Giuseppe d’Armenia

Little is documented about Giuseppe d’Armenia except that he was a judge, and married 4 times.

He is my 7 x great-grandfather.

He was born, perhaps in Senglea, Malta, in the 17th century, son of Grazio Leonardo d’Armenia and Petronilla (or Patricia) Caugialanza¹. His father is sometimes listed as ‘Leonardo’ and his mother is sometimes listed as Petrisa².

Titles

Giuseppe d’Armenia was a judge in Malta.

Family

On Monday 15 October 1685³, he married Vincenza de Noto⁴ in the Metropolitan Cathedral of St Paul, Mdina⁵.

The bride’s family name is written as one word – Denoto⁶ – without the capitalisation to suggest it is “De Noto” which is how we would write it today.

Giuseppe’s name is spelled “Darmanin” in the church registry. Since all other details line up, I’m confident this is a typo. “Giuseppe Darmanin” and “Giuseppe Darmenia” are the same person.

Giuseppe and Vincenza had 1 son⁷:

Francesco

On Thursday 24 November 1695⁸, he married Prudenza Carbun⁹ in the Senglea parish church¹⁰.

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There is some doubt as to whether this is the same person; here he is listed as the son of “Bernardo” instead of Leonardo. His father was sometimes known as “Bernardo”, but it’s unclear why this would vary from one entry to another.

He may have married Teresa Zammit¹¹ in Mdina¹² on Sunday 8 September 1709¹³. In the church registry his name is listed as Darmanin (a common typo) but his mother is listed as Innocenza¹⁴, which contradicts his baptism details. I am reluctant to confirm Teresa is his third wife until I get other proof of this.

A photo of the balconies above Victoria Gate - Valletta, Malta — The balconies above Victoria Gate – Valletta, Malta

In 1714, he married Gaetana Tonna. Together they had four children¹⁵:

Felice Antonio
Pietro
Maria
Saverio

On Monday 24 August 1716 he married Diana Foti in Valletta¹⁶, daughter of Giorgio and Gaetana¹⁷ in the Oratory of Our Lady of Charity, adjacent to the main nave in St Paul’s Shipwreck church¹⁸ in Valletta, Malta. The Reverend Joseph Gucciaro officiated¹⁹.

The two-year gap between his third and fourth wife is unusual, especially since he had 3 children. It’s possible two of the siblings are twins, however I have no evidence of this.

With Diana he had 4 or 5 children²⁰ ²¹:

Giorgio
Francesco Saverio, baptised on 01/02/1722 at St Paul’s Collegiate church, Valletta.
Anna Maria Domenica Constanza, baptised on 01/11/1725 at St Paul’s.
Carlo Pietro Giorgio, baptised on 01/09/1728 at St Paul’s.
Gioacchino Paolo Leopoldo Gaetano, baptised on 29/04/1736 at St Paul’s

The online databases I’ve consulted don’t mention a child called Giorgio. It is possible that Carlo Pietro Giorgio was known as Giorgio because this sometimes happens. I will verify this once I get access to the relevant certificates, rather than the online database I’ve currently used.

It’s not clear why there’s such a large gap between their date of marriage and the baptisms of their children. While a six-year gap is not unusual, I will verify these dates once I get access to the relevant certificates, rather than the online databases I’ve currently used.

Notable events

The church certificate for his wedding to Prudenza²² and Diana²³ both show his name spelled as “Darmenia” and not “d’Armenia”. This is the earliest recorded case of the name being spelled this way.

Despite being in Latin, the church registry for his marriage to Prudenza²⁴ lists him as “Joseph”²⁵ not “Giuseppe”.