Marquisses of Finale

Marquisate of Finale
Marchesato di Finale
March of the Kingdom of Italy State of the Holy Roman Empire
967–1602
Coat of arms
Marquisate of Finale in Liguria.
Capital		Finale Ligure (from the 1190s)
Languages		Ligurian
Government		Monarchy
Marquess		Aleramo (first)
		Sforza Andrea Del Carretto (last)
History
•	Established	967
•	Acquired by the Kingdom of Spain	1602

The Marquisate of Finale was an Italian state in what is now Liguria, part of the former medieval Aleramici March. It was ruled for some six centuries by the Aleramici branch known as marquesses del Vasto (when they also held the March of Savona) and later Del Carretto, when Savona became a free commune.

The marquisate of Finale originated from the territories donated in 967 to Aleramo of Montferrat by emperor Otto I and was for centuries a fief of the Holy Roman Empire. Anselmo, son of Aleramo, started the line of the marquesses of Savona or Del Vasto. His descendant Boniface del Vasto acquired large lands in Liguria and southern Piedmont. In 1142-1148 his sons divided its patrimony, creating different feudal dynasties. Enrico I del Carretto inherited the march of Savona, receiving its investiture by emperor Frederick Barbarossa on 10 June 1162.

The march of Savona stretched on the Ligurian coast from Cogoleto and Finale Ligure up to the Bormida valley, nearly reaching Acqui. Enrico later also acquired Cortemilia and Novello; the family also boasted rights on the diocese of Albenga and the former marquisate of Clavesana. His control over his lands was however rather nominal, due to the increasing autonomy of cities such as Savona, Noli, Alba and Alessandria from the 12th century. The first member of the family to use the title of Marquis of Finale (a village which the family had fortified since around 1193) was Enrico's son, Enrico II Del Carretto. The name "Del Carretto" derived from a small castle on the Bormida river.