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Casaliggio lies south west of Piacenza. I have not been able to
identify a castle at that location. A search using AI revealed two
possible “rocca medievale” (medieval fortress) at Casaliggio, though
these may be different descriptions of the same place, located in Gragnano Trebbiense.
Notes:
1.
Alberto Scotti appears for the first time in the documentation on 14
March 1271, assisting his father Giovanni in the purchase of the castle
of Casaliggio from the Cistercian monastery of Quartazzola, in Val
Trebbia (Racine, 1981, p. 150).
2a. Stipite del ramo degli Scotti di Fombio è Nicolò, uno dei quattro figli maschi di Alberto I.
Dal pronipote Gregorio nacque Alberto che venne investito dal duca di Milano Galeazzo Maria
Sforza del feudo di Casaliggio e successivamente, nel 1469, con titolo comitale, del feudo di
Fombio. Nel 1475 Galeazzo Maria Sforza lo investì anche del feudo di Varsi, confiscato ad un altro
ramo della famiglia, che rimase agli Scotti fino al 1758, quando Giusto Ettore lo vendette ai
Rugarli.
2b. “The founder of the Scotti di Fombio branch is Nicolò, one of the four sons of Alberto I. From his great‑grandson Gregorio was born Alberto, who was invested by the Duke of Milan, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, with the fief of Casaliggio and later, in 1469, with the comital title, with the fief of Fombio. In 1475 Galeazzo Maria Sforza also invested him with the fief of Varsi, confiscated from another branch of the family, which remained with the Scotti until 1758, when Giusto Ettore sold it to the Rugarli.”
3. Giacomo Antonio had the goods and the feud of Casaliggio,
brought as a dowry by his niece Barbara al(?) husband Ottaviano Caracciolo.
(See Douglas Scotti of Fombio)
The following requires verification:
The current castle at Casaliggio (often called Castello Pallavicino–Casali) was built around 1420 by Rolando Pallavicino.
• It likely incorporated an earlier medieval fortification.
• Within a few decades of its construction, the fief of Casaliggio passed to the Scotti di Fombio.
• This transfer happened before 1469, when Alberto Scotti was already being granted additional titles.
So the sequence is:
1420 — Castle built by Rolando Pallavicino
Mid‑1400s — Fief of Casaliggio granted to Alberto Scotti di Fombio
1469–1475 — Scotti consolidate their holdings (Fombio, Varsi)
This places the Scotti as successors to the Pallavicino in Casaliggio.
What this means historically
1. The Scotti became the ruling family of Casaliggio
The ducal investiture confirms that Casaliggio was not merely landholding — it was a feudal jurisdiction, and the castle was its administrative centre.
2. The castle’s later history is tied to the Scotti
Even if the Pallavicino built the structure, the Scotti di Fombio were the family who held it during the politically turbulent Sforza era.
3. Nicolò Scotti is the root of the line that inherited Casaliggio
This gives you a clean genealogical anchor:
Nicolò → Gregorio → Alberto (lord of Casaliggio).
4. The Scotti’s acquisition fits their broader territorial strategy
They were consolidating control along the Po and Trebbia valleys, and Casaliggio sits right in that corridor.
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