An Albergo (Alberghi in plural) was a term used during the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
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.
[Kirk (2005), pg. 24] They usually lived near each other and attended the same churches.
Alberghi developed among noble families in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
during the 13th and 14th centuries in response to economic difficulty and financial strife.
[Neel, (2004), pg. 132] Alberghi are first mentioned in 1383 by
Giorgio Stella and
Agostino Giustiniani on the occasion of the crowning of
John of Lusignan as King of
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
by the
Doge
Doge, DoGE or DOGE may refer to:
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* Doge (meme), an Internet meme primarily associated with the Shiba Inu dog breed
** Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after the meme
** Kabosu (dog), the dog portrayed in the original Doge image ...
Leonardo Montaldo. Neither mentions the number of alberghi, though one 15th century source says there are 35 and a later source says there were 74 by the year 1414.
The 28 alberghi that formed this new ruling class included the
Cybo
The House of Cybo, Cibo or Cibei of Italy was an old and influential aristocratic family from Genoa of Greek origin that ruled the Duchy of Massa and Carrara.
History
They came to the city in the 12th century. In 1528 the Cybos formed the 17t ...
,
Doria,
Fieschi
The House of Fieschi were an old Italian noble family from Genoa, Italy, from whom descend the Fieschi Ravaschieri Princes of Belmonte. Of ancient origin, they took their name from the progenitor ''Ugo Fliscus'', descendants of the counts of Lav ...
,
Giustiniani,
Grimaldi,
Imperiale,
Pallavicino, and
Spinola families.
Alberghi mainly developed in
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
and
Liguria
Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...
. Alberghi are also mentioned as having formed in
Chieri
Chieri (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont (Italy), located about southeast of Turin, by rail and by road. It borders the following municipalities: Baldissero Torinese, Pavarolo, Montaldo Torinese, Pino ...
,
Asti
Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...
,
Savigliano
Savigliano () is a of Piedmont, Northern Italy, in the Province of Cuneo, about south of Turin by rail.
It is home to ironworks, foundries, locomotive works (once owned by Fiat Ferroviaria, now by Alstom) and silk manufactures, as well as sugar ...
, and
Borgo San Sepolcro
Sansepolcro, formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro, is a town and ''comune'' founded in the 11th century, located in the Italian Province of Arezzo in the eastern part of the region of Tuscany.
Situated on the upper reaches of the Tiber river, the town i ...
; and to a lesser extent in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
,
Torino
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
, and
Moncalieri
Moncalieri (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 56,134 inhabitants (31 January 2022) about directly south of downtown Turin (to whose Metropolitan City of Turin, Metropolitan City it belongs), in Piedmont, Italy. It is the most populous suburb ...
. By the 15th century, merchants and artisans were also forming alberghi, but this only affected a few of the more powerful families.
[Neel (2004), pg. 135] Even freed slaves joined alberghi.
[Kirk (2005), pg. 25] 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, which was composed of shareholders of a company formed to colonize the Greek island of
Chios
Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...
.
In 1528, after ousting the French and restoring Genoese independence,
Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was an Italian statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime.
From 1528 until his death, Doria exercised a predominant influe ...
reformed the constitution of the
Republic of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...
, 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.
This plan provided more political stability than before, but the old divisions reappeared.
[Kirk (2005), pg. 27] The alberghi were abolished in 1576 and noble families assumed their original surnames.
In Renaissance
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, the term albergo originally referred to the building in which a
Scuola Grande confraternity
A confraternity (; ) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most common among Catholics, Lu ...
met. The term later applied only to a small meeting room within the building.
Today, ''albergo'' is the Italian word for a hotel. Both senses of the word are ultimately derived from a
Germanic root, reconstructed as ''harjabergu'' meaning "barracks" or "lodging". The French word
auberge shares the same origin.
[Orlandi, Giuseppe, "Il Piccolo Orlandi", Carlo Signorelli, Milano, 1964. p. 16.]
References
Sources
*Kirk, Thomas Allison. ''Genoa and the sea : policy and power in an early modern maritime republic, 1559-1684''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
*Neel, Carol. ''Medieval families: perspectives on marriage, household, and children''. The Medieval Academy of America, 2004, {{ISBN, 0-8020-3606-6
Italian noble families