Albergo (family)

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An Albergo (Alberghi in plural) was a term used during the Renaissance to indicate an organizational structure in which several families linked by blood or a common interest banded together. The different families derived economic, political, or military support from each other.[1] They usually lived near each other and attended the same churches.

Alberghi developed among noble families in

Spinola families.[3][4]

Alberghi mainly developed in

Torino, and Moncalieri. By the 15th century, merchants and artisans were also forming alberghi, but this only affected a few of the more powerful families.[5] Even freed slaves joined alberghi.[4] Sometimes, these alberghi bonded together several branches of the same family. At other times, unrelated families with common interests banded together, typically taking a common surname. An example of the latter is the Giustiniani, which was composed of shareholders of a company formed to colonize the Greek island of Chios.[4]

In 1528, after ousting the French and restoring Genoese independence, Andrea Doria reformed the constitution of the Republic of Genoa, attempting to unite the ‘nobili’ and ‘popularii’ factions into a single ruling class as formally recognized alberghi. Before this, alberghi had been strictly private institutions.[1] This plan provided more political stability than before, but the old divisions reappeared.[6] The alberghi were abolished in 1576[7] and noble families assumed their original surnames.

In Renaissance

Scuola Grande confraternity met. The term later applied only to a small meeting room within the building.[8][9]

Today, albergo is the Italian word for a hotel. Both senses of the word are ultimately derived from a Germanic root, reconstructed as harjabergu meaning "barracks" or "lodging". The French word auberge shares the same origin.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Kirk (2005), pg. 24
  2. ^ Neel, (2004), pg. 132
  3. ISBN 0-00-215195-2
  4. ^ a b c Kirk (2005), pg. 25
  5. ^ Neel (2004), pg. 135
  6. ^ Kirk (2005), pg. 27
  7. ^ The House of Grimaldi official website.
  8. ISBN 0-300-09029-3
  9. ISBN 0-300-11292-0
  10. ^ Orlandi, Giuseppe, "Il Piccolo Orlandi", Carlo Signorelli, Milano, 1964. p. 16.

Sources

  • Kirk, Thomas Allison. Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
  • Neel, Carol. Medieval families: perspectives on marriage, household, and children. The Medieval Academy of America, 2004,
    ISBN 0-8020-3606-6
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