Longhi (surname)
Some groups gained great power in the Middle Ages and into the modern era, holding dozens of titles of nobility and vast estates in north-central Italy.
[11] In the 12th century, Jacopo is mentioned as admiral, a position traditionally attributed to the patriciate,[12] and Benedict, Dominic, and John appear signing state documents together with other patricians and the doge.
"However, the links of this connection are not cited: The documentation on the Ugonids, in general, is poor and unclear, and there are several hypotheses circulating about the origin and descent of this strain, very branched and associated with many other important Houses, which flourished with great power between the 10th and 12th centuries but almost always involved in disputes, wars and exchanges of territories.
They incorporated several other count titles, such as Desenzano, Marcaria, Bizzolano, Redondesco, Casaloldo, San Martino Gusnago, Ceresino, and Belforte, among several other fiefs, which formed a vast latifundium.
[2][1][24][26][27] A rare case in the world of medieval nobility, the Longhi appear at a very early date already established with a surname that is not derived from a toponym.
[28][29] The Ugonids, in the 13th century, facing the communes that were strengthening and fighting the power of the feudal lords, were deprived of numerous fiefs and castles and ended up banished from several cities, such as Brescia and Mantua, their main strongholds, and headquarters of some of the most important branches.
In Genoa, the Longhi produced several personalities, advisors, ambassadors, and officials, including three dogi, the head of state: Giannandrea, Alessandro, and Luca Giustiniani Longo.
[23] Marco Tulio was the brother of Cardinal William of Longis and custodian of Clement V, castellan of Fumone, and the origin of the marquises Longhi of Paolis, who survive to this day.
[4][5][32] They maintained kinship relations with numerous other less significant families of the Italian nobility, such as the Bellarmino, Malatesta, Caetani, Vitelleschi, Tebaldeschi, Bosone, Forteguerra, and Brancaccio.
[5][32] Many other members were notable elsewhere, such as Pietro, podestà of Treviglio; Gerard was the supreme commander of the army of Rimini;[37] William, first squire of the king of Savoy and secret chamberlain of Pius V; Bartholomew, adviser to Alfonso I of Aragon; Albert, master of Pope Innocent III and bishop of Anagni.
[39] In the 15th and 17th centuries, the Italian Longhi population was already numerous and the relations of consanguinity between the various groups, if they existed, are obscure, although some families, such as the aforementioned Ugonidi, have generated vast descendants.
Many groups are still noble, recognized in Naples, Palermo, Vicenza, Seggio, Parma, Salerno, Rimini, Messina, Faenza, Trieste, Todi, Ravello, Como, Taormina, Milan, Mantua, Lecco, Cremona, Casale, Siena, Benevento, Turin, Trento, Nola, among other places.
They received many fiefs, coats of arms and titles, among them those of hereditary knights; lords and marquises of Monforte; co-gentlemen of Ceresole; lords of Betta dal Toldo and Val di Rabbi; castellans (barons) of Castronuovo, Fiumetorto and Racalxacca; counts of Urgnano, Lomello and Torre Longhi; marquises of San Giuliano, Casentino and Vinchiaturo; barons and marquises of San Lorenzo del Vallo; besides producing bishops, archbishops, legates and pontifical governors and other prelates, ambassadors, officers, and communal syndics,[4][5][32][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52] In the 18th century, records of Longhis without any indication of nobility began to multiply.
