Palleschi coat of arms from Giuseppe Palleschi
The Palleschi surname originated in 15th century, probably as a derivation of the adjective 'Pallesco' (plural 'Palleschi') which denoted the supporters of the Medici family in Florence. However, it is still a mistery the passage from the adjective ‘palleschi’, intended as the generic name of Medici family in Florence, to the surname “Palleschi”, historically documented since the half of XVI century in the Liri Valley, in a region called “Terra di Lavoro” ("Land of Work" ) between Abruzzi, southern Lazio and Campania regions.
The most accredited theory, up to now, was linking the passage from the adjective to the surname to the driving away of the Medici from Florence in 1494, based on the hypothesis that the palleschi, their supporters, looking for shelter in the domains of Pope Alexander VI Borja – the Pope who sent Savonarola to the stake – settled themselves in the Valley of the River Liri, from Capisterello to Aquino, thus forming the central nucleus of the Family which still in present days shows the maximum concentration of their members in that zone. According to this theory, the ‘Palleschi’ surname would have generically identified the Medici supporters escaping from Florence, having its origin in the zone of arrival of our ancestors.
A recent discovery allows us proposing an alternative theory, which is probably more coherent with the historical evidence of the consolidated presence of the surname ‘Palleschi’ in the Liri Valley already in 1565 (Cicco (Francis) Palleschi, which built in that year a chapel in the name of the Loreto Virgin in Fontana Liri).
The first clue that we have to consider is the presence, in two different family groups, of the coat of arms shown in the following. The most ancient of them belongs to the branch of the family of Giuseppe Palleschi (Rome, 1865). Giuseppe was a man of theater and caricaturist of the satiric journal “Marc’Aurelio”. The coat of arms is presently owned by Giorgio Palleschi (Tripoli, 1940). The youngest members of this branch are Alessia (1968), Andrea (1972) and Marco (1973).
The most accredited theory, up to now, was linking the passage from the adjective to the surname to the driving away of the Medici from Florence in 1494, based on the hypothesis that the palleschi, their supporters, looking for shelter in the domains of Pope Alexander VI Borja – the Pope who sent Savonarola to the stake – settled themselves in the Valley of the River Liri, from Capisterello to Aquino, thus forming the central nucleus of the Family which still in present days shows the maximum concentration of their members in that zone. According to this theory, the ‘Palleschi’ surname would have generically identified the Medici supporters escaping from Florence, having its origin in the zone of arrival of our ancestors.
A recent discovery allows us proposing an alternative theory, which is probably more coherent with the historical evidence of the consolidated presence of the surname ‘Palleschi’ in the Liri Valley already in 1565 (Cicco (Francis) Palleschi, which built in that year a chapel in the name of the Loreto Virgin in Fontana Liri).
The first clue that we have to consider is the presence, in two different family groups, of the coat of arms shown in the following. The most ancient of them belongs to the branch of the family of Giuseppe Palleschi (Rome, 1865). Giuseppe was a man of theater and caricaturist of the satiric journal “Marc’Aurelio”. The coat of arms is presently owned by Giorgio Palleschi (Tripoli, 1940). The youngest members of this branch are Alessia (1968), Andrea (1972) and Marco (1973).
Palleschi coat of arms from Ezio Palleschi
The same coat of arms belongs to the family of Ezio Palleschi (1950). The youngest members of the branch of Ezio are Andrea (1985) and Daniele (1981).
These coat of arms, not considering the gold and red color scheme which could be an initiative of the artist who reproduced them, are very similar to the coat of arms of the Petrucci family, and in particular of the Siena branch of the family which at the beginning of XVI century got the double surname Petrucci-Palleschi because of the tight links with the Medici established by some members of the family. The historian Farulli, indeed, wrote: “Some Petrucci of the branch of the cardinal Raffaello were called Palleschi, because Leo X (Medici) [1] decided to put its ‘Palle’ (balls) in the coat of arms” [2]
A Petrucci Palleschi from Siena is quoted in the Acts of the Marescotti Trial (1719) as a member of the Order of Knights of Saint Stephan of Jerusalem (commonly known as Knights of Malta).
These coat of arms, not considering the gold and red color scheme which could be an initiative of the artist who reproduced them, are very similar to the coat of arms of the Petrucci family, and in particular of the Siena branch of the family which at the beginning of XVI century got the double surname Petrucci-Palleschi because of the tight links with the Medici established by some members of the family. The historian Farulli, indeed, wrote: “Some Petrucci of the branch of the cardinal Raffaello were called Palleschi, because Leo X (Medici) [1] decided to put its ‘Palle’ (balls) in the coat of arms” [2]
A Petrucci Palleschi from Siena is quoted in the Acts of the Marescotti Trial (1719) as a member of the Order of Knights of Saint Stephan of Jerusalem (commonly known as Knights of Malta).
Petrucci coat of arms
The Coat of Arm of the Petrucci Palleschi family is depicted in the anonymous book “Coat of Arms of the Noble Families in Siena” (1706), showing the 234 coat of arms of the families which, either of ancient noble origin in Siena or associated to Siena nobility in more recent times, were participating to the city government (thus documenting the presence of the Petrucci-Palleschi family in Siena at least up to the beginning of XVIII century) [3]
A more recent version of the coat of arms of the Petrucci in Siena is depicted in the Collection Ceramelli Papiani (1896-1976) of the coat of arms of the noble families in Tuscany.
a)Petrucci from Pontremoli (Pisa); Fabio Petrucci entered the Pisa nobility in 1757 (file 6254). “Troncato: nel 1° d'oro, all'aquila retroguardante dal volo abbassato al naturale, posata sulla troncatura; nel 2° trinciato scalinato d'oro e d'azzurro” (L. oro 209/5).
b)Petrucci di Siena (file 6255). “Trinciato cuneato d'oro e d'azzurro, al capo dell'Impero” (L. oro 220/59); and
c)Petrucci Palleschi. Same as b) but “il tutto abbassato sotto il capo dei Medici” (attributed to the double surname for the tight links with the Medici established by some members of the family at the beginning of XVI century).
As a further confirmation of this theory, which has the Palleschi surname already consolidated in Tuscany, before the movement to the Terra di Lavoro, and also as the motive of this movement, is the documented network of economic interests that connected in XV Century the Petrucci to the Kingdom of Naples, which had its tragic conclusion with the so called “Barons Conspiracy” (1485-1486) against Ferdinand I in Naples which ended with the arrest and execution of Antonello Petrucci, Secretary of the King, and his two sons, for their alleged role in the conspiracy.
Later on, Pandolfo Petrucci, with the help of the noble Farnese family, raised to the power of Siena in 1499, obtaining the title of ‘Magnificent’ for the splendor of his court and his patronage of the arts. After his death, in 1512, his son Borghese followed in the seigniory, but he did not share the government skills of his father and was exiled from Siena. He went to Naples and got several fiefdoms in that regions. The second son of Pandolfo, Alfonso, became cardinal of S.Susanna but was executed in 1514 for having conspired against Pope Leo X. [4]
It’s thus plausible that, after being drove out from Siena for the faults of Borghese and after the troubles with the Pope and with the King of Naples following the execution of Alfonso, the Petrucci settled in Terra di Lavoro preferred associating their stay with the surname Palleschi, which was better considered by the local authorities and the Medici Pope. In fact, comparing the geographical distribution of the surnames Palleschi and Petrucci, and taking into account that the number of Petrucci families is larger than the Palleschi ones, it appears that a definite superposition is present exactly in the Liri Valley, maybe a reminder of the ancient coincidence of the two surnames.
If we have to give credit to this hypothesis, the first Palleschi (more precisely, Petrucci Palleschi) would have been from Siena, and not from Florence. To Florence, in any case, through the Medici family, we should trace back the genesis of the surname.
[1] Pope from 1513 to 1521
[2] Notizie Istoriche dell’Antica e Nobile Città di Siena, Opera di Gregorio Farulli, sotto lo pseudonimo di Francesco Masetti, romano, Supplemento Storico, Lucca, 1723, rist. anast., Bologna, 1986, p. 32.
[3] The presence of the family in Siena is further documents in the book “Siena diary” by Girolamo Gigli (1854) “The Chapel of Blessed Ambrogio Sansedoni was owned by the Petrucci Palleschi…”
[4] From the Unified Information System for the Archivistic Superintendences
A more recent version of the coat of arms of the Petrucci in Siena is depicted in the Collection Ceramelli Papiani (1896-1976) of the coat of arms of the noble families in Tuscany.
a)Petrucci from Pontremoli (Pisa); Fabio Petrucci entered the Pisa nobility in 1757 (file 6254). “Troncato: nel 1° d'oro, all'aquila retroguardante dal volo abbassato al naturale, posata sulla troncatura; nel 2° trinciato scalinato d'oro e d'azzurro” (L. oro 209/5).
b)Petrucci di Siena (file 6255). “Trinciato cuneato d'oro e d'azzurro, al capo dell'Impero” (L. oro 220/59); and
c)Petrucci Palleschi. Same as b) but “il tutto abbassato sotto il capo dei Medici” (attributed to the double surname for the tight links with the Medici established by some members of the family at the beginning of XVI century).
As a further confirmation of this theory, which has the Palleschi surname already consolidated in Tuscany, before the movement to the Terra di Lavoro, and also as the motive of this movement, is the documented network of economic interests that connected in XV Century the Petrucci to the Kingdom of Naples, which had its tragic conclusion with the so called “Barons Conspiracy” (1485-1486) against Ferdinand I in Naples which ended with the arrest and execution of Antonello Petrucci, Secretary of the King, and his two sons, for their alleged role in the conspiracy.
Later on, Pandolfo Petrucci, with the help of the noble Farnese family, raised to the power of Siena in 1499, obtaining the title of ‘Magnificent’ for the splendor of his court and his patronage of the arts. After his death, in 1512, his son Borghese followed in the seigniory, but he did not share the government skills of his father and was exiled from Siena. He went to Naples and got several fiefdoms in that regions. The second son of Pandolfo, Alfonso, became cardinal of S.Susanna but was executed in 1514 for having conspired against Pope Leo X. [4]
It’s thus plausible that, after being drove out from Siena for the faults of Borghese and after the troubles with the Pope and with the King of Naples following the execution of Alfonso, the Petrucci settled in Terra di Lavoro preferred associating their stay with the surname Palleschi, which was better considered by the local authorities and the Medici Pope. In fact, comparing the geographical distribution of the surnames Palleschi and Petrucci, and taking into account that the number of Petrucci families is larger than the Palleschi ones, it appears that a definite superposition is present exactly in the Liri Valley, maybe a reminder of the ancient coincidence of the two surnames.
If we have to give credit to this hypothesis, the first Palleschi (more precisely, Petrucci Palleschi) would have been from Siena, and not from Florence. To Florence, in any case, through the Medici family, we should trace back the genesis of the surname.
[1] Pope from 1513 to 1521
[2] Notizie Istoriche dell’Antica e Nobile Città di Siena, Opera di Gregorio Farulli, sotto lo pseudonimo di Francesco Masetti, romano, Supplemento Storico, Lucca, 1723, rist. anast., Bologna, 1986, p. 32.
[3] The presence of the family in Siena is further documents in the book “Siena diary” by Girolamo Gigli (1854) “The Chapel of Blessed Ambrogio Sansedoni was owned by the Petrucci Palleschi…”
[4] From the Unified Information System for the Archivistic Superintendences