The House of Della Torre (Torriani or Thurn) were an Italian noble family who rose to prominence in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

during the 12th–14th centuries, until they held the lordship of

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 ...

before being ousted by the

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

History

The family originally sprang from the small fortified burgh of

Primaluna Primaluna ( Valassinese lmo, Premalüne) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about north of Lecco. Primaluna borders the following municipalities: Casargo ...

, in the

Valsassina 250px, The Valsassina plateau. Valsassina is a valley in the Alps of Lombardy, northern Italy, within the province of Lecco. It is included between the Grigne range from West, and the Bergamo Prealps which, in a half-circle stretching from North ...

. The first notable member was one Martino, nicknamed ''Il Gigante'' ("The Giant"), who fought in the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. His son Jacopo married Berta

, and was captain of

. His nephew Raimondo was

bishop of Como The Diocese of Como ( la, Dioecesis Comensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy. It was established in the Fourth Century. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of ...

in 1262–1273 and

Patriarch of Aquileia The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate (bishop), primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholicism, Independent Catholic Chur ...

(1273–1299), while another nephew, Salvino, was ''

podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...

'' of

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

. Jacopo's son, Pagano, became ''

capitano del popolo Captain of the People ( it, Capitano del popolo, Lombard: ''Capitani del Popol'') was an administrative title used in Italy during the Middle Ages, established essentially to balance the power and authority of the noble families of the Italian ci ...

'' of Milan in 1240, holding the position until his death in 1247. His brother Martino (III) imposed his personal power over the city, beginning the Torriani lordship, which lasted some 50 years. He died in 1259 and was succeeded by another brother,

Filippo Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Fil ...

. Torriani possessions included

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

, Lodi,

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It i ...

and Vercelli. The Torriani were staunch members of the

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

faction in Italy.

Napoleone Napoleone is an Italian male given name. St. Napoleone of Alexandria, alternatively rendered as ''Neopulus'', ''Neopolus'', ''Neopolis'' or ''Neópolo'', whose feast day is August 15, was martyred during the early fourth century during the Dioclet ...

, son of Pagano, gained power in Milan in 1265, but was defeated by the Visconti in 1277: he died the following year, imprisoned. His brother Francesco was ''podestà'' of

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

, Alessandria, Bergamo, Lodi and Novara, and was killed in the

Battle of Desio The Battle of Desio was fought on 21 January 1277 between the Della Torre and Visconti families for the control of Milan and its countryside. The battlefield is located near the modern Desio, a commune outside the city in Lombardy, Northern It ...

(1277), against the Visconti. With that victory the Visconti acquired power in Milan. In 1302 they were in turn ousted. Corrado Mosca, who had already been ''

signore A signoria () was the governing authority in many of the Italian city states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. The word signoria comes from ''signore'' , or "lord"; an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government; governing authority; ...

'' between 1277 and 1281, was returned to power, which he held until 1307, when he was succeeded by his son

Guido Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

. Having tried to incite the people against the Emperor Henry VII, Guido was forced to flee, and died in 1312. Florimondo della Torre, son of Corrado Mosca, attempted in vain to regain power in Milan. His son Pagano was bishop of Padua and

from 1319 to 1332. Another member of the family, Cassono (or Gastone), had also been Patriarch of Aquileia from 1316 to 1318. Paganino, Corrado's youngest son, was ''podestà'' of Como and

Senator of Rome Summus Senator is a medieval title of Rome for the head of the civil government in the city. The ancient Senate continued to function after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but it became increasingly irrelevant and seems to have disappeare ...

. Lodovico della Torre was also Patriarch of Aquileia (1359–65). Salvino della Torre's descendant Eriprando married Eurilla, daughter and heiress of the Count of Valsassina.Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 283, 286. (French). Made Barons zum Creutz by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1532, the

Carinthian Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carint ...

branch, called ''von Thurn und Valsassina'', became

Imperial count Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

s in 1541, acquiring

Bleiburg Bleiburg ( sl, Pliberk) is a small town in the south Austrian state of Carinthia (''Koroška''), south-east of Klagenfurt, in the district of Völkermarkt, some four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the border with Slovenia. The municipality consists ...

castle in 1601, still the

family seat A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families to ...

. In 1552 they obtained the post of hereditary marshal in the

County of Gorizia The County of Gorizia ( it, Contea di Gorizia, german: Grafschaft Görz, sl, Goriška grofija, fur, Contee di Gurize), from 1365 Princely County of Gorizia, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. Originally mediate ''Vogts'' of the Patriarchs of ...

, where their ancestral nobility had been recognized in the person of Valveno della Torre in 1329. A later member of the Torriani, Girolamo, was named Count of Valsassina by

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...

, and held possessions in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

until his death in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1530. Francesco Torriani was counsellor of

Emperor Ferdinand I Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog sabo ...

and baron of the Holy Roman Empire: he was ambassador to Venice (1558). Carlo Torriani was governor of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

in 1666. Other families took on the name ''della Torre'' (or German ''von Thurn'') without being male descendants of the Milan family (like the countess Alexandrine von Taxis in 1650, changing her family name to

Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end ...

, or cardinal Carlo Rezzonico, who in 1758 became

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...

External links

Della Torre Family websiteDella Torre Family of Mendrisio website
File:Stemma della Torre.png, Coat of Arms of the House of det to

Cassono della Torre Cassone della Torre (or ''Casso'', ''Cassono'', ''Castone'', ''Gastone''), also called Mosca (died 20 August 1318) was an Italian medieval condottiero and feudal lord. A member of the House of della Torre, Torriani family, he was Archbishop of Mil ...

Tino di Camaino 300px, Tomb of Antonio d'Orso, in Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence.">Florence.html" ;"title="Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence">Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence. Tino di Camaino (c. 1280 – c. 1337) was an Italian sculptor. Born in Siena, the s ...

, in the

Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence The (Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The ...

. File:Heures Torriani - Armes de la famille Torriani - f1r.jpg, Coat of arms in the Torriani

Book of hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...

(1490)

History

See also

External links

References and notes

Further reading