awarded a doctorate in law,[3] as well as receiving many other orders of knighthood.

King of Arms of Spain

The heraldic office of Spanish King of Arms dates back to the 16th century. Historically heralds were accorded titles of office after Iberian provinces or major cities, whilst the Reyes de armas represented Spanish kingdoms. Accordingly, chroniclers of arms were variously named for España, Castilla, León, Frechas, Sevilla, Córdoba, Murcia, Granada (created in 1496 to honor the reunification of Spain), Bethune, Estella, Viana, Libertat, Blanc Lévrier, Bonne Foy, Las, Gounzcuant, Lamas, Navarra, Cataluña, Sicilia, Aragón, Nápoles, Toledo (depicting Azure an Imperial Crown Or), Valencia and Mallorca. Such appointments were for life (ad vitam) and at least fifteen Spanish families produced more than one herald over the past five hundred years.[4] His role as King of Arms combines that of formally registering pedigrees and the granting of new armorial bearings. In the past the nature of continuous border conflict between the Moorish and Christian kingdoms of medieval Iberia helped to create a sense of ethnic identity, or limpieza de sangre, and heraldry was a significant outlet for expressing national identity; attempts from time to time were made to make arms distinctive of class as well as ethnicity, and the Castilian kings restricted arms to members of the nobility by virtue of Law 64 of the 1583 Cortes de Tudela and was again reiterated by Law 13 of the 1642 Cortes.[5]

Cronistas Reyes de Armas are, by custom, appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Justice on behalf of the Casa real, and have authority to grant armorial bearings to subjects of the Spanish Crown as well as being tasked with approving the genealogies of claimants to noble titles.[6] As Cronista de armas de Castilla y León, the marquess continues this tradition being mandated to grant arms and verify family pedigrees.[7]

Marriages and children

Alfonso Ceballos-Escallera was married to Ana Moyano y Vital. They have the following children:

  • Angelina de Ceballos-Escalera y Moyano, Gila y Vital (b. Madrid, August 1, 1984)
  • Antonio de Ceballos-Escalera y Moyano, Gila y Vital (b. Madrid, September 16, 1987)
  • Ignacio de Ceballos-Escalera y Moyano, Gila y Vital (b. Madrid, December 9, 1988)
  • María Teresa de Ceballos-Escalera y Moyano, Gila y Vital (b. Segovia, March 13, 1994)

He married secondly, María Jofre y Gómez, born on January 28, 1969 in Madrid. By her, he has the following issue:

  • Ramiro de Ceballos-Escalera y Jofre, Gila y Gómez (b. Madrid, March 13, 2002)
  • Isabel de Ceballos-Escalera y Jofre, Gila y Gómez (b. Madrid, January 18, 2005)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Alfonso de Ceballos-Escalera y Gila, 3. marqués de la Floresta, * 1957". Geneall.net. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  2. ↑ Cf. Don Alfonso Ceballos-Escalera y Gila, Certificación de Armas de Seňor Don Eduardo P. Brillantes y Balderas Madrid, Segovia 2006.
  3. ↑ "www.chivalricorders.org". Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Spanish Heralds". Heraldry.freeservers.com. 1931-05-16. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  5. ↑ "Untitled Normal Page". Heraldry.freeservers.com. 1931-05-16. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  6. ↑ "The International Association of Amateur Heralds". Amateurheralds.org. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  7. ↑ Decreto 105/1991, 9 May (Boletín Oficial de Castilla y León de 16 May 1991).
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