Cuerpo de la Nobleza de Cantabria
The Most Serene Ducal and Comital House of Este Orioles has been accredited to the Corps, and the Head of Name and Arms, Don Antonino V, has in turn been admitted to the prestigious Corps of the Nobility of Cantabria, in a solemn ceremony held in Santander (capital of the Region of Cantabria) on 9 March 2024.
The Magistral Council of the Corps of the Nobility of Cantabria includes Imperial and Royal Princes belonging to and descending from the most ancient and noble families of Europe, such as:
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His Imperial and Royal Highness Don Carlo Filippo of Habsburg-Lorraine and Arenberg, Archduke of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia.
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Her Imperial and Royal Highness Donna Anna Clara of Habsburg-Lorraine, Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia.
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His Imperial and Royal Highness Don Martino of Austria-Este, Archduke of Austria, Prince of Modena.
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Don Enrique de Borbón y García de Lóbez, of the Dukes of Seville, Grand Master of the IH Order of Charles V and of the Spanish Heraldic Society.
The Corps of the Nobility of Cantabria seeks to include those who can demonstrate nobility of paternal lineage, nobiliary titles of the Kingdom of Spain, or the exercise of the traditional dignities of personal nobility. The objective is to preserve chivalric traditions and to foster social relations among members through the flow of synergies. An elite circle for those who seek exclusive treatment and the proper recognition of Nobility and Chivalric Dignity.
The Corps (Cuerpo de la Nobleza de Cantabria) was founded on 29 November 2017, as the first corporation of this type in the region, and was approved by the Spanish Government on 11 September 2018. This organisation is not only dedicated to the recognition and enhancement of nobility — hereditary and personal — but has also become a centre of aggregation for the ruling class of the region, of the whole of Spain, and of other States. Through its organs (for example the Orden Nobiliaria de San Sergio, the Maestranza de San Carlos, the Instituto de Ciencias Morales Pablo VI, the Consejo Superior de Genealogía, and the Organismo Internacional Miguel I), it also carries out charitable and philanthropic activities, with numerous cultural initiatives to its credit, promoting the image of Spain abroad through numerous cooperation agreements with other institutions, and organising social events that represent an extraordinary opportunity to develop personal relationships at the highest level.
A distinctive feature of the Corps of the Nobility of Cantabria, compared with other similar Spanish organisations, is its particular attention to young people, for whom it has created a series of dedicated activities.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND FOUNDATION OF THE CUERPO DE LA NOBLEZA DE CANTABRIA
Noble corporations are private institutions whose objective is, among other things, to accredit the nobiliary status of the persons admitted to the corporation. This means that admission to the noble corporation confirms nobiliary status, through the issuance of a certificate that accredits and confirms, for third parties, the condition of nobility.
Cantabria is the land of the Cantabri people (Greek: Καντάβροι, Kantabroi). The ancient Cantabri were a pre-Roman people and a great tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first millennium BC. These peoples and their territories were incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis in the year 19 BC.
In 711 AD, after the Arab invasion of Spain, the Visigothic kings and their nobles took refuge in Asturias and Cantabria, whose high mountains prevented the Arab occupation. From there, the Reconquest of Spain began. This situation meant that the Visigothic Christian nobility of Cantabria came to constitute a large part of the population of the region.
In the census of the Crown of Castile carried out in 1591 for the region of Merindad de Trasmiera, the data showed that 84.75% of the census population was composed of nobles. Even in the 18th century, in the Aranda census, dated 1768, Cantabria had 152,437 inhabitants, of whom 142,195 — 93% — were nobles, and many of their descendants still live today in present-day Cantabria.
The Most Illustrious President of the Corps of the Nobility of Cantabria, Don Carlos Jaime Gómez y Pozueda, has decided to appoint Duchess Donna Loredana dell'Anno – Este Orioles as Lieutenant General for Italy of the Institution he presides over. This gesture of extreme generosity towards the House of Este Orioles, and also towards the Italian Nobility, allows those who possess the characteristics provided for by the statutes and regulations of the Cuerpo de la Nobleza de Cantabria to be admitted to this prestigious and exclusive sodality.
