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{{Short description|Family and wine company}}
{{for|the Italian Baroque composer|Girolamo Frescobaldi}}
{{other uses}}
The '''Frescobaldi Family''' is a prominent [[Florentine]] family that has been involved in the political, sociological and economic history of the [[Tuscany]] region since the [[Middle Ages]]. As bankers, the Frescobaldis financed ventures for numerous members of European Royal Households, including the wars of King [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] & [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] of England.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9035375?hook=155554 Frescobaldi Family]</ref> The Frescobaldi family also served as [[papal tax]] gathers in England to finance the [[Crusades]].<ref> Johnson, Hugh. ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' p.152, Simon and Schuster, 1989 </ref> The prominent Italian musician [[Girolamo Frescobaldi]] is a member of this family.
[[File:Palazzo del Podestà - Escutcheon XXXIV.jpg|thumb|right|175px|The Frescobaldi coat of arms at the palace of the [[Podestà]] in [[Galluzzo]]]]
[[File:Palazzo frescobaldi, passaggio 04, stemma frescobaldi e albizi.JPG|thumb|right|175px|[[Impalement (heraldry)|Impalement]] of the coat of arms of Frescobaldi (left) and [[Albizzi]] (right), probably created upon the wedding of [[Angiolo Frescobaldi]] and [[Leonida degli Albizzi]] (19th century)]]


The '''Frescobaldi''' are a prominent [[Florence|Florentine]] noble family that have been involved in the political, social, and economic history of [[Tuscany]] since the [[Middle Ages]]. Originating in the Val di Pesa in the [[Chianti (region)|Chianti]], they appear holding important posts in Florence in the twelfth century.
The family is currently headed by [[Marquis]] [[Vittorio Frescobaldi]] and his brothers Marquis [[Ferdinando De' Frescobaldi]] and [[Leonardo De' Frescobaldi]]. The Frescobaldi family operates the [[wine]] producer Marchesi de' Frescobaldi and is behind the Laudemio brand of Italian [[olive oil]].


==Early history==
==History of wine production==
From an early economic base in the Italian community of cloth merchants in [[Bruges]], the Frescobaldi expanded their banking interests to their home city of [[Florence]] in the 13th century.<ref>Sanjay Subrahmanyam, ''Merchant networks in the early modern world'' (1996:18).</ref> Their power base in the city's affairs lay in their participation in the small network that controlled the great cloth-working ''[[Guilds of Florence|Arti]]'': the [[Arte della Lana]], the [[Arte di Calimala]], the guild of cloth finishers and merchants in foreign cloth, and the ''Cambio'', or money exchange. In Florence the Frescobaldi found themselves on the wrong side in the attempted power coup of the ''Grandi'' in 1343 and were henceforth barred from public service in the Republic, but the Frescobaldi remained prominent in the lesser offices still open to them, such as ''[[podestà]]'' in the small towns governed from Florence, and through the web of marriage connections among the Florentine ruling class.
The Frescobaldi family began producing [[Tuscan Wine|Tuscan wine]] in 1308 and soon developed a notable client base. In exchange for exclusive paintings, the Frescobaldis traded their wine with the [[Italian Renaissance]] painter [[Michelangelo]].<ref>''Dayton Daily News'' [http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wine/entries/2005/10/11/ Uncorked: Making Wine Since Before Christopher Columbus Was Born]</ref> The family also supplied wine to [[Henry VIII]] and have contracts in their family archives signed by the English King.<ref> [http://www.mangiarebene.net/wine/frescobaldi/index.html Frescobaldi Article] excerpt also reprinted at [http://www.etiquette.it/usa/it/lastissue.php Etiquette Magazine]</ref>


As bankers, the Frescobaldi financed ventures for numerous members of European royal families, notably their financial conquest of England, which [[Fernand Braudel]] has signalled as the greatest achievement of the Florentine firms, "not only in holding the purse-strings of the kings of England, but also in controlling sales of English wool which was vital to continental workshops and in particular to the ''[[Arte della Lana]]'' of Florence."<ref>Braudel, ''The Wheels of Commerce'' ("Civilization and Capitalism", II) (1979) 1982:392f.</ref> In the 1270s the Frescobaldi opened an office in London and began financing the wars of [[Edward I of England|King Edward I]], eventually supplanting the pioneering [[Riccardi of Lucca]], who were driven to bankruptcy by unpaid loans made to Edward.<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'' [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9035375?hook=155554 Frescobaldi Family]</ref> The Frescobaldi were receivers of the [[customs]] of England from 1307, and also served as [[papal tax]] gatherers in England, helping to finance the [[Crusades]].<ref>Johnson, Hugh. ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' p.152, Simon and Schuster, 1989</ref> With the king's death in 1307, leaving a debt to all creditors that amounted to £30,000<ref>May McKisack, ''The Fourteenth Century'' (Oxford History of England) 1959 :14.</ref> Amedeo de' Frescobaldi continued in the favoured but dangerous position under [[Edward II of England|Edward II]]; with the fall of [[Walter Langton]], the royal treasurer, at the outset of the new reign, the bishop's debtors, many of them Italians, were instructed to render their debts to Frescobaldi; in 1309 he was granted all the wool customs from Ireland and Scotland.<ref name="McKisack 1959:14">McKisack 1959:14.</ref> The barons' pressure against the influence of foreigners in the king's affairs, exemplified most prominently against the Gascon favourite, [[Piers Gaveston]], swept up Frescobaldi, who at the time of the [[Ordinances of 1311]] was ordered to tally up his accounts by October, and was arrested and all his goods seized.<ref name="McKisack 1959:14"/> Frescobaldi fled England, first to Papal [[Avignon]] and then to Florence. The royal debt was never repaid, and together with other reverses in the economic downturn of the 14th century, led to the bankruptcy of the Frescobaldi.
The [[agronomist]] [[Vittorio degli Albizi]] was an [[in-law]] of the Frescobaldi family through the marriage of his sister Leonida to [[Angiolo Frescobaldi]] and with Frescobaldi financing was able to pioneer modern [[Winemaking|wine production]] techniques in Tuscany. In 1855, Albizi introduced [[Chardonnay]], [[Cabernet]] and [[Merlot]] vines to the region.<ref> Ibid </ref>


A second Frescobaldi bankruptcy, in 1581, Braudel traces to the general movement of capital and trade to the North.<ref>Braudel, ''The Perspective of the Wold'' ("Civilization and Capitalism", III) (1979) 1984:150.</ref>
==Partnership with Mondavi==
In 1995 the Frescobaldi family's Marchesi de' Frescobaldi entered into a joint venture with [[Robert Mondavi Winery]] to produce Tuscan wine. The joint venture produced several labels including Danzante, Luce della Vite, and the ''[[Wine Spectator]]'' "2001 Wine of the Year" [[Ornellaia]]. Following the acquisition of Mondavi by [[Constellation Brands]] in December of 2004, the Frescobaldi family has been attempting to gain full control of the Tuscan ventures. In March 2005, the family was able to acquire control of Luce della Vite<ref>WineCountry.it (March 3, 2005) [http://www.winecountry.it/articles/marketing/343 "Frescobaldi Acquires Control of 'Luce della Vite'"]</ref> and Ornellaia in April 2005.<ref name=deca04>{{cite web|last= Lechmere |first= Adam, ''Decanter.com'' |title= Frescobaldi wants to buy Ornellaia outright |url= http://www.decanter.com/news/60280.html |date= December 16, 2004}}</ref>


The family included several [[literary]] figures, including [[Dino Frescobaldi]] a poet (died c. 1316) and [[Leonardo Frescobaldi (traveller)|Leonardo Frescobaldi]], who visited Egypt and the Holy Land in 1384 and wrote valuable historical accounts of the countries he visited, noting their customs, social life and economics.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/219747/Frescobaldi-Family Frescobaldi Family] Encyclopædia Britannica</ref>
==Fraud allegations==
In 2005, Marchesi de' Frescobaldi was investigated by the Italian government on allegation of fraud in their wine making at their Castiglione in Val di Pesa property and bottling facility near [[Pontassieve]].<ref>WineCountry.it (April 26, 2005) [http://www.winecountry.it/regions/tuscany/articles.php?CurrentArticleId=378 Frescobaldi Investigated for Fraud]</ref> The wine producer was suspected of importing grapes from outside the Tuscan region and labelling them as "Tuscan grown" for benefits of [[Denominazione di Origine Controllata|DOC & DOCG]] [[appellation]] labeling.<ref name=deca05>{{cite web|last= O'Keefe |first= Kerin, ''Decanter.com'' |title= Frescobaldi investigated for fraud |url= http://www.decanter.com/news/63248.html |date= April 18, 2005 }}</ref> In 2008 Frescobaldi was implicated in an investigation involving fraudulent [[Brunello di Montalcino]] wine of the 2003 vintage in a scandal termed ''[[Brunellopoli]]'' by Italian newspapers.<ref>{{cite web|last =Asimov |first= Eric, ''New York Times: The Pour'' |title= Fraudulent Brunellos? Shocking! |url=http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/fraudulent-brunellos-shocking/| date= April 3, 2008}}</ref><ref>VinoWire (March 28, 2008)[http://vinowire.simplicissimus.it/2008/03/28/antinori-argiano-and-frescobaldi-implicated-in-brunellopoli-brunello-scandal/ Antinori, Argiano, and Frescobaldi named in “Brunellopoli” Brunello Scandal]</ref> Although offered an out-of-court settlement, Marchesi de' Frescobaldi has opted go to court to clear its name of the allegations.<ref name=ws08>{{Cite web|last= Cooke |first= Jo, ''Wine Spectator''|title= Frescobaldi Vows to Fight Fraud Charge |url= http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,4291,00.html |date= March 12, 2008}}</ref>


==Tenute di Toscana==
==Wine production==
The Frescobaldi family began producing [[Tuscan Wine|Tuscan wine]] in 1308 and soon developed a notable client base. In exchange for paintings, the Frescobaldis traded their wine with the [[Italian Renaissance]] painter [[Michelangelo]].<ref>''Dayton Daily News'' [http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wine/entries/2005/10/11/ Uncorked: Making Wine Since Before Christopher Columbus Was Born] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609033942/http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wine/entries/2005/10/11/ |date=2015-06-09 }}</ref> The family also supplied wine to [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]; surviving contracts in the family archives are signed by the English king.<ref name=mangiarebene>[http://www.mangiarebene.net/wine/frescobaldi/index.html Frescobaldi Article] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609150744/http://www.mangiarebene.net/WINE/frescobaldi/index.html |date=2007-06-09 }} excerpt also reprinted at [http://www.etiquette.it/usa/it/lastissue.php Etiquette Magazine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311172557/http://www.etiquette.it/usa/it/lastissue.php |date=2007-03-11 }}</ref>
In May of 2006, the Frescobaldi family merged their Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, Castel Giocondo and Luce della Vite wine holdings into a new venture partnership, Tenute di Toscana, with [[Stolichnaya vodka|Stolichnaya Vodka]] and [[Michael Mondavi]].<ref>''Wine Business Insider'' (May 15, 2006) [http://www.winebusiness.com/ReferenceLibrary/webarticle.cfm?dataId=43068 Frescobaldi Establishes Tenute di Toscana Partnership] </ref><ref name=deca06>{{cite web|last= Shah |first= Michele, ''Decanter.com'' |title= Frescobaldi joins Stolly and Mondavi |url= http://www.decanter.com/news/85248.html |date= May 22, 2006 }}</ref>

The [[agronomist]] [[Vittorio degli Albizzi]] of the [[House of Albizzi]] was an [[in-law]] of the Frescobaldi family through the marriage of his sister Leonida to [[Angiolo Frescobaldi]]; with Frescobaldi financing he was able to pioneer modern [[Winemaking|wine production]] techniques in Tuscany. In 1855, Albizi introduced [[Chardonnay]], [[Cabernet (disambiguation)|Cabernet]] and [[Merlot]] vines to the region.<ref name=mangiarebene />

The Frescobaldi family operates the [[wine]] producer Marchesi Frescobaldi and is behind the Laudemio brand of Italian [[olive oil]].<ref>[https://www.frescobaldi.com Frescobaldi web site.]</ref>

==Present day==
The family is currently headed by [[Marquis|Marchese]] Lamberto Frescobaldi (full name: Lamberto Frescobaldi Franceschi Marini), son of Vittorio Frescobaldi
===Partnership with Mondavi===
In 1995 the Marchesi de' Frescobaldi entered into a joint venture with [[Robert Mondavi Winery]] to produce Tuscan wine. The joint venture produced several labels including Danzante, Luce della Vite, and the ''[[Wine Spectator]]'' "2001 Wine of the Year" [[Ornellaia]]. Following the acquisition of Mondavi by [[Constellation Brands]] in December 2004, the Frescobaldi family has been attempting to gain full control of the Tuscan ventures. In March 2005, the family was able to acquire control of Luce della Vite<ref>WineCountry.it (March 3, 2005) [http://www.winecountry.it/articles/marketing/343 "Frescobaldi Acquires Control of 'Luce della Vite'"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312062927/http://www.winecountry.it/articles/marketing/343 |date=2007-03-12 }}</ref> and Ornellaia in April 2005.<ref name=deca04>{{cite web |last= Lechmere |first= Adam, ''Decanter.com'' |title= Frescobaldi wants to buy Ornellaia outright |url= http://www.decanter.com/news/60280.html |date= December 16, 2004 |access-date= May 11, 2007 |archive-date= September 27, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195118/http://www.decanter.com/news/60280.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>

===Gorgona Project===
The Gorgona project began in August 2012 thanks to the partnership between Frescobaldi and Gorgona, the only island penitentiary in Europe. Here, inmates spend the final years of their sentence, working and living in close contact with nature, while developing skills to support their return to society and the workforce.
In a small vineyard located in an amphitheatre-shaped area that overlooks the sea, the project aims to provide inmates with practical experience in the areas of grape cultivation and winemaking by working closely with Frescobaldi agronomists and oenologists. Today, the vineyard measures two hectares, including the original plot and a second area planted in 2015.

===Tenute di Toscana===
In May 2006, the Frescobaldi family merged their Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, Castel Giocondo and Luce della Vite wine holdings into a new venture partnership, Tenute di Toscana, with [[Stolichnaya vodka|Stolichnaya Vodka]] and [[Michael Mondavi]].<ref>''Wine Business Insider'' (May 15, 2006) [http://www.winebusiness.com/ReferenceLibrary/webarticle.cfm?dataId=43068 Frescobaldi Establishes Tenute di Toscana Partnership]</ref><ref name=deca06>{{cite web|last= Shah |first= Michele, ''Decanter.com'' |title= Frescobaldi joins Stolly and Mondavi |url= http://www.decanter.com/news/85248.html |date= May 22, 2006 }}</ref>
<!--Dino Frescobaldi (Francesco Solinas, tr.), ''The Frescobaldi: a Florentine family'' should be a source for expanded treatment-->

==See also==
*[[History of Chianti]]
*[[Gorgona Agricultural Penal Colony]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|33em}}
{{commonscat|House of Frescobaldi}}
{{reflist}}


{{commons-inline|House of Frescobaldi}}
[[Category:Families of Florence]]


[[Category:Families of Florence]]
[[de:Vittorio de' Frescobaldi]]
[[Category:Italian noble families]]
[[it:Frescobaldi]]

Latest revision as of 19:27, 30 May 2024

The Frescobaldi coat of arms at the palace of the Podestà in Galluzzo
Impalement of the coat of arms of Frescobaldi (left) and Albizzi (right), probably created upon the wedding of Angiolo Frescobaldi and Leonida degli Albizzi (19th century)

The Frescobaldi are a prominent Florentine noble family that have been involved in the political, social, and economic history of Tuscany since the Middle Ages. Originating in the Val di Pesa in the Chianti, they appear holding important posts in Florence in the twelfth century.

Early history

[edit]

From an early economic base in the Italian community of cloth merchants in Bruges, the Frescobaldi expanded their banking interests to their home city of Florence in the 13th century.[1] Their power base in the city's affairs lay in their participation in the small network that controlled the great cloth-working Arti: the Arte della Lana, the Arte di Calimala, the guild of cloth finishers and merchants in foreign cloth, and the Cambio, or money exchange. In Florence the Frescobaldi found themselves on the wrong side in the attempted power coup of the Grandi in 1343 and were henceforth barred from public service in the Republic, but the Frescobaldi remained prominent in the lesser offices still open to them, such as podestà in the small towns governed from Florence, and through the web of marriage connections among the Florentine ruling class.

As bankers, the Frescobaldi financed ventures for numerous members of European royal families, notably their financial conquest of England, which Fernand Braudel has signalled as the greatest achievement of the Florentine firms, "not only in holding the purse-strings of the kings of England, but also in controlling sales of English wool which was vital to continental workshops and in particular to the Arte della Lana of Florence."[2] In the 1270s the Frescobaldi opened an office in London and began financing the wars of King Edward I, eventually supplanting the pioneering Riccardi of Lucca, who were driven to bankruptcy by unpaid loans made to Edward.[3] The Frescobaldi were receivers of the customs of England from 1307, and also served as papal tax gatherers in England, helping to finance the Crusades.[4] With the king's death in 1307, leaving a debt to all creditors that amounted to £30,000[5] Amedeo de' Frescobaldi continued in the favoured but dangerous position under Edward II; with the fall of Walter Langton, the royal treasurer, at the outset of the new reign, the bishop's debtors, many of them Italians, were instructed to render their debts to Frescobaldi; in 1309 he was granted all the wool customs from Ireland and Scotland.[6] The barons' pressure against the influence of foreigners in the king's affairs, exemplified most prominently against the Gascon favourite, Piers Gaveston, swept up Frescobaldi, who at the time of the Ordinances of 1311 was ordered to tally up his accounts by October, and was arrested and all his goods seized.[6] Frescobaldi fled England, first to Papal Avignon and then to Florence. The royal debt was never repaid, and together with other reverses in the economic downturn of the 14th century, led to the bankruptcy of the Frescobaldi.

A second Frescobaldi bankruptcy, in 1581, Braudel traces to the general movement of capital and trade to the North.[7]

The family included several literary figures, including Dino Frescobaldi a poet (died c. 1316) and Leonardo Frescobaldi, who visited Egypt and the Holy Land in 1384 and wrote valuable historical accounts of the countries he visited, noting their customs, social life and economics.[8]

Wine production

[edit]

The Frescobaldi family began producing Tuscan wine in 1308 and soon developed a notable client base. In exchange for paintings, the Frescobaldis traded their wine with the Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo.[9] The family also supplied wine to Henry VIII; surviving contracts in the family archives are signed by the English king.[10]

The agronomist Vittorio degli Albizzi of the House of Albizzi was an in-law of the Frescobaldi family through the marriage of his sister Leonida to Angiolo Frescobaldi; with Frescobaldi financing he was able to pioneer modern wine production techniques in Tuscany. In 1855, Albizi introduced Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot vines to the region.[10]

The Frescobaldi family operates the wine producer Marchesi Frescobaldi and is behind the Laudemio brand of Italian olive oil.[11]

Present day

[edit]

The family is currently headed by Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi (full name: Lamberto Frescobaldi Franceschi Marini), son of Vittorio Frescobaldi

Partnership with Mondavi

[edit]

In 1995 the Marchesi de' Frescobaldi entered into a joint venture with Robert Mondavi Winery to produce Tuscan wine. The joint venture produced several labels including Danzante, Luce della Vite, and the Wine Spectator "2001 Wine of the Year" Ornellaia. Following the acquisition of Mondavi by Constellation Brands in December 2004, the Frescobaldi family has been attempting to gain full control of the Tuscan ventures. In March 2005, the family was able to acquire control of Luce della Vite[12] and Ornellaia in April 2005.[13]

Gorgona Project

[edit]

The Gorgona project began in August 2012 thanks to the partnership between Frescobaldi and Gorgona, the only island penitentiary in Europe. Here, inmates spend the final years of their sentence, working and living in close contact with nature, while developing skills to support their return to society and the workforce. In a small vineyard located in an amphitheatre-shaped area that overlooks the sea, the project aims to provide inmates with practical experience in the areas of grape cultivation and winemaking by working closely with Frescobaldi agronomists and oenologists. Today, the vineyard measures two hectares, including the original plot and a second area planted in 2015.

Tenute di Toscana

[edit]

In May 2006, the Frescobaldi family merged their Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, Castel Giocondo and Luce della Vite wine holdings into a new venture partnership, Tenute di Toscana, with Stolichnaya Vodka and Michael Mondavi.[14][15]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Merchant networks in the early modern world (1996:18).
  2. ^ Braudel, The Wheels of Commerce ("Civilization and Capitalism", II) (1979) 1982:392f.
  3. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Frescobaldi Family
  4. ^ Johnson, Hugh. Vintage: The Story of Wine p.152, Simon and Schuster, 1989
  5. ^ May McKisack, The Fourteenth Century (Oxford History of England) 1959 :14.
  6. ^ a b McKisack 1959:14.
  7. ^ Braudel, The Perspective of the Wold ("Civilization and Capitalism", III) (1979) 1984:150.
  8. ^ Frescobaldi Family Encyclopædia Britannica
  9. ^ Dayton Daily News Uncorked: Making Wine Since Before Christopher Columbus Was Born Archived 2015-06-09 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ a b Frescobaldi Article Archived 2007-06-09 at the Wayback Machine excerpt also reprinted at Etiquette Magazine Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Frescobaldi web site.
  12. ^ WineCountry.it (March 3, 2005) "Frescobaldi Acquires Control of 'Luce della Vite'" Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Lechmere, Adam, Decanter.com (December 16, 2004). "Frescobaldi wants to buy Ornellaia outright". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Wine Business Insider (May 15, 2006) Frescobaldi Establishes Tenute di Toscana Partnership
  15. ^ Shah, Michele, Decanter.com (May 22, 2006). "Frescobaldi joins Stolly and Mondavi".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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