House of Giorgi

House of Giorgi
De Giorgi, Đurđević (Gjurgjević)
Country Republic of Genoa
Kingdom of Hungary
Republic of Ragusa
Founded 1169
Cadet branches House of Bona-Giorgi

The House of Giorgi[1][2] (in the sources also De Giorgi, Georgio, Zorzi, or, during late Renaissance also Latinized as de Georgiis; later in Croatian also Žurgović, more recently Đurđević (Gjurgjević))[3] was a political dynasty and one of the most prestigious noble families of the Republic of Ragusa that first began to gather prominence in the Republic of Venice. The family is listed in the Almanach de Gotha and is one of Europe's oldest aristocratic families. The House was founded in 1169 and still survives in Italy.

History

According to an ancient and most reliable tradition the House of Giorgi came to Dubrovnik from Rome, where the family originated and was enrolled ab antiquo among the official nobility. According to Konstantin Jireček they could also have Kotoran ancestry. A source quoted Jacobus George de Catarino (late thirteenth century), also called Jacobus Georgii comitis Triphonii,[4] where comites it could mean the title of officials of a province or a county of the Roman Empire.

In 1370 the House of Giorgi officially entered in the Golden Book of the Republic of Genoa. Damiano De Giorgi served Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus, receiving the award of large estates and the right to insert the royal crow in the family coat of arms.

The Ragusan branches

Various coats-of-arms of the family. The last one is the branch of House of Bona-Giorgi.

Over the centuries, the Giorgi were divided into several branches in Italy and abroad, merging with other noble families of Dubrovnik. A branch of the family joined his name and arms to those of the House of Bona, creating a new branch as "Bona-Giorgi".[5]

Throughout the history of the Republic of Ragusa, the House of Giorgi were always among the wealthiest and most influential families, serving in the 14th and 15th centuries the 6.50% of all major public offices.[6] Between the 1440 and 1640 Giorgi has 109 members of the Great Council, representing 4.95% of total.[7] In the two hundred years, they also count for 203 senators (6.21%), 163 Rettori della Repubblica (6.84%),[8] 173 representatives in the Minor Council (6.33%) and 41 Guardian of Justice (4.99%).
The Almanac de Gotha[9] enumerates them among the eleven oldest families of native Patrician Sovereign Republic still residing in the city in mid-nineteenth century.

One of the branches of the family ceased in Dubrovnik in 1897, the counts Bona-Giorgi in 1902. The De Giorgi family still survives in Italy.

Notable people

One of the palaces of the family Giorgi, in Gruz Gravosa, Dubrovnik

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Francesco Maria Appendini, Notizie istorico-critiche sulle antichità storia e letteratura de' Ragusei, Dalle stampe di Antonio Martecchini, Ragusa 1803
  2. ↑ Konstantin Jireček, L'eredità di Roma nelle città della Dalmazia durante il medioevo, vol. I, AMSD, Roma 1984, p. 54
  3. ↑ Konstantin Jireček, Op. Cit., vol. I, AMSD, Roma 1984, p. 57
  4. ↑ Konstantin Jireček, Op. Cit., vol. I, AMSD, Roma 1984, p. 58
  5. ↑ Konstantin Jireček, Op. Cit., III, AMSD XI, Rome 1986, p. 71
  6. ↑ Zdenko Zlatar, "Huius... est omnis Rei Publicae potestas": Dubrovnik's patrician houses and their participation in power (1440–1640), in Dubrovnik Annals, 6/2002, p. 51.
  7. ↑ Zdenko Zlatar, Op. Cit., p. 54
  8. ↑ Zdenko Zlatar, Op. Cit., p. 60
  9. ↑ Edition 1865, p. 320

References