Turco (family)
Encyclopedia
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...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and later the surrounding comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
s of Frinco
Frinco
Frinco is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 40 kilometres east of Turin and about 11 kilometres north of Asti...
, Mombercelli
Mombercelli
Mombercelli is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km southeast of Turin and about 12 km southeast of Asti...
, Montemagno
Montemagno
Montemagno is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km east of Turin and about 13 km northeast of Asti...
, Tonco
Tonco
Tonco is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 40 km east of Turin and about 13 km north of Asti...
, Viale
Viale
Viale is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 30 km east of Turin and about 15 km northwest of Asti. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 269 and an area of 4.0 km²....
, and in part Barbaresco
Barbaresco
Barbaresco is an Italian wine made with the Nebbiolo grape. Barbaresco is produced in the Piedmont region in an area of the Langhe immediately to the east of Alba and specifically in the comunes of Barbaresco, Treiso and Neive plus that area of the frazione San Rocco Senodelvio which was once part...
, Neive
Neive
Neive is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km southeast of Turin and about 60 km northeast of Cuneo...
, Revigliasco d'Asti
Revigliasco d'Asti
Revigliasco d'Asti is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 45 km southeast of Turin and about 6 km southwest of Asti. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 865 and an area of 8.9 km².Revigliasco d'Asti borders the following...
and Savigliano
Savigliano
Savigliano is a comune of Piedmont, northern Italy, in the Province of Cuneo, c. 50 kilometers south of Turin by rail....
. They are considered one of the "Casane Astigiane
Casane Astigiane
The Casane Astigiane were the major family banking houses of Asti, Italy in the middle ages. Their economic activities included currency exchange and lending.-Guelf Families:* Solaro...
", the major familial banking "houses" that powered the economy of medioeval Asti.
Their accession to noble status can be traced to their increased wealth through banking, lending and property investment, starting in the 11th and 12th centuries. They were renowned as Ghibelline
Guelphs and Ghibellines
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...
supporters throughout the Middle Ages. Their economic prestige dropped at the end of the 16th century and the family eventually fell from nobility.
Origins
Francesco Galeani Napione
Gianfrancesco Galeani Napione also noted as Francesco Galeani Napione, count of Cocconato was a renowned Italian historian and writer....
relates the family to the birth of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Order of the Holy Sepulchre
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the pope. It traces its roots to Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade...
, affirming that Gherardo Turco, signore of Tonco, was among the founders of the order in 1084. In 1189 Riccardo Turco became the successor to the first English Prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
of the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
.
United in hospitium as "De Castello" with the influential ghibelline Isnardi and Guttuari families, they became one of Asti's major patrician families.
By the early 12th C., Turco family members became lord
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
s (signori) of Serralunga
Serralunga
Serralunga may refer to two comuni in northern Italy:*Serralunga d'Alba, province of Cuneo*Serralunga di Crea, province of Alessandria...
, Malamorte
Belveglio
Belveglio is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km southeast of Turin and about 13 km southeast of Asti. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 330 and an area of 5.4 km²....
, Neive
Neive
Neive is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km southeast of Turin and about 60 km northeast of Cuneo...
, Barbaresco
Barbaresco
Barbaresco is an Italian wine made with the Nebbiolo grape. Barbaresco is produced in the Piedmont region in an area of the Langhe immediately to the east of Alba and specifically in the comunes of Barbaresco, Treiso and Neive plus that area of the frazione San Rocco Senodelvio which was once part...
, Monfalcone
Monfalcone
Monfalcone is a town and comune of the province of Gorizia , located on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means "Mount of Falcon" in Italian....
, Sarmatorio and Manzano. By the end of the 12th C., they also became lords of Tonco
Tonco
Tonco is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 40 km east of Turin and about 13 km north of Asti...
and Frinco
Frinco
Frinco is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 40 kilometres east of Turin and about 11 kilometres north of Asti...
.
The family's first renowned individual was Giovanni Turco, who in 1278 appears as the lieutenant (luogotenente
Luogotenente
The Italian word luogotenente , plural luogotenenti, is an etymological parallel to lieutenant, deriving from the Latin locum tenens "holding a place", i.e...
) to the podestà
Podestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
Mellano Solaro. Of note was also Guglielmo Turco, who in 1300 reportedly murdered Emanuele Solaro, to vindicate the guelf government, starting a new phase of the civil war. Once peace was restored in 1309, Guglielmo was sent off in exile.
The first member of notable economic activity was Palmerone Turco, who established banks in Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
(Thonon
Thonon-les-Bains
Thonon-les-Bains is a town in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-History:...
and Sembrancher
Sembrancher
Sembrancher is a municipality in the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:Sembrancher is first mentioned in 1177 as Sancti Pancratii de Branchi. Its German name St Branschier is no longer used.-Geography:...
) between 1335 and 1363.
Giovanni Turco, son of Antonio, became the General Capitain of the March of Montferrat
March of Montferrat
The March of Montferrat was frontier march of the Kingdom of Italy during the Middle Ages and state of the Holy Roman Empire...
, but he was accused of cowardliness and was hanged in Moncalvo
Moncalvo
Moncalvo is a city and comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 45 km east of Turin and about 15 km northeast of Asti on the national road SS 547 which links Asti to Casale Monferrato and Vercelli...
in 1430.
Della Chiesa writes that in the 17th C. "the family fell in disgrace and was forced to relinquish its properties, maintaining however its titles of nobility. A count Turco is cited in 1906, as "the possessor of an ancient feudal mill once owned by the family".
Family crest
Composed of a silver shield with a black eagle, with a golden crown. The motto reads "la virtù può accompagnarsi alla buona fortuna" (Virtue will bring good fortune).Economic and feudal activities
The Turco's economic rise began locally in the early 12th C. where through financial gains they increased their land holdings and expanded serfdomSerfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
. By 1270 they began to operate at an international level, receiving privileges in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
(in particular the towns of Valenciennes
Valenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
, Binche
Binche
Binche is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Binche had a total population of 32,409. The total area is 60.66 km² which gives a population density of 534 inhabitants per km²...
and Maubeuge
Maubeuge
Maubeuge is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is situated on both banks of the Sambre , east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border.-History:...
), and in Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
, and by lending to the Counts of Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
and Namur
Namur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
.
In 1342 Antonio and Turchetto Turco took over Frinco from the Pelletta family, as well as the castle in Montemagno
Montemagno
Montemagno is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km east of Turin and about 13 km northeast of Asti...
from the comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Asti. In 1375 Antonio Turco expanded his feudal holdings. Oliviero Turco was given lordship of Revigliasco
Revigliasco d'Asti
Revigliasco d'Asti is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 45 km southeast of Turin and about 6 km southwest of Asti. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 865 and an area of 8.9 km².Revigliasco d'Asti borders the following...
from the marquis
Marquis
Marquis is a French and Scottish title of nobility. The English equivalent is Marquess, while in German, it is Markgraf.It may also refer to:Persons:...
of Monferrato in 1367, however he was forced to abdicate when it was restored to Asti.
A branch of the family established itself in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
at Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
where, in 1337, Rolando Turco de Castello acquired the lordship of Iwuy.
As Asti's control by the Angevin
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
began to be challenged by the Visconti
House of Visconti
Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...
of 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 ,...
in the 14th C., a branch of the family established itself in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
under the auspices of Queen Joan I
Joan I of Naples
Joan I , born Joanna of Anjou, was Queen of Naples from 1343 until her death. She was also Countess of Provence and Forcalquier, Queen consort of Majorca and titular Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily 1343–82, and Princess of Achaea 1373/5–81....
, with some venturing to take positions in Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
. In 1431 Pietrino Turco was given rights to Quattordio
Quattordio
Quattordio is a comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km southeast of Turin and about 15 km west of Alessandria....
by Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti was ruler of Milan from 1412 to 1447.-Biography:Filippo Maria Visconti, who had become nominal ruler of Pavia in 1402, succeeded his assassinated brother Gian Maria Visconti as Duke of Milan in 1412. They were the sons of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Gian Maria's predecessor, by...
.
By the end of the 16th C. the dynasty of the Turco family began to lose economic prestige and, eventually, they fell from nobility.
Turco in Verona
It is not clear if the Turco family of VeronaVerona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
is connected with the family of Asti. Nonetheless, in 1393 the Turco family was invested with the title in Visegna (Salizzole
Salizzole
Salizzole is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 100 km west of Venice and about 20 km southeast of Verona...
) and, a few years later, the church of S. Caterina di Alessandria was constructed.
There were four families which in the seicento
Seicento
This article talks about culture and history in 17th century Italy. For more specific information regarding the Baroque artistic and social period in Italy, please see Italian Baroque. For an article regarding Italian history from the 16th to the mid-19th century, see Early Modern Italy...
that owned property in Bionde di Visegna and were titled as having jurisdiction.