Gherardesca
The della Gherardesca family is one of the oldest Italian noble families and was one of the leading families in Pisa . The Gherardesca were the leaders of the city's loyal Ghibelline party. The family still exists today.
history
The della Gherardesca are of Longobard descent and have been documented since the 10th century . The progenitor is said to have been a Ratch as well, Gastalde in Pisa, who was commissioned by King Liutprand (approx. 690-744) to free the coasts of the Maremma from the Saracens . Ratch is said to have been married to a daughter of Duke Pemmo of Friuli, whose brothers Ratchis and Aistulf were elected Longobard kings. Ratchauso's son Wilfrido († 756) had five sons and became a monk in 754 in the monastery of San Pietro in Palazzuolo near Monteverdi Marittimo , which he founded, for which he was later canonized. One of his descendants in the 10th century is said to have been a Gherardo, resident in Volterra and Pisa and enfeoffed with the originally Etruscan, then Longobard castle Castello di Donoratico near Castagneto Carducci . After him, the descendants took their names. They rose to become Counts of Volterra and expanded their property considerably under Emperor Heinrich II .
The family lived mainly in Pisa from the early 11th century , where they soon rose to the top ranks and, with Tedicio della Gherardesca, made the first Podestà in 1190 . She received the Vicariate of the Maremma Pisana from the Republic of Pisa . Near Castagneto Carducci, the family built the castles Castello di Donoratico (12th century) and Castello di Bolgheri (13th century) as well as the predecessor of today's Renaissance castle in Castagneto Carducci , which has remained in the family from around 1000 until today. From 1092 she also owned Montescudaio , where a line ruled as counts - partly on behalf of Pisa, partly in rebellion against the republic - until it was expelled from the citizenry in the 15th century. The neighboring towns of Guardistallo , Bibbona , Riparbella and Casale Marittimo (until 1406) also belonged to their county. Their holdings Donoratico, Bolgheri, Castagneto, Pietra Rossa and Settimo were also raised to counties.
In the battle of Montaperti in 1260 Gherardo della Gherardesca fought with the Sienese against the Guelfan Florentines. Together with Ugolino, he received the western third of the judiciary of Cagliari in Sardinia for his military services , where they founded the city of Iglesias (Sardinia) , the Castello di Salvaterra and the Cattedrale di Santa Chiara as well as the Castello di Acquafredda and the Castello di Gioiosa Guardia (near Villamassargia ) to build fortresses; Iglesiente , Piscinas , Pula , Tratalias , Uta and Villaperuccio also belonged to their rule ; the family was able to hold some of their Sardinian possessions until the beginning of the 15th century.
Ugolino della Gherardesca , who had also been Podestà since 1284 and Capitano del Popolo since 1285 , tried to seize power in the city of Pisa, but ultimately failed because of his changing alliances (he initially belonged to the Ghibellines, but then stepped up the Guelphs ), which cost him the trust of all parties. In 1289 he was overthrown by Archbishop Ruggieri degli Ubaldini and locked in a tower with several of his sons and grandchildren, where they were starved to death.
In the 14th century the Gherardesca came to power in the city again. During the internal conflicts that ended in 1399 with the conquest of Pisa by Gian Galeazzo Visconti , they were the leaders of the Raspanti faction. The city lord Bonifazio Novello della Gherardesca (1298-1341) married his daughter Emilia to the condottiere Ugolino Gonzaga , son of the city lord of Mantua Guido Gonzaga .
After Pisa fell to Florence , one line of the family moved to the new center of power in the 16th century , where they soon rose again in the urban nobility and in 1538 acquired the Villa di Mondeggi , which was only sold in 1938. In 1605 Ugo della Gherardesca married Costanza de ' Medici , the sister of Pope Leo XI. As a dowry she received the Palazzo Della Gherardesca , which the family expanded for three centuries until they sold it in 1882. Cosimo della Gherardesca (1569-1634) was bishop of Colle di Val d'Elsa in 1612 and of Fiesole in 1633 . Tommaso della Gherardesca was Archbishop of Florence from 1703 to 1721 . The family split into two branches and bore the honorary title of patrician of Pisa, Florence and Volterra. Ugolino (1823–1882) became a senator, Giuseppe (1876–1968) was from 1928 to 1933 Podestà of Florence and in 1929 a member of the Senato del Regno .
family members
- Tedicio della Gherardesca, 1190 first Podestà of Pisa
- Guelfo della Gherardesca, † 1295 , Count of Donoratico , ∞ Elena, 1235–72 attested, an illegitimate daughter of Enzios of Sardinia ( Staufer )
- Ugolino della Gherardesca , † 1289 , the son of Guelfo, Count of Donoratico
- Ranieri della Gherardesca, † 1325 , Count of Donoratico, ∞ Beatrice, illegitimate daughter of King Manfred of Sicily ( Staufer )
- Bonifacio della Gherardesca del Massado, Podesta of Pisa in 1329 -1340/41
- Camilla della Gherardesca, † 1349 , daughter of Bonifacio, ∞ Ugolino Gonzaga , † 1362
- Tommaso della Gherardesca was Archbishop of Florence from 1703 to 1721
- Alessandro Gherardesca, an architect who in 1838 excavations at the Leaning Tower of Pisa undertook
possession
The Gherardesca possessions included:
- Castle Castello di Donoratico near Castagneto Carducci (since the 10th century, the current ruins built in the 12th century, destroyed in 1447)
- The castle of Castagneto Carducci , owned by the family since around 1000 until today
- Bibbona in the province of Livorno (from the early Middle Ages to the 12th century )
- Casale Marittimo in the province of Pisa is first mentioned in 1004 as the castle of Gherardesca
- Montescudaio in the province of Pisa is first mentioned in 1092 as the castle of Gherardesca.
- The castrum of Cecina in the province of Livorno was under the control of the Gherardesca in the 11th century
- Castello di Bolgheri near Castagneto Carducci (13th century)
Castello di Donoratico
Castello di Bolgheri
Palazzo Della Gherardesca in Florence
Inner courtyard of the Palazzo Della Gherardesca
The Gherardesca in literature
- Dante processed Ugolino's death in the inferno of his Divine Comedy
- Ugolino's death was also processed in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
- Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg : Ugolino, 1768
- Johann Jakob Bodmer : The Hunger Tower in Pisa, 1769
- Adolf Friedrich von Schack : The Pisans, 1872
- Ludwig Mathar : The revenge of Gherardesca. Novel from Sardinia's heroic days, 1929
- Siegfried von Vegesack : The Last Judgment of Pisa, 1947
- Alvaro Cunqueiro : Vida y Fugas de Fanto Fantini della Gherardesca, 1972
- Joséphin Péladan : The Lovers of Pisa
Others
- The "Villa Gherardesca" in Fiesole was inhabited by the writer Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864).