The House of Del Carretto is the name of an old and influential Italian noble family, whose members occupied many important political and ecclesiastical positions in Northwest Italy, mostly in Liguria and Piedmont. [1]
The House of Del Carretto is the name of an old and influential Italian noble family, whose members occupied many important political and ecclesiastical positions in Northwest Italy, mostly in Liguria and Piedmont. [1]
The Del Carretto family has descended from the House of Aleramici and was divided into many branches, feudal lords of the western Ligurian Riviera and of Lower Piedmont. The founder of the dynasty was Henry del Vasto, son of Boniface del Vasto, lord of Western Liguria and southern Piedmont. Henry is also often called Enrico I Del Carretto, although he has never used this name. Henry del Vasto, Marquis of Savona and one of the main collaborators of Frederick Barbarossa, had two sons, Otto and Henry, who after his death (about 1185) divided his dominions. The territory was further divided by their descendants into a multiplicity of independent feudal domains, sometimes united in a league with a Ghibelline orientation. Since 1496 the Marquises of Finale mostly exercised their primacy with the title of "imperial vicar for the marquisates of Savona and Clavesana".
The name Del Carretto is just one of four variants in which the name may appear. The descendants of Henry del Vasto often preferred to sign documents with the only name Carretto or Carretus, without some preposition. Also the version from the cart was used. The most widespread variant in the less recent historiography, however, is of the Carretto, in which the first small letter of the surname seems to denote a provenance from the village of Carretto, fraction of Cairo Montenotte, interpreting and translating the Latin de carreto as an indication of geographical origin (without any documentary confirmation). The spread of this variant is a consequence of a political position consistently followed by the Republic of Genoa for centuries, aiming to disregard to Del Carretto the title of marquises of Savona (which is attested with great frequency in the carretteschi documents, but is completely absent in all treaties between the Republic and Del Carretto). In 1642 Raffaele Della Torre, the famous Genoese politician, invented in his widespread Cyrologia that the name derives from a phantom "marquisate of Carretto" and was therefore proof that the Del Carretto did not descend from Enrico del Vasto, Marquis of Savona. The theory was aimed at denying the Spanish monarchs the right to disembark in the road-stead of Vado and more generally every right on the Savona area. These rights, based on the agreements of Philip II with the last Marquess of Carrara of Finale, had been shortly before reiterated in the investiture of Philip IV of 1639. [2]
Liguria is a region of north-western Italy; its capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennines mountain range and is roughly coextensive with the former territory of the Republic of Genoa. Liguria is bordered by France to the west, Piedmont to the north, and Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany to the east. It rests on the Ligurian Sea, and has a population of 1,557,533. The region is part of the Alps–Mediterranean Euroregion.
Finale Ligure is a comune on the Gulf of Genoa, in the province of Savona, in Liguria, Italy. It is considered part of the Italian Riviera. Part of its historical center ("Finalborgo") is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Manfred I was the founder and first ruler of the marquisate of Saluzzo from 1142 until his death.
The Marquisate of Saluzzo was a historical Italian state that included parts of the current region of Piedmont and of the French Alps. The Marquisate was much older than the Renaissance lordships, being a legacy of the feudalism of the High Middle Ages.
Cairo Montenotte is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Savona in Liguria, an Italian region located 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Genoa and 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Savona. Located in Val Bormida, it is a member of the Comunità Montana Alta Val Bormida. It is considered to be the main centre of Val Bormida and it has 12691 inhabitants. It is the fourth municipality in the province together with Savona, Albenga and Varazze, as well as the most popular municipality in Liguria among those without outlet on the sea. The municipal area is the biggest in the province behind Sassello, and the fifth in Liguria.
Cisano sul Neva is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of Genoa and about 35 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Savona.
Massimino is the smallest municipality in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) west of Genoa and about 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Savona.
Orco Feglino is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) southwest of Genoa and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Savona in the upper valley of the Aquila stream. It consists of the two villages of Orco and Feglino.
Sassello is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 58 kilometres (36 mi) west of Genoa and about 26 kilometres (16 mi) north of Savona in the northern side of the Ligurian Apennines. It is the birthplace of Blessed Chiara Badano.
Cogoleto is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Genova. Its territory extends from the sea to the Ligurian Apennines; it is part of the Natural Regional Park of Monte Beigua.
The March or Marquisate of Turin was a territory of medieval Italy from the mid-10th century, when it was established as the Arduinic March. It comprised several counties in Piedmont, including the counties of Turin, Auriate, Albenga and, probably, Ventimiglia. The confines of the march thus stretched across the Po Valley from the Western Alps in the north, to the Ligurian Sea.
The Aleramici were a Northern Italian noble and royal dynasty of Frankish origin which ruled various northwestern Italian territories in Piedmont and Liguria from the 10th to the 14th century, also reigning over the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Thessalonica during the 12th and 13th centuries.
The Marquisate of Incisa was a lordship of the House of Aleramici in southern Piedmont, northern Italy, which existed between the 12th and 16th centuries.
Final Pia or Finale Pia is one of three urban forming the Ligurian town of Finale Ligure, near Savona, northern Italy. An independent municipality until 1927, it was later merged with Finale Marina and Finalborgo to form the modern town of Finale Ligure. The village is situated along the Via Aurelia, however, most of the buildings face the banks of the river Sciusa, especially after the big residential development in the postwar period, expansion that has effectively united the center of the inner Finale Pia Calvisio frazione, at about one kilometer from the coast.
The Marquisate of Finale was an Italian state in what is now Liguria, part of the former medieval Aleramici March. It was ruled for some six centuries by the Aleramici branch known as marquesses del Vasto and later Del Carretto, when Savona became a free commune. In 1598 the Marquisate was sold by its last marquis, Sforza Andrea to Philip II of Spain and in 1713 it was finally ceded to the Republic of Genoa, where it remained so until 1797, when it was invaded by Napoleon, ceasing its existence.
Ottone del Carretto, a patron of troubadours and an imperialist, was the margrave of Savona (c.1185–91) and podestà of the Republic of Genoa (1194–95) and of Asti (1212). He was the founder of the Del Carretto family.
The flag of Liguria is one of the official symbols of the region of Liguria, Italy. The current flag was adopted on 7 July 1997.
The House of Malaspina was a noble Italian family of Longobard origin that descended from Boniface I, through the Obertenghi line, that ruled Lunigiana from the 13th to the 14th centuries, and the marquisate of Massa and lordship of Carrara since the 14th century.
Ottone is an Italian name meaning "owner".
