Frangipani family
The family of the Frangipani, meaning "Breadbreakers," was a powerful Roman patrician clan in the Middle Ages. The family was typically Ghibelline in sympathy and often at odds with the papacy. During the twelfth century, the Frangipani were the chief adversaries of the Pierleoni family, whose cardinal Pietro was raised to the papacy as Anacletus II.
The Frangipani first appear in a document of 1014. Their name is said to come from the fact that one of their ancestors distributed bread to the poor during a great famine. For this, the arms of the family was gules, two lions rampant opposed holding a loaf of bread in their paws. The first great member of their family known to us was one Leo.
The Colosseum was fortified by the Frangipani and the Annibaldi.
One of the cadet branches of the family gave rise to the great Croatian family of the Frankopan.
The sweet-smelling flowering sub-tropical shrub Frangipani (Plumeria) is named for a marchese Frangipani, who invented a perfume for scenting gloves in the sixteenth century.
Mario Frangipani (1506-1569) served as a conservatore of Rome several times, as well as a chancellor. The Frangipani Chapel, frescoed by Taddeo Zuccari, is in the church of San Marcello al Corso.
Further reading
- Ferdinand Gregorovius, History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, Book VIII, (1003-1199)
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