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Onofrio Scotti Douglas
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Onofrio Scotti, or Onorio Scotti, was a
member of the Sarmato family.
He was the Son of Ulderico Scotti
Douglas, Comte de Sarmato(1) and Contessina Nerli, who died in 1570.
In 1555 Onofrio Scotti was active (as a soldier?) in the Piedmont area
of France.
In February 1561, he was in Piacenza for a joust organized
by the Duke of Parma and Piacenza Ottavio Farnese.
At about this
time, he was Governor of Treviso, in the Veneto region of northern
Italy.
In the winter of 1574, he offers to move to the rescue of
Famagusta, attacked by the troops of Sultan Selim, with 1000 infantry
and 300 adventurers: he embarks at Candia; the fleet is lost in a storm
so he cannot reach Cyprus. With the fall of the island into the power of
the Turks, John of Austria reached Messina. He is with the fleet in
Longo and rescues Tenedos twice. At his own expense he arms a fusta and
a frigate which he uses for the war against his adversaries: at one time
these ships seize 7 Ottoman vessels, loaded with merchandise and wheat,
which are all taken to Candia.
He is next found in Corfu with Pietro
Avogadro and Battistino Moretto.
A year later, he is sent by the
Senate to Albania with 1500 infantry as governor general. Another 500
infantry are granted to his son Olderico.
In 1580, 'He follows' the
strengthening works of the castle of Brescia, Lombardy, and in 1584, 'He
elaborates' a project always linked to the strengthening of the defenses
of the castle of Brescia.
At the signing of peace with the Turks in
1586 in Montenegro, the Venetians placed him first in charge of the
government of Cattaro and then of Budua.
In 1587, he is found in
Bergamo, Lombardy, where the following year, he has the role of governor
of the castle of Brescia. A commission has been set up to choose the
best project for the renovation of the city castle. In addition to
Scotti, it includes the rectors of the city Alvise Grimani and Zaccaria
Contarini, Giulio Savorgnano, Giambattista del Monte a Santa Maria, the
governor of Bergamo Raffaele Rasponi and the engineers Giambattista
Bonhomo, Paolo Ferrari and Bonaiuto Lorini.
In 1593, as a General
infantry captain, he is busy in Palmanova, Fruili, for the foundation of
the fortress. He will soon abandon his work because he is destined to
return to the Levant. He was also active in the planning of the
fortifications of Corfu.
He died in the middle of December 1602. He
pushes the Paduan engineer Angelo degli Oddi to compose the work "Viaggi
delle Province di mare della lordship of Venice", tables of cities,
forts, ports, redoubts and islands of Candia, Istria, Dalmatia, Levante,
Calabria and Marche (Ancona). This work is dedicated to him by the
author.
Family
He married Caterina Sforza, daughter of Alessandro
Ippolito Sforza, Conte di Borgonuova (1488-1545). They had at
least two sons, Alfonso Scotti Douglas, who died in 1616, and Olderico,
mentioned above..
Alfonso
married in 1601 to Cornelia Boccabarili †1611 (Parents : Giulio
Boccabarili † & Costanza della Veggiola, Contessa di Piozzano †). They
had a daughter, Costanza Scotti Douglas. She married in 1626 Girolamo
Pio Scotti Douglas, Conte di Fombio †1658
Castello di Rivalta
The Rivalta castle is an imposing fortified complex located in
Rivalta, a hamlet of the Italian municipality of Gazzola, in the
province of Piacenza.
Located on a steep escarpment (high bank)
overlooking the bank of the Trebbia river, it has a slightly elevated
position but which allows for a broad overview of the riverbed, which is
very wide at this point, and the surrounding countryside. The castle of
Rivalta, together with that of Statto and the castles of Montechiaro and
Rivergaro, located on the opposite bank of the Trebbia, located on the
slopes of the first hills, where the river, nestled between the
mountains to the south, begins to flow into the Po Valley ; they
controlled access to the Trebbia valley of the Caminus Genue, once an
important communication route with the Genoese area and, therefore, the
sea.
The castle is part of the Association of Castles of the
Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Pontremoli.
The first certain information on the history of the Rivalta castle is reported in a division deed of 1025. Subsequently, Emperor Henry II donated part of it to the Benedictine monastery of San Savino di Piacenza in 1048. In the following century the main events that involved it were sieges, destructions and the succession of different owners.
Rivalta then became the property of the powerful Malaspina family.
In the following century, the papacy and the empire competed for the fiefdom and in 1255 the Marquis Oberto Pallavicino, a fierce enemy of the Guelphs, ordered the destruction of the fortified complexes linked to the Church.
Rivalta was also included in the list.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the castle of Rivalta appears in documents as the property of Obizzo Landi known as Verzuso, belonging to the Landi of Cerreto. Since then, the castle and village, enclosed by a protective wall, have followed the events and destiny of the Landi family.
In 1808 the branch of the
Landi family, counts of Rivalta and marquises of Gambaro became extinct;
possession of the castle then passed to the Landi branch of the counts
of Caselle and marquises of Chiavenna. In the last years of the 19th
century the building was bought by Count Carlo Zanardi Landi of Veano,
subsequently remaining in the property of his heirs. In the second half
of the 20th century, the castle and the village, chosen by the Zanardi
Landi family as their residence, underwent restoration work aimed at
recovering the medieval structures.
Since the mid-1900s, the
family of the Zanardi Landi counts , who have come to reside here again,
have happily committed themselves to the recovery of the village and the
castle. The buildings have all been restored; today they present
themselves as modern and functional structures, despite having
maintained their original appearance where possible.
Inside, the
presence of a 25 m long hall of honor built during the fifteenth century
and equipped with a large fireplace, the internal chapel, which features
Baroque-style decorations and the library, which contains a series of
engravings representing some famous Italian and European painters. The
interior also houses the permanent museum of military costume, where,
among others, two banners originally displayed on the flagpoles of boats
engaged in the Battle of Lepanto bearing the coat of arms of the Scotti
di Sarmato who took part in the dispute in support of Duke Alessandro
Farnese are preserved, and the parish museum.
The Battle of Lepanto
On 7 October 1571 the fleets of the Holy League (a coalition of
European states) and those of the Ottoman Empire clashed in the current
Gulf of Corinth, known at the time as the Gulf of Lepanto. The Battle of
Lepanto was one of the last fought on rowing boats, the galleys.
Three of the original banners that flew on the war galleys of the Scotti
family - ancestors of the Zanardi Landi - during the clash in which the
Christians defeated the Turks, despite the numerical prevalence of the
latter's ships, are - together with eleven small flags dating back to
the same battle - the rare and precious testimonies of the military past
exhibited in the Rivalta Castle museum. This is highlighted by the
magazine "Radici Cristiane", a monthly magazine that refers to the
perennial values of European and Western civilization.
Until
now, writes Mauro Faverzani in the April issue, it was known that the
Scotti family was present at the battle of Lepanto with their ships and
their banners. Thanks to the research conducted by Count Orazio Zanardi
Landi and supported in the pages of Andrea Morosini's volume entitled
Storia della Repubblica Veneziana (1782), the names have been
identified: it is Onorio Scotti who embarked with 600 soldiers on the
ships, which were in Lepanto in 1571 and Paolo Emilio Scotti, count of
Sarmato, probably present in Lepanto in the contingent of his cousin
Honorius.
The standards were left by the great-grandmother of
Count Orazio Zanardi Landi: the family tree explains how after her the
Scotti di Sarmato family merged into the Zanardi Landi family.
QUOTES
• “Having
wielded arms for a long time in Piedmont and France with large salaries,
he acquired illustrious titles of glory... in whose person is the
birthright... of the whole family as well..., but also the first place
in honors and in the militia.” SANSOVINO
• “Paolo Paruta in his
“Della Historia Vinitiana” within the “index of notable things”,
describes Onorio Scotti as Captain of the Rescue of the Republic of
Venice in Famagusta.” MENNELLA
• “He was a subject so well known
to your Excellencies for many years of service with this Most Serene
Republic.” From a report to the Senate by the superintendent Alvise
Priuli reported by MENNELLA "
• “Not particularly practicing with
some of those Avogardesca and Martinenga factions, but only walking with
the very clear rectors.” From a report to the Senate by Captain
Francesco Duodo reported by MENCHETTI
Notes:
1.
Ulderico was the son of Gian Stefano Scotti Douglas, Conte di Sarmato,
who died after 1527 and his wife, Giustina Tedaldi.
Gian Stefan was
the great grandson of Alberto Scotti Douglas, Conte di Castell'Arquato,
di Fiorenzuola and di Vigoleno (1414), Conte di Carpaneto, di Chero, di
Fontanafredda and di Sarmato (1441)
Landi family and Scotti family connections
On the basis of inductions based on documents (Galvano, son of Ubertino, captured by
Charles of Anjou in 1266 in the battle of Benevento and married in 1280,
after 14 years of imprisonment, with Marsignina Scotti, must have been
born around 1240-50) Ubertino would have been born around 1220, at the
time in which his grandfather William I was already the owner of most of
the assets in Val Taro.
The conflict between Ubertino and the
Municipality of Piacenza reignited after 1280, when the city found
itself under the influence of the Guelph Alberto Scotti, a new peace was
reached in 1291 which, among the various clauses, provided that Landi
ceded the his fortress of Zavattarello, obtaining 8000 imperial lire in
exchange. Ubertino died in 1298. From his marriage to Isabella he had
Corrado and Galvano (as well as his daughter Bianca, a nun in Pavia),
but Galvano alone returned to Piacenza in 1280 from captivity, having
been captured together with his brother in 1266 in Benevento by Charles
of Anjou, as has already been said; in his second marriage Ubertino
married Adelasia, perhaps belonging to the Sannazzaro family of Pavia,
with whom he had no children. Galvano Landi in 1296 received various
properties in Sicily as a gift from the king of Sicily (who claimed to
be his relative), in Val di Noto; he predeceased his father probably in
1297.
From Marsignina Scotti, Galvano had several children, among
whom we remember Ubertino II, perhaps husband of Caterina Beccaria, who
in 1312 obtained from Emperor Henry VI confirmation of the feudal
investiture for his lands of Borgotaro, Bardi and Compiano, and who died
without children in 1314, as well as Corrado and Manfredo, who in 1314
was created a knight and on 13 July 1327 obtained confirmation of the
investiture for the castles of Valtidone from the emperor Louis the
Bavarian, while on 22 July 1337 he was invested by emperor of the
fiefdom of Zavattarello.
In the meantime, that is, on 26 October
1328, Barnabò, belonging to another line of the family, was invested,
again by Emperor Louis the Bavarian, with the castles of Centenaro and
Carpadasco. Of Gawain's sons, only Corrado had descendants: husband of
Violante, he was the father of the knight Corrado, who died without
offspring, as well as of Gawain and Manfredo. Galvano, a knight, married
first Giovanna Scotti and then Margherita Oderisi, from whom Violante
was born, married to Giovanni Suardi of Bergamo and Bianca married to
Count Rinaldo Persico; he tested in 1339 and died in 1357.
See also:
• Douglas Scotti of Sarmato
For more on the Douglas Scotti families of Italy, see our
Italy portal.
Research notes:
• The following has yet to be fact
checked/verified and is included here for future research purposes:
Onofrio Scotti was an Italian condottiero who lived during the 15th century. He was born in Milan in 1416 and became a soldier at a young age. Scotti fought in several battles and became known for his bravery and military skills.
In 1447, he was hired by the Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, to fight against Venice. Scotti played a crucial role in the battle of Caravaggio, where he led the charge that broke the Venetian lines. He also fought in the battle of Fornovo, where he commanded a group of cavalry that helped secure the victory for the Milanese army.
Scotti's military career continued under the reign of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the son of Francesco. He fought in several campaigns in Italy and was appointed as captain of the Milanese army in 1471.
However, Scotti's loyalty to the Sforza family was put to the test when Ludovico Sforza, the uncle of Galeazzo Maria, seized power in Milan. Scotti refused to support Ludovico and was imprisoned for a short period as a result.
After his release, Scotti retired from military service and spent the rest of his life in his hometown of Milan. He died in 1485.
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Source
Sources for this article include:
Roberto Damiani, author of the Condottieri di ventura websitewww.castellodirivalta.it
Carmen Artocchini, Castelli Piacentini, Piacenza
Cicogna Mozzoni genealogy and related families
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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