Chigi-Albani

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Chigi-Albani is a Roman princely family of Sienese extraction descended from the counts of Ardenghesca, which possessed castles in the Maremma, southern Tuscany. The earliest authentic mention of them is in the 13th century, with Alemanno, counsellor of the Republic of Siena.

First very prominent member is Mariano (1439-1504), banker and two times ambassador of Siena to the Popes Alexander VI and Julius II. He set the Roman branch of the family, the other starting from his brother Benedetto.

Agostino Chigi (1465-1520) was the most famous member of the family during the Renaissance: he turned into an immensely rich banker, and built the palace and gardens afterwards known as the Farnesina, decorated by Raphael, and was noted for the splendour of his entertainments. Pope Julius II made him practically his finance minister and gave him the privilege of quartering his own (Della Rovere) arms with those of the Chigi.

Fabio Chigi, on being made pope (Pope Alexander VII) in 1655, conferred the Roman patriciate on his family. His nephew Agostino was created by emperor Leopold I Reichsfurst (prince of the Holy Roman Empire) in 1659. Agostino married Maria Virginia Borghese, and acquired the principates of Farnese (1658), Campagnano (1661) and Ariccia, where a famous palazzo bearing the family name still exists.

In 1712 the family received the dignity of hereditary marshals of the Roman Catholic Church and guardians of the conclaves, which gave them a very great importance on the death of every pope. On the marriage in 1735 of another Agostino Chigi (1710-1769) with Giulia Albani, heiress of the Albani, a Venetian patrician family, said to be of Albanian origin, her name was added to that of Chigi. Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere was Grand Master of the Knights of Malta from 1931 to 1951.

The family owns large estates at Siena. The family palace on the Via del Corso in Rome (not to be confused with the other Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia), is currently seat of the Italian government.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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