Albergo

An Albergo (Alberghi in plural) was a corporation of nobility in which several lesser noble families bonded around a dominant noble House. Families of an Albergo shared the same political views, economic interests, lived in proximity of each other, and often attended the same churches and social functions. [ [http://www.grimaldi.org The House of Grimaldi] official website.]

History

Alberghi typically were created to make particular business ventures succeed, much like our modern day corporations. The Spinola family, Cybo, Imperiale family, Fieschi, Pallavicino and House of Grimaldi of Genoa were some of 28 Alberghi of the Republic of Genoa by the year of 1528. [ Edwards, Anna, The Grimaldis of Monaco, William Morrow, 1992.]

Alberghi often funded and supported various confraternities. The Barbaro family Albergo supported the "Scuola Grande" of the Chiesa di San Rocco di Venezia, which primarily assisted citizens in time of plague, and the Scuola's Sala dell'Albergo functioned as the conference room for the members of the confraternity's Albergo. [ Astrid Zenkert, tintoretto in Der Scuola di San Rocco, Ensemble un Wirkung, Ernst Wasmuth Verlag, Tubingen 2003. ISBN 3-8030-1918-4. ]

Today, the influence of Alberghi can still be found in the Italian word for a hotel "albergo", inspired from the idea of several families residing under one roof. [Orlandi, Giuseppe, "Il Piccolo Orlandi", Carlo Signorelli, Milano, 1964. p. 16.]

References