Antica e nobile famiglia della Basilicata. Altro antica e nobile famiglia di Messina. Il commendator G.B. di Crollalanza riporta la blasonatura di questa famiglia nei volumi del suo Dizionario storico blasonico delle famiglie nobili e notabili italiane. Nel corso dei secoli famiglie omonime della stessa si trasferirono in varie regioni d’Italia, donde ne acquisirono la nobiltà e vi furono accolti nelle importanti cariche della città dove ebbero dimora, una di esse ebbe per arma: D’azzurro, al pino d’oro, movente dalla punta, cimato da un crescente montante d’argento, sormontato da una stella dello stesso. Fu costume delle più antiche famiglie, le quali dopo la caduta del Romano Imperio, in quella inondatione de’ Barbari, havendo i loro cognomi, sicome gli studi, e altre cose belle smarrito e restati solo con semplici nomi, trarre di nuovo i loro cognomi, e il loro casato da’ nomi proprii paterni, e de’ maggiori.. Riguardo a questo cognome abbiamo ritrovato ulteriori informazioni storiche in altri archivi. Purtroppo in lingua originale Inglese. : The Last Name of CATANZARO was a Spanish and Italian locational name ‘of Castaneda’ the name of several places in Spain. The name literally meant the dweller beside the chestnut trees. Local names usually denoted where a man held his land, and indicated where he actually lived. Almost every city, town or village existing in the Middle Ages has served to name one or more families. Where a man lived was his means of identification. When a man left his birthplace or village where he had been known, and went elsewhere, people would likely refer to him by the name of his former residence or birthplace, or by the name of the land which he owned. CATANZARA is also the name of a market town in southern Italy, the capital of Calabria. Citrus fruit is grown in the area.The origin of badges and emblems, are traced to the earliest times, although, Heraldry, in fact, cannot be traced later than the 12th century, or at furthest the 11th century. At first armorial bearings were probably like last names and assumed by each warrior at his free will and pleasure, his object being to distinguish himself from others. It has long been a matter of doubt when bearing Coats of Arms first became hereditary. It is known that in the reign of Henry V (1413-1422), a proclamation was issued, prohibiting the use of heraldic ensigns to all who could not show an original and valid right, except those ‘who had borne arms at Agincourt’. The College of Arms (founded in 1483) is the Royal corporation of heralds who record proved pedigrees and grant armorial bearings. As the agricultural depression of southern Italy worsened towards the end of the 19th century, people started to escape to the New World. The exodus started in earnest in 1887 with Brazil and other parts of Latin America being the original destinations. By 1893, the economy had improved in the United States and people headed there from Italy in greater and greater numbers. In 1898 there were more Italian immigrants to the USA than from any other state. In the post war era, more than a quarter of Italians left the state for a new life. They joined a flood of immigrants to America which was averaging a million a year in the pre war years….
Noble title: Nobili
Coat of arms: D’azzurro, alla fascia d’argento caricata da tre rose di rosso, accompagata in capo da due anitre affrontate al naturale, fra le quali una cometa d’oro, ed in punta da un monte di tre cime di verde sormontato da una terza anitra al natura…