In rank it was no equal marriage but it was no mésalliance either since the House Ruffo de Calabria was considered equal to mediatized families.
The original Almanach de Gotha was quite German oriented. The Ruffo di Calabrias can be filed in the same section as Alba, Cadaval, Faucigny-Lucinge et Coligny, Merode, that sort of families. These can be compared to German families as Fürstenberg, Thurn und Taxis, Isenburg, Lobkowicz, etc.