Brignole (noble family)

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Brignole sale coat of arms

Brignole , also Brignole-Sale (further variants: de Brignoles Sales , de Brignoles de Sales , in Italy also de Brignolet Salet ) is the name of a Genoese noble family . Of the two main lines Brignole and Brignole-Sale , the former lives on, while the latter nominally expired in 1876 and 1888, respectively.

The Brignole had been part of the Genoese ruling class since the 16th century and since then have produced numerous politicians, diplomats and clergy, but also distinguished themselves as art collectors, builders and patrons. Their influence can be proven to this day in the history of the city and the cityscape of Genoa, but also in Paris, where a street is named "Rue Brignole". The family experienced the peak of their political and social importance in the 18th century . In the 19th century she was considered to be one of the richest non-princely families in Italy and all of Europe, thanks to the financial industry and a clever marriage policy. The family died out with Maria Brignole Sale De Ferrari (1811–1888), they left the Palazzo Rosso with a rich art collection to the city of Genoa.

history

The Brignole were originally silk weavers in Rezzoaglio in the Ligurian Alps and belonged to the party of the Guelphs . In 1350 the family moved to Rapallo and in 1353 to Genoa . As a result, some members of the family, who originally belonged to the common people, held positions in the administration. After Niccolo Brignole, the administrator of Christopher Columbus ' estate , became Genoese envoy to the Duchy of Milan in the 1470s , the family was finally accepted into the patriciate by Doge Andrea Doria in 1528 . Until 1576 the family belonged to the "Cicala" party, one of the twenty-eight clientele groups in Genoa.

As a "climber" from the craft, the brignoles belonged to the new nobility , whose field of activity was industry, in contrast to finance, the domain of the old Italian nobility . That changed in the first half of the 16th century: The Brignole formed an alliance with the Durazzo and Balbi and got into the money business. As early as 1550, they had trade relations with the Spanish crown, which was constantly dependent on Italian financiers. The story of the Brignole is therefore considered to be the most important case of social advancement in the Genoese patriciate, especially since it took place within just a century. Finally, in 1635, Gian Francesco Brignole-Sale became Doge of Genoa , the first of a total of four from his family, which finally climbed the top of the social hierarchy in Genoa.

The patroness Maria Brignole Sale De Ferrari (1811–1888), with whom the Brignole-Sale branch went out. Painting by Léon Cogniet

In the 17th century, in contrast to most of their Genoese peers, the Brignole represented an anti-Spanish policy, sought the reference to the emerging France and tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to re-establish Genoa as a Mediterranean sea power. Outward expression of their new size is on the one hand the enfeoffment with the Margraviate of Groppoli - a territory that the Doge Gian Francesco Brignole married in 1606 and received as a fiefdom in 1610 - by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1626 : on the other hand, the construction of the Palazzo Rosso in the years 1671 to 1676, as the last of the gentilian palaces in the Genoese boulevard Strada nuova . With Gian Francesco's marriage to the sole heiress of the Sale house, the Brignole-Sale family branch finally emerges .

However, the attempt of his descendants to dominate Groppoli directly as a manorial power failed due to the resistance of the Tuscan government, which, since 1737 under the Habsburg dynasty, pursued a centralist , anti-feudalist policy in the spirit of the Enlightenment. In 1773 the peasants of Groppoli revolt against the Brignole, and their castle is besieged; Finally, in 1774, the fief of Grand Duke Leopold was withdrawn, only the title "Marchese di Groppoli" were allowed to continue the brignole sale. It expires with the death of Anton Brignole Sale in 1863.

family members

The doges

Further

Buildings

In Genoa

Palazzo Rosso , Genoa
Palazzo Bianco

In Liguria

  • Margravial Castle and Villa Brignole in Groppoli
  • Palazzo Brignole sale in Groppoli
  • Villa Brignole in Albaro
  • Villa Brignole in Voltri
  • Palazzo Brignole in Novi Ligure
  • Castello di Montecalvo Versiggia

In Paris

Title and dignity

  • Patrician of Genoa ("Magnificence", "Exalted")
  • Senator ("Excellency") from Genoa
  • "City Father" of Genoa
  • Doge of Genoa ("Your Highness")
  • "King" of Corsica from 1746 to 1748 qua Dogeat
  • Marchese di Brignole
  • Marchese di Groppoli
  • "Comte de l'Empire" and "Préfêt de l'Empire" under Napoleon I.
  • Duke of Galliera
  • Prince of Lucedio

literature

  • Marco Corradini: Genova ed il barocco. Studi su Angelo Grillo, Ansaldo Cebà, Anton Giulio Brignole Sale . Vita e pensiero, Milan 1994, ISBN 88-343-0452-7 .
  • Luca Borzani et al. a .: Storia illustrata di Genova . 6 vols. Collana Il tempo e la città. Sellino, Milan 1993-1995, ISBN 88-236-0053-7 (Vol. 1).
  • Laura Tagliaferro: La magnificenza privata. "Argenti, gioie, quadri e altri mobili" della famiglia Brignole Sale, secoli XVI-XIX. Marietti, Genoa 1995, ISBN 88-211-6618-X .
  • Steven A. Epstein: Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528 . The University of North Carolina Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8078-4992-8 .
  • Thomas Allison Kirk: Genoa and the Sea: Policy and Power in an Early Modern Maritime Republic, 1559-1684 . The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8083-1 .