Pio (later Pio di Savoia), an ancient noble

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

family, was first mentioned by good authorities in the 14th century. After having long contended for the city of Modena with the

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

, in 1336 they eventually agreed to renounce it, on condition that they retained the smaller domain of Carpi for themselves. They maintained control of Carpi for nearly 200 years and later acquired the minor

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

s of

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known f ...

Meldola Meldola ( rgn, Mèdla) is a town and ''comune'' near Forlì, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History The area of Meldola was inhabited since very ancient times. The Romans built here a large aqueduct (still existing under the ground) which served the mi ...

Sarsina Sarsina ( rgn, Sêrsna) is an Italian town situated in the province of Forlì-Cesena, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. Its territory is included in the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines. History Ancient Sarsina or Sassina was a town of the Umbri. Capt ...

, etc. Many members of the family were distinguished as ''

condottieri ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italy, Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other ...

'', diplomats or ecclesiastics. Alberto Pio (died 1463) obtained from the house of Savoy in 1450 the privilege of adding "di Savoia" to his surname as a reward for his military services. Another Alberto Pio, who was Imperial and later French ambassador in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, won fame as a man of learning, but in 1525 he was stripped of the county of Carpi for

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

by Emperor Charles V. Alberto's nephew, Cardinal Rodolfo Pio was a trusted adviser to Pius III and helped to establish the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. Ascanio Pio (1587–1649) was a dramatic poet of some merit. His son, Cardinal Carlo Pio purchased from the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

the title of prince of San Gregorio in order to increase the prestige of the family. Carlo's half-brother Giberto Pio (ca 1637–1676), who had inherited the principality, soon moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where, through his marriage to Juana de Moura Corte Real y Moncada, he also acquired for the family the merely nominal marquis title of Castelo Rodrigo, and the effective one of the Dukedom of Nochera (referring to the locality of

Nocera de' Pagani Nocera Inferiore ( nap, Nucèrä Inferiórë or simply , , locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in Campania in southern Italy. It lies west of Nocera Superiore, at the foot of Monte Albino, some 20 km east-sou ...

in the Kingdom of Naples at the time under Spain). In 1720, the title of Grandee was conferred upon his son Francesco Pio de Saboya y de Moura, erstwhile Governor of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

and

Captain General of Catalonia The office of Captain General of Catalonia ( es, Capitán general de Cataluña; ca, Capitá general de Catalunya) was created in 1713 by the Nueva Planta decrees of King Philip V of Spain to replace that of Viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of ...

. The Príncipe Pío hill and the Príncipe Pío multimodal train station in Madrid are named after them. Their descendants through the female line are to this day established in Spain. Another branch of the family is still flourishing in

, the UK and the US.

References

* *G. Campori, ''Memorie storiche di Marco Pio di Savoia'' (Modena, 1876) * A. Ceriani and G. Porro, "Il Rotolo epistografo dei principi Pio di Savoia", in the ''Archivio storico lombardo'', ser. II. an. XI. fasc. I; ser. III. an. VIII. 96, and ser. III. an. XIX. 453. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pio Di Savoia Italian noble families History of Modena Carpi, Emilia-Romagna