Alidosi family

The Alidosi or Alodosi are a family of Romagna, Italy, who held the signoria of the city of Imola during the Late Middle Ages. They were originary of the Santerno valley.

Stemma (Italian: coat-of-arms) of the Alidosi family from former Palazzo Alidosi at Cesena in Italy. Istrian stone, Medieval and Renaissance Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, London [1]^{[permanent dead link]}.

History

During the 13th century, the Alidosi supported the Guelph cause during the Guelphs and Ghibellines conflicts.^[1]

The Alidosis ruled Imola beginning with 1341, when Pope Benedict XII turned the city and its territory over to Lippo II Alidosi with the title of pontifical vicar. The family would rule the city until 1424, when it would be stripped from them by Filippo Maria Visconti, forcing them to retreat to the countryside seigniory of Castel del Rio, in the Romagna Apennines.^[2][3]

Several member of the Alidosi family were employed by the Grand Duke of Tuscany which put them at odds with the Papal States and the Roman Inquisition. In 1608, Rodrigo, the then head of the family, was accused of various offences, chief among them protecting Germans. This resulted in a lengthy trial which saw the Grand Duke clash with the prosecuting efforts of the Inquisition.^[4][5]

They were ultimately ousted from the Castel del Rio in 1638 by Pope Urban VIII.

Notable members

Another notable member was Cardinal Francesco Alidosi (1455–1511), who was a friend of Pope Julius II. He is mentioned by several sources as having been appointed Cardinal protector of England in 1509, but this appointment "cannot be exactly established" as his only surviving letters to England do not mention the protectorate. He was murdered in 1511 by members of the Duke of Urbino's entourage, after being accused of treason.^[6][7]

Alidosi rulers of Imola

• Roberto Alidosi (986-1001)
• Ugolino Alidosi (1029–1032)
• Riccardo Alidosi (1032–1046)
• Ranieri Alidosi (1046–1054)
• Lippo I Alidosi (de facto, 1278–1288)
• Alidosio Alidosi (1290–1293 and 1302–1311)
• Lippo II Alidosi (1334–1350)
• Roberto Alidosi (1350–1362)
• Azzo Alidosi (1362–1363 and 1365–1372)
• Bertrando Alidosi (1372–1391)
• Luigi Alidosi (1391–1424)
• Lippo Alidosi (associated 1391-1396)

References

1. Larner, John (1965). Lords of Romagna: Romagnol Society and the Origins of the Signorie. London, Toronto and New York: Springer. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-349-00589-5.
2. John W. Barker; Kleinhenz, Christopher (2004). "Imola". In Kleinhenz, Christopher (ed.). Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia. New York and London: Routledge. p. 523. ISBN 978-1-135-94880-1.
3. Benigni, Umberto (1910). "Diocese of Imola" . Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7.
4. Mayer, Thomas F. (2014). The Roman Inquisition on the Stage of Italy, c. 1590-1640. Haney Foundation Series. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 160–170. ISBN 978-0-8122-4573-8.
5. Aron-Beller, Katherine; Black, Christopher (2018). "Introduction". The Roman Inquisition: Centre versus Peripheries. Leiden and Boston: BRILL. p. 13. ISBN 978-90-04-36108-9.
6. Wilkie, William E. (1974). The Cardinal Protectors of England: Rome and the Tudors Before the Reformation. Cambridge, London and New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 37–41. ISBN 978-0-521-20332-6.
7. Creighton, Mandell (1887). A History of the Papacy During the Period of the Reformation. Vol. IV: The Italian Princes (1464 — 1518). Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Company. pp. 122–123.