Robin, John,
Do you know when Quattromani the place was established as a settlement?
Maybe are ancestors are all from Quattromani ? It would be interesting to know why this place has this name?
Victoria
-----Original Message-----
From: John S. Quarterman [mailto:jsq@matrix.net]
Sent: 11 July 2000 14:32
To: quarterman@matrix.net
Subject: Re: ORIGINS OF QUARTERMAN
org
X-URL: To unsubscribe, see http://www.quarterman.org/q/list.html
Rogin,
>Greetings from an English Quarterman!
>
>Have not long joined the list and think it is a very good idea.
Welcome.
>Is anyone out there aware that the surname also exists in Italy?
>
>It is QUATTROMANI, but it means the same and the coat of arms is virtually
>identical to Quarterman.
That's news to me.
A few web searches reveal illustration of it, however. See:
http://www.searchmalta.com/surnames/quattromani/index.shtml
It has a sketch of a shield with four gold hands on a blue field.
There's a mailing list, which seems to be mostly inhabited by Americans,
even though the server is about Malta.
>There are quite a few Quattromani families in the States who are obviously
>Italian immigrant descendents.In Italy today there are many, mostly centred
>in the south- Calabria,Napoli,Rome etc.
There's even a place in Italy called Quattromani:
http://www.fattoriasanfrancesco.it/en/whereweare/
>The surname exists here because the Normans invaded and ruled the south of
>what is now Italy about the same time as the conquest of England.(They
>created Palermo as the capital of Sicily)
>The name has also connections with Italian nobility and the island of Malta.
Well, that in itself is good evidence that the name is in origin Norman.
I was just reading a book about the various Norman regions, including
the Sicilian kingdom, which extended as far north as Naples, and which
had three languages of government: Latin, Arabic, and Greek.
>I am wondering whether the surname began, or had its origination in Norman
>Italy?
It's possible.
>I tend to think this because i cannot find any evidence that the knights
>quatremaynes came over with the conquest of England, or where they came from
>in Normandy.
>Carter postulates Caen in Normandy, yet there is no trace of them ever
>coming from this place.Infact the QUATREMAINES in France today (there does
>not seem to be very many) live mostly around Paris and not one in Normandy.
Well, that's actually not unique. The only St. Clairs I've found in France
are also in Paris, even though that's another Norman French surname, definitely
originating from either St. Clair sur Epte or St. Clair sur Elle in Normandy.
>In Italy there are many many Quattromani families, outnumbering the French
>Quatremains.Also i know that Italian Normans DID settle in England and
>Normandy in the 100 years after the conquest, even though the two kingdoms
>were ruled separately and not part of an actual empire.
There was quite a bit of back and forth. Plus the Crusades led to English
and French tramping through the rest of Europe to get to Palestine.
They sometimes brought people back with them; for example Richard
Lionheart had Saracens in his entourage during his wars in France.
Wouldn't be surprised if some Normans from Italy came back with him, too.
And I think it was Henry II's treasurer who later served the King of Sicily.
I'll have to look that one up.
>(The amphibious element of William's invasion was only made possible by the
>advice and assistance of Italian Normans,who already had much experience of
>it in the conquest of Sicily)
Interesting. Do you have a reference on that?
>Lastly there is a family in Italy called 'Cinquemani' - meaning Five
>hands!!!!!
>(Although i don't think there is a serious connection here)
Might be interesting to see if there's a connection in how these names
were picked.
>I shall endeavour to contact some of the French Quatremains and Italian
>Quattromani in due course.
Yes, please.
>There is a QUATTROMANI ancestral website under construction on Malta net,
>showing only the coat of arms at the moment.It can be accessed via most
>genealogy sites.
That would probably be the one I cited above.
>I would be very interested in anybodies opinions regarding this theory.
Well, it's made my day already, and it's early here.
Not often do I hear of a previously unsuspected connection
that nonetheless is so entirely plausible.
>Farewell,Robin.
John
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