Albergo
Encyclopedia
An Albergo was a term used during the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 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. They usually lived near each other and attended the same churches.

History

Alberghi developed among noble families in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 during in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in response to economic woes and financial strife. Alberghi mainly developed in Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

 and Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

. Alberghi are also mentioned as having formed in Chieri
Chieri
Chieri is a town and comune in the province of Turin, Piedmont , located about 11 km southeast of Turin...

, Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...

, Savigliano
Savigliano
Savigliano is a comune of Piedmont, northern Italy, in the Province of Cuneo, c. 50 kilometers south of Turin by rail....

, and Borgo San Sepolcro; and to a lesser extent in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, Torino, and Moncalieri
Moncalieri
Moncalieri is a town and comune of approximately 58,000 inhabitants about eight kilometers directly south of downtown Turin , in Piedmont, Italy. It is notable for its castle, built in the 12th century and enlarged in the 15th century, which later became the favorite residence of Maria Clotilde...

.

By the fifteenth century, merchants and artisans were also forming alberghi, but this only affected a few of the more powerful families. Even freed slaves joined Alberghi.

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
Giustiniani
Giustiniani is the name of a prominent Italian family which originally belonged to Venice, but also established itself subsequently in Genoa, and at various times had representatives in Naples, Corsica and in the islands of the Archipelago, where they had been the last Genoese rulers of the Aegean...

, which was composed of shareholders of a company formed to colonize the Greek island of Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...

.

Alberghi are first mentioned in 1383 by Giorgio Stella and Agostino Giustiniani
Agostino Giustiniani
Agostino Giustiniani was an Italian Catholic bishop, linguist and geographer.-Biography:Giustiniani was born at Genoa into a noble family...

 on the occasion of the crowning of John of Lusignan
John of Lusignan
John of Lusignan , Regent of Cyprus and Titular Prince of Antioch. He was son of King Hugh IV of Cyprus and his second wife, Alix of Ibelin.He married twice, firstly in 1343 to Constance of Sicily John of Lusignan (or Jean de Lusignan) (ca 1329 or 1329/1330–1375), Regent of Cyprus and Titular...

 as King of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 by the Doge
Doge of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa, in what is now northern Italy, was technically a communal republic in the early Middle Ages, although it was actually an oligarchy ruled by a small group of merchant families, from whom were selected the Doges of Genoa.- History :...

 Leonardo Montaldo. Neither mentions the number of Alberghi, though one fifteenth century source says there are 35 and a later source says there were 74 by the year 1414.

In 1528, after ousting the French and restoring Genoese independence, Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria was an Italian condottiere and admiral from Genoa.-Early life:Doria was born at Oneglia from the ancient Genoese family, the Doria di Oneglia branch of the old Doria, de Oria or de Auria family. His parents were related: Ceva Doria, co-lord of Oneglia, and Caracosa Doria, of the...

 reformed the constitution of the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

, 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.

The 28 Alberghi that formed this new ruling class included the Cybo
Cybo
The Cybo, Cibo or Cibei family of Italy is an aristocratic family from Genoa of Greek origin. They came to the city in the 12th century. In 1528 the Cybo's formed the 17th "Albergo", a union of noble families of Genoa. The family split in many branches, some living in Genoa, other in Naples. Most...

, Doria
Doria
Doria, originally de Auria , meaning "the sons of Auria", and then de Oria or d'Oria, is the name of an old and extremely wealthy Genoese family who played a major role in the history of the Republic of Genoa and in Italy, from the 12th century to the 16th century.-Origins:According to legend, a...

, Fieschi, Giustiniani
Giustiniani
Giustiniani is the name of a prominent Italian family which originally belonged to Venice, but also established itself subsequently in Genoa, and at various times had representatives in Naples, Corsica and in the islands of the Archipelago, where they had been the last Genoese rulers of the Aegean...

, Grimaldi
House of Grimaldi
The House of Grimaldi is associated with the history of the Republic of Genoa and of the Principality of Monaco.-History:The Grimaldi family descends from Grimaldo, a Genoese statesman at the time of the early Crusades. He might have been a son of Otto Canella, a consul of the Republic of Genoa in...

, Imperiale, Pallavicino, and Spinola
Spinola Family
The Spinola were a leading political family in Genoa in the 13th and 14th centuries.Guido Spinola was one of the first important members of the family. He served as Consul of Genoa in 1102. The Spinola were generally Ghibellines and in league with the Doria Family.The next Spinola to come to...

 families.

This plan provided more political stability than before, but the old divisions reappeared. The Alberghi were abolished in 1576 and noble families assumed their original surnames.

Other uses

In Renaissance Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, the term Albergo originally referred to the building in which a Scuola Grande confraternity
Confraternity
A confraternity is normally a Roman Catholic or Orthodox organization of lay people created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy...

met. The term later applied only to a small meeting room within the building.

Today, albergo is the Italian word for a hotel.
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