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, towards the end of 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

In 1685 he married Vincenza de Noto and they had 1 son³:

• Francesco

On Thursday 24 November 1695⁴, he married Prudenza Carbun⁴ in the Senglea parish church⁴.

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.

In 1709, Giuseppe married Teresa Zammit in Mdina³. I don’t know why he remarried, but the most likely cause is the death of his first wife. He and Teresa were childless³.

In 1714, he married Gaetana Tonna. Together they had four children³:

• Felice Antonio
• Pietro
• Maria
• Saverio

On Monday 24 August 1716 he married Diana Foti in Valletta⁵, daughter of Giorgio and Gaetana⁵ in the Oratory of Our Lady of Charity, adjacent to the main nave in St Paul’s Shipwreck church⁵ in Valletta, Malta. The Reverend Joseph Gucciaro officiated⁵.

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 children^{3 6}:

• 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 Prudenza⁴ and Diana⁵ 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 Prudenza⁴ lists him as “Joseph”⁴ not “Giuseppe”.

Death

He died in 1734³, but we don’t know where, why or where his final resting place is.

References

1. Wedding certificate for Joseph Darmenia and Patricia Darmenia. (1716). 32[↩]
2. Maltese Baptisms. (n.d.). Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/baptisms.html# [Accessed 17 Jul. 2024] [↩]
3. The Royal Descendants of de Lusignan and the Barony of Baccari and Benwarrad; Malta Libro d’Oro; Retrieved 2018-04-23[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. “Extract of the Marriage of Joseph Darmenia and Prudenza Carbun.” Liber Matrimoniarium, vol. 1 (1587-1715), 24 Nov. 1695. Archiva Paroecialia[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
5. Wedding certificate for Joseph Darmenia and Diana Foti. (1716). 32[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
6. Maltese Baptisms. (n.d.). Available at: https://en.geneanum.com/malta/databases/baptisms.html# [Accessed 17 Jul. 2024] [↩]