In Sicily, the family flourished - at first in Polizzi and, later on, especially in Palermo - gaining numerous fiefdoms and titles and later subdividing in the 16th century in the two main branches of the Princes of Sciara[3] and of the Dukes of Villarosa.

Just to mention a few, the family intermarried with the Houses of Alliata, Filangeri, Gravina, Grimaldi, Lancia, Moncada, Obizzi, Paternò, Piccolomini, Spucches, Stagno, Tomasi di Lampedusa, Valguarnera, Ventimiglia.

A distinguished representative of the family was the Marquis Emanuele Notarbartolo (1834 - 1893), mayor of Palermo and Director General of the Banco di Sicilia, widely considered as Mafia's first eminent victim in 1893.

The branch of the Princes of Sciara had as family residence in Palermo the palace of la Zisa, later expropriated by the Italian state in 1955 and appointed World Heritage Site (UNESCO) in July 2015.

The coat of arms depicts a golden prancing lion on a blue background, crowned and surrounded by seven stars, representing the seven naval victories that members of the Notarbartolo family contributed to obtain during the war against the Ghibellines.