Chiaromonte

The Chiaromonte were a Sicilian noble family of French origin, descended from the Clermont lords of Picardy who came with the Norman count Roger I at the end of the eleventh century. In 1296 Manfredi Chiaramonte received the County of Modica.

His marriage to Isabella Mosca united Modica and Ragusa. Around 1307 the family began its Palermo seat, the Palazzo Chiaramonte, which gave its name to a Sicilian Gothic style. Through the fourteenth century the house led the Latin noble faction against the Catalan party.

Manfredi, count of Modica, was a regent for Queen Maria and in 1391 joined the oath of Castronovo against Martin of Aragon. His son Andrea continued the revolt but was beheaded outside the family palace in 1392. The family survived in minor branches whose male line died out in the eighteenth century.