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THE NEGRONE
FAMILY IN GENOA, ITALY
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founder of the Negrone Family in Genoa was Marquio di Negrone, son of Negrone
di Negrone, who moved from Locarno to Genoa around 1131 and in 1134 joined
the Visconti Family Albergho. The principal properties of the Negrone Family
were located along the Ripa Section of Old Genoa, where we find today the
Via Carlo Alberto. Genoa has a population of almost one million people
and is a port city in northwestern Italy. It is also the capital of the
Ligurian Region (about 2,000 square miles), the third smallest of the Italian
regions. Since the beginning of its recorded history, Genoa's destiny has
been tied to the sea and to maritime commerce. It was founded around the
year 700 BC by the Ligurian tribesmen, a people that inhabited the area
from northeastern Spain to northwestern Italy. The Ligures were renowned
traders and sailors and their commercial trade was carried out with the
Greeks, the Etruscans, the Phoenicians, and the Celts. |
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the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage (264-241 BC), the inhabitants
of Genoa sided with the Romans and as a result, during the Second Punic
War (218-201 BC) the Carthaginians (under their great military leader Hannibal)
destroyed the city in 205 BC. Gradually, Genoa fell under the control of
Rome and by the first century it was a Roman municipality. After the fall
of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, Genoa was part of the Byzantine Empire (Roman
Empire of the East) until it was occupied by the Lombards in 643 and by
the Franks in 774. The Franks elevated Genoa to a county under the Kingdom
of Italy. With the dissolution of the Frankish Empire in 887, Genoa experienced
a period of chaos and uncertainty during which the entire Ligurian region
was subjected to numerous attacks by tile Saracens. In 950 Genoa became
part of the Kingdom of Italy ruled by Berengarius II. Berengarius II divided
the Ligurian Region into three Marches (or Marquios): the Arduinic to the
east, the Aleramic in the middle and the Obertenga in the east from where
the great Genoese families and their feudal domains were later derived.
In 1131, the son of Negrone di Negrone (the first member of the Negroni
family that we know of) was given the title of Marquio di Negrone. This
Marquio, (or frontier division) was, I believe, part of the Aleramic March.
In 961 Otto the Great became Holy Roman Emperor and Genoa formed part of
his Empire until 1254. |
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| Genoa's
maritime participation in the First Crusade of 1095 marked the beginning
of its ascendancy by its policy of securing trading ports throughout the
Mediterranean. Simultaneously, the Genoese began to build an extensive
trading fleet and a fighting fleet to protect their far-flung commercial
interests. However, despite its economic prosperity, Genoa continued to
have internal problems, a result of friction between the Church, the nobles,
and the merchants. To balance the competing interests, Genoa developed
a form of government known as a "Commune", a sort of self-governing municipal
institution whose rights and privileges were a result of compromise, treaties,
and charters. The Bishop of Genoa controlled the city but was balanced
by the "overlords of Luguria" (the Visconti Family) who controlled the
region's different fiefdoms. These two elements were in turn held in balance
by the merchant class, responsible to a great extent for the economic prosperity
of the city-state. In 1162, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I recognized
the Commune character of Genoa. |
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source of friction in Genoa was that between the supporters of the Papacy,
(known as Guelphs) and the supporters of the Holy Roman Emperor (known
as Ghibellines). The origin of this struggle was the election of Lothair
II of Saxony (1125-38) and of Conrad III of Swabia (1138-52) to the throne
of the Holy Roman Empire. These elections gave rise to a long domestic
war in Germany that spilled into other parts of the Empire, such as Genoa.
While the Negrone Family was known to have Ghibelline sympathies, the Family
was also careful to maintain close ties with the Guelphs as well. |
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| Despite their internal struggle, the Genoese
were of a single mind in the area of commerce and the trading opportunities
provided by the Crusades were fully exploited. In 1284 Genoa defeated its
Mediterranean rival Pisa in the Naval Battle of Meloria and in 1298 the
Genoese fleet defeated the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Curzola. As
a result, the Mediterranean became a Genoese Lake. This led to phenomenal
economic and political expansion that reached its zenith in the l6th Century.
During this century, the Genoese nobles stopped building their homes like
fortifications and started erecting opulent palaces around Strada Nuova
(today's Via Garibaldi or Street of Kings) and by the area of Piazza Fontana
Marose (where the Palazzo Negrone can be found today). This splendor gave
Genoa a new name indicative of its grandeur, "Superba Genoa" (Genoa, the
Proud One). |
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Palazzo Negrone in Genova
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The Genoese commercial empire extended through Constantinople to the Black
Sea, to Anatolia, to the Greek Archipelago, to Armenia, to North Africa,
to Spain, to Sardinia, and to Corsica (where almost total control was achieved
in 1195), to India, and even as far as England. To administer this commercial
empire the Genoese created a trading society Called Societa delle Compere
di San Giorgio that later became the Banco di San Giorgio (Bank of St.
George). This first bank in Europe was established in 1408 and operated
uninterruptedly for more than 300 years until 1750 when it was dissolved
due to bankruptcy. The Negrone Family was one of the investors in this
bank. In the Hall of the Grand Council of the bank, among the group
of the 35 principal investors, we can find the statue of Marchese Melchior
Negrone who was born around the end of the 15th Century and died sometime
after 1513. His statue was placed in the hall in 1572 and is testimony
of his having been one of the richest men in Genoa. These 35 benefactors
had each deposited a large sum of money with the Bank for a minimum period
of 50 years and allowed that sum to grow through compound interest. The
proceeds were used to carry out social programs for the benefit of the
general population of Genoa. |
Marchese Melchior Negroni,
Benefactor of the
Bank of St. George
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