Alfonso de Ceballos-Escalera y Gila, Duke of Ostuni in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Marquess of La Floresta and Lord of the Castle of Arbeteta in the Kingdom of Spain (born on March 4, 1957 in Madrid).[1][2] The Marquess of La Floresta is more popularly known by his official designation as Cronista de Armas of the autonomous community of Castile and León.[3] He also serving as personal heraldic officer to King of Spain Juan Carlos I. Author of many books on jurisprudence, royalty, nobility, heraldry and genealogy, the Spanish Cronista numbers among his credentials several doctoral degrees in the fields of law, the science of politics, and of history.[4] He is also a Captain (Teniente de Navío OF-2) in the Spanish Navy and in the Merchant Marine Fleet. Among the decorations and honors bestowed upon the Cronista are several crosses and awards of various Orders of Chivalry.
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The heraldic office of Spanish Kings of Arms dates back to the 16th century. In the past, heralds were usually named after provinces and non-capital cities, whilst reyes de armas were named after the Spanish kingdoms. Various chroniclers of arms were named for España, Castilla, León, Frechas, Sevilla, Córdoba, Murcia, Granada (created in 1496 to honor the reunification of Spain), Bethune, Estella, Viana, Libertat, Blanc Lévrier, Bonne Foy, Las, Gounzcuant, Lamas, Navarra, Cataluña, Sicilia, Aragón, Nápoles, Toledo (bearing Azure an imperial crown Or), Valencia and Mallorca. While these appointments were not hereditary, at least fifteen Spanish families produced more than one herald each in the past five hundred years (compared to about the same number for England, Scotland and Ireland collectively).[5] His office also serves as a registration office for pedigrees and grants of arms. In the past the nature of continual border conflict between the Moorish and Christian kingdoms of medieval Iberia helped to distinguish a certain sense of ethnic identity, or limpieza de sangre, and heraldry was just one outlet for this form of national expression. Attempts were made to make arms distinctive of class as well as ethnicity, and the Castilian sovereigns restricted arms to members of the nobility by virtue of Law 64 of the 1583 Cortes de Tudela and was again reiterated by Law 13 of the 1642 Cortes.[6]
Formerly, Cronistas-Reyes de Armas were appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Justice. The Cronistas granted arms to residents of areas currently or formerly under the government of the Spanish Crown.[7]
Don Alfonso Ceballos-Escallera was married to ... Moyano y .... He has sired to the following children in this first marriage:
His second marriage was to María Jofre y Gómez, born on January 28, 1969 in Madrid. With this union, he has the following offsprings: