Nicolò Gravisi (born 1396) was the first

Marquis of Pietrapelosa The Marquis of Pietrapelosa is a title held by the Gravisi family of Koper (Capodistria), since 1440. The name comes from the castle of Pietrapelosa (also called Kostel), at the center of the estate. The Gravisi-Barbabianca Palace and Gravisi-But ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

, which he received in return for foiling a plot to betray the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

Biography

According to Prospero Petronio the Gravisi family originated in Tuscany. A Domenico de Gravisi was mentioned as living in

Pirano Piran (; it, Pirano ) is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the three major towns of Slovenian Istria. The town is known for its medieval architecture, with narrow streets and compact houses. P ...

in 1337. Nicolò Gravisi was born in 1396, son of Vanto Gravisi di Pirano. In the night of 7 March 1435 Gravisi was captain of the guard of one door to the city of Padua. He discovered a plot by some Paduans to deliver it to Marsilio, son of the former ruler

Francesco Novello da Carrara Francesco II da Carrara (19 May 1359 – 16 January 1406), known as Francesco il Novello ('Francesco the Younger'), was Lord of Padua after his father, Francesco I il Vecchio, renounced the lordship on 29 June 1388; he was a member of the family ...

, who had been deposed and later executed. He arrested the rebels and saved the city for the republic. As a reward for this and many other actions, on 10 March 1440 the doge

Francesco Foscari Francesco Foscari (19 June 1373 – 1 November 1457) was the 65th Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1423 to 1457. His reign, the longest of all Doges in Venetian history, lasted 34 years, 6 months and 8 days, and coincided with the inception o ...

assigned an annual pension of 260 gold ducats to Gravisi and his successors, granted him the castle and estates of

Pietrapelosa Pietrapelosa ( hr, Kostel, Kaštel, Kosmati grad, Kosmati Kostel, Kosmati Kaštel) is a castle in the Croatian part of Istria, now ruined. In the medieval period a family took their name from the castle. "Pietrapelosa" comes from the Italian words ...

, and gave him the title of Marquis of Pietrapelosa. Pietrapelosa, which gave an annual income of 150 ducats, was a collection of "villes" between Capodistria (

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

), Pinguentino (

Buzet Buzet (; la, Piquentum; it, Pinguente) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, population 6,133 (2011). Demographics In 2011 the total municipal population was 6,133 people, distributed in the following settlements (with population shown in parenth ...

) and the border with the Habsburg County of

Pazin Pazin ( it, Pisino, german: Mitterburg) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8,6 ...

. It was the largest estate in

. It included the domains of Stridone, San Quirico, Cepici, Salice and Pregara. The family was accepted into the Great Council of Capodistria on 25 March 1466.

Legacy

After the death of Nicolò Gravisi the family was divided into four branches, the descendants of his sons Michele, Gravise, Pietro and Vanto. The family of the first-born Michele i Gravisi created ties of marriage with the Barbabianca and Bocchina families. In the nineteenth century the heirs of Gravise and Pietro were still settled in

. The descendants of Vanto, the fourth son, lived in Koper. Some became well-known writers and scholars. Nicolò Gravisi's descendants included soldiers such as

Pietro Gravisi Pietro Gravisi (1520–1588), Marquis of Pietrapelosa, was the commander of a Venetian galley in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and fought in the War of Siena and against the Ottomans. His relative Lucrezio Gravisi (1558–1613), later to by knig ...

and

Lucrezio Gravisi Lucrezio Gravisi (1558 – 30 December 1613) was a Venetian freelance soldier from Capodistra in Istria, now Koper in Slovenia. He was knighted by the King of Poland. For some time he commanded the castle of Brescia. He was assassinated in Dalmati ...

, who both served in the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

in 1571, and scholars such as Girolamo Gravisi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gravisi, Nicolo 1396 births 15th-century deaths People from Istria