The Cortusi family was prominent in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

in the 13th through 15th centuries. In contemporary documents, their surname may also appear as da Cortusiis, da Curtosiis, de Curtexis or de Cortisiis. Of humble origin, the Cortusi seem to have emigrated from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to Italy in the 11th century. Late sources place their arrival in Italy in 1014, but the first document to mention them is the ''Descriptio civium per quatuor quarteria patavinorum'' (Description of the citizens of the four quarters of the Paduans) of 1275. Some modern historians have incorrectly ascribed

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

to the family, but in fact it was just well-established and wealthy by the later 13th century. The Cortusi were based in the district of Ponte Altinate and the village of Ognisanti. Along the river Brenta to the east of the city, they held lands and rights to

tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques or via onli ...

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from the bishopric of Treviso. Writing around 1317 in his ''Liber de generatione aliquorum civium urbis Padue'',

Giovanni da Nono Giovanni da Nono (; – 1346/1347) was a Paduan judge and writer. Life Giovanni was born near Padua around 1275. He took his name from his ancestral village of Naone. His parents were Simone di Pasqualino and Paola Sottile and in his own writings ...

describes the family as having an interest in law and its head, Matteo, as a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

, although there is no other evidence of that he held this status. Matteo Cortusi was the ''

podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

'' of Bassano in 1278, and the councilor in charge of the same city when it fell under Paduan rule in 1281. In 1292, he was the Paduan councilor in charge of fortifying Castrobaldo sull'Adige. In 1303 and again in 1306, he served the commune as ambassador to the

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. According to his will, drawn up on 24 June 1308, he had four children. Ruggiero entered the church, becoming

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of Oriago by 1313. Aldrighetto (whose name is also given as Albrighetto or Albrigetto) was knighted by Guecellone da Camino, became ''podestà'' of

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in 1361 and of

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in 1322. Bonzanello does not seem to have held public office and was dead by March 1313, but his son, Guglielmo, became a prominent jurist and chronicler after 1315. Guglielmo's son, Giovanni, predeceased him, leaving three sons of his own:

Ludovico Ludovico () is an Italian masculine given name. It is sometimes spelled Lodovico. The feminine equivalent is Ludovica. Persons with the name Ludovico Given name * Ludovico D'Aragona (1876–1961), Italian socialist politician * Ludovico Arios ...

, Pietro and Bonzanello. Ludovico also became a jurist. He had a son named Giovanni. Other Cortusi include Marco, who purchased two houses in October 1288; Ivano, whose son Castellano witnessed an act pertaining to the monastery of San Giovanni di Verdara in 1334 and whose other son, Giovanni, entered the judicial school in 1297; Francesco, son of Giovanni Zagnacco, who was dead by June 1344; Lodovico, doctor of law and judge, attested in 1397 and 1412; Francesco, son of the late Giacomo, attested in 1390; and Albrigetto, born 1388, great-grandson of Guglielmo, once believed to have written a continuation of his chronicle.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{refend Italian families