Giustiniani
Encyclopedia
Giustiniani is the name of a prominent Italian
family which originally belonged to Venice
, but also established itself subsequently in Genoa
, and at various times had representatives in Naples
, Corsica
and in the islands of the Archipelago
, where they had been the last Genoese rulers of the Aegean island of Chios
, which had been a family possession for two centuries until 1566.
In the Venetian line the following are most worthy of mention:
All Venice's branches of Giustiniani family are extinct. The family name and arms have been assumed by Baron Girolamo de Massa (1946) and his sons, Sebastiano, Andrea, Nicolò, Pio, Giorgio and Lorenzo, and their descendants, by testamentary disposition of the mother, Elisabetta Giustiniani (Giulio Giustiniani of St. Barnabas's daughter, sister of Maria Giustiniani married Vettor Giusti del Giardino and of Sebastiano Giustiniani, both without descendants).
Of the Genoese
branch of the family the most prominent members were the following:
The following are also noteworthy:
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
family which originally belonged to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, but also established itself subsequently in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, and at various times had representatives in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
and in the islands of the Archipelago
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, where they had been the last Genoese rulers of the Aegean island of Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
, which had been a family possession for two centuries until 1566.
In the Venetian line the following are most worthy of mention:
- Lorenzo GiustinianiLorenzo GiustinianiSaint Lorenzo Giustiniani is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was Bishop and first Patriarch of Venice....
(1381–1455), the Laurentius Justinianus of the Roman calendarRoman calendarThe Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
. - Leonardo Giustiniani (1388–1446), brother of the preceding, was for some years a senator of Venice, and in 1443 was chosen procurator of St. Mark. He translated into ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
's Lives of Cinna and Lucullus, and was the author of some poetical pieces, amatory and religious strambotti and canzonettas as well as of rhetorical prose compositions. Some of the popular songs set to music by him became known as giustiniani.
- Bernardo Giustiniani (1408–1489), son of Leonardo, was a pupil of GuarinoGuarinoGuarino is an Italian name that is derived from the Germanic German wara meaning ‘to guard’, ‘to protect’ and means "who defends protects". The name refer to several notable people:* First Name** Guarin, Siculo-Norman general...
and George of TrebizondGeorge of TrebizondGeorge of Trebizond was a Greek philosopher and scholar, one of the pioneers of the Renaissance.-Life:He was born on the island of Crete, and derived his surname Trapezuntius from the fact that his ancestors were from Trebizond.At what period he came to Italy is not certain; according to some...
, and entered the Venetian senate at an early age. He served on several important diplomatic missions both to FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and about 1485 became one of the Council of TenCouncil of TenThe Council of Ten, or simply the Ten, was, from 1310 to 1797, one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice whose actions were often secretive. Although some sources may indicate that the Council of Ten was generally accepted in Venice, there was some opposition...
. His orations and letters were published in 1492; but his title to any measure of fame he possesses rests upon his history of Venice, De origine urbis Venetiarum rebusque ab ipsa gestis historia (1492), which was translated into Italian by Domenichi in 1545, and which at the time of its appearance was undoubtedly the best work on that subject. It is to be found in vol. 1 of the Thesaurus of Graevius.
- Pietro Giustiniani, also a senator, lived in the 16th century, and wrote on Historia rerum Venetarum in continuation of that of Bernardo. He was also the author of chronicles De gestis Petri Mocenigi and De bello Venetorum cum Carolo VIII. The latter has been reprinted in the Scriptores rerum Italicarum, vol. xxi.
All Venice's branches of Giustiniani family are extinct. The family name and arms have been assumed by Baron Girolamo de Massa (1946) and his sons, Sebastiano, Andrea, Nicolò, Pio, Giorgio and Lorenzo, and their descendants, by testamentary disposition of the mother, Elisabetta Giustiniani (Giulio Giustiniani of St. Barnabas's daughter, sister of Maria Giustiniani married Vettor Giusti del Giardino and of Sebastiano Giustiniani, both without descendants).
Of the Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
branch of the family the most prominent members were the following:
- Giovanni GiustinianiGiovanni GiustinianiGiovanni Giustiniani Longo was a young Genoese captain, a member of one of the greatest families of the Republic, a kinsman to the powerful house of Doria in Southern Italy., and protostrator of the Byzantine Empire...
(died 1453), a soldier, who personally financed and led 700 men to the defense of Constantinople against the final Ottoman siege of 1453Fall of ConstantinopleThe Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
. Gravely wounded in the hand and chest during the fall of the city, he died shortly afterwards.
- Paolo Giustiniani, from Moneglia (1444–1502), a member of the order of DominicansDominican OrderThe Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
, was, from a comparatively early age, priorPriorPrior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
of their convent at Genoa. As a preacherPreacherPreacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
he was very successful, and his talents were fully recognized by successive popes, by whom he was made master of the sacred palaces, inquisitor-general for all the Genoese dominions, and ultimately bishop of Skios and legatePapal legateA papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
in HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. He was the author of a number of Biblical commentaries (no longer extant), which are said to have been characterized by great erudition.
- Agostino GiustinianiAgostino GiustinianiAgostino Giustiniani was an Italian Catholic bishop, linguist and geographer.-Biography:Giustiniani was born at Genoa into a noble family...
(1470–1536), Catholic bishop.
- Paolo Giustiniani (1476-1528) was trained as a lawyer then chose to become a monkMonkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
in the CamaldoleseCamaldoleseThe Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities which follow the way of life outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the 6th century...
order. He felt called to a more primitive and eremeticalHermitA hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
way of life, as it was followed in the early period of that order. He formed communities which followed the original way of life as established by its founder, St. Romuald. The monks who followed him were organized into the Company of Hermits of St. Romuald, which was eventually accepted as an authentic expression of the order by the monks based at the original motherhouse. Finally, in 1523, the full order voted to recognize the followers of Guistiniani as a separate congregation within the tradition of the order. They took the title of Monte Corona, which was established as their own motherhouse.
- Orazio GiustinianiOrazio GiustinianiOrazio Giustiniani was an Italian Catholic Cardinal.-Biography:Giustiniani was born the Island of Chios, then part of the Republic of Genoa, to the powerful Giustiniani family. He was a relative of two Bishops of Chio - Girolamo Giustiniani and Marco Giustiniani...
(1599-1649), a member of the Giustintiani line that settled on the Island of ChiosChiosChios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
under the Republic of GenoaRepublic of GenoaThe Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
. Was elevated to CardinalCardinal (Catholicism)A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
by Pope Innocent XPope Innocent XPope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle...
.
The following are also noteworthy:
- Pompeo Giustiniani (1569–1616), a native of Corsica, who served in the Low Countries under Alessandro Farnese and Ambrogio Spinola, 1st Marquis of the Balbases, where he lost an arm, and, from the artificial substitute which he wore, came to be known by the sobriquet Bras de Fer. He also defended CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
against the TurksOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
; and subsequently was killed in a reconnaissance in FriuliFriuliFriuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
. He left in Italian a personal narrative of the war in FlandersFlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, which has been repeatedly published in a Latin translation (Bellum Belgicum, Antwerp, 1609).
- Giovanni Giustiniani (1513–1556), born in Candia (Heraklion, Crete)HeraklionHeraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....
, translator of Terence's Andria and Eunuchus, of CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
's In Verrem, and of VirgilVirgilPublius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's AeneidAeneidThe Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
, viii.
- Orsatto Giustiniani (1538–1603), Venetian senator, translator of the Oedipus Tyrannus of SophoclesSophoclesSophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
and author of a collection of Rime in imitation of PetrarchPetrarchFrancesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
.
- Geronimo Giustiniani of Genoa, flourished during the latter half of the 16th century. He translated the Alcestis of EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
and three of the plays of Sophocles; and wrote two original tragedies, Jephte and Christo in Passione.
- Vincenzo GiustinianiVincenzo Giustinianithumb|upright|Vincenzo Giustiniani in a portrait by [[Nicolas Régnier]] Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani was an aristocratic Italian banker, art collector and intellectual of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known today largely for the Giustiniani art collection, assembled at Palazzo...
, who in the beginning of the 17th century built the Roman Palazzo Giustiniani and made the art collection published as Galleria Giustiniana (Rome, 1631). The collection was removed in 1807 to Paris, where it was to some extent broken up. In 1815 all that remained of it, about 170 pictures, was purchased by the king of PrussiaPrussiaPrussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and removed to BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where it is conserved in the Berlin museums