The House of Gabrielli (sometimes known as "Gabrielli di Gubbio") is the name of an old and influential feudal Italian noble family from Gubbio, a town in Umbria.
History
Some historians trace their origins back to the Roman age and claim they descend from the emperor Caracalla, however the first historical documents mentioning the family appear in the 10th century only when Cante Gabrielli was awarded by Pope Stephen VII (according to some genealogists a family member himself), a few castles in central Italy and especially the castle at Luceoli which was renamed Cantiano (i.e. belonging to Cante) after him.
The Gabrielli Madonna, by Mello da Gubbio, ca. 1350, Pinacoteca Civica, Gubbio. Giovanni Gabrielli, lord of Gubbio, is introduced to the Blessed Virgin Mary by a group of Saints.
Notable members
Forte Gabrielli was a hermit in the mountains around Gubbio, and later on joined the Benedictines at Fonte Avellana. He died on 9 May 1040 and was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV on 17 March 1756. His body is still exposed in the Cathedral of Gubbio.
Saint Rodolfo Gabrielli was born in 1034; in 1051 he bequeathed his castle at Camporeggiano to Saint Peter Damian and became a Benedictine monk at the Monastery of Fonte Avellana. He was appointed bishop of Gubbio in 1061 and died on 17 October 1064. He was later canonized. Saint Peter Damian described Rodolfo's life in his Vita Sancti Rodulphi Episcopi Eugubini (Life of St Rudolph Bishop of Gubbio).
Bartholomeus II Gabrielli (1660-1734) son of the Count of Baccaresca Bartolomeus Gabrielli I, landowner, considered the founder of the Tyrolean branch of the family.
Pompeo Gabrielli (1780-1861) was Minister of War in 1848, the first layman to sit in the Pontifical States' Government ever.
Luigi Gabrielli (1790-1854) was a soldier and military writer.
Rodolfo Gabrielli di Montevecchio (1802-1855), considered a hero of the Italian Risorgimento, fought in the First Independence War, distinguishing himself at Santa Lucia (1848) and Sforzesca (1849), where he commanded the Piemonte Reale Cavalleria regiment. Deployed in Crimea as a General of the Piedmont-Sardinia army, he was mortally wounded at Cernaia on 16 August 1855 and died two months later at the Balaclava hospital.
The family divided over the centuries into many branches, the most famous of which was the one that settled in Rome and obtained the title of Prince of Prossedi. Two members of this branch married two princesses of the Bonaparte family. In 1749 the counts of Carpegna extinguished in the male line and the marquesses Gabrielli inherited their fief, with the principality of Carpegna-Gattara-Scavolino following in 1817. The line is currently continuing in the family of the princes di Carpegna-Falconieri-Gabrielli.
A branch that settled in Fano was styled Gabrielli-Wiseman and was related to Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman. Another branch settled in Fano was styled Gabrielli di Montevecchio and bears the titles of Duke and Count. The branch that settled in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies bears the title of Count Gabrielli and Baron of Quercita.
A branch bears the title of Count of Baccaresca and Corraduccio since 1581. It settled in Comtat Venaissin at the end of the 16th century when Bartolomeo de' Gabrielli di Gubbio became Governor of Cavaillon then Carpentras. The line is continuing today in France.
All the branches bear the title of Patrizio di Gubbio (Patrician of Gubbio).
References
Francesco Sansovino, Della origine et de' fatti delle famiglie illustri di Italia. Venezia, Salicato, 1609
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