The Scotti is an aristocratic family centered around

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

Northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

. The family is also known as also known as ''Douglas Scotti'' for claiming descendancy from the Scottish

Clan Douglas Clan Douglas ( Gaelic: ''Dùbhghlas'') is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands. Taking their name from Douglas in Lanarkshire, their leaders gained vast territories throughout the Borders, Angus, Lothian, Moray, and also ...

History

Legne holds that a knight from the Douglas Clan came from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

to fight the under

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

and against the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

. After his service, he putatively settled in

. However little documentation affirms this legend. The first documentation of a Scotti is of Rainaldo in 1184 serving as a consul of the collegio dei mercanti (guild of merchants). The

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

-leaning Scotti family was often in conflict or competition with the

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centu ...

Piacentine family of the Anguissola. The Scotti were successful and had affiliations with merchants and bankers throughout Europe from Portugal to Flanders. Among the most prominent members of the family, Alberto Scotti became signore (Lord) of Piacenza roughly during 1280–1290. In 1302, he was one of the leaders of an alliance that exiled the Visconti Family from Milan, but continued conflicts led to his exile from Piacenza in 1304. Although the shifting fortunes had him return to control of Piacenza for periods during the following two decades, in 1317 he was captured and died in Crema in 1318. Alberto's son Francesco was able to regain Piacenza in 1335, but for less than a year, when he was expelled by the Visconti family. In 1414, the heirs of Giacomo Scotti were granted the title to the counties of

Castell'Arquato Castell'Arquato (; Piacentino (dialect), Piacentino: or ) is an Italian town located on the first hills of Val D’Arda in the province of Piacenza, in Emilia-Romagna, approximately from Piacenza and from Parma. Places nearby include Bacedasco ...

, Fiorenzuola, and Vigoleno by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, who also allowed them to name themselves the name of ''Scotti Douglas''. In the church of

San Giovanni in Canale, Piacenza San Giovanni in Canale is a Gothic architecture, Gothic-style Roman Catholic church located on Via Croce #26 in central Piacenza, formerly associated with a Dominican Order, Dominican monastery. History The Dominican order, newly founded in 2016, ...

, is a burial monument of Scotti used since the 14th century. In 1475, Giovanni Maria Scotti, Count of Vigoleno, married Aloisia Gonzaga, daughter of Francesco I Gonzaga-Novellara. Other prominent members of the family include: *Brantino Scotti (14th century), jurist *Antonio Scotti (14th century) treasurer of Estorre Visconti, Lord of

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

; *Francesco Scotti (14th century), podestà of Bologna; *Alberto II Scotti (15th century), Lord of Fiorenzuola; *Caterina Scotti (?-1468) of Agazzano, Spouse of Marquess Rolando Pallavicino called "il Magnifico" *Pier Maria Scotti (1481–1521) Called "conte Buso", condottieri; * Gianbernardino Scotti (1478–1568), cardinal; * Ranuccio Scotti Douglas (1597–1659), Bishop of Fidenza *Domenico Maria Scotti Douglas, Count of Sarmato (1751–1854); Commissioned the palazzo Scotti in via San Siro a Piacenza *Luigi Scotti Douglas (1796–1880), general of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies *Paolo Douglas Scotti della Scala, Count of San Giorgio Piacentino, Governor of Piacenza from 1854, (+ June 5, 1877)

Note

Bibliography

* * * * * *{{cite book, last=Zanardi Landi , first=Carlo Pietro , title=Sarmato, storia e leggenda, location=Piacenza, publisher=TEP edizioni d'arte, date=2000, id=Zanardi

Sources

* Guccio Nauesi: ''Istoria genealogica delle famiglie nobili toscane, et umbre'', Firenze 1671 * Touring Club of Italy: ''Toscana, Umbria, Marche'', Milano 2002 * Antonio Musarra: ''1284 La battaglia della Meloria'', Roma 2018 *Mainly extracted from Italian Wikipedia with sources. Italian noble families Piacenza