Prominent Italian Families in 1800's

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magbag1
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Prominent Italian Families in 1800's

Post by magbag1 »

I was told by a family member that when she started dating my uncle her family had a fit because her family felt my uncles family was not as prominent a family as was her according to Italian customs. This was 50 some years ago.

I know about nobility but there are no kings and queens in my background that I know of.

Why is this and is it still true today?

What were the prominent families back in the 1800's and what were the lesser thought of families in the 1800's according to Italian history?

Thank you,
Margaret
rlabaron
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Re: Prominent Italian Families in 1800's

Post by rlabaron »

My Mom and Dad originally emigrated to the USA in 1919 and 1920. Though their families knew each other my Mom said she would not have been able to marry my Dad if they remained and met in Sicily because of class distinctions. In their case, a guy from a family of masons & contractors couldn't marry a woman from a family of farmers even though her grandparents were well-off farmers in San Cataldo and also owned a house in the nearby town of Serradifalco.
Anizio
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Re: Prominent Italian Families in 1800's

Post by Anizio »

There were nobles, same as anywhere else. Then there were aristocrats, who while holding no official title, were sort of a local semi-nobility. Then there were the wealthy of the town, who actually might even be given titles like magnificent even thought by blood they were nobody.

In the early 1800s this is how parts of my family mixed. I am descended from nobles who married into rich oligarch sheep herding families, who then married into wealthy families of no particular stock, who then married normal people. Another aristocratic family of ancestors married into a family of doctors, who then continued being an upper class aristocratic family until, as tends to happen, that renown fades over time with unimpressive descendants. For instance my Carlucci ancestor from Camerino married into the Valbonesi aristocrats from Romagna, they moved to Rome, became friends with the principe Caetani, their sons were doctors and lawyers to the Pope, took part in the unification of Rome, etc. But after that....no sons really did anything special and so the Carlucci name fades from prominence in Rome following the 1870s. So in 1840, they may have felt too good to marry a into a normal family, by 1900 that snobbishness was lost.

Yes Italian social structure was complex, but it was not a rigid class based system by any means. Some families were more strict than others. I also find a lot of Italian families, seem to to they are better than others for no particular reason, even siblings.
TIP: When asking for records from Italy, do NOT ask for an "estratto." ALWAYS ask for a "copia integrale." A photocopy of the original Act will contain more information
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Edward Keeports
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Re: Prominent Italian Families in 1800's

Post by Edward Keeports »

Was the Polizzi family of Sicily prominent back in the 17th century?

Giovanni Battista
Lorenzo
Giovanni Battista (1719-1753)
Giovanni (1741-1810)
Giuseppe (1798-1861)
Rosa (1853-19??) m. Giuseppe Carrozza
jennabet
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Re: Prominent Italian Families in 1800's

Post by jennabet »

Anizio wrote: Yes Italian social structure was complex, but it was not a rigid class based system by any means. Some families were more strict than others. I also find a lot of Italian families, seem to to they are better than others for no particular reason, even siblings.
I can relate to this. One Christmas in Abruzzo when I was visiting my double cousin and his family, he told me we were invited to a party at the home of a "friend" who shares our sur name but is not related to us. When we arrived, I could see immediately that indeed he WAS related to us but that his home was not as grand as the home of the other cousin. I also got the impression that because his wife was from Sardinia, this cousin may not have fit into the family clique. By the way, the wife from Sardinia was very beautiful, a great cook and had a very exhuberant, lover of life type personality, which is much different from the provincial, quiet, more sophisticated Abruzzese nature.
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