Chigi-Albani family
| Chigi family Famiglia Chigi Chigi-Della Rovere family |
|
|---|---|
| Black noble family | |
Motto: "Micat In Vertice"
(English: "It shines on the top") |
|
| Country |
 ItalyFormer countries
|
| Estates |
Villa Farnesina (old seat) Palazzo Chigi (currently not used) |
| Titles |
|
| Style(s) | "His Holiness" (papacy) "Excellency" "Grace" |
| Founded | 1492 (as noble family) |
| Founder | Mariano Chigi |
| Current head | Mario Chigi |
| Ethnicity | Italian |
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The Chigi family is a Roman princely family of Sienese extraction descended from the counts of Ardenghesca, which possessed castles in the Maremma, southern Tuscany. The earliest authentic mention of them is in the 13th century, with one Alemanno, counsellor of the Republic of Siena.
The first very prominent member was Mariano (1439–1504), a banker and two times ambassador of Siena to the Popes Alexander VI and Julius II. He founded the Roman branch of the family, the other branch was started by his brother, Benedetto.
Agostino Chigi (1465–1520) was the most famous member of the family during the Renaissance. He became an immensely rich banker, and built the palace and gardens afterwards known as the Farnesina, decorated by Raphael, and was noted for the splendour of his entertainments.Pope Julius II made him practically his finance minister and gave him the privilege of quartering his own (Della Rovere) arms with those of the Chigi.
Cardinal Fabio Chigi, on being elected pope as Alexander VII at the Conclave of 1655, conferred the Roman patriciate on his family. His elder brother Mario, last commander of the Corsican Guard in Rome, continued the branch of the family in Siena. His brother Augusto continued the line in Rome. Augusto's son Agostino was made Reichsfurst (prince of the Holy Roman Empire) by Leopold I in 1659. Agostino married Maria Virginia Borghese (relative of the Borghese pope), and acquired the principates of Farnese (1658), Campagnano (1661) and Ariccia, where a famous palazzo bearing the family name still exists. The pope also had two nephews who became cardinals, Flavio I, who was his Cardinal-Nephew and one of the main art collectors of the family and built the Villa Cetinale in 1680, and Sigismondo.
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Wikipedia