In 1527 Giovanni married Isabella Moncada y La Grua, niece of the former Spanish Viceroy of Sicily and Naples, and daughter of Hugo's brother, Juan de Moncada y de Tolça, 3rd Count of Marmilia and 1st Count of Aitona.
This Giovanni I was also lord of Castelbuono, Tusa, Gangi, San Mauro (San Mauro Castelverde), Pollina, Caronia (from 1412), Cefalù, Sciacca, Termini Imerese; Count of Montesarchio, Bitonto, Casamassima, Serracapriola, Castellamare di Stabia, Orta Nova and Magliano; and finally Baron of Ciminna.
In 1480, he married Eleonora de Luna, born to an influential Spanish family with links to the Aragoese crown.
Simone I married Isabella Moncada, from the Counts of Aderno, and the eldest surviving male son was Giovanni II Ventimiglia, who had his succession as Marquis confirmed under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
The title of Count of Aitona was modified to Marquisate by king Philip II of Spain on 1 October 1581 on behalf of Francisco de Moncada y de Cardona, Count of Ossona, Viscount of Cabrera, Viscount of Bas, Viceroy of Catalonia, 1580–1581, deceased 1594.
Coat of Arms of Ventimiglia di Geraci.
The family crest of the
Aitona
Sicilian-Spanish Marquisses, known as "Moncada"´s with the Marquisate Crown, promoted to Counts in the region of
Catalunya
,
Lleida
, in 1532 by Charles V, later promoted to the Marquisate of Aitona by king
Philip II of Spain
in October 1581, awarded to the 2nd count of Aitona,
Francisco de Moncada y de Cardona
, deceased 1594
Benedictine monk
Maurolico
, as his father, and also as was later on Genius of Science
Isaac Newton
in England, was the head of the
Messina
mint
and for a time was in charge of maintaining the fortifications of the city on behalf of
Charles V
,
Holy Roman Emperor
. He tutored the two sons of king Charles' bureaucrat,
viceroy of Sicily
, 1547 - 1557,
Juan de Vega
, and had the patronage of many rich and powerful men. He also corresponded with scholars such as
Clavius
and
Federico Commandino
. Between 1548 and 1550, Maurolico stayed at the castle of
Pollina
in
Sicily
as a guest of the marquis Giovanni II Ventimiglia, 6th Marquis of Geraci, and utilized the castle tower in order to carry out astronomical observations. Maurolico's astronomical observations include a sighting of the
supernova
that appeared in Cassiopeia in 1572.
Tycho Brahe
published details of his observations in 1574; the supernova is now known as
Tycho's Supernova
. In 1569, he was appointed professor at the
University of Messina