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Ancient and very noble Piacenza family, of Scottish origin,
originally called Scotti Douglas, whose branch, from the fifteenth
century to the end of the nineteenth, owned the Castle of Carpaneto,
from which it draws today's predicate. Davide, living in the XII
century, is considered the progenitor of the Scotti family and, from him
son, Lanfranco were born Giovanni, Ruffino, Rolando and Rinaldo. The
first major exponent of the family was Alberto I Magno. In the sec. XIV
the clashes and moments of tension between the Scotti and the Visconti
were recurrent: the son of Alberto, Francesco, called "il Milite" (14th
century), reaffirmed, in 1335, the power of his family over Piacenza,
but he had to surrender it, the following year, in Azzone Visconti.
To stabilize the power of the Scotti in 1414, Albert II
obtained, from the Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg, the dominion of
Fiorenzuola and the recognition as Lord of Douglas and Vigoleno.
Carpeneto is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria
in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 kilometres (50 mi)
southeast of Turin.
Possibly the first fortification was erected
by the Malaspina, who in 1180 ceded their lands in Carpaneto, and
generally in the area between the Chero and the Vezzeno, to the church
of S. Antonino in Piacenza.
The castle is expressly mentioned in
the chronicles of 1321 (at that time it belonged to the Scotti), on the
occasion of its destruction by the militia of the Visconti, bent on
destroying all the strongholds of the Guelphs.
It was rebuilt by
Rolando Scotti some time before 1370. In little more than 60 years the
castle passed from the Scotti to the Del Cario, to the Anguissola, only
to return to the Scotti.
In 1441 Filippo Maria Visconti nominated
Alberto Scotti count of Carpaneto. He fortified the castle and the town,
surrounding them with a single circle of scarped walls crowned by
towers, and a moat.
In 1606 the Castle of Carpaneto became a central
point of the Marquessate granted to Cesare Maria Scotti by Ranuccio I
Farnese.
The Scotti owned the castle until 1891, when it was acquired
by the municipality of Carpaneto.
The more obviously defensive
structures have been eliminated over the centuries. Today the building
houses the municipal offices.
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