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Albergo (family)

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An Albergo (Alberghi in plural) was a term used during the Renaissance to indicate an organizational structure in which several families linked by blood or a common interest banded together. The different families derived economic, political, or military support from each other. [1] They usually lived near each other and attended the same churches.[2]

History

Alberghi developed among noble families in Genoa during in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in response to economic woes and financial strife. During this period only 54 families of the "Old Nobility" were approved to form Alberghi. They included the Balbi, Doria, Grimaldi, Pallavicini, and Serra families, all eventually founders of the Bank of St. George. [3] Alberghi mainly developed in Piedmont and Liguria. Alberghi are also mentioned as having formed in Chieri, Asti, Savigliano, and Borgo San Sepolcro; and to a lesser extent in Milan, Torino, and Moncalieri.

By the fifteenth century, merchants and artisans were also forming alberghi, but this only affected a few of the more powerful families. [4] Even freed slaves joined Alberghi. [5]

Sometimes, these Albeghi bonded together several branches of the same family. At other times, unrelated families with common interests banded together, typically taking common surname. [6] An example of the latter is the Giustiniani, which was composed of shareholders of a company formed to colonize the Greek island of Chios. [7]

Alberghi are first mentioned in 1383 by Giorgio Stella and Agostino Giustiniani on the occasion of the crowning of John of Lusignan as King of Cyprus by the Doge Leonardo Montaldo. Neither mentions the number of Alberghi, though one fifteenth century source says there are 35 and a later source says there were 74 by the year 1414.

In 1528, after ousting the French and restoring Genoese independence, Andrea Doria reformed the constitutuion of the Republic of Genoa, attempting to unite the ‘nobili’ and ‘popularii’ factions into a single ruling class as formally recognized Alberghi. [8] Before this, Alberghi had been strictly private institutions. [9]

The 28 Alberghi that formed this new ruling class included the Cybo, Doria, Fieschi, Giustiniani, Grimaldi, Imperiale, Pallavicino, and Spinola families. [10] [11]

This plan provided more political stability than before, but the old divisions reappeared. [12] The Alberghi were abolished in 1576[13] and some noble families assumed their original surnames.

Other uses

In Renaissance Venice, the term Albergo originally referred to the building in which a Scuola Grande confraternity met. The term later applied only to a small meeting room within the building. [14] [15]

Today, albergo is the Italian word for a hotel.[16]

References

  1. ^ “Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684”, Thomas Allison Kirk, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005., pg. 24 [1], ISBN 0801880831
  2. ^ The House of Grimaldi official website.
  3. ^ “Medieval families: perspectives on marriage, household, and children”, Carol Neel, The Medieval Academy of America, 2004, pg. 132 [2], ISBN 0802036066
  4. ^ “Medieval families: perspectives on marriage, household, and children”, Carol Neel, The Medieval Academy of America, 2004, pg. 135 [3], ISBN 0802036066
  5. ^ “Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684”, Thomas Allison Kirk, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005., pg. 25 [4], ISBN 0801880831
  6. ^ “Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684”, Thomas Allison Kirk, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005., pg. 25 [5], ISBN 0801880831
  7. ^ “Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684”, Thomas Allison Kirk, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005., pg. 25 [6], ISBN 0801880831
  8. ^ “Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684”, Thomas Allison Kirk, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005., pg. 24 [7], ISBN 0801880831
  9. ^ “Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684”, Thomas Allison Kirk, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005., pg. 24 [8], ISBN 0801880831
  10. ^ “The Grimaldis of Monaco”, Anne Edwards, HarperCollins, 1992, [9], ISBN 0002151952
  11. ^ “Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684”, Thomas Allison Kirk, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005., pg. 25 [10], ISBN 0801880831
  12. ^ “Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684”, Thomas Allison Kirk, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005., pg. 27 [11], ISBN 0801880831
  13. ^ The House of Grimaldi official website.
  14. ^ “The architectural history of Venice”, Deborah Howard, Sarah Quill, Yale University Press, 2002, pg. xiii [12], ISBN 0300090293
  15. ^ “Building Renaissance Venice: patrons, architects and builders, c. 1430-1500”, Richard J Goy, Yale University Press, 2006, pg. 297, [13], ISBN 0300112920
  16. ^ Orlandi, Giuseppe, "Il Piccolo Orlandi", Carlo Signorelli, Milano, 1964. p. 16.
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