Golden Fleece - Knights: Spanish Branch

• Michele Imperiali Simeana

English translation

• He was awarded the titles of Prince of Francavilla IV and VII Marquis of Oria.

Biography

• He was born to Anna and Andrea Caracciolo and married Eleanor Bourgeois, great-grandson of Paul V.
• Francavilla remembers him as a benefactor by the remarkable contribution made during the reconstruction of the Mother Church, severely damaged by the earthquake of 1743. From various documents of the costs is believed to have participated, offering more than half the amount needed [1]. He was also a great patron and paid to writers and artists would open schools and shops all over the feud.
• From 1755 and for the next 22 years he lived in Naples, staying in the Palace Cellammare.
• The historian Benedetto Croce describes it as follows:

• "... This rich and noble lord, feudal lord in the United Kingdom and beyond, decorated major titles and offices, great and generous, became the center of high society Naples [2]"

• He died with no son and heir named in the third degree cousin Vincenzo Imperiali, Marquis of Latimer.
• In the castle of Francavilla Fontana epigraph which commemorates him.

Possessions.

• The prince had in Naples: a villa at Portici Granatello (now Villa Sparrow) and a casino in Borgo Saint Lucia (now Hotel Washington).