Galluppi,[4] Crollalanza[5] and other subsequent authors,[6][2] on the basis of what was written by Andrea Minutolo,[7] state that the Basile family, formerly known as Basili or de Basilio, derived from the Greek island of Rhodes in the time that the sovereign military order of Malta reigned there (1309-1522).

In fact, there is documentary evidence of it in Sicily already in an earlier period, around 1300:[8][9] a Giovanni held the position of judge of Cefalù in 1307 and in 1309;[10] a Pietro was among the Sicilian barons to whom a royal dispatch of 1307 ordered to bring men on horseback to war.

[8] The ascertained progenitor of the family is Pietro Basile, royal soldier, lord of the plain of Capo d'Orlando and of numerous other fiefdoms located in the territories of Caronia and Naso, appointed baron of Grano in 1473.

[11][20] There were also many men of the Church, starting with Don Pietro Basile (1566-1647), Canon Dean of the Cathedral of Santa Lucia and chaplain of Blessed Antonio Franco, whose virtues and miracles he handed down to posterity,[21] ending with the doctor of theology Mons.

[2][3] This branch of the family acquired great importance during the 19th century, thanks to the contributions, given both in the Risorgimento and during the Kingdom of Italy, of Luigi, Emanuele and Achille Basile, who, due to their merits, were all three named Senators of the Kingdom:[28] Azure, on the right arm, armed with argent, holding a spear on the bar, fighting the dragon placed in the third canton, accompanied, in the first canton, by a comet and in the fourth by the Maltese cross, all of the same (branch of Messina and Santa Lucia del Mela)