Doria (family)
Doria, originally de Auria (from de filiis Auriae), meaning "the sons of Auria", and then de Oria or d'Oria, is the name of an old Genoese family played a major role in the history of the Republic of Genoa from the 12th century to the 16th century. Legend has that a noble Genoese lady named Auria or Oria della Volta fell in love with a noble pilgrim who was going to Jerusalem for the First Crusade; his name was Arduino di Narbonne but their children were named after the mother — de Oria, the children of Oria.
Documentary evidence refers to two members of that family, Martino and Genuardo, in 1110; they are called filiis Auriae (the sons of Oria), which at least part of the family legend plausible. The Doria had fiefs in Sardinia from the 12th century to the 15th century, and also in Dolceacqua, Oneglia and Portofino, in the Riviera to the west of Genoa.
Simone Doria lived in the late 12th century and was an admiral of the Genoese in the crusader's assault against Saint Jean d'Acre. Percivalle Doria, who died in 1275 fighting for the Ghibelline, was a infamous warlord and a well-known Provençal poet. The brothers Oberto Doria and Lamba Doria were naval commanders and politicians: Oberto was Captain of the People in Genoa and led its naval forces in the victory of La Meloria against Pisa in 1284 while Lamba won a major battle against Venetian Andrea Dandolo at Curzola in 1298. Tedisio Doria (or Teodosio) financed the expedition of Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi in 1291. Branca Doria is mentioned by Dante in the Divine Comedy because of his treacherous murder of Michele Zanche, his father-in-law, in 1275. The most remarkable member of the family is Admiral Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (1466-1560), who re-established the Genoese Republic.
The Doria clan helped finance the Portuguese and Spanish navigations in the late 15th and 16th centuries. A Lodisio Doria settled, and had many descendants, in the island of Madeira in 1480 in order to produce sugar out of sugarcane. Francesco Doria, a banker at Seville, financed Christopher Columbus, and his son Aleramo Doria was a banker to King John III of Portugal until 1556. Finally, Aleramo's daughter Clemenza Doria is one of the earliest settlers in the 16th century Portuguese colonization of Brazil. These Portuguese and Brazilian Dorias and their descendants spell their family name as Doria, Dória or even Dorea.
See also
References
- Teresa Luzzatto Guerrini, I Doria, Novissima Enciclopedia Monografica Illustrata, Florence (1937).
- Clemente Fusero, I Doria, dall'Oglio (1973).
- Documentary sources at the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon (Portugal)